There are two parts to Nocked’s revised structural mechanics – your base itself, and the associated structural resources. As we discussed the base last week, it’s time to talk about what it means to gain (and lose) the three structural resources – forest defense, political influence, and magical discoveries.
Forest defenses measure your readiness to resist an attack, and are a combination of actual structures as well as your knowledge of warfare. Mechanically, the higher your level of forest defenses, the more viable or your resistance will appear to potential recruits; and more men will join your cause at the start of each season. If your defenses drop below zero, however, you will begin accruing forest overgrowth, and disheartened recruits will abandon you.
The system works similarly for political influence, granting you additional renown at the start of the season, or losing renown at the end of the season if you’ve garnered infamy.
Magical discoveries are slightly different - they increase the skill of your men in the forest, and thus the amount of gold you gain from raiding the Sheriff’s tax collectors. Conversely, a drop in magical discoveries results in faerie mischief, which hinders your men.
Known as structural resources, they can be gained through judicious story choice or by deliberately investing in them with the help of your architect.
In future weeks, I'll talk about resource pacing (you may have noticed a beginning of season/end of season reference), the interplay between you and the Sheriff over time, and how all the of the discussed mechanics combine into one, giant set of gears that drives the game forward.
Palamedes, your architect, hails from far Granada.