In retrospect, I probably should have checked the forums and/or permissions on the file before posting my comments on it in the Axioms forum.
Reposting here!
I’m very excited about these. Overall I think this is great! I really like the idea of having everything based just directly off number of families.
But I do have questions and comments
-Not sure how I feel about the territorial control mechanic. I like the existing fact that low-level characters can have a large domain if they can manage to secure it, and the penalties seem pretty punitive to stop that. On the other hand, I like that there now exist mechanics for how much unrest occurs when a realm has a child-king.
-If hexes have different land values, how do you determine which families are in which hex to determine your income? Say a domain contains four hexes of value 6, one hex of value 3, and one hex of value 9. The domain grows by 25 families in a month. Which hex or hexes do those families move to? (My gut is to divide them evenly, but players will argue that they can invest specifically in the hex of value 9 to get them to move there.) If it is not always evenly spread, it also makes it harder to have the single number for families and the single number for value. (If it is always spread evenly, you can just average the values. Though that will almost certainly give you a non-integer value, at least it’s a single number.)
-How does the Minimum Stronghold Value table work? If a 6-mile hex is 16 1.5 mile hexes and a 24-mile hex is 16 6-mile hexes, why aren’t the values multiples of 16? (In some cases they’re close to multiples of 16 and I can see it as merely being rounding, as with the Wilderness 1.5 - 6; 2,000 * 16 is 32,000 , 30k is pretty close to that. But 30,000 times 16 is 480,000, nowhere near the 720k for a 24 mile hex. Why would 16 6-mile hexes cost much less than a 24-mile hex, despite being the approximately the same square mileage? (and being called out as equal earlier)
-Attracting peasants and followers: There is no mention of a level requirement for peasant families and followers to show up in a domain that has a stronghold being constructed. Is this an intentional change? (I wouldn’t be surprised by the peasants showing up at any level, but followers seem like they might wait till 9th? Could go either way, though!)
-Note: On page 4, the domain expenses table says domain revenue in the header.
-Page 5 seems to be missing an or, or have an extra either: “either to another vassal that he has sworn fealty to (usually the lord who granted him the land to build his domain).”
-Random favors and duties as events! Fantastic.
-Page 5: The text says the irrevocable favor offsets a duty for a year, but the example implies only a month. (Given that year is bolded and the example is straight out of the book which says month, I think the example just needs an updating for the change from month to year.)
-Page 6: I don’t really understand why the loan and tax are both 1 gp. It makes sense from the PoV of a random generation, but from the perspective of a ruler, why would anyone ask for a loan when they could just make it a tax instead and never be expected to repay it? (I’d think the loan would be at 2 gp/family, it differentiates them more.)
-Reference is made to hijinks and vagaries but neither makes an appearance. Is the intent of the vagaries that the D@W ones be used and the modifiers just apply whenever you would normally roll them, or will there be new tables? (The hijink mention is less confusing, but it does bring up the question of which hijinks target the realm.)