Kingmaker

Game Master Malinor.

I will be traveling from 1/26 through 1/29. I should have good access to the internet and be able to post in the evenings.

If an item falls within the general range of what you can buy/sell with Oleg he will pay the normal percentage for the item. If it falls without it there will be a delay in getting it as the items will have to be sent out to be sold and then the value returned several weeks later. For the most part you can just track it as you go. If you want to buy something that is beyond his value you can do so at the normal cost, but it will again take several weeks to actually arrive.

Sorry, coffee hasn't kicked in, don't quite grasp this.

Larger questions so I don't have to keep asking you:
What is the general range of what we can buy at Olegs? I am thinking this means anything reasonable to be at a frontier outpost (Armor up to studded leather, simple and some martial weapons, ammo. Most adventuring gear, yes to tents, no to gargantuan statues, maybe to folding bathtubs. Most tools and lots of local food, herbs, animals and animal products.) How close am I?

Everyone
I may have missed this, or I may just be overthinking things but who is Oleg trading with? I see there is a road back to civilization so goods must flow back and forth. But what is flowing out of the stolen lands?

Are there Farms here? Lumber concerns? Villages? How populated is this area? The players guide is surprisingly terse on the subject.

Sorry if all this is old news. I'm an Oracle, Int is a dump stat.

Jackob (& Coreyllon) - My memory/perception from PREVIOUS DMs Please take note of all those caveats - was that Oleg came here to "get away from civilization" more than make money, so it was always indicated that the non-descript npc type travelers would come and go and that the outpost was more of a secure place to sleep for a price - and get basic supplies than a true store. The PCs are welcomed for no cost due to our actions defending the post and bringing order to the Stolen Lands.

The former PC dwarf built a forge adjacent to the property - I do not know if his kin continue to operate it or if they abandoned it on his departure - that would be a Coreyllon call.

Out is the Stolen lands there are:
Dwarves working a gold mine that are associated with that former PC
The Temple under the care of Father Jhod, and Akiros
The Stag Lord Fort in the hands of some other allied NPCs
And a tribe of Kobolds that have a silver mine - the party arranged trade via a caravan = silver for moon radishes...I think this is the caravan Yennifer and Henry run - but would actually have to look back to confirm that one. There are no farms or settlements otherwise that I know of.... and see intro caveat...

Apologies, everyone. RL had blindsided and mugged me a couple of weeks ago, but everything seems to be back on track. Let me catch up a little and I'll get a post up later today.

You are corret about Oleg. His trading post is more of a place where people stop by for a night then actually trade. If you have access to the map of the trading post, it doesn't really have a store for shopping. The shop is really just a large shed. Usually, Oleg and Svetlana are alone here. You all do have free lodging whenever you arrive for what you did for him at the beginning of the quest. Since the group has arrived here though his business has been booming. His total funds he has have massively increased. And given a week he can arrange for most orders that you want. That includes selling or buying items. In his shed he now has a wide variety of basic martial and simple weapons and armor and items from the core equipment section.

I did not know about an ex-PC retiring to be here, but if he did he would still be around and connected to the mine. The kobold agreements are also still in effect.

For the most part the Stolen Lands are pretty empty. I do believe that there are people though. Groups have come and then left and some the people would have remained behind. I assume that there are some small farms around as people tend to set up shop in remote places similar to what Oleg and Svetlana did. But they are few and far between. There are also hunters and trappers in some places who ply their trade in the wild.

Currently, Oleg has enough gold to pay for the two heads. Anything else you want to sell will take a week for him to arrange for and work out orders. If you wish to purchase anything it will similarly take a week for it to arrive. If you want to do some shoping and work on something here for a week you can. Currenlty, you are not aware of any time based issues that must be addressed.

The way I have always ran it is that art work items (like a cup made of jade), gems and jewelry can go for full value as they retain or gain in value over time. All other equipment will be traded at half value.

@ Jackob - as long as it doesn’t try to eat Rillka… her riding dog, or her pack horse; “pets” are welcome by her!

@GM. Cool beans. Then I'll move the cash value of the Ring and Stein into coinage. The jade is rare and might be needed as a spell component later so I'll leave that one on the sheet for now barring objections.

