Towns and Features#

Towns#

The distant powers with claims to a town’s resources and decisions don’t need to micromanage how housing is built for workers, or how many wells to dig, but they control the development of major town features like mines or colleges, and certainly could propose unusual projects to improve or expand the town.

A town can be claimed by multiple powers at the same time. Each power can separately use the actions associated with the town. Different types of powers can use the following actions to lay claims on towns. Each town can be claimed by up to one power of each type. When a town makes decisions, they generally default to the “senior claimant” - the power which has maintained the claim for the longest time.

*️⃣⚖️Annex - See Cities
*️⃣⚖️Infiltrate - See Conspiracies
*️⃣⚖️Commandeer - See Champions

Several actions require a claim on at least one town to activate, though they can all use assets from outside the town (following usual range and mobility restrictions):

*️⃣⚖️ Tax - Gain coins equal to the wealth of the town. Apply Taxed and Uprising 1. Difficulty: The sum of negative statuses (such as Taxed, Depopulated, Uprising, etc.) that make it difficult to extract wealth from the town.
*️⃣ 🦶 or ♥️ Trade - Attempt to forge a trade agreement with another town. Each town gains wealth equal to the number of new resources they have access to. This action must be taken by a power that claims both towns or a group of powers that claim both towns between them. Unclaimed towns cannot trade—a town must be claimed (work with a conspiracy or champion to claim the towns you want to trade with). Difficulty: The excess mobility of the traded goods and services. The difficulty is increased by a further 2 if the towns are not claimed by the same power
*️⃣ 🦶 Lay Roads - Add roads to a hex to make travel through it easier. Difficulty: 3, increased to 6 for hexes with difficult terrain.
*️⃣ ♥️ Hold a Feast - Create a grand affair to attract the attention of scattered agents. The GM will provide rooted agents with total rank equal to the number of excess successes. Difficulty: The current total rank of rooted agents in the town. +1 and then doubled if agents in this town have died in this or the previous season.
*️⃣ 🌱 Feed - Increase the population of this town by 1. Difficulty: Current population, doubled for each time this action has been taken in this town this season.
*️⃣ ⚒️Build - Construct a new built feature in this town. It is loyal to you. You may include any number of upgrades, though they increase the complexity. Difficulty: The complexity of the new feature, plus the number of existing features.
*️⃣ ⚒️Upgrade - Adds new upgrades to a feature in place. This decreases the difficulty of the build by 1, saves the trouble of demolishing the old feature, and allows a feature to support the construction of its replacement. Difficulty: The complexity of the new feature, plus the number of other existing features.
*️⃣ ⚖️/⚔️ Demolish - Attempt to destroy a built feature in this town. Other powers with a claim on the town can ↩️. Difficulty: 1.
*️⃣⚔️Levy - Recruit people in a town to form a level 1 army. See Warfare.

Built Features:#

Industries#

An Industry is any built feature in a town that requires mortal effort to sustain. Many increase a town’s wealth or act as assets for challenges. Industries have a complexity measuring how difficult they are to build and run: industries cease to operate if the town population falls below their complexity. If the population falls below the number of industries, they also cease to operate, in an order based on the town’s senior claimant.

Extractors: Mobility 3. Provides a rank 1 asset in the form of provided materials. This asset is Assured for ⚒️ actions. When used, you must select a hex of the appropriate terrain in range and roll 1d4. On a 4 or greater, gain an instance of the unique resource from the targeted hex. Fee 1. Provides +1 Wealth and an additional resource for trade. Complexity: 1, Wood.

Lumberyard. Collects Wood from Forests
Mine: Collects Iron from Mountains
Dredger: Collects Salt from Coast
Quarry: Collects Stone from Mountains or Coast
Weaver: Collects Paper from Forest or Coast

Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Specialized (+1 asset rank, +1 to resource rolls), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Farms: Mobility 3. Can only be built if there are Plains within mobility range. Provides a rank 1 asset “plentiful food” that is assured for actions that raise town populations, such as Feed. Provides +1 Wealth and Grain for trade. Complexity: 1, Wood.
Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Specialized (+1 asset rank, +1 to resource rolls), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Guilds: Mobility 6. Provides a rank 2 asset in the form of expertise and support staff, usually associated with a particular skill. Fee 2. Provides +1 Wealth. Complexity: 3, Stone.

