The Game of Crusading Thrones, Self-Insert Edition (GoT CK2)

[] Issue Command (Power Bloc): Give a command to those under your command, spending gold and favors to ensure that they will do so without dragging their feet. Even with the best of wills, failure is still possible of course. Time: Varies. Cost: Varies. DC: Varies. Reward: Varies. Please @ me when doing this action, which is a free action that can be done as many times as you want. Possible resources to spend include gold, Influence, upkeep, the services of your advisor (actions), and special resources. The difficulty will vary based on power, opinion, what the actual command is, and how much you spend.

We need to issue a command to expand the logging around Deepwood Motte now that the Logging Issues have been resolved. That should have a pretty good DC now.

@notbirdofprey What is the DC and cost for such a command?

[] Issue Command (Western Lords): Expand Logging around Deepwood Motte, Cost ~150 Gold?

That should net us the rewards for the Western Lords Quest, which includes increased tax revenue.

[] Speak to Kings (Kingdom): There are other kings to the south of you. Perhaps you should open up talks with one of them. Though all of them are Andals and ironborn, you doubt any of them would outright refuse you…Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Positive diplomatic contact.

[] Speak with Vassals (Region): Most of your direct vassals are loyal and trustworthy, but it's good to keep an eye on them all the same. And if any of them have trouble, you might be able to help. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems

[] Show Favor (House): There are many ways for a king to show his favor to his bannermen. Positions can be given, tithes restructured, minor aid offered. And of course, there are always gifts – a horse from the royal stables or a Winterfell hound would be highly prized even by the greatest houses of the North. Even simple praise would see some hold their heads higher and answer your call prompter. If you have need of a particular House's aid, showing your favor to them may make persuading them far easier, especially if you are not blatantly obvious about your reasons for doing so. If you are extremely skillful in showing your favor, you may even inspire others to strive higher in hopes of earning similar rewards. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, 1 Influence. DC: 25/50/75. Reward: House opinion boost, 1d2-1 Influence/Large house opinion boost , 1d2+1 Influence/Large house opinion boost, general vassal opinion boost, 1d4+1 Influence.

[] Improve Attitudes (Kingdom): There are several other kingdoms you share a continent with, and while they may not be able to take your lands they can certainly make things difficult, especially if a large number of the upper nobles don't like you. Fortunately, several of your vassals have members charming enough you could send them south and feel confident that they would make a good impression. You would even number Eddard among them. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: Varies. Reward: Improved relationship with kingdom.

[] The Fair Folk: Your relationship with the Old Gods clearly provides a measure of protection. You would love it if it provided you with more, since the fey are still being a pain. Make some effort to learn more about the factions and the powers of the fey, and hope that what you learn is helpful and accurate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 30/60. Reward: Information about the fey.
So I think these are the diplomacy options to choose from.

We could pick to make contact with the Reach, which would be good to get them in on the anti-Ironborn coalition

We could talk to the Barrow Houses, so that we have a better understanding of what they want instead of just assuming. I mean, I'm pretty sure that House Dustin will want a city charter for Barrowtown, but it's let us confirm that, and also find out what House Ryswell wants.

@notbirdofprey Unless we already have a good idea of what would make House Ryswell happy? Do they want a town charter for a location on the Redwater? Basically we want to reward the Barrow Houses for their faithful work in completing ships and fortifying the rivers.

We could just go straight to show favor, but I'd like to know better what they want first.

We could seek to improve our relationship with other kingdoms, especially the Targaryens and the Riverlanders.

And I'd like to investigate the Fair Folk more.

Right now leaning towards Speak to Vassals (Barrow Houses) unless the QM comes back with us already knowing the information we need.

[] Mines (Difficult): It will be expensive in blood, in time, in labor, in coin. Perhaps it is foolish, perhaps not. But all the most valuable ores are on the highest peaks, and you need the income these mines will provide. Time: 5 seasons. Cost: 1500 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Major new income source.

[] Expand the Surveys: The mountains clans have heard about the wealth you found in the mountains. Now they spend what time they can spare searching for ores and gems in their land. Hire the prospectors again and have them search through the rest of the mountains. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Knowledge of resources in the rest of the mountains.

[] Fruit Trees: There are some scattered apple trees in the Wolfswood and some chestnut trees just outside Winterfell. There are probably other fruit trees as well in the North. Begin growing them to help provide food for some of the poorer families and trade goods for the richer. Perhaps you could seek the aid of the Green Men in ensuring that the trees grow swiftly and healthily too. You know they have a ritual for it, and such deeds seem to be part of their duties, according to the Green Book. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 45. Reward: More fruit trees, small increase to food supply, small increase to trade.

