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  • Oct 11, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Castles

    Introduction

    First of all, a warning: this post mentions plot events that happen pretty far into the story of the original game. With that out of the way, let us proceed!

    If you know even a little bit about feudal societies, that bit about margraves and castles in the overview of Gransys might have sounded a bit strange or even nonsensical to you. What’s this about isolated castles who have to receive their supplies and personnel from the capital instead of drawing them from the surrounding lands? Isn’t that counter-intuitive, inefficient and prone to all sorts of problems when done in a feudal society?

    Yes, it is! Some of those problems are in fact a key plot element in the original game, where poor logistical support causes a revolt against the Duke in one of these castles. The game mentions a few other consequences of this arrangement when they affect its story, but says little else about it. Here I have a bit more space to explore why things work like this in this particular setting. And once that’s done, we’ll show a couple of example castles drawn from the game. No City Stats this time, but I hope the included plot hooks suffice.

    The Border Marches of Gransys

    As mentioned in the post about towns, the society of Gransys is in a state of transition between TL 3 feudalism and TL 4 absolute monarchy. This means that Duke Edmun is taking steps to centralize political power in the capital (and thus, in his own hands), while facing resistance from the feudal lords under him. The way the border castles are set up is a big component of that.

    Unlike what happens with towns and villages, here it’s entirely appropriate to assume that the castles we see in the map are all of them. There’s the Greatwall and the Shadow Fort over in the west, and Windbluff Tower to the east. They’re all located near some pretty dangerous terrain! The first two are literally on top of underground entrances leading to the monster-infested mountain range to the west, and the last one is close to the mouth of a similarly dangerous valley leading to Bluemoon Tower. They define the borders of Gransys as much as the natural landmarks do.

    Now, the way this would work in a purely feudal setting is that the dangerous and important task of maintaining these bulwarks would come with the title of margrave, which is pretty high up in the feudal hierarchy. The margrave gains control of the castle itself and its surrounding lands, and the right to demand tribute and service from their inhabitants. They are expected to use that right to protect and tame those lands, which means they see more fighting than your typical feudal lord. It also means they have more bargaining power than usual when it comes to dealing with their liege.

    The Duke has changed that traditional arrangement in this setting. Rather than delegating this border protection duty to his vassals, he’s had the castles built with his own resources and staffed with soldiers answering to him directly. In our adaptation, the commanders of these forts are still called margraves, but they get none of the traditional perks of the job. Instead, the supplies for these forces come from the central government in a way similar to how a modern military base works. This takes the form of a mix of material resources, new recruits, and money for salaries and additional expenses. The idea is that this gives him more direct control over the duchy, and limits the number of uppity nobles threatening to secede if they don’t get special privileges.

    It works, up to a point. Gransys doesn’t enjoy the efficient logistics network that a truly centralized state would have, and its transportation technology is lagging behind other areas. This combined with the presence of monsters and bandits within the duchy means that the forts are suffering from a chronic resource shortage, which causes all sorts of morale problems. Each of the castles have found a different way of dealing with this, but they don’t quite cut it.

    Someone intent on destabilizing the duchy would surely target these castles. And that’s just what happens in the original game.

    The Shadow Fort

    The Shadow Fort was built over an entrance to the Frontier Caverns, a vast network of underground goblin warrens leading into the mountains to the west beyond Gransys. Its commander has come to an arrangement with the mayor of the nearby town of Hardship, lending detachments of its soldiers to police the lands around the town in exchange for extra supplies.

    The Fort’s main problem is a shortage of personnel. Its current complement is adequate for routine operation in relatively peaceful times, but the greatly increased monster activity pressaging the next coming of the Dragon has greatly increased the pressure on its soldiers. Reinforcements have been requested, but it doesn’t look like they’ll arrive in time, if ever.

    Windbluff Tower

    Windbluff tower was built over the ruins of a castle that was the seat of power for Gransys’ northern county. It guards the entrance of the Windworn Valley, whose crags are home to a large number of bandits and smugglers. It’s been particularly affected by the duchy’s logistics issues, with much of its actual support coming from backroom deals with wealthy merchant Fournival Frescobaldi, who supplies them in exchange for money and for access to those smugglers.