For the Masterwork Cold iron sword is the value 630gp? {15(longsword)+300(masterwork)x2(cold iron)}
or {15(longsword)x2(cold iron)+300 (masterwork)} 330gp?

@Rillka don't worry Butternut won't squash you. The bad puns might though.

It's 330. The material is more valuable. Not the craftmanship.

It's 330. The material is more valuable. Not the craftmanship.

330gp it is then. I'll mark is sold on (date?) to be paid on (date a week later?)

Everyone. I know I kind of grabbed the loot master position without asking. If I stepped on any toes I apologize and will step away with alacrity if I barged in on someones job.

@Jackob: No toe has been stepped on here and I have no problem with companions at all. Actually, I love them and usually have one myself :-)

@Jackob: I am happy you are helping out with managing the loot list! Thank you

Riding dogs are combat trained... Lucca, riding dog, knows - attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel.
Chetak is a draft horse; think he would have the come, heel, and stay tricks
I added the tricks to Rillka's sheet in the animal's sections.

Can we breakdown of GP to spend I am not sure when/how we transition loot on party sheet to GP in pockets?

Rillka will continue her mapping activities as they travel, and enjoy the food at Oleg's while they wait.

@Coreyllon = As for the game itself, I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback, and know I can bring items to you to discuss. Just keep moving us forward, I am enjoying it immensely and am looking forward to continuing.

@Rillka, Ok, Lucca will not handle supernatural dangers without forced checks unless you spend 2 of the six slots on attack. There may or may not be a lot of supernatural creatures over time, but I do want to make sure that is your intent to stop later issues.

You guys can split anytime you want. By the time we start again, the group can have sold and split anything that you do not intend to keep.

I am updating the loot list now. Selling the sword, stein, and ring gives us 1620.2gp or 16202sp. Six equal shares comes to 270gp each with 2 sp left in the kitty. Going 7 shares to allow one share for expenses is 231gp/share with an extra 3gp 1sp 5cp in the kitty. Loot sheet has been updated.

I think 6 shares is simpler but we can keep a slush fund if the group thinks it best.

Jackob can easily train any animals needed. My down time post will be forthcoming soon. Just wanted the loot stuff out of the way first.

At this point I am planning to follow the module's suggestion of 1 year between the end of the first book and the progression to the next book.

This AP is one that is not meant to be fast. Characters are encouraged to build relationships, get married, have children, potentially retire and see their kids go off adventuring.

With that in mind, at any point if you guys want to stop and focus on the kingdom, crafting, building relationships, etc. we can work to make that happen. There are some points where this will not be wise. If your halfway through fighting off bandits in one of your towns and decide to just shrug and leave to go hold a few council meetings then there might not be much left of that town when you return. But for the most part, I will be flexible in giving you time to do what you want in between events. We will just need to be tracking, at least roughly, how much time has passed. I will try and keep the calendar up and give dates for key highlights and note when months end. Track your Birthdays!

Which brings us to Kingdom Building!

There are three ways we can do this.

Option A: We get you guys into the nitty gritty. You as a group, or individually, do all of the decisions and we take the time to ensure that everyone partakes in as much of the decision making as they want. This option will be the slowest but allows for the most connection to what is happening in the kingdom. In my experience, a single player doing the heavy lifting and then everyone giving input after makes this option a little smoother. We could potentially take turns on who is the lead planner in a given month if several people want to take on that role.

Option B: In this option the group provides a rough outline of what they hope to accomplish. Examples would be expand to the south, build a bridge around here, expand X town, build more troops, have a holiday and come up with something cool about it over Y victory. Then I would go through and do the nitty gritty of the turn. This would be much faster then Option A, and might reflect more of a real world experience. Just because you want a building built doesn't mean that it won't get held up in a bureaucratic morass. In this case I will handle a lot of the slower work that would be harder to handle in a PBP and you guys would suggest in general what you want to see happen. Depending on how much time people want to invest in the nitty gritty of kingdom building, ie. not that much, this option might be the easiest for the campaign to flow smoothly while still seeing the economy and cities blossom.

