Kingdom issues (after dealing with boggards)

Here's the thread for dealing with the kingdom management stuff for the month (Dravago) after you return from "allying" with the boggards and dealing with the naga.

And here are the current kingdom stats at the beginning of the month:

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Current scores: Economy +66, Loyalty +61, Stability +70 (69), Unrest 0, Kingdom size = 44; Command DC 67; Consumption = 0; Treasury = 50 BP

Lakeshore statistics: Base Value = 1200 gp; Defense Modifier +10; Districts = 1; contains Barracks, Brothel, Caster's Tower, Castle, Dump, Exotic Craftsman (x2), Garrison, Granary, Inn, Jail, Noble Villa, Park, Phiarlan Enclave, Smith, Town Hall and Houses (x4); 5 minor items, 2 medium items

Castle in forest: Base Value = 200 gp; Defense Modifier +8; Districts = 1; contains Caster's Tower, Castle; 3 minor items, 2 medium items

Hunter's Horn statistics: Base Value = 200 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Temple and Graveyard; 2 minor items

Olegton statistics: Base Value = 700 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Stable, Shrine, and House (x2); 1 minor item

Tatzlford statistics: Base Value = 700 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Brewery, House (x3), Shrine, Smith, Tavern; 1 minor item

Varnhold city statistics: Base Value = 2200 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Brewery, Brothel, Caster's Tower, Exotic Craftsman, Garrison, Granary, Graveyard, Inn, Jail, Smith, Tannery, Temple, Tradesmen (x3), and Houses (x8); 6 minor items, 2 medium items

Avi already rolled the Stability check for the start of the month and succeeded, so you gain 1 BP, putting your treasury at 51 BP.

You have no Consumption to pay and there's no Unrest to worry about.

Thanks to the two Headbands of Wisdom +2 which you give the councilors (Jhod and Oleg would get best benefit from it), your Economy and Stability get a boost of +1 each, putting them at Economy +67 and Stability +71 (70).

I presume you're not going to make any changes to the leadership currently, since Kelis has only been around for a couple of weeks by this point and doesn't come across as wanting much responsibility as a leader, but a supporting role to one of the councilors might be an option for the future. For the record, here are your current councilors by role (I included the PCs for their roles as well):

Ruler: Rowan
Councilor: Svetlana
General: Retief
Grand Diplomat: Youma
High Priest: Jhod
Magister: Elga
Marshal: Kara
Royal Assassin: Grabthar
Spymaster: Leonis
Treasurer: Oleg
Warden: Akiros

Now here comes the next decision - do you want to claim any new hexes? I was re-checking the kingdom-ruling and army-creation/usage rules, and saw that they've actually got a pretty (in my opinion, overly) strict cap on how large your army can be based on how many hexes you own. I'm not going to apply quite as strict a limit, but having more hexes will definitely help. And getting to 51 hexes will also help you build more stuff in a month. This month you can get up to 3 new hexes.

Let's take 3 hexes.
What can we build this month?

Leonis wrote:

Let's take 3 hexes.
What can we build this month?

That depends on whether you want to build any farms or not. Since the 3 hexes (costing 3 BP) would increase monthly consumption by 3, I suggest building 1 farm (2 BP), which would reduce the consumption to 1.

If you do that, then you have 46 BP left for building things. Some of the options you have for a big building are:

1) Build the promised Theater in Lakeshore (24 BP; halves cost of Brothel, Park, and Tavern in same city; Economy +2, Stability +2). If you didn't do this, you need to spend 1 BP on paying House Phiarlan.

2) Build another Caster's Tower in Hunter's Horn, Olegton or Tatzlford (30 BP; 2 medium items, 3 minor items, +1 Economy, +1 Stability). That would mean each month, from your six cities and towns, you could potentially sell 4 medium items and 2 minor items, gaining 36 BP (instead of the current 30 BP).

3) Build an Arena (40 BP; halves cost of Garrison or Theater in same city; halves Consumption increase penalty for festival edicts; Stability +4; limit one per city). That would let you build the Theater the next month for half price and also let you do festival edicts (which raise Loyalty) more cheaply.

