The Merchant's Guild

The Merchant Profession celebrates Players who are Givers, providing Goods, Quests, and Services to the Realm.

The Merchant is the first Profession released in the game. Like all Professions, Merchant becomes accessible to a character of any Path who is Tier 3 or higher.

'Merchant' is an out-of-character, catch-all term. Charities, hospitality tents, or other stands at events are also governed by Merchant's Guild rules, though you do not need to identify as a Merchant (or Guild member) in-character or take the Profession.

Regardless of whether you choose this Profession, all offerings must adhere to the LARP Adventures Code of Conduct (see Getting Services Approved, below).

Merchant is the only Profession in the Game that is not limited when a character takes Milestones in other Professions. Masters of other Professions will always have the capability of selling their wares.

For a listing of vendors, please see The Marketplace.

For the changes from prior Seasons, please see Seasonal Changes.

For information on currencies, please see Currency of Osterra

The Path of the Merchant

Professions celebrate Players, not Characters, who share their time, talent, and skill with the Game to elevate it.

There’s variety in how Merchants are represented, and they can come from any Main Path or background. Merchant Services are domain-general and geared toward improving the community, not just the character themselves.

As always, players should play to the spirit of the rules, which for Merchant, is to create opportunities for characters to earn and spend coin, turning the wheels of commerce. All combinations of abilities within Merchant and other Character Paths are subject to Organizer oversight.

Merchants often circulate in-game physical coins in Osterra’s economy and create vibrant immersive environments at events. Shops must be separate from Land Game currency; they cannot buy, trade, or sell land game resources, such as Golden Dragons or Ore.

Merchants dealing in real-life currency-- like US dollars-- are governed separately, and must be approved by Organizers directly.

Members of the Merchant’s Guild receive benefits that allow for greater supply of their wares, locations for storefronts at events, land game influence, and (on rare occasions) protections from interference in their dealings. Whether you are running a cantina, bank, performance venue, doctor’s office, tea room, or fight pit, you have a home in the Guild.

These ventures are in-game, trading coins for services– they periodically require RP and serve as vessels for lore dissemination and adventure hooks. Dutifully serving these important functions gives access to unique Perks. But like real-life, the rules, responsibilities, and perks affecting merchants change with demand, event location, and market conditions.

Meta-gaming or min-maxing presuming market conditions will be static is a recipe for disaster. Perks and Responsibilities change each Season!

Opening for Business

With that in mind, you’ll need a business to found! There are application forms to fill out and agreements to sign. Typical bureaucracy!

These are hard-hitting questions like:

What’s the name of your shop?
What service(s) does your stand provide?
What kind of reputation do you envision the vendor to have? Above-board? Sketchy?
What’s your logo look like? What does your stand look like?
Where in Osterra is your Headquarters located? What specific Hex/population center?
Are you the sole Owner? Do you have apprentices?

The current Guildmaster can help you concentrate this information and the vision you have for your marketplace debut. Reaching out and filling out an application with basic information is the first step on the journey.

Licensure - First Season

Important: All Costs are subject to change. Like real life, merchants must cope with unexpected changes in the economy and environment.

Merchant-Owner

To be a card-carrying Merchant’s Guild member, called an Owner, the character must be Tier 3, and an initial one-time investment of 15 gold pieces is required for a License.

This represents the costs of founding, whether that’s sourcing and supplying, navigating the legal system of the country, or even greasing the right palms, depending on your shop’s backstory. You can pay up front OR take as long as you’d like to pay off that 15 gold, but Merchant’s Guild reputation, perks, and benefits cannot be accrued until that 15 gold is paid in full. Think of it as a trial period without upkeep! Initially, only one Owner can claim Merchant’s Guild benefits.

Remember: you don't have to pay the Licensure fee ever to be a Merchant... it just means you don't get Perks.

Apprentices/Co-Owners

An Owner makes all decisions on behalf of the business, but some shops may require more than one set of hands. An Owner may approve a person (called an Apprentice but title may differ in-character) who can work at the vendor and receive the Owner’s chosen Merchant’s Guild benefits at a reduced cost of 3 gold each.

Alternatively, if the second or third person pays the same Licensure cost as the Owner, they may be made a Co-Owner immediately (see below) and receive the same benefits as the Owner and a vote in what decisions are made.

An Owner may only have two other persons maximum associated with the vendor at any given time, either as Owners or Apprentices. Apprentices may be any Tier. Owners must be Tier 3+.
Workers may earn benefits independent from each other, based on how often they work.
If an Apprentice/Operator later wants to found their own business (or join as a co-Owner), every event they work under the Owner reduces their initial License Cost by 20%, representing saving up the money and materials. After 5 events, they can start their own shop without a License cost at all.
After 4 months’ work, an Operator/Apprentice may petition the Owner to be made a Co-Owner for no cost, gaining all the benefits given to Owners; if the proposal is accepted by the Owner, future decision making is made by majority vote (Guildmaster determines how to break ties)

Upkeep - All Seasons After

One Season after you pay your License cost in full (but not before), a Merchant-Owner owes coin at the beginning of each harvest to maintain Perks, payable to the Organizers: 6 gold+ 2 gold per additional operator/apprentice or co-Owner. This is represented as operational costs, taxes, or even kickbacks to keep your stand running.

