Okay, so I have a bit of a weird scenario. The players in my group put all of their money together, and found that they could buy roughly one acre of land. They started a kingdom. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to handle this. I'm not sure if I should be doing random encounters, or anything like that. Any input is appreciated.
Can you give some more details? What are their plans? A kingdom is obviously a lot more than just "we have land".
Is the kingdom just your party, or do they plan to have a population? If they have a population, they'll need to feed everyone and keep them safe. Where does the food come from? Are they farming on adjacent land? Do they build a wall? pay a standing guard to keep people safe? or do the party sacrifice their adventuring to guard their kingdom? Do they plan on expanding? Who owns the surrounding land? Do they piss people off and risk the hostility of larger surrounding kingdoms if they expand beyond their solitary acre? Will they need to run diplomatic missions to surrounding political entities to curry favor with these hostile entities?
I think your party has a lot of serious questions they're going to need to answer if they're going to actually start and sustain a kingdom, and there are so many twists and turns that you could throw at them that will force them out beyond their acre and into the world.
Countries are only Countries because other Countries recongnize them as Countries. This land is likely in the claimed Territory of another noble, have him contest it. Maybe it's just a Baron, and his King offers to recognize the players as nobles, but only under him, which would make it a Barony or an Earldom. The Baron realizes this and tries to hire people to burn the land and harass the players to move them out without incurring the wrath of his King. He then tries to ruin the deal while convincing the King that the players are not to be trusted. If the players refuse to become subjects, the Baron will be able to easily convince the King to raise a small army to attack the players and seize the land.
What's the tone of the campaign? I'm guessing it's not a super serious campaign, right, and that you're upset that they're being silly? If you're upset, send the local baron to whip them, or burn their land out from under them :)
But if you're fine with some silliness, here's my suggestion: have a local lord sponsor them. Here's the rough sketch.
The land they purchased is bordered on the northwest and west by the land of BARON A, who is a subject of DUKE D, and they are both subjects of KING K.
Their land is bordered on the northeast and east by the land of BARON B, who is also a subject of DUKE D.
Their land is bordered on the SOUTH by wild frontier, another kingdom, etc.
BARON A and BARON B hate each other, and have been non-violently 'warring' with each other for years. Trying to make each other look back to the DUKE and KING.
The land your players purchased was recently won by BARON A from the other bordering kingdom, or was settled by him from the frontier, etc.
BARON B hates that BARON A claimed to own the land, and he hates that BARON A even had the land to begin with. He thinks it belongs to DUKE D and KING K.
BARON A, just to spite BARON B, sold the land to the players. BARON A will therefore defend the sale as legal, and if anyone (BARON B) tries to take the land from the players, BARON A will defend them.
Now you've got a situation where the players are stuck in local politics, and maybe even the King will get involved. All for an acre of land.
The details could be adjusted of course, but that's the general idea.
Oh no, I actually told the group before the campaign started that I was going to make the campaign as silly as possible. That's why the main villain is an artist named Robert Ross, and his side kick is basically just Jerkimedes from Pit People. I just didn't expect this to happen, so I don't really know how to handle the whole town building type thing.
If it's a silly campaign, I would embrace the nature of monster movies. Just take a bunch of regular monster manual monsters, give them the effects of the enlarge spell, and play Gozilla for a while. At least until they start to wonder "why Godzilla?"
That way, it doesn't matter what they build, you just knock it down. At least until you figure out how to make building meaningful.
Oh no, I actually told the group before the campaign started that I was going to make the campaign as silly as possible. That's why the main villain is an artist named Robert Ross, and his side kick is basically just Jerkimedes from Pit People. I just didn't expect this to happen, so I don't really know how to handle the whole town building type thing.
Keep in mind that there won't be much of a 'town' on an acre of land. I own just over an acre of land, 2-story house. You could fit maybe 13 of my houses on that land, if you packed them all together with narrow alleys. If you put up a wall around the land, with a gate and guard towers, drop that down to 8 or 10 houses. Think of the 'town' on Jakku in Force Awakens. :)
I think you could have a lot of fun with this. In fact...there's an old book called The Mouse That Roared, about a tiny nation that invades the US...successfully. It's a comedy, but you could really draw some stuff from that. I also like the visual of a neighbor sending all his troops, and the other neighbor sending his troops to defend them, and your PCs plus a few 'townspeople' they brought in hiding behind their walls.
Plus...they'll need a government. Who is in charge? Democracy? What if they had to campaign and get votes from the 40 or 50 people who make up the entire population? :D That could be a blast.
From my understanding, they're planning on building this town as some sort of income maker. Not many people will move in, as it's only an acre large, but they're still going to be taxing people. How should I handle taxes?
