Basics

Lets start with the basics. Kingdoms contain 3 things that are very important to
keep them running. Those are: Resources, Buildings and Notable people.
There is also a fourth thing that mostly try to stop a kingdom from running.
These are called Challenges and will also be touched on briefly.
Resources
All kingdoms use 5 basic resources to keep themselves functional. These
resources are very abstract, but that's mainly to keep it manageable. They are,
in no particular order:
Population: The most important resource for any kingdom are the people that
live in it. Without people, it wouldn't be a kingdom, it'd just be an undiscovered
wilderness. Nobody wants to rule one of those, so Population is a very important
resource.
Food: Having people is great, but unless they're undead or something, you're
going to need food. Large plots of land in your kingdom are likely devoted to
farmlands and what you can't grow, you'll have to trade. If you have enough
food, your people will be well fed and happy. If you don't have enough food, your
people will become hungry or maybe even starve.
Materials: Everything from lumber and stone to hammers and nails belongs in
this category. Materials is all the stuff you need to build and maintain key
structures in your kingdom. Without materials, your infrastructure breaks down
and your kingdom will be unable to produce whatever it is that it normally
produces.
Luxuries: Nobody wants to live in a kingdom where they only get water and
bread and have to sleep on a stack of hay. Luxuries are what differentiate
commoners from nobles and city folk from dirty peasants. The more luxury a
kingdom has to offer, the more people will come to admire its splendour. If you
don't have enough luxuries, people get angry.
Weapons: All those people packed close together make for prime targets as far
as Orcs and Goblins and other pests are concerned. Fortunately, people can arm
themselves to defend themselves and the rest of your lands. Weapons are
required to field full scale armies, and are also pretty useful to deal with local
bandits, marauding goblins and other minor threats.
And that's it. These 5 resources are all you have to worry about as a new ruler.
Everything else your people can handle themselves and we're not going to worry
about it. Just make sure you produce enough of these basic resources and your
people will be happy and your kingdom will prosper.
Buildings
Kingdoms are full of buildings. It's what makes them kingdoms. However, there's
regular buildings where people live, small time shops, the little market, and
there's the real buildings, like the Temple of the Eldar and the Grand Barracks
and the University of the Undying.
We'll assume that the common folk are more than capable of building places to
live and work in and focus on the big structures. Each kingdom has a number of

defining structures. Those structures that give an entire city its name, or are
known throughout the world.
Each kingdom can possess a limited number of these special buildings, and they
provide special bonuses to the kingdom and its rulers. Each of these special
buildings has a level to determine just how awesome it is and provides a number
of bonuses. These can either be bonuses to production or bonuses to skills
available in the kingdom. More on skills later.
Buildings require Materials to function; if you don't have enough to keep them
maintained then they stop working. So make sure you have plenty.
New buildings can be produced and building levels can be upgraded if you have
lots of spare materials. This can be a worthy endeavour, since each level adds
another bonus to the building.
Notable people
As a player character it should be a fairly common idea that some people are
more important than others, but when you look at it clearly, there's really 3
categories. There's the big ones, the main attractions, the ones the world
revolves around, those played by the people at the table, and then there's the
little ones, the faceless minions of evil and good, the poor farmers and lesser
nobles.
But in between them in a third class of people. They're not big enough to be
stars of the show, but they're big enough to be important to the kingdom. These
are the Notable People and they are a valuable resource to your would-be-rulers.
Each kingdom has a limited number of them, and they provide invaluable skills,
knowledge and general expertise to your kingdom. Use them wisely, they might
be the difference between your kingdoms fall and its success.
Notable people can occasionally change, when one dies, falls from grace or
otherwise stops being of great importance to your kingdom. These are NPCs the
players can interact with and that have a name, a history and a personality. They
are the face of the kingdom, in a way.
Challenges
No kingdom ever exists without rival kings trying to invade it, marauding orcs
trying to destroy it, cunning cultists trying to subvert it and greedy merchants
trying to sell it. Why, without challenges like these, running a kingdom would be
a very boring thing!
Fortunately, in Dungeons & Dragons each kingdom comes with an infinite supply
of things that want to stop it from being successful and this is no different.
Challenges are wide and varied, but ultimately are things that need to be dealt
with to ensure a kingdom's survival. Although a kingdom has some ability to deal
with its own issues, it never hurts to have the capable skills of a group of
powerful adventuring heroes behind it.
Yep, the players can personally get involved and solve Challenges to the
kingdom. Or they can just make the kingdom deal with its own issues as best it
can; whatever they prefer. You don't get to be a kingdom if you can't deal with
some goblins, a drought, a flood and a few plagues.

These challenges are provided by the DM and are an endless stream of quest
inspiration. The better they are handled, the faster you can make your kingdom
grow.
Ok, that's it for now. You should be familiar with the basic terms and concepts.
Now lets dive into what makes a kingdom tick. Lets do some mechanics, and
see how we go about setting up a new kingdom!

Setup

Yep, all kingdoms have a level. A small hamlet with some farmlands around it
might be a level 3 Kingdom (using the term loosely) while at level 30 your
Kingdom might span 3 different continents on 2 planes and be inhabited by
millions upon millions of people. The level of a city increases if the players put
enough work into it.
Skills
Kingdoms also provide skills. While a small woodland realm of Elves might be
your best bet for knowledge on how to grow plants and herd animals, the
neighbouring Dwarf country might be your best bet for information on building a
new castle. These skills can be put to good use by its rulers, either to improve
the kingdom or to further their own agenda.
These basic skills are the same as the ones characters have, and they have a
bonus like normal. Kingdoms get a half level bonus, like characters. In addition,
they get a few basic bonuses based on the kind of people that inhabit the
kingdom and the basic concept of it. For example, a magocracy full of
universities might get a bonus to Int based skills, with an extra bump to Arcana.
On the other hand, a fortress in perpetual war with its neighbours might get a
bonus to Intimidate and Strength skills.
Buildings also provide bonuses to skills. The Guild of Architects might grant a
bonus to Dungeoneering, while the Crime Syndicate could give a bonus to
Thievery and Stealth.
Lastly, Notable People can be used to give another bump to specific applications
of skills. Sending Valoren the Bard on a diplomatic mission might yield better
successes then sending Fresh Diplomat #3.
Determining basic setup
To determine the basic skills for a fresh kingdom, follow these simple steps. First,
assign a level to the kingdom. It makes sense to take a level close to the level of
the players, but it's not a requirement.
Once you picked a level, you'll know the kingdom's basic bonus to skills (since
it's one half level)
Next, think about what kind of kingdom this is and what kind of people live there.
Based on this, assign basic ability scores to the kingdom. A kingdom has one 14,
two 12s and three 10s. These scores aren't really important beyond the skill
bonuses, but should reflect the generic capabilities of the kingdom. If it's a huge
swamp, a 14 in Con might make sense because of the lack of food and diseases.
If the kingdom focusses on gathering knowledge, the 14 would be Int.

