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- Adobe (Physical 1, Strength/Muscle)—A character with this skill is proficient
in the art of making a plaster of mud, with which he can build
strong walls and overhanging roofs. A skilled character can build
a section of wall 20' long by 5' high in one day.
- Agriculture (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge)—The character has a knowledge
of the basics of farming. This includes planting, harvesting,
storing crops, tending animals, butchering, and other typical
farming chores.
- Barbarians: Agriculture is only available to the most advanced barbarian
cultures, this skill gives the character a primitive knowledge
of farming techniques. He knows how to care for small herds of
livestock, such as goats and sheep. He can raise modest crops
in favorable conditions, usually wheat, rice and other grains.
He knows what plants grow better in cultivated soil and uses sticks
and bones to break the ground. He has little or no understanding
of irrigation, fertilization, pest control, food preservation
or crop rotation. When using the expanded rules for Agriculture,
a barbarian character receives a -40% penalty to his roll on the
Table 5.3.03: Farm Profitability.
- Agriculture Expanded Rules: The DM may use this expansion of the Agriculture skill when druid
characters assist a small village facing tough times or if a PC
takes up farming. These rules can be used to figure the prosperity
of an entire village if the DM groups area farms together and
uses the skill rating of the village leader or druid with Tables
5.3.00 and 5.3.03 below. Before applying the following rules,
the DM must decide how many people the farm in question is designed
to support.
- A medieval farm needs a manager with the Agriculture skill. At
optimum level, a farm has one worker per every two people it supports
(in an average year). Based on medieval farming methods, three
to five acres of farmland are needed to support each person. For
simplicity, it is assumed that three acres of land are needed
to support each person and of that acreage, one-third or one acre
remains fallow each season. Therefore, under average conditions,
one-square-mile of land (640 acres) could support around 215 people
and would require 108 farm workers.
- A farm with more workers may produce a slight surplus; if it has
fewer workers, it will yield less, since the crew would have more
chores than hands. Children between ages seven and 11 count as
half a worker, and those 12 and older count as a full worker.
- How Did the Farm Perform? To quickly determine the success of a farm (or garden or village)
for the year, the DM looks at the number of people it can support.
For instance, a family farm might produce enough to support six
people if the family has five members, the farm shows a profit.
With six, the farm merely scrapes by. A family of seven is starting
to get hungry.
- Figuring Farm Profitability: DMs wanting more precise details about a farm's performance can
follow these steps:
- Determine Skill Base: Every year the player rolls and Agriculture
skill check and consults Table 5.3.00. below to determine the
character's base skill rating modifier. The skill rating modifier
will later be applied to table the results on Table 5.3.03: Farm
Profitability.
Table 5.3.00: Base Skill Rating Modifier
| Agriculture Skill Check |
Modifier |
| skill check 4x or greater than Agriculture skill or a critical
failure |
-50%
|
| skill check at least 3x but less than 4x skill score |
-40%
|
| skill check at least 2x but less than 3x skill score |
-20%
|
| skill check at least 1.5x but less than 2x skill score |
-10%
|
| skill check less than 1.5x skill score |
-5%
|
| skill check made by at least 10% |
0%
|
| skill check made by at least 25% |
+5%
|
| skill check made by at least 50% |
+10%
|
| skill check made by at least 75% |
+20%
|
| skill check made by more than 75% or critical success |
+30%
|
- Apply the worker modifier: The number of workers modifies the
roll on Table 5.3.03: Farm profitability. For each 10% which the
farm crew falls below its optimum number of workers, the DM applies
a -5% penalty to the roll on Table 5.3.03. If the farm has 20%
more workers than optimum, the DM adds a +5% bonus to the roll
on Table 5.3.03. (Having more workers gives no extra bonus.)
- Figure the Random Events Modifier: As any farmer knows, what makes
the farming life interesting is nature's eternal cussedness: random
events. The DM should roll on Table 5.3.01: Farm Random Events
to see what's in store for the farm, then apply the random events
modifier to the roll for profitability.