The best bet from a long-term perspective is probably to do the Caster's Tower. If you just do that and nothing else, next month you should actually be able to build two more Caster's Towers, which would then give you one in each of your six cities and towns, cranking out 48 BP a month on top of what your non-magical economy creates. Of course, that means holding off on building the promised Theater for House Phiarlan, but as long as you keep paying them the 1 BP a month, it's fine.

Sounds good. Take 2 hexes, build 1 farm. Then build a casters tower.

I would like to, at some point, build the arena so we can then do the theater at half price. Doing two casters tower next month would be great - that's a ton of BP.

Leonis wrote:

Sounds good. Take 2 hexes, build 1 farm. Then build a casters tower.

I put it down as 3 hexes, as you had mentioned earlier, plus converting an earlier plains hex to farmland. I picked ones which will provide a boost to some stats, thanks to features present in them (like the one with the statue of Balinor you encountered near the hot springs a year and a half ago in-game).

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I would like to, at some point, build the arena so we can then do the theater at half price. Doing two casters tower next month would be great - that's a ton of BP.

Assuming nothing goes wrong, you should probably be able to have a progression like this:

This month - Caster's tower
Next month - 2 caster's towers
Month after that - Arena + theater
Month after that - Market
Month after that - Black market (which produces major magic items, worth 15 BP each month)

Okay, time for the rolling. Give me seven d20 rolls (four to sell medium items, two to sell minor items, and one for regular economy). Your bonus is high enough that you only fail on a 1.

NO WAMMIES!!!!

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

#1 'd20' : 9

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#2 'd20' : 15

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#3 'd20' : 16

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#4 'd20' : 3

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#5 'd20' : 1

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#6 'd20' : 9

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#7 'd20' : 6

Leonis wrote:

NO WAMMIES!!!!

Are you kidding me, a freaking 1.


At least it fell into the minor item category.

Leonis wrote:

Leonis wrote:

NO WAMMIES!!!!

Are you kidding me, a freaking 1.

Heh! You do realize you have a 1 in 20 shot at a 1 every time you roll, right? So with 7 rolls to make, you have about a 25% chance of it coming up at least once (Mike has a 50% chance, but that's another matter).

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At least it fell into the minor item category.

That was lucky. So you only ended up with 2 BP less than you could have got.

Anyway, here's your month...

After their return from Hooktongue Slough after the interactions with the boggards and the naga, the rulers return to their duties. Having recovered two magical headbands which boost the user's wisdom, they gift them to Oleg and Jhod, who both find them very helpful in their work.

With the conquest of Drelev by Pitax leading to no real problems for Khatovar, the nation's development continues apace. More settlers are slowly spreading out across the kingdom. Some who had considered traveling to Tatzlford stop instead at the large statue of Balinor in the forest to the northeast, building small farms and logging camps in the area, while pilgrims from the temple town of Hunter's Horn to the east are also drawn to the area. Larger farms emerge on the fertile plains area to the northwest, providing food for the increasing population.

To the south, in Varnhold, others settle on the shores of Lake Silverstep, near the spot where the rulers had slain the raiding spriggans. Fish from the lake begin to find their way into the markets of Varnhold City. While nobody wishes to seek to build homes in the valley of the dead with the cyclops tombs, some do settle in the valleys to the northwest, such as in the one where the rulers encountered the friendly phase spider, where the oddly glowing monolith becomes a recognized landmark.

Construction also continues in the various cities, though the primary focus is on building up the magic item economy in each of them. A central tower for such activities is completed in Olegton, with others in Hunter's Horn and Tatzlford underway. The theater in Lakeshore has also been begun, but with primary interest elsewhere it will be a few months before it is completed.

The economy of Khatovar continues to flourish and, with Aundair having closed its border to Pitax (and what was once Drelev), more trade flows into Khatovar from the east, significantly increasing the nation's options for growth.

