D&D 5E Player stronghold

[Charles Rampant]

Yes, that is very true. Hence why I was careful not to say 'realism', since I don't value realism per se as a design goal. I value versimilitude as a secondary objective, in order to aid roleplaying, but very rarely do I feel that 'making X more realistic' naturally or automatically results in 'making X more fun'. What versimilitude can do, however, is give the players a solid and usable basis to decide upon and portray their characters' goals and reactions to events that happen within the context of the setting.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I have asked my players if they are interested in this. I don't see any point in trying to spring a surprise like this on them, since it would be fairly fundamental to how the campaign plays, and they could very rightly complain that they didn't sign up for this style of campaign.

I think you just gave yourself the best advice for this campaign. Talk about the concept as a group and find out the players' interest. Find out who, if any, wants to be the noble and whether everyone's okay with them being the noble. Figure out as a group how the rest of the players fit into the story and the castle. That way you start the campaign with buy-in from everyone and a place for everyone.

 

[Riley37]

There was a science fiction TV show in which the heroes had a spaceship and travelled around, meeting interesting people and situations where ever they went. It was pretty good, some of the time.

There was also a science fiction TV show in which the heroes ran a space station, and interesting people and situations arrived at their space station, frequently. It was pretty good, some of the time.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'd suggest renting out sections of the castle to various merchants and making your campaign's first ever fantasy mall. Churches, thieves' guilds, heck, even humanoids might want some space to thrive.

 

[Sunseeker]

I'd like to throw my two cents in here: never underestimate the value of good old fashioned hard labor. If the players are low on gold, to the point where they cannot afford to repair their castle, give them opportunities to spend extended amounts of time fixing it themselves. They may be giving up the opportunity to get gold, gear and XP, but if they're really into the whole "rebuilding the castle" thing, I suspect they won't mind and will enjoy what they built with their own dice rolls and role-play instead of simply paid for.

 

[SirAntoine]

Player strongholds are staples of any long term campaign that makes it to high level. Look forward to some great adventure there.