Green Pass Campaign: Sample Turn Sequence

In ACKS, the domain-level equivalent of a "turn" is a month, and each month is divided (for simplicity) into 4 weeks of 7 days each. During the month, tasks are assigned to the ruler of the realm and the various heroes that represent "junior level" player characters; some limited orders can also be given to hired NPCs.

Then at the end of every month, some basic economic activities (collecting income, and spending some of it on maintaining strongholds and troops) will occur on a fixed schedule. Roughly speaking, each real-world game session is assumed to be preceded by one additional month of game time. So the strategic-level game is played (by individual players in their spare time) in the time between tactical-level sessions (which involve cooperation by group members).

Here's an example of assigning tasks over a month, based on the sample starting assets for the model realm of Kellsvale. A strategic-level map of the region can be found here, showing the various locations mentioned. Player domains are assumed to be located in the forest hex north east of Straddleport, but southwest of Green Pass. All of the domain-level actions in this example use information from various tables in the ACKS Core or D@W Campaign rules.

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Kellsvale has a ruler (Lord Proprietor Dermot), and six heroes. To begin, let's assign one of our heroes (Master Leonhard, a novice mage) to oversee the Wyvern's Spur, a large sailing ship. The ship already has a hired (NPC) captain who handles ship operations, so it's not essential to have any nautical proficiencies. This is a purely executive position, in charge of managing security and handling an inventory of trade goods.

Running a trade ship is a good way for a low-level character to earn experience. It's safe, as long as the ship sticks to established trade routes and moves along a coastline. Trade rules allow for the detailed purchase and sale of an entire cargo, for the ambitious, but they also indicate a default level of income for anyone who doesn't want to delve into that level of detail. For now, let's just assume that the ship will run a default trade route and earn 2600 gp of net income per month, to keep things simple.

The amount of experience earned from mercantile action is always equal to the gp income, less a character's level-based threshold. For a 1st-level character, the threshold is 25. So with 2600 gp, the amount of experience gained per month as a trader will be 2575 exp.

As the threshold rises with level, this hits diminishing returns. For example, a 5th level mage would have a threshold of 650, which would yield only 1950 gp. If four characters were all working together on a ship as traders, they would split the possible experience four ways (650 each), and so a 5th level would earn no experience at all!

For now I want Leonhard to level up quickly (because mages are so useful!), so I won't assign any other heroes to his ship. Note that the ship starts in the ocean (not at my castle up the river), and will be running a safe route between Straddleport (Class II market) and the capital city of Durnovar (class I market).

Next, I'm going to try to purchase some additional personnel using money in my treasury. My best character for recruiting operations is Halward, a gomish trickster with a +3 charisma bonus. This will make him an excellent recruiter. I'm going to send him to Straddleport to hire some mercenaries and military specialists. It's a safe trip through civilized lands, so he can travel with a minimal escort of a few guards.

The distance on the map is one strategic hex. This is along roads which run from Straddleport to Green Pass, which provide for faster movement and negate terrain penalties. The size of one hex is 240 miles. Kellsvale has enough light riding horses to provide one for this mission, along with an escort of 10 mercenary light cavalry. Light horses ordinarily move at 48 miles a day, but can move 50% faster along roads. They'll be able to move 74 miles a day, getting them to Straddleport in 4 days.

Once there, recruitment will take most of the rest of the month. Each recruitment drive takes up 3 weeks, with half the available mercenaries arriving the first week, a quarter the second, and the final quarter in the third week. Each type of mercenary being recruited will have a base charge of 1d10+10 gp, based on the size of the market. This is just the cost of recruiting, not the actual salary paid to mercenaries accepting the offer (which will be much higher).

Finally, I'm going to send some of my other heroes north east to Green Pass ("the warfront"), in order to investigate the dangerous lands beyond. I want to reserve a few characters at the stronghold in case I'm attacked, so I'll keep Sir Carbry (the 3rd level paladin, who can serve as a platoon-scale lieutenant) along with the elven spellsword Master Rigard (to use as a messenger and courier), and send the others (Bradan and the other spellsword Gilcolm) north. In particular, the 3rd level dwarven fury Bradan would make an excellent adventuring hero, with very high hit points! Gilcolm can be a light scout, and a back-up character in case something happens to Bradan.

There's no hurry to get to the front, so they can walk. Ordinarily walking is at a rate of 24 miles a day, but along a road that increases to 36 miles a day. That should allow everyone (Bradan and Gilcolm) to reach the front in 7 days, where they can take residence at the fortified gates near Footman's Notch -- the mountain passage that separates lawful civilization from the realms of chaos.

Finally, my ruler (Dermot) can either simply sit back and run his realm, or he can try to do some research to create magical items or spells. Dermot already has a workshop, the facility needed to create magical items. Let's try to brew some potions.

