Industrialization Quest
- Thread starter Rockeye
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
@Rockeye (see questions at the end)
@thread: My analysis:
Martial. 1 action.
[ ] Seek a trainer. Travel to nearby villages and pay for advertisements. Send letters. Try to find someone who can train you in martial matters. It will be a long and hard road to improve yourself from 'abysmal', but perhaps some day you can approach 'passable' and stop those pitying looks. You get the feeling that if you remain martially hopeless it will color everyone's first impression of you, forever, and you can't have that.
Cost: 2 Profit burned. Difficulty: 25. Ongoing cost depending on trainer selected, if any.
Not really important.
[ ] Get to know the horse patrols. Once every couple of weeks a small patrol of horsemen under Cornet Renns visits town. You're not sure why when fighting men are often badly needed closer to Veschwar's enemies, but they ask after any troublesome animals or criminals then often go deal with such issues. The villagers appreciate them, acting friendly whenever they show up. Introduce yourself. He'll probably hate you, but you can't start to fix that without introducing yourself.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 10. Introduce yourself to the patrolling soldiers.
Could be useful if we have any bandit problems. And no cost, so very good.
Stewardship. 1 action. +1 extra Stewardship action in first month (eagerness)
[ ] Check out the blacksmith and iron mine. This is a great boon for your future projects - there's a small iron mine and a blacksmith already living in Nesiwald. You should spend time with the miners and the smith and his apprentice, checking out the working conditions so you have an idea of what you can use them for later - or how you can improve them, perhaps.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 10. Gain more information on the blacksmith and iron mine. Unlock further actions.
Easy, but I don't think needed at the moment.
[ ] Perform a census and make a map. The charter you were given said that there were 193 families in Nesiwald, but that is probably badly outdated. By gathering up information how many people live in Nesiwald exactly and what they do for a living, where everyone's houses and fields are, and so on, you will gain a handy reference for your own plans for this village. Maybe the Crown will even appreciate having more up-to-date information on their village. Unlikely, but you might as well send off a copy if you do this.
Time: Two months. Cost: 0. Difficulty: 30. Gain a bonus of +10 on Stewardship actions in Nesiwald, until the census and map is outdated.
Gives very good bonus. Tempting.
[ ] Improved Horse Collar. Horses and other animals are used to pull wagons and plows. They are an essential part of life in a small village, but a quick look around at the animals you saw on your way in confirmed that the people are using a simple arrangement of leather and rope. You have information from the Codex about a better way to do it. Try to get someone to make a few and then sell them to people as an improvement. People will probably copy them in no time and you won't be the only source anymore, but it will help in the short term.
Cost: 3 Profit invested for 1 month. Difficulty: 30. Gain a small one-time Profit. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Nesiwald economy improves slightly.
One-time is meh. But it gives approval and increases village economy (which also eases our tax burden? more info needed)
[ ] Plan a Wind or Water mill. You can't just start building things willy-nilly and expect to profit. If you want to bring a central grain mill to Nesiwald you have to figure out where best to put it, write out detailed notes on the construction, figure out how you will get materials and labor to the site, research how much it will cost to hire someone to run it, and how much money you will make off the centralized grinding after all is said and done. Only by having details plans and charts will you be able to make the most of the Codex Crystal.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/60. Unlock action to build a Wind or Water mill, depending on which works better in the local area. This is probably the fastest route to real profits.
We need real profits ASAP.
[ ] Start four-field crop rotation (buy). This should be an easy and simple way to improve food production in Nesiwald. Should. Get to know the farmers, and figure out who might be willing to divide up their fields in a new and radical way on your say-so. Probably not very many of them, given the looks you've received since being put up in your office-cum-storehouse. To guarantee that you'll actually see a return on your money and to secure long-term profits you'll buy a few fields and then get the farmers currently living on them to become tenants, working the land that now belongs to you - or perhaps to the position, Steward of Nesiwald. That might be better to keep from being accused of acting like nobility despite your disgrace.
Cost: 10 Profit burned. Difficulty: 40+20 [Low Nesiwald approval]. Gain tiny tenant farms (four-field crop rotation) asset. Improvements may take a while to show.
Burns a lot of profit. I'm not keen on this.
[ ] Start four-field crop rotation (convince). Alternately, you could just try to convince the farmers to adopt your idea, helping seal the deal by giving them a loan or buying them new tools and asking to be paid back in a few months. You won't see as any profit directly and it'll be even harder, since what does some cityfolk know about farming anyway? But improving local food production will have some very nice knock-on effects, increasing the amount of grain that you can feed the mill you plan to build and therefore the likely profits, and freeing up more people to work on all the other projects you have in mind.
Time: Two months. Cost: 4 Profit invested until end of Autumn. Difficulty: 60+20 [Low Nesiwald approval]. Four-Field Crop Rotation starts on some farms, you will not see any direct Profit but the local economy will improve.
Again, how does local economy helps us? I think it will be better after approval increases. unless the approval increased by other actions in the same turn will already help?
Learning: 1 action.
[ ] Ask the Codex about itself. You don't understand the Codex. You found it in a bunch of out-of-fashion jewelry in your parents' storeroom, but that doesn't go very far to explaining why such an obviously powerful magical artifact was waiting there for you to discover it. Or why nobody else can see the light it shines for you. You can sort of guide the Codex to certain subjects if you try. Why not ask the Codex about itself? You might be able to learn how to better use it, figure out what it's doing to make you a bit more sharp of mind, or even figure out where it came from.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: ???. Gain information.
Not interesting for me. There might be time for that after we pay off the big taxes we start with.
[ ] Ammonia Production outline. Extracting the stuff through various disgusting or difficult methods will be a trick, but apparently ammonia is very, very good for the growth of certain plants. Unfortunately the methods that produce useful amounts seem to involve a lot of complicated alchemy-like processes. The Codex Crystal hints at future uses, too.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??800-1200??]
