It is easier to use imagination and common sense .
But alot can be done fairly easily by taking elements from strategy games .
Crops - have a Die roll table for result ranging from bad to excellent and take it from there .
Have a set of parameters for what is possible to produce with a given level of technology and give all villages a level according to imagination and common sense.
Set up a defence force for all cantonments .
It is much like making NPCs in detail , but instead of hitpoints you give them a militia.
Instead of gear you give them an inventory .
Instead of initiative give them a moral score.
Top it of by giving them a ration number and the number of rations they gain every harvest and the number eaten every day .The occurence of trade routes or caravans can be added to the ration number .
Correct these numbers up and down as events unfold .
There are already "Village crisis tables" in the core rules .( V.2.0) These can be expanded by your own hand to also have Village Bonus results - like a windfall of supplies etc
The NPCs that run the other places you give motives to your own taste some will want a war of expansion ,some want peace and harmony .Some are desperate and some greedy .In teh end you should have a record sheet for resources and men in every village ,a map of the area it is in and a detailed map of defenses etc and a few NPC sheets of the notables there - with pictures so that the mayor isnt always the same faceless guy .
It takes quite alot of work compared to only making the scenario/firefight that happens next .But alot of the work is already done by your imagination .You know whatr areas have good defenses because you have decided this based on imagination and common sense already .
It is good to keep options limited for the players.They can expand in military ,agriculture or production .Use common sense and determine the size of teh workforce available ,the resources available and give them the projected result if they choose to go this or that way .
Not everyone in a village can work on communal projects at the same time .
Trying to force this will mean that the villagers will fight of teh dictators - or try to .Also an interesting scenario .the players are the evil overlords that force the villagersand a group of travelling heroes emerge to liberate the huddled masses...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc
For me the main problem would be to elaborate a set of rules to simulate things like the needed supplies, medical care, local production, grow rate, commerce potential, etc. For me it’s easier to create and imagine the background conditions, the NPC, and to create the villages and invent possible plots. But the difficult thing is to have a system to measure the impact of the actions of the playing character in the development of the community. For example, if playing characters are providing escort to an incoming caravan, what would be the incidence of the safe arrival of the caravan to the cantonment? If the group manages to clear of mines a field that will be later intended to food production, can this contribution be measured as a game parameter fort he development of the cantonment. A mix between the normal roleplaying sessions and a strategy game, where the characters try to do their best to improve the parameters of their cantonment. I’ve run games where players make decisive contributions to their communities, letting to imagination and common sense the consequences of their actions. But for a campaign with the development of a cantonment as the main goal, some kind of rule system to evaluate the state of the cantonment would be desirable. It would be much more interesting. Any idea if such a system exists?
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