I've scored a town and I'm not sure what to do [Archive] - Wizards Community

I've scored a town and I'm not sure what to do [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Slayer_5
10-17-04, 09:55 PM In the "whats a DM to do" theres a thread called "Ramifications of owning a town".

My Dm wants to know what to do.

I am the said player who owns the town. I want to know what i should do.

His thread is not a "how can i screw my PC", and mine is not a "how can I screw my DM"

So heres the basics.

I am a level 8 Deathtouched Sorceror. As backstory, I am a chosen of Wee Jas. Think something like MiB or Majestic 12, instead of working in the normal hierarchy and being a wizard or cleric, she infused me with the powers of Death (race) and Magic (class). I am a bit of a rogue agent, just investigating different things.

This town had an evil ruler, who I later found out was a polymorphed green dragon. We had previously fought a white dragon, and we know there is ablack up north. The Draconic presence is why I was told to take the town, but no-one knows my real reasons.

The town has a Majorly funded temple of hextor, a small temple of Boccob, and a one-room shrine to pelor. I am figuring that the destruction of the Hextor temple will take a while. I'm also not sure what to do with the temples of Pelor and Boccob. I'm thinking of ousting the one to boccob, and boosting the one to pelor.

The reason for ousting the temple of boccob, is because I kinda see boccob and wee jas as rivals...

My plans for the town are to fortify it, with big walls, anti-magic fields, ballistas, etc etc. My other big plan is to make this town an Adventure'rs hotspot.

the town has a population of 1750, and is quite poor. If I don't let anybody new come live here, except for a select few I choose, but let adventurers with deep pockets come and go, there will be big wealth,a nd few to share it with, so the commoners will be happy. They can sell loaves of bread for 3Gp, and be fine. "Adventurer price" and "commoner price" will be different, but adventurers wont find out about it.

I have also got both dragon carcasses turned to stone, fixed up a bit, and then painted by the finest artisans, so they look real, in cool death/fighting poses.

i just want to make this town Rock, make everyone happy, and have a large spending limit, despite small population.

As an ulterior motive, I have realized that by level 15, there are no towns big enough for me to spend my mondo GP I will be having. But a town full of adventurers..... TRADE TIME.

As for people to make items, i plan to bring in Artificers... LOTS of them. We dont play eberron, but the DM has artificer as an NPC class. Artificers can make items, but dont pose a threat like actual wizards do.

I will also be making a colloseum, and giving bi-monthly cash drops of 5000 or so gold to the Orc town a few miles away, to keep them stocked with equip, to lure adventurers to the area. Legends of dragons will be spread by bards, and cemented by the statues in town.

I will be taking the Leadership feat next level, with my CHA 24, I will get a good number of followers. These people will be the ones to rule the city, so thats how I figure I will get people to run it. The main guy to run it while im gone though, is a 3rd level paladin, who was the head of the resistance group dedicated to getting rid of the old government.

Once things get rolling, i will charge a 5% tax on all sales, and a 200 GP fee to enter the town, as well as 50% of the money from the coloseum I will get.
ALOT of money will go back to the town, seeing as how im starting this with adventure money.

So, how am I doing, and can you give me any suggestions.

ALSO, I wont be looking at my DM's thread, and he wont look at mine. Could anyone that posts here not quite or make references from my DM's thread. Thank You.
NecromancerElf
10-17-04, 10:25 PM Here's what I would do
1) Establish a secret police to "cleanse" the town of your political enemies
2) Create alliances with other towns and make sure you're personal friends w/ their rulers (could always help you in a sticky spot
3) Hold the scroll of peace w/ your right hand lure in potential targets and stab em w/ the sword you hid behind your back w/ your left hand (if possible conquor other towns if the community can be united in war against a common enemy it makes your job alot easier and you get another city to rule, be careful though and make sure you do 2 before 3
4) Get the artificers into your city then lock em up in your city :schemes: :mage:
5) 200 GP to enter the city :OMG! you will want immigration! Create a city that ppl will want to live in and welcome them in cause they're tax payer
6) Build your walls and collisium (might want to build walls befor #3 :smirk: )
7) Be carful about giving tributes to Barbarines Rome did and look what happened to them :twitch: .
Oh yeah get a couple necromancers to animate dead as cheap labour
CzarGarrett
10-18-04, 09:13 AM 1. Hire a local person or two to search out the nearby area. Look for mineral deposits, raw materials in general. Once these raw materials are found, you will be able to do two things. 1- Take out loans from established intistutions to fund your projects and 2- Sell off mining rights to various merchants and all.