    Since the money often comes from that reserved for the soldiers’ pay and enabling smuggling goes directly against their mandate, morale here is particularly bad. It wouldn’t take much to push them into open rebellion.

    The Greatwall

    The largest of Gransys’ border fortresses, the Greatwall guards the approach to the Tainted Mountain. The mountain and its environs are the site of a previous draconic invasion, and the ruins located there are still home to some of the peninsula’s most dangerous monsters.

    The Greatwall doesn’t actually have many logistic issues, despite being in the most inhospitable location of the three castles. In fact, the upsurge in monster activity has caused resources meant for the other two castles to be diverted here instead.

    The Duke’s Manse

    Unlike the other three, the Duke’s Manse is a castle built and operated along feudal lines! It controls the surrounding lands, which are the Duke’s personal fief, and draws resources from them. Since the Duke already controls this area directly, he is in no rush to change any of this. It’s usually administered by a castellan, as the Duke spends most of his days in the capital.

    Located north of Windbluff Tower, this place is self-sufficient and quite isolated from the rest of Gransys. Few know what goes on in here. As we see in the original game, there’s a reason why it’s labeled the “Blighted Manse” in the map.

  • Oct 10, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Towns

    Introduction

    In this article, we’ll discuss towns in Gransys. Unlike the villages and baronies we discussed in this series’ last post, we actually do have an in-game example in the town of Cassardis. After talking about what towns look like and what narrative themes they enable, we examine a few possible sites for new towns in the map, and finish with two example towns written using GURPS City Stats. One is new, and the other is Cassardis.

    Towns in Gransys

    Towns are not just larger than villages, they’re also made up of more permanent structures and generally less isolated. They see enough traffic and trade from nearby settlements that they can host a perpetual market. They’re also more likely to have walls, which will be either wooden palisades or stone structures.

    While some of a town’s inhabitants are still farmers, they make up a smaller portion of the population. The rest take up the kind of job that requires a higher population to support - builders, professional traders, more specialized artisans. A lot of villages have a blacksmith, but this is the smallest type of settlement where you might find an armorer.

    That’s usually enough for Dungeon Fantasy, but those who want to go deeper into the social aspects of the setting can add some interesting hooks here. This is a world transitioning between TL 3 and 4, and we can extend that to say that it’s transitioning between a feudal, medieval economy and a monetary, Renaissance one. The original game offers some support for this notion during the quests related to Fournival, a merchant who holds no title but has quite a lot of pull with the Court due to his fortune and business deals.

    Towns, then, are where you begin to see the tension between these two economic models. They don’t control a lot of farmland directly, but are the center of a trade network that links all nearby villages, and part of a bigger network connecting other towns further away. It’s quite possible for an enterprising merchant or artisan to make their fortune in this system without ever holding a formal title. Historically, these people were the original burgeoisie, a term which means literally “those who live in cities”.

    Therefore, it will be quite common for a town to be the stage of a conflict between these wealthy merchants or artisans and the nobles that are supposed to rule over them. Nobles that live away from the town in a rural manor will soon find their townie subjects doing things behind their backs. Those who live in town will face more direct resentment if they try to exert direct control over its affairs. And, of course, there’s always the possibility that the nobles and merchants collude to hoodwink the Duke.

    Placing Towns

    Cassardis is right there on the map, but it’s not the only town in Gransys. Where should an enterprising GM place their own made-up towns? They would make interesting replacements for the “rest encampments” present in the original game. Those consist of a handful of tents inhabited by a guard who performs the same functions as an innkeeper and by a peddler who can also enhance weapons.

    In an expanded world it would make logical sense for those spots to contain actual towns, since these are the kinds of services one would be able to find in them. Aside from the possible political conflict outlined above, the GM can take a cue from the neighborhood monsters to determine what other problems would plague each place.

    Example Town: Hardship

    The town of Hardship grew out of a logging camp, and took its name from the lake on whose shores it was built1. Now it’s a trade hub for the villages around the lake, and a rallying point for the caravans bearing tribute to Gran Soren and supplies to the Shadow Fort. Since the latter are few and far between during the best of times, Hardship’s mayor has long had an arrangement with the Shadow Fort’s commander.

