Friday, March 09, 2012

Living in Wessex

Here are your options if you want to move out of the guesthouse of the Abbey of St. Emmet and get your own place.

Mad Hermit - You throw together a filthy little hut in some backwoods area.
Initial Cost: none
Upkeep: d6gp per year
Limits: No more than one Mad Hermit per campaign map hex. You quickly earn the reputation of being a creepy weirdo. Local farmers generally steer clear of you and missing livestock may be blamed on you.

Country Squatter - You clear some land and build a cute little cottage.
Initial cost: d6x100gp
Upkeep: d6x5gp per year
Limits: This option in unavailable in hexes with major settlements, otherwise limit four per campaign hexagon. Note the hex contain the Caves of Myrddin, etc., does not count as a major settlement. Some noble may show up and claim that you’ve built your place on his lands.

Villager - You buy a plot of land and build a place in a village.
Initial cost: d6x100gp
Upkeep: d6x10gp per year
Limits: Any number of people may set up base in villages, but given the civil war raging in England, don’t be surprised if someone burns it down at some point. Also, everybody in the village will know your comings and goings.

Citizen - You buy a plot of land and build a place in a major town.
Initial cost: d6x200gp
Upkeep: d6x20gp per year
Limits: Any number of people may set up base in the towns, but local law enforcement might cramp your style. Also, the nearest real town is 6 overland hexes away through rough Cornish wilderness, so for most players this is a good option for a back-up hideout rather than a primary residence.

Upstart Noble - You buy yourself a place on the bottom rung of the aristocracy. Comes with a manor, farms, your own pet peasants, the works.
Initial cost: d6x1,000gp
Upkeep: self-supporting
Limits: Only one of these is available per campaign hexagon and that jerk Sir Hugo has already nabbed the nearest one. Also, each of these comes with a liege. Roll d6 and consult this chart:

1) Lord Sutcherly, Mad Earl of Arrowshire
2) Robert the Hunchback, Earl of Mortshire
3) William de Mohun, the Scourge of the West
4) Henry of Blois, Bishop of Wintoncester
5) Guillame de Averoigne
6) Chera the Jewess, Widow of Wintoncester

If you roll a 1-5 for your liege you will probably want to spend d6x100gp per year on scutage, the fee that excuses you from fighting in your liege’s stupid wars. Sutcherly and Guillame are not particularly belligerent, but the other three are major players in the current civil conflict. Please note that if you swear fealty to one of these guys (i.e. roll a 1-5), you are now totally a knight.
 
Manors bought from Chera the Jewess are outright purchases, so you owe her no further feudal obligation. You can still call yourself a knight if you think you can get away with it.

22 comments:

  1. Awesome... I will review my options =]

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  2. Man, why would anyone NOT want to be a Mad Hermit?

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  3. @ cappadocius

    because the competition is just insane

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    1. Taurus Hellsheart has already claimed the title of Mad Hermit of Hex 1004, which contains the Abbey, the ruins of Dundagel, the village of Camelton and Castle Bouttreaux.

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  4. I sadly don't have a character who could buy one of these, but I'm curious about the Upstart Noble option. Would you let a player pick a noble for their PC to be vassal to (or to by from outright in the case of Chera) if they wanted to? Some people might particularly want to serve a Bishop, or avoid the Mad Earl, or whatever. That might increase the cost though...

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    1. Getting into the nobility is fraught with peril. You pay your money and take your chances.

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  5. Man, Jeff these are so great that I just did a copy cat post.

    I really like the fact that you build in a lot of gameable strings attached to each.

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  6. This is so shiny I just want to pet it and pet it.

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  7. Anonymous6:02 PM

    Why are the initial costs for squatter and villager the same - since the second includes buying a plot of land, shouldn't it cost more?

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    1. Clearing the land for the cottage is extra work the villager doesn't need to do, so I call it a wash.

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  8. @Jeff is there anyway I can build a cozy cottage near The Blue Rabbit? I need some place to get away from all the weirdos at some point. Running the bar at the end of the FLAILSNAILS universe is serious bidness and a Dwarf needs some time to himself. Which I am assuming would have similar mechanics to the Country Squatter but I would be letting Hugo know I am doing this and probably be sending the gp to him or something to that effect?

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    1. Yeah, you can do that. You'll take up the eastern cottage slot in the hex and half the construction cost would go to Sir Hugo, assume he agrees to it.

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    2. In truth, Hugo could stand having a little space himself, and would be more than happy to have Darf set up in a place of his own. Also, he could use the cash

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    3. Excellent. Let me know the gold value and I'll send 1/2 of it over to Hugo.

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    4. You don't me to roll a d6 for you.

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    5. okwas not sure, will do and send off to hugo.

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  10. VERY WELL, RIENTS. I have spoken with the magic 8-Ball and I request more information about this PIG FARM of yours.

    I suppose I can even do so in character since I am currently try to stop all of the women in the castle from making out with My Sexy Zimbabwean Wife, Adia.

    <3

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  11. Further to my last - This is the intent:

    I have acquired some seeds for Zimbabwean Crops, Spices etc. I figure I can repurpose the Pig Farm for said crops, and run a Zimbabwean Farm/Restaurant - guests would have to ride up through the farm, observing the crops etc, before they reached it, where they would be treated to an exotic cultural feast of delightful and spicy cuisine.

    It would be made available to Discerning Ladies and Gentlemen of Exquisite and Exotic taste. Adia will Supervise the farming and Cook the meals whilst being Sexy and Zimbabwean.

    If the farm turns out to be a plot-hook that has my wife turned into a Sexy Zimbabwean Deep-One or something, then I guess thats a close second... but I'd rather have a non-demonic-farm if there is one available.

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  12. Anonymous1:53 PM

    Option #6:

    #1 Discover a pocket dimension.
    #2 Forcibly take over a village therein and free slaves.
    #3 Build keep.
    #4 Kill filthy vampire jackasses that come onto our turf.

    You hear that Crow King? I'm coming for you!

    --Fred the Dwarf

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  13. Looks good. Perhaps the high end options are a bit cheap, but then again, it all depends on the economy of your campaign.

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