And here's the update! (Yes, I Know, I thought it would be longer before it was ready too...) Now to explain all that! You wake to an unfamiliar sound, someone other than your sister cooking breakfast. You startle a bit at this but shortly yesterday comes back to you and you settle back down. As you have slept you have dreamed of food and plenty, but when your sister reports her dreams it is famine and want. You know your dreams can be prophetic, and so you see the meaning easily, you need to get in the harvest while you can! You order the farming family you rescued to go and set themselves about it, with two of the goblins to guard and guide so that nothing does your worker's injury. You and your sister may be nobility here, but in this matter there is no time like the present: you, like all your other vassals, will have to work your fingers till they are raw bringing in food to survive the Winter! However, you, your sister, and the majority of your troops will not be harvesting grain, plucking fruit, or grubbing up root vegetables: “from each according to their ability” is your rule this day, and you and yours not already spoken for are better suited to hunting the feral Livestock for meat than gathering up the fruit of the fields. You tell everyone what your tasks will be and then break to set about them. You and your sister split into two smaller hunting parties after you see off the farmers to their harvesting work, and go hunting for various animals... At the end of the day, when you meet back at the castle the farmers are definitely MVP. Not only have they gathered more food than you and your sister but they have taken it on themselves to re-tame several groups of farm animals, and this means you can start working on getting things ready for the future: next year you can use the cows to pull plows for the spring planting and maybe have some young steers to geld for Oxen… Better news, you and your vassals have lived off the land and eaten well! For the farming family you rescued this doesn't mean much, (they're going to work like dogs tomorrow just like today,) but for the goblins it's a big deal. They have been working on ⅔ Rations for months, and with their bellies full of meat and fruits they're feeling frisky. That evening you all eat chicken, and you explain what you've been thinking about all day… “Listen up Everyone!” You begin as the nightly meal finishes. “I've been thinking since yesterday and we're renaming a lot of things around here. First, this castle, I think Samsonite is a dumb name and while Castle Samsonite is BETTER it's still not Ideal. I toyed around with Sister-Hold Castle, and going with the goblins name, but neither quite clicked, so I've talked with Sgt. Doggett, and come up with ^Die Juwelen Zitadelle^ which means ‘The Jeweled Citadel’. Now, there's a few other bits that need to be dealt with, the river that runs by the castle, calling it the ‘Dammel’ which means ‘river’ in Dwarven? No. So I’ve decided we'll call it ‘The River Innsbruck’. Next we have the valley itself, and I decided to blend both of your heritages here, Goblin and Human. The name we’re going with is the goblin’s name, but translated into trade speak, ‘Dragon Scar Valley’. Lastly, ‘The Land of Samson’? No blooming way. So from here on out the Grand Duchy is going to be called ‘Heartland’, and if we eventually outgrow Grand Duchy status that will become the name of the Capitol district of the Kingdom. So, raise your cups of this fine fresh milk!” Everyone raises their cups in salute. “To the Grand Duchy of Heartland and our glorious future!” You declare, and drink, whereupon ‘cheers’ is uttered in three languages and everyone else drinks. *à votre santé!* ^Prost!^ “Cheers!” The party winds down not much more than an hour later, as sunset and your strict rationing of wood robs you of light, but everyone is in a good mood… Dreams: Gloriana of Magecraft: There isn't enough TIME. General Winter commands you to harvest all the fields in the realm, but has given you only one squad of troops to do it… If you fail Commissar Jack Frost will have your head! If only you had more men... Caethes of the Silver Blade: “They” are coming… They number in their hundreds, but the fortress is in ruins! She could withstand them if she had the fortress fully repaired, staffed, and stocked, but now it is too late... State Of Your Realm: Active Unit: Harvesting Food. 56 Units of Food Gathered: All Meat. Additional Resources Obtained: 5 units of Bone. 6 units of Feathers. 