This is the first step for gunpowder i suppose. Good, but for later.
[ ] Mill Machinery Standards outline. A big problem with making lots of anything is that every smith and carpenter does things differently. Even different pieces by the same person often don't fit together. You need to fix that somehow, to make expanding easier. The methods the Codex proposes to try to deal with this seem straightforward enough, but it will probably take a lot of experimenting to put them into practice.
Cost: 0 Progress: 0/200
Will synergise with Mill project. I like.
[ ] Cast Iron Plow outline. It seems like a heavy plow made of cast iron can bite into the soil more effectively than the wooden ones in common use currently. The Codex promises that a single animal can prepare far more land than before with a cast iron tip to a plow. Blacksmithing is more complicated than you first thought, and it looks like an unusual method is required here. You'll figure it out.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??250-400??]
We have blacksmith around, so we can use it quickly. Good option.
[ ] Vodka Brewing outline. There are plenty of potatoes being grown in the local fields. They're an easy crop that grows in almost any kind of soil. The Codex is showing you methods to turn potatoes into a new kind of alcohol using fermenting and strange boiling processes. The new drink would probably be fairly cheap to make and could be a good source of income. Potatoes are cheap.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??400-600??]
Imo can potentially also help with local approval. Who does not like cheap alcohol?
[ ] Seek new ideas. See what the Codex has to show you, spend time letting it wander to whatever it wants to display to you instead of directing it somewhere specific.
Cost: 0. Unlock new technology prospects depending on roll.
We will have to take this at some point, but right now we still have a lot of yet unused techs.
Diplomacy: 1 action.
[ ] Say hello. You should meet as many of the villagers of Nesiwald as possible. Ask after their troubles, learn who the important figures are in town. Show them that you care about how they're doing - because you do. You want everyone to prosper and become rich. Hopefully your sincerity will be appreciated.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 40. Improve Nesiwald approval.
Important.
[ ] Nearby villages. There are other villages in these hinterlands, despite what the hilly forests looming above you and making the world seem far too small might make you think. Make a point to travel along the trails to any neighboring villages and learn more about the place, even if you're only the Steward of Nesiwald itself. This will hopefully get easier when winter ends.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 40. Learn about nearby villages.
Not important and there's no point in doing it in the winter anyway.
Intrigue: 1 action.
[ ] Local gossip. You think you can identify the local gossips easily enough, and then by earning the friendship or at least attention of them by gossiping a little yourself you can earn yourself a place where you can hear the local rumor mill. It's unlikely to be very interesting but could help you keep an eye on the mood of the village at least.
Cost: 0. Unlock Nesiwald Rumor Mill, local gossip coming out once a quarter.
Good. If we know what people want or need then we can apease them.
[ ] Send an apology. You think you can get a letter delivered to your family if you are appropriately circumspect and pay the right person. It would be bad form to openly send them a letter, but you can send a secret one. Traveling merchants do this sort of thing for 'little considerations' all the time. Apologizing profusely for the whole mess won't put you back in their good graces immediately, but it would show your family that you mean to make up for it.
Cost: 1 Profit burned. Sincere apology sent to your family.
Not really important. At least at the moment.
Piety: 1 action.
[ ] The Healer. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. Find the church, meet the priest or caretaker, and pray, asking Shallya for the strength to continue on despite misfortune.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 30. Gain a bit of divine favor?
Good.
[ ] The Donation. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. But the church seems rather shabby, even the holy symbol of a carved dove looking worn-out. You can afford to make a donation to the church for repairs, having a goddess of healing approve of you sounds like a good idea.
Cost: 2 Profit Burned. Difficulty: 20. Fix up the church some. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Gain a bit of divine favor?
Will have to crunch numbers to see if we have money to burn. Unless someone already did?
[ ] Other Gods. You can spend some time to think about the other gods popular in Veschwar. While the blessings of Shallya are not half bad at all, other deities can deserve your attention too. Remember everything you can about your theology lessons growing up and make a list of other gods you might want to invite to Nesiwald, and ask the locals who else they pray to.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 20. Get information about other gods, new actions.
Other options in category are better.
Personal: 1 action.
[ ] Paper, please. You have a bit of ink and a few notebooks, but with all the writing you intend to do - keeping track of farm yields, performing a census at some point, accounting, plans and calculations and experiments for your industrial ideas - you're going to run out sooner or later. Find a merchant that can get you a crate of the things you need to write. That should last you a while.
Cost: 1 Profit burned. Gain enough paper and ink that you won't be pressed for writing material soon.
How much is paper needed for Learning actions?
[ ] Tidy up the place. Your new home has been empty except for vegetables for decades. You are very much unused to doing these things yourself but you have to learn some time. Clear out the stored objects, clean everything up, get some kitchen utensils and re-learn the very basics of cooking, and generally settle in to your new home. You're probably going to be here a while, might as well get comfortable.
Cost: 0. Settle in, make the new home more comfortable.
Don't know. Does not seem to give any good bonuses, so not very good mechanically. But important RP-wise.
[ ] Chat with the neighbors. In small villages like this being on good terms with your neighbors is important. They're the ones who will mount a rescue mission if you get lost in the woods, give you enough food to tide you over a bad winter, and help out in small ways with little kindnesses. Chatting and getting to know the people you've been appointed Steward off certainly can't hurt, and maybe it will wear down some of the social walls between you.
Cost: 0. Socialize and hopefully make friends.
Possible synergy with making friends Dimplomacy action.
So tentatively I think going full approval and start on Mill:
Military 1:
[ ] Get to know the horse patrols.
Stewardship 1+1+1:
[ ] Perform a census and make a map
[ ] Plan a Wind or Water mill
[ ] Improved Horse Collar.
Learning 1:
[ ] Mill Machinery Standards outline
Intrigue 1:
[ ] Local gossip.
