(TFT)

["Quite Confused" <Confused3141@hotmail.com>]

This week on 11th century real estate showcase we offer a list of properties
suitable for the aspiring prince or beginning party.


PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Town Hall: This is the structure that makes a town a town and must be the
first building to be built. In early stages it serves as a gathering place
for the community during festivals, weddings, religious services, etc. It
also can be used to sally the population as an irregular infantry unit in
times of dire need. As a town grows and additional structures are built this
building takes on the role of housing the bureaucratic and administrative
functions of the area. In a small town this may be nothing more than a large
pavilion while a large city may have several administrative buildings
throughout.
Originating Skills: New Followers?

Well: More a resource than a building but in areas where water is scarce the
water supply is likely to be heavily guarded with both men and structure.
There is little point in building a Town Hall where there is no source of
water and a well is preferable to a river. (Recall the complaints of the
tribes in "The Man Who Would Be King" about the upstream tribes pissing in
the river.)

Hospital: In any community there is someone who serves as Physicker. In a
small town this might be a 'witchdoctors' hut on the edge of town. In a
large city this could be a large structure staffed with trained individuals.
With one of these present military units will recover more quickly.
Originating Skills: Physicker, Master Physicker

Temple: Ah religion, played with in campaigns almost as much as the number
of moons in the sky. What can I say about religious structures that would
maintain validity across the entire range? Well nobody is going to hang
around someplace that doesn't provide entertainment and churches have often
served that purpose. "If you accept so and so and such and such then you can
come to the square dance tonight." The idea here is a building where the
community can come together a couple of times a week and take a break from
the daily grind. Of course they might also serve other functions (revenue)
depending on how religions function in individual campaigns. Family
entertainment.
Originating Skills: Priest, Theologian

Bath House: Sanitation could be a big problem in any area where groups of
people hang around for awhile. Facilities like this help reduce the
possibility of disease and can help improve the half-life of the population.

Library: In even a semi-literate culture the presence of a publicly
accessible library can help raise the average IQ of the citizens.
Originating Skills: Literacy?,Scholar?

Tavern: There are some forms of entertainment that aren't appropriate at
church. In colonial america a group of friends would meet at the 'Pub'lic
house and a man would purchase a pint bottle and pass it around. Then the
next man would do so until each had taken his turn. These Pubs were
important to the community for the 'networking' that went on during these
sessions. In one analysis "The Alcoholic Republic a history of alcohol in
america" the revolution would not have happened were it not for their
existence. How many times have you started a campaign by having the new
characters meet in a tavern? How many times has it been the local bartender
who had the rumor about the dungeon full of treasure that no one returns
from? Or was it the town drunk?
Originating Skills: Bard?, Charisma?, Sex Appeal?, Mimic?, Detection of
Lies?

Harbor: If the town is on a major body of water (70+% of all human
settlements are, even today) this structure can provide a transportation hub
as well as a resource center for fish etc.
Originating Skills: Boating, Seamanship, Swimming, Diving, Fisherman,
Shipbuilder, Captain

Coliseum (Arena): This IS TFT we're talking about..... Yet another way to
entertain the citizens and some of those gladiators can get pretty tough.
Originating Skills: Weapon skills?

Aqueduct: As a town grows it can be desirable to have greater control over
water distribution than simply having folks scoop it out of a well.

Theater: Some mayors may want to provide the citizens with high drama that
doesn't involve someone getting killed all the time. Drama has also been
used for moral instruction since its inception.
Originating Skills: Charisma, Sex Appeal, Mimic, Bard, Master Bard

Roads: Improves transportation times and volume.

BUSINESSES
General Store: Usually the first business to open, they are a 'catch all'
that focus primarily on agriculture but will stock just about any equipment
that will sell. These type of stores usually serve smaller communities and
are replaced by more specific merchants as the town grows.
Originating Skills: Recognize Value

Tavern: Not only a meeting place for gossip. A tavern can be run for profit.
In larger cities with many pubs profit is the main propose of most of them.
Originating Skills: Bard?, Charisma?, Sex Appeal?, Mimic?, Detection of
Lies?

Smithy: Another important early structure. The moment a skilled smith stokes
up his forge an area begins to free itself from dependence on tools
transported in from other areas. The benefits for adventures is obvious.
Originating Skills: Armourer, Goldsmith?, Mechanician, Master Armourer

Inn: Providing lodging in an area can make it more attractive for travelers
who tend to spend money in an area but not take any away. Caravans are also
more likely to stop here as well.

Bank: Once a region gets enough commerce for a significant percentage of the
population to have some money in their pockets a bank can allow the
consolidation of a portion of that wealth for use in investment,
construction, etc. Watch out for those financial collapses though.....
Originating Skills: Recognize Value, Assess Value

Bazaar: As traffic increases around a town and production specializes one of
the simplest ways of getting products to market is to designate a space as a
Bazaar or farmers market, etc.
Originating Skills: Recognize Value

Stable: Work animals can be prohibitively expensive for new farmers.
'Renting' animals may is often the best option available. A large Stables
that can accommodate borders can help attract travelers and caravans as
well.
Originating Skills: Horsemanship, Animal Handler, Driver, Tanner, Leather
Worker?, Monster Followers?, Vet

Guildsmans Shope Front: As the community develops enough to support
artisans, and as the artisans train others in their skills these tradesmen
need locations to distribute their wares and obviously it would be
preferable to own your own shop and call the shots rather than pay rent at
the Bazaar and follow their rules.
Originating Skills: Mundane Talents (other than already listed)

Tailor: One of the big three; sustenance, shelter and clothing. None of
these should be ignored as plot devices for adventure. Also good clothing
shows your status.

