Loving the game so far. My buddy and I are considering a coop settlement campaign.
Reading through the rules, I don’t really see any mechanism for creating a sense of achievement for the settlement long-term. Maybe I’m just missing it, but it seems to me that:
- The settlement can only improve and never suffers setbacks
- Limited Character progression as you could start over each game with new choices.
- No advantages gained really as points are matched versus others in all cases anyway.
- A starting settlement could have a 1000 pts list from the get go, so what is the point of the campaign system
I realise all this could be added through houseruling, I haven’t been able to find those either though.
What long term goals do you have for your settlements?
For me personally, my approach to settlement mode is to see it as an additional narrative element, rather than a competitive thing.
For the settlement suffering setbacks, I might run a scenario like defend the farm, but where each farm/crop represents one of the buildings in my settlement.
For character progression, you could do something like start with sole survivor day one, then sole survivor, then Heroic, then sole survivor Lone Wanderer/Tech. I don’t think the main tabletop game is intended to focus much on individual character progression though, that’s more of something the RPG expansion deals with.
The advantages gained are mostly in the form of expanded weapons and gear options, but again it doesn’t really seem to be aimed for competitive play.
I think the lack of a defined starting caps amount is to enable you to set your own limit, so that it suits the story you’re trying to tell.
As an example, the settlement mode I’m hoping to start will be a relatively simple narrative, following the progression of Nora as she starts a small settlement. I’ll start with Sole Survivor Day One and Dogmeat, and have the first scenario be to rescue some settlers who are trapped by super mutants. From there I’ll do a few missions where I try to gather equipment, meet some companions, and generally build the settlement a little, before possibly trying the campaign that came out with the Raiders Wave.
This will all be against AI though, I won’t be trying to win against a human opponent in terms of trying to build the ‘best’ settlement.
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This is just how I do it of course, other people might have others ways they like to play it 
There are some good ideas in your post. Thanks!
We’re not looking for competitive play - just a sense of achievement over time.
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That’s understandable In my case I’ll be using settlement mode as a way to add depth to a campaign (which has its own goals) rather than settlement mode being the goal itself. You could set yourself a target of having a settlement of a certain size (I think @GateKeeper came up with some house rules for houses/beds a while back?) though, or perhaps give yourself a set number of missions you can use to earn caps/build your settlements defences before doing a mission of it being invaded?