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Cauldron lies in the middle of nowhere and in order to reason why a city of 4500 people would have a reason to be where it is, I introduced mining "Red" malachite (a unique form of malachite only available here) and diamonds into the fray. (This was confirmed in the actual AP in a later part, wehre it is stated, that many of the Nobles' families own mining businesses.)
So basically everything to eat and tools and wood for securing mining shaftes would have to be imported into the city, and the malachite and diamonds would have to be moved to the coast to be shipped wherever it can be sold... the wood enterprise would be centered at the "Lucky Monkey" and be manned by the caravan guards, while they would wait for the caravan to be escorted to the coast. (Basically the last part of the journey from the Licky Monkey to Cauldron would be nearly unptorected, but tools and food aren't things worth guarding anyway.)
Lord Vhalantru organizes raids on these caravans to the coast. With this he has a reason for enlarging the guards and for raising the taxes and the loot also furthers his financing the BIG project... (well two BIG projects - the first being his support for the Cagewrights - the second his own transformation...).
Another side effect is, that the wood cutting enterprise explains the size of the Lucky Monkey (it always was a tad big for a tavern just to stop by while travelling in the middle of nowhere...
Posted by Oliver von Spreckelsen:
"Another side effect is, that the wood cutting enterprise explains the size of the Lucky Monkey (it always was a tad big for a tavern just to stop by while travelling in the middle of nowhere..."
I agree. A lumber industry is a good rationalization. I also have the foothills and savannahs dotted with Vinyards and Wineries. These can be owned by some of the nobles or wealthier merchants (an idea of mine for a resource for this site). Also about mineing stuff. How about a special crystal that is cool to the touch which can be used for refrigeration purposes, like ice that dosen't melt.
"How about a special crystal that is cool to the touch which can be used for refrigeration purposes, like ice that dosen't melt.
what, you mean like the brown mold used to keep the cold storage in the lucky monkey well, cold?
:-)
Posted by Oliver von Spreckelsen:
"Vinyards are only feasible on the mountainsides, but perhaps Redgorge and the Haunted Village (in the past) had some vinyards..."
Flood Season page 31, issue #98:
"The foot hills surrounding the taller mountains are rugged and covered with scrub, but are fairly open for several miless before before giving way to rolling savannahs. These savannahs then transform into particularly dense sub-tropical jungles a few miles farther out from the mountains."
Rolling savannahs sound pretty good for a vinyard. A winemaker would only need a few square miles for planting. There is the space. Does wine grow subtropically? Don't know. But have you been to Sonoma county, rolling hills a bit dry but the wine is magnificent. It is not too much of a stretch of the imagination that the area could support (geographically and population-wise) a hand-full of fine vinyards. It has to support decent farms to support the population.
Creative Director
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Having grown up in Mendicino County (which is just north of Sonoma county), and being the guy who wrote "Flood Season," I can say that the terrain of that region was definately an influence when Chris Thomasson set me loose on the whole "include some details about the region surrounding Cauldron" aspect of the Adventure Path.
Of course, northern California's not a subtropical climate, but it's probably close enough. And this is D&D-land, so who's to say that the citizens of the Cauldron region haven't figured out a way to make wine out of subtropical vinyards?
Woo! Now I'm all homesick.
well, now I have my new project
Taxes have recently been introduced to my players in between Zenith Trajectory and the Demonskar Legacy. I figured it would be a good way to drum up interest in them to attend Maavu's demonstration. I set a 3% tax on them for being business owners and an 8% tax for being adventurers. It's kind of hard to avoid the town noticing you selling lots of loot or returning from adventures with loot when everything you've done so far has been in the public eye...
As for guard developments, I had a few players interview with Haanu Pershai about joining the MTA, and I decided on a salary of 80 GP/month with a 3 week probationary period where they'd have to go on nightly patrols, reduced to 5 patrols/week plus daily "on-call" status for emergencies after becoming a full agent. I also introduced the MTA Border Patrol that paid a little less but had less responsibilities so they could continue adventuring without getting fired. Nobody decided to join after all...
I had a player inquire about joining the regular guard, but he died before his interview so nothing ever came of it.
I had the taxes raised every time we played the Adventure Path. The party was "officially" blamed for the riot and that was used as an excuse for the taxes to jump to 20%. I have to say, this ploy worked great. Everytime the PC's bought anything, I was able to say, "That will XXX gp - and 20% more for the city tax." By the time they confronted Vhalantru they HATED him. At the counsel to establish a new mayor, the first topic out of their mouths was "Get rid of the tax!" Of course, that changed a bit when they were appointed to the counsel and started realizing how much the city needed for improvements. (And that will change again next game, when Cauldron erupts!) Bwah hah hah!