Terrain Improvements The greatest assets of your kingdom are its settlements. Most settlements start as simple villages, and some grow over time into bustling cities. You can use the District Grid to create the initial design for your settlement and decide where to place additional buildings as it grows.
Full Answer
How can I increase a settlement’s defense?
You can increase a settlement’s Defense by building certain structures (such as City Walls ). Before you can start your own kingdom, you first need a base of operations—a fort, village, or other settlement—where you can rest between adventures and where your citizens know they can find you if they need help or want to pay their taxes.
Is there a simple settlement for your D&D campaign?
Congratulations! We have built a simple settlement for our D&D campaign or world. However, if we would like to expand on it some more, here are a few elements we can add:
How do I build a settlement?
Most settlements start as simple villages, and some grow over time into bustling cities. You can use the District Grid to create the initial design for your settlement and decide where to place additional buildings as it grows. You may want to photocopy the District Grid so you can build multiple settlements in your kingdom.
How to improve initiative in D&D?
The choice is up to you, but this is one of many options on how to improve initiative in D&D. If you want an even simpler option, then you can go with what I call the ‘line initiative.’ One other way to improve initiative in D&D is by using marching order.
Why is the settlement destitute?
Because of any number of factors, the settlement is destitute. Poverty, famine, and disease run rampant. (Corruption and Crime +1; decrease base value and purchase limit by 50%; halve magic item availability)
What are the boundaries of a settlement?
If your settlement is in a hex containing a canal, lake, ocean, river, or similar large body of water, you must decide which of your settlement’s borders are water (riverbanks, lakeshores, or seashores) or land. Some types of buildings, such as Mills, Piers, and Waterfronts, must be adjacent to water. A new settlement consists of 1 district, ...
How many modifiers are there in a settlement?
Modifiers Settlements possess six modifiers that apply to specific skill checks made in the settlement. A settlement’s starting modifier values are determined by its type. This value is further adjusted by the settlement’s alignment, government, qualities, and disadvantages.
How to empty slot in a kingdom?
The first is to purchase it with your own gp, which makes it your personal property and means you may do with it what you please (use it, sell it at half price for gold, deposit it in the kingdom’s Treasury during the next Income Phase, use it as a reward for a local general, and so on).
Where do you start building in a district?
The placement of buildings in your district is up to you—you can start in the center of the district and build outward, or start at the edge and build toward the center. Some buildings (such as the Guildhall) take up more than 1 lot on the grid.
Can a settlement have disadvantages?
Just as a settlement can have unusual qualities to enhance its statistics, it can also suffer from disadvantages. There’s no limit to the number of disadvantages a community can suffer , but most do not have disadvantages, since a settlement plagued by disadvantages for too long eventually collapses.
Can a settlement increase its base value?
Certain buildings (such as a Market or Tavern) increase a settlement’s base value. a settlement’s base value can never increase above the values listed in Table: Settlement Size and Base Value (except under special circumstances decided by the GM).
How to improve roleplaying?
One of the best ways to improve your roleplaying is creating a good backstory for your character. Scribble down a short history of your character and their motivation to the beginning of the quest. This story gives you an insight into who your character is. Understanding your character helps you prepare for how they will respond to certain situations and also their response to various elements in the world.
What is roleplaying in D&D?
Roleplaying your character’s weaknesses sometimes entails involving yourself with something that you disapprove of as a player. A good example is your character deciding to get into a fight without a strategy due to his anger. Roleplaying in D&D sometimes requires a character to make the wrong decision to get right.
How to make yourself good at roleplaying?
One of the best ways to make yourself good at roleplaying in D&D is cooperating with your party from time to time. Making conversations is a perfect way of working with them. If your party is in a situation and seeks information from one of them, directly talk to the first information instead of depending on the DM. When making a conversation, you have room to react as your character, thus connecting you to the adventure.
Why do you wear skin in D&D?
Wearing a new skin takes D&D roleplaying to the next level. You don’t want to act like an awful lot because your form is of a different person. You recognize why they do their movements even if you can’t explain it and do things you wouldn’t typically do. Putting on new pores and skin is a strange phenomenon. You alternate how you would typically view things. Actions are one of a kind, and even to a diploma, morals can be changed.
Why is it so hard to play D&D?
People imagine roleplaying is only acting in character and talking with funny voices. This makes it hard for most players because not everyone is a good actor.
How to roleplay without an accent?
They are several other ways one can learn how to roleplay without having to create an accent effectively. Focusing on action is one great idea. Talk about how your character is responding to specific situations and what they are doing. The DM doesn’t have to ask you before imagining how your character might react to a problem. Such cases give you a great chance to develop your character. You, therefore, should not shy off from acting in this situation. The DM might even leave it open for anyone to act. Put yourself in your character’s shoes and ask how they feel about something and how they would respond whenever something happens.
What happens often in D&D 5e?
What happens often at my D&D 5e tables (both as a DM and a player) is that somebody finds a better weapon and just drops the previous one. For instance, one might have a Longsword, +1 and then finds a Flame Tongue Longsword. The character would simply drop the Longsword, +1 to use the Flame Tongue Longsword.
How to add distinctiveness to magic items?