Income tax, or tax on purchases? You have to decide what levels of taxation their citizens will be okay with. Or, if they don't have citizens and are more of a trading post, you need to decide how much in taxes the business owners who set up shop there will be okay with paying. With only an acre, you'd have to attract super rich people in order for income tax to make any money. And with only an acre, what super rich people would move there? So, sales tax is the way to go.
What taxes do businesses pay in nearby towns? For example, one way to do it would be to attract businesses to your 'country' by levying less taxes then the town nearby. Nearest city charges businesses an 8% tax on sales. So you set up your own nation and set taxes at 6%. Businesses move in, and they can offer lower prices because they pay you less, and now people want to come to your country to buy things, and you're rolling. Or, you can charge higher taxes if there's nothing else nearby. If your place to buy stuff is the only place around (on the edge of the frontier, e.g.), then businesses can move in and charge high prices because where else can you get food, and you can charge those businesses higher taxes, because they need a (safe and protected) place to set up shop.
If a "town" this small has few citizens, then taxes may be the wrong way to go. Who would want to live there other than the PCs? Who would come visit or engage in trade, to build an economy?
Personally, I'd think outside the box, especially for a silly campaign. This scenario seems ripe for a theme park village or resort destination. The goal is to attract more visitors/tourists than citizens, and charge coin to view shows, engage with the "villagers," or eat at the town pub. The few citizens would not be taxed; heck, this could be a tax haven for retired adventurers or rogues. A D&D version of Las Vegas ("what happens in Adventureland stays in Adventureland"). This could even attract monsters and villains as well...
Just to clarify, there's no one currently on the land, right? You said people would have to move in. Why would anyone? That is a question for them to answer, not you. I feel like I would push back on this a little, and make the PCs give you plot, rather than you provide it.
In early editions of D&D, certain classes automatically recruited followers. IMO it was correct for later editions to remove that as the game evolved. The game ia no longer pinned to wargaming and things like "call you banners." You want to check with your players to see if they have thought about what else they want, besides the actual land.
Hey, I'm finding this because I want to establish a settlement/country. How'd this turn out for your players? Can you give some details so I know what to expect?
I have a Bag of Plenty to feed 45 people daily, a Decanter of Endless Water to take care of potable water, an Alchemy Jug for some night time morale boosts (4 gallons of beer). These are just things I can do (Monk Class). We have a Cleric in the party that would almost certainly help and a Druid that is along for whatever (everyone level 9).
In my friends campaign I helped him get the backstory about the Moon kingdom and it has some dark history. For example, every 10,000 years a Kitsune takes the throne. The mark of a choosen lover is a Crescent moon holding a heart with Moonflower morning glory vines wrapped around the moon and heart. The dark history of the kingdom is that if the Queen doesn't choose her king, the choices that want to be her king, then she will fade in health and the kings of aasimar and teifling will poison her until either she chooses one of them or they destroy the kingdom.
You do know that an acre of land is about 210 x 210 feet, right? 1 acre of land is a pretty small area... a typical family can farm 10 acres in a year....
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Okay, so I have a bit of a weird scenario. The players in my group put all of their money together, and found that they could buy roughly one acre of land. They started a kingdom. So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to handle this. I'm not sure if I should be doing random encounters, or anything like that. Any input is appreciated.
Can you give some more details? What are their plans? A kingdom is obviously a lot more than just "we have land".
Is the kingdom just your party, or do they plan to have a population? If they have a population, they'll need to feed everyone and keep them safe. Where does the food come from? Are they farming on adjacent land? Do they build a wall? pay a standing guard to keep people safe? or do the party sacrifice their adventuring to guard their kingdom? Do they plan on expanding? Who owns the surrounding land? Do they piss people off and risk the hostility of larger surrounding kingdoms if they expand beyond their solitary acre? Will they need to run diplomatic missions to surrounding political entities to curry favor with these hostile entities?
I think your party has a lot of serious questions they're going to need to answer if they're going to actually start and sustain a kingdom, and there are so many twists and turns that you could throw at them that will force them out beyond their acre and into the world.
"To die would be an awfully big adventure"
Countries are only Countries because other Countries recongnize them as Countries. This land is likely in the claimed Territory of another noble, have him contest it. Maybe it's just a Baron, and his King offers to recognize the players as nobles, but only under him, which would make it a Barony or an Earldom. The Baron realizes this and tries to hire people to burn the land and harass the players to move them out without incurring the wrath of his King. He then tries to ruin the deal while convincing the King that the players are not to be trusted. If the players refuse to become subjects, the Baron will be able to easily convince the King to raise a small army to attack the players and seize the land.
What's the tone of the campaign? I'm guessing it's not a super serious campaign, right, and that you're upset that they're being silly? If you're upset, send the local baron to whip them, or burn their land out from under them :)
But if you're fine with some silliness, here's my suggestion: have a local lord sponsor them. Here's the rough sketch.