Once you assign the ability scores, add those bonuses to the appropriate skills.
Next, you need to determine the primary skills for a kingdom. How many you
pick exactly doesn't really matter, but 5 or 6 is probably enough (plus
profession). The kingdom gets a +3 bonus to these skills.
When this is done, you have the basic skill bonuses set. How you add the bonus
for Buildings and Notable People will be handled later.
The last thing we need to do is determine the resource focus of the kingdom.
Kingdoms can't have a bonus to Population, but should have a bonus to 2 of the
other 4 resources. For example; a kingdom of plains and forests could get a
bonus to Food and Materials, while a kingdom centred on a mining complex full
of Iron and Silver could get a bonus to Luxuries and Weapons.
Buildings
Now, lets look at the primary buildings that already exist in the kingdom. We'll
handle building new ones later, but most kingdoms already have a few when the
players are put in charge.
The kingdom can have a maximum number of important Buildings equal to half
the kingdom's level (a 6th level kingdom can have up to 3, a 30th level kingdom
could have 15)
Each of these buildings has a Size ranging from 1 to 5. Larger buildings require
more Materials to support, but also provide more bonuses. Each building needs a
number of Materials equal to its Size each "turn" (more on turns later) to
function. When not enough Materials are available, then a number of bonuses
shut down. For example, if a Size 4 Building is only given 2 Materials to maintain
it, 2 of its bonuses would shut down until it receives Materials.
When building a new kingdom, try to keep the size somewhat low. This gives
players more opportunities to expand these buildings. If you include a Size 4 or 5
Building, make sure that it's something they've known about; at those Sizes you
should be talking about the best known Colleges and Guilds in the world (at
least)
For each Size of a building, assign one bonus to the building. A bonus is either a
+3 bonus to a skill, or a +2 bonus to the production of a resource (Food,
Materials, Luxuries, and Weapons)
Production bonuses can stack, skill bonuses do not. Different buildings could
provide a bonus to the same skill, but a building cannot provide a bonus to the
same skill twice.
Some example buildings are listed below. Once you have determined the
buildings for the kingdom, continue to the next step.
College of Burning Magic [Size 2 building]

This college provides some of the finest fire mages in the kingdom. In addition to
being a repository of knowledge on the Arcane Arts, it also provides the kingdom
with large numbers of wands and staves of fiery power.
Bonus: +3 bonus to Arcana, +2 production of Weapons
Aegran's Lumber mill [Size 1 building]
This lumber mill is run by the prospector Aegran, a young half-elf. It's well known
for its production of fine lumber that has aided the construction of many
buildings around the kingdom.
Bonus: +2 production of Materials
The Apothecary [Size 1 building]
This apothecary is staffed by two friendly Druids who spend lots of their time
hunting for herbs and spices that help aid the sick.
Bonus: +3 bonus to Heal
Silver Hand Headquarters [Size 5 building]
This legendary headquarters belongs to the Silver Hand guild. While a large trade
association on the outside, it is in actuality a crime ring run by an ancient cabal
of vampires that have taken to the lush and luxurious life provided by your
kingdom.
Bonus: +3 bonus to Thievery, +3 bonus to Intimidate, +2 production of Luxuries,
+2 production of Weapons, +3 bonus to Streetwise
Notable people
Next, we need to determine what notable people hang around in the kingdom.
Like buildings, the number of capped to one half the level of the kingdom, but
Notable people have no Size or Level.
Instead, they have three associated skills. These skills should fit their persona (a
Diplomat could have Diplomacy, Perception, and Sense Motive for example, while
a Druid might have Handle Animal, Heal, and Nature)
They should also have at least a name, and could have as much background,
history and character as you are willing to give them.
We'll handle how to use them later, for now just write down their key information.
Avarian the Watcher

Avarian is an Elven Ranger who joined the kingdom when it was still young. He is
an explorer and has more than once been the first to arrive with news of
invading hordes of Goblins or Orcs.
Skills: Stealth, Perception
Obus the Grim
Obus is a Half-Orc, though smarter than most. He serves the kingdom as a
constable, leading the militia of its capital. Obus is slowly getting old, but he can
read criminals like a map and is terrifying, both to his men and the general
populace.
Skills: Insight, Intimidate
Production
Alright, with the final bonuses to skills determined, the notable people jotted
down and the buildings known and levelled, it's time to determine the cities'
production. As we already know, there's 5 resources.
The first of those is very easy to determine. Population (the resource) in a
kingdom is equal to the level of the kingdom. So a level 6 kingdom has 6
Population and a level 23 one has 23 Population. Note that these are (obviously)
not actual people, just an abstract representation of them.
These people can be put to work and produce the other 4 resources. Any unit of
Population can be used to produce either 2 units of a favoured resource, or 1 unit
of a normal resource.
For example; if you selected Food and Materials as your favoured resources for
your plains and forest kingdom, then a unit of Population could produce 2 Food or
Materials, or 1 Luxuries or Weapons.
You can move Population around the various resources between turns, but
Buildings produce a fixed resource.
When assigning the Production, keep in mind that the kingdom has an upkeep it
needs to pay to prevent bad things from happening. This upkeep equal 1/2 of the
kingdom's level in Food and 1/3 of the kingdom's level in Luxuries (round down).
So lets say our 5th level kingdom is good at producing Food and Luxuries and
has a single building that increases Food production and the Heal skill.
We could arrange Production as follows:
Food (favoured) = 1x2 (Population) +2 (Building) - 2 (upkeep) = +2 per turn
Materials = 3 (Population) - 2 (upkeep) = +1 per turn

Luxuries = 2x2 (Population) - 1 (upkeep) = +3 per turn

Weapons = +0 per turn
That means we'll be producing some good food, and lots of luxuries, but the
kingdom will have no weapons to defend itself, which might hurt it later.
These extra resource we produces are necessary to fend off Challenges and
upgrade the kingdom. Keep track of excess goods; these are gathered in a store
and can be spent from there. Each turn, the Food store would rise by 2 points,
giving the city extra Food in case they'd be unable to produce at some point, or
for it the population rises, or they need it for a Challenge, or want to trade it.

