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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 5121109" data-attributes="member: 40961">It would depend on how much good the stronghold rules were.  And I guess I could admit that if the boring stuff were too lengthy there might be some of that irrational purchaser-anger involved if I started to feel like I was paying extra for unwanted rules just to get the stronghold rules.  Not sure that's 100% defensible, but you know how it is.  Sometimes you can sell someone something for $40, but you can't sell them that same thing bundled with something they don't want for the same $40 because now they psychologically value it at less than $40 and resent the extra material they feel is pushing up the price.Here's how I look at it:When it comes to stuff like, "how much does a ten foot pole cost?" I seriously do not feel the need for rules.  Not only do PCs tend to have huge amounts of purchasing power by mid levels, limiting the use of such material, but I just don't see the need for much granularity.  Knowing that a ladder costs X, but a rope costs Y, is useful if you need to make decisions between which you can best afford.  But you rarely need to do that in D&D, and if you wanted to make a game where that was necessary, you'd need to re-do the whole imaginary economy to reduce the growth in PC net worth over time.  Or to put it another way, anyone who can buy a castle and run a stronghold doesn't have to price shop on rope.And when it comes to things like "what are the exact stats of a donkey, and how much can it carry?" I don't feel the need for much detail because I can wing that just fine.  In fact, if that came up in a game I'd probably feel a bit annoyed at having to look up the "right" answer when a "good enough" answer can be invented out of thin air.Plus, its not likely that my players will look through a book of mundane gear and say, "Oh!  I never thought of that!"  They don't need ideas for this sort of stuff.  They can come up with that on their own.But a stronghold book?  That's different.  Chances are my players don't know how to design a functional castle.  Plus there's a cool fantasy-play element in designing a castle, drawing maps, coming up with details like where the archers could be positioned, etc, etc.  A castle or stronghold can also be something the PCs can be interested in all through their careers- at low levels, mundane construction and basic gear for a small fortified estate might be fun.  At mid levels castles, and at high levels fancy magical upgrades or locales.  A stronghold book can add things that I can't invent off the top of my head, and that's why I think its so much more worthwhile than a book of basic gear, even if the presence of basic gear adds a sense of verisimilitude for some people.</blockquote>

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