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Seriously.
In the previous adventure, a local farmer was killed. While examining the homestead (trying to determine what had happened), a short conversation came up about how the farmhouse would make a good base of operations for the group.
I don't have any problems with this idea except one - I have no idea how much a farmhouse would cost. My plan is for the widow to decide to pack up & move to be with remaining family elswhere. Not sure if I should put the place up for sale then (again, how much?) or if I should have the village decide to allow the group to set up camp there. The group are currently local heroes for their actions in the last adventure. The town could decide it's worthwhile to keep a party of skilled adventurers nearby in case any other problems arise. Plus, the farmhouse is right at the edge of a very dangerous forest - they could also serve as a buffer to any threats from the forest.
Any ideas/thoughts/opinions/suggestions would be most welcome.
This is in the gamemastery guide:
"Outright ownership of land by commoners may be rare
in a pseudo-medieval society, but noble patrons often grant
property rights. Adventurers typically gain management
rights over a section of arable land, which belongs to a noble
either as an ancestral claim or a similar feudal grant from a
ruler. When it comes to managing and working such land,
adventurers may prefer to take a hands-off approach, hiring
a bailiff or sheriff to oversee production and taxation. These
details may then be left in the background, except when land
ownership generates the occasional story hook or perhaps
the occasional small profits (nothing rivaling the rewards
of adventuring, of course). The PCs may periodically be
called on to deal with marauders, repel invading rivals, or
quell peasant rebellions."
So I think giving them the right to have access to the land is appropriate, but it should be handled carefully. If they want to hire NPC's to work the land and generate profit, and you find it's too much you can always appropriate a new "tax" that the king demands be paid by land owners. It also gives you a great place from which to derive a "hook".
The one trap I can see being fallen into is that the land shouldn't be a driving factor in generating wealth for the PC's. Other then that it gives them a stable place to plot their adventures, and they can eventually upgrade a small farm to a suitable keep.
The answer to how much a farm should cost really depends on the economy you have in your game world.
If you are running a traditional medieval/feudal setting, it is extremely likely that the farm houses multiple generations of a family, not just one and that if it were abandoned, it would be the right of the local lord to divvy the land out to someone else ... usually in return for a tax of one kind or another.
If, on the other hand, you're working with a market-based economy, I imagine the widow would hire a real estate agent and get the best price she could based on land value (location, location, location).
Seriously.
In the previous adventure, a local farmer was killed. While examining the homestead (trying to determine what had happened), a short conversation came up about how the farmhouse would make a good base of operations for the group.
I think this is great, and always encourage my PCs to have some kind of "base of operations" like this by the time they're 5th-6th level or so.
I don't have any problems with this idea except one - I have no idea how much a farmhouse would cost.
Any ideas/thoughts/opinions/suggestions would be most welcome.
Unless your players insist on a realistic economy, just pull a number out of your hat. Something high enough to seem okay, but low enough so they can afford it. The actual number is entirely unimportant.
I would also have it generate no net income; at best, it will be a break-even operation in terms of actual money, though they might end up with some extra bushels of apples or a side of beef or something.
If they do want to make money with it I would reccomend them either hiring someone witha relevant profession or taking leadership so a cohort could do it.
I doubt it'll generate hardly any income for them at all. The ranger & druid both found it appealing since it was outside of the town proper and right next to the forest. Also big enough to give the group some space for things like item creation, testing new spells/potions, combat training, etc.
I'm thinking of having a local offer to help keep up the place whenever they're away (the next adventure will have a hook relevant to the npc), but it would be just basic upkeep & maintenance type stuff.
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Owning a farm could be a cool thing for a group of PC's. It supplies a convenient answer to the question of "what do we do with intelligent monsters who surrender?" Give 'em farm jobs.
If you're worried that the PCs will spend more time as farmers than adventurers, just tell them that they can make one Profession: Farmer check per week and make twice the result in gold for that week. It's RAW under the Profession skill, it won't produce too much excess gold compared to the treasure they'd find adventuring, and it keeps the running of the farm nice and boring, so the PC's will be happy to go fight some owlbears again.
so the PC's will be happy to go fight some owlbears again.
Hey, thanks for remembering my previous post!
Make the land grant a milestone; achieve x amount of levels and they earn the land from the village/magistrate/beholder-in-disguise/ruling body de jour.