Now that we handled this, it's time to move on. Lets start by getting this
Kingdom on track and learning how to deal with Challenges!

So, now that we've done the basic setup for a kingdom, it's time to put the party
in charge. Fortunately that's the easy part; just hand over the keys and you're
good to go.
But, as the party is handed the keys, they'll also quickly learn just why the
people of this kingdom were so eager to put them in charge...
Challenges
Kingdoms are constantly challenged. A challenge come in many forms; it could
be hostile creatures, a hostile kingdom, a plague, a natural disaster, a bad
harvest, intrigue, trade issues, magical calamities... anything really.
They just all have a few things in common: you don't want them in your
kingdom, and they're going to cost you a lot to get rid of.
The basics
Lets start with the basics. Every challenge needs a Size. This Size determines
just how big an effect letting the Challenge go or failing it has on the kingdom.
Size can range anywhere between 1 and 5.
Letting challenges go unchecked might increase their Size, making them harder
and harder to get rid of.
There are two basic ways to deal with a challenge: you can supress a challenge,
or you can defeat it.
When you supress a challenge, you don't expend as many resources or run as
much risk, but the challenge remains for later. This is a good way to deal with
issues that you can't deal with immediately but are too dangerous you let run
unchecked.
When you defeat a challenge, it is removed completely, not to threaten your
kingdom again. Well, at least not for the time being.
To supress a challenge, you can either spend Resources on it or roll a check.
To defeat the challenge, you can either send Notable Persons, or let the party
handle it themselves.
Supressing a Challenge
You spend one point of Resource per Size of the challenge per turn. So a Size 3
Challenge would cost 3 Resources per turn to supress. The resource used must
make sense (as per Roleplay)
Bribing an Orc war camp with Food makes little sense for example, but you could
pay Luxuries to bribe them. Alternatively, you could spend Weapons to get more

patrols out to persuade the Orcs not to attack anything, but not get them to
leave.
If you wish to roll a check, then you must roll a number of skill checks. The exact
details of how checks work for a city are explained in the next chapter. The
number of checks you must make is one successful check per Size of the
Challenge. If you fail, you can roll again, as long as you haven't hit the limit yet.
These checks must make sense story wise, but can be pretty much anything. For
example; it is possible to use Intimidate on the Orc camp to convince them not to
attack, or you could use Stealth to sneak in an kill the chief to throw the camp
into temporary disarray, at least until a new chief is found (in the next turn)
Suppression skill checks are always Medium DC checks with a level equal to the
level of the city.
Suppression deals with the challenge until the next turn comes up. A supressed
challenge cannot grow in size, but it must be supressed again each turn.
Defeating a challenge
The other option is to actually deal with a Challenge. This can be done in two
ways.
One option is to let the kingdom deal with the issue. This is dangerous, but
allows the party to place their attention elsewhere. To let a kingdom deal with a
Challenge, they must send a Notable Person. This Notable Person must make a
Hard DC check against the Challenge. A success reduces the Size of the
Challenge by 1 point, and the Challenge cannot increase in size the next turn.
It is possible to send multiple Notable Persons in rapid succession during the
same turn; each success reduces the challenge Size by 1.
However; if the check fails by 5 points or more, the Notable Person is removed
from play. This could be because the Orcs found him, or because he succumbed
to the Plague he was supposed to stop, or because he was swept away in the
flood, or whatever the Challenge was.
Only after another two turns have passed will a new Notable Person rise in the
kingdom to take the place of the old one.
The other option is for the party to deal with the issue personally. This is not
handled by these mechanics. Instead, this triggers an actual D&D adventure to
the site of the Challenge which the DM will have to prepare, with (partial)
success or failure determined by the normal rules of encounters.
It should be kept in mind that the Size of the Challenge should also factor into
the adventure to be had. A Size 1 adventure could be one or two encounters,
while a Size 5 adventure could easily be 6 or 7 adventures. When the party
arrives on the scene, they should really feel that they are indeed dealing with

that Size 5 Challenge to their kingdom is not just a few Orcs raiding the country,
it's an entire Horde! And that earthquake isn't just a bit of shaking and a gap
across the road, it's an entire city that vanished into the Underdark and all the
nasties crawling up to tear the kingdom down!
Rampant Challenges
If you are unable to supress a Challenge and also fail to defeat it, a Challenge will
run rampant. This has nasty effects on your kingdom, but sometimes it can't
really be avoided.
A rampant Challenge will reduce production of your resources by a total of 2
points per Size category (so 2 production for a Size 1 Challenge and 8 points for
a Size 4 challenge)
Since these come from your production for this turn, this could end you up with a
negative stock, which means your kingdom could be in trouble.
What resource is taken depends on the type of challenge, but should make some
sense and be explained beforehand. A famine would destroy Food production for
example, while a strike in the Artisan District could destroy Luxury production
and a collapse in the Iron mines could destroy Weapons production.
In addition, rampant Challenges could grow into even bigger problems if left
unchecked.
Now that we know how to deal with Challenges, lets find out about turns and
dive deeper into that "making skill checks" idea and see what that's all about!