[] Wolfswood Road: The one place your roads didn't really go is into the Wolfswood, given the fact that it is a dense, primeval forest, but if you want your logging camps to be better you will need better transportation. A road won't solve half the problems your loggers have getting trees out, but it will help, and it will make getting into the forest much easier. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Road into the Wolfswood.

[] New Mills: Build more water wheels and set them up with grindstones. Free up livestock and grind grain faster. Poole gets quite the gleam in his eye when he talks about all the things he could do with more waterwheels. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Increase to farming income.

[] The Wolf's Walls: One of the best ways to distinguish an actual town from a collection of houses and shops is the presence of walls. Only chartered towns may have them, and while your town lacks them it will never quite be seen properly. They also serve the twin functions of defense and helping keep order. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 25. Reward: Wintertown gets good walls.

[] Sky-Mills: Many of the rivers you would build waterwheels on have drifting chunks of ice that would make construction less practical, and in any case, there are only so many places waterwheels can be built where they would provide enough power to be worthwhile. Windmills, however, require only empty fields to function and clear weather to be built. And they would serve just as well for grinding grain into flour. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increase to farming income.

[] Expand the Schools: You've a school in Winterfell which serves a few dozen children and less than twenty adults as a part-time duty for one or two of the acolytes. Buy a small building in Wintertown, give those acolytes the full-time duty of teaching people to read and write, give an incentive or two for people to learn and then join up with the civil service, and you expect to have classes much larger. Hopefully at least a few of the graduates will fill in the gaps in your civil service. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep, Citadel attention. DC: 45. Reward: Increased literacy, support for civil service, Citadel attention.

[] Issue a Charter (Location): There are other places in the North that could reasonably be called towns or even a city. Barrowton is on the cusp where you could justify giving it a city charter. The castle town below Deepwood Motte is almost as large as Wintertown. There are a few other places, like the Dreadfort, that could also arguably deserve a town charter. Of course, the politics of giving such a charter would be somewhat complicated – every house has rivals you would need to placate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 25. Reward: Charter issued, opinion gained, increase to trade.

[] Plan the Process: You will need to take several steps before you can truly begin industrializing. The first one has been taken, but now you need to find places to build textile mills, find people to make the parts, find workers, and that's all before you will see a single copper back on this investment. And you will probably want to take some precautions to prevent riots or the other issues England had with industrialization. Take some time and figure things out. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted.

[] Start Building: You will need a factory first and foremost. There are plenty of places near the river that are suitable for waterwheels, although it will take some time to get all the mills set up and then you will need to build the factory itself. You already have a carding facility that is suitable for the moment, so the next thing will be too set up a mill for drawing and spinning – it makes sense to put the drawing frames and spinning mules together. After that, you will have time to plan your next steps. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 45. Reward: Build drawing and spinning mill, start producing yarn in large quantities. Increase to income.

[] MORE SHEEP!!: You are already making a great deal of coin from the sheep already present in your lands, and frankly you are almost out of pasture to support more. Buy up some cropland, convert it to pasture, and get more sheep. When all the processing of wool is converted into an industrial process, you will have more than enough wool to keep up, and the amount of coin you will get will be incredible! The only problem is…actually getting everything converted. That will be a headache and a half. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Way more sheep, decrease in food supply.

[] Cattle Ranching: There are lots of cows now on your land. There's lots of land without any people. Put the two together to begin expanding your cattle herds and selling the meat and leather and milk. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: 30. Reward: New options unlocked, increase to trade.

[] Potash Making: You never realized how useful potash was until you sat down and wrote everything you knew about it while working on your chemistry plans. There are a lot of possibilities for it, and it is something known in the North. Paying some people to come to Winterton and make it in quantity shouldn't be too expensive, and with a ready supply of potash you might be able to get more glassmakers and other such trades, which will be immensely useful both for your coffers and for the people of Winterton. Especially if you can get glass gardens set up. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Production of potash, increase to trade.
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We have a lot of Stewardship Options to consider. I think we can put off the city charter till next turn when we know more about what the Barrow Houses want - unless QM comes back with info.

Plan Process is probably a good action to take, but I think we should probably pick at least one action from the Infrastructure list each turn, otherwise we won't get them done. I'm leaning towards Expand the Schools this turn. I'd like to use our Free Action here if at all possible.