Alternately as K13 said - grant it as a reward for a plot hook.
The reality of land OWNERSHIP in feudal society versus rental of said land was first receiving a grant of nobility, however low, either by virtue of mass payment of gold, military service, reward for courtly position (master of cups is a job that grants title folks) and of course the exemption to clergy.
What I mean is 1) they buy it - put the cost say around 1/4 their wealth by level based on APL, 2) they earn it by virtue of being awesome at fighting stuff, 3) they promise to bring religion to the masses and in return get to set up a religious base of ops, or 4) they work as retainers to the local lord.
Now that 4th one, relating back to real-life nobility would mean they are functionaries of the lord's court; lord chancelor, judges, maybe one of them's a sheriff. But in PF terms, it could be that the local lord has a secret agenda and now the PC's are in on it; as long as they don't peeve off said patron they get to keep the place.
A farm as a base of operations sounds like a lot of fun. I'd let them draw out the maps for the house and encourage them to base it on historical examples appropriate to the region. Maybe they could sketch out how their crops are distributed and hire commoners to tend to them.
This also gives you a more meaningful way of describing passing time in your campaign setting and makes downtime between adventures more interesting. As far as cost goes, in standard Golarion I would price it around 4000 gp (assuming the house needs substantial repairs and the fields have been left uncultivated for some time). Maybe another 4000gp outlay (say to hire NPCs to do the work, less if the PCs contribute significantly) to get the house and fields back to good working order. I'd double the prices if it were in a much better location (I'm loosely basing the costs on the price of a sailing ship, another excellent base of operations).
Maybe it's a dated expression, but "Buy the Farm" used to imply someone dying.
I was thinking this thread was about your group wanting to all die, maybe to get new characters or a brand new campaign.
Yeah, have to admit I sensationalized the thread title a little bit there. Couldn't resist the play on words.
Got you to read it, though... ;)
I think the farm ought to put out something cool once the party takes it over. Like after they take it on they plant rare grapes or herbs or something, to reflect their worldly knowledge. As a result in their down time they don't just retire to some wallowing pig farm but a villa, overlooking their acres of the finest hops, barley and other ingredients which they use to craft Wyvern's Blood Stout, their own private brew.
Oh sure, at first it breaks even; the commoners don't know how to tend the crop, it takes a season to transplant and take off in the new soil, etc. But have it be somewhere that eventually reflects them, not the former owners.
Heck; by 7th level someone has leadership and an army of followers. Someone else has a Knowledge: Engineering slot he's not using that much. Plus they've got access to some pretty fantastic resources. Suddenly their 3-crook farmhouse with the sleeping loft over the pig-barn becomes a 2-story manor w/adjoining forge, underground lab, chapel and a tower. In the downtime between adventures (if they get any) they're forging weapons, crafting mutagens, strolling the fields and hob-nobbing with nosy neighbors. Maybe old man Witherspoon's hound found a mysterious well (2nd level dungeon) or the crops are getting blighted by some uppity fey...little diversions that make them feel really in tune with and a part of the world they're helping create.
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The next of kin would likely feint or piss themselves if the PCs spilled a sack of of 1000-2000 gold coins on to the table to buy the place. A small farm wouldn't bring in much month to month from doing business, but would be an awesome HQ for adventurers. Love the idea.
Yeah, if it's a two person farm it won't make much money. Outright less than raiding an owlbear nest for three eggs. On the other hand, once the house is torn down, a small mansion is commissioned (with side quests to pay for it/cast flesh to stone on especially statue worthy things) it'll be fun.
For the price, should be made by the standards of the place they buy it. If it's good land in a busy area, pricy, if it's good land far away from things, low-med, if it's bad land in a prime not farm location, cheap with a good bluff/knowledge geo roll etc.
If I were handling it, I'd probably just tell my group that they could hire some people to actually run the farm and the money the farm generates would cover any taxes on the land. They'd still have to pay the workers, but it would be a small fee, really, when put against the amount of wealth gained by adventuring in the nearby areas. And having a base of operations will be a boon; being able to store things too big to lug around is handy, as is having the space to build a laboratory or stationary magical thing (like a healing ward or magic forge).
Sadly, my players would see it as a tether, something one might chain a dog to.
