question about keep restoration

[saethone]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20001001a

I'm going to be running that adventure module for my players in ebberon

~they will set out from the capital of breland, with a writ from morgrave university requesting that they see why orcs have taken intrest in this keep which was abandoned after the Last War, and their ownership of the keep will be recognized by breland assuming they go into a feudal mutual protection type thing with the nation

what i'm wondering is, if my players decide to keep the keep, how much should it cost them to restore it? and optionally, decorate it etc. They are pretty poor atm, but the 'mine' in there is actually a tomb thats been inhabited by some undead, and there is going to be a bit of cash in there for them to pick up

thanks in advance

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

This is me totally eyeballing it, but I'd peg that castle setup in the 100,000 gp range. I'd say 50,000 gp to totally renovate it (and bringing it up to that full 100K value), but that can be done in pieces and over time. 10,000 gp would put it in decently liveable condition, and secure from normal attacks. I wouldn't go into any further detail on it, myself - details work like paintings and furniture can be described by the players, but I wouldn't make them pay for each seperately; that would be an accounting headache.

 

[saethone]

right, i figured i'd let them just hire workers as per the DMG, so if they want more artsy stuff, they can just hire a couple more artists

 

[Edgewood]

I guess it also would depend on what condition the castle is now. If it's just minor repairs (mortar, wooden shutters, small structural cracks due to settling) then I would agree with the 50,000 gp range. But if you're talking about stuff like rebuilding walls, the main gate, refilling the moat (if there is one) and shoring up ceilings then you're looking at 100,000 gp to 500,000 gp. For really skilled craftmanship (such as tradesmen who are members of a guild) then I could even see it hit the 1,000,000 gp mark.

Of course this is just a ballpark figure. Take a look at the Stronghold Builder's Guide for more detailed information.

 

[tarchon]

The cheap way is to have it featured on "This Old Keep."

 

[Len]

Ah yes, Brightstone Keep. Where a

Spoiler

troll

threw a

Spoiler

baby

at our

Spoiler

paladin

, and then a

Spoiler

winter wolf

Spoiler

froze

it.

The keep has some broken sections of wall but is otherwise in pretty good shape. As Edgewood said, the Stronghold Builders Guide has costs for building walls and buildings. The cost to restore from a state of general neglect and monster occupation is up to you.

But there's an alternative: The module says that the PCs can hire someone to run the mine and use the proceeds from that to repair the keep. That would take some time of course.

When we played this, we decided we didn't want to keep the keep. It was out in the middle of nowhere, and we'd have been be tied down to it because it was an obvious target for attack by bands of bugbears and whatnot. One PC was eager to get a keep of our own, but the rest of us would rather be tied down in a city, if anywhere.