Matt Colville’s Strongholds and Followers

Matt Colville’s Strongholds and Followers

So the PDF for the record breaking Kickstarter project is available now to backers and preorders. I’ve downloaded my copy and begun to peruse it. I haven’t read a lot of it on detail yet, just skimmed a good amount and read a few sections that caught my eye.

I like what I’ve seen so far. What does everyone else think?

Could you tell us what is exactly included in the pdf, and what you like about it? For those who don't have it.
Are there sections or bits of it which you don't like?

I also just downloaded it in the last couple of hours. Haven't read it in detail, but so far I like the content.

There is often an explanation as to the thinking behind a rule or mechanic in the same paragraph as said rule/mechanic. Most mechanics seem to have both function and theme in mind - there's is plenty of crunch and plenty of flavour in this book.

A new mechanic of note is the Extended Rest. An extended rest requires you to spend a week in your stronghold/domain. Doing so will grant or enhance class benefits. A Cleric, for example, gains access to an enhanced Channel Divinity after an extended rest called Manifest Divinity. This allows you to grant 3d8 of healing to allies within 30 ft when you use your Channel Divinity in addition to its normal benefits. This is a powerful ability no doubt, but it has limited uses (starting with one) between extended rests. Also, the book does address the fact that its mechanics will change the balance and power level in your game. The easiest solution the book offers, is to grant your villains strongholds, with all the benefits they entail. There is a section dedicated to villain strongholds.

Now, my only real beef, is that I don't enjoy the very casual writing style. If I focus hard enough, I can hear Matt Colville speaking the words in his signature style, but I don't enjoy this style for the written word. It's relatively minor complaint for me, as I think the book will stand on the merits of the content regardless. And to be fair, there are probably people who will love that it reads the way Matt orates.

More later.

I just downloaded my copy and am looking it over. Way too much content for me to go over before bed and I have a long day of work tomorrow and my monthly 8-hour game on Saturday to prep for. I am considering using this in my current campaign. I would be interested in any opinions on whether any of the mechanics are overpowered or otherwise problematic. I know it was pretty heavily play tested, but I would love to hear from people using or planning to use it in their game--or those who won't--and their reasons why.

I do like his design philosophy that strongholds must cost a lot, but not take too long to build.

The cost (in gold) and time to build (in days) for each of the four strongholds are listed below. These are not based on any historical numbers mostly because humans were building castles for about 600 years until the invention of gunpowder made them obsolete and there’s no reasonable way to translate those costs into
a fantasy game. But even were we to pick a historical period as our baseline, there was no time in history that had bands of wizards and warlocks roaming the countryside pillaging dragon hordes and coming back to civilization with tens of thousands of gold pieces. Therefore any costs we derive must first be based in the economies of a fantasy RPG. And that means they must cost a lot, but not take too long. If it takes 10 years to build your stronghold, no PC would ever do it. Keeps and towers, temples and establishments each have wildly different purposes with different costs and different times to build.

Keeps are larger and more fortified for defensive purposes and therefore take longer to build: 150 days. Temples and towers are less fortified but still usually made of stone and take 120 days to complete at 1st level.

An establishment serves no defensive purpose, typically existing within a town or city with its own fortifications. But your establishment is still well-constructed with basements, multiple floors, and probably secret passages for you and your allies to escape out of…or in to! They take 90 days to complete.

Click to expand...

[Emphasis in the original.]

Base costs are keep=10,000 GB; tower = 8,000 GP; temple=8,000 Gp; establishment= 6,000 Gp

The maps and artworks are gorgeous. Well designed graphically. I find the maps of the different stages of a stronghold to be very helpful.

MNblockhead said:

I do like his design philosophy that strongholds must cost a lot, but not take too long to build.


Base costs are keep=10,000 GB; tower = 8,000 GP; temple=8,000 Gp; establishment= 6,000 Gp

Click to expand...

I agree.

Worth mentioning though, that he does his due diligence (like everywhere else in the book) and makes it clear that this is meant as a baseline - obviously your game may make different assumptions and be thematically different enough to require radically different time/monetary investment.

Ash Mantle said:

Could you tell us what is exactly included in the pdf, and what you like about it? For those who don't have it.
Are there sections or bits of it which you don't like?

Click to expand...

I'll have more to say once I've had more time with the book, but to give you a quick and incomplete synopsis....

There are 4 primary stronghold types, with some slight variations on a few.....Keep, Tower, Temple, and Establishment. Each corresponds to a type of character class; Keep for martial types, Tower for arcane types, Temple for devout types, and Establishment for skilled types. Each one grants benefits to the founder in the form of enhanced class features that are usable a certain number of times until you spend an Extended Rest (a week) at your stronghold. These features are pretty cool and pretty effective, but not so effective as to break the game or anything. They definitely make characters more powerful.

The Stronghold also grants Demesne Effects; these seem to be mostly flavor style effects for the realm in which your Stronghold is found. Then there are Stronghold Actions. These are combat related abilities that can take effect on initiative count 20 when the character is in the same hex as the Stronghold. These vary in strength, but tend to be potent. A couple seem very potent. Each Stronghold also attracts different types of followers.

I need to read more to really get a better sense of it all. I like the general approach, though.

Overall, the writing seems casual, which I like, and he explains a lot of the design in sidebars and footnotes. The art is top notch and the overall production quality is high. It's about 265 pages. I'm looking forward to seeing the print copy.

Again, more to come as I spend more time with the book.

The bestiary appendix has some cool monsters. Not a fan of gem dragons, but I like additional fey, aberrations, elementals, fiends, and celestials.

I'm having trouble focusing on the crunch... I'm enjoying reading the side stories. The included adventure, which can be used to earn a party a stronghold, looks fun.