    However, he’s had no luck in calling in those favors recently, as the fort’s garrison has been too busy worrying about the goblins massing in the mountains beyond Gransys to do something about the rumors of a dragon sighted in the nearby forest. And it’s unlikely they could do anything to the ghosts that rise from the lake at night. As if the biting, disease-carrying insects that rise from it by day weren’t enough.

    Population: 1,500 (Search -1)

    Physical and Magical Environment

    Terrain: Swampland; Appearance: Unattractive (-1); Hygiene: -2; Normal Mana (Common Enchantment)

    Culture and Economy

    Literacy: Accented; TL: 4; Wealth: Average; Status: -2 to 3

    Political Environment

    Government: Dictatorship, Feudal, Municipality; CR: 4 (Corruption -2); Military Resources: $75K; Defense Bonus: +5

    Example Town: Cassardis

    The coastal town Cassardis was settled hundreds of years ago by people from a different culture than the one dominant in Gransys. Their dress and architecture resembles that of our Mediterranean cultures. Until recently, it was completely independent from the duchy.

    Most of its hardy inhabitants are fishermen rather than farmers. Many actually sail out in boats to harvest the bounty of the sea, which would sound downright suicidal to an outsider. This fish-based diet is complemented by vegetables grown in domestic gardens or in fields outside the town’s sturdy stone walls. Cassardis fishermen also sell plenty of dried fish to the rest of Gransys.

    The people of Cassardis are long used to repelling monster attacks by themselves, and a lot of them receive at least some combat training from an early age. They are well-acquainted with the goblins plaguing the lightly forested hills beyond the town’s fields. These attacks greatly increased in frequency and intensity a while ago, which has prompted a drastic and unprecedented decision from Adaro the village chief. He has requested help from the Duke in exchange for allowing Cassardis to be annexed into Gransys.

    Now Cassardis hosts a garrison of the Duke’s Men, and has to pay taxes and tribute in exchange. Adaro is still chief, and though there is some ressentment against him for the annexation no one can deny the soldiers help keep the town safe.

    In a Dragon’s Dogma campaign, as in the game, this town of badasses is the perfect place for PCs to come from. Its self-reliant nature can help explain where the PC’s adventuring skills come from, and its isolation from the rest of Gransys is a perfect excuse for why they’re initially ignorant of the duchy’s situation. It also has its share of problems that can be looked into, although it’s generally a lot better off than places like the appropriately named Hardship.

    Population: 2,000 (Search -1)

    Physical and Magical Environment

    Terrain: Island/Beach; Appearance: Average (0); Hygiene: 0; Normal Mana (Common Enchantment)

    Culture and Economy

    Literacy: Accented; TL: 4; Wealth: Average; Status: -1 to 3

    Political Environment

    Government: Dictatorship, Municipality; CR: 4 (Corruption -1) Military Resources: $100K; Defense Bonus: +7

    1. The origin of Lake Hardship’s name is lost to history. ↩

  • Oct 8, 2016

    Pathfinder Iconics in Dungeon Fantasy: Lem

    Update: This is the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy version of the character. If you want to see a version for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, click here.

    Another weekend, another iconic character converted to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy! The next template in DF1 is the Bard, which means that after Amiri the Barbarian our next subject is Lem the Bard. Here he is:

    By Wayne Reynolds, Copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing

    You can find his full bio here, and his original Pathfinder stats can be found here. From looking at them we can see the following:

    • Lem was born a slave in the devil-worshipping nation of Cheliax. He escaped in a rather fiery fashion.

    • He hates slavery and slavers, and tends to side with the underdog in most conflicts.

    • Lem has a sling and a shortsword, both sized for a halfling, but prefers to use his magic in a fight. He mostly uses his bard song to bolster his allies, and targets particularly tough foes with hindering spells to make them easier to take down.

    Given the information above, I feel we need to dip into two other DF books to properly portray him. As Lem is a halfling, I’ll need the racial template from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level. And since the d20 Bard Song power is core to his tactics, we’ll need its equivalent from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups.

    As before, the end result hits pretty much all of the same points as the Pathfinder version. Lem’s weapons don’t do a lot of damage, so he’s a lot better off relying on Bard-Song and spells. And while his spells aren’t exactly the same as those of a Pathfinder bard, they still follow the “mostly hinder enemies with a side of helping allies” motif. Good places to spend XP on would be more spells and alternate song abilities.