Piety 1:
[ ] The Donation
Personal 1:
[ ] Chat with the neighbors.
Will check numbers and other plans later. Will vote properly then.
@Rockeye
How does increasing local economy help us? Will it be easier to pay our taxes? Or maybe it's somehow related to what techs we can use?
Will the approval-increasing actions help doing approval-dependant actions in the same turn?
How much is paper needed for Learning (or any) actions?
Can we use Crown Stipend to pay off Governor's Fees?
@thread: My analysis:
Martial. 1 action.
[ ] Seek a trainer. Travel to nearby villages and pay for advertisements. Send letters. Try to find someone who can train you in martial matters. It will be a long and hard road to improve yourself from 'abysmal', but perhaps some day you can approach 'passable' and stop those pitying looks. You get the feeling that if you remain martially hopeless it will color everyone's first impression of you, forever, and you can't have that.
Cost: 2 Profit burned. Difficulty: 25. Ongoing cost depending on trainer selected, if any.
Not really important.
[ ] Get to know the horse patrols. Once every couple of weeks a small patrol of horsemen under Cornet Renns visits town. You're not sure why when fighting men are often badly needed closer to Veschwar's enemies, but they ask after any troublesome animals or criminals then often go deal with such issues. The villagers appreciate them, acting friendly whenever they show up. Introduce yourself. He'll probably hate you, but you can't start to fix that without introducing yourself.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 10. Introduce yourself to the patrolling soldiers.
Could be useful if we have any bandit problems. And no cost, so very good.
Stewardship. 1 action. +1 extra Stewardship action in first month (eagerness)
[ ] Check out the blacksmith and iron mine. This is a great boon for your future projects - there's a small iron mine and a blacksmith already living in Nesiwald. You should spend time with the miners and the smith and his apprentice, checking out the working conditions so you have an idea of what you can use them for later - or how you can improve them, perhaps.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 10. Gain more information on the blacksmith and iron mine. Unlock further actions.
Easy, but I don't think needed at the moment.
[ ] Perform a census and make a map. The charter you were given said that there were 193 families in Nesiwald, but that is probably badly outdated. By gathering up information how many people live in Nesiwald exactly and what they do for a living, where everyone's houses and fields are, and so on, you will gain a handy reference for your own plans for this village. Maybe the Crown will even appreciate having more up-to-date information on their village. Unlikely, but you might as well send off a copy if you do this.
Time: Two months. Cost: 0. Difficulty: 30. Gain a bonus of +10 on Stewardship actions in Nesiwald, until the census and map is outdated.
Gives very good bonus. Tempting.
[ ] Improved Horse Collar. Horses and other animals are used to pull wagons and plows. They are an essential part of life in a small village, but a quick look around at the animals you saw on your way in confirmed that the people are using a simple arrangement of leather and rope. You have information from the Codex about a better way to do it. Try to get someone to make a few and then sell them to people as an improvement. People will probably copy them in no time and you won't be the only source anymore, but it will help in the short term.
Cost: 3 Profit invested for 1 month. Difficulty: 30. Gain a small one-time Profit. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Nesiwald economy improves slightly.
One-time is meh. But it gives approval and increases village economy (which also eases our tax burden? more info needed)
[ ] Plan a Wind or Water mill. You can't just start building things willy-nilly and expect to profit. If you want to bring a central grain mill to Nesiwald you have to figure out where best to put it, write out detailed notes on the construction, figure out how you will get materials and labor to the site, research how much it will cost to hire someone to run it, and how much money you will make off the centralized grinding after all is said and done. Only by having details plans and charts will you be able to make the most of the Codex Crystal.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/60. Unlock action to build a Wind or Water mill, depending on which works better in the local area. This is probably the fastest route to real profits.
We need real profits ASAP.
[ ] Start four-field crop rotation (buy). This should be an easy and simple way to improve food production in Nesiwald. Should. Get to know the farmers, and figure out who might be willing to divide up their fields in a new and radical way on your say-so. Probably not very many of them, given the looks you've received since being put up in your office-cum-storehouse. To guarantee that you'll actually see a return on your money and to secure long-term profits you'll buy a few fields and then get the farmers currently living on them to become tenants, working the land that now belongs to you - or perhaps to the position, Steward of Nesiwald. That might be better to keep from being accused of acting like nobility despite your disgrace.
Cost: 10 Profit burned. Difficulty: 40+20 [Low Nesiwald approval]. Gain tiny tenant farms (four-field crop rotation) asset. Improvements may take a while to show.
Burns a lot of profit. I'm not keen on this.
[ ] Start four-field crop rotation (convince). Alternately, you could just try to convince the farmers to adopt your idea, helping seal the deal by giving them a loan or buying them new tools and asking to be paid back in a few months. You won't see as any profit directly and it'll be even harder, since what does some cityfolk know about farming anyway? But improving local food production will have some very nice knock-on effects, increasing the amount of grain that you can feed the mill you plan to build and therefore the likely profits, and freeing up more people to work on all the other projects you have in mind.
Time: Two months. Cost: 4 Profit invested until end of Autumn. Difficulty: 60+20 [Low Nesiwald approval]. Four-Field Crop Rotation starts on some farms, you will not see any direct Profit but the local economy will improve.
Again, how does local economy helps us? I think it will be better after approval increases. unless the approval increased by other actions in the same turn will already help?
Learning: 1 action.
[ ] Ask the Codex about itself. You don't understand the Codex. You found it in a bunch of out-of-fashion jewelry in your parents' storeroom, but that doesn't go very far to explaining why such an obviously powerful magical artifact was waiting there for you to discover it. Or why nobody else can see the light it shines for you. You can sort of guide the Codex to certain subjects if you try. Why not ask the Codex about itself? You might be able to learn how to better use it, figure out what it's doing to make you a bit more sharp of mind, or even figure out where it came from.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: ???. Gain information.
