I always find myself wanting to switch up the system after a while. That may be my biggest flaw as a writer. How many times have I changed things in this story? A lot? And whenever I have the Good Quest Idea Bug bite me, it usually comes with a shiny new system attached to a shiny new setting, and the system is almost more important than the setting.
Like, latest one was a pseudo-post apocalyptic survival adventure where Weight was going to be more of a constraint than money since you're carrying your stuff everywhere. But I dropped that idea as I have far too many already no matter how shiny it was to me.
I love post-apocalyptic stories and quests. I'm a huge fan of Fallout and a lot of them remind me of that. It saddens me that there aren't a lot of quality Fallout stories & quests out there. Though hell I'll read just about anything if it catches my attention.
I always find myself wanting to switch up the system after a while. That may be my biggest flaw as a writer. How many times have I changed things in this story? A lot? And whenever I have the Good Quest Idea Bug bite me, it usually comes with a shiny new system attached to a shiny new setting, and the system is almost more important than the setting.
Like, latest one was a pseudo-post apocalyptic survival adventure where Weight was going to be more of a constraint than money since you're carrying your stuff everywhere. But I dropped that idea as I have far too many already no matter how shiny it was to me.
It's not necessarily a bad thing to switch systems up. Sure, there's changes and stuff but the historical experience seems to be that trying to power through is more likely to get the idea/quest/setting dropped entirely - and that's a lot less fun.
If you're enjoying writing stuff up in the setting but just want a change of pace with the system then go for it - the engagement and enthusiasm you get from it comes through to the content you produce, and most people are really here for the content more than any given system. If that pattern is what's necessary for everybody to have fun, then that's what's necessary for everybody to have fun.
I love post-apocalyptic stories and quests. I'm a huge fan of Fallout and a lot of them remind me of that. It saddens me that there aren't a lot of quality Fallout stories & quests out there. Though hell I'll read just about anything if it catches my attention.
I THINK I got all the appropriate actions and informational posts updated. Let me know if anything seems off. Social votes are retired for the immediate future. You'll still get some social interaction at QM's whim, maybe.
Thanks for reading.
You're forced to answer your cousin before you can escape. What kind of wife do you want? Someone smart, most of all, someone you could get along with. ("Hole up in a library for weeks at a time with, you mean", she had said). And someone with wealth or power to pursue more projects like the mills.
Despite her needling and teasing about it, you remain insistent that you don't care about looks as much as what you can do together, with a wife. She calls you 'wiser than most men, even if I think you're lying to yourself' and extracts a few tidbits about what you think is attractive even though you insist it shouldn't matter. Thankfully, you see an opportunity to get rid of Cousin Byers soon after she gets her answer.
...Well, really, you just made your excuses, feeling far too warm, and fled to your work room in the former dungeon as she laughed and said she was going to find your sister.
You are Harold Bismarck, and as summer rolls around once again you're excited to be discussing the future.
Your father is here, reviewing the expense figures for constructing the mine, and the costs and profits for the windmill. Otto is sitting at attention, Hilde is slightly lounging in a chair looking smug, Mr. Hooker is standing behind you as relaxed as he ever gets. The castle steward and head of the men-at-arms are present as well.
"Well, we're all here," He says. "Holding meetings like this is an important task for a ruler. As much as all of us might like to be doing our jobs right now - this is our job too. It keeps everyone on the same page and appraised of the troubles and successes others are having. And we finally have a full council, if a slanted one. Something the Bismarcks have never needed before, but there are great things ahead of us now. We have Mr. Meyer charged with the upkeep of the castle and taxation, Mr. Rundel representing the men-at-arms, Miss Hilde as our spymaster-of-sorts, young Harold and his assistant Mr. Carlsberg as developers and inventors. All we're missing is a diplomat and a religious advisor."
