Buildings & New Rules
Table of contents
Creating Buildings & Amenities
Buildings and Amenities have a Rank, just like Weapons and Armor. A Building’s or Amenity’s Rank may provide bonuses to its operation, or the services that Heroes can procure from them.
When creating a Building or Amenity, all Materials used in its construction must be of the desired Rank, or higher. For instance, in Building a Rank 2 House, all Materials used in construction must be at least Rank 2.
Raising a Building takes three days (three Extended Rests) of hard work, for either a crew of Heroes or a construction crew. Raising an Amenity takes either one Hero, or one construction person, one day (a single Extended Rest) to build. During this time, they cannot spend any other time crafting, surveying, harvesting, or adventuring. They may, however, speak with people, write letters, shop, and do other small tasks.
Buildings that are also businesses must be staffed by an Employee to function. See the Employees section for details.
Upgrading Buildings
Buildings and Amenities can be upgraded (or even downgraded!) by deconstructing the existing structure, and creating a new structure in its place. This takes less time than constructing a new Building on an empty lot – two days total for a Building, or one Short Rest for an Amenity.
Upgrading a structure returns Materials, just like deconstructing the old structure would.
Once complete, the final structure may be a new-and-improved version of the old one, or a completely new Building in the place of the old one, as its builders decide.
You may ‘skip’ Ranks while upgrading a structure – for instance, you may upgrade a Rank 1 Inn straight to Rank 3, jumping over Rank 2.
New Tool: Wedge & Shims
The Wedge & Shims is a Mundane Harvesting Tool, used to harvest Stone.
Wedge & Shims (Metal)
Shims are thin slips of metal, used to widen crevices in rock. Once a crevice has been widened, you can then separate stone from the earth with the Wedge. Aids in harvesting Stone.
New Material: Stone
This supplement introduces a new Material type, Stone. Stone is used for creating Buildings: it can be used in place of other Materials that an Amenity, Building, or Castle calls for, on a one-to-one basis. Stone cannot be used to replace Rupees, Desired Materials, or any Special Requirements.
Stone can be found in quarries, caves, and crevasses, along mountains, or in cliff faces. Stone is Surveyed with the Civilization Trait, and Harvested with the Mechanics Trait.
If you lack a Harvesting Tool to quarry stone, you can use Piercing weapons for 1 Durability, or other weapons for 2 Durability.
Suggested names for Stone materials
| RANK | STONE |
|---|---|
| Rank 0 | Gravel |
| Rank 1 | Clay |
| Rank 2 | Granite |
| Rank 3 | Limestone |
| Rank 4 | Marble |
| Rank 5 | Sage Stone |
Stone may be bought and sold, with the same pricing schema as non-Food Materials. Stone may be used to create Chalk, Flint, Flint-Fire Kits, and Bags of Caltrops.
Stone may be eaten by Gorons, just as Metal materials can. Stone is considered to have a rich flavor and a smooth texture, making it quite a desirable foodstuff.
Deconstructing Buildings and Amenities
Buildings and Amenities, much like Weapons, Armor, and Tools, can be deconstructed, destroying the Building and recouping a number of the Materials used in the Building’s construction.
Deconstructing a Building takes one day (one Extended Rest), for a dedicated construction crew or a crew of Heroes. Deconstructing an Amenity takes about an hour (or a single Short Rest). During this time, they cannot spend any other time crafting, harvesting, or adventuring, though they may still speak with people, write letters, and do other small tasks.
When deconstructed, a Building returns:
- 2 Materials of the Rank and Type of the Building’s smallest Material category
- 4 Materials of the Rank and Type of the Building’s middle Material category
- 6 Materials of the Rank and Type of the Building’s largest Material category
When deconstructed, an Amenity returns:
- No (zero) Materials of the Rank and Type of the Building’s smallest Material category
- 1 Material of the Rank and Type of the Building’s middle Material category
- 2 Materials of the Rank and Type of the Building’s largest Material category
In some cases, at GM discretion, you may obtain Stone instead of the Materials typically used to create that Building. This might occur if Stone was originally used to create the Building, if it’s obviously constructed from stone, or if the GM doesn’t want to worry about the exact materials used in construction.
