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Kingdom Building
Founding a Kingdom
Once you have your first settlement, you have the start of a kingdom. You’ll need to make some initial decisions that affect your kingdom’s statistics, and record them on the kingdom sheet.
- Choose Your Kingdom’s Alignment: Your kingdom’s alignment helps determine how loyal, prosperous, and stable your kingdom is. Your kingdom may be a lawful good bastion against a nearby land of devil worshipers, or a chaotic neutral territory of cutthroat traders whose government does very little to interfere with the rights of its citizens. When you decide on your kingdom’s alignment, apply the following adjustments to the kingdom’s statistics:
Chaotic: +2 Loyalty; Evil: +2 Economy; Good: +2 Loyalty; Lawful: +2 Economy; Neutral: Stability +2 (apply this twice if the kingdom’s alignment is simply Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral or Lawful Neutral). - Choose Leadership Roles: Assign the leadership roles for all PCs and NPCs involved in running the kingdom, such as Ruler, General, and High Priest. The leadership roles provide bonuses on checks made to collect taxes, deal with rioting citizens, and resolve similar issues.
- Start Your Treasury: The build points you have left over from starting your first settlement make up your initial Treasury.
- Determine Your Kingdom’s Attributes: Your initial Economy, Loyalty, and Stability scores are based on the kingdom’s alignment and the buildings your settlement has. (If you start with more than one settlement, include all the settlements in this reckoning.)
Kingdom Turn Sequence
A kingdom’s growth occurs during four phases, which together make up 1 kingdom turn (1 month of game time). The four phases are as follows:
Upkeep Phase
During the Upkeep Phase, you adjust your kingdom’s scores based on what’s happened in the past month, how happy the people are, how much they’ve consumed and are taxed, and so on.
Step 1—Determine Kingdom Stability: Attempt a Stability check. If you succeed, Unrest decreases by 1 (if this would reduce Unrest below 0, add 1 BP to your Treasury instead). If you fail by 4 or less, Unrest increases by 1; if you fail by 5 or more, Unrest increases by 1d4.
Step 2—Pay Consumption: Subtract your kingdom’s Consumption from the kingdom’s Treasury. If your Treasury is negative after paying Consumption, Unrest increases by 2.
Step 3—Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: If any of your settlement districts have buildings that produce magic items (such as a Caster’s Tower or Herbalist) with vacant magic item slots, there is a chance of those slots filling with new items (see the Magic Items in Settlements section).
Step 4—Modify Unrest: Unrest increases by 1 for each kingdom attribute (Economy, Loyalty, or Stability) that is a negative number.
The Royal Enforcer may attempt to reduce Unrest during this step.
If the kingdom’s Unrest is 11 or higher, it loses 1 hex (the leaders choose which hex).
If your kingdom’s Unrest ever reaches 20, the kingdom falls into anarchy. While in anarchy, your kingdom can take no action and treats all Economy, Loyalty, and Stability check results as 0. Restoring order once a kingdom falls into anarchy typically requires a number of quests and lengthy adventures by you and the other would-be leaders to restore the people’s faith in you.
Example: Jessica is the Ruler of a kingdom with a Size of 30 and a Control DC of 60. Based on leadership role bonuses, kingdom alignment bonuses, and buildings in her settlements, the kingdom’s Economy is 52, its Loyalty is 45, and its Stability is 56. Its Unrest is currently 5, its Consumption is 5, and the Treasury has 12 BP. In Step 1 of the Upkeep Phase, Adam, the Warden, attempts a Stability check to determine the kingdom’s stability. Adam rolls a 19, adds the kingdom’s Stability (56), and subtracts its Unrest (5), for a total of 70; that’s a success, so Unrest decreases by 1. In Step 2, the kingdom pays 5 BP for Consumption. None of the kingdom’s magic item slots are empty, so they skip Step 3. In Step 4, none of the attributes are negative, so Unrest doesn’t increase. Mark, the Royal Enforcer, doesn’t want to risk reducing the kingdom’s Loyalty, so he doesn’t use his leadership role to reduce Unrest. At the end of this phase, the kingdom has Economy 52, Loyalty 45, Stability 56, Unrest 4, Consumption 5, and Treasury 7 BP.
Edict Phase
The Edict phase is when you make proclamations on expansion, improvements, taxation, holidays, and so on.
Step 1—Assign Leadership: Assign PCs or NPCs to any vacant leadership roles or change the roles being filled by particular PCs or closely allied NPCs (see Leadership Roles).
Step 2—Claim and Abandon Hexes: For your kingdom to grow, you must claim additional hexes. You can only claim a hex that is adjacent to at least 1 other hex in your kingdom. Before you can claim it, the hex must first be explored, then cleared of monsters and dangerous hazards (see Steps 2 and 3 of Founding a Settlement for more details). Then, to claim the hex, spend 1 BP; this establishes the hex as part of your kingdom and increases your kingdom’s Size by 1.