    Lem, 250-point Halfling Bard

    ST 8 {10}1; DX 13 {40}1; IQ 14 {80}; HT 12 {10}1.

    Damage 1d-3/1d-2; BL 6.4kg; HP 101; Will 14; FP 11; Basic Speed 6 {-5}; Basic Move 51; SM -21.

    Advantages

    • Alarum 2 (DF11, p. 20) {36}
    • Bardic Talent 4 {32}
    • Charisma 1 {5}
    • Halfling Marksmanship 2 {0}1
    • Honest Face {0}1
    • Musical Ability 2 {10}
    • Silence 2 {0}1
    • Voice {10}

    Disadvantages

    • Charitable (12) {-15}
    • Gluttony (12) {0}1
    • Chummy {-5}
    • Impulsiveness (12) {-10}
    • Intolerance (Slavers} {-5}
    • Kleptomania (12) {0}1
    • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}

    Skills

    • Acrobatics (H) DX-2 {1} - 11
    • Acting (A) IQ {2} - 14
    • Carousing (E) HT {1} - 11
    • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 12
    • Detect Lies (H) Per-2 {1} - 12
    • Diplomacy (H) IQ {1}2 - 14
    • Fast-Talk (A) IQ+1 {1}2 - 15
    • First Aid (E) IQ {1} - 14
    • Gesture (E) IQ {1} - 14
    • Heraldry (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
    • Interrogation (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
    • Intimidation (A) Will-1 {1} - 13
    • Merchant (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
    • Musical Composition (H) IQ {1}3 - 14
    • Musical Instrument (Flute) (H) IQ {2}3 - 14
    • Observation (A) Per-1 {1} - 13
    • Performance (A) IQ+1 {1}2 - 15
    • Poetry (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
    • Public Speaking (A) IQ+2 {1}24 - 16
    • Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ {1} - 14
    • Savoir-Faire (Servant) (E) IQ {1} - 14
    • Scrounging (E) Per {1} - 14
    • Shortsword (A) DX+2 {8} - 15
    • Singing (E) HT+4 {1}23 - 16
    • Sling (H) DX+2 {4}5 - 15
    • Stealth (A) DX {2} - 13
    • Streetwise (A) IQ-1 {1} - 13
    • Throwing (A) DX+2 {2}5 - 15

    Spells

    All get +4 from Bardic Talent.

    • Communication and Empathy:
      • Borrow Language (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Borrow Skill (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Compel Truth (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Lend Language (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Lend Skill (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Mind Reading (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Mind-Sending (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Persuasion (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Sense Emotion (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Sense Foes (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Truthsayer (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
    • Mind Control:
      • Bravery (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Daze (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Fear (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Foolishness (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Loyalty (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Mass Daze (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Mass Sleep (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Sleep (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16
      • Terror (H) IQ+2 {1} - 16

    Equipment

    Everything is sized for a SM -2 user unless otherwise noted. Total value and weight is $752 and 5.5kg. Filling the wineskin up with water would bring the total load to 9.5kg and Light Encumbrance.

    • Enchanted Ordinary Clothes [Torso, Limbs]: DR 1*. $50, 0.2kg.
    • Faerie Shortsword [Torso]: Provides 4 FP as a power item. Reach 1; sw-2 cut or thr-1 imp. $400, 0.3kg.
    • Sling [Torso]: Acc 0; Range 24/80; sw-2 pi; $6, 0.1kg.
    • Small Pouch [Torso]: Holds 0.5kg. $3.
    • 10 x Sling Bullets [Pouch]: $1, 0.25kg.
    • 3 x Nageteppo, Smoke [Pouch]: $120, 0.3kg.
    • Flute [Torso]: $13, 0.15kg.
    • Backpack, Small [Torso]: Holds 7kg of gear. $20, 0.5kg.
    • Blanket [Backpack]: $7, 0.33kg
    • Lantern [Backpack]: 2m radius, burns for 8 hours on a full charge. $7, 0.33kg.
    • Oil, 500ml [Backpack]: Good for 3 lantern charges. $20, 1kg.
    • Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.15kg.
    • 2 x Rations [Backpack]: $10, 0.5kg.
    • Scroll Case [Backpack]: Human-sized. Holds up to 20 scrolls and protects them from the elements. $75, 0.5kg.
    • Rope, 3/8”, 10m [Backpack]: Supports 150kg. $5, 0.75kg.
    • Wineskin: Holds 4L of liquid. Currently empty. $10, 0.13kg.

