Baronies and Clearing Monsters

[mindcontrolsquid]

There's something that's been bothering me for a while about the way baronies operate as explained in U&WA, but I couldn't quite articulate it until now. On page 24 it details the rules for clearing out hexes around a stronghold and states that "the inhabitation of the stronghold [is] considered as sufficient to maintain monster-free status." When the book says "inhabitation (sic)," do they mean the ownership of the stronghold by the baron who established it (or its current title-holder), or the actual physical residency of the baron in question? I ask because I wonder if monsters would be generated if the baron was absent from the stronghold or barony, for example if they took a leave of absence to go adventuring/exploring or something like that.

It always seemed a bit lame to me that no monsters will appear within the barony while the stronghold is occupied, although I suppose it is possible for monstrous threats from outside of the barony's borders to enter and cause trouble. Is this because the game becomes more focused on political struggles between humans and matters of warfare (and internal conflict among the baron's subjects as per the awesomely-named "Angry Villager Rule") rather than fighting fantastic threats? Or is there some obvious point that I'm missing about the residency of strongholds?

[tetramorph]

You know, mindcontrolsquid, those are good questions.

I always just took it to mean that, once the land was cleared, peasants could farm in safety and the baron could get his geld.

I would still roll from wilderness random encounters for something to happen to any given player's barony within a given game year (or whatever other major unit of time we were using at the barony level, say, month).

Maybe an orc army shows up and lays siege. Maybe the villagers are harassed by nightly vampire "visitors." Either way, the baron must prove his mettle with the villagers or they will loose confidence and flee!

Something like that. My 2cp.

[derv]

I take it to mean that the surrounding land will not have to be cleared again (and again) by the Baron in the future- in other words, the Baron would not need to establish a bunch of satellite forts or constant patrols to assure monsters don't move back in. His stronghold is sufficient to keep monsters from reestablishing. This does not mean monsters will not occasionally wander in, but there will be no lair.

Even when the Baron would go exploring, it is expected that he would leave a garrison. If a Baron totally abandons his stronghold for an extended period of time, I would say all bets are off. Who's there to watch over the vassals citizens, collect the taxes, and man the walls?

[aldarron]

It means the stronghold must be maned and garrisoned. It doesn't much matter if it is the Baron or some steward who stays there.

[Deleted]

What derv and aldarron said.

[coffee]

I've always assumed patrols continued, even after habitation. That's one of the reasons why the land wouldn't need to be cleared again.

And you can add "patrolling troops" to the encounter tables for that area, which may be of interest to other player characters in the same world.

[Porphyre]

It always seemed a bit lame to me that no monsters will appear within the barony while the stronghold is occupied, although I suppose it is possible for monstrous threats from outside of the barony's borders to enter and cause trouble.

I agree with you, here, but I always considered that PC domains were expected to be larger that just one hex. The very hex where the main stronghold stands is considered "safe" but other hexes are more dangerous borderlands. 
As stated above, the baron should built more stongholds if he wants to play "safe" (but such activities may arouse suspicion from neighbouring nobles). 

[mindcontrolsquid]

Oct 18, 2015 5:53:22 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

It always seemed a bit lame to me that no monsters will appear within the barony while the stronghold is occupied, although I suppose it is possible for monstrous threats from outside of the barony's borders to enter and cause trouble.

I agree with you, here, but I always considered that PC domains were expected to be larger that just one hex. The very hex where the main stronghold stands is considered "safe" but other hexes are more dangerous borderlands. 
As stated above, the baron should built more stongholds if he wants to play "safe" (but such activities may arouse suspicion from neighbouring nobles). 

Well, if I remember correctly the book implies that a barony extends in a 20-mile radius from the stronghold (i.e. 4 hexes). It further implies that this territory is kept monster-free; quite an area at that! I suppose it's supposed to represent the spread of "civilization," but it would be nice to have at least sporadic monstrous threats. After all, towns and cities do have a 1-in-6 chance per day of a monstrous encounter (even if it is just men and undead) and one could argue that the rules don't account for areas beneath the barony...

[bycrom]

Oct 18, 2015 6:24:20 GMT -6 mindcontrolsquid said:

Oct 18, 2015 5:53:22 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

I agree with you, here, but I always considered that PC domains were expected to be larger that just one hex. The very hex where the main stronghold stands is considered "safe" but other hexes are more dangerous borderlands. 
As stated above, the baron should built more stongholds if he wants to play "safe" (but such activities may arouse suspicion from neighbouring nobles). 

Well, if I remember correctly the book implies that a barony extends in a 20-mile radius from the stronghold (i.e. 4 hexes). It further implies that this territory is kept monster-free; quite an area at that! I suppose it's supposed to represent the spread of "civilization," but it would be nice to have at least sporadic monstrous threats. After all, towns and cities do have a 1-in-6 chance per day of a monstrous encounter (even if it is just men and undead) and one could argue that the rules don't account for areas beneath the barony...

For domain events I've added this to my DM Binder of Awesome Sauce +3, by Crom!: matt-landofnod.blogspot.ca/2012/02/random-domain-events-for-blood-and.html
Hope you can use it as is or get some inspiration to riff off of!

[Porphyre]

Table of non -naturels events (roll 1d100)
01-03 Assassination attempt
04-14 Bandits
15-16 Emergence of a fanatical cult
17-18 Major cultural discovery
19-32 Espionage
33-39 Spectacular magic event
40-49 Border incident
50-51 Uprising
52-55 Lycanthropy
56-72 Wandering monsters
73-77 Birth in the ruling family
78-83 Raiders from another domain
84-85 Claiming / usurper
86-87 Minor rebellion
88-92 Newly established specialist
93-98 Betrayal
99-00 High ranking visitor

Table of natural events (roll 1d100)
01 Land subsidence
02 Major meteor fall
03 Minor meteor Fall
04-09 Comet
10-13 Trade, oversupply
14-18 Trade, deficiency
19-21 Cyclone 
22-23 new resource discovered
24-26 new trade route discovered
27-31 Epidemic
32 Volcanic eruption
33-34 Explosion
35-45 Major fire
46-47 Small Fire
48-53 Flood
54-57 Change in poulation over 50%
58-59 Death of an official
60-76 Thunderstorm
77-78 Loss of a resource
79-81 Loss of a trade route
82-86 Tornado
87-91 Hail
92-95 Earthquake
96-00 Cloudburst

[howandwhy99]

Agreed with the OP. Wandering Monsters are a thing. Even bears will move towards food undefended. Part of being a Lord is setting up your army and stronghold defenses. How do you patrol your territory? It's another game. And simply being on the premises or absent doesn't change much in the way of Encounters. It's about NPC's acting as you've directed them to based on what shows up over time. You can let them handle it or handle it yourself. But ultimately you want some SOPs for your NPCs which can handle the usual incursions.

Not being home when big stuff happens though is sort of like not being with the NPCs you've sent off tasked with an assignment. Probably bad news.