Marching from the Stolen Lands; Rest and Relax

A job well done means a rest well earned.

The Kingmaker Adventure Path provides players with tools to build and run their own nations as part of their downtime activities. Among the rules elements are ideas a gamemaster running a west marches campaign can use to make their world seem more like a living place.

Rest and Relax

 

WHITE

GREEN

DOWNTIME

LEADERSHIP

 

Working non-stop can burn out even the most devoted and dedicated individual. As such, it's important to take time for yourself and thus set a good example for the nation.

You take time to relax, and you extend the chance to unwind to your citizens as well. The Kingdom skill you use to determine the effectiveness of your time off depends on how you want to spend it: Use a basic Arts check to spend the time engaged in entertainment or pursuing a hobby. Use a basic Boating check to enjoy trips on the lakes and rivers of your kingdom. Use a basic Scholarship check to spend time reading or studying a topic of personal interest beyond your daily duties. Use a basic Trade check to spend your time shopping or feasting. Use a basic Wilderness check to escape the bustle and relax in the countryside. If your kingdom Rested and Relaxed the previous Kingdom turn, the DC increases by 4, as your kingdom's production and output haven't had a chance to catch up to all those vacation days.

Critical Success The citizens enjoy the time off and are ready to return to work. Reduce Unrest by 1, and the next Leadership activity you take gains a +2 circumstance bonus.

Success The time spent relaxing has calmed nerves; reduce Unrest by 1.

Failure The rest is welcome but not particularly beneficial in the long term.

Critical Failure The time is wasted, and when you get back to work, you have to spend extra time catching up. Take a -2 circumstance penalty to your next skill check made as a Leadership activity

Source Kingmaker Adventure Path pg. 521

Player Uses of Rest and Relax

Player kingdoms use the rest and relax action to manage internal unrest by observing festivals, holidays, or days of rest; all depending on which Kingdom Skills are being used to make the observance.  When players choose to let their kingdoms Rest and Relax, put the burden of figuring out what the holiday or festivals specifically are back on the players. 

Giving the citizenry time off will present new opportunities to Earn Income while improving the citizenry's perception of the kingdom's leadership; this comes at the expense of certain services being unavailable during the observance.

Building Rest and Relax into the West Marches

Consider adding civic holidays and festivals to event tables you use to generate encounters in settlements in your world. Weigh the consequences of a government failing to observe the holidays of its people. Holidays and festivals allow you to draw in details about the people and cultures of your world. settlements typically surge in population for these observances creating a target-rich environment for thieves, bandits, and pickpockets. Sometimes the festivities will center around the display of specific artifacts or commodities the players want to get their hands on or perhaps it's missing and the party needs to retrieve it.

The Skills of Rest and Relax

How a settlement achieves the benefits of Rest and Relax depends on the Kingdom Skill leveraged to nurture the populace. 

• Arts, A Performance or Craft festival.  checks using the performance skill
• Boating check to enjoy trips on the lakes and rivers of your kingdom. 
• Scholarship check to spend time reading or studying a topic of personal interest beyond your daily duties. 
• Trade check to spend your time shopping or feasting. 
• Wilderness check to escape the bustle and relax in the countryside.