Introduction:
Land ownership, building or purchasing a home, or having a stronghold are all common goals for adventurers. This article will detail the various options characters have for buying land and structures.
Buying a Home in or Near a Settlement:
Player Characters can purchase land outside the walls of the settlement. The initial purchase is 100 gp and includes a home and an acre of land. Each additional acre costs 200 gp up to 10 acres, then the cost of each additional acre doubles to 400 gp and so on. The prices get higher and higher because the Moonbrooks want to ensure that families can purchase an acre of land if they choose and all the land is not taken up by large well-funded agricultural concerns. For greater clarification please see the chart below.
| Acres |
Cost |
Notes |
| 1 |
100 gp |
Includes home and the ability to farm. |
| 2-10 |
200 gp per acre |
|
| 11-20 |
400 gp per acre |
|
| 21-30 |
800 gp per acre |
|
Building a Home:
Building a home takes time. In the north, homes cannot be built in the Winter due to the tough conditions. Otherwise, a home can be built in 1 season.
Farming:
If a player character wishes to take up farming they can do so through the use of downtime. This requires farm implements which cost 1 gp. A PC can plant a crop in Spring or Summer and then harvest that crop in Fall. It takes 5 gp worth of seed to cultivate an acre of crops. The PC can use their downtime to do this on up to one acre of land by themselves.
A PC can cultivate more acres or avoid the usage of downtime by hiring laborers. Each laborer costs 10 gp per laborer per season and a single laborer can maintain or harvest an acre of crops. So if you wanted a laborer to both plant and harvest an acre of crops it costs 20 gp. Each laborer will need to be provided farm implements. Crops can not be planted or harvested in winter, unless the crop has a special trait that allows it to be planted in winter. Special crops can be planted if a PC is able to collect special seeds from the wilderness. This requires an herbalism kit to do.
Mundane crops like beets, beans, cabbage, carrots, etc. can be planted and will produce 150 units (typically called bushels) weighing 50 lbs. each. A mundane crop harvest sells for 1cp/1 lb. As such a standard crop will sell for 75gp. (150*50=7500, 7500cp=75gp). Special crops may sell for more but will require a ruling from a DM.
As a reference please see the table below;
| Number of Acres |
Profit with Laborers |
Profit if PC works an Acre |
| 1 |
55 gp (75-20 gp) |
75 gp |
| 2 |
110 gp (150-40gp) |
130 gp (150-20 gp for labor) |
| 3 |
165 gp (225-60gp) |
185 gp (225-40 gp for labor) |
| 4 |
220 gp (300-80 gp) |
240 gp (300-60 gp for labor) |
| 5 |
275 gp (375-100 gp) |
295 gp (375-80 gp for labor) |
Note: Because this is passive income with a relatively low cost of entry it does not have massive returns. In contrast, an establishment has a relatively high cost of entry 6,000 gp but will have better returns over the long run.
Dangers:
While you are still a citizen of the Empire and entitled to its protections, your home is outside the walls and hard to protect. As such, your home may become the target of monsters and the like. This threat can be curbed by hiring guards, building a wall/fence, or by defending your own home. The Moonbrooks wish to protect everyone but the land demands of farming require farms to be outside the walls, and Moonhome does not have a legion to patrol its 374 square mile domain. Be aware of the misfortunes that can befall a home.
Strongholds:
Strongholds are points of control held by a character in the wilderness. These points of control vary but the most common strongholds are keeps, temples, establishments, and towers. Each of these has variants but the table below gives a basic description of each. The variant examples provided are not exhaustive and a DM should be consulted if there is confusion about which category a Stronghold would fall under.
| Type of Stronghold |
Example of Variant |
Characteristics |
| Keep |
Pirate Ship |
A Keep is a fortified structure that projects power and lets others in the area know that you control this area. Keeps are conspicuous, defensible, and provide a point for people to flock to. |
| Temple |
Druid Grove |
A Temple is a place of worship dedicated to some supernatural entity. This could be a god, a primordial, a domain, or nature itself. Temples provide refuge to the faithful and usually serve as a point of origin for the spread of the associated belief system. |
| Tower |
Magical Academy |
A Wizard's Tower is a place of arcane study and research. It is also a place where a wizard can rest his/her head in between adventures. Sometimes these towers will become schools that train other wizards. Such schools tend to greatly benefit the owner of the tower as they can set apprentices to specific tasks while the owner is away. |
| Establishment |
Hunting Lodge |
An establishment is a business of some kind or place that does not fit any of the other categories. A mercenary company may make its headquarters in an old tavern that doesn't really meet the requirements of a keep. Or an assassins guild may use an old sewer system as their hideout. Establishments tend to serve a specific clientele and deal in specialized services. |
Acquiring a Stronghold:
A Stronghold can be acquired in one of three ways;
- A character can build a stronghold (most expensive)
- Renovate an old stronghold (intermediate expense)
- Receive one as a quest reward (least expensive)
The charts below detail the cost associated with each method.
