It is all about BP, and you don’t have any. So how do you get started? It all depends on what you want to do, and the situation you are in. Just make sure you talk it over with your DM first - you won't get anywhere without their co-operation.

Stolen lands Game Advertising for settlers has been taken care of for you by Henry and the Lords of Brevoy - it means that you will each get 2 bp (eventually) to start your own Stronghold/Business/Organisation. After that you will have to work harder :) or use the BP your business generates.

Every kingdom or business needs to get a start somewhere and that means getting your first BPs from somewhere. There are a number of different ways to do this, most involve spending money – how much money you need to spend depends on the location of your development. See this page

Whatever you decide to do, talk to your DM about it first and let them build it into the campaign.

Here are some thoughts:

Take-over 1: If you clear out a Bandit Gang from a wilderness stronghold, you could take it over and use it as a watch base to start your own stronghold. You might need to spend resources on it to upgrade it to something really useful later - but it is a start. Example Two examples from my current game – a bunch of half orcs in a defended palisade, which eventually became an outpost and then a fortified manor. The Stag Lord’s keep, from the Kingmaker module, which could (eventually) grew into a fortified city.

Take-over 2: The local lord might ask you clear out a bunch of Bandits from an old building in a rural area, and your reward is permission to develop it into a village. After all a lord-of-the manor who pays taxes is much better than bandits. You will need to spend resources on it to upgrade it to something really useful later - but it is a start. Example An example from one of my earlier games - An out-of-town winery had been abandoned and became a haven for rustlers. The Party sorted out the rustler problem and were given the winery as a base. They still had to do it up a bit before they had a secure home, though.

Advertising: Excellent if you are trying to populate a new area. Use some of your money to pay for Bards to spread the word and send messages via sympathetic churches in a neighbouring country. This is particularly effective for recruiting settlers for wilderness and rural areas – they build the road and get a bit of land to build their own smallholding. The rest of the money goes on providing tools and other support for the first year or so. It works for Farmers, Miners, Fishers and other country folk as well. This is one way to buy a campaign development with GP. Example In my recent Kingmaker game, this was done by the ‘powers that be’ on the players' behalf – and made up their starting BP.

Organisations: If you belong to an organisation you might be able to get funding from them. For example a religion might want to extend its area of influence, a Lord might want to expand his influence or protect a border. Example In my recent Kingmaker game, a Cleric of Abadar was given a contribution towards building a chapel in newly developed town - spreading the word of Abadar and civilising the wilderness. At the same time, a Cleric of Erastil managed to get some support from his church to help develop a countryside shrine.

Background: Sometimes a character’s background might be a source of BP. If your family is wealthy and you are on good terms with them - they MAY lend you one or two BP to start developing with. You will certainly be expected to pay the loan back, although they MIGHT NOT charge you any interest. This isn’t guaranteed, and will only be for a small amount and assumes that the character will champion the family’s interests. Example In my recent Kingmaker game, a character with a well-developed Noble family married another character with a well-developed family background. Their reward, for good backstory development ahd RP, was a wedding gift of 2bp, specifically to develop a ‘nice home’ as the bride’s dowry. In another game, a Characters background let me link her to a Fishery used by a Fagin-like character and his gang of child thieves. After a bit of RP, she managed to buy the title to the fishery for a couple of hundred GP.

Purchase: If you want to get started in an already developed town, you MIGHT find a suitable building for sale. Don’t expect it to find everything you are interested all at once. It costs a lot, See this page, and you will probably have to start off at the outsider price lists. Note although it is down to your DM to decide when you start to count as a member of the community and get the standard rates)

Loan: Sometimes, you might not have the money when you want to invest in some advertising or buy an existing property. In which case you might want to ask a bank for a loan. Assuming that you are trustworthy and reliable, they will probably lend you some money - however, this is an expensive way of doing things and you will have to pay it back, with interest, in cash. If you are really lucky you will find a fellow player (or significant NPC) who will lend you a BP for a small consideration.

DM Notes: