It's not that hard to come up with cool toys to build with Trade (Armourer) and the like, but what if it's something not that obvious? Like Trade (Merchant) my lovely Psyker has...

I just get this terrible itch when I've got a skill I cannot use.

So, right now I have something like 3K of cold hard Thrones, an absence of Barter skill, determination to invest some XP into long lasting business contacts and a job, that doesn't really support any future business goals. Being an Acolyte, I mean.

Still, I'm sure that there's a way. A pyramid scheme maybe? A network of star travelling petty tradesmen? What should they sell then?

Or, maybe an intergallactic lottery, where one has to bid his kidneys in hopes of winning a trip to Terra or a lifetime on one of the pleasure worlds?

Care to expand my ideas or suggest new ones? Please do!

(Sorry for bad English)

The possibility are endless if I may say so my self. The Mechanicus, as stout and aloft as they tend to be, may bauk at the weakness of flesh and the resiliance of their steel but money has a way of speaking to people....Even if they speak Binary. Perhaps you may chance yourself on a world rich in mineral deposits, rare metals and the such. A forge world or perhaps Gunmetal Fanes could always use some more steel, faith alone can't cast that Bolt gun you know!

Another idea taken from a friend of mine who was into Anima for a while was to build a banking system that hadn't existed in the world his GM had placed him in (which was a sort of Nexus between varying realities of sorts but that part is unimportant) and made a deal with a Dragon to use it's gold as Capital and act as a guard for the Vault stores. Obviously there are no "Dragons" in 40k and certainly not any wealthy ones for that matter, but Nobles do tend to breath hot air so who's to say that a few families couldn't pool their money into a sort of intergalatic banking system, akin to the likes established by the Templars during the Crusades?

The main problem as I perceive it is that you cannot start to build up anything "big". To start up a major business venture, you will need to invest lots and lots of time over a prolonged time period. My group will not get rest for longer then a month, but me expect a "start up" to be completely time consuming over at least the first 3 month.

Thereby, I concentrete on the "quick coin". Of course, you should discuss matters with your GM!

First of all, I assuem that you travell from planet to planet. Whenever you do so, buy goods you can take with you. Of course, you will have to pay for the added cargo space if you try for anything bulky, but perhaps it is worth the extra money at the end.

Second, I allow my players to substitue "Merchant" for "Investigation" if they try to find goods/services & give them a +10 bonus. After all, a Merchant should be suited best to find out where vendors and markets are! Not "money making", but usefull in its own right!

Third, players tend to amass goods they want to get rid off. Even if they do not "loot for sake of money", they will end up with old equipment they want to be sold. Agan, I would ask for a Trade (Merchant) check if they do want to get more then just token money for it.

Fourth, you can always go the traditional way and simply set up shop in one of the markets. You will need some starting cash for your goods, a staple/tent and perhaps a permittance. After that, it might be a check every week to see how much of your investment returns.

Ignayus: Aye, mate, both ideas are mighty fine. What I lack, though, is time and coin. Perhaps, these two problems can be fixed eventually.

But I see another trouble up ahead - 'tis an opinion of my Master Inquisitor. How would he think of my Throne-hoarding habits?

So I've been thinking of Trades, that could be both profitable, unique and could provide useful Legend for the missions of the Holy Inquisition.

And I think the market of questionable Charms and trinkets is pretty suitable for Emperor's-Witch-On-A-Leash...

Which brings us to yet another question. Where does one acquire such rare items as Blessed Bolt Shells, Burned and Bloodied Parchments, Stinking Candlewax Throne Figures, etc?

A funny idea - have your fellow Acolytes produce these relics. Their courage and heroism forever imprinted into the everyday items they use...

But for a larger scale operation... What would a contact, that sells such items look like? Who would he be?

I feel we're getting to something interesting here...

^^

I'd say someone who sells trinkets, holy relics, and icons would be what you imagine a low born individual, burden with a pack that looks too big for their gaunt and famished frame and carry their wares...and their life for that matter on their back.

As for acquireing such items? I'd guess a battlefield of sorts, both ones that have seen fighting in days past (i.e. sites where famous or little known battles during the Crusade took place) or even recent battlefields where a heroic deed was known to have taken place (i.e. a squad or famous regiment made its last stand and either one or lose, eventually pushing back and destroying the enemy) and of course as for your Inquisitor's concern of your money making schemes that depends if any of your efforts would compromise the needed level of secrecy to keep certain facts in check, I doubt you could bring news about a planet that happened to be the site of an ancient Xeno temple with all sorts of twisted technology in it or a world that harboured evil daemons and their worldly minions....But then of course, that's only if you care what your Inquisitor thinks and can keep your money making plans safe from their knowning. Besides, how do you earn thrones if your not willing to stick your neck out a little eh?

If you want to lean on the historical trading of "saint bones" and "shards of the true cross" relicts, keep in mind that most of them were simply fake.

If you want to sell "the real stuff", it might be best to have contacts on a shrine world... but again, if it is sold it might be stolen or fake.

Could there be a special under-department of Adeptus Munitorium, that was responsible for scavenging battlefields for reusable items?

I can see packs of ragged servitors crawling around the bodies - picking weapons, armor and ammunition.

This kind of organization could provide a steady supply of war-related trinckets, that could be sold as charms...

I could also see various tech-stuff being considered holy on some low-tech worlds...

And, as was already noted, Shrine-worlds can give a steady supply of charms.

So, I've got a couple of supply lines covered... Now, how would you deal with game mechanics of such endeavor?

Following the rules presented in IH this should look like this:

1) Define the task:

I'm on a Hive-World, Sibellus.

There I acquire a cargo of cheap/used/malfunctioning pieces of technology, that produce an obvious unnatural effect - for example, used battery cells, that sting when you lick them. (Contact #1)

I find a ship that's heading to a war-torn primitive world Iocanthos, where tech knowledge is rare. I sell the tech-trinkets to primitives (under guise of charms, that appease the las-guns' Machine Spirits) or trade them for more war-mementos... I could see Seth's army being a good supplier of those, being very numerous and religiously oriented. (Contact #2)

Afterwards, I haul my expanded cargo container on to a ship, heading back to Scintilla, where I sell the war-mementos, say, to Hive Tarsus' military regiment rookies.

I plan to invest 3000 Thrones into this venue. I need to make two interstellar trips for this, which is expensive, but let's say I can travel anywhere in Calixis for free once. Which means I don't pay to go to Iocanthos.

To make the trip worthwhile I want to double invested money. I'm also investing XP into contacts, which means I want this route to become stable and self-sustainable, which means I want to hire an aide, who could continue this business without me part-taking in it (Contact #3).

2) Assign difficulty, cost and duration. This is the hardest part. The duration, I would say, should be somewhere around 3 months... The cost is 3000 minus transport expenses. Difficulty is there for GM to assign, but I would aim at something like Challenging (+0) Difficulty.

3) Make adjustments. This is all very situational, so I think this could be skipped, although advices and ideas of how to reduce difficulty or time required are welcome...

Am I getting this right? Would this be a realistic venture for 40K universe? How do you think being a psyker would affect the outcome?