2. Establish a small corps of guards loyal to you. Not to any of the temples, not to the merchants, no one but you. Otherwise you have to depend entirely on 'foreign' forces.

3. You are a follower of Wee Jas. You seemingly like magic. Work with the Temple of Boccob. Allow them a small area of land to build a college of sorts. This can pull more people into the area. I know you were thinking about ousting them, but angry wizards aren't something you want to deal with. Stay on their good side and see if you can get them to be more on the outside of town if you'd rather not have them around too much.

4. Roads. Any male between 15-35 who isn't actually working or specifically apprenticed, have them build roads. This provides timber and keeps away idle minds.

5. Hextor. This is an issue. I would suggest aligning yourself with Pelor temple and any good merchants. Then you can put serious political pressure onto the temple. Limiting their supplies and access to their temple can force them into a position of either leaving or fighting. And if you play your cards right, you'll make it so that if they try to fight, you'll hold the upper hand.

6. Pelor. Once the Hextor temple is done, expand Pelor's temple massively. And supplement them. Whereas Cure Light Wounds might normally cost 10 gp, have an agreement with the clergy to pay half of it. Adventurers who know that your town is way cheap for healing will be more likely to show up.

7. Organize trademeets. Send out announcements that on X day of Y month, your town will be open for a trademeet. Have it so that 1000 gp worth of goods will be untaxed, but greater than 1000 gp of goods will be taxed at 5 gp/1000 gp brought in. Make sure to advertise that any wizards and/or artificers that you have around will have plenty of items.

8. Get something that other places don't have. Maybe you can convince some great and wonderful Dwarven smith to leave some other down and come to yours, in exchange for immunity from your laws and a 20 acre plot of land to call his own. This smith gives people a reason to come to your town, and gives a good reason for money to be spent.

9. Develop good relations with other towns. Maybe some town 25 miles away can be friendly to you. Their innkeepers and guards casually mention an inn or something else in your town when they pass through the other town. It gets traffic coming your way instead of other places. This also works with the mention before about roads.

10. Make sure to get a steward. If you want to go out adventuring anymore, make sure you have a steward who is both strong enough to rule in your absence AND loyal enough to not take over. I suggest that at first, leave someone from your own adventuring party in charge and take the person you'd want to be stewart out on a few adventures. Get him (or her) good enough at combat. Work with the temples to culture this steward. Have some of the merchants talk with them to learn economics more strongly. Not only does he learn skills, but he also begins to warm up to potential trouble-makers.

Those are just a few of my ideas. Use them as you like.
MadApplejack
10-18-04, 10:14 AM i just want to make this town Rock, make everyone happy, and have a large spending limit, despite small population.

I'm so voting for you Nov. 2
kliate
10-18-04, 10:52 AM Natural Resources - has the surrounding land been surveyed for anything of potential worth? Some things to look into producing:

1. Quarried stone: Not likely worth much on the open market, but it should make your fortifications a lot more affordable if you can produce it locally.
2. Forests: Forests provide food, wood and farmland - usually in that order. Woodland animals and fruit-bearing trees can be harvested to feed the village. If the forest doesn't produce well, turn the trees to wood and turn the rest to farmland.
3. Mines (of any sort): Mineral wealth is usually a good reason for a town of this size to be founded. If there are any mines, secure them and put them to work.
4. Farms: Either from the above forests, or whatever is already in play. If you can make your town self-sufficient, your plans for expansion will come much more easily.