[] Copy Books: Create some copies of books for the Citadel. They will pay you a good price for it, but they will also be trying to figure out how you do it, and saying yes risks your monopoly. Saying no will get their attention as well though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.

[] Improving Rivers: Not all rivers are suitable to place waterwheels on. Some don't have the necessary current to drive a wheel, some don't have a steep enough drop, some are simply to narrow. There are beasts which can shape the water to their needs – most prominently beavers, which are admittedly rare through much of the North. But if they can do it, surely men can as well? Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Dams, weirs, and mill ponds. New actions unlocked.

[] New Darning: There's a couple devices in your darning barn that do it differently than the traditional methods. It's faster and it works better as well, and its one of the reasons that you are making so much coin from it. Find out who came up with it, find out more about how these work, and spread them to the rest of the barn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, optional reward. DC: 45. Reward: Learn more about darning.

[] Finding Sources: Some of the materials you described are known to exist: charcoal, for instance. Or sulfur. Finding existing sources of them would be helpful if you are planning to exploit them on a large scale, and the Citadel does have records of such things. A hefty bribe will certainly help you get access to them, and you can send out your own people as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Find existing sources of various materials.

[] Starting Small: Set up a "lab" for Maester Brynden and perhaps a couple steady-handed assistants in Winterfell, somewhere nice and far away from anything that could get damaged by acid, smoke, or fire. Then let him play around and try to figure out how exactly to make gunpowder and saltpeter and sulfuric acid. Maester Brynden wants to experiment with a few other things known at the Citadel and see if he can find anything interesting. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 20/40/60/80. Reward: Basic lab set up, begin figuring out how to make various chemicals practically, possibility of new developments.

These are the Learning actions I am most interested in. I think I'd like to take New Darning this turn, and then... probably Copy Books again. @notbirdofprey How close are we to achieving the Merchant Quest?
[*]Internals: The books and paper being easily produced are both watched with interest. While House Stark is being secretive about the books, they are more open about the paper,
[*]Quest: Create enough copies of books to be sold regularly. Reward: 1d2-1 Influence, additional trade income. Failure: Loss to trade. Time: Winter 110.

Piety: Frost is extremely strange. Which makes sense since he is a Child of the Forest. Now that you think about it that was rather obvious. He seems haunted by the prophecy he has shared with you. Edwyle has been helping him sometimes, although not too much. He does not wish to become a Green Man if it means giving up being a lord. (Choose 2)

Shouldn't this be choose zero since we have two Piety actions locked?

Intrigue: Snow is in many ways the total opposite of Rivers. Calm where he is excitable, nondescript where he is distinctive. You can't imagine Snow having any of his predecessor's escapades, although he is most definitely equally competent. He's actually rather terrifying, especially with Janna and the Huntsmen helping him with the more physical side of things. You are fairly certain he is giving Eddard lessons. (Choose 0)

Shouldn't this be choose one, since the Create a Code Intrigue action completed?

The extra action for Intrigue was a one time thing.

Yes, and we used it to Find the Leader. So shouldn't we have one Intrigue option open this turn?

[] Even Deeper Secrets: Snow has people in every house in the North. He has people in every town and city too. But you want more. If your lords meet, you want to know. If anything happens, you want to know. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Spy Network (The North).

[] Harrenhal: The network in Harrenhal has been devastated by Harren's sudden assault on it and by the sheer slaughter he has wreaked in and around his accursed castle. Some say even the very stones are whispering to him, identifying traitors, and that blood drips from the walls instead of dew. You are uncertain just how true that is…but you need to find out. Having advanced warning of anything he is planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Fortunately, you have some fairly expendable agents to send south. The Hunters are best at killing, but some could handle spying. Especially since the castle is half empty, meaning they have plenty of space to hide. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 200 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Get another spy in Harrenhal, information.

[] Friends Among the Fey: The fey are everywhere in the Reach. Literally everywhere. Snow intends to take advantage of that when building his spy network there, leaning on the Green Men to identify ways to recruit the little house fey and tricksome gremlins and bribe them into telling his agents things. He expects to not be the only one doing so. He also expects it to not be a problem. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Spy Network (The Reach).

[] Iron Spies: Most of the Iron Islands seems to be in the grip of mad servants of the Drowned God, with crazed priests ruling just as much as the lords do and horrific abominations skulking in shadows or parading about, eager to raid and destroy. It takes a very brave man to go gathering information there. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep. DC: 50. Reward: Simple Spy Network (The Iron Islands).

