Originally Posted by
Alfonzo over Innsmouths
Here's an idea: would it be possible to script Merchants so they work like Metsuke in Shogun 2? So you have them in towns and they do things like increase trade or taxes in a settlement, but at the same time dropping their financial skill so they're useless as merchants. Maybe give them traits that, while reducing financial skill a huge amount, is specific for a class, representing a particular strata. For instance, have 'Favours Nobility', which increases taxes, but increases unrest. Or 'Favours Merchantry', which increases trade, but reduces law. Or 'Populare', which increases growth and happiness but reduces taxes radically. That way even if people don't want to make merchants to actively seek out resources, you could recruit them in a settlement to help develop growth, trade or taxes.