SKM Development: The Turn Part 2!

Alright.

Last time we discussed agricultural investments.

I’d like to polish off Research, but I need to figure out stronghold component costs for that first. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to do some in-game course correction on pricing as this game plays out. Assuming we can get the game going again after the hiatus we had to go on.

So, let’s pound out some easy mechanics.

Send out explorers.

Really easy. Sending out a group has a chance for people to detect stuff in the hex (usually threats).

The ability to discover could be over complicated by adding a time mechanic, but the assumption is that dedicated units spend a month exploring and report back at the beginning of the next month. So, for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume discovering things is broken into three categories.

Obvious: This represents like a city, major features, or something that can’t be missed (herds of buffalo, a lizardman city) and so on. Infantry has a 100% chance of spotting obvious features, and so does Cavalry. Peasants have a 80%. Since Peasants occasionally malinger.

Obscure: This represents small villages, hidden tunnels, weird caves or odd rare creatures. Stuff like that. Infantry has a 75% chance to spot it, because they’re on foot and since they’re moving more slowly are more likely to spot the stuff. Cavalry has a 60% chance. Peasants a 40%.

Hidden: Places intentionally hidden, put aside, or obscured. Infantry has a 50%. Cavalry a 40% and Peasants 20%. This is for stuff like a forgotten temple. A hidden fairy village. Or a secret den of thieves. And in most cases discovery in this case means ‘we know it’s there’ not ‘we know where it is.’ If the explorers beat the search roll by 20% (rolling a 30 or lower for infantry, 20 or lower for cavalry or 1 for peasants) they do locate the feature.

Of course, discovering a location risks being discovered, and so the locals will respond in kind. That I’ll handle by an off-screen combat roll between the two groups involved. The ruler can give his exploration teams basic orders however..

Passive Exploration: Observe and Break Contact On Discovery.

Diplomatic Exploration: Observe and attempt to open communications. Flee if attacked.

Aggressive Exploration: Observe. On event of hostile contact, attempt to destroy.

I do plan on adding the complexity of the people leading the group having personalities that may conflict with their orders from time to time. They aren’t robots after all.

The other half of this coin is Surveyors. Finding out the land value and subsistence value of a hex. These guys also take a month, but they cost cash. About 500gp for a month’s effort. They’ll also have to deal with the locals (and always take the option to run if they can get away with it), but don’t give their cash back if say they weren’t able to finish their job because lizardmen attacked them. So the player is behooved to clear, or at least remove threats, from a hex before sending in a survey team. This fellow, if successful and uneaten, will tell them the Resource and Subsistence value of the hex.

The better version of a Surveyor is an Explorer. The Explorer is also better, arguably then the patrol exploration. This guy has a price tag of 2000gp. He has a 100% chance of discovery in the hex however, and comes back with information on the Subsistence and Resource value, all in one month.  He might even clear a threat. The problem is that the Explorer gets paid up front, and some of them are charlatans, and some of them might not come back if the stuff in the hex is dangerous enough.