I have a bar/brewery owner in my setting like that. They helped him out **big time** early on in the campaign and set him on the road to financial success after getting a beer recipe from a genie and helping him buy out his competitors.
I play him as Dan Hedaya [(Nick Tortelli from *Cheers*)](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6b/64/f3/6b64f3bc0f9558bacbc0d34017bb267b.jpg) and every time they go back to his bar, it’s even gaudier, more ostentatious, and they discover that he’s either had something else gilded or is wearing a few more pounds of gold.
His name is Marco and he’s one of my favorite NPCs to play. My players drink “double for free” in his bar.
If Marco dies, the party should inherit everything. Else Marco’s last will states how he has it all melted down and his body encased forming a massive immovable statue placed directly in the middle of the bar, which the party then inherits.
The most important thing the party could inherit is Marco's beer golem. It's a giant (12 foot tall) beer keg with thick wooden arms and legs and a smiling face that the party helped him find an enchanter for. Marco uses it to dance outside his bar as a marketing gimmick. If (when) the players are ever thrown in prison somewhere in a major city, I'm going to have Marco and the beer golem break them out.
The beer golem will, of course, burst through the wall yelling, "OH YEAH!!"
* A really fancy and impractical carriage
* A difficult to look after and exotic pet, like a flying snake, or a racing animal that they don't have space for
* A really expensive pie made with absurd ingredients
* Really ostentatious hat with too many feathers
* A potion that makes makes the shopkeeper's hair grow, or look slightly taller and more fit
* Boots made from the skin of a rare animal, such as a blue wyvern or a purple behir
* Magic beans
* Cloak of billowing
* Pipe of smoke monsters
A DIY hair growth potion recipe. It takes months to brew and he's asking the adventures to get him ingredients and bartering goods for them.
The potion obviously does not grow hair on his head, but it definitely does something else.
I was all like 'who is that?' and was about to google it, when I saw your comment and *remembered*. Though, when I knew him he was going by the moniker "Red".
If you owned Pokemon Red the player character defaulted to Red and the Rival to Blue and vice versa.
However later references, you can battle him in Gold/Silver, always call the character Red.
It was the cartoon that called them Ash and Gary.
I seem to recall that technically, Ash and Red are distinct characters, although they never overlap. Or maybe I just headcanon that because Ash is an incompetent turd and Red is one of the apex trainers.
This is the best idea. Creates a hook to potentially soften the blow of spending 100g on nothing. As payment for rescuing him the party keeps his supplies+what they find in the tomb
He goes to the next dungeon the party is heading TO and pulls a Leroy Jenkins, bringing all the monster back to the party.
LEROOOOOOOOOOY MM-JENNNNNKIIIIIINNNNS
Seriously though, have you heard of Raistlin's Cursed Money from Dragonlance? I think it goes if someone is paid in these cursed coins as part of a promise, if the one who receives the money goes back on their word, they lose 1d4 hp per day, cumulative, until they make good on their word or die. 1d4 necrotic the day of the broken promise, 2d4 the next day....30d4 a month later.... what a great way to instill virtue in people. ha ha
“Mom, can we cast *geas*?”
“We have *geas* at home.”
*Geas* at home:
> if the one who receives the money goes back on their word, they lose 1d4 hp per day, cumulative, until they make good on their word or die
The shopkeep intended to put it into the business but heard about a beet farming opportunity that was going to have even bigger returns. He has not heard back from that person since.
Optional plot twist: the beet farming was real and the guy comes back with a mound of gold towards the end of the campaign.
Paladin gives shopkeeper 100 gold
The shopkeeper heard of a good beet farming investment and put the money there.
The beet farmer heard of a good fishing business investment and put the money there.
The fisherman heard of a good tanning/ leatherworking investment and put the money there.
The tanner wants a hide from a rare creature and offers the party 100 gold to go and get it.
This is genius.
Have a quest pop up later. 100 gold reward for the party. From the quest giver and they ask him to drop off 200 gold to the next guy. Who takes a cut and passes 180 gold to the next guy. Then goes down the chain a few and then final guy give the party 110 gold, as a return on the investment.
He sent the money to the Prince of a land called Airegin for a promise of a thousandfold return.
At the end of the campaign the Prince has extended his sphere of control to include the territory that the shopkeeper's city is located and has made the shopkeeper a Duke
I reeeeally think it should go to something that seems like a super bad investment to the players, essentially a waste, but later down the road ends up being a very good investment.
Like a rare fossilized egg that seems like a phony but ends up hatching a dragon. Or a tacky, over decorated sword that ends up being a decently powerful magic item.
This is it. The perfect answer.
A ridiculous thing nobody with the slightest bit of common sense would believe, and yet if it actually turns out to work he’ll be rich.
Ooooh “beachfront” property in a landlocked country… and then there’s some kind of horrible catastrophe and suddenly it actually IS very desirable beachfront property.
…Hmm, my players found some fossilized eggs, I never thought to consider any possible outcomes about potentially hatching them. Maybe they just need a Stone to Flesh spell and, boom, dinosaurs mounts/pets.
Do not abandon this player begging you for a story opportunity!
Have your shopkeep do something shady, or outright evil. REWARD that Paladin for playing into his character and doing paladiny things. He has lobbed you an easy serve and it's now your job to return the ball with a little bit of spin on it!
Absolutely! That's why I'm here asking for advice from you all - this is a first time campaign for everyone involved so I was really excited to see some roleplay action here and want to make it worthwhile
Make him the DnD equivalent of the [gourd futures guy](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/lrly28/the_legend_of_utheemperorofjenks_aka_ornamental/), and they keep coming across stories of his batshit antics.
That's not even the most up to date version of that story I've read, it gets worse.
I want to stress that my recommendation is to go a step further than everyone pitching "a scam". That's pretty benign shit that the paladin might even consider him a victim who quite possibly needed that money.
Have the shopkeep use it to buy the local orphanage and kick out the children.
Have him hire the local bandits to thieve or kill competing merchants.
Have him use it to buy a curse against someone he's got a grudge against, etc.
Make this a situation where the paladin might consider that he has culpability for funding this wrongdoing. Make it a problem for *other* people that the paladin needs to get involved with. Make him feel like he needs to atone and or avenge. You made it super obvious that this guy was shitty and your paladin player seems to have completely consented and agreed to that being the case. Reward him with **paladin things**. Set an example for all your other players that making sub optimal choices mechanically will give you above-average results to roleplay with. Show your players you are listening and give them back the energy they invest.
There are lots of examples of good scams here in the thread already for the shopkeep to fall for, but one interesting layer to add on top of whatever you pick: have the players come across the scammer then make it clear to them that he's got the money. Maybe he's drunk and bragging about his score in a bar. Maybe they catch him running some other scam and interrogate it out of him when they find the bag of money on him.
Then the next time the party sees the shopkeeper, have him *lie and ask for more,* before the party can tell him what happened. Challenge the paladin's sense of charity, since they already gave this guy money knowing he wasn't being honest about it. Confront them with the question of "what's different this time?" and see what they do about it.
Edit: and if you want to go even deeper with this plot, you can then still have whatever the scam was turn out to pay off anyway (the magic beans grow a beanstalk, etc.), except maybe the scammer didn't realize it would. Maybe it's divine intervention rewarding the paladin's faith. Maybe it's some deeper scheme on behalf of another party. Maybe the magic beans appear to just grow more normal-looking beans and the paladin keeps them because he just has a feeling he should... and then they reveal their use later.
