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I'm interested in hearing what others are looking for in strongholds, so I'm copying my post from another thread: "What I'm hoping for in the stronghold is customization and the ability to upgrade how you want, possibly through side quests. For example, maybe you start off with a wooden wall for your stronghold and have to clear a quarry of a monster infestation so the miners can get in to mine the stone, allowing you to create stone walls and buildings. Or maybe before you even start your stronghold, you have to help a group of loggers establish a camp in a forest, possibly by clearing out monsters, or alternatively through helping the loggers set up defences and traps. In the start, your party and companions recruited may all live in a single home, but as you upgrade your keep, maybe the companions gained through the story will gain their own homes, which they will upgrade and customize how they want, possibly by you doing side quests for them. The stronghold should also be a place where you can send your companions when you don't want them in your party, so you don't have to memorize where you left them, and perhaps they can do useful tasks for you if you have the right buildings in your stronghold. For example, if you build a library, companions (especially wizards) will be able to do their research there, and maybe you can do side quests and buy books for it, the research will be more efficient and if it is a good enough library perhaps it can give your party a slight intelligence bonus. If you build an obstacle course/training ground, your companions will be able to train physically, learning new fighting techniques and skills, and maybe your party gets a constitution/strength bonus. Similarly, a zen garden for monks and ciphers to meditate at, and for everyone to relax at, a temple for paladins and priests to worship at, and for companions to pray at, and a bar for entertainment and honing charisma. Maybe there can even be side quests to recruit NPCs to improve these buildings, such as getting a bartender for the bar, a librarian for the library, a drill master for the obstacle course and training grounds, guards for your stronghold in general, etc. Perhaps we can even build buildings that effect the game play. For example, if you build gardens, recruit gardeners, and bring them seeds, they will grow the plants for you, and you won't need to go into the wilderness and harvest the herbs for crafting. Similarly if you build a mine within your stronghold, you will be able to get miners to get you stones and ores for crafting weapons and armors. Perhaps if you live on an ocean or river, you can build a dock and hire a dock master so you can have fast travel between ports, or build a fishing boat and hire fishers to give your stronghold a source of food. Or you can build a stable for fast travel on land, and later build caravans to allow for trade between your stronghold and other communities. The point is, you build and upgrade your stronghold how you want, and the time you invest in this gives you greater rewards, both aesthetically in how your stronghold looks, and in terms of game play by giving you better companions and talents, and how the game can be played."

EDIT: Inspiration to make this thread came from reading this thread about Drugs, he mentions somewhere "Crafting drugs" which brought me to Gardening (which in turn brought me to Suikoden): http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/61213-drugs/ EDIT END. Suikoden is one of my favorite games of all time (Suikoden, 2, 5 preference, I do love and like 3 and 4 as well just not as much). Suikoden was a console RPG, released for PSX, PS2 and DS. Still waiting for a PS3 release <3 Anyways, Suikoden is a great RPG, you have an open world you travel. The idea is that you gather companions (108 Stars of Destiny, as they are called), you get a castle (which grows the more companions you get). Most of the companions serve a purpose (One is a Chef, one is a Fisherman, one is a Gardener etc. etc.) and there's quite a few mini-games, side-quests and so on. Great game. I am wondering what you feel about some of these features at your own, personal house, in P:E? What would you like to see? Would you like to have a pond where you can fish and then cook? Or Gardening so you can get herbs. Hire some slaves to take care of your house for you (and your Garden), butlers that keep it tidy and clean whilst you are out adventuring. Furniture? Harvest Moon growth? (I.E expand your land, to a start your house is a shabby old hut ready to fall apart, late-game if you invest in the house you might get a big mansion). Of course, the bigger the house, the bigger the threat. If you have a museum with artifacts and National Treasure, burglar's could target you. Maybe you have something more subtle, hidden, a Bat-Cave. Or a Phantom Cave. Perhaps you are paranoid and want as much defense as possible and get a Castle with fortified walls. Or simply a mini-hut that's about to fall apart. The preference for this is big so I'll just suggest 3 different ones for now: * "About to fall apart"-Hut * Secret Cave (With your Bat-Horsile) * Mansion/Castle Thoughts?