Now you've got a situation where the players are stuck in local politics, and maybe even the King will get involved. All for an acre of land.
The details could be adjusted of course, but that's the general idea.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Oh no, I actually told the group before the campaign started that I was going to make the campaign as silly as possible. That's why the main villain is an artist named Robert Ross, and his side kick is basically just Jerkimedes from Pit People. I just didn't expect this to happen, so I don't really know how to handle the whole town building type thing.
If it's a silly campaign, I would embrace the nature of monster movies. Just take a bunch of regular monster manual monsters, give them the effects of the enlarge spell, and play Gozilla for a while. At least until they start to wonder "why Godzilla?"
That way, it doesn't matter what they build, you just knock it down. At least until you figure out how to make building meaningful.
Keep in mind that there won't be much of a 'town' on an acre of land. I own just over an acre of land, 2-story house. You could fit maybe 13 of my houses on that land, if you packed them all together with narrow alleys. If you put up a wall around the land, with a gate and guard towers, drop that down to 8 or 10 houses. Think of the 'town' on Jakku in Force Awakens. :)
I think you could have a lot of fun with this. In fact...there's an old book called The Mouse That Roared, about a tiny nation that invades the US...successfully. It's a comedy, but you could really draw some stuff from that. I also like the visual of a neighbor sending all his troops, and the other neighbor sending his troops to defend them, and your PCs plus a few 'townspeople' they brought in hiding behind their walls.
Plus...they'll need a government. Who is in charge? Democracy? What if they had to campaign and get votes from the 40 or 50 people who make up the entire population? :D That could be a blast.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
From my understanding, they're planning on building this town as some sort of income maker. Not many people will move in, as it's only an acre large, but they're still going to be taxing people. How should I handle taxes?
Income tax, or tax on purchases? You have to decide what levels of taxation their citizens will be okay with. Or, if they don't have citizens and are more of a trading post, you need to decide how much in taxes the business owners who set up shop there will be okay with paying. With only an acre, you'd have to attract super rich people in order for income tax to make any money. And with only an acre, what super rich people would move there? So, sales tax is the way to go.
What taxes do businesses pay in nearby towns? For example, one way to do it would be to attract businesses to your 'country' by levying less taxes then the town nearby. Nearest city charges businesses an 8% tax on sales. So you set up your own nation and set taxes at 6%. Businesses move in, and they can offer lower prices because they pay you less, and now people want to come to your country to buy things, and you're rolling. Or, you can charge higher taxes if there's nothing else nearby. If your place to buy stuff is the only place around (on the edge of the frontier, e.g.), then businesses can move in and charge high prices because where else can you get food, and you can charge those businesses higher taxes, because they need a (safe and protected) place to set up shop.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
If a "town" this small has few citizens, then taxes may be the wrong way to go. Who would want to live there other than the PCs? Who would come visit or engage in trade, to build an economy?
Personally, I'd think outside the box, especially for a silly campaign. This scenario seems ripe for a theme park village or resort destination. The goal is to attract more visitors/tourists than citizens, and charge coin to view shows, engage with the "villagers," or eat at the town pub. The few citizens would not be taxed; heck, this could be a tax haven for retired adventurers or rogues. A D&D version of Las Vegas ("what happens in Adventureland stays in Adventureland"). This could even attract monsters and villains as well...
Just to clarify, there's no one currently on the land, right? You said people would have to move in. Why would anyone? That is a question for them to answer, not you. I feel like I would push back on this a little, and make the PCs give you plot, rather than you provide it.
In early editions of D&D, certain classes automatically recruited followers. IMO it was correct for later editions to remove that as the game evolved. The game ia no longer pinned to wargaming and things like "call you banners." You want to check with your players to see if they have thought about what else they want, besides the actual land.
Hey, I'm finding this because I want to establish a settlement/country. How'd this turn out for your players? Can you give some details so I know what to expect?
I have a Bag of Plenty to feed 45 people daily, a Decanter of Endless Water to take care of potable water, an Alchemy Jug for some night time morale boosts (4 gallons of beer). These are just things I can do (Monk Class). We have a Cleric in the party that would almost certainly help and a Druid that is along for whatever (everyone level 9).
In my friends campaign I helped him get the backstory about the Moon kingdom and it has some dark history. For example, every 10,000 years a Kitsune takes the throne. The mark of a choosen lover is a Crescent moon holding a heart with Moonflower morning glory vines wrapped around the moon and heart. The dark history of the kingdom is that if the Queen doesn't choose her king, the choices that want to be her king, then she will fade in health and the kings of aasimar and teifling will poison her until either she chooses one of them or they destroy the kingdom.
Starlight Nightshade Moonflower
You do know that an acre of land is about 210 x 210 feet, right? 1 acre of land is a pretty small area... a typical family can farm 10 acres in a year....