The Sunbold Farm

EveningStardew Valley, more like

One of the conditions for Trigg being allowed to marry Emelda was that he purchase a farmhouse for her to live in. The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar has an entry for a ruined farm in the town key, so I decided he could purchase that and make it just about livable for 2,000 gp. In doing so he had to swear an oath of service to Lady Winter and pay 200 gp in taxes each month. 

In its current state the farm makes no income and Emelda isn’t going to want to live in a burnt-out shell of a building forever (especially once they discover that she’s pregnant), so I figured that I should draw up a little system for his new money sink. 

The farm is a difficult property to manage because it is attached to a sizable area of waste land. Situated near the mouth of Eveningstar Gorge, the Sunbold Farm is vulnerable to monster attacks and has lain untended since the farmhouse was burned down in a goblin raid.

Labor: each week of labor performed adds the laborer’s Hit Dice + Str or Con bonus to the purchase price for a farm upgrade. For example, as a fighter with 17 Strength Trigg would roll 1d8+2 for a week’s labor. It is not possible to recover HP while laboring on the farm.

Hired hands may be available seasonally at 1 gp per week. They roll 1d4.

Stage 1 – Ruinous

• Purchase Price: 2,000 gp

• Monthly Expenses: d00 gp

For this stage only, ½ of all monthly expenses count towards the upgrade cost for Stage 2. Essentially the farm is in such bad shape that many of the things they need to spend money on can’t help but improve the state of the property.

Stage 2 – Functional

• Upgrade Cost: 2,000 gp

• Monthly Income: d00 gp

• Monthly Expenses: d00 gp

At this point the farmhouse is just about capable of subsistence agriculture. The new thatch doesn’t leak, the hearth works, you can draw water from the well, and they have minimal but barely-sufficient tools and furnishings (pots and pans, a spare chair for guests, a loom for Emelda, most of the tools Trigg needs for farm work, etc.). It has a sheep pen (the sheep Trigg received as a wedding gift are currently housed on his father-in-law’s land), some free-range chickens, and a tiny kitchen garden.

Stage 3 – Prosperous

• Upgrade Cost: 5,000 gp

• Monthly Income: 2d00 gp

• Monthly Expenses: d00 gp

The farmhouse is now fully restored and supports 1d4 servants who live and work there. Expanded fencing and garden plots, a woodshed, a proper stone byre for the sheep and an elevated coop for the chickens, and an outhouse. The house is now better furnished and equipped, including the addition of a few luxuries.

Once the Prosperous stage has been achieved, the farm can be improved through the purchase of livestock, the construction of outbuildings, improvements to the land, and leasing a portion of the property to tenants.

Farm Upgrades

• Beehives: 35 gp. Monthly Income: 1d6 during May – October only. Can support up to three.

• Rabbit Hutch: 50 gp: Monthly Income: 1d4.

• Geese: 50 gp: Monthly Income: 1d4.

• Expanded Chicken Coop: 100 gp. Monthly Income: 1d6.

• Expanded Sheep Flock: 150 gp. Monthly Income: d8. Monthly Expenses: 1d4

• Shepherd: Monthly income improves to 1d12. Monthly Expenses: 1d6 gp. A tenant’s dependent may fill this roll for free, if available (their living expenses are already accounted for).

• Expand the Kitchen Garden: 300 gp. Recover 1d4 HP per day of rest.

• Fruit Trees: 100 gp. Monthly income: d12 during one season (spring, summer, or fall)

• Root Cellar: 100 gp. Monthly income: d12 during winter

• Clear the Bastard’s Field: 1,000 gp.

The Bastard’s Field is a large, stony waste area. If the land were reclaimed it would greatly expand the farm’s arable land. There’s a reason nobody  has done it yet, however.

• Till the Bastard’s Field: 1,000 gp.

• Sow the Bastard’s Field: 500 gp. Monthly Income: d00 gp.

• Raise Barn: 500 gp

A barn can support up to three animal purchases. The same animal type may be purchased more than once.

• Cattle: 100 gp. Monthly Income: d10 gp. Monthly Expenses: 1d4. 

• Plow Horse: 100 gp. Monthly Income: d12 gp. Monthly Expenses: 1d4. There is only enough useful work for two plowhorses. A plowhorse’s monthly income assumes that it is being rented out to the surrounding farms in addition to its other work.

• Riding Horse: 100 gp. Monthly Expenses: 1d4

• Improve Drainage: 1,000 gp. Monthly Income: d20 gp

• Tenant Farm 1: 1,000 gp. Monthly Income: d10 gp. Adds 1d6 tenants. Any tenants after the first two are children – roll 1d20 to determine their ages.

• Tenant Farm 2: 1,000 gp. Monthly Income: d10 gp. Adds 1d6 tenants. Any tenants after the first two are children – roll 1d20 to determine their ages.

• Tenant Farm 3: 1,000 gp. Monthly Income: d10 gp. Adds 1d6 tenants. Any tenants after the first two are children – roll 1d20 to determine their ages.

Farm Defenses

• Dog: 5 gp. Monthly Expenses: 1 gp

• Improved Fencing: 1,000 gp.

• Arms & Armor: Listed price. Tenant farmers are expected to send one member of their household to join Trigg’s retinue if Eveningstar musters for war. He is expected to supply their equipment, although he is not legally required to provide more than a shield.

• Archery Butts: 200 gp + sufficient bows and arrows. Reduce the monthly income of each tenant farm that provides an archer by 1 step to account for time spent practicing and making arrows. Every male tenant ages 12+ trained to use a bow.

Additional fortifications, such as the construction of a tower, are possible but beyond the scope of this post (and likely beyond the scope of my campaign). Use OSE’s stronghold rules or another ruleset of your choice.