After a series of adventures, the group heads home for their first ’Winter Holiday’. To make sure the settlement evolves and grows, I decided early that every winter the characters would rest and work on other tasks until the next group of settlers arrive from the ‘old world’.

This blog post describes some of the activities (so that we can remember them), and I have a couple of thoughts on the system (or disregard for the system).

The Pathfinder way discarded

I had planned to use some of Pathfinder’s rules on downtime. I thought it would be cool to use the rules from Ultimate Campaign on building a house, and later strong holds, and so on. But it turned out that:
1) my players weren’t really into that level of bookkeeping
2) I wasn’t into that level of bookkeeping and …
3) the wizard picked spells like Wall of stone and Fabricate, making the need for materials partially irrelevant.

So, I’ve skipped it completely. And fundamentally run downtime as a narrative, with some skill rolls.

What did the characters do?

It had turned out that, Jarn, the paladin/ranger had made one of the two serving girls pregnant. The player decided that he honestly did love the girl, who was a no nonsense scrappy city-girl, and they decided to get married. The druid of the group officiated and gifts were presented. Each character came up with a gift for the couple, including a bridal suite in their new house with a clock, platinum rings for the entire group and his wife, jade figurines and a donation of blood from the scary half-orc fighter.

During the months they built a sizeable house with a small tower, a glass blowing workshop and smithy and the gnome constructed a ballista for the tower. They craft weapons and armor and train the militia.

The druid also started training an apprentice, the elf Sekhlas, and he went to negotiate for dragon scales, to build an armor, but unfortunately failed in his diplomatic effort.

I also let several characters learn languages, skills and tools, because, why the hell not?

Spies?
As the new settlers arrive in the spring, some characters receive mail and messages, and they finally get some plate mail. Their leader, Jarn, gets news that his father – who is the head of a knightly order – is sick from enemy magic, and that his mother needs assistance. She has in return sent his father’s medallion, which protects against fey charm.  The druid, Weylyn gets a letter from a friend, which relates the story of a kidnapping or defection by a great boat wright to the Hrran Hegemony.

The group was already worried about spies, and they are watchful, but also decide to lay a honey trap. They spread the rumor that they have hidden powerful war machines in the forest, and use awakened beasts to patrol the site – and wait. I think it is a good plan, which I will definitely play to.

The settlers that arrive include two adventuring groups. One is with the rival guild, and another accompanies the dwarves, who have come to run the iron mine, which the characters find.

Furthermore, the wizard, Thul Dweomereye, has apprentices and guards coming to expand his position.

What worked well?
Down time is essentially a chance to role-play and create more context and relations for the characters.
I think everyone got to do interesting things and the wedding and the news from home ground the characters in the setting. It creates a greater attachment to the world around them, and meant that I think they found pleasure in having a lot of gold they can send home and to the war effort.
I hope that the war in their homeland will come more into focus in the next leg of the campaign.

The players have fun when they use their spells creatively to create a home and survive, and there was no reason to take that away, because I had imagined we would use a more ‘mechanistic’ system for it.
And just for fun, I’ve decided to add the text of one of the two hand-outs here:

The Letter to Weylyn:

Dear Weylyn

I hope that you are thriving? I have thought of you many times in the last couple of years, but finding an opportunity to actually sending a letter has been difficult. This winter I finally returned to Finrod after what feels like a life-time of conflict. I have spent much time in Burndeth and helped our ancient kin and allies there. Pentath is now besieged by folk of the wild tribes of Lest, but they learned to fear the forest. So, they burned much of it. I have grown stronger in my struggle, and as we know, adversity and challenges makes you find new strength within you.

I write, not solely out of my desire to convey my thoughts and experiences to you. During the last couple of months here in Finrod, it was impossible not to hear rumours of this expedition and the ships going out to sea. I couldn’t help myself from paying close attention to these stories, as I had already understood from Deekin Chass that you were no longer on the Isles. It therefore troubled me that I stumbled on information that the great shipwright Amhlaidh Tod disappeared from his shipyard last year. The Council and the Circle have been keeping it under close lid, but you know how it is here – everyone knows everybody. The point is, they think he might have been kidnapped, or worse, been bribed to go over to the enemy. If that is true, the Hegemony might soon field a fleet of ocean going vessels. Their seafarers will not rival our own, but in my battles with Hrran, I have learned that its leadership is very resourceful and flexible in their thinking.

I have sent this letter to Moss Keeper Clearbrook, and I hope that it will find you soon.

Be mindful of sails on the horizon.  

 

Your friend forever

Seera Wylder