* * * * *
Mechanically, that translates to:

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Upkeep Phase:
Determine Kingdom Stability: Success (73 vs. DC 67), so BP +1 because Unrest = 0

Pay Consumption: None

Unrest: None

Improvement Phase:
Select Leadership: No changes, but PCs give Headbands of Wisdom +2 to Oleg and Jhod, gaining +1 to Stability and Economy.

Claim Hexes: Claim 3 hexes – hexes with Statue of Balinor, Lake Silverstep and Ghost Stone (Loyalty +2; Economy +1; -3 BP; +3 Consumption).

Establish and Improve Cities: Build Caster's Tower in Olegton (-30 BP; 2 medium items, 3 minor items, +1 Economy, +1 Stability). Pay House Phiarlan 1 BP.

Build Roads: None

Establish Farmlands: Convert hex to NW of Barbarian Cairn to farmland (-2 BP; -2 Consumption)

Edicts: Promotion = None (-1 Stability); Taxation = None (+1 Loyalty); Festivals per Year = 0 (-1 Loyalty)

Income Phase:
Sell Valuable Items: Sold 4 medium & 1 minor items (rolled natural 1 for 1 minor) for 34 BP

Generate Income: Made Economy check (75 vs. DC 70) and gained 15 BP

Event Phase:
Economic Boom, gaining 3 BP

Which, at the end of the month, gives you the current stats for your kingdom:

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Current scores: Economy +69, Loyalty +63, Stability +72 (71), Unrest 0, Kingdom size = 47; Command DC 70; Consumption = 1; Treasury = 67 BP

Admin wrote:

Assuming nothing goes wrong, you should probably be able to have a progression like this:

This month - Caster's tower
Next month - 2 caster's towers
Month after that - Arena + theater
Month after that - Market
Month after that - Black market (which produces major magic items, worth 15 BP each month)

How close are we to filling up the first district in Lakeshore? Markets also produce major magic items IIRC, so it might be worth building one sooner.

We need to become more proactive with recruiting the neighboring creatures, and/or sabotaging the relationships between Irovetti and his allies. A few well-placed Charm Monsters and Dominate Persons is all it would take to turn his giant allies into a huge nuisance, for example.

Rowan wrote:

How close are we to filling up the first district in Lakeshore?

10 more building squares to fill in, though that doesn't mean you need 10 buildings since some of the larger ones fill in two (a theater, for example), while a few actually fill in four (an arena, for example).

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Markets also produce major magic items IIRC, so it might be worth building one sooner.

Markets only produce minor magic items. Their biggest benefit is increasing the city's base price by 2000 gp and halving the black market cost. The only building types which create major items are black markets, magic shops and waterfronts.

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We need to become more proactive with recruiting the neighboring creatures, and/or sabotaging the relationships between Irovetti and his allies. A few well-placed Charm Monsters and Dominate Persons is all it would take to turn his giant allies into a huge nuisance, for example.

Good idea. You can certainly try to do something of the kind whenever you want. You also have the Tiger Lord barbarians (both Irovetti's allies and enemies) to manipulate, if you can. I'm expecting next session to be a little more roleplaying-heavy and freeform (as opposed to the sessions with the boggards and naga), so you can take things in whatever direction you please.

Admin wrote:

10 more building squares to fill in, though that doesn't mean you need 10 buildings since some of the larger ones fill in two (a theater, for example), while a few actually fill in four (an arena, for example).

Do city walls take up any space? We should consider starting to build walls around Lakeshore. They're cheap (half price, IIRC). Since we can only build a limited number of new structures a month, we may not be able to suddenly fortify the city when open war eventually breaks out.

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Markets only produce minor magic items. Their biggest benefit is increasing the city's base price by 2000 gp and halving the black market cost. The only building types which create major items are black markets, magic shops and waterfronts.

Ah, my bad. Do any other buildings reduce the cost of magic shops or waterfronts?

BTW, I'd like to take a look at the "map" of Lakeshore, and plan where we build things, rather than just cramming everything in every which way.

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Good idea. You can certainly try to do something of the kind whenever you want. You also have the Tiger Lord barbarians (both Irovetti's allies and enemies) to manipulate, if you can. I'm expecting next session to be a little more roleplaying-heavy and freeform (as opposed to the sessions with the boggards and naga), so you can take things in whatever direction you please.

