Illustration by Jon Hodgson


From the Diary of Queen Merisiel

Friday, February 26, 2010

Although I can't quite yet show off the actual rules you'll be using in the Kingmaker Adventure Path quite yet, I can show you how they look in play. Presented below is an excerpt from Merisiel's diary as she oversees the foundation of a brand-new kingdom in the mysterious Stolen Lands. NOTE: Merisiel's probably not the best choice in this group for a nation's ruler, but sometimes that's just how politics work. As time permits, I'll post a few more diary entries to this blog's messageboard thread so we can all learn from Merisiel's triumphs and failures. Certainly there'll be more triumphs in her future, yes?

1 Pharast: So it looks like I'm in charge. Queen Merisiel. I like the sound of that. Although, as Seelah is so fond of pointing out, I'm technically a baroness until this new nation of mine grows large enough. I'm still gonna be calling myself queen in these pages. Seelah's gonna be the general of my armies (she volunteered!), and I put Lem in charge of keeping an eye on the citizens to make sure they're loyal as the spymaster. And of course Kyra's our high priest. All the other leadership roles, for now, go to some of the other locals we've allied with during the past several months of exploring the Greenbelt. We'll see how they work out, I suppose—none of them seem particularly talented, but hopefully they'll grow into their jobs? And if they don't, I can fire them. I'm the queen, after all. Anyway, we've managed to claim a pretty sizable area around this old ruined castle that bandit lord was using as a hideout. The ruins should work pretty well as a new castle, once it gets patched up. We've started clearing the area around the ruins to serve as a good place to build up a town. I'm thinking of calling it Owlbearton, after that bandit's pet owlbear that nearly bit off Lem's ear, but Seelah says that's a stupid name. I told her that if she comes up with something better we'll call it that, but so far all her ideas suck. Surprise, surprise. So for now, Owlbearton it is! We've even built some roads around the place! It's gonna be a city in no time! Especially now that I've got some deliciously heavy taxes coming into the treasury! Who woulda guessed that taxes could be something to be happy about? So far, those taxes more than paid for the roads and land clearing and stuff. Not the rebuilding of the castle, though. That's expensive, as it works out. And while Lem says that the locals are complaining that all I'm doing is lying around and taking it easy while they pay for my little project, and while Kyra says she only barely managed to talk a group of farmers out of marching up to the castle to tear it down and (their words) "git back what we done paid for from that spendthrift pointy-eared harlot!" I'm not worried. Once they see how excellent this castle looks when it's all done, they'll all forgive me. I'm sure of it!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Bards Iconics Jon Hodgson Kingmaker Lem Merisiel Monsters Owlbears Paladins Pathfinder Adventure Path Rogues Seelah Wallpapers
1 to 50 of 122 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yeeeaaahhhh... this is not going to be pretty

Dark Archive

hahaha... "butz weez like our shiny castle!"

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

So's this canon? ;-)


yoda8myhead wrote:
So's this canon? ;-)

Only if I end up looking good in the end. If it all comes crumbling down on my head... it never happened.

You hear me?

It NEVER happened.

(narrows eyes)

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4

I like how the blog is about a different party then what's in the adventure path. Double the Iconic action!

If I remember right the AP has Ranger, Druid, Barbarian, and Monk?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

O.M.G. Periods for emphasis. My group's gonna have a blast with this.

D'YOU HEAR ME, BEN?! A BLAST!

You'll be all, like, "I'm tainted by a familial blood pact with daemons but ah lurves me the goodness of Milani," and I'll be like, "ORLY, lil' cuz? Don't start nothin', or I'll have to hit you with the flat side o' mah axe!" And Heather's PC will all be like, "chillax, youze two, or I get my horsey to stomp you in der face-bits!" And then Brent's bard will tell us a story, and your other PC will drown a dude, and Dustin's rogue will stab a guy, and Bento's dude will do whatever Bento's dude does.

And somehow, we'll rule a kingdom. We'll figure that out as we go along. :P

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Merisiel Sillvari wrote:
yoda8myhead wrote:
So's this canon? ;-)

Only if I end up looking good in the end. If it all comes crumbling down on my head... it never happened.

You hear me?

It NEVER happened.