    1. Part of or modified by Halfling racial package. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

    2. Includes +2 from Voice. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

    3. Includes +2 from Musical Ability. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

    4. Includes +1 from Charisma. ↩

    5. Includes +2 from Halfling Marksmanship. ↩ ↩2

  • Oct 6, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Villages and Baronies

    Introduction

    Now that we have an overview of what Gransys and its settlements look like, let’s take a more detailed look at a few specific locations in it, starting with its settlements. Rather than providing an exhaustive list, I’ll describe a few representative examples using GURPS City Stats rules. These will include the two settlements we get in the original game, but also other made-up examples. We’ll go by the order in which these communities are discussed in GURPS Fantasy, from smaller to largest. This first article covers villages and baronies, but it starts with a note on isolated homesteads.

    Isolates

    Gransys is a dangerous place at the best of times, never mind during a draconic incursion. With all the bandits and wandering monsters prowling around, an isolated homestead has about the same life expectancy as a snowball in an oven. Some people still try, though. We find some of these in the original game: every single one is an abandoned shell that is at best deserted, and at worst home to the monsters or bandits who emptied it.

    Villages

    This is the minimum viable settlement size in this dangerous land. Villages in Gransys tend to house 200-300 people, living in wooden houses with thatched roofs. These houses are made so they can be torn down and rebuilt relatively easily in response to environmental changes or to move closer to newly-productive land.

    Villages have a small chapel of the Faith built out of stone, manned by a single priest. The chapel’s grounds also contain the village’s graveyard. Villages not located near a river or stream will have a well.

    The vast majority of villagers are farmers, cultivating the land in a roughly 1 mile (1.6km) radius around the village itself. Few villagers travel much beyond this radius, and even fewer go out further than the manor of their local lord. Some will be artisans such as blacksmiths and tinkers who are capable of supplying the village’s everyday needs. Smaller villages might lack even these, relying on traveling peddlers who make a regular circuit between a set of villages.

    Baronies control about three adjacent villages, with the baron’s manor located in one of them. Between servants, guards and the baron’s family, manor houses contain about 50-60 people. Manorial villages also host markets are irregular intervals, which draw inhabitants from neighboring settlements. Tribute collectors go forth from the manor once a year to make a circuit of the barony’s villages. Part of this tribute is sent on to Gran Soren, and part goes to support the barony itself.

    Placing Villages

    The in-game map of Gransys doesn’t leave much room for villages or manors, but as we already saw it’s compressed by a factor of 10 or so. Using the distances we figured out earlier leaves plenty of space for these new settlements. Most of them will occupy the “plains” on the map - stretches of relatively flat and open terrain. Some will be near forests and occupy themselves with logging and hunting - the latter especially on the north, which would bring in furs for trade.

    Example: Grandvine Barony

    Individual villages, especially if they’re peaceful, are rarely interesting locations to visit. So I cheated a bit for the example and statted up a three-village barony using GURPS City Stats. It’s a little outside the intended scope of the rules, but the numbers involved are small enough that they still work out. I’ve also omitted the Language entry from the stats, as we’re not working with multiple languages in this particular adaptation.

    Grandvine Barony got this name due to the high quality of its manor’s vineyard, but that was a long time ago. Located a few kilometers west of the ruins of Aernst Castle, the barony has been hit especially hard by the bandits who made the castle their base a few years ago. These ruffians took control of the trail linking South and Central Gransys, and regularly attack tribute and trade caravans going through it. They also sometimes raid the barony’s two outlying villages.

    Baron Alecto has a handful of trained soldiers at his disposal, but they are not numerous enough to face the bandits directly. Combining them with a peasant militia might work, but either way it would lead to losses he considers unaceptable. Ser Alexa, his daughter and only heir, is much more impetuous. Having just completed her knightly training, she wishes to rally the neighbouring lords, raise the militia, and mount an assault on the ruined castle. Standing on her way are her father’s concerns and the fact that the neighbouring lords are much less personally affected by the bandit problem, being further away from them and not that interested in sending tribute to the Duke in the first place.