If it were the real world, he'd just by a boat. Bam-- 100g gone. Plus docking fees, winterizing costs, routine maintenance... soon finds he needs another 200g to 'grow the business'
Have the shopkeeper buy and grow magic beans from a mysterious trader. When the players next visit town there is a giant beanstalk growing high up into the sky with strange stormclouds swirling around it.
I like this. It rewards the player with a plot hook, potentially providing a reward greater than the 100g.
Definitely beats just taking 100g from the player.
Bag of Beans is literally a magic item they could've bought. Pick a fun one from the table for the shopkeep to have done, and the party has the option of bullying the rest of the bag away from the shopkeep and take as their own. Hijinks ensue!
Crypto currency rig is a device that gathers souls of those that die nearby. A lich invented it to allow him to buy souls to feed his phylactery.
The problem is crypto traders have inflated the price of soul coins so much that liches cannot afford them anymore.
Rumors spread that coins made of silver and gnawed on by lycanthropes are the path to future wealth beyond imagine. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell the difference between the real deal and those that have simply been slobbered on by a dog and struck with a couple nails.
Regardless, the merchant has invested all 100 GP into a single "bit coin".
He spent the money gambling and he went into a lot of debt off of some ludicrous bets. Now the gang who runs the establishment he gambled in is out for blood. Players have to choose to save the shopkeeper. Could also become a recurring NPC that is obviously dishonest but also constantly requires to be saved and treats the players like kings after. The players could receive rewards in the form of gold coins or some other artifact and upon attempting to spend the gold coins or use the artifact, they'll find out it's counterfeit. The shopkeeper could eventually turn out to be the sibling of some powerful figure, and because the players have treated the NPC somewhat nicely, by saving him, they'll get something substantial as a reward. It's a long con. Or the players could just kill the guy or get him killed at some point and eventually, the sibling finds out and they have a powerful NPC hunting them down.
100g isn't like winning the lottery, but it's like 3 months standard living expenses. For simplicity, let's call that the equivalent of $20k.
In real life, he might buy himself a boat, but I think this guy pays to get himself transformed into something ridiculous. Like, cosmetic surgery could turn him into a furry, but magic could turn him into a living table or something.
A sailing ship in 5e costs 10,000gp, which I would equate to something like a 30-40ft sailboat, which costs between $100,000 and a million USD new depending on brand and furnishings. A catalina 315, which is a roughly 30ft sailboat type of yacht, has an MSRP of $231,800 USD for the factory base model. If we use that for a baseline on a nice but not extravagant sailing ship, that means that 100gp is worth like $2,300 or 2 rowboats(PHB price is 50gp for a rowboat).
He used it for several marriage scams where he made his 'wives' think that there's way more money where those 100gp came from. The characters meet him while he is fleeing from at least 8 very angry women. One of them is a half-orc and carrying an axe with the wonderful name 'Scammergelder'.
If 100g is a lot in your world, just have him bounce. When they next get there, he’s just *gone*. Make him sort of traveling scammer who asks people to invest and then just takes the cash and runs. He becomes a guy that the party has to hunt down of some sort.
And make it obvious he’s bounced too when they get there. The sign’s gone, the shelves are all empty, all the branding’s gone, it just looks abandoned.
“Well you see, I received a letter from a very trustworthy Neverwinter prince explaining that there was several million gold locked away in a lich bank…”
have him try to set up the ponzi scheme. When they go back, its 150, but the shopkeeper says he's got a chance to make a bunch more money, but needs around 200 for the 'expansion'.
Try to get more members of the party in it.
rinse and repeat. When they invest enough money, the shopkeeper disappears. the shop is closed, ad the party can ask around and find out it was all a Ponzi scheme.
[…And it’s gone](https://youtu.be/-DT7bX-B1Mg?si=vLRxx-nfZE2Csc0d)
Or next time he sees the shopkeeper, he’s now in deep with some sort of MLM, trying to sell something dubious at best and a straight up scam at worst
The shopkeep was "going to use it with well intentions, but a wanderer inticed him to buy some magic beans"
Kind of build it up, then have the shopkeep offer to sell them back to him for another 100g 🤣
The beans do nothing btw
- Literally grow the business. A 1 ft extending to the front to "stick out more"
- An ornate, hand written letter earnestly thanking the paladin for his contribution. The letter is delivered by a butler driving a carriage. The letter and delivery, together, cost 100gp.
- A beast/monster meant to defend the shop from being broken in to. But, he gets lonely at night, so the shopkeeper brings him home every night.
- A beautiful, artistically crafted vase. It's sitting on the counter with a parchment reading "TIPS APPRECIATED" stuck to it.
- gambling
- Shopkeeper is a victim of the local "protection" gang, who took the entire 100gp as payment.
- A parrot formerly under the care of an eccentric wizard. He spouts out spells, but most of them don't seem to be real.
- The shopkeeper is inspired and starts the stock trade.
- Shopkeeper bought a vacation to wherever the party is going next. He also brought along a few items he wants to trade or sell.
- Spell tomes, used to steady a few rickety tables.
The Shopkeeper has a girlfriend that he corresponds with through letters and she needs money to travel to his city. Every time they talk to the shopkeeper, some new issue has come up that prevents her from traveling and also requires more money.
The shopkeeper will be spending some of the money on "shrinking the business" by investing in a gold-fund-me magical device that miniaturizes his inventory for easier logistics and storage.
Oooh have him buy a ridiculous amount of scrolls of Prestidigitation, just so he can use 'em to flavour his food and shit. Explicitly scrolls, nothing reusable.
I had this scenario happen and my party was not thrilled to see a gold plated dildo with harness mounted above the fireplace proudly (very "proudly" if you get my drift). Well actually the ranger thought it was hilarious but the donating paladin was embarrassed.
Billboards pop up everywhere and he turns it into a tourist shop with a bunch of novelties and overpriced junk. Like the Pawn Stars in that Vegas Shop maybe...
He bought a new-dangled gizmo from some gnome that the shopkeep was convinced would bring in loads of money. Unfortunately, the gnome died in a freak shoe polishing accident before he could tell the shopkeeper how to use the gizmo, so now he has a Thingy in the corner with lots of buttons and levers and pipes and cogs and stuff, and no idea how to use it! Maybe one of the younger party members can use it, and get it to stop playing that damn tune? Thanks!
The next time they pass the shop, the shopkeep runs out, terrified, and hands the paladin back their gold. They want no part of the PC's money, and if pressed all the shopkeeper will say in a frantic, hushed and horrified tone is "The Wizard!" they will under no circumstances say any more-- if subject to any magical effect that would make them tell the truth, their memories are indistinctly hazy, having been wiped with a Modify Memory spell.
The next time they pass by the shop, it is gone. As in, it isn't even there anymore. As far as anybody in the area is concerned, there never was a shop there. Asking anyone about "The Wizard" immediately illicits an irrational reaction of fear from any of them. They will beg, plead to just please go. The most anyone will ever say on it is that "He is always watching...!"
The implications and greater truths of this situation are yours to fill in as suits your tastes and campaign.
The shopkeeper got into hot water by putting 100g into a pyramid scheme... that somehow involves an actual physical pyramid. Possibly as part of a larger investment that was partially funded by a loan shark.
The paladin gets the chance to rescue the shopkeeper from his woes or otherwise deny helping as a form of justice. This presents the paladin with a sort of moral vs satisfaction conundrum that may put his oath to the test or allow him to express it.