(narrows eyes)

You have doubts about the outcome? :)

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Taxes, you had me at taxes ;>

Dark Archive

This looks a little like Birthright.


Are we really sure that's Merisiel writing that? I didn't see a single mention of stabbing somebody. Hmm...


*rolling*!

Kajehase - I thought the same thing at first - but look at what's hanging above the hammock!

Paizo Employee CEO

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kajehase wrote:
Are we really sure that's Merisiel writing that? I didn't see a single mention of stabbing somebody. Hmm...

I agree! Must be a sock puppet!

-Lisa

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4

This picture is just the right size for a new desktop, by the way.


So how does Kingmaker keep the PCs from blowing all the taxes on magic items instead of roads?

Ken


My guess would be peasant revolts.

"Sire! The peasants are revolting!"

"Well I agree they could maybe bathe more often, but calling them revolting is a bit cruel don't you think?"


First mistake: having the halfling do the heavy lifting.
Last mistake ever: bossing around the paladin.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Scipion del Ferro wrote:
This picture is just the right size for a new desktop, by the way.

In general, any blog post with the wallpapers tag will contain an image suitable for such a use.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
kenmckinney wrote:

So how does Kingmaker keep the PCs from blowing all the taxes on magic items instead of roads?

Ken

Two ways.

1) The units of currency used to build roads and buildings and kingdoms, and what you earn by placing taxes and having a good economy, are NOT gold pieces. They're instead categorized as "Build Points," which encompasses ALL resources (coins, workers, tools, favors, debt, etc.). You can add to your kingdom's Build Point total by selling magic items and making deposits, and you can also make withdrawals from your kingdom treasury by converting Build Points to cash. Of course, just like selling and buying magic items, this isn't a very economic use of funds, since the conversions aren't equal and are engineered to favor NOT withdrawing BP to use as PC funds.

2) Extracting money from the national treasury or otherwise taking advantage of the citizens in order to use tax money and the like to buy fancy stuff for your PCs causes your nation to increase in Unrest. Unrest causes penalties to ALL kingdom checks. If your unrest gets high enough, your kingdom starts to fall apart and you start losing control of parts of it, and it starts shrinking in size. And if you hit the maximum Unrest score of 20, your kingdom falls into anarchy. This is basically the same endgame event as a character death; once your kingdom falls into anarchy, you basically have to start a new kingdom. It's analogous to building a new character. Gaining 20 Unrest is a bad thing, and frequently blowing taxes on magic items is a GREAT way to do that. The adventure already gives out plenty of treasure for the PCs, so if they're blowing tax income on themselves and not using that income to build their kingdom, they're basically just being greedy and destroying their nation to do so.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Gozran 1: Hmmm. They’re still grumbling, but not enough to be a problem. The peasantry, that is. Kyra might be right that it’s maybe not a good idea to tax them that heavily, but at the same point, no one’s actually openly rebelled yet, so I’m pretty sure it’s just growing pains and hot air. We expanded to the east and built some more roads into there, and I even ordered the land developed into farms for those cranky peasants. They like cows and horses, yeah? That should quiet them up. Also, growing our own food lets us not spend treasury funds on food, which is good, because that means the treasury is bigger.

OH! We finished clearing the area for Owlbearton! Which means that we were able to finally repair the ruined keep and now we have a castle! Used up about half the starter funds Brevoy sent us, but it’s worth it! I HAVE A CASTLE OF MY OWN!!! Well, I guess technically I’m sharing it with Seelah and Kyra and Lem and the other leaders, but still. Pretty nice! Oh, and at Lem’s suggestion, I’ve started instituting some promotions and, well, I guess you might even call it propaganda. Basically, working on the way we present ourselves to the people, and how the people present themselves to our neighbors. Costs a bit, but it seems to be helping make the place a bit more stable. Which is, I suppose, a good thing. Especially since it looks like we didn’t make much money this month. I think maybe next month I’ll build some sort of business in town to boost the economy. Maybe a brothel! Yeah! Everyone loves brothels!

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh gods. A brothel... REALLY!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

James sounds like you guys are going to have a lot of little cool rules for empire building for PC's. I am really looking forward to this AP.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

Lazaro wrote:
Oh gods. A brothel... REALLY!

