Stronghold Builder's Guidebook Prices

[kigmatzomat]

Is it just me, or are the prices in the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook a bit steep?

Yeah, they are except for the "no upkeep ever" aspect of the construction. No, seriously, the basic structure won't fall down without earthquake or dragon fire.

That and people are generally doing things a bit wrong fiscally. You don't have a *single* commoner supporting your family, you have two or more. On a farm there is no "bread winner." You have people who work and toil. Some jobs might be mens jobs and some might be womens jobs depending on the culture but no one slacked. In a truly poor situation the man would pull the plow while the woman steered it. Of course by having a plow he was almost rich.

Given the typical peasant norm it is more likely you have 4-6 adult equivalents between grandparents, siblings and children. Medieval family units were closer to 6-10 persons even after awful infant mortality rates.

Because the structure is eternal, each generation adds value via furnishings or limited expansion. Pots and pans wear out slowly and wooden furniture can last centuries if given care, so three or four generations would furnish a cottage.

Then there is the "rent" factor. If you don't own the structure you don't pay for the walls. Heck, in some stages of history the local lord was the only one allowed to own an oven! All daily baking occurred at the manor house, which eliminated the need for a kitchen. Simple bedding, a hearth and some wooden plates were all that were required.

I suspect SBG was loosely based on dark ages/domesday historical values and not adjusted for the "renaissance" level of society indicated in most DnD settings. (DnD isn't exact but it doesn't do bad on the basic wage:bread:beer price comparisons)

So while I find the SBG a bit prohibitive at times, it fits in well with my low-magic/quasihistorical setting. Historically, anyone who had a keep could declare themselves lords, QED anyone who could build a keep was a lord. If you can't direct several villages worth of effort towards building a keep you don't deserve one.

That and I feel a floating citadel should require someone with a real kingdom's resources to throw around. I.e. Dragonlance's floating citadel had a god directly motivating the efforts.

 

[Olive]

I think you have to remember that this book is aimed at game balance, and the idea of buying a castle, freshly made, with out any other interaction by the PCs other than handing over the cash. It's works on that basis as far as I'm concerned, and it encourages roleplaying ie. taking over places, swapping service for land and castles etc.

 

[Hardhead]

I think you have to remember that this book is aimed at game balance, and the idea of buying a castle, freshly made, with out any other interaction by the PCs other than handing over the cash. It's works on that basis as far as I'm concerned, and it encourages roleplaying ie. taking over places, swapping service for land and castles etc.

If it's just going to price everything to the point that you're just supposed to take over another place, why have prices in the first place? Since the *entire book* is dedicated to pricing rooms, walls, ect, I don't buy that explanation.


Anyway, the theoretical earth house *does* come "furnished," if by "furnished" you mean it has a mirror, a crude chest of drawers, and a "low-frame" straw bed. However, I can't imagine buying those seperately comes anywhere close to 950 gp, so I'm not really sure what that price is supposed to represent.