Kingmaker House Rules by Nethys


Kingmaker

Scarab Sages

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I use a number of house rules for my own Kingmaker campaign, and thought I might share them with you all. These include a couple I've already shown on the boards (Hirelings and Temples/Cathedrals, though these have both been revised) and others I've never really talked about. Hopefully you enjoy them and can make some use of them! :)

I also make use of a few of Jason Nelson's house rules (mainly the addition of mines, camps, and forts) as you'll see mentioned in the below rules.

Oh, and MY PLAYERS STAY OUT! ESPECIALLY YOU DAVID! ;)

HIRELINGS

Spoiler:
Part 1: Securing your Hireling
If it hasn't become immediately obvious already, I am referring to these people as "Hirelings". "Hirelings" are essentially paid "Followers" (acquired through Leadership for free). And you all know what a "Cohort" is.

Now, the question is what you want the hireling for. The one core rule is that no hireling will accompany you in dungeon delving or actively assist in combats (except when fighting for their own life). That is what Leadership is for. No, these are for more menial tasks. Carrying your loot, keeping watch, managing finances, basic medical needs, and more. If you can think of a role that I think a hireling would be happy to do for money, then I'm sure we can come to an agreement.

Once you've decided what you want your hireling for, you tell me. You do not get to name a specific class, rather just what you want the guy to do. I am not going to screw anyone over by providing an Adept when you wanted a mercenary guard or anything, but I am keeping the class decision to my own for a few reasons.

After figuring out what you want them to do, you decide how much you are willing to pay. How much you pay will determine what you get.

Alignment
On the Law to Chaos scale, the amount you pay will determine the alignment and general loyalty the hireling will have. The baseline will get a Neutral hireling. More will get a Lawful one. Less will get a Chaotic one. The Good to Evil axis will be based off of who is doing the hiring. Assuming the Hireling is treated well, his or her alignment will gradually shift to mimic the alignment of their employer.

Class
The baseline will allow for a Hireling of any class, with one level in that class. You can hire them as Untrained (Commoners), Trained (Aristocrats, Adepts, Experts, Warriors) or Experts (any PC class).

Ability Scores
The baseline will give you a Hireling for 3 point buy (scores of 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 in most cases). If you pay more, you can get a Hireling with 15 point buy (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 in most cases). Pretty simple.

Rates
This is the most important part. The rates that hirelings cost in the core is... very basic. I needed a more flexible system, so I came up with the following pay scale.

Base 1st-level Commoner Price (Untrained Hireling): 1 sp/day
Base 1st-level Non-Commoner NPC Price (Trained Hireling): 3 sp/day
Base 1st-level PC Price (Expert Hireling): 10 sp/day
Add a Commoner level: +2 sp/day
Add a Non-Commoner NPC level: +5 sp/day
Add a PC level: +15 sp/day
The Hireling is Advanced: +25% to total pay
The Hireling is Lawful: +10% to total pay
The Hireling is Chaotic: -10% to total pay

Once the final pay is determined, an additional -10% may be subtracted if the hiring character has the Leadership feat.

Determining the Rate
All of the sections above come together when you get your Hireling. You need to determine what Rank you seek *before* you get your Hireling (and yes, current ones can be adjusted retroactively since these are new rules). Here is how it works.

Untrained Hireling: These include untrained laborers, maids, and other menial workers. They will be Neutral and have a 3 point buy, along with one level in Commoner.
Trained Hireling: This includes mercenaries, masons, craftsmen, cooks, scribes, teamsters, etc. They will be Neutral and have a 3 point buy along with one level in Adept, Aristocrat, Expert, or Warrior.
Expert Hireling: This group includes all hirelings that have levels in a PC class, and can include any and all type of hireling. They will be Neutral with a 3 point buy along with one level in a PC class.

Lawful Alignment: Makes the hireling less likely to suddenly abandon your service or disobey orders.
Chaotic Alignment: Makes the hireling more likely to suddenly abandon your service or disobey orders.

