Kings and Men - A Kingmaker Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Thron

”Och!” Dolgrin grunts to interject, ”Before ye all get too a’ead o’ yerselves, per’aps ye oughtta let tha Swordlords explain this ‘ere map a wee bit, eh? They know more abou’ these lands than any o’ us, after all,” he says before leaning back and taking out an ornate smoking pipe and begins tapping some tobacco into it.

"The sun rises in the east, and so shall I. I shall quash what dangers I encounter. Yes, this will work very well indeed!" he peers at the map and begins to plan his kingdom.

”Och!” Dolgrin grunts to interject, ”Before ye all get too a’ead o’ yerselves, per’aps ye oughtta let tha Swordlords explain this ‘ere map a wee bit, eh? They know more abou’ these lands than any o’ us, after all,” he says before leaning back and taking out an ornate smoking pipe and begins tapping some tobacco into it.

"Oh, sure, a sound plan." he says eyeing the Sootscale Kobolds and the large black dot in what he thinks of as his territory. Though the west looks nice too. Lots of raw materials.

Nodding to Dolgrin, Flaith smiles at the dwarf.

The attendant bows to your request and turns to open the Swordlords departed through. A moment later they return, and the attendant says ”My Lords, may I present Queen Flaith of House Aredhel, and her Barons.”

Jamandi looks to Dolgrin, who simply shrugs and smiles. ”‘Twas there choice, lad. O’ there own majority.” meanwhile, Trine and Domenicus bow, Domenicus with slight smile.

He looks back and bows slightly to Queen Aredhel, ”Very well. What questions do you have for us?”

Dolgrin speaks up ”An explanation o’ yer map would be nice!”

Jamandi nods, and the three Swordlords move to join you gathered around the map. He points to each site in turn and explains, ”We will start in the north and work our way down. Here at the border is an outpost owned by a man named Oleg and his wife Svetlana. They have reluctantly agreed, given the recent violence, to allow a village to be built up around their trading post, should it be desired.” (Can start with a free Shop, Stable, or Watchtower in their city grid, as well as gain Oleg and Svetlana as potential Leaders)

Green Dot: ”Here they said was an old temple to the god Erastil. A man by the name of Jhod Kavken has begun trying to restore it, but is slow at it and would likely welcome some support.” (Can build a Temple at half-cost. Gain Jhod Kavken as a potential Leader)

White Dot: ”The previous group had consistent problems with Fey creatures in the Greenbelt, and they reported one particularly vile group here. They managed to dispatch them, and claimed the old elven keep there was in fairly stable condition.” (Settlig here provides you a free Castle)

Blue Dot: ”This was where the previous village and castle were besieged. Tuskland, they called it. A bit gruff of a name that I trust will be forgotten. The castle there is badly damaged, but it is in a key location and if a town is reestablished and protected can likely turn into a very bustling city one day.” (Castle at half cost, the nation gains a +1 bonus on Economy, Loyalty, and Stability due to its centralized location and ease of defense)

Black Dot: ”This was reportedly the location of an ancient barbarian tomb that they cleared out. Despite the morbid nature, it is in quite a defensible location.” (Can be established as either a Barracks or Temple, +1 Stability due to defensible location)

Red Dot: ”This ancient ruin, per their reports, were sight of some devil worshippers attempting to conjure forth a devil lord into the land. They stopped the ritual and slew the cultists, but claim the place still seems off...” (Free Watchtower or Caster’s Tower, +1 Economy and Stability due to access to water and defensibility, but +1 Unrest at start due to unsettling nature and rumors about the place)

”There are other things to be aware of as well. Here and here are clans of Lizardfolk and Kobolds. We know not what happened between the folks of Tuskland and these tribes, but they’ve been quite aggressive with our scouts. Here in the west a band of Fey creatures have gathered together and refuse any of our scouts entry. And here is a small village called Tatzylford, ruled over by their Mayor Loy Rezbin. The leaders of Tuskland allowed him to establish a small town there, and it seems to have been spared the devastation of the trolls and other dangers that may still lurk there.”

Whisping out a small notebook Flaith does make some notes here and there.
"I see. It seems there are some very intersting spots to start. A free castle does sound good. Still I will make my base on the place formerly known as Tuskland."
Pointing to the yellow spot Flaith asks politely.
"What about Tatzlefort?"

”Tatzylford, My Lady,” Domenicus corrects politely before adding, ”I suppose you will have to treat with them as you develop. They may seek to join. They may seek to stand alone...”