1 unit of Leather. Automated Unit 1: Harvesting Food. 92 Units of Food Gathered: divided into 60 Starches, 18 Vegetables, 19 Fruit, 11 Proteins, & 4 Dairy. (There would have been more Dairy but you ate it…) Additional Resources Obtained: 92 Units of Hay: (Harvesting Wheat and some other grains also produces Hay for animals, bedding, and thatch.) 1 herd of 6 Cows including 1 Bull, 3 Heifers, and 2 Calves: consume 3 units of grass, hay, or silage per day each, each Heifer produces 3 units of Dairy per day. Can be butchered for 3d6 units of Meat 3 Units of Bone, 1 unit of Horn (+1 unit if a Bull.), and 1d6 of Leather when adult or as calves for 1d6 units of Meat, 1 unit of bone and 1d6 units of Vellum. 1 bull is required to “cover” every 4d6 heifers each year to keep them producing milk. Each heifer will give birth to 1d3-1(min 1) calves per year, so long as they have been “covered”. Young Bulls can be gelded to produce Oxen. Calves are considered “Adult” after 3 years, and adults become elderly around 18 years after that, often dying not long thereafter, either being slaughtered by their owners or hunted and eaten by wild predators. 1 herd of 10 Sheep including 1 Ram, 8 Ewes, and 1 Bellwether: consume 2 units each of grass or hay per day, adult females produce 1 unit of Dairy per day. Once a year each adult can be shorn for 1d6 Units of Raw Wool. The adults may be butchered for 1d6 units of Meat each, and 1 Sheep’s Skin. Rams additionally yield 1 unit of Horn. Lambs may be butchered for 1d2 units of Meat and 1 unit of Vellum. 1 ram is required to “cover” every 8d6 ewes each year to keep them producing milk. The ewes will give birth to 1d2 Lambs per year, in the spring, so long as they have been “covered”. Lambs become ‘adult’ near the end of the same year they are born, and can breed in time to have their offspring be part of the next year's lambing. Sheep live around 10 years after reaching maturity, either being slaughtered as mutton not long after becoming elderly or being killed by predators such as wolves and feral dogs. WARNING: Sheep must be frequently rotated to fresh pasture, as they will utterly destroy the grass on which they feed if left to their own devices: consuming even the deepest roots! Inadequate supervision of herds of sheep can lead to Desertification! 1 flock of 13 Chickens: including 1 rooster, 4 hens, and 8 chicks. Each Chicken consumes 1 unit of Seeds per day, or can be raised free-range, requiring 0.1 acres to forage. Each adult chicken can be slaughtered for 1d2 units of Meat, 2 chicken feet, and 0.5 units of Feathers. Each Farmstead with a rooster additionally gets a + 1 bonus to its daily work per person as the family is forced to wake at dawn and thus gets more done with the daylight available. Each hen produces 1 chicken egg per day, which is equivalent to 0.2 units of Meat. Chicks mature after 3 months into adult chickens. If their Feathers are harvested during that time you gain 0.1 units of Down. If a farm has a rooster there is a 50% chance that each egg produced by its hens will be fertile and able to grow into a chick after 21 days. (It must be noted that decimal numbers always round down or up for functional purposes, whichever is less advantageous for the players, but are recorded as they are in order to tally towards reaching a whole number.) What should we do tomorrow? As you and the goblins have eaten well you gain the ability to do two tasks tomorrow! Please vote for 2 items, or if you vote just one item it will be a double vote. F1: Find some help! (Many hands make light work, but also mean more mouths to feed. [Conversely however, there is safety in numbers...]) [Low Risk] F2: Gather wood. (We need enough stockpiled for all our people to survive AT LEAST 3 months of ice and snow, typically more like 4 but sometimes as much as 6 at this elevation... Right now we have less than a month's worth.) [No Risk] F3: Gather Food. (We need enough stockpiled for all our people to survive AT LEAST 3 months of ice and snow, typically more like 4 but sometimes as much as 6 at this elevation... Right now we have less than a week's worth.) [No Risk] F4: Explore the Castle. (Who knows, maybe the castle HAS wood and food? Won't know till we've checked the whole thing...