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Fonts Used
Paizo uses multiple commercial fonts for their signature Corebook layout. I have been able to find fitting equivalents available for non-commercial use via Google Web Fonts.
The only exception is the font Taroca used in Pathfinder Corebook for book name and chapter and section titles. This font has unique design and is without alternative. It can be licensed from Monotype as Web Font. It costs $28.00 and allows you 10,000 page views per month, more than enough if you do not share the GMBinder link but instead use it only to print PDFs. To implement it, add the @import code in the template style, then change all references to Eczar font with Taroca Regular.
Kingdoms
While you don’t start Kingmaker with a kingdom of your own, it won’t be long until your party receives a charter to found their own nation and begin to settle into the Stolen Lands. The following rules provide non-spoiler information and rules for how to set up and run a kingdom of your own!
Ruling a kingdom takes a lot of time, with the majority of actual game-play of running the kingdom taking place during downtime. These mechanics treat the kingdom itself as a sort of additional character in the party, so players who know how to navigate and level up their own characters should find managing a kingdom relatively straightforward.
Though these rules use the word “kingdom” to refer to the nation ruled by the PCs, the government doesn’t need to be a monarchy. Likewise, titles like “queen” or “king” may differ from the terms the PCs choose for their leaders (and in any case, gender has no mechanical role in the kingdom rules). These rules are focused specifically on the Kingmaker Adventure Path and so only include elements appropriate for its setting and story line. You won’t find rules for building kingdoms in the desert or on the ocean, nor will you find events involving monsters that don’t make sense in the Stolen Lands or buildings that aren’t thematically appropriate for the setting. In addition, while these rules are presented in a voice that addresses the GM, they remain spoiler free for players to read and become familiar with, in preparation for their time as king and queen!
Prominant Citizens
Your party will encounter plenty of opportunities for quests throughout the Kingmaker Adventure Path. As the kingdom reaches specific milestones or grows in size, prominent citizens will come forward to ask their heroic leaders for aid. Many of these prominent citizens are given sidebars on the following pages that include their name, personality, and hints toward what sort of quest they might ask of you. Also included for each citizen is a clue or task that will help to trigger this citizen’s personal quest.
Kingdom Creation
The processes of creating and running a kingdom are similar to creating and playing a character. A kingdom has several different mechanical systems that define and describe it, including ability scores, skills, and feats. These develop throughout the campaign, so you should track them on a kingdom sheet. The GM and other players should work together to determine how best to keep track of their kingdom. Should the GM keep track of everything? Should one player (perhaps the one in the Ruler leadership role—page 10) always be responsible for filling out the kingdom
sheet, while other players are responsible for different settlements’ Urban Grids (page 83)? Should the kingdom sheet pass from one player to the next each session or each time the kingdom levels up? As long as all of the kingdom’s stats are available to everyone during play, there’s no one right answer, so use the solution that works best for your group.
Kingdom Ability Scores
A kingdom has four ability scores: Culture, Economy, Loyalty, and Stability. These function like the ability scores of a character, providing modifiers on die rolls and checks. As the kingdom prospers and grows, these scores can increase. And if the nation falls on hard times or goes through corruption, scandal, defeat, or disaster, Ruin will accrue that degrades these abilities (see Ruin, page 26).
Culture
Culture measures the interest and dedication of your nation and its people to the arts and sciences, to religion and reason, and to the subjects that your society chooses to learn about and to teach. Are your people well-versed in rhetoric and philosophy? Do they value learning and research, music and dance? Do they embrace society in all its diverse splendor? If they do, your kingdom likely has a robust Culture score.
Economy
Economy measures the practical day-to-day workings of your society as it comes together to do the work of making and building, buying and selling. How industrious are your citizenry? Are they devoted to building more, higher, and better, trading in goods, services, and ideas? If so, your kingdom likely has a robust Economy score.
Loyalty
Loyalty measures the collective will, spirit, and sense of camaraderie the citizens of your nation possess. How much do they trust and depend on one another? How do they respond when you sound the call to arms or enact new laws? How do they react when other nations send spies or provocateurs into your lands to make trouble? If they support the kingdom’s leadership, the kingdom itself has a robust Loyalty score.
Stability
Stability measures the physical health and well-being of your nation. This includes its infrastructure and buildings, the welfare of its people, and how well things are protected and maintained under your rule. How carefully do you maintain your stores and reserves, repair things that are broken, and provide for the necessities of life? How quickly can you mobilize to shield your citizens from harm? A kingdom that can handle both prosperity and disaster efficiently and effectively has a robust Stability score.
Kingdom Ability Score Overview
Each Kingdom ability score starts at 10, representing the average, but as kingdom creation choices are made, these scores will change. Apply ability boosts (which increase a score by 2) or ability flaws (which decrease a score by 2), in the same way that boosts and flaws are applied to character ability scores (Pathfinder Core Rulebook 20). Kingdom ability scores give the same ability modifiers as character ability scores, as summarized on Table 1–1 on page 20 of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.
Step 1: Kingdom Concept
Building a kingdom is a cooperative experience that is enhanced by having the entire group engaged. By the time the PCs are granted a charter to explore and settle a portion of the Stolen Lands, the players should be given the kingdom rules and should work together to decide the sort of kingdom they want to establish.
Step 2: Select a Charter
Starting a new kingdom is a daunting challenge, requiring significant amounts of funding and support to get everything started. A charter granted by an established entity gives the kingdom a much-needed enhancement right at the start, typically manifesting as boosts to two of the kingdom’s ability scores and a flaw to a third score. In effect, a charter bolsters two aspects of a kingdom, but one other aspect is held back to the benefit of the charter’s holder.
Most charters apply a flaw to one specific ability, a boost to another specific ability, and a “free” boost, which can be applied to any score that the charter doesn’t specifically affect. For example, the conquest charter specifically gives a boost to Loyalty and a flaw to Culture, so the free boost can be applied to either Economy or Stability.
In Kingmaker, the PCs earn their charter from Jamandi Aldori as thanks for dealing with the threat posed by the Stag Lord. (Outside of Kingmaker, the method by which a kingdom secures a charter can vary, but the most organic method is for the GM to grant one in the form of a quest reward.) In any case, the PCs choose one of five forms for their charter, detailed below.
Over time the PCs’ kingdom may grow more independent or they could secure additional aid and support from other nations. None of those developments will replace or adjust the important initial boosts and flaw they’ll earn at the very start of their kingdom’s history—once the PCs have chosen their charter, the boosts and flaw it grants are permanent.
On the kingdom sheet, record the type of charter the PCs chose. On a separate sheet, record which three kingdom abilities received boosts or a flaw in this step; refer to it when finalizing ability scores in step 5.
Conquest Charter
Ability Flaw Stability
Granted Skills Warfare, plus a free skill
Expansion Charter
Ability Flaw Stability
Granted Skills Exploration, plus a free skill
Exploration Charter
Ability Flaw Economy
Granted Skills Wilderness, plus a free skill
Grant Charter
Ability Flaw Loyalty
Granted Skills Industry, plus a free skill
Open Charter
Ability Flaw none
Granted Skills two free skills
Step 3: Choose a Heartland
The new kingdom consists of a single hex. The PCs can choose any hex (subject to GM approval) that they have Reconnoitered. Tell the players that it’s wisest to select a hex that already has a structure, since their first settlement—their capital—will be located in this initial hex. Note that terrain features can grant other benefits to the kingdom when claimed; see Terrain Features on page 27.
The heartland grants an additional boost to one of the kingdom’s ability scores based on a significant terrain feature present in that hex. If the hex has more than one terrain feature, the PCs should choose only one of them to provide the boost.
The choice of terrain made here influences how the Favored Land kingdom ability functions (page 8).
On the kingdom sheet, record the heartland terrain the PCs chose. On a separate sheet, record which kingdom ability received a boost in this step; refer to it when finalizing ability scores in step 5.
Forest or Swap Heartland
Granted Skills Wilderness, plus a free skill
Hill or Plain Heartland
Granted Skills Agriculture, plus a free skill
Lake or River Heartland
Granted Skills Boating, plus a free skill
Mountain or Ruins Heartland
Granted Skills Defense, plus a free skill
Step 4: Choose a Government
Though the terminology used in Kingmaker presumes the PCs establish a feudal kingdom in which a monarch rules the land, feudalism isn’t the only form of government to choose from. If the PCs decide upon a different type of government, adjust the names of certain leadership roles as you wish. The mechanics of these rules remain the same.
The choice of government grants three boosts to the kingdom’s ability scores. Two boost specific abilities, while the third is a free boost that can be applied to any ability score other than the two that were specifically boosted. The government type also gives the kingdom the trained proficiency rank in two specific skills and grants a bonus Kingdom feat (page 24).
On the kingdom sheet, record the type of government the PCs chose, which two skills received training, and which Kingdom feat the PCs received. On a separate sheet, record which three kingdom abilities received a boost in this step; refer to it when finalizing ability scores in step 5.
Despotism
Skill Proficiencies Intrigue and Warfare
Bonus Feat Crush Dissent
Feudalism
Skill Proficiencies Defense and Trade
Bonus Feat Fortified Fiefs
Oligarchy
Skill Proficiencies Arts and Industry
Bonus Feat Insider Trading
Republic
Skill Proficiencies Engineering and Politics
Bonus Feat Pull Together
Thaumocracy
Skill Proficiencies Folklore and Magic
Bonus Feat Practical Magic
Yeomanry
Skill Proficiencies Agriculture and Wilderness
Bonus Feat Muddle Through
Step 5: Finalize Ability Scores
Once the players have chosen their kingdom’s charter, heartland, and government, finalize the kingdom’s ability scores. First, choose three different kingdom abilities to receive additional boosts. Then, total the boosts and flaws the kingdom has received for each ability, and record the final ability score and its associated modifier on the kingdom sheet. Remember that ability scores start at 10, boosts add 2, and flaws subtract 2. For example, if a kingdom’s Loyalty received two boosts and a flaw, its Loyalty ability score is 12 (10+4-2), so its Loyalty modifier is +1.
Step 6: Record Kingdom Details
The PCs should choose a name for their kingdom. Record it on their kingdom sheet along with the following initial statistics.
- The kingdom’s level (see Leveling Up Your Kingdom page 7) is 1, and its maximum level is equal to the party level.
- The kingdom’s Size (page 25) is 1.
- The kingdom’s Resource Die (page 25) is a d4, and its Resource Dice total is 5.
- The kingdom’s Control DC (page 7) is 14.
- The kingdom’s Consumption (page 30) is 0.
- The kingdom’s Unrest (page 26) is 0.
- All four Ruins (page 26) start at 0, and each Ruin’s initial threshold is 10.
- The kingdom’s initial commodity stores (page 27) are 0, and its maximum storage limit for each is 4.