Industry:
What are the villagers good at, in terms of craft or service? Build onto that industry. Commission the best people in that industry to set up shop in your town, and others will follow, export goods in exchange for townbuilding services. Negotiate treaties with local powers to ensure a flow of wealth in your general direction.

Game Mechanics:
If you haven't already, now is an excellent time to take the Leadership feat. A Cohort with martial ability and/or the necessary talent to govern your town efficiently could pay off - such a character could be trusted to handle matters while you're out questing for Wee Jas, and can provide plenty of advice to improve on your management of the town. Followers can be set up as a town militia to keep citizens on their best behavior, as well as to defend from any outside threats long enough for you or your cohort to show up and handle the situation. Deciding you need someone to handle the town can provoke an adventure with enough Exp to send you to level 9 and claim a cohort. A mid-level Cleric of Heironeous with plenty of contacts in the temples thereof could also help you deal with the Hextor "problem".
Board_Rider
10-18-04, 11:38 AM Make sure you get an army to protect all that stuff you see and want from the above posts.
Aramil_silverwind
10-18-04, 08:35 PM Ok, I have read your guys stuff on what to do.

There is a dwarven town nearby, so i KNOW theres gems. There is mountains to my south and west, forest and metropolis to my north, and ocean about 2 weeks away to the east.

I plan on taking out the Temple of Hextor the good old fasioned way. Destroying it.

i like the working with boccob to pump out magic items.

I plan on getting tons of Hookers from the metropolis to come here, and pay them 100 GP a month, to instead of work the street or brothel, to just hang around and be "easy" for adventurers. They can keep anything the adventurers may give them, but they are not to actually say they are prostitutes, unless explicitly asked. And they are not to ask for money.

I also plan on building a pass through the "dragon infested" mountains, and roads to the metropolis and dwarven towns. I plan on getting dwarven labour, I had never considered undead labour... isnt that icky?

There will be a gladitorial arena, of which I will have lots of cool matches.

and most importantly, i will NOT try to "expand" my empire, or conquour others. Cuz that how every empire falls

EDIT: This post was supposed to be made by Slayer_5, I must have accidentally left myself logged on his home computor. Sorry for the confusion, I'll tell Slayer to make sure he's on his accout before posting next time. Dumb Hippo.
ArchmageCZ
10-18-04, 09:05 PM Why not undead larborers?
I think the earlier idea is great. :teach:
Have a necromancer who is loyal to you travel the country.
He buys corpes from people in small towns.
Have him heal some people to be more accepted. Have him make skeletons, and dress them so you dont know if the thing in front of you is dead or alive. These can be cheap larborers or great guards. If somebody fires arrows at them, they'll probaly survive long enugh to raise the alarm
Murr-Quan Lord #2
10-18-04, 09:10 PM You realize, of course, that in hiring all those hookers you're going to make your town a very uncomfortable place for a number of people. These include Paladins, Lawful Good-aligned adventurers, self-respecting females, and the common townsfolk. Many of whom will not want to share their streets with prostitutes.

Pelor's teachings emphasize the importance of the family unit, and by inviting in prostitutes you'll be undermining their influence, as the family is based on stability and commitment. Both things which are undermined by making your town into a red-light district.

You'll find your town slipping over into the realm of Chaotic Neutral, as it draws unprincipled adventurers who hear that it's a great place for wild parties. The crime rate will increase, simply because you're attracting the kinds of people who commit crimes.

Innocent townsfolk will be harmed. The economy will collapse. Dwarven gemsmiths will laugh in your face, and rival towns will invade while your back is turned. The grass will wilt! The sky will turn yellow! The boundaries between planes will be breached, and Hextor himself will rule with an iron fist!

*ahem* So don't do it. ^.^
kliate
10-18-04, 09:20 PM And let's not forget that the clerics of Pelor might be required to protest - and in turn petition the hard-working clerics of Boccob to join them in their holy denial of service...

Another approach to consider would be selling the lordship of the town, with magic items being especially welcome bids. Who knows what artifact-toting aristocrats are out there, just waiting for the opportunity to make a name for themselves?
CzarGarrett
10-19-04, 08:37 AM Best case scenario would be that you secretly help a single inn to get and keep prostitutes. But openly supporting it will lose you support of quite a few people.

