Rules:Kingdom Overview and Terminology

Kingdom Building Explanation And Overview

In this game you will take the roll of the controlling power behind a soon to be mighty kingdom. Be that controlling force a noble king, evil wizard, holy order of monks, corrupt shadow government or mighty monstrous beast is up to you to decide.

These rules assume that, whatever this group may be, the ultimate goal of the kingdom is to advance and gain territory and prosperity. To that end you will claim terrain, measured in hexes, and establish settlements and fortifications as well as terrain improvements throughout your ever expanding borders.

The kingdom-building rules measure terrain in hexes. Each hex is approximately 12 miles from corner to corner, representing an area of just less than 95 square miles. The hex measurement is an abstraction; the hexes are easy to quantify and allow the GM to categorize a large area as one terrain type without having to worry about precise borders of forests and other terrain features.

Kingdom Terminology

Kingdoms have attributes that describe and define them. These are tracked on a kingdom sheet, like a character's statistics are on a character sheet.

Alignment: Your kingdom has an alignment, which you decide when you form the kingdom. The kingdom's alignment represents the majority outlook and behavior of the people within that kingdom when they're considered as a group. (Individual citizens will, of course, deviate from this standard but it is the assumed norm for your kingdom.) When you decide on your kingdom's alignment, apply the following adjustments to the kingdom's statistics: Chaotic: +2 Loyalty; Evil: +2 Economy; Good: +2 Loyalty; Lawful: +2 Economy; Neutral: Stability +2 (apply this twice if the kingdom's alignment is simply Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral or Lawful Neutral). A kingdom's alignment rarely changes, though at the GM's option, it can shift through the actions of its rulers or its people.

Build Points: Build points (or BP for short) are the measure of your kingdom's resources—equipment, labor, money, and so on. They're used to acquire new hexes and develop additional buildings, settlements, and terrain improvements. Your kingdom also consumes BP to maintain itself.

Consumption: Consumption indicates how many BP are required to keep the kingdom functioning each month. Your kingdom's Consumption is equal to its Size, modified by settlements and terrain improvements (such as Farms and Fisheries). Consumption can never go below 0.

Control DC: Some kingdom actions require a check (1d20 + modifiers) to succeed—this is known as a control check. The base DC for a control check is equal to 10 + the kingdom's Size in hexes + the total number of districts in all your settlements + any other modifiers from special circumstances or effects. For primary kingdom attributes, the DC of a kingdom check is always the Control DC. For secondary attributes this is never the case (see below).

Economy: This attribute measures the productivity of your kingdom's workers and the vibrancy of its trade, both in terms of money and in terms of information, innovation, and technology. Your kingdom's initial Economy is 0 plus your kingdom's alignment, government and racial modifiers.

Kingdom Check: A kingdom check is an action representing your capability and leadership as a ruler in direct relation to your people. A kingdom has three primary attributes: Economy, Loyalty, and Stability. Your kingdom's initial scores in each of these attributes is 0, plus modifiers for kingdom alignment, bonuses provided by government and race, and any other modifiers. Many kingdom actions and events require you to attempt a kingdom check, either using your Economy, Loyalty, or Stability attribute (1d20 + the appropriate attribute + other modifiers). You cannot take 10 or take 20 on a kingdom check. Kingdom checks automatically fail on a natural 1 and automatically succeed on a natural 20. More explanation provided under Primary Attributes section.

Secondary Check: A secondary check is an action representing qualities of your kingdom that are more in the hands of the general public than under your close guidance. A kingdom has three secondary attributes: Vigilance, Opulence and Debauchery. Your kingdom's initial scores in each of these attributes is 0, plus modifiers provided by government and race. There are a discreet set of actions require you to make a secondary kingdom attribute check. The DC for these checks is NOT the Control DC and varies depending on the action taken. More explanation provided in the secondary attributes section.

Loyalty: Loyalty refers to the sense of goodwill among your people, their ability to live peaceably together even in times of crisis, and to fight for one another when needed. Your kingdom's initial Loyalty is 0 plus your kingdom's alignment, government and racial modifiers.

Population: Actual population numbers don't factor into your kingdom's statistics, but can be fun to track anyway. The population of each settlement is described in Settlements and Districts.

