Banks of the Empire 

A new endeavour for those short on cash, 

Three venerable institutions of finance and usury, 
And finally, 
A table for adding detail to your very own houses of coin and commerce 
By Dan St. Cyr (u/Kaiser_Magnus) for use with WHFRP 4th Edition 
__________________________________________________________________ 
Endeavour: Take out a Loan 
This endeavour allows a character to take out a large lump sum of money in order to finance a specific 
purchase or goal. Perhaps they are taking out this loan in order to finance a new riverboat, purchase a 
townhouse, or acquire all the gear they will need for an extensive expedition. The amount of money 
available to you depends on your social status, and the differences are noted below. Loans are repaid in 
monthly installments of roughly 5% of the loans total value (with interest). Debtors who miss a 
payment too many are fervently sought out by bounty hunters and bank thugs armed with clubs and 
legal writs to seize the characters money and property! A character may make a payment towards any 
outstanding loans as part of an I​ ncome​ or B​ anking​ endeavour. Should ever the bank from which the 
players have taken a loan out from goes bankrupt, another bank or wealthy individual will purchase 
the loan contract and continue to collect payment.  
 
Brass Tier: ​Those unfortunate enough to be in the brass tier will be unable to take a loan out from an 
established institution, and must instead turn to less savoury providers of loans in order to secure the 
funds. A Loanshark will gladly lend an amount up to 10 GC, with anywhere between a 40% and 70% 
interest! A Brass Tier character may take out a loan as though they were Silver 1 standing if they 
present the bank with a letter of recommendation from a member of that bank in either silver or gold 
tier. This also allows the character to undertake an ​Banking: Investing​ Endeavour. 
 
Silver Tier: T ​ hose respectable citizens in silver tier may take out a loan either as a lump sum of cash, 
totalling no more than (10 GC x Standing), with interest rates between 30% and 50%. Or they may 
take out a mortgage on a building or other valuable piece of property such as a river barge or warhorse. 
By paying a minimum of 25% of the cost of the item or property as a down payment, the bank will 
finance the rest at an interest rate of 20% to 60%. Should a bank fail while the player has a mortgage 
taken out from it, then they will have one month to repay the full amount of their mortgage or their 
property will be confiscated by the local government. 
 
Gold Tier: ​Those noble bank patrons who fall into the Gold tier may take out a loan as a lump sum of 
cash totalling no more than (25 GC x Standing), and may also take out mortgages using the same rules 
as silver tier. However the clever bankers know they can charge a higher rate of interest to these 
wealthy patrons and reasonably expect to be repaid. Interest rates will be about 10% higher across the 
board. 
Bank: The Imperial Soldier’s Fund; 
Or The Emperor Luitpold national 
fund for the payment of benefits and 
pensions to the soldiers and other 
defenders of our Holy Empire. 
 
History: I​n the year 2473, early in the reign of Karl 
Franz’s father Emperor Luitpold, the new Emperor 
deployed the state troops to pacify the Border 
Princes in order to add a few towns and cities to the 
empire and few honours to the young Emperors 
repertoire. This quick expedition turned into a 
decade long war which cost the lives of many 
Imperial soldiers and basically caused the collapse 
of the treasury. When the soldiers returned home, 
expecting back pay, pensions and bonuses, they were instead met with shrugs and orders to return 
home and await payment. The army instead began to riot across the Reikland pillaging and looting as 
it went. Fearing a coup or rebellion by the northern provinces, Luitpold agreed to the plan of Adrian 
Haerig, a wealthy Altdorf merchant, to set up a state sponsored, privately operated fund to pay the 
Emperor's soldiers, and maybe do something useful with that pension money in the meantime while it 
sits collecting interest. The fund was set up posthaste under the supervision of the Haerig family, and 
it has been running smoothly ever since, providing a secure place for the Empire’s soldiers to leave their 
hard earned paychecks and pensions, all while the Haerigs grow richer and the Emperor grumbles. 
Rules:  
Only Cavalrymen, Knights, Soldiers, Warrior Priests, Road Wardens, River Wardens and those who 
have served in the Imperial Armed Forces may utilize this bank in their B​ anking​ endeavours. The fund 
provides savings accounts to soldiers at modest interest rates, between 1% and 5%. Interest rates on 
loans and mortgages are also 15% less than usual. Backed as it is by the might of the Emperor this bank 
may never go bankrupt. Should the player ever roll a bankruptcy on a withdrawal, they will instead 
receive their money in an equivalent value of Army Debentures. 
Locations: 
The fund is headquartered in Altdorf but has branches in all the Empires major cities and army forts. 
Item: Army Debenture: 
An Army Debenture is a piece of paper bearing some value in silver, usually between 20 and 100. 
These pieces of paper are basically worthless and most merchants will buy them at 1/10 of their face 
value. However a little known fact about these accursed paper scraps is that the state is required to 
accept them at face value when an individual is purchasing goods or land directly from the 
government. 
Bank: The Trading Houses of the van 
Rhoon Family 
 
