Ultimate Kingdoms

SetCtiltieemse&nts Strategic Location: The settlement sits at an
important crossroads or alongside a deepwater port, or
it serves as a barrier to a pass or bridge. (Productivity
+1)

Superstitious: The community has a deep and
abiding fear of magic and the unexplained, but this fear
has caused its citizens to become more supportive and
loyal to each other and their settlement. (Crime –2; Law
and Society +1; reduce spellcasting by 2 levels)

Tourist Attraction: The settlement possesses some
sort of landmark or event that draws visitors from far
and wide. (Productivity +1)

Settlement
Disadvantages

Just as a settlement can have unusual qualities
to enhance its statistics, it can also suffer from
disadvantages. There’s no limit to the number of
disadvantages a community can suffer, but most do
not have disadvantages, since a settlement plagued
by disadvantages for too long eventually collapses. A
disadvantage can arise as the result of an event or action
taken by a powerful or influential NPC or PC. Likewise,
by going on a quest or accomplishing a noteworthy
deed, a group of heroes can remove a settlement’s
disadvantage. Several disadvantages are listed below.

Anarchy: The settlement has no leaders—this type
of community is often short-lived and dangerous.
(Replaces settlement’s Government and removes
Government adjustments to modifiers; Corruption and
Crime +2; Productivity and Society –2; Law –3; Danger
+20)

Cursed: Some form of curse afflicts the city. Its
citizens might be prone to violence or suffer ill luck,
or they could be plagued by an infestation of pests.
(Choose one modifier and reduce its value by 2)

Hunted: A powerful group or monster uses the city as
its hunting ground. Citizens live in fear and avoid going
out on the streets unless necessary. (Productivity, Law,
and Society –2; Danger +20)

Impoverished: Because of any number of factors, the
settlement is destitute. Poverty, famine, and disease run
rampant. (Corruption and Crime +1; halve magic item
availability)

Plagued: The community is suffering from a
protracted contagion or malady. (–2 to all modifiers;
select a communicable disease—there’s a 5% chance
each day that a PC is exposed to the disease and must
make a Constitution save to avoid contracting the
illness)

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtilteiemse&nts

Sample Settlements Demographics

While it’s nice to be prepared and planning out cities Government secret syndicate
can be fun in and of itself, it’s not always possible to Population 10,000 (6,000 humans; 1,500 halflings;
generate specific settlement stat blocks for every town
and city that the PCs might visit. Sometimes the PCs 1,000 half-orcs; 750 dwarves; 750 other)
decide to venture off in search of supplies instead of
heading straight for the next dungeon, other times they Marketplace
make selling their newly acquired loot their highest
priority. The following sample settlements are designed Spellcasting 7th
for precisely such occasions. Rather than a specific Common Items 4d4; Uncommon Items 3d4; Rare
name, each of these sample settlements bears a generic
title that indicates what kind of settlement it is or where Items 1d6
it might be located.
LE metropolis City-State of Intrigue
Capital City
Corruption +7; Crime +5; Law +0; Lore +5;
N large city
Corruption +0; Crime +2; Law +2; Lore +5; Productivity +2; Society +1
Qualities holy site, notorious, prosperous,
Productivity +5; Society +2
Qualities academic, holy site, prosperous, strategic rumormongering citizens, strategic location,

location, tourist attraction superstitious
Danger +10 Danger +20; Disadvantages anarchy

Demographics Demographics
Government anarchy
Government autocracy Population 55,000 (31,000 humans; 10,000 halflings;
Population 18,000 (14,000 humans; 1,000 dwarves;
8,000 elves; 2,000 half-elves; 1,000 gnomes; 3,000
1,000 halflings; 500 elves; 1,500 other)
other)
Marketplace
Marketplace
Spellcasting 9th
Common Items 4d4; Uncommon Items 3d4; Rare Spellcasting 8th

Items 2d4 Common Items all available; Uncommon Items 4d4;

City of Thieves Rare Items 3d4

CN small city NE hamlet Creepy Backwoods Hamlet
Corruption +2; Crime +4; Law –3; Lore +3;
Corruption 0; Crime –4; Law 0; Lore –1; Productivity
Productivity +3; Society +1
Qualities academic, notorious, racially intolerant –2; Society –7
Qualities insular
(halflings), tourist attraction Danger –5; Disadvantages cursed
Danger +15
Demographics
Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307) Government overlord
Population 23 (23 humans)

Marketplace
Spellcasting 2nd
Common Items 1d6; Uncommon Items —; Rare Items—

48

SetCtiltieemse&nts Dwarven Trade Town Founding a
Settlement
LG large town
Corruption +0; Crime +0; Law 0; Lore –1; Before you can start your own kingdom, you first need a
base of operations—a fort, village, or other settlement—
Productivity +2; Society +3 where you can rest between adventures and where
Qualities pious, prosperous, strategic location your citizens know they can find you if they need help
Danger +5 or want to pay their taxes. Once you have a kingdom,
you’ll want to create more settlements in order for the
Demographics kingdom to grow and prosper. To found a settlement,
you must perform the following steps. (These steps
Government council assume you’re building a new settlement from scratch; if
Population 2,500 (2,000 dwarves; 400 humans; 100 you’re attempting to incorporate an existing settlement
into your kingdom, see Free City under Special Terrain.)
other)
Step 1:Acquire funds. You’ll need money and
Marketplace resources in the form of build points.

Spellcasting 6th Step 2:Explore and clear a hex. You’ll need to explore
Common Items 3d4; Uncommon Items 2d4; Rare the hex where you want to put the settlement. See the
Exploration Time column on the Terrain and Terrain
Items 1d4 Improvements table to see how long this takes. Once you
have explored the hex, clear it of monsters and dangerous
Elven Town hazards. The time needed to clear it depends on the
nature of the threats; this step is usually handled by you
CG small town completing adventures there to kill or drive out monsters.
Corruption –1; Crime +1; Law +0; Lore +1;
Step 3:Claim the hex as yours. Once you have BP
Productivity 0; Society 0 and have explored and cleared the hex, you can claim it.
Qualities magically attuned, racially intolerant Spend 1 BP to do so; this represents setting up very basic
infrastructure such as clearing paths, hiring patrols,
(dwarves, half-orcs, humans) setting up a tent city, and so on. This establishes the
Danger +0 hex as part of your kingdom (or the beginning of your
kingdom).
Demographics
Step 4:Prepare the site for construction. To put
Government magical a settlement on a claimed hex, you’ll need to prepare
Population 1,300 (1,000 elves; 100 gnomes; 100 half- it. Depending on the site, this process may involve
clearing trees, moving boulders, digging sanitation
elves; 100 other) trenches, and so on. See the Preparation Cost column
on the Terrain and Terrain Improvements table for
Marketplace the BP cost. If your settlement is in a hex containing a
canal, lake, ocean, river, or similar large body of water,
Spellcasting 7th you must decide which of your settlement’s borders
Common Items 3d4; Uncommon Items 1d6; Rare are water (riverbanks, lakeshores, or seashores) or
land. Some types of buildings, such as Mills, Piers, and
Items — Waterfronts, must be adjacent to water.

Failing Fishing Village Step 5: Construct your first buildings. Construct 1
building in your settlement and pay its BP cost. If this
LN village is your kingdom’s first settlement, you should start with
Corruption +0; Crime –4; Law +2; Lore +1; an Inn, Shrine, Monastery, or Watchtower. In addition,
you may also purchase and construct 1 House, Mansion,
Productivity –1; Society +0 Noble Villa, or Tenement. If your first building is an
Qualities rumormongering citizens, superstitious Inn, you must construct a House or Tenement next to
Danger +0; Disadvantages impoverished it, as building an Inn requires an adjacent House or
Tenement.
Demographics
When you complete these steps, you’ve founded your
Government autocracy settlement! If this is your first settlement, it’s considered
Population 70 (63 humans, 6 halflings, 1 half-elf) your kingdom’s capital city.

Marketplace

Spellcasting 1st
Common Items 1d4; Uncommon Items 1d2; Rare

Items —

Sleepy Crossroads Thorp

NG thorp
Corruption –4; Crime –4; Law –5; Lore –4;

Productivity –4; Society –1
Qualities strategic location
Danger –10

Demographics

Government council
Population 16 (13 humans, 2 halflings, 1 dwarf)

Marketplace

Spellcasting 1st
Common Items 1d4; Uncommon Items —; Rare Items

—

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtilteiemse&nts

Claiming Water and Islands

When you claim a hex that contains part of an ocean or lake, your claim includes the water portion of that hex. In
effect, your kingdom automatically controls a small portion of the waters adjacent to its coastline. Because any new
hex you claim must be adjacent to an existing hex in your kingdom, if you want to claim land beyond that water
(such as an island), you must first explore and claim the intervening deep-water hexes. Your exploration only applies
to the water’s surface—you are searching for uncharted islands, dangerous reefs, and so on. The GM may want to
treat the underwater portion of a hex as a separate hex, much like a network of large caves under a hex may count as
its own hex, allowing a village of merfolk or sahuagin to thrive in your kingdom without your knowledge.

Table 2-4: Terrain and Terrain Improvements

TERRAIN EXPLORATION PREPARATION PREPARATION FARM 4 ROAD5,6
TIME1 TIME2 COST3

Cavern7 3 days 3 months 8 BP — 4 BP

Coastline8 Special Special Special Special Special

Desert 2 days 1 month 4 BP 8 BP 4 BP

Forest 2 days 2 months 4 BP — 2 BP

Hills 1 day 1 month 2 BP 4 BP 3 BP

Jungle 2 days 4 months 12 BP — 4 BP
Marsh 3 days 3 months 8 BP — 4 BP

Mountains 3 days 4 months 12 BP — 4 BP

Plains 1 day Immediate 1 BP 2 BP 1 BP

Water 2 days — — — —

1 Exploration time represents how many days a typical scouting party requires to explore a hex of this type. Treat Cavern as Mountain and Jungle as
Marsh for exploration time. Do not adjust the speed for Water hexes; it’s assumed that the party is already using a boat or other watercraft to explore.

2 Preparation time represents the months of labor (beginning with the current turn) required to prepare the hex for settlement. Construction of build-
ings can begin in the current month for settlements built on plains.

3 Preparation cost represents the BP cost to clear a hex of this type in preparation for founding a settlement.

4 F arm cost represents the BP cost to cultivate a hex for farming. A Farm must be within or adjacent to a hex containing a river, lake, swamp, or Ca-
nal, or adjacent to at least 2 hexes that already contain Farms.

5 Road cost represents the BP cost to establish a Road that crosses a hex and connects to all adjacent hexes. The cost to build a Road doubles if the hex
contains rivers. A kingdom with a Size of 26 or greater can build a Highway (or upgrade a Road to a Highway).

6 I f the hex contains any rivers, double the listed cost to reflect the need to build bridges.

7 T his is a large system of caves and underground passages and can be found in any terrain type except Marsh. It functions as an additional hex that
exists underground, below the surface hex.

8 T reat this as the adjacent land terrain type for all purposes. 50

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts SLeayttinlegmOeuntta Most settlements only have 1 district. If your District
Grid is full and you want to add another district (for
To organize your settlements, you can use the mechanic example, if you run out of available lots in that settlement
of a District Grid is divided into 9 large blocks, and and want to construct additional buildings), you can
each block into four smaller lots; however, this does not create an additional district for that settlement by paying
mean that every city district is literally a square grid. the preparation cost for the settlement’s terrain as
Real world cities of the Middle Ages and Renaissance listed on Table 2-4: Terrain and Terrain Improvements.
come in all shapes and sizes, and so too do fantasy Remember that your kingdom’s Control DC is based on
cities; the grid is merely an abstraction to help organize the number of districts in your settlement.
information about how the city is organized and what
parts of it are near one another. You can use the grid to The placement of buildings in your district is up to
represent an actual map of the settlement, or you could you—you can start in the center of the district and
split the lots apart and rearrange them on either side of build outward or start at the edge and build toward the
a river or across several islands or atop and alongside a center. Some buildings (such as the Guildhall) take up
hill or cliff. The visual representation of a city is limited more than 1 lot on the grid, and you may build them so
only by your imagination, while the grid serves as a tool that they occupy a single block or in such a way as to
to build out the city in a logical way. As a rule of thumb, straddle two adjoining blocks.
each building lot is assumed to be 200 feet on a side,
though if you prefer a larger, more spread-out city you Construction: Construction is completed in the same
could have lots up to 750 feet on a side, which if placed turn you spend BP for the building, no matter what its
in a square arrangement would give you a district about size is. A building’s benefits apply to your kingdom
1 mile square. Whatever their size, on each lot you may immediately. At the GM’s discretion, construction
construct a building, and each building affects your magic (such as fabricate or wall of stone) can reduce
kingdom’s Economy, Loyalty, and so on. a single building’s BP cost by 2 (minimum 0). This is a
one-time reduction per turn, regardless of the amount
Much like the blocks and lots themselves, when you of magic used.
construct a “building” in your settlement, this also is a
convenient abstraction to describe the kind of buildings Population: As a simple rule of thumb, a settlement’s
you are creating on that lot. While some of the larger population is approximately equal to the number of
buildings might in fact be standalone buildings, like an completed lots within its districts × 250. A grid that
Arena, Castle, or Cathedral, for the most part a “lot” of has all 36 lots filled with buildings has a population of
buildings is assumed to contain numerous buildings approximately 9,000.
of a similar kind clustered together, along with living
quarters for many of their patrons and proprietors. An Defense: A settlement’s Defense is used with the
“Inn” filling a lot is not a single sprawling structure mass combat rules. It otherwise has no effect unless the
covering 40,000 square feet (for a 200-foot-square lot) settlement is attacked. You can increase a settlement’s
or over half a million square feet - the size of a large Defense by building certain structures (such as
urban convention center in the modern world - if using City Walls).
750-foot-square lots. Instead, that “Inn” may represent a
dozen or more similar businesses all devoted to a similar Cities,
trade, or a smaller number of establishments plus a Towns, and
variety of homes, apartments, and support businesses Villages
clustered around them, with streets and alleys winding
amongst the buildings in each block. Building settlements can be done with a simple and
direct system, where you pay BP each month to construct
If you decide to name your buildings, be they Inns, new buildings and they are constructed immediately.
Arenas, Cathedrals, or any other building, that name This can stretch suspension of disbelief, creating a
might refer to the largest and most prosperous business feeling that settlements do not spring up organically
of its kind on the block rather than a massive business but rather are constructed by selective cherry-picking
that owns the entire space. Alternatively, you could of a few key building types. The kingdom rules do allow
simply treat any proper name you give it as the name for upgrading existing buildings, so that a Shrine can
of the district or neighborhood as a whole. In many grow into a Temple, for example, and eventually into a
real-world cities, a particular street or park may lend its grand Cathedral, rewarding players who want to build
name to the entire neighborhood of which it is a part. their kingdom from the ground up rather than building
This works just as well when creating a fantasy city, backwards with large buildings first in order to reap
especially if you develop squares of similar lots together discounts on smaller buildings that logically should
to form cohesive, natural parts of your city. have preceded them. The rules presented here extend

51

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

that principle beyond the individual building level and balancing industry with education and trade with the SetCtilteiemse&nts
into how players can begin laying out their settlement lingering vestiges of provincial traditions.
on the abstracted district grid.
Cities occupy a full district grid of nine city squares
Alternatively, you can use a more organic method for (36 lots), and a city with multiple districts becomes a
growing the cities in your kingdom, which is founded on metropolis, with population reaching into the tens of
the simple proposition that every city starts as a village, thousands and beyond.
and that growth of that village proceeds naturalistically
into a town, and thence to a city and a great multi- Preparing the Site: Once you have chosen your
district metropolis. In a village, it is simply not possible city’s new location, after exploring a hex, clearing it of
to muster the local logistical support and the willing dangers, and claiming it as part of your kingdom, you
cooperation of the first need to expend Building Points and spend the time
settlers to create strange
and unbalanced settlements required for the terrain
built of nothing but Caster’s type to prepare the city site.
Towers, Dumps, and Once you have cleared the
Graveyards, or whatever the site for a village, you need
most optimal mechanical not clear it again as your
combination of buildings city grows and expands.
might seem to be. Instead, If the hex contains a river
these rules help provide a or coastline, one or more
naturalistic evolution of borders of the district
your settlements and the grid can be designated
buildings therein. as water borders; record
these choices on each
Villages: When a border of your district
settlement is founded, it grid. In addition, at the
begins its existence as a GM’s discretion you may
village, a small group of designate any number
buildings situated around of lots within your
some appealing natural city to contain natural
feature or existing trade- waterways, whether still
way. Villages may grow water ponds or lakes or
slowly, serving as the focus flowing rivers or canals
of social and commercial running through the city.
life in rural areas, though Any waterways that are
they can grow rapidly if not designated at the time
your rulers wish. of the district’s creation
must be constructed later
Villages occupy one on as though they were
city square (4 lots) and buildings. If a waterway
typically have a population is adjacent to a border of
of 200 or less. the district map, you must
build Watergates whenever
Towns: Villages growing you construct City Walls.
beyond their initial square
evolve into towns as Sharing the Site:
business increases and A standard hex in the
more settlers move to avail kingdom-building rules is
themselves of greater opportunities for work, trade, and 12 miles across, giving an approximate area of close to
access to services. Single-family dwellings may soon be 150 square miles. As such, there is plenty of room for a
outnumbered by crowded apartments built over the top city to coexist with another improvement in the same
of inns, workshops, or other businesses. hex, including farms, mines, roads, canals, sawmills,
and quarries.
Small towns have a population of 2,000 or less, while
the largest towns can reach 5,000. Towns can occupy up Base Settlement Statistics: The basic characteristics
to four city squares (16 lots). of each type of settlement are listed below. These are
the default statistics for a settlement of the given size,
Cities: Towns whose prosperity allows them to before any buildings are built. Villages tend to be
continue expanding grow into true cities, sprawling sparsely populated, but population growth accelerates
tangles of streets and buildings where lavish culture swiftly as cities accrete.
walks hand in hand with crime and corruption,

52

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts Village Magic Items: The number and general strength of
magical items that can be found for sale in a settlement
Size: 1 square (1-4 lots) of this size in a given month. Certain buildings can add
to these totals. At the GM’s discretion, items unsold each
Population: Buildings in a village contain half the month may disappear (sold to or stolen by unknown
listed population. parties), remain available, or be replaced by new items.

Consumption: 1 BP per 2 villages (rounded down) Optional Rule: Exotic Items: Mundane items of
exotic construction may be limited in their availability
City Attributes: -2 (-10 Danger) as though they were magic items, whether made from
special materials like mithral or simply exotic and
Magic Items: 1d3-1 common rare items like Asian-themed weapons in a European-
styled milieu, poisons, alchemical items, firearms, and
Town exotic weapons of all kinds may be treated similarly to
magical items in order to reflect their rarity. In this case,
Size: 2-4 squares (5-16 lots) such items would replace magical items of similar cost;
hence, they would usually fill the slots of common or
Population: Buildings in a town contain the listed uncommon items.
population.
Optional Rule: Secret Sales: Magic items may be
Consumption: 1 BP per town difficult to locate, as trade in them might be conducted
more often through brokers and consignments than
City Attributes: +0 through direct purchase; after all, magic item crafters
have ample reason to fear theft or violence and would
Magic Items: 1d4-1 common, 1d3-1 uncommon tend to be reasonably paranoid about conducting
their business in person. In any case, trying to find
City particular items for purchase could require a Charisma
(Persuasion) check to gather information (DC 15 for
Size: 5+ squares (17-36 lots) common items, +5 for uncommom items, +10 for rare or
very rare items, +15 for legendary items; -5 for potions
Population: Buildings in a city contain double the and scrolls), with each attempt to find an item taking
listed population. 1d4 hours.

Consumption: 2 BP per city Optional Rule: Spellcasting Services: The level
of available spellcasting by NPCs is not restricted
City Attributes: +1 (+5 Danger) in the published rules. The 5E SRD contains simple
guidelines for purchasing spellcasting services from
Magic Items: 1d6-1 common, 1d4-1 uncommon, NPCs, whether in the form of magical scrolls or simply
1d3-1 rare payment for casting, but there is nothing officially
restricting the level of caster available other than GM
Metropolis fiat. The base settlement rules contain guidelines for
available spellcasting in a given settlement based on its
Size: 10+ squares (21+ lots). Any city with multiple size, from tiny thorp to a bustling metropolis, and you
districts is a metropolis. A city can add an additional can certainly use those rules to determine the level of
district whenever it has filled at least half of its existing spells available for casting, determining the population
lots with buildings, with at least one building in each of your settlement and using the tables provided.
city square. However, to fulfill the water and sanitation
needs of a large city, it must have a river, coastline, The kingdom-building rules, however, provide a
canal, or completed aqueduct in the city’s hex in order malleable system for building cities that are more
to grow beyond one district and become a metropolis. or less magically inclined, and so cities built using
Adding a city district to an existing city costs 1 BP. these rules will not necessarily produce the typical
or average results when it comes to caster availability,
Population: Buildings in a metropolis contain double just as they follow the kingdom rulership system’s
the listed population. rules for producing magical items rather than the
arbitrary figures for settlement size described in the
Consumption: 2 BP per city district Settlement Rules.