Heheheheheh...

I must say no more!


Desnus 1: Well... the castle DID seem to make some of the people happy. Turns out having a place they can run and hide in when the monsters come makes you feel safer. They're not COMPLETELY happy, though. Heard some more rumors about fistfights out at some of the outlying farmlands. What's it take to make a bunch of farmers happy? These people...

Anyway, we expanded some more! The kingdom now encompasses a silver mine! I've got some dwarven guys down there working away at it even now; should help the economy a bit. Assuming they don't run off with the ore. I should think about upping the guards down there at the mine. We'll see how it works out, I suppose. Developed the lands surrounding the mine into some more farms too.

In other news, the brothel's finished! And while I suspect that it did indeed make the people a bit more loyal, it also sounds like there's been a few more scuffles down there. More drunks and more lewd behavior in the streets or something. I'm not sure why that's a problem, but Seelah and Kyra seem to think it is. At least Lem's on the side of logic, although if he asks me for a brothel discount again I might just scream.

The brothel's helping though! And the silver mine, I guess. We made quite a bit of money this month. More than enough to cover building the brothel in the first place, in fact. Hmm... I just noticed that lots of the folks nearby are living in tents.

Back. Just approved the building of some housing for the squatters. That should make them happy.

The frustrating part of the month though is that those bandits we kicked out seem to have come back. They attacked several caravans and made off with three loads of silver from the mine. Sent out some soldiers to fix the situation and only one came back... and that one was missing a hand. Seems the bandits have holed up in the hills out there... and they're STILL out there somewhere. Probably spending all of my silver. Jerks.

Scarab Sages

By the gods I can't wait for this AP.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Merisiel Sillvari wrote:
The frustrating part of the month though is that those bandits we kicked out seem to have come back. They attacked several caravans and made off with three loads of silver from the mine. Sent out some soldiers to fix the situation and only one came back... and that one was missing a hand. Seems the bandits have holed up in the hills out there... and they're STILL out there somewhere. Probably spending all of my silver. Jerks.

Better go show 'em who's Queen, Meri! How long's it been since you stabbed something, anyway?


This makes me a very happy boy.

Scarab Sages

I am more excited about this AP than I have been since Pathfinder started waaaay back with RotRL. Positively squee-ing myself in anticipation.

And you ain't helping, Ms. Sillvari. [grin]

[sits and waits for the next installment]


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Sarenith 1: Wow... the resources those bandits made off with nearly ended up not leaving enough funds to pay for food and supplies and stuff for the people of Owlbearton. And there's certainly not enough left over to pay for further expansions into other parts of the Greenbelt. Maybe next month. Made enough money to maybe cover expenses next month though, which is good.

The bad news, though, is that those obnoxious bandits went and nabbed not only a load of silver this month, but also killed a bunch of merchants and stole their stuff too! Who would have guessed that success and a shiny castle would instill such jealousy! These bandits are seriously starting to get under my skin. I've spent the last three hours sharpening the knives, and tonight, Seelah and Lem and Kyra and I are heading up into the hills to see if we can't take care of this little problem...

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Merisiel Sillvari wrote:
I've spent the last three hours sharpening the knives...

Damn. I was totally just about to start an office pool on how many diary entries it would take before the word "sharpen" appeared.

Dark Archive

Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kevin Mack wrote:
Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?

Probably not. Would you like them to? I can certainly see Merisiel calling in some favors... after all, we've got 12 spots for leadership roles, and 12 iconics... Hmmm. Of course, one of those 12 leadership roles would be co-ruler with Merisiel, which could get interesting...

Verdant Wheel

Hmmm. It´s easy to use the system to run Fort Rannick back in Rise of the Runelords ? Would be cool to make this part of the campaing more interesting.

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:
Kevin Mack wrote:
Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?
Probably not. Would you like them to?

Sure Like you said 12 places 12 Iconics. I think it would be interesting to see who ends up in which position.

The Exchange

(sigh) By the Light of the Dawnflower....Sarenrae, give me the strength....

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

When did all these iconics get last names?!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

yoda8myhead wrote:
When did all these iconics get last names?!

When they got played in Jason's playtest of "Crypt of the Everflame."