ATU and Skills

So, here we are again, and this time we're going to deal with the passing of time
and using of Skills. As you know from the second chapter, each Kingdom has
certain skills that it can use. Each kingdom is good at different things and as a
ruler, your party can put all that knowledge and expertise to very good use.
However, any kingdom can only supply a limited number of expert sages and
great diplomats at a given time. I've mentioned turns before, and I'll talk a bit
more about them now.
The ATU
The passing of time in this kingdom system is measured in ATU. It stands for
Arbitrary Time Unit and was chosen very specifically because we don't want to
make the time passing in the kingdom more important than the time passing for
the players.
As many people already know; vehicles in a movie travel at the speed of plot and
kingdoms in a Dungeons and Dragons game are no different.
So the ATU merely serves as a way to deal with kingdom and party resources and
isn't an actual time measurement. One ATU could take a year, while the next
only takes a week, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is what you can
do within an ATU, and what resources you have available.
When an ATU ends, all skill uses are reset. Then, the current production is added
to the stores (or removed from it, if negative). After that, players are allowed to
change the production of resources within the city for the next turn.
It generally makes sense to spend all the Skill uses as leftovers are simply lost,
but sometimes there's just nothing to spend them on.
Also, players are only allowed to personally tackle one Challenge per ATU. They
can have side adventures (as many as the DM allows) but when they deal with a
Challenge they have to pass the ATU before the next one.
Players can give orders to the kingdom at any time as long as they have a way to
relay their orders (like being in the palace, or sending a messenger, or using
telepathy, or whatever they can do to get their order across to someone
important)

Making skill checks

As I said, the number of experts and sages a kingdom can put to use is limited. In
fact, it's limited to one half the level of the city in uses per ATU. That means that
during any given ATU, a level 8 city can make 4 skill checks, while a level 19 city
could make 9 skill checks.
In addition to these checks, during each ATU, each player can also make a single
skill check that benefits the kingdom. In addition, he can make as many skill
checks as he damn well pleases during any adventures he has, but these can't
be used to command the kingdom.
This means that making a check to suppress or defeat a Challenge counts
against this limit, as does the upgrading of Buildings, trading with neighbours,
increasing the size of the kingdom and raising armies. But more on that later.
For now it is merely important to keep in mind that the number of checks you
have available are limited.
Also, we spoke of the Notable Persons before. Each of these can be used once
per ATU, but it's not an extra skill check. You can send a Notable Person along
whenever you use a skill that the Notable Person has. The Notable Person grants
a +3 bonus to that skill check.
So for example, when you want to supress a challenge like a plague descending
on your crops, you could make a regular Heal check with the kingdom's bonus, or
you could send Davarius the Druid to suppress it, and get a +3 bonus.
As long as you're not using them to defeat a Challenge there's no real risk in
using Notable Persons, so try to put them to use as much as you can. If you give
them no orders, their talents will just go to waste for that ATU.
Using skill checks for your own gain
As the ruler of a kingdom, you are in no way required to use all of your skill
checks for the good of the kingdom. You can also use them yourself during
adventures you have.
Whenever you are on an adventure, you can call in help from your kingdom
whenever it would make sense to do so, and let the kingdom roll a skill check for
you.
For example; you could let one of your diplomats write you a letter to persuade a
king you are dealing with, order for a surgeon to help you deal with a wounded
victim or get a guide to help you traverse a dangerous mountain slope.
These checks generally take some more time than a regular skill check would
and are mostly useful during skill challenges, although you might sometimes be
able to sneak one into combat if you make sure you have quick lines. A sending

stone connected directly to your main library could be a great way to get some
quick boosted Knowledge checks, for example.
When you are on a Challenge, you can also call in the help of a Notable Person
during the mission. If the Notable Person succeeds at his check, then this will
reduce the Size of the Challenge by one (and the adventure should change
accordingly) but if the check fails, the Notable Person will be placed in great peril
by the DM and might die (although as a party of heroes you should at least get a
chance to save them)
Both types of checks count against the kingdoms' Skill limit per ATU, so spend
these checks wisely.
With this out of the way; lets find out how we can use these skills to expand our
kingdom!
Skill DCs (FOR PATHFINDER)
A difficult check should be a check that a specialist can make about 75% of the time.
Thus: APLx1.35 + 13
Difficult at level 1: 13.
Difficult at level 10: 26
Difficult at level 20: 40.
A medium check should be a skill that a dabbler can make about 75% of the time.
Thus: APLx1 +9
Medium at level 1: 10
Medium at level 10: 19
Medium at level 20: 29
An Easy check should be a skill that even a novice can make 75% of the time.
Thus: APLx.5 + 5
Easy at level 1: 5
Easy at level 10: 10
Easy at level 20: 15

Expanding the Kingdom

Alright now that we have a basic grasp on how we can keep a kingdom from
going to hell by tackling challenges and have a basic idea of how we can use our
kingdom's skills and production to help with these challenges, lets learn about
expanding our kingdom.
After all; being boss over a little village is fun for a while, but at some point you
want to have a real palace and then at some point you'll even want to add that
neighbouring kingdom as well, and maybe the Feywild as well.
Ways to expand your kingdom
There are a few important things you can do with your kingdom. Although the
ultimate goal is most likely to increase the overall level of the kingdom, it is also
possible to increase the level of Buildings, or construct new ones, open and close
trade routes with neighbouring countries and train armies.

All of these things require a number of skill checks to perform, supplied by the
kingdom's skill limit and the party's own skill checks per ATU, as discussed in the
previous chapter.
Buildings
When a kingdom has enough spare Materials, it can upgrade or produce
buildings. Keep in mind that the city is limited to one building per two levels of
the city, and that a building cannot be upgraded above Size 5.
When the party order the construction of a new building or the upgrade of an
existing one, they must first describe the structure (name, new function,
anything else they want to share) and the new bonus it will give.
Next, they need to make a number of skill checks to produce the structure. These
skill checks are determined by story needs and can be anything that makes for
an interesting bit of story (dealing with stone shortages, convincing an important
architect to help, dealing with strikes, whatever you can come up with).
Whenever a skill check is attempted (successful or not) one unit of Materials is
removed from the kingdom's stores. If there are no Materials left, then work
cannot continue.
Buildings only require Materials in upkeep after they're fully completed.
The number of checks required to produce a Building are equal to twice the new
Size. That means that a new Building requires 2 checks while a Size 5 building
would need 10.
The Check DC is equal to the Medium DC for the level of the kingdom.
Upgrading the kingdom
It is possible to upgrade the entire kingdom to the next level. This can be an
increase in size, population, means, wealth, whatever the players want. To do
this, a kingdom needs a lot of Materials and Luxuries.
The number of checks required equal half the kingdom's new level +5. (That's 6
checks for level 2 and 20 checks for level 30)
Each check, successful or not, removes one unit of Materials and one unit of
Luxuries from the kingdom's stores. If either is not available, work cannot
continue.
The check DC is equal to the Medium DC for the current level of the kingdom.
When the upgrading is complete, the Population of the kingdom rises by 1. The
upkeep required in Food or Luxuries might also increase.

