Kingdom issues (after claiming Varnhold)

Okay, so we're going with Mike's plan. You convert two hill hexes (I'm picking the one in the Greenbelt with the silver mine where the kobolds live and one in the Varnhold area, immediately north of Varnhold pass) to farmland, dropping your Consumption from 7 to 3. It costs 8 BP, leaving you with 27 BP to spend on building. Here are a number of options (you can do up to 5 buildings now, plus a House, if you want):

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Alchemist (18 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): The laboratory and home of a creator of potions, poisons, and alchemical items. City base value +1,000 gp; 1 minor item; Economy +1.
Barracks (6 BP): A building to house city guards, militia, and military forces. Defense Modifier +2; Unrest –1.
Brewery (6 BP): A building for beermaking, winemaking, or similar use. Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
Brothel (4 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A place to pay for companionship of any sort. Economy +1, Loyalty +1; Unrest +1.
City Wall (8 BP): City walls do not occupy a city block—rather, purchasing a city wall fortifies one of a district’s four outer borders. A city wall cannot be built on a water border. Defense Modifier +4; Unrest –2.
Dump (6 BP): A centralized place to dispose of refuse. Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
Exotic Craftsman (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): The workshop and home of an exotic craftsman, such as a creator of magic items, a tinker, a fireworks maker, or a glassblower. 1 minor item; Economy +1, Stability +1.
Granary (6 BP): A place to store grain and food. Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
Graveyard (4 BP): A plot of land to honor and bury the dead. Loyalty +1.
Herbalist (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): The workshop and home of a gardener, healer, poisoner, or creator of potions. 1 minor item; Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
House (3 BP): A number of mid-sized houses for citizens. Houses serve as prerequisites for many other buildings. The first house you build during any Improvement Phase does not count against the total number of buildings you can build during the phase. Unrest –1.
Inn (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A place for visitors to spend the night. City base value +500 gp; Economy +1, Loyalty +1.
Jail (14 BP): A fortified structure for housing criminals. Loyalty +2, Stability +2; Unrest –2.
Library (6 BP): A large building containing books, often presided over by a sage or other scholar. Economy +1, Loyalty +1.
Luxury Store (28 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A shop that specializes in expensive wares and luxuries. City base value +2,000 gp; 2 minor items; Economy +1.
Mansion (10 BP): A single huge manor housing a rich family and its servants. Stability +1.
Mill (6 BP; must be next to a water border): A building used to cut lumber or grind grain. Economy +1, Stability +1.
Monument (6 BP): A monument can be a statue of a city founder, a bell tower, a large tomb, or a public display of art. Loyalty +2; Unrest –1.
Noble Villa (24 BP): A sprawling manor with luxurious grounds that houses a noble. Halves cost of Exotic Craftsman, Luxury Store, and Mansion in same city; Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
Park (4 BP): A plot of land set aside for its natural beauty. Loyalty +1.
Piers (16 BP; must be adjacent to a water border): Warehouses and workshops for docking ships and handling cargo and passengers. City base value +1,000 gp; +1 Economy, +1 Stability.
Shop (8 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A general store. City base value +500 gp; Economy +1.
Shrine (8 BP): A small shrine or similar holy site. 1 minor item; Loyalty +1; Unrest –1.
Smith (6 BP): An armor smith, blacksmith, or weapon smith. Economy +1, Stability +1.
Stable (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A structure for housing or selling horses and other mounts. City base value +500 gp; Economy +1, Loyalty +1.
Tannery (6 BP; cannot be adjacent to a house): A structure that prepares hides and leather. Economy +1, Stability +1.
Tavern (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): An eatery or drinking establishment. City base value +500 gp; Economy +1, Loyalty +1.
Tenement (1 BP): A staggering number of low-rent, cheap housing units. Tenements count as houses for the purpose of fulfilling building requirements, but building too many tenements can increase a kingdom’s Unrest quickly. You can build a house over an existing tenement for 2 BP. Unrest +2.
Theater (24 BP): A venue for providing entertainment such as plays, operas, concerts, and the like. Halves cost of Brothel, Park, and Tavern in same city; Economy +2, Stability +2.
Town Hall (22 BP): A public venue for town meetings and repository for town records. Halves cost of Barracks, Dump, and Watchtower in same city; Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1.
Tradesman (10 BP; must be adjacent to 1 house): A shopfront for a tradesman, such as a baker, butcher, candle maker, cooper, or rope maker. City base value +500 gp; +1 Economy, +1 Stability.
Watchtower (12 BP): A tall structure that serves as a guard post and landmark. +1 Stability; +2 Defense Modifier; Unrest –1.

