Estate Mechanics: a Fresh Start

The further I get into any system of estate mechanics (and yes, still thinking and working on this, but slowly), I grow more conscious of the necessity to balance what can be reasonably worked out in game terms without an elaborate program.  All while providing a game experience that will appeal to savvy players.

Regarding the latter.  We have all encountered mountains of game fixes and gamified features in role-playing games ~ and gawd help us, in video games as well ~ that simply failed to grab our imagination. In some cases, we've made these fixes ourselves. While at the outset they seem to manage the problem, after a few uses they've worn out their welcome. An estate management system shouldn't just solve the problem of where the money goes ... it should provide context and purpose, that itself feeds the adventuring spirit. We're not looking for a cheap mini-game or a side quest of "let's build a town." We're looking to create an ongoing, interesting, adventuring companion, where what happens on the estate affects the player's game choices, and where the player's game choices affects the estate.

In the past, I have run such a campaign piecemeal, fitting in as much detail as the players seemed to expect or want. This I did with my offline party, and then again with the Senex campaign when they arrived at Koufonisia. But the latter exposed the inefficiencies of my former strategy, particularly in a venue where numbers can't be calculated in real time on a mutually observable surface.

It is a challenge, then, to create a system that fits a greater requirement than I would need myself: to not only build something that I can use, but that others can also use, especially if I am not there to show them how. Seeing this, I've been moving slowly on how to approach the problem, with an eye to providing solutions that will create fascination and not just accounting.

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