Option C: This option is the one I favor the least and not one that I am likely to agree to start with, but it should be mentioned. In this option we just mostly ignore all kingdom building. I randomly expand your borders as the game progresses. If there is a battle, you have some troops. Maybe more then you would otherwise, possibly less then you would otherwise. All we get are periodic kingdom events to deal with rather then all the nitty gritty details that determine how your kingdom is growing and thriving. As I stated, this is my least favorite option. I would much rather A or B and this would be a fallback if kingdom building is killing the campaign even with option B, which unfortunately is possible. Kingdom building, especially if people get busy IRL, can really slow down the campaign.

Choosing Kingdom Positions:

There are 11 positions in this campaign. Sir Andreas is set to be in the ruler position. I will list the positions below and the corresponding stat. You can try and get NPC's to take on the jobs as well. Currently, Oleg lets it be known he would like to be the Treasurer and Akiros shares with you that he would be happy to be the General of your forces. It is up to the group if you accept their offers or try and convince them or others to take on different positions. You can leave a position open, but there are associated penalties to the kingdom for any empty positions other then the Assassin.. Sir Andreas does not need to immediately marry and have a "Queen" position filled. Although there are definitely benefits to having a talented NPC fill that role.

If you want one of the previous PC's who have now left the campaign to take on a role, that works as long as they have not altered their stats so we can see their correct bonuses.

If you want to select a Named NPC that you have met previously, even if it seems like an odd ball choice, let me know. Bandit 4 working for Akiros does not count. If you manage to talk to the Boggard in the swamp, and it turns out he has a name, you could potentially befriend him and make him your Grand Diplomat! :D I will be looking over and updating the current NPC list to give you guys options. If I miss someone let me know.

Positions:
Ruler (Duo Position King and Queen)- Increase either Economy, Loyalty or Stability by Charisma. Pick two and later all three as the kingdom grows. If both positions are filled, then add both character's Charisma bonuses to the chosen kingdom attribute(s). At least one of the two characters in the ruler position must be present for at least 1 week per month or the vacancy penalty is applied.
Councilor- Increase Loyalty by Wisdom or Charisma
General- Increase Stability by Strength or Charisma
Grand Diplomat- Increase Stability by Intelligence or Charisma
High Priest- Increase Stability by Wisdom or Charisma
Magister- Increase Economy by Intelligence or Charisma
Marshal- Increase Economy by Dexterity or Wisdom
Royal Assassin- Increase Loyalty by Strength and Dex, Reduce Unrest, No penalty for ignoring this role.
Spymaster- Increase Loyalty, Economy, or Stability by Dexterity or Intelligence. Pick one and can change once each turn during the Improvement Phase.
Treasurer- Increase Economy by Intelligence or Wisdom.

Post your option vote and your thoughts on positions!

Preference: Option A

Rillka would be well suited to the following in order of preference:
Councilor, Grand Diplomat, Magister
- The most natural fit for Rillka is Councilor as she has spent most of the adventure arguing with Andreas and being a counter balance when she thought it was needed. Based on that, she could also be a voice for the people as Grand Diplomat. Simply being a spellcaster, she could be Magister, but that actual role is outside her character.

No opposition to Oleg for Treasurer and Akiros as a General unless PCs wish those functions.

I will suggest NPCs and former PCS once our current group has taken positions.

@Jackob -I added the 270gp to my sheet - thank you Loot Master!

I'll go with Option A or B. Either is fine with me.

Mechanically, Akilina would be a good Spymaster, Assassin, or Marshal, but Spymaster might fit her personality and conflict/cooperation role w/ House Surtova best.

I think Caerwyn would be best suited, personality wise, for the Marshal role than anything else.

1d12 ⇒ 6
1d30 ⇒ 21

Caerwyn's birthday would be the 21st of Sarenith.

@Coreyllon - I understand regarding the mount tricks. Rillka would not be likely to send her animals into combat, so the standard training is good. I understand the implications.

(Crap, wrote a long answer while at work and now the computer just blue-screened me and I lost it :-( )

Thanks to Jackob for the loot work, I've also added the 270gp to my sheet.

And I would appreciate Jackob training Binky, my horse, for combat (like Rillka, I won't use it in combat, just don't want it to run off)

I clearly prefer option A, option B is okay and option C is a backup if all else fails.