You may abandon any number of hexes to reduce your kingdom’s Size (which you may wish to do to manage Consumption). Doing so increases Unrest by 1 for each hex abandoned (or by 4 if the hex contained a settlement). This otherwise functions like losing a hex due to unrest (see Step 4 of the Upkeep Phase).
Step 3—Establish and Improve Cities: Prepare land for city districts and then purchase new Buildings for your kingdom’s cities. The building’s adjustments to your nation apply immediately. You can also destroy buildings at this time in order to clear a space to build something new; if you destroy a building, don’t forget to remove its benefits from your kingdom’s statistics!
Improvement Edicts tells you the maximum number of buildings you can construct in your kingdom per turn. The first House, Mansion, Noble Villa, or Tenement your kingdom builds each turn does not count against that limit.
Step 4—Build Terrain Improvements: You may spend BP to build Terrain Improvements like Farms, Forts, Roads, Mines, and Quarries.
You may also prepare a hex for constructing a settlement. Depending on the site, this may involve clearing trees, moving boulders, digging sanitation trenches, and so on.
Step 5—Create Army Units: You may create, expand, equip, or repair army units (see Mass Combat).
Step 6—Issue Edicts: Select or adjust your edict levels (see Edicts).
Example: Jessica’s kingdom has no vacant leadership roles, so nothing happens in Step 1. The leaders don’t want to spend BP and increase Size right now, so in Step 2 they don’t claim any hexes. In Step 3, the leaders construct a Farm in one of the kingdom’s prepared hexes (Consumption –2, Treasury –2 BP). In Steps 5 and 6, the leaders continue to be frugal and do not construct settlement improvements or create armies. In Step 7, the leaders issue a Holiday edict of one national holiday (Loyalty +1, Consumption +1) and set the Promotion edict level to “none” (Stability –1, Consumption +0). Looking ahead to the Income Phase, Jessica realizes that an average roll for her Economy check would be a failure (10 on the 1d20 + 52 Economy – 4 Unrest = 58, less than the Control DC of 60), which means there’s a good chance the kingdom won’t generate any BP this turn. She decides to set the Taxation edict to “heavy” (Economy +3, Loyalty –4). At the end of this phase, the kingdom has Economy 55, Loyalty 42, Stability 55, Unrest 4, Consumption 4, and Treasury 5 BP.
Income Phase
During the Income phase, you may add to or withdraw from the Treasury as well as collect taxes.
Step 1—Make Withdrawals from the Treasury: The kingdom-building rules allow you to expend BP on things related to running the kingdom. If you want to spend some of the kingdom’s resources on something for your own personal benefit (such as a new magic item), you may withdraw BP from the Treasury and convert it into gp once per turn, but there is a penalty for doing so.
Each time you withdraw BP for your personal use, Unrest increases by the number of BP withdrawn. Each BP you withdraw this way converts to 2,000 gp of personal funds.
Step 2—Make Deposits to the Treasury: You can add funds to a kingdom’s Treasury by donating your personal wealth to the kingdom—coins, gems, jewelry, weapons, armor, magic items, and other valuables you find while adventuring, as long as they are individually worth 4,000 gp or less. For every full 4,000 gp in value of the deposit, increase your kingdom’s BP by 1.
If you want to donate an item that is worth more than 4,000 gp, refer to Step 3 instead.
Step 3—Sell Expensive Items for BP: You can attempt to sell expensive personal items (that is, items worth more than 4,000 gp each) through your kingdom’s markets to add to your Treasury. You may sell one item per settlement district per turn. You must choose the settlement where you want to sell the item, and the item cannot be worth more than the base value of that settlement.
To sell an item, divide its price by half (as if selling it to an NPC for gp), divide the result by 4,000 (rounded down), and add that many BP to your Treasury.
You cannot use this step to sell magic items held or created by buildings in your settlements; those items are the property of the owners of those businesses.
Step 4—Collect Taxes: Attempt an Economy check, divide the result by 3 (round down), and add a number of BP to your Treasury equal to the result.
Example: Jessica and the other leaders need to keep BP in the kingdom for future plans, so they skip Step 1 of the Income phase. They are worried that they won’t collect enough taxes this turn, so just in case, in Step 2 they deposit 8,000 gp worth of coins, gems, and small magic items (Treasury +2 BP). The leaders aren’t selling any expensive items, so nothing happens in Step 3. In Step 4, Rob, the Treasurer, rolls the Economy check to collect taxes. Rob rolls a 9 on the 1d20, adds the kingdom’s Economy score (55), and subtracts Unrest (4) for a total of 60, which means the kingdom adds 20 BP (the Economy check result of 60, divided by 3) to the Treasury. At the end of this phase, the kingdom has Economy 55, Loyalty 42, Stability 55, Unrest 4, Consumption 4, and Treasury 27 BP.