Step 7: Choose Leaders
Every kingdom needs leaders, and in Kingmaker, the assumption is that those leaders include the PCs (though if the party has more than eight PCs, not all PCs will have leadership roles). Full rules for leadership roles begin on page 9.
First, assign each PC to a different leadership role. It’s best if the party works together to assign these] roles. Then, assign any remaining roles to NPCs whom the PCs have allied with and who are capable and willing to serve in a leadership role.
Next, choose four leadership roles to invest. Investing a role provides a status bonus to Kingdom skill checks based on that role’s key ability (see Key Ability on page 10 and table on 11). Invest roles assigned to PCs first (so if your party has fewer than four PCs, you’ll invest only enough NPC roles to make up the difference).
These initial leadership assignments happen as part of the founding of the kingdom and do not require a kingdom activity to occur. Once the kingdom is established, adjusting leadership requires using the New Leadership kingdom activity (page 15).
Then, each of the four invested leaders chooses to apply the trained proficiency rank to a different Kingdom skill (page 12). You may not choose skills that already received training from your choice of government type. These
proficiency ranks cannot be reassigned later.
On the kingdom sheet, record the leader you assigned to each role and indicate the four roles you invested. Record a +1 status bonus to the skill associated with each invested role’s key ability, and record the four skills that your nation received training in.
Step 8: First Village
Somewhere in that heartland hex lies the kingdom’s first village—the capital. Rules for founding settlements begin on page 32, but the players can skip Step 1 and Step 2 of that process when founding this village. Since this is their first village, the PCs gain 40 kingdom XP as a milestone award (page 32); record it on the kingdom sheet, along with the capital’s name. If the site the PCs have chosen has any established structures listed in the hex’s resources in Chapter 2, place them in blocks of the PCs’ choice on an Urban Grid. (The PCs won’t add new structures to the settlement before their first Kingdom turn.)
Step 9: Calculate Skill Modifiers
With the big decisions made, it’s time to calculate modifiers for each of the kingdom’s skills. Each skill is associated with a specific ability (see page 11), and the initial modifier for each skill consists of the ability modifier for the associated ability, plus a proficiency bonus, plus a status bonus for skills that receive them from invested leadership roles. (There are several other types of bonuses and penalties that can affect skill modifiers later in the campaign; leave those boxes empty for now.)
If a kingdom is not proficient in a skill, the proficiency bonus is +0; if a kingdom is trained in a skill, the proficiency bonus is that kingdom’s level plus 2. (It’s not possible to attain proficiency ranks beyond trained until 3rd level.)
For example, the Agriculture skill is associated with Loyalty. If the kingdom’s Loyalty modifier is +1, and it is untrained in Agriculture, then its Agriculture skill modifier is +1. If that 1st-level kingdom is trained in Agriculture, though, add to that a proficiency bonus of 3 (the kingdom’s level plus 2). If a leadership role that provides a status bonus to Loyalty-based checks (Ruler or Emissary) is invested, add another 1.
Calculate the initial modifiers for all skills and record them on the kingdom sheet.
Step 10: Fame or Infamy?
Finally, the PCs should decide if they want their kingdom to aspire to fame or infamy. A famous kingdom seeks to bolster its citizens, forge alliances with neighbors, or oppose the rise of cruelty, while an infamous kingdom uses its citizens as
resources, undermines and sabotages its neighbors, or actively seeks warfare. It’s an oversimplification to call a famous kingdom a “good” kingdom or an infamous kingdom an “evil” one, and disruptive elements like crime or corruption will harm an infamous kingdom as surely as a famous one. As such, kingdoms do not have alignments to track. The choice here solely determines whether the kingdom uses Fame or Infamy points (page 28) and the influence certain structures might have on the kingdom. Fill in the box for the type of points you won’t be tracking.
Leveling Up Your Kingdom
Kingdoms increase in level by gaining kingdom experience points (XP). At each new level, a kingdom improves attributes and focus areas beyond those provided by its basic background and the specific choices made at the time of its founding.
At the end of a Kingdom turn, if the kingdom has at least 1,000 XP and has not yet reached its maximum level (see below), increase the kingdom’s level by 1 and deduct 1,000 from its current XP total. (The kingdom’s level can’t increase by more than 1 on a single Kingdom turn.) Note the kingdom’s new level on the kingdom sheet. If the kingdom has any leftover XP, they are retained and count toward gaining the next level.
The kingdom’s maximum level is equal to the party’s level; it can never exceed the level of the PCs themselves. So, for example, if the PCs are still 1st level when the kingdom reaches 1,000 XP, the kingdom cannot level up yet; it will level up at the end of the first Kingdom turn after the PCs have reached 2nd level. (It’s possible for a kingdom to accumulate a large reserve of XP, at which point the party’s level effectively determines when that kingdom levels up rather than just XP accumulation. This is fine.)
When your kingdom gains a level, each army you have gains a level as well. See the Army Guide for additional details on armies.
As the kingdom advances, it gains the abilities described on the following pages. Abilities gained at levels higher than first list the level at which they are gained next to their name.
Control DC
The more powerful a kingdom grows, the more difficult it becomes to control it. The base Control DC for your kingdom is set by the kingdom’s level—fortunately, as you increase in level, your ability to successfully utilize your skills grows as well.
Charter, Government, and Heartland
Your kingdom gains the benefits of your selected charter, government, and heartland (pages 4–5).
Kingdom Advancement
| Level | Control DC | Kingdom Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Charter, government, heartland, initial proficiencies, favored land, settlement construction (village) |
| 2 | 15 | Kingdom feat, Untrained Improvisation |
| 3 | 16 | Settlement construction (town), skill increase |
| 4 | 18 | Expansion expert, fine living, Kingdom feat |
| 5 | 20 | Ability boosts, ruin resistance, skill increase |
| 6 | 22 | Kingdom feat, skill increase |
| 7 | 23 | Untrained Improvisation (full level) |
| 8 | 24 | Experienced leadership +2, Kingdom feat, ruin resistance |
| 9 | 26 | Expansion expert (Claim Hex 3 times/turn), settlement construction (city), skill increase |
| 10 | 27 | Ability boosts, Kingdom feat, life of luxury, skill increase |
| 11 | 28 | Ruin resistance |
| 12 | 30 | Civic planning, Kingdom feat, skill increase |
| 13 | 31 | Skill increase |
| 14 | 32 | Kingdom feat, ruin resistance |
| 15 | 34 | Ability boosts, settlement construction (metropolis), skill increase |
| 16 | 35 | Experienced leadership +3, Kingdom feat |
| 17 | 36 | Ruin resistance |
| 18 | 38 | Kingdom feat, skill increase |
| 19 | 39 | Skill increase |
| 20 | 40 | Ability boosts, envy of the world, Kingdom feat, ruin resistance, skill increase |
Initial Proficiencies
At 1st level, a kingdom receives the trained proficiency rank in two Kingdom skills gained from your initial choice of government (page 5) and in up to four additional Kingdom skills determined by your invested leaders (page 9), giving you a proficiency bonus to checks using these skills equal to your kingdom level plus 2. Proficiencies cannot be changed, even if the kingdom’s government or leaders later change.
Favored Land
Your heartland’s terrain becomes your kingdom’s favored land—the wilderness terrain that your people feel the strongest emotional ties to and to which your resource gatherers tend to flock. Once per Kingdom turn, during the Region Activities step of the Activity phase, you can attempt two Region activities simultaneously as long as both activities take place in the same hex and that hex contains the same terrain as your heartland. You take a –2 penalty to Kingdom skill checks made during these two activities.
Settlement Construction
You can establish villages in your kingdom immediately (page 32). At 3rd level, you can expand villages into towns. At 9th level, you can expand towns into cities. And at 15th level, you can expand cities into metropolises.
As villages grow into larger settlements, you not only gain more room to build, but the maximum item bonus you can gain from that settlement’s structures increases as well (see table on page 34).
Kingdom Feats 2nd
At 2nd level, and then every 2 levels thereafter, the kingdom gains a Kingdom feat (page 24).
Skill Increase 2nd
At 3rd level and every three levels thereafter (as well as at levels 5, 10, 13, 19, and 20), you gain a skill increase. You can use this to increase your rank to trained in one skill in which your kingdom is untrained, or to increase your rank to expert in one skill in which your kingdom is trained.
Starting at 7th level, you can use your skill increases to increase your kingdom’s proficiency to master in a skill in which your kingdom is already an expert. Beginning at 15th level, you can use them to increase your proficiency to legendary in a skill in which your kingdom is already a master.
Untrained Improvisation 2nd
Your Kingdom has learned how to handle situations when it’s out of its depth. Your proficiency bonus to untrained skill checks is equal to half your level instead of +0. If you’re 7th level or higher, the bonus increases to your full level instead. This doesn’t allow you to use the skill’s trained actions.
Expansion Expert 4th
Your kingdom is better at expanding its territory. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to skill checks made to Claim Hex and can attempt to Claim Hex up to twice during a Kingdom turn.
At 9th level, you can attempt to Claim Hex up to three times during a Kingdom turn.
Fine Living 4th
Your people celebrate by indulging you with feasts and finery. All PCs associated with the kingdom enjoy a Fine standard of living (Pathfinder Core Rulebook 294) at no cost whenever they’re in the kingdom. Any PCs in hostile wilderness, a monster-filled dungeon, or otherwise cut off from their citizens must provide their own sustenance as usual even if they are within the boundaries of their kingdom.
You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all checks made to Craft or Earn Income while in your kingdom.
Ability Boosts 5th
At 5th level and ever 5 levels thereafter, you boost three different kingdom ability scores. You can use these ability boosts to increase your kingdom’s ability scores above 18. Boosting an ability score increases it by 2 if it starts out below 18, or by 1 if it’s already 18 or above.
Ruin Resistance 5th
At 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter, your kingdom becomes more resistant to Ruin. Choose one of the four Ruin categories and increase its threshold by 2. When you do so, reset that Ruin’s penalty to 0. See page 26 for more information about Ruin.
Experienced Leadership 8th
Invested leadership roles in your kingdom now grant a +2 status bonus to kingdom checks associated with their leadership role’s key ability.
At 16th level, this increases to a +3 status bonus.
Life of Luxury 10th
Your people lavish you with every creature comfort. This is identical to Fine Living, but all PC leaders enjoy an Extravagant standard of living (Core Rulebook 294) at no cost whenever they’re in the kingdom.
You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to all checks made to Craft or Earn Income while in your kingdom.
Civic Planning 12th
During the Civic Activities step of the Activities phase of a Kingdom turn, one settlement of the party’s choice can attempt two Civic activities rather than one. The second Civic activity occurs after all other settlements have taken their individual Civic activities.
