So it's looking like we're leaning toward building a Smithy and a Library, claiming 1 new hex and making farm improvements for Turn 14? And we'll proceed through the next 6 kingdom turns before resuming exploration in the spring.
I do advise building the castle sometime during this next phase as we may not get to it before we complete book 2 otherwise.
Here is what a Castle does for the kingdom mechanically:
CASTLE 54 BP (27 due to discount), 4 LOTS
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –4; Fame +1
Discount Noble Villa, Town Hall
Limit 1 per settlement
Special Defense +8
The home of the settlement’s leader or the heart of its defenses.
Do consider that the discount is owing to using the ruins of the structure of the fort as your foundation. But since you didn't start by building the Castle, you got a Barracks and a Stable from use of the remaining structure. This means the castle will absorb these buildings and you will lose their statistical benefits. And note that the unrest modifier only applies on completion of the build, not every turn thereafter.
Barracks:
Special Defense +2
Settlement Law +1
Stable:
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
I would like to see a castle built soon.
That being said, Veronica...I love the wall of text.
LOL
I agree with almost everything you said.
almost.
I want farms...we need to feed people after all. With all the plains around Oleg's it makes sense to have a stockyard there.
This would be over time of course as this is a lot of hexes to claim
To make Oleg's a trade hub we need to finish the canal. Then we possibly have a trade station at Oleg's. The trade comes in and loads onto the barges to bypass the waterfalls of the Shrike River.
I was wondering how people would feel about heading into the forest as well. With two more river hexes claimed we will gain on economy and Stability. +1 Each (8 river hexes).
If we claim the hex southwest of the Temple of Elk, this is the Boggard's Lair which besides being a lair (Stability +1) it is a river and encounter text there states that there are ruins there. Granted it is not stated as 1/2 off a set building but the Gm may allow something.
I also was looking at the next hex southwest of there.
The Tatzlwyrm's lair.
This being a Hex with a lair would also grant stability +1 but also has a bridge (natural choke point) and river.
We are then set for a possible claim of the north hex...Statue of Eristal (Loyalty+1) plus a great RP for the faithful of Erastil.
Now this is all just ideas.
Nice work Veronica, thanks!
I have gathered and now present the
(snip)
Oh boy. This is a lot to catch up on, especially considering that they're using some kind of expanded rule set that I haven't seen before. Consumption is randomized? There's a "stance" to your empire that affects how much you can claim and build (probably swiped from a Paradox 4x game like Stellaris)? I have not seen these rules before, and this is going to make it harder to plan.
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Since we are doing 6 months of downtime, the things I would recommend are:
* Seems like there's broad consensus on the Library and Smithy for the first month (12 BP total).
* Folks really want a castle during this 6 month period (27 BP, removes Barracks and Stable).
* There's some interest into further expansion west into the forest (and I agree with this).
Each time we expand the kingdom we'll want to keep an eye on Stability. Every hex we claim is +1 Size, which means +1 to DC of Control checks. Failing Control checks is Very Bad and can lead to a death spiral. That means each time we add a hex we want to do something to increase our Stability, like making a Brewery, Cistern, Mill, or Smithy (all of which cost 6 BP and add Stability). Remember that you can make multiple of the same building in a settlement, so (for instance) Elch could become known for having lots of Breweries making every IPA known to man, like Portland.
So with that in mind, if we really want the Smithy and Library first, we should get those out of the way (12 BP). We should build farms at the spider nest hex (H) (2 BP). We should claim another hex next to Oleg's (1 BP) and build farms there too (2 BP).
How things go after that depends on our income. Since that's a d20 roll, it can be very swingy at this level. We might roll poorly and end the month with a depleted treasury, or we might roll well and start the next month with enough money to rebuild the castle. It would probably be foolish to project ahead too far, since we won't know how the money will go.
Oh boy. This is a lot to catch up on, especially considering that they're using some kind of expanded rule set that I haven't seen before. Consumption is randomized? There's a "stance" to your empire that affects how much you can claim and build (probably swiped from a Paradox 4x game like Stellaris)? I have not seen these rules before, and this is going to make it harder to plan.
I have and am reading up on ultimate campaign, both for Kingdom building and Downtime rules. I know some things were implemented from the expanded rules in the 2E anniversary edition, so I downloaded that player's guide to look at those as well.
But I'm definitely not going to continue on with anything implemented that didn't make good sense. I want to examine what was done, more than I want to emulate it, necessarily.
For instance: "Can't. No emergency." attached to all questions of drawing from or adding to the treasury.
I don't think this is a standard rule. Was it from the GM or something the group agreed on to prevent the corruption factor of dipping into the kingdom coffers for personal gain?
Plans are looking good! I will add that the Boggard Lair is not yet available for claiming because there is a Boggard living there. He wasn't hostile, but he only speaks very limited common and you haven't been able to communicate with him yet so the party moved on.
Ok, I read through a bunch of the former DM's notes on kingdom building. It's mostly the standard system with a few oddities, like the aforementioned random consumption (which comes from your Holiday edict).
The "Can't no emergency" is a rule from the former DM that appears to have been ostensibly added to prevent player exploits.
I suggest that we do the kingdom turns one at a time, because we need the flexibility to respond to changing BP totals and events that happen, but ideally we can knock it out quickly so that everyone who isn't into spreadsheets can get back to adventuring.
Who speaks Boggard?
and I vote to keep Rillka's map
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Who speaks Boggard?
and I vote to keep Rillka's map
Mostly just Boggards... Magic can be used to bridge translation gaps but while it would be relatively easy to understand him (comprehend languages), getting him to understand you would still be an issue. You could order a scroll of Tongues via Oleg but it would take some time to arrive.
