[November 2024]
Greetings all, and welcome to the November (2024) update for Roguelike Games!
As the weather draws in, the evenings get longer and the temperature hits those lower numbers, here at Roguelike Games we thought this month might be a good opportunity to talk about one of the features found in both the Uncanny and Gloom editions of Moralinth that tend to be overlooked in other TTRPGS: player housing.
As a primarily urban-based game, where a Character lives not only operates as a refuge and social space for them to entertain but also as a place to retreat after an arduous adventure and engage in downtime activities that normally don't fit the pacing of a regular Moralinth investigation.
In both editions of Moralinth, these player-controlled homes are called a RESIDENCY.
Residencies - your Character's Home
Player-Characters in Moralinth come from all walks of life and every social stratification but most either start with or gain a Residency at some point in their Character's story. Though optional, a residency offers in-game opportunities and bonuses, acts as an extension of that character's personality, and connects them to their local community and the people within it. Many Tabletop RPGs have the Characters operating in a somewhat transitory fashion going from place to place and following the call to adventure, without a place to call home. In Moralinth, a Character's Residency can benefit them and guests staying under their roof, offering somewhere to rest and recuperate, conduct research, train and socialise among many other options.
How different Characters perceive and use their Residency varies, with some taking great pride in their home and looking to make it the best they can be or to fit their exacting personal tastes, to others who see it as little more than owned equipment to be used and utilised just like any other tool or piece of equipment. Both editions of Moralinth cater to these use cases, allowing Players freedom to have their Characters use their Residency as they see fit, or not own one at all.
Residences are, for the most part, treated much like any other type of Character equipment in-game, like vehicles, weapons and the like. They have their statistics and uses, varying slightly depending on which edition of Moralinth they are used in. Today we will be taking a brief look at how a Character's Residence works, sticking primarily to features available in both the Uncanny and Gloom editions of Moralinth rather than rules that pertain to one system or the other.
Specifically:
Residency Types
Residency Rest Bonus
Residency Room Bonuses
Residency Upgrades
Buying, Maintaining & Selling a Residency
Residency Types
There are a wide range of Residency types for Characters to acquire, own, and maintain in Moralinth, from a tiny hideout to a massive manor house with multiple floors and surrounding grounds. The cost to purchase or rent out such a property varies depending on the area in which it was constructed, with a small house being cheaper to own in a District that is considered "run down" than a similar one in what is considered "prosperous" for example.
For most Players, a Residency will be purchased at character creation. Whether Characters wish to rent a residency or buy one outright, all residencies have at least three rooms, including basic amenities and one customisable room. Many residencies come with considerably more.
The ten types of Residency that are available to Player-Characters in Moralinth, along with a brief description are:
APARTMENTS
A regular apartment is designed for a single
individual or couple, but due to the price of
housing it is not uncommon to have a family
living in these relatively small spaces. Almost
never consisting of a garden or surrounding
lands, an apartment is part of a larger building
complex. An apartment in a prosperous or
a wealthy District might have a communal
garden, but one built in a common or run
down district would not.
HIDEOUTS
Often repurposed apartments or similar
buildings, a hideout is a place to retreat and
lay low from the authorities while also
providing all the basic amenities a budding
ne’er-do-well might need. Small and usually
quite cramped, a hideout is not the most
comfortable of places, but it is secure and
affordable if you know the right people.
SMALL HOUSES
Intended for professional individuals and
families, small houses represent the most
expensive housing most working-class citizens
can hope to afford but offer a big step up in
quality of life compared to most apartments.
They are often semi-detached, sharing one
half of a larger building with a neighbour, but
come with a small bit of surrounding land
often used as a closed-in garden. Some small
houses come with a second floor.
SAFEHOUSES
A small house that has been “procured” by
those of a less-than-legal bent, or by some
clandestine group as a place to hide people in an Enclave, a safe house is often externally no different from a small house but inside a few tell-tale signs are there if one knows where to look.