About the roles, Rhavi should have something for her intelligence.
That means either Grand Diplomat, Magister, Spymaster or Treasurer.
Magister might be a good fit for Rahavi. She knows magic and like learning.
Treasurer would I personally find interesting.
Grand Diplomat could also work, but she would mostly be interested in the internal groups of the kingdom, but that could be the reason she continued also with the outside groups.

But I could be fine with any of them.

Regarding downtime, the first thing she would like to do is to find a way to communicate with the Boggard. She wants to know if he is a threat and/or if there are others of his kind around that could be a threat.
As Tongues is a long way off for her, she would like to learn his language. She would be willing to buy a potion to get it started if that would help. (Technically I’ll spend a skill point at next level, if it would be allowed.)

Unless something else happens, she would like to explore the area they already have cleared, getting to know the different people that live there and get some relations with them. And look for fey creatures, as that was part of her reason to come here :-)
And while out there, she would also look for clues to whatever killed the unicorn.

She would also like to learn new spells. Just 1st level, as that is all she can use for extracts right now.
Can I assume that all 1st lvl are available and cost 25gp? Or do I need to check with you?

And everyone, remember I can craft potions for you if needed. See the list in my sheet. I can also make of the spells Jackob has.

Nice idea with the rolling for birthday, Caerwyn, I’ll do the same :-)
1d12 ⇒ 7
1d30 ⇒ 8
Her birthday is the 8th of Arodus and after the downtime, she would be 25 years old.

I take it we missed the big as statue in the woods of Erastil...lol

I am parital to option A.
I mean it has only been since Oct 31, 2016 that I have played this character. I want to move on to the next stage and create our kingdom.

Month: 1d12 ⇒ 4
Date: 1d30 ⇒ 12
Gozran 12.

@All Players. Looks like the 6 share option was the most popular. So everyone you has not already done so please add 270gp to your character sheet as the loot sheet has been updated.

Speaking of Coin Von Ulm, did you sell your old suit of scale? I did not include that in the share values.

Kingdom building: Option A seems to be winning. I'll hop on that bandwagon.

Position Well with 16's in Str/Wis/Cha the only bad roles for Jackob would be Spymaster and Grand Assassin. I'll let the King toss me into whatever hole needs the most plugging. I have no real draw to any one role. Trying them all might be fun.....Hmm that is a rather chaotic outlook. Maybe there is an alignment change in J's future.

Birthday: 1d12 ⇒ 121d30 ⇒ 6 so 6th of Kuthona. Dead of Winter.

Animal training, GM Assuming Jackob can take 10 at this then I hit DC 20 with no assists. Guidance(+1), Natural Divination (+10), and the Wilds Attuned Frost spirit Hex(+2) can lend a hand as can Charm animal if needed. From what I see it looks like Binkyand Butternut are the only students for the Strange J Salad bar and animal training emporium. Butternut is going for Combat riding general purpose so no attacking strange things for them.

Rhavi. Do you want general purpose

Downtime @GM No real goals. I suppose first priority would be getting a secure place to sleep in wherever the capitol is so he stops abusing Oleg's hospitality. After that then J would want to get to know the folks moving into our little berg. Making friends and gathering information, that sort of thing.

@Jackob General purpose is fine, thank you. Just don't want him to toss her in a fight as was about to happen with the worms. ;-)

Getting a place to sleep that is not Oleg's actually sounds like a good idea. Rhavi would be planning to stay, even if they sends someone else down here to rule.
Is there a place we could start to settle, to make our own, before whoever comes would come? Would it be something we could do together as a group?

Good question Rhavi!

In the year that passes caravans of supplies and new people will be shipped in. The group begins with 50 BP (more on this once we finish getting offices filled) that you can use to build up a city, national infrastructure, etc.

There are three primary options on where to build (more on what the bonus buildings do when we start building):

If the group chooses to build around Oleg's then the city will add a free shop, stable or watchtower to the city grid. This would also be the case if a future town is started in the area.

If the group wanted to start the new city around the Temple of the Elk, it starts with a partial temple. Effectively, it costs half to add a temple to this area now or in the future should a city ever be built there.

The Stag Lords Fort is another option as it is located in the heart of the Greenbelt. If you build the city here, you start with a fort that halves the cost of building a castle should a city ever be built around the fort. If it is the capital this location also gives +1 bonus to Economy, Loyalty and Stability as it is a good central location and makes ruling easier.

