[X] The felling of trees is at the core of prosperity, in the building of houses and boats. Scarce it may be, but it is needed.
[X] Minas Thelyn
Darn, was hoping that since it was still the first page I'd be in time to vote for the dwarves. Well, getting some logging done will provide us with more resources to expand infrastructure in the town and build more ships to fish with, so that one seems like a good idea for the moment.
Year 1976 of the Third Age passes in a blur of activity, in more ways than one. The free men set out into the surrounding lands along the wooded edges of the river, cutting down the trees which have had a chance to repopulate since the fall of Numenor. Although the great primeval forests of coastal Eriador will never return, their offspring at least will provide the supplies the people of the newly named Ost Falasuin need to survive and grow. Shockingly, and against all odds, your logging expeditions discover a wide expanse of a small wood further up river is made up of Lebethron trees! Their silver trunks and dense hardwood have long made them an object of desire for both the beauty of their appearance and also their utility in the construction of durable ships.
For the moment the valuable timber is simply stored in one of the few longhouses in the settlement. It could prove a valuable resource if docks are built and trade with Gondor is opened, even given the great distance. That seems more likely when forerunners of the Gondorian Fleet sail by, and some make landfall at the coast and investigate the settlement. They bring glad tidings that the Witch King of Angmar, hated enemy and scourge of Arthedain, has been driven utterly from the North. The Dark Kingdom is overthrown.
When Prince Eärnur arrives he greets Arvedui as befits the King of Arthedain, and is shocked when Arvedui greets him instead with the title of Chief of the Dúnedain. "Crown I shall wear no more," Arvedui says,"Last King I was named, and Last King I shall be - Arthedain has fallen into shadow. Let no son of mine wear any crown, lest they bear the Scepter of Annúminas in their hand."
Seeing the desperate state of the settlement the Prince promises his aid, for the bonds with old Arnor have not been forgotten. While he swears that help shall be had regardless in the form of food and treasures saved from Battle of Fornost that rightfully belong to the Line of Isildur, he desires to present a mighty token to his father, King Eärnil II. "The Osgiliath Stone has been lost since the Kinstrife," he says. "Here the Stone of Amon Sûl is no meagre thing, fit to restore the Dome of Stars and the pride of Gondor."
[ ] Give Eärnur the palantir of Amon Sûl.
[ ] Refuse to hand over the second palantir.
When the fleet has moved on, boats come down the Baranduin. People in the north who fled before the armies of the Witch-King have heard of the new settlement, and come in numbers. It is a struggle to maintain your resources in the face of a sudden increase in population, and every scrap of food is used the day it comes out of the sea. Without space to house them, a small shanty town springs up outside the protective palisade, but a fortunately mild winter means there are few deaths from poor accommodation.
With the spring coming round and food supplies at the breaking point, you have to decide whether to plant fields this year - while fishing would be more immediate and ease the situation rather than waiting until next year, it would take a not insignificant amount of your wood supply to do so. While planting may be risky, it would also preserve the wood you need to formalise the interior of the palisade into something approaching civilization - or begin work on a residential district. Either way, your people need to address the food situation.
[ ] Plant crops and wait until next year.
--[ ] Renovate City Center (-2 Wood, +1 Prestige, +1 Prosperity).
--[ ] Build Small Residential District (-2 Wood, 2 Housing)
[ ] Build boats and start fishing immediately (Wood: -2)
Don't we have Population 3? Or is the number of people working on it?
[X] Plant crops and wait until next year.
--[X] Build Small Residential District (-2 Wood, 2 Housing)
Rolled two 10s - one on resource check for the logging camp, one for the severity of the winter. Not as big a deal as it might be later, but a special resource right away and not having to spend any of your wood isn't a bad start.
@Sayle are Write-Ins allowed? I would propose we offer Gondor a trade: One of the smaller stones, the Ithil -or the Orthanc-Stone, for the stone of Amon Sul, the largest and most powerful of our palantíri.
I rather like the idea of having two stones, so that can we could potentially use it to communicate with our first colony somewhere down the road.
Adhoc vote count started by Spacegnom on Apr 21, 2017 at 9:11 AM, finished with 82 posts and 9 votes.
[X] Store enough food for a year of no production.
[X] Build Small Mercantile District [+2 Taxes] (-2 Gold: Demolish Shanties, -5 Gold: Build District, -2 Wood)
[X] Build a stronger wall as each 'circle' of the settlement is completed, much in the model of Minas Anor.
[x] Store enough food for a year of no production.
[x] Open a Mine [+2 Metal] (-5 Gold)
[x] Your timber is far too valuable at this juncture to use, even for defenses.
[X] Store enough food for a year of no production.
