Patrizierforum

This is a cross post (also on Side Tavern and Ascaron Suggestions) of a new idea for Patrician 4
So far, there is no word from Ascaron of any work on a P4 game.
This presents a new idea, some original, some borrowed. It is posted here so that others might read and enjoy

P4, Intrigue in the Hanse

Storyline / Philosophy:

The middle ages saw the rebirth of small scale production, when small groups of talented trade workers came together. This production was controlled by Craft Guilds, and trade secrets passed slowly among craftsmen. Proud of their quality and fearful of competition, the trade guilds tried to reduce the influx of imports. New production was less costly, while more mature shops produced quality worthy of envy.

Merchants who moved these goods from town to town saw the difference in quality and spread the reputation of a town’s quality production. The towns that developed and traded began to grow into cities. To protect their interests and offset the power of the Craft Guilds, the merchants banded together to form Trade Guilds, and a group of trade guilds, “the Hanse”.

The economy grew in this dynamic, reasonable goods moved with speed to where they were needed. Reputations of towns and merchants rose and fell, and wealth flowed through docks and purses. As the pennants of merchants billowed on sea and land, some desired glory and power in the Hanse, and an era of Intrigue came to be.

As everyone else does in the Hanse, let us enter and begin our day ….. “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.”

The whistle is silent in prayer

Continued

Reputation What you do and every person does affects them and the whole. Quality is based on reputation.
Intrigue: Politics occurs in the shadows, You can do things, know things that others do not know. What you know can change politics.
Fog: not everything is known, not in black/white clarity


Using Pat3 as a basis, here are the changes

Maps
No matter where you are, all other towns are only seen as a fixed map (no teleportation). Maps can be bought, sold, stolen, copied and updated. Maps are valuable items, and are updated by news and information. Maps are of Hanse, Med/Amer, Towns, Hinterlands. May commission a survey (map update) of an area in a monastery or university, and the resulting map is public. Commissioning a private map requires a spy. Maps help reduce the fog of uncertainty, every captain keeps a map, and travelers are advised to find one.
Because there is no teleportation, all orders for changes/building etc for a town you are not in must be sent via courier to the town. To see a town (active), you must take a transport method to that location. Your physical presence in that town creates a small increase in efficiency for your workshops & farms, and boosts your influence in other matters.
When you click on a neighboring town that your ships/buildings are in, you can see the town, but all construction functions are disabled. Construction requests are more like zoning requests: build it here or the nearest available, and are sent via courier.

Map Overlay
Hidden items and special features are only seen through a Map Overlay, a translucent oil skin overlay

Couriers
Orders are sent via courier, (mostly passengers on ships) using notes & codes. This increases the use of smaller boats for speedy dispatch. Notes can be stolen, but codes make it difficult for competitors to use. If the courier is lost, the message is too

Criers
Every town has a town crier who announces local news, some true, some not

Books/Journals
Information from other sources, can help in technology, discoveries, finding other towns/settlements, or finding important people.
Each only has a few readable pages

Rumors/Superstitions
Every town has rumors and gossip, finding these out helps plan short term strategy. Starting rumors can be helpful. Some of these relate to history, others are the items of lore. These surface randomly, and may be connected to the game (things to find / do etc)

Science/Ignorance
Towns have a high level of ignorance until arrival of universities, monastaries, and artists. New technology is eschewed as Superstition for first 5 years, and affects reputations.

Informers/Spies
Nefarious characters you pay for information. If they return to you, they present a better picture (animated) of the information. If they send a note/letter, then it is just the basic information.
Informers are town residents in your pay. Informers in other towns you have offices in will send messages (letter/drawing) via courier to you, or will journey to see you.
Spies are sent on a particular mission to find something valuable, or to explore the hinterlands.
Validity of the information is always questionable, depending on reputations etc.

Rogue craft workers
Some of the workers hired will take your technology (trade secrets) and spread it to other merchants. You can also hire them to work at competitors to steal technology or spread bad technology. Bad technology might create a bad town reputation for that product.

Language/Currency
Language & Currency Understanding (LCU) are skills (0-5) in all trading employees (Captains, Administrators etc). This does not change warehouse/ship transfers, but does affect buy/trade trades with towns, contracts etc. Your character also has a skill rating for this for in-town transaction as well as when you are on-board the ship. A ship with no captain has a (LCU) skill of (0-1). A fleet with more than one captain defaults to the highest (LCU) skill during trading. Skill is enhanced slowly by trade, quickly in University.

Town Reputation
Each town has a reputation for producing 0-3 products of great quality. This reputation changes depending on production volume of the town & players. If the town stops producing/selling it, then the quality index diminishes in relation the Hanse quality index. Towns coffers increase (hidden tax) based on the sales of the higher reputation of those goods. Guarding that reputation is the responsibility of Craft/Trade Guilds and Mayor.

Castles
Exclusive Patrician house on the water (not inland). The castle provides housing/spawn/train for the mercs. Items are harder to steal from Castles and very difficult to arson. Player can host or be invited to large private banquets there. Often can privately hire nefarious people there without being caught. Business deals of existing/under-construction properties or contracts for products available at own or other’s castles. Castles can be attacked by ships or by armies.

Mercenaries
Private armies (mercs) can be used, can besiege or help cities in siege. With a castle, player may arm/train/house mercs. Without castle can hire mercs (already armed) for one mission, then they disband or self immolate (too much gunpowder on that burger). Mercs are moved by ship (or walk slowly). When training in the castle, mercs can be armed with muskets, swords, cannon, or horses. Morale depends on pay/food/etc. No more than 3 merc groups of 15 units ea. per player. Merc groups cannot be combined into one force, but can fight each other (attack a city and defend the same city) Mercs consumes gunpowder, metal, food, beer, & water at rates determined by developer. Muskets/cannons may run out of ammo, horses die (or if no water get drunk), but swords remain. Towns hate mercs unless helping defeat a siege.

Arsonists
Arsonists are the torch in the night. Must be sent from another town. Cannot burn government buildings (can burn town/AI houses if players have built some). Attempts to burn a gunpowder workshop most successful, but most arsonists only get one chance to try.
Skill levels are in:
Stealth: likelihood of finding building or being heard at scene
Pyro: Success of fire starting
Escape: Leave the scene without being caught

Thieves (pirate on commission, doesn’t like to sail)
Grab what they can. Are locals or from nearby town, locals have a higher chance of being caught. Might pickpocket during the day, break-in at night. Can steal products, papers, or just ransack. Can be disguised as a helpful character in taverns, might try to rob you there.
Skill levels are in three areas:
Disguise: likelihood of being seen
Stealth: likelihood being heard
Purloin: Ability to find and steal worthwhile items

Smugglers (pirates who don’t attack)
A group of thieves
Steal (on land) and sell
Sell “bad reputation” goods as “good reputation”
Trade with towns on embargo/siege
Trade without paying taxes

The Gypsy Dances .. the 4th dance of the whistle

Continued

Passengers
Public passengers are visible on the sea dock or canal dock. Will take first willing/available connection towards destination. Pay is based on speed, class. Clergy do not pay.
Private/secret passengers can show at fish huts, canal locks, or castles. Private passengers pay more or offer special news/prizes with successful transport. Often need to be smuggled into/near blockaded ports

Settlers
A group sometimes wants to move and is willing
This can happen when the Church or Mayor is disliked, when there is a pestilence, or when a town is overcrowded (not enough housing, or city walls not expanded) Either they have a place in mind, or are willing to go to a spot of your choosing. Settlers can be sent anywhere, including Hinterlands, Med, America. You can teleport to the new settlement until it becomes a town (the Mayor election)

Adventurers/Explorers
Looking for new things to see and do. May come to you look for a sponsor.
Explorer can find new resources, places to settle, pirate hideouts, shoals/reefs, etc. Experienced explorers have some tools. If they find something, you get the first rights to it. Maps they make are sketchy and difficult to understand. Sending a spy with them will create a better map. Exploration maps are extremely valuable. Sending an experienced Explorer will increase the chances of finding towns etc in Med/America.
Adventurer will take on difficult tasks, but not illegal. Focus on Hinterland areas, but will travel great distances. Sometimes find things that even spies cannot. Spies refuse to go with them, they are too risky to be with. Information and accounts will vary widely, and maps will be sketchy. They have no money, so they need to be outfitted with supplies, money, and transportation.

Journeymen
Individuals looking to become master, will offer to run a new shop/farm for you. If you agree, they will head to that town and initiate construction. Skills and abilities vary.

Artists
Individuals looking for a commission to make something. Value of finished item varies wildy, but is part of your net value. Art, sculpture etc sometimes inspire scholars and inventors in your house

Scholars
Looking for a scholarship to the university, will return with great knowledge. Scholarship is for 3 years learning, then 6 years as your indentured employee. Depending on what they learned, can work different positions, as an Administrator, Captain, Spy, Courier, Inventor, etc.

Inventors
Various workers are skilled at new discoveries. Those with an open mind, quick learning and a wide range of skills can create new items to help your farms, workshops, ships, and other items

Church
The church had a strong role in the daily life of the Medieval people and their rulers. The church legitimized the rules of the area, and the rulers protected the church. More interfaces added when dealing with a church, and church expansions add more interfaces (Cathedral adds a bishop). Can build one church for each city wall expansion.
Holy people (saints) did walk the earth, and their influence was felt. They increase the reputation of a town, and draw in good, just people and tend to reduce the criminal elements.
Objects considered holy (Relics) where a source of pride, identity and piety. These relics are desired and prized, and can be moved by clergy, but also can be stolen/looted. Relics increase immigration, can be the cause of wars, One relic maximum per Cathedral (level 3 church)
When a city undergoes a pestilence (flood, disease, war) then the holiest person in the town begins to preach repentance. Demand for charcoal & burlap increases. (sackcloth and ashes), demand for luxury goods diminish.
Using the Church calendar, major feasts of the church and feast day of the local Patron Saint increases the town’s consumption of foods. These feast days make it less likely for thieves etc to be discovered due to drinking and revelry, and the influx of strangers from the Hinterlands. Advent and Lent change the diet of the town, with lowered food consumption, and no beer consumption.
A town with no church is considered barbaric/pagan, and cannot have a Monastary, and has a bad trade/goods reputation.

Jugglers/Minstrels/Actor
Can be hired for Parties, diversion during robbery/arson, or as a spy or informer. New characters spawn in Hinterlands or in the Artist Studio

Status/Reputation
Your status and reputation is more important in P-4, as your career path is dictated by that. Status reduces the chance of bankruptcy.

Skills
When beginning, you set your beginning skills 0-5 for each of xxx categories. Maximum of 15 points at beginning
Your skills are important as you grow in reputation. You can be trained in them (spend game time in the U) or they grow as you use them. Your advanced skills affect your employees skills growth
Skills could include:
Currency
Language
Sailing
Sea Fighting
Land Fighting
Technology
Bargaining
Romance
Piracy
Stealing
Lying


Base of Ops
Your starting town/base of ops influences what you do. You may have a base of ops anywhere (including non-Hanse towns, Pirate base, Med, America). You cannot join the Hanse guild unless your base of ops is an a Hanse city

Water Water Everywhere: P3 Touches on Water, but not much
The proper amount of fresh water was critical for the development of a town. The sources of fresh water include springs, stream/rivers, lakes, and wells. Fresh water increases town consumption of clothes as washing and bathing increase.
Canals - To speed transportation and control water, canals can be built to the Hinterland towns. Canals involve digging a ditch and building locks. Canals eliminate seasonal floods and reduce catastrophic floods (canal locks are destroyed, but town is spared) Canals also allow the use of irrigation in farms, and more water power for some workshops. Canals can connect multiple Hinterland towns together as well as connecting to the trade port town. Canal boats are barges with trade and captains and require draft animals. The presence of draft animal farms near a canal increases canal boat speed. Small fish huts can be built on canals. Canals are closed during winter ice until spring thaw.
Floods - When too much fresh water comes, the town experiences a flood. Floods can be caused by excessive rain or melting snow in the spring. Floods can damage workshops and farms, and reduce travel speeds of goods across undeveloped (dirt) roads both in/near the town and to the hinterlands unless a canal (drainage) is built. Catastrophic floods will destroy property, reduce population (death, disease, starvation & evacuation), and increase religious zeal. Underground floods can damage mines, and must be pumped out.
Irrigation - Farms can be irrigated (when near a waterfall, stream, canal or another irrigated farm) to increase crop/animal yields during normal times, and sustain normal yield during droughts. Irrigation hut takes up one square of farm space.
Water Power - Water power can be harnessed at waterfalls (on streams) or adjacent to canal locks. Allows certain workshop to increase output & reduce costs.
Health - proper fresh water reduces disease. Water can be poisoned during a siege, wells can go dry if undermined (dig a well outside a town during a siege and pump out the water). Rain/snow increases health of a town (washes away filth), drought decreases health.
Ice - Frozen water now offers benefits, allows fresh meat/fish/vegtables to have a higher value (less waste) Ice (from fresh water) is a commodity to be sold, and is produced only in the North. Demand is during spring/summer/fall. Output very high in Winter months. Requires hay/straw, iron goods, and timber to produce. Ice storage is a special building, can be part of a farm upgrade or a stand alone town building. Same weight as Ore in shipping, but degrades Ship or cart. Frozen ground makes faster land transport with sleds.