We need to take one of these, I'd lean towards Even Deeper Secrets.

[] The God's Eyes: While you can open the God's Eyes more or less at will now, it can be difficult to keep them open, especially in places full of magic like Winterfell. You also suspect you are missing a great deal of nuance when you look at people or more complicated items like your crown, which just looks like plain metal. Or that skin, which makes you shudder whenever you think of it. Further practice could also extend how long you can use this gift. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 70. Reward: Greater control and skill with the God's Eyes, more information about the skin.

I think we can use the double down on this, if we don't need it elsewhere.
 
Is this a typo then?

That's what happens when you copy paste the turn post from the last one.

@notbirdofprey What is the DC and cost for such a command?

[] Issue Command (Western Lords): Expand Logging around Deepwood Motte, Cost ~150 Gold?

The Diplomacy Dc would be around 30, the Stewardship DC would be 45.

@notbirdofprey Unless we already have a good idea of what would make House Ryswell happy? Do they want a town charter for a location on the Redwater? Basically we want to reward the Barrow Houses for their faithful work in completing ships and fortifying the rivers.

We could just go straight to show favor, but I'd like to know better what they want first.
Wealth, prestige, or power would all make them happy. If they have a specific request or grievance outside of being commanded a lot, you would need to take the Talk to Lords action.


Shouldn't this be choose zero since we have two Piety actions locked?

Shouldn't this be choose one, since the Create a Code Intrigue action completed?

I will fix those.
 
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That's what happens when you copy paste the turn post from the last one.
...
The Diplomacy DC would be around 30, the Stewardship DC would be 45.
...
If they have a specific request or grievance outside of being commanded a lot, you would need to take the Talk to Lords action.
Noted; willl edit vote to reflect updated information.

EDIT: would upping the gold amount for the Issue Command lower the Stewardship DC?
You're actually right in the first place about the Intrigue; we did finish "Create a Code", but have "Find the Leader" and "Security Procedures" ongoing, so the "Intrigue: Choose 0" is correct.
 
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[X] Plan Schools and God's Eyes
-[X] Issue Command (Western Lords): Expand Logging around Deepwood Motte, Cost 350 Gold, Diplomacy DC 30, Stewardship DC 35

@Marlowe310811 Would you consider adding this to your plan as well? It's not expensive and it will get us the Western Lords Quest (which needs to be completed at the end of this season).

-[X] Speak with Vassals (Barrow Houses): Most of your direct vassals are loyal and trustworthy, but it's good to keep an eye on them all the same. And if any of them have trouble, you might be able to help. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems

Let's confirm what they actually want instead of making assumptions.

-[X] Expand the Schools: You've a school in Winterfell which serves a few dozen children and less than twenty adults as a part-time duty for one or two of the acolytes. Buy a small building in Wintertown, give those acolytes the full-time duty of teaching people to read and write, give an incentive or two for people to learn and then join up with the civil service, and you expect to have classes much larger. Hopefully at least a few of the graduates will fill in the gaps in your civil service. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep, Citadel attention. DC: 45. Reward: Increased literacy, support for civil service, Citadel attention.

We should be able to do this since this is a low cost turn.

-[X] Plan the Process: You will need to take several steps before you can truly begin industrializing. The first one has been taken, but now you need to find places to build textile mills, find people to make the parts, find workers, and that's all before you will see a single copper back on this investment. And you will probably want to take some precautions to prevent riots or the other issues England had with industrialization. Take some time and figure things out. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted.

-[X] Free Action: Sky-Mills: Many of the rivers you would build waterwheels on have drifting chunks of ice that would make construction less practical, and in any case, there are only so many places waterwheels can be built where they would provide enough power to be worthwhile. Windmills, however, require only empty fields to function and clear weather to be built. And they would serve just as well for grinding grain into flour. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increase to farming income.

-[X] Copy Books: Create some copies of books for the Citadel. They will pay you a good price for it, but they will also be trying to figure out how you do it, and saying yes risks your monopoly. Saying no will get their attention as well though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.

-[X] New Darning: There's a couple devices in your darning barn that do it differently than the traditional methods. It's faster and it works better as well, and its one of the reasons that you are making so much coin from it. Find out who came up with it, find out more about how these work, and spread them to the rest of the barn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, optional reward. DC: 45. Reward: Learn more about darning.