[On the other hand, we can do this during the winter more easily than most other activities...]) [Moderate Risk] F5: Survey our domain. (We got some good supplies from the farmstead we explored yesterday: perhaps we should look at another tomorrow?) [Low Risk] F6: Try to re-tame the dogs. (Canis Lupus Familiaris: the Dog: Humanity's oldest ally, staunchest supporter, and most faithful companion. If we can take control of the pack they would be powerful allies. Yes, it would mean more mouths to feed, but we have the meat to spare right now, and with a baying pack of hounds at our beck and call hunting larger animals becomes a real possibility. Furthermore, come winter those dogs will either have become our allies: or turn into vicious and dangerous enemies...) [Moderate Risk.] F7: Repair the Keep. (And this is next to last because it's probably more long term, but if we can't defend ourselves everything we've built and collected could be snatched away from us...) [Low Risk] F8: Do Something Else? (We COULD spend the day doing just about anything, but it's probably not a good idea.) "Explore the Castle" and "Survey Our Domain": Each day of exploration 'clears' one building in the castle, of which there are seven, or checks out one farmstead, of which eleven remain. (As far as you know, on both counts...) Both types of exploring carry some degree of risk, exploring the castle especially, but the rewards of success will be greater than 'No Risk' actions, as we have seen already today. "Try to re-tame the dogs" Each attempt at this uses 2 units of Meat: but the reward will be 5 hunting dogs. Once you have the pack under your control they will eat 1 unit of meat each per day, but the "Go Hunting" action becomes available, which is a "Low Risk" action that yields large quantities of meat, and will be crucial to keeping your larder stocked during the winter. Furthermore, when winter arrives this option becomes "High Risk": the dogs, hungry and cold, become hostile. Lastly, if you have not tamed the dogs come spring, this option ceases to be available altogether. They will have lived out the winter without humans; their journey to the dark side of Feral Animals will be complete. "Repair the Keep" Uses 1 'Timber' or 'Stone' per day. Full Repair requires 40 Timber and 20 Stone, plus at least 1 follower with each of the "Wood-Wright" and "Stonemason" specialties to use more than 1/4th Timber requirement or any Stone, respectively. For each 5 Timber or Stone expended Keep's "Defense" bonus increases by 1. At certain levels of repair it's Space and Administration capacities also increase. "Do Something Else?": If you have another suggestion for what you and your sister do, leave it in a parenthetical comment. Some possibilities: Go Fishing (You don't have nets, lines, or fishhooks), Explore Up or Down The River (You could run into just about anything...), Fix up the Kitchens or Servant's Quarters (You don't have brick, mortar, tables, jars, pots, knives, cooking utensils, or cutting boards: nor hammers, nails, varnish, paint, wallpaper, cotton, wool, hemp, thread, cloth, straw, or down...), Take A Day To 'Rest' (You can 'rest' all winter...), Practice Magic (On What?), or Practice Sword-Fighting (Again, on what?) Voting remains open till Saturday. EDIT: Or until we have at least 3 votes, and I notice that fact; whichever comes first... Time to vote!
F6: Try to re-tame the dogs. (Canis Lupus Familiaris: the Dog: Humanity's oldest ally, staunchest supporter, and most faithful companion. If we can take control of the pack they would be powerful allies. Yes, it would mean more mouths to feed, but we have the meat to spare right now, and with a baying pack of hounds at our beck and call hunting larger animals becomes a real possibility. Furthermore, come winter those dogs will either have become our allies: or turn into vicious and dangerous enemies...) [Moderate Risk.] x2
I'm sorry, but I should have mentioned that this action is only available once per day. (It's the only one too: part of why I missed it...) EDIT: However, As I screwed up on this, I will allow it this ONCE. EDIT 2: Note for other people: Just to be clear, I am permitting not only Moonblack's double vote, but anyone else who wants to double vote for taming the dogs this ONE time. This might be your one chance to be relatively certain of success taming the dogs in a single day.