"A strategic choice my queen. Being central to the land is vital. A castle ready to move into is not something to let sit though. If Govannon and Lucius do not wish to settle there. I will. The fey are mischievous, and pranksters. Perhaps my troupe could work well with them."

Starting in the forest will mean much slower expanse but should be a nice boon with a free castle.

"This is shaping up nicely. I think I'll quell the rumors around the ancient ruin. No devil worshipper is going to get the better of us." he seems firm in his determination, and fearless.

Where can I get the Kingdom rules? Is it the same as the Kingdom rules (link)? I heard there were differences in the AP...

Here you go
Kingmaker was the test run, rules were before ultimate campaign. I don't remember the differences, it is small things like bonus's on buildings changing. It also fixed being able to create and sell magic items to generate wealth.

"A fine choice Govannon. It will be an honor to protect the southern boarder with you."

The link Govannon posted is what I use.

"Is there any more information on Tiressia's Grove? If I am to have any farms I will need to expand north. If I claim this hex first I can open negotiation and trade with Tatzlefort. If we can prove to be prosperous we can make them want to join our culture."

So free castle is nice, no land for farms means building tall and slow. I will claim the forest north of me and get to the open farmland.

Domenicus shakes his head. "As Lord Aldori said, the Fey refuse our scouts entry. And based on the reports of the violent nature some of these kinds of creatures are capable of, we pulled our men back rather than risk conflict. I wish you the best of luck in negotiating with them, but the leaders of Tuskland reported creatures with a thirst for blood, others who moved too fast for the eye to see, and trees that moved of their own accord and had limbs like scythes. Parley is not a venture to take lightly."

As the others settle into their decisions where they plan to found their Houses, Dolgrin leans up and puffs at his pipe. "My men an' I will take care o' the crypt. Expand it a wee bit an' get us a proper li'l village goin'. Though, I 'ope ta find some mountains 'afore settlin' in real good an' all."

Jamandi nods and straightens up from the map. "Very well then. Lord d'Arden, the men and resources we will be sponsoring you with should be ready by dawn," he says as he rolls up the map. Lord De Guerlin walks over to an attendant and takes several rolled up maps and brings them out to hand over a copy to each of you. "Our cartographers here in Restov has made copies of the map for each of you. Should you explore the wilds further, we would appreciate it if you would fill us in on what you discover so we can include that in our own maps. Best of luck to you in the Greenbelt my Lords. My Lady," he says with a slight bow of his head before turning and leading the other Swordlords out of the hall and further into the building.

Feel free to include any travel RP you desire, but at this point we are headed to your new lands!

The massive caravan you each find yourselves leading is a motley band of races, carpenters, shopkeeps, and laborers all seeking a fresh start at life for whatever reasons they may have. Horses and mules strain against wagons full of stone, lumber, and tools. Outriders guide herds of cattle and sheep. Covered wagons carry families shakily along, the children's laughter can be heard from without as they play games together. Of note in Dolgrin's caravan, the only non-dwarf to be among it's number is a very beautiful young elf-girl, whom he introduces as his adopted daughter, Lithandra.

You pass through Nivatka's Crossing, then days later reach a small trading outpost surrounded by a wall. At the top of the gate is a sign that simply reads "Oleg's." It is here where your band begins to first go it's separate ways. Lucius and his entourage break off and remain here to settle as planned, while the rest continue south.

Crossing through the rolling hills, the caravan eventually reaches the merger of the Shrike and Thorn rivers. It would seem the previous group managed to leave something of a marvel behind that didn't get destroyed: an impressive, but oddly designed bridge that forms a sort of Y across the river union. One branch of the bridge leads to the lands to the north, another to the lands to the west, and the final to the southeast.

"Well, lads and lassy, it would appear tha' this is where we part ways fer now!" Dolgrin says. "I'll be 'eaded East ta me tomb! HAHA! I look forward ta hearin' from ye all! My Queen," he adds more formally, "I'll make sure tha' tha proper dues are presented each month," he says with a bow from his wagon before urging his dwarven troop onward.

Eventually, the rest of the caravan breaks up and scatters, each heading to the founding sites they had chosen...

Going to post Dolgrin's as an example of how Turn's should be presented and how it will work, particularly the first Turn.