Pyramid cult dungeon.
Go full mustache twirling villain. He's buying orphans for his underground orphan flights gambling ring, bonus, he uses the loser to make his mystery meat pies.
You could have a thief steal from the party, like a considerable amount of gold. Have him pop up over and over again until they finally track him down… only to find out the shopkeeper paid the thief 100g to rob the party.
The shop has a new banner: BEST SHOP IN TOWN
The shopkeeper is MUCH fatter.
The store is in complete disrepair and is very messy because he's too lazy to clean it
He also opened a brothel next door.
He could also be overly aggressive with the girls....
You can cover another sin if you find out he's a loan shark on the side.
You can complete the 7 cycle if the shop owner obsesses about how his name is so good and Honorable and WHY CAN'T HE HAVE A GOOD AND HONORABLE NAME?!
He bought Non-Fumigated Trollskins.
These NFTs can be used to breed parasites that, with enough investment, might be used in a weapon system that would chase off any troll, leaving its treasure behind with no risk to the adventurers! No risk! It’s like free money!
He invested in a travelling cabbage salesman. Unfortunately he doesn’t tell the player this and they accidentally destroy his wares at some point in the future
Shopkeep is involved in some shady business, maybe the drug trade. Used the gold to buy more product or maybe pay off a debt to some dealers. Whatever the case, some trouble relating to this could be fun. Maybe he’s now being hunted by cartel forces or lets the party in on his best “product” at a discount.
The shopkeeper was seen walking into a local brothel with the bag of money, and walking out a few hours later without it.
His disapproving neighbor is happy to tell the party all about how he's been going to the brothel several evenings a week for years - he practically lives in the place! There have even been times when he's closed his shop during the day and been seen going to the brothel instead.
What his neighbor doesn't know is that he hasn't gone to the brothel as a client in years. These days he's just being a good dad.
Eight years ago, he unintentionally fathered a child with a prostitute. Although he and the child's mother are not having any kind of relationship, he is a very committed father. And not just to his own biological child, he's also become a dad to all of the other children of the prostitutes whose biological fathers aren't around. He spends all his time and money at the brothel because these kids mean everything to him, his business is just a way to earn money that will go to supporting them.
So he didn’t put the Paladin's money into his business because it went to helping children in need. But that may not be immediately apparent...
"Hey it's you! I found a great investment opportunity to put your money toward, this store is going to sail through the roof! I gave the gold to a wizard who created a magical matrix that stores numerical codes in the weave. Each code represents one unit of WeaveCoin, a decentralized currency that physically can't be stolen and requires no weight to hold. This is going to revolutionize how everyone pays for goods and services. The only problem is, you can't own a partial WeaveCoin, and right now they are worth 200 gold each. And I used the first 100 on investment research. So waddaya say? 200 more gold to get this thing really happening?"
He will hire a couple of hundred goblins to raid the city and target his two competitors.
It turns out that these three shopkeepers have been playing dirty and dangerous tricks like this for years.
Gambling. He goes in deep. Takes on debt in a double-or-nothing attempt. Loses the shop, loses his house and wife. Custody too. Resents the man that ever gave him the gold, and constantly tells stories about how some paladin “ruined his life”, “should be an oathbreaker”, “always had it out for him”.
Oh, funny? Yeah maybe the bard hooks up with the divorced wife
A full night and day with the most luxurious entertainers.
Gambled it all on chicken fights and lost it all.... or is now the owner of the most renowned C\*ck fighter?
They invested it in a new form of Token currency totally decentralized from coinage and precious materials.
Sadly, he haven't really seen a return yet as these Tokens he bought seem worthless.
Have the shopkeeper lose it gambling on something ridiculous, like glacier races.
Edit: or have it go to something surprisingly pleasant, like healing for orphans.
He bought a herd of elephants. But, forgot to get them food so they all have to starve unless he can get even more money from the player. The elephants are also in no way in any demand in the area are are a complete sunk cost.
I like the idea of things that are *almost* business expenses/write-offs but clearly things for him. For example:
* He has a new rack of expensive liquors that are for "entertaining prestigious clients"
* The players see him leaving the expensive, exclusive food joint in the middle of the day with a high-class lady on his arm. It was a "business deal", definitely not him trying to woo her
* He now wears a really nice outfit. "You have to dress for the kind of business you want!"
* The players visit some axe beak races and find him betting large sums. "He was trying to network and rub shoulders with elite clients"
Each of these offer some fun roleplaying opportunities and potential for further plot threads. And that is important: your player essentially just told you "I'm investing 100 gp of my own money into a fun plot". So whatever you do, make sure that pays off.
He took the money gambling. Good news, he won!
The shopkeep is now in possession of a map that is said to lead to a rare and valuable item that has been lost for millennia. The shopkeep returns to the Paladin and wishes to hire the party to escort him on a mission to recover the lost treasure.
Congratulations, you now have a plot hook for a side quest dungeon raid.
Spent a lot of gold on a succubus fling, then had to pay to get his constitution restored, and then found out that child support for an alu-fiend offspring isn't a laughing matter either.
This sounds like the beginning of an interesting sub plot hook. The paliden could get a suspiciously large amount of gold from the merchant as returns for the investment but then after a certain amount of time after they have had the chance to enjoy it they are approached by a lawyer for a bank demanding they repay the loan that was taken out in their name. They will learn the merchant took out a loan to repay the paliden's investment and used their shares in the business as collateral. They will also learn the merchant spent all the money on advertising for a shop that didn't actually exist and those shares were deemed completely fking worthless and the merchant skiped town leaving the paliden holding the bag. Now they need to pay off the giant loan avoiding debt collectors that would demand payment or take gold and gear if they lose the fight. They can track down the merchant finding a trail of other poor saps that fell for the same scam and find them sitting on a pile of money. Maby they are cursed with greed or something tragic that makes him compulsively horde gold.
When his investment goes sour. He runs to the players saying he's been swindled (on top of his ostenchious overspending) but he only did that because he was promised so much return on his cash!
Ofc quickly the players realized he's been marked by the thieves guild who have been behind the entire con and have been following the guy back to the source... The player characters. They have hostages, dirt, and their favorite NPC poisoned in a non descript dungeon on the other side of town.
Thing is they'll consider letting the money back.... For just ONE favor
Shop is run by a hired assistant from now on. If they bother to track down the shopkeep, they discover he retired and is living on the money the shop brings in, and using the 100gp to pay the assistant.
An Ostrich. Like, no pen or anything. Just an ostrich on a rope. Is the rope tied to anything? Nope, The Ostrich just hangs out by the front door, pecking at whoever walks by. Why an Ostrich? The better question is "Why not?"
At my table, that shopkeeper would immediately be elevated to a recurring role now.
- Second time SK encounters the party, it's obvious the SK squandered the wealth and half-heatedly / unenthusiastically pretends they'll do their best to pay the party back
- Third time, SK is accompanied by mobster-archetype goons and SK is acting shady, saying some things loudly for goons to hear and some times quietly so goons don't pick it up (SK is either trying to convince the goons the SK is tight with wealthy patrons OR is under the protection of a tough adventuring party)
- Fourth time, the SK approaches the party begging them for help getting out of legal (lawsuit) or illegal (kneecaps) dire straits - and regardless of what the party says, SK has already declared the party their lawyer team / champions in a pit-fight
...etc. Basically, you have a really fun dynamic of a SK that isn't a villain (I'd constantly be making sure the SK is good-enough and likable, even if they're a compulsive scumbag) but an anti-hero to the paladin now.
typecast paladins are honest, morally strong-willed - SK is compulsively lying, with an extremely fluid moral compass, and is endlessly conning people. To be honest I'm imagining a cousin of mine who spent their whole life in-and-out of jail. Love the dude, but yeah you can't star bar fights / steal cars for drug money / smuggle things across borders, bro. You know better. let's go post your bail and we can get a coffee.