Depending on where you put the structures, you can also save money due to the presence of other structures, as follows:

*In Lakeshore, you already have a Noble Villa and a Town Hall. So you can build a Barracks, Dump, Watchtower, Exotic Craftsman, Luxury Store, Mansion in the city for half price.
* In the Temple settlement, you already have a Temple. So you can build a Shrine or Monument for half price (Graveyard too, but you already have one there).
* In Varnhold City, you already have a Garrison and a Temple. So you can build a City Wall, Granary, Jail, Graveyard, Shrine, Monument for half price.

Besides the option of making a number of smaller structures this turn, one option to keep in mind would be to also save some of your money for next month, so that you can add it to what you make at the end of the month and get something major like a Garrison (28 BP; +2 Stability and Loyalty +2; halves cost of City Wall, Granary and Jail in the same city). That would fit with your focus on building up your military. You could also, if you want, convert one less hex to farmland this month (which would leave you with a Consumption of 5 but give you 4 more BP, and get a Garrison this turn itself, which would let you construct things like a granary and jail next month for cheap).

You do, however, already have a Garrison in Varnhold City, so you could take advantage of that and build a Jail there this month (halved to 7 BP; +2 Stability and Loyalty, -2 Unrest), put up a Brothel each in Lakeshore or Varnhold (total 8 BP; +2 Economy and Loyalty; also raises Unrest by 1 each, but the Jail will take care of that), do a Monument in the Temple settlement (halved to 3 BP; Loyalty +2), and a Mill in Lakeshore (6 BP; Economy +1, Stability +1). That would cost you 24 BP of your 27 available, but would give you +3 Economy, +3 Stability, +6 Loyalty.

For what it's worth, though there are differing opinions, the general consensus of your councilors is to convert only 1 hex to farmland and spend all the remaining money (31 BP) on building a Garrison and a Granary in Lakeshore (gaining +3 Loyalty and Stability).

Does Varnhold have a Town Hall and/or a Watch Tower?


I like the Lakeshore idea. It will also let us, next month, build an exotic craftsman and watchtower.

Either way I want to save some of the money so we can build a garrison next month. We need to increase are military might.

Leonis wrote:

Does Varnhold have a Town Hall and/or a Watch Tower?

Nope. This is what they have:

Brewery, Exotic Craftsman, Garrison, Granary, Inn, Smith, Tannery, Temple, 3 Tradesmen, and 8 Houses

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I like the Lakeshore idea.

Which one did you mean by the Lakeshore idea?

Varnhold: Town Hall then Watch Tower

Lakeshore: Craftsman, then watch tower.

I like the idea of building the jail and two brothels, and saving the other 12 BP for next month so we can build a garrison in Lakeshore. Between that and lowering our consumption to 3, we should be able to afford it next month without much difficulty.

Rowan doesn't like the idea of brothels, but she realizes it's only a matter of time before one springs up naturally, and better for it to be known and regulated than underground. Do we have any friendly paladins who'd want to be the brothel's protector?

Leonis wrote:

Varnhold: Town Hall then Watch Tower

That would cost 28 BP, so you wouldn't be able to pull it off this month. Also, Varnhold is comparatively much safer than the northern area (where you're closer to the Drelev border), so you don't need defenses there quite as much.

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Lakeshore: Craftsman, then watch tower.

Lakeshore actually has 2 exotic craftsmen already, so I'll say you have to expand further before you can use more there.

Rowan wrote:

I like the idea of building the jail and two brothels, and saving the other 12 BP for next month so we can build a garrison in Lakeshore. Between that and lowering our consumption, we should be able to afford it next month without much difficulty.

True. Since this is easily doable, I'll presume you do that for this month.