If the kingdom reached an even level, all its skills increase by 1 (to account for
the new half level bonus) and another Notable Person rises in the kingdom. There
will also be a new slot for a Building.
Trading
Since each kingdom produces only 2 of the 4 resources at double speed, it might
be beneficial for kingdoms to trade. The party can set up a trade route with
another kingdom.
This takes 4 skill checks at Medium DC for the kingdom's level to establish and
each trade route can trade up to two resources of one type for an equal number
of resources of another type.
Once a trade route is activated, it remains active until either a Challenge arises
that threatens it, or the kingdom takes an effort to end (or change) the trade
route.
Changing the trade route requires 2 successful skill checks, and allows you to
do one of the following:
- Cancel the trade route
- Increase or decrease the number of resources traded by 1 (can go above the
starting limit of 2)
- Offer an equal number of a different resource instead
- Receive an equal number of a different resource instead
Raising armies
To raise an army, the kingdom must make 4 Medium DC skill checks at a level as
set by the person who ordered construction of the army. This level also
determines the eventual strength of the army when it is done. The level cannot
be higher than the level of the city.
Regardless of the level of the army, once it is completed it costs 1 Population
(which cannot produce any more resources while it is in the army) and 1
Weapons per turn.
For purposes of XP in combat with the player party, an army is worth as much XP
as a Solo of its level, although it is generally made up of many different
monsters.
When armies take damage, it is also possible to restore them while they are in
the kingdom. For each successful skill check, the army restores 1 HP. The skill DC
is the same as when the army was produced.
A later chapter will deal with how to use armies for your kingdom.
With all this done, the last chapter for the time being is for the DM and explains
how to deal with Challenges.

This chapter is specifically meant for the DM in a campaign where the party is
given a kingdom and lists some helpful suggestions on how to go about running
the kingdom.
It also gives some advice and examples regarding the various challenges that a
DM can toss at a kingdom. I intend to do more of these articles on how to run a
proper kingdom-style game, but we all know how much intentions are worth so
don't break out the pitch forks and torches if it takes a while.
About Challenges
It is important for a kingdom (and for this system) that a Kingdom
is always challenged on all sides. As a kingdom grows it becomes more and more
capable at protecting itself and players will have to decide which Challenges they
tackle themselves and which they let solve by the kingdom and their Notables.
Fortunately you have a good guide on which they are most likely to deal with in
the form of Size. Since they can only fix one problem per ATU they are likely to
go after major things first.
When it comes to numbers, keep this golden rule in mind: "If all Challenge Sizes
added up equal 2/3ds of the kingdom level, it attains equilibrium".
It's roughly true. If you have less than this, then the kingdom will start to grow. If
you have more, then the kingdom will start getting into trouble and will need
remaining stores to stave off collapse.
The actions of the party can shift this state, as can a bit of luck of the dice, but
it's a good number to strive for. If players simply stop interacting with the
Challenges themselves and devote all spare resources to supressing all the
Challenges then there will be no income, and none of the Challenges will grow.
Introducing Challenges
Try to avoid introducing more Challenges then 1/3d the kingdom level. You'll start
getting pressed for good ideas anyway so don't make it too hard on yourself;
you'll also might give the feeling that the kingdom is doomed anyway
considering the crapstorm it's in.
When it comes to introducing new Challenges there's a few things to keep in
mind. When the number of Challenges drops below 3, try to introduce a few new
ones. You'll always want to have at least 3 things threatening the kingdom. Also
try to introduce at least one Size 2 or greater Challenge at all times so the party
has something to focus on.
When you have a few Challenges, try to introduce about 1 Challenge every two
ATU. You could roll a d20 and add a challenge on a 10 or less, for example. Or flip
a coin.

If a Challenge is allowed to run rampant, make a saving throw for the kingdom. If
it fails the throw, that Challenge's size increases by 1 (unless it's at 5 already)
Roll for each Challenge, so that players are quickly forced into action or see their
kingdom ruined.
When the party leaves the kingdom to its own devices to pursue a different
storyline, you should use that time to make some updates to the kingdom. When
the party comes back, remove some of the current Notables and Buildings,
maybe upgrade the kingdom level, and remove some old Challenges that proved
boring and replace them with some new ones. You should always make the party
come back to slightly more trouble than they left the Kingdom with to give them
the feeling that they could've done it better themselves (and so they have
something interesting to do on their return)
Destroying the Kingdom
Kingdoms are fairly resilient, but they can be overcome and destroyed or fall
apart completely. It's happened before, and it'll happen again (and probably
make for an awesome campaign setting for your next party!)
When you add up all the Sizes of the Challenges and this comes out to more than
Kingdom level + 5, the Kingdom is considered destroyed. The party can no
longer control it, and depending on the Challenges about, it will collapse.
When a kingdom is unable to supply its populace with Food (stores are at 0 and
the production is negative) a new Challenge will arise (it's size dependant on the
size of the Food shortage; if there's 1 Food missing it's size 1, if there's 3 Food
missing it's size 3, etc., but up to size 5)
This Famine Challenge will need to be fixed as well. If it's left to run rampant to
Size 5, then start adding more Challenges, like Uprising, Looting, Revolt, things
like that. After the Famine Challenge is fixed it'll just keep coming back while
there is no Food.
If the kingdom is unable to supply its populace with Luxuries (stores at 0 and
production negative) then the same thing happens, except the Challenge isn't
Famine, but it's more like Uprising, or perhaps Exodus (with all the nobles leaving
for wealthier areas).
A shortage in Materials isn't necessarily an issue except Buildings will shut down,
but this will generally not trigger a Challenge. Unless you needed one anyway. A
Building that is shut down will not generate its skill bonus or production. The
party can decide which bonuses to shut down.
A shortage in Weapons likewise isn't necessarily an issue except it might force an
Army to disband. Again; this only triggers a Challenge if you needed a new one
anyway.

