Nation Builder extension (automation for new kingmaker ap for pf1,pf2,5e and more)
Hello everyone, welcome!
I wanted to announce my recent “side quest” … a set of tools intended to automate and streamline game play for the latest nation building rules from Paizo.
Like many others, I sponsored it years ago as a kick starter and have waited patiently for its eventual release in physical format. As well as the later adaption for Fantasy grounds unity.
However, during gameplay we realized the rules are complex, scattered and it requires a lot of record keeping to manage throughout gameplay. Seriously, I tried to manage the campaign for the first few months via a spreadsheet and it was painful. Initially, it was about 2 hours to complete a given kingdom turn and required a lot of digging up/cross references to the various rules. As a result, the players were quickly losing interest.
I picked up the digital version of the AP from the FGU store and was sad to realize, there is zero automation included (or planned) for helping manage the nation's metadata. It’s great for all the updated maps and story content (if running PF2 at least) but falls short imho for nation building.
Since our group regularly plays online via Fantasy Ground unity, I got the crazy idea of building my own automation to streamline gameplay. Both for myself as GM, to minimize the crazy amount of record keeping, as well as to speed up gameplay with my players.
Now, in comparison -- it's almost a trivial effort. We can complete a new kingdom turn in about 15 minutes, without leaving fantasy grounds at all. Plus the toolset is tracking results of every check attempted, calculating all of the bonuses, etc -- which has turned our game around.
For maximum compatibility, I decided to build it from the start using the core RPG ruleset. This means it works the same regardless of the rulesets and includes full support for Pathfinder 1, Pathfinder 2 or even Dungeons and Dragons 5e. In fact, it will work for any ruleset based off of core RPG.
So, just to be clear -- this toolset makes use of the OGL data from the new Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path. However, it is not meant to replace the need for the actual core material. GMs will need all of the actual source materials, while players should be able to get by with the “free” players guide provided by Paizo.
Currently, the toolset supports all of the new nation building rules and methods, while automating as much as is possible behind the scenes. But managing armies will be another, separate toolset … since it's not needed until half way through the AP and others might want to use it outside of kingdom management.
Armies aside, this will automate the majority of efforts from starting your nation, streamlining and tracking each step during the monthly turns and be useful all the way to the late end game.
PS. Here is a quick link to the relevant Forge "store" page:
https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/1180/view
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Status update (4/24/2023)
Current state (4/24/2023)
The toolset is currently in Beta / QA stage … with full feature set included but some tweaks and bugs to work out.
Toolset is broken up into (3) utilities, each with its own Icon and accessible to the entire party. However, edit permissions are restricted to GM on most fields (except rolling for skill checks).
*Setup Wizard
This colorful popup helps set up new nations, managing all of the math and metadata for you.
Nation Sheet
[Main]
The front page / character sheet of your Nation. Has all of the main metadata at a glance.
[Skills]
Tracks all of the kingdom skills, calculating proficiency bonuses, vacancy penalties, etc.
[Feats]
For the earned nation features as well as kingdom feats recently added just for this AP. The top section also helps track the ongoing state of diplomatic relations with nearby factions.
[Inventory]
This page tracks each of your settlements and all of the buildings constructed within your entire nation.
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Status update - Nation Turns (4/24/2023)
Nation Turn
Tracks all of the metadata involved with each kingdom turn.
[Commerce]
Initiates the start of a new turn. Checks for unrest, vacancy, etc and adjust the penalties with each new turn. Automates the resource dice calculations and much, much more.
[Leadership]
All the possible leadership actions, their DCs auto-computed, required skills and best of all - all the contextual data for the various levels of success.
[Region]
The top section can hold any map / image (I dropped the overland map in there for our campaign). It also supports dropping links, tokens, etc.
The bottom section has all of the relevant region related actions, fully automated and with context included.
[Civic]
This section does a TON of work for us. It tracks all of the building construction efforts in progress for your nation. This is invaluable as many structures take multiple turns to gather all the required resources, often exceeding the “max storage” limit of your kingdom.