He smiles. "I serve well enough as a diplomat, myself, I think. Let's all discuss their areas of responsibility, shall we? What has been accomplished in the last few months, and what concerns if any you have for the next. I'll start. My diplomatic efforts have been consumed by talking to Baron Florian Hass about the tolls in his section of the road. It's discouraging traders from taking the roads at all, and it's a violation of the informal agreement we have with the families along this route to keep tolls low enough and not harass the merchants too much."
Hmm. You weren't aware of any kind of 'informal agreement'. It's not a formal treaty, apparently, but it makes sense to have everyone agree not to drive away trade.
"I have found out that matters are slightly more complicated than expected. It seems that the man's son signed an ill-considered contract with the Grand Central Salt Trading Company - which trades much more than just salt, incidentally - essentially exempting them from tolls on his land, and he's raising tolls on everyone else to compensate. Other merchant interests are rather upset by this, and their profits are being driven down which will hurt trade interests throughout the region. I intend to threaten to over-tax or ban Grand Central on our lands, and try to arrange some amended contract so Hass can lower the tolls on other merchants. And in future," he grimaces, "To try to work on trade with our neighbors more often. Mr. Meyer, you next, please."
"Ah! Of course, my lord. I was tasked with getting the returning men-at-arms and militia settled again and ensuring everyone was fed and paid. The estate's budget is rather close to the line at the moment- I understand Master Harold's profits are to be reinvested in more of his own ventures?" You nod, slightly nervously. "We could use some of that coin since we're holding on to the gold and gems for now and the payment for hostages taken during the war has still not been distributed from the King's men, but it is not... A dire emergency."
He mutters something you don't quite make out, coughing to cover it. You think you heard 'Shallya'. You try not to frown or fidget.
"At any rate, from what I understand, the lot of our peasants is much improved from the last few years thanks to the efforts of young Harold, and they can be expected to pay a bit more in taxes, which will suffice for now. I will be careful not to strain them too much in the assessment of course."
"I'd also like you to look into building or purchasing some boats," your father tells the Steward. "We need to diversify the way we trade and my son has talked with our neighbors to the north, they're potentially amenable. I know it'll be expensive."
Mr. Rundel goes next, still frowning. "Of the fifty men-at-arms who went to war with my lord and his wife, four died on campaign, and nine returned too injured to continue as armsmen. A healer I contacted to try to rehabilitate them has managed the injuries well enough that four of those injured can become guardsmen for the castle, road, or town. While they're not healthy enough for serious fighting anymore, they may still serve. The others have been given pensions and settled into their homes. The eighty-seven militia who answered the call... Fared rather worse. I've been working on replacing men and equipment."
"Continue," your father nods at him. "You've already talked to Sofia, you know what needs to happen."
Your newly-hired spymaster suddenly un-lounges and looks deadly serious as she makes her report. "I have been hired by young Master Bismarck as a spymaster of sorts... To keep my thumb on the mood in your fief, to watch out for criminals and scheming. So far I am still settling in and taking over the contacts both you and he had cultivated. Since the new techniques invented by the young master seem to be very valuable, I took the initiative to keep them from spreading too far. There's some interest, particularly in the windmill, and the strange plows that your friend is producing up in Nesiwald. My assignment seems to me to be rather open-ended, and I would appreciate more directed instructions."
"My son will direct you. It was his idea to hire you, and he needs to gain experience in leadership. I take it that won't be a problem?"
She bows with a tilted smile. "Of course not, my lord."
And then it's your turn.
You describe the completed windmill, and then the iron mine, trying to keep the whole explanation to just a minute or so, like everyone else did. You discuss your half-a-dozen ideas for future improvements, for serious industry brought to Zoetdorf which will make the entire town, your family, and everyone associated with it rich.
"Actually, son... It's high time you worked on something you've been putting off. Further development can wait. Perhaps you can make some minor efforts on that front for now, but it is high time you look for a wife. The windmill and iron mine are what we were waiting for - clear signs of your intelligence and bright future. There is one last thing to cement our house's restoration. The heir needs a wife. I know you don't like to think about it much, but it will do you and the family good. It's time."
What can you do except nod and agree?
