Giving my PCs a castle. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Giving my PCs a castle. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AstralFire
09-21-07, 10:17 PM Heya. My PCs recently were awarded a small, somewhat decrepit castle at the end of the last arc/beginning of the new one.

It's up in Frostfell, in a homebrew, small nation up there. To aid them in their current quest, several of the Dragonmarked Houses have pledged some small tokens of support free, and the rest they'll have to earn on their own. I plan to eventually allow them a free hand in managing the keep as 'stuff for the PCs to do in the days between sessions' and they seem pretty excited at the prospect, and I was hoping to:

1) Get some ideas as to good aspects I should allow them access to? I'm considering, at the very least, a skyport for House Lyrandar Galleons and rules on taxes for the town/etc, as well as methods of encouraging crafters of all kinds (so the PCs can start getting access to customized items in a sensible manner without having a craft monkey.)

2) Rules or guidelines on letting them do this sort of thing, or a book which would help me with that?

They're currently level 5, but the Duchess which ennobled them made it quite clear that funds for the keep must remain separate from personal funds, or things will become quite unhappy for them. They have a responsibility to maintain the land and make it flourish as best they can. As a result, since it's as much as duty as it is a privilege, I'm not letting it strongly impact my consideration of their personal wealth... even though good administrative strategies will result in a wider amount of options at cheaper prices.

And when and if the castle ever comes under siege, y'know. They'll want it to be strong. :D Which is quite possible... the land's gone into disrepair for some time, so raids are not uncommon. Also unhappy nobles don't like the ragtag band being promoted and the new duchess, so there may be Civil War.

EDIT: At recommendation, I've bought a copy of Stronghold Builder's Guide. Haven't been frivolous in a month or so, I'm allowed. :p That'll be useful for actual building, but ideas for what to build that are in-theme with Eberron, as well as how to structure negotiations and taxes for additional services, would be cool.
wizardguy2003
09-22-07, 12:32 AM Perhaps Cityscape might help some with the town ideas and such.
AstralFire
09-22-07, 12:43 AM Cityscape? *tilts head to side*
Lazaro
09-22-07, 05:01 AM While I don't own it, I agree with Wizardguy. Cityscape (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/953867200) should be useful.
AstralFire
09-22-07, 11:30 AM Couldn't find any PDF stores with it. Headed down to the bookstore this morning and flipped through... eh. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for in that department; guess I'll try and cobble something together from Stronghold Builder's guide and some rough common sense stuff.
korcheck
09-22-07, 12:17 PM Might I suggest encouraging one of the party members to pick up the feat leadership. In one of the campaigns I ran a member picked up leadership, bought a castle very cheap (it was haunted, deserted, and run down and also named Glyphstone keep you might remember that one from the map of breland) and made his first cohort his steward and a second cohort as his sargeant-at-arms. His followers became his merc bands that hired out to bring extra money in other than that brought in by himself and the rest of the group. Basically the town began to grow up around it as he brought in more families to work the modest sized area and trade began to increase. He used his money with the aid of his steward a 9th lvl expert ( this was mainly because I as a dm wanted to allow him to take and use the leadership feat without addind so many people to the retinue that I couldn't keep track of everything) to bring in better people in the form of tradesmen and provide a better lifestyle to his people. By the time I had left off in that adventure there were close to 800 people living in the area and he had several different merc bands of various sizes and specialties to allow for diversity for any given mission taken on. I only ever used the DMG to figure this stuff out and let the players come up with ideas on how to strengthen their holdings which I didn't always let work out.
OctaviusIII
09-22-07, 03:32 PM Another good one: Power of Faerun. I know, I know, it's Faerun, but what it does do is provide a sourcebook on rules and fluff about how to rule a town or a kingdom.

That said: if the town is your domain, the taxes should be 10% of the fruit of the land. If it's not, they should be only 5-7%. Taxes should be done as you attract townspeople.

As for structures, give them the option of building an Airship tower, and definitely invite some magewrights to spruce up the town: everburning lanterns, some stones that are always warm (for the winter), and so on.
AstralFire
09-22-07, 06:24 PM One of my friends has Power of Faerun, being a total FR fangirl; I'll take a look. I wasn't really impressed by Cityscape, it doesn't seem too relevant.