City Attributes: +1 (+5 Danger) per city district To have spellcasting services depend on the buildings
constructed in a settlement, you can instead use the
Magic Items: +1 of each type per city district after following rule. At baseline, no NPC spellcasting is
the first. available. However, constructing certain buildings can
increase the caster level in the settlement where they
City Attributes: The settlement characteristics are built. Constructing an Alchemist, Bardic College,
of Corruption, Crime, Law, Lore, Productivity, and
Society are modified as listed depending on the size
of the settlement; all settlement characteristics are
lower in a small village but intensified the larger a
city grows. Danger modifies any die rolls made to
determine random encounters or random kingdom
events that would occur in the city, assuming that
higher numbers represent greater danger in those
events or encounters.

53

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

much larger than their physical size. Look no further SetCtilteiemse&nts
than the Black Market; would a secret hidden market
Sacred Grove, Shrine, or Temple increases the level of for fencing and smuggling stolen goods really be a
spells by 1, while building a Caster’s Tower, Cathedral, massive building a quarter of a mile long? Again, the
or Magical Academy increases the available level Build Points you spend to create such buildings and
of spells by 2. Each building of a given type can only the “space” they take up on your city map represent the
increase caster level in its settlement once, regardless total investment in material and human(oid) resources
of how many are built. However, if a Library or that go into setting up and maintaining the ongoing
Observatory is constructed adjacent to one of the business of that square, including dwellings for people
above buildings, it increases that building’s spell level that work there, goods to buy and sell, bribes and taxes
increase by one. If it is adjacent to two buildings that to pay, and all the necessities of everyday life.
increase spellcasting, its benefit applies to only one of
the buildings. Regardless of how many buildings are That said, you of course can use the city grid as a
constructed, villages cannot provide NPC spellcasting map if you wish. If you would like a city that is very
services greater than 3rd level spells, towns no greater sparsely laid out and sprawling, your lots could be as
than 5th level, and cities no greater than 8th. large as 750 feet on a side, making each District Grid
cover about one square mile. If you would like your
UGrsiindgtoa DMiasktreict city lots to represent actual lots and the streets and
Your City alleyways actual thoroughfares, a size estimate for each
lot of around 200 feet on a side is much closer to the
You can use the model of a District Grid to help organize historical realities of medieval Europe, with each lot
how you build your city. A District Grid is arranged into covering about an acre of land. Even so, bear in mind
nine squares, each containing 4 lots, for a total of 36 lots, that although the cut-out images might show a single
though this grid does not mean that every city is designed building to indicate what kind of “building” you have
as a literal square. The grid is a tool for organization, not constructed, each lot that you create typically reflects
really a map or visual snapshot of your city. It allows far more than a single edifice. A great cathedral like
you to quickly reference the important buildings and Notre Dame de Paris really would cover a two-acre span
neighborhoods in your city. Even if you use cut-out of two lots, but most lots with a House would include a
counters or images to represent each building, those dozen petty merchants and shopkeepers hawking their
are intended more to represent the relative importance wares. The edge of the district grid could represent a
of the various buildings they construct, which may be river, city wall, or even a natural cliff, but it could also
represent the edge where the city ends its construction
or continues uninterrupted into another district.

When using the district grid as a map, it may be more
visually interesting to cut each four-lot square apart,
rearranging those squares into whatever orientation
or shape that matches the geography you and your
players envision for the city. It may be laid out around
a crescent-shaped harbor, stretched out along a great
causeway or a rugged peninsula, or even split in two by
a waterway down the middle. However you arrange the
city’s squares, remember that it is a tool for organization,
not a straitjacket on your creativity.

Buildings
You improve settlements by constructing buildings,
which provide bonuses to the kingdom in general
and the settlement in particular. Some buildings also
intersect with the Mass Combat rules in Chapter 3,
notably with fortifications and reserve armies.

Demolition: If a lot has a building, you can clear it for
new construction. Doing so costs 1 BP. You may construct
a building on a lot the same turn you demolish the old
building there. You do not regain BP for a demolished
building (but see Rebuilding, below).

Destroyed Lots: If an event or a pillaging army

destroys 1 or more lots, the devastation causes Unrest to

increase by 1 per lot destroyed. 54

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts slot vacant. The first is to purchase it with your own gp,
or otherwise acquire it, which makes it your personal
Rebuilding: If you rebuild the same type of building property and means you may do with it what you
on a destroyed lot, the cost is halved, as you can reuse please (use it, sell it for gold, deposit it in the kingdom’s
some of the materials for the same purpose. If you Treasury during the next Income phase, use it as a
rebuild a different type of building on that lot, reduce reward for a local general, and so on).
the cost of the new building by 1/4 the cost of the old
building (minimum 1 BP). If you build smaller buildings The second method is to manipulate your kingdom’s
on top of a site that held a multi-lot building, split the economy to encourage an NPC to purchase the item (such
discount evenly over the new buildings. For example, as a random adventurer passing through the settlement).
if you demolish an Academy and construct a Mansion During Step 3 of the Income phase, you may attempt one
and a Luxury Store on top of those lots, each building Economy check for each filled slot you want to empty.
gets a 6 BP discount (1/4 of 52 BP is 13, divided evenly For every such check after the first one in a turn, your
between the two). Economy decreases by 1, since these manipulations are
harmful to your kingdom’s economy and typically only
serve to get rid of an item you consider undesirable. If
the check fails, nothing happens. If the check succeeds,
erase the item from that slot; you may attempt to fill the
empty slot as normal in the next Upkeep phase. You do
not gain any gp or BP from this sale; the money goes to
the building’s owner, who uses it to acquire or craft the
next item.

The third way is to spend BP (1 BP = 2,000 gp) to
purchase the item. If you take the item for your own
use, this counts as withdrawing BP from the Treasury
for your personal use (see Make Withdrawals from
the Treasury). If you use the item in a way that doesn’t
directly benefit you or the other PCs (such as giving it
to a hero of your army or donating it to a settlement as
a religious or historical artifact), then purchasing it is
essentially like other kingdom expenditures and does
not increase Unrest or decrease Loyalty.

Magic Items in
Settlements
Some buildings increase the likelihood of having
specific magic items available for purchase.

Gaining Item Slots: When you construct one of these Constructing
buildings, mark the appropriate boxes in the Magic Buildings
Items section of the settlement’s District Grid; this
indicates that the settlement has gained a slot for an Once you’ve prepared your city district, you can start
item of that type. to build. The placement of buildings in your district is
left to you, but two-lot and four-lot structures cannot
Filling Item Slots: In Step 3 of the Upkeep phase, be split up (although they can span streets). When
you roll to fill vacant magic item slots in each district. you decide to place a building, you can use the cut-out
Roll d% once for each district that has an open magic icon for the appropriate type of structure and affix the
item slot (if the district has more than one, select one building where you wish in your city grid. If you decide
randomly). There is a 50% chance (51–100) that an you’d rather go with a more gradual building process
appropriate magic item becomes available in that slot.
The GM selects or randomly determines the item or
items available.

Emptying Item Slots: If you are unsatisfied with
a magic item generated by a settlement, there are
three ways to purge an undesirable item and make its

55

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

rather than instantaneous construction, you can use the table below to guide a more organic evolution of humble
villages growing into bustling towns and sprawling cities.

Table 2-5: Building Characteristics

BUILDING NAME CONSTRUCTION POP. FAME TYPE DISCOUNT SetCtilteiemse&nts
Dance Hall, Inn, Stables, Theater
Academy 6 BP/4 months 100 yes town
Aerie 6 BP/3 months 10 - town Bureau
6 BP/3 months 10 - town Library, Museum, Theater
Alchemist 4 BP/10 months 100 yes city
Arena 5 BP/6 months 50 yes city Academy, Graveyard, Temple
4 BP/7 months 10 - city Lighthouse, Monument, Observatory, Park
Assembly 5 BP/8 months 50 yes city
Bank 6 BP/1 month 20 - village Jail
4 BP/1 month 20 - town
Bardic College 10 BP/5 months 20 - city Smithy
Barracks 6 BP/1 month 20 - village Barracks, City Wall, Watchtower
Baths 4 BP/4 months 50 - village
4 BP/1 month 20 - town Trade Shop, Warehouse
Black Market 6 BP/1 month - - town Menagerie, Monument, Park, Sacred Grove
Brewery 5 BP/2 months 20 - city
Brickyard 6 BP/6 months 10 - town Pier
Bordello 5 BP/12 months 200 yes town
Bridge 5 BP/12 months 100 yes city
Bureau 6 BP/1 month - - town
2 BP/1 month - - village
Caster’s Tower 5 BP/12 months - yes city
Castle 4 BP/4 months 20 - town
4 BP/1 month 10 - town
Cathedral 4 BP/1 month 30 - villlage
Cistern 4 BP/1 month 10 - town
5 BP/2 months 10 - town
City Walls 5 BP/6 months 100 - city
Colossus 4 BP/4 months 50 - town
Courthouse 5 BP/2 months 20 - town
Crematorium 5 BP/6 months 200 - town
Dance Hall 6 BP/6 months 100 - town
5 BP/2 months - - village
Dump 4 BP/1 month - - village
Exotic Artisan 4 BP/12 months 20 yes city
Foreign Quarter 6 BP/2 months 10 - village
5 BP/6 months 100 - city
Foundry 4 BP/1 month 50 - village
Gambling Den 5 BP/2 months 30 - village
7 BP/2 months 50 - village
Garrison 4 BP/2 months 10 - village
Guildhall 6 BP/4 months 10 - town
Granary 6 BP/2 months 50 - village
Graveyard 7 BP/4 months 10 - town
Hanging Gardens 6 BP/11 months 10 - city
Herbalist
Hospital

House
Inn
Jail

Library
Lighthouse
Lumberyard
Luxury Store
Magic Shop

56

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Magical Academy 6 BP/10 months 50 yes city Caster’s Tower, Library, Magic Shop

Mansion 5 BP/2 months 30 - village

Market 6 BP/8 months 100 - town Inn, Shop, Tavern

Menagerie 4 BP/4 months 100 yes city

SetCtiltieemse&nts Military Academy 6 BP/6 months 100 yes town Barracks

Mill 4 BP/2 months 20 - village

Mint 6 BP/5 months 10 yes city

Moat 2 BP/1 month - - village

Monastery 4 BP/4 months 50 - village

Monument 6 BP/1 month - - village

Museum 6 BP/5 months 20 yes town

Noble Villa 6 BP/4 months 50 yes town Exotic Artisan, Luxury Store

Observatory 3 BP/4 months 10 - city

Orphanage 4 BP/2 months 50 - city

Palace 6 BP/18 months 200 yes city Mansion, Mint, Noble Villa

Park 4 BP/1 month - - town

Paved Streets 4 BP/6 months - - city

Piers 4 BP/4 months 20 - village

Sacred Grove 4 BP/3 months 10 - village

Sewer System 4 BP/6 months - - city Cistern, Dump

Shop 4 BP/2 months 20 - village

Shrine 4 BP/2 months 10 - village

Smithy 6 BP/1 month 10 - village

Stable 5 BP/2 months 10 - village

Stockyard 5 BP/4 months 100 - village Stable, Tannery

Tannery 6 BP/1 month 20 - village

Tavern 6 BP/2 months 20 - village

Temple 4 BP/8 months 50 - town Graveyard, Shrine

Tenement 1 BP/0 months 100 - town

Theater 4 BP/6 months 50 - town Exotic Artisan, Inn

Town Hall 6 BP/4 months 50 - town Cistern, Courthouse, Dump, Jail, Monument

Trade Shop 5 BP/2 months 10 - village

Tunnels 8 BP/2 months - - town

University 6 BP/8 months 200 yes city Academy, Bardic College, Library, Magical
Academy, Military Academy, Museum, Observatory

Warehouse 8 BP/2 months 20 - town

Watchtower 6 BP/2 months 20 - village

Waterfront 6 BP/12 months 200 - city Black Market, Guildhall, Market, Piers,

Watergate 2 BP/1 month - - town

Waterway 3 BP/1 month - - town

Windmill 8 BP/2 months 10 - village

Construction: The rules in Kingdoms assume that all to construct it. The building’s bonuses and modifiers
buildings are constructed more or less instantaneously, go into effect immediately in the month in which
in the same month that they are paid for with Building construction is completed. Hence, if the Improvement
Points as part of an Improvement Edict. In you wish Edict is issued in March and the building takes 1 month
to increase verisimilitude, however, these rules assume to complete, it is finished in April and its modifiers
that buildings take a certain amount of time to construct, apply to kingdom turn activities and any other game
staff, and put into operation. The numbers listed above effects starting in April. A building taking 4 months
give a construction time for each building, counting to complete would be finished in July and its modifiers
from the month that an Improvement Edict is issued would apply then.

57

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Population: Each time you construct a building of this SetCtilteiemse&nts
type, add the listed population to the city’s population.
As described above, note that this number is halved for this is an abstraction. Building just one City Wall does
buildings in a village and doubled for buildings in a city not mean that you actually have a square city with a
or metropolis. These population figures include workers wall on one side of it and no defenses on the others.
who live in and around a building. Instead, each City Wall is an abstracted measure of its
perimeter fortifications. A single City Wall might be a
Fame: Construction of a building of this type brings rampart and palisade, a second a stout curtain wall, a
notoriety and acclaim to the kingdom, but these third buttresses and plinths to reinforce the wall, and
buildings are also expensive to maintain. For each a fourth covered battlements, embrasures, arrow slits,
building of this type, the kingdom gains 1 point of and machicolations. Building City Walls and Moats
Fame, but the kingdom’s Consumption also increases by reflects the total investment in the outer defenses of
1. If the building’s Consumption is not paid, the Fame a settlement, and larger settlements require a larger
bonus is lost. If you are not using the optional Fame and expenditure to protect and patrol a larger perimeter.
Infamy rules, ignore this column.
If you are using the optional Cities, Towns, and
Type: Not every kind of building can be constructed Villages rules, a single City Wall or Moat is sufficient
in a tiny village. Sometimes the infrastructure and to surround an entire village, and further such defenses
manpower needed to establish and maintain such a cannot be built. A town can support two City Walls or
building simply does not exist. Only buildings marked Moats, and a full-sized city can of course incorporate
village can be constructed in a village. When the village four City Walls or Moats, one for each border of the
expands into a town, it can still construct village district map. A metropolis can support four City
buildings as well as having new options to construct Walls or Moats on each district map, although internal
town buildings. A city, of course, can construct buildings borders where one city district abuts another share any
of any type. For ease of reference, a compilation of City Wall and Moat along that border; the bonuses for
buildings suitable for each settlement type is listed here: any mutual wall apply only once to the city’s Defense
modifier, not once for each city district. Such internal
Village: Barracks, Brewery, Brickyard*, City Walls, fortifications partition a city into sections and provide
Dance Hall, Granary, Graveyard, Herbalist, House, greater security should one part of the city be breached.
Inn, Jail, Library, Lumberyard*, Mansion, Mill, Moat,
Monastery, Monument, Pond*, Shop, Shrine, Smithy, 58
Stable, Stockyard, Tannery, Tavern, Trade Shop,
Watchtower

Town: Academy, Alchemist, Bridge, Caster’s Tower,
Castle, Cistern, Courthouse, Dump, Exotic Artisan,
Foundry, Garrison, Guildhall, Lake*, Luxury Store,
Military Academy, Museum, Noble Villa, Park, Temple,
Tenement, Theater, Town Hall, Watergate, Waterway

City: Arena, Bank, Bardic College, Black Market,
Bureau, Cathedral, Foreign Quarter, Hospital, Magic
Shop, Magical Academy, Menagerie, Mint, Observatory,
Orphanage, Palace, Paved Streets, Sewer System,
University, Waterfront

Discount: Presented here for easy visual reference
is a listing of buildings for which a discount applies
after having constructed a building of the appropriate
type. As described in the published rules, each discount
reduces the cost in Building Points of the companion
building by half, but this discount applies only once. If
two buildings provide a discount on the same type of
building, those discounts apply separately; they cannot
be combined.

City Walls and
Moats

City Walls and Moats do not occupy any space on a
district map; instead, they exist along one or more
sides of a city district. As described above, of course,

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts Optional Rule: While internal City Walls and Moats squares in this product; the officially published lot
do provide greater security, it’s also reasonable to assert size of 750 feet produces an area for each lot of over
that they constrain the free flow of people and goods half a million square feet), but perhaps a dozen or
through a city as they must pass through bottlenecks more similar businesses all devoted to a similar trade.
at gates, drawbridges, and checkpoints, restrictions that While this would seem to militate against using one
do not exist in an open city. As a result, a kingdom takes business’ name for the whole business district, the
a -1 penalty to Economy for every four City Walls and/ level of abstraction in the kingdom-building rules cuts
or Moats in the kingdom. By the same token, the greater both ways. The district could simply be named after
safety provided by such fortifications grants a +1 bonus the largest and most prosperous business of its kind, or
to Stability for every four City Walls and/or Moats in you could simply treat any proper name you give it as
the kingdom. You could apply this bonus generally the name of the district or neighborhood as a whole. In
to all Stability checks, or you could restrict it solely many real-world cities, a particular street or park may
to Stability checks made to quell or resist dangerous lend its name to the entire neighborhood of which it is
kingdom events. a part. This works just as well when creating a fantasy
city, especially if you develop squares of similar lots
Neighborhoods together to form cohesive, natural parts of your city.

While the idea that a “building” in the kingdom-building Duplicate Buildings
sense is an abstraction that includes homes, businesses,
and all manner of supportive activity makes sense, it Nothing strains credulity like repeatedly constructing
still feels a bit awkward when your mind may conceive the same maximally efficient building over and over
of mixed-use development of houses and businesses again. As a simple countermeasure to represent the
growing up side by side. If so, you can construct your city diminishing returns on such a strategy, once a building
squares in the form of neighborhoods. A neighborhood of a given type has been constructed in a city district,
must contain at least one lot with Houses or Tenements any additional buildings of the same type cost 50%
and cannot contain any buildings that take up more more to build in that district. This increase does not
than one lot. If these conditions are met, any of the apply to Bridges, City Walls, Houses, Moats, Parks,
following buildings can be constructed on the same lot Tenements, and Waterways.
that contains a lot of Houses or Tenements: Alchemist,
Baths, Black Market, Bordello, Exotic Artisan, Dance Impassable Buildings
Hall, Herbalist, Inn, Luxury Store, Magic Shop, Shop,
Stable, Tavern, Trade Shop. Given the generally abstract nature of the district grid,
it is safe to assume that people traveling through a
The following buildings cannot be constructed in city can pass through lots containing most kinds of
a neighborhood with Houses but can be constructed buildings. Small alleyways and avenues are implicitly
in a neighborhood with Tenements: Barracks, present in most lots, but this is not true of all buildings.
Crematorium, Dump, Graveyard, Jail, Tannery. Some, either because of their massive and monolithic
scale, or because they are by their nature secured
Customizing Buildings buildings, compounds, or otherwise restricted areas
that do not allow trespassers to simply wander through.
The kingdom-building rules generally do not support If using a city grid as a navigational aid or a map-like
creating custom buildings, as the potential for min- representation of your city, the following building
maxing is high with such rules. However, Endowment types should be considered impassable: Arena, Bank,
Edicts can be used to create more splendid and glorious Barracks, Castle, Garrison, Jail, Mansion, Military
versions of standard buildings (if they are suitable for Academy, Mint, Noble Villa, Palace, Waterway.
endowment). It is certainly possible to attach your own Creatures moving through a city must move around the
flavor text to buildings you create, like “The Basilica perimeter of these lots and cannot move through them.
of St. Stephen” instead of “Cathedral” or “The Golden
Crocodile Tavern” instead of Tavern or the “Tomb of the Wooden Buildings
Unknown Paladin” instead of Monument. This does blur
the line a bit between lone buildings and city-building Stone is assumed to be the default building material
“lots,” however. While some of the larger buildings in the published rules (including brick and similar
might in fact be standalone buildings, like an Arena, materials), but it is certainly possible to construct most
Castle, or Cathedral, for the most part a lot of buildings buildings out of wood. The BP cost of a wooden building
is assumed to contain numerous buildings of a similar is half normal if using the standard published rules. If
kind clustered together, along with living quarters for using the Construction rules in this product, this is best
many of their patrons and proprietors. An “Inn” filling represented by reducing the number of months required
a lot is not a single sprawling structure covering 40,000 to construct a building in half (rounding down). If the
square feet (assuming you use the suggested 200-foot

59

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

building can normally be built in just one month, this of the same type brings diminishing returns to the SetCtilteiemse&nts
results in a construction time of zero months; this allows prosperity of a city, as once a building of a given type
the building to be completed immediately (i.e., in the has been constructed in a city district, any additional
same month the Improvement Edict is issued to build it) buildings of the same type cost 50% more to build in
and the cost is halved (rounding down). The following that district. This increase does not apply to Bridges,
buildings cannot be made of wood: Brickyard, Castle, City Walls, Houses, Moats, Parks, Tenements, and
Cistern, Colossus, Crematorium, Dump, Foundry, Waterways.
Graveyard, Moat, Park, Sacred Grove, Waterway.
Tenements are always considered wooden buildings, Some buildings require that you construct them
but their construction time is unaffected. adjacent to at least 1 or 2 of a specific kind of building or
feature of the settlement. For example, a Shop or Tavern
Wooden buildings are considerably more fragile must be adjacent to a House or Mansion. The required
than stone buildings. Their Defense value is halved adjacent building can only count toward 1 building
(rounding down), and wooden buildings impose a -10 that requires it. For example, if you have a House and a
penalty on Stability checks or other kingdom rolls to Shop, that House can’t be used to meet the requirement
prevent damage or destruction. Buildings made of wood for another Shop or a Tavern; you have to construct a
cannot provide Fame and cannot be the subject of an new House and use it to meet the requirement of the
Endowment Edict. new Shop or Tavern.

