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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neo" data-source="post: 1543041" data-attributes="member: 4139">House Strength Effects TableRating    Added Effects1    -2    -3    -4    -5    Family Ties6    -7    -8    Influence +19    -10    Adversary (x1)11    -12    Skill Focus13    -14    Manor15    Gossip Network16    -17    -18    Influence +219    -20    Adversary (x2)21    -22    Sensechal23    -24    Land25    In the Know26    -27    -28    Influence +329    -30    Adversary (x3)31    -32    Bonus Feat33    -34    Estate35    Political Favours36    -37    -38    Influence +439    -40+    Adversary (x4)Noble House EffectsThe following effects are the result of increases in house strength rating.  When the house strength rating reaches a number as described on the above table, certain effects are applied to its leader and the members of that house.  Listed below are the effects granted by a house strength rating.Family TiesThe noble’s houses have the ties of blood kin and as such where necessary will delay other tasks in order to come to each other’s aid.  To gain their families aid a noble must either address another member personally or get a message to them.  The DM then makes a Family Ties check, rolling a d20+10+Charisma modifier + any situational modifiers.  If the noble asking for a favour has recently done a favour for another member of his family himself, then they may add a +2 bonus to the check (+5 if it was life threatening).  The DC for the roll depends upon the type of aid being requested.  Asking to vacation at a relatives house might be DC 10-15, whereas requesting your brothers and sisters to meet you in a specific city with weapons for a night raid on a rival nobles family might be 15 if it is against a family with whom there is a feud, or DC20 if not.  Asking them to help kidnap a local lord and hold him ransom may be DC30-35, and could result in you being disowned if it failed.  A family will not risk everything on a request and there are always limits that not even your kin will cross.  No more than one request of your family may be made in a single month.  If requests occur in two successive months then the DC’s increase marginally to reflect the family feeling their errant member is becoming a little too dependent upon their aid.  If bad things occur as a result of requests made by a family member then they may well end up the black sheep of the family.  It should be noted requests are a two way street, a players siblings may make requests of them from time to time also.InfluenceAt certain rating levels, a noble house’s prestige can grant benefits to its members when they invoke the house name.  Being a member of a prominent house carries with it a certain degree of weight and credibility.  Each time the house strength rating reaches a level where there is an influence effect, the listed bonus is applied to any Reaction checks and also Diplomacy, Intimidate or Gather Information checks where the character uses their name to influence the situation.  Only the leader and members of this house can benefit from this bonus.AdversaryOne of the chief perils of having a powerful noble house is that there will always be those who are envious of or threatened by that power.  Just as growth can draw allies to a nobles cause, it can likewise draw enemies who would seek to undermine and destroy a noble house.  Each time the nobles house strength rating reaches a level with the adversary effect, the DM should create a rival NPC character who treats all members of the noble house as enemies.  This is the opposite of the contact class ability, and should reflect the addition of adversaries to the campaigns roster of NPC’s.Skill FocusLeaders groom their followers over time.  To represent this evolution in a noble’s house members, all of the noble’s followers (but not servants, hired employees, or the leader himself) gain the Skill Focus as a bonus feat.  The skill chosen for this feat must be a skill in which the noble house’s leader has at least 5 ranks.ManorA noble must have a base of operations in order to have a treasury and a place to conduct business.  Once the noble’s house strength rating progresses to the level with this effect, the nobles gains an allowance from their ruler with which to construct a Manor House (as per Stronghold Builders Guidebook).  The amount the have at their disposal is 50,000gp’s, anything not spent may not be kept.Gossip NetworkAll noble families develop networks of people whom they can get local gossip from, from servants, beggars, household guards and the like.  They do this to stay ahead of the game, determine what their enemies are doing and planning and in order to know what is happening and why.  Once a family has built up a Gossip Network then all the family members receive a +3 circumstance bonus to all Gather Information checks while within their Countries borders.  Gossip may not always be accurate and takes a varying amount of time to filter back to the nobles as determined by the DM.SeneschalThe seneschal is a special servant who acts as the personal assistant and scheduler for the head of the noble house.  The seneschal conducts most of the day-to-day business, and schedules audiences and hearings for those wishing to petition the noble lord.  