Buildings
Workshops General:
1) Can upgrade production shops
Power
Technology
2) Can create separate production farm/shop
3) Research technologies can be written and transferred/sold

Workshop Types (production limited to one of the following except Drier not limited)
Boiler: Candles, Soap, Salt, Beer, Liquor, Leather
Smelting: Ore into Iron, Ore into Precious Metal, charcoal
Smithing
Black Metal: Blacksmith, Tools
White Metal: Jewelry, Plates
Charcoal
Weaver:
Cloth from wool, flax, hemp
Nets from Hemp
Tailor: makes clothes, sacks from: Cloth, Skin, Furs, Leather
Woodshop: carts, barrels, furniture, wood timbers (for building construction or ships)
Drier: can process any or all of the following: Meat into Tack, Dry Fruit, Salted Fish
Armorer: Swords, muskets, cannons, ammunition (can cast ore into weapons grade)
Fermenter: Wine, Cheese
Kiln: Bricks, Tiles, Pottery, Charcoal, Gunpowder (must dry ingredients)
Stone Mason: process building stones,

Raw Production: similar rules for research/upgrade as for Workshops. Most research is done in Monastaries, other research requires several steps, special missions, hiring artists/inventors
1) Farms General
Farm is one basic building on 4 squares, can be expanded to 10 squares. Once a farm is built, output can be changed from crops to animal to crops with a reduction of output and some additional materials (not a demolition/rebuild)
Farms must be outside the city walls. If city walls are expanded so farm is inside the walls, then the usable farmland is reduced to 1 squares maximum (garden) at the end of that growing season, or in 6 months for animal farms. All existing farm production shops are automatically upgraded to workshops of same production as compensation for lost farmlands.

Farm Types
Grain: makes hay, grain, (needs sacks to sell) Harvest only March, July-Sept. Can add Silo Storage
Hemp/Flax: Raw material Harvest May-Sept, can be made into cloth or rope
Orchard: makes fruit, must be sold, dried, juiced (liquor) or stored in cold ice cellar
Garden: makes veggies, sell or store in cold cellar
Vineyard: makes grapes, must be made into wine. Needs barrels
Cattle/Goat/Milk: makes meat, tack, tallow, fertilizer, milk, cheese. Milk must be sold in same town or processed into cheese
Sheep: makes meat, wool.
Pig/Chicken Makes meat, tack, tallow, and fertilizer,
Horse/Donkey/Mule/Ox: makes draft animals, fertilizer, skins, and glue.

Can add production facilities that relate to raw goods
Research technologies available crops/husbandry
Fertilizer/Irrigation helps farms (fertilizer from animal farms in barrels). Irrigation stabilizes crop yields during droughts

2) Other Harvesting
Other natural resource harvesting can be done. Each type has technology improvements that can be discovered and applied.
Hunting Lodge: harvests Skins, Fur, Meat, Tack. Fur is only harvested in cold weather.
Honey/Wax: makes Honey and Wax. Higher Output during springtime, almost none in winter. 30% extra output when near orchard or garden. Can process Candles. Can be destroyed by bears during drought.
Fish/Oil: makes fish and oil. Drying fresh fish at hut cuts output by 40% Each hut has one small boat. Every 3 Huts (on Salt Water) can add 1 Snaika fishing boat for deep sea fishing. Depending on Fish-hut & Captain’s skill & luck, can catch 10x the small boat catch. Snaika could be lost to the “Big One” during deep sea fishing. Snaika will fish like a rowboat during Harbor Ice Blockade
Timber: makes Lumber boards. Consumes iron goods. Designate harvest area within 6 blocks of sawmill, or within 15 blocks if on a stream/canal. If near stream/canal, can upgrade to waterpower to double production. Can add processing for furniture, barrels, charcoal etc, but that reduces Lumber production. Forest fire (drought/summer) can destroy some/all trees in harvest area
Mine: same building type makes Coal, Salt, Ore, or Sulfur. Must be explored for (surveyed) and then built. Mine cannot be built on un-explored areas. Mines can either be shafts down or tunnels into a mountain. Shafts might flood, pumps reduce that. Might find other materials (gold, gems, or coal, salt, ore, sulfur etc) while mining one item. Mines eventually run out of resources.
Quarry: harvest stone for buildings, roads, canals. Most Quarries on mountainsides.

Now the gypsy rests his tired feet, and the whistle is mellow again

To Whet the Whistle, here is some more of the Intrigue


Player (Trader) separate buildings

House: in the beginning of the game, your office is your house, with very few interfaces. As you advance up in levels, you are allowed to build your own house on the Water (sea, river, or canal) or in the Hinterlands
If you build your house on the water, it can be attacked by ships, but it can have its own dock, so ships can arrive and transfer people, weapons, and artifacts. Attempts to bring other goods is considered smuggling and could be caught if seen during the day. Nighttime smuggling is never caught, but you might lose some/all products due to darkness or even damage the dock or ship (SPLASH !! Oops we must have missed with the block & tackle there)
A house (when upgraded to a castle) in the Hinterlands can add a dungeon

Level 1) Country House starts as a basic 1 story cottage building,
Country House next to water can add a simple dock (level 1)

Level 2) Manor House
Up to 1 workshop inside (no barracks, cannot build a gunpowder workshop internal)
Cellar storage (can be affected by flooding depending on location)
Can upgrade dock to level 2 (only when next to sea, river, or canal) for safer load/unload (less damage during smuggling)
Can add a ship repair yard, Limit 1, If on a canal, then only works for canal boats & Snaikas

Level 3) Castle offers protection, concealment, and a home for mercs.
Up to 4 internal buildings workshops/barracks (max 2 barracks per castle, cannot build a gunpowder workshop internal)
Can add a Dungeon (only in Hinterlands, not next to water (auto flooded)
Flooding creates auto-release of all prisoners. Allows the capture etc. of ne’re-do-wells, competitors, spies, et al.
When placed in the dungeon, you set a ransom amount and a max stay (no more than 2 years)
Max 4 prisoners, must release the 5th person when capturing another.
Can upgrade ship repair yard to build new ships (limit 1)
Can upgrade dock to level 3 (only when next to sea, river, or canal) for faster load/unload, makes it less likely to be caught smuggling during the day
Can upgrade Cellar storage 2nd stage
Can add defenses (tower, moat), troops in barracks will help defend

Interfaces: as the House was a central part of your life, there are more things to see/do.
Front door (good reputation visitors)
Back door (mixed reputation visitors)
Can spy out windows to see if anyone is outside (front or back)
Great Hall (only during parties)
Any internal workshops (watch the building processes, communicate with Master / journeymen)
(any technology research in the Manor or Castle is secret)
Storage Cellar
Dungeon (no torture, just interrogation / bargaining)
Bookroom: this is where you keep the Journal of sketches, as well as various other books.
The bookroom may have a hidden door to a secret chamber



Storage: You can build additional storage for goods, especially for food which will run out if not stored.
Can hire guards at the office (see Office below)
Three kinds of storage, workers fill the correct type to capacity, and will FIFO (first in-first out) when selling:
Dry: Main bulk storage
Underground: for vegtables, makes them last 3 months
Underground on Ice: for fresh meat & fruit, lasts 2 months, vegetables last 6 months



Office: Original Building of house, office, storage.
House portion only has interface for Front door and spy window (to see who is at the front door)
Storage of the building cannot be expanded, but can expand office space for additional employees.
Once a country house is built, the house portion can be changed to: rented space, storage space, or offices depending on needs.
If not changed, it remains as unused house space
Hiring a guard(s) is helpful, as secrets as well as goods can be stolen. (# of guards affects security of all storage)
Can hire office/storage administrators for each building inside the walls, up to 5 admins per town.
More administrators handle more storage etc., reduce theft, and increase the trade skill bonus for your town operations



“Trade Guild” Hall Building: built at the vote/command of the Hanse Council in any sea/river towns (Not Hinterlands)
Can join as in P3, but now has a monthly meeting. Can only attend meeting if in that town, but can send a messenger/proxy for important votes (except for the Hanse alderman vote)
Can propose items to be voted on, as status increases, can propose more things to vote on
Trade guilds monitor the movement of goods, Issue a complaint to recommend embargoes/blockades. They establish/publish the reputations of traders (including all AI traders). Contains a library of known technologies and guild level trade secrets.
The known technologies must be read before they can be used for upgrades.
Notices for convoys, employments, and ‘public’ trade offers are posted there.



Money Changer: There are 5-10 currencies in use throughout the Hanse, and 6 more in the Med/Americas. Game includes 1 public money changer/town.
A player can build one private money change per town, (requires stone to build) and can set a profit level per transaction goal.
(optional game design: include the actual currencies and make P4 very confusing (not just simple gold coins))
Can offer (good or bad) deals on certain currencies (great to stockpile monies esp. for trade to Med/Americas)
Location of the building (near dock or town square) and the skill of the employee influences actual profit. This building has a strong influence on reputation. Ownership of money changer building randomly speeds the increase of trading skills of various other employees who are in or visit that town (captains, admins etc.).



Bank can issue loans, offer/buy multiple stocks, and shares for public joint ventures
Banks are built by (& controlled by) the trade guild after a vote. (1 per guild town)
Bankruptcies are decided by courts (law) but private sale/auctions are done by the bank
All items bought and sold contain risk, and disclose more information to decide upon.

1) Loans

Offer Loan: It takes money to make money. All money you offer is free from your own bankruptcy
a) Individual: risky, may lose all money with only a gain in trade status with the defaulter
can set this to either limited individual loans, or a “loan to all” up to a limit of Gold Coins
b) Seed Fund: Money for the stock seed fund, will return a smaller fixed amount, and will spawn more AI start-ups.
Helpful for game conditions like population goals & number of industries

Take Loan: There is no limit to how much you can borrow, but the interest might kill you. (or bankrupt you)
The banker will loan up to 15% of your net worth at ‘normal’ rates based on risk/reputation

2) Stocks:
All traders (including AI) have at least 10% of their ownership floated on the market at start (basic seed money)
Players have the option of buying that 10% back later, at market price.
Stocks are bought/sold based on a fluctuating market price, price relates to real value, reputation, current news/gossip
If you buy 100% of someone else AI or Multi-player, then you gain control of them.
(Anti-Monopoly option for programmers, cannot buy out all AI in any industry, and AI will spawn to replace the buyout)

3) Shares:
To encourage growth and spread risk among a group, investors might pool money together
Players can buy (fund) part of a new trade venture, even when not a member of a trade guild. May receive random notices of this need
Rewards can include reputation or up to 10x the money put in. Player does not have to micromanage the operation.
Types: Convoys, Pirate Hunters, Invasion Force/Blockade, Settlers, Relief efforts (Troops, Food, Clergy (see pestilences)


A penny for your whistle?

Sometimes the gypsy takes a new turn, and find a rambling path full of happiness, and a few gold coins spring into his pocket

Side Noteto answer a question posed in the Side Room Tavern, I will tell why "P4 Intrigue in the Hanse" cannot be a mere add-on based on the P3 game engine. I do not believe that the following "technology discovery and unlocking" fits well in the current P3 game shell. Read on and keep your whistles handy for a tune)

Role and Method of Technology Upgrades
All technology follows a timeline or Gannt Chart of when it can/may/ be unlocked. (Actual types of technologies are a different topic) P4 has a “hidden” technology matrix, with 2 layers of discovery, and many dead ends (resulting in a slight increase in gamer frustrations). This is unique, and unlike most other games. The gamer might know what technologies could be found, but not the path of unlocking or which ones are really available. The Success in Discovery and Unlocking a technology is influenced by the mood/character/health of the town, your reputation, and Very Importantly …. the availability of plenty of food in the town. (Starving people don’t invent much) The speed and percentages of success for Technology Discovery and Unlocking is also influenced by Skills of the master at the Shop/Farm (not based on number of craft-masters in town), current or recent town pestilences, seasonality of Shop/Farm production, and Hanse level of demand for the goods (supply/demand). The influence could speed it up or slow it down, or cause a hurry-up (failure).

