So I've just had an email from one of my players who has said that, straight up, they think adventuring will be a net negative and they want to get involved in the trading economics because that seems to have a more reliable outcome in terms of enriching themselves.
Looking at the Ravens Purge adventures and running them RAW, I can't completely argue that he's wrong.
How do I convince him that Medieval Sim isn't the best option? He's not content to scrape by making 2-3d6 silver fighting undead in a cairn when he could more safely make money working as a smith.
And he has a point! Like Weatherstone, the ruins of a Named King has insulting low rewards for such a risky site:
-d6xd6sp
-d6cp, d6sp (why is this all fricking random?) and a Valuable Find (avg: 3d6 sp, but up to 1d6 gp)
-d6xd6sp
-7d6 cp, 5d6 sp, and 2d6 gp
-Algarod's Crown worht 3-6d6 sp???
-the gear of the other treasure hunters if fought/killed
-a magic sword
And all you have to do is escape a deathknight and a castle full of undead for that 'amazing' payday. Now, he's not seen this yet, so he doesn't realize how bad it is, just that things haven't gone well for them so far.
I'm about to say, if you want to be a villager, that's a fine retirement for the character. But as this is a meta-sentiment, I think I might just lose the player...all of his characters will feel the same.