[Written by Jacob, with some revisions by the Scribes–thanks Jacob! Like most of the game, these are provisional rules and are subject to change as we learn better how they interact with everything]
or Institutions Expanded
Much like the expanded merchants (Piedrajoya Guild), these rules fall back on the basics presented by Ben L:
http://maziriansgarden.blogspot.com/2020/03/downtime-activities-building-institution.html
However, I wanted to expand upon institutions, the benefits, risks, and tools an institution might have. Granted, these could all be ignored, falling back to the original institutions, and working with the DM for whatever one might want to have happen. These are simply another tool in the world-engagement toolkit.
To start, first here are the various tiers of institution provided by Ben:
Inconsequential
Minor
Middling
Major
Influential
(In)Famous
Legendary
Advancement and expenses related therein will continue to use the existing rules.
What is not commented on much in Ben’s post, however, is the benefits, resources, or other features, tools, etc that owning an institution might confer. That is what I propose to expand upon here.
There are times when one has money, and wishes to invest in one's institution, but not necessarily to "build it up" to the next level (i.e. from Minor to Middling)--perhaps one would rather spend money on better infrastructure or certain assets, without necessarily increasing the "clout" of the institution as represented in the table above.
It is also possible that one wishes to utilize an institution to expand the scope of available actions–have your employees research something for you, or perhaps even engage in the takeover of another institution! These proposed rules provide a framework for undertaking such actions.
Those who do not wish to worry about minutiae need not worry–they can continue to build their institution in peace without reference to these rules, and NPC institutions won't take action against them, other than through the normal complication rolls. These rules are entirely voluntary.
Assets
and Infrastructure
The
core concept being proposed here is that institutions can be expanded
or improved by the acquisition of assets or the building of
infrastructure (physical or procedural). At the moment, assets
generally refers to people and infrastructure to physical
improvements, but these ideas could certainly be expanded.
An institution is limited to the number of assets or infrastructure improvements it can encompass at any particular level; once that number is reached, the institution must be improved by "Building an Institution" before any further improvements can be added.
*this refers specifically to Assets; the prices of Infrastructure improvements are always subject to negotiation with the Referee
Assets
At
the moment, this list of assets is almost entirely "human
resources" based, i.e. trusted employees or a base of workers.
This is not an exhaustive list, but a list of examples; other ideas
are certainly welcome, especially regarding non-person based assets
that might improve an institution's functions.
Steward
Slaves
Owning
slaves grants an institution the ability to ‘work overtime’
during a month, as slaves cannot simply decline to work. This grants
the institution 50% greater income for that month, but 25% reduced
income for the following, as the slaves are all exhausted and
continuing to work them overtime would inevitably result in several
(if not all) of them dying.
Spy
Having
a Spy allows an institution to take 1 “gather information”
downtime action per month.
Above and beyond a normal ‘guard’ or ‘mercenary’ this individual is a permanent addition to your institution’s retinue. A ghilman is a level 1 Fighter, and comes equipped with mail, a sword, and shield. However, they are a member of the institution, and not a hireling. They do not go on adventures, but may be involved if ‘adventure’ comes to the institution. They are leveled using institutional upgrades, but cannot go higher than level 4 (unless they somehow earn experience from an adventure session). Their equipment does not upgrade, any such upgrades must be provided explicitly by the institution.
Merchant
A
merchant has two options any given month, the institution may select
either at the start of the month. The first is to simply increase the
income of the institution by 5%, as they are highly skilled in
wheeling and dealing. The second is to provide 1 “finding the right
buyer” downtime.
Alchemist
An
alchemist allows an institution to take 1 “Alchemical Pursuit”
downtime action per month. They will still need to be provided with
any relevant materials/etc.
Sage/Researcher
A
sage allows an institution to take either 1 “magical research” or
1 “non-magical research” downtime action per month. They will
still need access to any relevant library/knowledge/etc.
Infrastructure
This
refers to either physical improvements to the institution, i.e.
building a new structure or improving an existing one, commissioning
a new ship, &c. OR investing in better business practices to
allow the institution to work more efficiently.