Mercenaries’ / Vultures’ ⚔️
Smiths’ / Masons’ ⚒️
Barristers’ / Accountants and Usurers’ ⚖️
Merchants’ / Carters and Drovers’🦶
Thieves’ / Assassins’👤
Watchmen’s / Beggars’👁️
Arcanist’s / Priests', Sacerdotes' and Occult Intermediaries' 🔮
Chef’s / “Seamstress’”♥️
Archaeologists’ / Ratcatchers’ 📖
Alchemists’ / Barber-Surgeons’🌱

Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Commercial (Provides a Service for the purpose of trade routes and +2 Wealth), Specialized (+1 asset rank, choose a subspecialty for which this guild is Assured), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Colleges: Mobility 6. Provides a rank 3 asset in the form of wizened professors and eager students, usually associated with a particular skill. When used, also gain an insight of rank 1d4. Fee 3. Provides +1 Wealth. Complexity: 6, Wood and Paper
Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Commercial (Provides +2 Wealth), Specialized (Choose a subspecialty for which this college is Assured), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Port: Mobility 6. Used for any🦶 action initiated within range, granting the ability to pass through water as if it was normal terrain, and counts as a rank 1 asset for the action. Fee 2. Provides +2 Wealth. Complexity 3, Wood
Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Specialized (Becomes Critical), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases the complexity by 2 and the Wealth benefit by 1.

Caravansary: Mobility 4. Used for any🦶 action initiated within range and counts as a rank 1 asset for the action. Fee 2. Provides +2 Wealth. Complexity 2, Wood
Upgrades: Extended (x2 Mobility), Specialized (Becomes Critical), Vast (Becomes a rank 2 asset), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases the complexity by 2 and the Wealth benefit by 1.

Bank: Mobility 0. Rank 2 ⚖️ Asset. Fee 1. Coin can be stored in this feature. Anyone with a claim to the town can remove the coin. Provides wealth equal to a third of the stored coin, to a max of 3. Complexity 3, Stone.
Upgrades: Vaults (Powers can only extract coin if they have claimed the town for a full season), Specialized (Increases max wealth bonus to +6), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases the complexity by 2.

Prison: Mobility 0. Rank 1 Asset for intimidating civilians and securing prisoners. Removes 1 Uprising at the end of each month. When you tax in this town, you can generate Fear based on the population rather than coin based on the wealth. Captured Armies can be held here securely, and can be released by any power with a claim on this town.
Complexity 2, Wood and Stone.
Upgrades: Vaults (Powers can only extract prisoners if they have claimed the town for a full season), Specialized (Removes 2 uprising each month), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases the complexity by 2.

Training Grounds: Mobility 0. Provides a rank 2 ⚔️asset in the form of training staff and space for instruction. This asset is Assured for Train actions. Fee 2. Complexity: 2, Wood.
Upgrades: Extended (+6 Mobility), Specialized (+1 asset rank, allows armies to change their class), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it), Oldblood Recruiting (While training a Drake army past level 1 using this building, you may take one premium keyword instead of one of your level-up bonuses. Can only be built in a Drake city with population >5). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Herd: Mobility 6. Provides a rank 2 asset in the form of extra mounts, generally applicable for 🦶 actions. Can also be used to train an army, without providing any dice: the army can forgo one levelup bonus to gain mounts of the provided type. Provides common horses unless a breeding pair of other mounts is provided on construction (these increase the complexity and effectiveness). Fee 3. Provides +1 Wealth. Complexity: 3

Horses, +0 complexity, +2 Mobility (to affected armies)
Giant Rams, +1 Complexity, +1 Mobility, Grants Mountaineer and +1 unit
Griffins, +2 Complexity, +2 Mobility, Can move across hexes as if flying and can spend momentum in battle when commanded to gain Flying 2.
Hippopotamuses, +3 Complexity, +1 Mobility, +1 Attack, Defense, and Presence, but -1 Morale.
Drakes, +4 Complexity, +2 Mobility, Grants Firespitting, Can move across hexes as if flying and can spend momentum in battle when commanded to gain Flying 2.

Upgrades: Extended (x2 Range), Specialized (Acts as an asset and is Critical for train actions), Durable (Ignores the first effect each season that would disrupt or damage it). Each upgrade increases complexity by 2.

Defenses#

Wooden Walls: Armies outside the walls cannot declare a battle against armies inside the walls until they have spent at least one full month in the location. Provides the “Wooden Walls” Goal in battles, which has thresholds 2/2. Complexity 2, Wood. [Most towns start with Wooden Walls]

Stone Walls: Armies outside the walls cannot declare a battle against armies inside the walls until they have spent at least a full month in the location. Provides the “Stone Walls” Goal in battles, which has thresholds 2/4. Complexity 4, Stone.

Layered Walls: Armies outside the walls cannot declare a battle against armies inside the walls until they have spent at least a full month in the location. Provides the “Layered Walls” Goal in battles, which has thresholds 2/6. Complexity 7, Stone.

Strongholds#

Strongholds are imposing, secluded structures built in the wilderness. Not built for public access, they are incapable of the large scale work of industries, instead providing comfortable and safe accommodations for individuals and armies. At a base level, strongholds provide the protective benefits of stone walls, the ability to garrison a single army, and the ability to comfortably host a single agent. Agents are generally willing to move into a stronghold if it seems to be in their interest and not against the interests of a power they are loyal to. Complexity 6, Stone.

When you build a stronghold, describe a secret protection against intrusion such as magic doors that recognize intruders or a moat full of wise talking alligators with a 10 foot leap; powers must find a way to overcome this immunity in order to target anything inside this stronghold subtly. Unsubtle means, such as magic or invading a stronghold with an army naturally bypass this immunity. This complete protection from onlookers and spies means that anything inside the stronghold is safe from the manipulations and influence from other powers, even those with high influence in the hex. It also means that any actions taken here become Private.