[X] Open a Mine [+2 Metal] (-5 Gold)
[X] Build a stronger wall as each 'circle' of the settlement is completed, much in the model of Minas Anor.
[x] Store enough food for a year of no production.
[x] Build a Logging Camp [+3 Wood] (-5 Gold)
[x] Build a wall around every new district, separating the settlement into sections as they are built, each lightly fortified.
@Sayle are Write-Ins allowed? I would propose we offer Gondor a trade: One of the smaller stones, the Ithil -or the Orthanc-Stone, for the stone of Amon Sul, the largest and most powerful of our palantíri.
I rather like the idea of having two stones, so that can we could potentially use it to communicate with our first colony somewhere down the road.
Alas, no. You'd have to negotiate with the King to do that, and right now Earnur just wants to bring back a shiny. It's less a trade than a 'we are your friends, have this' gift. Or maybe the general who defeated the Witch King deserves something impressive. There's a lot of underlying motivations, even if Earnur does genuinely want to help. It's not an even trade, but then you're not exactly using it.
"The Osgiliath Stone has been lost since the Kinstrife," he says. "Here the Stone of Amon Sûl is no meagre thing, fit to restore the Dome of Stars and the pride of Gondor."
Um, not sure this is a good idea.
The Stone of Amon-Sul is the only one we have strong enough to maintain contact with Gondor.
And Gondor still has 3 stones: Orthanc, Minas Anor and Minas Ithil.
VOTE
[X] Refuse to hand over the second palantir.
[X] Plant crops and wait until next year.
--[X] Build Small Residential District (-2 Wood, 2 Housing)
Need more Housing, because people are living in shanties.
We currently have enough food for all our current population, so we can afford to invest in agriculture instead of fishing.
No to giving Earnur the palantir; he doesn't actually need it, and Gondor actually still has more stones than we do, even after losing the stone of Osgiliath.
We will not lack for contact. Gondor has three palantiri sitting around. Giving them the chief of the stones simply as a measure of goodwill should not be in the cards. We are the last of the faithful blood of Numenor. The palantir are our birthright and a token of remembrance.
[X] Plant crops and wait until next year.
--[X] Build Small Residential District (-2 Wood, 2 Housing)
That Palantir is absolutely irreplaceable, and while we might not have use for it right now, I'd be very surprised if that weren't to change at some point in the future. Giving it away seems foolish.
That being said, sending it to Gondor might actually make sense - because sooner or later we'll definitely want an embassy there, and having long distance communication with that embassy would be invaluable.
Hmm... perhaps we could lend it to Gondor, rather than give it away?
Ehh... probably still not worth it. Much risk for little gain. For the moment, I have to go with:
[X] Refuse to hand over the second palantir.
But naturally, we should be polite about it. We're not refusing to give them the stone because we don't trust them with it, we simply expect to have need of it ourselves in the future.
Do bear in mind that Sauron used the palantirs to drive both Saruman and whatever the steward of Gondor was called insane, so while that's still a ways off we want to watch for when he gets that ability so we can at least lock the Palantir away when we get to that point, assuming we keep it.
Do bear in mind that Sauron used the palantirs to drive both Saruman and whatever the steward of Gondor was called insane, so while that's still a ways off we want to watch for when he gets that ability so we can at least lock the Palantir away when we get to that point, assuming we keep it.
He didn't drive them insane.
He drove Denethor to despair and suicide, and tempted Saruman into joining him.
Also note that Aragorn broke his lock on the Orthanc-stone.
He didn't drive them insane.
He drove Denethor to despair and suicide, and tempted Saruman into joining him.
Also note that Aragorn broke his lock on the Orthanc-stone.
That being said, sending it to Gondor might actually make sense - because sooner or later we'll definitely want an embassy there, and having long distance communication with that embassy would be invaluable.
Do bear in mind that Sauron used the palantirs to drive both Saruman and whatever the steward of Gondor was called insane, so while that's still a ways off we want to watch for when he gets that ability so we can at least lock the Palantir away when we get to that point, assuming we keep it.
They aren't actually dangerous to anyone of strong enough will, even if Sauron already had the Ithilstone.
And he doesn't.
As things stand a child could use it without fear.
But naturally, we should be polite about it. We're not refusing to give them the stone because we don't trust them with it, we simply expect to have need of it ourselves in the future.
(This is not complete - options expand once I know exactly which start you have and I don't want to complicate things.)
This is a city-builder! In Lord of the Rings. No, it's not just an excuse for me to draw a map. Hahaha. *laughs unconvincingly*.
But at this early juncture, I'd just like to evaluate general interest and which start people would like, and at that point things can expand significantly in terms of mechanics and flavour. The early (provisional) mechanics are below, as well as start options. I of course welcome any suggestions as well as votes on which kind of start people think they would most enjoy.