Building Some buildings cannot be adjacent to certain
Descriptions buildings. For example, you can’t construct a Tannery
next to a House, Mansion, Noble Villa, or Tenement. If
Buildings are described in the following format. you want to use a lot for this type of building, you must
demolish all prohibited adjacent structures first.
Building Name: The type of buildings contained in
this lot. In most cases, each lot represents numerous If you get overzealous in constructing a particular
buildings of that type, rather than a single edifice. type of building in a settlement, the GM should feel free
to add events to discourage this practice. For example,
Cost: The cost in BP to construct the building. a settlement with too many Dumps is prone to otyugh
and wererat attacks, and a settlement with too many
Lots: How many lots the building fills. Graveyards tends to have frequent undead attacks.
This should not occur, however, if you build too many
Kingdom: Building modifiers to Economy, Loyalty, Houses, Parks, Tenements, or Waterways.
and Stability stack, affect your entire kingdom, and are
ongoing from turn to turn. Modifiers to Unrest occur Upgrade To/From: Some buildings can be converted
once when the building is completed. This category also into a more advanced form of the existing building,
lists any bonuses to Fame (see Fame and Infamy) from such as converting a Shrine into a Temple. To upgrade a
having the building. building, pay the BP cost difference between the current
building and the new building. Remove the modifiers
Discount: Some buildings halve the cost of constructing from the old building and apply the modifiers from
a related type of building in the same settlement. This cost the new building. Upgrading counts as constructing a
reduction applies only to the first constructed building of building for the purpose of the maximum number of
the types listed in this line. For example, an Academy buildings you can construct on your turn. You can’t
halves the cost of your next Library in that settlement; upgrade a building to a larger one if there isn’t space in
if you build a second Library in that settlement, you the District Grid for the building’s new size.
pay the normal cost for it. If 2 buildings give the same
discount, only one discount applies per new building, but Special: This lists any other effect the building has,
you may construct 2 buildings at the discounted cost. For such as increasing Defense, the settlement’s base value,
example, Market and Theater both halve the cost of an or the output of a nearby Mine.
Inn; if your settlement has a Market and a Theater, you
may construct 2 Inns at half cost (the Market discounts Magic Items: This lists any magic item slot the building
one, and the Theater discounts the other). creates, which may be filled in the Upkeep phase (see
Magic Items in Settlements). If a building lists multiple
Limit: This lists limitations on the number of buildings options within a category (such as “1 common potion or
of this type, special requirements for adjacent buildings, scroll”), it has an equal chance for each option.
or prohibitions against certain buildings being adjacent.
Settlement: This entry lists settlement modifiers
For most buildings, you can construct as many of them that affect specific skills within the settlement.
as you want in a settlement, but some are limited in the These modifiers are ongoing from turn to turn but
number that can be built per settlement or district. For apply only to skill checks within that settlement (not
example, you can only construct 1 Arena per settlement. other settlements in the hex or anywhere else in your
In addition, building repeated iterations of buildings kingdom). Buildings that increase or decrease Unrest
apply that modifier only once, on the turn they are
built; they have no effect on unrest in subsequent turns.

60

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Academy 52 bp, 2 lots Bank 28 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2
Kingdom Economy +4

Discount Caster’s Tower, Library, Magic Shop A secure building for storing valuables and granting loans.

Upgrade From Library; Upgrade To University

Magic Items 3 common scrolls, 2 uncommon scrolls or Bardic College 40 bp, 2 lots

wondrous items Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Fame +1

SetCtiltieemse&nts Settlement Lore +2, Productivity +1, Society +2; Discount Library, Museum, Theater

increase Lore bonus by 2 for questions relating to Magic Items 2 uncommon scrolls or wondrous items

one specific topic, such as history or religion

An institution of higher learning. A center for artistic learning. Education in a Bardic College
also includes research into a wide range of historical topics.

Aerie 18 bp, 1 Lot Barracks 6 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Stability +2, Unrest -1
Kingdom Unrest –1
Special Defense +1 Upgrade To Garrison
Special Defense +2
Special +2 bonus to Stability checks against Monster Settlement Law +1

Attacks involving flying creatures

A specialized tower suitable for raising and training hunting A building to house conscripts, guards, militia, soldiers, or
and message birds as well as stabling flying mounts. similar military forces.

Bathhouse 4 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1

Limit Adjacent to a Waterway or water border.

This requirement can be ignored by doubling the

construction cost of the Baths.

A public building for bathing, often with hot running water
and mineral soaks, sometimes heated by furnaces and other
times by natural hot springs.

Black Market 50 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +1, Unrest +1

Discount Brothel

Limit Adjacent to 2 Houses

Special Illegal items for sale, often at a steep price

Magic Items 2 common items, 1 uncommon item,

1 rare item

Alchemist 18 bp, 1 lot Settlement Corruption +2, Crime +2

Kingdom Economy +1 A number of shops with secret and usually illegal wares.

Limit Adjacent to 1 House

Magic Items 1 common potion or scroll Bordello 4 bp, 1 lot

The laboratory and home of a crafter of poisons, Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1

potions, or alchemical items. Settlement Corruption +1, Crime +1, Society +1; Infamy

Arena 40 bp, 4 lots +1 per 3 Bordellos or Gambling Dens

Special Each Bordello causes a -1 penalty to Stability

Kingdom Stability +4; Fame +1 checks to resist Drug Den and Plague events.

Discount Brothel, Garrison, Inn, Stable, Theater A place where carnal entertainments can be had, including
lurid performances as well as personal services.
Limit 1 per settlement

Upgrade From Theater

Settlement Crime +1 Brewery 6 bp, 1 lot

A large public structure for competitions and team sports. Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1 winemaking, or some

Assembly 30 bp, 2 lots A building for beer brewing,
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +1, Fame +1 similar use.

Limit 1 per city Brickyard 16 bp, 2 lots

Settlement Corruption +1, Law +1, Society +2 Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1

Special When you issue an Improvement Edict, you Settlement Productivity +1

can build one additional building in a city with an Special The cost to construct Quarries in the

Assembly or one additional terrain improvement in settlement’s hex or adjacent hexes is reduced to 6

a hex containing that city or adjacent to it. BP. In addition, Quarries in those hexes generate 1

A conclave of representatives from all sectors of society, additional BP for every 2 Quarries. If a Quarry is
including representatives from guilds, religious orders, civil

61 authorities, allowing all factions a voice in governance.

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

adjacent to two settlements with Brickyards, only Cistern 6 bp, 1 lot
one Brickyard may benefit from that Quarry each Kingdom Stability +1
kingdom turn.
Limit Cannot be adjacent to a Dump, Graveyard,
An industrial center for cutting and shaping stone, grinding
gravel, and firing bricks for construction. Stable, Stockyard, or Tannery

Special Can share lot with another building

Contains a safe supply of fresh water for the settlement.

Bridge 6 bp, 1 lot SetCtilteiemse&nts
Kingdom Economy +1
City Wall 2 bp
Special Shares the space with a river or Waterway lot
Kingdom Unrest –2 (once per settlement)
Allows travel across a river or Waterway, easing Limit Land district border
transportation. Special Defense +1

Bureau 10 bp, 2 lots A fortification of a district with a sturdy wall. The GM
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty –1, Stability +1 may allow for cliffs and other natural features to function
as a City Wall for one or more sides of a district. You may
Settlement Corruption +1, Law +1 construct gates through your own city wall at no cost. City
Walls (and Moats) do not occupy any space on a district
A large warren of offices for clerks and record-keepers map; instead, they exist along one or more sides of a city
working for a guild or government. district. While for the sake of the abstract district grid you
may build a number of city walls equal to your number of
Caster’s Tower 30 bp, 1 lot land borders, building just one City Wall does not mean that
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1 you literally have a square city with a wall on one side of it
and no defenses on the others. Instead, each City Wall is an
Magic Items 3 common items, 2 uncommon items abstracted measure of its perimeter fortifications. A single
City Wall might be a rampart and palisade, a second a stout
The home and laboratory for a spellcaster. curtain wall, a third buttresses and plinths to reinforce
the wall, and a fourth covered battlements, embrasures,
Castle 54 bp, 4 lots arrow slits, and machicolations. Building City Walls (and
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Moats) reflects the total investment in the outer defenses
of a settlement, and larger settlements require a larger
Unrest –4; Fame +1 expenditure to protect and patrol a larger perimeter.

Discount Noble Villa, Town Hall

Limit 1 per settlement

Special Defense +8

The home of the settlement’s leader or the heart of Colossus 60 bp, 4 lots
its defenses. Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +4, Stability +2,

Fame +1, Unrest -2

Cathedral 58 bp, 4 lots Discount Lighthouse, Monument, Observatory, Park

Kingdom Loyalty +4, Stability +4, Unrest –4; Fame +1 Limit 1 per settlement

Discount Academy, Temple Settlement Law +2

Limit 1 per settlement Special When your armies in the same hex as a

Special Halves Consumption increase for Expansion settlement with a Colossus, they gain a +1 bonus

edicts to Morale; if they are inside the city, they gain a +2

Magic Items 3 common items, 2 uncommon items bonus. A Colossus can share the same space as a

Settlement Law +2 Lighthouse or Observatory (but not both).

The focal point of the settlement’s spiritual leadership. A towering edifice of stone and burnished metal displays
your power to the world. A Colossus may be a great statue,

62

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

obelisk, tower, pyramid, mausoleum, triumphal arch, Exotic Artisan 10 bp, 1 lot
or nearly anything else; all that is required is superior
craftsmanship, titanic proportions, and grandiose Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
civic pride. Limit Adjacent to 1 House
Magic Items 1 uncommon item

SetCtiltieemse&nts Courthouse 16 bp, 1 lot The shop and home of a jeweler, tinker, glassblower, or
the  like.
Kingdom Loyalty +2
Discount Jail Foreign Quarter 30 bp, 4 lots
Settlement Corruption -1, Crime -1, Law +2 Kingdom Economy +3, Stability –1

A hall of justice, for hearing cases and resolving disputes Special Increase the value of trade routes (see Trade
by the rule of law.
Edicts) by 5% (maximum 100%)

Settlement Crime +1, Lore +1, Society +2

Crematorium 4 bp, 1 lot An area with many foreigners, as well as shops and services
Kingdom Stability +1 catering to them.

Limit Adjacent to Dump or Graveyard

Special +2 bonus to Stability checks against Plague

events or Monster Attacks involving undead

A specialized furnace building primarily used for burning
the dead into ash, though also used for incineration of
refuse.

Dance Hall 4 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +2, Unrest +1

Limit Adjacent to 1 House

Settlement Corruption +1, Crime +1

An establishment for dancing, drinking, carousing, and
holding celebrations.

Dump 4 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Stability +1

Limit Cannot be adjacent to House, Mansion, or Noble

Villa Foundry 16 bp, 2 lots

A centralized place to dispose of refuse. Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1, Unrest +1

Everflowing Spring 5 bp Discount Smithy

Limit Adjacent to water district border

Limit Settlement must have a building that can create Special Increase the Economy and BP earned per turn

medium magic items by 1 for 1 Mine connected to this settlement by a

Special Can share lot with Castle, Cathedral, Market, river or Road

Monument, Park, or Town Hall Settlement Productivity +1

A fountain built around several decanters of endless water Processes ore and refines it into finished metal.
that provides an inexhaustible supply of fresh water.

Gambling Den 10 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +2, Unrest +1

Limit Adjacent to 1 House

Settlement Corruption +1, Crime +1

Special Infamy +1 per 3 Bordellos or Gambling Dens

Special Each Gambling Den causes a -1 penalty to

Stability checks to resist Drug Den events.

Magic Items 1 magic item (roll d% to determine type:

01-80, common item; 81-98, uncommon item; 99-100,

rare item)

An illicit place for games of skill and chance, wagering all
manner of stakes.

Garrison 28 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2

Discount City Wall, Granary, Jail

Upgrade From Barracks

A large building to house armies, train guards, and recruit
militia.

63

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Granary 12 bp, 1 lot Library 6 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
Special If Farms reduce Consumption below 0, store Upgrade To Academy
Settlement Lore +1
up to 5 BP of excess production for use on a later

turn when Consumption exceeds the Treasury A large building containing an archive of books.

A place to store grain and food.

Graveyard 4 bp, 1 lot Lighthouse 24 bp, 1 lot SetCtilteiemse&nts
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +2
Kingdom Loyalty +1
A plot of land to honor and bury the dead. Discount Pier

Limit 1 per settlement; must be on a water border at

the edge of a district grid

Guildhall 34 bp, 2 lots Special The cost to create Fisheries in hexes adjacent

Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2 to the settlement is reduced to 3 BP
Discount Pier, Stable, Trade Shop
Upgrade From Trade Shop Special If you establish a trade route from a city with a
Settlement Law +1, Productivity +2
Lighthouse, water hexes count as one-fourth (rather

than one-half) when calculating Trade Route Length.

The headquarters for a guild or similar organization. A high tower with a signal light to guide ships at sea and
keep watch on waves and weather.

Hanging Gardens 48 bp, 4 lots Lumberyard 12 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +2, Fame +1, Unrest -2
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Discount Menagerie, Monument, Park, Sacred Grove
Settlement Productivity +1
Limit 1 per settlement
Special The cost to construct Sawmills in the
Settlement Lore +1, Society +2
settlement’s hex or adjacent hexes is reduced to 3
Special Reduces Consumption in the city by 1
BP. In addition, Sawmills in those hexes generate 1

A magnificent set of urban gardens, arboretums, and additional BP for every 2 Sawmills. If a Sawmill is
conservatories for the enjoyment of the nobility and common
folk alike, containing both decorative and edible plants as well adjacent to two settlements with Lumberyards, only
as elaborate public artworks, statuary, and water features.
one Lumberyard may benefit from that Sawmill each

kingdom turn.

Herbalist 10 bp, 1 lot A mill and carpentry works for producing precut logs,
boards, and wood products for construction.
Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House Luxury Store 28 bp, 1 lot
Magic Items 1 common potion Kingdom Economy +1

The workshop and home of a gardener, healer, or poisoner. Limit Adjacent to 1 House

Upgrade To Magic Shop; Upgrade From Shop

Hospital 30 bp, 2 lots Magic Items 2 uncommon rings or wondrous items

Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +2 A shop that specializes in expensive comforts for the wealthy.

Special Increase Stability by 2 during plague events Magic Shop 68 bp, 1 lot

Settlement Lore +1, Productivity +2

A building devoted to healing the sick. Kingdom Economy +1

Limit Adjacent to 2 Houses

Houses 3 bp, 1 lot Upgrade From Luxury Store

Kingdom Unrest –1 Magic Items 4 common items, 2 uncommon items, 1

Upgrade From Tenement rare item

Special The first Houses you build during the A shop that specializes in magic items and spells.

Improvement phase does not count against the total

number of buildings you can build during the phase Magical Academy 58 bp, 2 lots

A number of mid-sized houses for citizens. Kingdom Economy +2; Fame +1

Discount Caster’s Tower, Library, Magic Shop

Inn 10 bp, 1 lot Magic Items 3 common items; 1 uncommon potion,

Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1 scroll, or wondrous item
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
Settlement Society +1 Settlement Lore +2, Society +1; increase Lore bonus by
A place for visitors to rest.
2 for questions relating to Intelligence (arcana)

An institution for training students in spellcasting, magic
item crafting, and various arcane arts.

Jail 14 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2

Settlement Crime –1, Law +1

A fortified structure for confining criminals or dangerous

monsters. 64

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Magical Streetlamps 5 bp Special Defense +1; cannot be damaged by siege
Limit Settlement must have a Cathedral, Magic Shop, engines

Magical Academy, or Temple A fortification of one side of a district with an open or water-
filled ditch, often backed by a low dike or embankment. The
Special Can share a lot with any building or GM may allow a river or similar natural feature to function
as a moat for one or more sides of a district. See City Walls
improvement building description for further information.

Settlement Crime –1

SetCtiltieemse&nts Continual flame lamps that illuminate the lot.

Mansion 10 bp, 1 lot Monastery 16 bp, 2 lots

Kingdom Stability +1 Kingdom Stability +1
Upgrade To Noble Villa Settlement Law +1, Lore +1
Settlement Law +1, Society +1
A cloister for meditation, study, and the pursuit of various
A single huge manor housing a rich family and its servants. other scholarly paths.

Market 48 bp, 2 lots Monument 6 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +2 Kingdom Loyalty +1, Unrest –1
Discount Black Market, Inn, Shop
Limit Adjacent to 2 Houses A local memorial such as a bell tower, a statue of a settlement
Upgrade From Shop founder, a large tomb, or a public display of art.
Magic Items 2 uncommon items

An open area for traveling merchants and bargain hunters.

Menagerie 16 bp, 4 lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty (special); Fame +1

Special Increase Loyalty by 1/4 the Challenge of the

highest-CR creature in the Menagerie

A large park stocked with exotic creatures for public
viewing.

Military Academy 36 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +1; Fame +1

Discount Barracks

Limit 1 per settlement

Special Armies and commanders recruited at the

settlement gain one bonus tactic (see Army Tactics

in Chapter 3)

Magic Items 1 uncommon armor, shield, or weapon; 1

rare armor, shield, or weapon

Settlement Law +1, Lore +1

An institution dedicated to the study of war and the training
of elite soldiers and officers.

Mill 6 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1

Limit Adjacent to water district border

Special With GM approval, you can construct a

windmill at the same cost without the water district

border requirement

Settlement Productivity +1

A building used to cut lumber or grind grain. Museum 30 bp, 2 lots

Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1; Fame +1

Mint 30 bp, 1 lot Settlement Lore +2, Society +1; increase Lore bonus by

Kingdom Economy +3, Loyalty +3, Stability +1; Fame +1 2 for questions relating to history and art objects

A secure building where the kingdom’s coinage is minted A place to display art and artifacts both modern and
and standard weights and measures are kept. historical. The GM may allow the kingdom leaders to
display a valuable item (such as a magic item or bejeweled
Moat 2 bp statue) in the museum, increasing Fame during this display
by 1 for every 5,000 gp of the item’s price (maximum +5
Kingdom Unrest –1 (once per settlement) Fame), and by an additional 1 if the item is significant to the
Limit Land district border kingdom’s history.

65

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Noble Villa 24 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1; Fame +1

Discount Exotic Artisan, Luxury Store, Mansion

Upgrade From Mansion

Settlement Society +1

A sprawling manor with luxurious grounds that houses a SetCtilteiemse&nts
noble’s family and staff.

Observatory 12 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Stability +1

Magic Items 1 uncommon scroll or wondrous item

Settlement Lore +2

A dome or tower with optical devices for viewing the
heavens.

Orphanage 6 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Stability +1, Unrest –1

A place for housing and taking care of large numbers of
orphans.

Palace 108 bp, 4 lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +6, Stability +2;

Fame +1

Discount Mansion, Mint, Noble Villa

Special You may make two special edicts per turn, but

take a –2 penalty on kingdom checks associated with

each special edict

Settlement Law +2

A grand edifice and walled grounds demonstrating one’s
wealth, power, and authority to the world.

