Well, a player decided to buy a house in the capital. The world I'm using is a homebrew creation. But, I have no idea how to manage this. I asked him to wait until the next session so I could research it. Any ideas on how to proceed?
Several ways to do it - both in game and in real life.
In many real life kingdoms only the nobility actually owned property. The middle class rented, along with the poor. Is he trying to become a nobleman?
Less strict were areas where only full citizens could own land.
Other places are more like today - you own it if you buy it.
But almost every place had some form of taxation - if not gold, then strength of arms (nobles often contributed men at arms rather than gold to a kingdom).
Note, in general I have found that owning property is more trouble than it is worth in game. It gets taxed, broken into, burnt down, spied upon via spells, etc. etc.
It can work whatever way you want it to, which really means "whatever way is most convenient for you".
Do you want to allow it? I see little reason not to, but that's your call. The post above has some reasons why you can justify that.
How much will it cost them? Not a clue. Every world is different, and none of the economies make sense. Take a look around the rulebooks to see if you can find anything. If nothing else, you have the costs of lodgings, lifestyle expenses, and large vehicles to work from. If you want to, you can also have them pay upkeep costs over time, but that's a lot of bookkeeping.
The big question is: does it actually affect the game? Is it just a place to live when they're in town, or are they expecting to get some mechanical effect from it? If the former, just set a price and be done with it. (The price does not have to make sense.)
Is it just "a house", or is it something fancier that might come with adventure seeds in the future?
Traditionally in the early Middle Ages only landed nobility actually owned land. (That’s why they were called “landed” nobles. Everyone else, including non-landed nobility were renters.
Things changed over time and by the late Middle Ages merchants, craftspeople, and even others owned property. Basically, money talked. If one had enough money, they could buy property provided they could find someone with land willing to sell.
The biggest question is what does he want to do with it, what do you want to do with it, and what does the rest of the party want to do with it? Is it just him, or are other party members involved? Is it just a place to rest between adventures, and he’s basically doing it as flavor? Or does everyone envision it being incorporated into the story? That is, if he stores his big piles of gold there, is he likely to get robbed? Will enemies know about it and conduct surveillance? Is he looking to hire a servant? If so, are they just a servant, or an enemy agent?
There can be lots to do with it, as there is with any base. But it is important to not let it take over and turn the homeowner into the main character. Also, it can really shift the way a campaign works, as suddenly you have a base to protect, and are kind of tied to a specific location. That’s why it’s best to make sure everyone is into it, if you want it to be more than just a flavor thing.
And, if you were just asking about prices, I usually just go off the boat prices.
A realistic estimate is to take the daily cost of living and multiply by around 2,000, at which point you halve your cost of living as long as you're living at home. This takes around 11 years to be worth its cost, and is thus pretty much a money sink in most games.
Another reasonable option is to playtest the bastion system. It's not remotely interested in realism but might be more to your taste.
Other than that, you'll probably have to either invent your own rules or go searching around for third party products that cover the issue.
Well, a player decided to buy a house in the capital. The world I'm using is a homebrew creation. But, I have no idea how to manage this. I asked him to wait until the next session so I could research it. Any ideas on how to proceed?
Several ways to do it - both in game and in real life.
In many real life kingdoms only the nobility actually owned property. The middle class rented, along with the poor. Is he trying to become a nobleman?
Less strict were areas where only full citizens could own land.
Other places are more like today - you own it if you buy it.
But almost every place had some form of taxation - if not gold, then strength of arms (nobles often contributed men at arms rather than gold to a kingdom).
Note, in general I have found that owning property is more trouble than it is worth in game. It gets taxed, broken into, burnt down, spied upon via spells, etc. etc.
It can work whatever way you want it to, which really means "whatever way is most convenient for you".
Do you want to allow it? I see little reason not to, but that's your call. The post above has some reasons why you can justify that.
How much will it cost them? Not a clue. Every world is different, and none of the economies make sense. Take a look around the rulebooks to see if you can find anything. If nothing else, you have the costs of lodgings, lifestyle expenses, and large vehicles to work from. If you want to, you can also have them pay upkeep costs over time, but that's a lot of bookkeeping.
The big question is: does it actually affect the game? Is it just a place to live when they're in town, or are they expecting to get some mechanical effect from it? If the former, just set a price and be done with it. (The price does not have to make sense.)
Is it just "a house", or is it something fancier that might come with adventure seeds in the future?
Traditionally in the early Middle Ages only landed nobility actually owned land. (That’s why they were called “landed” nobles. Everyone else, including non-landed nobility were renters.
Things changed over time and by the late Middle Ages merchants, craftspeople, and even others owned property. Basically, money talked. If one had enough money, they could buy property provided they could find someone with land willing to sell.
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The biggest question is what does he want to do with it, what do you want to do with it, and what does the rest of the party want to do with it? Is it just him, or are other party members involved? Is it just a place to rest between adventures, and he’s basically doing it as flavor? Or does everyone envision it being incorporated into the story? That is, if he stores his big piles of gold there, is he likely to get robbed? Will enemies know about it and conduct surveillance? Is he looking to hire a servant? If so, are they just a servant, or an enemy agent?
There can be lots to do with it, as there is with any base. But it is important to not let it take over and turn the homeowner into the main character. Also, it can really shift the way a campaign works, as suddenly you have a base to protect, and are kind of tied to a specific location. That’s why it’s best to make sure everyone is into it, if you want it to be more than just a flavor thing.
And, if you were just asking about prices, I usually just go off the boat prices.
A realistic estimate is to take the daily cost of living and multiply by around 2,000, at which point you halve your cost of living as long as you're living at home. This takes around 11 years to be worth its cost, and is thus pretty much a money sink in most games.
Another reasonable option is to playtest the bastion system. It's not remotely interested in realism but might be more to your taste.
Other than that, you'll probably have to either invent your own rules or go searching around for third party products that cover the issue.
I could be wrong on this but in RL in England, and other nations, you actually do not buy any land. You lease it from the crown or government.
You buy the house but never the land.