Envy of the World 20th
Your kingdom is one of the world’s prominent nations. The first time in a Kingdom turn when your kingdom would gain Unrest or Ruin, ignore that increase. You can ignore additional increases to Unrest or Ruin later in the same turn as well, but you must spend a Fame or Infamy point each time you do so. Your maximum Fame or Infamy point total increases by 1.
Leadership Roles
All kingdoms have leaders who fill roles tending to the economy, defense, and health of its citizens. Each role grants the kingdom different benefits, provided a character—be it a PC or an NPC—takes up the mantle of serving in that role. A character can only fill one leadership role at a time, but it’s important to have all eight roles filled, for when a kingdom goes without a leader, problems arise.
If unexpected events (such as the death of a character) remove a leader from a leadership role, the New Leadership kingdom activity (page 15) may immediately be used to assign a new leader to that role—even outside of a Kingdom turn.
Each character in a leadership role (whether PC or NPC) must spend a week of downtime activity each month attending to their duties (though these seven days need not be consecutive). This downtime works just the same as time spent retraining a feat or skill; a character can take multiple downtime activities during the course of a month as time allows. A character can attend to their duties even if they take on a downtime activity with a longer time requirement (such as retraining a class feature, which requires at least a month); in this case, simply break up the time required for that longer activity over the course of consecutive months, leaving seven days during each month for leadership activities. NPCs assigned to leadership roles are presumed to meet the downtime requirement automatically unless the PCs deliberately have them step away from the job (likely to accompany them on adventures). If a character does not spend this downtime, at the start of the Upkeep phase of the next Kingdom turn (page 29), they either incur their role’s vacancy penalty (see below) or lose one of their leadership
activities for that turn.
There is an advantage to assigning a leadership role to a PC rather than an NPC. Each kingdom event specifies a leader, and if that leader is a PC who is not incurring a vacancy penalty, the kingdom receives a bonus to the kingdom check that determines the event’s outcome.
Some benefits require that a role be invested. In step 7 of Kingdom Creation (page 6), the players select 4 leadership roles to be invested; at the start of each Kingdom turn, they may reselect the roles that are invested (see Leadership Roles). Note that when certain companions detailed in the Kingmaker Companion Guide hold the leadership roles listed in their entry in that book, those roles are automatically invested; this is in addition to the four roles the players choose to invest.
Statistics for leadership roles are presented in the following format.
Leadership Role Name
Since status bonuses don’t stack (see Attempting Kingdom Skill Checks on page 12), you may want to invest one role that benefits each of the 4 kingdom abilities—but since each leadership role offers other unique benefits to the kingdom, spreading out the roles in that way may not always be the best choice!
Ruler
Counselor
General
Emissary
Magister
Treasurer
Viceroy
Kingdom Skills, Key Abilitys, and Activities
| Skill | Key Ability | Untrained Activities | Trained Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | Stability | Establish Farmland Harvest Crops |
— |
| Arts | Culture | Craft Luxuries Rest and Relax* Quell Unrest* |
Create a Masterpiece Repair Reputation (Corruption)* |
| Boating | Economy | Establish Trade Agreement* Go Fishing Rest and Relax* |
— |
| Defense | Stability | Fortify Hex Provide Care |
— |
| Engineering | Stability | Build Roads Clear Hex* Demolish Establish Settlement* Establish Work Site |
Irrigation Repair Reputation (Decay)* |
| Exploration | Economy | Abandon Hex* Claim Hex* Clear Hex* Hire Adventurers |
— |
| Folklore | Culture | Celebrate Holiday Quell Unrest* |
— |
| Industry | Economy | Establish Settlement* Trade Commodities |
Relocate Capital |
| Intrigue | Loyalty | Infiltration New Leadership* Quell Unrest* |
Clandestine Business Pledge of Fealty* Repair Reputation (Strife)* |
| Magic | Culture | Quell Unrest* Supernatural Solution |
Establish Trade Agreement* (master) Prognostication |
| Politics | Loyalty | Establish Settlement* Improve Lifestyle New Leadership* Quell Unrest* |
— |
| Scholarship | Culture | Creative Solution Establish Settlement* Rest and Relax* |
— |
| Statecraft | Loyalty | New Leadership* Tap Treasury |
Pledge of Fealty* Request Foreign Aid Send Diplomatic Envoy |
| Trade | Economy | Capital Investment Establish Trade Agreement* Manage Trade Agreements Purchase Commodities Rest and Relax* |
Collect Taxes Repair Reputation (Crime)* |
| Warfare | Loyalty | New Leadership* Quell Unrest* |
Pledge of Fealty* |
| Wilderness | Stability | Abandon Hex* Claim Hex* Gather Livestock Rest and Relax* |
— |
| Any Skill | Varies | Focused Attention* | Take Charge* |
*This is a general skill activity; descriptions for these appear on pages 13–16.
Warden
Kingdom Skills
Every nation has its own distinct areas of specialization, the things in which it invests its time, talent, and treasure, and the pursuits and features for which the nation becomes renowned for—these are tracked as a kingdom’s skills. At 1st level, the maximum number of skills in which a kingdom can have trained proficiency is six: two determined by the kingdom’s initial choice of government (see page 5) and up to four others determined by leadership roles (page 6). As a kingdom levels up, it can acquire training in additional skills and increase proficiencies to expert, master, or legendary. Choices about proficiencies cannot be changed after they have been made.
Attempting Kingdom Skill Checks
During a Kingdom turn, the PCs attempt Kingdom skill checks. Such checks determine the effects of many things that affect the kingdom, including enduring a hardship, completing a task, impressing a visiting band of dignitaries, fighting off monsters, building a structure, or expanding into a new hex.
A skill check for a kingdom works just like a skill check for a PC. One of the players—typically the one playing the PC whose key attribute or role is most appropriate—rolls 1d20 and adds the appropriate skill modifier, which consists of the kingdom’s ability modifier for the ability associated with the skill plus any other applicable modifiers, including the kingdom’s proficiency bonus in that skill and any other situational bonuses and penalties that might arise.
If the check result equals or exceeds the Difficulty Class (DC) of the check, it is a success. If it exceeds the DC by 10 or more, it’s a critical success. If the check result is less than the DC, it is a failure. If it misses the DC by 10 or more, it’s a critical failure. Critically succeeding (or failing) still counts as succeeding (or failing), but if the situation that required the check describes specific results for criticals, apply only the more specific result.
Proficiency Bonuses
| Proficiency Rank | Proficiency Bonus |
|---|---|
| Untrained | +0 |
| Trained | kingdom's level + 2 |
| Expert | kingdom's level + 4 |
| Master | kingdom's level + 6 |
| Legendary | kingdom's level + 8 |
If a player rolls a natural 20, the result is improved one degree; for example, turning a failure into a success or a success into a critical success. Also, if the player rolls a natural 1, the result is worsened one degree, turning a success into a failure or a failure into a critical failure. (The result cannot be improved or worsened beyond critical.)
Whenever a Kingdom skill check results in a critical success, the kingdom gains 1 Fame/Infamy point (page 28). A kingdom cannot acquire Fame/Infamy beyond its maximum allotment.
The five different types of modifiers (bonuses or penalties) that can apply to Kingdom skill checks are described below. When different types of modifier apply to the same check, add them all. But when multiple modifiers of the same type apply, use only the highest bonus and the worst penalty of that type—in other words, modifiers of the same type (except bonuses granted by structures—see below) don’t stack. For instance, if both a proficiency bonus and an item bonus could apply to a check, add both to the die result, but if two item bonuses could apply, add only the higher of the two.
Proficiency bonuses are modifiers determined by a kingdom’s proficiency with a skill, using the Proficiency Bonuses table in the corner of this page.
Circumstance modifiers are the result of something that happens during a kingdom event, of an activity, or of an ability granted by the kingdom’s level.
Item modifiers are granted by settlement structures or Ruin penalties. Item bonuses granted by structures are typically very specific in their application and only apply to events that take place within the influence area of the settlement in which they are located, although structures in a capital apply their item bonuses to the entire kingdom. Item bonuses granted by structures have special rules for stacking; see the Settlement Types table on page 34 and Item Bonus on page 34. Ruin (page 26) can inflict long-lasting item penalties to a kingdom.
Status modifiers come from leadership expertise in skills related to their role, from Kingdom feats, and from long-term events. Unrest (page 26) is the most common status penalty for a kingdom.
Vacancy modifiers are always penalties. They occur when leadership roles are left vacant, or when leaders don’t spend the necessary time attending to their duties (page 9).
Basic Skill Checks
Many activities call for a basic skill check—a skill check where the DC is your kingdom’s Control DC.
Skill Descriptions
The following entries describe each Kingdom skill activity. General skill activities (activities that are associated with multiple skills) are listed first. After that, activities are grouped by the skill they use. Each skill grouping begins with the name of the skill, followed in parentheses by that skill’s key ability. Then a brief description of the skill is provided. Within each skill grouping, untrained activities (activities that can be used even if the kingdom doesn’t have proficiency ranks in the associated skill) are listed before trained activities (activities that cannot be used until the kingdom has at least the trained proficiency rank in the associated skill).
In each entry, the name of each activity is followed by a list of its traits, with the most notable being Civic, Commerce, Leadership, Region, and Upkeep. Activities can be undertaken only during the steps of the Activity phase that correspond with these traits. The trait list is followed by a description of the action(s) that must be completed to undertake the activity, including (but not limited to) a skill check. Each entry ends with a list of possible results for the skill check and any additional information unique to that activity.
Some of these activities require the expenditure or generation of resources, using the kingdom’s Resource Dice and its resource points (RP). See pages 25–26 for more information about Resource Dice and RP.
General Skill Activities
Most skill activities are associated with only one skill; general skill activities are associated with more than one. Each indicates which skills may be used with it. Some skills may only be used in specific circumstances. Unless strictly forbidden, you may attempt the same Activity multiple times.
Abandon Hex
Build Structure
You can also use this activity to attempt to repair a structure that was damaged as the result of an event but hasn’t been replaced by Rubble. To do this, first spend half the structure’s listed RP and Commodity cost, and then attempt the specified check. The existing structure gives you a +2 item bonus to the check.
On a success, record the new construction on the Urban Grid. Unless the structure’s entry states otherwise, its effects are immediate; if the structure adjusts a Ruin’s point total, adjust it upon construction.
Claim Hex
When you successfully claim a hex, gain 10 kingdom XP (see page 32). Many hexes have terrain features that grant benefits to your kingdom when claimed; see Terrain Features on page 27.
Clear Hex
If you’re trying to prepare a hex for a settlement or demolish an improvement you previously built (or that was already present in the hex), spend RP as determined by the hex’s most inhospitable terrain feature (see the Building on Rough Terrain sidebar nearby). Then attempt a basic Engineering check.
