Play Diary

Play Diary: Aras the Peasant, From 3k to 35k Gold

Studio play diary: Aras is a fictional character, not a real player. The game was played by our studio autoplayer; the events, figures and screens come from that run, and the telling is ours.

On day one I worked a shift in Ashford and took home 31 gold. Everything I owned was worth about 3,700. That is life as a peasant: nobody is waiting for you.

First lessons

On day 9 I finished the first rise quest for 200 gold. On day 12, Master of the Field was done. My tax was paid and the village began to count me as its own.

On day 39 bandits caught me on the road. I lost 178 gold and fell back to Vostok. On day 46, six vegetables rotted and were thrown away.

Tip: Vegetables, meat and fish spoil fast. Carry grain on long roads and take perishables straight to market.

Trade changes everything

By day 84 my net worth had reached 8,100. On day 99 my Trade skill hit 50. Buying cheap and selling in the next town turned out to be a peasant’s shortest ladder.

Tip: Skip soldiers early. Aras reached day 252 without a single troop. Money put into trade first grows much faster.

The raid and after

On day 135 a steppe horde began burning the lands around Belmonte, and it lasted until day 180. On day 167 I scattered a band of seven bandits for 94 gold and 3 renown.

Day 252 ended with 32,447 gold in hand and a net worth of 35,315. I still own no land and few know my name. But now I can afford the plots a village lordship takes.

Tip: Once the gold piles up, look at village land. Most of the plots plus the people’s support make you lord.