Park 4 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Loyalty +1, Unrest –1

A plot of land set aside for its serene beauty. Sewer System 24 bp

Paved Streets 24 bp Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +2
Discount Cistern, Dump
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +1 Limit 1 per district
Limit 1 per district Settlement Crime +1, Productivity +1
Settlement Productivity +2
An underground sanitation system that keeps the
Brick or stone pavement that speeds transportation. settlement clean, though it may become home to criminals
and monsters.

Pier 16 bp, 1 lot Shop 8 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1 Kingdom Economy +1
Limit Adjacent to water district border Limit Adjacent to 1 House or Mansion
Upgrade To Waterfront Upgrade To Luxury Store, Market
Settlement Crime +1 Settlement Productivity +1

Warehouses and workshops for docking ships and handling A general store.
cargo and passengers.

Sacred Grove 12 bp, 1 lot Shrine 8 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Loyalty +1, Stability +1, Unrest -1 Kingdom Loyalty +1, Unrest –1
Upgrade To Temple
Limit Adjacent to Park or to city district border with Magic Items 1 common or uncommon item

no City Wall or Moat

Magic Items 1 common item A shrine, idol, sacred grove, or similar holy site designed for
worship by pious individuals.
Settlement Society -1

Special +2 bonus to Stability checks against Crop

Failure events or Monster Attacks involving Smithy 6 bp, 1 lot

animals, plants, or fey Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1

Special Each Sacred Grove provides a +1 bonus to The workshop of an armorsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith,
or other craftsman who works with metal.
Stability checks to resist Plague events.

A bastion of the old druidic nature religions, often centered
on runic megaliths and stone circles.

66

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Stable 10 bp, 1 lot Tunnels 8 bp
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1
Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1

Limit Adjacent to 1 House, Mansion, or Noble Villa Settlement Crime +1, Danger +1

A structure for housing or selling horses and other mounts. Special Tunnels are underground and do not occupy a

lot on the surface, but each runs underneath one city

Stockyard 20 bp, 4 lots square of 4 lots. You can pass through the square

SetCtiltieemse&nts Kingdom Economy +1, Stability –1 of an impassable building by moving through the

Discount Stable, Tannery Tunnels underneath it.

Special Farms in this hex or adjacent hexes reduce An extensive set of subterranean chambers, vaults, and
tunnels, usually used for storage or burial, and sometimes
Consumption by 3 instead of 2 for illicit activities. When used for burials, Tunnels are also
called Catacombs.
Settlement Productivity +1

Barns and pens that store herd animals and prepare them University 78 bp, 4 lots
for nearby slaughterhouses.

Tannery 6 bp, 1 lot Kingdom Economy +3, Loyalty +3; Fame +1

Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1 Discount Academy, Bardic College, Library, Magical

Limit Cannot be adjacent to House, Mansion, Noble Academy, Military Academy, Museum

Villa, or Tenement Upgrade From Academy

Settlement Society –1 Magic Items 4 common scrolls, 2 uncommon scrolls or

A structure that prepares hides and leather. wondrous items


Settlement Lore +4, Society +3; increase Lore bonus by

Tavern 12 bp, 1 lot 4 for questions relating to one topic, such as arcana

Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1 or nature
Limit Adjacent to 1 House or Mansion
Settlement Corruption +1 An institution of higher learning, focusing mainly on
mundane subjects but dabbling in magical theory.
An eating or drinking establishment.
Warehouse 8 bp, 2 Lots
Kingdom Economy +1
Temple 32 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Loyalty +2, Stability +2, Unrest –2 Limit Adjacent to a water border or a Guildhall,

Discount Graveyard, Monument, Shrine Market, Pier, Trade Shop, or Waterfront

Upgrade From Shrine Settlement Productivity +1

Magic Items 2 common or uncommon items Special A Guildhall or Waterfront provides a discount

on constructing a Warehouse.

A large place of worship dedicated to a deity. A cavernous structure or cluster of buildings for storage
and transfer of trade goods.
Tenements 1 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Unrest +2 Watchtower 12 bp, 1 lot

Upgrade To Houses Kingdom Stability +1, Unrest –1

Special Counts as Houses for buildings that must be Special Defense +2

adjacent to Houses A tall structure that serves as a guard post.

A staggering number of low-rent housing units.

Theater 24 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Stability +2

Discount Brothel, Exotic Artisan, Inn, Park, Tavern

Upgrade To Arena

A venue for entertainments such as plays, operas, and
concerts.

Town Hall 22 bp, 2 lots
Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1, Stability +1

Discount Barracks, Cistern, Dump, Jail, Watchtower

Settlement Law +1

A public venue for town meetings, repository for town
records, and offices for minor bureaucrats.

Trade Shop 10 bp, 1 lot

Kingdom Economy +1, Stability +1
Limit Adjacent to 1 House
Upgrade To Guildhall
Settlement Productivity +1

67 A shop front for a tradesperson, such as a baker, butcher,
candle maker, cobbler, rope maker, or wainwright.

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtilteiemse&nts

Watergate 2 bp MImapgriocvaelments

Special Shares City Wall While fantastically expensive, in a fantasy world it is
only to be expected that certain wealthy and powerful
A gate in a City Wall that allows water (such as a river, cities might create permanent enchantments to enhance
Aqueduct, or Waterway) to enter the settlement. A Watergate their city. The published rules incorporate magical
has underwater defenses to block unwanted access. If you fountains and streetlamps as two examples of this, but
construct a Watergate when you construct a City Wall, the certain magical spells can also be made permanent.
Watergate does not count toward the limit of the number of
buildings you can construct per turn. Animated Automation (5 BP per building or 25
BP per hex): Permanent animated objects or other
Waterfront 90 bp, 4 lots loyal constructs can be used to replace living laborers.
Kingdom Economy +4 While they cannot perform complex tasks, they have
great strength and endless stamina. Local citizens
Discount Black Market, Guildhall, Market, Pier may resent the automation of labor cutting into their
job opportunities. Effect +1 Fame. Animated objects
Limit Adjacent to water district border, 1 per in a city must be assigned to a specific building that
provides a bonus to Productivity. They provide the
settlement following additional settlement modifiers: +1 Economy,
+1 Productivity, -1 Loyalty. Alternatively, animated
Upgrade From Pier
 objects can be assigned to a hex with a Farm, Mine,
Quarry, or Sawmill. In such hexes, animated objects
Special Halves Loyalty penalty for Taxation edicts usually work alongside human(oid) laborers, replacing
or supplementing pack animals or operating heavy
Magic Items 3 common items, 2 uncommon items, 1 machinery. Constructs in these hexes provide +1
additional BP of revenue (or increase Consumption
rare item reduction of a Farm by 1). Prerequisite Cathedral or
Magical Academy.
Settlement Productivity +2
Deathless Laborers (2 BP per building or 10 BP per
A port for waterborne arrival and departure, with facilities hex): While incapable of skilled labor, mindless undead
for shipping and shipbuilding. created with animate dead are utterly tireless in
performing simple, repetitive tasks. Animated skeletons
Waterway 3 bp, 1–2 lots and zombies can be created and tasked to perform
Special Counts as water district border for adjacent such simple labor, increasing economic productivity

buildings

A river or canal occuping part of the District Grid. At the
GM’s option, a natural Waterway may already exist on the
grid, requiring no action or BP to build. If you construct a
City Wall that touches or crosses the Waterway, you must
also build Watergates on the same turn.

Windmill 6 bp, 1 lot
Kingdom Economy +1

Settlement Productivity +1

Special A Windmill adjacent to a Cistern or Granary

increases the Stability bonus provided by that

building by +1.

A wind-driven mill for grinding grain or pumping water.

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts but making the general populace nervous about the Effect Corruption +1, Law +1, and increase the DC of
possibility of the undead breaking loose and going on a Espionage edicts against your kingdom by +2 per block.
rampage against the living. Effect Infamy +1. Deathless Prerequisite Caster’s Tower and Magical Academy.
laborers in a city must be assigned to a specific building
that provides a bonus to Productivity. They provide the NAdatvaunrtaalges
following additional settlement modifiers: Economy Not every city is built on flat, level ground. Historically
+1, Productivity +1, Danger +1. Alternatively, deathless speaking, most city sites were chosen because of some
laborers can be assigned to a hex with a Farm, Mine, form of advantageous terrain which made the area
Quarry, or Sawmill; undead in these hexes provide +1 especially fertile or defensible. When exploring a hex,
additional BP of revenue (or increase Consumption either personally or as part of an Exploration Edict, if
reduction of a Farm by 1), while creating +1 Unrest and your surveyors spend double the normal amount of
increasing Danger in that hex by 5. Prerequisite Caster’s exploration time required on the Terrain and Terrain
Tower or Temple; Tunnels or Graveyard. Improvements table in the published rules, they can
seek out an ideal city site for defense, trade, or simply
Forbiddance (20 BP per lot, 35 BP per lot with abundant production. After this extended exploration,
password): You cover one lot with forbiddance spells, the explorers must make a Wisdom (Survival) check,
blocking teleportation or planar travel through that lot dividing the result by 15 (rounding down). The result
as well as blocking physical entry. Any building in that is the number of natural advantages they discover
lot is treated as an impassable building for creatures at the optimal settlement site in the hex. If the check
specified by the forbiddance spell. By paying a higher result is sufficiently high to provide more than one
BP cost, the forbiddance effect can include a password natural advantage, you may select the same advantage
allowing the specified creatures to enter the area without more than once; the effects stack. If no settlement is
harm. This halves the Loyalty and Unrest modifiers. established in the hex, these natural advantages confer
Effect Defense +2 (+4 vs. the specified creatures), no benefit.
Stability +2, Loyalty -2, Unrest +1d4. Prerequisite
Cathedral. Fertile Land and Abundant Water: Situated over
clear natural springs, aquifers, oases, with unusually
Hallow (20 BP per lot): You can lay a series of hallow rich soil, your settlement has an easy time making the
spells to cover a lot and the building it contains. Effect land bloom and grow. Benefit: Stability +1.
Fame +1, Defense +4 vs. celestials, elementals, fey, fiends,
and undead, Stability +1. Prerequisite Cathedral, Sacred Natural Crossroads: Situated at the foot of a pass,
Grove, or Temple. alongside a navigable river or deep-water harbor, or
sited along a long-standing trade route, your settlement
Magical Alarm (5 BP per lot): You can place multiple has a leg up on the competition in matters of trade.
permanent alarm and/or magic mouth spells on a single Benefit: Economy +1.
building, helping to guard it against unauthorized entry
without proper passwords or other tokens. Buildings Natural Fortifications: Situated on a natural rise,
occupying more than one lot must have magical or the foot of a cliff, or a confluence or bend in a
alarms placed in all lots. Effect Crime -1, Stability +1. river system, your settlement is easier to defend from
Prerequisite Caster’s Tower. attackers. Benefit: Defense +1.

Permanent Teleportation Circle (30 BP): You can Exotic
create a permanent teleportation circle within any one Settlements
of your buildings. It allows one-way travel to a specified
destination that cannot be changed, though a second In a fantasy world, part of the fun is having cities that
teleportation circle can be created at that destination don’t conform to real-world necessities, or that can
point, which can be created leading back to the point of take inspiration from real-world types of cities but
origin of the first teleportation circle. A teleportation elaborate and enhance them in amazing ways. Fantasy
circle is able to transport one Large or four Medium or fiction, films, and literature are filled with exotic cities
smaller creatures per round but cannot transport carts, of earth, sky, and sea, as are decades of fantasy RPG
wagons, or other vehicles larger than Medium size, nor world-building, and the city templates described in this
any type of unattended objects. Only objects carried by section serve to open up the standard kingdom-building
the creature(s) triggering the teleportation circle can and city-building rules to allow for a variety of unusual
be brought through it. Effect Economy +2, Productivity settlements.
+1, Society +1. Prerequisite Caster’s Tower, Magic Shop,
and Magical Academy.

Private Sanctum (50 BP per lot): You can shroud a
city lot with a permanent magical barrier that blocks
divinations as well as defeating ordinary spying,
observation, and eavesdropping into or within the target
lot. While this keeps secrets secret, it also facilitates
backroom dealings within your own government.

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Barge City

A barge city is made of floats, ships, and barges lashed SetCtilteiemse&nts
together. Barge cities may be transient, drifting through
vast marshes or shallow seas, with buildings coming and
going constantly causing the city to grow and shrink
with seasonal migrations of seafaring folk. The sampan
cities of old Hong Kong, Macao, and Shanghai are good
examples, as are the villages and towns of migratory
bargefolk that appear in some fantasy worlds.

Terrain Coastline, Marsh, Water

Borders All water borders.

Limit First building must be Pier.

Settlement Corruption +1, Crime +1, Law -1,
Productivity -1, Society +2

Banned Buildings Brickyard, Tunnels, City Walls,
Dump, Foundry, Graveyard, Lumberyard, Mill, Moat,
Park, Paved Streets, Sacred Grove, Sewer System, Stable,
Stockyard, Tannery

Free Buildings Bridges and Waterways cost nothing
to construct.

Special All buildings in a barge city must be wooden cave complexes, wherein each city lot comprises its own
buildings. warren of caves and chambers, linked by tunnels and
passages to adjacent parts of the city. Some cavern cities
Causeway City are lit by veins of crystal or luminescent fungi, others by
magical lamps, and some by simple torches and lamps,
A causeway city is built up on pilings, piers, long while those inhabited entirely by dark-dwelling races
bridges, and small islets, either natural or artificial, and may have little use for lights at all.
is typically crisscrossed with canals. The city is linked
to the mainland by a long causeway that crosses a marsh Terrain Cavern, (at the GM’s option, any terrain type
or open water. The city of Venice or the ancient city of that has the Lair special terrain may connect to a cavern
Tyre are good examples of causeway cities. suitable to build a cavern city)

Terrain Coastline, Marsh Borders No water borders.

Borders All water borders. Limit Cavern cities have no streets or alleys and all
buildings are considered impassable buildings. They
Limit First building must be a Bridge placed in a can be entered from adjacent buildings but can only be
lot adjacent to one of the city’s borders (this space exited back into the building lot from which a creature
automatically contains a Waterway). came. One set of Tunnels must be built for each square
of 4 lots to build the tunnels that allow passage through
Settlement Law +1, Society +1 and around those lots. Wooden buildings may not be
constructed in a cavern city.
Banned Buildings Dump, Lumberyard, Moat, Park,
Sacred Grove, Sewer System, Stockyard Settlement Corruption +1, Society +1, Danger +5

Free Buildings A causeway city gains one free Moat Banned Buildings Aerie, Castle, City Walls,
as a village, gaining one additional free Moat once it Lighthouse, Lumberyard, Observatory, Park, Piers,
becomes a town, another on becoming a city, and another Sacred Grove, Stable, Stockyard, Tannery, Waterfront,
for each city district it adds. No additional Moats can be Watergate, Waterway (allowed in city, but not village or
built. Waterways cost nothing to construct. town), Windmill

Cavern City Free Buildings A cavern city gains one free City Wall
as a village, gaining one additional free City Wall once
A cavern city is one built underground. Common among it becomes a town, and another on becoming a city, and
dwarves, drow, and similar deep dwellers, surface another for each city district it adds. No additional City
kingdoms can establish cavern cites as well. In some Walls can be built.
cases, they resemble cities on the surface, constructed
within massive vaulted caverns, often surrounded by
fungus farms or smaller satellite quarries or mines.
Other cavern cities, however, are simply interconnected

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Terrain Forest, Jungle

Borders No water borders.

Limit Stone buildings may not be constructed in a
treetop city.

SetCtiltieemse&nts Settlement Law +1, Lore +1, Society -1, Fame +1,
Defense +4 (creatures with a climb or fly speed ignore
this bonus; ranged attacks halve this bonus to +2)

Banned Buildings Brickyard, Castle, Tunnels, Cistern,
City Walls, Crematorium, Dump, Foundry, Graveyard,
Lighthouse, Mill, Moat, Paved Streets, Sewer System,
Stable, Stockyard, Tannery, Tenement, Waterfront,
Watergate, Waterway

Free Buildings A treetop city gains one free City Wall
as a village, gaining one additional free City Wall once
it becomes a town, and another on becoming a city, and
another for each city district it adds. No additional City
Walls can be built.

Underwater City

Cliff Dwelling An underwater city is built beneath the waves, usually
as a home to aquatic races, though surface kingdoms
A cliff dwelling is built onto and within a cliff, sometimes can build underwater cities if they wish. Underwater
either an open cliff face, rift valley, or canyon wall, or cities may be carved into natural underwater caves and
beneath a natural undercut. Anasazi cliff dwellings clefts or may be built up into and upon reefs and rocks
like those at Mesa Verde are excellent examples, as are in elaborate spires and nacreous domes.
the ruins of Petra in Jordan, or any number of fantasy
canyon cities. Terrain Coastline, Marsh, Water

Terrain Desert, Hill, Mountain Borders All water borders.

Borders No water borders. Limit The BP cost to construct any building in an
underwater city is doubled unless the kingdom hires
Limit Wooden buildings may not be constructed in a or makes alliance with aquatic creatures to perform
cavern city. the building for them (this requires a friendly or
helpful attitude, and usually a Treaty obtained with
Settlement Law +1, Society -1, Defense +2 (attackers a Diplomatic edict). In addition, an underwater city
with a burrow, climb, or fly speed ignore this bonus; does not normally contain air-filled buildings. Transit
ranged attacks halve it to +1) between buildings is by swimming, and creatures
lacking a swim speed consider all buildings in an
Banned Buildings Lumberyard, Park, Piers, Stable, underwater city impassable. They can enter buildings
Stockyard, Tannery, Waterfront, Watergate, Waterway in adjacent lots but can only exit back into the same
(allowed in city, but not village or town) building from which they entered. However, access
tunnels can be constructed as if they were Tunnels.
Free Buildings A cliff dwelling city gains one free City Each set of Tunnels allows free movement into and
Wall as a village, gaining one additional free City Wall through a square of 4 lots, as well as any adjacent square
once it becomes a town, and another on becoming a city, that also has Tunnels. Any buildings constructed in an
and another for each city district it adds. No additional underwater city are likewise filled with water unless
City Walls can be built. they are made airtight, with magically or naturally
refreshing air sources. This increases the cost to build
Treetop City any such structure by 50%.

A treetop city is built on wooden platforms and Wooden buildings normally cannot be constructed
frames built into and spanning between massive forest in an underwater city, though at the GM’s option an
giants. A handful of buildings may cluster around the underwater city woven into a massive kelp bed or
foot of the trees, but most of the city is raised far off sargasso could be constructed of matted fibers and
the ground. Treetop cities are popular among elves, but fronds functionally equivalent to wood for building
they also offer solace to other humanoid races seeking purposes.
shelter and peace.
Settlement Corruption +1, Crime +1, Law -1,
Productivity -1, Society +2

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

like kingdom events, which makes the process less SetCtilteiemse&nts
predictable and more fun.

Many of these attributes have kingdom and settlement-
wide effects as described below. If not detailed
otherwise, rules associated with these attributes
function as described in Settlements in Play.

Natural
Attributes
Natural attributes are not necessarily purely natural
Banned Buildings Brickyard, Bridge, City Walls, features, although they may be. In some cases, they
Dump, Foundry, Lumberyard, Mill, Moat, Park, Paved represent pre-existing landmarks or ruins or favorable
Streets, Sacred Grove, Sewer System, Stable, Stockyard, opportunities for certain kinds of development or
Tannery, Waterfront, Watergate, Waterway, Windmill habitation. When exploring a hex and clearing it
to prepare it for founding a settlement, have one of
Free Buildings Waterways cost nothing to construct. the kingdom’s leaders (or the leader of a party of
explorers sent out with an Exploration Edict) make
Special A hex containing an underwater city can a Wisdom (Survival) check. The result of this skill
also contain a second settlement of a different type, check is the percentage chance that the proposed city
most often a barge city (especially in marsh terrain) or site contains one of the following Natural Attributes.
causeway city (more commonly in coastal terrain). If that percentage or less is rolled, roll again on the
following table to determine which Natural Attribute is
Settlement present at that city site. The kingdom leader or explorer
Attributes making this percentile roll can adjust the roll up or
down by 1 for every 5 points of their original Wisdom
The settlement rules under Settlements in Play earlier (Survival) check.
this chapter describe a wide variety of settlement
attributes that can be used to bring individual character Table 2-6: Natural Attributes
and unique flavor to any given settlement that PCs
encounter. Some of these attributes are quirks of D% ATTRIBUTE
circumstance, a particular natural feature or tendency of
a certain kinds of folk to gather within a city, or a strange 01-10 Abundant
magical phenomenon in the area. Others are rooted 11-15 City of the Dead
more in the attitudes and activities of the people within 16-26
a city. While these attributes were originally intended to 27-34 Defensible
bring flavor to existing cities, including ones you might 35-44 Famed Breeders
randomly place or generate in the course of creating or 45-54
running an adventure, they also offer some interesting 55-62 Majestic
possibilities for use with the kingdom-building rules. 63-70 Racial Enclave
Allowing PCs to pick and choose settlement attributes is 71-76 Resettled Ruins
not the best option, as that route is fraught with potential 77-84 Slumbering Monster
for gaming the system and choosing only the most 85-92 Small-Folk Settlement
advantageous attributes for the city in question. Even 93-00 Strategic Location
if that were not the case, having settlement attributes
develop independently also introduces another element Under-City
of uncertainty into the kingdom-building rules, much Untamed

Abundant: The settlement has access to extraordinary
natural resources: rich farmland, a deep lake, excellent
hunting grounds nearby or even a convenient source
of magical sustenance. The local food surplus makes
the settlement a major exporting hub and increases
the standard of living for its inhabitants. Productivity
+1. Reduce the purchase price of most forms of locally
grown food and livestock by 25% or more.