15 Point Buy (Advanced): Starts the hireling with better stats, hire an exceptional Hireling.

Alternate Methods of Pay
While most Hirelings will want coin, there are sometimes other acceptable things. If the Hireling is comfortable in appraise (has ranks and can make the DC 20) then giving him some piece of jewelry, gem, what have you will satisfy them. If you really have no money but need to pay the hireling, they might also accept a piece of gear they want that is worth *at least* as much as their monthly pay. You could never get more than one month of their service this way (giving a mercenary a +1 sword will not put them in your dept for life, nor will they give you 'change'.

How many Hirelings can I have?
As many as you can make Diplomacy checks to find.

How do I find Hirelings?
When you put out the word to find a Hireling, you must describe the position you want to fill and wait. Finding someone that fits the bill takes a bit of time. You may attempt to find new Hirelings twice a month.

When you attempt to find one, roll a Diplomacy check. The DC for this check is modified by the type, level, etc. of the Hireling you wish to have. It is also affected by the deaths of any Hirelings you have had in your service.

Base DC: 10
Chaotic Hireling: -1
Untrained Hireling: +0
Lawful Hireling: +1
Trained Hireling: +2
Expert Hireling: +4
Higher than level 1: +2 per level above 1
Hireling death: +4 for each dead hireling; penalty reduced by 1 per month after their death; penalty for one hireling negated if he is brought back to life

Part 2: Upgrading your Hireling
Now you don't want your hireling to stay at level 1 forever, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Even if they're staying in camp or just guarding the horses, there's still a minuscule amount of experience to be gained. They will never gain experience like you do, that's a PC special thing. However, they can still go up in level. Their ability to do so is dependent on two things. How much you pay them, and your own level.

Upgrading a Hireling is simple. First, you check your level to see if they qualify for an upgrade. Then, you increase their pay by the chart above. The next day, upgrade! Below are the required levels for upgrades. You are not required to advance a hireling at any given level. If you give a Hireling a new PC level, it must replace a current NPC level if available. You can advance a Hireling with 1 NPC level to 1 PC level (still a level 1 character) by upping their pay to the Base Expert rate and waiting a day. They cannot, however, go the other way.

A hireling can be upgraded a maximum number of times as once per month (in your service). They cannot be upgraded when first hired until they have worked at least one month in your service. In your service means they actually have to have been out in the field with you for a month. Spending a week in a field and three back in town does not count.

1st: 1st level Hirelings available (+1 PC or NPC level).
3rd: +1 NPC level.
5th: +1 PC level.
7th: +1 NPC level.
9th: +1 PC level.
11th: +1 NPC level.
13th: +1 PC level.
15th: +1 NPC level.
17th: +1 PC level.
19th: +1 NPC level.

Example: You hire Bronn, a mercenary captain. He starts as a Warrior and has favored levels in Fighter. He could progress as follows (assuming you upgraded him as soon as you could each available time).
1st: Fighter 1 OR Warrior 1
3rd: Fighter 1/Warrior 1 OR Warrior 2
5th: Fighter 2
7th: Fighter 2/Warrior 1 OR Warrior 3 OR Fighter 1/Warrior 2
etc.

Yes, this means that the highest your Hireling can be (at 19th level) is 6th level (with one of those levels having to be an NPC one).

That's how upgrading works.

Part 3: The Hireling Agreement
I'm going to keep this short and simple. No, this isn't a generic contract that all Hirelings somehow know innately, it's more of me, as a GM, saying: this is what the hirelings will do. This may make them a little less realistic, but I don't want you to be worried about being screwed over by your hirelings or worry about managing all their income.