It has now come to be saturday with no further votes save the one above, so that is what we go with… (I wish more people would participate…!) Now to explain all that! You and your vassals wake to the sound of rain. A light showers moisten the land all day as you and the others travel your dripping rounds harvesting food. Flush with meat from the victories of yesterday you decide that today you will attempt to reclaim the allegiance of that dog pack, and taking some of the unsalted meat you turn your hand to finding and re-taming them. You find their den easily enough, in spite of the rain washing away their tracks, and approach with caution. The Dog's first reaction is hostility, growling at you and baring their teeth, but you lay out the meat and wait. Over the course of an hour they come out of their den and approach you, at first stealing a few cuts and retreating but then coming closer and finally their alpha licks your hand and the pack accepts you as their leader! You shortly re-accustom the dogs to following a few common commands, Heel, Sit, Stay, and Guard. You also find that they have two litters of puppies, bringing your total ‘catch’ to 14 dogs. The puppies will have to be trained of course, but that is a small thing. The five adult dogs include 2 males and 3 females, while the puppies are made up of 6 females and 3 males. Meanwhile, in spite of the sodden day you are having and the bitter cold of the rain your farming unit does their work, digging up root vegetables from the wet ground and washing them off in troughs full of rainwater for storage. They bring in 86 units of food, some of every kind except meat, but are glad to return to the castle come nightfall. Back at the castle the farmers and your own party compare notes eat their meager supper, and a troubling issue is raised. It seems that the goblins are due to head back to their tribe in two days. The hike will take a day there and a day back, with a day between for debriefing. They want you to come, in order to receive fealty from their chieftain and service from more members of the tribe, but they will follow your orders whatever they may be... Dreams: Day 7: Gloriana of Magecraft: Your Dreams are of peace and serenity, you spend a lazy night just frolicking in the starlight with your sister and eating from fruit trees that dot a vast meadow. Caethes of the Silver Blade: Your sister reports dreaming of a giant bed, wherein both of you and all your vassals took their rest while eating cheese and honey… What should we do tomorrow? EDIT: The option of a double vote was made in error... F1: Find some help! (Many hands make light work, but also mean more mouths to feed. [Conversely however, there is safety in numbers...]) [Low Risk] F2: Gather wood. (We need enough stockpiled for all our people to survive AT LEAST 3 months of ice and snow, typically more like 4 but sometimes as much as 6 at this elevation... Right now we have less than a month's worth.) [No Risk] F3: Gather Food. (We need enough stockpiled for all our people to survive AT LEAST 3 months of ice and snow, typically more like 4 but sometimes as much as 6 at this elevation... Right now we have less than a week's worth.) [No Risk] F4: Explore the Castle. (Who knows, maybe the castle HAS wood and food? Won't know till we've checked the whole thing...[On the other hand, we can do this during the winter more easily than most other activities...]) [Moderate Risk] F5: Survey our domain. (We’ve gotten some good supplies from the farmsteads we’ve explored: perhaps we should look at another tomorrow?) [Low Risk] F6: Go Hunting. (You have the pack of dogs now, you could hunt for game...) [Moderate Risk: x2 Reward...] F7: Travel to meet with the Chief of the Goblins. (The Goblin tribe could be powerful allies, they doubtless have already laid in food and wood for the winter: but leaving the castle unattended is a risk…) [Low Risk] F8: Try to re-train the dogs. (Both the older dogs and the younger pups need to be trained if they are to serve well. It takes 1 extra unit of Meat per dog per day to train them, with a base 50% chance that they learn a new trick each day. Each dog can learn up to 10 tricks, while puppies can learn 15. (Which they keep once they are adults.) The adults you have already know 6 tricks. (Heel, Sit, Stay, Guard, Track, & “Housebroken”.) [No Risk: 50% chance of success.] F9: Repair the Keep. (And this is next to last because it's probably more long term, but if we can't defend ourselves everything we've built and collected could be snatched away from us...) [Low Risk] F10: Do Something Else? (We COULD spend the day doing just about anything, but it's probably not a good idea.) "Explore the Castle" and "Survey Our Domain": Each day of exploration 'clears' one building in the castle, of which there are seven, or checks out one farmstead, of which eleven remain. (As far as you know, on both counts...) Both types of exploring carry some degree of risk, exploring the castle especially, but the rewards of success will be greater than 'No Risk' actions, as we have seen already. "Repair the Keep" Uses 1 'Timber' or 'Stone' per day. Full Repair requires 40 Timber and 20 Stone, plus at least 1 follower with each of the "Wood-Wright" and "Stonemason" specialties to use more than 1/4th Timber requirement or any Stone, respectively. For each 5 Timber or Stone expended Keep's "Defense" bonus increases by 1. At certain levels of repair it's Space and Administration capacities also increase. "Do Something Else?": If you have another suggestion for what you and your sister do, leave it in a parenthetical comment. Some possibilities: Go Fishing (You don't have nets, lines, or fishhooks), Explore Up or Down The River (You could run into just about anything...), Fix up the Kitchens or Servant's Quarters (You don't have brick, mortar, tables, jars, pots, knives, cooking utensils, or cutting boards: nor hammers, nails, varnish, paint, wallpaper, cotton, wool, hemp, thread, cloth, straw, or down...), Take A Day To 'Rest' (You can 'rest' all winter...), Practice Magic (On What?), or Practice Sword-Fighting (Again, on what?) TIME TO VOTE! EDIT 2: voting will be open untill Tuesday or the entry of three plus votes.
