GURPS Realm Management - Page 3

Christopher R. Rice · 03-26-2021, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Been

Will you need my status issue mailing

Nope! I got that one. :-)

I also realize where this came from - in the original draft governments had suggested Status ranges, but I ditched it in the third iteration of the first draft for more space. It wasn't *that* needed I thought.

Been · 03-26-2021, 04:46 PM

I wouldn't have thought it was apart from the reference lol

awesomenessofme1 · 03-26-2021, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Also, if you think you've found errata, email me or DM me here please. I'm putting together a sheet so I can send it in after a bit.

I already sent an email to the SJGames errata email address. Should I send it to you as well?

Christopher R. Rice · 03-26-2021, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

I already sent an email to the SJGames errata email address. Should I send it to you as well?

You can, yeah.

johndallman · 03-26-2021, 06:16 PM

Here's a realm write-up I sent Christopher while reviewing a draft, updated to the published book.

The city of Eldran is ancient, but had been almost unpopulated for over a century, after losing a war against a larger power. That power more recently fought a much larger war against the major powers of the continent, ending in an armistice, but creating a significant population of refugees with no allegiance or citizenship.

The re-founding of the city happened when a tribe of dwarves, about a thousand strong, removed themselves from the world where they’d previously lived, owing to a severe outbreak of Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, and were looking for a place to settle.

They moved into Eldran, attracted by its strong walls and vast stock of stone buildings that only needed repairs, rather than re-building. Finding a tiny population of humans living by hunting and scavenging, who maintained some of the traditions of the old city, the dwarves decided to absorb them. Within a few months, nomads and refugees began to arrive who were happy to become part of any polity that would take them. The dwarves decided that as refugees themselves, albeit organised and wealthy ones, it would be hypocritical (as well as untidy) to have a refugee camp outside their gates when there was plenty of space within the city.

It took them some time to discover that people live longer than normal in this world, but they didn’t complain. The city now has a population of about 25,000, and a culture that mingles dwarven tradition with two different human cultures, plus a scattering of other races. There is also a dragon, Lord Dark, who had been there all along but did not make himself known at first. Since dragons in this world are very powerful, and he is polite, he’s accepted the re-population of the city and told other regional dragons that it is under his protection.

The realm consists of the city proper, a network of villages, some canals, and mines in the mountain ranges that define the large valley it occupies. The river that runs down the valley passes through the city, and supplies water for the canals.

The realm is size +11. Its settled area is about a 20-mile radius from the city centre, about 1,200 square miles without the urban areas and the river and canals.

The realm is an average of TL3+1^ - a solid TL3 without gunpowder, with an effective +1 TL due to magic, the dwarves having some very skilled enchanters, and the human cultures having effective farming magic. Transportation is effectively TL5 and Biology/Medicine TL6^, due to magics that made building a large canal network easy, and magical medicine. There is also some TL12^ space-opera technology, which produces the Reserve realm enhancement noted below.

There are no universal cultural traits, although Honesty is rather common and most adult citizens are skilled in a craft or trade.

The average point value of the races that inhabit the realm is about +10, when weighted by population.

The area has a maximum sustainable population of 72,000 at TL4, well above the actual population.

Citizen Loyalty is Good (15; +2). The realm has survived attacks, some of them very strange and dangerous, and the rulers have always put the interests of the city and population first.

The Infrastructure Rating is 4, with safe running water in most buildings and an advanced sewage system for the whole city and in each of the outlying villages. Communications are largely by post, with same-day delivery to major cities outside the realm, via magic. There is no public transport, because it isn’t considered necessary within a city or village, but there are public hospitals and fire and ambulance services.

The Control Rating is 3, although in many cases traditions take the place of laws. Taxes are deliberately simple, and assume a trading society, being charged on profits rather than income or assets.

The Conformity Rating is 3. The society is not actually strongly driven by abstract ideals, except the general idea of maintaining a reasonably free and pleasant place to live in a dangerous world. The Golden Rule (“Do as you would be done by”) is a working rule, as is “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.”