You said you don't want to become an empire-understandable. But towns grow anyway. If you have 1750 people now, in 2 years, with just natural growth and without drought/famine/plague/war, you'd probably have 1800 people. Adventurers do sometimes settle down in areas they adventured in. So add a bit of that, and add some more craftsmen, you're looking at an increase of 200-300 people in a year for the first year. Then something like 250-400 the following year. You have to account for growth, but can limit it as to not become some sort of empire. Although I think an Empire would be quite far off being you only have a single town.

The Dwarves-->You probably will have to negotiate with them about mining rights into area. The dwarves, being they've been there longer, will hold the upper hand. Make sure to scout out for other areas first, so you know if the 'crappy' areas actually have something more than just dirt.

Hextor-->I'd be cautious about this. Assaulting a rather powerful, militaristic temple could be stupid, or deadly. The political pressure way, at least for a while, can weaken them before an attack.

Murr-Quan has a point with his last point, mostly. While I doubt there will be conditions as horrible as that, being somewhat more lawful and slightly more benevolent will look good in the eyes of merchants, other rulers, etc.
psionichamster
10-19-04, 10:13 AM also keep in mind the two most important population limiting restrictions on RL towns...water and waste removal...

get that undead work force to build you them tunnels (here's where disintegrate, rock to mud, and similar spells REALLY shine, in civil engineering...)

pick up a decanter of endless water, (or two) and build a tall cistern...set it on fountain, and you now have free, fresh water to supply your townsfolk and the surrounding areas with irrigation

thieves shouldn't be a problem if you give them easy, rich targets...make the penalty for theft in town rather stringent, then "forget" to enforce it outside your walls...those adventurers with all their awesome phat lewt make for some prime pickings, and are more than capable of offing most of the offending offenders right away

prostitution is often a diminishing reward sort of thing...you are better off encouraging stable, family minded (read LG and NG, or LN or TN) citizens who are going to work hard to keep the status quo...

paying off the barbarian tribes has its problems, but if you DO get those adventurers, you can play that off 2 ways...

1: tip off the adv.'s as much as they'll bite (maybe even hire an old man in a robe to sit in the tavern and give them their "quest")...this gets rid of the outsiders for a while (or the adventurers) and will either cement your status as a profitable place to adventure from or a dangerous, POSSIBLY profitable place to adventure from...win/win situation for you, either way...

2: tip off the barbarians...give them tribute in some small way, but promise them you will send adventurers in on basically suicide missions...after a while of this, they will be fat and happy, you will have tons of adv's pouring through the town in hopes of recovering the vast treasures of X Y and Z, and you have the option of NOT doing this when a particularly tough or capable crew comes through, thereby eliminating that barb. threat, and bringing a BUNCH of money into the town (probably)

finally, i would recommend talking to the rest of the party you are running with currently...if you and they get along well, i don't see why this can't go from a wandering adventurer party to a town owning, respectable type party...provided everyone is ok with that...

hey, you could turn this backwater into a metropolis with a little civic planning and elbow grease...

the hamster

ps...walls of stone and iron spells make for pretty good resource builders...if you can get them, use them to make your walls, and stone shape works wonders when you stack them side by side and want crenellations/etc.

good luck,

h

pps...whats the name of your town?
Slayer_5
10-19-04, 11:38 PM Ok, so massive amounts of hookers are no.

There are lizardfolk to the north, by a lake. to the east, theres a LOT of un-claimed land.

Im thinking, an acre of land per 5 lizardfolk heads from the swamp. That will get adventurers, rich and poor to get rid of that for me.

Also, what do Dwarves eat? They live underground, so i dont see them having large farms. perhaps we can get a large farming thing going, to trade food.

Alas, the town will grow,but I do want it to be well defended. I will take into consideration all you guys have said, and will work hard to make this rule.