Example Challenges
Here's a list of example challenges. They're mostly just keywords with some hints
on how to supress them. Remember that you can come up with whatever you
like, and players can do the same thing, so it's very open. You don't even need to
design the specifics and the adventure until the players decide they'll deal with
one personally.
Creatures:
A roving war band has set up camp in the kingdom, threatening to loot border
towns. (Supress; Bribe with luxuries, increase patrols, threaten, assassinate
leader, intercept and stop scouts. Defeat: Destroy camp, Assassinate entire chain
of command, poison food supply, bribe to go away, recruit into army, wipe out
with ritual. Rampant: lose random resources)
A criminal syndicate has come down on your capital, slowly taking over business.
(Supress; increase watch, use snitches to predict missions, use stricter laws.
Defeat: capture leader, set up rival (but kingdom operated) network, recruit
network to work for kingdom. Rampant: lose Luxuries, Weapons)
Masses of refugees from a neighbouring land have settled on your land and are
hunting down local wildlife and stealing food from farms. (Supress: send food
caravans, scare them away (temporarily) Defeat: massacre the lot of them,
divide them over the kingdom, give them a small section of land in your
kingdom. Rampant: lose Food)
Natural disasters:
Earthquake strikes a minor village (Supress: send emergency rations, build
shelters, evacuate locals. Defeat: magically seal gap; rebuild village elsewhere,
abandon area and move people away. Rampant: lose Materials, if bigger Size
then lose access to a Building)
Crops refuse to grow due to plague/bugs/curse (Supress: replant crops
elsewhere, treat plague with temporary cure, use superstitious rituals Defeat:
undo curse, vanquish plague with magic, order druid to make bugs into swarm
and use to defend elsewhere, Rampant: lose Food)
Treerot strikes down the forest, lumber mills stop working (Supress: send workers
elsewhere, treat boards with ritual to make them somewhat harder, trade with
neighbours for a short while. Defeat: deal with the cause of the rot, move lumber
mill to a different forest, Rampant: lose materials)
Manmade disasters:
Magical explosion blows up part of a city (Supress: send mages to contain
energies, seal off the building Defeat: clean up mess, send building to another
dimension, reverse effects of spell. Rampant: lose access to Building, lose
Luxuries)

Workers go on Strike (Supress; whip them back to work, hire immigrants to pick
up work, increase wages temporarily Defeat: figure out why the strike, build an
army of Golems to do the work instead, kill the strike leaders, Rampant: lose
Materials, Luxuries)

YOUR KINGDOM AWAITS: SKOGEN, SAMPLE HEROIC KINGDOM

Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 8:22 AM
Categories: Dungeons & Dragons

This post belongs to a series on letting the party rule a kingdom in Dungeons and
Dragons 4th edition. The main post can be found here.
I've had some requests to post some sample kingdoms and challenges to help
people understand the workings of my kingdom system, so this shall be the first
in the list. Skogen is a small area located somewhere on the frontiers and thrives
on the export of woods across the river Agahs.
Introduction to Skogen
Located some hundred and fifty miles from the nearest true kingdom, Skogen is
a small zone of land named after the first to claim it; the woodcutter Ivys Skogen
and his family. Ivys and his extensive half-orc family settled themselves near the
river Agahs after the city of Karas fell on a wood shortage and started paying a
premium for good wood.
The largest collection of people within Skogen are found in the small town of
Casport, which is located on an island in the middle of the river. This site was
originally claimed because it offered a better defence from the roaming bands of
Goblins that inhabited the woods and took less then kindly to the woodcutter
encroaching on their land.
Casport has grown into a nice little town, with two harbours (on one each side of
the island). It features no bridges to the mainland and all transportation to and
from the city is done by boat. Slowly but surely Casport is growing too large for
the island, and the first few buildings have been erected on the shores of the
river already.
In addition to Casport there are two other notable villages within Skogen. One is
Desken, which is a farming community some fifteen miles to the south of
Casport. It is the main supply for food for Casport, which has trouble relying on
others due to distance. The other is Gillain, which is a fairly recent addition to
Skogen and collects trees of a different kind; feygrove trees from what appears
to be an old Elven community has long left the area.
Basic sheet for Skogen
Main sheet
Skogen, level 6 Kingdom
Race: Human. Skogen contains 70% Humans from the city of Karas. +4 Strength,
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom

Skills: As chief exporters of wood and builders of ships, Skogen gets a +2 bonus
to Athletics and Dungeoneering checks.
Associated resources: Building Materials, Luxury Goods. Located in a lush forest,
Skogen thrives on the production of building materials and good quality wood,
ships, furniture, and other wooden products.
Final skills: (include buildings, an X marks a Notable Person available to boost the
skill)
Acrobatics +3
Arcana +3
Athletics +7 (+2 str, +2 skill) X
Bluff +3
Diplomacy +3 X
Dungeoneering +9 (+1 wis, +2 skill, +3 wharf)
Endurance +4 (+1 con)
Heal +4 (+1 wis) X
History +3
Insight +4 (+1 wis) X
Intimidate +3 X
Nature +7 (+1 Wis, +3 logging co) X
Perception +4 (+1 wis)
Religion +3
Stealth +3
Streetwise +3
Thievery +3

Buildings
Skogen features a few interesting and noteworthy buildings, which are described
below.
Ivys' Logging Company
The Ivys' Logging Company is the same one that Ivys Skogen started when he
first moved into the area around the Agahs river. Currently it employs most of
the Half-Orcs in the area as well as a lot of the humans. Although many people