The process of changing the things are done is a slow, laborious search of a better way, going in circles and making the wrong brews. Often this search was fruitless and costly, so the desire to find someone else’s discoveries was strong.
Technology is “available” after either a certain (+/- 50 years of ‘real’ invention) calendar year, or an random amount of time (6 months-6 years) after the uncovering of certain precursor technologies, which ever comes first. (just because human history followed a certain timeline, it does not mean that P4 follows the identical timeline) When the technology is “available”, it still needs to be discovered by trial and error, and often more error (40%-80% of all trial produces either nothing or something that doesn’t work. 10%-20% of trials produce something useful in another industry, but the player must figure this out and cross-pollinate the idea. When implementing (unlocking) a new sketch, it may take more trial/error to find the right Farm or Shop that can use the technology. There is no limit on how many technologies a workshop can have, but each Farm or Shop can use certain ones (game random or developer’s matrix).

1) Searching for a Technology: The successful quest for a technology will result in a sketch (parchment) that needs to be applied to find which workshop it works at. (a wise player makes a copy and keeps the original parchment in a safe place)
The trail/error technology search can happen in several ways

a) Dedicate a workshop to research for up to one year. The workshop’s output is reduced by 50%, costs are same, demand for additional materials (raw/finished) not normally used may occur at that workshop (including beer, wine, liquor), and creates a chance of discovering something (good or bad).
This action draws spies from competitors, and is best done inside a Manor House or Castle

b) Hire an artist or inventor to work at the shop. After 3 months, they may have a sketch useful in that workshop, or in another workshop. Decide whether to build their sketch, (costs vary) and if built it either helps or hurts the workshop. The new machine can be transported to other workshops to see if it works there. You can add a label to any sketch for easy identification in a journal.
Game designer nb: Although the sketch may look identical to a sketch in another game, it could be good for a variety of industries, or bad, so it is an unknown. If bad, could leak/sell/bribe it to competitors.

c) Acquire, Buy, Steal other sketches. Buyer beware, might be useless. (see above)
Can do this in Hanse or Med for any technology, in the Americas, could get some food related technologies or new crops.

2) Unlocking (applying) a technology:
Now that the parchment is found, a second discovery process is needed to find what Farm or Shop it is good for.
Process of unlocking:
a) Send the parchment (or copy) to that workshop This is next day in the town you are in, or the courier time to other cities.
b) Get an estimate of materials needed (time, money, materials) This takes about a week, plus message delivery time
c) Give the go ahead, money, materials
Results of unlocking attempt

1) Successful: will get a notice and writing on the original parchment via messenger
The parchment makes it cheaper/easier/quicker to apply this to all identical Farm or Shops (make sure to make copies)
Note that once unlocked, the technology is given a name and might be easier to apply to other related industries

2) If unsuccessful, you also receive a notice and the original parchment with notes of what this was tried on (unless destroyed). You have the option to remove the unsuccessful upgrade (unless the Farm or Shop destructs) or leave it there if selling it to competitors.
This is what could happen at the Farm or Shop if unsuccessful
a) Unaffected (but still there)
b) Reduces production or increases costs
c) Produces low quality goods
d) Damage or Self destructs by fire, collapse, or explosion, and you lose all workers there (more common in “heavy” industry and gunpowder)

Note: The game randomly picks technologies that cannot be unlocked. Initial game startup (Global settings) of easy to hard will decrease/increase the amount of un-lockable techs (cannot be set to zero)

Technology Category by availability
Public: found in all guild libraries, monastaries, and other information collections
Localized to a Town: Found in the certain town collections (libraries)
Private: Only 1 Player or AI Player has it, and it is secret

Spreading of Unlocked Technology can occur several ways:
1) Theft of notes, letters, books
2) Spying on operations that use the technology (informers might know it is there, but not what it precisely is) A spy will try to figure it out and take notes for you.
3) Technology is bought, bartered, or bribed.
4) Bankrupt/abandoned farms, harvest, workshops etc are bought with the technology improvement (note: technology improvements can be removed at some costs as long as you )

An unlocked technology will become “public” when any of these occur (although “public”, others must still find the public writings and use them)
1) The technology is used in more than 5 towns (to encourage concentration of specialties)
2) Sold to or Seized by the Hanse. If need money, easy bribery, or are punished for trade crimes. A town might seize a technology in a bankruptcy but the town will keep it private via auction sale. A bribed town official might inform you of the technology (although the resulting higher auction price for the Farm/Workshop would go to the Bank.
3) Crime involving a theft is punished by a Town may result in publicizing the technology. Bribery could either get a copy (of competitor’s secrets) or prevent publicizing of your secrets. Chance of publicizing is influenced by town: morality, specialties, trail outcome, as well as your reputation.
4) More than 50 years after initial unlocking . By this time it has passed 2 generations, and starts to become common knowledge
5) 3 Years after being unlocked in a setting that cannot be kept secret (Monastary/Convent) The 3 years is a “proof of concept stage”.

The Gypsy now must rest his weary whistle

The following is an edit/add for the Merchant Trade Guild Hall

Votes on: Guild Hall Grandmaster, Endorsements/Vote for Mayor, Opposition to Embargoes, Buying Unlocked Merchant Guild technology (only for that town), Guild Parties, Training Budget (for new captains,admins), Guild Dues for general (party/maintenance) fund.
The guild can sponsor training/university from the training budget, or the player can sponsor current employees or new students
Can post (in person or via Courier) vacancy employment notices from other towns (we need more Caps/Admins/Harbor-Master) which brings in Administrators and Captains. Can include expected hire date (based on construction deadlines)

Merchant Trade Guild Trainings
Part of the role of the merchant guild is to train 3 merchant employees: Captains, Administrators, Port Masters.
After training, they work for their sponsor or will actively seek employment. If no jobs are posted in the Trade guild hall, then they will travel to find work. They may appear at your door looking for a job. Skill levels greatly vary among workers. All employees have a life span, so they need to be replaced when they die, retire, or vacate. P4 gives these workers more autonomy (less micromanaging) so you need to keep an eye on how well they do, as well as skill levels. They can be fired and replaced.

Captains
Captain will only stay unemployed for 3 months, then may become a Pirate, Administrator, AI Competitor, Explorer, Ship Builder, Port Master, or Adventurer.
Captains can be sent on special sailing missions, fixed routes (follow this pattern but Capt decides what to trade), fixed trade routes (follow this pattern and only trade these items at these prices as in P3), public convoys (link with this convoy for protection and Capt decides what to trade), or free range (any direction or whim of Captain). Captains will bring in ships in for repairs as needed (if enough money ), and will look for bargains, travelers., and information for you They can dispatch a courier to you with information.

Administrator
If a new administrator cannot find a job in 6 months, they will find a hometown and become an AI competitor. Administrators who become settlers (via pestilence) will become AI competitors
Administrators manage sales to/from the town, will forecast storage and may recommend changes. Administrators can send messages via courier or captains if they need certain items. (e.g. next time you come here Herr Captain, bring us more Beer) Administrators manage material flow for construction or repairs, pay your taxes and hauling fees, and speed the employment process for workshops/farms that need workers.
Player may set goals for the administrator, like: Keep the town fed, Look for deals, Keep workshops stocked, Buy out all raw goods (so AI has none) etc.

Port Master: Manage the Ports & Shipyard, normally hired by a town (Mayor)
Each town can have several
1 per Public dock, then 1 per dock extension (can hire a port master for private dock, but “forgets” to collect taxes at night)
1 per shipyard (can hire for personal shipyard at Manor House / Castle
Manages loading/unloading (including getting dock workers), public passengers, couriers, port dredging, canals and locks, port taxes, shipyards, or storage of town’s goods, and sounds alarms about sea attacks.
Has knowledge of competitors fleets, usually the first to find information out about pirate attacks (can be bribed to “forget”), finds deals when a ship/convoy wants to dump materials. Some can be bribed to allow smuggling. Mayor can tell him to watch for certain competitors.

Shall I trade my whistle for another?

As we journey through this new game, we wonder how do people just "get-a-long"


Public Buildings for Training/Learning/Morale/Morals

“Craftsmen Guild” Hall (not the Merchant Trade Guild)
Each town has one “Craftsmen Guild” Hall that covers the needs of all types of workshops. The Craftsmen Guild Hall lists the quality status (town average) and might mention some current rumors/gossip on whether the quality is rising or falling. Can build & Donate a 2nd Guild hall, this creates a 2nd Primary town industry (industry designations controlled by Mayor). Can donate money or food to the guilds
There are a few guilds: (Game Developers might want to change this, expecting a fight on this, not very Histerically Accurate, relates to the @ 10 workshop types in previous section.)
1) Boiler: Candles, Soap, Salt, Beer, Liquor, Leather
2) Smelting: Ore into Iron, Ore into Precious Metal, charcoal
3) Smithing: Black Metal: Blacksmith, Tools; White Metal: Jewelry, Plates; Charcoal
4) Weaver/Tailor: Cloth from wool, flax, hemp, Nets from Hemp: makes clothes, sacks from: Cloth, Skin, Furs, Leather
5) Woodshop: carts, barrels, furniture, wood timbers (for building construction or ships)
6) Drier: can process any or all of the following: Meat into Tack, Dry Fruit, Salted Fish
7) Armorer: Swords, muskets, cannons, ammunition (can cast ore into weapons grade)
Fermenter: Wine, Cheese
9) Kiln: Bricks, Tiles, Pottery, Charcoal, Gunpowder (must dry ingredients)
10) Stone Mason: process building stones,

The player can visit the guild hall, attend guild meetings (? monthly quarterly, or annual?) of any industry he owns at least one workshop (partial ownership through Bank does not gain entry) and can vote (1 vote per workshop including ones on farms/harvest properties)
Guild Votes include: Guild Hall Grandmaster, Endorsements/Vote for Mayor, Recommend Embargoes, Buying Unlocked Guild technology (only for that town), Guild Parties, Promotions to Master Craftsmen, Training Budget (for new apprentices/journeymen workers), Guild Dues for general (party/maintenance) fund.
The guild can sponsor training/university from the training budget
Can post (in person or via Courier) vacancy employment notices from other towns (we need more journeymen) which tends to create a journeymen emigration.
Workers for your workshops (and farms) cannot be fired. If they reach retirement age, then they are replaced (usually with less experienced workers. The number and balance of worker skills in a workshop effects output and quality).

The following are the levels of workers in the shops

Apprentices
The Guild recruits new apprentices from existing town populations (including immigrants and beggars) and funds their training based on budgeted monies. Usually takes 3-7 years to become a journeyman.
Can get easy entry for your children into a Craft guild if you desire

Journeymen
Depending on funding of training, number of workshops, and characteristics of a Master, the Guild generates journeymen. These journeymen will leave after 2 years to try and become masters. 50% chance they might return in the next 2 years to try and get voted into Master status

Master Craftsmen
To become a Master Craftsmen, the journeyman must work under at least 2 Master craftsmen in different towns to gain skills. Once they are voted to become a Master, they do not leave unless forced to become settlers due to Pestilence. Maximum 1 Master per workshop. More masters in a town raises the quality and has a slight decrease in cost of production for all town workshops in that trade.

Guild Hall Grandmaster
One master craftsman per Guild Hall (usually from the town’s primary industry) can be elected for a 3 year term as Guild Hall Grandmaster. This is a ceremonial role, and is another cause for a Guild Party. If the Grandmaster is one of your master craftsmen, then he becomes an informer who tries to find out about presence of technologies of competitors in that town. He mainly does this by comparing outputs in the various workshops.


Monastary/Convent
Contact with the Clergy may result in being able to help start a Monastery or Convent. If you choose to help in this process, you can donate money or supplies to this cause. The initial conversation would include the name of the Order looking at locating in that town’s Hinterlands.