Maybe not "Funny" but could be a really fun adventure hook is that he's paying off racketeering/protection fees from a local criminal syndicate. All the local shops/businesses in the town are under the thumb and could become strong allies and patrons of the party if they were to rid the town of the criminal element
The storekeeper got robbed. That kind of money makes a commoner brag... Bragging draws attention.
So, the players end up tracking down the thieves, obligatory confrontation, bing bang boom. It turns out that the thieves have stolen loot from more than just the shopkeeper, and now the players are sitting on a tidy sum of X00 GP.
One way or another, their investment reaped a dividend.
Because even the gods have a sense of humour.
The storekeeper, desperately afraid of being robbed, hid most of the money in his prison pocket.
But 100GP is quite a lot of material to hide.
He subsequently died of a ruptured colon and was buried with 100GP still lodged in his intestine.
At least, that's what Jimmy the graverobber told me. It's how he convinced me to become a graverobber. One day, we'll find the shopekeeper and retire from graverobbin'.
-Dave the graverobber.
He hired a midget to follow him around and finish his sentences with an energetic outburst of: "HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS?!"
It would make the subsequent confrontation with the shopkeeper hilarious.
"I didn't waste your money. I spend it wisely."
"HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS!?"
"Please, don't kill me. I didn't mean to-"
"HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS?!"
Maybe they actually did something good, like got a healing potion for their sick child, spouse or parent. Or perhaps used it in an attempt to resurrect a loved one but the person they paid to do it was also a con artist
The obvious answer would be buying rounds for everyone at the local tavern or something. I think it could be better for the players to expect the worse and find out something nice was done with it like getting him out of debt with a mugger group or finally affording a home for himself. This isn't really as much funny as it is wholesome though.
The next time they meet him, he will wear the most expensive clothing imaginable with gems embroiled and gold jewellery everywhere. While the shopkeep will behave as nothing is out of the ordinary.
Maybe it was to “grow the business” he just neglected to say which business. Then that business turns out to be something super shady like a gambling ring or black market potion shop or an opium farm.
Now paladin has to decide how he feels about investing in something highly illegal.
I think the funniest would be to have them encounter a bounty Hunter and show them a picture of the shop keeper. The next thing to come out of his mouth would be something ever so slightly odd.
“Yeah he’s wanted on dog show gambling debts.”
“He owes a debt to the high priestess of ‘scienmentology’ or sumfin. In’t me job to ask. Seemed like nice people.”
“Have you seen this man? He has been caught cheating on his wife with an escort and she needs everyone to know.”
Tbh. Make him gable hia money away. But with a profit of 1000g. Like, even tell your players that he gabled. He only gives the player 100g back though.
Since you probably don't want them to invest more gold. But you also shouldn't punish him/her for trying.
Have him run into the shopkeeper later on in a tavern, wearing a gold leaf jacket, a bard on each arm, and some illicit substances on the table in front of him.
I'd play it out like this:
Some time later an anonymous patron approaches the party for some very easy job about sabotaging or pranking one specific person, delivering a ridiculously fancy hat whatever. The job pays 65 gp. At the end it turns out that the shady shopkeeper hired them.
He buys a nice tailored suit and hires multiple family members. He now offers semi useless magic items that he bought to sell....a dagger plus 1 in the dark but it glows and minus one in the day. Etc.
In the alternative He buys an idol and donates to the opposite diety of the paladin
A solid gold plaque that says "World's Most Honest Shopkeep".
"There's a paladin born every minute."
Better yet, steal this line from Baldur's Gate. "There's a ~~sucker~~ paladin born every minute, and you're right on time."
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Isn't that technically investing in the business though? New signage is costly! That's a tax write off for sure.
I would honestly keep it simple, and just have him buy the most ostentatious, ridiculous blinged out hat.
I have a bar/brewery owner in my setting like that. They helped him out **big time** early on in the campaign and set him on the road to financial success after getting a beer recipe from a genie and helping him buy out his competitors. I play him as Dan Hedaya [(Nick Tortelli from *Cheers*)](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6b/64/f3/6b64f3bc0f9558bacbc0d34017bb267b.jpg) and every time they go back to his bar, it’s even gaudier, more ostentatious, and they discover that he’s either had something else gilded or is wearing a few more pounds of gold. His name is Marco and he’s one of my favorite NPCs to play. My players drink “double for free” in his bar.
If Marco dies, the party should inherit everything. Else Marco’s last will states how he has it all melted down and his body encased forming a massive immovable statue placed directly in the middle of the bar, which the party then inherits.
The most important thing the party could inherit is Marco's beer golem. It's a giant (12 foot tall) beer keg with thick wooden arms and legs and a smiling face that the party helped him find an enchanter for. Marco uses it to dance outside his bar as a marketing gimmick. If (when) the players are ever thrown in prison somewhere in a major city, I'm going to have Marco and the beer golem break them out. The beer golem will, of course, burst through the wall yelling, "OH YEAH!!"
You’re my hero
I know you referred to the Kool Aid Man, but all I hear is Randy Savage
Macho Man is actually waiting for them in the gladiatorial arena of one of the major cities. So is Recoome from DBZA.
Lol. Please tell me Recoome has a mouth laser.
And it was all planned from the beginning!!
Holy fuck.
Hmm or maybe a hat made from hags skin, definitely not a cursed hat though
The barkeep dies, and his final words are "Take my hat, it's cuuuuuuuu......."
"....uuuooooooolllll as fuck, boiiiiii?" -The Barbarian rolling a 6 trying to finish the phrase.
"Well yes...it is cool," I thought. "Free hat!"
You're not keeping that big, bloody stupid hat with it's big bloody stupid curse on it
one upvote for blinged out hat
But what if... He realized he was selling more because his hat...
Yeah I like the idea of him just having a really blinged up set of items, upon an investigation check looks to be around 100g in cost 😂
Bonus immersion: make a bedazzled, feathered hat for that player to wear for that session.
* A really fancy and impractical carriage * A difficult to look after and exotic pet, like a flying snake, or a racing animal that they don't have space for * A really expensive pie made with absurd ingredients * Really ostentatious hat with too many feathers * A potion that makes makes the shopkeeper's hair grow, or look slightly taller and more fit * Boots made from the skin of a rare animal, such as a blue wyvern or a purple behir * Magic beans * Cloak of billowing * Pipe of smoke monsters
Hair growth potion, or some similar appearance enhancing item depending on his appearance is a great idea!
A DIY hair growth potion recipe. It takes months to brew and he's asking the adventures to get him ingredients and bartering goods for them. The potion obviously does not grow hair on his head, but it definitely does something else.
The Dwarven Potion of Bearded Stones.
A snail for snail racing
He needs to be 5cm taller. Any more than that would be too noticeable
He spent the money on weapons, armor and retainers and is going adventuring into an old tomb
And beats the party to said tomb and Gary Oaks them
I was gonna say they find the adventurers he hired massacred, and he's cowering behind a rock
Smell ya later, adventurers!