Size: This is how many hexes the kingdom's borders encompass. A new kingdom's Size is 1.

Stability: Stability refers to the physical and social well-being of the kingdom, from the health and security of its citizenry to the vitality of its natural resources and its ability to maximize their use. Your kingdom's initial Stability is 0 plus your kingdom's alignment, government and racial modifiers.

Treasury: The Treasury is the amount of BP your kingdom has saved and can spend on activities (much in the same way that your character has gold and other valuables you can spend on gear). Your Treasury can fall below 0 (meaning your kingdom's costs exceed its savings and it is operating in debt), but this increases Unrest.

Turn: A kingdom turn spans 1 week of game time. You make your kingdom checks and other decisions about running your kingdom at the end of each week. This may seem short but is for the time being the measurement being used.

Unrest: Your kingdom's Unrest indicates how rebellious your citizens are. Your kingdom's initial Unrest is 0. Unrest can never fall below 0 (anything that would modify it to less than 0 is added as build points on a 1 for 1 basis). Subtract your kingdom's Unrest from all primary attribute checks (Economy, Loyalty, and Stability). If your kingdom's Unrest is 11 or higher, the kingdom begins to lose control of hexes it has claimed. If your kingdom's Unrest ever reaches 20, the kingdom falls into anarchy.

Kingdom Building Quick Reference

With building a kingdom, you begin have founded a small settlement—such as a village or town—and expand your territory outward, claiming nearby hexes, founding additional settlements, and constructing buildings within those settlements. What you build in a hex or a settlement affects the economy of your kingdom, the loyalty of your citizens, the stability of the government, and the likeliness that kingdom will fall into chaos when citizens worry about monster attacks and other threats.

Instead of using gold pieces, a kingdom uses a type of currency called build points (BP), which represent actual cash, labor, expertise, and raw materials. These are an abstraction and not to be considered a fully concrete comodity.

Running a kingdom takes place over a series of turns, similar to how combat takes place over a series of rounds. A kingdom turn takes 1 week of game time. Each turn has four phases which are resolved in order: The Edict phase, where you make the decisions for your kingdom for the turn (build improvements, change taxation, holiday or other edicts, claim hexes, etc.); the Income phase, where you collect taxes; the Events phase, where you see if something especially good or bad happens to your kingdom; and the Upkeep phase, where you pay the kingdom's bills.

If this is your first time reading these rules, start with the section on Founding a Settlement and read the rest of the kingdom-building rules in order. If you find a term you're not familiar with, check the Kingdom Terminology section for a better idea of where you can find that information.

Founding a Kingdom

Before you can get into the nuts and bolts of kingdom building, you'll need to make some initial decisions that affect your kingdom's statistics.

Choose Your Kingdom's Race. Your kingdom's race is probably the most defining feature of your kingdom as it determines to a large extent what terrain and structure your people will gravitate towards. It also provides penalties and bonuses to primary and secondary attributes and gives an additional word for sending messages to other kingdoms.

Choose Your Kingdom's Alignment. Your kingdom's alignment helps determine how loyal, prosperous, and stable your kingdom is. Your kingdom may be a lawful good bastion against a nearby land of devil worshipers, or a chaotic neutral territory of cutthroat traders whose government does very little to interfere with the rights of its citizens.

Choose Your Kingdom's Government. Your kingdoms government balances the loyalty, prosperity, and stability of your society, setting one as the focus of your kingdom at the expense of the others, or, setting one attribute as the least priority to the good fortune of the others. It also gives an initial value to your secondary attributes, drawing the focus of your people more towards a certain way of life. Finally, your government determines your starting settlements one building (other than housing).

Start Your Treasury. Each kingdom begins the game with 50 BP.

Huzzah!

Based on the decisions you have just made, your initial Primary and Secondary attribute scores will be calculated and provided for you via email. Congratulations on founding your kingdom!

Capital City

A kingdom should have a capital city—the seat of your power. Your first settlement is your capital. If you want to designate a different settlement as the capital, you may do so in during your turn. Your capital city primarily comes into play if your kingdom loses hexes. If you change the capital city, attempt a Stability check. Success means Unrest increases by 1; failure means Unrest increases by 1d6.