If you’re trying to remove a hazard or encounter, instead attempt an Exploration check. The DC of this check is set by the highest level creature or hazard in the hex (as set by Table 10–5: DCs by Level, on page 503 of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook).
If the hex you’re attempting to Clear has existing Ruins or an existing Structure, your action doesn’t physically remove the buildings from the area and you can later incorporate these buildings (or repair ruined ones) into a Settlement you build here later. Regardless of the skill used, increase the basic DC by 2 if the hex to be cleared is not yet part of your kingdom.
Establish Settlement
Establish Trade Agreement
The check’s DC is either the group’s Negotiation DC (see sidebar) or your kingdom’s Control DC, whichever is higher.
Focused Attention
The Cooperative Leadership Kingdom feat (page 24) increases the efficiency of this activity.
New Leadership
You normally perform this activity at the start of a Kingdom turn, but if unexpected events (such as the death of the character) remove a leader from a leadership role, you may immediately use the New Leadership activity to attempt to assign a new leader to that role, even outside of a Kingdom turn (applying the vacancy penalty for that role as appropriate). Attempt a basic Intrigue, Politics, Statecraft, or Warfare skill check—while any of these skills can be used, each skill is particularly suited to assigning two specific leadership roles.
- Intrigue: Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to assign Emissaries and Treasurers.
- Politics: Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to assign Counselors and Rulers.
- Statecraft: Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to assign Magisters and Viceroys.
- Warfare: Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to assign Generals and Wardens.
Rulers are particularly difficult to assign; when you take this activity to assign a new Ruler, you take a –4 circumstance penalty to the skill check, and unless you achieve a critical success, you gain 1 additional Unrest.
Whether or not you are simultaneously assigning a leader, you may also use this activity to attempt to reselect the four leadership roles that you have invested. Any result other than a critical failure allows this.
Pledge of Fealty (Trained)
Quell Unrest
Repair Reputation (Trained)
The skill used to Repair Reputation depends on which Ruin total you wish to reduce. If you wish to reduce your Corruption, you attempt an Arts check. If you wish to reduce your Crime, you attempt a Trade check. If you wish to reduce your Decay, you attempt an Engineering check. If you wish to reduce your Strife, you attempt an Intrigue check. In all cases, the DC is your Control DC + 2.
Rest and Relax
You take time to relax, and you extend the chance to unwind to your citizens as well. The Kingdom skill you use to determine the effectiveness of your time off depends on how you want to spend it: Use a basic Arts check to spend the time engaged in entertainment or the pursuit of a hobby. Use a basic Boating check to enjoy trips on the lakes and rivers of your kingdom. Use a basic Scholarship check to spend the time reading or studying a topic of personal interest beyond your daily duties. Use a basic Trade check to spend your time shopping or feasting. Use a basic Wilderness check to get away from the bustle and relax in the countryside. If your kingdom Rested and Relaxed the previous Kingdom turn, the DC increases by 4, as your kingdom’s production and output hasn’t had a chance to catch up to all those vacation days.
Take Charge (Trained)
Agriculture (Stability)
Agriculture measures the kingdom’s ability to cultivate the land, bringing forth crops, flocks, and livestock.
Establish Farmland
Harvest Crops
Arts (Culture)
Arts measure the kingdom’s devotion to entertainment, artwork, and public works such as monuments.
Craft Luxuries
Create a Masterpiece (Trained)
Boating (Economy)
Boating reflects the kingdom’s affinity for navigating rivers and lakes, or for using waterways to bolster trade, exploration, or even conquest.
Go Fishing
Engineering (Stability)
Engineering measures the kingdom’s ability to alter the physical landscape of its territory.
Build Roads
Spend RP as determined by the hex’s most inhospitable terrain (see Building on Rough Terrain on page 14; if the hex includes any rivers that cross the hex from one hex side to any other, you must spend double the normal RP cost to also build bridges; this adds the Bridge structure to that hex). Then attempt a basic check. Work with the GM to determine where your roads appear on the map.
Demolish
Establish Work Site
Irrigation (Trained)
Exploration (Economy)
Exploration measures the kingdom’s ability to look outward and see what lies beyond its own borders, and to closely examine claimed territory to discover secrets.
Hire Adventurers
Folklore (Culture)
Folklore measures the kingdom’s connection with faiths and customs of all kinds. It also indicates how deeply tradition affects public life and the prominence of faith, worship, and culturally traditional activities.
Celebrate Holiday
Industry (Economy)
Industry measures the kingdom’s devotion to the business of building and making things, from basic necessities to luxury goods for trade. It puts people to work creating a prosperous future.
Trade Commodities
Relocate Capital (Trained)
Intrigue (Loyalty)
Intrigue measures the kingdom’s mastery of the hidden forces of politics. It includes manipulation of factions within a country and espionage beyond its borders, as well as investigations into criminal activities.
Infiltration
Clandestine Business (Trained)
Magic (Culture)
Magic measures the kingdom’s affinity for the mystic arts, whether arcane, divine, occult, or primal. It may reflect the breadth of natural magical talent among the people or it may represent the study of ancient secrets and magical theory.
Cleanse Item
- 1-5: 1 Luxury, Shrine
- 6-10: 2 Luxuries, Temple
- 11-15: 4 Luxuries, Temple
- 16-20: 8 Luxuries, Cathedral
Supernatural Solution
Prognostication (Trained)
Politics (Loyalty)
Politics measures a kingdom’s embrace of civic life of all kinds, from deeply rooted local traditions to cosmopolitan cross-cultural connections. It also reflects the importance of the citizenry’s shared values, whether they are dedicated to freedom and justice or to more unsavory ethics.
Improve Lifestyle
Scholarship (Culture)
Scholarship measures the kingdom’s interest in teaching and training its citizens to learn about the world around them. It also includes researching answers to problems in every field, from history and medicine to alchemy and philosophy.
Creative Solution
Statecraft (Loyalty)
Statecraft measures the kingdom’s ability to engage and interact with other nations, Freeholds, and political powers in above-the board political manners, including its trustworthiness in the eyes of other nations and its own citizens.
Tap Treasury
Request Foreign Aid
Send Diplomatic Envoy
The first time your kingdom succeeds at establishing diplomatic relations in the campaign, gain 60 kingdom XP as a milestone award.
Trade (Economy)
Trade measures a kingdom’s involvement in commerce of every kind, but especially in moving goods from one place to another and in the health of its market. You take a cumulative –1 item penalty on Trade checks for each settlement in your kingdom that has no Land Borders, unless it has at least one Water Border with a Bridge.
Capital Investment
You can use Capital Investment to repay funds from Tap Treasury (page 21). In this case, no roll is needed and you simply deduct the appropriate amount of funds from your personal wealth to pay back that which was borrowed.
When you use Capital Investment to generate RP, the amount of gp required to make an investment is set by your kingdom’s level. Investments below this amount cause your attempt to suffer an automatic critical failure, while investments above this amount are lost. The investment required is equal to the value listed on Table 10–9: Party Treasure by Level in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (page 509); use the value for your kingdom’s level under Currency per Additional PC as the required investment value. This is a basic check.
Manage Trade Agreements
Purchase Commodities
Kingdom Feats
| Feat | Level | Prerequisites | Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Service | 1 | — | Citizens bolster vacant leadership roles |
| Cooperative Leadership | 1 | — | Leaders gain increased bonuses to aid each other |
| Crush Dissent | 1 | Trained in Warfare | Quell Dissent more efficiently |
| Fortified Fiefs | 1 | Trained in Defense | Gain bonuses to Fortify, and Construct or Rebuild certain buildings easier |
| Insider Trading | 1 | Trained in Industry | +1 to Work Camp, Establish Trade Agreement, and Trade Commodities activities |
| Kingdom Assurance | 1 | Trained in at least three skills | Receive a fixed result on a skill check |
| Muddle Through | 1 | Trained in Wilderness | Ruin accumulates more slowly |
| Practical Magic | 1 | Trained in Magic | +1 to Magic checks, use Magic instead of Engineering |
| Pull Together | 1 | Trained in Politics | Your citizens help mitigate failures |
| Skill Training | 1 | — | Become trained in a Kingdom skill |
| Endure Anarchy | 3 | Loyalty 14 | Recover from Unrest more quickly and lessen its effects |
| Inspiring Entertainment | 3 | Culture 14 | Use Culture on checks to determine Unrest |
| Liquidate Resources | 3 | Economy 14 | Draw upon reserve funds to avoid Ruin |
| Quick Recovery | 3 | Stability 14 | +2 to checks to end ongoing harmful events |
| Free and Fair | 7 | — | Use New Leadership and other activities more efficiently |
| Quality of Life | 7 | — | Cost of living expenses are reduced |
| Fame and Fortune | 11 | — | Gain RP when you critically succeed at Kingdom skills |
Collect Taxes (Trained)
Warfare (Loyalty)
Warfare reflects a kingdom’s readiness to mobilize its military forces against its enemies—be they lone rampaging monsters or entire armies bent on invasion. Warfare has no exclusive skill activities as presented in this appendix, though it can be used with some general skill activities. Warfare is used extensively to resolve mass combat; see the Army Guide for details on your options for the use of Warfare skill.
Wilderness (Stability)
Wilderness measures how well the kingdom manages its natural resources, integrates with the natural ecosystem, and handles dangerous wildlife. It also reflects the kingdom’s ability to anticipate, prevent, and recover from natural disasters, in much the same way the Defense skill protects against other threats.
Gather Livestock
Kingdom Feats
A kingdom gains feats as it increases in level. Some feats are general-purpose abilities that apply all the time. Others grant benefits to specific kingdom activities or events or allow kingdoms to perform special activities. Each time a kingdom gains a feat, players can select any feat whose level does not exceed their kingdom’s level and whose prerequisites their kingdom satisfies. Status bonuses granted by Kingdom feats are cumulative with status bonuses granted by invested Leadership Roles.
Civil Service Feat 1
You gain a +2 status bonus to New Leadership checks.
Cooperative Leadership Feat 1
At 11th level, your leaders’ collaborative style leads them to ever greater successes when they work together. When a leader uses the Focused Attention kingdom activity to aid another leader’s check, treat a critical failure on the aided check as a failure. If your kingdom has at least the expert rank in the skill used in the aided check, treat a failure on the check as a success. (This does not allow you to ever improve a critical failure to a success.)
Crush Dissent Feat 1
Endure Anarchy Feat 3
Fame and Fortune Feat 11
Fortified Fiefs Feat 1
Free and Fair Feat 7
Insider Trading Feat 1
Inspiring Entertainment Feat 3
Kingdom Assurance Feat 1
You can select this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different skill and gain the benefits of this feat for that skill.