Once assigned to a settlement and all the steps completed, they are moved into the [Inventory] tab and removed from this section.
[Events]
Nations can have random events occur each month. There is a need to track any of the ongoing events that might occur, especially events that might take multiple months to resolve. As well, “resolving” an event will add the relevant XP to the nation’s total for you based on the event’s difficulty.
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Nation metadata (gm helper) status 4/24/2023
Nation Data
This last set is intended to help the GM with managing the game play.It puts all of the metadata in one location and greatly speeds up prep time.
[Actions]
A full list of all the kingdom actions, so GM can update as they see fit. It's possible to create, delete or modify any of the actions - even the skills they depend upon, etc. This is helpful when dealing with certain feats that do things like “use MAGIC in place of Engineering”.
[Building]
This is a full list of every possible building type in the new system. The popup includes all of the available metadata, prerequisite skill training and build requirements.
There is also a quick button to ADD any of them into the CIVIC section, to make planning out settlements much easier.
[Logs]
This last section was most recently added. During game play, we realized we needed a simple method for tracking what actions were taken each month. Some actions have penalties or cannot be done if you completed them in the previous month.
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5.26 - fixed client action and logging permissions
update 5.26.2023
Toolset is nearly feature complete, just a few random bugs to clear up.
this update includes;
* Minor syntax updates and layout changes.
OOB Handlers
Implemented solution to provide clients update permissions in specific cases.
* Clients were unable to update Fame or Resource Points.
* Client skill checks were also not being logged.
Building Details
Added the full descriptions, item bonuses and other effects for possible structures - everywhere the structures are used.
* GM > Buildings tab
* Turn Manager > Civics tab
* Nation Sheet > Structures
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re: recommended books for pf1e
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Morenu
Nice! bought.
Now could someone put links to the materials that are needed/should be used for PF1e campaign? our campaign is heading this direction so would love to surprise the DM with this.
Minimum pf1e
Personally, for my pf1e campaign; I used the original Kingmaker APs and books from the 2022 Kingmaker / Kickstarter.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store...ZOSMWPZO9031FG
Besides the AP content, the kingmaker pf1e bestiary is essential - as it includes all the updated stats for bosses, creatures and traps.
https://paizo.com/products/btq02e0f?...maker-Bestiary
Everyone can download the updated players guide for free, for kingdom making - so that's about the minimum needed to get started.
Also, if you plan to use the camping rules - recommend lots of ready maps for camping (forest, river, hills, ruins, swamp)
Adding training to new buildlings
I have added new actions the players can do successfully and they show up in the correct field. Just needed to hit the enter key after typing something in, instead of just mouse clicking to another field.
I am still having a problem with new structures in the Nation Data. I have added about 4 structures, moat, cistern, dance hall, etc, but I cant get the training field to stick. For example, for Moat, I want it to use the Engineering skill. If I type Engineering into the training required and hit enter, it has it in there. But it doesn't save it. Have tried a few things and might be a bug. It's that same way for the 4 structures I have created.I have already added them to settlements the players have, and thought maybe that is what is causing the issue, but wasn't sure. Wanted to let you know. Looking forward to the Army portion of the extension. Going to wing that for now.
Miloh
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re: tracking the various work sites and farms
oops :p forgot to mention the other new features!
Work Sites and Farms
I added a new section, to keep track of various work sites and farms in the Nation.
(i.e the sources of commodity income)
It tracks the meta data for each;
- work site name
- work site location
- resource types (Food, Lumber, Luxuries, Ore, Stone).
- special resource (if true, it doubles the income)
- critical success (if true, next turn it provides double -- then resets this to false)
Plus auto-populates (2) remaining fields;
- normal monthly income
- monthly income, next month
You can access this new list, (2) different ways;
- double click in any of the "income" fields, under COMMODITIES
- or click the (new) "Work Sites" button on the REGION tab
Region tab improvements
First, we now have a "work sites" button (see above) ... as this is where new sites are established.
Also added up/down buttons to the "size" field, on the REGION tab (of Turn manager)
Since this is the phase where new hexes are claimed (or abandoned).
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