Instructions: Until you have a fiancee, act as a suitor and seriously pursue marriage prospects! You are expected to spend two or three actions on this per turn.
You have 11 Profit in personal money to spend. You still owe the Renns family a fairly large sum (25 Profit) in just over a year, which is something you should be planning for. Your task from your father, Baron Bismarck, is to seek a favorable marriage as the Heir of Bismarck.
Please make a PLAN VOTE with FOUR actions from the below list that you will take in the upcoming months. (6 - 1 (Managing Employees) - 1 (LOCKED IN: Teach the Church of Shallya))
Also select an action for your employees Otto Carlsson and Hilde Govesnacht to do.
What will you have Otto do?
[ ][Otto] Go to Nesiwald and improve the iron mine you own there.
-[] Write in amount of budget including zero, may get some of it back, about 5 recommended
[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible.
-[] Write in amount of budget including zero, may get some of it back, no more than 1-2 recommended
[ ][Otto] Survey the castle walls, roads, and bridges in your fief for issues and possible improvements.
[ ][Otto] Investigate the possible use of Blackpowder in mining or sapper work. Carefully. (1 Profit, risky.)
[ ][Otto] Do any action from the Construction action section.
-[ ] Which one?
What will you have Hilde do?
[ ][Hilde] Investigate Otto Carlsberg, the one-eyed sapper. You think you have the measure of him but checking doesn't hurt.
[ ][Hilde] Investigate Abram Waller and see how competent he really is, and if he is stealing from you or engaging in corruption.
[ ][Hilde] Screen the castle guards and servants for connections, sympathies, and loyalties to those who might wish you ill.
[ ][Hilde] Work with the castle and town guard to help them keep order and fight crime. Not really needed at the moment, but safe roads mean happy merchants.
[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
[ ][Hilde] Recruit some assistants and subordinates who can handle spy work. Maybe Sasha Nesiwald would be a good candidate? (2 Profit/year)
[ ][Hilde] Try to get more informants in merchant and trader circles so you can hear about things like the issue with the toll road sooner. (1 Profit/year)
[ ][Hilde] Reconnect with old informants in the social circles of bards, mercenaries, soldiers, and other such types and have them report to her. (1 Profit/year)
Marriage
[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
[ ] Travel to the Royal Court and formally announce your eligibility for marriage.
[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
[ ] Have your cousin Byers Catalina arrange meetings with women you might like.
Politics and Contacts
[ ] Spend time in the city of Rivenwall, getting to know the place and meeting people who it could be helpful to know. (1 Profit)
[ ] Talk with the priests and spiritual leaders in the area about what they want and need and what they can help you with.
[ ] Spend time meeting and discussing matters with neighboring nobles. (Talk with 3 neighbors. Triggers mini-vote of who to talk to and what about.)
[ ] Try to get in contact with a Wizard to buy their services or negotiate a retainer. This is likely to be expensive.
Nesiwald Actions - Taking at least one of these includes travelling to Nesiwald, which takes up time. Each turn one random Nesiwald action will have a malus.
[ ] Try to convince Timothy Greens to move to Zoetdorf by offering to teach him to make piston-pumps and cannons, which probably count as a Masterwork. (2 Profit if successful.) (Unlocks cannon prototype)
[ ] Try to convince Timothy Greens to move to Zoetdorf by buying him a smithy and paying him well to move. (6 Profit. Guaranteed to work, no roll.) (Unlocks cannon prototype)
[ ] Arrange for the cast iron plow business to continue even without Timothy Greens by training up some replacements.
[ ] Buy and ship bulk iron and charcoal, then cast and ship a large batch of cast-iron plows to your fief to improve farming - enough for every village to have a few. (8 Profit)
[ ] Survey the roads and paths and rivers in the Rostwald to see how difficult and expensive it would be to improve them, or to build boats for trade.
Planning and Development
[ ] Make the peasants and villagers to switch to four-field crop rotation. From the news you've gotten from Nesiwald, it actually works. This is starting to be overdue.