The heated stones idea is *wonderful*, that's the sort of small clever ingenuity I was hoping to find. :D
Label
09-24-07, 03:27 AM http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=926310

(In short : get the Stronghold Builders Guidebook. It's 3.0 but still usefull)
LoneStranger
09-24-07, 07:55 PM Yeah the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook is a good choice for the castle itself, Cityscape would be better if a town started to spring up around the place.

One thing I have to ask, how much of a shift has there been from hack and slash to wheel and deal (read: combat to intrigue)?
AstralFire
09-27-07, 04:33 PM Yeah the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook is a good choice for the castle itself, Cityscape would be better if a town started to spring up around the place.

One thing I have to ask, how much of a shift has there been from hack and slash to wheel and deal (read: combat to intrigue)?

The game is primarily RP, but about 60 to 40. I try to maintain a strong balance of both.
LoneStranger
09-28-07, 01:58 AM Sounds good, nice to keep a balance going.
fletch137
09-28-07, 02:01 PM For about $4 you can get .pdf versions of Birthright (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/birthright/v5748btpy7mh5) and its expansions. It's 2nd edition stuff, but it's based entirely on the idea of PCs as rulers and should have some ideas on the challenges they could face and the intricacies of managing their domain.

I'm not 100% savvy on Birthright myself, but one of the regions is a viking/Russian-like cold northern wilderness setting. If you get that expansion book (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/birthright/v5748btpy7mht), it should speak a little closer to your setting.
Paulon
09-28-07, 02:04 PM 'The Rjurik Highlands' is the Birthright sourcebook dealing with the northern countries and wilderness.
fletch137
09-28-07, 04:04 PM 'The Rjurik Highlands' is the Birthright sourcebook dealing with the northern countries and wilderness.

Which, coincidentally, was what was on the other end of my link :P However, since I don't own that one, I can't speak on what information he'd actually find in it and be able to make use of. Still, Birthright was designed for this kind of thing, so I'm going to gamble that it's full of stuff for him to use.

