Kern Therensgard's page

It's too late for my campaign (which is well underway), but I've begun thinking that the current rules mean that virtually all rulers of fledgling kingdoms will be Bards, Paladins or Sorcerers, which doesn't make a lot of demographic sense to me.

The issue here is the gigantic importance of Charisma for the rulership position. If I ever ran Kingmaker (or a similar system) again, I think I'd make the following change:

A ruler may use either Intelligence (a clever ruler), Wisdom (a wise ruler) or Charisma (a charismatic ruler) as his/her contibution towards kingdom statistics.

During the Baronial phase of a kingdom's development, the ruler's statistic bonus can only be applied to an appropriate kingdom statistic.

A clever ruler (INT) must use his bonus first towards the kingdom's Economy.
A wise ruler (WIS) must use his bonus first towards the kingdom's Stability
A charismatic ruler (CHA) must use his bonus first towards the kingdom's Loyalty

Once a kingdom has reached the point at which the ruler's statistic affects two kingdom statistics, the ruler may freely choose the second kingdom statistic to affect (but the first must always be limited by the type of ruler).

Comments?

***
Range: 50'/level
You gain a dim impression of the activities around any object bearing your face or form and can also project your consciousness into one such object at a time, allowing you to observe or even interact with nearby creatures. This spell allows you to leave your body and subconsciously monitor the immediate area around any depiction of your image whether one, hundreds, or even thousands. Each such image ...

You may, at any time, choose to fill one specific image within range with your consciousness. While inside an image you lose the ability to monitor any other images within range but remain fully aware of your own body's surroundings. Your body is defenseless and helpless (always failing any saving throw) while your consciousness is filling an image, but you can return to it at any time as an immediate action.

(emphasis mine)
***

In the spell description, range restrictions are explicitly noted for the 'fill one specific image' option in the spell, but no mention of range is noted for the 'dim impression' option. Between that and the mention of 'one, hundreds, or even thousands', I get the strong impression that there is no range limit for the dim impression option.

Is this the case? Normally, I wouldn't worry about it, but I'm running a kingmaker campaign, and it's not unreasonable to assume that the party is going to start minting their own coinage...with the image of the ruler stamped on one side. If so, I want to be prepared.

I very much wanted to have our Kingmaker campaign up on the web so that my players can access the data outside of gametime. That includes maps of the area.

However, I know it isn't acceptable to directly use Paizo artwork, so I built my own Stolen Lands map using CC3, visible from the (surprise) Maps menu on my group's Kingmaker Campaign Site.

So I'm looking for comments, good or bad, as well as to test the waters to make sure I haven't stepped over an IP line before I do the same thing for Brevoy and possibly the River Kingdoms (If this is a violation of Paizo IP, I'll remove it immediately). Comments on the rest of the site are welcome as well (note that I've only tested it in IE, which is all our group is using). The map itself was built with Campaign Cartographer, and the FCW file is also available for download is anyone finds it useful.

There are a few differences between this map and the official ones, most notably the lack of certain names and features. My group doesn't have anyone with Knowledge: Geography, so I see no reason they'd know the names of any but the most important features (or even that some of the rivers are named in this 'unmapped' territory). Also, all mention of Varnhold, Varnhold Pass or the road to Nivatka's crossing have been omitted as they haven't been built yet.

The group has just completed their first session, and I'm hoping this will be a positive resource for them.

It's been made pretty clear from the designers and from people on the boards that there is no direct correlation between BP and GP.

However, it has been made equally clear that many people find the idea that 2000GP 'buys' 1 BP to give an implied value to BP, or at least that they feel their players are not going to buy into the idea that 1 BP does not have a 2000gp value.

So, I was giving it though, and came up with the explanation that I am going to use with my players that I believe they will be able to accept without breaking immersion: waste and premiums.

In raw, hard currency, 1 BP has a value of equal to perhaps 200GP (this figure is not set in stone, I'm sure those more interested in doing the math can come up with a figure that feels right considering army upkeep costs and such). The extra cost represents the waste and additional expense of pushing a kingdom's economy beyond its normal capacity.