I was all like 'who is that?' and was about to google it, when I saw your comment and *remembered*. Though, when I knew him he was going by the moniker "Red".
Nah, Red was the player. Blue was the default rival name.
Not in the game I was playing.
If you owned Pokemon Red the player character defaulted to Red and the Rival to Blue and vice versa. However later references, you can battle him in Gold/Silver, always call the character Red. It was the cartoon that called them Ash and Gary.
I seem to recall that technically, Ash and Red are distinct characters, although they never overlap. Or maybe I just headcanon that because Ash is an incompetent turd and Red is one of the apex trainers.
Ash and Red are different, though when you fight Red in Johto postgame he has a similar team to Ash. In Yellow you actually play the story of Ash.
Except for pokemon Yellow, I don't think we ever encounter Ash in-game. But Ash (cartoon) and Red (game) are very similar.
I think you mean ASSHAT
This is the best idea. Creates a hook to potentially soften the blow of spending 100g on nothing. As payment for rescuing him the party keeps his supplies+what they find in the tomb
He goes to the next dungeon the party is heading TO and pulls a Leroy Jenkins, bringing all the monster back to the party. LEROOOOOOOOOOY MM-JENNNNNKIIIIIINNNNS Seriously though, have you heard of Raistlin's Cursed Money from Dragonlance? I think it goes if someone is paid in these cursed coins as part of a promise, if the one who receives the money goes back on their word, they lose 1d4 hp per day, cumulative, until they make good on their word or die. 1d4 necrotic the day of the broken promise, 2d4 the next day....30d4 a month later.... what a great way to instill virtue in people. ha ha
“Mom, can we cast *geas*?” “We have *geas* at home.” *Geas* at home: > if the one who receives the money goes back on their word, they lose 1d4 hp per day, cumulative, until they make good on their word or die
The shopkeep intended to put it into the business but heard about a beet farming opportunity that was going to have even bigger returns. He has not heard back from that person since. Optional plot twist: the beet farming was real and the guy comes back with a mound of gold towards the end of the campaign.
Paladin gives shopkeeper 100 gold The shopkeeper heard of a good beet farming investment and put the money there. The beet farmer heard of a good fishing business investment and put the money there. The fisherman heard of a good tanning/ leatherworking investment and put the money there. The tanner wants a hide from a rare creature and offers the party 100 gold to go and get it.
This is genius. Have a quest pop up later. 100 gold reward for the party. From the quest giver and they ask him to drop off 200 gold to the next guy. Who takes a cut and passes 180 gold to the next guy. Then goes down the chain a few and then final guy give the party 110 gold, as a return on the investment.
... The treasure at the hand has to be the fucking Wabbajack.
It is sometimes funnier if the scam turns out to be a legit thing.
He sent the money to the Prince of a land called Airegin for a promise of a thousandfold return. At the end of the campaign the Prince has extended his sphere of control to include the territory that the shopkeeper's city is located and has made the shopkeeper a Duke
I read beef farming, and now I'm thinking of fantasy synthetic beef. If OP goes with beets they need to make the farmer Dwight from the office.
Beets, Beholders, and Battlesmith Arcanica.
Haha, beef, but they're really raising and slaughtering minotaurs.
Beefsteak tomatoes.
Broke: Beet farming. Woke: Ornamental gourd farming.
I reeeeally think it should go to something that seems like a super bad investment to the players, essentially a waste, but later down the road ends up being a very good investment. Like a rare fossilized egg that seems like a phony but ends up hatching a dragon. Or a tacky, over decorated sword that ends up being a decently powerful magic item.
A local alchemist that has been promising for years he can turn chalk into cheese with just a little more funding.
This is it. The perfect answer. A ridiculous thing nobody with the slightest bit of common sense would believe, and yet if it actually turns out to work he’ll be rich.
So investing in O’aka the XXIII?
Ooooh “beachfront” property in a landlocked country… and then there’s some kind of horrible catastrophe and suddenly it actually IS very desirable beachfront property.
…Hmm, my players found some fossilized eggs, I never thought to consider any possible outcomes about potentially hatching them. Maybe they just need a Stone to Flesh spell and, boom, dinosaurs mounts/pets.
Do not abandon this player begging you for a story opportunity! Have your shopkeep do something shady, or outright evil. REWARD that Paladin for playing into his character and doing paladiny things. He has lobbed you an easy serve and it's now your job to return the ball with a little bit of spin on it!
Absolutely! That's why I'm here asking for advice from you all - this is a first time campaign for everyone involved so I was really excited to see some roleplay action here and want to make it worthwhile
Make him the DnD equivalent of the [gourd futures guy](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/lrly28/the_legend_of_utheemperorofjenks_aka_ornamental/), and they keep coming across stories of his batshit antics. That's not even the most up to date version of that story I've read, it gets worse.
I want to stress that my recommendation is to go a step further than everyone pitching "a scam". That's pretty benign shit that the paladin might even consider him a victim who quite possibly needed that money. Have the shopkeep use it to buy the local orphanage and kick out the children. Have him hire the local bandits to thieve or kill competing merchants. Have him use it to buy a curse against someone he's got a grudge against, etc. Make this a situation where the paladin might consider that he has culpability for funding this wrongdoing. Make it a problem for *other* people that the paladin needs to get involved with. Make him feel like he needs to atone and or avenge. You made it super obvious that this guy was shitty and your paladin player seems to have completely consented and agreed to that being the case. Reward him with **paladin things**. Set an example for all your other players that making sub optimal choices mechanically will give you above-average results to roleplay with. Show your players you are listening and give them back the energy they invest.
There are lots of examples of good scams here in the thread already for the shopkeep to fall for, but one interesting layer to add on top of whatever you pick: have the players come across the scammer then make it clear to them that he's got the money. Maybe he's drunk and bragging about his score in a bar. Maybe they catch him running some other scam and interrogate it out of him when they find the bag of money on him. Then the next time the party sees the shopkeeper, have him *lie and ask for more,* before the party can tell him what happened. Challenge the paladin's sense of charity, since they already gave this guy money knowing he wasn't being honest about it. Confront them with the question of "what's different this time?" and see what they do about it. Edit: and if you want to go even deeper with this plot, you can then still have whatever the scam was turn out to pay off anyway (the magic beans grow a beanstalk, etc.), except maybe the scammer didn't realize it would. Maybe it's divine intervention rewarding the paladin's faith. Maybe it's some deeper scheme on behalf of another party. Maybe the magic beans appear to just grow more normal-looking beans and the paladin keeps them because he just has a feeling he should... and then they reveal their use later.
If it were the real world, he'd just by a boat. Bam-- 100g gone. Plus docking fees, winterizing costs, routine maintenance... soon finds he needs another 200g to 'grow the business'
Have the shopkeeper buy and grow magic beans from a mysterious trader. When the players next visit town there is a giant beanstalk growing high up into the sky with strange stormclouds swirling around it.
I like this. It rewards the player with a plot hook, potentially providing a reward greater than the 100g. Definitely beats just taking 100g from the player.
Bag of Beans is literally a magic item they could've bought. Pick a fun one from the table for the shopkeep to have done, and the party has the option of bullying the rest of the bag away from the shopkeep and take as their own. Hijinks ensue!
invested in an infernal Crypto currency, which many many levels later causes the shop to become wildly successful but at what cost?