The Openness Rating is 5. There are no specific laws regarding outsiders, who may settle freely. Becoming a citizen now requires naturalisation, via three years of residence; in the early days it was “Turn up, agree to follow the laws and put a roof on a house.”

The government is a kind of representative oligarchy: the king of the dwarves is chairman of the ruling council, which was created by adding representatives of various groups to his council of advisers. A group that feels unrepresented or badly represented can petition the council to appoint or replace their representative. A city manager was appointed during the initial settlement phase, and has been serving as mayor for almost a decade. This system doesn’t fall into corruption because most of the dwarves have Honesty, which is becoming common amongst the younger human citizens as they grow up. This produces an overall behaviour much like that of a representative democracy, with the same benefits and drawbacks. It probably won’t scale well to a much larger population, since it depends on council members knowing their constituency well. There is an Administrative Rank structure: 1 Civil Servant, 2 Council subcommittee member, 3 Council member, 4 Chairman of Council.

The minimum Status in Eldran is 0; the Chairman of the Council is Status 4 and Lord Dark is Status 5.

The economy is basically capitalist, with a gifting aspect. It is expected that the leading citizens will make substantial contributions towards the needs of the city. For example, the water-purification systems for the water and sewage system were donated by the city’s leading enchanter. The main hospital was donated by a biomancer, and so on.

The city and villages have Defence Bonus of +4, since they all have strong and up-to-date TL4 walls.

The Education Rating of the realm is in transition from ER3 to ER4. The dwarves regard near-universal literacy as normal, as does one of the human cultures of the continent. Mostly highly educated people are magicians, priests, or bards; the city has no university yet, although it does have a college that teaches crafts and trades on a larger scale than apprenticeships can manage.

The Management Skill Level of the realm is 17. It is Facile, largely because of powerful adventurers and ex-adventurers living in the city who are trusted by the government to act on its behalf in peculiar situations.

The Habitability of the realm is Good (13), for +1, owing to good terrain, in a fertile river valley.

Reaction-time modifier is +2 for TL4, +0 for Management Skill Level 17, +2 for maximum Status 5.

Code:

Realm Advantages                level   %modifier
-------------------------------------------------
Average 10-point population             + 2
Management Skill               +5       +25

Able Populace                   1       +25
Admired for crafts +2           2       +10
Clear Routes                    1       +10
Defensible Terrain              4       +40
Educated Populace               2       +20
Habitability +1                 1       +10
TL +1 for Transportation        1       +15
TL +2 for Biology/Medicine      2       +30
Higher Quality of Life (min Status 0)   +15
Loyal Citizenry                 1       +15
Reserve (Agriculture)           6       +60
Hated for being weird -1        1       - 5 
Openness Rating 5                       - 2
Soft Power Oriented             1       -10

Total                                  +260%

The realm has the following bonuses from advantages:

Gains an extra Manpower Point whenever one is gained (Able populace).
Once per turn, can use Manpower points for a Trade maneuver (Clear routes).
+1 to rolls for Agriculture (Habitability +1).
Every 3d turns, gain 6 Agriculture Points (Reserve). GM makes that every 12 turns.

The average inhabitant is a little richer than average for TL4, earning $900/month, and 80% of them work. That makes the base realm value $18M, +260% = $64.8M

Initial resource points: 32 (Agriculture 14, Luxury/Precious 6, Natural Resources 6, Workforce 6), costing $10.4M.

Military units
70 elements of heavy infantry, cost 2.8M, doubled for Fine equipment: the healthy adult dwarven citizens, technically levy.

200 elements of bowmen, cost 8M, levy from the human citizens.

3M of assorted fantastic units that are not PCs. Quite a few PCs.

Total military units about $17M, plus $8.5M for logistics,

Founding cost total is $100.7M.

That’s a fairly plausible figure. The dwarven tribe had very large cash reserves, acquired in previous play.

With CR3, the MBF is 2%, which means routine military expenditure is $800 * 25,000 * 2% = $400K. That pays maintenance on the roving scouts that keep a look-out for trouble on the borders.

With CR3, the Revenue Factor is 10%, and monthly revenue is $1.8M.

The starting revenue on-hand is $0.65M.

