Surface Land Brokerage - Details

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Irongron
Server Owner/Creative Lead
Server Owner/Creative Lead
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Surface Land Brokerage - Details

Post by Irongron » Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:01 pm

What is it?

This is the transition of a system that had previously only existed in the Underdark whereby all characters can contribute to the bid of an existing settlement to obtain a territory for a period of 5 game years.

How does the bidding work?

The explanation is all there in game, via the NPC at Mayfield's Land Broker in Mayfield's Tavern. I won't explain it again here but would like to stres the fact that this is not something done solely by settlement leaders, but by ALL characters, whether they belong to a settlement or not. Any character may bid for any settlement, so for instance if a dwarf of Brogendenstein would wih to support Myon's effort to gain Darrowdeep they are able to do so.

What benefits to the castles offer?

Each castle has a different functions that can be accessed by supporters (citizens) of the controlling settlement. There is a large range of these and should be discovered in game. Some of these are not minor, and as such it is very much in the interests of citizens to see their settlement control one of these.

What are the upkeep costs?

Bringing the brokerage system to the surface has entailed a total rewrite of the system allowing for more functions/content. Chiefly this is upkeep. In return for yearly level of support in resources more functions/abilites of the castle get opened up. Currently these are granted via NPCs who only spawn if the upkeep level is high enough. If anyone has found their way into castle thus far, they will have likely found it largely empty, as without upkeep assigned many of the NPCs simply will not spawn.

Can castles be attacked/ceded?

Yes. A core part of the design of the castles has been to support conflict events. As with all such conflicts this will rquire DM support/approval, but should be far less of a headache than bringing conflicts to the settlement themeselves. Owners should also be able to cede control of the castle, though currently this must be done by their contacting myself or action replay directly.

Who runs the castle?


Each castle is divided into a public area (open to all citizens) and a private area (guildhouse) to be owned and run by the Lord of castle (who will eventually be recognised as noble per the background option). The features of the castle are split between the public and private area. It is up to the leader of the controlling settlement to appoint someone as the lord of an owned castle.

Do settlements really have to compete?


There is absolutely no obligation to do so, and settlement leaders can negotiate claims with other leaders, advising their people not to bid, or even going so far as to agree to cede control in the event of winning ownership (personally I would advise people to compete, as that is more fun!). Bear in mind that this may be deeply unpopular with some electors, especially if they belong to a group that has been actively bidding on behalf of their settlement only to have their leader hand it over. Conversely a settlement which empties its coffers to obtain a castle that acts as little more than a private playground to the leader and his/her chums could also prove to be a cause of dissent.

Can the castles be infiltrated?

Yes, though exiles will be enforced in some areas, and only the 'public' side of the castle will be subject to easy infiltration. I have already determined where and how these first infiltration routes will be, but have not included them with the initial release. There is always a rush on such areas and to avoid secrets being divulged too readily will be adding these routes discreetly at some point in the future.

What about the Underdark in all this? Can they bid on the castles? Will they also be getting the new upkeep features?

All of this was the introduction of something the Underdark has enjoyed for some time. Surface settlements will not be able to bid on teh UD brokerage areas, and Andunor district cannot bid on the castles. Upkeep features may be added to the UD brokeage areas in time, but after a great deal of work for Arelith recently I am not going to formally commit to anything further at this stage.

Can we get more castles?

Not at this time. Player numbers are high, but not high enough to currently justify more RP centric areas. We can talk about this again when every settlement is bustling!

How can any other settlement really compete with Cordor here?

This is a good question, and a valid concern. Cordor has a lot more people, and therefore a lot more resources to throw at this, but many of the others have been quietly building up a fortune in both gold and resources for some time. If they want to really win bids though, they shall likely need more citizens, and should probably actively seek to expand. I knew this system was coming for a long time, and had been pushing for a merge between Brog & Bendir, which together would easily be a match for Cordor. They didn't bite, and for the moment that opportunity is gone. I no longer have the time nor inclination to spend days/weeks ammending all those areas, convos and systems to achieve that.

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