Table 5.3.01: Farm Random Events
|
d20
|
Event
|
Modifier
|
|
1
|
Ruinous weather
|
-30%
|
|
2-3
|
Bad weather/Insect plague
|
-20%
|
|
4-6
|
Animal/Crop disease
|
-10+1d10%
|
|
7-8
|
Building damaged
|
-10%
|
|
9-10
|
Predators/Pests
|
-5+1d4%
|
|
11
|
Poachers/Bandits
|
-5%
|
|
12-15
|
No bad news
|
0
|
|
16-17
|
Used good seed
|
+5%
|
|
18-19
|
Good weather
|
+10%
|
|
20
|
Special varies
|
|
Note that often the actions of the farmers (or PCs helping them)
and available priestly or druidic spells can reduce the penalty
from random events. See the descriptions below:
• Ruinous weather may include flooding or a long drought. A successful
Weather Sense skill check by the farmer halves the penalty. (The
farmer had advance warning and prepared for the weather.) If the
farmer knows a druid who can use the control weather spell to
counter the bad weather, all but 1d4% of the penalty can be negated.
• Bad weather might mean an early frost, a slight drought or excessive
rain. The Weather Sense skill halves the penalty and the control
weather spell negates it. An insect plague includes any invasion
by crop destroying insects (such as locusts) or parasites (such
as giant ticks) which affect the health of animals. This penalty
can be halved or negated through the use of spells that effect
or ward against insects (at the DM's option).
• Animal/Crop disease means a disease breaks out among the farm's
domestic creatures or that the crops are affected by a blight
or disease. If animals are effected a successful Veterinary Healing
skill check (one try) by the farmer halves the penalty; the use
of a cure disease spell negates this penalty. If crops are effected
a successful unmodified Agriculture skill check halves the penalty.
The use of spells such as heal plants can negate the penalty.
• Building damage may result from a severe storm, fire or other
disaster. The penalty applies only if the farmer cannot afford
to fix the damaged property, and continues to apply every year
until repairs are made. Paying 10 gp for every person the farm
supports "repairs" each penalty point.
• Predators, poachers or bandits repeatedly steal food or animals.
Pests include minor invasions of nonbeneficial insects. If PCs
negotiate with, drive off or destroy the menace(s), the penalty
does not apply. In the case of pests, many spells will negate
the penalty as will a successful unmodified Agriculture skill
check.
• Using good seed or being blessed by good weather has a positive
effect on the profitability of the farm.
• A special roll means something unusual occurs. Perhaps a wizard,
war or dragon devastates the farm — apply -50% to the farm profitability
roll this year! If a god's avatar stops by and blesses the crops,
apply +25% bonus to farm profitability.
Note: Spells such as plant growth can add greatly to the farm's
profitability as detailed in the spell descriptions.
- Terrain modifiers: The following modifiers for terrain are applied
to the farm's profitability roll. (These modifiers are for an
average farm growing a typical crop or raising animals typical
to those found on a medieval farm. A farmer raising mangoes in
the jungle would not be penalized.)
Table 5.3.02: Terrain modifiers
|
Terrain type
|
modifier
|
|
Any arctic
|
-90%
|
|
Any subarctic
|
-50%
|
|
Plains/grasslands
|
+10%
|
|
River flood plain
|
+15%
|
|
Cleared forest
|
0%
|
|
Cleared jungle
|
-10%
|
|
Drained swamp/marsh (except when using Floating Agriculture)
|
-30%
|
|
Hills
|
-15%
|
|
Mountains (terraced)
|
-25%
|
|
Irrigated desert
|
-15%
|
|
Badlands/scrub
|
-75%
|
|
Desert
|
-90%
|
- Find the Farm's Profitability: After totaling the base skill rating,
worker, random events, and terrain modifiers, roll on the Farm
Profitability Table below and apply the modifier to determine
the output of the farm. Production is given in bushels of foodstuffs
per acre and includes both crops and animals. One bushel is equal
to 50 lbs of grain or its equivalent. Each person supported by
the farmland requires 16 bushels of food each year to survive.
Excess foodstuff may be sold or stored.