Not interesting for me. There might be time for that after we pay off the big taxes we start with.
[ ] Ammonia Production outline. Extracting the stuff through various disgusting or difficult methods will be a trick, but apparently ammonia is very, very good for the growth of certain plants. Unfortunately the methods that produce useful amounts seem to involve a lot of complicated alchemy-like processes. The Codex Crystal hints at future uses, too.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??800-1200??]
This is the first step for gunpowder i suppose. Good, but for later.
[ ] Mill Machinery Standards outline. A big problem with making lots of anything is that every smith and carpenter does things differently. Even different pieces by the same person often don't fit together. You need to fix that somehow, to make expanding easier. The methods the Codex proposes to try to deal with this seem straightforward enough, but it will probably take a lot of experimenting to put them into practice.
Cost: 0 Progress: 0/200
Will synergise with Mill project. I like.
[ ] Cast Iron Plow outline. It seems like a heavy plow made of cast iron can bite into the soil more effectively than the wooden ones in common use currently. The Codex promises that a single animal can prepare far more land than before with a cast iron tip to a plow. Blacksmithing is more complicated than you first thought, and it looks like an unusual method is required here. You'll figure it out.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??250-400??]
We have blacksmith around, so we can use it quickly. Good option.
[ ] Vodka Brewing outline. There are plenty of potatoes being grown in the local fields. They're an easy crop that grows in almost any kind of soil. The Codex is showing you methods to turn potatoes into a new kind of alcohol using fermenting and strange boiling processes. The new drink would probably be fairly cheap to make and could be a good source of income. Potatoes are cheap.
Cost: 0. Progress: 0/[??400-600??]
Imo can potentially also help with local approval. Who does not like cheap alcohol?
[ ] Seek new ideas. See what the Codex has to show you, spend time letting it wander to whatever it wants to display to you instead of directing it somewhere specific.
Cost: 0. Unlock new technology prospects depending on roll.
We will have to take this at some point, but right now we still have a lot of yet unused techs.
Diplomacy: 1 action.
[ ] Say hello. You should meet as many of the villagers of Nesiwald as possible. Ask after their troubles, learn who the important figures are in town. Show them that you care about how they're doing - because you do. You want everyone to prosper and become rich. Hopefully your sincerity will be appreciated.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 40. Improve Nesiwald approval.
Important.
[ ] Nearby villages. There are other villages in these hinterlands, despite what the hilly forests looming above you and making the world seem far too small might make you think. Make a point to travel along the trails to any neighboring villages and learn more about the place, even if you're only the Steward of Nesiwald itself. This will hopefully get easier when winter ends.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 40. Learn about nearby villages.
Not important and there's no point in doing it in the winter anyway.
Intrigue: 1 action.
[ ] Local gossip. You think you can identify the local gossips easily enough, and then by earning the friendship or at least attention of them by gossiping a little yourself you can earn yourself a place where you can hear the local rumor mill. It's unlikely to be very interesting but could help you keep an eye on the mood of the village at least.
Cost: 0. Unlock Nesiwald Rumor Mill, local gossip coming out once a quarter.
Good. If we know what people want or need then we can apease them.
[ ] Send an apology. You think you can get a letter delivered to your family if you are appropriately circumspect and pay the right person. It would be bad form to openly send them a letter, but you can send a secret one. Traveling merchants do this sort of thing for 'little considerations' all the time. Apologizing profusely for the whole mess won't put you back in their good graces immediately, but it would show your family that you mean to make up for it.
Cost: 1 Profit burned. Sincere apology sent to your family.
Not really important. At least at the moment.
Piety: 1 action.
[ ] The Healer. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. Find the church, meet the priest or caretaker, and pray, asking Shallya for the strength to continue on despite misfortune.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 30. Gain a bit of divine favor?
Good.
[ ] The Donation. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. But the church seems rather shabby, even the holy symbol of a carved dove looking worn-out. You can afford to make a donation to the church for repairs, having a goddess of healing approve of you sounds like a good idea.
Cost: 2 Profit Burned. Difficulty: 20. Fix up the church some. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Gain a bit of divine favor?
Will have to crunch numbers to see if we have money to burn. Unless someone already did?
[ ] Other Gods. You can spend some time to think about the other gods popular in Veschwar. While the blessings of Shallya are not half bad at all, other deities can deserve your attention too. Remember everything you can about your theology lessons growing up and make a list of other gods you might want to invite to Nesiwald, and ask the locals who else they pray to.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: 20. Get information about other gods, new actions.
Other options in category are better.
Personal: 1 action.
[ ] Paper, please. You have a bit of ink and a few notebooks, but with all the writing you intend to do - keeping track of farm yields, performing a census at some point, accounting, plans and calculations and experiments for your industrial ideas - you're going to run out sooner or later. Find a merchant that can get you a crate of the things you need to write. That should last you a while.
Cost: 1 Profit burned. Gain enough paper and ink that you won't be pressed for writing material soon.
How much is paper needed for Learning actions?
[ ] Tidy up the place. Your new home has been empty except for vegetables for decades. You are very much unused to doing these things yourself but you have to learn some time. Clear out the stored objects, clean everything up, get some kitchen utensils and re-learn the very basics of cooking, and generally settle in to your new home. You're probably going to be here a while, might as well get comfortable.
Cost: 0. Settle in, make the new home more comfortable.
Don't know. Does not seem to give any good bonuses, so not very good mechanically. But important RP-wise.
[ ] Chat with the neighbors. In small villages like this being on good terms with your neighbors is important. They're the ones who will mount a rescue mission if you get lost in the woods, give you enough food to tide you over a bad winter, and help out in small ways with little kindnesses. Chatting and getting to know the people you've been appointed Steward off certainly can't hurt, and maybe it will wear down some of the social walls between you.
Cost: 0. Socialize and hopefully make friends.
Possible synergy with making friends Dimplomacy action.