Resources
Basic Goods are the fundamental building blocks of your city, and if you can build the structures you need then you can always produce them. Luxury Goods can be found when producing basic goods, and are very valuable in trade or improving the happiness, prestige, or potential of your city. Strategic Goods can be used to improve the basic qualities of your city, like defenses or military equipment.
Stone is used to build high-quality buildings and defensive structures. Stone is produced by quarries. --Marble is a luxury good that you can discover in quarries. --Granite is a strategic good that you can discover in quarries.
Wood is used for most standard buildings and shipbuilding. Wood is produced by logging camps. It is consumed at a rate proportional to population, or at higher rates in harsh winters. --Lebethron is a luxury and strategic good you can discover from logging camps.
Metal is used as a component of many structures that improve qualities of your city. Metal is produced by mines. --Silver is a luxury good that you can discover in mines. --Iron is a strategic good that you can discover in mines.
Food is produced by farms, pastures, and fishing. Excess food increases population growth. --Farms produce 3 food. --Pastures produce 2 food and 1 gold. --Fishing produces 3 food. ----Pearls are a luxury good that can be discovered while fishing.
Basic Resource Mechanics
Resources are all generated locally if possible, or are otherwise imported.
Trade Value
Everything you produce has a trade value, that fluctuates depending on conditions. In time of prosperity food prices will drop, but in drought they will spike. In times of military conflict, strategic goods, especially iron, will increase in value.
As a basic rule, finished goods are more valuable than basic goods: ie, Military Equipment is more valuable than Iron, and Jewelry is more valuable than Silver..
City
Your city has some simple qualities. Taxes: Each population is taxed at the rate you set. High taxes improve your income, but reduce population growth and make your people unhappy. Prosperity: This is a metric of how wealthy your average citizen is and their quality of life. Higher values are better, because they will increase the occurrence of beneficial events. Prestige: This is the reputation of your city - being impressive will increase your footprint in the world. Strength: Your military ability. Better equipped and trained troops improve this, and it is this metric that enemies or raiders will be contending with.
You start with only a City Center and some resource generating buildings that are appropriate for your location.
The city is divided into Districts, which serve different functions. On a fundamental level, districts come in three variants which then become increasingly specialised over the life of your city: Civic, Residential, Mercantile. You can gain access to military districts when your city grows sufficiently. They also come in three sizes - small, medium, and large, which have one, two, and three slots respectively. While initially these slots will all just be ordinary parts of the district, you will have the opportunity to specialise. For example, one slot in a Civic district may become a palace or a court, and a Mercantile slot may become a Metalworks or Jeweler's street.
Civic districts deal with the governance of your city and provide public services. It is here that most of your prestige-boosting buildings will be in place, such as monuments, palaces, and courts. Additionally it is here that places like hospices, granaries, and guard barracks will be placed.
Residential districts provide housing for your population, with lower quality housing providing more capacity but less prestige. Housing shortages will result in shanty towns and living at places of work. The exception to this are farmers and pastoral populations, who do not require housing.
Mercantile districts provide the most gold income, even in their basic form, but can be further specialised to take luxury and strategic goods and turn them into finished goods, increasing their value.
[ ] TA: 1981...Misty Mountains Cold - the loss of the great halls of Durin, Khazad-dûm, has struck a body blow to the Dwarves in Middle-Earth. While some intend to go east to Erebor, your group is not yet willing to abandon the Misty Mountains altogether, and will delve a new Dwarf-hall further south along the range.
Pros: Plentiful stone/mines, potential access to Gold and Mithril.
Cons: No access to fishing and few farm locations. Longer build times, slower population growth.
[X] TA: 1976...The Path Less Hopeful - Arnor has been broken, then broken again three times over. Fornost is in ruins, great Annuminas on Lake Evendim is abandoned, and at last Arthedain has fallen. Arvedui has spurned the boat sent by the Grey Havens, and has wintered with the Lossoth of Forochel. Moving far south, he will establish a settlement at the mouth of the Baranduin.
Pros: Early population-increasing events, plentiful food.
Cons: Reduced trade value, Wild-men.
[ ] TA 2050...Those Withered Hands - Gondor stretches from Ithilien to the western sea, but settlement progressively diminishes westward. The King is dead, and there is none to replace him. The Steward wishes to make clear that Gondor will not decline, and has authorised a settlement at the end of the Grey Mountains, at the sea. Only time will tell if it will become anything more than a minor township of Gondor.
Pros: Support in crisis, easy access to quarries and mining.
Cons: Not independent.
Gold is already there.
Coal? Maybe charcoal, but I think that can covered by wood already.
Mithril is only available in one place so its pointless to add it.