Because these improvements could be pursued in a variety of ways, which involve radically different prices, infrastructure improvements must be proposed to the Referee, who will then provide quotes on prices, timeframes, &c. The only exception to this is that once per institutional level a proprietor may choose to improve his or her institution by streamlining business practices to insure an Income.
This process costs the same as an asset at the same level, but the income varies depending on the type of service an institution offers. For example, a fishing enterprise would receive a vastly different kind of monthly income than a whitesmith's shop. They're just very different business types. (the equivalent cost is mostly for ease of the game, but could perhaps be envisioned as e.g. a whitesmith needs very good tools that will last a long time; a fisherman needs to a large amount of lower cost tools and supplies, rations for his crews, caulking for his boats, &c. &c. … just to aid the imagination in what's going on)
Upgrading
an Asset
After
the first level of an institution the option to Upgrade your assets
becomes available. Doing this grants a number of bonuses, depending
on the type of bonus offered by the asset. An asset can be upgraded
multiple times, but some benefits will have maximums.
The cost to upgrade an asset is half the price for an asset at the level the institution is at, i.e. a Minor institution with a Ghilman asset could upgrade the Ghilman with another level by paying 250 dinars.
Assets that grant downtime actions gain a +1 to the roll (maximum +3)
Assets with levels go up once in level (maximum level: 4)
The asset is unavailable for a number of weeks equal to the level they are increasing to, as they undergo training
Assets that provide a bonus to income have that bonus increased by 2%
This does not impact reduced income
Institutional
Actions
NOTE:
None of these actions can be taken upon a Player institution which is
-not- participating in the use of these rules. NPC Institutions are
assumed to be taking these actions through the complications table,
not rolled explicitly.
In addition to setting up new assets I also put forth actions that an institution may take, with their assets. Note that institutional actions take 1 month to complete (rather than 1 week), and during such time an asset does not provide their normal benefits. However, an institution is not restricted to a single action per month. They may take as many actions as are made available by their assets.
Like other downtime actions, 2d6 are rolled to determine the outcome. However, because an institution is performing these, and thus there is logistics, communication between several parties, and the organization of those things, they are inherently more difficult and prone to failure. A roll of 2-5 results in consequences, 6-8 is simply failure with no additional consequences, 9-15 are success, with anything above a 15 indicating remarkable success. Note that remarkable success is not possible without fully upgrading an agent, and even with that there is still some chance of consequences.
Circulate
Rumors
The
agents of the institution begin circulating rumors about another
institution. This causes the target institution to risk losing a
level if they don’t respond over the course of the next 2 months.
If the rumors are true this roll is at +1.
A Steward asset provides a +1 (increasing by +1 per upgrade to a maximum of +3).
Covert
Assault
Covert,
in that it would obviously be illegal to take any overt hostile
actions against any institutions of Cothon-Gadeed. Add a +1 to this
roll for each level of any soldiers or spies participating. Taking
this action has an increased difficulty, in that your roll is
additionally reduced by 1 for every level of ghilman in the target
institution.
Successfully completing an assault allows you to select one of the following:
Steal an asset of the target institution (only if you have previously gotten enough intel to identify a specific asset)
It does not automatically work for you, but you can begin to convert it (DM’s discretion, likely a custom clock)
Assault an asset
Destroying notes, infrastructure, or otherwise wreaking havoc around an asset to reduce its level, and ultimately remove it from play.
This brings an asset down 1 level, if the asset is already at level 0 (ie: has no upgrades) then it is removed from the institution.
Gather
Intel
Similar
to the normal downtime activity, this has an additional benefit of
informing you to one of the following, chosen before rolling:
The types of assets an institution owns (but not the count)
The number of a specific kind of asset
Can be done without knowing which assets an institution owns, but the result may return 0 if they do not own any.
The identities of key players of an institution (excluding fully secret individuals)
The identity of a single secret individual associated with an institution
A Spy asset provides a +1 (increasing by +1 per upgrade to a maximum of +3).
