Strongholds and Domains

Changes and extensions to OSE Strongholds and Domains
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A Note About Strongholds and Domain Play

Please see the reference material at Stongholds for an overview of how the topic is handled in OSE and some additional thoughts about these rules here. The rules in this section augment the OSE-style of Strongholds and Domain play, but there are alternatives to this approach.

Strongholds and Domains give higher-level players something to do with their money and allow them to have lasting impact on the game world. However, there has always been a classic struggle between adventure-focused play and play that focuses on Strongholds and Domains. The OSE rules take the old-school approach (of course) and leave the handling of these topics largely to the Referee both because getting the rules right to allow both Adventuring and Domain play is hard and because not every table or even every player around the table wants to engage with these rules to the same degree. The rules below take a very old-school approach to these topics and assume that these topics will be handled very abstractly.

I have added a section at the bottom of the page that discusses other ways to engage with Strongholds and Domains. Note that the rules here are largely incompatible with rules from one of the external sources listed below. If players are interested in Domain play, they should discuss what they are hoping to achieve and the level of detail they want to manage with the Referee. Together you can choose a rule set and reach a decision on the best way to go about implementing this style of play.

Stronghold
A Stronghold is a keep, castle, tower or other fortified building located in the wilderness outside any other Lord's control. Note that this does not mean that the stronghold is placed in true wilderness, only that it exists outside the patrol radius of any other stronghold or settlement.

Who Can Build a Stronghold?

Any character with sufficient funds may construct a stronghold. The character need not be of a specific level. Any restrictions are noted in the character's class description
Permission from the ultimate owner or protector of the land may be needed unless the stronghold is truly in unclaimed wilderness (and there is not much of that in some places, even locations that are truly untamed may still be under the nominal control of a distant monarch). Keep in mind that distant rulers are open to the concept of strongholds. They are a way to extend the reach of the distant ruler and further tame the wilderness. Such places, if developed into domains, are also a way to extend the tax base and exploit resources that have thus far been too dangerous to exploit. Builders of strongholds within the nominal domain of a greater leader are usually required to swear oaths of fealty to the distant ruler before permission to build is granted.
If a class offers special discounts on construction price of a stronghold or offers free retainers or mercenaries when a stronghold is built, such benefits only occur if the stronghold builder is of sufficient level. That is, while a character of any level can build a stronghold, certain benefits related to that stronghold are only available if the builder is of sufficient level. Any benefits due to the builder of a stronghold are delayed until the character is of sufficient level. In the case where the benefit is a price reduction in the construction of a stronghold, that benefit is lost as the stronghold has already been constructed.

Why Build a Stronghold?

Power: Landholders are afforded a great deal of latitude with guards and rulers in a wide area around the stronghold and have a great deal of latitude to manage their affairs as they see fit. See Strongholds, Domains and Nobility for more on the impact of strongholds and domains
Title: Obtain the title of Lord (or Baron), become a member of the peerage
Domain: If properly developed, the area around the stronghold can become a village or other settlement. The Lord is empowered to tax the inhabitants that move to the settlement
Privacy and Security: A guarded stronghold is a secure place to rest, train, store assets and secure valuables
Base of Operations: Provide needed services like stables, armories, blacksmithing and other necessities for mercenaries employed by the Lord
Protect Wealth: Gold and gems are useful but can be stolen and provide no benefit when locked in a vault. Investing in a stronghold is a way to benefit from significant wealth in a way that cannot be easily stolen or lost.
Change the World: Strongholds allow one to create a dynasty, foster the growth of a new city (or city-state!) and push back the darkness and chaos in a region

Costs of Owning a Stronghold

Maintaining the physical buildings and infrastructure costs 1-5% of the total price of the stronghold per year. This accounts for normal wear and tear, damage due to weathering or misfortune or the like. Failing to pay for this causes the stronghold to fall into disrepair and eventually into ruin.
Any servants, mercenaries, specialists and the like must be paid their agreed rates on a weekly or monthly basis. If the servants, specialists or mercenaries require special facilities, materials or the like, these must be provided regularly and in good repair
Livestock, horses and the like must be properly sheltered, fed and watered.