You can add distinctiveness to a magic item by thinking about its backstory. Who made the item? Is anything unusual about its construction? Why was it made, and how was it originally used? What minor magical quirks set it apart from other items of its kind? Answering these questions can help turn a generic magic item, such as a +1 longsword, into a more flavorful discovery.
How to turn one magic weapon into a pact weapon?
You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest.
Can you combine magic weapons in 5e?
There is no convenient way in 5e to merge different magic weapons and there is a reason for that. Let's say we have +2 sword, a Flame Dagger with additional fire damage and a Staff of Defence giving you +1 to AC. Players are not supposed to merge them into "Flame +2 Sword of Defence" with all the properties combined, primarily because of the balance reasons. You can allow it as a DM, but this will quite definitely break the game.
Can a DM introduce their own magic items?
And finding new magic items happens quite often in a D&D game. A DM can (and should) introduce their own magic items using the Creating a Magic Item guidelines from the DMG p.284. The same is true for monsters, by the way.
Is magic natural in D&D?
In most D&D worlds, magic is natural but still wondrous.
Can you merge two magic weapons into one?
One of the most powerful and controversial spell which allows you to do anything. With the acceptance of the DM a player can merge two magic weapons into one, gaining the more powerful and unique magic weapon. Basically use the same Creating a Magic Item paragraph when adjudicating this.
How to improve initiative in D&D?
One other way to improve initiative in D&D is by using marching order. If the fighter is in front and sees the enemies first wouldn’t it make sense for him to respond?
Why is there initiative in Dungeons and Dragons?
They are two entirely different games and that is why initiative was created. To bridge the gap from narrative to combat and give order to combat.
How to do 20-25 in a game?
In the 20-25 method you ask for initatives after you have your players roll. Ask “20-25” and write them down in order. Go down the line “15-19” and repeat until everyone has got a spot in the initiative order.
Why does a dice roll take away player agency?
You keep combat moving and the power is given to the players. Taking away player agency even for dice rolls makes them pay less attention . This happens a lot when players have to just wait for their turn.
How to transition from narrative to combat?
In order to make the transition from narrative to combat smooth and keep combat going smoothly, you need to look at your group. There will be different solutions for each group and my recommendations for each group are general. If you think a system will work better for your group then, by all means, use that system.
When picking initiatives, what can you pick?
When picking initiatives you can pick the 1st, 3rd, 2nd, whatever initiative you want. If you pick the second line of initiative then everyone’s 2nd roll is used.
Do you need to completely change how the D&D system works?
If you want to improve initiative in D&D you don’t need to completely change how the system works.
The Settlement Stat Block
- A settlement stat block is organized as follows. Notable NPCs This section lists any notable NPCs who live in the city, sorted by their role in the community, followed by their name and then their alignment, gender, race, class, and level in parentheses. Base Value and Purchase Limit This section lists the community’s base value for available magic items in gp (see Table: Available M…
Settlement Modifiers
- Life in a settlement is represented by six modifiers, each of which adjusts the use of specific skills within the city. Corruption Corruption measures how open a settlement’s officials are to bribes, how honest its citizens are, and how likely anyone in town is to report a crime. Low corruption indicates a high level of civic honesty. A settlement’s corruption modifies all Bluff checks made …
Settlement Alignment
- A settlement’s alignment not only describes the community’s general personality and attitude, but also influences its modifiers. A lawful component to a settlement’s alignment increases its law modifier by 1. A good component increases its society modifier by 1. A chaotic component increases its crime modifier by 1. An evil component increases its ...
Settlement Government
- Just like nations, towns and cities are ruled by governments. A settlement’s government not only helps to establish the flavor and feel of the community but also adjusts its modifiers. Choose one of the following as the settlement’s government. Several options have been added from various 3rd Party Publisher sources, marked as “3pp”. Disregard if you prefer purely Paizo options. Autoc…
Settlement Qualities
- Settlements often have unusual qualities that make them unique. Listed below are several different qualities that can further modify a community’s statistics. A settlement’s type determines how many qualities it can have—once a quality is chosen, it cannot be changed. Note that many of the following qualities adjust a town’s base value or purchase limit by a percentag…
Settlement Disadvantages
- Just as a settlement can have unusual qualities to enhance its statistics, it can also suffer from disadvantages. There’s no limit to the number of disadvantages a community can suffer, but most do not have disadvantages, since a settlement plagued by disadvantages for too long eventually collapses. A disadvantage can arise as the result of an event or action taken by a powerful or inf…
Settlement Sizes
- The GM may want to adjust settlement modifiers based on the kingdom’s Size and how that corresponds to the standard settlement size categories.
Guards! Guards!
- It’s inevitable—sooner or later, the PCs will want to call upon the town guard or cause a situation where citizens do so instead. Calling for the guard requires a Diplomacy check modified by the settlement’s law modifier. It’s only a DC 5 check to call for the guard—with a success, the guards generally arrive on the scene in 1d6 minutes. Every 5 points by which the Diplomacy check exce…
Sample Settlements
- While it’s nice to be prepared, and planning out cities can be fun in and of itself, it’s not always possible to generate specific settlement stat blocks for every town and city that the PCs might visit. Sometimes the PCs decide to venture off in search of supplies instead of heading straight for the next dungeon, other times they make selling their newly acquired loot their highest priorit…