    Population: 1200 (-1)

    Physical and Magical Environment

    Terrain: Plains; Hygiene: -1; Normal Mana (Common Enchantment)

    Culture and Economy

    Literacy: Broken; TL: 4; Wealth: Struggling (x1/2); Status: -1 to 3

    Political Environment

    Government: Dictatorship, Feudal, Municipality; CR: 4 (Corruption -1); Military Resources: $30K; Defense Bonuses: +4

  • Oct 5, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: The Sovereign Duchy of Gransys

    Introduction

    In this post I describe Gransys as a GURPS setting, as it is just before the start of Dragon’s Dogma. Aside from the totally scientific research on its physical size, my sources are the images and story from the original game, and the many scattered bits of GURPS material on what a medieval fantasy setting should look like. These include GURPS Fantasy, the various Low-Tech supplements, and a couple of Pyramid articles. GURPS Adaptations provides the methodology.

    As before, refer to the map over at the Dragon’s Dogma Wikia when necessary. Please note that I made up several of the details below for this article, so if you find something from the original game or a secondary source that seems to contradict this description, that’s why.

    Physical Geography

    Gransys is a sovereign duchy in an unnamed fantasy world. It’s located in a peninsula and bordered by several other nations, from which it is separated by imposing mountain ranges and thick forests. These natural barriers and the sea define its shape, which bears a vague resemblance to a capital J.

    Its southern reaches are warm and relatively flat, with an almost Mediterranean climate near the coast. They are separated from Central and North Gransys by a mountain range. As we go north, we see a rise in elevation and a drop in temperature: Central Gransys is hilly and temperate, with grassy plains and deciduous forests. North Gransys starts as a large plateau and ends as a series of windy mountain passes.

    The duchy’s largest stretch of forest is the Witchwood in South Gransys. It’s dense enough that little sunlight reaches its floor, and does contain a swamp in its furthest depths, but it’s not wet enough to be considered a jungle. Other notable forests include the Verda Woodlands also in South Gransys, and the deciduous Cursewood in Central Gransys.

    Despite having quite a bit of coastline, Gransys has few sandy beaches. Most of those are in South Gransys, with the rest of the coasts being made up of imposing cliffs.

    Gransys’ non-monstrous fauna is similar to our Europe’s, including rabbits, deer, boars, ravens and seagulls. Its monstrous fauna will be discussed in future posts. Its river and sea waters have plenty of edible fish of all sizes, though those sailing too far from the coast risk running afoul of sea monsters.

    Appropriate Survival specialties for outdoorsy characters would be Plains, Woodland and Mountains. Those who spend a lot of time in the deep Witchwood would benefit from Survival (Swamp) as well.

    Gransys has normal mana over the vast majority of its territory, as does the rest of the world. Places where the local mana level varies, if they exist, are small and isolated.

    Technology

    Gransys’ average Tech Level is what you would expect from a Dungeon Fantasy game, which means it’s 4 with a few important exceptions. There are no cannon or firearms, though black powder is known and used in the making of grenades and other explosives. There is no movable type: written knowledge is disseminated using the TL 3 method of hand-copying. Literacy is common in Gran Soren and among priests and nobles, less so among peasants.

    The best armor available are elaborate plate harnesses. Shields are also common even for heavily armored fighters. Though fencing weapons are known, they are not popular in Gransys.

    Unlike standard Dungeon Fantasy, medicine is at TL 4, and is further boosted by the abundance of potent medical herbs in the duchy. Some of those have innate magical properties.

    Transportation is still at TL 3, with naval transporation barely reaching even that. Land-based trade routes are preferred over sea-based ones, due to the large risk posed by sea monsters.

    Agriculture is also at TL 3. Gransys farmers grow wheat and harspud, a peculiar redish tuber rich in nutrients. They also raise cattle. Coastal communities trawl nearby waters for fish. In both cases, meat is often preserved by drying. Other crops include fruit like grapes and apples, often used for making wine and cider.

