Steading Improvements

Improvements are the long-term projects that make your steading bigger, richer, safer, and stranger. They're not personal gear — they belong to the community.

How improvements work

• One common pool. Every steading works from this same list. Some entries require others first.
• Each entry has: a name, a line of flavor, Requires (what must be true or gathered), and Effects (what the steading gains).
• You build one by Make a Plan (the GM names what's needed — items, people, time, risk) and Pull Together (the GM rolls a number of d6 equal to Population, taking the highest, on the community's behalf).
• Requirements may name a Value (see 01-character/value.md) for goods and materiel. A wagonload of timber, a cartload of trade goods, and so on.
• Ongoing costs. Some improvements must be maintained — pay the cost each season, or lose the improvement (and its effects).
• The GM may offer other improvements during play. This list is the common pool, not the ceiling.

Pacing note: Pull Together steps are measured in seasons. An improvement is a season-scale project, not a session-scale one. Expect 2–4 steps for most.

Additional Housing

It's getting crowded — we need room to grow.

Requires either:

• An exceptional engineer or foreman to design roomier houses on the current land, or
• Building on parts of the fields (−1 Surplus generated each autumn)

Then: Pull Together 4 times (each: 1 season, 1 Surplus, a wagonload of timber & goods (Value 2)).

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Add the new homes to the map
• When consuming Surplus in winter, treat Population as 1 lower

Herd of Horses

Imagine what we could do with a dozen fine steeds.

Requires all of:

• A site for a proper stable & corral
• Pull Together to build the stable & corral (1 season, a wagonload of timber (Value 2)); add it to the map
• Someone skilled in riding & training horses
• A small herd (~a dozen), acquired through trade or capture
• Train and break them to saddle & plow
• Additional saddles, harness, plows, etc. (Value 2)
• Pull Together to teach the villagers to ride (1 season, 1 Surplus)
• Someone to mind the herd & stable full-time

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Replace the steading's pair of sturdy draft horses with a herd of horses; note its size
• When you leverage horses to Pull Together, it takes half as long and costs half as much
• When you Requisition half the herd or less, treat a bust as a success with no sixes
• Each summer, the herd grows: yearlings become trained horses (Value 3), foals become yearlings (Value 2), and the herd gains foals (Value 1) equal to 1d4 + Fortunes (min 0)
• Each winter, the herd consumes 1 Surplus per 6 grown/yearling horses; for every Surplus you can't pay, lose 1d6 horses

Requires Herd of Horses: Aurochs Hunting depends on this improvement.

Aurochs Hunting

Large herds form in the open country each spring. The Hillfolk hunt them, but your steading has never learned to.

Requires 2 of:

• Herd of Horses (and hunters to ride them)
• Cooperating with the Hillfolk
• A cunning plan

Then: a successful first hunt, played out in detail.

Effects:

• Add "Aurochs hunting (meat, hide, horn)" to Resources
• When leading the hunt in spring, the GM rolls a number of d6 equal to Defenses, taking the highest, on the community's behalf:
  • On a 6, gain 1d4 Surplus
  • On a 4–5, gain 1d4 Surplus, but pick 1 complication
  • On a 1–3, pick 1 complication — or pick 2 and gain 1d4 Surplus

Complications:

• 1d4 of the steading's horses are lamed or killed
• A number of locals are injured; mark diminished
• The GM picks an NPC present; they are killed
• The Hillfolk are somehow offended
• The herd is weak; hunting next year will wipe them out

Mill

We've got our pick of millstones. With a mill, we'd have better bread and more time for other crafts.

Requires all of:

• An exceptional engineer or foreman
• A convenient, consistent power source (wind on a hill, a waterwheel, a Herd of Horses, magic, etc.)
• A building site able to harness that power source
• Pull Together 2 times (each: 1 season, 1 Surplus, a wagonload of timber (Value 2), rope & goods (Value 2))
• A full-time miller

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Add "Mill" to Resources & draw it on the map
• When the autumn harvest is complete, the steading generates +1 Surplus
• When you Outfit, hold +1 Preparation

Expanded Trades

Specialization is the key to prosperity!

Requires one of:

• Harnessing the Stream (pending — not yet written)
• Raincatching (pending — not yet written)
• Mill

Plus at least 2 of:

• A chandler with extensive tools & supplies (Value 3)
• A glassblower with full glassworks (Value 3)
• An exceptional weaver with good tools (Value 2) & a reliable Whitefang wool supply
• An exceptional potter with good tools (Value 2) & a reliable, excellent clay source
• An exceptional smith with a newer, hotter forge (Value 3)
• Some other exceptional tradesperson with appropriate tools & supplies (Value 2 or 3)

Effects:

• Increase Prosperity by 1
• If you cease to meet requirements, decrease Prosperity by 1

Raincatching

Filling the cistern takes so much work. Surely we can do better!