It also occurs to me that maybe the ol' 2nd edition Castle Guide (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/rulebooks/otherBooks/v5748btpy7mrp&source=search) might be be useful since I vaguely recall it having a sections not only on building castles and some example floorplans but also some information on seasonal taxes and the like. Memory's pretty vague on this one, though.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AstralFire 09-21-07, 10:17 PM	Heya. My PCs recently were awarded a small, somewhat decrepit castle at the end of the last arc/beginning of the new one. It's up in Frostfell, in a homebrew, small nation up there. To aid them in their current quest, several of the Dragonmarked Houses have pledged some small tokens of support free, and the rest they'll have to earn on their own. I plan to eventually allow them a free hand in managing the keep as 'stuff for the PCs to do in the days between sessions' and they seem pretty excited at the prospect, and I was hoping to: 1) Get some ideas as to good aspects I should allow them access to? I'm considering, at the very least, a skyport for House Lyrandar Galleons and rules on taxes for the town/etc, as well as methods of encouraging crafters of all kinds (so the PCs can start getting access to customized items in a sensible manner without having a craft monkey.) 2) Rules or guidelines on letting them do this sort of thing, or a book which would help me with that? They're currently level 5, but the Duchess which ennobled them made it quite clear that funds for the keep must remain separate from personal funds, or things will become quite unhappy for them. They have a responsibility to maintain the land and make it flourish as best they can. As a result, since it's as much as duty as it is a privilege, I'm not letting it strongly impact my consideration of their personal wealth... even though good administrative strategies will result in a wider amount of options at cheaper prices. And when and if the castle ever comes under siege, y'know. They'll want it to be strong. :D Which is quite possible... the land's gone into disrepair for some time, so raids are not uncommon. Also unhappy nobles don't like the ragtag band being promoted and the new duchess, so there may be Civil War. EDIT: At recommendation, I've bought a copy of Stronghold Builder's Guide. Haven't been frivolous in a month or so, I'm allowed. :p That'll be useful for actual building, but ideas for what to build that are in-theme with Eberron, as well as how to structure negotiations and taxes for additional services, would be cool.
wizardguy2003 09-22-07, 12:32 AM	Perhaps Cityscape might help some with the town ideas and such.
AstralFire 09-22-07, 12:43 AM	Cityscape? tilts head to side
Lazaro 09-22-07, 05:01 AM	While I don't own it, I agree with Wizardguy. Cityscape (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/953867200) should be useful.
AstralFire 09-22-07, 11:30 AM	Couldn't find any PDF stores with it. Headed down to the bookstore this morning and flipped through... eh. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for in that department; guess I'll try and cobble something together from Stronghold Builder's guide and some rough common sense stuff.
korcheck 09-22-07, 12:17 PM	Might I suggest encouraging one of the party members to pick up the feat leadership. In one of the campaigns I ran a member picked up leadership, bought a castle very cheap (it was haunted, deserted, and run down and also named Glyphstone keep you might remember that one from the map of breland) and made his first cohort his steward and a second cohort as his sargeant-at-arms. His followers became his merc bands that hired out to bring extra money in other than that brought in by himself and the rest of the group. Basically the town began to grow up around it as he brought in more families to work the modest sized area and trade began to increase. He used his money with the aid of his steward a 9th lvl expert ( this was mainly because I as a dm wanted to allow him to take and use the leadership feat without addind so many people to the retinue that I couldn't keep track of everything) to bring in better people in the form of tradesmen and provide a better lifestyle to his people. By the time I had left off in that adventure there were close to 800 people living in the area and he had several different merc bands of various sizes and specialties to allow for diversity for any given mission taken on. I only ever used the DMG to figure this stuff out and let the players come up with ideas on how to strengthen their holdings which I didn't always let work out.
OctaviusIII 09-22-07, 03:32 PM	Another good one: Power of Faerun. I know, I know, it's Faerun, but what it does do is provide a sourcebook on rules and fluff about how to rule a town or a kingdom. That said: if the town is your domain, the taxes should be 10% of the fruit of the land. If it's not, they should be only 5-7%. Taxes should be done as you attract townspeople. As for structures, give them the option of building an Airship tower, and definitely invite some magewrights to spruce up the town: everburning lanterns, some stones that are always warm (for the winter), and so on.
AstralFire 09-22-07, 06:24 PM	One of my friends has Power of Faerun, being a total FR fangirl; I'll take a look. I wasn't really impressed by Cityscape, it doesn't seem too relevant. The heated stones idea is wonderful, that's the sort of small clever ingenuity I was hoping to find. :D
Label 09-24-07, 03:27 AM	http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=926310 (In short : get the Stronghold Builders Guidebook. It's 3.0 but still usefull)
LoneStranger 09-24-07, 07:55 PM	Yeah the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook is a good choice for the castle itself, Cityscape would be better if a town started to spring up around the place. One thing I have to ask, how much of a shift has there been from hack and slash to wheel and deal (read: combat to intrigue)?
AstralFire 09-27-07, 04:33 PM	Yeah the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook is a good choice for the castle itself, Cityscape would be better if a town started to spring up around the place. One thing I have to ask, how much of a shift has there been from hack and slash to wheel and deal (read: combat to intrigue)? The game is primarily RP, but about 60 to 40. I try to maintain a strong balance of both.
LoneStranger 09-28-07, 01:58 AM	Sounds good, nice to keep a balance going.
fletch137 09-28-07, 02:01 PM	For about $4 you can get .pdf versions of Birthright (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/birthright/v5748btpy7mh5) and its expansions. It's 2nd edition stuff, but it's based entirely on the idea of PCs as rulers and should have some ideas on the challenges they could face and the intricacies of managing their domain. I'm not 100% savvy on Birthright myself, but one of the regions is a viking/Russian-like cold northern wilderness setting. If you get that expansion book (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/birthright/v5748btpy7mht), it should speak a little closer to your setting.
Paulon 09-28-07, 02:04 PM	'The Rjurik Highlands' is the Birthright sourcebook dealing with the northern countries and wilderness.
fletch137 09-28-07, 04:04 PM	'The Rjurik Highlands' is the Birthright sourcebook dealing with the northern countries and wilderness. Which, coincidentally, was what was on the other end of my link :P However, since I don't own that one, I can't speak on what information he'd actually find in it and be able to make use of. Still, Birthright was designed for this kind of thing, so I'm going to gamble that it's full of stuff for him to use. It also occurs to me that maybe the ol' 2nd edition Castle Guide (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/rulebooks/otherBooks/v5748btpy7mrp&source=search) might be be useful since I vaguely recall it having a sections not only on building castles and some example floorplans but also some information on seasonal taxes and the like. Memory's pretty vague on this one, though.