This Upkeep value can be deducted by making approved Charitable Contributions. This style of playing the Merchant Game is for the risk-averse, desiring to limit (or even eliminate) costs. The Upkeep value can instead be increased by Dubious Dealings. This approach is higher risk but offers stronger benefits, such as dealing with the Black Market.

Silver Oath: Some Merchants primarily deal in Silver Coin. Merchants who already hold a Merchant's Guild license (i.e., have paid the 15 gold) may pursue a special Silver Oath license in future Seasons.

The Merchants who hold this Silver license have the option to pay their Gold Upkeep Cost in Silver coin instead. For example, if a typical vendor owed 10 gold pieces to Upkeep at the beginning of a Season, a Merchant who committed to a Silver License could pay 10 silver pieces instead. Their Upkeep, however, must be paid entirely in silver coin. Paying 2 gold is not allowed.

This vendor may not offer any one good or service over 10 Silver Pieces. They also may not accept Gems as payment. A Merchant may expend a Dubious Dealings token (see below) to ignore these limitations for one transaction of one good/service-- or two Dubious Dealings tokens for one entire event.

Responsibilities

Important: All Responsibilities are subject to change. Like real life, merchants must cope with unexpected changes in the economy and environment.

In order to earn perks and rewards, The Guild requires your assistance…

Getting Services Approved

To ensure quality and safety, there is a process called a Service Check. Whether or not you are in the Merchant's Guild, its Guildmaster or their qualified designee signs off on all quests, items, and services at an event.

As law-skirting as your dealings may be, we need to make sure you’re compliant with safety and game rules every day of every event.

This stems beyond cool Profession stuff-- from the LARP Adventures Code of Conduct:

Merchant Pre-Approval Required: All goods and services offered through the Merchants Guild must be submitted in advance for review. Any unlisted items are considered unauthorized and may not be sold or distributed.
No Real Weapons or Unsafe Items: Players may not sell, trade, or provide real weapons, tools, or items that could cause harm. This includes but is not limited to whips, knives, live steel, firearms, glass bottles/vials, spiked armor, or chemicals. Only pre-approved, safe props and in-game items may be used.
Food Sales: Players offering food items must provide a clear ingredient list. We ask all merchants to be mindful of dietary needs and restrictions to ensure that everyone in the community can participate safely.

Work with the Organizers or the Guildmaster to describe each service you are providing. Think of it as the mandatory Weapons-Check for your Merchant vendor. We want to make these services comply with location, safety, and game regulations—this is strictly out of character, so don’t worry about sharing secrets. Any in-game effects especially need approval and should match the Owner’s character sheet capabilities.

"Violation of these rules will result in immediate removal from the Merchants Guild and may include suspension or ban from events. Player safety is our highest priority." -- Skip Lipman, October 2025

If you're not sure, send a message to a GM or your Guildmaster with a picture of the item ahead of the event-- it will hopefully give you a little peace of mind.

Working Events

You do not have to work every event, and when you work during them is up to you. But Merchant Guild benefits (below) kick in for events that you are committing to the Minimum Working Time for them. The Minimum Working Time for benefits is 90 minutes per event-day manning the stand.

Day Events: 1.5 hours.
2-Day Campouts: 3 hours.
3-Day Festivals: 4.5 hours.
These hours can be spread across days or served all at once. It’s fine to run errands in between or take breaks, but the key is to commit time to your stand in order to reap the benefits. You can also work for less time and not take the benefits.
Time is only recorded during roleplay hours (i.e., not after the day’s events during campouts).
For shops with multiple workers, Minimum Working Time is counted individually, but can be served together. A Master and Apprentice can work together, for example, but they both need to hit minimum time to count as an event they individually benefit from, if working separately.
On a case-by-case basis, rehearsing for an event or NPCing in an LARP Adventures Organizer’s module may count for Minimum Working Time (i.e., gathering the materials, creating costumes, rehearsing the motions, setting the stage, and the performance itself.) Please discuss ahead of time with the Guild. Most Organizer-driven content is acceptable.
Please let the Guildmaster know your shop is attending-- ideally a week before the event. Exceptions exist, but we want to announce it to the Realm to drum up business. Some venues have limited space available; Draft Pick governs who goes where.

Help Rogues Be Rogues

At every event, you must have a non-trivial segment of your wares observe the Rogue’s Tier 4 Fence skill discount. This means 25% off for Rogues that possess that Skill and tell you about it.

Merchants hold no suspicion for Rogues who sell items using the Fence skill. They’re just like any other supplier, so forget their face if they are asked about.