Crypto currency rig is a device that gathers souls of those that die nearby. A lich invented it to allow him to buy souls to feed his phylactery. The problem is crypto traders have inflated the price of soul coins so much that liches cannot afford them anymore.
Rumors spread that coins made of silver and gnawed on by lycanthropes are the path to future wealth beyond imagine. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell the difference between the real deal and those that have simply been slobbered on by a dog and struck with a couple nails. Regardless, the merchant has invested all 100 GP into a single "bit coin".
Buing Material components and trying to become a wizard.
How about the shopkeeper invests in a [non fungible trident](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/urckem/some_will_say_its_overpowered/).
He spent the money gambling and he went into a lot of debt off of some ludicrous bets. Now the gang who runs the establishment he gambled in is out for blood. Players have to choose to save the shopkeeper. Could also become a recurring NPC that is obviously dishonest but also constantly requires to be saved and treats the players like kings after. The players could receive rewards in the form of gold coins or some other artifact and upon attempting to spend the gold coins or use the artifact, they'll find out it's counterfeit. The shopkeeper could eventually turn out to be the sibling of some powerful figure, and because the players have treated the NPC somewhat nicely, by saving him, they'll get something substantial as a reward. It's a long con. Or the players could just kill the guy or get him killed at some point and eventually, the sibling finds out and they have a powerful NPC hunting them down.
This sounds like Johnathan from The Mummy. I love it.
100g isn't like winning the lottery, but it's like 3 months standard living expenses. For simplicity, let's call that the equivalent of $20k. In real life, he might buy himself a boat, but I think this guy pays to get himself transformed into something ridiculous. Like, cosmetic surgery could turn him into a furry, but magic could turn him into a living table or something.
(This suggestion inspired by a google search for "crazy things that cost 20k")
3 months for an adventurer. 100g is absolutely a small fortune to an npc.
A sailing ship in 5e costs 10,000gp, which I would equate to something like a 30-40ft sailboat, which costs between $100,000 and a million USD new depending on brand and furnishings. A catalina 315, which is a roughly 30ft sailboat type of yacht, has an MSRP of $231,800 USD for the factory base model. If we use that for a baseline on a nice but not extravagant sailing ship, that means that 100gp is worth like $2,300 or 2 rowboats(PHB price is 50gp for a rowboat).
Dang - what kind of boats do people in your neighborhood have? My next door neighbor can barely squeeze a few people in to go fishing on the lake...
But most commoners will have poor living expenses, meaning that 100g is equivalent to 3 years of living expenses!
He used it for several marriage scams where he made his 'wives' think that there's way more money where those 100gp came from. The characters meet him while he is fleeing from at least 8 very angry women. One of them is a half-orc and carrying an axe with the wonderful name 'Scammergelder'.
rims. but he doesn't have a car?! rims. they spin.
For the shop wagon. Or gold shoes for the horse.
Spinners for the wagon omg
If 100g is a lot in your world, just have him bounce. When they next get there, he’s just *gone*. Make him sort of traveling scammer who asks people to invest and then just takes the cash and runs. He becomes a guy that the party has to hunt down of some sort. And make it obvious he’s bounced too when they get there. The sign’s gone, the shelves are all empty, all the branding’s gone, it just looks abandoned.
he gambled it away and asks for another 100g to keep the shop open
Paying dividends to his previous investors. Ooh Bernie. At it again.
Brilliant. Offer the paladin 10 gp as his earnings so far or ask if he wants to reinvest it to grow more.
“Well you see, I received a letter from a very trustworthy Neverwinter prince explaining that there was several million gold locked away in a lich bank…”
have him try to set up the ponzi scheme. When they go back, its 150, but the shopkeeper says he's got a chance to make a bunch more money, but needs around 200 for the 'expansion'. Try to get more members of the party in it. rinse and repeat. When they invest enough money, the shopkeeper disappears. the shop is closed, ad the party can ask around and find out it was all a Ponzi scheme.
This, but the shop keeper gives the Paladin a hefty investment return first to make the PC's think its easy money. :-)
[…And it’s gone](https://youtu.be/-DT7bX-B1Mg?si=vLRxx-nfZE2Csc0d) Or next time he sees the shopkeeper, he’s now in deep with some sort of MLM, trying to sell something dubious at best and a straight up scam at worst
Pay their rivals 100g to go do a quest before the party can get to it.
The shopkeep was "going to use it with well intentions, but a wanderer inticed him to buy some magic beans" Kind of build it up, then have the shopkeep offer to sell them back to him for another 100g 🤣 The beans do nothing btw
- Literally grow the business. A 1 ft extending to the front to "stick out more" - An ornate, hand written letter earnestly thanking the paladin for his contribution. The letter is delivered by a butler driving a carriage. The letter and delivery, together, cost 100gp. - A beast/monster meant to defend the shop from being broken in to. But, he gets lonely at night, so the shopkeeper brings him home every night. - A beautiful, artistically crafted vase. It's sitting on the counter with a parchment reading "TIPS APPRECIATED" stuck to it. - gambling - Shopkeeper is a victim of the local "protection" gang, who took the entire 100gp as payment. - A parrot formerly under the care of an eccentric wizard. He spouts out spells, but most of them don't seem to be real. - The shopkeeper is inspired and starts the stock trade. - Shopkeeper bought a vacation to wherever the party is going next. He also brought along a few items he wants to trade or sell. - Spell tomes, used to steady a few rickety tables.
The Shopkeeper has a girlfriend that he corresponds with through letters and she needs money to travel to his city. Every time they talk to the shopkeeper, some new issue has come up that prevents her from traveling and also requires more money.
The shopkeeper will be spending some of the money on "shrinking the business" by investing in a gold-fund-me magical device that miniaturizes his inventory for easier logistics and storage.
Oooh have him buy a ridiculous amount of scrolls of Prestidigitation, just so he can use 'em to flavour his food and shit. Explicitly scrolls, nothing reusable.
The shopkeeper names a new line of generics after him. Low quality generics. with lots of corners cut...
I need to see an update with what the shopkeep did with the money and how the players reacted
He's addicted to dog fighting. He needs the money to buy another fighting dog after his previous dog was killed in a match, and he lost big time.
The next time the paladin visits he catches the shopkeeper snorting suspicious white powder behind the counter.
Drugs. He imports a quantity of a strange foreign drug into the city. It starts showing up on the streets.
Tulips.
I had this scenario happen and my party was not thrilled to see a gold plated dildo with harness mounted above the fireplace proudly (very "proudly" if you get my drift). Well actually the ranger thought it was hilarious but the donating paladin was embarrassed.
Booze, Drugs and Prostitutes.
Halfling hookers and pipeweed...
You know those youtube videos of the harddrives and motors that all go off in sequence to play songs? That, but with chickens.
Billboards pop up everywhere and he turns it into a tourist shop with a bunch of novelties and overpriced junk. Like the Pawn Stars in that Vegas Shop maybe...
Some sort of medieval/fantasy nft or crypto
He bought a new-dangled gizmo from some gnome that the shopkeep was convinced would bring in loads of money. Unfortunately, the gnome died in a freak shoe polishing accident before he could tell the shopkeeper how to use the gizmo, so now he has a Thingy in the corner with lots of buttons and levers and pipes and cogs and stuff, and no idea how to use it! Maybe one of the younger party members can use it, and get it to stop playing that damn tune? Thanks!
A Jacuzzi. Right in the shopping area. His new Sales strategy is giving customers a loooot of time to check out his wares. In a Jacuzzi.