Need an extra BP to finish a building? It costs 2000gp to import extra temporary workers beyond the available labor force, to import materials beyond what the current economy produces, to pay additional costs for overworking current population, and to generally offset the damage done to the kingdom's economy by running it 'hotter' than it is currently designed. The value you get out of it is far less than 2000gp, but you are paying for speed.

This also opens up the possibility of events or structures that influence this wastage cost. Perhaps a Caravanserai that increases the flow of goods, or a Labor Hall that increases the available workforce, either of which could reduce the cost of 'buying' a BP by 10 or 25%.

An Event of a glut in labor materials or sudden influx of refugees could present rulers with a choice: Buy 4 BP at 75% of the normal rate (in order to absorb the influx into the economy and make use of it), or suffer a -2 to Economy (for a materials glut) or a +1 Unrest (for a labor glut). These numbers likely need tweaking for balance, as this just popped into my head, but I think the idea is sound, and it can present a real concern if it hits when party funds are low or they've just spent all of their cash to hurry building, only to find that a sudden change in available materials requires that much more of an expenditure.

Similarly, an Event of a sudden Labor or materials shortage could result in increased costs for additional BP until the next Event Phase.

Thoughts?

This is part two of my startup materials, the opening scene of the game as I see it, where the party gets the charter before travelling to Oleg's. Any comments are appreciated. Note that there are some very mild spoilers involved.

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Calistril 23rd – Cold and rainy, the party has arrived at the Hall of Law in Restov. Each has been informed that they are to be given the opportunity to aid Brevoy and make a name for themselves in the process.

As they enter, they see a well-equipped band leaving the stables, a banner showing a slate gray ghost-like figure against a red field flapping in the Wind (DC 15 Knowledge: Local to ID the Iron Wraiths)
Inside the doors, they are faced with a large marble hall. Several halflings approach, the best-dressed one addressing the party as the others clear the mud from their boots.

“Welcome to the Hall of Law. You are (still hunting down names) I presume? Of course. You are expected. Please follow me.”
They are led into a well appointed room and offered refreshments.

While waiting, a handsome man steps from one of the doorways, wheels, and bows towards the other room, “Of course, Lord Mayor, I shall not fail.”. He turns and looks down his nose at the party, “Hmph, you must be the Greenbelt crew. We’ll see how long you last.”

If the party makes any move towards the door, Hannis Drelev (DC15 Knowledge:Local to recognize the someday to be Baron Drelev) barks a short laugh, “Ha! Sit yourselves back down. That door is not for you. Your door is that one.” He points to a closed door. The halfling majordomo looks blankly ahead, but nods slightly to confirm if anyone looks to him. Assuming no further conversations, he stalks out of the waiting room.

Shortly thereafter, the other door opens, and a tall, slim man steps out, “Ah, you must be those who will be mapping the Greenbelt.” He bows, “Maegar Varn, at your service. I’ll be trying to deal with the centaur issue in the Nomen heights. Perhaps we will meet again.” (Again, DC15 Knowledge:Local, this time to recognize Varn as someone close to becoming a swordlord)

“I believe Jamandi will see you now”, he gestures towards the open door and the halfling stands, escorting the party into the room.
That’s where Jamandi Aldori makes her pitch, presenting the Charter as well as the Bandits and Sootscale quests.

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I've set it up this way to begin giving the characters continuity when these characters pop up in later parts of the AP. I also plan on explicit contact (and aid) from Varnhold before contact stops.

The Homunculous seems to occupy an odd grey space in the rules. It is a construct, with specific rules in the Bestiary on the requirements to create them (including the Create Construct feat), yet they also occupy a slot in the Improved Familiar feat.

Can you create and use a Homunculous without the Improved Familiar feat? I see nothing in RAW that requires it, but it seems to be an implied requirement.

If the Improved Familiar feat is required, why is that the case? If a wizard enchants a Shield Guardian, no one expects him to take Leadership and make it his cohort, so why insist on the Improved Familiar feat for a homunculous?

But if the Improved Familiar feat is not required, why would anyone *ever* take the feat for a Homunculous. The Homunculous (and master) gain nothing significant enough from the pairing that makes it worth sacrificing the ability to have a different familiar *in addition* to a garden variety homunculous.

Any thoughts? How do you run it in your games (assuming it ever came up), and what drove the decision?