Each order has a different focus, and most could produce a unique alcohol product (wine, liquor, or beer)
Benedictines, Research Learning and hard work
Carthusians Strict, Prayer (no alcohol)
Cistercians: Crop Agriculture (will expand into nearby land quickly)
Augustinians: Help the poor
Franciscans: Animals, help poor (only after exploring Italy, start 1315)
Dominicans: University Learning, heresy (only after exploring France, start 1325)
Other orders could appear based on date founded and location explored

The monastery would be built beyond 3rd wall perimeter into the Hinterlands. (note that the mayor controls the exact wall layout, but several tiles beyond that wall is the closest it can be built. Can donate money or supplies.
Built in 3 stages, but requires a monk/nun population increase to initiate next stage
1 Simple Cottage
2 Cloister (sleeping quarters with an open center) and Storage Building
3 Abbey (main Church) Includes walls to enclose more land, and cellar storage
(building consumption based on revenue/donation)
Upgrades include:
Can add 2 farm/harvest with internal (food) workshops.
Cartography/Surveyor
Book/map copy, library of public unlocked food technologies

General Effects of a Monastery (each order also has peculiar effects)
Increases traffic with Hinterland, and reduces University (bachelor) training by 1 year.
A monastery can negotiate a peaceful end to a war
Increases number of poor imigrating from Hinterlands (mostly new farm/harvest workers)
Increases the effects of religion in the Hinterlands
After adding a farm, the monastery will sell food to the town, reducing demand, but reducing chance/effect of a food based pestilence. If there is a pestilence, the non-corrupt Monks will work in all farms (for free) to ensure an adequate food for the people.
Decreases the chance of wars started by religion (unless become corrupt)

Research opportunities (discovery & unlocking) if have a farm/harvest
Public technology upgrades related to Food, Beer, Wine, Liquor can occur there
Could discover/add a printing press if the monastery produces wine (via press)

Every 10 years, there is a random chance that a monastery could become corrupt (become a competitor, cause a pestilence etc.). Requires either a major pestilence or a visit from a saint (very holy person) to sanctify/reform the monastery

Can make deals (barter) with the Abbot or Prioress, their reputation effects the deals



University: For background as to why the University is structured this way, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_university
Univesities require a town wall expansion #2 to begin college construction . Building them requires stone as well as the normal stuff. Universites create more poor renters.

Universities are either run by Church or Town
Church University will create more moral leaders and artists, but also create nefarious characters/crime, as cleric students are exempt from town punishments (church court must try them). Church university requires a monastery in the Hinterlands (teachers). Church universities reduce the corruption of the town churches.

Town Universities create fewer “morals” graduates, but the graduates are more interested in crafts and trade. Town universities do not spawn criminals (students), but rather becomes a draw for intellectuals and artisans (easier for technology discovery) that increase the number of wealthy citizens (renters)

Universities can be upgraded
1) College creates basic skill graduates in 5 years
2) Library (increases skills, causes some students to finish quicker)
3) University (adds a Masters degree) which allows some the university to have higher skilled graduates

2 levels of graduates
Bach of Liberal Arts learns: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric
These are helpful for employees (captains, admins, port masters) and artisans

Masters focuses on Law, Language, Math, Medicine, or Theology

The University has a specialty (mayor or church controls): Art, Language, Math, Law, Medicine, Theology

Can donate to the University to get more teacher, upgrade, or draw more students
Can sponsor individual students, (annual, can be renewed) they develop a ‘bond’ to you, and they either work for you, or they help you in indirect ways depending on their future job (eg clerics will pray, and admin might send you helpful notes/tips, even an AI might be more lenient about bribes or deals)

Effects
Graduates of the University are more likely to help create technology upgrades when they get a job.
The University increases the spawn rate (via Merchant Guild) of Captains/Admin/Harbor Master etc in that town.
Affects language skills and reduces ignorance level of the town (less errors in dealing with foreigners, more apt to invent)



Church (this is in addition to prior post about cathedrals)
The church is an integral party of the fabric of life in the 1300’s, not merely a circus side-show. The role of the church did diminish, it became fragmented in the 1500s with Protestantism, and then secular politics began to erode the influence.

A town can have 1 Church per Wall expansion, but only 1 Cathedral
Each Curch building gets a vote in the town meeting, and primarily votes based on the morality of the people & clergy
The church receives a portion of the towns taxes, exact amount is voted on in town meeting. The town can also vote to donate for Church building projects (1 vote/year)

Church can be expanded, and either take additional building space, or might be relocated
1) Chapel 1 building space 1 clergy
2) Rectory 1 building space 3 clergy
3) Church is built using the Chapel & rectory spaces if a 3rd space is available. 3 Building spaces, creates a bishop and a chance of spawning a saint
4) Cathedral 6 building spaces, can build if the town gets a relic and starts a 2nd wall, must be built on a new site, limit 1 per town. Construction consumes 500 units of stone, as well as wood and metal and takes a small army of artisans. Take 10 years to build (building will stop if no materials/labor available) and when complete the town has a big celebration (dedication) and gets a cardinal. Once complete, the old Church will remain as a 2nd Church. A cathedral increases the chance of spawning a saint

Effects
Affects religious influence in the town, increases during and 6 months after a pestilence, but religious influence diminishes as workshop technologies are discovered and unlocked (farm technologies have no effect)
A Church can mandate or bless a war, and can negotiate the release of prisoners. The churches blessing on a war/attack is critical to reducing the chance of prosecution for piracy. Might be bribed on these.
A church (especially with relic) encourages poor people to immigrate to a town and become workshop workers
A church increases the town’s consumption of luxury goods: linens, candles, wine, and art
Increases troop morale during war, and town morale during a pestilence.
Reduces superstition, but holds ignorance levels of the town
Helps in controlling heresy/sin, (monastery reduces heresy)


After reading all that, you deserve a Gypsy Concoction and a light airy tune

It was a time of fear and suspicion, and nothing was worse than a punishment from God, that came upon the land in the form of a pestilence

Pestilences:
During history many pestilences came, most of them the modern world has now conquered (and created others). In the medieval times they were a scourge, and caused many problems. In spite of the problems, though, a better world emerged

Each pestilence is of varying severity and duration. A pestilence may cause another pestilence. Pestilences are mitigated by good Churches, Canals, Adequate storage, etc. Pestilences can cause great trade/business opportunities as goods are needed, and workshops are cheaper to buy. The onset of a pestilence forces the lifting of an embargo, and prevents imposing one (Christian Mercy).


1) Famine (lack of food)
Famines follow the following spiral declining pattern until either relief or food balance:
Sustinence (no luxury foods), Luxury goods production slows, wealthy become unhappy/leave
Hunger (food is slightly below consumption) Random workshops at below 100% workforce
Starvation (food is 25% below consumption) All non food production at 50% workforce.
Emaciation (food is 50% below consumption) All non food production stops. Leads to animal and human disease.
During a famine, the population tends to die off or become settlers (leave) Properties (houses, farms, workshops etc) are sold cheaply. The famine can be caused by or lead to diseases.

2) Diseases:
a) Plant Disease: can kill off crops for several years. Can be remedied at a monastery

b) Animal Swarms (locust etc) destroy current crop. Fire destroys swarms, but might destroy buildings

c) Animal Disease rabies, mad cow etc.
Destroys part or all of affected animal population, and tarnishes reputation of meat products in that town

d) Human Disease: includes plague, flu, dysentery.
Human diseases can attack all population or just an age group. Can be spread via travelers
Proper food supply, liquor (antiseptic), hospitals, drainage, canals, fresh water all reduce effects and duration
During an outbreak, monasteries allow farms (not harvest shops) to maintain full production at reduced costs.
In the game, it takes a while to figure out which disease you are really fighting.

Plague
If not changed by the player, (sanitation et al) the Plague ravages through the entire Hanse 1347-1351 and wipes out 30-50% of the population (based on Histerical Accuracy) and then returns for a 2nd wave in 1361

The plague is a dangerous issue (could lose ½ of population) that requires a radical solution:
For the people, 75% of the food source was grain (Cooked Grain became Bread and Porridge & Liquid Grain: Beer).
Rats were the carriers of the disease, and rats tended to eat Grain.
So to defend against the plague the player needs to find ways to protect the town against rats.
1) Eradicate Rats (Pied Piper, Traps, Fire, Guards, Mercs, add rat predators)
2) Empty, Destroy and Rebuild all grain storage
3) Rebuild houses (the Daub/Wattle method & Thatched Roofs could be nesting places for the pests)
Burn the houses, upgrade, or destroy them
4) Any town that has the plague, or had it in the last 6 months should not export any food products.
Chance of spreading to every town that ship goes to for next 6 months (burning the ship is the only way to eliminate that). Horse-drawn carts are exempt (see side-note below)
Exports of Food 80%
Exports of Cloth, Wool, Skins, and other clothing products 20%
Any other export 5% because the ship was at port (public or private)
Docking at the public port 2% per day (imports, travelers, etc)
Docking at private port dock (manor/castle) 0% due to lack of frequency and not in the town there are fewer rats.
Ship repairs 10%

A side note, modern science has figured out that horsemen rarely got the plague. (The fleas and horses did not get along at all) So the use of horses reduces the plagues effects in a town, and makes horse-drawn carts exempt from carrying the plague.

The plague can be used as a weapon, but be very careful dealing with that (if caught/convicted, you will lose the game)


3) Heresy/Sin: During the middle ages, a falling away from God/Church was thought to be a grave evil. When a population breaks from the Church, or is overrun with crime & corruption, then the social fabric is ripped apart. This self destruction stops most production and leads to various problems. The town might not be able to fix itself. The effects of this are diminished into the Hinterlands, so production outside the city walls is less affected. If this pestilence is left unchecked, this could spread to other towns.
Can be fixed by:
a) building/funding a church or providing a relic
b) importing clergy in as a mission or a share (see bank)
c) Attacking the town, thereby creating a pestilence (remember to pillage and then burn)
d) Computer generated other pestilence (brings repentance)

4) Flood
Too much water all at once is a bad thing
Caused by
1) Heavy or continious Rains. Water will create lakes and ponds, then flow
2) Springtime snow melting, worse in Hinterlands near mountains
Damages are focused on the path the water takes to get to a canal, lake, river, or sea. Anything built near those is most likely to be destroyed. Canal locks are easily damaged and often destroyed
Can damage or destroy any building except Cathedrals. Rarely can breach a town wall or tower, but a town gate has the strength of a canal lock for a flood.
There is no defense when the flood occurs
Street paving and Canals reduce the overall impact of the flood.
Unpaved streets cause a 10-50% slow down (in flood) for cart and worker travel
Bridges become critical during a flood, but can be destroyed in a major flood
A flooded area cannot have a drought for 6 months
A very heavy rain immediately after a drought will result in flooding, as the hard ground cannot soak the water

5) Drought (heat/lack of rain) Caused by “Hansel Warming”, opposite of “Gretal Cooling”
Can be different levels
Creates an opportunity to import/sell water in barrels
Mitigated by canals & irrigation
Might be able to connect a canal to a Lake/Spring in the Hinterlands to “eliminate” the drought

6) Cold Caused by “Gretal Cooling” (opposite of Hansel Warming)
When the climate shifted, the lands became cold
1) Port Freeze
2) Heavy snows

Effects include
a) Slow re-growths in forest
b) Forces late crop planting, and that may reduce the fall harvests
c) Increased timber (firewood) demand
d) Industries that burn/heat will have the most employment and higher production levels (ones that don’t will suffer in labor and production)
e) Reduced productions in Farms/Harvest (except Skins and Ice which have 10-50% increase in outputs)

Snow can cause floods when melting


7) Rumors: too many rumors can make a town’s production undesired and low price.
Advantage: buy up low priced goods and hold until the rumors pass
Trader can break the rumor cycle by:
1) Spreading good product rumors about that town
2) Spreading bad product rumors about other towns
3) Waiting for rumors to die down
4) Hire a master in that trade to change quality
5) File a grievance with the Hanse to review product quality


Wild Animals
Some Farms/Harvest can be attacked by hungry animals,
Animal farms attract wolves
Crops attract deer
Fishing boats can be attacked by whale/shark
Fisheries or Honey attract bears
Food drying workshops can be attacked by wolfs, dogs, or bears

A town might be ravaged by packs of wild dogs
The pestilence can be mitigated by a Merc mission or Hunting Lodges, that bring animal populations into control.
Mercs will destroy the animals with no benefit, the Hunting Lodges will have a bonus production for 6 months.