Thank you!
jasper
10-20-04, 08:52 AM It depends on your roleplaying style from hack slash to washington dc court politics. And how much the other players are willing to support your pc as a ruler.
The lizards to north are worth 3 to 6 adventures depending on if you want to wipe them out or become allies.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Slayer_5 10-17-04, 09:55 PM	In the "whats a DM to do" theres a thread called "Ramifications of owning a town". My Dm wants to know what to do. I am the said player who owns the town. I want to know what i should do. His thread is not a "how can i screw my PC", and mine is not a "how can I screw my DM" So heres the basics. I am a level 8 Deathtouched Sorceror. As backstory, I am a chosen of Wee Jas. Think something like MiB or Majestic 12, instead of working in the normal hierarchy and being a wizard or cleric, she infused me with the powers of Death (race) and Magic (class). I am a bit of a rogue agent, just investigating different things. This town had an evil ruler, who I later found out was a polymorphed green dragon. We had previously fought a white dragon, and we know there is ablack up north. The Draconic presence is why I was told to take the town, but no-one knows my real reasons. The town has a Majorly funded temple of hextor, a small temple of Boccob, and a one-room shrine to pelor. I am figuring that the destruction of the Hextor temple will take a while. I'm also not sure what to do with the temples of Pelor and Boccob. I'm thinking of ousting the one to boccob, and boosting the one to pelor. The reason for ousting the temple of boccob, is because I kinda see boccob and wee jas as rivals... My plans for the town are to fortify it, with big walls, anti-magic fields, ballistas, etc etc. My other big plan is to make this town an Adventure'rs hotspot. the town has a population of 1750, and is quite poor. If I don't let anybody new come live here, except for a select few I choose, but let adventurers with deep pockets come and go, there will be big wealth,a nd few to share it with, so the commoners will be happy. They can sell loaves of bread for 3Gp, and be fine. "Adventurer price" and "commoner price" will be different, but adventurers wont find out about it. I have also got both dragon carcasses turned to stone, fixed up a bit, and then painted by the finest artisans, so they look real, in cool death/fighting poses. i just want to make this town Rock, make everyone happy, and have a large spending limit, despite small population. As an ulterior motive, I have realized that by level 15, there are no towns big enough for me to spend my mondo GP I will be having. But a town full of adventurers..... TRADE TIME. As for people to make items, i plan to bring in Artificers... LOTS of them. We dont play eberron, but the DM has artificer as an NPC class. Artificers can make items, but dont pose a threat like actual wizards do. I will also be making a colloseum, and giving bi-monthly cash drops of 5000 or so gold to the Orc town a few miles away, to keep them stocked with equip, to lure adventurers to the area. Legends of dragons will be spread by bards, and cemented by the statues in town. I will be taking the Leadership feat next level, with my CHA 24, I will get a good number of followers. These people will be the ones to rule the city, so thats how I figure I will get people to run it. The main guy to run it while im gone though, is a 3rd level paladin, who was the head of the resistance group dedicated to getting rid of the old government. Once things get rolling, i will charge a 5% tax on all sales, and a 200 GP fee to enter the town, as well as 50% of the money from the coloseum I will get. ALOT of money will go back to the town, seeing as how im starting this with adventure money. So, how am I doing, and can you give me any suggestions. ALSO, I wont be looking at my DM's thread, and he wont look at mine. Could anyone that posts here not quite or make references from my DM's thread. Thank You.
NecromancerElf 10-17-04, 10:25 PM	Here's what I would do 1) Establish a secret police to "cleanse" the town of your political enemies 2) Create alliances with other towns and make sure you're personal friends w/ their rulers (could always help you in a sticky spot 3) Hold the scroll of peace w/ your right hand lure in potential targets and stab em w/ the sword you hid behind your back w/ your left hand (if possible conquor other towns if the community can be united in war against a common enemy it makes your job alot easier and you get another city to rule, be careful though and make sure you do 2 before 3 4) Get the artificers into your city then lock em up in your city :schemes: :mage: 5) 200 GP to enter the city :OMG! you will want immigration! Create a city that ppl will want to live in and welcome them in cause they're tax payer 6) Build your walls and collisium (might want to build walls befor #3 :smirk: ) 7) Be carful about giving tributes to Barbarines Rome did and look what happened to them :twitch: . Oh yeah get a couple necromancers to animate dead as cheap labour
