Game mechanics for rebuilding

[kcdusk]

I think the V1.0 and 2.0 DnD Dungeon Master Guides talked about how to build up a "party", moving through to village, town, castle etc. They included thoughts on food, morale, trade, currency, natural barriers, neighbours and armies. I know its DnD, but that game did do this thing well in my view (the whole levelling up thing).

How does that relate to T2K?

Most games i've seen have been about survival, rather than rebuilding on any scale. T2K has probably had a different focus, very few people look at T2K in terms of how much money they can accumulate or heads they have in their personal army. The goals are generally much smaller and times lines shorter. But i agree, i like the thought of rebuilding a village or small geographic area.

In terms of game mechanics I'd do some rough calculations, and apply them generally to the game. Something like this maybe:

It starts with water. Say 5 liters per person per day. Where is the village/town getting that kind of water from? Or put another way, how much water is available per day/week? How many people can that support? It gives you a rough indication of how suitable the area is for a population. In winter there may be more water, but less food.

Same with food. What does the ref manual say about food? Is it 2kg per person per day of proper food (ie meat or MRE's), and 3kg per day of wheat and other stuff? Again, how much food is available, and for how many days? in spring there might be more food available but less water. So players have to plan ahead (store water in winter via wells, water tanks, dam) and the same with food (cure or salt meat to make it last through winter).

Planning and rationing becomes a skill, and being able to sell that to a population. Knowing how much food and water is available in the local area can be worked out mathematically and guide you to how many NPCs characters might be able to recruit. I'm not sure if this is the kind of "game mechanic" your after? I'd keep the maths simple and use lots of rounding.

How the PCs interact with other people would be huge. Do they share food/water? Is morale high or low? If they appear too weak they open themselves up to marauders and a hostile take over.

To me, the key factors would be
1. potential enemies that might be near by to slow progress or take over all together after the hard work has been done.
2. food and water
3. other people wanting to join whatever community the PCs had created
4. defending the area, and having enough infrastructure to house, feed and run (politics) a large group of people. Even waste would become an issue, depending on how detailed you want to get.
5. Use long time lines to keep the game moving. Maybe game out them digging a well over a number of days (where to dig it or how to get water in it, getting wood for supports etc), and get the community started. But if they end up wanting to build a dam, i wouldnt game out daily work drills. Maybe have the players plan out a 6 month schedule and make a couple of die rolls to see if they have stayed on time. And another die roll to see how successful the dam is (for example they were aiming to build a dam to store 500,000 litres in 6 months. A good first die roll meant they finished the dam in 4 months, but a poor second roll meant while they finished early the dam only holds 250,000 litres). Its a chance to give non-combat characters a chance to shine.

Just some ideas.