Rebuild
This
is the process of rebuilding, retraining, or otherwise recovering
after a successful assault, and so cannot be taken if the institution
does not have lost or damaged assets. This downtime does not require
any rolls, but it does require investment of dinars. Rebuilding a
damaged asset only ‘rebuilds’ a single level per use.
Any number of assets can be rebuilt during a single downtime. The cost to take the ‘rebuild’ action scales with the number of assets being rebuilt. The cost is 250 x (the number of assets being rebuilt, squared). So the first asset is 500 dinars, the second 1000, the third 2250, and so on. This represents the additional labor, materials, etc that are required to organize and manage increasingly larger efforts.
Hostile
Takeover
For
when you’re so wealthy and powerful you can just walk over to the
next guy and say “I own you now”. A hostile takeover actually
requires several Institutional Downtimes, and is a custom clock.
During a hostile takeover neither institution may increase their
rank.
To progress the clock you must first expect dinars equal to 35% of the cost to attain whatever level of institution the target is currently on. Then roll the Institutional Downtime normally. On a remarkable success the cost is reduced to 25%.
Hostile Takeover Clock:
First, you have to begin buying up resources and redirecting customers to yourself. This is a slow process, but begins putting the pressure on the target institution.
Next you start leaning on the members and assets of the institution. Making them wish they were in your institution instead.
Finally, before you fully take over the institution, you have to put pressure on the leadership. Make them feel like there is literally no other option but to accept your buy out.
And, at last, the pay off. Your institution absorbs the target, taking over all their assets, any explicit resources. Their members may choose to leave, rather than join the new institution. Any relationships the target institution had transferred to you at -2 levels (minimum 1)
Consequences
and Complications
If
your Institutional Downtime resulted in a complication, roll 1d8 on
the table below.
Blackballed. You have been blackballed by (roll 1d6: 1: Guild of Stewards, 2: The slave merchants of Cothon, 3: The fighting institutions, 4: Merchants guild, 5: Guild of alchemists, 6: Sage’s guild) and until reparations are made worth 1d30x100 dinars you cannot hire any new assets of that type, and any downtimes relating to those actions are at a -1.
Retaliation! The target institution will take an Assault action upon you at their next possible chance.
Rumor mongering… The target institution discovers your plots, and begins rumor mongering against you.
Pay offs… In order to keep the authorities out of your business, you have to pay 3d100 dinars, ensuring the silence of the parties involved. If you do not, your activities will be alerted to the authorities.
Damaged Asset… A random asset involved in the action becomes damaged 1 step.
Hostile Takeover! If possible, the target institution increases 1 step on a Hostile Takeover track against you. They will not increase it manually, but if this result is rolled too many times it may cause you to become a subsidiary of another institution.
Overextended. Your attempts to complete your task at any cost have overextended the institution. Your institution functionally drops down 1 level, though you do not lose any assets associated with your previous level. In order to return you must pay 75% of the cost, and redo the Building and Institution roll.
The authorities are alerted! Whatever the reason, they are certain your institution is to blame for some major crime. They will remain ‘alerted’ for 6 months, unless you find some way to dissuade them or otherwise distract them.
The
Authorities
For
the purposes of these mechanics, if the authorities become ‘involved’
in your institution, it is NOT a good thing. Your institution becomes
under heavy watch, routinely audited by the relevant Kataba, and your
ability to execute Assaults is entirely removed. Circulating Rumors
and Gathering Intel are both rolled at -3.
Beyond that, however, it is up to the DM how this otherwise impacts your institution and the members therein. Perhaps it leads to a legal (or regular) battle in the arena? Perhaps it leads to government raids on your assets, increased taxes, or even mercenaries contracted to ‘deal with the problem’. If an institution either remains with the authorities ‘alerted’ for more than 6 consecutive months, or gains a consequence that alerts the authorities while they are already alerted, then the DM should determine some grander result of “the law” coming down upon the institution.
The picture of the "corporate pirates" is exactly what came to my mind as I started reading through this! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI love the pirates of the "accountan-sea"!
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