  • Hirelings are paid the way they are paid because they expect to be in dangerous situations. That said, they will not normally accompany you into dungeons, stand in the front when trekking through the wilderness, or put themselves in any more danger then absolutely necessary. They will be happy to stand watch, guard other hirelings, what have you. Danger within reason.
  • If you do wish the hireling to accompany you in a dungeon or place himself/herself in higher than normal harm's way, you must pay them Danger Pay. This doubles their rate for the day and allots them a quarter share of any valuables found through combat or otherwise.
  • Hirelings will, more often then not, stay with you the whole month you paid them and not run off. If they are treated particularly horrible (a lot for a Lawful hireling or a little for a Chaotic one) then they may just say 'f@~+ you' and take off.
  • If a Hireling does need to leave, they will likely give some kind of notice. Lawful ones will give the most, Chaotic ones the least.
  • Hirelings will usually follow your orders, though Chaotic ones will take the most liberties with them, Lawful ones will follow them as they think you intended them to be followed.
  • The money you pay your hirelings does not disappear. A certain portion of it is allocated to 'upkeep' and they will handle their own inn stay, food, etc. Although if you offered them a free tent in the wilderness, they would definitely not turn it down. The rest of their money will go towards two things, savings and upgrades. Part of their money will be used to buy better supplies that they would use back in a town. The rest they will store someplace as 'savings', as all Hirelings ultimately want to settle down someday, the adventuring life is dangerous after all!
SELLING MAGIC ITEMS
Spoiler:
Selling magic items from the various 'slots' in the kingdom is still limited to 1 attempt per district and the DCs remain the same. When sold, an item adds its market value to a "Deposit" fund. Every time the Deposit fund reaches 4,000, the kingdom gains 1 BP.

Note: I do not recommend using the above rule unless A. You have some good way of rolling items and keeping track of the Deposit fund (I use my Magic Item Generator and Excel) and B. You think the magic item rules in Kingmaker are kind of broken.

POPULATION
Spoiler:

Population granted by various settlements is as follows:
Low Pop Building (Park, Shrine, etc.): 25d3
Medium Pop Building (most buildings): 50d3
High Pop Building (only Tenements and Houses): 75d3

Farm Hex: 125d4
Non-Farm Improvement (Mine, Camp, Fort) Hex: 100d4
Hex with no Improvements: 75d4

Note: If you plan on using these, make sure you have some computerized way of rolling these. ;) I use MapTool.

CHANGING KINGDOM ALIGNMENT
Spoiler:
Kingdom Alignment, once set, cannot be changed without a significant increase in Unrest. Changing the Alignment prevents any sort of BP gain (from Income, items, etc.) for one month. Additionally, if the kingdom's alignment is changing more than one step, the kingdom gains 3d4 Unrest. If the kingdom's alignment is only changing one step, the kingdom only gains 2d4 Unrest. Either of these can be reduced by 1d4 Unrest (to 2d4 for 2+ steps or 1d4 for 1) with a successful Loyalty check. The kingdom's alignment may only be changed once per year at most. Cities must immediately adjust to comply with the new alignments. Temples and Cathedrals within cities that no longer allow them are considered destroyed. New Temples or Cathedrals dedicated to gods the city allows may be built in their place for the usual half price cost.
NUMBER OF CITIES/DISTRICTS
Spoiler:
The number of cities a kingdom can support is based off its size. A kingdom may have one city for every 5 size (min. 1). A kingdom of size 9 or less may only support one city. A kingdom of size 10-14 may have two cities. A kingdom of size 15-19 may have three cities, and so on.

A city may only build additional districts if the structure desired to be built within it does not fit in the current district. Future structures which do fit (even if a second district is more open) mus still be built within the first.

Example: The city Caerleon has one district that is nearly full, only three squares remaining in a corner. The players wish to build a Cathedral. A new district may be added to Caerleon to support this. If, on the following turn, a Shop is to be built, it must be built in the first district as there is still room.

CITY ALIGNMENT
Spoiler:
Cities within the kingdom do not need to be of the same alignment. At least half of the cities in the kingdom, including the Capital, need to match the kingdom's alignment. Any others may be within one step of the kingdom's alignment.
HOME CITIES
Spoiler:

Any PC may designate a single city as their home city. This is where they must spend their week each month handling leadership duties. Within the home city, a PC is treated gains the benefit of a certain lifestyle for free (see Cost of Living in the Core Rulebook). For kingdoms of size 1-20, the PC gets the Average lifestyle. For kingdoms of size 21-80, the PC gets the Wealthy lifestyle. For kingdoms of size 81+, the PC gets the Extravagant lifestyle. PCs outside of their home city but in a city still within the kingdom continue to get a free lifestyle, but at one less step compared to what they get in their home city (Poor for 1-20, Average for 21-80, Wealthy for 81+).
TEMPLES
Spoiler:

Normal Rules: Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.