Wheel activities
Eldran routinely executes Gather/Extract and Manufacture to get Natural Resource and Luxury/Precious Goods points, and Trade to sell them. Naturally, they execute Marshal Manpower to raise manpower to do those actions. They also build up their Agricultural reserves conscientiously, and Improve the realm whenever practical.

LoneWolf23k · 03-26-2021, 07:39 PM

I couldn't help but snicker when I saw one of the examples for Total Conformity was the Smurfs.

Christopher R. Rice · 03-26-2021, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

I couldn't help but snicker when I saw one of the examples for Total Conformity was the Smurfs.

La la la la la! Sing a happy song. :-)

SolemnGolem · 03-28-2021, 08:10 AM

I went to bed last night after spending some very good GM prep time in applying Realm Management to my little DFRPG duchy.

While I was sleeping, the mindworms exerted their psionic attack on my unshielded mind and I awoke gripped by a foolhardy madness-inducing endeavor.

GURPS Alpha Centauri ... using Realm Management.

This is going to hurt a bit but I must make it so.

"Please don't go, the drones need you. They look up to you."

Edit: The Human Hive, drafted as a Lens of a Realm (since the actual landmass, currency stores, and population are all highly open-ended due to the video game's design).

Christopher R. Rice · 03-28-2021, 02:54 PM

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

JulianLW · 03-28-2021, 04:13 PM

The Realm Size Table progression is eluding me.

Size +12 is 5,000 square miles;
Size +13 is, at a guess, 10,000 square miles? [5k x 2?]
Size +14 (i.e. Denmark) is ~ 16,577 square miles [5k x 3?];
Size +15 (i.e. South Korea) is ~38,691 square miles [5k x 7? x 8?];
Size +16 (i.e. Ghana) is ~92,099 square miles [5k x 15? x 20?];
Size +17 (i.e. France) is ~248,573 square miles [5k x 50];
Size +18 is 500,000 square miles [5k x 100].

What, exactly, is the progression? When I first looked at the table on RM4, I assumed a progression like the Size and Speed/Range Table. But now I think there's a different progression at work?

What would 50,000 square miles be?

Forgive me, please, if this is obvious to mathematicsers. Is it that every next step up governs a range of about x2.5 to 3? 2.5X at each step looks about right....

A slightly clearer guideline would be helpful! Thanks!

03-26-2021, 04:46 PM	#22
Been Join Date: Dec 2006	Re: GURPS Realm Management I wouldn't have thought it was apart from the reference lol

