Best Way to Use Kingdom Rules

[Galen Shadowfyre]

I'm about to run Rise of the Runelords (Anniversary) for the first time. Been doing lots of prep work, and reading, and note-taking.

Just got the Ultimate Campaigns book, and find the Kingdom and Downtime rules *really* intriguing. Was wondering if those more intimately familiar with the Adventure Path could recommend good story points and/or locations to offer up to the PCs to begin investing in.

The Foxgrove estate, and maybe the Fort in the third module have already caught my eye.

[dubj1979]

I am also starting RoTR. I am giving my group a guild hall in sandpoint. Well i should say Father Zantus is for being the Heroes of Sandpoint. I chose one of the buildings right off of the cathedral. They will play out their first week in the Rusty Dragon before the deed can be fully transferred. I Made them a blueprint of the building without interior walls, so they will have to use gold, labor, etc. to build up the inside however they want.

The only thing I added in the blueprint were some staircases going up and down, and a few trap doors to the basement, all in random spots.

[Galen Shadowfyre]

Oooh, that's a nice idea. Start small, and see what they do with it.

[Haladir]

If you let the PCs hold Fort Rannick through the winter in Hook Mountain Massacre, that would be a good way to use some of the stronghold rules from Ultimate Campaign.

I have heard tale of some GMs deciding that instead of having the PCs go up to Hook Mountain to confront the ogre menace, the ogres amass a small army and attempt to re-re-take the fort from the PCs defending it. You could use some of the rules to rebuild the fort and its defenses while getting ready for the inevitable counterattack.

The original RotRL has an optional rules section about managing a stronghold, allowing the PCs to be masters of the fort for a few months before the events of Fortress of the Stone Giants begin.

[Galen Shadowfyre]

Hmmm, interesting. That's not a bad idea either. Thanks for the info.

[ajbaker]

I'll probably end up using the Kingdom rules for Fort Rannick if my PCs decide they want to try to hold it. Otherwise, I've offered them the downtime options to purchase and run individual buildings in Sandpoint, and one of the PCs opted to buy the Sandpoint Theater from Cyrdak Drokkus- he and Jasper moved back to Magnimar after the events of Skinsaw Murders, and I allowed the player to re-recruit the theater troupe just by spending the money (not the time) since they hadn't dispersed yet. So far she's got the theater's production solely focused on GP generation rather than any of the other downtime capital, but with the option to switch to other capital options when she starts her next civic improvement project in the spring (a glass-walled butterfly garden dedicated to Desna at the Cathedral).

You might also consider the Sandpoint Glassworks as an option- Ameiko is likely positively-disposed toward the party since they rescued her, and lacks the time or technical know-how to manage the place, so she might be willing to sell at a discount or on a payment plan if your PCs are interested in recruiting a new staff of workers and cleaning up the Glassworks to get it producing again.