The odd rules do seem to be tied to rule alterations borrowed from a Campaign that the former GM played in. I can understand going with what you know and while I see that there was a small chance that they could work to your benefit, they do not appear to have rolled that way. It looks to me like it may have shorted you as much as 7BP before he talked you into the standard taxation rule and apparently dropped the random consumption roll either without having altered the holiday edict or forgetting to edit it out of the C&P text.
Rhavi was good at catching errors, but there were still a lot. Which I think supports my position that we need not over-complicate what is already a complex system. I would prefer we default back to standard Ultimate Campaign kingdom building, for which you can easily see all the edicts on the Charts tab of the spreadsheet document.
Please let know if you have any objections to that.
No objections from me.
Once we align our sheet and figure out tracking, my formal proposal is:
Turn 14
CLAIM: Hex south of Bokken's hut/SE of the spider's nest. (1 BP) (Remember the map is not aligned north facing straight up, but rather on an angle with the upper-left borders of the hexes.)
TERRAIN IMPROVEMENTS: Farms in the spider's nest hex H (2 BP) and the just-claimed plains nearby (2 BP).
BUILDINGS: Library in Sturmulme (6 BP). Smithy in Sturmulme (6 BP).
Total cost: 17 BP + consumption. We can float this and, barring some kind of disastrous event, make it to the Income phase to get a bunch of money back. The new farms will help cut consumption and pay for themselves after two kingdom turns.
For Turn 15 and beyond, it all depends upon income and events. If we don't have a disaster, and we get a good income roll, we may want to make the castle sooner rather than later. We can claim the hex between Oleg's and the forest and farm that, and start spreading deeper into the forest and adding more sawmills to increase income as well.
On a personal note, I think we should not put sawmills or settlements in any hex with a fairy claimant, such as the dryad Tiressia. We can still claim the hex (there's a lot of space) but we set it aside as a sort of "faerie preserve" both for RP reasons and to avoid future problems between settlers and faeries.
I had an idea as it comes to our lumber consumption and our fey neighbors.
We did get a feather token (tree)
If we create more of these...
The tree will create around 80 cubic feet of usable lumber.
While no certain how this could play out but if we spent 200gp per a token
Could this supplement a lumber yard? or a portion of one?
If we spent a BP for tree build that is 20 trees.
I am fine with the round 14 per veronica.
That could get expensive, especially early on. Also sort of takes the easy way around diplomatic interactions with fey elements within the kingdom.
As far as communicating with the boggard, I won't have access to Tongues until 7th level, and it's definitely not worth the skill point next level up in the long-run. I agree with the not logging in heavy (friendly) fey areas unless we can hammer out an amicable agreement.
On the plus side, having a Grand Diplomat now adds +4 to Stability
Certain buildings (shrines, temples, shops, etc.) generate magic items available for purchase. I wonder if we could "place an order" with one?
It is pricey though. It would essentially be us subsidizing the lumber industry by spending money to make magic trees so that the lumberworkers don't go cutting into the faerie forests.
I think the short-term solution is just to say that the faerie sites are off-limits to folks, and in the long term we maybe use plant growth or something to keep the wild spaces wilded. Of course we are a Chaotic kingdom and the River Kingdoms have the whole "live free!" thing so there will be lumberworkers who don't listen, and then we have another adventure :D
That actually brings up another good point. Now that we have a druid in the party. A single casting if plant growth increases productivity of plants within a half mile radius by 1/3 for a year. Set aside a day during the planting season to bless all the farms, and that'll do quite a bit to reduce consumption.
anyone else for input?
I think we're ready to start rolling.
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Our internet went kaput and then power. Power is back but still no joy on internet. You're welcome to start the process without me. I'm reading up on Downtime mechanics since I don't need to be online for that.
I had an idea as it comes to our lumber consumption and our fey neighbors.
We did get a feather token (tree)If we create more of these...
The tree will create around 80 cubic feet of usable lumber.
While no certain how this could play out but if we spent 200gp per a token
Could this supplement a lumber yard? or a portion of one?
If we spent a BP for tree build that is 20 trees.
Remember that you need a forest or jungle hex to utilize a sawmill. A hex spans 12 miles corner to corner. This is far more than 20 trees. But similarly, you don't need to worry about "using up" the forest with a sawmill. Only preparing a forest hex for a settlement essentially clear-cuts it and makes it not a forest hex anymore. As long as you don't encroach on the fey's home hexes, they will be satisfied.
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@Saorise, the seat wasn't vacant. The former PC (Jackob) was transitioned to an NPC and his bonus was still included in the calculation. So your taking on the role will only net a +1 bonus to Stability. But no worries, we're really in good shape Stability wise.
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@All: Have a look at the List of Downtime Activities. There are some expanded options here besides crafting. For our purposes, we'd have to separate buidlings for personal and kingdom use. Earn XP would not be an option and you're required to spend 7 days out of each month Leading your Kingdom, but the rest of the time can be spent on more personal pursuits.
Besides the usual method of earning income using the traditional craft and Profession skills, you have the option to earn units of capital using your more adventuring focused skills. Here is a list of which skills can earn which type of capital units.
Goods: Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (dungeoneering, engineering, geography, history, local, nature, nobility, religion), Profession, Sleight of Hand, Stealth.
Influence: Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (any), Linguistics, Perform, Profession, Ride.
Labor: Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (local), Profession, Ride, Survival, Swim.
Magic: Appraise, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, nature, planes, religion), Linguistics, Profession, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device.
There's more to it than this, but I think that's enough to look over and see if using this system appeals to you or not. I can see using it with Seraphina and her goals of aiding the Sootscales to safely integrate with society.