A temple can only be built if the city's alignment is within one step of the deity's alignment. A temple dedicated to Calistria, for example, could only be built in a True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, or Chaotic Evil City.

NE and CE gods are not included due to the lack of organized temples within a city.

Erastil (LG): Halves cost of Park, Mill, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Iomedae (LG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Watchtower, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Torag (LG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Smith, and City Wall in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Sarenrae (NG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Shelyn (NG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Economy +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Desna (CG): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Cayden Cailean (CG): Halves cost of Graveyard, Brewery, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Economy +2, Loyalty +3, Stability -1; Unrest –2.
Abadar (LN): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shop in same city; 3 minor items; Economy +3; Unrest –2.
Irori (LN): Halves cost of Park, Library, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Gozreh (N): Halves cost of Park, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Pharasma (N): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Nethys (N): Halves cost of Graveyard, Library, and Shrine in same city; 3 minor items; Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Gorum (CN): Halves cost of Graveyard, Smith, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.
Calistria (CN): Halves cost of Brothel, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +1, Stability +3; Unrest –2.
Asmodeus (LE): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Zon-Kuthon (LE): Halves cost of Graveyard, Monument, and Shrine in same city; 2 minor items; Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Unrest –2.

CATHEDRALS
Spoiler:
Normal Rules: Halves cost of Temple or Academy in same city; halves Consumption increase penalty for promotion edicts; 3 minor items, 2 medium items; Loyalty +4; Unrest –4; limit one per city.

A cathedral can only be built if the city's alignment is the same as the deity's alignment. An LG city, for example, could only build Cathedrals dedicated to Erastil, Iomedae, or Torag.

NE and CE gods are not included due to the lack of organized cathedrals within a city.

Cathedrals to deities marked with P do not grant the reduced price on an Academy or Temple in the same city for the first cathedral to that deity built. When building a second cathedral to the same deity (in a different city), use the default cathedral statistics (a second cathedral to Erastil, for example, does not grant a discount for a second farm per month; it will discount Academies or Temples in the same city by 50% as normal instead).

Cathedrals to deities marked with L reduce the Loyalty bonus the Cathedral provides to +2.

Armies created by the Iomedae or Gorum cathedrals reduce the kingdom's Stability, Economy, and Loyalty by an extra 1 (total 3 each) if defeated. As long as the Cathedral that created them remains intact, they can be recruited again after waiting 1 month's time (IE: they cannot be recruited on the kingdom phase immediately following their defeat, but can be recruited on the following kingdom phase).

