Home Ownership

My players have bought a house in the city. Bamboo makes houses inexpensive, and they are tired of needing to pay for an inn each night. This makes me happy as a Facilitator - my players are literally investing in the city, investing in the setting. Their buying a house is a sign that I am doing something right.

This does invite a new and interesting question. Given my framework of blocks and neighborhoods, how do I make rules for owning and managing a household?

The first thing I want to address is how the neighborhood affects the price of the house. The number in my price list is for the construction itself, not fitting it into an existing urban space. It seems reasonable to multiply the house price by the number of blocks within a given neighborhood, a reflection of how scarce space is within the area. Furthermore, not all types of buildings are available in all neighborhoods.

Now, to make this choice more interesting, what advantages does owning a home in a neighborhood provide? There is first an important distinction between having a home in a neighborhood versus having a home in a specific block. Each block is a space made up of not only streets and buildings but also of people, people who have known each other a long time. Adventurers are not likely to become members of a block, but their home's nearness to them should confer some sort of mechanical benefit.

Establishing a home requires more than simply purchasing a building. After moving in, the inhabitants must spend a week meeting and greeting their neighbors to unlock the benefits of their chosen location. This involves a lot of eating and drinking and costs double the daily rate. If the party waits more than a month after purchasing the home, the neighbors' first impression is negative and the benefits will be lost.

Assuming the players spend the week, they may access all blocks within their neighborhood at half-price. This benefit lasts a full year. By spending a month socializing (spending double the daily rate), this benefit can be renewed and extended another full year. This benefit is conferred per character, not per household - each principal character (excluding hirelings, followers, and henchfolk) must either directly participate in the socializing or have one of their henchfolk represent them.

In the city, it is customary to have two people tending the house. This ensures that someone is always present in the building even if errands must be run. The two will ensure that food is purchased and ready to eat when the house's other inhabitants return.

This will do for now, but I'll return to this in the future with rules describing how decorating the house can provide benefits for those who live there.