Author Topic: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?  (Read 14674 times)

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Pan-Fried Hamster

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Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« on: June 15, 2010, 08:26:19 PM »
I'm playing in a 3.5 campaign where the party consists of fallen Gods. We've been made mortal (somehow) and now are figuring out how to cope with it and possibly regain our Godhood. It's high-powered (36 pt buy, Gestalt), but the mechanics don't have much to do with my questions.

System: 3.5
Setting: Planescape / all 3.5 settings

We're operating out of Sigil, which, being closed off to Gods, is a totally new place for us. The two relevant characters in this case are Tallidan, my Gnome Artificer, who's all about improvisation and adaptability ("The right tool for the right job"), and Chaav, a God of Pleasure and Joy, among other things.

Given we tend to be strapped for cash, the idea of starting a business came up. Last session, we ran into the Sensates, a faction that's all about experiencing life via sensation.

The two ideas collided head-on today while I was musing over the campaign. Why not a sex toy shop? Sex sells. Chaav would be all for it, the Sensates might well subsidize it, since it has the potential to significantly increase their influence and numbers.

Initial thoughts:

  • This needs to be affordable. Tallidan already gets significant cost reductions when making Wondrous Items, due to having two -25% cost feats (Magical Artisan and Extraordinary Artisan). Even so, our target market isn't going to have the same gp available as a bunch of adventurers. Sure, nobles might pay good money for custom work, but Jack and Jill on the street can't pony up a few hundred gold for a fun toy.
  • This could get quite politically charged. The Sensates seem likely to support us, and it seems worth looking into whether they'd subsidize the venture. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see gangs and other factions trying to get a cut of our business.
  • I am absolutely sure the bureaucratic hurdles will be a nightmare
  • There are ethical boundaries. Charm, for instance, seems like a no-go area (as do Enchantments in general). Both Chaav and Tallidan are Chaotic Good.
  • Both Chaav and Tallidan are Chaotic Good...which means we may need some Lawful input on how to handle things.

Right now I'm just looking through useful spells and letting everything else sit on a mental back burner. Animate Rope, Prestidigitation, Resonance, Cure Disease all seem to have uses, though I'm generally trying to keep levels low and costs down.

Any thoughts on things to consider when starting up a sex shop? In Sigil? I'm expecting a lot of red tape, but I just wanted to throw this out there to see if people had creative ideas.

Have you ever run or participated in a game with a player-owned business? Does it distract too much from the main plot? I apologize if this post is a bit disorganized, I'm just trying to get a few thoughts down.

Prime32

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2010, 10:33:22 PM »
  • Items of disguise self
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  • Glamerweave lingerie for all your "Diplomacy" needs (could possible be combined with a masterwork tool).
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Potions (or oils, if you prefer ;)) are the most affordable option for many of these. Note that the brewer of a potion of disguise self sets the appearance, so you might want to have a number of ranges based on either various celebrities or "characters" created by the shop.

1st-level potions are 25gp to craft, before reductions.
2nd-level potions are 50gp, since artificers can craft them at CL1.


See if you can hire a Fiend of Corruption to boost clients' Cha. There's a number of other "services" you could offer - casting spells in person is more cost-efficient than crafting.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2010, 10:38:57 PM by Prime32 »
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Pan-Fried Hamster

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2010, 10:46:33 PM »
Hm. I think Fiend of Corruption is out due to alignment (even with this being Sigil), but the potions route definitely bears looking into.

And dammit, I'm going to find a way to make some basic Wondrous Items that are affordable  :D

veekie

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2010, 02:13:19 AM »
Partial polymorph/alter self potions?
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archangel.arcanis

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2010, 02:24:12 AM »
potion of enlarge! (come one you know you were thinking it)
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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2010, 09:33:49 AM »
For the wealthy clients with embarassing kinks, Rod of Ropes and Nipple Clamps of Exquisite Pain. The latter is from BoVD, but not an Evil item. Also Salve of Slipperiness or Wands of Grease.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2010, 09:36:18 AM by Agita »
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PhaedrusXY

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2010, 05:18:49 PM »
I think Animate Object might be something that could come in handy. I'll let you come up with your own uses.  :smirk

If you don't mind cheese, one way to make a lot of this stuff cheaper would be to sell services instead of items, and then bind outsiders that have SLAs that can duplicate the effects your after. I'm sure some people would be into kytons for the "whips and chains" thing, for example. And who doesn't want to make out with a succubus all night, without the normal risks? That's only 1 lesser planar binding and a death ward away!
« Last Edit: June 16, 2010, 05:21:41 PM by PhaedrusXY »
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A couple of water benders, a dike, a flaming arrow, and a few barrels of blasting jelly?

Sounds like the makings of a gay porn film.
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bhu

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2010, 06:25:25 PM »
I did once have a Plastic Surgeon Wizard PrC i abandoned working on that had some ...disturbingly applicable spells if you'd like

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2010, 06:27:36 PM »
Pricing guidelines are only guidelines. See if the DM will adjust the price to something lower for sex toys.

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RobbyPants

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #9 on: June 17, 2010, 03:01:41 PM »
For the wealthy clients with embarassing kinks, Rod of Ropes and Nipple Clamps of Exquisite Pain. The latter is from BoVD, but not an Evil item. Also Salve of Slipperiness or Wands of Grease.
The clamps were my first thought when I read this threat.
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Pan-Fried Hamster

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2010, 01:02:52 AM »
For the wealthy clients with embarassing kinks, Rod of Ropes and Nipple Clamps of Exquisite Pain. The latter is from BoVD, but not an Evil item. Also Salve of Slipperiness or Wands of Grease.
The clamps were my first thought when I read this threat.
Now that people mention them, I remember those. Definitely worth adding to the inventory.