Erastil (LG)[P]: One farm per month can be established for half cost (1 BP for a grassland hex, 2 BP for a hill hex).
Iomedae (LG)[P]: You may designate any one Regular army created by this city "Legion of the Inheritor". The Legion requires 1 less Consumption and gains +1 OM.
Torag (LG)[L]: The Defense Modifier of this city increases by 4.
Sarenrae (NG)[P]: Sarenrae's healing of the sick and blessing of the crops reduces Consumption by 2 BP.
Shelyn (NG)[L]: A single Theater in this city can be upgraded to an Opera House of the Rose, increasing the Economy and Stability it provides by 1.
Desna (CG)[P]: Two roads per month can be established for 1 less BP (min. 0 BP).
Cayden Cailean (CG)[L]: A single Tavern in the city can be designated as the Lucky Drunk, holy to Cayden Cailean, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Abadar (LN)[L]: The cathedral of Abadar doubles as a Bank, increasing Economy by 1 and the city's base value by +1,000.
Irori (LN)[L]: A free Monastary to the Master of Masters can be established in any controlled Mountain hex, increasing the kingdom's Stability and Loyalty by 1. If the Kingdom does not control a mountain hex at time of this Cathedral's establishment, it may 'save' this until it does.
Gozreh (N)[P]: Preparing a Forest hex for settling only requires 2 BP and takes 1 month to prepare (same as Hills). In addition, cities settled in Forest hexes may be treated as a free partial farm, reducing Consumption by 1 BP.
Pharasma (N)[L]: A single Graveyard in this city can be upgraded to a Boneyard, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Nethys (N)[P]: A single Caster's Tower in this city can be upgraded to the All Seeing Eye, increasing the amount of items it provides by 1 for each category (total 4 minor items, 3 medium items, 1 major item).
Gorum (CN)[P]: Any one Regular army created by this city may be designated as the "Iron Warriors". These troops receive the Improved Armor upgrade for free and begin with the Defensive Wall Tactic (this does not count against the max tactics it may learn).
Calistria (CN)[L]: A single Brothel in the city can be upgraded to the "Unquenchable Flames of Lust" brothel/temple, increasing the Economy and Loyalty it provides by 1.
Asmodeus (LE)[L]: The Loyalty penalty for all Taxes (except none) is reduced by 2 (Light becomes +1, Normal +0, Heavy -2, Overwhelming -6).
Zon-Kuthon (LE)[L]: Fear inspired from a city in the shadow of the Midnight Lord increases Loyalty by 1 and the Defense Modifier by 2.

NEW EVENTS
Spoiler:
I'm not reproducing them all here, just linking the thread where all of them can be found and the new table I made allowing them to be rolled. At some point I will compile them all (with due credit, of course).

New Events Thread
New Events Table


Some awesome ideas in here; I already cabbaged your population generation algorithm from one of your earlier posts. ~_^
My own game's house rules use upgradeable buildings (hence, shrine, temple, and cathedral are on a single "upgrade track" as it were), but I do like the varied effects for different faiths. I have a small number of players who are more interested in deciding buildings via RP than exploiting the rules, so there's not a whole lot of changes I need to make, except to adjudicate new ideas or expand the possible options.
Cheers!


I have to say that your homerule concerning cathedrals are astounding. It's well thought of and I'm taking it for my campaign.

Thanks for sharing.


Karui Kage wrote:
(I use my Magic Item Generator and Excel)

Would you be willing this share this, Kage? *hopeful puppy eyes*

Coz this is taking a lot of time **grmbl**

The Exchange

Rickmeister wrote:
Karui Kage wrote:
(I use my Magic Item Generator and Excel)

Would you be willing this share this, Kage? *hopeful puppy eyes*

Coz this is taking a lot of time **grmbl**

It's in this thread.

I like it a lot. Makes filling those magic item slots in your kingdom a snap.

Scarab Sages

As shieldknight linked, it can be found in that thread. Glad you guys are liking the house rules, we just started the 3rd book in my campaign and I think they're all working rather well. Let me know once you've had a bit to try them out in your own game and tell me how they went! I'd love to hear feedback, good or bad.

Sovereign Court

Karui Kage wrote:
As shieldknight linked, it can be found in that thread. Glad you guys are liking the house rules, we just started the 3rd book in my campaign and I think they're all working rather well. Let me know once you've had a bit to try them out in your own game and tell me how they went! I'd love to hear feedback, good or bad.

Do you have these rules complied in a text document?

Scarab Sages

I don't, sorry. They are all in a few different threads on my private boards. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to stick them all in a text document though, just a bit of copy/paste. :)

The Exchange

I've already copied and pasted these into a word doc. If you want I can either email them to you or I could post them on my Kingmaker page.

Nethys Houserules

Sovereign Court

Shieldknight wrote:

I've already copied and pasted these into a word doc. If you want I can either email them to you or I could post them on my Kingmaker page.

Nethys Houserules

Got it, thanks!

Sovereign Court

Shieldknight wrote:

I've already copied and pasted these into a word doc. If you want I can either email them to you or I could post them on my Kingmaker page.

Nethys Houserules

I would be much obliged for the url to that Kingmaker page.

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