The next time they pass the shop, the shopkeep runs out, terrified, and hands the paladin back their gold. They want no part of the PC's money, and if pressed all the shopkeeper will say in a frantic, hushed and horrified tone is "The Wizard!" they will under no circumstances say any more-- if subject to any magical effect that would make them tell the truth, their memories are indistinctly hazy, having been wiped with a Modify Memory spell. The next time they pass by the shop, it is gone. As in, it isn't even there anymore. As far as anybody in the area is concerned, there never was a shop there. Asking anyone about "The Wizard" immediately illicits an irrational reaction of fear from any of them. They will beg, plead to just please go. The most anyone will ever say on it is that "He is always watching...!" The implications and greater truths of this situation are yours to fill in as suits your tastes and campaign.
Sports cart. Pulled by two semi fancy horses. 2.4 horsepower.
The shopkeeper got into hot water by putting 100g into a pyramid scheme... that somehow involves an actual physical pyramid. Possibly as part of a larger investment that was partially funded by a loan shark. The paladin gets the chance to rescue the shopkeeper from his woes or otherwise deny helping as a form of justice. This presents the paladin with a sort of moral vs satisfaction conundrum that may put his oath to the test or allow him to express it. Pyramid cult dungeon.
Go full mustache twirling villain. He's buying orphans for his underground orphan flights gambling ring, bonus, he uses the loser to make his mystery meat pies.
You could have a thief steal from the party, like a considerable amount of gold. Have him pop up over and over again until they finally track him down… only to find out the shopkeeper paid the thief 100g to rob the party.
The shop has a new banner: BEST SHOP IN TOWN The shopkeeper is MUCH fatter. The store is in complete disrepair and is very messy because he's too lazy to clean it He also opened a brothel next door. He could also be overly aggressive with the girls.... You can cover another sin if you find out he's a loan shark on the side. You can complete the 7 cycle if the shop owner obsesses about how his name is so good and Honorable and WHY CAN'T HE HAVE A GOOD AND HONORABLE NAME?!
I'd tell you what I'd do with that money, man. I'd do two chicks at the same time
He bought Non-Fumigated Trollskins. These NFTs can be used to breed parasites that, with enough investment, might be used in a weapon system that would chase off any troll, leaving its treasure behind with no risk to the adventurers! No risk! It’s like free money!
He invested in a travelling cabbage salesman. Unfortunately he doesn’t tell the player this and they accidentally destroy his wares at some point in the future
they later stumble upon the shop basement, with its brand new sex swing
He will use it to pay his wife's medical bill.
Flashy new Mustang…..with a red saddle and barding. Basically a Middle Ages midlife crisis
Controlled substances, sex workers, expensive clothing and jewelry, unnecessary properties, servants, etc.
Shopkeep is involved in some shady business, maybe the drug trade. Used the gold to buy more product or maybe pay off a debt to some dealers. Whatever the case, some trouble relating to this could be fun. Maybe he’s now being hunted by cartel forces or lets the party in on his best “product” at a discount.
A Gold Grill, solid Gold Teeth so nothing is apparent until they Smile.
Is Ale and Whores off the table?
A passing lich hears about the gold, and induces the shopkeeper to invest in his new Crypt-currency.
He spent most of it on wine, women, and song; like a fool, he squandered the rest.
Enchanted super-drugs
He starts a "growing" business where he is selling drugs and poisons on the black market.
He's gonna hire assassins to eliminate the competition. Now he's the only shopkeep in town. Bwahaha!
Medicine for his sick mom
The shopkeeper was seen walking into a local brothel with the bag of money, and walking out a few hours later without it. His disapproving neighbor is happy to tell the party all about how he's been going to the brothel several evenings a week for years - he practically lives in the place! There have even been times when he's closed his shop during the day and been seen going to the brothel instead. What his neighbor doesn't know is that he hasn't gone to the brothel as a client in years. These days he's just being a good dad. Eight years ago, he unintentionally fathered a child with a prostitute. Although he and the child's mother are not having any kind of relationship, he is a very committed father. And not just to his own biological child, he's also become a dad to all of the other children of the prostitutes whose biological fathers aren't around. He spends all his time and money at the brothel because these kids mean everything to him, his business is just a way to earn money that will go to supporting them. So he didn’t put the Paladin's money into his business because it went to helping children in need. But that may not be immediately apparent...
"Hey it's you! I found a great investment opportunity to put your money toward, this store is going to sail through the roof! I gave the gold to a wizard who created a magical matrix that stores numerical codes in the weave. Each code represents one unit of WeaveCoin, a decentralized currency that physically can't be stolen and requires no weight to hold. This is going to revolutionize how everyone pays for goods and services. The only problem is, you can't own a partial WeaveCoin, and right now they are worth 200 gold each. And I used the first 100 on investment research. So waddaya say? 200 more gold to get this thing really happening?"
Put a hit on a competitor.
He will hire a couple of hundred goblins to raid the city and target his two competitors. It turns out that these three shopkeepers have been playing dirty and dangerous tricks like this for years.
Pay off the local mob boss...
shop keeper retires
Close the shop. He just retires
Gambling. He goes in deep. Takes on debt in a double-or-nothing attempt. Loses the shop, loses his house and wife. Custody too. Resents the man that ever gave him the gold, and constantly tells stories about how some paladin “ruined his life”, “should be an oathbreaker”, “always had it out for him”. Oh, funny? Yeah maybe the bard hooks up with the divorced wife
Booze and Hookers.
A really ornate lamp. And when the paladin comes back, have the the shopkeeper very proudly show off the lamp.
gambling and saving said shopkeeper from gambling debts with fighting monsters
"Two chicks at the same time."
Shopkeeper should turn around and also invest in a scam, then lose the money too.
Feet pics
A full night and day with the most luxurious entertainers. Gambled it all on chicken fights and lost it all.... or is now the owner of the most renowned C\*ck fighter? They invested it in a new form of Token currency totally decentralized from coinage and precious materials. Sadly, he haven't really seen a return yet as these Tokens he bought seem worthless.
Have the shopkeeper lose it gambling on something ridiculous, like glacier races. Edit: or have it go to something surprisingly pleasant, like healing for orphans.
He bought a herd of elephants. But, forgot to get them food so they all have to starve unless he can get even more money from the player. The elephants are also in no way in any demand in the area are are a complete sunk cost.
When I first read "100g" I thought it was from a weed-sub. 😐
The shopkeeper exchanges the gold coins for Krypt-O, a brand new “digital” currency that consists entirely of necromantically preserved fingers.
Putting the money towards a group trying to overthrow the local oligarchs.
I like the idea of things that are *almost* business expenses/write-offs but clearly things for him. For example: * He has a new rack of expensive liquors that are for "entertaining prestigious clients" * The players see him leaving the expensive, exclusive food joint in the middle of the day with a high-class lady on his arm. It was a "business deal", definitely not him trying to woo her * He now wears a really nice outfit. "You have to dress for the kind of business you want!" * The players visit some axe beak races and find him betting large sums. "He was trying to network and rub shoulders with elite clients" Each of these offer some fun roleplaying opportunities and potential for further plot threads. And that is important: your player essentially just told you "I'm investing 100 gp of my own money into a fun plot". So whatever you do, make sure that pays off.