Help Organizers Drive the Narrative

You may be called upon to serve a critical plot point, story element, mini-adventure, or quest by the Organizers or the Guild generally. Depending on content and your in-game reputation (see below), these responsibilities may be eligible for reimbursement. But we always help with spreading in-game information to characters.

Being Inclusive and Setting Boundaries

We endeavor to make Merchant's Row fun for everyone-- a good faith effort should be made to respect fellow players. But look to observe healthy boundaries as well. You are within your right to refuse service for in-character reasons that elevate the narrative OR out-of-character reasons like safety or legal reasons. For the latter, make sure you check in with Organizers after. Like anything at LARP Adventures, consent is important and can be withdrawn at any time.

Benefits

Important: All Benefits are subject to change. Like real life, merchants must cope with unexpected changes in the economy and environment.

Once the Owner has paid Licensure costs, they have a Merchant's Guild License and are eligible to grow a reputation and claim benefits. After every harvest in the land game, a Season begins, representing 3 months: January to March, April to June, July to September, and October to December. If a Merchant would like to opt into merchant activities:

On your first season in business, pay only the Licensure Cost (see above, in Responsibilities, but e.g., 15 Gold)
On subsequent seasons, the Owner pays the lower Upkeep costs (e.g., 6 Gold) to recharge Perks, based on number of employees and Dubious Dealings tokens (below). Charitable Contributions Reputation Tokens can be deducted from these costs up to token maximum (below).
The Owner declares which chosen Perk(s) they want to take for the coming season (see below): the Guildmaster records it as well as the characters the perks apply to. If the Owner does not attend, they may nominate their Apprentice to make decisions until they return.
The Owner may instead take a Leave of Absence, where there is no Upkeep Charge for that season. Like Factions, a Guild member must participate in play to continue to be viable. After three seasons, if the shop is not represented in play, it loses its Guild backing and reputation.

And with that, your Merchant Season begins. You’re able to set up after a Services Check each event (like a Weapons Check), and you begin to build how the people of Osterra view your vendor. You will also receive a Merchant’s Guild badge, a physical representation of your membership in the Guild that allows you to invoke its perks. This badge is your stand’s for the Season but should be returned after each event to the Merchant’s Guild.

Reputation Tokens

As an Owner, you are always shaping your reputation. You could play it completely above-board and virtuous. Or you could dip into risky deeds— dealing in illicit activities-- and develop a seedy reputation that’s just one step ahead of the law. In game, these are represented as Reputation Tokens.

What kind of merchant do you aspire to be?

Sterling Reputation: Acquire Charitable Contribution Reputation tokens. By investing coin into good will projects or donations, you may expend a token to deduct from your shop’s upkeep by a max of 33% per token each season (to minimum 0%). Giving starting gold to new players, donating to Osterran work projects, or providing good-aligned quests with monetary rewards count as charitable contributions, among others. Charitable Contribution tokens are recharged each season when you pay upkeep.

Sordid Reputation: Acquire Dubious Dealings Reputation tokens. Your shop upkeep increases by 2 gold per token, but you can spend a token to request the Merchant’s Guild step in, mitigate, or eliminate the consequences of Guild member actions-- depending on RP. Particularly dastardly deeds with little plausible deniability may require more than one token. If it costs more than the tokens you have, the Merchant’s Guild will not cover for you, so cover your tracks! Particularly brazen acts will not be eligible for cover-up, especially if there's no profit in it. Dubious Dealings tokens are recharged each season when you pay upkeep.

You start with zero of both tokens, but may receive one based on your character's reputation. Has your character been convicted by a high court? An herbalist known for liberal use of the [Self Sacrifice] spell? Perhaps your character reputation colors your business even before it begins!

Reputations typically start neutral, change slowly, and grow over time. You have the opportunity to earn up to three of either of the tokens by choosing them as perks each season OR awarded as consequences of roleplaying events. Your shop may only have three tokens maximum between the two reputation types of tokens. Special Perks, quests, or programs may only be available to those with a certain number of Charitable Contribution or Dubious Dealing tokens at that Season’s inception.

Charitable Contributions	Dubious Dealings	Example Types of Services
3	0	Non-profits, Healing, Blessings, Charities
2	1	Guardians, Arcane Casting, Librarians, Food Service
1	2	Poisons, Info Dealing, Thieving, Theatre Production
0	3	Assassinations, Black Markets, Pit Fighting, Consulting

Particularly prestigious Merchants may earn a temporary fourth Reputation token, provided they have earned Acclaim!

Basic Benefits Package

Every merchant is entitled to the following basic services that allow them to succeed. Unless otherwise stated, they are for events in which they are working.

