The Measure of Survival
A House’s power is not measured only in soldiers or titles, but in its ability to endure hardship, feed its people and finance ambition.
Wealth – Represents the total economic strength. Lands, trade, vassals and coffers.
Stewardship – Represents the wisdom or folly with which that wealth is managed.
Together, they determine whether a House survives famine, prospers through trade or collapses under the weight of poor decisions.
Wealth
Measured on a scale from 1 to 10 and determines…
- What members of the House may reasonably purchase
- What constitutes a meaningful strain on resources
- How resilient to disaster, war and intrigue a House is
Wealth is shared across the House. One member’s excess can impoverish them all.
Increases happen by…
- Spending (10) Improvement Points
- Banking (20) Trophies
Level 1 – Destitute
Your House barely survives.
Your lands are poor or ravaged.
Your people struggle daily.
Your keep is crumbling.
Debt defines your existence.
You cannot make purchases beyond survival.
You cannot make Significant Purchases.
Level 2 – Paupered
You survive, but only just.
Your lands yield little.
Your people are near famine.
Your holdings are worn and poorly maintained.
You rely heavily on your liege.
Incidental purchases are rare.
Most expenditures are Significant.
Level 3 – Impoverished
You remain respectable, though stained.
Your lands produce modest yield.
Your keep is small but functional.
Your household is limited.
You can sustain modest incidental purchases.
Significant Purchases are risky.
Level 4 – Stable
Your House is secure.
Your lands feed your people reliably.
Your holdings are maintained.
You possess modest reserves.
You can afford quality goods incidentally.
Major expansions require care.
Level 5 – Climbing
Your House is rising.
You invest in expansion.
You maintain multiple revenue streams.
You employ skilled retainers.
Your influence grows.
You can sustain luxury within reason.
Aggressive expansion carries risk.
Level 6 – Well to Do
Your House is firmly prosperous.
You reside in fortified holdings.
You command trade or valuable resources.
Your people are stable and productive.
You may invest in infrastructure and fleets.
You can absorb moderate hardship.
Level 7 – Affluent
Your House commands regional respect.
Your lands are highly productive.
You maintain professional retainers and engineers.
You influence neighboring Houses economically.
You may fund major construction and military expansion.
Level 8 – Flourishing
Your House dominates its region economically.
Trade networks span borders.
Your ports, mines, or farmlands are exceptionally productive.
You can sustain extended hardships.
You may fund large fleets, advanced infrastructure, and military dominance.
Level 9 – Resplendent
Your House rivals Great Houses in wealth.
You command vast holdings.
Your treasuries are deep.
Your economic influence shapes regions.
You can fund Dragonpits, massive fleets, and large scale infrastructure.
Level 10 – Decadent
Your House is among the richest in the realm.
Your wealth rivals kings.
You sustain vast fleets and armies.
Your treasuries can influence wars before swords are drawn.
You may fund enormous civic works and reshape regional economies.
Types of Purchases
Incidental
May be made repeatedly without meaningful impact. They reflect everyday expenses appropriate to the House’s station.
Significant
Place real strain on a House’s resources and must be logged via Story Request so other members are aware.
Examples include:
Purchasing or training Units
Siege engines or ships
Rare poisons, not antidotes
Major construction projects
Major trade or investment ventures
Overspending & Temporary Loss
The First significant purchase in a week lowers effective Wealth by (1) level until the week ends.
Each additional significant purchase compounds this penalty.
If a House makes a Second significant purchase at full Wealth in the same week, it PERMANENTLY loses (1) Wealth.
Permanent Wealth Loss must be repurchased through Improvement Points or Trophies.
A House CAN bankrupt itself. Only a fool does so repeatedly.
Stewardship
Represents the ability to plan, invest and safeguard resources against hardship or exploit opportunity.
Stewardship is rolled whenever a House:
- Banks wealth against disaster
- Invests in trade or long term commerce
- Attempts economic sabotage against rivals
All uses of Stewardship require a Story Request with narrative justification.
Against Hardships
Kingdom wide or regional disasters such as famine, plague, drought, long winters, often impose temporary Wealth penalties lasting months or even years.
A House may prepare for such events in advance.
Banking Wealth
A House may bank Wealth actions against future hardship:
- Roll Stewardship vs Difficulty
- Success = Wealth actions are banked
- Failure = Actions are lost with no benefit
While banked, those Wealth levels are unavailable for purchases.
(1) Wealth Actions = (5) Difficulty
(2) Wealth Actions = (10) Difficulty
(3) Wealth Actions = (15) Difficulty
(4) Wealth Actions = (20) Difficulty
Using Banked Wealth
When disaster strikes, banked Wealth may…
Offset penalties to the House
Be shared with allied Houses
Be partially spent, leaving the remainder banked
Banked Wealth can also mitigate attacks by other Houses
Ex. Preparing for Famine
When famine strikes the Reach, all Houses suffer a -2 Wealth penalty.
House Redwyne, anticipating this, banked 2 Wealth actions through foreign grain trade.
When the famine begins…
Redwyne ignores the -2 penalty entirely
May instead reduce the penalty by -1 for itself and its liege
Or retain unused banked Wealth for future disasters
Preparation turns catastrophe into leverage.
Commerce & Investment | Exceeding Your Coffers
Stewardship is also the art of making money work for you.
Houses may invest Wealth into trade ventures using the same banking rules…
- Wealth is invested
- Stewardship is rolled
- Success = House gains Trophies equal to Wealth invested
- Failure = Wealth is lost
These ventures must be justified narratively and approved via Story Request.
Trophies gained this way represent profits, assets, and trade goods. Not raw coin.
Undercutting Rival Houses
Wealth may be used as a weapon.
A House may spend Wealth actions to disrupt a rival’s holdings such as…
Trade interference
Supply disruption
Economic sabotage
The Process…
Attacker declares the number of Wealth actions spent
Defender becomes aware something is wrong
Defender rolls Stewardship to identify the attacker. They are opposed by Attacker’s Stewardship
Defender must either… spend equal Wealth actions to resist or suffer temporary Wealth loss
If sustained for (4) consecutive weeks, the target House loses (1) permanent Wealth.
Units may be used instead of Wealth, using Tactics vs Stewardship.
Final Notes
Wealth is communal – Consequences are shared
Stewardship rewards foresight – Not reaction
Economic war is still war and may provoke retailiation
All Wealth actions are tracked through Story Requests