Manors

By OliverMontet

A Manor is a steading smaller than a Village. Customarily only a single family of nobility and their servants reside in a Manor. Manors are often built nearby or within larger steadings. Those that choose not to associate themselves with a larger steading are usually unconnected to any roads, hidden away somewhere among their surrounding land holdings.

They are usually completely undefended, but are sometimes inhabited by a powerful warrior or two. Rural manors are surrounded by large tracts of undeveloped land, but occasionally local farmers or other craftsmen may develop and work the land in exchange for a portion of their produce. An urban manor may own a few local businesses or rural land on the edge of the steading.

A manor, unlike other steadings, can exist within or in conjunction with another type of steading. It can also exist as a steading in its own right, but it can not contain another manor.

• A Village may contain up to One Manor.
• A Town may contain up to Two Manors.
• A Keep may contain up to Three Manors.
• A City may contain up to Five Manors.

Steading Tags

Custom (Fall under Other)

Inherited

• This steading, all of its property and associated holdings were passed down to the current owner by a family member. Nothing is for sale. Certain Services, Meals and Transport may be available, but noble families do not care much for gold.

Patron

• This steading gains the same level of defense as the steading receiving their patronage when dealing with threats, unless the threat is a manor. The steading receiving patronage does not take -defense when this rule comes into play. The steading receiving patronage can provide aid as normal if another manor is attacking, but they will have a hard choice to make if both of the feuding steadings are their patrons.

Making a Manor

By default a manor is Wealthy, Steady, None, Inherited and holds Enmity for another steading of your choice.  If a manor exists within or in conjunction with another steading it gains the Patron tag and an Oath of fealty with that steading.  If a rural manor establishes an Oath of fealty with a larger settlement it gains the Patron tag.

If at least one other steading has Enmity or an Oath with this manor choose one.

• If the manor has History choose two, regardless of enmity or oath.
• The Manor is well hidden: Safe
• The Manor has an alliance with another noble family or aristocrat: Oath (steading the ally resides in or controls),
• +Population The Manor is home to a heroic knight: Personage (Knight),+Defenses
• The Manor is home to a locally renowned member of nobility: Personage (Noble), Power (political), Enmity (another Manor)
• The Manor is home to a powerful local merchant: Personage (Merchant), Market, Trade (your choice)
• The Manor is providing room and board to a party of mysterious travelers: Personage (Adventurer), Exotic

Choose one problem:

• Generations of inbreeding have left some inhabitants of the Manor sickly or sterile: -Population
• The Manor, filled with valuable heirlooms, has attracted the attention of local monsters: Blight (Monster), Need (Adventurer)
• The owner of the Manor has accumulated vast gambling debts: Prosperity: Dirt, Blight (Debt Collector), Enmity (steadings with Lawful citizens)
• The nobles of the Manor have offended someone of great influence: Need (Protection), Enmity (your choice)
• The Manor controls the only deposit of a valuable resource for weeks in any direction: Resource (your choice), Prosperity: Rich, Enmity (all nearby steadings)
• The Manor is haunted by an ancient ancestor that was wronged there: History (the incident), Blight (Ghost)

Updating the Campaign Map - Manor Guidelines Growth

When a Manor meets the requirements for Growth (Population: Booming, Prosperity > Moderate) it may reduce its prosperity by one and reset it's population to steady to move to the next largest type, Village. New villages automatically gain an Oath with another steading of your choice. Any tags not specifically mentioned by this rule are kept, and it does not receive any other tags associated with the "Making a Village" section. If a Manor grows to a Village it loses all special privileges associated with manors, this includes: the ability to exist within or in conjunction with another type of steading (update your map accordingly), the Patron tag and any benefits currently gained from it (the manor may retain associated Oaths of fealty if you choose), the Inherited tag, Holdings and any benefits currently gained from them. If the manor chose two things from the "Making a Manor" section as a result of a History tag, the manor keeps the tags associated with both of their choices if it becomes a Village. Presumably the inhabitants or owners of the manor experiencing growth are now in control of the new Village.

• Collapse Rule is unchanged. A Manor becomes an abandoned house, there is no smaller steading for a manor to become.
• Want Rule is unchanged.
• Trade Rule is unchanged.
• Capture Rule is unchanged. Profit Rule is unchanged.
• Surplus Rule is unchanged.
• Aid Rule is unchanged.
• Embattled Rule is unchanged
• Clash Rule is unchanged.

• Opportunity
  • Defenses associated with the Patron tag do not affect the presence of Opportunity. A Manor that has Enmity against a weaker Manor will always attack. When a Manor has Enmity against a weaker steading that is not another Manor it may attack. Subtract the distance (in rations) between the steadings from the Manor with Enmity's defenses. If the result is greater than the other steading’s defenses +defense for each step of size difference (village to town, town to keep, keep to city) they definitely attack. Otherwise it’s your call: has anything happened recently to stoke their anger? The forces of the attacker embattle the defender, while they maintain the attack they’re -defenses.

Updating the Campaign Map - Custom Updates

• Holdings When a Manor develops a Trade agreement, Oath, or Enmity with another steading that is not gained from the "Making a Manor" section, and the manor has higher prosperity than that steading, one of its holdings are developed. When a Manor develops a Need that is not gained from the "Making a Manor" section, one of its holdings are developed. When a holding is developed the manor gains either +prosperity, +population or +defenses. A manor can have a maximum of three holdings. When a manor reaches three holdings the manor chooses to either gain the Guild or Craft tag or lose a Need.

• Suffering When a Manor suffers a Blight that has not been resolved by the player characters or some other force it is Suffering. Remove one Other tag of your choice until the Blight is resolved.

Here's the custom monster that goes with one of the blights:

• The Debt Collector