City of the Dead: The settlement abuts a massive,
historically significant graveyard, massive tomb
or mausoleum complex. Its monuments are well

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts maintained, and a powerful ancestor cult exists within Resettled Ruins: The settlement is built amid the
the city, either in replacement or addition to traditional ruins of a more ancient structure. The settlement
religions. Productivity -2, Lore +2, Law +1. Add the might be little more than a collection of tents and
settlement’s Lore modifier to Intelligence checks yurts erected in ruined plazas, or a thriving metropolis
related to history and nobility. whose stones were recycled from long-forgotten temples
and fortresses. While ruins provide a ready source of
Defensible: The settlement is strategically situated building materials, near-by dungeons to plunder and
to make it easier to defend, giving its inhabitants ancient artifacts to explore, they might also provide
confidence and making the settlement a major local a hiding place for modern dangers or old curses.
trade hub. Corruption +1, Crime +1, Productivity +2. Productivity +1, Lore +1. Add +1d3 to the number of magic
Society -1. items in any category the settlement’s size would allow
it to normally offer. If the settlement’s size would not
Famed Breeders: The settlement is known for the normally allow it to have magic items of a particular
excellent quality of the animals bred there, from the category, it always has at least one randomly chosen
mundane (horses, mules, cattle, pigs) to the exotic item of that category for sale. However, if a buyer rolls
(talking tigers, Pegasai, griffons). People come from far a natural 1 on any check made to examine or purchase
and wide to purchase livestock, draft animals, mounts, a locally bought magic item, that item is always cursed
and animal companions. Increase Productivity +1. or has one or more quirks.
Characters can purchase mounts or livestock in the
settlement at a 10% discount. Slumbering Monster: The settlement is home to some
form of powerful and ancient monster- a slumbering
Majestic: The settlement is known for its dramatic, behemoth, a dark god imprisoned by magical means,
sweeping architecture, monumental statuary and is an ancient war-robot kept in stasis, or some other,
built to a scale alien to most Medium-sized humanoids. currently inert threat. The inhabitants of the settlement
Perhaps the settlement was once a domain of giants, expend vast effort keeping their monstrous prisoner
or simply a human metropolis hewn to an epic scale contained, and by doing so, they have developed an
for the sake of grandeur. Increase spellcasting by impressive mastery of arcana. Lore +2, Society +1,
+1 level. Add +1 to the number of the most expensive Increase Spellcasting by 2 levels.
category of magic items the settlement offers for sale,
as determined by its size. At the GM’s discretion, the slumbering monster might
be awakened. Doing so removes this quality and afflicts
Racial Enclave: The settlement is dominated by a the settlement with the Hunted disadvantage instead.
single race: a pleasant halfling farming community, an The slumbering monster must either be destroyed or re-
elven capital, a collection of half-orc yurts on the open imprisoned by PC actions to restore this quality to the
plains, etc. Society -1. Members of one or more races, settlement.
chosen when the settlement is founded, is especially
welcome in the tight-knit and homogeneous settlement. Small-Folk Settlement: This settlement is designed for
Members of this race can purchase goods and services the comfort of a mostly gnome or halfling population. Its
in the settlement at a 25% discount. doors and ceilings are built for the comfort of the smaller

73

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

races and can be absolute murder on the foreheads of 49-51 Attitude
taller humanoids. Everything in the settlement, from
furniture to forks, is sized for small creatures. Law +1, 52 Magical Attribute
Lore +1. Medium-sized and larger creatures treat the
Settlement’s Crime and Society statistics as a penalty 53-54 Disadvantage
due to their difficulty in maneuvering or sneaking
around in the miniature Settlement. Small or smaller 55 Magical Disadvantage
creatures treat the Settlement’s Crime and Society
statistics normally. 51-00 Dangerous Event SetCtilteiemse&nts

Strategic Location: The settlement sits at an important Over 100 Reroll* plus bonus event (50% chance of either):
crossroads or alongside a deep-water port, or it serves as Monster attack or Bandit activity (kingdom); or,
a barrier to a pass or bridge. Productivity +1.
Squatters or Vandals (city)
Under-City: The settlement is built atop a dangerous
subterranean structure, filled with monsters and a * Do not apply Danger modifier to rerolls. In addition, if the reroll
haven for criminals and outcasts. This under-city might duplicates the bonus event, roll again.
be a massive sewer system, disused railway or subway
tunnels, ruined and forgotten basements or dungeons, Supplement standard kingdom events: Whenever a
or a nearby mine or natural cavern system, perhaps standard kingdom event occurs, there is a 5% chance that
even one that descends miles beneath the earth. Lore +1, once the event ends the settlement gains an Attribute.
Danger +20. You could select an attribute appropriate to the event
(such as a Boomtown event leading to a settlement
Untamed: The area around the settlement is still becoming a Financial Center or Trading Post, or Cultic
mostly untainted, unclaimed wilderness. This settlement Activity leading to a settlement becoming Superstitious
may be a remote logging village, a trading post sprung or an Unholy Site), or you could roll randomly on the
up around a desert oasis or a small mountain keep, for following tables to determine what kind of attribute the
instance. When rolling for random encounters within the settlement gains.
settlement, instead of using an urban random encounter
chart solely, alternate between the urban encounter Total Number of Attributes: While the base
chart and the wilderness encounter chart (or chart) most settlement rules in Settlements in Play indicate that
appropriate to the surrounding terrain. The settlement’s even very small settlements can have settlement
Danger rating applies to both encounter charts. attributes, and a metropolis might have up to six, those
standardized rules do not take into account the variation
Acquired in how settlements are built and function based on the
Attributes kingdom-building rules. Hence, it is suggested that a
While Natural Attributes are specific to the site where village should have no more than one attribute, a town
the city is created, other Attributes have much more to two, and a city three.
do with the growth and development of the city after
its foundation. To incorporate these kinds of attributes Duration of Attributes: The settlement rules assume
into the settlements in your PCs’ kingdom, you can use that a settlement’s qualities or attributes are more or
one of the following methods. less permanent, or that they last for as long as would
ever be relevant to the PCs. Given the substantial impact
Replace standard kingdom events: Whenever a that many of these attributes can have on a settlement,
standard kingdom event would normally occur, use the however, it is suggested that any attribute a city acquires
following table to replace Table 1-9 with Table 2-7 below should last for one year at maximum, and a random
to determine whether the event is a standard event or duration of 2d6 months is recommended.
whether one of your settlements (chosen randomly)
gains an attribute. If the GM wishes to allow PCs to neutralize an
unfavorable Attitude or Civic Attribute, they should
Table 2-7: Events, Danger, and Acquired Attributes make a Loyalty check at the end of the Event Phase
each month with a -10 penalty. If they succeed in this
D% EVENT special Loyalty check in three consecutive months,
Less than 1 the adverse Attitude or Civic Attribute is eradicated
Reroll* plus bonus event (50% chance of either): in that settlement. A less lenient GM might rule that
01-50 Good weather or Natural blessing (kingdom no amelioration of such Attitudes or Civic Attributes
46-48 events); or, is possible, or could allow such checks with the caveat
Boomtown or Unexpected find (city) that each failed check increases the duration of the
Beneficial Event adverse Attitude or Civic Attribute, and/or that three
Civic Attribute consecutive failures causes it to become permanent.
The ability to mitigate adverse attributes is left to the
judgment of the GM.

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts

Attitudes Decadent: The settlement’s vast wealth and proud,
ancient heritage has made it a haven for corruption and
Attitudes are those attributes that are based on sin. Corruption +1, Crime +1, Productivity +1, Society +1,
conscious or willful choices by the majority of citizens Danger +10. Special Restriction Evil communities only.
in a settlement, becoming ingrained in the policies
and politics of the place and creating deeply held Insular: The settlement is isolated, perhaps physically
beliefs and values. Some attitudes may be beneficial or even spiritually. Its citizens are fiercely loyal to one
to a community, but frequently they make the city an another. Law +1; Crime –1.
unpleasant or inhospitable place for those who do not
share in the attitudes of the general populace. Morally Permissive: Divine indulgence or perhaps
just a corrupt church selling indulgences has made this
Table 2-8: Attitudes settlement famous (or infamous) for its lax morals. Select
1d4+1 acts that would normally be considered sinful or
D% ATTRIBUTE immoral; these acts are not crimes or sins within the
settlement, and committing these acts does not violate
01-10 Abstinent a paladin or cleric’s moral code, so long as the offense
is limited to within the settlement’s borders. Corruption
11-20 Decadent +1, Productivity +1. Decrease divine spellcasting by
-1 level.
21-30 Insular
Pious: The settlement is known for its inhabitants’
31-40 Morally Permissive good manners, friendly spirit, and deep devotion to
a deity (this deity must be of the same alignment as
41-50 Pious the community). Increase spellcasting by 1 level; any
faith more than one alignment step different than the
51-60 Racially Intolerant community’s official religion is at best unwelcome and
at worst outlawed—obvious worshipers of an outlawed
61-70 Religious Tolerance deity must pay 150% of the normal price for goods and
services and may face mockery, insult, or even violence.
71-80 Romantic
Racially Intolerant: The community is prejudiced
81-90 Sexist against one or more races, which are listed in parentheses.
Members of the unwelcome race or races must pay
91-00 Superstitious 150% of the normal price for goods and services and
may face mockery, insult, or even violence.
Abstinent: The settlement’s religious or moral
convictions force it to deny some of the world’s more Religious Tolerance: The settlement is known for
common vices. The settlement prohibits a common its widespread religious tolerance, and many faiths
vice: usually alcohol is prohibited, but other abstinent
settlements might ban stronger drugs, tobacco,
prostitution, or even ‘indulgent’ foods like fine pastries,
meat, or similar. Corruption +2, Law +1, Society -2.
Special Restriction: Lawful communities only.

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

have temples, cathedrals or monasteries here. Religious 76-00 Rural SetCtilteiemse&nts
debates in the public square are common. Lore +1, 81-83 Sacred Animals
Society +1. Increase divine spellcasting by +2 levels. 84-86
87-91 Therapeutic
Romantic: The settlement’s inhabitants are renowned 92-95 Tourist Attraction
for their stunning beauty and charm, and the location 96-00
has been made famous in dozens of romantic songs, Trading Post
poems and bawdy limericks. Affairs of the heart are Well Educated
common here, among the town’s hot-blooded, lusty
inhabitants. Society +1. Increase the amount of common Academic: The settlement possesses a school, training
magic items available for sale by 50%, as such trinkets facility, or university of great renown. Lore +1, increase
are a popular, if expensive, token of affection here. spellcasting by 1 level.

Sexist: The settlement’s laws have completely Artist’s Colony: The settlement is renowned for the
disenfranchised one gender or the other: the oppressed excellence of its local artists, performers and craftsfolk.
sex has no more legal rights than a pet or a slave and Productivity +1, Society +1. Add the settlement’s
cannot buy property. While within the settlement, Productivity modifier on Charisma checks to make
members of the oppressed gender cannot legally make money through art or performance, and all checks to
purchases of items worth more than 5 gp, and are usually produce artwork, not just those made to earn a living.
ignored by the settlement’s inhabitants, and may suffer
mockery, violence or legal persecution. Society -2. Asylum: The settlement is host to an infamous
madhouse or asylum (or perhaps a prison, gaol or
Superstitious: The community has a deep and notorious workhouse). The presence of these dangerous,
abiding fear of magic and the unexplained, but this fear mad souls has hardened the townsfolk, making
has caused its citizens to become more supportive and them suspicious of strangers and paranoid about the
loyal to each other and their settlement. Law +2, Society possibility of an escape or other tragedy. Lore +1, Society
+2, Crime –4; reduce spellcasting by 2 levels. -2.

Civic Attributes Cruel Watch: The settlement’s civic watch or police
force is infamous for its brutality, effectiveness, cruelty
Civic Attributes are those that reflect the general actions and corruption. Special: lawful communities only.
and activity of the people of a city in terms of how they Corruption +1, Law +2, Crime -3, Society -2.
go about their daily business. Civic attributes do not
necessarily reflect the majority of common citizens, Financial Center: This settlement is home to powerful
but they represent characteristics that have become banks, mints, trading houses, currency exchanges and
strongly identified with that community and something other powerful financial and mercantile organizations.
for which it is well known. Productivity +2, Law +1. Special Restriction: non-
chaotic communities only.
Table 2-9: Civic Attributes
Free City: The city’s libertarian laws make it a haven
D% ATTRIBUTE for fugitives and outcasts of all kinds, from runaway
children, serfs who escaped their lord’s lands, criminals
01-04 Academic and escaped slaves alike. Foreign adventurers and
05-08 Artist’s Colony bounty hunters cannot arrest or capture fugitives
09-10 within the settlement’s borders. Crime +2, Danger +5,
11-14 Asylum Law -2. Special Restriction: Chaotic communities only.
15-18 Cruel Watch
19-25 Financial Center Gambling: The settlement caters to vice and greed.
26-29 Casinos, gaming houses, opium dens and bordellos are
30-33 Free City all common here, and serve as the town’s major industry.
34-40 Gambling Crime +2, Corruption +2, Productivity +2, Law -1.
41-44 Good Roads
45-48 Good Roads: The settlement has an extensive road
49-52 Guilds network. These roads are well-maintained and allow
53-56 Legendary Marketplace for quick movement of troops and merchandise.
57-60 Productivity +2.
61-65 Notorious
66-68 Peacebonding Guilds: A variety of trade and mercantile guilds
69-75 Planned Community control the town’s industry and trade. These guilds are
Population Surge highly specialized (a printer’s guild, an eggler’s guild, a
swordsmith’s guild, a diamond cutter’s guild,ect), and
Prosperous usually semi-hereditary, with children following their
Royal Accommodations parents into the guild. Corruption +1, Productivity +1,
Rumormongering Citizens Lore -1.

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Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

SetCtiltieemse&nts Legendary Marketplace: The settlement is justly
famed for its markets: almost anything may be for sale
here! Increase the number of magic items available in mischievous (monkeys) or a stubborn hazard on the
each category by 50% (minimum 1 item per category). roads (horses, cattle). The animals have free run of the
Productivity +2, Crime +2. settlement. Lore +1, Corruption -1, Productivity -1.

Notorious: The settlement has a reputation (deserved Therapeutic: The settlement is known for its minor
or not) for being a den of iniquity. Thieves, rogues, healing properties- medicinal hot springs, clean,
and cutthroats are much more common here. Crime +1, invigorating mountain air, a plethora of locally grown
Danger +10, Law –1. healing herbs and fruits, or perhaps some divine blessing.
Whatever the reason, hospitals, nurseries, retreats
Peacebonding: By local law, any weapon larger and sanitariums are common within the settlement.
than a dagger and all wands and rods must either be Productivity +1 and Lore +1. Wisdom (Medicine) checks
peacebound or stored at the local sherrif’s office or jail made within the settlement’s borders also receive the
(at the settlement’s option) for the duration of the visit. settlement’s Lore modifier if positive.
Peacebonding a weapon involves winding a colored
cord tightly around the weapon and its scabbard, and Tourist Attraction: The settlement possesses some
then impressing the local seal in wax. Removing the sort of landmark or event that draws visitors from far
peacebond requires an action before the item can be and wide. Productivity +1.
drawn. (Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) DC 12 to untangle
the bond as a move instead). Law +1, Crime -1. Trading Post: The settlement’s primary purpose is
trade. Merchants and buyers from all over the world can
Planned Community: The community’s design was be found within the settlement. Increase the number
determined in advance, every detail planned out before of magic items available in each category by 50%
the first keystone was laid. Streets are wide, straight and (minimum 1 item per category).
laid out on an orderly grid, neighborhoods and districts
are segregated by purpose, as are the living quarters of Well Educated: The settlement’s inhabitants are
the city’s inhabitants. Crime -1, Society -1, Productivity incredibly well educated and known for their sharp
+1. Special Restriction: Lawful communities only. wits. Lore +1, Society +1.

Population Surge: This settlement is home to a greater Magical
than usual percentage of children, making it energetic Attributes
and lively. Crime +1, Society +2.
Magical Attributes are truly amazing and mysterious
Prosperous: The settlement is a popular hub for happenings, events, or phenomena that surround and
trade. Merchants are wealthy and the citizens live well. infuse a community, sometimes temporarily, sometimes
Productivity +1; Increase the number of magic items permanently, and may be a blessing, a curse, or both.
available in each category by 50% (minimum 1 item per
category).

Royal Accommodations: One or more members of a
royal dynasty call the settlement home. As such, security
is extremely tight, and the local Productivity has taken
flight, as merchants catering to the nobility have sprung
up. Productivity +1, Law +2. Decrease Society -1. Increase
the Purchase Price of high quality or luxury items, such
as jewelry, fine clothes or food, entertainment, weapons
and all magical items purchased in the settlement by
+10% due to widespread inflation.

Rumormongering Citizens: The settlement’s citizens
are nosy and gossipy to a fault—very little happens in the
settlement that no one knows about. Lore +1, Society –1.

Rural: The settlement, no matter its size, has never
lost its sleepy, small-town atmosphere. The settlement
sprawls across a wide, mostly open area, and despite the
distances between homes and buildings, neighbors look
out for one another. Productivity -1, Crime -1, Danger -5.

Sacred Animals: In this settlement there is a great
taboo (punishable by death, exile or other severe
penance) about killing a particular breed of beast.
Depending on the settlement, the sacred animal might
be innocuous (house cats, ravens), irritating and

77

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

In any case, Magical Attributes involve powers from Hallow: The entire settlement is under the effects of a
beyond this world, or mighty and ancient magics the permanent hallow effect of incredible power. This effect
likes of which are seldom seen in this age. can be suppressed in small areas within the settlement.
Special Restriction: Good or Evil communities only.
Table 2-10: Magical Attributes
Holy Site: The settlement hosts a shrine, temple,
D% ATTRIBUTE or landmark with great significance to one or more SetCtilteiemse&nts
religions. The settlement has a higher percentage of
01-08 Animal Polyglot divine spellcasters in its population. Corruption –2;
09-12 Anthropomorphizing increase spellcasting by +1 level (+2 for cleric spells, -4
13-19 for spells cast by evil creatures).
20-24 Eldritch
25-31 God-Ruled Living Forest: This settlement is a magical place,
32-41 Hallow/Unhallow carved from the living heart of an ancient forest. The
42-50 Holy Site trees form themselves into homes, and branches bend
51-60 Living Forest to provide the settlement’s inhabitants with food, in
61-67 Magically Attuned the form of magical, druid-tended fruits and berries.
68-74 Magical Polyglot Lore +1, Society +2, Crime -2, Productivity -4. Increase
75-80 Phantasmal Spellcasting by +2 levels (druidic spells only).
81-85 Planar Crossroads
86-90 Pocket Universe Magically Attuned: The settlement is a haven for
91-00 spellcasters due to its location; for example, it may lie
Unaging at the convergence of multiple ley lines or near a well-
Unholy Site known magical site. Increase all spellcasting by +2
levels. Reduce BP cost for Alchemist, Caster’s Tower, or
Animal Polyglot: A magical aura hangs over the Magic Shop by 25%.
settlement. All creatures of the Animal type gain the
ability to speak and think while within the settlement’s Magical Polyglot: The settlement is blessed with a
borders. Animals act as if their INT scores were 6, magical aura that allows all sentient creatures within
and gain ability to speak Common; they lose these its borders to understand one another as if they shared
benefits as soon as they pass the settlement’s borders. a common language. This permanent magical effect is
Productivity -1, Increase Lore +1. Increase spellcasting similar to the tongues spell, and has no effect on written
by +1 level (druid spells only). Add the settlement’s Lore language, only the words spoken by the settlement’s
modifier to Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks made inhabitants. Productivity +1, Lore +1, Society +1.
within the settlement.
Phantasmal: The settlement simply isn’t always
Anthropomorphizing: This settlement is a haven for there! This magical settlement might only appear in the
beast-men and hybrids, from monstrous humanoids to moonlight, appear out of the mist on particularly holy
sapient magical beasts, giants and awakened animals,
and mutates, mutants, and exotic races of every 78
description. Outcasts from “normal” society, they
cluster in a place of mutual acceptance. Society -1, Lore
+1. Increase spellcasting by +1 (polymorph spells only).

