Kingdom Size
The Size of your kingdom depends on the number of hexes which you have Claimed. Size determines the size of your Resource Dice, the size modifier to your Control DC, and your base Commodity Storage, as listed in the table below.
Most kingdom skill rolls incur a control penalty equal to the Control DC modifier. As a kingdom gets bigger and more expansive, it's harder to do even the simplest things!
Expanding a Kingdom
Kingdoms expand largely through the Claim Hex action, although it's sometimes possible to annex an existing realm, along with all of its land.
Losing Hexes
It’s possible to lose control of a hex through various means. When this happens, the kingdom immediately loses any benefits from terrain improvements in that hex and all settlements within the hex become freeholds. If this causes the kingdom’s Size to decrease below a threshold on the table above, their relevant statistics are also immediately changed.
Monsters may move into an abandoned hex, increasing the chance for random encounters, and if you wish to reclaim the hex, you may need to clear it first of hostile creatures.
If one or more hexes are lost in such a way that it breaks the connection between parts of a kingdom, any territory not contiguous with the capital becomes secondary territory. All kingdom checks related to resolving issues in secondary territory take a -4 circumstance penalty. When a kingdom starts a turn with any number of secondary territories, increase Unrest by 1.
If a kingdom is reduced to Size 0 (it has no hexes claimed), whether through Unrest, disaster, war, or other means, the PCs are at risk of having their rule end. On the next kingdom turn, they must claim at least one new hex and establish or claim at least one settlement; otherwise, their kingdom is considered totally destroyed.
Terrain
Many hexes have features which grant benefits once claimed. In some cases, certain region activities must be taken before a hex’s benefits can be enjoyed, such as by Establishing a Work Site to gather from a resource terrain feature. Some hexes offer one-of-a-kind benefits, but most fall into one of the categories discussed here. There are two primary classifications for terrain features: minor and major. A hex can contain any number of minor terrain features, but it can typically only contain one major terrain feature. If you want to change a major terrain feature in a hex, you must first use the Clear Hex activity unless otherwise specified for the feature.
Minor Terrain Features
Bridge: A hex containing an easy land route over a river or other body of water (be it a bridge or a ford) bypasses the normal increase in RP cost to Build Roads in that hex. If a settlement is built in a hex with a bridge, it can start with the bridge on one water border of its urban grid.
Landmark: These features are a source of great pride, mystery, or wonder which bolsters artistry and morale among the kingdom’s citizens. When a landmark hex is added to the kingdom, Unrest is reduced by 1d4 points and all Culture- and Economy-based kingdom checks gain a +2 circumstance bonus until the end of the next kingdom turn.
Refuge: This is a place where people can shelter in safety, such as a hidden valley, cave system, or isle in the middle of a river. When a refuge hex is claimed, one Ruin is reduced by 1 and all Loyalty- and Stability-based kingdom checks gain a +2 circumstance bonus until the end of the next turn.
Resource: Any hex indicated as being a particularly dense or lucrative source of Lumber, Ore, or Stone makes for an excellent place to Establish a Work Site, producing twice the normal Commodities of the appropriate type.
River: A river is generally assumed to be navigable unless otherwise noted. Navigable rivers behave as roads if you have the means to sail along them.
Road: A hex with a road is more easily traversed during hexploration and may provide a bonus to certain kingdom activities, such as Establish Trade Agreement.
Small Settlement: A Village or Town doesn't take up enough space to occupy the entire hex. If the Settlement grows into a city, but there's already another major terrain feature in the hex, the other terrain feature is absorbed, becoming a free building of some kind in the 6th block of the new city.
Major Terrain Features
Farmland: These features are typically created via the Establish Farmland activity. Each farmland hex produces 1 Food commodity each turn during the Upkeep phase after it is established using Establish Farmland. A Farmland absorbed by a growing city becomes a Mill or a Stockyard (your choice).
Freehold: A special kind of settlement which may lie within your kingdom but is not part of it. It may be of any size (village to city), and can be absorbed into your kingdom with a successful Pledge of Fealty. A freehold absorbed into the kingdom becomes a settlement with all of the structures and features the freehold possessed.
Lake: A lake is large enough to take up a significant portion of a hex, preventing too much lateral development in a single hex. Lakes usually can't be removed with the Clear Hex activity. A Town can still grow into a City by the side of a Lake, but it doesn't get anything.
Ruins: Partially destroyed structures can be rebuilt to the benefit of the kingdom. When you Establish a Settlement in a hex containing ruins, you may choose for the ruins to take up the appropriate space of a building of its type in the new settlement’s urban grid; if you do, the ruins feature is replaced by the settlement. Repairing the ruins counts as Building a Structure of the ruin’s type, but reduces the cost by half, and you can attempt it even if the building would normally be too high level. If you choose not to incorporate the Ruins into the initial settlement, they're automatically added when it grows into a City.
Large Settlement: A City or Metropolis takes up its entire hex, although it can coexist with a Lake.
Structure: When you Establish a Settlement in a hex with a structure already present, you may choose for the structure to be part of the new settlement, adding it to the urban grid at no cost and gaining no XP as the structure was not built normally. If you do add the structure to a new settlement, the structure feature is replaced by the settlement. Otherwise, it's automatically added when the settlement becomes a City.
Work Site: A work site generates a certain Commodity during the Upkeep phase of each kingdom turn after it is established using Establish Work Site. A Lumber Camp absorbed by a growing City becomes a Lumberyard, a Quarry becomes a Stonemason, and a Mine becomes a Foundry.