History: T ​ he patriarch of the van Rhoon family, 
the venerable Hugo van Rhoon prides himself on 
his families humble roots and hard work. He after 
all had arrived to Marienburg from the Tumble 
Downs with only the clothes on his back and 
worked his way up to heading one of the wealthiest 
families in the City Of course most won’t hear it 
directly from his mouth, since he has been dead for 
over two centuries now! To most people’s eyes the 
family is run by his sturdy and capable Great-great 
granddaughter Ingrid van Rhoon, who works 
through the labor of her dozens of cousins, 
nephews, nieces, children and grandchildren. In secret however, the family is run by the still living 
Hugo van Rhoon, near three hundred years old, kept alive through a powerful necromantic ritual of 
his own devising. His centuries of economic experience is one of the many reasons for the families 
continued dominance, and his mastery of dark magic certainly doesn’t hurt either. However his 
physical form is degrading, and those inner circle members of the family fear for their position should 
their beloved Grandpa Hugo finally pass away. To that end they have been using their extensive 
network to find individuals willing to find the materials they need to ensure their patriarchs continued 
existence.  
Rules: 
Despite technically being a wholesaler of trade goods, the families company, ​van Rhoon and Associates 
does extensive work as a bank and and as a lender. If a character is currently keeping money with the 
company or is repaying a loan to the van Rhoons then they may purchase goods from the van Rhoons 
at a 10% discount, and a 15% discount if you are doing both. Any given member of the family might 
also give a player either a twenty percent bonus to investment profits, or only three-quarters 
investment profits. The family is currently looking for reliable, and expendable, individuals to acquire 
the rare ingredients required by their patriarch to prolong his life. These ingredients can not be bought 
under normal circumstances, and thus must be found and procured from their inevitably dangerous 
resting places. Among other items, these ritual ingredients include; metal from an unholy blade, bark 
from Athel Loren, and a thumb-sized nugget of Gromril. 
Locations: W ​ herever a member of the extensive van Rhoon family makes their home, you will find a 
branch of their company. All the major cities of the Empire, save for Salzenmund Branches may also 
be found in many of the Empires towns and minor trading centers, such as Bogenhafen in the 
Reikland and Carroburg in Middenland.  
Bank: The Braunauer Coffeehouse 
History: T ​ he Braunauer Coffeehouse in Nuln 
served as a popular gathering place for many of its 
students. In its well lit hall, students and 
professors of all classes and creeds gathered 
together to discuss the latest in theology, 
philosophy and especially politics. They spoke of 
reform in the Empire, of rights for the peasantry, 
of a c​ onstitution​ for the nation. In time these 
radical beliefs got many of these students in deep 
trouble, and got them expelled from the Imperial 
University of Nuln in the Academic Purges of 
2495. Not wanting their radical peers go hungry, 
and wanting them to keep preaching the virtues 
of their radical ideas, started a collective fund to 
allow the agitators and orators among them to continue spreading the truth without fear for their 
livelihoods. The fund was stored in the basement of their favorite coffeehouse, and in time, the fund 
grew to be an illicit bank in its own right. Providing banking services to a myriad of radicals, 
malcontents and agitators who all seek to push the Empire in the more liberal direction envisioned by 
its founders. Those who open accounts with the Braunauer Coffeehouse gain access to a huge network 
of reformist activists, who are obligated to assist their generous patrons with their goals, hopefully by 
riling up a howling mob to tear down whatever they find distasteful. 
Rules:  
As an underground bank, the player must make two rolls for bankruptcy when withdrawing their 
investments. However so long as the player has an account with the Coffeehouse, they may utilize the 
assistance of the radicals they are sponsoring by being able to execute the ​Foment Dissent​ endeavour as 
though they were a Burgher or Peasant. If they are already a Burgher or a Peasant, they recieve a +10 
bonus to both the Gossip test and the charm test to get the mob gathered and riled up. Players who are 
Agitators, or Academics of a radical bent, they may take out a no-interest loan equal to an i​ ncome 
endeavour without using an endeavour so long as the perform some inflammatory act for their patron 
or patrons. A F ​ oment Dissent​ endeavour enacted against a requested injustice or individual will do just 
fine. 
Locations:  
‘Branches’ of the Coffeehouse originated at the prestigious University of Nuln. It quickly spread to the 
Colleges and Universities of Altdorf, Ubersreik, Carroburg, Middenheim, and Wurtbad.  
 