Advertisement: The Guild will facilitate awareness of your operation at the events, including outreach as needed. Merchants of particularly Sterling Reputation will be recognized publicly as a pillar of the community.
Security: Every shop will receive a Tier 5 Lock for one container, in which they can keep their coin or valuables. The Merchant’s Guild reacts swiftly with extreme prejudice (in-game) to reprimand criminal activity visited on its members doing business, up to and including (in-game) force—petitions of complaint should be directed to the Guildmaster. However, you theoretically can be targeted, especially in adventures and quests, so make sure you are careful!
Overtime: Working double the Minimum Working Time at an event earns you a bonus skill point. For example: 3 hours at a day event, 6 hours at a campout, 9 hours at a Festival. Working time is counted individually. If an Owner and Apprentice works together 4 hours at a campout, and the Apprentice stays on for four hours after the Owner leaves, only the Apprentice receives the extra skill point.

Unless otherwise stated, a character may only earn one bonus skill point at any event. For example, Overtime does not stack with an NPC skill point.

Selecting Perks

At the beginning of every season, an Owner may choose a number of benefits for their shop and/or employees for the next three months. The amount is equal to 1 + 1 per three events an Owner or Co-Owner has worked, whatever is higher (maximum 4 perks).

Events with Minimum Working Time Earned	# of Chosen Perks available at Season Start
0-2	1
3-5	2
6-8	3
9+	4 (Current Maximum)

There is some fine print on Perks

Each Perk may only be taken once per Season, save when expressly noted.
These perks last until next season's start (the same all three months), except for Reputation tokens.
For vendors with multiple co-Owners, they must agree which character is receiving the Perk.
Perks are not transferable between workers!
Unless otherwise stated, these benefits only apply for events you are working and at your stationary shop location.

Perks - January to March 2026 (Draft - In Progress!)

Here are this Season's Perks that Merchants can choose!

To make it visually easier:

Green perks indicate prerequisites of Charitable Contribution Reputation tokens.
Red perks indicate prerequisites of Dubious Dealing Tokens.
Purple requires minimum merchant expertise (months worked)
Yellow indicates Profession-relevant requirements.

Sterling Reputation: Gain one Reputation Token permanently: increase your maximum Charitable Contribution tokens by 1 (up to a max of three) or subtract Dubious Dealings by 1 (to a minimum of 0) for this Season onward. You may not choose Sterling Reputation and Sordid Reputation in the same season.

Sordid Reputation: Gain one Reputation Token permanently: increase your maximum Dubious Dealings by 1 (up to a max of three) or subtract Charitable Contribution by 1 (to a minimum of 0) for this Season onward. You may not choose Sterling Reputation and Sordid Reputation in the same season.

Abjuring Cache: You may utilize a small Tier 5 ward-- able to fit solely on the surface of your table-- to protect your Merchant coin-box OR a number of individual objects up to your number of Merchant Perks. You may utilize a Charitable Contribution or Dubious Dealings tokens to increase the Tier of the Ward by 2 (to Tier 7) for the duration of the Season. If dispelled, this regenerates at the beginning of the next event of the Season OR if you expend a Reputation token.

Special: Merchant vendors may designate who can pass through the ward as needed. You may take this Perk multiple times, but no Ward may nest within any other Ward.

Phys Rep: A yellow ribbon on a portion of the table's surface, complete with label of the Tier (see Ward Location). Additional signage is optional but will drive home the protection and prevent misunderstanding.

Accelerated Architect: (Prerequisite: Worker is a Tier 1+ Artificer) Choose one Worker. Once per event, when the Worker hits their Minimum Working Time and has sold one of their Artificer Schematics at 1 gold or higher, they may choose to introduce an additional copy for sale of this same Schematic. The original and the bonus Schematic must be sold at 1 gold or higher and not to Owners, Operators, or Apprentices of the business. You may take this multiple times, each applying to a different Worker.

Phys Rep: An identical Schematic to what was sold.

Angel Investor: (Prerequisite: At least 1 Charitable Contributions token) Your good deeds have moved the community to provide materials to aid on-site hospitals. When the Lazaret is in-play, you may expend a Charitable Contribution Token. The Lazaret receives a donation of the following:

A Heal Group Major scroll
A Resurrection scroll

Phys Rep: Scrolls that you, the Merchant, create and hand off to a Lazaret worker-- even if you are not a Healer. If you are not a main-path Healer, these scrolls must be signed off on by the Healer's Guild.

Limitations: These scrolls only work within the walls of the Lazaret and expire at the end of the event. The Phys Reps must be marked as such.

Bribery Fund: (Prerequisite: 1+ Dubious Dealings Token at Season Start) You may conceal one of your Dubious Dealings tokens for purposes of Upkeep-- pay later ONLY if you expend it. For example, if your Upkeep is 6 (base) + 4 (two Dubious Dealings tokens)= 10 Gold, reduce your Upkeep by 2 Gold (1 Dubious Dealing token). If you do not expend this Dubious Dealings token this Season, you need not pay for it.

