The Work Force (TCG)

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==The Work Force==
Now that the castle plans have been committed to parchment, it's time to get on with the actual construction of your castle. The first point to consider in this phase is your work force. The prices that you paid above assume that you will be building the castle in one year.
At this point, you should take the construction time that you have and divide it by 52. The product of this calculation is the number of men that must be hired to complete the job in one year. It is assumed that the cost of supporting a work force of this size is included in the cost of your castle so far. Thus, if you take no other action at this time, you will be able to build your castle in 52 weeks.
===Larger Work Forces===
In order to increase the speed. with which a castle is erected, designers may wish to hire additional laborers. As an average, the cost to hire a worker is assumed to average out at 10 gold pieces a week for the duration of the project. While the typical laborer is only going to receive a salary of 1 gold piece per month, they are supported by skilled supervisors and artisans who receive far greater pay. In addition, this cost assumes that they must be fed, housed, and trained.
If the designer can raise enough money (and find enough willing laborers), to increase his work force to twice its standard value, construction will be completed in 75% of the established time. If the work force is quadrupled, the construction time is cut to 50% of its calculated value. Larger work forces are not permitted.
Before you calculate the cost for all these new men, skip to the sections on Heroic Characters, Magical Items, and Monsters. Once you have determined the effects of these sections, return here and work out the new duration of the construction project (in weeks). Multiply it by the number of extra men who will be hired and then multiply the total from that operation by 10 to determine the total cost for the increased work force. Add this sum to the cost for the castle as a whole and don't worry about a weekly payroll.
===Smaller Work Forces===
If money is a factor, but time is not, the designer may wish to consider cutting his work force. For each man removed from the labor pool, the cost of the castle will be reduced by 10 gold pieces per work for the duration of the project.
If enough workers are removed to reduce the work force to 75% of its standard value, then construction time is doubled. If the work force is cut to half its standard value, then construction time is quadrupled. No reduction below 50% in the work force is possible.
It is possible to reduce the work force to below its standard number without increasing the time required so long as the contributions of heroic characters, magical objects, and monsters (as detailed in the following three sections) return the work level to it's standard number. For example, if a group of PCs is able to do the work of 100 men, then 100 laborers may be cut from the work force and the money normally spent to hire them saved.
Once you have determined the new duration of the project (in weeks), multiply it by 10 to determine the savings that is made per cut laborer. Subtract this savings from the cost of the castle now and don't worry about a weekly payroll.
===Heroic Characters===
Both player characters and higher level NPCs can augment the work force considerably. This is due primarily to their greater experience and worldliness, as well as their generally higher determination. After all, these special people have proven themselves to be far more than just the average citizen, otherwise they wouldn't be heroes!
As a rule, any non-magic using character will be able to do the work of one man for every level that he or she has attained. For example, a 6th level thief can do the work of six normal laborers. It is assumed that the thief need not be an actual part of the work force, but is acting in a supporting role by obtaining good prices for items and making sure that the local bandits and crime syndicates do not interfere with the project.
Characters who are able to use magic can be of tremendous help when it comes to building a castle. After all, consider the benefits of a stone shape spell or a wish spell when construction is in progress. In order to simplify matters, any spell using character who is a part of the construction force counts as one laborer for each level that they have attained. In addition, they count for one man for each spell level that they can cast in a given day. Be sure to include any bonus spells for wisdom that a priest might be entitled to.
For example, a 5th level wizard would be able to do the work of 16 men. He counts as five men because of his basic level. In addition, he can throw four 1st level spells in a day (which counts as four more workers), two 2nd level spells (which counts as four more workers), and one 3rd level spell (which counts as three workers).
The importance of magic in castle construction should not be underestimated, as a 20th level wizard can do the work of over 180 normal men! While player characters are free to work on a project, DMS should make the recruitment of high level NPCs an expensive hireling who, more than likely, will require an adventure to recruit.
===Magical Items===
Some magical items, like the saw of mighty cutting or the spade of colossal excavation have an obvious value in the construction of a castle. In cases where some question arises as to the usefulness of a particular item, the DM must make a judgement call on whether or not the item will be a significant factor. For example, an enchanted shield is not likely to be of much help in building a castle, although gauntlets of ogre power might be. As a rule, if the item is well suited to construction work, like the mattock of the titans, then it will be worth a number of men equal to 5% of the experience point award for its discovery.
Thus, the spade of colossal excavation counts for 5% of 1,000 points or 50 men.
If the item seems to have some possible application, like wand of lightning (which could be useful in clearing land or digging the foundation of the castle), then it is worth 1% of its associated experience point award. Thus, the aforementioned wand would count as 40 men.
Items that the DM feels are of no particular use in the construction effort, like a ring of regeneration or elven boots are not counted toward the manpower total. If the DM rules an item to be useless, the owning player should be allowed to explain how he feels the item might be useful. If the DM is swayed by his or her case, then the decision may be reversed.
===Monsters===
It may be possible for the character's to recruit monsters to aid in the building of the castle. Many of the monsters listed in the various monstrous compendiums can be pressed into service, though some will be more suitable for such work than others.