We also have the new intel fro last session about what groups already oppose Irovetti and the tiger lords. We could help them with weapons, logistics, and intel, and maybe coordinate their actions.

(As we discussed briefly over email), Rowan is going to start using her fey disguise self ability, diplomatic skills, and charm/domination magic to create various personae in the region. This not only gives us plausible deniability, but enables us to manipulate other groups in the region. For example, if Rowan disguises herself as one of the "Witches of the Wood" and exhorts the Tiger Lords against allying with Irovett's decadent and weak city-folk, it might undermine their support for him, or create splinter groups. And since his Giants already have a strong desire to pillage, it might only take a nudge or two to unleash them on Irovetti's lands.

Rowan wrote:

Do city walls take up any space? We should consider starting to build walls around Lakeshore. They're cheap (half price, IIRC). Since we can only build a limited number of new structures a month, we may not be able to suddenly fortify the city when open war eventually breaks out.

No, they don't take up any space, but just go around the borders of a district. According to the kingdom creation rules, you need to build a separate wall for each of the four sides of a district, but that seems way too exorbitant to me (8 BP per wall, so 32 BP for four), so I've house-ruled it that one payment of 8 BP creates a wall that covers an entire district. You do get it at half price, thanks to your Garrison, so it would cost you only 4 BP.

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Ah, my bad. Do any other buildings reduce the cost of magic shops or waterfronts?

The Academy halves the cost of magic shops (and of caster's towers and libraries too), but costs 52 BP. Its cost can be dropped to 26 by building a Cathedral first (58 BP - 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).

Nothing lowers the cost of a Waterfront, which is the costliest structure of all (90 BP - City base value +4,000 gp; 3 minor items, 2 medium items, 1 major item; halves cost of Guildhall and Market in same city, halves Loyalty penalty for tax edicts; Economy +4; limit one per city.)

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BTW, I'd like to take a look at the "map" of Lakeshore, and plan where we build things, rather than just cramming everything in every which way.

I'll try to pop the district grid and current buildings into a Word document and send it to you all.

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(As we discussed briefly over email), Rowan is going to start using her fey disguise self ability, diplomatic skills, and charm/domination magic to create various personae in the region. This not only gives us plausible deniability, but enables us to manipulate other groups in the region. For example, if Rowan disguises herself as one of the "Witches of the Wood" and exhorts the Tiger Lords against allying with Irovett's decadent and weak city-folk, it might undermine their support for him, or create splinter groups. And since his Giants already have a strong desire to pillage, it might only take a nudge or two to unleash them on Irovetti's lands.

Sounds good. This we should definitely spend some time playing out in person.

Admin wrote:

No, they don't take up any space, but just go around the borders of a district. According to the kingdom creation rules, you need to build a separate wall for each of the four sides of a district, but that seems way too exorbitant to me (8 BP per wall, so 32 BP for four), so I've house-ruled it that one payment of 8 BP creates a wall that covers an entire district. You do get it at half price, thanks to your Garrison, so it would cost you only 4 BP.

The price of city walls did seem rather high to me. We should definitely build walls in Lakeshore. Where else do we have Garrisons, other than Varnhold?

Rowan wrote:

The price of city walls did seem rather high to me. We should definitely build walls in Lakeshore.

Did you want to do so this month itself (as in the one Avi did the choices and rolling for on this thread)? If so, you can easily afford it. Then you wouldn't be able to afford two Caster's Towers the next month, but at least your primary city would be much better protected. In fact, if you were going that route, you could do walls at a second place too.

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Where else do we have Garrisons, other than Varnhold?

Only Lakeshore and Varnhold.

Another question (beside the previous one about putting up walls this month itself) - now that you have the info about raising armies, do you want to raise a small force or two and keep them in reserve? That wouldn't cost too much (you could raise a CR1 army for 2 BP and hold them in reserve for 1 BP a month) and would mean you have forces at hand if needed for anything. You're reasonably certain that Irovetti won't attack immediately, but you might be wrong, and having the forces at hand might be helpful if some other trouble occurs where you need a force instantly (rather than trying to raise them subsequently).