[ ] Look for sources of bulk iron, stone, and timber you can purchase to prepare for future expansion projects.
[ ] Look for a steady source of Sulfur you can buy or arrange mining of or otherwise acquire, for blackpowder production.
[ ] Look for a steady source of Niter you can buy or arrange mining of or otherwise acquire, for blackpowder production. [ ] Look into what boat-building requires, and find someone who could help build the large river barge the Codex showed you. Not recommended, the castle Steward is doing this
[ ] Try to sell your services and inventions to merchants, officials, and nobles - Mills, piston pumps, iron plows, heaters. (Possibly gain opportunities.)
[ ] Train the journeyman blacksmiths in Zoetdorf in sand casting methods. (Unlocks cannon prototype)
[ ] Look for a loan. With your status much on the rise, given what you have developed so far, you can probably get better terms than last time.
Construction
[ ] Begin construction of a Waterwheel near Zoetdorf. (Two turns. 10 Profit. Unlocks action to pick what to devote it to later. Possible applications: Irrigation/water supply, forgeworks, weaving machines, sawmill.)
[ ] Begin construction of a Waterwheel on the western edge of your fief. (Two turns. 14 Profit. Unlocks action to pick what to devote it to later. Possible applications: Irrigation/water supply, forgeworks, weaving machines, sawmill.)
[ ] Try to set up collection of human and animal waste and a process to convert them into Niter. Disgusting, but a step towards blackpowder production. (Two turns. 8 Profit.)
[ ] Have piston pumps built and assembled throughout your fief. Another considerable quality of life improvement with uncertain return on investment. (7 Profit)
[ ] Establish woodcutting in the forests along the western edge of your fief. Potentially profitable, especially if you build a sawmill later. (4 Profit)
Invention and Academe
[ ] Begin writing a book on all your inventions so far, and leave space for any more you come up with as you write.
[ ] Buy or borrow books on the Monsters that sometimes threaten the countryside, so you can work on a Monster Manual. (2 Profit)
[ ] Investigate the possible use of Blackpowder in mining or sapper work. Carefully. (1 Profit, risky.)
[ ] Try to find glassmakers and gold or silver smiths who can do fine enough work, and commission a thermometer and a clock. (3 Profit)
[ ] Commission additional copies of your Metric standard weights and measures, to exacting precision. (5 Profit)
[ ] Spend time puzzling over the weird mathematics that are apparently needed to accurately aim cannons. They probably have other uses...
Personal Improvement/Other
[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
-[ ] Music, singing, or art, from Miss Johanna the bard.
-[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ] Write-in. May require searching for a trainer.
[ ] Practice personal combat and tactics with the guards who remain at Bismarck Castle.
[ ] Take some time off and relax some. You can afford to slow down a bit for one season.
[ ] Go looking for books or rare chemicals and devices that could help with your technological pursuits. (Cost variable)
[ ] Study the Codex Crystal and try to determine, deduce, query, or infer how it works and how it could work better.
[ ] Spend time praying and meditating on Shallya, her teachings and methods, and her church's actions in the world.
[ ] Write-in actions: Ask the QM if you think I have missed something important you would like to do.
So one thing to keep in mind, a year from next turn (5 turns) we owe 25 profit on a loan. Also 2 of our 4 actions need to be on wife searching. Question- Do we want Timothy to stay in Nieswald or move here?
[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
[ ] Have your cousin Byers Catalina arrange meetings with women you might like.
I like the above two for marriage actions, our cousin does not seem to have any ill intentions so that is useful.
[ ] Establish woodcutting in the forests along the western edge of your fief. Potentially profitable, especially if you build a sawmill later. (4 Profit)
IF we combo this with a waterwheel on the western edge (costs 14 profit) we can make some money from a sawmill.
Whatever the case is though I feel like we need to pay part of the loan on or after the Winter season to make sure we don't spend too much to not have the funds to pay it all off.