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Rowan doesn't like the idea of brothels, but she realizes it's only a matter of time before one springs up naturally, and better for it to be known and regulated than underground.

Youma, Oleg and Svetlana are in agreement with Rowan about this matter.

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Do we have any friendly paladins who'd want to be the brothel's protector?

Now I need the usual Economy checks to work out how much you make, so give me 6 of them (for 1 medium item, 4 minor items and regular kingdom productivity check).

I just realized that Varnhold doesn't have a graveyard. We really should build one there, with memorials for all the people whose bodies were never recovered. That would cost only 2 BP, and would raise Loyalty by +1. A monument for 3 BP would be a better choice mechanically, since it gives +2 loyalty for 3 BP, but we need a place to bury the infants who died, and the bodies of the leaders we did recover.

The member 'Rowan' has done the following action : Dice roller

'd20' : 9

Edit: Only one natural 1 out of 11 rolls. I'm rolling better than normal.

We didn't sell one of the minor items, but I did roll a 16 for the general economy check. How many BPs does that net us?

The member 'Rowan' has done the following action : Dice roller

#1 'd20' : 1

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#2 'd20' : 16

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#3 'd20' : 11

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#4 'd20' : 16

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#5 'd20' : 16

Leonis wrote:

BTW - You delegate responsibility to someone who is in lesser position then you. Are you saying that you are superior to Grabthar and that Grabthar is lesser then Rowan?"

Not at all. Grabthar just has the skills to deal with a date with Leonis more than Rowan. You see, if Rowan fireballs Leonis then it could damage an entire building, but Grabthar would just create artistic splatter patterns.

Rowan wrote:

I just realized that Varnhold doesn't have a graveyard. We really should build one there, with memorials for all the people whose bodies were never recovered. That would cost only 2 BP, and would raise Loyalty by +1. A monument for 3 BP would be a better choice mechanically, since it gives +2 loyalty for 3 BP, but we need a place to bury the infants who died, and the bodies of the leaders we did recover.

Makes sense. Done.

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We didn't sell one of the minor items, but I did roll a 16 for the general economy check. How many BPs does that net us?

You get 14 BP for the different items and 15 BP for the general economy check, so that's 29 BP plus the 10 BP you have left over after the graveyard.

We might as well see how far we can get into the next month, so roll me a Stability check (just don't roll a 1).

Edit: Phew!

The member 'Rowan' has done the following action : Dice roller

'd20' : 14

Can you post a map of all our territory, showing what each hex has in it, and which hexes are unclaimed or undeveloped?

Rowan wrote:

I like the idea of building the jail and two brothels, and saving the other 12 BP for next month so we can build a garrison in Lakeshore. Between that and lowering our consumption to 3, we should be able to afford it next month without much difficulty.

Rowan doesn't like the idea of brothels, but she realizes it's only a matter of time before one springs up naturally, and better for it to be known and regulated than underground. Do we have any friendly paladins who'd want to be the brothel's protector?

Leonis already has five brothals up and running.

And stop rolling dammit It's only a matter of time before you roll 11 -1's

The member 'Leonis' has done the following action : Dice roller

#1 'd20' : 15

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#2 'd20' : 19

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#3 'd20' : 9

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#4 'd20' : 12

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#5 'd20' : 12

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#6 'd20' : 15

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#7 'd20' : 8

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#8 'd20' : 15

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#9 'd20' : 5

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#10 'd20' : 5

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#11 'd20' : 11

Rowan wrote:

Edit: Phew!

Nice rolling. That gives you another 1 BP, and after you pay the 3 BP for your Consumption, you now have 37 BP for this month.

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Can you post a map of all our territory, showing what each hex has in it, and which hexes are unclaimed or undeveloped?

Unfortunately, I have them in two separate PDFs (since the Varnhold area map is in a different module), and have neither the tools nor the skill to be able to extract them. The only reason I could post the map of your original territory I've done thus far is because I found it online and could mess with it using MSPaint

Leonis wrote:

And stop rolling dammit Smile It's only a matter of time before you roll 11 -1's

Hey, he's managed to roll only a single 1 in some 20 rolls. And I'll use the rolls you made for your subsequent ones for this month.