Eldritch: The town has a strange and unnatural
air, and is a popular place for sorcerers and warlocks.
Lore +2, Danger +13. Increase spellcasting by +2 levels
(divination and compulsion spells only).

God-Ruled: The settlement has no real government;
instead it is ruled by religious codes and omens.
Gods or other powerful spiritual beings or outsiders
intervene directly in the settlement’s politics and
daily life. Ordinary citizens are possessed by spirits to
speak decrees, unmistakable oracles appear as flaming
messages written on walls or in the sky, or perhaps each
and every citizen has prophetic dreams that tell them
what they must do in the coming day for the settlement
to thrive. Decrease Corruption -2, Society -2. Add one
extra common and uncommon magic item for sale in
the settlement. Reduce BP cost for Cathedral, Shrine,
or Temple by 25%. Special Requirement: Theocracy or
Utopian Experiment governments only

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

or infamous dates, or only appear in this plane during Table 2-11: Disadvantages
thunderstorms or on particularly hot days. At other times,
the settlement simply doesn’t exist on this plane; powerful, D% ATTRIBUTE
plane-crossing magic is required to access the settlement
SetCtiltieemse&nts outside of the ‘proper’ time. The highly magical settlement 01-10 Anarchy
is insular and clannish as a result of its isolation from 11-25 Bureaucratic Nightmare
the outside world. Productivity -2, Society -2. Increase 26-35
spellcasting by +2 levels (conjuration only). 36-50 Fascistic
51-60 Hunted
Planar Crossroads: Natural or artificial planar gates 61-75 Ignorant
near the settlement make it a crossroads for planar travel. 76-85 Impoverished
Creatures from across the multiverse, both malevolent 86-00 Plagued
and benign, can be found here, as can their artifacts. Rampant Inflation
Planetouched races are common as are monstrous
races as both PCs and NPCs. Crime +3, Productivity +2, Anarchy: The settlement has no leaders—this type of
Danger +20. Increase spellcasting by two levels. community is often short-lived and dangerous. Replaces
settlement’s Government and removes Government
Pocket Universe: Thanks to a magical fold in space adjustments to modifiers; Corruption and Crime +4;
and time, the settlement exists in a place far too small Productivity and Society –4; Law –6; Danger +20.
to sustain it. A sleepy hamlet might be found in an old
mansion’s disused pantry, a huge fortress might hide Bureaucratic Nightmare: The settlement is a
the space between two old oaks, or a planar metropolis nightmarish, confusing and frustrating maze of red
might be contained within a single cramped alley tape, official paperwork and petty tyrants in positions
of a much less important city-state. Productivity -2. of minor power, who relish enforcing all the useless
Increase spellcasting by +2 levels. Depending on the little rules. All financial transactions in the settlement
nature of the settlement and its relationship with the require a successful DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion)
outside world, the settlement might be impossible to check, with the DC increasing by 1 for every 1,000 gp
find. It may skill checks to even find the entrance to of the purchase price. If the check is unsuccessful,
the settlement: usually a DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) the character has broken some settlement law, and
check. The settlement’s size modifier is applied to this must pay a fine of 5 gp times his character level. If the
check, albeit inverted. After all, it’s easier to find a check result is a natural 1, the check automatically fails
metropolis (DC 16) than a thorp (DC 24). (even if it would normally succeed) and the offense is
deemed particularly egregious and the fine is increased
Unaging: The settlement’s magical aura prevents to 100 gp times the character’s level. Productivity -2,
those within its borders from aging. They do not Crime +2, Corruption +2. Special Restriction: Lawful
suffer the ravages of time, and do not physically age. communities only.
Usually, several kibbutz or schools near the settlement,
but not within its borders are established, to allow
the community’s children to age to adulthood before
they take their unchanging place in the settlement’s
immortal society. Lore +4, Society -3. Increase
spellcasting by +1 level, when casting spells of the
Necromancy school only.

Unholy Site: The settlement serves as an unholy site
for an evil god or philosophy. Worshipers of the evil
deity flock to this settlement. Corruption +2. Increase
spellcasting by +1 level (+2 for cleric spells, -4 for spells
cast by good creatures).

Disadvantages
Disadvantages are a special category of Attributes
that describe when things have gone horribly wrong Fascistic: The settlement is governed by a totalitarian
in a settlement, and the people struggling to maintain regime. Sadistic and legally all-powerful soldiers walk
control have failed utterly to keep a handle on events. the streets, enforcing the settlement’s brutal laws.
The effects of a Disadvantage are mostly localized to Outsiders are mistrusted and undesirables often simply
the citizens in that settlement, but each month that a
Disadvantage persists in any community, your kingdom
gains 1 point of Unrest.

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disappear. Increase Law +4, Decrease Society -4. If the Cursed: Some form of curse afflicts the city. Its SetCtilteiemse&nts
settlement has either the Pious or Racially Intolerant citizens might be prone to violence or suffer ill luck, or
qualities, the town’s military or police forces will they could be plagued by an infestation of pests. Choose
usually kill, imprison, or enslave undesirables. Special one modifier and reduce its value by 4.
Restriction: Lawful communities only.
Magically Deadened: For some reason, the magic in
Hunted: A powerful group or monster uses the city as this region is weak. Local ley lines are warped and the
its hunting ground. Citizens live in fear and avoid going magical ecosystem is fragile. Lore -1, Productivity -1.
out on the streets unless necessary. Productivity, Law, Decrease spellcasting by 4 levels. Reduce the amount
and Society –4; Danger +20. of all magical items sold in the marketplace by -2 per
category. If this reduces the number of magical items
Ignorant: The people of this town are uneducated, of that category to 0, items of that category cannot be
dull-witted and worse, they consider their ignorance to found in the settlement.
be an admirable quality. Economy -3, Lore -6, Society -3.
Magical Dead Zone: There is no magic here. Spells
Impoverished: Because of any number of factors, do not function within the settlement, and magic items
the settlement is destitute. Poverty, famine, and disease become mundane items of the same type while within
run rampant. Corruption and Crime +1; halve magic its borders.
item availability; many basic goods and services are
unavailable or cost 50% more than usual. Polluted: The settlement’s magical or high-tech
industry has stained the sky with sickly grey smog,
Plagued: The community is suffering from a protracted poisoned the waters with dark slime and made the
contagion or malady. Apply –2 to all modifiers; select a ground less fertile. Sickness and misery abound. Anyone
communicable disease—there’s a 5% chance each day who spends at least 24 hours within the settlement takes
that a PC is exposed to the disease and must make a a -4 penalty on Constitution saves made to resist disease
Constitution save to avoid contracting the illness. and poison for as long as they remain within 5 miles of
the settlement and for 1d4+1 days after leaving the area.
Rampant Inflation: Common to boom towns sprung Lesser restoration or other magic that protects against
up around a rich mining camp or profitable dungeon, poison or disease can remove this affliction. Corruption
and settlements undergoing a revolution or military +2, Productivity +4.
junta alike, this settlement’s economy is out of control.
Productivity -4, Corruption +2, Crime +4. Soul Crushing: The settlement has an oppressive,
frightening atmosphere. Its architecture is eerie and
Magical seems somehow wrong or corrupt. The people are
Disadvantages strange and furtive. Anyone who spends at least 24
hours within the settlement suffers a -2 penalty on
Magical Disadvantages are like standard Disadvantages, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves for as long as
but rather than representing a breakdown in social and they remain in the area and for 24 hours after leaving
political order they represent a localized breakdown in the area.
the functioning of magic itself. Magical Disadvantages
are likely to occur only in cities with a large number of Wild Magic Zone: The settlement is built over an area
buildings that produce magical items or that increase of wild and unpredictable magic. Each time a spell is
a city’s available caster level, such as the Alchemist, cast, the caster must roll on the following table or using
Caster’s Tower, Magical Academy, and Temple the tables of random magical effects, planar effects, or
buildings. surges of wild magic in the official 5E rules. Decrease
spellcasting by -2 levels.
Table 2-12: Magical Disadvantages
Table E8: Wild Magic

D% ATTRIBUTE D6 RESULT
1 The spell fails.
01-15 Atheistic 2 The spell targets a random creature, object, or
16-30 Cursed
31-45 Magically Deadened location (as appropriate) within 100 feet.
46-55 Magical Dead Zone 3 The caster targets herself with a magic missile spell
56-70 Polluted
71-85 Soul Crushing using her highest-level spell available spell slot.
86-00 Wild Magic Zone 4 The caster targets herself with a bestow curse spell

Atheistic: The gods have abandoned the settlement. and automatically fails the save. It lasts 1 hour.
This effect is identical a Magical Dead Zone (see 5 The caster targets every creature within 30 feet
below), but only affects divine magic. Outsiders cannot
be summoned anywhere within the borders of the with a bestow curse spell. (They can save normally).
settlement. It lasts 1 hour.
6 The spell is cast twice on the same target.

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SetCtiltieemse&nts Optional god’s alignment is simply Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral or
Settlement Lawful Neutral). A Cathedral increases these attributes
Rules by 4 instead of 2. A Shrine increases one attribute, and
only by 1; for example, a lawful good Shrine increases
Abandoned Economy by 1 or Loyalty by 1).
Buildings
Instead of granting alignment-based bonuses, a religious
If a building requires another to be adjacent (such as how building may grant bonuses based on the portfolio of its
a Tavern must be adjacent to a House or Mansion), and chosen god. For example, a Temple of the goddess of wine
that required building is demolished or destroyed, the may increase Economy and Loyalty (the same attributes
GM may decide that the associated building goes out of as a Tavern) each by 2, and a Temple of the god of greed
business or otherwise shuts down 1d3 turns later because may increase Economy and Stability (the same attributes
of lack of customers or support. If this occurs, you lose as a Black Market) each by 2. These values replace the
the building’s benefit and Unrest increases by 1. building’s normal modifiers to Economy, Loyalty, and
Stability, and should never provide bonuses greater than
If you build a replacement for the abandoned building, the building’s normal bonuses (+1 for a Shrine, +4 for a
on the next Upkeep phase you may attempt an Economy Temple, +8 for a Cathedral).
check to activate the abandoned building; success means
the abandoned building is occupied and provides its Settlement Sizes
bonuses. If you fail, you may keep trying on the next turn. The GM may want to adjust settlement modifiers based
on the kingdom’s Size and how that corresponds to the
standard settlement size categories in the settlement rules.

Table 17: Settlement Sizes and Modifiers

LOTS CATEGORY MODIFIERS DANGERS

1 Village –2 –10
2–8 Small Town –1 –5
9–20 Large Town 0 0

21–40 Small City +1 +5

41–100 Large City +1* +5*

101+ Metropolis +1* +5*

*Per district

Modifiers: Add the listed number to the settlement’s
Corruption, Crime, Law, Lore, Productivity, and Society.

Danger: Add the listed number to the settlement’s
Danger value.

Expanding
Settlement
Modifiers
As explained in the Buildings section, the Settlement
DSietietsies and Holy entry for a building lists modifiers that affect skill checks
in the settlement. If the GM wants these modifiers to
Instead of Cathedrals, Shrines, and Temples providing influence the kingdom as a whole, add up the Settlement
the same bonuses to Economy, Loyalty, and Stability modifiers for all settlements in your kingdom, divide
regardless of that building’s religious affiliation, they them by 10, and apply the following adjustments
can instead provide a bonus to an attribute related to according to your kingdom’s alignment: Chaotic: +1
the alignment of the god worshiped. Crime; Evil: +1 Corruption; Good: +1 Society; Lawful +1
Law; Neutral: +1 Lore (apply this twice if the kingdom’s
A Temple increases attributes as follows: Chaotic: alignment is simply Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral or
Loyalty +2; Evil: Economy +2; Good: Loyalty +2; Lawful: Lawful Neutral). Use these total modifiers everywhere
Economy +2; Neutral: Stability +2 (apply this twice if the in your kingdom. If a settlement has its own settlement
modifier, use the higher of the two modifiers for rolls
81 relating to that settlement.

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

CHAPTER 3

Warfare

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Warfare

SOONER OR LATER, EVEN THE MOST PEACEABLE Mass Combat
kingdom will find itself faced with the prospect of Overview
war. While some kingdoms at odds with your own might
be willing to compromise, others are not amenable to The key parts of the mass combat rules that you’ll
negotiation, or respond to overtures of appeasement reference often are:
with ever-increasing aggression. When diplomacy fails,
the clash of steel is close behind. • Explanations of the army stat block and terminology
used throughout this section.
This section contains rules for you as a kingdom
leader to create armies, assign their commanders, and • Step-by-step instructions on how to run the battle
prepare them for battle on land, at sea, or in the skies. phases of a combat between armies.
This includes rules for equipping and maintaining
conventional armies, utilizing PCs as part of mass • B attlefield modifiers for terrain and similar factors.
combat, converting groups of monsters into military
forces, and going beyond the battlefield to deal with the • D ifferent tactics that armies can learn.
aftermath of combat.
• W hat happens at the end of a battle, once an army
These rules provide an abstract, narrative mass wins, loses, or flees.
combat system that will let you rapidly play out a
complex battle scenario without getting bogged down in • How to use special commanders or kingdom leaders
excessive detail, while still retaining fidelity to strategy, to modify army statistics.
tactics, and the realities of the battlefield. These rules
are not intended to accurately represent complex wars, • Resources to upgrade and improve armies.
provide a highly tactical simulation, or accurately model
a tactical warfare miniatures game. Instead, they are • S pecial abilities for unusual armies, such as
intended to incorporate warfare into a campaign while spellcasting or poison.
still staying primarily focused on traditional, small-
scale adventuring and roleplaying. • A list of sample armies.

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Beyond the Kingdom Type: This lists the nature of the army’s individual
units, such as “humans (fighter 1)” or “trolls.” These rules
The mass combat presented here are designed to assume all units in an army are essentially the same; if Warfare
work in conjunction with the kingdom building an army of 100 orcs actually has a few half-orc fighters
rules presented in Chapters 1 and 2, such as or some orc barbarians, their presence has no effect
Loyalty checks and a kingdom’s Control DC. If on the army’s statistics. If an army has a large number
you aren’t running a kingdom but would still like of units that are different than the typical unit in that
to use these mass combat rules as part of your army, and these differences are enough to change the
regular 5th Edition game, substitute a Wisdom army’s stat block, it is generally best to treat the group
save for a Loyalty check when one is required. as two separate armies with different stat blocks.
Instead of a kingdom’s Control DC, use a DC equal
to 8 + 1/3 the party’s average level (rounded up) + hp: An army’s hit points equal its ACR × the average
the proficiency bonus that applies at the party’s hp value of 1 HD of the army’s units (3.5 for d6 HD, 4.5
level. For example, if the party’s average level is 12, for d8 HD, 5.5 for d10 HD, 6.5 for d12 HD, and 10.5 for
the Wisdom save DC is 8 + 4 + 4 = 16; if the party’s d20 HD). For example, fighters have d10 HD, so an ACR
average level is 5, the Wisdom save DC is 8 + 2 + 3 1 army of fighters has 5.5 × 1 = 5.5 hp, rounded down
= 13. Instead of a kingdom turn or kingdom phase, to 5 hp. Note that only damage from other armies can
use 1 month. Instead of using build points (BP) to reduce an army’s hp; a non-army attacking an army is
represent the cost of equipping and maintaining mostly ineffective, though you can treat the attacker as
an army, multiply the BP cost by 500 gp. a Fine army if you want to determine the outcome of
the attack. Abilities that reduce hp damage or healing by
Army Statistics half (or any other fraction) have a minimum of 1 rather
The description of each army is presented in a standard than 0.
format.
Army Challenge Rating (ACR): This is based on
Name: This is the name of the army. This could be the Challenge of an individual unit from the army and
a mercenary company’s name, such as “Thedric’s the army’s size, and scales like Challenge levels. for
Berserkers,” a formal regiment number such as “His monsters. To determine ACR, see Table: Army Sizes and
Majesty’s Ninth Royal Cavalry,” or an informal name apply the modifier for the army’s size to the Challenge
such as “militia from Blackwall County.” of an individual unit in the army. If an army is cavalry,
use the mount’s Challenge or the rider’s Challenge,
XP: This is the XP awarded to the PCs if their army whichever is higher. For example, an individual orc is
defeats this army and is the same as an XP award for Challenge 1/2, so an army of 100 orcs is ACR 1/2; an army
an encounter with a Challenge equal to the army’s ACR of 500 orcs is ACR 4 (4 steps greater than the standard
(see below). 100-unit army). If a group’s ACR would be lower than
1/8, it doesn’t count as an army—add more troops until
Alignment: An army’s alignment has no effect on its you reach an ACR of 1/8 or higher. For purposes of
statistics and is just a convenient way to summarize its calculating ACR, individual creatures whose Challenge
attitude with two letters. It is usually the same alignment is represented solely by class levels have a Challenge of
as a typical unit in that army. 1 less than their level. For example, when calculating
the ACR of an army of level 2 fighters, consider them
Size: The army’s size determines not only how many to have a Challenge of 1 (and thus an ACR of 1 for a
individual units exist in the army, but also the army’s Medium army of those fighters).
ACR.
Defense Value (DV): This is a static number the army
Table 3-1: Army Sizes uses to resist attacks, much like an individual creature’s
AC. The army’s DV is equal to ACR + 10 + any bonuses
ARMY TYPE SOLDIERS ARMY CHALLENGE RATING from fortifications or a settlement’s Defense score.
(ACR)
Hero 1 Offense Modifier (OM): This is a modifier added to
Patrol 5 Challenge of individual creature -4 a d20 roll to determine the army’s chance of success,
Squad 10 Challenge of individual creature -2 much like an individual creature’s attack bonus. The
Platoon 20 Challenge of individual creature army’s OM is equal to its ACR. If the army has the ability
Company 50 Challenge of individual creature +2 to make ranged attacks, that’s mentioned here. Melee
Battalion 100 Challenge of individual creature +4 attacks and ranged attacks use the same OM unless an
Regiment 200 Challenge of individual creature +6 ability says otherwise.
Brigade 500 Challenge of individual creature +8
Legion 1000 Challenge of individual creature +10 Tactics: These are any army tactics the army has at
Challenge of individual creature +12 its disposal.

Resources: These are any army resources the army
has at its disposal.

