DCC Stronghold Guide

 

So I was watching Bob World Builder’s Youtube review of the 5e Bastion Rules …. And it occurs to me that I have a player who has a DCC RPG character in my game who is taking his 0-level background farm and has been working on fortifying it, hiring farmhands that I’ve really handwaved and done nothing about.  And then it occurred to me, hey, I was a contributor on HarnManor, I can do something in DCC for having property, a base, or a stronghold.

And then I read the Unearthed Arcana Bastion rules.  Whoa.  Really complicated, really tied to level, lots of abstract subgame Bastion Point stuff, and things that are NOT very Dungeon Crawl Classics.  This is just one aspect of a character, it needs to be a couple of pages at MOST, and easy to administer with a couple die rolls.

Let’s face it, having a character who wants a base of operations, or a business, or a place to recruit followers SHOULD be rewarded – they are tying themselves to the world, and investing in the local drama of politics, influence, and set up all sorts of potential story beats.  But it shouldn’t be overly punitive (just used to drain gp, I’m looking at you 5E), or too complex (where the other players are bored, which happened in our Pathfinder 1E Kingmaker campaign).  So let’s go back to the font of inspiration, B/X for starting ideas, come up with something simple I can throw at my farmsteader next session, and create some opportunities….

So we could start with the tried and true “Quest for It” – totally easy, kill a dragon, save a princess, blackmail a baron, whatever and tada, the Judge gives you a Manor, easy peasy.  Just jump to the part about upkeep, income, and benefits.

Or, if you want your players to slog and spend and plan, you can go with building something yourself – so we need to create a cost for materials – if you are building a keep, you are going to pay for stuff.  And then you need to factor in manpower and time, whether it’s one character on their lonesome carving beams, or if they have hired 60 workers to lug bricks and dig moats.  You can also just assign a cost, if someone was going to bribe or pay an official to move into an existing, completed structure.  So let’s start with that, and also work in upkeep costs, potential income, and maybe some fringe benefits.

This is a first pass – I think the Stronghold Random Events table could be expanded somewhat – any ideas?  Drop me a note at archadethered@gmail.com.

Structure	Materials	Manpower	Cost	Housing	Upkeep	Income	Benefits
Cottage	800 gp	4 / 80 days	1,600 gp	4	2 / 2 gp	1d3 gp	+1 to one skill check
Farm	2,000 gp	10 / 200 days	4,000 gp	10	4 / 4 gp	1d4 gp	+1 to two skill checks
Manor	4,000 gp	20 / 400 days	8,000 gp	20	8 / 8 gp	1d8 gp	+2 to two skill checks
Fort / Gatehouse	8,000 gp	40 / 800 days	16,000 gp	30	16 / 16 gp	1d16 gp	+2 to follower morale
Tower	15,000 gp	75 / 1500 days	30,000 gp	10	30 / 30 gp	1d30 gp	+1 to caster or skill checks
Keep	35,000 gp	175 / 3500 days	70,000 gp	100	70 / 70 gp	2d30 gp	+4 to follower morale
Castle	100,000 gp	500 / 10,000 days	200,000 gp	200	200 / 200 gp	2d100 gp	+6 to follower morale
Shop	1,600 gp	8 / 160 days	3,000 gp	4	3 / 3 gp	1d3 gp	+1 to one skill check
Tavern	2,000 gp	10 / 200 days	4,000 gp	10	4 / 4 gp	1d4 gp	+1 to two skill checks
Inn	3,000 gp	15 / 300 days	6,000 gp	15	6 / 6 gp	1d6 gp	+2 to two skill checks
Guildhouse	5,000 gp	25 / 500 days	10,000 gp	30	10 / 10 gp	1d10 gp	+2 to skill checks
Shrine	800 gp	4 / 80 days	1,600 gp	2	2 / 2 gp	1d2 gp	+1 to idol magic checks
Chapel	3,000 gp	15 / 300 days	6,000 gp	12	6 / 6 gp	1d6 gp	+1 to idol magic checks
Church	10,000 gp	50 / 1000 days	20,000 gp	24	20 / 20 gp	1d20 gp	+2 to idol magic checks
Temple	30,000 gp	150 / 3000 days	60,000 gp	36	60 / 60 gp	2d30 gp	+2 to idol magic checks
Cathedral	60,000 gp	300 / 6000 days	120,000 gp	48	120 / 120 gp	1d100 gp	+3 to idol magic checks

Now a few things to add:

When Can I Build This?  Well, in B/X D&D you had to be name level – here, if you have the time, commitment, money, and hirelings, knock yourself out!  Local lords and guildmasters aren’t 9^th level, they’re probably 2^nd or 3^rd level but are ambitious and have some seed money.  Remember, historically it took a noble years if not decades to complete a castle.

Do It Yourself / Throw Money At It – with enough craftspeople you don’t need to pay as much for supplies, furnishings, shipping costs, or the like – for every doubling of manpower you can either pay half of the supplies or take half of the time, likewise for every halving of manpower in exchange for more skilled workers or pre-made furnishings you can pay double the supplies or take double the time.  So Fanoolan the hedge wizard who wants to construct a cottage out in the woods by himself could do it for 800 gp and 320 days, or 100 gp and 1280 days.  And of course, your Judge might give you side quests like going to negotiate with the Guildmaster of the Mortar Masons Guild from the City-State of Anzagort, to aid in speeding up your construction or reducing your material costs.

Time For An Upgrade – if you are repurposing a building from one thing to another, just pay the difference.  Upgrading a farm to a manor would be 2,000 gp in materials, 10 people, and 200 days work.

