D&D 5E Player characters as heirs and eventually rulers

[77IM]

Size could determine proficiency bonus.
Village +2
Town +3
Small city +4
Large city +5
Megalopolis +6
(I'm mentioning cities but you could do this for kingdoms too.)

It would only be added for things where size matters. E.g.:
Str/Might: a bigger city can afford more trained soldiers.
Dex/Subterfuge: a bigger city might have a larger spy network or cooperative thieves guild.
Con/Welfare: a bigger city has more people and is better able to absorb losses and may have bigger food stores.
Int/Knowledge: a bigger city is more likely to have the sages and experts needed, and has bigger libraries.
Wis/Economy: a bigger city has deeper pockets.
Cha/Influence: a bigger city has more people to spread its ideas and new ideas may penotrate more slowly.

Furthermore you could apply it only when the city is "proficient" in the check. Like a city not known for magic might not get the bonus on Int checks for magical lore. Conversely you might give cities Expertise (double proficiency bonus) for areas where they excel.

Maybe for every non-proficient area the city gets to pick an expert area. This would be an easy way to distinguish cities qualitatively. E.g., Strengths: navy, trade, religion; Weaknesses: arcane magic, farming, social mobility.

Including the proficiency bonus lets you use the regular DCs of 10/15/20.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I really like the idea of mapping city stats to PC stats; the familiarity would really help players understand things... You could easily take this further - as 77IM brings up proficiency bonuses for size, you could take it a step further and assign a level based on size. His "expert areas" could be feats and handed out in the same manner as they are for PC's - choose to increase your stats, or buy feats that allow your city to have more specialization.

 

[nomotog]

Size could determine proficiency bonus.
Village +2
Town +3
Small city +4
Large city +5
Megalopolis +6
(I'm mentioning cities but you could do this for kingdoms too.)

It would only be added for things where size matters. E.g.:
Str/Might: a bigger city can afford more trained soldiers.
Dex/Subterfuge: a bigger city might have a larger spy network or cooperative thieves guild.
Con/Welfare: a bigger city has more people and is better able to absorb losses and may have bigger food stores.
Int/Knowledge: a bigger city is more likely to have the sages and experts needed, and has bigger libraries.
Wis/Economy: a bigger city has deeper pockets.
Cha/Influence: a bigger city has more people to spread its ideas and new ideas may penotrate more slowly.

Furthermore you could apply it only when the city is "proficient" in the check. Like a city not known for magic might not get the bonus on Int checks for magical lore. Conversely you might give cities Expertise (double proficiency bonus) for areas where they excel.

Maybe for every non-proficient area the city gets to pick an expert area. This would be an easy way to distinguish cities qualitatively. E.g., Strengths: navy, trade, religion; Weaknesses: arcane magic, farming, social mobility.

Including the proficiency bonus lets you use the regular DCs of 10/15/20.

Including proficiency is a good idea. My idea was to do it based of of number and quality of city improvements rather then size. I didn't want to dictate that cites get bigger in order to advance. I also wanted to have this system be flexible enough to be applied to kingdoms/guilds or any kind of strategic play you wanted to try. (I figured size could be a advantage or disadvantage based on what you were trying to do. Like a city trying fight an empires might be a disadvantage, well an empire trying to establish a trade route with a city would have an advantage. If it comes up at all that is.) If a city has an improvement relating to the task, then you can add the city's proficiency bonus to the task. For example a city with a brewery, would be able to add proficiency when they want to brew up a large stock of ale.

 

[X_Mythic]

I really like the idea of mapping city stats to PC stats; the familiarity would really help players understand things... You could easily take this further - as 77IM brings up proficiency bonuses for size, you could take it a step further and assign a level based on size. His "expert areas" could be feats and handed out in the same manner as they are for PC's - choose to increase your stats, or buy feats that allow your city to have more specialization.

I agree, Players are going to get this and enjoy it because it is familiar to them. It's not going to be something they have to relearn, they are just going to have to apply what they already know to something new! It's incredible! I was thinking of coming up with a feat system for the cities/nations, ill add it here later if i actually get the time to make it, and i spend that time making it.

So this is off topic so i'm putting it in a spoiler.

[sblock]i finished making my first adventure and was wondering what you guys thought of the encounters, i really dont want to kill my party on the first adventure.
So, 4 characters at level 1
The only encounter they will have to face the now dead mayor (Specter) and his now zombie daughter and then the skeleton Minotaur under the mayors house (part of the backstory of the adventure)
then they can also face a single zombie, a pair of zombies, and a pair of skeletons. These three fights are also options, and they dont HAVE to fight them.
is this going to kill a group of level one characters? [/sblock]

 

[Zaruthustran]

The Specter will give them some real trouble, I think. The other fights will be easy.

 

[nomotog]

Have you talked to your payers about their kingdoms yet? You know what they are like and what they intend to do with them?

 

[X_Mythic]

Have you talked to your payers about their kingdoms yet? You know what they are like and what they intend to do with them?

Not yet, hard with everyone working or going to school. Any idea's what i should ask them about? i got a few ideas already:
Player name
kingdom name
who the rulers are and how they come into power (Linked to race and class of main character)
How the nation makes most of it's income
and any special rules or traditions that set the nation apart from the others.

 

[nomotog]

Not yet, hard with everyone working or going to school. Any idea's what i should ask them about? i got a few ideas already:
Player name
kingdom name
who the rulers are and how they come into power (Linked to race and class of main character)
How the nation makes most of it's income
and any special rules or traditions that set the nation apart from the others.

Ask them what the terrain is like. (Tropical island chain, vast blue desert, a deep wooden forest.) Ask what their cites look like. (Rundown ports with buildings made of wrecked ships, Colorful tent cites always on the move, Tree houses that wrap around massive trees.) What the people are like. (Exiled criminals and outlaws, dinosaur ridding halfings, reclusive elves.) How the government works. (Drawing lots, A tribal counsel, Wizard rule.) Ask them their kingdom's biggest advantage and their biggest threat. Finally make sure you ask them what they what to do with their kingdom.

If your players are anything like me, then they will be simply buzzing with ideas the second you tell them they get their own kingdom.

 

[Blackwarder]

Get ACKS, it got all you need to know about kingdom management.

Warder

 

[Quartz]

Rather than multiple kingdoms, I too would go with one kingdom. I strongly suggest you read the Aphonion Tales Story Hour for some insight on playing a prince and his entourage.