Before leaving Queen Flaith ordered a casket of Bonifacius finest to be brought and together there was a toast for the better future!
Taking her time to move down she was waited for by Festung!
"I think we have to move south towards the capital of our new Kingdom.
And from now on, I will be your queen, Bannerman Festung, rise and help me rule my Kingdom."
Reaching the ruins she sighs. Slowly moving up towards the top of the ruins she looks round, taking in the sight.
Ramming her new banner in the ground she looks at the gathered people she smiles.
"My dear people. Look around, look north, east, south and west. This will be your new home. Your future!
Together we will prepare the castle and then built the city around it. So that you always have a safe place.
And we rename it Balley Chashtal!"

Galendir and his band keep the men and women entertained as they travel. He continues to be an open book to his companions.

On the Road

"My queen, they fey could be a festering thorn if we don't deal with them. The ones lord Aldori speak of sound terrible. I would invite all of you to come to my castle for a stay after you get things moving. We can venture and allow the Queen to greet the people of Talzylford and open negotiations. Calming and dealing with the fey in the glade between them and I will be a great gesture to demonstrate the peace and prosperity we wish to bring to the land."

Kingdom duties require a week. Anyone want to come deal with some hostile fey with me? :)

At the Split

"I hope to see you all soon. Do not hesitate to reach out if you need assistance. Peace be with you my friends."

Arriving at the castle House D'Arden celebrates with a bit of revelry before starting the clean up and work the next day.

In the Castle

The next few days is spent cleaning and restoring the castle. The laborers are set to work establishing roads and a sawmill that will help with wood supplies for future buildings. Galendir and Aayalla are startled to find their new bedroom is stained with a large amount of blood in a corner.

Galendir: "Well my light, this is not a good Omen. Let us prey for peace for whatever may have happened here." Aayalla nods and scans the room for evil making sure nothing lingers that needs to be put to rest. Together they prey to the Dawnflower before cleaning and making ready their new home. Later that evening he will go to work drafting a letter to be delivered the the Lord Mayor of Talzylford.

Oops even after we spoke about it I rolled a +23 econ when it should have been 21 as the castle was not present first turn. Makes starting balance for turn 2 36BP

Govannon toasts with his new Queen and is excited to begin this new chapter in his life. HIs fingers dance over the glass as he drinks, and he's the first out the door with a wide grin on his face.

He rejoins his caravan, and finds Rusty, "It went better than anticipated - I'm already a Baron. Now I just need to prove it. Get the folks moving, we're off immediately!"

Rusty claps his friend on the shoulder, smiling at the youthful exuberance. "I shall see it done my son."

Once on the way Govannon, as is his wont, wanders around a lot within his own caravan as well as with the others. He enjoys meeting new people, and getting a feel for how everyone is doing. He's a horrible judge of character though, and so trusts nearly everyone.

As each Baron, and the Queen, splits off, he continues southward - ever onward. "Galendir, that sounds like a good first step. I also have a tribe to my west that I would investigate, and would do so with allies I think rather than alone if folks are amenable. Perhaps after we deal with the fey?"

He hopes to get his mission in line - he's sure others have goals of their own they'll need help with and he's ready to do what he can. This shall truly be a team effort!

When he comes upon his own ominous tower, he proclaims, "Let us make this a place of learning and culture - everything the devil worshippers would have hated!"

Yeah it should't be a problem to explore the next hex for everyone the first month. The ones that have things will require some RP or combat though :)

Govannon smiles at his island and prepares the layout. Roads to the docks, structure for the ferry's, bridges over the smaller blockages, but not over the lake obviously. Farms here, here, and there.

Then he places the shrine to Desna. He takes a deep drag off a lumpy cigarette as he says, "There we are Emmett. The foundation of any good culture is it's religion. Let us build something wonderful."

He himself lays out the wood bracing for the first foundation, totally willing to get dirty in the pursuit of his Kingdom!

"Ugh, no, not that color! It's HID-E-OUS! What am I, a farmer?!" If a nearby farmer heard Lucius, he didn't let on. "Now, this tavern has to have ALL THE BEST liquors and wines. None of that rotgut! Well, some of it. Farmers have to drink something, I suppose."

Lucius it's one building a turn until you get to like size 10 or 11 don't remember.

Ooops! I'm still learning this system. Mansion first.

Is that one building or one per hex?

Per the rules, "The first House, Mansion, Noble Villa, or Tenement your kingdom builds each turn does not count against this number (being the number of buildings you can do each turn). So you could build a Mansion + another building. Those four listed above are the only exception to this rule.

