The Merchant class has many roleplaying opportunities.

A merchant doesn't have to be a full tradeskill class persay but being a merchant class can have its perks in accordance to your tradeskill. They could be a class based of charisma and gadgets too. Using the skill pool of Magnetism you can start Merchants with the ability to learn all Influence within 180 lessons (Master) to then specialize in a skill called Mercantile or something of the sorty. In mercantile you can get a lot of handy skills that are useful in politics and gathering commodities. Such as the Emissary skill in sacraments which lowers the amount of gold needed to parley etc.

Make Merchants a heavily gold-based class. They could get summons however their summon would have to be a hired bodyguard or other servant type paid on commission to do your bidding and guard your wagons from 'thieves'.

I can see a merchant using a blackjack for instance to bop an infidel snootishly on the nose. Perhaps them throwing explosives or whatever they have on hand at persons? A merchant could be an adaptible class being able to use a great assortment of objects as weapons perhaps even throwing gold at people for dazzling effects.

A merchant wouldn't be an offensive class but more of a defensive one. Few would be merchants but those that were would be well respected.

So possible skillsets I see currently would be perhaps a primarily Magnetism base.

Some other ideas for a merchant class is running your own peddler wagon that you can send on routes across the main roads. (ASK WAGON WARES) Perhaps ships too that you can give routes on the Oceans and Rivers. Both must be maintained and cost iron, wood, and a mount for a wagon. For a small junker you could possibly use iron, wood, cloth, etc. They can be very expensive so its more practical for a Cartel of Merchants to purchase and run trade routes as a guild.

Merchants could also be in charge of city building projects and expansion having skills to amass builders, allocate matierals. Being able to construct city shops too. Possibly a lot of group skills they can use together. Also could use almost any sentient to do their bidding given they have enough influence over them.

POOL SKILL SPECIALIZATION
Magnetism -> Influence -> Mercantile
Finearts -> Building -> Architecture
Intellect -> Gadgetry ->

Any other ideas?

To be honest, I think Merchant class is a bad idea. It may be different, but it's just not really...intelligent.

There's a druid.

A mage.

A warrior.

And a...merchant?

see what i started...

I like the idea. Though I likely wouldn't want to switch class because of my huge lesson investment, it is quite interesting.

Let's see how my life goes right now:

Because of my new job (which I can't complain, because it funded that first credit purchase), I only have two to three hours a day to spend here. If that. It used to be that I could spend all day doing whatever. So, I get online, and I manage my clan, my cartel, my meager forging/art business, and do other merchant-related things. I don't even use most of my skills on a regular basis. The days of me going around killing people and bashing are on hold, for the moment.

You know, while I read about the ubermenche and rise above the "sheep" (refrence to Roark, not Kiwis).

So, for those of us that are less combat oriented, something like that would be nice. I remember a few Aetolians that just sat around and healed people, didn't really do much else. So, in short, a class focused on killing things less would really be a neat thing to see.

I don't see why its not intelligent. I mean why the hell not? I don't care that much for killing people and I mostly just want to sell stuff.

Actually, I can see a "serpent class" falling under the guise of a merchant archetype. You can choose to specialize in either ents (bodyguards) or be more shifty and use your own black market skills, like slit throat and assasination. However Iggy does have a point,

Warrior, Gaurdian, Mage, Druid, Wiccan, maybe.. Trabadore or those other fancy names for minstrels and traveling salesmen. I would see them as having skillsets that help them influence villages and complete commodity quests as you said, as well as having sneaky (or not so sneaky) skills to kill people in the dark alleyways.

Solicitor, perhaps. Up to you to decide which connotation you want to adopt...

Unfortunately the gods have already vetoed this. The risk of people just giving others merchant-wares for cost price on seconds puts them off.

I thought they were vetoing a merchant class that was entirely tradeskills? If it actually had its own skillsets, its more viable.

What they vetoed was the idea of having one charichter with multiple trade skills. These ideas are different because it builds on influence in stead of tradeskills.

Thats why I suggested a name other than merchants.

Gypsies! Gypsy Magic, Healing/Hexes, Runes...etc. And a tradeskill. And the ability to summon a gypsy wagon?

pah how typical I write a nice long reply and it doesn't get sent... oh well.
Entrepaneurs, venturists, mercanry scouts... that type of stuff.

Moral-less but acceptable, and less conotatcion of flightyness.

I remember a MUD I looked at once (and tried, I think, though it didn't catch) had different descriptions for their guilds, a little phrase the guildmaster said. And the one for the thieves' guild was something along the lines of --Respectable Merchant Jones: "Thieves' guild? What thieves' guild?"

It could be interesting, little things like... rings with poison powder disguised within (similar to the Idras from Imperian). Ways to 'smuggle' goods, perhaps involving the villages and commodity shops. And definitely ways to disguise yourself, or bribe/talk your way past guards.

I guess when you think of how alts would simply abuse this though, and how many people would probably play one of these characters terribly...

eh....good point

They just didn't want us to have multiple tradeskills. And, alts will always be a problem. I know people who have multiple chars with transed tradeskills.

As for goods at cost price, if I understand you right, there is an entire clan devoted to that. Honors me sometime.

I like the idea of the Merchant class, but I envision them not as "omg I'm a Merchant and I'm weak and can't fend for myself" but more of an assassin type. They'd be more of a shadowy guild that operates from the shadows of the cities (and communes).

But my main question is what would a bashing skill be?

I like the idea also, hmm bashing skill... I would love to see this along the lines of the gadgets idea put out by Qeltaga...
To knock something out
MerchantJack: wield kosh
blackjack mobname
You spring into action and bring your kosh down swiftly on the nape of the neck of mobname, it collapses in a heap on the floor. (passed out/asleep)
MerchantJack: wield copcord
strangle mobname
You slip the copper cord around the neck of the mobname and knot it quickly, strangling the life out of it quickly.
***OR my personal favorite!***
Merchant Jack: wield (random pointy weapon, I like katars) Jur
vitalshot neck mobname
You quickly strike out at the neck of the mobname, it connects splurting blood everywhere as you severe the jugular!

I think they could use bashing skills like blackjack and vitalshot, or other just traditional merc/diku "rouge" skills, like sneak and whipcord to slip a copper wire around a mobs neck and start choking it each round or something...
What you think?

I meant to add-
TO STRANGLE above the wield copcord
and
TO DAMAGE BODY above wield katars or ranodm pointy things...

I think its terrible when the "secret thief guilds" have special unique weapons that anyone and their mother can see, that signifies them as a thief guild when they attack. Perhaps they could just use the same weapons warriors use, they just can't use them as well. a Warrior I think goes through 3 ranks of being able to use a weapon.