Liquidate Resources Feat 3
Muddle Through Feat 1
Practical Magic Feat 1
Pull Together Feat 1
Quality of Life Feat 7
Quick Recovery Feat 3
Skill Training Feat 1
Kingdom Rules
A kingdom’s Size reflects the complexity of its governance, its influence on other nations, and its access to resources. A kingdom’s Size also determines its Resource Die and other statistics. The actual total population of a kingdom is a function of its Size as well, but population numbers do not have a direct effect on these rules.
Size: The total number of hexes in the kingdom. When a kingdom’s Size reaches 10, 25, 50, and 100, it gains kingdom XP as a milestone award (page 32).
Type of Nation: These are sample placeholder names for the level of prominence of a kingdom, but feel free to adjust.
Resource Die: The type of Resource Die a kingdom rolls.
Control DC Modifier: As a kingdom increases in Size, it grows more difficult to control. This modifier increases a kingdom’s base Control DC.
Commodity Storage: This number indicates the maximum units of a specific Commodity that can be stored in a kingdom. Building specialized structures can increase this number on a per-Commodity basis.
Resource Dice
A kingdom’s economy is based on the sum of the productive activity of its citizens, and that activity is reflected in a quantity of resources that the kingdom can tap into each month. These resources are represented by Resource Points
Kingdom Size
| Size | Type of Nation | Resource Die | Control DC Modifier | Commodity Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-9 | Territory | 1d4 | +0 | 4 |
| 10-24 | Province | 1d6 | +1 | 8 |
| 25-49 | State | 1d8 | +2 | 12 |
| 50-99 | Country | 1d10 | +3 | 16 |
| 100+ | Dominion | 1d12 | +4 | 20 |
(see below) which are determined by Resource Dice, with the number of dice being equal to the nation’s level + 4. When a kingdom is first founded, each Resource Die is a d4, but as the kingdom advances in Size, its Resource Die increases to d6, d8, d10, or d12 (see the Kingdom Size table).
Resource Points
A kingdom’s Resource Points (RP) represent a combination of the work of a kingdom’s citizens and the time spent on jobs, talent, labor, tools, and funds to handle this toil. Resource points do not directly represent amounts of coins in a treasury, but rather an abstraction of the nation’s total amount of available funds to handle tasks. Since luck and demand play a part in a kingdom’s resources, the exact total of RP a kingdom will have each turn varies; a new total of RP is rolled at the start of each Kingdom turn using Resource Dice. Any RP not spent by the end of that turn convert to kingdom XP at a rate in the table below.
Whenever the kingdom is forced to spend RP that would drop it below 0, spend all the RP the kingdom has and then increase a Ruin of the PCs’ choice by 1.
RP to XP Conversion Ratio
| Kingdom Level | RP to XP Conversion |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | 1:10 |
| 5-8 | 1:7 |
| 9-12 | 1:5 |
| 13-16 | 1:2 |
| 17+ | 1:1 |
Ruin
As bad luck, natural disasters, unexpected shortages, or even warfare damage a kingdom, it becomes Ruined in one of four categories opposing the kingdom’s four ability scores. Ruin rises and falls as Kingdom turns progress, but if it rises too high, it can cause lasting or even permanent harm to the kingdom.
Culture is opposed by Corruption, which represents citizens falling to debauchery, delving into forbidden lore, pursuing unethical research practices, or destroying their own heritage and history.
Economy is opposed by Crime, which includes theft, smuggling, and enterprises that suffocate prosperity.
Stability is opposed by Decay, representing physical harm, neglect, or degradation of the kingdom, its people, and its infrastructure.
Loyalty is opposed by Strife, which includes acts of treachery, subterfuge, bribery, violence, abuse of power, and infighting between groups.
Accruing Ruin: As Ruin accumulates, the categories gain points. These point totals are persistent, decreasing only in specific circumstances, but most often when a Ruin’s point total exceeds that Ruin’s threshold. Other events can reduce or increase a Ruin’s point total as well—typically as the result of kingdom activities or events.
Ruin Threshold: Each Ruin has a threshold; a point at which the penalties associated with that Ruin increase. A Ruin’s initial threshold is 5, but each threshold increases as the kingdom levels up and becomes more able to withstand Ruin in all its forms. Whenever a Ruin exceeds its threshold, reduce that Ruin’s total points by an amount equal to its threshold, and increase the Ruin’s penalty by 1.
Ruin Penalty: A Ruin penalty applies to all checks using that Ruin’s associated ability score. For example, if your kingdom has a Corruption penalty of –4, it takes a –4 item penalty on all Culture checks.
Reducing Ruin Penalties: When a kingdom reaches 5th level, and then again every 3 levels thereafter, it gains Ruin resistance (page 9); each time it does so, it has the opportunity to reduce an existing Ruin penalty to 0. This is an extremely effective way to manage a Ruin penalty that’s crept particularly high, but it’s also an extremely limited resource, as a kingdom will only get, at most, 6 opportunities to adjust a Ruin penalty in this way over the course of a campaign. The Repair Reputation activity can reduce existing Ruin penalties (see above), although at a much slower rate. Other activities or events can reduce Ruin penalties as well, as detailed in the text for each. Finally, if circumstances ever allow for a Ruin’s points to be reduced and that particular Ruin is already at 0 points, instead of reducing Ruin to a negative value you can instead attempt a DC 16 flat check; on a success, reduce that Ruin’s penalty by 1 to a minimum of 0.
Unrest
Unrest represents unhappiness among the kingdom’s citizens, who show their lack of confidence in the leadership by balking at edicts, refusing to follow commands, and disrupting local economies through boycotts, walkouts, and refusal to talk to emissaries. Unrest is a persistent value
that remains from turn to turn and can be adjusted during Kingdom turns as events play out.
Unrest 1: If a kingdom has at least 1 point of Unrest, take a –1 status penalty to all kingdom checks.
Unrest 5: If a kingdom has 5 or more points of Unrest, take a –2 status penalty to all kingdom checks.
Unrest 10: If a kingdom has 10 or more points of Unrest, take a –3 status penalty to all kingdom checks.
Unrest 15: If a kingdom has 15 or more points of Unrest, take a –4 status penalty to all kingdom checks.
Expanding a Kingdom
A kingdom grows one hex at a time on the Stolen Lands map, via Region activities like Claim Hex and Clear Hex. The PCs can pursue these activities during the Activity phase of each Kingdom turn (page 31).
Losing Hexes
It’s possible to lose control of a hex. When this happens, the kingdom immediately loses any benefits from terrain improvements in that hex, and all settlements in that hex become Freeholds (page 28). Monsters may move into an abandoned hex, increasing the chance for random encounters, and if you wish to reclaim the hex, you may need to clear it first of hostile creatures. Each hex lost decreases a kingdom’s Size by 1. This affects the kingdom’s statistics, such as the type of its Resource Die.
If one or more hexes are lost in such a way that it breaks the connection between parts of a kingdom, so that all of the hexes are no longer contiguous with other hexes of the kingdom, whatever portion of the territory contains the capital becomes the primary territory and the rest of the kingdom becomes its secondary territory. All Kingdom skill checks made to resolve issues associated with secondary territories take a –4 circumstance penalty. When a kingdom starts a turn with any number of secondary territories, increase Unrest by 1. Once a secondary territory is connected to the primary territory via at least one hex, it becomes part of the primary territory.
If a kingdom is reduced to 0 hexes, whether through Unrest, a disaster, war with another kingdom, or any other effect, the PCs are at risk of having their rule end. On their next Kingdom turn, they must claim at least one new hex and establish or claim at least one settlement, or their kingdom is considered totally destroyed, and they must start over. In this case, you should have the PCs undertake a new adventure of your design to secure a new charter.
Diplomatic Relations
Diplomatic relations refers to acts of leadership that engage with other nations. In order to begin diplomatic relations with another group, PCs must first successfully Send a Diplomatic Envoy (see page 22) to the target group. When they establish diplomatic relations with a group, record the name of that group on the kingdom sheet. Once the PCs have established diplomatic relations with a group, they can use the Establish Trade Agreement and Request Foreign Aid Leadership activities.
Trade Agreements
The PCs can bolster their kingdom’s economy by Establishing Trade Agreements with other groups with whom they have diplomatic relations. To do so, they must first successfully perform the Establish Trade Agreement activity (page 14). There is no need to record the actual physical route of the Trade Agreement on the map, nor does distance play a significant factor.
Commodities
As a kingdom grows, it stockpiles resources beyond those required for day-to-day life. These resources are known as Commodities and are used to build structures in settlements, to trade for RP using the Trade Commodities activity, or to expend during kingdom events.
The types of Commodities that are available include Food, Lumber, Luxuries, Ore, and Stone. As kingdoms accumulate or expend these Commodities, track the numbers on the kingdom sheet. Unless specialized storage improvements have been built in its settlements, a kingdom is limited to a maximum number of stored Commodities in each category as determined by its Size (see the Kingdom Size table on page 26). Commodities gathered in excess of this storage limit are lost.
Each type of Commodity can be gathered by special activities as detailed below, but Commodities can also be discovered via kingdom events or while exploring the Stolen Lands, earned as rewards for quests, purchased from allies via Purchase Commodities (page 22), or acquired via Establishing Trade Agreements.
Food stockpiles are expended to pay for Consumption during the Upkeep phase of a Kingdom turn (page 29), but also when faced with famines or other disasters, and to keep armies fed during times of war (as described in those events). Food is gathered with Harvest Crops (page 16), Go Fishing (page 17), or Gather Livestock (page 23).
Lumber is used to build structures during the Civic Activities step of the Activity phase of a Kingdom turn, and it is gathered from lumber camps built by Establish Work Site (page 18).
Luxuries are used to build specialized structures or are expended during certain encounters, generally those with high stakes or magical effects. Luxuries can be found during adventuring, created via Craft Luxuries (page 17), or earned during certain events.
Ore is used to build structures. Ore is gathered from mines built by Establish Work Site (page 18).
Stone is used to build structures and is gathered from quarries built by Establish Work Site (page 18).
Terrain Features
Many hexes have features that grant benefits once claimed. In some cases, certain Region activities must be taken before a hex’s benefits can be enjoyed. These terrain features offer unique opportunities for a kingdom to add something special to its national character and may improve one or more of the kingdom’s statistics. Some hexes offer one-of-a-kind benefits
which are fully described within the adventure itself; more common terrain features are presented here.
A single hex can have multiple terrain features, but with some restrictions. The Bridge, Landmark, Refuge, and Resource features can overlap with any and all other features. A hex can have at most one of a Farmland, a Freehold, Ruins, a Settlement, a Structure, or a Work Site (this is known as the Restricted list). A Settlement can be built in a hex that contains Ruins or a Structure. The Ruins or Structure are incorporated into the Settlement and once a Settlement is built, the hex ceases to have the Ruins or Structure feature. A Freehold can be brought into your kingdom becoming instead a Settlement. To switch between any of the Terrain Features in the Restricted list, the existing Feature must first be removed with the Clear Hex activity before the new Terrain Feature can be constructed.