In the past, I've had a group do something similar, and had the town who they'd helped refuse their money, but require that agree to do a few favours as well as agree to the landholder's tax on all income to help with town defense. And it was all income, so they were coughing up a 20th of what they got on adventures (the Paladin of Abadar wouldn't let them lie about it).
What made it all cool is that they saw what their money was buying over time -- first upgraded militia equipment, then guard towers, a full-time barracks, etc. This meshed well, too, with the fact that a number of people that they rescued who had nowhere else to go either ended up working the farm or as new guardsmen/craftsmen in the town... so that the farm started generating small amounts of income.
I didn't do any massive book-keeping or kingdom building (certainly nothing like Kingmaker), and I had the (rescued) NPCs more or less acting as the regent and doing the real work -- but it did give the party a real sense of accomplishment -- and more, they became very protective of that town.
Of course, every party's different, and some (like Foghammer's, apparently) would see that as being chained down.
As others have said: if your world is atll close to medeivel based, they really can't buy the farm.
The widow doesn't own it, her serf husband was told to farm it. In exchange for that priviledge he had to give most of what the farm produced to the local noble. If the husband serf is dead and the widow is going to leave, she has no say in what happens to it next. Really, she would probably not be allowed to leave. She would probably be forced to marry whatever male serf the lord decides should be the next farmer of that plot of land.
If the lord has not chosen someone, the PC's could petition the local lord to be allowed to take over. Unless the grant is a reward for services rendered, the taxes should be high (basically as high as the lord thinks he can convince the PC's to pay). Even if it is a reward the taxes might still be high. A land grant and punishing taxes was a fairly typical way to get a popular troublemaker under control.
If you don't have a medeival economy, then much of that goes out the window. Any where from 200 to 800 gps seems like a reasonable number that will give the widow a new start in style. And should be high enough that the PC will feel it but not be punishing.
Have the PC's sell off or donate the excess farmland, or have it re-appropriated by the local lord, but allow them to keep the homestead and any surrounding buildings with permission to expand upon those holdings in order to build a small keep. I'm sure the local lord rather likes having loyal subjects in a fortified position on a troublesome border, but he probably won't like them being TOO fortified. Some great adventure hooks ahead as the PC's grow in power and fame by a jealous or concerned lord - or by his heir. Might be a nice way to 'move them along' if they get powerful enough that local threats no longer suffice. Might also make for some nice drama is they get servants and such that they become fond of only to have the place massacred and burned out by an invading army or a recurring foe trying to hit them where it hurts.
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Have the PC's sell off or donate the excess farmland, or have it re-appropriated by the local lord, but allow them to keep the homestead and any surrounding buildings with permission to expand upon those holdings in order to build a small keep. I'm sure the local lord rather likes having loyal subjects in a fortified position on a troublesome border, but he probably won't like them being TOO fortified. Some great adventure hooks ahead as the PC's grow in power and fame by a jealous or concerned lord - or by his heir. Might be a nice way to 'move them along' if they get powerful enough that local threats no longer suffice. Might also make for some nice drama is they get servants and such that they become fond of only to have the place massacred and burned out by an invading army or a recurring foe trying to hit them where it hurts.
Y'see? Now that's EXACTLY one of the reasons why the heroes never automatically gain followers and a castle at 11th level any more!
When did most GM's worlds get so dark and gritty that the party's base of operations = a great way to torment and ultimately devalue everything they've worked for?
I had a noble elf back in the day, said I wanted to play a real HERO but wasn't willing to go paladin. My GM initially obliged; I was a fighter/mage and the daughter of a full duke in the kingdom of the elves. We're talking royalty here.
Now fast forward a few games. My character's ONE good stat was actually Cha, followed by Int. She was VERY pretty. So natch she's a bit of a flirt. For being "flirty" I'm disowned. Not stern talking to, or warned, just simply tossed out of almost everything I made the character for in the first place.
I soldier on, try to atone and in the process get sucked into an EXTREMELY dark series of adventures against a demon lord. While fleeing for our lives and being attacked everywhere, even in our dreams, my character finally drifts into fitful sleep in the forest...only to be awoken by "giant hands hard as bone holding you head to foot".
She slept with an arrow in her hand and blindly attacked with it... nat. 20 on the TREANT that's rocking her in her sleep! The one good creature in a forest of pure evil and I stab it in the eye and blind it. So an eye for an eye...it gouges my eye out.
