Wilderness developments suit rangers, druids and other characters who want to help and maintain the world in its natural state. It rarely works quite like that, as even the Wildest of Druids needs somewhere to call a home - so a wilderness estate often includes a village, or even a small town, somewhere at its heart. As you are building your holding, don't be frightened to mix and match with the stronghold rules, just remember that your estate can consist of multiple hexes, and you can decide which rules each hex follows, independent of the others.

Example 1: Old Keep (a Druid holding) has one hex with a small town and a number of 'green' businesses, but there are another two wilderness hexes, that are patrolled, but pretty much left to their own devices. The Town of Tatzleford (A ranger stronghold) follows the same pattern, but has more wilderness surrounding it.

Example 2: The Narlmarch Nature Reserve consists of one rural hex, along with six wilderness hexes - and is loosely managed by a mix of rangers, druids and clerics of Erastil.

Example 3: The Great North Road is hundreds of miles long, and connects the town of Southport to the city of Port Ice. It mainly runs through Wilderness Hexes - but is dotted with heavily defended villages.

Just to make life complicated, there are more than one type of Wilderness …

This is just wilderness that isn’t patrolled or managed in any way shape or form. This is how most stronghold land starts out, as home to wild beasts and monsters. You may find a few hardy travellers and trappers here, but that is about it. While you can claim real wilderness as part of your stronghold, nobody really recognises that you own the land and it doesn't count until you do something with it. Claiming it, however, does lay down a marker of your intentions. However, unpatrolled wilderness will allow monsters, bandits and tribesmen to operate with impunity inside your borders.

Managed Wilderness is the ‘Lightest Touch’ land that you can really claim as part of a stronghold as Managed Wilderness only has occasional patrols from troops based in an adjacent hex. It is an area of wilderness that is patrolled by your troops to keep monsters and barbarian tribes down, but nature is allowed to run its own course, but must be patrolled from a +2 (or better) defensive building in a neighbouring hex.

A Managed Wilderness hex may contain a Road, Base Camp or a Watch tower. It cannot contain more than one.

Managed Wilderness hexes do not add to the consumption value of your stronghold. If a road and any other development is built, the hex becomes a Semi-Wilderness hex, and adds to your consumption costs.

Because a Managed-Wilderness hex can have a road, you can build a ‘Wilderness Corridor’ that will allow you to connect various settlements together by road. Which is much cheaper than trying to connect settlements with any other type of development.

Semi-Wilderness is land with a few nature-friendly developments. There are enough people that the natural world is affected - but not enough to make huge changes. A Semi-Wilderness hex can have a road running through it, although you cannot build highways or canals in these hexes. A Semi-Wilderness corridor would allow you to build a road across a wilderness area to connect two settlements together. Rangers, Barbarians, Druids and other nature priests could use a combination of Semi-Wilderness and Managed Wilderness hexes to build a very wild, natural stronghold.

Semi Wilderness Hexes may only contain a single development but have a Consumption Value of 0.5BP per turn.

• Watchtower - A Watchtower flies your flag, and comes complete with a small detachment of Light Foot to make foot patrols of the local area and establish your authority on the frontier. It is exactly the same as a rural watchtower, and you should use this option, if you intend to develop the hex into a Rural or Urban Hex later.
• Cost to build: 1bp
• Restrictions: A watchtower cannot be upgraded to a Large Camp or a Redoubt.
• Benefit: +1 defence for your stronghold (1x Light Foot)

• Base Camp – A base camp utilise the natural terrain to offer security and protection. It could be possibly based around a cave, dug into the banks of hill or in a semi-buried sod hut that blends in with the surrounding environment. It provides a working base for a contingent of Scouts. You should use this option if you want to develop a semi-wilderness area, however all benefits will be lost if the Hex is upgraded to Rural or Urban status. A base camp can be upgraded to a Large Camp or a Redoubt.
• Cost to build: 1bp
• Restrictions: Cannot have any other development in the same hex.
• Benefit: +1 defence for your stronghold (1x Light Foot)

• Large Camp - An extended base camp, with a few extra simple wooden structures masked by blinds and hedges. It comes with a contingent of skirmishers and provides a permanent base for a few wilderness workers, such as hunters or woodsmen. A Large Camp can be upgraded to a Redoubt. Patrols from a Large Camp cover the hex it is in, as well as any adjacent hexes giving you one Semi-wilderness hex and (potentially) six Managed Wilderness hexes. This counts as a ★★ residential property.
• Cost to build: 3bp
• Restrictions: Cannot have any other development in the same hex.
• Benefit: +1 Loyalty, +1 stability & +2 defence: (2x Light Foot)

• Redoubt - A step up from a large Camp, it incorporates more permanent buildings, such as sod or log cabins or an extended cave complex, and has better defensive walls and a lookout point. It is a permanent base, and makes it easier for people to bring their families into the wilderness, allowing them to live and work locally. A series of Redoubts will probably form the spine of any Wilderness stronghold. Patrols from a redoubt cover the hex it is in, as well as any adjacent hexes giving you one Semi-wilderness hex and (potentially) six Managed Wilderness hexes. This counts as a ★★ residential property.
• Cost to build: 4bp
• Restrictions: Cannot have any other development in the same hex.
• Benefit: +1 economy, +1 Loyalty, +1 stability & +2 defence: (2x Light Foot)

There are a few Developments, kniown as Single Site Hamlets that can be built in a Managed Wilderness area that is patrolled from an adjacent hex. BUT as soon as they are built, the hex becomes Semi-Wilderness, which adds 1bp Consumption to your stronghold.

Note that the Single Site Hamlets cannot share a hex with any other development - a semi-wilderness hex can only have one development in it.

Examples include:

• Holy Grove
• Great Shrine
• Witch Hut
• Tree House
• Hermitage

Details can be found on the Single Site Hamlets page.