A stronghold is a single feature that can be expanded with modules, one module per ⚒️Build action on the stronghold. A module's complexity is 3, plus 3 for each module the stronghold already has (3, then 6, then 9…). The stronghold's own complexity of 6 is separate and doesn't change.

Modules:

Barracks: This stronghold can garrison (or imprison) two additional armies. Iron
Apartments: This stronghold can comfortably house (or imprison) two additional agents. Stone
Mana Gardens: This stronghold naturally collects mana from the surrounding territory. When you conduct a ritual here, reduce the cost by 1 mana of that element (including generic mana) for every Tidings since you last used this ability. Salt.
Tower: This stronghold offers a high vantage point for magic. Double the range of rituals and spells cast from here. Provides a rank 1 asset for these rituals. Stone.
Spell Laboratory: Each tidings, an agent with familiarity with magic that is installed in this stronghold may exhaust themselves to produce a scroll of a spell of your design with rank up to their own. A power can instead spend an *️⃣ to activate this during the season, designing a spell of rank up to the power’s 🔮skill. Paper
Alchemical Laboratory: Each tidings, an agent with familiarity with nature or chemistry that is installed in this stronghold may exhaust themselves to produce two instances of a potion with rank up to their own. A power can instead spend an *️⃣ to activate this during the season, creating a potion of rank up to the power’s 🌱 skill. Salt.
Labyrinth: Upgrades the Stone Walls to Layered Walls. Stone.

Strongholds don’t sustain themselves like towns do: A stronghold costs 2 coin +1 coin per module in maintenance each Tidings. If you can’t pay, the stronghold will become inoperable and has a chance to be captured by rogue forces.

Statuses:#

Negative#

Depopulated: The young and fit are missing, whether because they were levied or slain. The town will repopulate if given time, but for now it’s capabilities are diminished. Reduce the effective population by X.
Taxed: A power has extracted money from this town, making it more difficult to find. Increases the difficulty of challenges to extract coin from the town’s denizens.
Uprising: The population is angry and increasingly armed to protect their rights and property. Increases the difficulty of checks to tax and otherwise draw resources (including coin) from the town’s denizens.
Sickened: A plague is steadily killing the people of this town. Lose 1 population each cleanup.

Positive#

Booming: This town is the place to be, drawing in travelers from across the area to temporarily live and work there. Increases the effective population and wealth by X.
Growing: This town is healthy and the infant mortality rate is well below the usual. Gain 1 population each cleanup. Counteracts Sickened.

Nonbuilt Features:#

Dungeons#

Dungeons are inaccessible places protected by obscurity, traps, and occasionally monsters. Mechanically, they tend to consist of challenges with an escalating difficulty called levels. Completing a floor reveals the next one. Dungeons are complex, with multiple components of each floor that make delving into them difficult: assets to delve into a dungeon should reflect these components. The Delve skill 📖is always relevant for dungeons, and unlike other challenges, each power can use 📖 alongside up to one other skill.

Example Dungeon: The Delian Tomb

Floor 1: Goblin Thieves, Blade Traps, Hidden Buttons. Difficulty 3. Reward: An Amulet of Arson and a Lightning Helix scroll
Floor 2: Restless Undead, Maneating Plants, Mimics. Difficulty 5. Reward: An armies worth of heavy armor and weapons, which will require only minor refitting to use. A Giantsbane Axe.
Floor 3: Magical Darkness, Mechanically Shifting Hallways, Mirrors onto demonic realms. Difficulty 7. Reward: Friendship with an army of Drauger Knights, a rank 5 army of Grand Undead Infantry that will be destroyed after their 7 rounds of battle.

Ruins#

Ruins are similar to dungeons in that they are large structures filled with danger, but instead of being organized into layers of increasing difficulty, they are instead disorganized piles with many entrances, easy escape routes, and relatively constant threat. Ruins have a total Threat score and a Difficulty. Powers can spend actions to clear a ruin, and each removes an amount of Threat equal to the excess successes. Generally, a ruin provides rewards and becomes a useful feature once all the threat has been cleared.

Ruins are more accessible to armies than dungeons. For ruins where the primary threat is hostile creatures, armies with appropriate skills to fight them are a valid asset.

Example Ruin: The Fallen Castle. A vast slab of labyrinthine masonry stocked with ancient alchemical experiments and a million ways to die from falling masonry; it seems to have fallen straight from the very sky. Threat: 13. Difficulty 2. Reward: 4 potions each of ranks 1, 2, and 3. Becomes a Stronghold with a Barracks and Alchemy Lab.

Outposts#

Well hidden structures actively used by a power or rogue force, outposts are much smaller than a town and not usually relevant for the production of resources. Outposts can be used to garrison armies, which are invisible on the map as long as they remain inside the outpost.