So, what would you like to do for claiming hexes this month? If you want to reduce Consumption to 0, the only way to do so this month is to claim the one remaining plains hex in the Varnhold area, and then convert it and an already claimed hill hex to farmland. That would cost 7 BP in total and drop your Consumption to 0.

Sound good?

Make it so.

Leonis wrote:

Make it so.

I'm presuming Mike doesn't have an issue with that either, so it is done.

Which leaves you 30 BP for constructing buildings. Of which 28 BP goes on the Garrison in Lakeshore, I presume. Right?

You could just hold onto the last 2 BP, of course, but you could also spend 1 BP to build a road in the new plains hex, which would actually give you a +1 to Economy (since it's your 20th hex of road and every 4 of them gives you +1 Economy).

You could also spend the last 1 BP on a Tenement, which functions as a house for building requirements, but gives you Unrest +2 (basically, you're going the slumlord route). That +2 would be negated by the Garrison's bonus, however, so it wouldn't hurt you.

Let me know what you think.

Admin wrote:

Unfortunately, I have them in two separate PDFs (since the Varnhold area map is in a different module), and have neither the tools nor the skill to be able to extract them. The only reason I could post the map of your original territory I've done thus far is because I found it online and could mess with it using MSPaint

You should be able to "print" the map pages as a PDF. Just select the Print option from the file menu, select the pages you want, and print it as a pdf. That's how I created selections of various books I've sent you.

That's not a native option in XP, but it may be in Vista or 7. If it's not, you can download a virtual pdf "printer" that comes up as an attached printer when you try to print something. The one I use on my virtual XP box is called Cute PDF Printer, IIRC.

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So, what would you like to do for claiming hexes this month? If you want to reduce Consumption to 0, the only way to do so this month is to claim the one remaining plains hex in the Varnhold area, and then convert it and an already claimed hill hex to farmland. That would cost 7 BP in total and drop your Consumption to 0.

Sound good?

That's what I was thinking. Are we out of claimed, unused hill hexes then?

BTW, did you roll a random event for the month we just completed?

I just put a pdf containing the maps for Khatovar and Varnhold in the dropbox.

Would the road in the new plains hex lead anywhere, or just be a road to nowhere? Are there any important locations in Khatovar that don't have roads leading to them?

Rowan wrote:

You should be able to "print" the map pages as a PDF. Just select the Print option from the file menu, select the pages you want, and print it as a pdf. That's how I created selections of various books I've sent you.

That's not a native option in XP, but it may be in Vista or 7. If it's not, you can download a virtual pdf "printer" that comes up as an attached printer when you try to print something. The one I use on my virtual XP box is called Cute PDF Printer, IIRC.

I just tried printing them as a PDF, but it doesn't seem to be working. Maybe you can show me at the game.

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That's what I was thinking. Are we out of claimed, unused hill hexes then?

You have 1 claimed unused hill hex in the Varnhold area, but that's it.

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BTW, did you roll a random event for the month we just completed?

Yes, I did. You'll see at the game

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I just put a pdf containing the maps for Khatovar and Varnhold in the dropbox.

Cool. Did you find them online?

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Would the road in the new plains hex lead anywhere, or just be a road to nowhere? Are there any important locations in Khatovar that don't have roads leading to them?

That doesn't lead anywhere special. And currently your Temple settlement and Tatzlford don't have roads leading to them. If you wanted, you could spend the 2 BP left after the Garrison on a road into the hex adjacent to the Temple settlement (which would then give you the +1 to Economy and mean 1 more hex of road next month would join the Temple settlement to Lakeshore and Olegton).

Rowan wrote:

Admin wrote:

Unfortunately, I have them in two separate PDFs (since the Varnhold area map is in a different module), and have neither the tools nor the skill to be able to extract them. The only reason I could post the map of your original territory I've done thus far is because I found it online and could mess with it using MSPaint

You should be able to "print" the map pages as a PDF. Just select the Print option from the file menu, select the pages you want, and print it as a pdf. That's how I created selections of various books I've sent you.

PDF printing is not native. For the most part it's an additional cost. If shil wants I am sure we can get him adobe pdf pro

Leonis wrote:

PDF printing is not native.

It is on a Mac.