Edit
Current Expenses: 9 per season, 2 per year
Income: Neiswald: variable amount- comes in at end of winter
Bismarck: 5d2+1d10- 6-20 per season
So we have a possible of low net gain of profit each turn.
[ ] Make the peasants and villagers to switch to four-field crop rotation. From the news you've gotten from Nesiwald, it actually works. This is starting to be overdue.
This is a good action, we need to take it might as well now and save funs
[ ] Prelim Plan
-[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
-[ ] Have your cousin Byers Catalina arrange meetings with women you might like.
-[ ] Make the peasants and villagers to switch to four-field crop rotation. From the news you've gotten from Nesiwald, it actually works. This is starting to be overdue.
-[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
--[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
-[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible. 2 profit
Spend: 2 profit
Leaves 9 left over and depending on what our income is like this turn we may have enough to make a down payment on the loan (given how variable our profit can be we do not want to wait until the last moment). At the very least we probably want to use any profit from Neiswald when it comes during Winter result as a down payment on the loan, should put us in range to not have to save too much.
I'm on board with this plan. It's not exciting, but we've been given an obligation, and that naturally consumes the bulk of our efforts. So that's two actions directly towards marriage, and a third action towards swordplay (which arguably supports our marriage prospects). That leaves us with one other action, which goes to the (overdue) crop rotation, which supports the profitability of the mill.
As for our agents, looking into taxes and boosting our new iron mine are probably the most important things we could be having them do.
I'm on board with this plan. It's not exciting, but we've been given an obligation, and that naturally consumes the bulk of our efforts. So that's two actions directly towards marriage, and a third action towards swordplay (which arguably supports our marriage prospects). That leaves us with one other action, which goes to the (overdue) crop rotation, which supports the profitability of the mill.
As for our agents, looking into taxes and boosting our new iron mine are probably the most important things we could be having them do.
Yeah, the big thing is that we want a good wife canidate, we want to also fill that in as quick as we can without compromising on quality. Not to mention a good wife candidate could bring in needed funds and/or resources from trade. And tax changes are things that can mess up a fief if not careful so we want to be on the know for that. Plus it puts more pressure to me to get us out of any loans so that unexpected changes that may decrease our profit generation do not leave us short on loans.
I would prefer "Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections." It sounds like less of a random grab bag (more predictable what we get, and stronger bias toward candidates that will be useful to us).
Looking through the rest of your choices, I don't see any other obvious problems.
(edit) Thinking it over again, my preference isn't all that strong; the "parties" option is probably a better shot at getting someone with a good Diplomacy stat (as opposed to Stewardship, which we're already pretty good in).
Unfortunately, the "help them out with the improved hearths" came with a mandatory "donation" of 5 Profit per turn.
My opinion was that the cost is too high; teaching them the hearths (1 action) without the donation would have been fine, but apparently Shallya is the deity of sacrifice, not of "helping people." That part is an incidental extra, not the core of the doctrine.
In other words, her actual goals have little if any overlap with ours. Still, we're explicitly on bad terms with the deity of Perfectionism, and that sabtauged our efforts with the god of Firefighters. Getting at least one deity on board with our projects is probably necessary, but the deities here seem to be locked into deontological ethics, without the room for consequentialist ethics that we would need to get anywhere in persuading them.
I don't think any of the gods of this planet actually have goals that align with ours, but I'm on board with jumping ship to a different deity if the benefits look reasonable.
The gods are alien, yes, and the necessity of making it a strong commitment was my decision as qm so I suppose I ought to own up to that.
I do seem to infuriate people when I do anything weird in my quests, it's a thing. But I don't really regret it? You should have to make hard decisions. Also, your money is very much saving lives. You'll get to see that in this turn's results.
[] Plan don't half ass your marriage
-[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
-[ ] Travel to the Royal Court and formally announce your eligibility for marriage.
-[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
-[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
--[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible.
-[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
What it says on the tin: Do it right and get it over with. Summertime is the best time to do the rounds at the ball and travel to the Court, most people are going to be too busy during Autumn with the upcoming harvest and preparations for winter. Get it done now so we can go back to managing the fief.
