Living in Wessex

By: Unknown on 08:58

Here are your options if you want to move out of the guesthouse of the Abbey of St. Emmet and get your own place.

Mad Hermit - You throw together a filthy little hut in some backwoods area.
Initial Cost: none
Upkeep: d6gp per year
Limits: No more than one Mad Hermit per campaign map hex. You quickly earn the reputation of being a creepy weirdo. Local farmers generally steer clear of you and missing livestock may be blamed on you.

Country Squatter - You clear some land and build a cute little cottage.
Initial cost: d6x100gp
Upkeep: d6x5gp per year
Limits: This option in unavailable in hexes with major settlements, otherwise limit four per campaign hexagon. Note the hex contain the Caves of Myrddin, etc., does not count as a major settlement. Some noble may show up and claim that you’ve built your place on his lands.

Villager - You buy a plot of land and build a place in a village.
Initial cost: d6x100gp
Upkeep: d6x10gp per year
Limits: Any number of people may set up base in villages, but given the civil war raging in England, don’t be surprised if someone burns it down at some point. Also, everybody in the village will know your comings and goings.

Citizen - You buy a plot of land and build a place in a major town.
Initial cost: d6x200gp
Upkeep: d6x20gp per year
Limits: Any number of people may set up base in the towns, but local law enforcement might cramp your style. Also, the nearest real town is 6 overland hexes away through rough Cornish wilderness, so for most players this is a good option for a back-up hideout rather than a primary residence.

Upstart Noble - You buy yourself a place on the bottom rung of the aristocracy. Comes with a manor, farms, your own pet peasants, the works.
Initial cost: d6x1,000gp
Upkeep: self-supporting
Limits: Only one of these is available per campaign hexagon and that jerk Sir Hugo has already nabbed the nearest one. Also, each of these comes with a liege. Roll d6 and consult this chart:

1) Lord Sutcherly, Mad Earl of Arrowshire
2) Robert the Hunchback, Earl of Mortshire
3) William de Mohun, the Scourge of the West
4) Henry of Blois, Bishop of Wintoncester
5) Guillame de Averoigne
6) Chera the Jewess, Widow of Wintoncester

If you roll a 1-5 for your liege you will probably want to spend d6x100gp per year on scutage, the fee that excuses you from fighting in your liege’s stupid wars. Sutcherly and Guillame are not particularly belligerent, but the other three are major players in the current civil conflict. Please note that if you swear fealty to one of these guys (i.e. roll a 1-5), you are now totally a knight.
 
Manors bought from Chera the Jewess are outright purchases, so you owe her no further feudal obligation. You can still call yourself a knight if you think you can get away with it.