9) War/Siege
Siege of a town or war near a town will deplete the food supplies of the Hinterland farms/harvest/storage facilities
A war can happen that devastates a region of the Hanse for up to 10 years. Creates sales opportunities there, but destroys a lot of the town, foods and other buildings.
You can wage war using your ships and Mercs, but the blessing of the Church or a Mission from the Hanse is critical.
A city can be poisoned water supply or plague

Wars and sieges are dominant items in many games, so I will omit major details with those


The whistle is no match for a pestilence, but a pestilence of Gypsies is the most feared

As the villages become towns, the span of the government grows. Here are a few of the town government buildings that the Gypsy has last spied upon in the town of Patrician IV:


Public Buildings: Government/Control


Town Square (for importance: http://www.livablecities.org/Book_GeniusOfSquare_Excerpt.htm)
The town square is the center of main events, an open air location surrounded by buildings (either town building or wealthy housing).
The town square is the place for gossip and rumors, as well as unofficial talk from the town mayor and other town officials. Some people in the square are willing to make some merchant deals. Most likely to get caught if doing something criminal in the square with the constable present

Each town starts with one square, and will build one per wall extension in the new area. Each Square has a name. Three town squares upgrade the town’s status to city.
The name, size, and shape of the square is dictated by the Mayor who builds each, except if the town is started by settlers, then the first square must be similar to the old hometown’s square.
Each shape creates a different town culture.
Square, Rectangular, Round, Oval, Fan, Funnel, Elliptical, Trapezoidal, or Triangular.

Once built, a church, town hall, justice court, and guild halls can be built along the sides. Any remaining spaces can only be filled by roads or housing for the rich.

The town square is the location of public events: market day, festivals, feasts, fairs, and where justice is served

Market Day:
Each town has a market day (not on Sunday or Church Holydays) that is set by the Mayor.
Town consumption of fresh food is on 1 day/week (market day). Preserved food has daily consumption

Annual Fair: draws in a lot of goods, townspeople buy more





Town Hall
The Town Hall is the center of the Town’s government, and the political control is divided into Council and Mayor


Town Council
Comprised of 4 groups, each member with a vote (Mayor is tiebreaker)
1) Town Councilors/Patrician(s)
2) Mayor
3) Church (ea bldg)
4) Guild (ea hall)
Player may poll the council to see how they might vote on an important issue (but not all tell the truth)

Council controls by Votes on: (mayor is tiebreaker)
Walls/Defense
Troops/Mercs
New/improve Public Build (Public Canal, Large Bridges)
Money to church
Publicly funded festivals, fairs, and celebrations (vote for date and budget) (not the Market Day)
Appeals for Construction Queue justice (mayor cannot vote)
Declare war, but must have at least one affirmative vote from the Church (Town defense does not require any vote)
Alliances with a nearby town (Hanse or Hinterlands, can be relating to protection or Trade)

The Mayor
Elections are annual or if he resigns/moves. His office is in the Town hall, which is another option to visit

The Mayor controls the following w/o the Council
Constables: number, and focus. Each constable costs the treasury, too many will be expensive and hurt morale. Maximum of three constables per town hall. Constables reduce crime and fire. Constables can sometimes be seen chasing criminals in the streets. The constable rings the Church bell if the town is attacked or on fire. Once rung, the townspeople will welcome Mercs who help to defend or extinguish fires.
Scoopers: the removal of trash and dung is important in a dense city, and effects the health of the population.
The Construction Office: Maintenance / Construction queue, amount of workers, limited research
Port Master (see previous for training, see Port/Shipyard for other issues)
Mayor dispenses Justice until Justice Court built (does not control all aspects)
Dictates the Town’s focus and primary industry(s) (creates bonus for those)
Cart Monger: Transport Rates, Scheduled Carts into the Hinterlands (see Cart Monger following)



Cart Monger
Transportation was a key element in Medieval times see: http://www.history.ac.uk/eseminars/sem24.html
All workshops and farms move their own goods, but with a reduced production. Although it might not be the most histerically accurate, the town may build a Cart Monger to handle transportation in/near the town.
The Cart Monger
1) Generates town tax revenue (profits after costs go to town coffers)
2) Increases production for all workshops/farms/harvest when fully staffed. Amount of increase is proportionate to the amount of transportation labor saved when that labor could have been used. EG Honey and Beer have more ‘downtime’ that could be used for their own hauling and thus have a lower production increase compared with an iron goods workshop.
3) Becomes a waypoint for carts/sleds into the Hinterlands. The Mayor controls the regularly scheduled cart traffic, players can request special trips or a auto-trade route using carts and their own administrator (acts like a land-lubber captain).
4) Dispenses firewood needed by the village when needed and available. Will automatically buy when available.
5) Affects the demand for draft animals from farm
6) Will staff up/down based on demand for transportation and resources available (Workers, Carts, and Animals). Current staffing and skills are posted in the building.


Port/Harbor Office
The Port office is located adjacent to the town’s public dock, and is built with a dock.
The control of goods through a port is the role of the Port Master, who works here and is hired by the Mayor.
(See previous post on Port Master)

Port Office interface
Staffing and Skills
Lodge complaints
The office collects Port Taxes (docking fees et al)
Other Towns can send/post notices of their needs / abundance at this office


Docks
Moving freight and passengers was the key role of the Merchants. For these trading towns, the dock was the critical port for this exchange.
New in P-4, Each ship takes time to load and unload based on size and location of the goods. Lighter goods are on top, then heavy goods are on the bottom. Ships take from ½ day to 4 days to load and unload depending on ship size, freight to move, available ballast, and number of dock workers. The experience of the port master and the ship’s captain affects damage to goods, as well as proper loading of the ship (heavy at the bottom, securing cargo, et al). An improperly loaded ship could have trouble sailing and will have a more difficult passage in storms or pirate attack. Could try to bribe Port master to improperly load a ship.
Any ship waiting for a dock space waits in the harbor, (passengers will dis-embark via rowboat) the merchant can try to bribe the Port Master or Mayor to be unloaded first. Player has the option of unloading merchandise by rowboat (except timber), a more expensive way, but may move critical items quickly (best for high value & light weight items).
Excessive dock waiting times make for a mayor who will have trouble getting re-elected.
The Ship’s captain may decide to stay in port but must leave the berth (dock) upon completion of loading/unloading.
Note that Warehouses built next to the dock allow faster load/unload of ships

Improved by:
1) Dock Extensions: A dock can have 2 extensions, each extensions adds 2 ship berths. Takes 3 months each to complete.
2) Harbor/Dock Dredging. Silt buildup impedes the flow of ships, and silt is stirred up during docking. Dredging makes harbors easier for ships and increases town reputation for trading. Dredging a harbor is an expensive 6 month to 2 year project, requires either a Canal Barge or a Snaika (must rent or borrow), and reduces the use of the port 30% during the project. The success of the dredging depends on skills, labor, and weather.
3) Dock Cranes: Reduces damage / loss of goods from ship, and decreases the port tax. Faster loading/unloading increases the amount of ships a dock can handle (a busy dock will make more tax/week, just less per each ship). Dock cranes have a significantly fewer incidences of damage, but those accidents are more costly. Dock cranes can be upgraded with fixed cart tracks (rails) that speed the flow from crane - dock - town
4) Passenger Office: Increases the flow of ships willing to take passengers. May become part of a passenger (only) trade route. A public passenger (scheduled) trade route reduces dock capacity as that space is dedicated to that service.
5) A more skilled port master. The skills of the port master are improved through experience or education, and the town benefits with more Port Master employees (each dock or shipyard has one).

Inland waterways
Rivers, Lakes are navigable by a Snaika, and sometimes by a Crayer. A shipyard built on a Lake can build both, but the ships cannot leave the lake unless a navigation method is found or made. A river or lake may have a tow path added to allow the use of the Canal Barge. (a tow path costs little). Any inland waterway system with docks can be used to transport materials and passengers via boats.

Canal is a manmade inland waterway that controls the natural downward flow of water. Canals must be connected to a Hinterland water source. If the water source is near the end destination, then the canal has 2 docks. If not, the canal boats will transfer to lake or river to get to end destination.

Canal building is a long process, the building time is at least 1 year, with a consumption of timber, stone and iron goods based on number of length, locks, bridges, and docks. If Rock is encountered during construction, may require gunpowder to blast through.
Canals require the use of draft animals, and having at least 1 farm at each end helps speed of transits.
Canals improve drainage, reduce the impact of floods, mitigate droughts, and allow irrigation at farms. Canals can be damaged or destroyed by floods and war.
Canal Barge carries as much as an Ocean Cog, but cannot be sailed between ports via the sea. Snaikas can also navigate a canal at an increased speed, but carry less than a canal barge.

Canals can be public or private.
Public Canal collects taxes and offers a scheduled trade route. Players can add routes to the canal. Public canals have few docks, at the starting town and at towns in the Hinterlands
Private Canals
Player can build thier own canal that connects with rivers. lakes, or a public canal.
Players can restrict who can use the private canal, and charge a toll (per boat) or tax (per item) for use. Need to hire a Port master to operate the canal. Private canals are expensive to build and maintain, but reduce the costs of hauling materials from Hinterlands. Private canals allow the building of multiple docks (for nearby farms/harvest/shops). Private canals can be used to move timbers, public cannot be used for that. After 10 years of use, the builder has the option of selling the canal to the main town.




Shipyard (see: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba61/feat2.shtml)
As part of a Port Master’s jobs, the shipyard creates new or repairs the merchant vessels. Each shipyard has its own port master, and the yard develops a reputation for quality and a focus on certain ship traits. This is also influenced by the local timber supply.
The Mayor can allow a public shipyard can make a few boats for sale, or stay with the default of only building on contract. The mayor also can allow the shipyard to buy and sell ship weapons (with no criminal penalty)
The shipyards focus on ship characteristics is based on the skills of the Master and the type of ships that the yard repairs / builds

Shipyard Upgrades
1 2nd and 3rd berth (separate upgrades, same function) requires empty land next to the shipyard
2 Drydock, Allows for faster hull building and hull repairs. Can be damaged by ice or flooding
3 Technology: Carvel planking: uses a 10% less timber and 30% less iron goods but requires 35% more pitch in building and maintenance

Ships can be ship-broken at the shipyard, torn up to re-use wood and metal nails. Ship-breaking improves the building of new ships, as the builder see what works best in the life of the ships. Older ships can be sold to the shipyard for this recycling.

Ship Repairs and maintenance
All things require some maintenance. The captain of the ship, cargo hauled, and the environment all influence how fast the ship deteriorates. The ship’s captain may require the crew to do more or less maintenance depending on skills and amount of crew members.
Overhauls and Hull repairs
Requires the complete unloading of all cargo in the ship (except ship weapons) and is best done in a dry-dock.
An overhaul or hull repair will allow the ship to sail faster (barnacle removal) and have fewer rats (reduces food loss during transits).
Repairs done during an ice blockade (not in a dry-dock) may result in Hull Damage
Ships in harbor being repaired can be unloaded via rowboat, at a slow pace and higher cost and risk than using the docks

Shipyards also make Barrels/Boxes for cargo transportation (not as efficiently as a carpentry workshop, but a good time filler for employment when not repairing or building)


Ships
Ships were the primary carriers of bulk materials in the Hanse, and were built using the lap plank method
Normal lifespan of ships is 5-80 years depending on use and maintenance. It is not recommended to keep a ship beyond 70 years

Types of Ships available:

Fishing Dorry:
No hold, 1 small sail. Primarily used by Fish Harvest for coastal/tidal fishing, carries 1 unit of fresh fish then must unload. (cannot haul dried fish) Travels only near/along the coast, can be used to smuggle a person, relic, or other small item to an adjacent town along the same shore (will not cross the sea).

Canal Barge
2 holds in a long ship, no sails. Primarily used in canals, can be brought to a harbor for dredging operations. Moves slowly, must be tugged by draft animals

Snaika 1 hold with 1 medium sail. Primarily used for fast sea transit of passengers and light goods. Can be used to dredge, travel canals, and sea fishing (holds 5 units of fresh fish, limited to coastal fishing during ice blockade).

Crayer 2 holds with 2 medium sails. Primarily used for fast sea attack and convoy escort

Cog 3 holds

Holk: 4 holds

Upgrades
Depending on the age of the ship, some upgrades may be available that do not diminish cargo capacity
1 thicker hulls
2 stronger masts
3 Better woods that require less maintenance
4 Stronger rudder. Lower maintenance and better battle or storm sailing

Technology that may become available (see discovery and unlocking) includes
Sextant: includes issue of calibration
Compass: some compasses could be bogus or lose magnetism
Clock: can measure travel speeds and may increase the efficiency of the crew
Maps (celestial, shorelines and reefs, known towns with production notes and needs (Rooter), Unknown towns & hideouts)
Cotton sails: allows for faster sailing than with conventional burlap cloth/hemp sails

Ship Space conversion
Ships have a standard amount of space, how well it is used can be changed. (Ship overhauls could increase the space available) These conversions are done at either a dock or shipyard, although the shipyard performs the work faster.
1) Open: General cargo storage. This is the configuration of the standard ship
2) Customized Cargo: The ship can be modified to hold a particular type of goods more efficiently. This allows 10% to 50%more of the good to be stowed, as well as it creates an easier (faster/efficient) load and unload at a dock. Once customized, the ship’s capacity to haul other goods is cut 35%
3) Crew: can take some storage space to increase the crew for better sailing and fighting, and keep better ship maintenance
4) Weapons: can take some of the lower hold areas to hold gunpowder and mount cannons, or modify the top deck to take catapults. Not all levels of a hold can take weapons, lower holds are used for cannons, middle for Bombards, decks for catapults
5) Military/Passenger: Space can be converted to berths. Up to 75% space can be converted to berths.

