Shadowslayer
Explorer
GwydapLlew said:
Yep, and if you get 4 built you can buy a hotel. Rent's always more lucrative with a hotel on your property.
Buying houses in cities
- Thread starter Phlebas
- Start date
Yep, and if you get 4 built you can buy a hotel. Rent's always more lucrative with a hotel on your property.
WhatGravitas
Explorer
LOL!Shadowslayer said:Yep, and if you get 4 built you can buy a hotel. Rent's always more lucrative with a hotel on your property.
One a more helpful note: This Ptolus preview contains some interesting stuff!
Phlebas
First Post
Rhun said:
the problem is the players in question want some options for what they can buy, and how much. I've kept the cash fairly tight so they're going to be careful on what they spend. So I'm left with having to sketch out half a dozen houses, workshops or halls, price them and let them see the options. Alternatively I'll just give them floorspace and let them draw the plans, but I have some clever players....
Its not that i can't do it, its just that I'd rather do something else with my time than play estate agent. "Splendid view of the crater of despair from the upper rooms, and the slime damage is only cosmetic....."
Phlebas
First Post
Lord Tirian said:One a more helpful note: This Ptolus preview contains some interesting stuff!
That looks interesting, but the house maps are not included in the preview... I'll have a good look at Ptolus as it might be worth it as a long term resource
frankthedm
First Post
City Buildings
Most city buildings fall into three categories. The majority of buildings in the city are two to five stories high, built side by side to form long rows separated by secondary or main streets. These row houses usually have businesses on the ground floor, with offices or apartments above.
Inns, successful businesses, and large warehouses - as well as millers, tanners, and other businesses that require extra space - are generally large, free-standing buildings with up to five stories.
Finally, small residences, shops, warehouses, or storage sheds are simple, one-story wooden buildings, especially if they’re in poorer neighborhoods.
Most city buildings are made of a combination of stone or clay brick (on the lower one or two stories) and timbers (for the upper stories, interior walls, and floors). Roofs are a mixture of boards, thatch, and slates, sealed with pitch. A typical lower-story wall is 1 foot thick, with AC 3, hardness 8, 90 hp, and a Climb DC of 25. Upper-story walls are 6 inches thick, with AC 3, hardness 5, 60 hp, and a Climb DC of 21. Exterior doors on most buildings are good wooden doors that are usually kept locked, except on public buildings such as shops and taverns.
Buying Buildings
Characters might want to buy their own buildings or even construct their own castle. Use the prices in Table: Buildings directly, or as a guide when for extrapolating costs for more exotic structures.
Table: Buildings
Item Cost
Simple House 1,000 gp
Grand House 5,000 gp
Mansion 100,000 gp
Tower 50,000 gp
Keep 150,000 gp
Castle 500,000 gp
Huge Castle 1,000,000 gp
Moat with bridge 50,000 gp
Simple House: This one- to three-room house is made of wood and has a thatched roof.
Grand House: This four- to ten-room house is made of wood and has a thatched roof.
Mansion: This ten- to twenty-room residence has two or three stories and is made of wood and brick. It has a slate roof.
Tower: This round or square, three-level tower is made of stone.
Keep: This fortified stone building has fifteen to twenty-five rooms.
Castle: A castle is a keep surrounded by a 15-foot stone wall with four towers. The wall is 10 feet thick.
Huge Castle: A huge castle is a particularly large keep with numerous associated buildings (stables, forge, granaries, and so on) and an elaborate 20-foot-high wall that creates bailey and courtyard areas. The wall has six towers and is 10 feet thick.
Moat with Bridge: The moat is 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The bridge may be a wooden drawbridge or a permanent stone structure.
City Lights
If a city has main thoroughfares, they are lined with lanterns hanging at a height of 7 feet from building awnings. These lanterns are spaced 60 feet apart, so their illumination is all but continuous. Secondary streets and alleys are not lit; it is common for citizens to hire lantern-bearers when going out after dark.
Alleys can be dark places even in daylight, thanks to the shadows of the tall buildings that surround them. A dark alley in daylight is rarely dark enough to afford true concealment, but it can lend a +2 circumstance bonus on Hide checks.
Most city buildings fall into three categories. The majority of buildings in the city are two to five stories high, built side by side to form long rows separated by secondary or main streets. These row houses usually have businesses on the ground floor, with offices or apartments above.