Event Phase
In the Event phase, a random event may affect your kingdom as a whole or a single settlement or hex.
There is a 25% chance of an event occurring (see Events). If no event occurred during the last turn, this chance increases to 75%. Some events can be negated, ended, or compensated for with some kind of kingdom check. Others, such as a rampaging monster, require you to complete an adventure or deal with a problem in a way not covered by the kingdom-building rules.
In addition, the GM may have an adventure- or campaign-specific event take place. Other events may also happen during this phase, such as independence or unification.
Example: The GM rolls on one of the event tables and determines that a monster is attacking one of the kingdom’s hexes. Instead of attempting a Stability check to deal with the monster (risking increasing Unrest if it fails), Jessica and the other leaders go on a quest to deal with the monster personally. They defeat the monster, so the event does not generate any Unrest. At the end of this phase, the kingdom’s scores are unchanged: Economy 55, Loyalty 42, Stability 55, Unrest 4, Consumption 4, and Treasury 27 BP.
Who Rolls the Kingdom Check?
Kingdom Check: A kingdom has three attributes: Economy, Loyalty, and Stability. Your kingdom’s initial scores in each of these attributes is 0, plus modifiers for kingdom alignment, bonuses provided by the leaders, and any other modifiers.
Councilor: Holiday edicts
General: Kingdom checks for events requiring combat
Grand Diplomat: Diplomatic edicts (optional rule)
High Priest: Holiday edicts, rolls to generate magic items from Cathedrals, Shrines, and Temples
Magister: Rolls to generate magic items not rolled by the High Priest
Marshal: Exploration edicts (optional rule)
Royal Enforcer: Loyalty checks to reduce Unrest or prevent Unrest increases
Ruler: Loyalty checks, any checks or edicts not covered by other leaders
Spymaster: Kingdom checks involving crime and foreigners
Treasurer: Economy checks, Taxation edicts, Trade edicts (optional rule)
Viceroy: Vassalage edicts (optional rule)
Warden: Stability checks
Leadership Role Skills
Each leadership role provides bonuses to kingdom statistics based on one of the leader’s ability scores. The GM may want to allow a leader’s ranks in a relevant skill (such as Diplomacy or Intimidate) to also affect the kingdom statistics. For every 5 full ranks in a relevant skill, the leader may increase the leadership modifier by an additional 1. These skill-based additional bonuses modify the standard leadership role bonuses in the same way that the Leadership feat grants additional bonuses. The relevant skills for each leadership role are as follows.
Councilor: Knowledge (local)
General: Profession (soldier)
Grand Diplomat: Diplomacy
High Priest: Knowledge (religion)
Magister: Knowledge (arcana)
Marshal: Survival
Royal Enforcer: Intimidate
Ruler: Knowledge (nobility)
Spymaster: Sense Motive
Treasurer: Profession (merchant)
Viceroy: Knowledge (geography)
Warden: Knowledge (engineering)
Forms of Government
The kingdom-building rules presume your government is a feudal monarchy; the leaders are appointed for life (either by themselves or an outside agency such as a nearby monarch), and pass their titles to their heirs. The form of government you choose can help establish the flavor and feel of the kingdom and also adjust its settlements’ modifiers. You may choose one of the following as the kingdom’s government.
Autocracy: A single person rules the kingdom by popular acclaim. This person may be elected by the people, a popular hero asked to lead, or even a hereditary monarch who rules with a light hand. Modifiers: None.
Magocracy: An individual or group with potent magical power leads the kingdom and promotes the spread of magical and mundane knowledge and education. Those with magical abilities often enjoy favored status in the kingdom. Modifiers: Lore +2, Productivity –1, Society –1.
Oligarchy: A group of councilors, guild masters, aristocrats, and other wealthy and powerful individuals meet in council to lead the kingdom and direct its policies. Modifiers: Corruption +1, Law –1, Lore –1, Society +1.
Overlord: The kingdom’s ruler is a single individual who either seized control or inherited command of the settlement and maintains a tight grasp on power. Modifiers: Corruption +1, Crime –1, Law +1, Society –1.
Republic: The kingdom is ruled by a parliament of elected or appointed officials who represent the various geographic areas and cultural constituents of the kingdom, making decisions for the whole through voting, bureaucratic procedures, and coalition-building. Modifiers: Crime –1, Law –1, Productivity +1, Society +1.
Secret Syndicate: An unofficial or illegal group like a thieves’ guild rules the kingdom—the group may use a puppet leader to maintain secrecy, but the group pulls the strings. Modifiers: Corruption +1, Crime +1, Law –3, Productivity +1.
Theocracy: The kingdom is ruled by the leader of its most popular religion, and the ideas and members of that religion often enjoy favored status in government and the kingdom. Modifiers: Corruption –1, Law +1, Lore +1, Society –1.
Misc. References
Overland Travel and Exploration Time (each hex is 12 mi. across):
