As folks will have seen, I find that some of the discussions around domains are vague on the size of the domain in question, and although Alex has expanded on how it should work I still find the text a little dense or ambiguous in some places.
I had asked a few questions about terminology and scale when referring to domains, and how large the underlying hexes were. For example:
- Page 123 - Realms and vassals – ‘An adventurer may control more than one domain.’ – Is this a 6 mile hex or a 24 mile hex?
- Page 121 - ‘Small domains in civilised realms can be controlled with a stone home or tower’ - A small tower provides enough control for a 6 mile hex, I don’t think it’s a great example if ‘Small Domain’ is defined as a 1sq. mi. one.
Now, in the rules, the following is written on page 119 (bolding is mine):
To establish a stronghold, the adventurer must first secure an area of land, known as a domain. The minimum size of a domain is a 1-square mile area of land. A standard domain size is a 32-square mile area of land (1 6-mile hex on a standard wilderness map) while the maximum size is 500 square miles (16 contiguous 6-mile hexes or 1 24-mile hex).
And when I reread this I had an idea. A standard domain is a 32 square mile area of land, which would make it the default. However there are also 2 other sizes generally used – the 1 square mile domain, and the 500 square mile domain (a 24 Mile Hex).
Given that anything more than a single 24 Mile Hex is a ‘Realm’ (because no character can manage more than one Domain, which I’m taking to read as one 24 mile hex in that context) we don’t need to worry about ‘more than 500 square miles’. That leaves us with what I think is a relatively simple scale and some simple terminology:
A SMALL domain is 1 square mile. There can be up to 32 SMALL domains in a STANDARD domain, and up to 512 SMALL domains in a LARGE domain.
A STANDARD domain is 32 square miles (one 6-mile hex). There can be up to 16 STANDARD domains in a LARGE domain.
A LARGE domain is a maximum of 500 square miles (one 24-mile hex, or contiguous set of 16 6-mile hexes)
So, when talking about domains, strongholds, population, economics, etc… it should be easy to state everything on, say, the STANDARD domain level and then either divide by 32 or multiply by 16 to work out what any values should be for SMALL or LARGE domains, respectively.
I’m sure this isn’t perfect, and may not quite gel with Alex’s spreadsheets, but the alternative seems to be that wherever there is a table or set of calculations then the figures need to reflect all 3 levels of domain.
If this is something that works, perhaps Chapter 7 (and wherever else is relevant) can be checked to ensure that the appropriate level of domain is being used in the examples, or in the text.
I’d welcome any thoughts others may have.