Special: At Season Start, you may choose to add more than one Dubious Dealings token to this discretionary fund and not pay for them in advance. However, this is risky! You must roll 1d10 for each additional Dubious Dealings token you choose to conceal. On a roll of 1 or 2, you lose this benefit for ALL Dubious Dealings tokens (even the first one without risk) and must pay their Upkeep immediately.

Center of Commerce: (Prerequisite: 6+ events) Your Headquarters brings greater resources and industrious workers to the community around it. The population center(s) you have designated as your Headquarters gains a bonus yield this coming Harvest, if it is a Town or City. The type of Resource is associated with the type of Hex of the Population Center.

Resource Type:

Plains/Shoreline - Food
Forest - Wood
Mountain - Stone (even if Ore/Silver/Gold is present)

A Merchant may choose which resource for hybrid-resource hexes (example: for +1 Food, +1 Stone hex, a Merchant might choose Food OR Stone, but not both). If it is located in a Town, your Headquarters gives a +1 bonus. If it is a City, your Headquarters gives a +2 bonus. These bonuses cannot be stacked with other Merchant HQs in the same population center

Detain: Twice per event-day this Season, you may tap a character with a weapon under 24 inches saying “Detain” to Bind someone to your stand’s location (see Waylay for proper interaction, but it does not require surprise). Someone touching your Merchant Stand or wares for sale within the past 10 seconds is also eligible, regardless of distance.

The character is confined to the stand for 5 minutes or until released. A Merchant may release the detained character at any time, or the detained character may be freed by others with 1 minute’s effort, resetting if interrupted. For each Reputation token expended, you have an additional detainment mechanism with two event-day uses of its own.

Phys Rep: A length of rope. See Bind.

Special: If the Merchant or another free person also possesses Bind, the detained person can be moved by them without risk of escape. The captive can Slip Bonds while Detained, if they have the Rogue Skill. If you have multiple detainment mechanisms, you may detain more than one character simultaneously.

Exploration Financier: At every event this Season, The Owner may reduce a chosen Adventuring Party’s movement or Exploration costs by 3 Dragon Gold after other effects like the Warrior’s Renown. Using Charitable Contribution Token or Dubious Dealings tokens increases the savings by 2 Dragon Gold each (minimum zero Dragon Gold). Multiple Merchant-vendors' Exploration Financier perks may stack Gold Dragon reduction on a single adventuring party-- but only once per business.

Fearsome Influence: (Prerequisite: 1+ Dubious Dealings tokens at Season Start) Once per Season, you may spend a Dubious Dealings token to chase off 2 monsters challenging your Adventuring Party on a Land Search. Before the first skirmish, discuss with the Cartographer organizing the fight. Before the first blows, you must RP flashing your Merchant's Badge phys rep and intimidate the monsters. The two chosen by the Cartographer will run. With war parties who have multiple types of monsters, those who are intimidated are always the weaker variety (Osterran Warriors, not the Chief; Goblins, not the Orcs). Creatures with sufficiently low intelligence (zombies, skeletons, thralls)-- though targeted-- are unaffected. Regardless of how many tokens used, the minimum number of remaining monsters must still be 2 or higher.

Fence Protect: The first time you are the victim of Pickpocket, you may substitute the coin pickpocketed from you with a note that they stole a Decoy coin pouch instead-- with nothing in it! You may expend a Charitable Contributions token to recharge this ability, if it's expended during an event. In addition, you may petition for reimbursement from the Guild on revenue lost by the T4 Rogue ability Fence, up to 25 gold per Season. You may take this Perk multiple times, assigning one pouch per worker.

Phys Rep: A coin pouch worn by a Merchant and a note you send to the thief when Pickpocketed. Please mark that this is a Merchant's Guild Perk in the note's text.

Limitations: This does not protect against filching in-game items or artifacts (such as Familiar Eggs or Sunbringer), which are prioritized above this decoy pouch.

Freelance Force: (Prerequisite: 3+ events worked) Sometimes, it takes a village. You may bring on temporary workers to supplement your workforce, increasing those working for your business above the maximum three. Once per Season, you may pay the Guild two silver per freelancer slot (no change given), up to five freelancer slots for at least one specific demonstrable service (e.g., "guarding Merchant's Row and detaining thieves" or "silvering weapons", but not catch-all "doing tasks as needed"). Freelancers do not benefit from Merchant Perks, a Badge, or Benefits like Owners or Apprentices; however, they are eligible for an Overtime Skill Point if they work long enough and dutifully perform the service at least once in good faith-- no favor-trading! You may expend a Reputation Token to refresh this Perk if you used it in a prior event.

Phys Rep: Freelancers must be associated with the business in some way, via a crest and/or a writ of identification with the duration of employment.

Limitations: This service requires special and advance approval by the Guild that it indeed requires multiple people or a specialized skill-- to prevent abuse-- and it's recommended Merchants pay freelancers or offer a means for compensation, like commission. The Owner is liable for Freelancer behavior, both in-character and out-of-character, just like Apprentices.