[] Plan don't half ass your marriage
[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
[ ] Travel to the Royal Court and formally announce your eligibility for marriage.
[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
-[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
2. You need - marks in front of the [x] to designate lines as components of the plan; otherwise the automated vote counter won't count them correctly.
> This also makes sure your plan shows up properly in the vote helper screen (collects the plans so it's easier to weigh them against each other).
> (edit) To clarify a bit: without those - marks, the automated vote counter treats the lines as independent votes, not components of a plan, which makes for extra work later on when the QM tries to tally the votes (I was just involved in sorting through a mess of this type a few days ago, in a different quest I'm involved in (edit 2: link)). The -[x] set designates the line as "subordinate" to the [x] line above it.
3. We do still have a debt coming up, so I would rather make sure that's dealt with as soon as feasible. Taking an income option (in Void Stalker's plan, 4 field crop rotation to improve Mill income) sounds important from where I'm looking at things.
"Actually, son... It's high time you worked on something you've been putting off. Further development can wait. Perhaps you can make some minor efforts on that front for now, but it is high time you look for a wife. The windmill and iron mine are what we were waiting for - clear signs of your intelligence and bright future. There is one last thing to cement our house's restoration. The heir needs a wife. I know you don't like to think about it much, but it will do you and the family good. It's time."
What can you do except nod and agree?
Instructions: Until you have a fiancee, act as a suitor and seriously pursue marriage prospects! You are expected to spend two or three actions on this per turn.
we have only 11 profits.. we probably don't need to right now, but we COULD take another loan if needed.
Then again, it might be better to wait until later on. We'd probably get even better terms after a good wedding.
On a secondary note, we REALLY need to adopt four-crops rotation now. It's a cheap and definitely needed action.
Maybe a couple of actions on nesiwald too? We could go with mine, convince our blacksmith friend to transfer, and/or train replacements for the plow business.. but maybe it's better to wait for that until we can actually sink multiple actions on nesiwald, which will probably take a turn or two before we get the time and available actions...
The gods are alien, yes, and the necessity of making it a strong commitment was my decision as qm so I suppose I ought to own up to that.
I do seem to infuriate people when I do anything weird in my quests, it's a thing. But I don't really regret it? You should have to make hard decisions. Also, your money is very much saving lives. You'll get to see that in this turn's results.
Eh, Shallya's "take it or leave it" offer was a bit annoying, but I wouldn't go as far as defining it infuriating. It still comes with a few benefits for us (reputation with common people, hopefully the favour of a goddess..), and we ARE indeed saving life. It might not be the "optimal" way to spend our profits, but it's not quite a bad one, and there's something to be said for not ignoring the short-term problems just because we could do better for the long term.
I think announcing ourself in court will get us more thoughtfully made possibilities than going to parties. We don't want a partner who is focused too much on conspicuous indulgence.
Also
[ ] Try to sell your services and inventions to merchants, officials, and nobles - Mills, piston pumps, iron plows, heaters. (Possibly gain opportunities.)
Might work well as supporting bride finding by seeing out partners or families who can see our potential. This is part of why we waited for the windmill after all.
2. You need - marks in front of the [x] to designate lines as components of the plan; otherwise the automated vote counter won't count them correctly.
> This also makes sure your plan shows up properly in the vote helper screen (collects the plans so it's easier to weigh them against each other).
> (edit) To clarify a bit: without those - marks, the automated vote counter treats the lines as independent votes, not components of a plan, which makes for extra work later on when the QM tries to tally the votes (I was just involved in sorting through a mess of this type a few days ago, in a different quest I'm involved in (edit 2: link)). The -[x] set designates the line as "subordinate" to the [x] line above it.
3. We do still have a debt coming up, so I would rather make sure that's dealt with as soon as feasible. Taking an income option (in Void Stalker's plan, 4 field crop rotation to improve Mill income) sounds important from where I'm looking at things.