CzarGarrett 10-18-04, 09:13 AM	1. Hire a local person or two to search out the nearby area. Look for mineral deposits, raw materials in general. Once these raw materials are found, you will be able to do two things. 1- Take out loans from established intistutions to fund your projects and 2- Sell off mining rights to various merchants and all. 2. Establish a small corps of guards loyal to you. Not to any of the temples, not to the merchants, no one but you. Otherwise you have to depend entirely on 'foreign' forces. 3. You are a follower of Wee Jas. You seemingly like magic. Work with the Temple of Boccob. Allow them a small area of land to build a college of sorts. This can pull more people into the area. I know you were thinking about ousting them, but angry wizards aren't something you want to deal with. Stay on their good side and see if you can get them to be more on the outside of town if you'd rather not have them around too much. 4. Roads. Any male between 15-35 who isn't actually working or specifically apprenticed, have them build roads. This provides timber and keeps away idle minds. 5. Hextor. This is an issue. I would suggest aligning yourself with Pelor temple and any good merchants. Then you can put serious political pressure onto the temple. Limiting their supplies and access to their temple can force them into a position of either leaving or fighting. And if you play your cards right, you'll make it so that if they try to fight, you'll hold the upper hand. 6. Pelor. Once the Hextor temple is done, expand Pelor's temple massively. And supplement them. Whereas Cure Light Wounds might normally cost 10 gp, have an agreement with the clergy to pay half of it. Adventurers who know that your town is way cheap for healing will be more likely to show up. 7. Organize trademeets. Send out announcements that on X day of Y month, your town will be open for a trademeet. Have it so that 1000 gp worth of goods will be untaxed, but greater than 1000 gp of goods will be taxed at 5 gp/1000 gp brought in. Make sure to advertise that any wizards and/or artificers that you have around will have plenty of items. 8. Get something that other places don't have. Maybe you can convince some great and wonderful Dwarven smith to leave some other down and come to yours, in exchange for immunity from your laws and a 20 acre plot of land to call his own. This smith gives people a reason to come to your town, and gives a good reason for money to be spent. 9. Develop good relations with other towns. Maybe some town 25 miles away can be friendly to you. Their innkeepers and guards casually mention an inn or something else in your town when they pass through the other town. It gets traffic coming your way instead of other places. This also works with the mention before about roads. 10. Make sure to get a steward. If you want to go out adventuring anymore, make sure you have a steward who is both strong enough to rule in your absence AND loyal enough to not take over. I suggest that at first, leave someone from your own adventuring party in charge and take the person you'd want to be stewart out on a few adventures. Get him (or her) good enough at combat. Work with the temples to culture this steward. Have some of the merchants talk with them to learn economics more strongly. Not only does he learn skills, but he also begins to warm up to potential trouble-makers. Those are just a few of my ideas. Use them as you like.
MadApplejack 10-18-04, 10:14 AM	i just want to make this town Rock, make everyone happy, and have a large spending limit, despite small population. I'm so voting for you Nov. 2
kliate 10-18-04, 10:52 AM	Natural Resources - has the surrounding land been surveyed for anything of potential worth? Some things to look into producing: 1. Quarried stone: Not likely worth much on the open market, but it should make your fortifications a lot more affordable if you can produce it locally. 2. Forests: Forests provide food, wood and farmland - usually in that order. Woodland animals and fruit-bearing trees can be harvested to feed the village. If the forest doesn't produce well, turn the trees to wood and turn the rest to farmland. 