clearing hexes

[sirjaguar]

Suppose you are a lawful character and you encounter a hex within 25 miles from your castle/fort/temple/stronghold/tower that is populated with a large number of neutral monsters (e.g. gnomes) and their reaction is neutral (so they roll a 7 on the reaction table). Must you clear the hex and slaughter them? Or do you have to continue to negotiate (keep rolling reaction) until you either get a definitive hostile or friendly result?

I was playing the "build a kingdom" game solo and this happened several times in a row (once lions, another time gnomes), and I was curious what the consensus is as to how to handle this situation.

The way I played it is I just let the neutral creatures be. My feeble company could not have defeated 330 gnomes in a Chainmail combat, anyway.

[retrorob]

"Kill them all, God will know His own"

[tetramorph]

Did your party know they were neutral, or only you as player at a meta level?

If the party didn’t know, a challenge to battle after negotiations failed would seem in order.

But for my part, if I am playing law, and I usually do, I would not randomly kill a “free” race (vs. “Fell” or chaotic races like Orcs and stuff).

I would keep trying to negotiate. I would add incentives that sweeten the deal so that it could add bonuses to the reaction rolls, etc.

In general, the more free races you have on your land that are willing to accept your claim of lordship the more allies you have to defend you.

[gemini476]

Clearing a hex doesn't have to mean killing all the inhabitants - morale exists, after all! Please consider just asking the trespassing gnomes to leave your ill-gotten property. Or tax them, either works.

Also, of course, note that clearing a hex of monsters is optional. You'll have to contend with wandering monsters if you don't clear it, though, and shouldn't be too surprised if your villages get raided by gnomes. Bloody neutrals.

[Deleted]

Lions are animals, and alignment isn't applicable. They are potentially dangerous animals, but also they are necessary predators, so you could either wipe them out or leave them.

Gnomes? Attacking neutral gnomes would not be lawful. Best negotiate a treaty.

[Starbeard]

As above, plus a reiteration that the treaty should require subjugation. It's your land and your power base; you are effectively setting yourself up as an overlord laying claim to the whole hex. There ain't room enough for the both of you in one hex, and even neutral or lawful creatures within the hex won't simply let you move in and take over without someone bowing to somebody in some way. In certain circumstances, I can even see two Lawful communities going to war if they can't agree on who will be overlords of the hex and neither is willing to let the issue go.