Traditionally, most children would participate in the First Market with their parents or guardians, who might have already had experience in commerce from exposure. With the busy nature of a samurai's duty and sometimes extraordinary circumstances, some children might not have someone available to help them with their sales. Yasuki Umiko has stepped in and arranged several volunteers to participate in the event so that no child would find themselves without help on their sale. Of course, there are also children or parents who might believe that working with a samurai outside of their Family or Clan would give them an advantage in working with others in the future and have gladly opted into Yasuki Umiko's program to pair each child with a volunteer on the First Market.
Magic: Yes, magic is allowed.
A little help!
Each participant will be working alongside a local Yasuki youth. They would be working with them to interact with respective customers of all customers in hopes that they can earn some coin to put towards their ward's studies or new hobbies. Each roll done in this event will be done as a cooperative roll, meaning rolls here will be done normally, but with only a +1 bonus. These are children who have yet to begin their samurai training, after all. The object of this event is to ensure that their ward has a successful First Market showing and potentially make some happy memories of their hometown along the way.
Way of the Merchant
With this event, each participant (with their ward) will have up to four actions they may perform. These can be performed in any order and repeated in this event. Please note that some actions do not sell any items for Coin Points and only generate Value Points to potentially boost the value of their ward's goods or aid in the sale of goods. If Value Points are not converted into Coin Points by the end of the event through the Selling action, they are lost and do not contribute to the final score.
The following are actions taken in the event...
- Action: Selling
This action is used to sell goods already on hand, which can be the ward's own possessions, items from the household or the family's own business. These goods are already on hand for the entire event, and this action can be repeated by selling these goods alone. The character and their ward will need to make a Commerce/Perception skill roll at TN15. On success, the item is sold and the team earns 1 Coin Point with an additional 1 Coin Point per Raise Called.
Alternatively, the volunteer merchant and their ward may make a sale using Sincerity(Deceit)/Awareness or Intimidation(Bully)/Willpower at TN20 to coerce a sale instead. On success, the item is sold and the team earns 1 Coin Point with an additional 1 Coin Point per Raise Called. This will result in Honour Loss and potentially set a bad example for the child (depending on the guardians' opinion).
This action can also be used to sell all goods on hand purchased or traded in the 'Buying' action (see below). In a successful roll, in addition to any Coin Points earned, the team may convert any Value Points on hand to Coin Points of the same amount in Value Points on hand.
- Action: Buying
While the ward is bound to have plenty of goods to sell towards their future, there are also several children doing the same in the First Market. A wily and enterprising merchant may realize that there are deals to be found here. The volunteer and their ward may trade their items or purchase items from other participants of the First Market, growing their offerings for their respective stores so that they can increase profits. This is done using either a Commerce(Appraisal)/Perception, an Investigation(Search)/Awareness or an Investigation(Search)/Perception at TN15. On success, the team receives 2 Value Points, with an additional 1 Value Point per Called Raise.
- Action: Market
The team of merchants and ward may attempt to do more than just offer their wares for sale, but also market their offerings to the attendees of the First Market. This action can be done to represent grabbing their attention, advertising their wares, or appealing to others to support their ward's future. This action is done using either Courtier(Gossip)/Awareness, Perform: Any/Awareness or Agility (as appropriate to skill in the Core Book), Artisan: Painting/Awareness or Acting/Awareness at TN15. On success, the team receives 1 Value Point, with an additional 1 Value Point per Called Raise. The next Selling action that is performed in this event also benefits from a temporary Luck reroll; this reroll does not stack with further Market actions.
- Action: Build
Each team will be given only a table or blanket where they may put their wares on display to sell. While this is serviceable enough for the purposes of the event, parents and guardians have gotten a bit more wily over the years with their involvement. Bending the rules of the First Market a little, each team may dress up their selling space to grab attention, potentially going so far as building a bona fide stall or stand so that the team can sell their goods much more easily. This is done by rolling either Craft: Carpentry/Strength or Engineering/Intelligence at TN15 to construct the means to attract more customers. If successful, for the duration of the event, the team may make all of their rolls with a Free Raise and as if they were rolling with Emphasis.
At the conclusion of the event, all sales are tallied with each merchant and ward to determine if their venture in the First Market has been successful. Overall, Yasuki Umiko will be thankful for the help of each participant and their role in aiding each child with their sales. Ultimately, a good number of koku collected will ensure that each child will have some extra coin when they begin their studies, which can either give them an extra leg up towards their future, delve into new interests, or simply some money to spend leisurely.
For each team, here are the rewards based on their success in the event:
4-6 Coin Points, the participant earns 1 Bid Point.
7-9 Coin Points, the participant earns 2 Bid Points.
10-12 Coin Points, the participant earns 3 Bid Points.
13+ Coin Points, the participant earns 4 Bid Points.