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Warfare Special: This section lists any special abilities the purposes of these rules. If there is an extended break
army has. (such as stopping at nightfall to resume combat in the
morning) or the battle conditions change significantly
Speed: This number indicates how many 12-mile (such as the assassination of a commander, the arrival
hexes the army traverses in a day’s march. Marching of another army, and so on), the GM should treat each
through difficult terrain halves the army’s speed. An period of combat between armies as one battle. The
army’s speed is based on the speed of its individual battle phases are as follows.
units.
1. Tactics Phase: The GM decides what battlefield
Morale: This number represents how confident the modifiers apply to the battle. The commanders each
army is. Morale is used to determine changing battle select a tactic their respective armies will use during
tactics, whether or not an army routs as a result of a the battle.
devastating attack, and similar effects. Morale is a
modifier from –4 (worst) to +4 (best). A new army’s 2. Ranged Phase: Any army with the ability to
starting morale is +0. Morale can be further modified by make ranged attacks may make one attack against an
the army’s commander and other factors. If an army’s enemy army. This phase typically lasts for 1 round (one
Morale is ever reduced to –5 or lower, the army disbands attack) as the two armies use ranged attacks while they
or deserts and you no longer control it. advance to melee range, and then use melee attacks
thereafter. The battlefield’s shape and other conditions
Consumption: This is how many Build Points (BP) can extend this duration. If both armies have ranged
an army consumes each week (unlike most kingdom attacks, they may choose to stay at range and never
expenses, this cost is per week, not per month), approach each other for melee (at least until they run
representing the cost to feed, hydrate, arm, train, care out of ammunition, though the Consumption cost of
for, and pay the units. An army’s base Consumption is maintaining an army generally means the army is
equal to its ACR divided by 2 (minimum 1). If you fall capable of many shots before this happens). Armies
behind on paying the army’s Consumption, reduce its without ranged capability can’t attack during this phase
Morale by 2; this penalty ends when you catch up on but may still rush forward.
the army’s pay.
3. Melee Phase: The armies finally clash with melee
Commander: This entry lists the army’s commander attacks. Each commander selects a strategy using the
and the commander’s Charisma modifier, Hit Strategy Track, then each army makes an attack against
Dice, and Leadership score. The commander must another army. Repeat the Melee phase until one army is
be able to communicate with the army (possibly defeated or routs, or some other event ends the battle.
using  message spells and similar magical forms of
communication) in order to give orders or provide a Attacking and
bonus on the army’s rolls. Taking Damage

Simple Mass In mass combat, the hundreds of individual attacks that
Combat take place in one battle phase overlap each other enough
that who actually attacks first is irrelevant.
Since an army’s strength is represented by an ACR score,
the GM can balance armies against each other using When armies attack, each army attempts an Offense
their XP values. For example, two ACR 9 armies should check (1d20 + the attacking army’s OM) and compares
make for a relatively even battle, but so would an ACR 9 the result to the target army’s DV.
army against two ACR 6 armies or three ACR 5 armies.
This applies mostly to typical humanoid armies, as If the Offense check is equal to or less than the target
monsters with powerful abilities might be significantly army’s DV, the army deals no damage that phase.
more formidable.
If the Offense check is greater than defender’s DV,
Battle Phases the defending army takes damage equal to the result
of the attacker’s Offense check minus the defender’s
Mass combat takes place over the course of three battle DV. For example, if the attacker’s Offense check is 11
phases: the Tactics Phase, the Ranged Phase, and the and the defender’s DV is 7, the defending army takes
Melee Phase. A phase doesn’t denote a specific passage 4 points of damage. Because these attacks are resolved
of time, leaving the GM latitude to determine how long simultaneously, it is possible that both armies may
a mass combat takes to resolve. For example, a battle in damage or even destroy each other in the same phase.
a muddy field after a rain could take place over hours
and involve several short breaks to remove the dead If the Offense check is a natural 20, but that check
from the battlefield, but still counts as one battle for the is lower than the enemy army’s DV, the attacking army
still deals 1 point of damage. If the Offense check is a
85 natural 1, that army can’t attempt an Offense Check in
the next phase, due to some setback: a misheard order,
getting stuck in mud, and so on.

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

More Than Two Armies

These rules can also serve in battles where more than
two armies clash. In such battles, when your army
attempts an Offense check, you choose which enemy
army (or armies, if you have multiple armies in the
field) it is attacking and apply damage appropriately.
On each phase, you may change which army you are
targeting. If your kingdom fields multiple armies in a
battle, you may want to divide responsibility for these
armies among the other players to speed up play.

CBaotntdlietfiioenlds Warfare
In some mass combats, the specifics of a battlefield won’t
impact either army, but sometimes the battlefield will Strategy Track
itself decide the outcome. The modifiers listed below On the first Melee phase, the commander selects a
apply only for the duration of the battle. Naturally, the strategy from one of five options on the strategy track.
GM should exercise judgment regarding any conditions Strategies adjust the army’s DV, OM, and damage
that don’t seem to apply to one of the armies (such as modifier. The damage modifier applies even when the
darkness and an army with darkvision, or fog and an army in question makes a successful attack but cannot
army of worgs with keen hearing and smell). reduce the damage dealt by a successful attack below 1.

At the GM’s discretion, large-area spells such as move Once each Melee phase after the first, the commander
earth might allow armies or commanders to manipulate can alter the army’s strategy. Adjusting the strategy 1
the battlefield conditions before a conflict. For these step up or down is automatically successful and doesn’t
spells to have any effect, they must last at least 1 require a check. If the commander wants to adjust
hour and affect a significant area of the battlefield, strategy more than 1 step, the army attempts a DC 20
at the GM’s discretion. Likewise, magic items such as Morale check. Success means the strategy changes to
an instant fortress (+2 Defense) and spells such as wall the desired level. Otherwise, the army’s current strategy
of stone (+1 Defense) can create simple fortifications for doesn’t change.
an army to use in a battle. If there is an advantageous
area to control on the battlefield, such as a hilltop or Table 3-2: Strategy
easily defended river crossing, you can apply a simple
+1 or +2 bonus to the OM or DV of the army that wins STRATEGY DC OM DAMAGE DEALT
initiative each round to reflect their greater ability to Defensive
take advantage of what the battlefield offers. More Cautious +4 –4 –2
severe conditions might cause one side or the other to Standard +2 –2 –1
have advantage on their attack, such as attacking from Aggressive +0 +0 +0
ambush or against a foe they can encircle because of Reckless –2 +2 +1
favorable position, or disadvantage if they must attack –4 +4 +2
into cover from trees, or concealment from thick fog. Rout
In some cases, conditions themselves may benefit one A rout is a chaotic and disorderly retreat of a defeated
side and harm the other, such as giving advantage to army from a battlefield, usually from fear or when
creatures with darkvision during night battles and overwhelmed by a superior opponent. If an army’s hit
disadvantage to creatures without it trying to make points are reduced to equal or less than its ACR, its
ranged attacks (though torches or bonfires may negate commander must attempt a DC 15 Morale check. If the
this different in melee combat). check fails, the army scatters and retreats from battle.
If it cannot retreat, it surrenders and is captured. When
For more detailed rules on battlefield conditions such an army routs, all armies in the battle can attempt one
as weather, visibility, and terrain, see Marching to final Offense check at the fleeing army as a parting shot
Battle. before it escapes. (Normally, only enemy armies do so,
but an aggressive or evil army might strike at a fleeing
allied army out of anger or frustration.)

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Victory, Rout, or after a single month, no matter how many hit points it
Defeat lost. The mass combat rules assume that this healing is
An army is victorious if all of its enemy armies flee the a combination of actual wound healing and gaining new
Warfare battlefield or are defeated. The aftermath of the battle units to replace those who were killed (meaning you
can be different for each army, and depends on whether don’t have to track individual losses and resize armies).
it was defeated, routed, or victorious. These units can be recruited from sympathetic locals,
replacements from your own settlements, or forced
Defeated: If an army’s hit points are reduced to 0, it conscripts from conquered lands. If circumstances
is defeated. A defeated army may have a few survivors, make these replacement options unavailable or unlikely,
but they are so demoralized and wounded (and probably the GM is free to limit how much an army can heal,
captured by the enemy) that the army no longer exists generally to half the army’s normal hit points. For other
as a cohesive unit and can’t be used again in mass possibilities when dealing with wounded armies, see
combat. If your army is defeated, reduce your kingdom’s the optional Reforming an Army rule.
Economy, Loyalty, and Stability according to the size of
the army. Advanced
Warfare
Table 3-3: Kingdom Modifiers for Defeated Armies
Simply placing every army on the field in a mass melee
ARMY SIZE ECONOMY LOYALTY STABILITY accomplishes the basic goal of simulating a battle but
does not necessarily offer you a very dynamic play
Solo 0 0 0 experience. Those who want more options and a more
Patrol 0 –1 0 immersive simulation can use the following rules, which
Squad –1 –1 0 while more detailed than those presented previously,
Platoon –1 –1 –1 are nonetheless still an abstraction, not a highly detailed
Company –2 –2 –2 miniatures wargame. They are intended as a supplement
Battalion –3 –2 –2 to the ordinary careers of adventuring leaders, not a
Regiment –4 –2 –2 replacement for it, providing a mass combat system that
Brigade –4 –2 –3 can be easily played out during the course of a single
Legion –4 –3 –3 game session (or even just part of a session), even with
complex battle scenarios, without having to derail the
Routed: If the army routs, reduce its Morale by 1. If entire campaign.
the army’s current hp are lower than the army’s ACR,
increase its hit points to its ACR. A routed army refuses Battle Zones
to fight until you succeed at a Loyalty check during
your kingdom’s Upkeep phase (you may attempt this A battlefield has three primary zones. These zones are
check once per turn). Note that a routed army can still abstract rather than geographic and represent where
be attacked by enemy armies and can attempt Offense armies are in relation to one another. An army may
checks in battles—it just can’t initiate a battle. begin a Battle phase in the Ranged zone, but if an
enemy army advances and engages them, they are now
Victorious: If your army is the last one left on the considered to be in the Melee zone even if they have not
battlefield (not counting other friendly armies), it is actually moved. If the army attacking them is destroyed
victorious. Each time an army wins a battle, you can and no other army engages them, they return to the
attempt a Loyalty check against your kingdom’s Control Ranged zone.
DC. If you succeed at this check, your army learns a
new tactic and its Morale increases by 1 (maximum of It is perhaps easiest to think of these zones as
Morale +4). If the army’s current hit points are lower concentric circles, with the Melee zone at the center,
than the army’s ACR, increase its hit points to its ACR. surrounded by the Ranged zone, with the Camp zone
You may attempt a second Loyalty check; if you succeed, beyond it. A line down the center of the circle divides it
the army’s commander learns a new boon. in half, with one army’s forces in its Melee, Ranged, and
Camp zones and its enemy’s forces in theirs.
Recovery
Each day that an army spends at rest (no movement and Camp Zone: This represents an army’s base of
no battle), it heals a number of hit points equal to its operations, which may be a temporary bivouac or a
ACR. Once per day, you may attempt a Loyalty Check permanent fortification. Armies in the Camp zone
against your kingdom’s Control DC. If you succeed, your cannot participate in a battle unless enemy armies move
army heals a number of additional hit points equal to its into the Camp zone. Generally speaking, armies cannot
ACR. An inactive army heals back to its full hit points enter their enemy’s Camp zone as long as the enemy has
active armies in the Melee or Ranged zone.
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Warfare

Command Zone: This is the area where the army’s attempt to shift strategy to a greater degree, but this
commanders direct the flow of battle. This area is is difficult for all but the most highly trained armies,
generally considered part of the Camp zone and cannot requiring a Morale check with a penalty equal to the
be directly attacked as long as the active armies are number of steps by which strategy is being shifted. If
present in the Melee and/or Ranged zones. the check fails, the army’s strategy changes one step
in the desired direction, but the army is thrown into
Ranged Zone: This represents the back lines of an disarray for the remainder of that Battle phase, resulting
army on the field, with forces either arrayed to engage in a penalty to OM and DV equal to the number of steps
in ranged combat or simply to hold in place in reserve. the general attempted to shift their strategy.

Melee Zone: This represents the front lines of any This strategy rule replaces the standard Strategy track
battle, where forces meet in close and brutal combat. and rule in the original mass combat rules.
Armies in the Melee zone can be attacked with melee or
ranged attacks. Table 1: Strategy

Strategy TYPE OF STRATEGY OM DV CASUALTIES

At the beginning of a battle, each side must decide upon Hold Firm -4 +4 -2
its overall strategy for the battle, not in terms of the Cautious Advance -2 +2 -1
precise maneuvers that will be used but more in terms of - - -
her philosophy about how the battle is to be conducted. Standard +2 -2 +1
Selecting a strategy applies to all armies and armies Aggressive Attack +4 -4 +2
under the general’s command; while individual armies All-Out Assault
may have their own specialized tactics that define how
they carry out the overall strategy, that one strategy The Casualties modifier applies to damage dealt by you
guides all of their actions on the battlefield. and damage dealt by your enemies, including damage
from failed attacks and friendly fire (internal links). This
During each Tactical Initiative phase, the commanding number was reduced to eliminate the doubling effect
general for each side can try to alter the strategy her in the published rules caused by adding an additional
forces pursue, adjusting it by one step in either direction modifier to damage when the existing modifiers to OM
without needing to make a Morale check. A general can and DV already directly adjust damage (since damage
equals 1d20 + OM - DV, plus other modifiers that apply).

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Warfare their strategy first. A commander with a higher check
can change his strategy in response to his opponent’s,
Battle Phases though moving strategy more than one step on Table 1
requires a Morale check to perform smoothly.
Each round of a battle is split into several phases, with a
typical Battle phase taking a total of 1d6 hours. In addition, to forcing his enemy to reveal his strategy
first, if one commander’s check exceeds his opponent’s
Tactical Phase: Each round of combat, the overall by 5 or more, he can either force his enemy to reveal
army commander can shift the overall strategy that all one tactic or he can change one of his own army’s
forces under her command will follow. In addition, each tactics for every 5 points by which his check exceeds
unit commander can decide what special tactics their his opponent’s. The commander can choose which army
unit will use to implement that strategy. These choices he wishes to learn about; if that army has more than
must be made before tactical initiative is determined. one tactic available, it must reveal the tactic it is using
during this Battle phase. Regardless of the result of your
Ranged Phase: During this phase, any army or unit check, you can reveal only one tactic per enemy army or
that is not engaged with an enemy force can make a change one tactic for each of your armies; any excess is
ranged attack (assuming it has ranged weapons or other lost. Command boons and creature special abilities are
capabilities enabling ranged attacks to be made). not revealed by winning tactical initiative.

Melee Phase: During this phase, armies move together Actual combat is effectively simultaneous, so going
and engage in melee combat, using a variety of special first is irrelevant and enemy armies can destroy each
tactics to outmaneuver and destroy their opponents. other in the course of a combat round. Even so, an army
gains a +1 OM bonus whenever it attacks an enemy
Rout Phase: After resolving ranged and melee combat army with a lower tactical initiative check.
for the round, each surviving unit must succeed at a
Morale check to sustain its will to fight. Ranged Phase

Tactical Phase During the ranged phase, two armies are arrayed near
one another but have not yet advanced to commence
The secret of success for many battlefield commanders the battle in earnest. During this phase, armies cannot
lies in their ability to read a battlefield and gauge attack in melee but can attack with ranged weapons or
the intentions of their opponent, which may be by other abilities that allow them to attack at a distance.
intercepting signals, gauging the importance of troop During the ranged phase, each army can attack
positioning and favorable or unfavorable ground, and (provided it has the ability to attack at range), advance
being able to disguise their own intentions until their (move up to engage the enemy in close combat), or hold
enemy has revealed their own. One way to reflect this in (remain in place, neither attacking nor advancing). An
conducting a mass battle is through the use of Tactical army that advances can then attack in the Melee phase.
Initiative. Each commander makes an Intelligence Armies that do not advance cannot attack in the Melee
check (representing tactical knowledge), and whichever phase unless they themselves are attacked by an enemy
commander rolls lowest on their check must reveal unit that advances.

Some battlefields contains impassable barriers
between armies, such as a river, cliff, or even a city wall
or similar fortification. In this situation, armies may
be unable to advance during the Ranged phase unless
they have some means of circumventing the barrier. If
you are using the simplified published rules, an army
inside a Fort, Watchtower, or fortified settlement with
City Walls and/or a Moat does not count as having an
impassable barrier between itself and enemy armies;
instead, the Defense value of the fortification is
considered to represent the difficulty of approaching
to attack. Armies may remain at range and attack with
ranged weapons, but armies using the advance action
are considered to be attempting to scale the walls or
otherwise assault the fortifications in such a way as to
threaten the safety of the defending army.

Resolving a ranged attack is described under Attacking
and Taking Damage in the Simple Mass Combat rules
above.

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Friendly Fire: When an army makes a ranged attack General Retreat: At the end of any Rout phase, a Warfare
against an enemy army that is engaged with one of your commander can sound a general retreat, ordering all
armies, it has a 25% chance of dealing 1d6-3 points of his armies to fall back and leave the battlefield. This
of damage to the allied army regardless of whether functions like the Retreat tactic but can be performed
its attack is successful. If your ranged attack roll is a even by armies that have already attacked in the Battle
natural 1, your allied army automatically takes 1d6-3 phase; however, retreating armies take an additional -2
points of damage, while on a natural 20 your allied army penalty to their Morale check to disengage from enemy
never takes damage from friendly fire. An army taking armies. In addition, when a General Retreat is ordered,
damage from friendly fire loses 1 point of Morale. any enemy army that is not engaged with one of your
retreating armies can make one Volley ranged attack
Melee Phase against any retreating army of its choice.

Once an army has advanced upon the enemy, the Melee Mercenaries: When a mercenary army’s Morale drops
phase begins. Each army resolves its attack as described to 1, or when they have lost more than half of their hit
in the Simple Mass Combat rules above, but after each points, they must make a Morale check to avoid routing.
army has attacked once the Melee phase does not A kingdom takes no penalties when a mercenary army
repeat. Instead, after resolving all attacks each army disbands or is destroyed.
proceeds to the Rout phase described below, and as
long as at least one army on each side survives without
being routed, the battle enters a new round, with a new
check to determine Tactical Initiative, as described in
the Tactics phase above.

Rout Phase

Once an army has advanced upon the enemy, the Melee DBleofoeadtieedd,,
phase begins. Each army resolves its attack as described DanedstDriosybeadn,ded
in the mass combat rules, but unlike in the published Armies
rules after each army has attacked once the Melee phase
does not repeat. Instead, after resolving all attacks each In battle, armies almost never fight until the last soldier
army proceeds to the Rout phase, with each surviving is killed. While iconic, this is simply not a normal
army making a Morale check with a DC of 10 plus 1 reality of warfare. When one army is clearly beaten and
for each allied army that has been destroyed or routed its cause is lost, it loses the will and the ability to fight
from the field. If this check succeeds, the army may long before the point of annihilation.
continue the fight undaunted. If the check fails, the
army’s Morale score is reduced by 1d4. If this reduces Bloodied Armies: An army that is reduced below
the army’s Morale to zero, you must make a Loyalty half its hit points during any battle, whether its side
check. If successful, the army remains intact with its is ultimately victorious or not, becomes bloodied. A
Morale reset to 1 and the army routs, fleeing from the bloodied army has lost a substantial number of its
battlefield. If the Loyalty check fails, the army disbands.
A cumulative -5 penalty applies to each Loyalty check
for this purpose after the first that each side makes
during a battle.

Routed Armies: A routed army is forced to flee the
battlefield and cannot attack. Any one army engaged
with it can make a free Standard or Volley attack against
the routing army. After this attack is resolved, the
army’s commander must make an opposed Intelligence
check with a -4 penalty against the commander of
the engaged army that made the attack, with each
commander adding the forced march speed of each of
his armies to this roll (making it advantageous to use
cavalry or other fast armies to attack routing armies). If
the fleeing army wins the check, it is able to disengage
and escape from the battlefield to its Camp zone. If
the enemy army’s check is higher, the routing army
disengages but is forced to remain on the battlefield in
the Ranged zone.

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Warfare soldiers to death or permanent injury, and no amount If a unit disbands while you are at war (rather than,
of rest, recovery, or even magical healing can bring the for example, disbanding because of lack of pay or
unit up to its full fighting strength. A bloodied army training during peacetime), your enemy gains a one-
is treated as though its ACR is 1 less than normal for time reduction in its consumption for any one unit
all purposes. This reduction applies each time it has within one hex of the disbanded unit equal to 1/2 the
been bloodied, and the effects stack for the purpose disbanded unit’s ACR; if this amount exceeds your unit’s
of determining the unit’s OM, DV, maximum hit Consumption, any excess is lost. However, if you use
points, and all other game effects except the army’s an Improvement Edict or Recruitment Edict to create a
Consumption. The bloodied condition can be removed new army in a Fort or settlement within 3 hexes of the
only by reforming the army (as described in Optional site of the enemy army’s desertion, you gain a one-time
Mass Combat Rules below) or by replenishing the army bonus to your next Loyalty check to recruit that army as
with new recruits (see Recruiting an Army). you take advantage of disaffected deserters from your
enemy who have turned to your side.
Defeated Armies: An army reduced to 0 hit points
is defeated and can take no further actions in the Engagement
battle, but it can be taken prisoner or massacred by its
enemies following the battle, attacked in spite of their When an army attacks another in melee, the armies
surrender in the midst of battle, or recovered, reformed, become engaged even if the attack fails. Engaged armies
and restored to fighting strength by its allies after the are caught up in the thick of the fighting, seething
battle ends (see Victory and Aftermath). A defeated together in a mass of bodies, blades, and blood. Once
unit typically has 10% of its number dead, and 1d4 x armies become engaged, neither can leave the battlefield
10% of its number wounded and unable to fight, the rest until one or both armies are defeated, destroyed, or
simply too physically exhausted or emotionally shaken routed from the field, or until one side performs a
to continue fighting. successful Retreat, Withdrawal, or similar tactic that
allows it to disengage from its enemies and those
Destroyed Armies: If a defeated army is attacked enemies either cannot or choose not to pursue them.
before the battle ends, it takes a -2 penalty to its DV.
If successfully attacked by an enemy army of at least Fatigue
half its size, the defeated army is instead destroyed
and ceases to exist as a fighting force. In a destroyed An army that becomes fatigued takes a -1 penalty to
unit, the dead number 1d6 x 10% of the army’s soldiers, OM and DV and cannot use the Furious Charge or
with 1d4 x 10% wounded, and the remainder simply Overwhelming Onslaught tactics. If an army engages
surrendered or deserted. in an activity that causes it to become fatigued when
it is already fatigued, it becomes exhausted instead. Its
When an army is destroyed, the country for which penalties to OM and DV increase to -3 and its movement
it fought loses 1 point of Fame. In addition, there is a is halved, and it cannot use the Cavalry Sweep, False
25% chance that the city where the army was recruited Retreat, Pincer Maneuver, Pursuit, Skirmishers, or
(with an Improvement or Recruitment Edict) has a Strafing Skirmishers maneuvers. If an army performs
Building Demand event during the next kingdom turn, an action that would cause it to become fatigued when it
demanding a Monument to be erected as a memorial is already exhausted, the army takes 1d4 damage.
to the fallen. This is in addition to any other kingdom
events that may occur. To remove fatigue, an army must retreat or withdraw
from the battlefield and remain away from the battle
Disbanded Armies: When an army is reduced to for at least 2 Battle phases; each Battle phase after the
0 Morale and fails a Loyalty check, it not only routs first that it spends resting, it may attempt a Morale
from the battlefield but actually ceases to exist as a check to recover from its fatigue. If a battle ceases
fighting force, disintegrating in a combination of flight for at least 8 consecutive hours, armies on both sides
and surrender. When an army disbands, 50% of its can attempt a Morale check to recover from fatigue.
number is permanently deducted from the kingdom’s If a unit is exhausted, making one Morale check to
population, as those soldiers desert their country and recover improves its condition to fatigued. The army
flee for safer lands where their shame will not follow can attempt an additional Morale check for each Battle
them. The other 50% of the soldiers filter back into the phase it continues to rest away from the battlefield
population of their kingdom. (or each 8 hours when no battle occurs) to remove the
fatigued condition.
When an army disbands, all allied armies take a
-1 penalty to Morale checks for the remainder of the
battle; this penalty is cumulative if more than one army
disbands. When an army disbands, the kingdom for
which it fights takes a permanent -1 penalty to Fame,
Loyalty, and Stability and the city where the army was
recruited (with an Improvement or Recruitment Edict)
takes a permanent -2 penalty to Law.

