Building a Home
The time will often come when the players of a game of Dungeons and Dragons will want to build a home, and while there are many options when building a stronghold or fortress, there are not as many that focus on the incremental building of a small town or village.
Resources
Building a town requires two things, resources, and manpower. Manpower can be provided by the players, or by NPCs that the players may have rescued or paid to assist, while resources can be provided by either questing or other actions within the world.
Giving Out Resources
The resource system is a little bit gamified, with resources represented by discrete units of resources. For example, clearing out some monsters from a nearby forest might reward, 2 wood, which the players use for upgrading their town, rather than an actual amount of wood with a weight and a cost.
This removes some logistic difficulties from the system, though, as some players might enjoy this, feel free to force your players to find ways of transporting their goods around the map.
Resource List
Wood
Wood is a commonly used building material for lower tier buildings. It can be gathered through helping lumberjacks, or quests in forest areas.
Stone
Stone is used for more defensive buildings, or for higher tier buildings. It can be gathered through clearing dungeons and mines, or assisting miners or quarry-people.
Ore
Ore, mostly representing iron, though other ores are also available, is used for equipping guards, making advanced buildings, and other things that require non-magical metals.
Arcanite
Arcanite is a magical metal that is used for magical buildings.
Example Town
The town of Gentle Repose sits on the edge of a lake, with a vast monster filled forest to the north, and a line of mountains to the east. The lake to the south connects to the ocean, but the dock has been destroyed.
Available Upgrades
The town desperately needs a dock, guardhouse, blacksmith, and already has a forge. More upgrades will be available as the town grows.
Story
The town is under threat by a necromancer and her legions of undead that come from the west. They need heroes, and leadership, since their mayor and most of their warriors are dead after a battle against the necromancer.
Quests
Something Lurks Within the Woods
Something in the forest to the north is disrupting logging activities. Find and deal with the threat.
Reward: 3 wood.
Mine Troubles
The local mine has dug down into a patch of caverns filled with monsters, clear them out so that mining can resume.
Reward: 3 ore, 3 stone
Trapped Wizard
A group of gnolls has captured a local wizard and are trying to get her to enchant their weapons, find and rescue her before they give up and just eat her.
Reward: 2 wood, NPC wizard
Quest Notes
Giving out resources doesn't always need to make 100% narrative sense. A general quest in a forest area can reward wood, while destroying an Illithid Nautiloid might grant some Arcanite. Though, if your players desire a higher level of immersion, feel free to make all rewards make more sense.
Building List
Forge
Cost: 3 wood, 4 stone, 10 ore
Requirements: An NPC blacksmith.
A forge allows for the refinement of ore and unlocks a number of buildings.
Blacksmith
Cost: 6 stone, 4 ore
Requirements: An NPC blacksmith, a Forge.
A blacksmithing building will sell metal tools, weapons, and armour, as well as allow for the equipping guards and followers.
Upgrades
Magical Item Forging (4 stone, 4 Arcanite)
This allows the blacksmith to create magical weapons and armour.
Farm
Cost: 2 wood
Requirements: NPC farmers
A farm provides food for a town, allowing for the town to support a higher population. If there is bonus food, refugees or other travelers might be attracted to the town.
Temple
Cost: 4 wood, 12 stone
Requirements: An NPC priest or cleric.
A temple provides healing and curse removal services, as well as a place to purchase healing potions, holy water, and low level divine magic scrolls.
Guard House
Cost: 6 wood, 4 stone
Requirements: An NPC warrior of some sort.
A guard house trains townsguard, who can protect the town and provide order and stability.
Alchemist
Cost: 5 wood, 2 stone
Requirements: An NPC alchemist.
An alchemist can create and sell all sorts of potions
Dock
Cost: 15 wood
Requirements: Access to water.
A dock allows for the construction of boats, and can attract trade ships. A dock can also allow fishing, providing food to the town.
Walls
Cost: 15 stone
Requirements: Builder's Hall.
A walled town is much more easily defensible and can attract people fleeing from dangerous situations.
Scouting House
Cost: 3 wood, 5 stone
Requirements: Access to an NPC scout.
Scouts can be used to find locations for expansion or quests. They are needed to build outposts or watchtowers outside of the town.
Builder's Hall
Cost: 10 wood, 10 stone, 5 ore
Requirements: NPCs.
A Builder's Hall is required to build more advanced buildings, outposts and watchtowers.
Watchtower
Cost: 1 wood, 4 stone
Requirements: Builder's Hall, Guard House
A watchtower can be either built within the town, to provide extra defence and warnings of imminent attacks, or outside of the town, in scouted locations, to provide advance warning of threats, as well as to exert control over the area.
Outpost
Cost: 20 wood, 5 stone
Requirements: Builder's Hall
An outpost is a remote extension of the town, and can be used to gain more quests or resources, or just to settle a new area.
Library
Cost: 15 stone, 10 wood
Requirements: Books
A library can be used to research monsters, gods, and other lore.
Lighthouse
Cost: 25 stone, 10 ore
Requirements: Builder's Hall, Dock
A lighthouse greatly increases trade to a Dock, and increases the effectiveness of any boats operating in the area by allowing them to easily see danger.
Wizard Tower
Cost: 15 stone, 5 Arcanite
Requirements: Builder's Hall, NPC Mage, Library
A wizard tower allows the mage to perform experiments, make scrolls and magic items, and get away from the peasant masses wasting their time by asking for magical solutions to their problems.
Astral Observatory
Cost: 5 wood, 20 stone, 5 Arcanite
Requirements: Builder's Hall, Wizard Tower
An Astral Observatory allows a mage and any PCs to observe the secrets of the universe.
Torture
Your
Players
Do your players complain that the game is too easy? Do you just want them to suffer for the sins of humanity or for playing on their phones at the table?
If the answer is yes, then check out Chloe's Compendium of Cruelty, a collection of nearly all my homebrew content all in one place.
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