Warhammer Settlement System 2.0

So I went back to the drawing board on the settlement management system and tried to come up with something that was more tied into the existing mechanics of WFRP.  This will be the first of three posts detailing the system, which will be tested for the first time tomorrow evening.

This is intended to provide some extra depth for Warhammer games so players can run a village or settlement in the same fashion as companies in Reign or houses in Song of Ice and Fire.  

Settlements are measured in several numerical ways, all of which parallel the stats for characters in WFRP 3rd Edition.  Settlements determine these abilities using a point buy system similar to that used to create characters.  To create an average settlement the group should begin with a 0 in all characteristics and use one of the following methods:

• Each player gets 2 points of characteristics and 1 point of skills to spend on the settlement.  This makes sure no player gets cut out of the creation process.
• The group gets 25 creation points to build the settlement that are spent communally.  Characteristics cost a number of points equal to the value it is being raised to while skills cost 1 point per level.  
• Random creation using tables detailed later in these rules.  

While all settlement characteristics are measured on a roughly 1-6 scale similar to the scale used by characters (though higher numbers are possible given really large or unusual settlements), they are also part of a more granular scale called the Upgrade scale.  This scale runs 1-60 and a settlement’s starting place on the Upgrade scale for each characteristic is equal to the characteristic x10.  So a settlement that begins with a Population of 3 has a 30 on the Upgrade scale, which is denoted as 3 (30) on the settlement sheet.  The points from the Upgrade scale are used to purchase holdings in the settlement, including specific buildings and such, at settlement creation.  

The Upgrade value of the characteristic will rise and lower over the course of the campaign as the settlement suffers and prospers.  If the Upgrade scale for a characteristic ever drops below the characteristic’s value x10, the characteristic drops by 1.  So if a plague reduces a settlement’s Population from 42 to 38 on the Upgrade scale, its Population also decreases from 4 to 3.  The same is true for increasing characteristics via the upgrade scale.  

If a settlement loses points on its Upgrade scale for a characteristic such that it can no longer afford all of its holdings, one of them must be lost.  It burns down, the staff flee, whatever is appropriate to the situation.  When the Upgrade scale for a characteristic increases new holdings may be selected, but it generally takes one month per point of the holding to get it up and operational.  

A characteristics Upgrade rating may be decreased by 1 to add a fortune die to any relevant roll made by the settlement or one of the characters, such as decreasing Wealth to add one fortune die to a Haggle roll.  This can result in short term gains but long term hurts the settlement in the long term as it is nickel and dimed to being smaller and smaller through minor crisis.  

This system can be used to model organizations aside from settlements if desired with a few changes.

Tying in Player Characters
Each player should choose a profession during character creation that focuses on one of the settlement characteristics, with no two characters choosing the same stat.  These characters should have some part in the power structure of the settlement involving that characteristic, such as a soldier being part of the Military or a rat catcher being involved in maintaining the Population of the city.  These characters should have some control over the resources of that stat, such as controlling access to its holdings or how changes in Upgrade rating are handled.  The most important characteristics for characters are Government, Law, and Military.   

Maintenance Checks
To keep the settlement functional the town must have a leader of some type who makes the hard decisions.  This is normally the character in the settlement associated with the Government characteristic, though it could easily be the Military or Law character as well.  Each month the leader of the village must make an Intelligence + Tradecraft or Fellowship + Leadership plus relevant specialties and fortune and misfortune dice from the settlement characteristics and holdings.  The difficulty dice for the check depends on the events of the month.  Plagues and harsh winters are 2-3 difficulty dice, while the height of a bounteous fall may be no difficulty dice.  Standard is 1 difficulty die.  
Each success adds one to the upgrade rating of a characteristic of the village leader’choice.  Each failure subtracts one the upgrade rating of a characteristic or skill of the village leader’s choice.
Boons mean one of the following, as determined by the village leader:

• One Boon: All characters earn 25 sp
• Two Boons:  The party tension meter goes down by 1.
• Three Boons: All characters earn 1 gp
• Four Boons: All characters get an additional advance.  

Banes mean one of the following, as determined by the GM:

• One Bane: All characters lose 25 sp.  If they cannot pay it the player begins the next adventure with 1 stress or fatigue.
• Two Banes: Players begin the adventure with 1 stress or fatigue.  
• Three Banes: Party tension meter goes up by 1.  
• Four Boons: Population upgrade rating of the settlement decreases by 1.  

Chaos stars mean something terrible has befallen the town (as determined by the GM). These events should generally be dealt with during an adventure.  Some suggestions:

• Skaven Invasion: -5 Population, -5 Law, +5 Weird due to all the disease and warpstone and it gets worse if the players don’t stop it.  
• Chaos Cult investation: -5 Population, -5 Law, -5 Government, +10 Weird, stop them before they pervert everything.
• Witch Hunter comes to town looking for heretics that don’t exist. +5 Government, -5 Law, -5 Crime

Sigmar’s hammer means something wonderful has happened in the town (as determined by GM).

• A miracle occurs, bringing the faithful of Sigmar in droves to the settlement.  +5 Population, +5 Military
• A new mineral vein is found near the village.  +10 Wealth