Requires all of, in order:

• An exceptional engineer or foreman to design a system of roofs, gutters, and conduits
• Enough slate or terracotta to roof all buildings and construct gutters and conduits (Value 3)
• Pull Together 3 times (each: 1 season, 1 Surplus)

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Add "Raincatching" to Resources
• When summer's Seasons Change roll comes up 4 or higher, the steading generates 1 Surplus

Harnessing the Stream

A shallow stream runs just below the steading. If only it could be harnessed!

Requires 2 of:

• Some method of making water flow uphill
• A series of aqueducts from the stream's source back to the steading
• A reservoir to contain the diverted water

Effects:

• Add them to Resources
• Increase Fortunes by 1
• When spring breaks forth and the Seasons Change roll comes up 4 or higher, the steading generates 1 Surplus

Palisade

A wall of sharpened logs, 10 feet tall, to keep evil at bay.

Requires all of, in order:

• Lots of timber (~20–25 wagonloads) (Value 3)
• A competent engineer or foreman
• Lots of rope, nails, pitch, etc. (Value 2)
• Pull Together (1 season, 1 Surplus)

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Add "Palisade" to Fortifications & draw it on the map
• When you take advantage of the palisade, you have advantage to Deploy

Stone Wall

No mere palisade of wood, but a mighty rampart. We have the stone, after all.

Requires all of, in order:

• An exceptional engineer or foreman
• A stonecutter with an able crew
• Equipment, tools, and materials (Value 3)
• Pull Together 3 times (each: 1 season, 1 Surplus, materials (Value 2))

Effects:

• Add "Stone Wall" to Fortifications & draw it on the map (erase Palisade if you had it — but keep the Fortunes it granted; only the physical wall is replaced)
• When you take advantage of the stone wall, you have advantage to Deploy
• When winter grips the land, the steading consumes 1 less Surplus than normal

Standing Watch

Some full-time warriors would make us all safer, no?

Requires all of:

• A veteran warrior able to command a crowd
• At least 6 well-equipped, willing warriors
• Steading leaders agreeing to support full-time training & watch

Effects:

• Add "Standing Watch" to Fortifications & draw it on the map
• At the start of each season, the watch consumes 1 Surplus or disbands
• When you specifically involve the watch in a move, treat Defenses as 1 higher

Weapons of War

Spears are great, but how about axes, picks, swords?

Requires either:

• Acquire a few dozen good swords, battleaxes, maces, flails, warhammers, etc. (Value 3), OR
• All of: a smith with full staff & upgraded tools (Value 2), a cartload of good iron ore (Value 2), and 4 seasons of smith work

Plus:

• A veteran warrior able to command a crowd
• Pull Together to train the militia with the new weapons (1 season, 1 Surplus)

Effects:

• Increase Defenses by 1
• Add "Weapons of War" to Fortifications & draw it on the map
• Each spring, expend 1 Surplus to maintain & replace the steading's weapons
• When you Outfit or Have What You Need, treat maces, flails, battleaxes, warhammers, and all sword types as common items
• Battleaxes & swords have piercing equal to the steading's current Prosperity

Well-Trained Militia

Everyone can use a spear and shield, but some hard drilling could make us a force to be reckoned with.

Requires:

• A veteran warrior able to command a crowd

For each tactic, Pull Together (1 season of drills, 1 Surplus):

• Archery: barrages, ranged ambushes, sniping
• Cavalry (requires Herd of Horses): fighting from horseback, charges
• Formations: shield walls, wedges, phalanx
• Readiness: patrolling, reacting quickly to alarms
• Skirmishing: ambushes, harassing, hit-and-run

Effects:

• When you Deploy using a trained tactic, you likely act from a position of strength (you pick the consequence on a 4–5, not the GM)
• When the militia is trained in 2+ tactics, increase Defenses by 1
• Each summer, the militia must spend 1 Surplus & a week practicing or lose training in 1 tactic

Market

We're at most an afterthought for traders. We need to change that.

Requires 1 of:

• A compelling good or service exclusive to your steading
• Establishing some other reason to visit (a place of pilgrimage, etc.)

Plus:

• A dedicated market site & draw it on the map
• A trusted arbiter able to enforce rulings on trade matters
• Four seasons in operation without notable violence, banditry, theft, etc.

Effects:

• Increase Prosperity by 1
• If you cease to meet the requirements, decrease Prosperity by 1
• When the season changes to spring, summer, or autumn and the market is active & Population is +1 or better, the market generates 1 Surplus

Inn

The public house offers a common room and shelter for horses, but it's hardly a proper inn.