F7 as well. Also agree about the vassals searching for more food. We need some more food before we start gathering wood.
Double votes for F7, counted and voting Closed. Explanation of the Delays: as you all may know my mother had shoulder surgery slightly more than a week ago, I've been at her house helping with her recovery, and she has no internet.
Now, you have chosen to head back to the goblins tribe today, I now must ask an unusual set of questions as we slip out of the Domain Management system and into the RPG proper: A: How much food and supplies do you pack for the Trip? A1: 3 Days: just enough to get there but not back. A2: 5 Days: enough to go, stay one day, and return. A3: 10 Days: enough to go there, stay a week, and return: or to hold a (sparse or rich, depending on Ration Level...) feast the day you arrive and then turn back the second day. B: Bring The Dogs? B1: Yes: they can guard our camp and help hunt. B2: Yes: we will train them en-route. (More supplies required.) B3: No: they will help defend our holding while we are gone. C: What pace is set for the march? (Current travel time is four six-hour marches) C1: Grueling: Travel Time Halved*; lose 1d6 MP & 2d6 HP per 6 hour march × (4 - current Ration Level in units of food consumed each day.); Random encounter chance doubled in wilderness, halved in civilised areas. C2: Push: Travel Time reduced by ⅓*, lose 1d6 MP & 1d6 HP per 6 hour march × (4 - current Ration Level in units of food consumed each day.); Random encounter chance increases by ⅙ in wilderness, reduces equally in civilised areas. C3: Average: Travel Time Standard lose 1d6 MP & 1 HP per 6 hour march × (4 - current Ration Level in units of food consumed each day.) C4: Leisurely: Travel Time +⅓*; lose 1 MP & 1 HP per 6 hour march × (4 - current Ration Level in units of food consumed each day.) Random encounter chance decreases by ⅙ in wilderness, rises equally in civilised areas. C5: Mossy: Travel Time doubles*; no MP/HP damage per 6 hour march. Random encounter chance halved in wilderness and double in civilised areas. *(Fractions rounded up.) EDIT: Hang on missed a section. EDIT2: D: Whom do you bring, and whom do you leave? (This Section is multiple choice.) D1: Bring Mister Richard Flotsam, he can speak for his family. D2: Leave (X) Goblins behind, they can stand guard and assist with the harvest. (Declare the value of X if selecting this option.) D3: Leave Corporal Wenvolt to oversee those who stay behind. D4: Leave Medic Vlashtan to see to any injury that might occur. D5: Bring Rose Blossom Harkness, she will help you appear non-threatening. (Remember, the automated task unit requires min 10 people, and there are only 8 humans...)
Well, Um, that response to the D question was, comprehensive... Unfortunately it leaves us with a tie on the D question so voting will remain open for now...