Bridge: A hex that contains an easy land route over a river (be it a bridge or a ford) bypasses the normal increase in RP cost to Build Roads (page 18) in that hex. A Settlement can be built in a hex with a Bridge; doing so allows that Settlement to start with a Bridge structure on one water border.
Farmland: No Farmland hexes exist in the Stolen Lands at the start of Kingmaker; they must be created by the PCs via the Establish Farmland activity (page 16). Each Farmland hex reduces a kingdom’s Consumption score by 1, provided the Farmland lies in the area of influence (page 34) of one of its settlements. Settlements cannot be built in a Farmland hex. Some kingdom events can result in Farmland being destroyed. When that happens, the hex loses its Farmland status. To restore it, a PC must successfully use the Establish Farmland activity on the hex during a future Kingdom turn.
Freehold: A Freehold is a special kind of Settlement—one that’s not part of your kingdom. It may be of any size, from a village to a city. If you can convince the locals that your leadership is worthy, they may choose to join your nation and become your citizens. Until then, all Kingdom checks made to resolve issues with the unconnected Settlement take a -4 circumstance penalty (this does not apply to claiming the hex as doing so is not related to the settlement itself). At the beginning of a Kingdom turn, if there are any secondary territories including a Freehold, increase the Unrest by 1. Bringing a Freehold into a kingdom requires a successful Pledge of Fealty leadership action. When a new settlement joins a kingdom, immediately add that settlement and its structures to the kingdom (as detailed in the encounter text). The kingdom gains no XP for any improvements already built there. Any future improvements built there grant normal XP awards.
Landmark: A Landmark is a site of great pride, mystery, or wonder, such as an outcropping in the shape of a human face, a supernaturally ancient tree, or a lake with an unusual color. Adding Landmarks to a kingdom inspires its artists and bolsters kingdom morale. When the PCs add a Landmark hex to a kingdom, reduce Unrest by 1d4, and until the end of your next Kingdom turn, all Culture- and Economy-based skill checks gain a +2 circumstance bonus.
When a kingdom claims its first Landmark hex, it gains 40 kingdom XP as a milestone award (page 32).
Refuge: A Refuge is a place where people can shelter in safety, such as a hidden valley, a cave system, an isle in the middle of a river, or similar naturally defensible location that can be used as a safe fallback point, storage location, or even a guard post or prison. At the GM’s option, creature lairs may function as potential Refuges when claimed, provided the creatures that dwell there are defeated or allied with. When you claim a Refuge hex, reduce one of the kingdom’s Ruins by 1, and until the end of your next Kingdom turn, all Loyalty- and Stability-based skill checks gain a +2 circumstance bonus. When a kingdom claims its first Refuge hex, it gains 40 kingdom XP as a milestone award (page 32).
Resource: Any hex indicated as being a particularly dense or lucrative source of Lumber, Ore, or Stone makes for an excellent place to Establish a Work Site (page 18). If the PCs Establish a Work Site in such a hex that focuses on the appropriate type of Commodity (as indicated in the encounter text), all Commodities produced are doubled.
Ruins: Ruins consist of a partially destroyed structure, often one that has been claimed by bandits, monsters, or the like. If you Claim and Clear a hex with Ruins in it, you can thereafter use what remains of the Ruins as the basis of an appropriate type of Settlement structure (as indicated by the encounter text), reducing the cost of that structure by half.
Settlement: A Settlement can be a village, town, city, or metropolis; see Settlements starting on page 32 for full details.
Structure: If the PCs Clear a hex that contains a Structure, they can automatically add that structure to a settlement founded there, free of cost. Each specific hex encounter area in this Adventure Path notes any types of structure it contains, as appropriate.
Work Site: A Work Site generates commodities each Kingdom turn once you establish it via Establish Work Site (page 18). A Work Site established in a regular hex generates 1 Lumber, 1 Stone, or 1 Ore, depending on what type of site it is. Unlike most features, a Work Site can be constructed in a hex that already features a Resource, provided the Work Site is focused on harvesting that specific Resource. A Work Site established in a Resource hex doubles its Commodity production to 2. Work Site Commodities accumulate during the Upkeep phase of a Kingdom turn. Some kingdom events can result in Work Sites being destroyed. When that happens, the hex loses its Work Site status; to restore it, you must successfully perform the Establish Work Site activity on the hex during a future Kingdom turn.
Fame and Infamy
Fame and Infamy represent a kingdom’s reputation as it’s regarded by its neighbors. When the PCs create their kingdom, they must decide if their kingdom aims to become famous or infamous—the choice is largely cosmetic but does impact where and how you gain points in either. For example, some structures can grant these points when built,
but only if their Fame/Infamy trait matches that of the kingdom.
Kingdoms initially have a maximum of 3 Fame/Infamy points at any one time. These can be used in one of two ways. Neither of these is an action, but the entire party must agree to spend the point. All Fame/Infamy points left unspent at the end of a Kingdom turn are lost.
Spend 1 Fame/Infamy Point to reroll a Kingdom skill check. You must use the second result. This is a fortune effect (which means you can’t use more than 1 Fame/Infamy point on a check).
Spend all your Fame/Infamy Points to stave off the effects of anarchy or ruination. You can do this if a kingdom’s Unrest would result in anarchy (in which case your Unrest is instead set at 1 point below the value at which anarchy occurs), or if an increase to a Ruin would increase the ruin penalty (in which case the Ruin is instead set at one point below the value at which a ruin penalty would accrue).
Earning Fame or Infamy Points
You earn 1 Fame or Infamy point (as appropriate) automatically at the start of each Kingdom turn. You can earn additional points in the following ways.
Achieve a Critical Success: Whenever you roll a critical success on a Kingdom skill check, gain 1 Fame/Infamy point.
Build a Famous/Infamous Structure: Certain settlement structures grant 1 Fame or Infamy point when they are built. If your kingdom builds a structure that opposes your Fame or Infamy, you lose 1 point.
Create a Masterpiece: Once per Kingdom turn, you can attempt to Create a Masterpiece (page 17) to potentially gain points, at the risk of losing points.
Undertake a Noteworthy Act: At the GM’s discretion, a noteworthy act taken by a PC during play grants an additional automatic Fame or Infamy point (as appropriate) at the start of the next Kingdom turn.
Running a Kingdom
Running a kingdom plays out as Kingdom turns that occur at the end of each in-game month. Each Kingdom turn is divided into phases, and these phases are divided into steps. The table on the previous page lists the Kingdom activities available to use during each step.
Upkeep Phase
During the Upkeep phase, you adjust your kingdom’s statistics based on activities you have taken during the previous month. Remember that you earn 1 Fame or Infamy point at the start of your turn.
Step 1: Assign Leadership Roles
To assign or change characters associated with leadership roles, do so now using the New Leadership kingdom activity (page 15). You can perform this activity as often as you wish during this step.
Next, determine if any vacancy penalties apply (page 9). Any unassigned roles incur their vacancy penalties. Also, if a character assigned to a leadership role hasn’t spent the required week of downtime on that role (page 9) since the end of the last Kingdom turn, they must either give up one of the three kingdom activities they would perform during the Leadership Activities step of the Activity phase of this Kingdom turn or apply the vacancy penalty for their role until the start of the next Kingdom turn. (NPCs cannot perform kingdom activities, so in the unusual case that they were unable to spend the required downtime—see Leadership Roles on page 9—they must apply the vacancy penalty.) If a leader was replaced between Kingdom turns due to an unexpected vacancy, as long as a character currently holds the role and any characters assigned to the role collectively spent the required downtime, the vacancy penalty does not apply.
Step 2: Adjust Unrest
On your first Kingdom turn, your kingdom’s Unrest score is 0; skip to the next step.
On all other turns, adjust your Unrest score: Increase it by 1 for every settlement in your kingdom that’s Overcrowded (page 35). If you are at war, increase it by 1. Other ongoing events may have ongoing Unrest adjustments as well; make them at this time.
After making all adjustments, if your kingdom’s Unrest is 10 or higher, the kingdom gains 1d10 points to its Ruins (page 28). Distribute these points in any way you wish among the four Ruins. In addition, attempt a DC 11 flat check. On a failure, one hex of your kingdom is lost; the PCs choose which hex. See Losing Hexes on page 27 for more information.
If your kingdom’s Unrest is 20 or higher, the entire nation also falls into anarchy. While in anarchy, you can only attempt Quell Unrest activities, and the results of all kingdom checks are worsened one degree.
Step 3: Resource Collection
The exact amount of resources you have to draw upon each Kingdom turn varies, as each month there are countless unexpected boons and setbacks throughout each citizen’s life that can impact how they can bolster your national plans.
First, determine the number of Resource Dice you are entitled to roll for the current Kingdom turn by adding your kingdom level + 4 to any bonus dice or penalty dice you gained from the previous turn. You cannot have fewer than 0 Resource Dice.
Next, roll your Resource Dice to determine how many Resource Points (RP) you have available during this turn. Your RP is equal to the roll result. (RP remaining at the end of your turn can be converted into kingdom Experience Points.)
Finally, if you have any Work Sites established in your kingdom, gather Commodities. You gain 1 Commodity from each Work Site, or double that if the Work Site is in a Resource hex. Any Commodities gathered in excess of your storage capacity (page 27) are lost.
Step 4: Pay Consumption
Your settlements and armies require a certain amount of provisions, supplies, and funding, as well as all the basic necessities of life.
On your first Kingdom turn, your kingdom’s Consumption score is 0; skip to the next step.
On all other turns, calculate your kingdom’s Consumption score. This is the total of your settlements’ Consumption scores (page 34) plus your armies’ Consumption scores (Army Guide) minus the number of Farmland hexes you have within influence range of your settlements (page 34), plus any modifiers from kingdom events.
Spend Food Commodities equal to your kingdom’s Consumption. If you can’t or choose not to spend this Commodity cost, you can either spend 5 RP per point of unpaid Consumption or increase Unrest by 1d4.
Commerce Phase
The Commerce phase is when the kingdom generates revenue or makes trade agreements.