Couple sessions later I catch a break; the treant feels guilty and so a special rite is held and I get a magic eye of the purest amber put in that acts like a gem of true seeing. It doesn't take away the permanent -2 from missing an eye, but I have all kinds of crazy detections.
Turns out a few game sessions later to be a trick of the demon prince to drive me insane.
Ok...the end of the game. My nemisis the demon has seduced my party to turn against me, I'm still disowned as a total disgrace to my family, but all is about to be forgiven; I've assembled the artifact sword that's gonna put him down for good! Final fight, I'm doing well, final blow...Saving Throw. Yep, my GM hinges the fate of his ENTIRE WORLD on total chance of one save. Of course...I fail it.
I'm hurled into the future. Its a bleak and savage land. Oh, the demon prince was still defeated but not SLAIN, so his power and influence kept right on going. My one moment of failure also unleashed a wave of power, turning my ANCESTRAL FOREST KINGDOM to a desert in an instant. Becaust of this all elves are now hated and feared. That was the end.
So now there is a doomed gray elf wandering around this particular world, still holding the artifact sword, endlessly trying to find a way to put this all right. The last time she appeared in a game she was hopelessly drunk in the corner of a tavern.
The moral? DON'T destroy the one thing that connects your PLAYERS with the game world. It's hard enough to get the players to commit to the game to the point that they actually care about some person/place/thing and it may feel like a no brainer to imperil that for good pathos; if you must tread lightly.
@ Glen: I did. I went from that campaign (and clinical depression) into another buddy's game wherein I played a 2e kit called a halfling homesteader. Talk about buying the farm; he went out and MADE the farm from scratch in the wilderness.
It was the polar opposite campaign; 16 levels of unlocking powers of a pair of artifact gauntlets while simultaneously using the adventures to scout the land for a place to build a new halfling shire. It culminated with Babba Yaga and her hut being the reason for all the troubles in the land so we entered the hut and shut 'er down.
It was epic, fun, and involved building something of my own that this other GM not only left alone but encouraged through side quests; a real positive experience instead of a negative one. Benarin Stouthammer (my character) retired at 16th level; he is the founder and sheriff of Stouthammer Falls, an accomplished fighter, and has a ridiculous number of skills for that class. He married his childhood sweetheart, saved his people from hardship and one-shotted a pair of pit fiends in a surprise round among other epic coolness!
Of the 2 games, I felt more connected to the lands I helped CREATE, not the ones I inadvertently destroyed...WITH A BAD ROLL! I mean seriously? I was lawful good and stuck to my alignment so WTH man? Why was everything my character loved and cared about wiped out horribly as a penalty for BAD LUCK? Anyway...stay positive.
Some people seem really obssessed with dark fantasy adventures.
I think it is something along the lines of, "Well at least my life isn't that bad so I must be fairly lucky."
I say go for it. Sell them the farm, and let them have fun detailing the place.
When they decide they need pillows stuffed with owlbear down, send them out adventuring again.
Fun part: you can give out treasure that is actually for the farmhouse. A +1 plow, or a darkwood bedroom set.
A spinning wheel that spins gold into chain mail.
Items of use for their farmhouse:
Anything with a permanent Unseen Servant or Mount effect on it: animate brooms or rakes, a plow that pulls itself, a floating seed bag of holding that tosses its own load by the handful...
A wand of expeditious excavation
A set of dishes with permanent prestidigitation to keep food warm, cold or seasoned just right
A decanter of endless water
Dust of plant growth to add to the seeds
a wheelbarrel or cart of ant haul
animated ropes
Items that would just be fun/silly:
Bucket of Everful Dung
+1 pillow of sleepiness
a hat of refreshment - casts drench on the user for cooling them on a hot day
a pitcher of transmute water to lemonade or iced tea
a diviner's almanac - just like a regular almanac, but written for next year so its a prediction of weather and conditions for every day of this year...
Let 'em have some fun with it.
Lots of good advice in this thread. I'll throw in my 2 coppers:
Pseudo-medieval doesn't require serfs as the only farmers. You had free farmers as well, this is where much of the yeomanry came from. Free farmers generally had larger plots of land, which brings me to the next point...
If this is going to be a base of operations, make sure there is sufficient room for growth. I'm not suggesting they go from farm to village, but I think it's likely they'll want to go from farm to villa or ranch-style setup. Perhaps the initial grant gives them the farm in question, but they may want to purchase some surrounding land to have enough room to grow & add buildings in the future.
