Farmhouses

[industrygothica]

Hello all, it's been a while.

I know I haven't posted much here on the forums lately, but I can assure you that I've been stalking and voting in the light challenges fairly regularly. I haven't been much for mapping lately, but suddenly I find myself knee-deep in a personal project and I find that it's time to get back to it. But I need some advise.

I'm going to be building the small village of Newmeadow. It'll be a small village with a few shops and an inn--nothing special. There will be several farms surrounding the village, probably a good day's ride out. I'm thinking maybe a cluster of a few homesteads in any direction that all work together to make Newmeadow a self-sustaining community in what will probably be some type of Point-of-Light setting. But that's another discussion.

What I need is a farm. Or rather your opinions on what a fantasy farm would involve. Obviously a farmhouse... but what's in it? How big? How many rooms? Outbuildings, I assume, would depend on what they're doing at the farm. What else am I missing? Game-wise, I don't want anything too big. But I do want something that makes sense. Any ideas?

When I get something going I'll post the WiPs here, so maybe I can start contributing again.

Thanks!


-IG

[Mark Oliva]

To start answering your question, it would help to know a bit more. From place to place and time to time, farms can be quite different. Are you trying to replicate an 18th or 19th century American farm or a traditional central European farm? Or a farm in traditional British Isles ans Irish style? Or do you want to replicate an early 20th century farm? Or perhaps a modern industrialized farm from somewhere? There are substantial differences among all of these models.

[industrygothica]

To start answering your question, it would help to know a bit more. From place to place and time to time, farms can be quite different. Are you trying to replicate an 18th or 19th century American farm or a traditional central European farm? Or a farm in traditional British Isles ans Irish style? Or do you want to replicate an early 20th century farm? Or perhaps a modern industrialized farm from somewhere? There are substantial differences among all of these models.

Thanks for the response. This is a fantasy project, so I'm not really trying to replicate anything to be honest. I suppose most typical Dungeons and Dragons type stuff models itself after a medieval European type of setting, so I guess that's what I'm shooting for. But really I'm just looking for ideas that make sense.

Thanks again.

-IG

[Larb]

There's a lot of variety you can have even in that timeframe but you're generally looking at buildings with not many rooms. You might even have the byre (animal shed) part of the actual dwelling with a short corridor or sorts between them. Or it could be a one-room timber frame structure with a packed dirt floor.

Oh, climate and availability of local materials will also make a big difference.

So I would decide what the climate is and what material you want them to be made out of first. More southern climes are going to lean towards stone.