Govannon: I don't think you are going to see much use out of roads in your initial Hex. The city grid assumes you have streets and such in your villages/cities. I suggest you not waste 6 BP there and save your building of roads until you claim another hex and maybe get a road coming to maybe a small port village or something you set up to ferry people to your main holding on the island. Also, if you do not have official Followers filling in slots in your leadership positions (I think you are the only one), you can hire someone from your laborers to fill those roles temporarily, at the cost of 50 gp per month. Or you could hire a Team, such as the Mage (for 960 gp) and a Priest (for 810 gp). Cheaper alternatives would be an Apprentice (for 520 gp) and an Acolyte (for 440 gp). You can do this retroactively, assuming you did so before you got out of the city of Restov.

Lucius: Your math looks good to go.

I'm going ahead and moving the Turn to Turn 2 (Sarenith), and you guys decide if you want to retroactively do the interaction with the Fey.

Thanks Thron. I’m going to changeup my starting equipment to give me a cha bump, which nets me two more followers and covers the list. I can’t afford to spend that much a month just covering the bases. :)

The addition of those two would have netted me one more BP last month, from what I posted. And I agree, I’m dropping the roads in favor of fisheries the first month. I’ll do roads later - thanks.

Govannon tries to schedule his time to be home for the Solstice Festival, the second party for his people. The first was Founders day, but of course that was on day one and the excitement of the beginning was still fresh with everyone. Now he knew he needed to punch up folks who might be lagging a bit. Give them focus and a day of fun between the hard work of establishing a city.

When he’s home, he tries to spend an hour each day healing the injured in his employ - and even throughout the Barony. He attends the church of Desna, and uses his healing touch (hex) on any who apply. He maintains a strict policy of not healing folk other than during that hour however, to avoid random encounters with the sick and infirm (though until that gets around he’s likely hassled).

He also hopes to head out to assist his fellow Baron Galendir, deal with the Fey, all the while eyeing his western boarder - next on his list of things to do. He sends messengers to Baron Galendir and Queen Flaith, suggesting the Fey should be high on the list of things to investigate, and he entreats his Queen to consider a joint expedition into the forest to his western flank next.

"And over here, the band goes. I want the finest musicians from the Mwangi Expanse, maybe some Tian stuff, oooh, nothing Chelish. So gauche!"

Gov, why is your Holiday at 1 but the bonus and minus at 2?

sorry, typo. Holidays at six. Fixed in my post.

I’m also, from now on, going to assume you are sending scouts to hexes around you to plan your expansion. So any hex directly beside your borders will automatically get scouted so long as it has been explored by the group or braved by a single player (which I do not recommend).

Galendir - Did you want to go it alone to the Fey grove? Or wait to see if other Barons agree to travel and join you? Flaith seems to trust your ability to handle it. Dolgrin hasn’t replied to you yet but he has his own issues of smugglers he is busy with so he’s out as well.

Govannon reads the letter from his Queen with some frustration. He hands it to Rusty and lights the smoke already in his mouth. ”We’ll have to wait in line apparently before moving to the west and joining up with Galendir.” he says angrily. He pens a missive back to the Queen.

He then writes one to Galendir.

Govannon readies to depart, but awaits letters in reply before heading out.

See, I forgot there was only a CHANCE you had an event each turn. So Flaith and I put our cities at risk for no reason! Ha! Anywho, I will handle rolling events and presenting them to everyone as necessary. As such, here are the chances for you other 3:

Govannon Event Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 3
Lucius Event Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 57
Galendir Event Chance: 1d100 ⇒ 6

Galendir, post your Turn 2 and I’ll repaste the Event Results you had. Don’t want them to affect your decisions for your turn.

Sorry all people at the house all day. Pretty good 4th of July. Posting from phone. I will go to computer and do turn 2 so I don't hold us up.

Capital City: Anwaar
Heraldry

Galendir is excited about the news of the Darkwood to the east. Enough so to choose to expand there this month. He is disappointed with the letter from their majesty about the fey but he has more info now and hopes to urge her to move against them now before they become a future problem.

I may be away from a computer again much of today so posting turn 3 as well and we can go back and handle any events :) Also realized as I was copying Turn 2 to paste here I didn't set the edicts in my description but Edicts were set in month 2 :), I will give the downtime and lifestyle stuff a look today or tomorrow and get it sorted out.

Galendir is relieved to hear of the Queens support. They eagerly await the arrival of the queen and the barons while continuing to strengthen House D'Arden and it's holdings.