3. Mines (of any sort): Mineral wealth is usually a good reason for a town of this size to be founded. If there are any mines, secure them and put them to work. 4. Farms: Either from the above forests, or whatever is already in play. If you can make your town self-sufficient, your plans for expansion will come much more easily. Industry: What are the villagers good at, in terms of craft or service? Build onto that industry. Commission the best people in that industry to set up shop in your town, and others will follow, export goods in exchange for townbuilding services. Negotiate treaties with local powers to ensure a flow of wealth in your general direction. Game Mechanics: If you haven't already, now is an excellent time to take the Leadership feat. A Cohort with martial ability and/or the necessary talent to govern your town efficiently could pay off - such a character could be trusted to handle matters while you're out questing for Wee Jas, and can provide plenty of advice to improve on your management of the town. Followers can be set up as a town militia to keep citizens on their best behavior, as well as to defend from any outside threats long enough for you or your cohort to show up and handle the situation. Deciding you need someone to handle the town can provoke an adventure with enough Exp to send you to level 9 and claim a cohort. A mid-level Cleric of Heironeous with plenty of contacts in the temples thereof could also help you deal with the Hextor "problem".
Board_Rider 10-18-04, 11:38 AM	Make sure you get an army to protect all that stuff you see and want from the above posts.
Aramil_silverwind 10-18-04, 08:35 PM	Ok, I have read your guys stuff on what to do. There is a dwarven town nearby, so i KNOW theres gems. There is mountains to my south and west, forest and metropolis to my north, and ocean about 2 weeks away to the east. I plan on taking out the Temple of Hextor the good old fasioned way. Destroying it. i like the working with boccob to pump out magic items. I plan on getting tons of Hookers from the metropolis to come here, and pay them 100 GP a month, to instead of work the street or brothel, to just hang around and be "easy" for adventurers. They can keep anything the adventurers may give them, but they are not to actually say they are prostitutes, unless explicitly asked. And they are not to ask for money. I also plan on building a pass through the "dragon infested" mountains, and roads to the metropolis and dwarven towns. I plan on getting dwarven labour, I had never considered undead labour... isnt that icky? There will be a gladitorial arena, of which I will have lots of cool matches. and most importantly, i will NOT try to "expand" my empire, or conquour others. Cuz that how every empire falls EDIT: This post was supposed to be made by Slayer_5, I must have accidentally left myself logged on his home computor. Sorry for the confusion, I'll tell Slayer to make sure he's on his accout before posting next time. Dumb Hippo.
ArchmageCZ 10-18-04, 09:05 PM	Why not undead larborers? I think the earlier idea is great. :teach: Have a necromancer who is loyal to you travel the country. He buys corpes from people in small towns. Have him heal some people to be more accepted. Have him make skeletons, and dress them so you dont know if the thing in front of you is dead or alive. These can be cheap larborers or great guards. If somebody fires arrows at them, they'll probaly survive long enugh to raise the alarm
Murr-Quan Lord #2 10-18-04, 09:10 PM	You realize, of course, that in hiring all those hookers you're going to make your town a very uncomfortable place for a number of people. These include Paladins, Lawful Good-aligned adventurers, self-respecting females, and the common townsfolk. Many of whom will not want to share their streets with prostitutes. Pelor's teachings emphasize the importance of the family unit, and by inviting in prostitutes you'll be undermining their influence, as the family is based on stability and commitment. Both things which are undermined by making your town into a red-light district. You'll find your town slipping over into the realm of Chaotic Neutral, as it draws unprincipled adventurers who hear that it's a great place for wild parties. The crime rate will increase, simply because you're attracting the kinds of people who commit crimes. Innocent townsfolk will be harmed. The economy will collapse. Dwarven gemsmiths will laugh in your face, and rival towns will invade while your back is turned. The grass will wilt! The sky will turn yellow! The boundaries between planes will be breached, and Hextor himself will rule with an iron fist! ahem So don't do it. ^.^
kliate 10-18-04, 09:20 PM	And let's not forget that the clerics of Pelor might be required to protest - and in turn petition the hard-working clerics of Boccob to join them in their holy denial of service... Another approach to consider would be selling the lordship of the town, with magic items being especially welcome bids. Who knows what artifact-toting aristocrats are out there, just waiting for the opportunity to make a name for themselves?