Bank Features: 
Whether creating a unique bank, or wanting a feature on the fly for when a player decides it's time to 
start saving money or seek out a loan, you may choose or randomly roll one or more of these features. 
 
01-10: A ​ Dark Secret. ​Whether it is a deep connection to a chaos cult, the secret practice of magic, 
or an insane spouse chained up in the attic, this bank or individual banker has a dark secret that could 
ruin them if it got out. Rivals will obviously pay handsomely for information like this, and the 
authorities would be very interested. 
11-20: N ​ othing Particular. T ​ his utterly mundane institution has nothing interesting or notable 
about it. 
21-30: W ​ e’re Hiring! ​This bank is looking for thugs to carry out the dirty work of collecting debts 
and catch those pesky debtors who try to flee their obligations. Some of these runaway debtors may 
prove to be more than the players bargained for however. 
31-40: J​oint-Stock Company. A ​ recent invention of the clever commissioners of Marienburg, by 
spreading the risk of merchant expeditions to multiple individuals, investment increases and so do 
profits. You may create an investment with an interest rate up to 20% instead of the normal 10%. You 
may also make mortgages on property and vehicles at only a 10% down payment! But your many 
financial backers will expect results, and fast! 
41-50: U ​ tterly Incompetent​. ​After every investment roll, there is a 25% chance that the bank will 
have not made quite as much money as they promised and will only be able to give the player half of 
their interest on their investment. 
51-60: E ​ xcellent Dealmakers. A ​ fter every investment roll, their is a 25% chance that the bank will 
have made some extra money on the players savings investment, which it will graciously give to their 
good customer. 
61-70: O ​ ther Business. B ​ anking is only one function of this multi-faceted business. Whatever goods 
or services the business provides may be purchased at a discount of roughly 5% to 20% percent, should 
the player have an investment or loan with the company. 
71-80: U ​ nderground. T ​ his bank is not strictly a legal institution. Every time you withdraw an 
investment you must make two rolls for bankruptcy. However you may take out loans as though you 
were two social ranks higher (I.E. a Silver 3 character may take out a loan as though they were a Silver 
5). 
81-90: V ​ enerable. ​This bank is much to large and much too old to possibly fail, right? This bank’s 
investments require no rolls for bankruptcy. But its interest rates are lower (1%-5%) on investments, 
and are roughly 15% higher on mortgages and loans. 
91-100: L ​ egitimate Institution​. ​So long as the players account does not go bankrupt, then this 
bank will operate without issue, comment, or anything interesting happening. If the player rolls a 
bankrupt on a withdrawal, then the whole bank will suddenly close, and the character will find 
themselves confronted by suspicious investigators bearing documents with the characters signature 
connecting them to all manner of illegal acts.