Income from Strongholds

Strongholds do not typically have a source of income
It is possible, depending on the charter granted with the land (if any), that the Stronghold owner may be able to charge a toll for use of any roads or collect fees for traversing or camping in lands they secure by patrol, but this is unusual as most Strongholds built by characters are not in habited areas regularly traversed by the populous
Many Stronghold owners that attempt such tolls without a clear mandate from some remote ruler (and even if such a mandate exists) are seen as little more than extortionists and "bandit lords", forcing fees upon travelers on threat of punishment by the Stronghold's owner. However, this does not deter some owners from "collecting their fair share for bringing peace to an area"
Any fees collected by tolls or other "safe passage" claims are paltry compared to the cost of running a stronghold, assuming the stronghold is itself not along some major road in some well-travelled area. The vast majority of these fees are likely owed to some distant ruler that granted the land for the stronghold if they are collected or are consumed in maintaining the road or area. Overcharging the king's subjects in order to sweeten the pot for the local ruler is likely to anger the distant ruler that granted the land and authorized the tolls
Stronghold owners that are truly free of distant influence may set whatever fees or taxes they wish for those traversing their land, or may drive off trespassers as they see fit. How they respond to these situations will affect how others view them, from the peasantry to other landed nobles.

Domains
Domains are an area controlled by the owner of a stronghold and populated with civilians in one or more settlements. Such places can grow and become towns and cities if properly managed. Domains can generate substantial wealth and prestige for their ruler. Domains are the building blocks of civilization. In the broadest terms, they are an area regularly patrolled by the nearby stronghold and kept clear of monsters and other dangers such that one or more settlements can grow

Why Establish a Domain?

Stronghold: Since the heart of a fledgling Domain contains a Stronghold, it provides the same benifits that a Stronghold does
Income: Domains are central to exploiting nearby resources, be that good crop land, advantageous trade route position, mineral wealth or the like
Civilization: Domains spread peace and prosperity in previously untamed places
Power: Establishing and leading a Domain provides one with substantial economic and political power much greater than that of a lone Stronghold. See Strongholds, Domains and Nobility for more on the impact of strongholds and domains

Establishing a Domain

Locate a site for the stronghold and securing permission to build there. A good site is one that is defensible, near a reliable means of transportation (road, calm river), and has an exploitable resource like quality farmland, mineral wealth, grazing land or the like.
Obtain permission to build the stronghold (if needed) and actually building out the place
Hire and maintain mercenaries to conduct regular patrols to drive out monsters in the area and keep it safe
Build any necessary roads, docks, ports or other connection points between the Domain and nearby transportation routes. These must also be patrolled.
Site and build any necessary homes, places of business and the like to form a fledgling hamlet or village (in some cases, like those of Dwarves, this step is not required)
Site and build any facilities to exploit special resources in the area (lumber mills, mines etc.)
Advertise to entice commoners in nearby population centers to join the growing settlement (in some cases, like those of dwarves, halflings or elves, this is not required). These commoners and skilled laborers will exploit the local resources, generating wealth for themselves and income in the form of taxes to the local Lord.

Operating a Domain

Operating a Domain could be a game all to itself, one that might ultimately detract from the stories of individual adventure that are the focus of these rules
No set of rules expressed here could do justice to such a complex topic, so the details are left to the player and Referee to discuss and agree upon
Despite this, any player character that chooses to take on the expense and challenge of establishing a Domain should see some tangible benefits from their efforts
To this end, Domains should, at the very least, create wealth (in the form of taxes), and prestige (reflected in favoritism granted to the character by other nobility) for their ruler. The amount of wealth generated should be commensurate with the quality and quantity of exploitable resources in the region and the overall stability and fairness of the governing lord or lady.
All Domains are subject to ill luck, calamity, usurpation by political rivals or powerful foes and events like war or famine, which will erode profits or even cause deep losses to the Domain ruler. Similarly, great growing weather, fortuitous events (e.g the discovery of new veins of desirable minerals), and population booms will cause the Domain to be especially profitable
Some portion of this wealth should find itself directly into the hands of the Domain 'owner' where it can be put to any purpose desired - even to expanding the domain itself, while most should be spent in maintaining the domain's infrastructure
A character that spends a majority of their time administering a domain should see some percentage of this wealth reflected in experience points gained for acting as a judge and administrator, but such gains will be comparatively slow to individual risk-taking and adventure

Rules Sources for Detailed Domain Management
Domain play (as it is called) is modelled in various OSE-compatible rules systems. A few such systems are referenced below as a starting point for ambitious players and Referees that want to model the details of domain management

Rules Cyclopedia: A reasonably-detailed approach built on the B/X (OSE) rules
Adventurer, Conquerer, King: A very detailed approach. Critically acclaimed but requires a spreadsheet and time
An Echo, Resounding: The least-detailed approach of the three here, but a novel take on Building a Domain, Mass Combat and the like