For what its worth, if we did option C then a city would eventually appear around where you fought the Tatzlwyrms called Tatzlford.

Government Positions

For now I have the following government positions filled out. I put you in the first or primary position that you named. Please note the Assassin is for a more evil leaning nation. It will effect how people view your kingdom and rule. There is a reason that there is no penalty to leaving that open.

Ruler: Sir Andreas
Councilor- Rillka
General- Akiros (?)
Grand Diplomat-Jackob?
High Priest- Jackob?
Magister- Rhavi or Jackob?
Marshal- Caerwyn
Royal Assassin- I suggest you skip this for more pressing needs
Spymaster- Akilina
Treasurer- Rhavi or Oleg

So everyone here has their first choice except for Rhavi and Jackob. For those two see below.

@Rhavi you take precedent over Oleg for Treasurer or you can go Magister. I think you want the Treasurer position but you mentioned Magister as a good fit so I just want to confirm that choice before we lock it in.

@Jackob, as a Divine Caster you would make sense as the High Priest or you could try and find someone else to fill that. As a charismatic character you might be good as the Diplomat. Would either of these, or perhaps the Magister if Rhavi takes on the Treasury, be of interest to Jackob?

Voting options

@Everyone- Does anyone want to ask a known named NPC to take on one of the empty roles?

@Everyone- Where do you want the capital?
A- Around Oleg's
B- Around the Temple of the Elk
C- Around Stag's Fort
D- Somewhere else?

Father Jhod could be High Priest if Jackob is Grand Diplomat; and if Rhavi is Magister and Oleg Treaurer, then we would have the needed slots filled.

Option C for city building location

Rillka would like to go exploring with Rhavi, and having encountered the fey previously could help her find them… although Rillka makes no pretense; she wants them dead.

She would also want to fix and rename the Stag Lord Fort; it makes a good place for our group to stay and gives us reasons to go back and forth to Olegs and the Temple.

Rillka’s birthday is 31 Deans (I used the date of the first post of Rillka- I like the symbolism)

During the year, Rillka would continue to map the region, adding me settlements and farms; planning where roads should go, looking for river transport and fords; locations for bridges and getting to know those who come to the region.

@GM I can go with what is needed :-) Magister is fine, if that is where she can do the most good.

I also prefer option C. If I read the old post correctly (this one and the next), we left Gird with "Keston and Denton and their retinues" there.
We also let a field of undead be untouched, to keep it as security. We would need to remove that, if the people left there hasn't done so yet.

Gird could also be used as a leader of some kind.
With high dex and wis, he could be either Councilor, High Priest, Marshal or Royal Assassin.
As an Inquisitor, he could be either High Priest or Royal Assassin, if we need it.

Hi guys.

I tend to get hyperfocused on one or two things in my life to the detriment of everything else. It's an issue that I'm aware of, but there's not much I've been able to do to break that pattern.

I'm starting up a new career path after leaving teaching in December, and also working through some mental health stuff. I've also been fortunate enough to reconnect with a few friends from years ago. Finally, I'm starting to write a novel, which is something I've always wanted to do but never tried before.

In short, PbP isn't something I'm focused on. Running a game or playing in one just isn't something I'm committed to, and it's showing in the quality and quantity of my posts, and on how well I'm following what's even going on in my games. I'm going to drop this game. Sorry. I really enjoyed playing in it while I could.

No pressure Rhavi! If you want to be treasurer; be treasurer.
Kazmuk wanted to cleanse the undead; I just don’t know in the transition if we ever did.
Gird or Kazmuk could be leaders

Ninja’ed by Akilina

Akilina- please take care of yourself and know I wish you happiness and success!!!
It has been a pleasure adventuring with you!

Good luck with your new goals Akilina!

Akilina, good fortune with work and friends and the novel. The last especially from a sometimes poet. Be well. And if you want to lurk I am positive your comments will be very welcome.
~Poor Wandering One

@akilina, sad to see you go, but as you describe it, all of those things sounds way more important than this game!
Good luck and let us read the novel when it's done! :-)

Rhavi has said that she will do the Magister which lets Oleg help out as the Treasurer.

