[Information] Colonial Ideas

[Shadow0136]

If you guys have any suggestions for the new game idea go ahead and post them here!
Necessary Info

 

Starting Level 5

[Xildur]

First thing first : Why the colony should be built in the specific place?
Usually, there are 2 reasons that a specific place should be built and not the land near to it:
1. There are abundant resources, maybe mineral or food and water, nearby the location
2. Strategic importance, like protecting transportation or defensible position

If the founding father of the colonies fail to calculate this 2 factors, the colony will not prosper.

So, scouting the area is important aspect for itself.

Second question, how the colony funds the immigration?
Who have interest and how they protect their investment?
Building a colony from scratch is not an easy feat and usually only be done by government sponsor.
Thus, they usually send their own soldiers to make sure the colony pay taxes to the crown.
How much the soldiers and how much they involve themselves to the local politic is another important factor.

So, what kind of gaming that you wish to run, Shadow0136?

[Shadow0136]

I'm a little busy atm so I'll have to get back to you with an answer in a few hours most likely. But those are good points and I'm looking forward to discussing them.

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1: (Location) The general location of each landing site is based on reports delivered by other ships which had been sent months prior to sail a part of the coast in order to get a basic lay of the land, with occasional landings to see what is further in land. The specifics of each landing area however are less detailed, and will require exploration to determine a suitable place to establish the colony.

Edit: Until I get back here are a few things/questions
1: Starting Level will be 3.
2: Thoughts on starting GP?
3: Should "Common" exist as a language in the game?

[Xildur]

This is my thought on the questions, others might have different thought about this.

1. 3rd level character is likely a sergeant (in army).
He can't take heavy responsibility yet, except he was born from nobility.

2. Depend upon what mission for them and their background.
But normal gp should be suffice.

3. You can replace 'Common' with the name of the Kingdom.
This gives more flavor to the setting.

[Shadow0136]

I have time for a quick response.
1: Hmm.. what level would you expect then for minor noble then? I was trying to make them authorative but not overly powerful.

2: Alright I'll think on it.

3: I'm asking because then each colony will have a different language. (English, French, and Spanish for ex.) As they are each from a different kingdom. So they would need to know each others' language to communicate without "common"

[Xildur]

Minor Noble who has already had couple experience and lead their people should be at least in level 5.
This is according to my opinion, so maybe others can give theirs.

Okay, so no common, then.
They need to learn each other languages in game, not from the start.

[Shadow0136]

1: (Location) The general location of each landing site is based on reports delivered by other ships which had been sent months prior to sail a part of the coast in order to get a basic lay of the land, with occasional landings to see what is further in land. The specifics of each landing area however are less detailed, and will require exploration to determine a suitable place to establish the colony. I am working on a map of the coastline for each group with multiple landing locations in each region for the groups to choose between., allowing the colony to make their own decisions on the importance of defense vs resource availability.

For how the colonies are funded the majority of the money us being provided by the King/Queen of each Kingdom, but various nobles (both PC and NPC) can invest some of their money in funding the venture in exchange for a say in the governing of it and a larger share of the profits. So an 80%-20% approximately between Royalty and nobility respectively.

As for who is being sent, the venture will initially include around 60 colonists and 24 soldiers, not including the nobles joining the expedition in order to oversee the development of the colony. So overall close to 7+1/2 dozen people.

[Xildur]

Please don't forget that a basic colony needs clean water and food access to survive.

[Shadow0136]

I know, and each nation is sending a ship of food/water supplies in addition to the colonists and building materials on a second ship. Also, thoughts on this as the coastline?

 

[Xildur]

Water is very bulky and expensive to be transported.
Please think carefully.

If one person consumes 2 liter of water each day, 1 m3 water (a ton) of water only supplies 1000 people a day.
If there are 84 people in a colony, they'll need about 3 m3 water (3 ton) per month + industrial need, such as food processing, tanner, forge, husbandry and other industries.

That is why most of cities are located near river and great civilization always came from great river, because they support larger population.

I assume since this is colony game, the traveling time between Kingdom's nearest city and the colony should be more than 1 month by boat, like America to England. It is costly to transport basic needs regularly, one time disruption could wipe out the colonists. Please remember that less than half original American colonists had still survived when the third boat arrived because they had no food in winter.

[Shadow0136]

I believe that will be taken care of by the rivers and careful planning in game. But also don't forget that magic does exist in the game, and "Create Water" is a repeatable 0 - level spell. Not to trivialize that but it has to be taken into consideration.