Designed to blend in and hide in plain sight, safe houses allow those of a more nefarious disposition to remain hidden in neighbourhoods with little fear of discovery by the authorities.
HOUSES
Owning their own house is a goal of many Imperial citizens though it is not necessarily an affordable dream, especially depending on which District one wishes to live in. Designed with a family in mind, these larger properties offer many modern amenities, are detached buildings, and come with their own small plot of surrounding land. All houses come with at least two floors.
WARRENS
Indistinguishable from a single-storey small
house from the outside, a warren is a
property that utilises a facade to seem
perfectly normal to all but the most stringent
of searchers. The building presented to
others hides a basement level that comprises
a whole extra floor that is hidden from outsiders. A hub for a small gang or group to operate from
with relative freedom, there are considerably
more warrens in Enclaves than even the Watch would like to believe.
LARGE HOUSES
To own a large house in any district is
considered somewhat of a status symbol, with
enough living space for a large family easily
accommodated across multiple floors. The
majority of the population cannot afford
these homes, and many come with a degree
of maintenance and upkeep a lot of people
are unwilling or unable to commit to. For
those who can, however, a large house offers
many advantages beyond simple living
accommodations.
NETWORKS
Essentially a larger version of a warren, the
network is so named because it utilises the
same premise of a den of thieves hiding
beneath a seemingly innocuous building, but
upscales everything while doing so. The
house atop the basement level has more
rooms and is grander, and the basement itself
has space for a larger gang to operate and use
it as a hub for their activities.
MANOR HOUSES
The epitome of personal housing, the manor
house is a sign of luxury that most can
never hope to achieve. Even in the most
downtrodden of districts it is a notable
landmark building with multiple floors and a
large amount of land around the property
that is often referred to as an ‘estate’. For
those who desire privacy and luxury, the
Manor House provides both in abundance.
LAIRS
A headquarters for a resourceful gang, lairs
are usually appointed by criminal bosses or
leaders among the Thieves Guild. As well as
the house and basement levels that are found in a warren, the lair adds a third cavernous
subterranean level which is often used to
store illicit goods, mastermind criminal
operations and train those within a gang.
Most lairs have multiple escape routes and
despite their expensive set-up and running
costs, tend to pay for themselves for any
enterprising gang who use one as their base
of operations.
Residency Rest Bonus
All Residency properties are designed to be places where the Characters can unwind and recuperate. They can use them for downtime activities such as research, crafting, and socialising. Though various room types within the property can yield additional bonuses, all Residency buildings provide a rest bonus.
Though the mechanics differ between Uncanny and Gloom editions of Moralinth, the premise remains the same: resting while in your Character's home or as a guest in another Player Character's Residency is more beneficial than sleeping rough or in public accommodation. The effects of the regular rest mechanic for each game system are enhanced when taking that rest within a Character-controlled Residency.
This is referred to as the Residency Rest Bonus, and all Residency buildings provide this bonus to any Characters who take their rest in one of these properties.
UNCANNY EDITION EXAMPLE
In Moralinth: Uncanny Edition, each Character can make four Recovery Rolls each day. Each Recovery Roll takes progressively longer, with the first taking 1 Action, the second 10 minutes, the third 1 hour, and the fourth taking 10 hours. When making one of these Recovery Rolls, the Character rolls a d6 and adds that number to their Character Tier. This total is the amount of points they can recover and distribute among their Stat Pools however they wish. If your Character owns a Residency of any sort and makes any of these four Recovery Rolls while inside their Residency, they add +2 to this roll (making it d6+tier+2). This Residency Rest Bonus applies to all four Recovery Rolls if they are made while within the Character's Residency.
GLOOM EDITION EXAMPLE
In Moralinth: Gloom Edition, Characters require 8 hours of rest per day (or less if you play a Clockwork), and can only gain the benefits of such a rest once per 24-hour period. When taking a rest the following occurs:
Hit Point healing: A Character recovers a number of Hit Points equal to their Constitution Modifier (minimum 1) x their Character Level.