When this effect is reached, the leader of the noble house gains an additional cohort of the aristocrat NPC class to serve as his advisor.LandIn addition to a residential structure, most nobles own vast areas of land that they use for personal enjoyment or business like hunting or farming.  Once the noble reaches this house strength rating level, he gains property equal to two square miles surrounding his base of operations.  This land is the nobles to do with as he pleases, but must be maintained and protected.  Within the first 1d6 months of a noble being given a land grant 1d2 Thorps to spring up as colonists rush to take advantage of this land and the nobles protection.  These thorps have a populations of 2d4x10 working adults (another 10-40% of this number in children and elderly), will have the same power centre alignment as the noble’s and are of a conventional power centre type that answers to the noble directly.  It’s community authorities; total characters of each class, and racial demographics, are determined by the DM (as per DMG page 138-9).  Each month the noble makes two d4 rolls this is the percent of births and deaths that occur each month.  Each adult pays a base tax of 3gp per month to the noble.  The noble can change the tax rate for every 5sp it is reduced the d4 rolls to determine the percentage of births receives a +1 bonus.  Likewise for every 5sp the tax is increased the Death rate receives a +1 bonus.In the KnowIt is perhaps not surprising that even the most respectable of noble houses have contact with or know how to reach the lowliest and most despicable of people.  As a result any noble family “In the Know” may once per month call on or put out the word to be contacted by some one of less than honourable intent.  The purpose of this contact may be the acquisition of some specific item, the kidnap of an opponent, the fencing of some less than legitimately obtained goods, the murder of a foe, planting of incriminating evidence or almost any other inconceivably despicable criminal activity.  Once such word is put out it usually takes a few days for the shady contact to make contact with the noble and this is done on their terms at a time and place of their choosing.  Such activities are always expensive and occasionally have a price other than gold such as property or arms, means of escape for a fugitive, laundering of dirty currency and so forth.  It should be noted however that the arrangement of such a job does not guarantee success, only the attempt.  This makes such dealings tenuous at best as few criminals would have any scruples about giving up their employers name in order to avoid the headsman’s block.  Being linked to a crime successful or attempted can mean the end of a noble house, so such activities should be well planned and infrequent at best.Bonus FeatContinuing with the idea that a noble influence’s the lives of his followers, the leader of a noble house can train them in more than just skill prowess.  As such, all followers but not (servants, hired employees, or the leader himself) gain a bonus feat when the house strength rating reaches this level.  The house’s leader must already possess the chosen feat.EstateVery prestigious leaders and influential politicians are often able to expand their power in order to establish their presence in remote areas.  When this effect is reached on the house strength rating table, the noble gains a secondary estate in another location far from the noble’s base of operations.  This estate usually contains a smaller amount of land (one square mile) and is less extravagant in nature (50% chance of a single thorp springing up after 1d6 months), but should still serve as a safe area for the noble and his followers.  In order to maintain control and lordship over this distant estate the noble’s house must ensure the land is protected.Political FavoursThe Noble House has gained such standing and repute that its members have come to have many dealings with many people and favours are owed and given on a daily basis in all circles of society, especially those of the political circle.  As part of such daily political manoeuvrings the noble house members receive a +3 circumstance bonus to all Charisma based skill checks relating to Bureaucrats and politicians and may once per month if able to contact someone who owes them a favour either have a request granted.  Such requests may involve some bureaucratic red tape being removed, some specific criminal charge dropped or access granted to an otherwise secure area, documents created such as border passes or citizenship papers and the like, or some transaction approved that requires a bureaucratic decision (such as the rights to ship arms for the country over a competitor and so on).  A noble should be aware however that such favours do not come without a price, this may come in the form of a payoff, supporting a politicians views, providing support to their campaigns, removing a competitor, or even something such as allowing a elderly politician to call upon your youngest sister and arrange a marriage.  In the political world of cut and thrust manoeuvrings there is no such thing as something for free.Some of the above effects are from the Nobles Handbook, most are changed radically or expanded or entirely new, but those that arent are OGC and as such the below applies.Nobles Handbook, Copyright 2003, Green Ronin Publishing, Author Rodney Thomson.</blockquote>

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