DUNGEON FOR RENT

[DerVVulfman]

Trust me guys, I didn't come up with this.
I got this from a youtube video recounting pen-n-paper RPG stories.
Unfortunately, no names were attributed.

DUNGEON FOR RENT

It was a friend of mine, running his first campaign. He had the pleasure - or possibly the horror - of finding himself GMing for : Adventuring Party PLC.

They listened to the story of the Lich in the dungeon. Then they immediately went out to speak to some rich local merchants. They offered them a share in the future profits of their upcoming adventure in exchange for some investment to get better gear.

They didn't user the money for gear. They used some of it to buy the land containing the dungeon. Then they paid builders to block off all entrances except one.

That one, they entered cautiously. They cleared the first room of its weak monster. Then, they set out sweeping the room, laying carpet, installing oil lamps, and generally making it pleasant. They installed a lock on the entrance to the rest of the dungeon, and built a small reception room.

This was when they decided to advertise their dungeon, and charge wannabe adventurers a small fee to attempt to get as far as they could through the dungeon. They would keep a percentage of treasure gained, of course.

As the other adventurers tried, and died, the party slowly followed them, carefully examining every room inch by inch over many days, stripping it and bricking off corridors as the adventure progressed gradually through the dungeon.

Finally, a hapless adventurer discovered the final room. A room full of treasure and magic items, guarded by a terrifying high-level lich.

"Aha!" thought the players.

They walled up the room, and had it excavated. Then they sold it on the open market: Room with Treasure + Lich. They even got a wand to prove how much treasure there was inside it.

Now, finally, they had some safe prime real estate, already partially developed! Anyone want to buy?

My friend did a great job of rolling with it, as his players spent ... I see... equivalent of a year, carefully milking the adventure and never once risking themselves.

They had a lot of fun, so I would count that as successful, if somewhat unexpected.