Stamina Recovery: A Character recovers a number of Stamina points equal to their Key Attribute Modifier (minimum 1) x their Character Level.
If the Character was suffering from the fatigued condition, this is removed during the rest.
If the Character was suffering from the doomed or drained condition, the value in either are reduced by 1.
If your Character owns a Residency of any sort and takes their rest inside that residency, they:
Add an additional +5 HP to Hit Point recovery during a rest.
Add an additional +10 Stamina recovery during a rest.
Doomed or drained condition values are reduced by 2 rather than 1 during a rest.
A Note about Long-Term Rests: In the Gloom edition of Moralinth Characters can rest during downtime, replacing any other downtime activity with a rest. For each day (24-hour period) dedicated to resting, normally a Character gains double the usual recovery bonuses, or if they take a few days to a week of downtime, they recover all HP and Stamina and any non-permanent conditions. This
A Character who takes a Long-Term Rest in their Residency can take 2 days (48 hours) of downtime to fully restore HP and Stamina and remove any non-permanent conditions, though these 2 days must be consecutive.
Residency Room Bonuses
Although all Residency buildings come bundled with the Residency Rest Bonus, this is only the most basic and minimal in-game bonus that a Residency can provide. Additional rooms and Renovations (see below) each come with their own bonuses which apply to any Character that spends the required amount of time in that room during their rest within the Residence.
Each Residence comes with what are referred to as "standard rooms", which each are applicable for granting the Residency Rest Bonus, though any additional rooms (either included in the initial purchase of the building or through Renovations added later) offer different bonuses.
Regardless of the amount of rooms or bonuses a Residence might have, a Character can only ever benefit from 1x Room Bonus plus the Residency Rest Bonus per rest and, as such, Players are recommended to select which Room Bonus would best suit their needs each time they take a rest in that Residence. In short: Resting in a Residence grants 1 Room Bonus of choice + Residency Rest Bonus per Character.
Multiple Characters can select the same Room Bonus during their rest, meaning that if the entire party of Uncanny investigators wanted to benefit from the same bonus, they can do so.
While we won't go into all the Renovations in this blog, including them in your Residency can add bonuses to research and social checks, temporarily boost stat/attribute modifiers, securely store valuables, make Characters temporarily resistant to shock, grant additional equipment, and more.
Residency Upgrades
All Residences can have new rooms installed into their expansion slots, turning a spare room into a room with utility. These upgrades - called Renovations - come in two sizes, small and large. Each Residence has a certain number of small spare rooms and large spare rooms which can have Renovations installed into them. Once installed, these Renovations provide a bonus to anyone staying in the Residence, just like the Recovery Roll Bonus (see above).
The amount of Renovations and expansion slots a Residency has depends on its Residency Type:
RESIDENCY TYPE | Standard Rooms | Expansion Slots | Room Total |
Apartment | 2 | 1x Small | 3 |
Hideout | 2 | 1x Small | 3 |
Small House | 4 | 2x Small | 6 |
Safehouse | 4 | 2x Small | 6 |
House | 5 | 3x Small, 1x Large | 9 |
Warren | 5 | 3x Small, 1x Large | 9 |
Large House | 6 | 4x Small, 2x Large | 12 |
Network | 6 | 3x Small, 3x Large | 12 |
Manor House | 8 | 6x Small, 4x Large | 18 |
Lair | 8 | 5x Small, 5x Large | 18 |
Social Status & Renovations
Some specific and specialist Renovations require a certain Prestige or Infamy level to acquire on top of any purchase price. This represents the scarceness of materials, access to virtuoso artisans and other contributing factors.
Buying, Maintaining & Selling a Residency
Like all equipment, Renovations can be purchased at Character Creation or once the game has begun, but having them installed takes around a day or two (for a small Renovation) up to a week (for a large Renovation) and the room cannot be used during that time. Also, as Renovations count as equipment they can potentially be crafted by Characters using the same rules and requirements as crafting any other item.