So tentatively I think going full approval and start on Mill:
Military 1:
[ ] Get to know the horse patrols.
Stewardship 1+1+1:
[ ] Perform a census and make a map
[ ] Plan a Wind or Water mill
[ ] Improved Horse Collar.
Learning 1:
[ ] Mill Machinery Standards outline
Intrigue 1:
[ ] Local gossip.
Piety 1:
[ ] The Donation
Personal 1:
[ ] Chat with the neighbors.
Will check numbers and other plans later. Will vote properly then.
@Rockeye
How does increasing local economy help us? Will it be easier to pay our taxes? Or maybe it's somehow related to what techs we can use?
Will the approval-increasing actions help doing approval-dependant actions in the same turn?
How much is paper needed for Learning (or any) actions?
Can we use Crown Stipend to pay off Governor's Fees?
Legion0047
Retired Shadowrunner.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- God Emperor
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is the closest thing to what I would have made, so...
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
Aren't you missing a Free Action here?
Anyway, my plan:
[X] Plan Mingle and Mill
-[X] Get to know the horse patrols.
-[X] Perform a census and make a map
-[X] Plan a Wind or Water mill
-[X] Improved Horse Collar.
-[X] Mill Machinery Standards outline
-[X] Say hello
-[X] Local gossip.
-[X] The Donation
-[X] Chat with the neighbors.
- Location
- Iceland
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
- Location
- Midway
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
- Location
- USA
I completely missed that last night. Thanks for the catch. Will probably be the talk to blacksmith as that is a low DC option that unlocks opportunities
[X] Plan Mingle and Mill
Good analysis. We really need the mill to have a chance of paying the taxes.
Good analysis. We really need the mill to have a chance of paying the taxes.
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
It increases the amount of workers available who aren't subsistence farming, decreases the likelihood of crop failure, increases the amount of money people can spend on your stuff and how much grain you can run through your mill, etc, etc. Generally, no direct benefits but more free labor and money to collect for yourself or turn to industrial ends. A lot of techs will be much easier to implement with a strong enough local economy to support them, yes.
Yes, if they succeed.
You'll start to face issues of running out in a few months. Probably 3-6 depending on what actions you take.
Since it pays out at the end of Winter and your fees are owed at the end of Winter, yes you can apply the 1 Profit from the stipend to the fees.
Last edited:
overlord62
American Monarchist
- Location
- florida
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
avatar11792
Et Sic Incipit
- Location
- Planet Earth, North America
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
KnightDisciple
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
I hadn't intended to close the vote so soon but I think it's fairly safe to say that laying a foundation wins.
It's something to think about in CK2 quests whether to keep the results sections briefer and put in more sidestory and the like, or expound on each of the actions taken for at least 500 words so everything you do feels impactful and like an actual effort, whether it's something expounding-worthy or not, and do less sidestory. I'm not sure which tack to take here or how I'm going to pace this quest yet. I guess I'll find out.
It's something to think about in CK2 quests whether to keep the results sections briefer and put in more sidestory and the like, or expound on each of the actions taken for at least 500 words so everything you do feels impactful and like an actual effort, whether it's something expounding-worthy or not, and do less sidestory. I'm not sure which tack to take here or how I'm going to pace this quest yet. I guess I'll find out.
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
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- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
[X] Plan Laying a Foundation
Turn 1 results part 1 - Learning, Intrigue, Piety, Personal
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
I decided to split this up into 2 parts since some actions came easier than others to write out. All results are already determined, I simply haven't finished writing the rest of the actions (Martial, Diplomacy and your three Stewardship actions still to come).
I clarified the dice mechanics a bit in the quest mechanics informational threadmark. I also decided that Diligent personality applies to doing a census despite earlier saying it doesn't, but it didn't make a difference in this case.
You are Harold Bismarck and you are determined not to complain. Life in a small village in the middle of nowhere is nothing like living in your family's manor. You expected that, you tried to resign yourself for it and thus mentally prepare yourself, but you were unable to imagine two things: First, the amount of work that goes into everything and how uncomfortable the world is without servants whose job is to help you. And second, how boring it is to live in the middle of nowhere.
Thankfully, the second problem is not really an issue for you. You have quite a lot to work on, and a library the likes of which (you suspect) the world has never seen hanging around your neck. You may be a limp noodle of a man who can't pick up a bow or blade without risking hurting himself, but you damn well can't give up on a life your charges as a noble of Bismarck lived every day within the first month!
Learning: Ask the Codex about itself. You don't understand the Codex. You found it in a bunch of out-of-fashion jewelry in your parents' storeroom, but that doesn't go very far to explaining why such an obviously powerful magical artifact was waiting there for you to discover it. Or why nobody else can see the light it shines for you. You can sort of guide the Codex to certain subjects if you try. Why not ask the Codex about itself? You might be able to learn how to better use it, figure out what it's doing to make you a bit more sharp of mind, or even figure out where it came from.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: ???. Gain information.
[89+18=107, bare success.]
The Codex seems confused at first. Your first attempt at this leads to long periods of staring at meaningless swirling noise with brief glimpses images it has shown you and even briefer views of incomprehensible complexuses of wire and materials you've never seen before. Your next few tries are much the same.
Perhaps the way you're focusing on the Codex is wrong? You don't know how it responds to your thoughts, but so far you've mostly been thinking about things it showed you before to push it back to those topics. You've been thinking about the Codex itself, how it makes a light that shows books and moving images.
Time try something else instead.
You think about wanting to learn about the Codex. For almost half an hour it wanders aimlessly as it does when you're not focusing on anything. Sometimes it takes that long to show something specific. Nothing.
You try a slightly different way of thinking about wanting to understand the Codex and wait. Nothing.
You take a break and work on something else for a while, because focusing like that can be exhausting to the mind.