Thanks for all the ideas. I'll talk to my prospective business partner next session and see what he thinks. I doubt we can work out the demon bit though, due to alignment. The services angle isn't really what we're going for, so it'll have to be goods.

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2010, 04:27:56 PM »
Book of Erotic Fantasy.
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dither

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2010, 05:17:00 PM »
Don't forget that with the proper marketing campaign, you could very well create a "sexual revolution" in Sigil, and if you create a respectable brand name for yourself (safe, hygienic, self-cleaning toys?) that sells extraordinarily well, it's worth remembering that Crack is Cheaper.
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Kajhera

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2010, 01:27:54 PM »
Some creative use of Mage Hand and Silent Image.

Kajhera

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2010, 12:40:23 PM »
Okay, let's get serious. Now, your selling point may be your magic, but as a sex shop you're going to want to be stocked with some more mundane items also. Build up customers loyal to your cheapish things. I'm going to start with the 1cp - 50gp price range.

Hygiene: Perfume can help disguise this, and you can offer them at a wide range of prices. Check the Arms and Equipment guide, or something more recent for prices. A pound of soap is 5sp. Scent it and sell it in bars of an ounce or two. In terms of magic items, an anything of prestidigitation will let you clean and flavor (mm, you taste like strawberries!). The unguent of gentle repose equivalent should you have any necropolitan customers who are somehow still interested in this.

Birth Control: Condoms. Make them of oiled silk paper, lamb intestine, tortoiseshell, animal horn, linen soaked in an alchemical treatment, animal bladder, or even leather. No clue on pricing. Pathfinder SRD also lists imbibed methods of birth control, being Night Tea for females and Bachelor's Snuff for males, which is much cheaper than the magical birth control spell found in Book of Erotic Fantasy. Find out if you can steal
them.

Disease Prevention: Condoms again, but also a certain metal... Targath. Any targath whatsoever carried gives a +2 bonus on fortitude saves against disease. A sling bullet of Targath costs 3.01gp; you should be able to make small charms, cock rings, nipple clamps, and such for reasonable amounts. Magically speaking, some manner of Resistance effect would be useful, particularly if you can improve the duration.

Fun and Kinks: Dildos of steel, glass, and leather are best of mundane materials. See if you can come up with other fun things. If you're feeling fancy, put a little targath into the steel ones. Cold iron could be marketed to frustrated fey/demons with masochistic urges, same alchemical silver with devils/lycanthropes; but those are niche markets. Grab some rope hemp, silk, and earthsilk if you can. Gags, blindfolds, nipple clamps, etc. are fine. Magically speaking, there is a first-level spell with a perfectly reasonable duration at caster level 1 ... Mount. Just watch out for the liability there, and check if bestiality is legal in your plane, acceptable in your religion, and does not conflict with your Good alignment. An item of alter self is lovely, if getting a tad expensive. Disguise self has an unfortunately low duration as a potion. Water Breathing could be fun.

Other: Item of Rope Trick for anytime, anywhere fun. A little on the expensive side.

Services: One circumstance in which investing in a command word or continuous item may be worth it. Make sure to have Prestidigitation / unseen servants around to clean the place between uses.
- An animate rope spell might be enjoyable here, for your knot-loving clients.
- Silent Image or Minor Image might be fun, but I'm unsure how to implement it.
- Plain old casting Rope Trick.
- It's mind-affecting, psionic, and 3rd level so a bit expensive to item, but I absolutely fuckin' love using False Sensory Input (Touch) to make interesting and enhanced sex. Forget the ban on enchantments and find a way, it'll be worth it.

dither

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2010, 01:24:47 PM »
...and check if bestiality is legal in your plane, acceptable in your religion, and does not conflict with your Good alignment...

I was reading your post, going merrily along, and this ... this got my jaw to drop.
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Kajhera

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #16 on: October 29, 2010, 01:52:44 PM »
Well, it's definitely a good thing to check first.

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #17 on: November 02, 2010, 11:35:27 PM »
Magically speaking, there is a first-level spell with a perfectly reasonable duration at caster level 1 ... Mount. Just watch out for the liability there, and check if bestiality is legal in your plane, acceptable in your religion, and does not conflict with your Good alignment.

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #18 on: November 03, 2010, 01:49:03 PM »
PlaneSex(TM) recommends following usage directions for any products. PlaneSex(TM) is not liable for any damages suffered when using the services we provide when using them outside of their intended uses. PlaneSex(TM) disavows any liability with regards to Codes of Conduct, Codes of Ethos, and similar, and will not provide your atonement. Please use responsibly.

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Bastian

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Re: Sex Toy Shop in Sigil - Business Considerations?
« Reply #19 on: January 01, 2011, 04:41:30 PM »
For easy to use cost reductions:

Item is restricted to being used by those of a specific skill. (DMG)                                  10% off
Item is restricted to being used by those of a specific class or alignment.  (DMG)          30% off
Hammer of the Magesmith (A&EG 109)                                      5% off on weapons (for all your bdsm needs)

For gold reductions that might require changes in your character see the bottom link in my sig.