BRCS:Chapter five/Ruling a domain/Domain collections

Domains provide a measure of political power, or regency, to their regent. For blooded characters, this political power stirs the semi-divine blood in their veins in the same way that worship provides power to deities. The amount of regency possessed by a regent is measured in regency points. Blooded scions derive significant advantages as regents due to their bloodlines; thus, it is fairly rare for an unblooded character to hold a domain in Cerilia. There are three primary sources of RP collected seasonally: provinces, holdings, and vassalage agreements.

Any character can hold (be a regent of) any province or holding. However, not all regents benefit equally from holding a domain. Unblooded characters cannot gain regency from any holding. Incompetent scions derive less respect from their subjects than their bloodline might allow. Perceived competence is an important factor in regency collection. A regent's ability to effectively manage each of the five major domain components is determined by their ranks in the key skills used in holding the domain component.

Provinces are held by diplomatic finesse and military prowess. A regent's regency collection rating for provinces is equal to the sum of their ranks in Diplomacy and Warcraft. Most classes have at least one of these skills as a class skill, and thus most characters have equal potential for being a good province regent. Barbarians, rangers, wizards, and sorcerers have neither skill as a class skill, and thus are often ineffective province regents.

Ruling a guild holding requires a wide number of skills. The character should know their craft (Craft or Profession), the worth of goods, services, and information (Appraise), be a canny trader (Diplomacy), stay well-informed of opportunities and dangers to their market (Gather information), and be capable of driving a hard bargain when necessary (Bluff, Intimidate, and Sense motive). A regent's collection rating for guild holdings is equal to one-fourth the sum of their ranks in Appraise, Bluff, Craft (any one), Diplomacy, Gather information, Intimidate, Profession (any one), and Sense motive. Most character classes can derive some benefit as a guild regent, but rogues, bards, and nobles excel at guildcraft.

The primary characteristic for success as the regent of a Law holding is the ability to select, train, and effectively lead the forces that enforce a realm's laws and collect taxes and tribute. Although it helps to have a good working knowledge of the Law, the regent of a law holding is rarely a judge or magistrate; these positions are filled by experts that report to the law regent. A regent's collection rating for law holdings is equal to the sum of their ranks in Lead and Warcraft. Fighters and paladins excel as law regents; barbarians, druids, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards make poor law regents.

Source regents must understand the workings of mebhaighl; both the natural forces that empower it and the arcane rituals necessary to tap into that natural flow. A regent's collection rating for source holdings is the sum of their ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) and Knowledge (Nature). Source holdings generate regency only for characters that are capable of casting greater arcane spells of 1st level or higher; characters incapable of learning arcane realm spells have a 0 collection rating for source holdings. Wizards make excellent source regents. Sorcerers, with their more intuitive understanding of magic, are often less apt source regents.

Temple regents must not only know the rituals and ceremonies of their religions, but must be effective leaders and orators. A regent's collection rating for temple holdings is the sum of her ranks in Knowledge (Religion) and Lead. Temple holdings generate regency only for characters that are capable of casting divine spells of 1st level or higher; characters incapable of learning divine realm spells have a 0 collection rating for source holdings. Clerics excel as temple regents.
Provinces and holdings generate potential regency equal to their level each season. The amount of regency that is actually collected by the regent is determined by the character's appropriate regency collection rating for the regency generating asset. For example, consider a first level fighter regent with 4 ranks of Lead and 4 ranks of Warcraft. The character's domain consists of three law holdings: a law holding (0), a law holding (4), and law holding (6). Using Table 5-10 we can see that the character's RP collection per season would be 6 RP [60% x (0+4+6)].
A scion can also gain regency from a vassalage agreement bound by a ceremony of investiture. During the casting of the investiture realm spell, the vassal regent pledges to supply a fixed seasonal amount of RP to their liege. The book-keeping for the RP collected by the liege lord is performed during collections.

There is a maximum to the amount of regency that a character can collect per domain turn. A scion can earn no more than twice their current bloodline ability score in domain regency collections per domain turn. There is also limit to the amount of regency that a character can store. Any RP gained above the character's maximum regency reserve is lost immediately. A character's maximum RP reserve is equal to five times their bloodline score (see Table 2-3: Bloodline ability score).

Under this variant, a character's level is added to their bloodline ability score before calculating maximum regency collection and maximum RP reserve. This variant allows non-blooded characters to compete more effectively against blooded regents and downplays (slightly) the importance of a divine bloodline in the collection of regency.

Unlike law, guild, and temple regents, source regents are not generally recognized as political powers. Source regents receive regency through their sources by tapping into the mebhaighl to increase their personal power. Although the nature of regency collection for source holdings is different, the mechanics for regency collection are identical.