    Government and Society

    As a sovereign duchy, Gransys is ruled by a Duke who answers to no higher political authority. He is surrounded by a court made up of nobles responsible for smaller holdings within the duchy and by wealthy merchants who gain influence from their commercial dealings with the nobles and the Duke himself.

    The current ruler is Duke Edmun Dragonsbane, who was crowned fifty years ago after defeating the Dragon. His legitimacy is entirely predicated on this feat, as he was a common-born soldier at the time. Despite being at least 70 years old, he’s still in excellent physical shape. He has Status 7.

    There are two counties within Gransys, but they currently exist only on paper. One covers much of South Gransys and used to be centered on Aernst Castle, and the other covered the region around where Windbluff Tower now sits. Their titles are held by Fedel, the Duke’s nephew, and Aldous, the Duke’s chamberlain, and in practice serve to give them the authority to conduct the Duke’s business on his behalf. They are status 5. Someone who received the title of Count and managed to claim the corresponding land would be Status 6.

    Those knights given a direct ducal mandate receive the title of margrave, and this includes those in charge of the three border marches centered around the Greatwall, Shadow Fort, and Windbluff Tower. These castles are meant to defend Gransys from monster attack and foreign invasion, and by ducal decree are supplied from the capital rather than from the surrounding lands. This serves purposes both practical (the surrounding lands are inospitable) and political (ensuring the soldier’s loyalty is to the Duke directly), but in practice causes serious logistics and morale problems. They are Status 4.

    There are many smaller baronies scattered throughout the kingdom and administered from manor houses - most farming villages are technically part of one such barony. The most influent among these barons usually spend their time in the Duke’s court and leave a chamberlain to tend to their day-to-day business. The Duke doesn’t usually concern himself with the affairs of barons as long as they’re punctual with the tribute. They are Status 3.

    Below them are landless knights, who usually serve as part of someone else’s armed forces. Both male and female knights are called by the honorific “Ser”. They are Status 2.

    Skilled artisans and well-off citizens are Status 1, average urban denizens are Status 0, and peasant farmers are Status -1. The completely destitute are Status -2, looked down on by everyone else.

    Status is conferred by title or social convention. You are supposed to be wealthy enought to maintain a lifestyle appropriate to your Status, or to somehow fake it.

    Those who wish to explore Gransys’ stratified society in more detail or make extensive use of GURPS Social Engineering should give the Status 2+ nobles Feudal Rank equal to their Status. This Rank would symbolize their official authority, while Status would be a measure of their social position and political influence. This would make it possible to have a wealthy merchant like Fournival from the original game, who doesn’t hold formal Rank in the feudal hierarchy but has Status 3 or 4. In this model, Fedel and Aldous would have Courtesy Rank instead of the full version, but would still have the same Status.

    If you’re just interested in using Gransys as a backdrop for a Dungeon Fantasy campaign, then Status and Rank don’t really come into play as advantages.

    Religion

    The vast majority of Gransys’ inhabitants follow the monotheistic religion known as the Faith. Its trappings are quite similar to those of real world Catholicism, and the god it venerates is called the Maker. It has existed for centuries, and every village has at least a small shrine or chapel manned by one or more priests. Gran Soren has a huge cathedral in its noble quarter. There is also an Abbey in Northern Gransys, home to an order of nuns dedicated to a humble life of quiet contemplation. The spiritual and administrative center of the Faith lies outside Gransys, in the mainland.

    Ordained members of the Faith go through intense training that ensures they are quite the adept scholars. Aside from theology, they are well-versed in history, ancient languages, and other disciplines. Monks and nuns of the Faith seem to fill a role similar to that of academic researchers in our world.

    In addition to the Faith, there are numerous signs throughout Gransys of an ancient religion practiced in times past. It venerated entities now known simply as “The Old Gods”, associated with the four elements. Its ruined temples are buried under the ground waiting for those bold enough to find them. The Faith regards the religion of the Old Gods with scholarly curiosity, but frowns on anyone who would consider it more than myth.

    Religious Rank in the Faith goes from 0 all the way to 8, but no one in Gransys has a Rank higher than 4 (the head of the Gran Soren Cathedral). Being an ordained priest or priestess confers Clerical Investment in addition to Rank, but brings no supernatural powers. Of course, nothing stops a priest from also studying magic.

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