And after reviewing it you're right that they can't practically transport water to the colony, and they will need to rely upon the natural rivers for survival as well. If you review the map that I have set up so far I have established a river running close to almost every (or to every beach) so that any of them can be considered a viable choice for landing.

[dbaque]

Hey, Shadow!

Several thoughts:
1) The coastline looks good. It offers a nice mix of (mineable?) mountain, forest, and (arable?) plains. What is the difference between the light tan coast & darker tan? Are all the rivers navigable?

2) A colony could expect a one-time starting supply of resources, but like Xildur mentioned, a continuous supply is impractical. The colony would need to find something ASAP.

3) Since the kingdoms know each other, it might be expected that plenty speak each other's language, especially the nobility. They could even have a trade/diplomatic language (e.g. French by this point, or Latin).

4) Besides the differences in flavor of the three kingdoms, the colonies should reflect differences mechanically or in resources what they are better at. E.g. British ships & longbows, French cavaliers, Spanish footmen & gunners.

5) I'd agree that L5 is a starting minimum for a colony leader. Maybe L7 since that is the Leadership feat minimum. The starting soldiery should also be seasoned veterans of some sort, at least L2.

[Xildur]

Please consider that magic users (with PC class nonetheless) are exceptional character (except in high-magic plane like Faerun) whose total number should be less than 1% of population. And the cost in casting an 0-level spell is 12.5 gp, more than a weekly income for farmers.

We must not thinking from player's character but a community.
I believe DM Guide gives a rough guide how to build a village and its demographic.

[Shadow0136]

Hey Dbaque!

1: Yes the mountains are mineable, though the colonies that focus on that will need to protect their trails to and from the mountains against raids. The rivers are navigable, and are running west to east from the higher mountain ranges out of sight from the coast. As for the symbols along the coast, the light tan hexes are regular beaches that are safe and easy to land upon, the darker hexes with the three "humps" are rocky hills/Cliffsides that are not safe places to land at from sea, so any ships/landing zones will need to focus on finding an efficient and safe landing zone.

1.5: Addressing something now, firearms are considered martial weapons due to being more common in the world, but are primarily owned by the wealthy/military. So expect soldiers armed with muskets supported by peasant militias armed with pitchforks and clubs.

2: As mentioned starting rivers and divine magic will help initially but careful planning will be needed, as for food I'm going to be starting near the end of winter/beginning of spring. So hunting/gathering will be effective as farms are prepared for the growing season. Just remember that most of your initial work is being done by untrained farmers, who have basic practical skills but aren't going to be performing miracles/masterful construction.

3: I would expect the nobility to likely speak two languages, but will state that the colonies are not expecting each other and will likely discover each other by stumbling upon their scouts. As for peasants most will probably only know their native language, and possibly a few phrases from one of the others.

4: I am already planning on doing something like that, such as a +1 or 2 to a certain skill, a bonus to attacking with specific weapons, exotic weapon proficiency, etc.

5: I'm just trying to avoid going too high level so the nobles aren't overly powerful, because the ones who are going on the venture are those not vital back in their homelands, and are more likely involved financially or politically than for their "skills"

Edit for Xildur's post,

I'm thinking of the Adept NPC class, who would be a basic priest. I'm sure that one could be convinced to help provide water for the people until the foundations are laid for cheap, but with strong rivers near each potential landing site I don't think they will be needed as much.

[Shadow0136]

Also, each month a report will be delivered to the leaders if someone is assigned to keep track.

Month #: 1
BP: 50
Food left on the ship: Enough for 5 more months.
Total Settlers(not including the Nobles): 60
Total Soldiers(not including the Captain): 24
Next Wave of Settlers coming from the Queen: Never. Must send a letter about successful colonization first.*
Current Kingdom Alignment: LN

Settlers' Age Groups

Age Group	N. of M(ales) / N. of F(emales)	Capable males for militia training
0-3	2M/1F	0
4-9	0M/3F	0
10-14	3M/1F	1
15-18	5M/3F	3
19-25	9M/5F	6
26-40	13M/9F	11
41-50	4M/1F	2
51-60	1M/0F	0
61+	0M/0F	0

None of the settlers are considered proficient with a specific profession. Most of them have been trained to deal
with all kinds of work, including woodcutting, farming, etc.

Roles

Role	Who?
Ruler	<vacant>
Consort	<vacant>
Councilor	<vacant>
General	<vacant>
Grand Diplomat	<vacant>
Heir	<vacant>
High Priest	<vacant>
Magister	<vacant>
Marshal	<vacant>
Royal Enforcer	<vacant>
Spymaster	<vacant>
Treasurer	<vacant>
Viceroy	<vacant>
Warden	<vacant>