Regents forge a link to their source through the casting of ritual arcane magic to forge a semi-permanent link between themselves and a manifestation of the land's mebhaighl. Only casters of greater arcane magic can forge this link. Rulers who wish to control access to magical forces within their realms often find wizards or sorcerers to be invaluable allies or vassals.

Mebhaighl is thought to be the divine essence of the land itself, and thus tapping into this power to increase one's regency total is akin to a very minor form of bloodtheft. Some Rjurik druids fear that unscrupulous mages might bleed the land of its life essence faster than it can be replenished, but no convincing proof of this position has every been forwarded. Perhaps this fear accounts for the distrust that most Rjurik have for true mages.

Ruling a domain is expensive. Fortunately, a domain has a treasury whose income is generated from collected taxes, dues, tithes, and other profits from its subjects. Source holdings generate no base income per season. Trade routes generated a base income per season equal to their level. A guild or temple holding generates a base income per season equal to 2/3rds of its rating. These incomes represent the manufacture and sales of goods and services and the incomes generated by rented or farmed property, and (in the case of temple holdings), the tithes and offerings of the pious.

A province generates a base income per season equal to its rating. The income generated by provinces represents taxes collected from the citizens and business dealings of the realm; this includes a share of all milled grains (a millage), a portion of every merchant's income (hawking tax), taxes on trade goods (income/export taxes and bonding fees), tolls on public roads or wharfs, a death tax assessed on the estate of deceased landholders (heriot), military service from vassal nobility (more commonly, however, vassals instead pay scutage, or shield money, to instead allow their lord to hire soldiers to stand in their stead), labor owed by serfs (generally used to work the lord's fields), rent or crop shares of vassal farmers, property taxes on real estate owned by gentlefolk, and other such obligations. Typically, income taxes are due in the winter, rent fees in the spring, and crop shares in the summer and fall. A realm's system of taxation is arranged in such a way that the effective income for the province is nearly identical season to season; this allows for a constant stream of revenue to the regent while also reducing the amount that the regent's subjects pay in any given season. In return for this income, a regent's subjects expect their ruling lord to administrate justice and to protect them from external threat.

A law holding generates a base income per season equal to 1/3 its rating; law holdings are far less profitable than equivalent guild or temple holdings. A law holding represents the military might used to enforce the collection of taxes (if necessary), but the actual monies that pass through a law holding are destined for the province ruler (and might not, in fact, be collected by agents of the law at all).

The base GB collection for a province is based upon the assumption that the regent collects taxes that are in keeping with the contemporary standard. A regent that holds a province may declare their taxation to be more severe (or more forgiving) than usual. Through the use of the Decree domain action a regent may increase (or decrease) their province taxation by +/- 1 GB/season. This new taxation modifier is permanent until changed though a future decree. Province taxation rates can only be increased (or decreased) in increments of +/- 1 GB, and only one such decree can be made per domain turn. The taxation modifier for a province cannot increase its income by more than 50%. Regents should take careful note - modifiers to a province's taxation have significant impact on domain attitude. If this variant is used, the taxation modifier should be used as a bonus or penalty to the seasonal loyalty check for the affected areas.

Example: The Countess of Medoere rules Alamier (4), Braeme (3), and Caerwil (2). Normally, her taxation modifier is +0 and she would receive 9 GB/season from her provinces (in addition to any income from her other holdings). Fearing a major war, she decides that she needs to increase her income to support additional army units and declare an increase in taxes through out the realm. All provinces now have a +1 taxation modifier; thus she will collect 12 GB/season in future collections. During the next domain turn, she can increase the taxation modifier further (to +2), decrease it (back to +0), or leave it unchanged (+1).

A law regent has the ability to take additional portions of the incomes generated by provinces, temples, or guild holdings through brigandage. Seizures represent emergency measures (such as aides for ransoms or war expenses), draconian or unfair enforcement of the law, corruption and bribery, or outright banditry on the part of the agents of the law holding. Seizures reduce the income of one or more target holdings and/or the province itself. Seizures generate a total of 1d6 GB for the law holding. The gains are taken from the coffers of the target regent(s) and are distributed proportionally to the income of the targeted assets. The law regent's gains are obviously limited to the maximum collections of the target holdings. Fortified holdings are immune to seizures.

Seizures may have disastrous effects upon the law holding regent's reputation and upon his relationships to the aggrieved targets as well as other who may (rightfully) fear similar abuses in the future. For this reason, among others, the law holdings of most realms are usually held by the province regent or by a trusted vassal of the ruler.

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• Components of a domain
  
• The domain turn
  
• Adjusting domain attitude
  
• Domain collections
  
• Domain expenses
  
• Domain action rounds
  
• Domain action descriptions