CzarGarrett 10-19-04, 08:37 AM	Best case scenario would be that you secretly help a single inn to get and keep prostitutes. But openly supporting it will lose you support of quite a few people. You said you don't want to become an empire-understandable. But towns grow anyway. If you have 1750 people now, in 2 years, with just natural growth and without drought/famine/plague/war, you'd probably have 1800 people. Adventurers do sometimes settle down in areas they adventured in. So add a bit of that, and add some more craftsmen, you're looking at an increase of 200-300 people in a year for the first year. Then something like 250-400 the following year. You have to account for growth, but can limit it as to not become some sort of empire. Although I think an Empire would be quite far off being you only have a single town. The Dwarves-->You probably will have to negotiate with them about mining rights into area. The dwarves, being they've been there longer, will hold the upper hand. Make sure to scout out for other areas first, so you know if the 'crappy' areas actually have something more than just dirt. Hextor-->I'd be cautious about this. Assaulting a rather powerful, militaristic temple could be stupid, or deadly. The political pressure way, at least for a while, can weaken them before an attack. Murr-Quan has a point with his last point, mostly. While I doubt there will be conditions as horrible as that, being somewhat more lawful and slightly more benevolent will look good in the eyes of merchants, other rulers, etc.
psionichamster 10-19-04, 10:13 AM	also keep in mind the two most important population limiting restrictions on RL towns...water and waste removal... get that undead work force to build you them tunnels (here's where disintegrate, rock to mud, and similar spells REALLY shine, in civil engineering...) pick up a decanter of endless water, (or two) and build a tall cistern...set it on fountain, and you now have free, fresh water to supply your townsfolk and the surrounding areas with irrigation thieves shouldn't be a problem if you give them easy, rich targets...make the penalty for theft in town rather stringent, then "forget" to enforce it outside your walls...those adventurers with all their awesome phat lewt make for some prime pickings, and are more than capable of offing most of the offending offenders right away prostitution is often a diminishing reward sort of thing...you are better off encouraging stable, family minded (read LG and NG, or LN or TN) citizens who are going to work hard to keep the status quo... paying off the barbarian tribes has its problems, but if you DO get those adventurers, you can play that off 2 ways... 1: tip off the adv.'s as much as they'll bite (maybe even hire an old man in a robe to sit in the tavern and give them their "quest")...this gets rid of the outsiders for a while (or the adventurers) and will either cement your status as a profitable place to adventure from or a dangerous, POSSIBLY profitable place to adventure from...win/win situation for you, either way... 2: tip off the barbarians...give them tribute in some small way, but promise them you will send adventurers in on basically suicide missions...after a while of this, they will be fat and happy, you will have tons of adv's pouring through the town in hopes of recovering the vast treasures of X Y and Z, and you have the option of NOT doing this when a particularly tough or capable crew comes through, thereby eliminating that barb. threat, and bringing a BUNCH of money into the town (probably) finally, i would recommend talking to the rest of the party you are running with currently...if you and they get along well, i don't see why this can't go from a wandering adventurer party to a town owning, respectable type party...provided everyone is ok with that... hey, you could turn this backwater into a metropolis with a little civic planning and elbow grease... the hamster ps...walls of stone and iron spells make for pretty good resource builders...if you can get them, use them to make your walls, and stone shape works wonders when you stack them side by side and want crenellations/etc. good luck, h pps...whats the name of your town?
Slayer_5 10-19-04, 11:38 PM	Ok, so massive amounts of hookers are no. There are lizardfolk to the north, by a lake. to the east, theres a LOT of un-claimed land. Im thinking, an acre of land per 5 lizardfolk heads from the swamp. That will get adventurers, rich and poor to get rid of that for me. Also, what do Dwarves eat? They live underground, so i dont see them having large farms. perhaps we can get a large farming thing going, to trade food. Alas, the town will grow,but I do want it to be well defended. I will take into consideration all you guys have said, and will work hard to make this rule. Thank you!
jasper 10-20-04, 08:52 AM	It depends on your roleplaying style from hack slash to washington dc court politics. And how much the other players are willing to support your pc as a ruler. The lizards to north are worth 3 to 6 adventures depending on if you want to wipe them out or become allies.