Requires all of, in order:

• A designated building site
• A competent engineer or foreman
• Furnishings, equipment, and materials (Value 3)
• Pull Together 2 times (each: 1 season, 1 Surplus, materials (Value 2))
• A small, devoted staff (innkeep, cook, ostler, etc.)

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• Name the inn; add it to Resources & draw it on the map
• When the season changes, the friendliest among you prompts the GM to roll a number of d6 equal to Fortunes, taking the highest, on the steading's behalf:
  • 6 — ask the GM 3 questions about the wider world
  • 4–5 — ask 1 question
  • 1–3 — ask 1 question, but the GM also describes trouble from the inn or its guests
• Once per season, expend 1 Surplus and bring folks together at the inn to clear one steading debility

Greater Harvest

Beyond the Old Wall, the prairie grass of the open country chokes out any crops we try to grow.

Requires 1 of:

• Doubling the yield of crops inside the Old Wall
• Clearing and taming new fields beyond the Old Wall

Effects:

• Increase Fortunes by 1
• When the autumn harvest is complete, gain +1d4 Surplus

Heroic Reputation

Few have heard of our heroes. Yet.

Requires any 3 of:

• Impressing a band of Hillfolk
• Braving a lake and coming back with proof
• Saving many residents of a neighboring settlement
• Saving someone from beyond your steading
• Hiring a minstrel to tell your tales (Value 2)

Effects:

• Gain the move: When you first meet someone from beyond your steading, the GM rolls a number of d6 equal to Fortunes, taking the highest, on the steading's behalf — on a 6, you say what they've heard about you or your steading and gain advantage on your next move against them; on a 4–5, you say what they've heard; on a 1–3, the GM decides what they've heard.

Township

Will this ever be more than a backwater steading?

Requires all of:

• Population +3 for 4 consecutive seasons
• Additional Housing
• Raincatching or Harnessing the Stream
• At least 4 other improvements
• A formal government of some sort

Effects:

• Population resets to +0 — at town scale, the stat abstracts differently
• When you Muster, Pull Together, or Trade & Barter, you have advantage
• When the season changes to spring or summer, the town generates Surplus equal to Population +1
• When winter grips the land, roll 2d6 +Population to consume Surplus (instead of 1d4 +Population)

Open questions

• [x] Raincatching vs. the Cistern dial. Resolved 2026-10-27. The Cistern dial was reworked so all three options (Maker Vault / Old Shaft / Stepped Basin) require manual labor to fill and can hide mysteries later. The old Rain-Catch cistern option is gone, so Raincatching no longer collides with the dial.
• [x] Harnessing the Stream vs. the Cistern dial. Resolved 2026-10-27. All cisterns are now hand-filled from the stream, so a stream below the steading is consistent with every option.
• [x] Spring Surplus. Confirmed good, keep as-is (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Stone Wall — Pull Together count. Trimmed to 3 for duet pacing (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Stone Wall — Fortunes on upgrade. Confirmed: Palisade's +1 Fortunes stays when you build the Stone Wall (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Stone Wall — "materials" wording. Confirmed: use materials (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Fortifications list. Resolved: a Fortifications section now lives in steading-stats.md (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Cumulative Surplus drain (military trio). Intended — leave as-is (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Defenses stacking ceiling. No cap — leave as-is (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Standing Watch — "treat Defenses as 1 higher." Wording fine as-is (Kaia, 2026-10-27).
• [x] Inn — steading debilities list. Resolved 2026-10-27. Rhune now defines three steading debilities — Diminished / Lacking / Malcontent — in steading-stats.md. The Inn clears one per season.
• [x] Market + Inn both add to Resources. Resolved 2026-10-27. A Resources section now lives in steading-stats.md (the Prosperity-side counterpart to Fortifications). Mill, Raincatching, Harnessing the Stream, Market, and Inn all add there.
• [x] Heroic Reputation — who rolls? Resolved 2026-10-27: keep it a GM move — the GM rolls the steading's Fortunes dice on its behalf (Kaia).
• [x] Township — Population reset. Resolved 2026-10-27: keep the reset to +0 — growth abstracts at town scale (Kaia: "I like your instinct").
• [x] Township — extra effects. Resolved 2026-10-27: keep both (spring/summer Surplus = Population +1; winter consumption 2d6 +Population — a quantity roll, kept intentionally heavier) (Kaia).
• [ ] Fortifications/Resources "lost" wording. Both sections say losing a resource/fortification triggers a debility or a stat drop — good hook for the threats work (Stage 3's last piece).