- Upkeep: Adjust statistics based on the previous month.
- Commerce: Manage your kingdom’s resources.
- Activity: Perform the majority of kingdom activities.
- Event: Respond to random or expected events.
Upkeep
During the Upkeep phase, you adjust the kingdom's statistics based on activities you have taken during the previous month. During the very first kingdom turn, skip the Upkeep phase except for Fame and Resource Collection.
Step 1: Fame
Gain 1 Fame point at the beginning of the Upkeep phase.
Step 2: Assign Leadership Roles
If you wish to assign or change characters in specific leadership roles, the President may attempt the New Leadership kingdom activity to do so. If there is no President, the Secretaries of Education or War may attempt the New Leadership activity to install a new President; no other New Leadership activity can be attempted.
Step 3: Vacant Leadership
If a leadership role is vacant (or the holder didn't perform their week of duties this month), the kingdom suffers the vacancy penalty at this time. A leader that was just assigned in step 2 may forgo all of their leadership activities during the Activity phase to avoid the vacancy penalty.
Step 4: Adjust Unrest
Adjust the kingdom's Unrest as follows:
- +1 for every Overcrowded settlement;
- +1 if you are at war;
- Other ongoing events' effects on Unrest.
After making all adjustments, if the kingdom's Unrest is 10 or higher:
- Roll 1d10 and add a total of that many points to Ruins of your choice;
- Attempt a DC 11 flat check: on a failure, the kingdom loses the most distant hex from the capital (with the PCs choosing if there is a tie).
If your kingdom's Unrest is 20 or greater, the entire nation has fallen into anarchy. While in anarchy, the only activity the leaders can attempt is Quell Unrest, no region or civic activities are attempted, and all kingdom checks for events are treated as one degree of success worse.
Step 5: Resource Collection
Determine the number of Resource Dice you will roll. This is normally 4 plus your kingdom's level, although many activities and other events can change this. The type of die rolled is determined by your kingdom's Size. Roll these dice to determine the Resource Points (RP) available for the kingdom turn.
If you have any work sites or farmlands established in your kingdom, gain Commodities as appropriate for each: typically 1 Commodity per site, although some sites may produce 2 if they are built to exploit especially valuable resources. For every two farmlands that share their hex with a river or (freshwater) lake feature (including rivers created by Irrigation), gain an extra Food commodity.
Step 6: Pay Consumption
Your settlements and armies each consume some number of Food commodities. Kingdom events may also cause additional Consumption. Spend Food commodities equal to the total amount of Consumption. If you fall short, you may either spend 5 RP per missing Food commodity, or increase Unrest by 1d4 (once for the entire shortfall).
Commerce Phase
The Commerce phase allows the kingdom to fine-tune its wealth generation and manage its treasury more directly. These checks are considered to be leadership activities for the purpose of the leaders' personal benefits.
Step 1: Collect Taxes
The Secretary of the Vault may attempt to Collect Taxes to bolster Economy-based checks. If you choose not to Collect Taxes, attempt a DC 11 flat check: on a success, reduce Unrest by 1.
Step 2: Public Aid
The Secretary of Education may attempt to Improve the Lifestyle of the kingdom's citizens.
Step 3: Personal Wealth Management
The Secretary of the Vault may attempt to Tap the Treasury, taking some of the kingdom's wealth for the PCs' own use; or perform Capital Investments, to allow the PCs to invest their own wealth into the kingdom.
Step 4: Tap Commodities
If your kingdom has any Commodities stockpiled, the Secretary of State, the Vault, or both may attempt to Sell Commodities.
Activity Phase
The Activity phase is when the leaders make proclamations on expansion, declare holidays, and otherwise manage your territory and settlements. This phase represents the bulk of the kingdom turn.
Step 1: Leadership Activities
Each assigned leader may take one leadership activity during this step. NPC leaders typically attempt their unique activity (these activities are pretty good, so you won't be disappointed). PC leaders may take two leadership activities. If the kingdom's capital contains a Town Hall, Castle, Palace, or other government center, every leader may take an additional leadership activity (typically 2 for NPC leaders and 3 for PCs). Leaders may perform their activities in any order. Unless otherwise noted, abilities and features which specify that they occur when "a leader attempts a check or activity" refer specifically to leadership and commerce activities, not region or civic activities. Unless otherwise noted, any individual leader cannot attempt the same leadership activity more than once per kingdom turn.