Ship Pestilences
Because they follow a path through the water, a ship can suffer under various pestilences different from the towns, and if continuously under attack from these, it might be best to burn, overhaul, sell, or skuttle that ship. Rumors and reputation are important for the vessel that carries merchandise and passengers

Rats: Spreads plague and eats any solid food (amount depends on time in hold and number of rats. Ships with “Customized Cargo” conversion suffer less when the shipping that designated cargo, which assumes that customization accounts for rats)
Chronically mis-loaded or overloaded: caused by a bad captain
Bad Luck (Kobold) (a mix of pestilences in a short time)
Storms: Ship always runs into storms. Could be an excuse for thieving
Ship Food: run out, rotten/poisoned
Wet Powder: Wet hold/storm might make cannons useless, does not affect catapults
Thieving Crew: take valuable things, drink beer/wine
Pirate Hex: same ship always gets sacked by pirates
Leaking: Crew can never keep the hold dry no matter what they do. Could be caused by a bad captain, termites, bad wood, ship age etc.
Crew Sicknesses: crew can have a bout or seasickness (green or bad storms), Dysentary, flu, dehydration, plague, or laziness




Construction Office
The construction office is located somewhere inside the town walls and is controlled by the Mayor. Profits of the office go to town coffers.
When issued a contract to construct a building, it is placed in Queue. When that building is reached in the Queue and materials are available, the building is started. Construction continues until materials run out. (player has the option to ‘reserve’ their own warehouse stocks of building materials based on their queue priority) If materials run out or construction is finished, then the crew goes to the first building in queue with materials available. To build a castle and or a cathedral there needs to be artisans in the town. If no artisans, then that building is skipped in Queue.

Monetary Costs of construction (including any materials the Office buys from Town or other AI) are either
1) Deducted monthly from your money, although failure to have the monthly money will result in court charges.
2) The entire amount is set aside and managed by administrators. Overruns of cost are sent to you by message.

The Office is staffed with 2 types of workers:
- Master Builder: Skills are equal to the average of all Craft Masters in that town. These skills dictate the actual lifespan of the building as well as improve the chance that the crew builds what you want. (an inexperienced Master could build the wrong type of workshop)
- Workers: handle the main work
The town’s Mayor can hire a 2nd Master builder who will be more skilled than the first, and doubles the building speed (2nd crew) and slightly increases the building lifespan

An accurate construction queue can be seen (unless a briber has gotten the mayor to quietly “re-think” it). Queue is first come/first serve unless Mayor (or Town Council) edits.
Player can edit the priority of their projects. Mayor can move public projects up or down the list, and can prioritize the player on the list (but not adjust individual player projects). Player can then either bribe the Mayor or can appeal the move to be be voted on at the Town Council. (town council’s vote is final)

Repairs
Every building (except Castles and Cathedrals) has a limited lifespan. Houses last about 30-40 years, some government buildings last 200 years. The town pays for public maintenance from treasury. Lack of public maintenance deteriorates the approval rating of the Mayor. Replacement of a public building includes the costs renting or building a temporary location
As private buildings deteriorate, the player has the options of
1) Agree to pay a set amount/year for building maintenance. For housing, this will extend the lifespan (up-to) 150 years. For non-housing, the building maintenance will double the lifespan, then require an overhaul or demolition.
2) Place an overhaul contract for that building: during an overhaul, the production, rent etc drops significantly. Overhauls will expose some secret upgrades and also make it cheaper/faster to add unlocked technology upgrades
3) Place a demolition contract for that building. This contract only requires money, so it will get done sooner in queue. Will receive a portion of the original materials back, or can donate them to Church or Monastery. (donating creates a reduced demolition cost, as hauling is done by the charity, but does not affect speed)
4) Attempt to destroy their own buildings via fire or gunpowder, but they risk losing people and reputation
5) Abandon the building. After 1 year any other player can take it and repair / demo / re-build. Cannot abandon a building by bankruptcy, but can be done at any time prior to.



Bridges
Water helps ship trade, but it can block off land trade to other areas. A bridge connects these lands, and changes the face of a town.
A town can build a bridge across a stream, river or canal. The bridge may deteriorate in storms/major rains, and it may improve drainage/sanitation. A bridge collapse will act as a dam and cause flooding until fixed.
The costs of bridges vary, bricks made of stone last longer that brick or timber bridges but take longer and cost more. The quality of construction depends on materials used and the skills of the construction office.
A privately funded bridge may charge a toll (not a tax), and can be sold to the town or another player after 10 years.
This new bridge:
1) May allow an increase in the size of the town, including a larger town wall footprint. A larger bridge may be part of the new wall.
2) Will speed the flow of carts in an area
3) Can open up another part of the Hinterland if built outside of the 3rd wall border of the town.
4) May stop Sailing ships (mast height) depending on construction techniques et al. This limits use of docks, methods of attacking a town, or may restrict or stop water trade with a Hinterland or River town (ie Cologne and Thorn) A height restriction of the bridge creates a trade monopoly on the Inland waterway, and increases the trading power/wealth/volume of that town
5) A private bridge may stop the building of a town wall if in the path

Town Walls / Gates
Can be made in different levels of protection and height (wood, brick, stone). One a wall is built, the old wall remains, and stays as another layer of defense that attackers must penetrate. The old wall can be destroyed through a contract with the construction office for a wall piece to be de destroyed. The player contracting the destruction keeps the old building materials for re-use. (old wooden walls will deteriorate or burn) (towers can only be destroyed by Town Council orders & funding)

A wall can be built through farmland, but it requires a small gate somewhere in the farm tiles. The farm may continue to operate if the farm buildings are outside the wall. If not, the farm shrinks to a garden a year after the completion of the wall. (see Farm section)

A stone bridge may become part of a new wall if the wall is crossing a river. At a canal or stream, if there is no bridge, the wall builder has the option of choosing to include a bridge (for carts) with the stream crossing. Walls cannot be built across a river

The best way through a wall is a gate
Large gates allow horses and carts through
Small gates allow workers through
A gate across a stream will stop attackers, but is normally open during peace.
River bridges cannot be gated, but can have large beams attached to prevent ships from sailing under during an attack
Gates can be destroyed and left as a gap or can be walled up to restrict trade and access.



Anyone know the small quiet secret whistle that Gypsies use to unlock windows and gates and climb over walls?

It is the micro-soft whistle.

To finish the list of Government Buildings, that the spy in the town revealed


Barracks
Medieval towns relied on a thick wall and a small army to keep them safe. This small army was housed and trained in the barrack building(s). The town council votes on how many barrack buildings the town will have, once approved, the building is put in the construction queue (mayor can adjust priority. Once built, it is up to the mayor to handle weapons, staffing, and training from the town budget. Each Barrack holds 32 men, and has the option of adding a stable for horsemen.

The flags flying on the roof of the barracks signaled the current status and needs of the troops. These relate to the flags flown at the defense towers (gates have the city flags). Knowing the flags gives a better understanding of a town’s defense status.

The barracks are the home of the standing army, a small group that stands guard.

The mayor can muster the troops (church bell rings and the flags change) when needed
Defense during an attack is bolstered by the inhabitants moving materials, pouring oils and tars etc,

The barracks are the home and Training grounds of the towns troops. The mayor posts notices of employment or disbanding in the barracks.
Soldier types include:
Ranged Attackers: Archers Crossbows, blunderbuss
Foot soldiers: Swords, pikes, clubs
Sapper
Horsemen
Cannoners (hand-pushed cannons)

Troops also support:
1) Fire defense
2) Building / Maintenance of city defenses
3) Rebuilding town structures after a Pestilence (bridges, canals, etc)

The mayor may send some or all of the troops to help another town in the Hanse for defense or other support. This is risky, as it weakens the defense of the town, but bolsters the mayor’s (and town’s) reputation if successful. If another pestilence hits that town when the ‘helping’ troops are there, they might be blamed for bringing the new pestilence.

The mayor also can hire mercs if an attack is pending or the town declares war.



Armory
Each town also has an Armory, where metal is turned into weapons.. Costs of these goods are 4 to 6 times higher than in P3. Profits from outside sales (other than for the hometown barracks) are used to pay for troop wages at barracks, and are deducted automatically from earnings. Excess profits are turned over to the town as weapons for the barracks. A player may build one as a workshop if the town has at least 4 barracks

Not much detail here, as weapons in other games have enough thought. New weapons can be developed and tested in combat

1) Land Weapons
a) Combat:
Armor: Must be built and is effective against certain weapons
Swords
Pikes
b) Distance
Bow/Arrows: effective at long range, fast reloading, but defeated by armor
Crossbow: effective at short range, fast reloading. Penetrates some armor
Blunderbuss: effective at short range and against horses (noise). Takes time to reload
Cannon: Very effective, but short range and slow reloading
Catapult: Less effective, difficult to aim, but fast reloading. Can use anything solid for ammo, although not yet sure if sacks of gold would be worthwhile ammunition (throwing money at the problem)

If you are a mayor of any town in the Hanse, you are allowed to buy surplus Land Weapons for your town at any other town without a criminal penalty. However you can only sell surplus in your town. Once you become Hanse Alderman (or have been one), you can sell weapons to any town’s armory

2) Ships Weapons
No major change in types, however gunpowder can get wet and has limited supply, so catapults become more important. Might develop and add weapons useful in boarding.

3) Ammunition
Most weapons require ammunitions (exception of edged weapons), catapults can toss Ammunition or Goods (ever see a flying cow?)
Gunpowder is made at workshops, and can used directly from there, or can be bought from the Armory at a higher price



Civil Justice Court:
Before the establishment of courts, a custom of trial by combat would be the rule of the day. In P4, The mayor dispenses some justice before the establishment of a court, so there are more duels and fights to settle differences. The Church will pressure the mayor to build a court. See http://www.hyw.com/Books/History/justice.htm
Public reputations are listed in the court (inhabitants and regular visitors), as well as ‘wanted’ posts
Must have a Justice Court building in order to have a Bank or Bath in that town
Guilt of a merchant/ traveler is paid partly by the merchant, partly by his hometown
Foreigners receive less mercy than inhabitants.

Side Note: it is not the goal or intention to create a Medieval Legal/Courtroom Sim game, rather to expand the role of Reputation, Intrigue, and Fog into an important part of the merchant and the town’s character. Because of this, lawyers are left in the fog, and out of sight.

The following is NOT histerically accurate, but makes for a fun game:
Every town begins with a basic set of 6 laws, and adds to that collection based on town size and past events (if something happens often enough, it might become illegal). A town’s constables can only enforce a few laws, so depending on the number of constables, the town may have up to 15 laws (to be enforced), they must remove one from the enforcement list in order to add another. The game has up to fifty laws they can choose from. This set of laws (rather simple ones) is published in the Court and are updated when the Townspeople request an addition or change that the Court and Town Council approves. (It is even possible to make piracy non-enforced (“legal”) in a town that does not have crime, or stupidly removes it to add something else)

Waging Law: Trial events
1) Oaths of Innocence or Guilt by Accuser, Defender, and witnesses
2) Presenting evidence and witnesses
3) Deliberation by 3 Judges. Some major trials may involve a jury
4) Outcome and Sentence

Various penalties and punishments are available if found guilty: http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/glossary.html
Abatement: recover or restore property to rightful owner/user, plus a court fee
Amercement: Fine or monetary punishment with mercy (note that a foreign merchant pays most, his hometown pays part)
Collection of Tolls or Customs: Involving smuggling guilt, can collect standard taxes and up to 50% of the value of the goods
Distraint: Pre-punishment, if you are presumed guilty and/or have a low reputation in that town, the court may take a bond, a pre-trial seizure of money or goods to ensure your presence in the trial
If guilty of bankruptcy: Can seize all except family, what is in the bank (including loans owed to you), 1 office (house) and 1 book of secrets. The Court will quickly auction your belongings and return any money owed to the banks. Any residual money is given to the town. AI bankruptcy is the same way
1st Offense Work off remaining debts
2nd Offense: Can have the option to either go to debtor’s prison (up to 2 years) or work off any remaining debts
3rd Offense: end of game
Corporal: Floggings (pain) or Stocks (exposure)
Prison: Disappear from the game for a set amount of time unless you buy your way out. Very uncommon in the game, the dungeon is confined to private use in the Castle (pun intended). Jail was a more modern invention
Capital: Your last view is a first person perspective of the town square at a slight angle. (exception, in London your last sight is the sky while bumping along the ground (Hang, Drawn, Quartered) See Friends & Family section for more. If an employee, you may have some monetary and reputation issues to deal with.