I'd avoid the real-estate-agent route referenced earlier. Land is valued greatly even today, and it's only the wealth of modern societies that enables enough property to be bought and sold to warrant an industry devoted to its sale. With the majority of the NPC population being commoners, that doesn't really jive with the setting as written.
I'll echo the comments that the farm should not be viewed as a major revenue stream, especially when divided amongst multiple PCs. If it breaks even and can pay for the NPC hirelings, livestock, and upkeep, it's a win.
Finally, as the GM, make sure that there's enough going on in the campaign area to warrant the PCs putting down roots in the area. If not, at least set the precedent that this could be their first base of operations -- ala Skyrim's homes, so that they are attached to it but not TOO attached to it that they won't adventure outside the area.
Here's a few extra details, since the thread's getting so much attention...
* The party is between 6-7 strong (depending on if my niece can make it). It includes a ranger & a druid (my niece) who will both be looking to wander off into the forest at the edge of the fields at times - I figure it's a good way to explain my niece-the-druid's occasional absences when she can't make a game session, "the druid apparently went into the forest to perform one of her druidic rituals, & will be gone for x amount of time..."
* The farmhouse is at the outer edges of the village, next to the dark & forbidding forest. The farmer had some sons who helped with the work until they grew up & left, so the house has multiple bedrooms. There is also a modest-sized barn in need of some repair - suffered some fire damage during the 1st scenario. There will probably be a sufficient amount of land to give them some privacy as well as add on a small building or two for side pursuits as needed.
* My oldest son is playing a goblin rogue who is the chieftain's son from a nearby tribe. There's currently an uneasy truce in the area. The rogue will be joining the group permanently in the next scenario when his father is killed & replaced by a rival chief, forcing the rogue to flee or also be killed. He worked with the party in the 1st scenario, and will be needed by them in the new scenario - dad dies while he's away. I'm considering running a scenario in the future to defeat the new chief before he can unite all the goblin tribes to start another goblin war.
* I don't think it should be too hard to get the group to travel for other adventures - it just takes the right incentives... But a home base where they can relax & unwind seems like a nice idea. Having recurring npc's that they get to know & become attached to can be a lot of fun as well provide great incentive - a future storyline I'm stewing on involves the group coming back to town after an adventure to find a disease ravaging the town, & they need to race to get the cure & deal with whoever's responsible. While I'm not the kind to destroy everything they hold dear, I'm not above using it to create some dramatic tension & as an occasional plot device. The group is far more likely to want to find out the truth when the young local is unexpectedly accused of murdering his fiance' if they've gotten to know him & realize he would never commit such a crime, leading them to discover the doppleganger that's snuck into town...
Maybe that gives some more info for ideas to keep coming... :)
What level are they again? This sounds like a really awesome game btw!
So...goblins and a dark wood...maybe your niece the druid, when she disappears, can also be speaking w/the animals and plants, finding out intel on the goblins?
Also, if they've got enough money to buy the farm, then they've got enough to get the barn fixed, which means hiring npc's to mill wood from the forbidding forest to do the work. Some ideas: they get wood from a "bad" part of the forest and anger a monster/spirit/evil force that now has it in for the farm; the npc's disappear while gathering and the party has to go save them; the wood actually turns out to be a clue to a boon the party seeks ("this is wood only found growing over the grave of a Knight of the Chalice! Perhaps we've stumbled upon Sir Ector after all our searching...").
Finally I think you should let them start putting their own stamp on it. If there's a barn I'm assuming it wasn't a tiny pig farm...maybe the party could add on something to the house and barn, like a wall and tower connecting the 2 buildings. Or w/the ranger and a druid, perhaps a tree on the property affected by multiple plant growth spells to craft a tree fort in or something.
The group's only 1st level - this was our first adventure scenario together.
Thanks for the compliment, I was really happy with the way the whole thing turned out.
Some nice ideas...leads me back to the idea of giving them something to care about & get them more vested in the world their in.
Only 1st level? This opens up a whole bevvy of ideas...
Perhaps the druid, when your niece can't make it, isn't just performing druid rites in the woods; what if she's speaking w/the plants and animals, gathering intel on the encroaching goblins?
