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| Getting Swans In A Row. |
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.
Turn 4
Income consists of 1 River Trout, 2 Coin (Trade went up to 2 last turn thanks to Zofia), and 1 Morale. Residents gathered 2 Wood to prep for building a lumber mill, and they managed to trap 1 Rabbit for food. I rolled an Exodus event, so 3 people left (the refugees went back to the city to the rest of their family, bringing the population down to 10), causing Morale to drop by 2 (it hurts to say goodbye).
I was planning on building a lumber mill this turn, but with Morale running in the negative, it's time for a Festival (1 PP) to cheer people up, plus foraging for more food to keep everyone fed. Zofia sold off the River Trout for 1 Coin, and everyone had rabbit stew to keep their bellies full. Upkeep also included 2 Coin (1 for Size and 1 for Zofia, bringing us down to 1) 1 Morale (bringing us to -2).
Turn 5
Income came out to 1 River Trout, 2 Coin, and 1 Morale. Residents foraged 2 Mushrooms and used one of them to feed everyone at the Festival. The games and merriment attracted some visitors from outside, who paid their fare share for the food (+1 Coin), and everyone had an excellent time (+3 Morale). Zofia sold River Trout at a markup (+2 Coin), and the gods blessed the Festival with no random event.
Once the festival finished, everyone got serious about building a lumber mill (1 PP, but it takes 3 PP and 1 Wood total), while others continued to forage for more food (1 PP). Wood came out of the warehouse for the mill, leaving 1 more Wood in storage. Everyone used the stored Wheat to make bread to go with the Festival's mushroom stew. Upkeep took 2 Coin (for the Militia + Zofia, leaving a surplus of 3 Coin) and 1 Morale (leaving a surplus of 1 Morale).
Things are looking up!
Turn 6
Income brought in 1 River Trout, 2 Coin, and 1 Morale. Residents scoured the countryside, but came up empty (the Forage project brings in 1d3-1 resources, and I rolled poorly this turn). The lumber mill made good progress this turn, but still needs another couple of turns to complete.
Entertainers came to town this week, a little late to join the Festival, but they put on shows every day they were in town. Their feats of physical prowess inspired the citizens to work even harder (+1 Morale and +1 PP to spend this turn), doing double the work on the lumber mill this week. People decided to eat trout and store the mushrooms in case of future need, and the rest of upkeep consumed 2 Coin (leaving 3) and 1 Morale (leaving 2).
Coldwater Bend After Turn 6
Current Stats - Size 1, Population 10, Trade 2, Coin 3, Culture 1, Morale 2, Militia 1.
Infrastructure - Palisade (No upkeep. Gives +1 Militia)
Specialists - Zofia Gorni (Merchant. Upkeep -1 Coin. Gives +1 Trade and a 50% chance of +1 Coin for each good traded).
Playtest Notes
Things ticked right along for these 3 turns. Turn 4 really opened my eyes to the fragility of a Size 1 settlement. One bad event, with a loss of population and Morale into the negative really gave me pause. I don't think Morale will impact anything until it hits a Sizex3 threshold, but I'll play with that and see what happens. I think Morale bonuses and penalties will apply to rolls that change Population and probably to rolls that defend from attacks, but I can't see it lowering stats unless it gets really bad.
Then again, if the population leaves and the size goes down to zero, the settlement fails. Or if not zero, there won't be enough people to support all the Infrastructure and Specialists, which will drop stats pretty quickly. I'll think about the impacts of Morale a little more, and I'll happily entertain other ideas if you're willing to share them.
More of this nonsense will be on the way anon.
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