Inns, successful businesses, and large warehouses - as well as millers, tanners, and other businesses that require extra space - are generally large, free-standing buildings with up to five stories.
Finally, small residences, shops, warehouses, or storage sheds are simple, one-story wooden buildings, especially if they’re in poorer neighborhoods.
Most city buildings are made of a combination of stone or clay brick (on the lower one or two stories) and timbers (for the upper stories, interior walls, and floors). Roofs are a mixture of boards, thatch, and slates, sealed with pitch. A typical lower-story wall is 1 foot thick, with AC 3, hardness 8, 90 hp, and a Climb DC of 25. Upper-story walls are 6 inches thick, with AC 3, hardness 5, 60 hp, and a Climb DC of 21. Exterior doors on most buildings are good wooden doors that are usually kept locked, except on public buildings such as shops and taverns.
Buying Buildings
Characters might want to buy their own buildings or even construct their own castle. Use the prices in Table: Buildings directly, or as a guide when for extrapolating costs for more exotic structures.
Table: Buildings
Item Cost
Simple House 1,000 gp
Grand House 5,000 gp
Mansion 100,000 gp
Tower 50,000 gp
Keep 150,000 gp
Castle 500,000 gp
Huge Castle 1,000,000 gp
Moat with bridge 50,000 gp
Simple House: This one- to three-room house is made of wood and has a thatched roof.
Grand House: This four- to ten-room house is made of wood and has a thatched roof.
Mansion: This ten- to twenty-room residence has two or three stories and is made of wood and brick. It has a slate roof.
Tower: This round or square, three-level tower is made of stone.
Keep: This fortified stone building has fifteen to twenty-five rooms.
Castle: A castle is a keep surrounded by a 15-foot stone wall with four towers. The wall is 10 feet thick.
Huge Castle: A huge castle is a particularly large keep with numerous associated buildings (stables, forge, granaries, and so on) and an elaborate 20-foot-high wall that creates bailey and courtyard areas. The wall has six towers and is 10 feet thick.
Moat with Bridge: The moat is 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The bridge may be a wooden drawbridge or a permanent stone structure.
City Lights
If a city has main thoroughfares, they are lined with lanterns hanging at a height of 7 feet from building awnings. These lanterns are spaced 60 feet apart, so their illumination is all but continuous. Secondary streets and alleys are not lit; it is common for citizens to hire lantern-bearers when going out after dark.
Alleys can be dark places even in daylight, thanks to the shadows of the tall buildings that surround them. A dark alley in daylight is rarely dark enough to afford true concealment, but it can lend a +2 circumstance bonus on Hide checks.
The 3e building prices are ridiculously high compared to the costs for weapons, armour and magic items - why spend 50,000gp on a mundane tower when you can get a Drawmij's Instant Fortress for the same price?! 1,000gp for a 1-3 room hovel is also pretty ridiculous; I suggest if you use the PHB equipment & DMG magic item costs as listed, dividing the listed building prices by 10 gives something reasonable. Or look at the 1e DMG construction costs, which are roughly 1/10 of 3e.
The 3e building costs seem taken from Basic/Expert/RC D&D, but in that line magic items cost far more than in 1e AD&D, from which 3e magic costs seem derived.
The 3e building costs seem taken from Basic/Expert/RC D&D, but in that line magic items cost far more than in 1e AD&D, from which 3e magic costs seem derived.
Shadowslayer
Explorer
Phlebas said:
I've encountered this before. I had a player once who insisted on me itemizing everything in any shop he went into. "oh, there's trinkets? What kind of trinkets? Intresting. What else has he got...I see...what else has he got?" and so on. Maybe its a playstyle thing, but I don't have time for that stuff. Same with houses.
Ultimately I've just told my players: "Tell me what you're looking for exactly and I'll tell you if you find it."
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
There's a sidebar on page 34 of Cityscape, as well, with slightly different categories and cost scales than the DMG ("fine," "average," and "poor"). I guess you'd need to interpret exactly what that means in terms of rooms, but the "poor" category only costs a few hundred gp. I don't see anything in that sidebar about anything as fancy as a mansion, though.
Giltonio_Santos
Hero
Sword and Fist has some information on Towers, Keeps and Castles. It's just a starting point, but a very good one. If your players will want a Temple as well, they may find the information regarding monasteries to be useful in this matter.
Cheers,
Cheers,
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