And then you try more variations. Eventually, one lingers on images of people in long robes, making motions and signs with their hands, chanting in a language you don't recognize. Wizards? None of your other inquiries make much sense, and the Codex almost seems to sulk after showing you this, responding more slowly for a time.
Of course the Codex is reluctant to explain itself, you grumble. It would just be too convenient otherwise. But you've gotten a hint. Presuming it isn't lying.
Hint gained: Wizards are involved probably? Revealed that this action is very hard. Difficulty will lower a bit with every attempt except on a critfail.
Intrigue: Local gossip. You think you can identify the local gossips easily enough, and then by earning the friendship or at least attention of them by gossiping a little yourself you can earn yourself a place where you can hear the local rumor mill. It's unlikely to be very interesting but could help you keep an eye on the mood of the village at least.
Cost: 0. Unlock Nesiwald Rumor Mill, local gossip coming out once a quarter.
[Autosuccess, forgot to add a difficulty to this.]
Gossip is a constant of the human condition. Everywhere people live together, there will be interesting strangers to speculate about, marital drama to opine on, and tiny slights in word choice or tone to agonize over and analyze. You see echoes of courtly gossip in peasant life- The patterns of it here are just adjusted for local conditions. And while you were never an expert in avoiding or wielding gossip like some of the other nobles you knew, you were passable enough.
Most of the local rumors go through a few locuses, people whose life and joy is gossip and who go out of their way to gather it up from as many sources as possible and distribute the most interesting bits out again. You can set yourself up as a source for Hans (a rakish sort who may be leaving for the army soon), Karolina (a grandmotherly type who makes it her business to visit everyone interesting), and Sarah (who is so alarmingly plain your eyes can pass right over her on an open field).
The price of their regard is almost trivial to pay - the occasional tidbit about courtly life or the Big City, which you can almost always avoid making about yourself or your failures, distracting them with a note about how Master such-and-such was supposedly pursued by two mistresses from rival houses who both bordered his own. The kind of thing that you have a nigh-endless well of from simple exposure.
From the gossip network you learn the names of noted curmudgeons, which old men are seen as wise and which as senile, and you begin to see a bit more about how village life works and who makes the decisions. Perhaps you can do something useful with this after all.
You're part of the local gossip network now. New actions unlocked.
Piety: The Donation. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. But the church seems rather shabby, even the holy symbol of a carved dove looking worn-out. You can afford to make a donation to the church for repairs, having a goddess of healing approve of you sounds like a good idea.
Cost: 2 Profit Burned. Difficulty: 20. Fix up the church some. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Gain a bit of divine favor?
[36+10=46, success.][Local approval? 19=No.][Shallya favor? ???+30=???, results in ???]
It turns out that Priestess of Shallya is a rotating position of the oldest unmarried girls in Nesiwald. When you first turned up at the church to pray you were met by a young woman in a simple dress with a dove brooch pinned to it. You asked for the priestess and almost didn't believe her insistence that it was her! But this has been a tradition in the village for a while now, for some odd reason.
Maybe it's to get them exposed to more potential husbands - One of them flirts at you when you come to pray to Shallya, touching her lips before promising to protect you from danger in an embarrassing subversion of the usual roles! Perhaps it was just a joke. Romance and sex outside of marriage isn't actually against Shallya's teachings as long as it's done reasonably cautiously, but you're not interested in anyone at the moment.
Regardless of that, in a couple of weeks the church is decidedly less shabby. There's a new holy symbol and the boards of the sides and tiles of the roof are in better condition. The villagers don't really take note of the improved church. Possibly because it's winter and hardly anybody leaves their houses more often than they can help it. The priestesses are grateful (perhaps too grateful) and a few others make nods of approval at you, but if you were hoping for an improvement in the opinion of the whole village you are disappointed. It would be counterproductive to brag, of course.
You make a habit of praying throughout the month. The ritualized words are rather inspiring and poetic. Some other time perhaps you would have wondered why these words and this meter was chosen, what purpose it serves in the human psyche, or if Shallya just likes the sentiment - but the constant noise of analytical thoughts stays away when you pray.
It doesn't take your mind off things, exactly. Your mind wanders more than ever in your prayers. You remember your family, a brother, two sisters, a dazzling array of cousins and aunts and uncles of different houses with questionable loyalties and motivations all. You remember pain and battle that you miserably failed at, fumbling and helpless despite begging the gods with tears in your eyes to make you less so. You remember your mother's sad smile and your father's grimace.
As to the divines smiling down upon you, lifting the burden from your weary shoulders and healing scars both physical and not? Not exactly. You might feel a bit warmer than you should after these prayers. You're not sure. You try to have faith in Shallya, however. After all, most divine blessings are subtle. That's why faith exists.
Church improved and priestesses met. Blessings, if you get them, are usually too subtle to notice.
Personal: Chat with the neighbors. In small villages like this being on good terms with your neighbors is important. They're the ones who will mount a rescue mission if you get lost in the woods, give you enough food to tide you over a bad winter, and help out in small ways with little kindnesses. Chatting and getting to know the people you've been appointed Steward off certainly can't hurt, and maybe it will wear down some of the social walls between you.
Cost: 0. Socialize and hopefully make friends.
It turns out that Ludwig Nesiwald, the old headman, is considered kind of a batty old coot by many of the villagers. They're glad he took on the hated task of tallying up crops and negotiating with every family about their takes and tithes, then seeing that the money from the government is distributed fairly. You're the bearer of that burden now - he laughs at you.
You meet his family, as promised. They're a numerous and wild breed all living under two roofs, the youngest still a toddler who they worry might not make it to age five, the point where it's generally agreed the dangers of infancy are past. One of them strikes you as notable - while they say she's only fourteen years of age, Sasha Nesiwald is an enourmously dangerous young woman. One afternoon, apparently to show off for their visitor, she challenged her much larger brothers to a series of physical games, from rock-tossing to pig-wrestling.