If a category of Materials in a Building or Amenity has a different Rank than the Building itself, then the resultant Materials are of that category’s Rank, not the rank of the Building or Amenity itself.
Some Building types use things other than Materials in their construction. When deconstructing such Buildings, use the following as guidelines:
- Amenities: As if you deconstructed that Amenity on its own.
- Desired Items: Obtain one of the items used in construction (or a similar item if the originals are no longer available).
- Rupees: The Building gives Rupees equal to the Market Price of the number of Materials you would obtain.
Once deconstructed, a Building is entirely and utterly gone, leaving behind only a flat lot or a hole in the ground.
Building Purpose
Buildings can have one of two purposes: For-Profit and Non-Profit.
Non-Profit Buildings are intended to provide public services. They mainly provide their Owners with additional services, be it guards from Barracks, more storage space in Banks, or the innate benefits of having a Tower or Wall as part of a settlement.
A For-Profit Building is a business primarily intended to provide benefits for the owner(s) of the Building. Typically, a For-Profit Building will provide its Owners with Rupees or Materials, as detailed in its description.
Owner Profits & Building Sale Prices
Most For-Profit Buildings provide their Owners an amount of Rupees, accrued per day, based on the Rank of the Building. The Owners receive these Rupees when they visit the Building, or communicate with it by post.
Sometimes, a Building may be for sale directly from their current owners (or from the local government, if the Building is abandoned). A Building’s typical Market Price is listed below, as well.
Like all items, the price to buy a Building flatout starts at twice the Market Price, and the price to sell a Building is half the Market Price.
Haggling can make the price of a Building more favorable, just like with any other purchase - however, since purchasing a Building is such a complex affair, quite often the act of haggling over a Building’s price is an Extended Challenge.
| Building Rank | Profits for Owner / Day | Building Market Price |
|---|---|---|
| Rank 0 | 10 | 300 |
| Rank 1 | 20 | 600 |
| Rank 2 | 40 | 1200 |
| Rank 3 | 80 | 2400 |
| Rank 4 | 200 | 6000 |
| Rank 5 | 400 | 12000 |
Many kinds of Buildings will provide their Owner a Material of their Rank, instead of Rupees. Amenities do not provide their Owners any Profits, nor any other benefits, beyond access to the Amenity.
If a Building has more than one Owner or set of Owners, then the Rupees (or Materials, or other benefits) that the Building provides its Owners must be shared between all Owners. In short, what a Building provides its Owners is in total, not per person.
Profit Boost
For-Profit Buildings can benefit from certain other Buildings in the vicinity (such as Cultural Monuments), from having a wellsuited Employee, or even getting magical blessings or Patronage.
If this is the case, then the For-Profit Building provides a bonus to the Rupees earned by their Owners, based upon the Rank of the benefit. These bonus profits are in addition to whatever profits (Rupee, Material, or otherwise) that a Building might earn for its Owners.
| Profit Bonus Rank | Addt’l Owner Profits / Day |
|---|---|
| Rank 0 | Gravel |
| Rank 1 | Clay |
| Rank 2 | Granite |
| Rank 3 | Limestone |
| Rank 4 | Marble |
| Rank 5 | Sage Stone |
A For-Profit Building can benefit from one Employee-derived Profit Bonus, and four Profit Bonuses derived from any other source.
Employees
Each Building can have a single Employee assigned to it. If you build a Building in a populated area, then you will automatically get an Employee to staff it, though this Employee will provide no additional benefit besides keeping the doors open.
You may find NPCs in your adventures who long for a life other than what they have. If you can employ an NPC who is well-suited to the job of running a particular For-Profit Building, then that Building gains the benefits of a Profit Boost of a Rank equal to that of the Building itself. A well-suited Employee of a Non-Profit Building may provide another sort of benefit.
A Building may only benefit from one Employee at a time.
Receiving Patronage
If an NPC owns a Castle, they may elect to become a Patron of your Building, if your Building is within the Castle’s community and of the Castle’s Rank or lower.
If your Building is For-Profit, then it gains a Profit Boost of the Castle’s Rank. If it is a Non-Profit Building, then you may gain other benefits.