I figured I'd just continue using this thread to deal with the kingdom management during the month that the PCs visit Drelev. Here are the kingdom stats at the beginning of the month:

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Current scores: Economy +69, Loyalty +63, Stability +72 (71), Unrest 0, Kingdom size = 47; Command DC 70; Consumption = 1; Treasury = 67 BP

Lakeshore statistics: Base Value = 1200 gp; Defense Modifier +10; Districts = 1; contains Barracks, Brothel, Caster's Tower, Castle, Dump, Exotic Craftsman (x2), Garrison, Granary, Inn, Jail, Noble Villa, Park, Phiarlan Enclave, Smith, Town Hall and Houses (x4); 5 minor items, 2 medium items

Castle in forest: Base Value = 200 gp; Defense Modifier +8; Districts = 1; contains Caster's Tower, Castle; 3 minor items, 2 medium items

Hunter's Horn statistics: Base Value = 200 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Temple and Graveyard; 2 minor items

Olegton statistics: Base Value = 700 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Caster's Tower, Stable, Shrine, and House (x2); 4 minor items, 2 medium items

Tatzlford statistics: Base Value = 700 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Brewery, House (x3), Shrine, Smith, Tavern; 1 minor item

Varnhold city statistics: Base Value = 2200 gp; Defense Modifier +0; Districts = 1; contains Brewery, Brothel, Caster's Tower, Exotic Craftsman, Garrison, Granary, Graveyard, Inn, Jail, Smith, Tannery, Temple, Tradesmen (x3), and Houses (x8); 6 minor items, 2 medium items

The following events early in the month also affect your statistics:

1 - PCs defeat and recruit group of former Drelev archers and 2 mages, led by Asaia Bell: BP +1, Loyalty +1

2 - PCs donate money to the families of guards & workers slain in the attack: BP -1, Loyalty +1

3 - Trade negotiations at Fort Drelev mean Khatovar will gain +6 BP each month during Income Phase

That leaves you with the following stats: Economy +69, Loyalty +65, Stability +72 (71), Unrest 0, Kingdom size = 47; Command DC 70; Consumption = 1; Treasury = 67 BP

Someone please roll me a Stability check to start things off.

No WAMMIES!!!

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

'd20' : 7

That works. So you gain 1 BP (because your kingdom has no Unrest), which pays the 1 Consumption that you have.

Since you have no Unrest to deal with and your current list of Leaders doesn't change, the next thing is to decide if you're claiming more hexes. You have 67 BP in hand, 60 of which I believe you were planning to spend on the two new Caster's Towers. Plus you need to pay House Phiarlan 1 BP as usual. That leaves you with 6 BP. You can gain up to 3 more hexes this turn, which would cost 3 BP.

I think John wanted to claim more hexes so we could have bigger armies.

So unless I am mistaken the course was to claim three hexes and then go for the two towers (pun intended)

Leonis wrote:

I think John wanted to claim more hexes so we could have bigger armies.

So unless I am mistaken the course was to claim three hexes and then go for the two towers (pun intended)

That's what I figured, but thought I should check. I presume you'll want hexes where you can build farms easily, so I'll make one hex you claim one of the two remaining plains hexes in your territory (which are on the Drelev border). I'll make the other two hexes ones in the forest north of your capital, since that'll let you include one which has valuable trees and boosts your Economy by +1.

Since that would leave you with 3 BP, you can spend 2 BP on a farm in the plains hex, which drops your Consumption from 4 to 2.

Let me know if that sounds good.

Make it so!

Maybe we can spend our remaining BP on a party in one of our towns that needs it? One of our newer settlements?

Leonis wrote:

Maybe we can spend our remaining BP on a party in one of our towns that needs it? One of our newer settlements?

You could spend 1 BP to increase your kingdom's Loyalty or Stability by 1, but that benefit would only be for a month. That's a more handy option when you're dealing with existing problems within the kingdom which will get worse if you don't make regular checks. You might as well save the 1 BP and use it next month.