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combination of injury, exhaustion, poor sanitation Warfare
and diet on the campaign trail, frequently inadequate
BHaetatllieng After medical supplies, abundant carrion and garbage and
vermin feasting upon both with equal relish, and the
An army that remains on the field or is able to retreat simple proximity of so many people in confined spaces
from it without being defeated (i.e., reduced to 0 hit make battlefields an ideal medium for the growth and
points) can rest for 1 hour in order to regain hit points spread of contagion.
equal to 1/2 its ACR and automatically reduces the
exhausted condition to fatigued. If the army can rest Whenever your armies finish a battle, whether
for 8 additional hours without interruption, it regains victorious or not, make a Stability check for the kingdom
hit points equal to its ACR and automatically removes with a penalty equal to the number of your armies that
the fatigued condition. Thereafter, an army heals hit was bloodied plus the number of enemy units taken
points equal to its ACR for every 24 hours of complete prisoner. You gain a +2 bonus to this check for each
rest. Armies that are marching, guarding prisoners, or commander with your army that can provide Magical
performing other light-duty tasks heal half the normal Healing and for each Healing Potion you expend after
amount of hit points (rounding down). Armies that the battle (those consumed during the battle do not
engage in a battle or that take damage from a forced affect this check). If your armies are within 2 hexes of
march do not heal at all. any of your settlements, you gain an additional +1 bonus
for each Alchemist, Herbalist, and Temple, +2 for each
An army that has been defeated but is able to exit the Cathedral, and +4 for each Hospital in that settlement
battlefield regains 1 hit point after 1 hour of rest. After (or those settlements, if more than one).
this time, it can again function as an army, including
using the healing rules described above. An army that If this check fails, one of your armies becomes
has been destroyed or disbanded cannot heal. The infected. This army should be chosen at random from
Magical Healing command boon or Healing Potions those who took any damage during the battle, even
resource doubles the number of hit points regained by if that damage was later healed. Infected armies are
one army during the first hour of its rest (or allows a treated as fatigued (or exhausted, if already fatigued)
defeated army to regain hit points equal to half its ACR and become bloodied by this infection. You must repeat
after 1 hour of rest). the Stability check with the modifiers noted above once
per week. If the check succeeds, you army recovers and
Disease: One of the great killers in war throughout is no longer infected, though it is still bloodied and must
history has been disease. Germs have often killed far be reinforced. If the check fails, another army chosen
more than blades, bullets, and bombs combined. A at random from those damaged in the battle becomes
infected. If multiple armies are infected, each successful
check cures only one army. If all infected armies do
nothing but rest and recuperate in a settlement or Fort,
you gain a +2 bonus to the Stability check. If infected
armies are forced to fight, you take a -2 penalty to that
week’s Stability check for each army that fights.

If you roll a natural 1 on any Stability check to avoid
or alleviate infection, the contagion is carried back to
the nearest of your settlements to the battlefield (or to
where the infected armies are being kept during their
recovery), and during your next Kingdom turn that city
experiences a Plague kingdom event, as described in
Chapter 1 under Events).

Parley

Once per battle, at the beginning of any Battle phase,
the commander of either army may ask for parley, a
meeting under a flag of truce with a spokesperson for the
opposing side. You must use this maneuver before any
army has attacked in the Battle phase. The commander
asking for Parley must make a Charisma (Intimidation
or Persuasion) check opposed by the Charisma
(Intimidation or Persuasion) check of the opposing
general. When using Persuasion, the commander adds
his nation’s Fame score to this check. When using
Intimidation, the commander adds his nation’s Infamy

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Warfare score instead. Each commander chooses which skill to nor is a leader choosing to commit suicide; a leader must
use and need not choose the same skill. A commander be slain as a helpless captive (usually by a coup de grace)
takes a -1 penalty for each unit under his command that to be treated as an execution.
has been defeated or routed, -2 for each that has been
destroyed. If your check equals or exceeds the opposing Executing an enemy leader earns +1 Infamy for the
general’s, you can force them (or their representative) kingdom whose army performs the execution if the
to come forth and meet you under a temporary truce executed character is a kingdom leader (+2 if they are
to discuss terms of surrender or withdrawal from the the ruler). If you execute all leaders you capture in a
field, to offer a challenge of champions or other contest, battle, rather than just one, you earn double the Infamy
to exchange hostages or negotiate ransom, or simply to modifier for the highest-ranking leader you execute.
taunt and bluster at one another. Armies normally do Executing ordinary military commanders that are not
not attack during the Battle phase when a Parley occurs, kingdom leaders does not affect a kingdom’s Infamy.
though they may use command boons or disengage
from enemy armies or perform other actions that are Ransom: Rather than being executed or kept as a
not attacks. If a unit does attack during a Parley, the captive, in many cultures it is commonplace to offer up
kingdom whose army it is gains +1d4 Infamy, and each leaders captured in battle (including those whose armies
unit that attacks loses 1 point of Morale. In addition, have been destroyed, even if their side later won the
your armies gain a +1 bonus to OM and on opposed battle) may be offered up for ransom. A usual ransom
Morale checks against any army that attack during the demand is 1 BP times the captive leader’s character level
Parley for the remainder of the battle. for a kingdom leader. This ransom demand is halved
for a leader that does not have a leadership role in the
Victory and kingdom (i.e., an ordinary military commander) but is
Aftermath doubled if the captive leader is the kingdom’s ruler.

Once all armies but those belonging to one side These ransom demands typically include only the
have been eliminated, whether defeated, destroyed, ransomed person and a noble or royal outfit of ordinary
disbanded, routed, or retreated from the field, that army clothing, though the leader’s captors can of course
is victorious. return any additional items they choose. If double the
normal ransom is paid, the ransomed character’s goods
Fighting in the Command Zone: Once the active are returned along with them. At the GM’s option,
armies of one side have been swept from the Melee and individual items may also be ransomed separately; if the
Ranged zones, that army’s Command zone is considered captors are unaware that an item is magical or unaware
overrun and the commanders of that army can be of the nature of their enchantment and its market value,
captured or killed. You can resolve the overrun of an they may demand only the sale price of an item of its
army’s Command zone in several ways. type, or an entirely arbitrary ransom amount for items
of significance that may not correlate to their monetary
Combat: The leader(s) of your army can engage in value; for example, their ransom for the royal crown is
direct character-to-character combat with the leader(s) not required to be equal to its sale price as a piece of
of the enemy army. This plays out using the standard jewelry.
combat rules in the SRD, but leaders from the victorious
army gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls, saving throws, skill Offering to return leaders that you hold captive in
checks, and initiative for the duration of this combat. exchange for a ransom is considered a mark of honor
Your armies generally do not participate directly in and gains your kingdom +1 Fame for a kingdom leader,
this kind of confrontation, as they are assumed to be +2 Fame for a ruler. You gain an additional +1 Fame if
securing the area and taking junior commanders and you offer to ransom all leaders you capture in a battle
soldiers into custody while the major PCs and NPCs (assuming there is more than one). If you pay a ransom
fight. If an NPC leader ends a round of combat at less to recover your leaders, you lose an amount of Fame for
than half his or her hit points, there is a 50% chance per your own country equal to what the captor’s kingdom
round that the leader surrenders. gains; however, you gain an equivalent bonus to Loyalty,
as your subjects appreciate the lengths to which the
Execution: If a commander or other significant leader kingdom will go to reclaim its own.
is captured, the leaders of the triumphant army have
the option to publicly execute that leader. If that leader Manpower Attrition: Having soldiers captured
is a player character, they should generally be allowed or killed in battle (or deserting from the field) has
the chance to escape execution by playing out a normal a significant impact on the health and vitality of a
combat encounter; however, if they have already been kingdom. Soldiers killed or captured in battle still
overcome and rendered helpless in normal combat, count against a kingdom’s available Manpower for 1
execution may be their fate. NPC leaders are killed year. When an army is bloodied, 10% of its soldiers are
automatically if the victorious leader calls for execution. counted as killed.
Being killed in combat is not considered an execution,
Wounded soldiers from an army that has been defeated
93 or destroyed count against a kingdom’s available

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)

Manpower for 1 month. When an army is bloodied, 10% Warfare
of its soldiers are counted as wounded.
PPlilulnadgeerand
When an army disbands, 50% of its soldiers desert
the kingdom and count against its Manpower for 1 year. The equipment and supplies of a defeated army or unit
The other 50% survive and count against the kingdom’s can be taken by the victors in a battle as spoils of war.
Manpower for 1 month. These spoils are worth a number of BP equal to 1/4 the
ACR of an army that is defeated, or 1/2 the ACR of an
In addition to the effect on army recruitment itself, army that has been disbanded or destroyed.
losing large numbers of soldiers has a detrimental
effect on the livelihood of the kingdom away from the In addition, an army of 50 or more soldiers can be
front lines. For every 500 soldiers a kingdom loses in sent into any hex containing terrain improvements,
battle to death, capture, or desertion (i.e., anything that spending one week burning fields, slaughtering herds,
counts against the kingdom’s Manpower for 1 year), the tearing down buildings, and generally wreaking havoc.
kingdom takes a permanent penalty of -1d4 to Economy, At the end of each week, all terrain improvements in
Loyalty, and Stability. that hex that the army’s commander wishes to destroy
are destroyed unless the kingdom that owns the hex
Fame and Infamy: The kingdom of a victorious army succeeds at a Stability check with a -1 penalty for every
gains a +1 to either Fame or Infamy when all enemy 50 soldiers engaged in pillaging their land. A successful
armies are defeated, destroyed, disbanded, routed, or Stability check preserves those improvements, but if the
retreated from the field. This bonus is increased by +1 pillaging armies undertake another week of destruction
if a Fort or settlement is captured and occupied, and this Stability check must be repeated, with an additional
the bonus is doubled if the victorious army is able to -5 penalty for every week after the first. Pillaging armies
triumph while losing no more than 1 army (or unit). The earn 1 BP for their kingdom for each improvement they
kingdom of an army on the losing side in a battle loses 1 destroy.
point of Fame (2 points if it allowed a Fort or settlement
to be captured by enemy forces), and this loss of Fame Finally, armies can attack buildings in a city whose
is doubled if in defeat they failed to defeat, destroy, defenders all have been defeated, destroyed, disbanded,
disband, or rout more than one enemy army (or unit). or routed. This is treated as attacking an enemy army,
with a building having an effective DV equal to 15 plus
Morale: Success and failure on the battlefield the building’s Defense modifier (if any) and hit points
obviously has a significant impact on the Morale of the equal to its BP value. The army can attack once per
surviving armies involved. What transpires in between Battle phase (if a battle is still going on nearby) or three
battles likewise helps an army, defeated or triumphant, times per day (if not). A battle reduced to less than half
prepare for its next foray onto the battlefield. Careful its hit points (BP value) ceases providing any benefits
preparation and training with their leaders keeps them to the kingdom that owns it. A building can be repaired
sharp and ready, while armies languish after too long a on its owner’s next kingdom turn, spending BP equal
period of inactivity. to the damage the building has taken. If the building is
reduced to 0 hit points (BP value), it is destroyed.
Table 3-4: Army Morale Modifiers

MODIFIER CONDITION
+1d4
Winning a battle (-1 per allied unit defeated or de-
+1 stroyed, to a minimum or 0).
+1 Trains with general or significant character for 1 week.
-1d4 Pay double consumption for 2 consecutive months.
If an army’s commander is captured and executed
-1 while the army still exists.
-1 Take friendly fire damage from an allied army.
-1 Per month without combat (per year for reserve unit).
Survives battle, but battle lost (a fortification or city
-2 captured by enemy armies, or more armies lost than
-3 the enemy in a battle in the open field).
Survives battle but routed from the battlefield.
Consumption not paid, per month (active armies
only).

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Warfare

Prisoners of War
As described in the Bloodied, Defeated, Destroyed, and
Disbanded section, armies on the losing side in a battle Consumption, as their unpaid labor and meager standard
are rarely if ever completely wiped out. In most cases, of living offset what little they consume. However,
the wounded and surrendered far outnumber the dead. using prisoners for forced labor results in a -1 penalty
This raises the question, of course, of what to do with to Stability per 100 forced laborers (or fraction thereof),
enemy soldiers now in your custody. Turning them and your kingdom gains +1 Infamy each month it uses
loose to rejoin their fellows in the fight against you is prisoners for forced labor. Prisoners used for forced
hardly a viable option (though officers and leaders may labor must be guarded at all times, as described under
be ransomed). Generally speaking, a victorious army internment below.
has three options: forced labor, internment, or massacre.
Internment: Soldiers captured in battle can simply be
Civilian Prisoners: Civilian populations can be locked away, kept as prisoners for the duration of the
rounded up and imprisoned, put to work, or slaughtered conflict. Prisoners must be kept under guard, either in
just as captured soldiers can. Abuse of civilians is temporary stockades or permanent prisons. Any army
generally frowned upon. Imprisoning civilians generates capable of fighting can guard a number of soldiers equal
+1 Infamy per 1,000 civilians placed in internment, and to 10 times their number. If there are more prisoners
Infamy modifiers for forced labor and massacre are than this, the kingdom holding the captives must make
doubled. However, civilians are generally less likely (or a Stability check each week with a cumulative -1 penalty
less able) to rebel against their captors, and each civilian for each multiple of the number of guards beyond x10
counts as only 1/10 of a prisoner of war for the purpose (e.g., an army of 20 soldiers could safely guard up to
of how many guards are required. 200 prisoners; if there were 250 prisoners, a weekly
Stability check would be required with a -2 penalty,
If any portion of a civilian population of a hex or since there are 12.5 times as many prisoners as guards,
a settlement is made captive, any kingdom bonuses which exceeds the limit by 2 multiples over x10). A
from buildings in that hex or settlement (except for failed Stability check results in an uprising among the
Defense value) is halved; if 50% or more of the civilian prisoners, which is treated as a Vandals (if prisoners are
population is eliminated, all kingdom benefits for those kept inside a settlement) or Bandit Activity (if outside a
improvements or buildings are lost. settlement) kingdom event.

Forced Labor: Soldiers captured in battle can be put Prisoners can instead be escorted to permanent
under guard and forced to work for the benefit of their internment at a Barracks, Fort, Garrison, or Jail; a
new kingdom. For each 100 captives forced to work for Barracks or Jail can hold up to 100 prisoners each while a
a full month, you can reduce the cost of any terrain Fort or Garrison can hold up to 200. This number can be
improvement by 1 BP, or you can compel them to labor increased by crowding prisoners into narrow quarters,
on a Farm, Mine, Quarry, or Sawmill, increasing the BP up to five times the normal amount, but each additional
output (or Consumption reduction) of that improvement 100 (Barracks or Jail) or 200 (Fort or Garrison) prisoners
by 1. Forced laborers do not increase your kingdom’s or fraction thereof beyond a building’s normal capacity

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generates 1 point of Unrest. Stationing a reserve army equal to its ACR. All armies know the Full Defense, Warfare
(see the original mass combat rules) at the same building Furious Charge, Retreat, Standard, and Withdraw
reduces Unrest by 1. tactics (and an army with ranged weapons automatically
has the Volley tactic); these tactics do not count against
Interning captives increases your kingdom’s this maximum.
Consumption by 1 per 100 prisoners. You may choose to
reduce this Consumption increase by half by starving However they are acquired, tactics are options an
your prisoners; however, doing so causes you to gain +1 army can use to influence aspects of a battle. A newly
Infamy each month. recruited army doesn’t know any of these tactics unless
specified by the GM. An army learns new tactics by
Massacre: A victorious army may decide that they lack being victorious in battle (see Victory, Rout, or Defeat).
the resources or the desire to keep its captive enemies An army can know a number of tactics equal to half its
alive, choosing instead to wipe them out, killing them ACR, minimum 0.
to the last. Massacre of enemy forces earns +1 Infamy
per army or unit put to death (regardless of size), plus Using Tactics: When a battle begins, the commander
an additional +1 Infamy for every 1,000 soldiers (or selects one tactic to use for that battle (if the army
fraction thereof). Your kingdom earns +2 Infamy for the doesn’t know any tactics, the army uses the standard
massacre of any number of civilians, plus an additional tactic). At the start of each Ranged or Melee phase, the
+1 Infamy for every 1,000 civilians (or fraction thereof). commander may try to change tactics by attempting a
DC 15 Morale check. Success means the army uses the
Army new tactic for that phase (and the modifiers from the
Tactics old tactic cease); failure means the army continues to
use its current tactic. The effects of tactics end when the
Tactics differ from strategy in that they represent battle does.
specific maneuvers that an army can perform on the
battlefield focused on attack, defense, movement, or a As with battlefield conditions (see Marching to
combination of the three. Strategy dictates each side’s Battle), gaining benefits from a tactic is subject to GM
overall approach to what all of their armies will do, but discretion.
each individual unit can adopt its own unique tactics.
A unit can select one tactic each turn, choosing their Cautious Combat: Your army fights cautiously in
tactic at the beginning of the first Battle phase in which order to maintain morale. Decrease its OM by 2 and add
they act. Some maneuvers require one or more kinds of 2 to all its Morale checks.
specialized equipment for the unit performing it.
Cavalry Sweep: Your unit is trained in making swift
In order to use a tactic, a unit must be trained in it, ride-by attacks against infantry, dashing across the
either when it is created, through training, or through battlefield and harrying the enemy. Your unit can attack
victory in battle, up to a maximum number of tactics two non-mounted armies in a single Battle phase. Your
unit gains -4 OM and -2 DV for the remainder of the
Battle phase and your attacks deal only half damage,
but you are not considered engaged after attacking a
non-mounted unit. Requirement: mounts.

Covering Fire: Your unit keeps some of its soldiers
back from the front lines in order to provide covering
fire for you and allies and to strafe targets of opportunity
trying to move around you. Once per Battle phase,
when your unit or an allied unit disengages from an
enemy unit, including the Retreat or Withdraw Tactic,
or a unit that routs or is destroyed, you can make a
ranged attack against the enemy unit from which it is
trying to disengage. If your attack hits, you inflict 1d4-
1 Casualties and your allied unit gains a +1 bonus to
DV and to opposed Morale checks made to disengage.
Requirement: ranged weapons.

Defensive Wall: Your army fights defensively, taking
actions to protect fellow units as needed. Decrease its
OM by 2 and increase its DV by 2.

False Retreat: Once per battle, your army can make
a false retreat, luring a target enemy army deeper into
your territory. On the phase your army makes a false
retreat, it doesn’t attempt an Offense check. On the
phase after it uses this tactic, increase its OM and DV by
6 against the target army.

96

Fahad Al-Dabbas (Order #34600307)