Acquisitions Incorporated

10

focused a rea. Don't worry at all that a rival Acquisitions

Incorporated franchise will outmaneuver you. It seldom

happens. Keep growing your business, and the Acq Inc

license will expand to help you find more customers and

increase your bra nd presence.

Within your licensed region, you have the right to use

the full power of Acquisitions Incorporated branding. No

other Acquisitions Incorporated franchise will operate

in your region. and all the region's customers are e xclu-

sively yours. Of course. non-Acquisitions Incorporated

rival organizations might be present. You are expected

to d rive them out of business. (Or give them untimely

deaths. You do you.) A franchise can build o r operate

any number of locations, such as warehouses and trade

shops, within its region. You may not maintain property

or establish formal operations in a settlement o utside

your region, even if you ship goods to that location.

You may not use the Acquisitions Incorporated

brand outside your licensed region without written,

documancer-ge nerated permission, s ince those a reas

might belong to other licensees. You can adventure out-

side your territory, of course, and can assist or work for

other organizations. However, you are expected to prior-

itize missions given to you by Head Office.

RANKl: SETTLEMENT

Acquisitions Incorporated grants your franchise a

license to operate in a settlement, and in a territory

around the settlement approximately 10 miles across.

If your region includes a coast Ii ne. you are granted the

rights to engage in sea trade within that region. You can

ship goods (over land, water, or air) to one city or othe r

settlement o uts ide your region. (The DM approves this

location, and might wish to establish your franchise's re-

lationship with it through play as part of the campaign.)

RANK 2: SMALL TERRITORY

Your license now e xpands to include a region s imila r in

s ize to a province or a small kingdom- typically up to 50

miles across, with your starting settlement somewhere

within. (For mapping purposes, this area is roughly the

same scale as a province-scale map. See "Mapping Your

Campaign" in chapter l of the Dungeon Master's Guide.)

You are expected to expand your trade and branding

throughout the region. You'll seize new markets. develop

new offerings, increase your network of contacts, and

safeguard the king and queen's spoiled kids so the mon-

archs think of you positively. You can ship goods to two

cities or other settlements outside your region.

FRA NCHIS E ADVAN CEMENT

Franchise Licensed

Levels Rank Region New Staff

1-4 l Settlement Majordomo, 2 untrained

hirelings, l skilled hireling

GROUP DYNAMIC

An Acquisitions Incorporated franchise is a group effort.

Many decisions must be made in the course of running

a franchise and playing in an Acq Inc campaign, and it is

assumed that all players will be involved in making those

decisions. Whenever this book talks about a franchise col-

lectively- and in particular, when it talks about decisions

being made by a franchise-the understanding is that all

characters (in the game) and all players (at the table) have

an equal say in determining a franchise's fortunes and fate.

Sure, arguments will crop up from time to time. But that

kind of roleplaying is a big part of what makes an Acquisi-

tions Incorporated campaign.

RANK 3: LARGE TERRITORY

Your license grows to include a broad expanse of prov-

inces, a few small kingdoms, or a large kingdom or

federation, covering a territory the size of half t he Sword

Coast in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. A la rge

territory might overlap with other Acquisitions Incor po-

rated regions, though you a re theoretically working with

(and perhaps overseeing) smaller franchises rather than

working against them. You can ship your goods to any

destination, and can assign staff to a city to which you

ship goods-solely to oversee the distribution of those

goods, and certainly not to compete with rivals. Don't

cause too much trouble and Head Office will stay happy.

RANK 4: LIMITED EXTRAPLANAR

Your franchise now includes specific locations located

on other planes of existence. These could include such

fabled trading locations as Sigil, the City of Brass on the

Elemental Plane of Fire, or a githyanki o utpost in the

Astral Plane. Your license to operate in these regions is

not exclusive. Your region on the Mate rial P lane might

or might not expand, depending on both your perfor-

mance and the goals of the campaign. The DM might

establish extraplanar locations through play. Failing- o r

succeeding-in securing an e xtraplanar location could

create interesting and deadly rivalries!

STAFF

Chapter 5 of the Player's Handbook details the costs

for characters to hire skilled and untrained hirelings.

As is true of characters in any campaign. Acquisitions

Incorporated franchisees are free to hire any NPCs

they want, within whatever limitations the DM wants to

set on s uch employment. But the franchise itself comes

Franchise

Tasks Headquarters Features Costs

l task Starter headquarters x 1

S- 10 2 Small territory 4 untrained hirelings, 1 skilled 2 tasks Cosmetic, expansion, x l.S

hireling, 10 crew transportation, weapon

11 - 16 3 Large territory 8 untrained hirelings, 2 skilled 3 tasks Arcane, defensive, franchise x

hirelings, 10 crew choice

17 - 20 4 Limited 16 untrained hirelings, 4 skilled 4 tasks Arcane, franchise choice, secret xS

extra planar hirelings, 20 crew

CHAPTER 2 I GROWING YOUR FRANCHISE