are prejudiced against Half Orcs and envy their prominent position in the logging
company, issues are few and far between.
Level 2 structure. Produces Building Materials, Bonus to Nature
The Wharf
The wharf produces mostly the small ships that Skogen uses to transport its
produced timbers to other cities. However, it is large and capable enough to
build larger vessels as well and has on more then one occassion built ships of
war on request of nearby cities and kingdoms.
Level 1 structure. Bonus to Dungeoneering
Notable people
While Humans make up most of the population of Skogen, some of its most
notable people are others. These people are the ones that allow Skogen to
operate, and are worth keeping contact with.
Dachi Skogen: Half-Orc grandson of Ivys Skogen, Dachi was mayor of sorts for
Skogen before the kingdom was given over to the party. Now, he is happy with
just running the Ivys' Logging Company instead.
Logging has always been more of a passion for him anyway, and although he is
respected, listened to and smart enough to lead, he prefers a tree and his axe
over sitting in a building talking to people all day.
Associated skills: Athletics, Diplomacy
Cashir Deron: Cashir is a young half-elf girl who was originally raised by an Elf
tribe in the area that later left for deeper woods. At the time, Cashir was wildly in
love with a human from the area and refused to go with them. Although that love
eventually died, Cashir was so used to living in Skogen that she stayed.
Having received a formal training from the Elves as a druid, she is somewhat
capable at primal magics and an expert when it comes to treating diseases and
injuries. She is also fiercely outspoken against logging in the fey-grove, which
she says "upsets the spirits", but most people think that's just Elven hippy-speak.
Associated skills: Nature, Heal
Eskor Skogen: A far nephew from Ivys Skogen, Eskor is a tall and broad figure.
He was appointed by Dachi to serve as a bit of a police officer for the town.
Although there isn't much need for it, many people feel a bit safer knowing that a
7 foot Half-Orc is there to keep the peace when required.
Eskor has a growl that will make most grown men wet their pants, but he is
ultimately a kind spirit and a lot smarter then he lets on.

Associated skills: Intimidate, Insight

Production and stores
Skogen thrives on the production of good quality wood, and has an agreement
with the city of Karas to trade excess wood for additional food as well as
weapons, which the kingdom does not produce, but needs to fend off goblins and
other threats.
Population available: 6
Food upkeep: 3
Building upkeep: 3
Luxury upkeep: 2
Food production: 2 (2 pop)
Building Materials production: 6 (3 pop)
Luxury production: 2 (1 pop)
Weapons production: 0 (0 pop)
Trade agreements: Trading 2 Building Materials for 2 Food with Karas. Trading 1
Building Materials for 1 Weapons with Karas.
--Food income: +1 (+2 prod, +2 trade, -3 upkeep)
Building Materials income: +2 (+6 prod, +2 building, -3 trade, -3 upkeep)
Luxury income: +0 (+2 prod, -2 upkeep)
Weapons income: +1 (+1 trade)
--Stores:
3 Food stored
4 Building Materials stored
0 Luxury Materials stored
2 Weapons stored

YOUR KINGDOM AWAITS: SKOGEN UNDER THREAT

Monday, September 5, 2011, 5:29 AM
Categories: Dungeons & Dragons

This post belongs to a series on letting the party rule a kingdom in Dungeons and
Dragons 4th edition. The main post can be found here.
In the previous entry I laid out the sample kingdom of Skogen, a small logging
community in the wilderness of the lands. This entry will give some sample
challenges to present to the community, along with ideas for resolving them.
In the chapter "The DM and the Kingdom", I set as a guideline that a kingdom
can more or less stagnate when it hits 2/3ds of its level in challenges. Since
Skogen is a 6th level kingdom, this means that it'll stagnate at about 4 points of
challenge.
As we saw, Skogen produces a total of 4 points of resources every ATU, which
means it can indeed suppress 4 points of challenge without issue. It can also
sustain up to 11 points of Challenge (level+5) before being destroyed.
From reading through the description of Skogen, we can see a bunch of plot
hooks already. For example:
- Goblins will be trouble, as their raids will interrupt supply lines
- 50 miles of wilderness lie between Skogen and the vital tradelines with Karas
that bring in most of the kingdom's food
- The feygrove might cause trouble as either the Elves come back and protest
what's going on, or fey-energy might unleash dangerous magical effects
- The farming community of Desken is far removed from the main city, leaving it
vulnerable
- Casport is getting overcrowded, which might put people on edge. As slums
continue to grow on the edges of the riverbank, criminality will rise. Without
bridges, guardsmen will have a hard time getting to the crime scene on time.
In addition, many other issues might crop up.
Starting situation
Lets set up a starting situation for the players. For some reason or other (maybe
because they already saved Casport from some threat or other? Lets go with
them having fended off a rather extra-vicious Goblin raid for now) the
adventuring party "The Generics" have been given the keys to the kingdom by
Dachi Skogen, who is now happy that he has more time to fell trees.

They survey their new lands, and will quickly note the following issues. Since we
intend to get the PCs involved in saving the kingdom, we'll need enough Events
that it looks like the kingdom will be in dire straits without them.
So, as we start there are 4 events going on, 3 minor ones and a serious issue.
Size 3 challenge: The goblin raiders
Although the Generics fought off the main Goblin raid, they've set up another
warcamp in the area. This time leaving the more protected Casport for what it is,
they've set their sights on Desken.
Size 1 challenge: Crime rising
On the outskirts of Casport, various new buildings have been erected. While
some are decent homes for people that just didn't enjoy the city anymore,
there's a rather troublesome patch of shacks and slums on one edge. Criminals
gathered in this area, and the guard has trouble dealing with it, as the area is
hard to patrol without a bridge.
Size 1 challenge: The missing loggers
While for a while logging in the Feygrove went along nicely, news of a logger
gone missing arrived just yesterday. A superstitious lot, the loggers are scared
and refusing to get back to work.
Size 1 challenge: The price of iron
As a nearby kingdom recently went to war with another kingdom, Skogen has
received word from Karas that prices on weapons are going up, and while they
value their trading partners, this means that Weapons will be more expensive.
They'll need more wood to supply weapons.
Getting involved
Now, The Generics will have to decide what to do. We're counting ATU 0 and they
have to give orders. Deciding that the current production of resources is just fine,
they mainly try to deal with the active challenges.
They decide that for the time being, trade is not the most important thing. The
supress the challenge "The price of Iron" by giving Karas what they want for their
weapons. As a size 1 Challenge, they pay one extra point of Materials to keep the
trade route operational.
Next, despite opposition from Cashir, they send one of the local guild leaders to
chat with the loggers and convince them go back to work. Skogen makes a
Diplomacy check, but unfortunately rolls low. The workers are initially convinced
to get back to work, only to have another few turn up missing. All work is put
down.

An investigation is started by the city watch to look into what is happening.