If the players have a means of obtaining monstrous laborers, the DM must determine how suitable they are for such work. If they might be prone to devouring other members of the work force, they should be considered poorly suited. Similarly, if they have little talent or ability in such things (like a unicorn) they might be deemed useless or poor.
If a monster is well suited to construction work, like a stone giant, centaur, or bugbear, it is worth 5% of the experience value that a player would receive for defeating it in combat. As a rule, most humanoid creatures of lawful, neutral, or good alignment will fall into this category.
If a monster is somewhat suitable, but has drawbacks, it is worth 1% of its XP value. Most chaotic or evil humanoids fall into this category, as do those who have restrictions to their movement or dexterity. Dragons, because they have no manipulatory limbs, fall into this category.
Monsters that are wholly useless to a construction project, like a green slime or shrieker, will contribute nothing to the work being done.
==Work Seasons==
Once the construction time and cost have been altered to reflect the efforts of the player characters, their spells and magic items, and changes in the size of the work force, the DM needs to consider the area's climate again.
We now know how long it will take to build the castle if the crew works straight through. Of course, it is not possible to work every day because of weather and similar factors. For example, a region that has harsh winters and is marked by severe storms during spring and autumn might restrict the construction crew to working only 25% of the year! That means that a castle might take, on the average, four calendar years to build.
In order to determine the actual number of weeks available for work in any given region begin by recording its PM values for climate type and ground cover. Multiply these two numbers together to determine the Work Time Modifier (WTM). This value should range between 0.75 and 12.00 when you are done.
Next, divide 52 (the number of weeks in a year) by the WTM to determine how many weeks are available for work in a given year. Note that in some cases you will have more weeks available than you have in the year. In this case, it is assumed that the climate is so favorable that your work precedes at a very rapid pace and you are able to accomplish much more than might normally be expected.
==Castle on the Moors==
We return now to our fine example of the Castle on the Moors. As you will recall, the current calculations show that the castle will cost us 838,650 gold pieces to build. The entire project, as it now stands, will take 51,322 man/ weeks of work to finish. Lets continue with the process, going through the steps that we have just outlined.
Our first step is to determine how large our standard work force will be. To do this, we divide the current time required for construction (51,322 man/weeks) by 52. The result, 987, is the number of men that must be hired to complete the castle in 52 continuous weeks. They are assumed to be included in the cost we have already paid for the castle.
Since the king and his advisors see the danger in the swamps as a growing problem, they decide quadruple the work force and attempt to complete the castle in half the usual time. Thus, they will need to hire 2,961 additional men. Before we determine the cost of such an increase, we must look at the contributions that will be made by the player characters who are in charge of the castle's construction.
The knight who will be lord of the castle is a 12th level paladin. As such, he counts as 18 laborers-12 because of his experience level plus six more because of his spell casting ability.
The paladin has four companions. Two of them are not spell casters, a 10th level thief and an 11th level warrior, who will count as 21 additional men between them. The spell casters are a 10th level wizard (who will do the work of 49 men) and a 9th level priest with a 17 wisdom (who can do the work of 52 men).
Thus, between all the player characters, the work of 140 men can be done.
In addition to their own efforts, the party has a number of magical objects that they want to use to help speed construction. The paladin has a suit of Plate Mail of Etherealness and a holy avenger sword, but the DM rules that these will not help the project. Similarly, the DM rules that the other magical weapons and armors of the party members will be of little value.
The priest, however, has obtained a pair of gauntlets of ogre power, which the DM rules to be of some use. Thus, the priest can save the treasury the hiring of 10 additional men (1% of 1,000 XPs).
The warrior has obtained a lyre of building, which the DM agrees will be of obvious value over the course of the project. Thus, the warrior's magic item can do the work of (4,000 x 5%) 200 men!
All told, we now see that the characters will be able to contribute greatly to the construction of the Castle on the Moors. Between themselves and their magical items, they can do the work of 350 men. Truly, these are the folk of whom songs will be sung!
In their efforts to further speed construction, the characters call in a debt owed to them by a stone giant. The DM agrees that a stone giant is an excellent choice for such works, so he will be worth 5% of his experience point value (8,000). Thus, the stone giant can do the work of 400 men all by himself! In addition, the DM rules that two of the stone giant's sons will join their father in working on the castle. Each of them counts for only 200 men, however, as they are but growing boys.
When all is said and done, the player characters, their magic items, and their monstrous allies can fill the slots of 1,150 men.
Returning now to the need for additional workers, we find that the crown still needs to hire and support 1,811 more men. Since the construction time of the castle will be cut in half by their efforts, they need only be paid for 26 weeks of work. At 10 gold pieces each this works out to be a total of 470,860 gold pieces. This figure may seem high, but remember that the efforts of the player characters have prevented the need for an additional 1,150 men and saved nearly 300,000 more gold pieces for the crown. The king is sure to remember their actions!
With all of that taken care of, we turn our attention to the weather and working conditions. Because the climate around the castle is temperate (PM 1.25) and the ground cover is swamp (PM 2.00). we have a WTM of 2.50. Thus, only 21 weeks out of the year will be suitable for work on the castle. Since 26 weeks are required, the project will be completed in about 14 calendar months if all goes well.