Table 5.3.03: Farm Profitability
|
d00
|
Result
|
|
01 or less
|
Crop failure! Yield is 4 bushels/acre
|
|
02-05
|
Poor crop. Yield is 5 bushels/acre
|
|
06-15
|
Poor crop. Yield is 6 bushels/acre
|
|
16-25
|
Below average. Yield is 7 bushels/acre
|
|
26-75
|
Average crop. Yield is 8 bushels/acre
|
|
76-85
|
Above average. Yield is 9 bushels/acre
|
|
86-95
|
Above average. Yield is 10 bushels/acre
|
|
96-99
|
Above average. Yield is 11 bushels/acre
|
|
100-105
|
Superior crop. Yield is 11+1d4 bushels/acre
|
|
106-110
|
Excellent crop. Yield is 15+1d3 bushels/acre
|
|
111-115
|
Bumper crop. Yield is 18+1d4 bushels/acre
|
|
116+
|
Astounding crop. Yield is 22+1d4 bushels/acre
|
- The Harvest's Cash Value: The farm's productivity can also be measured in cash terms. The
value of the harvest equals 2 gp per bushel produced in excess
of what is needed to feed the populace (16 bushels per person
per year). With this information, the DM can see if any families
are starving and how much aid would get them back on their feet.
- Determining a farm's profitability can provide role-playing opportunities
for druids and characters who are lords of their own fief.
- An example of the Agriculture skill expanded rules: Baron Legmin's steward, Norel, has an Agriculture skill of 90%
and is responsible for 300 acres of farmland of which 200 acres
will be tilled (or used to raise animals) and 100 acres will remain
fallow. This farmland will support 100 people which require a
total of 1,600 bushels of foodstuff to survive each year. A total
of 50 farm workers will be required to farm the land.
- Norel rolls a 45 for his Agriculture skill check which is half
(50 percent) of what he needed to succeed and according to Table
5.3.00: Base Skill Rating Modifier, entitles him to a +10% bonus
to his roll on Table 5.3.03: Farm Profitability. He has assigned
10 additional workers to tend the Baron's field (20% more than
are needed) for a +5% bonus. On the Table 5.3.01: Farm Random
Events, he rolls a two which indicates bad weather or an insect
plague. The DM determines that the farm has been struck by bad
weather which would result in a -20% penalty, but Norel makes his Weather Sense skill check and cuts the penalty in half to -10%. In addition,
Baron Legmin's farm is located in an area of plains which results
in a +10% bonus.
- The total modifier to Norel's roll on the Farm Profitability Table
is +15%. He rolls a 71 modified by +15% for a total roll of 86%
which indicates an above average yield of 10 bushels per tilled
acre or 2,000 bushels. After subtracting 1,600 bushels of foodstuffs
to support the populace there is a surplus of 400 bushels that
can be sold for a total of 800 gp.
- If Norel had rolled a 10 on the Farm Profitability Table for a
modified roll of 25% the farm would have produced a below average
yield of seven bushels per tilled acre or only 1,400 bushels of
foodstuff — 200 bushels less than what is needed to feed the populace.
Baron Legmin would then be faced with the choice of buying 200
bushels of foodstuffs for 400 gp from a nearby fief or to allow
some of his people to face starvation.
- Racial modifiers: Arrakian humans gain a +5% bonus to this skill. Tallfellow and
Hairfoot halflings gain a +10% bonus and Rock Gnomes are penalized
by -10%.
- Agriculture, Floating (Mental 1; Intelligence/Knowledge) — A character with this skill
can create land on the surface of shallow lake or on marsh water
and use it to grow all sorts of crops. Up to one 100' square (10,000
square feet) can be created by a skilled character during a year.
However, this skill is not commonly practiced in most of the known
world.
- Such floating gardens are tended with fresh, fertile silt every
year and have an intrinsic and plentiful water supply. Thus they
tend to yield about twice as much as an equal-sized plot on dry
land.
- Prerequisites: Agriculture is a prerequisite for this skill. A character with both the Agriculture
and Engineering skills can duplicate the effects of this skill by making successful
Engineering and Agriculture skill checks.
- The expanded rules for agriculture listed under the Agriculture
skill also apply to Floating Agriculture.
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