These are the rules governing SWORDLANDS - from trade and taxes to kingdom loyalty and warfare. Included are tables and procedures used by the Magister to resolve each TURN of play. They are presented here for Player reference.
PAGE ONE: KINGDOMS
CULTURE determines the level of civilization, from savage to advanced. A kingdom's Culture level effects trade, taxation, and the type of troops, ships and fortifications available.
RESOURCES are the natural resources of the kingdom which can be turned into Trade Goods. Culture and Resources combined determines the kingdom's Wealth.
WEALTH determines the amount of money that can be generated for the Royal Treasury each year, depending on the Tax Rate.
POPULATION is the number of inhabitants, which determines the maximum number of troops the kingdom can produce.
Culture Resources Wealth Population
Savage Few Destitute Sparse
Barbaric Typical Poor Average
Feudal Abundant Prosperous Dense
Civilized Vast Rich
Here's how the stats for each Player kingdom are determined:
TRADE
Each kingdom produces goods that are traded among its own towns and cities. Farmers grow crops that are carted to marketplaces. Miners dig ores and lumbermen cut timber which is transported to towns where craftsmen purchase the raw material to produce goods. Herdsmen take wool, meat and leather from sheep and cattle or raise horses to sell. At seaport cities, shipwrights use timber to build ships. There is a constant activity of production within any kingdom that generates the gold which flows into the Royal Treasury in the form of taxes. Trade allows the kingdom to export Goods it produces, creating additional revenue for the Royal Treasury, and import Goods which the kingdom does not produce.
The goods a kingdom produces depend on location, climate, geography and culture. Northern lands have forests where timber is cut and fur-bearing animals are hunted. Desert areas do not. Coastal kingdoms fish and, if timber is available, build ships. Mountainous areas give access to extensive ore deposits ... Resources does not rate the number of goods a kingdom produces, but the quantity of goods, even if they are limited in number.
Required Materials are those goods needed for certain types of troops, ships and fortifications. Without access to the required materials, a kingdom cannot produce them:
Unit
Required
Armored Troops
Weapons & Armor
Mouted Troops
Horses or Camels
Ships
Timber (and a port town or city)*
Fortified Town or Fort
Timber
Castle, Fortress or Walled City Timber and Stone
TRADE AGREEMENTS
Goods that are exported bring additional revenue into the Royal Treasury by taxing the merchants. The amount depends on the value of the good traded. A Trade Agreement with another kingdom can be a simple sale of a certain good, which brings in more revenue each year, or an exchange of one good for another that brings in gold on both sides and gives a kingdom access to needed materials.
AT THE START
Each kingdom begins with a list of goods produced and Trade Agreements already in place (if any) before the new King or Queen comes to power. Rulers may make as many trade agreements as they wish, provided there is trade contact between kingdoms, overland or by sea. The value of the agreement in crowns is based on the value of the goods traded and the kingdom's own annual revenue in taxes.
Either partner in a trade agreement can stop trading with the other at any time. No gold is lost for the remainder of the game year. However, any needed materials that the kingdom is trading for are no longer available.
Details on Goods and Trade, as well as the starting trade positions for Player kingdoms, are presented here.
POPULATION
The actual population of a kingdom can only be estimated. There are no postal services or social security numbers in this world. This statistic is used to limit the maximum number of people within a kingdom who can be recruited or drafted into the military at any given time.
Here's how these numbers were arrived at.