But No One Has That Kind of Money!  -- Well true, rarely does someone have a saddlebag laden with thousands of gold coins – this is not a straight up transaction.  Maybe a lord will let you build a farm on his land, in exchange for the levy of your oldest son as a soldier in the militia for 3 months a year, and taxes equal to 1% of the value of the property, or 40 gp per year.  In exchange the farmer may pass the farm down through their children with the same arrangement.  Or heck, you extort the local baron and he supplies the workers and an already ruined manor he’ll let you rebuild that represents half the material cost.

What About Magic?  If a Wizard wants to summon earth elementals or a cleric wants to use wood wyrding, an elf wants to use an invisible servant as part of their staff, or any other spellcaster can come up with a plausible way to aid in the construction or upkeep of their stronghold, let them, consider a spell successfully cast once a month equal to manpower equal to it’s level in manpower per month.  Beware misfires!

Manpower and Hirelings – Don’t forget that the manpower you need to build a place is equal to 2 cp per day (that includes food and shelter for your workers), so building a castle with 500 workers, assuming you can find that many, is 5 gp per day, on top of materials.

     One you have a base of operations such as a stronghold, it gives you +2 to attracting specialized hirelings (I usually require a DC 20 personality check to pick the background, and give them 1d6 x 5 gp worth of equipment) As well, your hirelings and henchmen staying at your stronghold should get a +2 to all Morale checks (they kind of live with you and feel more committed).

Who Lives Here? – Note the housing capacity of each building – which may or may not hold all the people you have hired, or need for upkeep of the property (see below).

Upkeep – Once you have a place to call home, you have to pay for it to not get run down or decrepit – this is measured in gp per month or hirelings.  As above you can halve or double the hirelings to double or halve the cost.  If you don’t take care of your place, your Judge will assess you a cumulative penalty on your random event table, at a rate of -1 per month unpaid.  If your stronghold gets to -10, it becomes unusable as the roof has caved in, a wall has collapsed, or it is infested with vermin.  Don’t forget to pay your hirelings each month (5 sp per month per unskilled hireling, 1 gp per month for a skilled craftsman, 30 gp per month if you manage to find a 1^st level npc of note).

Income!  So There is a base amount of income you can make from your stronghold, based on selling goods, trapping animals and selling their pelts back in town, charging tolls, receiving tribute from travellers, shaking down the locals, what have you.  The amount listed is what you will earn each month, unless something odd happens on the random event table (see below).  If you aren’t present, it’s assumed one of your hirelings does the work of collecting the money, and if no one is present, you make no money at all.  IF you are there full time, gain an extra 1 die per character level (so if the cottage earns 1d3 gp income, and you are a 3^rd level wizard, have another 3d3 gp income from folks knocking on your door and buying herbs or asking you to provide sagely advice).

Do I Get Anything Else Out of This? – Well, sure, why not?  Depending on the building, you may get a bonus to specific skill checks (so if you build a church, maybe you decide you get a +2 to carousing checks, and checks to hire hirelings.  Work with your Judge for something appropriate.

Random Events!  -- My favourite and most DCC part.  Because you own a property, things are going to happen, with or without you present!  Roll once a month on the table below!  If your character is present for the whole month, feel free to add the appropriate modifier (Stamina for a farmer, Intelligence for a guildmaster of the thieves’ guild, and so on – if you can’t decide which attribute to use, just use the Luck modifier).  If your character isn’t present much or at all, still roll, but at -2.
 

D20	Event
1 or less	Weather damage – pay 1d3 months of upkeep or suffer a -3 to future events
2	Taxation!  The local authorities or lord needs a little extra walking money, pay x2 this month’s upkeep
3	Attacked!  The Judge will determine who attacks your stronghold and why, such as bandits, a rival guild, or a vengeful relative.  If your Judge can’t decide, roll 1d6: (1) 2d6 Bandits, (2) 1d8 Peasants, (3) 1d3 Knights, (4) 1d2 Witches, (5) A Magician, (6) A Random Monster of the Judge’s Choice.
4	Hey, Something Is Missing!  One of your retainers or guests has stolen something from your building – pay 1d100 gp and lose a hireling, or roll again on this table at -4.
5	Guests and well-wishers – make a Luck check, if you roll above your Luck, you can’t go anywhere this month as you are entertaining your visitors without offending them (offending them would have dire repercussions, don’t think about it).
6-7	Hardship – your stronghold only generates half it’s usual income this month
8	What Did They Say?  -- Someone in your stronghold has offended a local authority, everyone in your stronghold (PCs, hirelings, fellow adventurers, etc) suffer a -2 to all social checks for the next 1d3 months
9	This Isn’t Working – lose 1d6 hirelings this month as they seek their fortunes elsewhere.  If you don’t have hirelings, instead lose 1d6 gp in customers or patronage for each hireling you don’t have available to lose.
10-14	Nothing happens – well, count your blessings, nothing unusual happens
15-16	A Modest Profit – have another die of income when you roll this month
17	We Hear This Is A Good Place To Work – Gain 1d4 hirelings, assuming you have room for them in your stronghold.
18	A Token of Gratitude – the Judge will randomly or not randomly determine one 1st level spell a grateful visitor will cast for you some time in the upcoming month, as long as you ask politely.
19	You Didn’t Expect That – Roll 1d20+2 on the Carousing Table instead
20	Patronage – Maybe the Archbishop comes to stay, or a famous craftsman wants to work with you – double your upkeep costs for the next 1d3 months, and in exchange roll again on this chart for each month they stay but add +2.
21	Anzagort Calls For Aid! – A lord, ally, or influential person asks for help – go on a quest at their behest!  IF you succeed, gain +1d4 XP (in addition to any XP earned in the course of the quest).
22	A Princely Gift – gain either a piece of jewelry, equipment, or trade goods or some animals equal to two income rolls.
23 or more	We Are Called To The Banner – gain a 1st level henchman in your retinue, who is utterly loyal.