Building a colony

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

So you would make your house out of what? Bricks, concrete or soil (don't laugh- they do make good houses)?

Where I live I would certainly make my house out of adobe if I had a choice, but I don't since people think it looks 'worse than white trash' and outlawed it, if you catch my implication that horrific levels of racism are actually encoded into the zoning laws.

According to your classification I think adobe houses are roughly equivalent to houses made out of soil.

They make fantastic homes. Particularly in areas with a high degree of seasonal temperature variation and a decent amount of dryness.

In areas with long very cold winters wood might actually be better in terms of insulation. I don't really know.

Haybale houses are totally sweet.

I like concrete too, though I'm not certain how practical it is for colonists, but I'm a little iffy on brick. Stone, depending on what's available, is pretty dang sweet.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Man, why you guys/everybody so wood obsessed?

It's fast and workable. A notched split-log building can be put up in a few days by a few determined people and a couple of axes. Slather mud between the logs and it's generally wind-proof.

In areas you don't have peat or sod, hauling earth is a slow, time consuming process. Making bricks adds further days and can't be done in wet weather without a kiln.

Stone is the same as mud but even heavier.

Straw requires fields of grass, cutting, drying, and bailing (a primarily mechanical process, I might add)

So wood is the easiest of the plentiful materials. Areas with decent sod can put up a house in an equal amount of time but most colonies are landfall points and I don't think that grassland is a common coastal environment. (But I'm not a climatologist so I really can't say that for sure.)

 

[drothgery]

Random thought: In a highly magical society, wouldn't they try to build a teleport circle as their first priority? Or at least enchant various wondereous items that could be assembled into a teleport circle?

If at all possible, I'd think so. If you're bringing your own near-epic wizard or sorc to make the circle on-site, that should solve the wandering monster problem too.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

It's fast and workable. A notched split-log building can be put up in a few days by a few determined people and a couple of axes. Slather mud between the logs and it's generally wind-proof.

In areas you don't have peat or sod, hauling earth is a slow, time consuming process. Making bricks adds further days and can't be done in wet weather without a kiln.

Stone is the same as mud but even heavier.

Straw requires fields of grass, cutting, drying, and bailing (a primarily mechanical process, I might add)

So wood is the easiest of the plentiful materials. Areas with decent sod can put up a house in an equal amount of time but most colonies are landfall points and I don't think that grassland is a common coastal environment. (But I'm not a climatologist so I really can't say that for sure.)

I think my point would be that wood isn't always plentiful or desirable for a number of reasons. Many landfall points are lacking suitable wood as well.

For the most desirable and easy you go with a thatched roof over a pit on a fairly high point.

You can do with a wider diversity of materials. You preserve your larger trees for more important projects and the semi-submerged house has better insulation and can be abandoned more easilly.

 

[Westgate Polks]

The second Joel Rosenberg Novel "The Sword and the Chain" talks about a small group of folks moving to an isolated valley to set up a new village; I find it applicable as the settlers did not plan on coming back to regular society for some time. I'll summarize what they felt were necessary and how they went about constructing the settlement.

First off is the location. Not only does it have to be accessible by whatever means of transportation will bring more colonists and supplies BUT it has to have some type of potable water source. Streams and/or rivers are preferable as their energy can be harnessed by a mill and used to transport materials.

Second is defense, primarily from natural predators. And while bears are not likely to eat the settlers, they MAY raid their food supply and leave the group short on edibles, etc. Plus, a good wall (of whatever building material is in abundant supply) can also be used as one wall for dwellings and other buildings built against it.

Wood is such a predominate building material for a couple of reasons. One, it is very versatile relatively easy to work with. Two, often acres of trees had to be cleared to make enough room for the settlement - why not find ways to build with the material? However, wood is not essential except for a few key processes. Mud, clay, stone, straw, etc. can be used to build both the walls and the dwellings. However, remember that fire is also a necessary item and fuel is key.

One building that will need to be built quickly is the smithy. Nails, horseshoes, etc. are going to be needed pretty early on. Having someone on hand who can make simple weapons (arrowheads, short swords, daggers, etc.) will also be of help.

Obviously, a large daily task will be food gathering. Some will be brought on the trip, but the dietary needs of a settlement are big and immediate augmentation would be required. Another structure that will have to be built early will be the animal pens. There will have to be some protein source, and while much of what is hunted will be killed and eaten right away, the notion of a settlement essentially demands keeping and breeding animals of some kind: chicken, cows, etc. Of course select animals with dual natures: chickens both lay eggs and serve as food. Oxen can pull plows and move goods while they breed with the cows that give milk. Successful settlements have to be keenly efficient as there is just not surplus ANYTHING: space, time, etc.

Tell me how the campaign goes, as this is an interesting idea!