Special: Once per event-day, the Owner may switch which characters are in their Freelancer slots by informing the Guild and providing them with the relevant phys reps.

Fundraiser: (Prerequisite: You are under the Silver Oath for the season) Each event, select one service line from your offerings (i.e., "Silent Auction", "Scrolls", "Animal Companions", or "Food Items," among others) as a Fundraiser. Your Silver Oath does not apply to products associated with this offering. You may accept Gold or greater currency for this; however, 50% or more of the proceeds must be donated for the good of Osterra (i.e., returned to the Organizers.)

Special: Each event, you may change the service that ignores the Silver Oath. If you donate 50 gold or more to the Organizers in one season from these offerings, permanently gain 1 Charitable Contribution token at the next Season's Upkeep cycle-- or, if you have a Dubious Dealings token, replace it with a Charitable Contribution token. Finally, if you have the maximum of reputation tokens-- and all are Charitable Contribution tokens-- gain 1 skill point instead.

Fusebox: (Prerequisite: Worker is a Tier 1+ Artificer) The setup you have at your Merchant's Stand allows you the perfect environment to create ingenious inventions. Once per event, choose one Worker. When the Worker hits their Minimum Working Time and has expended a Fusion Point in association with a Merchant Service that moves coin, the Worker may regain their Fusion Point.

If the Owner decides to expend either a Charitable Contributions or Dubious Dealings token, the Worker instead gains two Fusion Points. Bonus Fusion Points may only be used during RP at the stationary Merchant Stand. You may take this Perk multiple times, with each time applying to a new Worker who is an Artificer. This Perk cannot stack on the same person.

Good Vibes Only: (Prerequisite: 1+ Charitable Contribution tokens at Season Start) Your (stationary) shop location is Sanctified as a Tier 5 Healer spell during your Working Hours. Only merchants with 1 Dubious Dealing token or less can enter, as well as harrying thieves or ne'er-do-wells. If dispelled in any manner, you may spend a Charitable Contribution token to reactivate it. You may also use Charitable Contribution tokens to increase the field's tier by 1.

Phys Rep: A white ribbon around the area of your stand that thieves cannot access, complete with label of the Tier. Signage is optional but will drive home the protection and prevent misunderstanding.

Limitation: As Owner, if you would have difficulty entering a Sanctified area and do so at your stand, Good Vibes Only ceases to exist (The Vibes are Off). Evil, greed, corruption, or scheming chases away Good Vibes as an Owner.

Headcount: (Prerequisite: Business with two co-owners or one apprentice) At the beginning of the Season, you may reduce your Upkeep cost by one Apprentice or Co-Owner. For example, if your Upkeep Total was 6 (base) + 2 (Co-Owner) Gold, you may reduce it by 2 Gold, from 8 Gold to 6 Gold.

Hometown Advantage: (Prerequisite: 6+ events worked) You know the region of your Headquarters better than most. For this Season, an Adventuring Party that you join can ignore all movement point penalties for Forest and Mountain exploration on the Hex in which your Headquarters is located, as well as all hexes adjacent to it. Once per event, You may spend a reputation token to increase that radius to a maximum of 2 hexes adjacent to your headquarters.

Inside Info: (Prerequisite: 1+ Dubious Dealings at Season Start) Your mercantile network grants you access to privileged information about Ore and precious metals. Once during this Season, if you are part of an Adventuring Party that claims a Mountain Hex or Prospects on one, you may roll twice on the Mineral Deposit table and take either result. Once expended, at the beginning of future events, you may expend a Dubious Dealings token to refresh this Perk.

Known Quantity: (Prerequisite: 9+ events, 3 Reputation Tokens OR Acclaim) You have put in the work; your reputation precedes you. When involved in a Land Search on the Encounter Table on which your Merchant headquarters is founded (e.g., Mundus Ferox, Vetus Mundi), announce this Perk before the results are rolled. You may influence the Affinity of who (or what) you discover. The Cartographer will either add 1 to the Affinity Roll by the result (making them on friendlier)... or subtract from it by 1 (making encounters more hostile), up to their discretion.

Phys Rep: Your Merchant's Guild Badge.

Special: The Cartographer's decision is based on your character's known deeds in the world in-game at real events. Perhaps if you are a dastardly Merchant, ferocious orcs have a respect for your ruthlessness. Or maybe if you're a notorious goodie-two-shoes, you will have additional difficulty parlaying with demons-- but not the Saurians, who are stewards of their fellow Osterrans. By using this Perk, the Merchant consents to making themselves known during the Land Search via RP, regardless of the result.

Limitation: Only one Merchant may use this Perk per Adventuring Party.

Locked Down: Your Security benefit this season also includes a resetting Tier 5 Trap that either does 5 torso damage OR does one damage through armor with a 5-minute duration Hold poison: Owner’s choice. You may utilize Charitable Contribution or Dubious Dealings tokens to increase both the Tier of the trap AND the lock by 2 each for the duration of the Season (Tier 7 Lock and Trap). You are considered as having the keys to disarm both.