She beat them all by undermining them with perfectly timed insults and petty mischief that you think only you noticed - and you only noticed some of it. A few strands of straw slipped into a hat to itch one's neck, a bit of snow crushed on her opponent's rock to make it slippery, a stick left in just the wrong spot. She asked you if you'd seen anything like her display in court, touching the back of her neck and winking. You admitted that you hadn't and she nearly laughed her head off and clapped you on the back so hard you gasped.
You also made a point to spend a lot of time with the man who made the new swan for Shallya's church, Bertram Cooper. He added a number of small touches that spoke to a deep understanding of his own art and what Shallya means to people. The man has a calm and steady voice and a knack for making one feel listened to, then dispensing sage advice and quoting a god or priest relevant to whatever was troubling you. The crossing into real friendship came when he asked how long it took to make your pen-strokes so smooth and you spent a couple of hours doodling and teaching him to hold the pen - something he took to well, like just another carpenter's tool.
There is cream and whey in any mixture of things that there's any variation to. In this remote village, the pool to search is not all that large, but you think you have found some of the cream. They're not exceptional (not like you) but they are skilled in their own ways, and having friends will be a great help.
You are friends with Bertram Cooper
A skilled and sober carpenter some 30 years of age who is good enough at his work that he can make a living almost entirely from wooden creations. He likes gods and seems to give good advice.
Above-Average Learning. High Piety.
You are probably friends with Sasha Nesiwald?
A peasant girl 14 years of age or so, very, very lively. Granddaughter of Ludwig Nesiwald. Wields a full-size bow despite her youth, as well as a large club and a wicked streak of mischief.
High Martial. Above-Average Intrigue.
I clarified the dice mechanics a bit in the quest mechanics informational threadmark. I also decided that Diligent personality applies to doing a census despite earlier saying it doesn't, but it didn't make a difference in this case.
You are Harold Bismarck and you are determined not to complain. Life in a small village in the middle of nowhere is nothing like living in your family's manor. You expected that, you tried to resign yourself for it and thus mentally prepare yourself, but you were unable to imagine two things: First, the amount of work that goes into everything and how uncomfortable the world is without servants whose job is to help you. And second, how boring it is to live in the middle of nowhere.
Thankfully, the second problem is not really an issue for you. You have quite a lot to work on, and a library the likes of which (you suspect) the world has never seen hanging around your neck. You may be a limp noodle of a man who can't pick up a bow or blade without risking hurting himself, but you damn well can't give up on a life your charges as a noble of Bismarck lived every day within the first month!
Learning: Ask the Codex about itself. You don't understand the Codex. You found it in a bunch of out-of-fashion jewelry in your parents' storeroom, but that doesn't go very far to explaining why such an obviously powerful magical artifact was waiting there for you to discover it. Or why nobody else can see the light it shines for you. You can sort of guide the Codex to certain subjects if you try. Why not ask the Codex about itself? You might be able to learn how to better use it, figure out what it's doing to make you a bit more sharp of mind, or even figure out where it came from.
Cost: 0. Difficulty: ???. Gain information.
[89+18=107, bare success.]
The Codex seems confused at first. Your first attempt at this leads to long periods of staring at meaningless swirling noise with brief glimpses images it has shown you and even briefer views of incomprehensible complexuses of wire and materials you've never seen before. Your next few tries are much the same.
Perhaps the way you're focusing on the Codex is wrong? You don't know how it responds to your thoughts, but so far you've mostly been thinking about things it showed you before to push it back to those topics. You've been thinking about the Codex itself, how it makes a light that shows books and moving images.
Time try something else instead.
You think about wanting to learn about the Codex. For almost half an hour it wanders aimlessly as it does when you're not focusing on anything. Sometimes it takes that long to show something specific. Nothing.
You try a slightly different way of thinking about wanting to understand the Codex and wait. Nothing.
You take a break and work on something else for a while, because focusing like that can be exhausting to the mind.
And then you try more variations. Eventually, one lingers on images of people in long robes, making motions and signs with their hands, chanting in a language you don't recognize. Wizards? None of your other inquiries make much sense, and the Codex almost seems to sulk after showing you this, responding more slowly for a time.
Of course the Codex is reluctant to explain itself, you grumble. It would just be too convenient otherwise. But you've gotten a hint. Presuming it isn't lying.
Hint gained: Wizards are involved probably? Revealed that this action is very hard. Difficulty will lower a bit with every attempt except on a critfail.
Intrigue: Local gossip. You think you can identify the local gossips easily enough, and then by earning the friendship or at least attention of them by gossiping a little yourself you can earn yourself a place where you can hear the local rumor mill. It's unlikely to be very interesting but could help you keep an eye on the mood of the village at least.
Cost: 0. Unlock Nesiwald Rumor Mill, local gossip coming out once a quarter.
[Autosuccess, forgot to add a difficulty to this.]
Gossip is a constant of the human condition. Everywhere people live together, there will be interesting strangers to speculate about, marital drama to opine on, and tiny slights in word choice or tone to agonize over and analyze. You see echoes of courtly gossip in peasant life- The patterns of it here are just adjusted for local conditions. And while you were never an expert in avoiding or wielding gossip like some of the other nobles you knew, you were passable enough.
Most of the local rumors go through a few locuses, people whose life and joy is gossip and who go out of their way to gather it up from as many sources as possible and distribute the most interesting bits out again. You can set yourself up as a source for Hans (a rakish sort who may be leaving for the army soon), Karolina (a grandmotherly type who makes it her business to visit everyone interesting), and Sarah (who is so alarmingly plain your eyes can pass right over her on an open field).
The price of their regard is almost trivial to pay - the occasional tidbit about courtly life or the Big City, which you can almost always avoid making about yourself or your failures, distracting them with a note about how Master such-and-such was supposedly pursued by two mistresses from rival houses who both bordered his own. The kind of thing that you have a nigh-endless well of from simple exposure.