-[X] Double Down: The God's Eyes: While you can open the God's Eyes more or less at will now, it can be difficult to keep them open, especially in places full of magic like Winterfell. You also suspect you are missing a great deal of nuance when you look at people or more complicated items like your crown, which just looks like plain metal. Or that skin, which makes you shudder whenever you think of it. Further practice could also extend how long you can use this gift. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 70. Reward: Greater control and skill with the God's Eyes, more information about the skin.

We can afford a Double Down here this turn, so let's finally do it.

-[X] Rolling and Slitting mills
These are also two very closely related designs, with slitting basically just being rolls with interlocking grooves. The main use here would be in metal-shaping, allowing for the easy and fast creation of metal plates and nails, with the obvious synergy here being our introduction of copper-sheathed hulls. It could also be used to mass-produce simple iron nails, however - something that at this point should still be quite expensive, making for a nice trade-good, and it should also help to make the creation of various forms of armor; almain rivet probably being the most interesting in that regard since it strikes a good balance between effectiveness and cost.

Total Cost is 1575, so will save a lot of money for the following turns to build fleets and improve them.

Kelenas has made some good arguments as to why this would be a good idea to do. So I think it should be on the list of things we want to uplift. (Following this the thresher winnowing machine, and then maybe some more theoretical knowledge.

@Kelenas Is there an additional related metal working design we could include here? Maybe something more difficult that we'd need a higher roll to get?

You're actually right in the first place about the Intrigue; we did finish "Create a Code", but have "Find the Leader" and "Security Procedures" ongoing, so the "Intrigue: Choose 0" is correct.

Actually, our Free Intrigue action was used to Find the Leader, so we do have an open normal Intrigue slot.
 
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@Marlowe310811 Would you consider adding this to your plan as well? It's not expensive and it will get us the Western Lords Quest (which needs to be completed at the end of this season).
I'm just waiting to hear back from the QM if upping the gold (which we could spare this round) will lower the Stewardship DC.

Free Action: Sky-Mills: Many of the rivers you would build waterwheels on have drifting chunks of ice that would make construction less practical, and in any case, there are only so many places waterwheels can be built where they would provide enough power to be worthwhile. Windmills, however, require only empty fields to function and clear weather to be built. And they would serve just as well for grinding grain into flour. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increase to farming income.
I don't remember this being a free action for this turn? I'll have to double-check
Actually, our Free Intrigue action was used to Find the Leader, so we do have an open normal Intrigue slot.
I don't think that's how it works; we normally are allowed only two actions per advisor, and we have two Intrigue actions ongoing, so I think those slots are de facto taken regardless of where the one-time freebie was applied. QM can clarify, though
 
Find the Leader and Security Procedures are both multi-season actions, so they are still taking up a slot.

And adding more gold would help decrease the DCs for the command, but not by a lot. Influence would work better.
 
Find the Leader and Security Procedures are both multi-season actions, so they are still taking up a slot.

And adding more gold would help decrease the DCs for the command, but not by a lot. Influence would work better.
150 gold & 1 Influence would produce what DC, then?

To all voters: plan updated, please check to see if it still conforms to what you desire.
 
I don't remember this being a free action for this turn? I'll have to double-check

We have one free action every turn. You are using it to get a second Diplomacy action, I'm using it for a third Stewardship action.

Find the Leader and Security Procedures are both multi-season actions, so they are still taking up a slot.

And adding more gold would help decrease the DCs for the command, but not by a lot. Influence would work better.

Okay, removed the Intrigue action.

@notbirdofprey

Also, I bumped up the gold spent of the Logging command to 250, what does that make the DC? What would the DC be at 350 Gold?

I'd rather not use influence, as we don't have much of that, and we do have plenty of gold this turn.

While the returns to the quest are something I'd like, it's not enough to justify spending influence I think.
 
Thanks, bumped the gold up to 350 then.

@Marlowe310811 I think a 35 DC is good enough, and 1 influence is certainly worth 200 gold don't you think?
I'm more interested in ensuring success than I am in sparing 1 influence point (tbh I'd rather up the gold to 350 and spend the influence point to guarantee success). At a bare minimum, we'll gain that point back when the Barrows Fleet is completed, and depending on how well that particular d4 likes us it'll be an even greater return on investment.
 
@notbirdofprey -- I'm just curious, how much will the coppering and/or repeater add to fleet construction costs? Oh, and I can't recall, did we already do away with the Ironborn spies, or do we still need to do that?
 
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