The difference between purchasing and renting a Residence in Moralinth:
Upon selecting a Residence (either at Character Creation or afterwards), the Player gets to decide whether they wish to purchase the Residence or Rent it from someone else, both options come with advantages and drawbacks in-game:
PURCHASING A RESIDENCE
Your Character pays the listed purchase price for the Residency (unless the Residence counts as "Starting Equipment")
You do not pay an amount toward rent every month
You can install whatever Renovations you wish that apply to your Residence, but you are responsible for paying the construction and installation fees
When purchasing the Residence, you must have the prerequisite level of Infamy or Prestige for the Residency Type
You can choose to rent out the Residence to another, charging 1.5% of the property's value per month in rent. While the Residence is being rented to another, you cannot use the property and therefore cannot gain any rest bonus from doing so.
You can sell the Residency for the original purchase price + 1d10% (for example, if you bought a small house in a common district for 480,000s, when you went to sell it you would roll 1d10 and turn the result of that roll into a percentage to add to the total value of the Residency. Say you rolled a 5. Making that 5%, you would calculate 5% of 480,000 (24,000) and add that to the selling price, for a total of 504,000s. On top of this, you can add 500s for each installed small Renovation and 1,000s for each installed large Renovation. If the above small house had two small Renovations installed, you would add 1,000s to the asking price (500+500) meaning that in the above example, you could put the Residence on the market for 505,000s).
RENTING A RESIDENCE
Your Character does not pay the listed purchase price for a Residence, but rather pays 2x the rental price of the Residence to secure it, then pays the rental price each month. The rental price is listed alongside the purchase price but is typically 1.5% of the Residence's total value. This is paid "behind the scenes" and does not come out of your Character's monthly expendable funds. The amount your Character gets each month is the amount of money they have after the rent has been taken.
You cannot install Renovations into the Residence but instead must ask the owner of the Residence (the Landlord) to do so. Typically a Landlord will not install more than two Renovations per in-game year. The upside is that the Landlord pays for the Renovation, not the Character renting.
You do not need to meet the Prestige or Infamy prerequisites when renting a Residence.
You gain any rest bonuses the Residence provides as if you were the owner.
You can split the rent with multiple lodgers, at the Landlord's discretion.
You cannot sell the Residence, but you can attempt to purchase it from the Landlord at which case all regular rules for purchasing a Residence apply.
Roguelike Community
The Moralinth Official Facebook Group is the place to visit for quick and concise updates for those who only want the summarised details of what is happening with Moralinth and is a great place to see the artwork, lore snippets, and updates. We're looking to add more to it so that we can add extra information, but we need your help! What sort of things would you like to see included in the Facebook Group that isn't there already? Feel free to leave comments so we can know what is a priority for everyone - and make sure you tell your friends!
DISCORD:
For a more in-depth and interactive playground for all things Moralinth, you can head over to the Morlainth Official Discord Server. We're looking to foster the community and grow it out, and a few of the messages we've received of late have asked for more ways to interact with the game world as well as an increase in setting information. We're looking to try and grant both requests simultaneously, so keep an eye on Discord for more information! Feel free to invite anyone who you feel might want to follow the project but please remember they need to verify their account when they first join the server (you need to click the little "tick" to be granted the Uncanny role and gain access to all the Categories, Channels and Events).
Future Plans
There will be no blog update for December 2024, with our staff taking time off during the festive period. We will be back in 2025 with lots of new and exciting news however, so remember to pop back or keep an eye on our social media outlets to be kept informed. From Roguelike Games we'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support throughout 2024 and to wish you an exceptional 2025!
....and that wraps up our update for this month! Feel free to drop us a message or come visit us on our Facebook page or our Discord Group if you'd like! Until our next update in the new year,
Happy Gaming!
- Adam
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