To summarize my vote: We bring Mister Richard Flotsam and Rose Blossom Harkness along, leaving the other 6 humans at base. We also leave 4 goblins behind, bringing us to the 10 members required by the automated task unit. Corporal Wenvolt will make sure the goblins won't cause any trouble, while Medic Vlashtan will take care of any injuries that happen during our absense. At least that's how I imagined it, and voted accordingly. One thing is clear: We all - all two of us, that is - agree that some goblins should stay behind.
Just to be clear: voting closes on this segment on Thursday, a third person to break the deadlock has until then to post.
Ok, I know this is late, and I offer no excuse. Without further delay here is this weekend's update! As you can see from the quote above there is some argument about who to take and whome to leave, but for the first time I am just going to pick one of the two positions and go with it: in this case moonblack's because it was the only one with fully articulated logic. Now to explain all that! You have decided to set off with your sister and some of the goblins to report back to their tribe, and hopefully convince them to join your little realm as well. You have packed 5 Days provisions for your band, though the rations remain meager. You are bringing two of the survivors of the human colonists, Mr Flotsam and young Miss Harkness. You are leaving behind the better part of your goblin minions to help the peasants keep bringing in food to survive the winter while they can, including the Corporal and Medic, you just hope you won't need them on the march... With a hearty waive you set off by mid-morning and your band sets an even and measured pace along the trails that travel back to the goblins tribe. The woods smell of mouldering leaves and birdsong fills the air as you March untill after mid-day, with only a few quick stops to eat, drink, and change your shoes. As you travel on again untill dusk, a sense of uneasy watchfulness fills the group, like something is stalking you, just out of sight and earshot. The resting is more furtive and everyone seems to be feeling on-edge, but whatever it is it holds off. You make camp well after dark, building a cheerful fire in a Grove the goblins know, where the ringing trees make a readily defensible campsite... Now for the questions: A: How do you divide up the watches? A1: let you and the civilians sleep, the goblins and your sister will stand guard. A2: only little Rose Blossom Harkness gets to sleep soundly, the rest of you each take your turn. A3: the goblins alone stand watch. A4: post no watchers, nothing will threaten you here. (And?) A5: Try to cast a spell of alarm...? B: what pace do you set tomorrow? B1: same as today. B2: faster B3: slower. (And?) B4: take part of the day to gather food...? C: What is your standard reaction if you meet a threat? C1: FIGHT! C2: Flight. C3: Talk/Sooth. C4: Defense. (Let the opponent have the initiative.) Time to vote!
A2 A5 - yes, try to cast a spell of alarm to warn you about approaching danger B1 Don't gather additional food at this time (maybe on the way back) This one's difficult: - if it is a threat that can be reasoned with - try to talk to it/them (C3) - if it is a threat that cannot be reasoned with - fight (C1), unless it is an obviously major threat that could result in the deaths of everyone in the party, in which case Defense or Flight.
A2 - in pairs, a civilian always paired up with a goblin B1 and B4 (while travel to target is peaceful, the way back might be in flight - there will be no time to hunt then) C - I agree with moonblack's chocies.
Mmmkay, do you know why I wrote C as a list of options? Because in D&D based fantasy world how do you know WHAT can be "reasoned with"? Pop quiz: 1: Which of the following monsters can be talked to and reasoned with? A: Aboleths B: Beholders C: Chimera D: Dragons E: Eyrenes F: Fire Giants G: All of the Above H: None of the Above
You wrote – a ‘threat’, and that word has quite a wide definition. Except what you wrote, you could include into the category: -a wounded Amazon -sleeping robbers -half naked woman, busy covering herself, with a pan (never underestimate the power of the PAN!) -peasant with a shovel -a sneezing old man (he could sneeze and make you ill and you could die!) -a child with a loaded crossbow (it doesn’t matter who fires it – you still die if it hit you) The second encounter – slit their throats, rest you could talk.
What majus said. "Threat" is a very broad term, and what works dealing with one threat (for example a lone skeleton) won't work for another (for example an angry red dragon). Also, I don't know enough about what counts as "D&D based fantasy world", but in general dragons can be reasoned with, and depending on the world and the individual monster encountered you might be able to talk with a Fire Giant, a Beholder, or even a Chimera, if you are lucky enough.