Kingdom Milestone XP Awards
| XP Award | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 20 | Build Roads for the first time |
| 20 | Celebrate your first successful Holiday |
| 20 | Claim your first new Hex (2nd hex overall) |
| 20 | Complete your first successful Infiltration |
| 20 | Create your first Masterpiece |
| 20 | Establish your first Farmland |
| 20 | Establish your first Lumber Camp |
| 20 | Establish your first Mine |
| 20 | Establish your first Quarry |
| 20 | Fortify your first hex |
| 20 | Successfully use your first Creative Solution |
| 20 | Successfully use your first Supernatural Solution |
| 40 | Build your first Structure requiring Expert in a Kingdom skill |
| 40 | Build your first Famous/Infamous Structure |
| 40 | Build your first seat of government (Town Hall, Castle, or Palace) |
| 40 | Claim your first Landmark hex |
| 40 | Claim your first Refuge hex |
| 40 | Establish your first Village |
| 40 | Establish your second Village |
| 40 | Reach Kingdom size 10 |
| 40 | Recruit your first regular Army |
| 40 | Successfully resolve a random Kingdom Event |
| 50 | Connect a settlement to your capital via roads |
| 60 | All eight leadership roles are assigned |
| 60 | Build your first Structure requiring Master in a Kingdom skill |
| 60 | Establish Diplomatic Relations for the first time |
| 60 | Expand a Village into your first Town |
| 60 | Reach Kingdom size 25 |
| 60 | Recruit your first Specialized Army |
| 60 | Win your first War Encounter |
| 80 | Achieve your first successful Pledge of Fealty |
| 80 | Establish your first Trade Agreement |
| 80 | Expand a town into your first City |
| 80 | Reach Kingdom size 50 |
| 80 | Spend 100 RP during a Kingdom turn |
| 120 | Expand a city into your first Metropolis |
| 120 | Reach Kingdom size 100 |
| 200 | Claim all hexes in a region |
Step 1: Collect Taxes
You can Collect Taxes (page 23) once per Kingdom turn to attempt to bolster your Economy-based checks for the remainder of the Kingdom turn. If you don’t attempt to Collect Taxes, you can instead attempt a DC 11 flat check; on a success, reduce Unrest by 1.
Step 2: Approve Expenses
You can draw upon the kingdom’s funds to enhance the standard of living for its citizens by attempting the Improve Lifestyle activity (page 21) or you can attempt a withdrawal from the kingdom’s funds using the Tap Treasury activity (page 21).
Step 4: Manage Trade Agreements
If you’ve established trade agreements, you can use the Manage Trade Agreements activity (see page 22).
Activity Phase
The Activity phase is when you make proclamations on expanding your kingdom, declare holidays, and manage your territory and settlements. It’s during this phase that the bulk of your kingdom’s growth occurs.
Step 1: Leadership Activities
If your kingdom’s capital has a Castle, Palace, or own Hall, the party may attempt up to twelve Leadership activities (these are listed on page 29). If your capital has none of these structures, the party can take no more than eight Leadership activities during this step. These numbers are static and do not depend on the size of the party.
Your party chooses the order you go in when taking Leadership activities. Unless an activity states otherwise, you may attempt an Activity as many times as you are able to.
Step 2: Region Activities
The PC leaders may now collectively attempt up to three Region activities (listed on page 29). The players decide who rolls any skill checks needed to resolve these activities.
Step 3: Civic Activities
Your party may now attempt one Civic activity (listed on page 29) for each of the kingdom’s settlements. You determine the order in which these activities are attempted and who rolls any skill checks.
Event Phase
Events affect entire kingdom, single hexes, or a settlement. Some are harmful, while some are beneficial. Certain events continue for multiple turns, and only come to an end once they’ve been properly handled by the PCs or their kingdom.
Step 1: Check for a Random Event
Attempt a DC 10 flat check. On success, a random kingdom event occurs (see Kingdom Events on page 44). If no random event occurs, the DC for this check in the next Kingdom turn is reduced by 2. Once an event occurs, the DC resets to 10.
Step 2: Event Resolution
Random events present opportunities to go forth in exploration or encounter mode to deal with a rampaging monster or the like; these are handled now. In some chapters of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, specific story events are introduced outside of Kingdom turns; these are resolved when they occur.
Step 3: Apply Kingdom XP
The GM now awards any kingdom XP earned during that turn. If the kingdom experienced a random event, it receives 40 XP. The first Kingdom turn that your kingdom spent 100 RP, gain 80 kingdom XP as a milestone award (see below).
In addition, any RP that remains unspent is now converted to kingdom XP on a ratio shown in the table on page 26, to a maximum of 120 XP per Kingdom turn.
Step 4: Increase Kingdom Level
If your kingdom’s XP total is above 1,000, and your kingdom isn’t at its maximum level (page 7), increase your kingdom level by 1 and subtract 1,000 from your XP total. See Leveling Up Your Kingdom on page 7 for the full rules for leveling up.
Gaining Kingdom Experience
A kingdom gains experience (XP) by claiming hexes, reaching milestones, enduring kingdom events, or converting surplus RP at the end of a Kingdom turn.
Hex Claim XP Awards
Each time a kingdom claims a hex, it earns XP shown in the table below, relative to the kingdom's level. If this hex is lost at a later date, the kingdom does not lose the XP earned from claiming it. Conversely, if the kingdom reclaims a lost hex, it does not gain XP from reclaiming it.
XP Rewards for Claiming Hexes
| Size | XP per Hex Claimed |
|---|---|
| 1-9 | 100 |
| 10-24 | 50 |
| 25-49 | 25 |
| 50-99 | 10 |
| 100+ | 5 |
Milestone XP Awards
As the kingdom grows, the kingdom gains XP the first time it reaches a milestone. These XP awards are given only once, the first time each milestone is attained. See the sidebar on page 31 for a list of Milestone XP awards.
Event XP Awards
A kingdom earns 40 XP for experiencing a random event or more for a Story event, regardless of the event’s outcome.
Surplus RP XP Awards
Any RP remaining unspent at the end of a Kingdom turn is converted into XP at a ratio shown in the table on page 26 (see Step 3: Apply Kingdom XP above).
Settlements
A ruler’s territory provides the canvas upon which they can build a kingdom, but the true art of leadership is displayed in how one establishes and develops the settlements where citizens gather and live out their lives. While individual citizens like trappers, hunters, fishers, and farmers might dwell alone or with their families in the outskirts of a settlement, the majority of a kingdom’s people live within the villages, towns, cities, and metropolises built for them.
The Urban Grid
The Urban Grid presents a simple graphical representation of a settlement. The grid divides a settlement into 9 large districts (blocks) arranged in a 3-by-3 square. Each district itself comprises 4 individual neighborhoods (lots) arranged in a 2-by-2 square. It is these neighborhood lots in which you’ll build structures to improve your settlement.
While the Urban Grid diagrams your settlement as a square, this is simply an organizational abstraction—it doesn’t mean that your settlements are literally square. If it helps your sense of verisimilitude, feel free to cut up the Urban Grid and arrange blocks of four lots in any shape you wish. For a city hugging the shores of a great bay, you could draw out the bay and simply paste the blocks in a long row lining the coastline, or in any other arrangement that suits your taste.
Though the Urban Grid depicts 9 blocks for each settlement, the number of blocks in which you can build is limited by the settlement’s category: a village consists of only a single block (and can thus host a maximum of only 4 lots of structures), while a city can expand to all 9 blocks (and can host up to 36 lots of structures).
Urban Grid Borders
The four sides of the Urban Grid are where you record the types of borders your settlement has.
Land Borders: By default, all of your settlement’s borders are unremarkable transitions from urban to hinterland—these are known as Land Borders.
You take a cumulative –1 item penalty on Trade checks for each settlement in your kingdom that has no Land Borders, unless it has at least one Water Border with a Bridge (page 36).
Water Borders: When you place a settlement in a hex that has lake, river, or swamp terrain, you can locate it so that it has Water Borders. Water Borders provide natural defenses to your settlement during Warfare, and some structures can only be constructed in lots adjacent to Water Borders. However, crossing Water Borders that lack Bridges takes a long time (see Navigating an Urban Grid below).
If a settlement has only Water Borders, it is on an island; until you build at least one Bridge, that settlement’s influence (page 34) is 0.
Walled Borders: Building Walls (page 44) on your borders boosts your settlement’s defense in certain events and in Warfare.
Settlement Types
As your kingdom levels up and your settlements grow, a settlement’s type can change, providing different benefits and costs to your kingdom (see the table above and the descriptions below).
The Capital is allowed to grow one (and only one) Size category larger than the Size listed here. This does not increase the Maximum Item Bonus or Influence of the Capital until the normal Level requirement is met. In addition, the Capital's Influence is minimum 1.
Settlement
This indicates the type of settlement, with the minimum kingdom level to support such a settlement in parenthesis.
Village: Settlements start as villages, consisting of a single block of 4 lots. When you Build a Structure (page 13) in a lot, you must select a lot in that block.
Town: Once your kingdom is 3rd level and you’ve filled all four lots in your village, as long as your settlement is not Overcrowded (page 35), the next time you Build a Structure in a lot, you may choose a lot in any block adjacent to your current block. As you do so, your village becomes a town. A town consists of 2 to 4 blocks of 4 lots each. The blocks must be contiguous, but they need not be a square—they could form a T, L, or S shape if you like. When your kingdom gains its first town, gain 60 kingdom XP as a milestone award (page 32).
City: Once your kingdom is 9th level and you’ve filled in at least two lots in each of your town’s 4 blocks, if your settlement is not Overcrowded, you may choose a lot anywhere on the Urban Grid when you Build a Structure in a lot. The first time you do so, the town transitions into a city. When your kingdom gains its first city, gain 80 kingdom XP as a milestone award.
Metropolis: When your kingdom reaches 15th level and you have filled at least two lots on each block in your city, if your settlement is not Overcrowded, you may expand into a metropolis by adding a second Urban Grid. (You may instead continue filling in the remaining lots and remain a city.) At this point, you can place new structures into any lot you wish in the newly added Urban Grid. You can add additional Urban Grids each time you have built at least two lots of structures in every available block and are not Overcrowded, but there are no further settlement types beyond metropolis to achieve. When your kingdom gains its first metropolis, gain 120 kingdom XP as a milestone award.
Size
This indicates the maximum number of blocks the settlement can occupy in an Urban Grid.
Population
A settlement’s exact population is intentionally left abstract, but if you wish to estimate the numbers, you can use the values here as guidelines. Population density increases as a Settlement grows. In a village, each completed lot has an average population of 100 people or less. A town’s average population increases to 125 people per completed lot, whereas a city’s average population per lot increases to around 700. A metropolis can have an average population per completed lot of 1,000 people or more.
Level
The settlement’s level generally falls within the range listed here, and is always equal to the number of blocks that have at least one structure (to a maximum of 20). A settlement level is separate from the kingdom level and is primarily used to determine potential jobs in the settlement (Pathfinder Core Rulebook 504). A settlement’s level also suggests what sort of magic items might be commonly available for purchase at shops or the market (subject to GM adjudication).