Akiros happens to be both stronger and more charismatic then you give him credit for. But a PC will pretty much always be better then the NPCs. If for no other reason then you all will continue to level and get stat points and eventually you will all buy stat boosting items and they will not. Although you could provide the magical items to them as rewards for being government officials if you wanted.

Akilina is now an NPC. She was being slotted into the Spymaster Position. If you want her to retain that position you can. If you wanted her to take on something else you would need to RP it out and ask her to do something else. If you do not want her aid, she can return to her family.

You can ask that Jhod be the High Priest. If so, we will RP that out and see if you can convince him. This will be the same as any other NPC you ask who doesn't come and ask you first for a position.

Assuming you accept Akiros, Akilina and Oleg into those positions, then you only need to ask Jhod for aid and everything that matters will be filled.

Also, currently the Ruler only adds to a single stat.

First: Akilina, I am sorry to see you go and wish you the best of luck and health.

Second: Jacob, Yes sell the armor.

Third: this is what I came up with.
Councilor- Rillka +4 Cha Loyalty

General- Akiros +2 St Stability

Grand Diplomat- Jackob +3 Cha Stability

High Priest- Father Jhod +4 Wis Stability

Magister- Rhavi +4 Int Economy

Marshal- Caerwyn +4 Dex Economy

Royal Assassin- Gird +3 Dex Loyalty

Ruler/Consort- Andreas +4 Cha Economy, Loyalty, or Stability: Economy

Spymaster- Akilina +4 Dex Economy, Loyalty, or Stability: Stability

Treasurer- Oleg +2 Wis Economy

Warden- Kesten +3 Str Loyalty

Office stats
Economy: +14
Loyalty: +9
Stability: +13

Fourth:

Did I read this correctly that if we pick the Stag Lords fort as our own then we would be located out near the ford with the Tatzlwyrms or was this if you were running the city for us?

@Von Ulm Check armor sold.

Everyone add 4gp to your shares.

If we were doing Option C it builds two additional cities over the scope of this book. One of them would be at the ford. I just mention it as an idea of where you could place cities in the future.

To save time, we are going to say that you can convince everyone to do these positions. Tomorrow I will build the base kingdom and put up campaign rules on how building will work.

Do we want to try and do each month as a group or do we want to have individual players take turns making the major changes with input and suggestions after they have completed their decisions?

Would anyone prefer to not take a lead in some fashion in decisions?

I'd like to try as a group to start with and see how it goes.

No problem taking lead in decisions.

What rules are we using? There are two sets, as I understand it, the one in the book and one in ultimate campaign.

oops, missed a vote.

C is for City. None of the other choices were sufficiently alliterative.

Also that +1 e/l/s is nothing to sneeze at

So the concensus seems to be around the fort. What do you want to call your new city?

Stagville? Stagburg? Stagtown? Stagdinium? We could call it Stagwater but then we would need to call ourselves the Saints. Dibs on Pierce.

Ok. I got nothing.

We could try "Tuskwater" or "Tuskholm" after the lake. Pretty bland I know.

I know you folks have better ideas.

Rillka proposes, "Stormforge"

The place where a storm forged the alliance among those unyielding to tyranny. The Staglord was defeated during a tremendous thunderstorm.

I have added two links to the top. I copied these docs from a game I am in.

There is a campaign document that has all the rules for kingdom building and a bunch of world information.

The second is a Google sheets that will be where we track all of the builds and populace that you end up accruing. There is a tab that labeled Turn Sequence. That goes over what will happen every month.

I am working to get everything set for this game, but begin looking through and considering some priorities that you may have.

Thank you for those links.

I like Rillka's idea but let us see what everyone else thinks.

Maybe not Stormforge but something that speaks of the adventure to reclaim it.

Hartsford?

Jacob, Rhavi
any thoughts on a name for the city/kingdom?

I suck at naming....

I like the name Stormforge.

We could also look for something tied to Andreas as he is the ruler. Named after some family? Someone lost?

Noone of the party died did they? Could also name it after them.

I also tried to find something that sounded good translated to Gaelic, as I saw someone say that that would be the real world sylvan. And as Rhavi is very interested in the fey world and worship an eldest fey goddess, she would suggest something like that. Tried bandits fall/the fall of the bandits. Didn't turn out so well....

Just suggestion that someone other than me could figure something out with.

But I do like Stormforge so that would be fine too.