Skogen rolls Streetwise, succesfully. A guardsmen comes upon the corpses of the
missing woodcutters, who appear to have been slain by a Fey creature of sorts.
Knowing roughly where the creature resides, the loggers go back to work,
avoiding the direct area around the creature's lair. Skogen is down 2 of its 3
checks this ATU, and the challenge is surpressed.
The Generics also attempt to reduce crime in the slums by putting up a
temporary guard post in the slums that they staff with a few permanent
guardsmen. This will temporarily stop crime, even though they can't really miss
these guards. Paying a building material for the temporary building, the
challenge is supressed.
Lastly, the Generics decide to tackle the issue of the Goblin raiders themselves.
They decide to head out and defeat the Goblin chief in combat themselves. As
the DM prepares an adventure for them they head out, leaving behind their
kingdom for a bit.
END RESULTS:
-2 building materials
2 skill checks used
Return to Skogen
A few days after their initial foray into the Goblin warcamp, the Generics return
victoriously to their new capital city. The goblins are vanquished and threaten the
kingdom no more, at least until they've managed to regroup under a new chief.
However, more issues have cropped up, they learn. Not only have the prices of
weapons risen, a caravan has also gone missing. It seems that with the now
higher prices of weaponry, the caravan has become a great target for bandits.
Also, the guard post the players put up to deal with rising crime has been
destroyed by local thugs, and crime is again on the rise.
In addition to the three existing and remaining challenges, a new one has
cropped up:
Size 2 challenge: The ambushers
With the high prices of iron and weapons, a band of brigands have decided to
raid the incoming weapon carts from Karas. These weapons are needed by the
people of Skogen to keep their militia and guards supplied.
Now counting in ATU 1, the players have added their new resources from last
turn to their stocks (gaining +1 food and +1 weapons, but no materials as these
were used to suppress challenges) and now have 4/4/0/3 stocked. They also get
3 new skill checks for this turn.

The Generics decide to send out Dachi to deal with the crime issue once and for
all, by building a bridge to the slums. This will let guards get there faster and
make the area more connected to the kingdom. The bridge will be simple and
made of wood, and will end in a gate to better protect Casport from attack.
Dachi will oversee construction of this bridge, although he doesn't have much
knowledge about making such things. Skogen rolls a Dungeoneering check to
place the bridge, but fails the first roll by 2 points. While Dachi is not threatened,
it turns out criminals on the far side of the bridge are blocking progress by
threatening the workers and stealing the beams.
Determined to deal with this issue, the Generics also send out Eskor. The big Half
Orc makes an Intimidate check (rolling Skogen's bonus with a +5 bonus for him
being trained) and manages to scare off the thugs. The bridge is finished, dealing
with the challenge permanently.
Now happy that their notable underlings are getting their jobs done, they decide
to send out Cashir as well, to the Feygrove. They hope that she'll be able to find
out why the Fey creature was attacking the loggers. However... a terrible roll on
their behalf ends them with Cashir gone missing, and the Fey creature ever
remains. Now out of skill checks, the Fey Grove challenge runs rampant.
The Generics decide to keep paying the higher prices for now, and to deal with
the brigands first. They set out for the woods in their quest to kill some
brigands...
At the end of ATU 1, they have paid 1 building materials to Karas for the trade,
and their logging camp is once again tormented by an angry Fey creature. The
workers abandon it, and another 2 points of Building materials are lost. With their
limited production and higher prices, 1 point of building materials must be paid
from their stocks. They are now at 5/3/0/4.
Bandits are not Goblins
Two weeks after leaving for the caravan, the Generics return with sad news.
Multiple caravans were raided, but they never found the bandits. Unfortunately
their heavy armor and lack of sneakyness caused the bandits to avoid them.
Yet another challenge ran rampant in their lands...
Two dice are rolled, and the first is failed. The Feygrove challenge rises to level 2
as the Fey creature becomes bolder and bolder, now actively destroying
equipment when nobody is looking. Still nobody is aware what exactly is causing
all of this.
The other roll is a success, and the bandit issue doesn't get any worse.
The generics look at the current state of their kingdom again, noting 3 active
challenges, two of which are now at size 2. They decide to leave the bandits be
for a while, and simply discourage them by increasing the size of their escort.

Using some of their excess weaponry to arm some capable soldiers, they spend 2
Weapons to suppress the challenge for the time being.
They also send out a local merchant to Karas to negotiate prices. They roll
Diplomacy, and after long negotiations succesfully bring down the prices
somewhat. After failing 1 check before succeeding on the second, this leaves
Skogen with 1 more skill check this ATU.
As they notice that there is no real active production of luxury goods beyond the
city's own needs, the Generics see an opening... they decide to build a furniture
factory to increase their production. They look around town for a bit, and find a
businessman willing to take on the venture with a bit of their support. Labelling
the new factory "The Generic Furniture Company", they start construction
immediately. Being low on area on the island, it's planted in the slums, to
hopefully give jobs to the people there.
An Athletics check is rolled to get the building done as fast as possible, only to
realise that errors were made in the selection of wood... the check is failed due to
rotten wood and part of the building comes down upon the main overseer, who is
wounded in the progress. Without checks remaining, it appears that the Generic
Furniture Company is going to be something for a later ATU, until Sir Healic of the
Generics steps in and brings down some Divine Healing upon the poor overseer.
After succeeding at a Heal check, the overseer can get back to business, and the
company is done in time.
With their factory churning out beautiful furniture, the Generics set their sight on
whatever is terrorising the Feygrove, as well as expanding the kingdom further...
their newfound wealth should help them increase Skogen's level to 7, and they
can deal with those bandits at a later time...
At the end of ATU 2, Skogen has spent 2 weapons to supress a challenge, 2
materials to build a new important structure and used all its skills. Assuming the
Generics manage to save the logging camp in the feygrove, they end up with
6/3/2/2, which gives them an opportunity to start upgrading the city.
But, hopefully this is enough of a start for people to get an idea of how to run a
kingdom in D&D 4e. From here, the Generics can set out to make Skogen into the
biggest logging city in the world. Or even expand their borders by conquering
Karas... once I get that far into it. Or maybe run the kingdom into the ground...
every campaign settings needs its ruins, after all. Who knows? That's what this
whole thing was about, after all.