A potion costs 500 gp, but this is cut in half if I have a formula for it. Dermot has some useful formulas like Growth (makes a giant-size hero with double damage!), Invisibility (lets an ambush-oriented hero sneak around to, say, assassinate an enemy general), and Undead Control (potentially useful in a dungeon crawl through some crypt). Let's try making a potion of Invisibility, which is a 2nd level effect. It will cost 2x500 gp = 1000 gp, ordinarily, but with the formula will cost only 500 gp. The time to make it is also reduced from 2 weeks to 1 week. In a month, Dermot can attempt to make four of these, one per week.

Ordinarily, potions require some kind of appropriate magical reagent, like the body part of a monster with a stealthy nature. Maybe this potion requires the essence of an invisible stalker. There are a few ways to acquire this essence:

• go find and kill an invisible stalker
• go to a large market, and buy invisible stalker essence from a merchant (random chance of finding some each month)
• make friends with a mage who owns a dungeon full of monsters, and ask him to set a bounty on the invisible stalkers in his dungeon

Fortunately, divine casters like clerics have a fourth option. If they have a domain with a population that worships in the same faith (or function as the spiritual advisor for a domain, or build a church), they can gain divine favor from the worship of their people. This favor replaces the need for magical reagents. Dermot runs a large domain of 1800 families, and with average morale, each week he'll get 4 divine power for every 10 families. This amounts to 720 divine power per week. That's more than enough to cover the needs of a minor 500 gp item like a potion.

Each potion that Dermot attempts will require a roll for success. The base target for success is 7+, and the level of the item is added, giving a target of 9+. On a roll of 1-8, the attempt will fail, and otherwise it will succeed. Given average luck, Dermot can expect to create about two potions for every four attempts, and spend a total of 2000 gp over the entire month on those attempts. And that's just for some potions! But if one of those potions lets a team of heroes assassinate an enemy general and win an otherwise unwinnable battle, it might be worth the cost.

A concise monthly journal of all these actions should be kept. It will now look something like this:

Month 1

Day 1: Assigned Leonhard to the Wyvern's Spur, to manage mercantile activity along standard trade routes. Sent Halward to Straddleport by light horse to recruit light infantry and horse archers. Sent Bradan and Gilcolm to Green Pass to explore the borderlands. Assigned Dermot to produce invisibility potions. 

Day 5: Halward arrives in Straddleport and begins recruiting. 

Day 7: Dermot completes first potion; roll for success. Bradan and Gilcolm arrive at Footman's Notch. 

Day 12: Halward's first crop of mercenaries are available for a hiring offer; roll for reaction. 

Day 14: Dermot completes second potion; roll for success. 

Day 19: Halward's second crop of mercenaries are available; roll for reaction. 

Day 21: Dermot completes third potion; roll for success. 

Day 26: Halward's third crop of mercenaries are available; roll for reaction. 

Day 28: Dermot completes fourth potion; roll for success. Income available from mercantile activity and taxes; run through monthly economic activities (gain income, pay upkeep for mercenaries and strongholds, etc).

The list of realm assets should be updated to reflect any new assets acquired, old assets lost, or any heroes reassigned to a different task.

With the month done, it's now time for a game session, to resolve major events that will happen to the domain or to individual heroes in the next month. What might happen?

• Invaders from the lands beyond might make an incursion into civilized lands, and another domain might request aid in repelling them. This could result in a battle, if Dermot wants to intervene.
• Invaders might attack Dermot's own domain, which will definitely result in a battle!
• Bradan might decide to join an adventuring party with heroes from other domains, to explore the lands beyond the gate.

A battle could be resolved using quick combat (just rolling dice based on BR ratings of troops), a miniature battle using simple rules (like the Book of Wars system from last year, using 1 figure per 10 troops), or a larger-scale miniature battle on the hex map (using the Domains at War system, with 1 figure per 30 troops, or 120 troops).

Exploration would involve a traditional RPG-style adventure, with heroes clearing out underground dens of monsters (like the dragon's lair scenario I ran last semester with Walley), or hexcrawling toward enemy domains to scout them for future conquest.

Of course there are other options that could have become available based on player choice, with multiple players combining forces to achieve greater goals:

• An offensive army could be formed from multiple player domains, to attempt to conquer some chaotic domains beyond the gate -- and install new rulers to control them and absorb them into player realms.
• An expedition could be launched to the uncharted lands of Cascadia, to clear those lands of threats for future colonization or find natives who might join a player realm due to diplomacy.
• A group of ships full of mercenaries might be sent south to the Larcenous Shores, to conquer a pirate domain, claim treasures, and free prisoners.
• Trade ships could be dispatched to the distant land of Beringia, to seek exotic troops from the northern tundra not available in Durnovar (war mammoth riders! giant, er, carnivorous sloths!)

Figuring out those greater objectives might involve hiring spies who can gather information about possible objectives. Maybe Dermot should have Halward recruit some spies in Straddleport next month, so they can spread out and gather information. Or maybe a player character is running a thieves' guild, and can provide some intelligence operatives in exchange for payment or favor...