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| Need better outhouses. |
I'm testing my settlement system by telling the story of Coldwater Bend, a brand new hamlet built by a party of ex-adventurers by the riverbend teeming with trout. You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
Turn 10
Income consists of 3 Coin, 2 Morale (Culture has a +1 temporary bonus, so we're currently at 7 and getting a few bonuses on rolls), 1 River Trout, and 2 Wood. The people finish work on the Tavern, and it gets added to the Infrastructure list, giving +1 Culture and a 50% chance of generating 1 Coin at Income. The Recruiting effort bears fruit, attracting 2 People (I rolled a 1 and added 1 from High Morale). I rolled Settlers as an Event, so another 5 People (rolled 4, plus 1 for High Morale) move to town. That puts us at 18 Population, squarely in the overlap between Holding and Hamlet. Looks like we should start working on growing Coldwater Bend pretty soon.
We pay 2 Coin for Zofia and Tadek, and Zofia empties the Warehouse to trade 3 Wood for 1 Iron and 3 Coin (Zofia's ability triggered only once across all 3 trades). Tadek uses the Iron to forge better food preparation tools, giving a temporary +1 to Culture this turn as well. Next turn he'll doubtless help the Grow project, but this turn we have no resources left to build with. So instead, we'll have everyone Forage (1 PP each), one team looking for Food, and the other hoping to find some Stone to start upgrading structures. Final Upkeep costs 1 Food (more River Trout), 3 Coin (Tavern, Mill, and Militia, bringing us to 2), and 1 Morale (bringing us to 6).
Turn 11
Income generates 3 Coin (the Tavern didn't trigger), 3 Morale (with the +1 temp bonus), 1 River Trout, and 2 Wood. Foraging generates 1 Apples and 2 Stone. No random Event triggers, so we're good there,. We pay 2 Coin for our Specialists, and Zofia works her magic again, trading 2 Stone for 1 Iron and 2 Coin (one bonus Coin!). We'll leave the Wood in case we need it next turn. Tadek turns the Iron into tools and gives a +1 PP bonus this turn, as we'll need any boost we can get.
For Projects, we want to Grow this turn, or at least start the process. It'll cost the new Size in PP and Coin for starters. We'll also need to upsize all our Size-dependent Infrastructure or give up their bonuses. The Palisade will cost 1 PP and 1 Wood, and the Tavern will cost 3 PP and 3 Wood, giving us a total of 6 PP, 4 Wood, and 2 Coin. But we also need coin to grow, so we'll spend 1 PP to Forage more Stone to sell, and spend 2 PP, 1 Wood, and 1 Coin on Growth (leaving 4 PP, 3 Wood, and 1 Coin to go). Final Upkeep costs 1 Food (River Trout), 3 Coin (Mill, Tavern, and Militia, leaving 2), and 1 Morale (leaving 8).
Turn 12
Income brings in 4 Coin (the Tavern effect triggered!), 2 Morale, 1 River Trout, and 2 Wood. Foraging generates another 2 Stone (the dice were hot), and the Holding starts expanding into a Hamlet. A Trade Caravan comes to town bringing (a roll of 6 on 1d6 means a Luxury Good that can sell for 2 Coin!) 1 Silk and the ability to trade 1 Good for Coin. We pay 2 Coin for our Specialists. Zofia trades 2 Stone and 1 Silk for 1 Iron and 5 Coin (her ability triggered twice!), plus utilizing the Trade Caravan to trade 1 Wood for 1 Coin. Tadek once again forges tools and gives another +1 PP for this turn.
Projects look the same as last turn, with Growth (2 PP, 2 Wood, and 1 Coin, leaving 2 PP and 1 Wood outstanding) and Foraging (1 PP), this time for Food. Upkeep takes 1 Food (River Trout), 3 Coin (Mill, Tavern, and Militia leaving a surplus of 6), and 1 Morale (leaving 9).
Coldwater Bend After Turn 12
Current Stats - Size 1, Population 18, Trade 3, Coin 6, Culture 2, Morale 9, Militia 1.
Infrastructure - Palisade (No upkeep. Gives +1 Militia), Lumber Mill (Upkeep -1 Coin. Income 2 Wood), Tavern (Upkeep -1 Coin. Gives +1 Culture. 50% chance of +1 Coin at Income.).
Specialists - Zofia Gorni (Merchant. Upkeep -1 Coin. Gives +1 Trade and a 50% chance of +1 Coin for each good traded.), Tadek Kowalski (Smith. Upkeep -1 Coin. Gives +1 Trade and can consume 1 Iron to give a temporary +1 to Culture, Militia, or PP for 1 turn.).
Warehouse - 1 Mushrooms
Notes
I timed Turn 12. I set a timer for 10 minutes, and even with changing the batteries on my keyboard as soon as I hit the start button, I ended up finishing with a minute to spare. I rolled d% for the Tavern at Income, 1d20 for Events, 1d6 for a random Resource category from the Trade Caravan, and 4d% for Zofia's ability with the 4 trades this turn, and then I made decisions about what resources I wanted and investing in projects for next turn. Once I internalize Projects and Events a little more, or move them to cards for easy reference, I can see the basic Settlement Turn taking about 5 minutes.
If this system runs in the background, spending a few more minutes on adding embellishment for NPC names and random little events would make this tiny burg pop between adventures. The system feels light weight, but balanced, with enough room for personalization and extensibility - I don't know what Infrastructure and Specialists you want to see, nor what you'll lock behind research, so that's ripe for writing and hacking.
I'll do another round or two of testing to see how Size 2 complicates things, but I think this hacked system works. I'll probably strip it down to fit in a 4 page folio format, but the bones of it look pretty good so far. I'm sure a string of not great Events will put any small settlement into a tailspin with plunging Morale, but overall I'm happy with it.
I look forward to getting this into your hands and hearing what you think about it.
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