Phys Rep: Make sure your cashbox has a trap + lock phys rep. This can be provided by the Guild or by yourself, but it must telegraph all relevant information to a would-be thief. Additional signage may help, but is optional.

Maker’s Mark: Choose one consumable the Owner can craft that you have a Service for at your stand, such as poisons or traps. For events the Owner (or designated Apprentice) is working this season, double the maximum quantity the Owner (or designated Apprentice) can create. If this costs coin, produce two of the consumables for the price of one. These bonus items must be sold at the stand at the standard price of the Service and not to Owners, Operators, or Apprentices. You may take this multiple times, each applying to a different item type or different Owner.

Mana Font: When the Worker hits their Minimum Working Time at an event, they can choose to gain back 100% of their mana for use immediately in creating scrolls and potions to be sold. These bonus scrolls and potions must be sold at the stand at the standard price of the Service and not to Owners, Operators, or Apprentices. You may take this multiple times, each applying to a different Worker.

Mentor-Maker: (Prerequisite: 6+ events) Choose an owner and an item-making Perk this Season, such as Mana Font, Accelerated Architect, Maker's Mark, or Accelerated Architect. Choose one apprentice. Each event, spending one reputation token upgrades the Apprentice's ability to the Owner's for the event's duration. For example, a Tier 1 Apprentice receives 6 mana at Minimum Working Time when working under a Tier 6 Wizard Merchant.

Special: You may take this Perk multiple times, but only once per Owner and once per Perk type. The Owner and Apprentice must both hit Minimum Working Time individually for the Perk to proc.

Merchant Emissary: You may strategically move your Headquarters. Apply this Perk last this Season. You create an emissary sent to found your new HQ, which is represented as an Adventuring Party on the Map, following the rules of movement (6 movement points per turn), except that it cannot claim hexes. However, the emissary benefits from your other Perks.

To form your emissary: spend 30 gold/Perk gained by days worked (120 gold for 4 Perks at 9+ events) upfront. Each turn, you spend 3 gold per movement point spent to move the emissary (forest and mountain hexes cost more movement points than plains.) At the end of any turn, your emissary may opt to settle in a willing Faction population center you have arrived at (approved by Faction's leader), in which you recuperate the upfront cost (but not the movement point costs.) At the beginning of next Season, your HQ will formally move to where you settled.

If you have not settled, you are considered an Adventuring Party on the map. Characters may utilize their offensive actions to accompany your merchant caravan and prevent harm from happening to it. Other Adventuring Parties may attack you instead of having a random encounter on the same hex. If the assailants win, your emissary is destroyed and the upfront cost is surrendered to the assailants.

Special: If you have a second co-Owner, you may keep the old Headquarters as well, so long as it is at least 6 hexes from any HQ of your business. The second co-Owner now directly manages at that location. If there is a third co-Owner, a third HQ may be founded-- again, it must be at least 6 hexes away from the other two.

On the Move: Your stand does not need to be in one place, so you can acquire Working Time away from the Market. The time only counts if you are actively holding and selling your wares or engaging in a performance associated with mercantile activities. Some merchants may have business trips, while other merchants might operate fully without a location, but for time to count, they must be actively operating. Perks and benefits for stationary locations do not apply while on the move. This perk applies to all workers at the stand: an Owner might be at the stand, while two Apprentices work on-the-move, for example.

Special: Once per event, if part of being On the Move involves a small structure (a cart, a chair, etc.) you may set it up temporarily in another location. Expend a Reputation Token. You may apply one Perk that you have taken for your Stationary Stand to this On the Move location until the end of the event OR you pack up and go On the Move again. For example, you could generate a smaller Good Vibes Only area, utilize Detain, or hook up a Power Node, so long as you took those Perks as well.

Opportunist: (Prerequisite: 9+ events) Once per event, you may spend a Dubious Dealing OR Charitable Contribution token to change any of your Chosen Perks for the rest of the season, except for Opportunist, Sordid Reputation, Merchant Emissary, and Sterling Reputation. If doing so, you must have a brief RP scene with the Merchant's Guildmaster-- in order to receive the new Perks, you need to tell the Guild!

Packed Itinerary: Before you draw a plot card at Winter Council, declare this Perk. You may draw two plot cards and pick the one you like best. If you use one of your Reputation Tokens, you may keep both.

Paid Time Off: You may choose 1 event this season in which your Merchant’s Guild benefits and Perks still apply (including Security but not Overtime), if you’re not working at that event or on location. This counts as an event worked, but you must still attend the event. This must be the same event for all persons employed but can be chosen at any time during the Season. Alternatively, you may choose not to work and instead reduce your Shop’s Upkeep Cost by 33%, rounded up to the nearest gold (minimum: zero upkeep).