It is important to remember that a crime committed by one of your employees involves a direct punishment of them, although you may still be monetarily responsible.

Bankruptcy charges are caused by
1) Failure to repay a loan, you have an automatic extension up until the trial date to pay (but have added court costs and reputation hit)
2) Negative monetary balance for more than 60 days

Ways to influence the Court
1) Modify/Steal the evidence or town map to show enhanced or diminished ownerships (for real-estate issues)
2) Bribe Judges, Jury, Witnesses
3) Removal of the accuser
4) File to postpone the date via an Essoin or other excuse, but the court may claim the need for ‘piepowder’ or a swift decision in the case of traveling merchants
5) Get Guilds and workshops on your side (witnesses of civil character)
6) Get the (corrupt) Clergy on your side (witnesses of religious character)

Other Duty of the Court
FolkMoot: Town meeting, it can be helpful to ’find out’ the topic and prepare for it
1) Where important official things are announced: Mayor Election Announcement, Town Building Projects
2) Requests for a new law or modified law
3) Public input on town needs (not a vote, rather a mood gauge. This can influence Town Councilors or Mayor in votes)
4) When the town is given an offer of trade, peace, or war, the people vote on that


Hospitals
In the medieval times, every major town had built a hospital. These buildings were places of mere convalescence for travelers and beggars, not a place to be cured. The Plaque changed that, so eventually doctors and medicine were dispensed there.
You or a clergyman can propose the building of one, with donations to help.
Results of building a hospital
1) Can build a Cathedral in that town
2) Because of isolation and better food, there is some decreased sickness or plague. This reduces the human disease pestilence.
3) Slightly longer life-spans in that town
4) More beggars in the town

Hospital Types
Independent:
Supported by self, taxes, and gifts. Quicker to build, as the player does not need a monastery in that town, but it needs revenues to keep going. A gift of a farm will give the hospital enough revenue and food (per town wall extension)
If no revenues for 5 years, the hospital will become an abandoned structure, but could be rebuilt.
Monastic
A monastery could run a hospital in the town, but needs the building donated (or an abandoned town hospital could be granted by the town council). A monastic hospital does not require funding, and donations for the hospital may be re-distributed to the Monastery. The monks may make other discoveries/unlocking relating to health and food after running a well-funded hospital for 3 years.

Hospital Upgrade Levels
1) Almshouse (basic hospital)
2) Dispensary (available after plague hits the Hanse, usually 1350, and 3 Universities in the Hanse)
Increases capacity of the Hospital, and increases demand on Apothecary
3) Infirmary: Simple surgeries by the town barber (available some point after dispensaries, 6 Universities in the Hanse, and some related discoveries)




Tavern, Inn, Stable
The tavern is a public gathering place, with beer, wine, liquor served near a fireplace.
Profit of a tavern is loosely based on the formula: Towns Consumption of alcohol / number of taverns * weighted average (beer, wine, liquor weighted by population) price per barrel * 90% (10% cost of business)* factor of location = profit. Factor of location is base on where the tavern is in relation to: Ports (sea, river, & canal), Town Gates, Town Square, Town Center of Population, Town Center of employment
Town owned:
A town will build one per 30,000 population, with a maximum of 3 public taverns per town, The town gives each a name, and may add the additional levels based on profit. Excess profit goes into the town coffers.
Player owned: A player may build up to 2 taverns per town, and should keep the beer and wine stocked. A player owned tavern has a strong distance effect on reputation. News that occurs in your tavern travels further to every other tavern in the Hanse

As the town expands, more levels are available for the tavern. When town population reach thresholds, the tavern may add the following if there is land available with in 2 squares of the tavern. The Tavern might purchase the land with existing buildings in order to expand. Each expansion increases profits due to increased customer base.
1) Tavern:
2) Inn: Dining room, Sleeping Rooms
Offset the alcohol (less rowdiness) and increases traveling (AI) merchants. The dining room attracts some of the towns rich if the town is well stocked with their food. Some increase in town thievery may occur. The presence of the Inn reduces the occurrence of local merchants ‘hosting’ traveling merchants and ripping them off
3) Stable: Horse stalls
Increases trade and traffic with the hinterlands. Easier to send messengers to Hinterlands. Reduces plague (more horses). Increases spying and intrusion by the Hinterland leader (? prince). More Hinterland contracts become available. The hinterlands might offer a private tavern owner a private joint venture to build a canal (share design, costs, risk, and profit)
4) Smoking room: Entertainment for guests
There is more activity where the town has more Church influence (out of sight of the Church)
Dice and Games of chance etc.
Wagers can be made on various events
Courtesans visit occasionally (might be as close to risqué as the game goes)

Sells Beer wine, consumes firewood
Coats of Arms and weapons of important town families are displayed
Captains hired here tend to be unskilled swaggarts, who claim higher levels of skill than they have.

Upgrades include
Clock: more people stop in to check time
Wine cellar: greater selection and storage of wines


A town full gypsies never have a home

The wealthy must have a playground ...

Buildings: Luxury


Bathhouse
The bathhouse was a place for the wealthy to relax. It is owned by a rich person, and charges a membership (part of town merchant guild fee) or admittance each time. That fee is to offset the purchase of wood and water, and the wages of the bath workers.
The water used affects the quality and reputation of the bath house. Some towns have great spring water, others have to import it. During a drought the bath house quality suffers unless well stocked.

In the lobby, there is a mirror and a desk. The worker there asks what you want to do
The bath also offers the services of:
1) Barber, who may improve your (short term) appearance in the town. There is a fee for the barber.
2) Washer, to clean your traveling clothes. This helps if you are going to meet wealthy people or going to a party
Both of these offer rumors and gossip that the wealthy are spreading, as well as who is in the Bathhouse. You can ask them when certain people are planning to visit next.
In the bathhouse, you have two areas to visit
1) The Soap/Cleaning area (full of soapy bubbly water) and not a good room for dirty bribery (duhh .. its too “clean” there). There are rumors and gossip there.
2) The Therma or hot Spa. A larger room that usually has several people there. You select who to talk with. This is the best place for bribes, which can be money, properties, good, information, or secrets. Bribery is a two way street, you can also be offered bribes.

When you leave the bath, you are in the lobby with you clothes on. A look in the mirror shows how clean and handsome you are.

Given that there are more bribery opportunities in the game, this location is less critical than before, although bribery in the Therma is never prosecuted. There is a chance that a bath worker is a spy or informant in the other rooms.


Artistans Studio:for Artists and Craftsmen with unique specialities
Can build a studio (combines a house and workshop) and charge rent for use of the space. This space is more dynamic than a house, tenants come and go more frequently based on the fluctuating demand for their products. Artists tend to group together, so these workshops are best built near each other, and near their patrons (Wealthy, Cathedrals, or University). The presence of the studio may increase the amount of available art and artists in a town.

Artists
Part of their commission pays the studio rent. Demand and rent increases substantially during the building of University or Cathedral.
Artists will make objects of art primarily under a Commission. These works of art creates new perspectives and may lead to a future discovery. More art increases the chances of a war (creates the appearance of wealthy town). Artists without a commission are beggars and will travel to find another town looking for them.
Commissions may be posted at Cathedrals, Universities, or Ports. The amount offered increases the chances of a better artist. Once you receive a completed work from that artist, that artist may send periodic requests for more commissions.

Art types include:
Sculpture
Paintings
Miniatures

Cathedrals and Universities increase the amount of available artists, it is up to the wealthy to support them with art commissions
You may collect the art you commission or receive as gifts. These increase your CV, but cannot be sold. You may give your art as gifts as well.
Rarely an artist will have interest in science (note that their art has a science flair) and those artists may be helpful in inventing things.
A few artists may make good spies, if they can sketch well


Craftsmen with unique specialties (other than “Art”)
These are not strong enough as a group to form a guild or workshop in most towns, but still perform needed work. Their presence encourages a growth of wealthy inhabitants, and causes the wealthy to spend more money into the economy. The additional spending increases general goods/food consumption in the town, as well as creates a spiraling increase in craftsmen. They are more stable than artists in staying in the town.

1) Glazier and Glassmakers
Required for Cathedrals and Large Halls
2) Bookbinder: Printing and Binding
Printing is a laborious process, each page is hand carved
Specialties: Authors, poets, translators, scribes, illuminators
3) Tinker (Mister Fixit)
4) Goldsmith or Jeweler (could be related to the Smithing Workshop if White Metal Smiths are added)
5) Alchemist/Apothecary
Increases the amount of color and painting in the town
Increases the chance of doctors
Useful for inventing things
6) Dyer: Although part of the cloth trade, the wealthy would desire better garments with more colors
7) Shoemaker:
Spicers (local herbs)


These various crafts do not create items to be traded by the player (except for books of secrets), but rather enhance life and allow other things to happen. Encouragement of these artisans is helpful during the game.


Be careful how you whistle in the bath house

Family & Friends
One of the primary goals of the game is to become a Patrician and Alderman.
The other new main goal for P4 is to be a Patriarch, to found a family dynasty to pass your reputation and wealth on to.

As one becomes wealthy, you still remember your family and friends. You should try to protect them from Pestilence at all costs.


Family by birth (the closest group until marriage)

Father / Mother: If they are still alive, could help you with some advice. Can send them money for support. They have connections depending on their class and status. Taking care of your parents increases the chances that your kids will take care of you as you age.

Siblings: random chance of having some, will have same last name as you pick. They would mainly stay in your old home town. A few will become a nun, monk, or clergy, and will maintain contact with you and help your religious reputation. Most siblings will either work for your industries or ships. Tend to stay loyal until a bad event, then they either leave or become a competitor. As a competitor, they can be an ally or a bitter enemy

Cousins: Have at least 1 cousin, contact is occasional until wealthy. Must decide how to best “help” them. If you give them $gold$, they will be more of a leach than its worth. Helpful to get them a position of power to help you (arranged marriage or a leadership).


Family by Marriage
Wife: A man of repute needs to settle down and become established. As your reputation increases, it becomes important to find a spouse. It is rare that a bachelor gets elected to Mayor or Alderman.

Find a Spouse:
1) Find a woman:
You may either take the arranged marriage route (using P3 style) or the following sequence:
In the town square there are potential suitors (3 women per town), although not all are in the square at the same time. Find one of them, have a conversation, and determine if she/family might be interested. If she is, then you attend a party with her family. If the party goes well, after 3 months then you can propose. Good trade status / reputation with that town and frequent presence in that town encourages acceptance. There is no one to ‘bribe’ but can send gifts to the her or the family
2) Engagement:
After a proposal is accepted by the woman and her family, you have a 6 month engagement. Can try to find out dowry et al via informer/spy during the engagement period. You can call off the wedding, or the family can cancel. (significant downturn of reputation in both towns for 1 year)
3) The Wedding:
There are no weddings during Lent. You reserve a Church and either Square or Hall (has to be a day available). You can buy a contract to have some else bring all the food etc, but will cost 4x the average food costs. You can build a Great Hall for the wedding for an extra bonus tbd (Great Hall becomes either Storage, a Guild building or a government building) This would be the only building you can build without having a trading office in that town. A wedding in the cathedral is a big boost in reputation, but costs more due to number of guests. (can bribe corrupt clergy to either allow it in the cathedral, or to say the cathedral is unavailable)

Wife
The interface with the wife is an important one, as she can spread rumors and gossip faster than anyone else you talk with. Throwing parties, giving gifts, and getting a bigger house make for a happy family. The wife will find out secrets and gossip for you, and remind you of your reputation. The wife will administer the household budget, you set the amount available. An Unhappy wife may be worse than the best AI competitor and make it difficult to have a good reputation. Although children are random, happiness in the home increases the odds.

In-Laws: In your wife’s town. During first 5 years of marriage, more opportunities/contacts for you in the wife’s hometown. After that, you still have connections, but only a few good ones.