I think you're misunderstanding what he meant. It's about the formatting.
Even ignoring the "x" because we're STILL not voting, you should put [] before the plan, and -[] before the sub-options, so the tally understands that the sub-options are part of the plan.
like this (but with the x once voting starts):
[] Plan don't half ass your marriage
-[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
-[ ] Travel to the Royal Court and formally announce your eligibility for marriage.
-[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
-[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
--[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible.
-[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
Personally I liked the Shallyan church twisting our arm, the purpose of a church is to serve their goddess and be a social institution, not to cater to the whims of a teenager with delusions of grandeur. They made us put our money where our mouth is, actually selflessly improving people's lives and not just making grand pronouncements about how in a few decades life will be so much better. Perfect long term optimization isn't much comfort to the people who starve and freeze in the short to medium term.
Harold's a good dude, but he's definitely prone to thinking a little too big. It's nice to have some people who are actually in the trenches every day keeping us down to earth.
Very bad idea if tax changes are coming. We have no idea how that will impact our personal profit generation, much less the estate and we may need to subsidise the estate to keep thing stable depending on how things going. As it is getting out from under loans at this point means we can develop without having to worry about having large amounts of profit to pay things off (and with -3 to +11 a season right now it is quite swingy)
Taking loans when we have some kind of tangible, productive capital investment in mind is smart business sense. Taking loans to float other loans is.... not. The financial system isn't nearly developed enough in quasi-manoralist/medieval/feudal/whatever Veschwar to support Fun Creative Accounting, give it a few centuries, for now debt is almost universally bad and we want it gone ASAP.
I think you're misunderstanding what he meant. It's about the formatting.
Even ignoring the "x" because we're STILL not voting, you should put [] before the plan, and -[] before the sub-options, so the tally understands that the sub-options are part of the plan.
like this (but with the x once voting starts):
[] Plan don't half ass your marriage
-[ ] Attend several parties and other such events as a new and eligible bachelor.
-[ ] Travel to the Royal Court and formally announce your eligibility for marriage.
-[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
-[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
--[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible.
-[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
I'm against going to parties. While it would likely help us find someone with skills, it's unlikely to help us find someone who would fit our temperment. As such, I'm leaning towards the political/trade connections. We're far more likely to find a fellow introvert that way, someone we'll be able to get along with well. And definitely grab the cousin's help, she's probably pretty good at this.
We were delaying crop rotation until we could use our reputation to do so safely. We can now do so.
I think finishing swordplay would be worthwhile as well, considering the country's social norms. Otto ensuring our new mine is good sounds like a wise investment, and we could really use that tax info (but also we don't want to pay for informants if we can help it)
[ ] Plan Farming Trades
-[ ] Reach out to noble families who would make good political or trade connections.
-[ ] Have your cousin Byers Catalina arrange meetings with women you might like.
-[ ] Make the peasants and villagers to switch to four-field crop rotation. From the news you've gotten from Nesiwald, it actually works. This is starting to be overdue.
-[ ] Learn a skill. (What?)
--[ ] Finish learning Swordplay from your mother. (1/2)
-[ ][Hilde] Look for any information available on the rumored changes to taxes across Veschwar. The sooner you know this sort of thing the more you can prepare.
-[ ][Otto] Supervise work on the new iron mine in your fief to make it as productive and safe as possible. 2 profit
Taking loans when we have some kind of tangible, productive capital investment in mind is smart business sense. Taking loans to float other loans is.... not. The financial system isn't nearly developed enough in quasi-manoralist/medieval/feudal/whatever Veschwar to support Fun Creative Accounting, give it a few centuries, for now debt is almost universally bad and we want it gone ASAP.
if there's one thing we don't lack for is productive capital investments. More loans simply means we can take more of them.
The bit about taxes impacting loan's usefulness is a good point though, and a bachelor in debt might be seen as a less attractive marriage prospect (unless we can REALLY convince them of our loans being used effectively, but the whole business with Shallya might paint us in a bad light in that respect)
