Revised Land Agent Amendments

[gaston]

In the revised rules there are currently two sections numbered 14.5

14.5 Land Agents

which appears before the Nobility Table and

14.5 Estate Managers

which appears immediately after the Nobility Table. (The two paragraphs which appear immediately before '14.5 Estate Managers' have been superceeded and should be removed comletely to avoid confusion).

A couple of points are that it had previously been agreed are that a Land Agent could take care of _all_ a (N)PCs estates rather than needing a separate one for each (which makes little economic sense) and that highly skilled ones (Admin 7+) use (8-SCR) rarther (7-SCR) so that they can't get a result worse than 'Average'. Also, limits as to the operation of Land Agents were discussed and agreed.

I'd also suggest that the requirement to employ a Land Agent for three months before any improvements are seen be dropped.  Makes for unnecessary record keeping and little sense now that estate income is determined monthly rather than annually.

All these factors have been included in the below, which I suggest is used to replace the current '14.5 Estate Managers' section. As mentioned, the two paragraphs above the current '14.5 Estate Managers' section and the whole of the '14.5 Land Agents' section should be removed.

14.5 Land Agents and Estate Income

A Land Agent may be hired to run all a character’s estates. A good Land Agent will generate more revenue from all estates. They cost 20/25/30L per month depending upon whether they are Inexperienced, Professional or Expert (see section 43 NPCS). Managed estates use the Land Agent’s Administrative Ability in place of the character's when determining revenue.

Estates generate revenue that is variable according to the estate’s size and location. To determine monthly revenue for an estate, the revenue figure in the Nobility Table is multiplied by the Purchase Cost modifier of the province in which the estate is located. This total is then multiplied by the amended Administrative Ability SCR Result of the character who owns or runs the estate. An Admin Skill Check is made every month and the total for each estate is multiplied by (7-SCR) to determine its monthly income.

For characters or NPCs having an Admin Skill of 7+, estate income totals are multiplied by (8-SCR). This ensures that Expert Land Agents (whether PCs or NPCs) can't generate lower than average results.

Example: Jacques is a Vicomte whose Vicomté (Vicomte's estate) is in Picardy. To work out his monthly income from this he looks at the base income, which is 20. He then multiplies that by the Picardy modifier (70%) giving him a base income of 14. Jacques' Admin Skill is 4 and he rolls an Admin SCR of 3. So in this case (7-SCR) = 4, giving him an income of 14 x 4 (56L) from that estate that month.  (If Jacques has other estates, their modified base income would also be multiplied by 4 that month).

NPC Land Agents may not be work for more than one employer at any one time, i.e. they cannot be 'seconded out' to others as a favour.

PCs working as Land Agents may not work for more than one employer at any one time either, but they may manage their own estates (if any) in addition to this.

Female PCs may work as Land Agents for familiy members (usually their husbands) only but, again, they may manage their own estates (if any) in addition to this. (The Administration Academy is one of the few that Female PCs may attend).

[Ymbert Montgomery]

Apr 23, 2020 10:09:46 GMT gaston said:

In the revised rules there are currently two sections numbered 14.5

14.5 Land Agents

which appears before the Nobility Table and

14.5 Estate Managers

which appears immediately after the Nobility Table. (The two paragraphs which appear immediately before '14.5 Estate Managers' have been superceeded and should be removed comletely to avoid confusion).

The Land Agent should be consider the up to date one and I'll remove the others.

A couple of points are that it had previously been agreed are that a Land Agent could take care of _all_ a (N)PCs estates rather than needing a separate one for each (which makes little economic sense) and that highly skilled ones (Admin 7+) use (8-SCR) rarther (7-SCR) so that they can't get a result worse than 'Average'. Also, limits as to the operation of Land Agents were discussed and agreed.

On the first, that sounds reasonable. (I mostly was trying to stop PCs managing lots of estates which your revision does).