Building a Stronghold:
| Stronghold |
Cost to Build (GP) |
Time to Build (Days) |
| Keep |
10,000 |
150 |
| Tower |
8,000 |
120 |
| Temple |
8,000 |
120 |
| Establishment |
6,000 |
90 |
Cost to Upgrade:
| Stronghold |
1st to 2nd |
2nd to 3rd |
3rd to 4th |
4th to 5th |
| Keep |
5,000 |
10,000 |
15,000 |
20,000 |
| Tower |
3,000 |
6,000 |
12,000 |
18,000 |
| Temple |
3,000 |
6,000 |
12,000 |
18,000 |
| Establishment |
2,000 |
4,000 |
6,000 |
8,000 |
Time to Upgrade:
| Stronghold |
1st to 2nd |
2nd to 3rd |
3rd to 4th |
4th to 5th |
| Keep |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
| Tower |
40 |
80 |
120 |
160 |
| Temple |
40 |
80 |
120 |
160 |
| Establishment |
30 |
60 |
90 |
120 |
Repairing a stronghold cuts the initial costs detailed above in half. So repairing a keep would cost 5,000 gp and take 75 days. This assumes maximum efficiency so paying more will not speed up the process. Even if a stronghold is awarded to a character as part of a quest, that character will still need to meet upkeep costs and may even need to pay a one-time fee for the transfer or creation of a deed. This will still be significantly cheaper than building or renovating a stronghold.
Some players may ask "why would I ever build a stronghold? Repairing is so much cheaper." This is true, but when you build a stronghold you can place it where you want. Also built strongholds have the potential to take advantage of rare resources like special ores, plants, magical conditions, or other anomalies that will provide additional bonuses, features, and functionality. For example, an establishment like a mine built on a vein of mithril could be extremely valuable.
Benefits of a Stronghold:
The first benefit of a stronghold is that it unlocks fast travel. If a group is adventuring with a character who owns a stronghold, or if a stronghold owner gives express permission to a group, that stronghold may be fast traveled to and adventures can start from the stronghold instead of the settlement. This can cut both travel time and the risk of travel down significantly, especially as characters venture further from the settlement.
Below are the more specific benefits of the various Stronghold types. This list is not exhaustive and other benefits may be realized through play.
- Keep: Raising units. You are able to attract people to the keep and raise military units. These units will be important in defending the keep and may provide henchmen for adventures. A keep allows the owner to exert control over an area and establish a domain. This comes with many benefits but also many responsibilities. A noble or knight without a keep is no different than a commoner.
- Temple: Owning a temple allows for a player to benefit from "concordance" with the deity or other supernatural entity from which they derive power. Concordance allows you to interact with the higher power you have dedicated yourself to and for that higher power to aid you. However, this aid is not given for free. You must demonstrate your loyalty to the higher power and each time you petition the higher power for aid the likelihood that it answers is based on whether you have been a good follower. A wayward cleric that petitions his deity is as likely to be smote as his enemies.
- The Tower: The Tower grants its owner the ability to conduct spell research in his/her downtime. Spell research allows the invention of new spells or the perfection of known spells. This only applies to arcane spells, though the same can be done with a temple. In the event, it is unclear whether a spell is arcane or divine a DM will make the final call. The Tower can also be made into a school or academy of the arcane arts. This will increase your ability to perform spell research.
- The Establishment: The main benefit of an establishment is revenue. If you establish a well-known mercenary guild that only hires the best mercenaries, you will see some coin on the back end. Same with popular gambling houses, assassins guilds, hunting lodges, etc. Establishments also provide an excellent source of rumors. With so many people going in and out there is a decent chance you will overhear some good information. This information will vary based on the clientele served by the establishment. For example, a hunting lodge will likely produce rumors concerning big game opportunities, survival tips, and unusual phenomena in nature. An establishment may also conform to the resources and environment that surround it and may be used to extract valuable resources.