From the gossip network you learn the names of noted curmudgeons, which old men are seen as wise and which as senile, and you begin to see a bit more about how village life works and who makes the decisions. Perhaps you can do something useful with this after all.
You're part of the local gossip network now. New actions unlocked.
Piety: The Donation. There's a small church to the goddess Shallya here. Gods can be inscrutable at times, but the blessings they provide to people who faithfully pray are real and undeniable. Shallya's domain is healing, a fairly popular subject when plague and fighting are both capable of ravaging entire villages. But the church seems rather shabby, even the holy symbol of a carved dove looking worn-out. You can afford to make a donation to the church for repairs, having a goddess of healing approve of you sounds like a good idea.
Cost: 2 Profit Burned. Difficulty: 20. Fix up the church some. Chance to improve Nesiwald approval. Gain a bit of divine favor?
[36+10=46, success.][Local approval? 19=No.][Shallya favor? ???+30=???, results in ???]
It turns out that Priestess of Shallya is a rotating position of the oldest unmarried girls in Nesiwald. When you first turned up at the church to pray you were met by a young woman in a simple dress with a dove brooch pinned to it. You asked for the priestess and almost didn't believe her insistence that it was her! But this has been a tradition in the village for a while now, for some odd reason.
Maybe it's to get them exposed to more potential husbands - One of them flirts at you when you come to pray to Shallya, touching her lips before promising to protect you from danger in an embarrassing subversion of the usual roles! Perhaps it was just a joke. Romance and sex outside of marriage isn't actually against Shallya's teachings as long as it's done reasonably cautiously, but you're not interested in anyone at the moment.
Regardless of that, in a couple of weeks the church is decidedly less shabby. There's a new holy symbol and the boards of the sides and tiles of the roof are in better condition. The villagers don't really take note of the improved church. Possibly because it's winter and hardly anybody leaves their houses more often than they can help it. The priestesses are grateful (perhaps too grateful) and a few others make nods of approval at you, but if you were hoping for an improvement in the opinion of the whole village you are disappointed. It would be counterproductive to brag, of course.
You make a habit of praying throughout the month. The ritualized words are rather inspiring and poetic. Some other time perhaps you would have wondered why these words and this meter was chosen, what purpose it serves in the human psyche, or if Shallya just likes the sentiment - but the constant noise of analytical thoughts stays away when you pray.
It doesn't take your mind off things, exactly. Your mind wanders more than ever in your prayers. You remember your family, a brother, two sisters, a dazzling array of cousins and aunts and uncles of different houses with questionable loyalties and motivations all. You remember pain and battle that you miserably failed at, fumbling and helpless despite begging the gods with tears in your eyes to make you less so. You remember your mother's sad smile and your father's grimace.
As to the divines smiling down upon you, lifting the burden from your weary shoulders and healing scars both physical and not? Not exactly. You might feel a bit warmer than you should after these prayers. You're not sure. You try to have faith in Shallya, however. After all, most divine blessings are subtle. That's why faith exists.
Church improved and priestesses met. Blessings, if you get them, are usually too subtle to notice.
Personal: Chat with the neighbors. In small villages like this being on good terms with your neighbors is important. They're the ones who will mount a rescue mission if you get lost in the woods, give you enough food to tide you over a bad winter, and help out in small ways with little kindnesses. Chatting and getting to know the people you've been appointed Steward off certainly can't hurt, and maybe it will wear down some of the social walls between you.
Cost: 0. Socialize and hopefully make friends.
It turns out that Ludwig Nesiwald, the old headman, is considered kind of a batty old coot by many of the villagers. They're glad he took on the hated task of tallying up crops and negotiating with every family about their takes and tithes, then seeing that the money from the government is distributed fairly. You're the bearer of that burden now - he laughs at you.
You meet his family, as promised. They're a numerous and wild breed all living under two roofs, the youngest still a toddler who they worry might not make it to age five, the point where it's generally agreed the dangers of infancy are past. One of them strikes you as notable - while they say she's only fourteen years of age, Sasha Nesiwald is an enourmously dangerous young woman. One afternoon, apparently to show off for their visitor, she challenged her much larger brothers to a series of physical games, from rock-tossing to pig-wrestling.
She beat them all by undermining them with perfectly timed insults and petty mischief that you think only you noticed - and you only noticed some of it. A few strands of straw slipped into a hat to itch one's neck, a bit of snow crushed on her opponent's rock to make it slippery, a stick left in just the wrong spot. She asked you if you'd seen anything like her display in court, touching the back of her neck and winking. You admitted that you hadn't and she nearly laughed her head off and clapped you on the back so hard you gasped.
You also made a point to spend a lot of time with the man who made the new swan for Shallya's church, Bertram Cooper. He added a number of small touches that spoke to a deep understanding of his own art and what Shallya means to people. The man has a calm and steady voice and a knack for making one feel listened to, then dispensing sage advice and quoting a god or priest relevant to whatever was troubling you. The crossing into real friendship came when he asked how long it took to make your pen-strokes so smooth and you spent a couple of hours doodling and teaching him to hold the pen - something he took to well, like just another carpenter's tool.
There is cream and whey in any mixture of things that there's any variation to. In this remote village, the pool to search is not all that large, but you think you have found some of the cream. They're not exceptional (not like you) but they are skilled in their own ways, and having friends will be a great help.
You are friends with Bertram Cooper
A skilled and sober carpenter some 30 years of age who is good enough at his work that he can make a living almost entirely from wooden creations. He likes gods and seems to give good advice.
Above-Average Learning. High Piety.
You are probably friends with Sasha Nesiwald?
A peasant girl 14 years of age or so, very, very lively. Granddaughter of Ludwig Nesiwald. Wields a full-size bow despite her youth, as well as a large club and a wicked streak of mischief.
High Martial. Above-Average Intrigue.
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