However, with great Patronage comes great responsibility. You (and your fellow party members) who own or are part of a Patronized business are expected to adhere to certain standards of dress, conduct, and respect to the surrounding community; otherwise, your ill-repute may offend your Patron, and the Patronage may be withdrawn. You are also expected to provide the non-Rupee benefits of owning a business to your Patron; see the Patronage section for more details.
Magical Bleesings
The world of Hyrule is full of many magical beings, who may become willing to bless a Building as gratitude for the actions of Heroes. Perhaps it is a Great Fairy, Jabu-Jabu, Malanya, Uncle Rupee, or even the Golden Goddesses themselves who may grant their blessing.
Such blessings may allow fields to grow more food, horses to work harder and faster, or make your Shop Employee an even more shrewd negotiator.
A blessed For-Profit Building gains Profit Boosts with a Rank equal to (the Building’s Rank). A Non-Profit Building may benefit in a different manner.
The number of Ranks depends on the magical being’s power. Lesser figures like Uncle Rupee or Malanya may grant two Profit Boosts, while Hylia or the Golden Goddesses may grant four Profit boosts.
A Building can only benefit from one Blessing at a time.
Breaking and Entering
Sometimes, Heroes or villains may need to enter Buildings they aren’t allowed into.
A Building’s locks have a DC of (Rank x 3) to pick (using Mechanics) or break (using Athletics). The exception is Banks, Castles, and Towers, which have a DC of (Rank x 5).
Some Buildings may have guards - Banks, Barracks, Castles, and Towers will certainly have guards around the clock, but Buildings that have had recent break-ins may pay for guards to patrol their grounds, too.
Avoiding detection from a Building’s guards is a (Rank x 5) DC Agility check. If a Building does not have guards, then remaining unnoticed by its customers and employees is a (Rank x 3) DC Agility check instead.
Sometimes, you may need to break through the wall of a Building, or destroy it entirely. An Amenity or a single square of Building-wall has HP of ((Rank+1) x 10), and Defense (Rank x 2). Barracks, Castles, Towers, and Walls’ squares have ((Rank+1) x 20) HP, and (Rank x 5) Defense. Once broken, a Building’s wall becomes Difficult (but passable!) Terrain.
A Building is destroyed if it sustains four such destroyed walls. It becomes inoperable if it sustains two destroyed walls. Repairing a single destroyed wall takes 5 Materials, of the Building’s Rank and of any type(s) of Material used to build it, as part of an Extended Rest.
Structures have a Vulnerability to Bombs, which deal 4 additional damage to them.
Buildings and Weather
Buildings provide protection from all Weather effects, equal to (the Building’s Rank). A Rank 1 House, for instance, would reduce the effect of a Sandstorm on its inhabitants by 1 Rank.
If a Building’s Rank is insufficient to completely negate a Weather’s effects to Rank 0, then the inhabitants will be uncomfortable, grumpy, and may not be able to get a good night’s sleep.
If Heroes are using a Building to rest, and it is insufficient to protect them from bad weather, then count their resting conditions as one step worse (regardless of how bad the weather is), as per the “Resting and Recovery” section of the Core Rulebook.
This means that, if they are resting in a House or Inn that would also provide them Temporary HP for resting there, then they simply recover fully and do not gain any Temporary HP. If they are resting in some other type of Building, or a Rank 0 House or Inn, then they only recover 50% of their Health, Burned Stamina, and Burned Magic.
Service Prices
Many Buildings offer services to Heroes and townsfolk alike. An Enchanter may imbue your weapons with magic; a Fortune Teller might provide wisdom from spirits; a Post Office could deliver a letter right to the hands of a trusted confidant. All these services come at a price, however!
Just like the price of goods, the price of services are presented as Market Price. This means they are typically modified by a Hero’s Influence and the merchant’s Discipline – usually meaning that the Hero will be spending more than the listed price.
Sometimes, however, a Building’s merchants will forego typical haggling: if the Heroes have done that Building’s merchant a great service, perhaps they’ll provide their services at Market Price, as a way to return the favor. In addition, a Building’s Owner can always use their Building’s services at Market Price.
(Note that the GM may choose to apply the “Fair Market Prices” Assist Mode rule to service prices, making them cost exactly as this book lists them at, for all Heroes – no matter how diplomatic or uncouth they are.)