Sages: For those adventures where the players need a few more clues. Make
'em pay through the nose.

Alchemist Lab: Lots of discussion about the creation of magic items lately.
It has to happen somewhere.
Originating Skills: Alchemist

Mill: Pretty obvious.
Originating Skills: Mechanician

HOMES
House: Large enough to have more than one room. A fundamental aspect of town
growth. The average family size varied greatly but it seems that 4 children
per couple isn't to inaccurate.

Hovel: One room. Nobody wants to live in a Hovel.

Mansion: The largest most expensive Houses.

Castle: A Mansion with military functions.

Palace: Could be a Mansion, could be a Castle. This is the residence of a
head of state be they singular or part of a group. This can also be the
bureaucratic and administrative center for the state.
Originating Skills: Courtly Graces, New Followers?

Keep: A House with military functions.

Fighters Keep: From the AD&D PH.

Wizards Tower: From the AD&D PH.

Thieves Hideout: From the AD&D PH.

Guildsmans Shope Front: Often a trade person lived above their place of
business.

TRAINING
Mercenaries Barracks: As per previous post.
Originating Skills: Weapons Skills, Warrior, Veteran, Two Weapons, Missile
Weapons, Thrown Weapons, etc. (maybe some thief skills?)

Wizards Campus: As per previous post.
Originating Skills: Spells

Thieves Quarter: As per previous post.
Originating Skills: Acute Hearing, Alertness, Climbing, Detect Traps,
Recognize Value, Silent Movement, Mimic, Remove Traps, Assess Value, Master
Thief, Ventriloquist

Guildsmans Lodge: As per previous post.
Originating Skills: Recognize Value, Assess Value

School: The basic educational structure as in the 'one room schoolhouse'. In
small towns this structure often tries to serve the entire range of the
population attending school at once. In more advanced educational systems
these would divide students into more focused groups.
Originating Skills: Literacy, Language

College: Can be used for professional trades.
Engineer, Architect/Builder, Mechanician, Mathematician, Scholar, Alchemist,
Language

University: A group of Colleges.

Library: As stated above this building provides the populace with an avenue
to improve IQ. However it is not possible to focus what skills are studied
unless one limits the material in the collection, i.e. a Library of naval
charts, a medical Library etc.
Originating Skills: Literacy?,Scholar?

Coliseum (Arena): Like I said some of those gladiators get pretty tough.
(Hopefully you can control them better than that emperor in "Gladiator"
did.....)
Originating Skills: Weapon skills?

AGRICULTURE
Farm: A fundamental aspect of town growth. There are usually farms in an
area before anyone builds a Town Hall.
Originating Skills: Farming, Beekeeper, Gardener, Naturalist

Mill: Still pretty obvious.
Originating Skills: Mechanician

Granary: Without a surplus town growth is difficult at best. At the start of
the Neolithic Revolution when man first began to gather an excess of cereals
he would either cover a pile with hides causing the grain to grow argot
fungus which has a psychedelic effect, (LSD was derived from argot) or he
would cover the grain with water causing it to ferment and become beer.

Aqueduct: Irrigation VASTLY improves farm production.

MILITARY
Guard Tower: A keep for a unit of guards. Often has some kind of jail.

Mercenaries Barracks: As per previous post.

Castle: As Castle above. Military aspects fairly obvious.

Keep: As Keep above. Military aspects fairly obvious.

Town Walls: Building your city on the Orcish frontier?

Roads: As Roads above. Military aspects fairly obvious.



Notes: Using DMG's excellent 'Hex Lab' a rough approximation of 7 man days
per hex or 49 man days per megahex can be used for guestamation of build
times.

For generalization we can assume that one family of farmers (2 parents & 4
kids) can support 4 non-farmers.

With irrigation it takes about 250 acres to support those 10 people per
year. This area is approximately equal to 10 city blocks. We'll call this
unit 1 Farm.

To support a town of 1000 people it takes 1500 farmers working 250 farms or
62,500 acres. These farmers would require 250 houses and there would have to
be about 175 homes in the town proper to house the populace. Total 425
Houses and 250 Farms.

Assuming 1 house is 2 megahexes and 1 farm has about 1 megahex of associated
structures this is about 1100 megahexes of buildings that would take about
53,900 man days of work. This is almost 150 years of nonstop work for 1
person. For the entire population it would take about 3 weeks to build this
town. (assuming they all know Building)

The above described town is only self sustaining, no profit.

The cost of a construction can be determined by;
cost of construction materials
cost of labor to construct
cost of tools and provisions to stock

twice the construction for fine building, X3 for very fine, X4 for
impressive

The cost of maintenance (per month) of a functioning building can be
determined by;
cost of inventory to operate
cost of labor to operate

X2 for very good service X3 for excellent service


There are still plenty of issues such as the obvious one of compound
buildings (multiple functions) but the above is a bit more fleshed out.
Anyone wanna help tie some rules to these buildings? How many have I missed?
Mines? Anybody?


Jay Carlisle
"I want to know how God created THIS world. I am not interested in this or
that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His
thoughts, the rest are details."
A. Einstein
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