03-26-2021, 06:16 PM	#25
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Re: GURPS Realm Management Here's a realm write-up I sent Christopher while reviewing a draft, updated to the published book. The city of Eldran is ancient, but had been almost unpopulated for over a century, after losing a war against a larger power. That power more recently fought a much larger war against the major powers of the continent, ending in an armistice, but creating a significant population of refugees with no allegiance or citizenship. The re-founding of the city happened when a tribe of dwarves, about a thousand strong, removed themselves from the world where they’d previously lived, owing to a severe outbreak of Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, and were looking for a place to settle. They moved into Eldran, attracted by its strong walls and vast stock of stone buildings that only needed repairs, rather than re-building. Finding a tiny population of humans living by hunting and scavenging, who maintained some of the traditions of the old city, the dwarves decided to absorb them. Within a few months, nomads and refugees began to arrive who were happy to become part of any polity that would take them. The dwarves decided that as refugees themselves, albeit organised and wealthy ones, it would be hypocritical (as well as untidy) to have a refugee camp outside their gates when there was plenty of space within the city. It took them some time to discover that people live longer than normal in this world, but they didn’t complain. The city now has a population of about 25,000, and a culture that mingles dwarven tradition with two different human cultures, plus a scattering of other races. There is also a dragon, Lord Dark, who had been there all along but did not make himself known at first. Since dragons in this world are very powerful, and he is polite, he’s accepted the re-population of the city and told other regional dragons that it is under his protection. The realm consists of the city proper, a network of villages, some canals, and mines in the mountain ranges that define the large valley it occupies. The river that runs down the valley passes through the city, and supplies water for the canals. The realm is size +11. Its settled area is about a 20-mile radius from the city centre, about 1,200 square miles without the urban areas and the river and canals. The realm is an average of TL3+1^ - a solid TL3 without gunpowder, with an effective +1 TL due to magic, the dwarves having some very skilled enchanters, and the human cultures having effective farming magic. Transportation is effectively TL5 and Biology/Medicine TL6^, due to magics that made building a large canal network easy, and magical medicine. There is also some TL12^ space-opera technology, which produces the Reserve realm enhancement noted below. There are no universal cultural traits, although Honesty is rather common and most adult citizens are skilled in a craft or trade. The average point value of the races that inhabit the realm is about +10, when weighted by population. The area has a maximum sustainable population of 72,000 at TL4, well above the actual population. Citizen Loyalty is Good (15; +2). The realm has survived attacks, some of them very strange and dangerous, and the rulers have always put the interests of the city and population first. The Infrastructure Rating is 4, with safe running water in most buildings and an advanced sewage system for the whole city and in each of the outlying villages. Communications are largely by post, with same-day delivery to major cities outside the realm, via magic. There is no public transport, because it isn’t considered necessary within a city or village, but there are public hospitals and fire and ambulance services. The Control Rating is 3, although in many cases traditions take the place of laws. Taxes are deliberately simple, and assume a trading society, being charged on profits rather than income or assets. The Conformity Rating is 3. The society is not actually strongly driven by abstract ideals, except the general idea of maintaining a reasonably free and pleasant place to live in a dangerous world. The Golden Rule (“Do as you would be done by”) is a working rule, as is “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.” The Openness Rating is 5. There are no specific laws regarding outsiders, who may settle freely. Becoming a citizen now requires naturalisation, via three years of residence; in the early days it was “Turn up, agree to follow the laws and put a roof on a house.” The government is a kind of representative oligarchy: the king of the dwarves is chairman of the ruling council, which was created by adding representatives of various groups to his council of advisers. A group that feels unrepresented or badly represented can petition the council to appoint or replace their representative. A city manager was appointed during the initial settlement phase, and has been serving as mayor for almost a decade. This system doesn’t fall into corruption because most of the dwarves have Honesty, which is becoming common amongst the younger human citizens as they grow up. This produces an overall behaviour much like that of a representative democracy, with the same benefits and drawbacks. It probably won’t scale well to a much larger population, since it depends on council members knowing their constituency well. There is an Administrative Rank structure: 1 Civil Servant, 2 Council subcommittee member, 3 Council member, 4 Chairman of Council. The minimum Status in Eldran is 0; the Chairman of the Council is Status 4 and Lord Dark is Status 5. The economy is basically capitalist, with a gifting aspect. It is expected that the leading citizens will make substantial contributions towards the needs of the city. For example, the water-purification systems for the water and sewage system were donated by the city’s leading enchanter. The main hospital was donated by a biomancer, and so on. The city and villages have Defence Bonus of +4, since they all have strong and up-to-date TL4 walls. The Education Rating of the realm is in transition from ER3 to ER4. The dwarves regard near-universal literacy as normal, as does one of the human cultures of the continent. Mostly highly educated people are magicians, priests, or bards; the city has no university yet, although it does have a college that teaches crafts and trades on a larger scale than apprenticeships can manage. The Management Skill Level of the realm is 17. It is Facile, largely because of powerful adventurers and ex-adventurers living in the city who are trusted by the government to act on its behalf in peculiar situations. The Habitability of the realm is Good (13), for +1, owing to good terrain, in a fertile river valley. Reaction-time modifier is +2 for TL4, +0 for Management Skill Level 17, +2 for maximum Status 5. Code: Realm Advantages level %modifier ------------------------------------------------- Average 10-point population + 2 Management Skill +5 +25 Able Populace 1 +25 Admired for crafts +2 2 +10 Clear Routes 1 +10 Defensible Terrain 4 +40 Educated Populace 2 +20 Habitability +1 1 +10 TL +1 for Transportation 1 +15 TL +2 for Biology/Medicine 2 +30 Higher Quality of Life (min Status 0) +15 Loyal Citizenry 1 +15 Reserve (Agriculture) 6 +60 Hated for being weird -1 1 - 5 Openness Rating 5 - 2 Soft Power Oriented 1 -10 Total +260% The realm has the following bonuses from advantages: Gains an extra Manpower Point whenever one is gained (Able populace). Once per turn, can use Manpower points for a Trade maneuver (Clear routes). +1 to rolls for Agriculture (Habitability +1). Every 3d turns, gain 6 Agriculture Points (Reserve). GM makes that every 12 turns. The average inhabitant is a little richer than average for TL4, earning $900/month, and 80% of them work. That makes the base realm value $18M, +260% = $64.8M Initial resource points: 32 (Agriculture 14, Luxury/Precious 6, Natural Resources 6, Workforce 6), costing $10.4M. Military units 70 elements of heavy infantry, cost 2.8M, doubled for Fine equipment: the healthy adult dwarven citizens, technically levy. 200 elements of bowmen, cost 8M, levy from the human citizens. 3M of assorted fantastic units that are not PCs. Quite a few PCs. Total military units about $17M, plus $8.5M for logistics, Founding cost total is $100.7M. That’s a fairly plausible figure. The dwarven tribe had very large cash reserves, acquired in previous play. With CR3, the MBF is 2%, which means routine military expenditure is $800 * 25,000 * 2% = $400K. That pays maintenance on the roving scouts that keep a look-out for trouble on the borders. With CR3, the Revenue Factor is 10%, and monthly revenue is $1.8M. The starting revenue on-hand is $0.65M. Wheel activities Eldran routinely executes Gather/Extract and Manufacture to get Natural Resource and Luxury/Precious Goods points, and Trade to sell them. Naturally, they execute Marshal Manpower to raise manpower to do those actions. They also build up their Agricultural reserves conscientiously, and Improve the realm whenever practical. __________________ The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques.