Power Node: (Prerequisite: Owner is a Tier 3+ Artificer) You center your Merchant Stand on a mechanism that powers Artificer Objects using residual Gem energy. This freestanding "battery" must be visible, and it can be empowered by Gems. When you move at least 2 gold for a product or service that is associated with the Artificer Profession, you may choose one Worker. So long as they are working within reach of the stationary Merchant Stand, the number of Artificer Objects they can attune to increases by 1.

Augment: Expending a Medium (Tier 2) or Large (Tier 3) Gem applies this bonus to all Workers for 1 event-day. Expending a Exquisite Gem (Tier 4) or higher applies this bonus to all Workers for an entire event.

Phys Rep: A large Object's Materials representing some form of freestanding battery or power source that remains visible within the stand. This Object's Materials should be of a size that is unable to be Concealed, per the Rogue's Conceal Item. If augmented, add a Trap card with the Tier to disable, with the Tier to disarm (and the damage) being the Tier of the Gem used. Likewise, you need an Artificer Schematic that documents this power source present at the Stand.

Limitations: Though the battery may not be stolen or removed, Disarm Trap may end its augment. If this Worker leaves the Stand with the bonus Artificer Object, the Artificer Object's effects become dormant either until returning to work or repurposed by another Artificer.

Priority Customer: (Prerequisite: 1+ Dubious Dealings token at Season Start). Your greasing of the right palms speeds the process of building-- but your pressure might introduce cut corners that need time to correct. Consume one Dubious Dealings token. Roll 1d10. If you roll higher than 2, the build time of one of your Land Game population centers, resource-related improvements, or maritime units reduces by 1.

Limitations: You may only use Priority Customer once per event, but may expend another token to use this Perk on a different population center, resource-related improvement, or maritime unit. You may not use it twice on the same Build, even if you fail to expedite it.

Sea Legs: Your company is no stranger to literal shipping. This Season, a Faction Fishing Fleet, Transport Vessel, or War Galley of your choice increases its movement speed by 2 and increases its yield by 1 Food OR 3 Dragon Gold per harvest, provided it does not support an Invasion or similar PvP Offensive Action. You may expend a Reputation Token to extend this benefit to a second vessel. These benefits do not stack on the same ship.

Smuggler: (Prerequisite: 1+ Dubious Dealings tokens at Season Start) You may conceal one item in your (stationary) stand per event, as the Tier 4 Rogue Skill, during your Working Hours. Only Owners and Merchant’s Guild leadership know where this compartment is. You may spend a Dubious Dealing token to increase the number of items concealed by 1.

Trade Route: (Prerequisite: 3+ events) You make good time when traveling to and from larger markets. This season, once per event, an Adventuring Party you join in the land game receives three extra movement points on their turn (forest and mountain hexes cost more movement points than plains), provided the start of their movement is on a hex with a Town or City. This does not stack with other land game movement benefits.

Venture Insurance: (Prerequisite: 1+ Charitable Contributions tokens at Season Start) When others knock you down, you are uplifted by the community due to your good deeds. Once this Season, when you join an Adventuring Party and lose an Exploration skirmish, the associated Faction recuperates all Gold Dragons invested in that Land Search in their coffers. The Merchant may recharge this Perk by spending a Charitable Contribution token. This Perk does not apply to Invasions.

Most Important Reminders

Both LARP Bleed and min/maxing are anathema to the Merchant's Guild-- it is designed to balance fun with Service to the LARP Adventures community. All Professions are meant to elevate the experience for this fun hobby we share.

While some of our characters are dastardly in-game, we come to it with mutual respect for every other character playing the game.

Rivalries or enmity is encouraged, but only in-character.
Separating the Player from the Character sometimes requires active management. Failure to do so will likely will result in kind reminders and then Organizer intervention.
Excessive LARP Bleed or min/maxing does not have a place in the Guild.

On the flipside, it's a two-way street. Getting disparaged for being a Merchant by non-Merchants is not tolerated either. Please let us know if you feel targeted. We want to ensure we respect the gift you're giving every time you come to an event.

“No merchant is entitled to a monopoly on a type of service or dictating how things should be priced. Competition is healthy. We’re not in the business of making things personal, either. We’re all here to make Osterra better in our own ways.
Pushing too far to exploit the letter of current regulations draws unwanted attention from regulators—and invites ham-fisted attempts to curb the behavior. Twisting the freedoms we are tacitly afforded threatens all merchants, and it’s in the Guild’s interest to discourage it. Be wise, be discreet, and don’t break things without a good reason.
Happy dealings! I look forward to seeing your own totally legitimate business!”
– Trez Arrigo, Guildmaster

Osterra’s Merchant's Guild is Organizer approved, and meant to be a little meta in the same way that the Guilds for the Skill Paths are there to help facilitate good role playing practices, fair play, as well as govern and regulate players' skills, spells, and abilities. The Merchant's Guild works to provide guidance and player services to those interested in building commerce in the realm.

Reapproved by Skip Lipman, July 2025