Lineage: You live through your legacy.
The father names the child, but the mother approves the name.
Available names are based on a mix (availability matrix) of the following:
1) Your birth town
2) Your wife’s birth town
3) The town you live in.
See http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ for links to lists of names common in each area. (yes there are even gypsy names)

As a patriarch you encourage and help your children gain skill and succeed in life.
You may sponsor them into a guild or start them into merchant life
You can help to arrange marriages to increase the influence and power of you family.
Your reputation and wealth has a great effect on the future lives of your children.
The importance of a lineage may make it very helpful to establish multiple convoys with one purpose: keep your town and warehouse well stocked with everything.

In P4, it is important to make sure your kids live through childhood (not killed by pestilence) and begin a career to gain skills needed When you retire voluntarily or die (nb max age is 75), you either
1) Randomly ‘become’ (take over) the character of one of your children. In taking that character, your old character might not have retired yet, so you gain some benefit of that connection with an ‘active’ trader. It is helpful to remember what your old character did, as you now get to see those effects happen again, and could take advantage of that. Very unwise to try and treat your old character like an AI. There is some chance that your father has already died. There is a small chance that your child might be a clergy.
2) Via a will, you ‘become’ one that you pick (see above) Although you pick your new character (with known skills), you wont have the random advantage of ‘growing up’ under your father’s wing.
3) End the Game: get to see your eulogy and tombstone (sorry no pepperoni)

Friends and Enemies
All non family members who have heard of you place a reputation on you. Those who know you by more than reputation are either Friends or Enemies

Friends
When you help or befriend. They work with you, and are helpful. Your trade makes people friendly, but it usually takes favors and conversations to make a friend. If you help someone in need, or have a lot of interaction with a particular character, you develop a chance of creating a friend. Your wife and family may also help to cement that friendship bond. A friend can be critical for many things.
You cannot buy a friend, money is for bribery of officials or wages for employees.

Enemies
When you hurt or betray someone, you may create an enemy. Others just despise your reputation. Most of the AI are competitors, and are not acting as enemiea. (global settings at the beginning of the game adjust this). If you betray or hurt a friend, they might forgive you or they become the worst of enemies. Enemies are active and can cause a lot of problems.


Life and Death
Births are a cause for joy in a family, but the family throws a party at the christening (baptism) for family and friends. (If the mother and baby live til then, better chance of survival to adulthood due to relatively high childbirth/infant mortality) Birth involves a midwife, so hospitals have little effect on this. See http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/manitob…ealth/hist1.htm

You may be called the deathbed of someone you know. There they might tell a secret, ask a favor, or (rarely) give you a disease. You will also go to the funeral and have a chance to talk with the grieving family.
If you refuse to go to a deathbed, it may effect your reputation (your wife will make sure you know that)

The town statistics for Birth and Deaths are available in the court. Immigration and town consumption stats are available in the town hall. Number of citizens by class is available in the port/harbormaster. Visiting these buildings will update these in your rooter (books) and may include graphs of the data. Messengers might deliver this data from other towns as well.



Gypsy Rover came over the hill .....
He whistled and he sang til the green woods rang
and he won the heart of a lady

Other Game Notes

Paris
Thorn & Cologne are on the map, Where is Paris? Paris was a city on a river with Thomas Aquinas and a lot of other people. Was Paris in the Hanse? Not sure if it needed to be in order to be included, given the Histerical Accuracy of the game (like creating active trade with NA in early 1300). Wondering if the proverbial ‘who needs Paris?’ came up before.

Animation
Each building now has an opening scene, with options that create a dialogue and give a series of options. The options vary based on location and reputation. These Animated (not static) characters are in their town’s period costume.

Historical Elements
1) Costume:
Each town had its own dress, and travelers usually had those same clothes. Each character wears the town wear, which is influenced by what the tailors make. The Poor are usually in rags of some kind.
Some of the characters show some skin, but is not rated MA, nor is it a beach party with Tomb Raider clothes

2) Town/Religious Culture / Customs
Every town and village followed the same religion, but due to separation of miles, language, and ideas, these towns developed unique customs that are part of their identity.

a) Town Festivals that celebrate Harvests, Patron Saints, Overcoming a Pestilence
b) Solemn Feasts of Saints: includes a church Mass and procession
c) Plays and Theaters (not shakespeare)


3) Criminal Penalties:
Crimes were punished with more than a ‘slap on the wrist’, fine, and a dip in reputation. Without being gory, this game shows more of those punishments, which were mostly public spectacles.

4) Superstition and Strangeness.
The common man was ignorant of the world beyond the town walls, and anything he/she did not understand would get an unusual explanation.
The northern lights might make an unusually strong show one year, and people would link that to the next major event (good/ bad)
A comet would appear and then a new invention would be found
During a major storm a saint arrived into a town, so during the next storm they expected him to leave
All of these things create unusual ideas that are not always logical

5) Drunk, Bawdy, Mob
As the idea of a community/town became solidified, aspects of the seven deadly sins (clapegs - Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Pride Envy, Gluttony, Sloth) would rise in a group dynamic. Many of these were kept to the confines of a tavern or inn, but occasionally they would spill onto the streets. A lot of ships in port increases the chances of this happening. A strong mayor and church reduce the effects of this.
Left unchecked for years, the town may become downgraded to a settlement village that merchants avoid and Master craftsmen despise.

6) Rise and Fall of the Hanse
The Hanse rose to power as the need for a stable system of trade was apparent. After some time, Nationalism emerged, creating a different trading dynamic in the Baltic region. As History progressed towards the industrial revolution, the Hanse lost its powers. In the 1600’s the Hanse faded back to a few German cities.
In P4, towns grow to become cities, and rise or fall in the politics of the Hanse. This is a continual struggle, and is related to resources, workshops, and trading. Towns may choose to enter or leave the Hanse. The Game doesn’t end unless you have less than 4 Hanse towns left.


Perspective
Map Views: Can zoom into street lamp level or stay at the 5,000 meter balloon level.
Can pick between First Person, Third Person, Or Map views of:
1) Songbird (30 meter)
2) Seagull (75 meter)
3) Hawk (300 meter)
4) Vulture (1,000 meter)
5) Map (5,000 meter) level of view. (Can be switched between terrain and parchment)

1st Person: You see your clothes when you look down, (your shoes if you are skinny) and when you are older it becomes more difficult to see. You also see your reflection in the water or glass. Easier to see notes/letters without zooming in

3rd Person, you see your self right in front. Better view of surroundings. Need to zoom in to read notes

Songbird & Seagull can see people’s faces and the surrounding areas, but Seagull view not available in the Hinterland mountains

300-5,000 Meter: similar to zooms in P3, but people are moving specks. Can see surrounding areas


Your Gender (as Patrician), P1-3 is set to only male
This would be difficult to change for several reasons:
1) Not Histerically Accurate for a successful Female trader (unless by intrigue you can hide your gender). Or is there evidence to the contrary?

2) What would you wear to the Bath? A Fat Man without a shirt to bribe was ok … but … hmmmm, might have to wear some kind of shirt or always be in the deep water.
(Maybe we could see Ascaron selling more P4 games).

3) Since heirs are critical in P4 game, you would need a ‘spouse’ (unless we have ‘arrangements’ for legitimacy issues). As well as how do you explain a 9 month pregnancy, as well as who gave birth (adoption could be a work-around, but why force a handicap). If female Hanse merchants were historically accurate, what would be the best way to work this in?

4) Would there need to be a ‘moodiness’ factor? (oops .. had to throw that one in) … waiting for eggs and rotten tomato hate emails


Interaction
If you click on a townsperson, you will interact with them in a new display. (cursor over them might get a comment like in P3) You can keep notes, track who they are (Name/Occupation/Comments), as well as your past history with them. (in-game memory). They can say something, or you can ask them a question. How they respond depends on:
1) Who is around
2) Your reputation
3) Their reputation
Your ‘memory’ is fuzzier when you leave the tavern, but is sharper when you leave the bath, Church, or town hall. When you leave the bath, thoughts/comments about other people’s odors appear more often.


Unusual Citizens
P4 would have an occasional appearance from a variety of unusual characters that attract attention and are capable of certain tasks (to be determined). Here are a few possibilities:
Genius
Politician
Saint
Prophet of a coming pestilence
Courtesan
Giant/Midget
Writer/Poet
Band of gypsies
Insane
Leach who follows you around


AI: Interactions, Memory, Rooter
AI, instead of being a distant and aloof part of the game, acts more like a player, and tries to do more things to you or with you.

You retain a Memory of various AI competitors, especially the powerful ones. Pop-ups help you to remember these. Informers help keep this current. Your memory dies with you, to preserve it you need to write it down.

Rooter (notebook) is notes and maps, one of the most valuable things you own. It is (almost) always written in code, breaking the code is difficult, but it unlocks many secrets. You keep your rooter even in bankruptcy. Your heir may receive it, but needs to break the code (has some knowledge

Your reputation is worth its weight in gold: Spending and moving your money to gain influence and create wealth
In P4 you must spend money like a drunken sailor in order to gain reputation.

There are many ways to spend money, but done wisely it will increase your reputation and enhance the life for your lineage: here are a few ways to spend money …... time is so short
Church: Both in town as well as the Monastery on the hill.
Town: The poor can use many things, as can the artisans
Hinterlands: Build that canal, or create a trading office in a Hinterland Town
AI: Bribe them, buy them out
Investing: Let your money work wonders, can be small or large.
Searching: Money spent on technology helps greatly, as does exploring for cities and trading partners

Game Dev Option: Purse-Dump
Your normal purse in each town (operating capital) holds money, but a cap of 50,000 will be enforced at the end of each 3 months ( period could be changed in difficulty, but the game takes the extra away at the end of each period). (An ‘easy’ game setting increases that to 150,000 annually, while a difficult setting reduces that to 20,000 monthly). If you have close to the purse limit, there is an increased chance of being robbed. You are allowed to have an additional 75,000 cash in the bank of your hometown as a rainy day fund. All other money in each town’s office must be spent, invested, or moved; otherwise it is lost with no benefit. (Note you can pre-pay for construction, and that is not in your purse unless you cancel the project). This purse-dump event occurs at the end of every three months starting with when you build your office in that town. All of your employees can be given instructions on spending money. This makes it more important to create wealth, rather than store it.

Your ships carry their own purse, limited only by the space available in the hold, and can deposit profit in the towns with your office that they dock in. A stolen ship also loses the ship’s purse. To move money between towns it must be hauled by ship unless there is a bank in each of the two towns. Then it must be placed in the bank, and a note transferred by ship or cart between the two towns.

Any money not spent beyond the limits is not actually lost, but rather spawns AI, is donated to the Church, could be used by the town for a building project, a local prince might use it for an attack, or may cause other problems for you. This encourages an increasing level of difficulty if you sit and do nothing with your money. (anti-miser mode) Bribery will have no effect on this purse dump

This game enhancement refocuses you to spend the money or your reputation suffers drastically. (You are considered to have a duty to God, to your family, your town, and the Hanse to be a wise steward of money) This purse dump also affects the AI.

Variation on the Purse Dump Theme:
Monopoly Money
There is a limit on the number of Gold coins circulating in the Hanse. This limit is either fixed for the entire game, based on the known amount of gold in the Hanse (mining and trade could ‘find’ more), is calculated based on the number of Hanse towns, Hinterland towns, populations, churches, banks, taverns, workshops, cows, or some mix of the same. Some kind of calculation would be used to determine how many gold coins each person or building has with them at a given time. Money in the bank does not count towards that limit, until withdrawn.
The game could also limit the minting of coins based on the above limit
The game could also morph itself based on an equation: Number of coins in circulation compared to the Current limit. Based on this ratio, the game would spawn events to either increase or decrease the circulation of coins


Bribery:
Bribery is giving something (usually money) to get special treatment. Not all forms are illegal.

The following are usually not prosecuted as they are harder to detect
1) Gifts: Items given for a false reason
2) Favors: disguised as something for a ‘friend’
3) Paying a higher price: Helps a competitor or town
4) Selling for a low price (special discount) : helpful when a town is destitute or really needs that item.

Rot, Rats, Rust
In the game, things you store or own tend to deteriorate. To show some realism, there is a natural loss of these items depending on weather, events, and length of storage. Theft of a small amount is more difficult to detect.
You can offset some of that, but never eliminate that.

If a town is starving, and you have food in your warehouse, there is a chance that either a mob will raid or the town will seize your foodstuffs. Some non foodstuffs might disappear as well. You have no recourse when that occurs, and your reputation plummets, because you hoarded while people starved


The Gypsy wandered the Hanse, looking for himself
In the end, he could only reflect on the Whistle of the Hanse