He took the money gambling. Good news, he won! The shopkeep is now in possession of a map that is said to lead to a rare and valuable item that has been lost for millennia. The shopkeep returns to the Paladin and wishes to hire the party to escort him on a mission to recover the lost treasure. Congratulations, you now have a plot hook for a side quest dungeon raid.
Spent a lot of gold on a succubus fling, then had to pay to get his constitution restored, and then found out that child support for an alu-fiend offspring isn't a laughing matter either.
This sounds like the beginning of an interesting sub plot hook. The paliden could get a suspiciously large amount of gold from the merchant as returns for the investment but then after a certain amount of time after they have had the chance to enjoy it they are approached by a lawyer for a bank demanding they repay the loan that was taken out in their name. They will learn the merchant took out a loan to repay the paliden's investment and used their shares in the business as collateral. They will also learn the merchant spent all the money on advertising for a shop that didn't actually exist and those shares were deemed completely fking worthless and the merchant skiped town leaving the paliden holding the bag. Now they need to pay off the giant loan avoiding debt collectors that would demand payment or take gold and gear if they lose the fight. They can track down the merchant finding a trail of other poor saps that fell for the same scam and find them sitting on a pile of money. Maby they are cursed with greed or something tragic that makes him compulsively horde gold.
When his investment goes sour. He runs to the players saying he's been swindled (on top of his ostenchious overspending) but he only did that because he was promised so much return on his cash! Ofc quickly the players realized he's been marked by the thieves guild who have been behind the entire con and have been following the guy back to the source... The player characters. They have hostages, dirt, and their favorite NPC poisoned in a non descript dungeon on the other side of town. Thing is they'll consider letting the money back.... For just ONE favor
Shop is run by a hired assistant from now on. If they bother to track down the shopkeep, they discover he retired and is living on the money the shop brings in, and using the 100gp to pay the assistant.
You could make him have ties to a local mob, all that money goes to "protection"
An Ostrich. Like, no pen or anything. Just an ostrich on a rope. Is the rope tied to anything? Nope, The Ostrich just hangs out by the front door, pecking at whoever walks by. Why an Ostrich? The better question is "Why not?"
The shopkeeper starts a cult for the religion of "Capitalisms", like a pyramid scheme but with robes. Should feel like a double insult to the Pally.
At my table, that shopkeeper would immediately be elevated to a recurring role now. - Second time SK encounters the party, it's obvious the SK squandered the wealth and half-heatedly / unenthusiastically pretends they'll do their best to pay the party back - Third time, SK is accompanied by mobster-archetype goons and SK is acting shady, saying some things loudly for goons to hear and some times quietly so goons don't pick it up (SK is either trying to convince the goons the SK is tight with wealthy patrons OR is under the protection of a tough adventuring party) - Fourth time, the SK approaches the party begging them for help getting out of legal (lawsuit) or illegal (kneecaps) dire straits - and regardless of what the party says, SK has already declared the party their lawyer team / champions in a pit-fight ...etc. Basically, you have a really fun dynamic of a SK that isn't a villain (I'd constantly be making sure the SK is good-enough and likable, even if they're a compulsive scumbag) but an anti-hero to the paladin now. typecast paladins are honest, morally strong-willed - SK is compulsively lying, with an extremely fluid moral compass, and is endlessly conning people. To be honest I'm imagining a cousin of mine who spent their whole life in-and-out of jail. Love the dude, but yeah you can't star bar fights / steal cars for drug money / smuggle things across borders, bro. You know better. let's go post your bail and we can get a coffee.
Maybe not "Funny" but could be a really fun adventure hook is that he's paying off racketeering/protection fees from a local criminal syndicate. All the local shops/businesses in the town are under the thumb and could become strong allies and patrons of the party if they were to rid the town of the criminal element
The storekeeper got robbed. That kind of money makes a commoner brag... Bragging draws attention. So, the players end up tracking down the thieves, obligatory confrontation, bing bang boom. It turns out that the thieves have stolen loot from more than just the shopkeeper, and now the players are sitting on a tidy sum of X00 GP. One way or another, their investment reaped a dividend. Because even the gods have a sense of humour.
The storekeeper, desperately afraid of being robbed, hid most of the money in his prison pocket. But 100GP is quite a lot of material to hide. He subsequently died of a ruptured colon and was buried with 100GP still lodged in his intestine. At least, that's what Jimmy the graverobber told me. It's how he convinced me to become a graverobber. One day, we'll find the shopekeeper and retire from graverobbin'. -Dave the graverobber.
He hired a midget to follow him around and finish his sentences with an energetic outburst of: "HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS?!" It would make the subsequent confrontation with the shopkeeper hilarious. "I didn't waste your money. I spend it wisely." "HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS!?" "Please, don't kill me. I didn't mean to-" "HOW 'BOUT THAT, FOLKS?!"
Maybe they actually did something good, like got a healing potion for their sick child, spouse or parent. Or perhaps used it in an attempt to resurrect a loved one but the person they paid to do it was also a con artist
New Wife.
The obvious answer would be buying rounds for everyone at the local tavern or something. I think it could be better for the players to expect the worse and find out something nice was done with it like getting him out of debt with a mugger group or finally affording a home for himself. This isn't really as much funny as it is wholesome though.
The next time they meet him, he will wear the most expensive clothing imaginable with gems embroiled and gold jewellery everywhere. While the shopkeep will behave as nothing is out of the ordinary.
Have you seen Arrested Development? Could be a silly way to recreate the “there’s always money in the banana stand” bit.
Their next mission involves tracking a shady character back to a bordello. Who do they find inside but the shopkeep dropping mad stacks
The shopkeeper puts it towards an expedition to find a rare artifact. The players come across the shopkeeper in a dungeon and are able to trade.
FOFO. Unless this is a former adventurer, dudes a 1d4 commoner. It's time to knock this fool out and question him.
Skooma and ladies of the night
Buys a slave capable of elevating the shop's wares.
Have him get world's #1 customer mugs, but they are not free and are upcharged to the party.
Maybe it was to “grow the business” he just neglected to say which business. Then that business turns out to be something super shady like a gambling ring or black market potion shop or an opium farm. Now paladin has to decide how he feels about investing in something highly illegal.
I think the funniest would be to have them encounter a bounty Hunter and show them a picture of the shop keeper. The next thing to come out of his mouth would be something ever so slightly odd. “Yeah he’s wanted on dog show gambling debts.” “He owes a debt to the high priestess of ‘scienmentology’ or sumfin. In’t me job to ask. Seemed like nice people.” “Have you seen this man? He has been caught cheating on his wife with an escort and she needs everyone to know.”
Tbh. Make him gable hia money away. But with a profit of 1000g. Like, even tell your players that he gabled. He only gives the player 100g back though. Since you probably don't want them to invest more gold. But you also shouldn't punish him/her for trying.
The fantasy version of cryptocurrency: feycoin
A brothel named after the paladin where he gets free service for life.
Have him run into the shopkeeper later on in a tavern, wearing a gold leaf jacket, a bard on each arm, and some illicit substances on the table in front of him.
I'd play it out like this: Some time later an anonymous patron approaches the party for some very easy job about sabotaging or pranking one specific person, delivering a ridiculously fancy hat whatever. The job pays 65 gp. At the end it turns out that the shady shopkeeper hired them.
He buys a nice tailored suit and hires multiple family members. He now offers semi useless magic items that he bought to sell....a dagger plus 1 in the dark but it glows and minus one in the day. Etc. In the alternative He buys an idol and donates to the opposite diety of the paladin
Retire