- Focused Attention (any skill)
- Take Charge (any skill)
- Celebrate Holiday (Folklore)
- Clandestine Business (Intrigue)
- Craft Luxuries (Arts, Industry)
- Create a Masterpiece (Arts)
- Creative Solution (Scholarship)
- Establish Trade Agreement (Boating, Trade)
- Hire Adventurers (Exploration)
- Infiltration (Intrigue)
- Manage Trade Agreements (Trade)
- Pledge of Fealty (Intrigue, Statecraft, Warfare)
- Prognostication (Magic)
- Provide Care (Defense)
- Purchase Commodities (Trade)
- Quell Unrest (Arts, Folklore, Intrigue, Politics, Warfare)
- Recruit Army (Statecraft, Warfare)
- Recruit Special Army (Statecraft)
- Relocate Capital (Arts, Defense, Industry, Statecraft)
- Repair Reputation (Corruption: Arts; Crime: Defense; Decay: Engineering; Strife: Intrigue)
- Request Foreign Aid (Statecraft)
- Rest and Relax (Arts, Boating, Scholarship, Trade, Wilderness)
- Send Diplomatic Envoy (Statecraft)
- Supernatural Solution (Magic)
Step 2: Region Activities
The kingdom as a whole may attempt up to 3 region activities in any order. The players should collaborate to determine what region activities they want to perform, but if there is a disagreement, the Secretary of the Interior's decision is final. Typically, Claim Hex is high on the list of importance! Any player may roll the dice, but no individual leader is considered to be performing these region activities; however, if a leader used the Take Charge leadership activity, that leader is considered to be personally overseeing the extra region activity generated, and provides whatever bonus his office may allow.
- Abandon Hex (Exploration, Wilderness)
- Build Roads (Engineering)
- Claim Hex (Exploration, Intrigue, Magic, Wilderness)
- Clear Hex (Exploration)
- Establish Farmland (Agriculture)
- Establish Settlement (Engineering, Industry, Politics, Scholarship)
- Establish Work Site (Engineering)
- Fortify Hex (Defense)
- Go Fishing (Boating)
- Harvest Crops and Livestock (Agriculture)
- Hunt and Forage (Wilderness)
- Irrigation (Engineering)
- Prepare Hex (Engineering)
- Reconnoiter Hex (Exploration, Wilderness)
Step 3: Civic Activities
Each settlement may attempt one civic activity. As with region activities, the players are expected to collaborate and come to an agreement, but the Secretary of Development has final say, and no individual leader is normally considered to be performing the civic activities themselves (unless they Took Charge as a leadership activity).
- Build Structure (depends on structure)
- Demolish Structure (Engineering)
- Harvest Crops and Livestock (Agriculture)
Step 4: Army Activities
Each army may attempt an army activity. The Secretary of War has final control over these activities, and unlike region or civic activities, the Secretary of War is usually considered to be personally responsible for army activities, unless another leader Took Charge during the leadership activities step.
- Deploy Army (Boating, Exploration, Magic, Warfare)
- Garrison Army (Defense, Engineering, Politics, Warfare)
- Offensive Gambit (Intrigue, Warfare)
- Outfit Army (Engineering, Magic, Trade, Warfare)
- Recover Damaged Army (Defense, Folklore)
- Recover Defeated Army (Politics, Statecraft, Warfare)
- Recover Lost Army (Exploration, Wilderness)
- Recover Mired Army (Engineering, Magic)
- Recover Shaken Army (Arts, Warfare)
- Recover Weary Army (Arts, Defense)
- Train Army (Scholarship, Warfare)
Event Phase
During this phase, events which affect the entire kingdom, single hexes, or a single settlement occur. Some are harmful, while some may be beneficial. Certain events continue for multiple kingdom turns, and only come to an end once they’ve been properly handled by the PCs or their kingdom.
Step 1: Random Event Check
Attempt a DC 16 flat check. On a success, a random kingdom event occurs. If no random event occurs, the DC for this check is reduced by 5 in the next kingdom turn. Once an event occurs, the DC is reset to 16.
Step 2: Event Resolution
If a random event is rolled, attempt to resolve it now using an appropriate kingdom skill check. The event specifies which leader is considered to be personally responsible for this check. If the event cannot be resolved by kingdom skill checks alone and requires the PCs to engage in exploration or encounters, the GM determines at what point during the coming month the remainder of the event will play out. In this case, repeat the remainder of the Event Phase when the event is fully resolved.
Additionally, if there are any continuous events still pending from previous kingdom turns or other happenstances, they may have effects which are applied now.
Step 3: Stockpile
If the kingdom has more of any commodity than its storage potential, the excess commodities are wasted.
Step 4: Apply Kingdom XP
The GM awards any kingdom XP earned during the turn. If the kingdom experienced a random event, it gains 30 XP, regardless of how the event turned out. Even disasters leave the kingdom a sadder and wiser community! Apply any milestone XP as well as converting any leftover RP into XP depending on the kingdom's Size.
Step 5: Increase Kingdom Level
If the kingdom has 1000 XP or more and is not at its maximum level (the PCs' level), spend 1000 XP to increase the kingdom's level by 1!