On the second, I don't think it's necessary. An NPC with Ability of 7 can't get a worse result than average. ("Average Job" is SCR 4). And even the most skilled land agent has to deal with the vagaries of bad weather, crop failure etc. This is an abstraction of that. On top of that, under the new rules it's easier for land agents to rise in ability.

I'd also suggest that the requirement to employ a Land Agent for three months before any improvements are seen be dropped.  Makes for unnecessary record keeping and little sense now that estate income is determined monthly rather than annually.

Agree with that. I missed it on the runthrough but it feels like making players spend that money for no benefit is unfair, bookkeeping aside.

[gaston]

OK. Happy with the above.

[gaston]

[Question from Travel and Provinces thread)

Suggested addenda:

Any noble visiting the province of his estate is assumed to be living in his housing there and inspectioning it. This will give a +1 to his Administrative skill (maximum 10, of course) for a year (if this seems too generous, let's say half a year, or even a season). Professional administrators are assumed to visit the estates regularly, so always having this bonus.

Estate revenues are calculated every month. In months when nobles are on their estate(s) I can see the virtue of increasing effective Admin Skill by 1 (because he can see what immediately needs doing at first hand - if administering the estate himself - or light a fire under his Land Agent if he isn't), but having this benefit last all year is pushing it beyond credibility I think.

Question: should a player have more than one estate to administer, will the same roll apply to all of them, or each state wil lbe rolled separately (see a side effect of this latter approach, while probably more realisticd, would be to speed his admin skill raise, should he do it personally).

As I understand it, one roll regarding estate income is made each month (against the Admin of the Noble or his Land Agent) and this roll / amended skill result is applied to all the noble's estates.

(as those managers cost at least 20 L, I guess they are not worth it for less than a Viscounty if in a rich province, a March or Duchy in a poor one).

Please note that single Land Agent can oversee all the estates owned by his (usually noble) employer.

[huillaume]

Apr 27, 2020 9:24:42 GMT gaston said:

[Question from Travel and Provinces thread)

Suggested addenda:

Any noble visiting the province of his estate is assumed to be living in his housing there and inspectioning it. This will give a +1 to his Administrative skill (maximum 10, of course) for a year (if this seems too generous, let's say half a year, or even a season). Professional administrators are assumed to visit the estates regularly, so always having this bonus.

Estate revenues are calculated every month. In months when nobles are on their estate(s) I can see the virtue of increasing effective Admin Skill by 1 (because he can see what immediately needs doing at first hand - if administering the estate himself - or light a fire under his Land Agent if he isn't), but having this benefit last all year is pushing it beyond credibility I think.

But the inspection was done usually once a year or per season. See that many problems a state may have can be seen in a yearly visit.

Even so, as I said, the time for the bonus might be shorter (half a year or a swason).

Apr 27, 2020 9:24:42 GMT gaston said:

(as those managers cost at least 20 L, I guess they are not worth it for less than a Viscounty if in a rich province, a March or Duchy in a poor one).

Please note that single Land Agent can oversee all the estates owned by his (usually noble) employer.

I'm afraid we've read not the same:

14.5 Estate Managers

(...) Each manager may manage one estate(...)

[Ymbert Montgomery]

Apr 27, 2020 11:09:17 GMT huillaume said:

14.5 Estate Managers

(...) Each manager may manage one estate(...)

See my comment above in the thread.

On the first, that sounds reasonable. (I mostly was trying to stop PCs managing lots of estates which your revision does).

[gaston]

But the inspection was done usually once a year or per season. See that many problems a state may have can be seen in a yearly visit.

There is a saying in English: "When the cat is away, the mice will play" which, in this instance, would mean that the manager and workers on estates would probably be somewhat less diligent when the owner wasn't there to keep a close eye on them.

Even so, as I said, the time for the bonus might be shorter (half a year or a swason).

If this is adopted, purely for the sake of minimising the GM's workload, it should be restricted to months when the owner is actually on one of his estates. When he's there it's easy to see he's there. When he's not there, the GM shouldn't be required to remember when he last was there...