Settlement Types
| Settlement | Size | Population | Level | Consumption | Max. Item Bonus | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Village (1st) | 1 block | 400 or less | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
| Town (3rd) | 4 blocks | 401-2,000 | 2-4 | 2 | +1 | 1 hex |
| City (9th) | 9 blocks | 2,001-25,000 | 5-9 | 4 | +2 | 2 hexes |
| Metropolis (15th) | 9 blocks | 25,001+ | 10+ | 6 | +3 | 3 hexes |
Consumption
Consumption is a numerical value that indicates the Food commodities the settlement requires in order to remain viable and functional. The number given here shows the settlement’s base consumption; specific structures in the settlements can increase or decrease its Consumption.
Maximum Item Bonus
Many structures within a settlement grant an item bonus to specific kingdom activities. Normally, item bonuses do not stack, but if you build multiple structures that grant an Item Bonus to a specific Kingdom Skill activity, their item bonuses stack up to this limit. In a case where two settlements have overlapping influences from identical structures, only the higher item bonus from a single settlement’s structures applies.
Influence
A settlement’s influence area is the area around a settlement where meaningful economic and productive activity can occur, as well as where the settlement’s beneficial effects extend. The numeric value indicates the number of hexes that the settlement’s influence extends. Thus, a village only influences the hex it’s located in, while a town influences all adjacent hexes. If a settlement has only Water Borders and no Bridges, that settlement’s influence is 0 regardless of its settlement type.
Certain activities and the impact of some kingdom events are limited to a settlement’s influence. Structures in a settlement that provide a specific item bonus do so to all of the claimed hexes influenced by their settlement. (Structures in your capital city provide that bonus to all of the kingdom’s claimed hexes, regardless of the capital’s influence.)
Hexes not claimed by your kingdom are never part of your settlements’ influence areas, even if they are within the distance noted above. A hex can be influenced by multiple settlements.
Founding a Village
Your kingdom’s first settlement is automatically founded in Step 8 of Kingdom Creation (see page 7). You can found new settlements and expand on existing settlements during the Civic Activities step of the Activity phase of the Kingdom turn (page 31).
When you found a village, follow the four steps presented below to get started.
Step 1: Select a Hex
Select a Claimed Hex in your kingdom that doesn’t already have a settlement (or other Terrain Feature listed on the Restricted list on page 28) as the site for your new settlement. Work with your GM to select the specific location of your settlement within the hex. If it contains lake, river, or swamp terrain, take into consideration the number of Water Borders (page 32) you have in mind for your settlement.
Step 2: Establish your Village
You must first Clear the Hex (page 14) to prepare it for your village. Since Clear Hex is a Region activity that can only happen during Step 2 of the activity phase of a Kingdom turn, and Establish Settlement is a Leadership activity that can only happen during Step 1, you have to wait until the Kingdom turn after you Clear the Hex to actually found the settlement. This simulates the time that it takes to prepare, such as setting up temporary quarters or tent cities, digging sanitation trenches, gathering materials, and managing all the other small tasks to get things ready to build.
If your hex contains lake, river, or swamp terrain, you may choose which of its borders are Land Borders and which are Water Borders (see Urban Grid Borders on page 32). On the Urban Grid, check the “Water” box next to as many of its borders as you like; you cannot change this decision later.
If your hex contains Ruins or a Structure, you can incorporate that building into your settlement at a reduced cost (for Ruins) or for free (for Structures). The exact type of structure is indicated in that hex’s encounter text in Chapter 2—the GM has full information about these structures and ruins and how they can impact settlements.
Step 3: Name Your Village
Each settlement needs a name. Some leaders name settlements after themselves or their families, but the name can be anything suitable for the campaign and agreeable to the PCs.
Step 4: Start Building!
Your brand new village is now ready to grow! A village must fill a single block of 4 lots before it can expand, so select one block on the Urban Grid for your village’s development. Each Kingdom turn, during the Civic Activities step of its Activity phase (page 31), your settlement has one Civic activity, which can be used to Build Structures (page 13).
Structures
You build structures using the Build Structure activity during the Civic Activities step of the Activity phase of the Kingdom turn.
When you build in a lot within one of your settlements, you’re rarely literally constructing a single building. While an arena or cathedral might stand alone as a towering edifice, most lots represent a number of buildings whose focus is to support the type of improvement that lot supports. For example, a brewery could represent a collection of brewers and bottlers and the families who support them, while a luxury merchant would represent several specialized stores. Even sprawling, sizable improvements like dumps, cemeteries, or parks might include nearby dwellings or cottages for those who tend and manage the area or live along its margins.
Residential Lots and Overcrowding: While almost every structure presumably includes a small amount of lodging, you need to build Residential lots in order to give your citizens enough places to live. You do so by building a structure that has the Residential trait in a chosen lot. Settlements require a number of Residential lots equal to the number of blocks that have any structures built within them, although these residential lots need not be located one per block. For example, when a village expands to a town, it initially occupies 2 blocks. It needs 2 Residential lots in total among those 2 blocks, either both in one block or one in each block. A settlement without this minimum number of Residential lots is Overcrowded (mark the “Overcrowded” box on your Urban Grid) and generates 1 Unrest for the kingdom during the Upkeep phase of each Kingdom turn (page 29).
Reduced to Rubble: It’s possible for structures in a settlement to be reduced to rubble by a failed attempt to Demolish a structure (page 18) or a poor result from a kingdom event. When a structure is reduced to rubble, replace the lots the structure once occupied on the Urban Grid with rubble (page 41). Having rubble in a lot doesn’t itself impact a kingdom’s Unrest or other statistics negatively, but it does prevent you from building in those lots. You must Demolish that lot before you can build there again. When a single lot that contains part of a multi-lot structure is reduced to rubble, each of the lots that contained that structure are replaced with individual lots of rubble.
Structure Descriptions
Structures are described in the following format.
Structure Name Level
Settlement Structures
Presented below are stat blocks for a wide range of structures that serve a variety of purposes in settlements, both to bolster kingdom statistics and PC resources. Encourage your PCs to come up with flavorful specific names for individual structures they create!
Academy Structure 10
Aiudara Gate Structure 10
Alchemy Laboratory Structure 3
Checks attempted to Identify Alchemy in any settlement with at least one alchemy laboratory gain a +1 item bonus.
Arcanist's Tower Structure 5
While in a settlement with an arcanist’s tower, you gain a +1 item bonus to checks made to Borrow an Arcane Spell or Learn a Spell.
Arena Structure 9
Bank Structure 5
Barracks Structure 3
Brewery Structure 1
Bridge Structure 2
The activity cost to Travel through a hex with a river and no bridge is increased by 1 degree (up to a maximum of 3).
Castle Structure 9
Cathedral Structure 15
Cemetery Structure 1
Construction Yard Structure 10
Companion Chambers Structure 15
Companion Lodges Structure 9
Companion Shacks Structure 2
Dump Structure 2
Embassy Structure 8
Festival Hall Structure 3
Foundry Structure 3
Garrison Structure 5
General Store Structure 1
Granary Structure 1
Guildhall Structure 5
Herbalist Structure 1
Hospital Structure 9
Houses Structure 1
Illicit Market Structure 6
Inn Structure 1
Jail Structure 2
Keep Structure 3
Library Structure 2
Lumberyard Structure 3
Luxury Store Structure 6
Magic Shop Structure 8
Magical Streetlamps Structure 5
Mansion Structure 5
Marketplace Structure 4
Menagerie Structure 12
Only creatures with Intelligence modifiers of –4 or –5 are appropriate to place in a menagerie. A kingdom gains 1 Unrest at the start of a Kingdom turn for each sapient creature (anything with an Intelligence modifier of –3 or higher) on display in a menagerie.
Military Academy Structure 12
Mill Structure 2
Mint Structure 15
Monument Structure 3
Museum Structure 5
Noble Villa Structure 9
Occult Shop Structure 13
Opera House Structure 15
Orphanage Structure 2
Palace Structure 15
If you Relocate your Capital, a palace left behind in that capital instead functions as a noble villa that takes up 4 lots. (If you represent this by placing two noble villas in these lots, make sure to note that they constitute a single building and aren’t two separate structures.)
A palace in a capital allows PC leaders to take 3 Leadership activities during the Activity phase of a Kingdom turn rather than just 2. In addition, once your kingdom has a palace, a PC in the Ruler leadership role gains a +3 item bonus to checks made to resolve Leadership activities.
Park Structure 3
Paved Streets Structure 4
Hexes containing a settlement with Paved Streets reduce their Travel cost to 1.
Pier Structure 3
Rubble Structure —
Sacred Grove Structure 5
Secure Warehouse Structure 6
Sewer System Structure 7
Shrine Structure 1
Smithy Structure 3
Specialized Artisan Structure 4
Stable Structure 3
Stockyard Structure 3
Stonemason Structure 3
Tannery Structure 3
Tavern, Dive Structure 1
Tavern, Popular Structure 3
Tavern, Luxury Structure 9
Tavern, World-Class Structure 15
Temple Structure 7
Tenement Structure 0
Theater Structure 9
Thieves' Guild Structure 5
Town Hall Structure 2
Trade Shop Structure 3
University Structure 15
Wall, Stone Structure 5
Wall, Wooden Structure 1
Watchtower Structure 3
Waterfront Structure 8
Kingdom Events
As the PCs’ kingdom grows, all manner of unusual or irregular events will affect its fortunes and guide its growth. There are two categories of kingdom events: story events that occur as a result of the campaign plotline and random events.
Story events are resolved when they occur, as detailed in the earlier chapters of this Adventure Path and often include greater details for how the PCs can take part in resolving the event. These events take place during regular play even though they draw upon kingdom statistics. They’re usually resolved during downtime.
Random events are resolved entirely by the kingdom itself and take place within the Event phase of a Kingdom turn. A flat check at the start of this phase determines whether a random event occurs.
Resolving Kingdom Events
All kingdom events resolve in downtime, although for some story events, there may be periods of exploration or encounter mode before or after an event’s resolution. Some kingdom events grant boons or benefits, while others can harm a kingdom by costing resources, increasing Unrest or Ruin, penalizing activities, or damaging structures. In many cases, the PCs will be able to attempt Kingdom skill checks to bolster benefits or minimize disasters.
It’s possible to have more than one kingdom event occur during a Kingdom turn. In this case, the players decide the order of the events.
Kingdom Event DCs
A kingdom event’s DC is always the kingdom’s Control DC modified by the event’s level modifier.
Kingdom Event Descriptions
Your GM has a full list of story kingdom events and random kingdom events—they are not duplicated here, so as to preserve plot spoilers. Note that kingdom events can be both beneficial and otherwise, but regardless of whether they bring weal or woe to your kingdom, completing kingdom events is one of the best ways to earn experience points for your kingdom.
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Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
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Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
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Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
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Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.