The sons return home...and some random bunch of adventurers lives in their family farmhouse. This is rife for ALL kinds of conflict from stooge-esque slapstick as they bumble through the party's defenses to a nefarious plot involving the brothers years ago burying an artifact in the house or in the grounds and now they've returned to utilize it's full power.
Oh man, there's so much to go on here. What if the village doesn't like having a goblin at the farm? Angry mob with pitchforks and torches?
Where did you intend the campaign to go after the first adventure? It sounds like the goblin war thing was a little planned, so were they MEANT to stick around in the area a while or was there a bunch of sites they were supposed to head to in order to divide and conquer the clans?
I'm currently using an old module I found for free online. Part two has a wizard infiltrating the rival goblin clan looking for a magic artifact - the deposed chief approaches the (rogue) pc's father (rival clan) for aid against this new enemy that may well attempt to take over his tribe as well. The pc's father gets the bright idea of setting the pc group on this new enemy instead of risking his own force. While the party (using my son's rogue as a guide) is off dealing with the wizard, the rival kills the father & becomes the new chief. When the wizard is defeated, he reclaims his old tribe & unites the two.
After this, I plan to take a break from the goblin storyline for a while. I'm leaning towards an adventure(s) that draws the group out of town for a bit. When they return, the 3rd scenario from the module will likely be used - exposing a doppleganger that has come to town & is causing mayhem.
Eventually, things with the goblin tribes would come to a head, but I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. Thinking it should be on a pretty nice scale though, as the group will probably be around 6th level or so by then.
With all that in mind, you can imagine how happy I was when the group started discussing 'base of operations possibilities' while investigating the farmhouse, leading to the original question in the post... Some good input here - as usual - on how to handle the property issue. Will have to stew on it a bit & let you guys know....
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Warning: Econ crunch ahead.
Medieval serfs in England who were wage laborers would have a cottage and 4 acres of arable land given to them. This is basically his "wage" for working for his landlord. He farms his 4 acres on his own time. The so called "cottager". In addition, rights to pasturage for animals would be available in the commons. Probably about 5x of that per cottager (20 acres or so). A cottager could aspire to purchase his cottage and 4 acres and thus free himself of his day job under his landlord. He would probably have hunting/trapping rights in the forest too, but they might be limited (rabbits etc., not deer or boars) or just unlimited rights but only in portions of the forest.
Typical rents for additional acreage would be about 6.25gp (2 shillings 6 pennies) per year for arable land, assuming a British pound from that era is worth about 50gp. If the cottager were energetic or ambitious, or found himself with extra cash and wanted to hire laborers of his own to turn a profit he could do it in this way. Not sure of the value of pasturage, as some pasture land was unsuitable for farming, and other pasturage was simply farm land that was temporarily fallow.
Eventually wool became so valuable the lords simply kicked all the cottagers off of their land to tend sheep and feudal peasantry disappeared in England.
A yeoman would probably need 20 acres of arable land and about 100 acres of pasture to get that rank (owned by him). Keep in mind at some times you had to have the actual title to the land to get the rank. So if you had to mortgage to a lienholder and they held the title until it was paid off, you literally actually "lost title" and were no longer a yeoman. In some areas/times the exact acreage to attain a rank of yeoman was actually spelled out, and often put a requirement on the yeoman to maintain a militia soldier with a certain standard of equipment that could be called up in time of need (often the yeoman himself if he was fit and able - the classic yeoman English longbowman).
P.S. Old style farming left a surprising (to modern eyes) amount of land fallow (most of it, actually). It was the only way they knew of to fertilize it - with cow patties. They couldn't just turn crude oil into ammonia by the kilotonne and make fertilizer like we do nowadays.
At this point, I'm leaning towards the local lord allowing the heroes to use the farm as a base of operations in exchange for their help when needed (easy plot device!) - the farm isn't a money-making operation, just enough to supply the group & sell enough extra @ market to cover expenses.
Also, by not having the group buy the property, I don't have to worry about who owns what if characters come & go from the group (nobody will have to 'buy in' to the farm).
The next adventure should procure the services of one of the locals (debt of gratitude) to run the day-to-day operations for the party so they can travel if need be for future adventures.
Plus, if I decide to later, I can shake things up a bit for some fun - maybe a new lord takes over & decides to increase the taxes or other such interesting possibilities.
Thanks for the input!