03-26-2021, 07:39 PM	#26
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: GURPS Realm Management I couldn't help but snicker when I saw one of the examples for Total Conformity was the Smurfs.

03-28-2021, 08:10 AM	#28
SolemnGolem Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The Hall of Fallen Columns	Re: GURPS Realm Management I went to bed last night after spending some very good GM prep time in applying Realm Management to my little DFRPG duchy. While I was sleeping, the mindworms exerted their psionic attack on my unshielded mind and I awoke gripped by a foolhardy madness-inducing endeavor. GURPS Alpha Centauri ... using Realm Management. This is going to hurt a bit but I must make it so. "Please don't go, the drones need you. They look up to you." Edit: The Human Hive, drafted as a Lens of a Realm (since the actual landmass, currency stores, and population are all highly open-ended due to the video game's design). Last edited by SolemnGolem; 03-31-2021 at 07:55 PM.

03-28-2021, 02:54 PM	#29
Christopher R. Rice Raven and a Writing Desk Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA	Re: GURPS Realm Management I look forward to seeing what you come up with. __________________ My Twitter My w23 Stuff My Blog Latest GURPS Book: Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Thieves Latest TFT Book: The Sunken Library Become a Patron!

03-28-2021, 04:13 PM	#30
JulianLW Join Date: Apr 2019	Re: GURPS Realm Management The Realm Size Table progression is eluding me. Size +12 is 5,000 square miles; Size +13 is, at a guess, 10,000 square miles? [5k x 2?] Size +14 (i.e. Denmark) is ~ 16,577 square miles [5k x 3?]; Size +15 (i.e. South Korea) is ~38,691 square miles [5k x 7? x 8?]; Size +16 (i.e. Ghana) is ~92,099 square miles [5k x 15? x 20?]; Size +17 (i.e. France) is ~248,573 square miles [5k x 50]; Size +18 is 500,000 square miles [5k x 100]. What, exactly, is the progression? When I first looked at the table on RM4, I assumed a progression like the Size and Speed/Range Table. But now I think there's a different progression at work? What would 50,000 square miles be? Forgive me, please, if this is obvious to mathematicsers. Is it that every next step up governs a range of about x2.5 to 3? 2.5X at each step looks about right.... A slightly clearer guideline would be helpful! Thanks!