Argh, the wait is killing me. Any chance you guys are going to reveal the 12 positions any time soon? Pahweeeeeeeese?

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

Prince That Howls wrote:
Argh, the wait is killing me. Any chance you guys are going to reveal the 12 positions any time soon? Pahweeeeeeeese?

Are you asking who does number two work for?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Kevin Mack wrote:
Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?
Probably not. Would you like them to? I can certainly see Merisiel calling in some favors... after all, we've got 12 spots for leadership roles, and 12 iconics... Hmmm. Of course, one of those 12 leadership roles would be co-ruler with Merisiel, which could get interesting...

That would be interesting and the last bit a bit telling. I mean who would Merisiel pick to be her "co-ruler"?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Dark_Mistress wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kevin Mack wrote:
Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?
Probably not. Would you like them to? I can certainly see Merisiel calling in some favors... after all, we've got 12 spots for leadership roles, and 12 iconics... Hmmm. Of course, one of those 12 leadership roles would be co-ruler with Merisiel, which could get interesting...
That would be interesting and the last bit a bit telling. I mean who would Merisiel pick to be her "co-ruler"?

Note that I did not say "King" or "Queen."

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kevin Mack wrote:
Will any of the other Iconics (besides the one's already mentioned) be appearing in these at all?
Probably not. Would you like them to? I can certainly see Merisiel calling in some favors... after all, we've got 12 spots for leadership roles, and 12 iconics... Hmmm. Of course, one of those 12 leadership roles would be co-ruler with Merisiel, which could get interesting...
That would be interesting and the last bit a bit telling. I mean who would Merisiel pick to be her "co-ruler"?
Note that I did not say "King" or "Queen."

Yeah I noticed that which is why I posted what I did. I mean we know at least one of the iconic's is gay. :)

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

James Jacobs wrote:
Note that I did not say "King" or "Queen."

Well, Seltyiel's out then. He's totally a queen.

Grand Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
kenmckinney wrote:

So how does Kingmaker keep the PCs from blowing all the taxes on magic items instead of roads?

Ken

Two ways.

1) The units of currency used to build roads and buildings and kingdoms, and what you earn by placing taxes and having a good economy, are NOT gold pieces. They're instead categorized as "Build Points," which encompasses ALL resources (coins, workers, tools, favors, debt, etc.).

It's not easy to buy magic items with chickens and turnips, but you can use them to feed labourers and soldiers.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I'll trade you this entire cart of turnips for your +2 Longsword. It's a bumper crop this year. ^_^

I'm absolutely loving the diary entries. This will be my favourite AP, I can already tell.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Prince That Howls wrote:
Argh, the wait is killing me. Any chance you guys are going to reveal the 12 positions any time soon? Pahweeeeeeeese?

The More than 12 positions site.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Prince That Howls wrote:
Argh, the wait is killing me. Any chance you guys are going to reveal the 12 positions any time soon? Pahweeeeeeeese?

The search function is your friend.


Well fitting the obvious ones into the obvious places

Ruler.. Merisiel
co-ruler..?

Councilor..?

General...Seelah

Grand Diplomat..?

High Priest Kyra

Magister..Ezren

Marshal..Valeros

Royal Assassin..?

Spymaster..Lem

Treasurer..?

Warden..Harsk

leaving Seoni, Lini, Seltyiel and Sajan to fill in the question Marks

Paizo Employee Creative Director

I've already put Merisiel in the role of Queen. This is a TERRIBLE choice, since the ruler needs to have a good Charisma, and adds her Charisma modifier to several kingdom-based rolls. Merisiel's Charisma is only 10 (even though she's so lovable and cute, go figure!), and thus she doesn't add any bonus to those rolls.

What I'm saying is that I might well put Harsk in the Magister role and Ezren up as the Grand Diplomat just to be a pill. :-P


Well we all know that Merisiel's CHA 10 is a function of her bloodthirsty personality.

But yes it would be like her to put the completely wrong people into the wrong posts. I see Seelah or Kyra leading a palace revolt sooner or Later..

The rogue in my table top group is determined to be treasurer..

101 to 122 of 122 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Kingmaker / Paizo Blog: From the Diary of Queen Merisiel All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Kingmaker