A Settlement in Rulers represents anywhere your population live in sizeable numbers, such as a walled town, a fishing village, or a fortified citadel.

Each Settlement must be located at one of the Locations in the Region they inhabit, and cannot be moved once it's position is determined. Each Region can support up to four Settlements.

Settlements come two sizes: Minor and Major.

All Settlements have a Food Cost, a number of Building Slots, and a Might value depending on their size.

Building Slots are the number of Buildings a Settlement can support. A Settlement can only have one building under construct at a time, and cannot have multiples of the same building in one settlement.

A Settlement's Might is the force it can defend itself with, as well as the potential size of an army it can deploy with the Muster Army action. Garrisons do not have an upkeep, and if they suffer losses to they will automatically replenish to their maximum Might at the start of the New Year 🌄. A Settlement’s Garrison cannot exceed it’s Might capacity, although some buildings will increase this limit.

Each settlement also creates an amount of Influence through its cultural and political power. Each Minor Settlement provides 1 Influence 💠 and each Major Settlement provides 2 Influence 💠. Settlements are the primary source of Influence in Rulers.

Famine

The food cost of a Settlement must be paid in upkeep every turn.

If a Realm is unable to pay the Food cost of its Settlements, then the Minor Settlement which has takes the most Food 🌾 in Upkeep for its buildings will automatically disables all of its buildings until the New Year 🌄. This will stop both the consumption of resources and end the benefits provided by its buildings. However, the Settlement will still produce Influence and retain it’s Garrison. This will continue for each Settlement in the Realm until the total available is Food 0 🌾

Exchanging Settlements

Ownership of a Settlement can transfer from one Realm to another. This can happen through an exchange or conquest.

With the Offer Exchange action, a Ruler may freely gift a Settlement to another Realm, or ask for something in kind as a trade, including a Settlement from the other Realm. This exchange may only take place between adjacent Regions controlled by the Realms in the exchange, and each Settlement must still be assigned to a location in its new Region. This exchange also cannot exceed the limit of 4 Settlements in one Region.

An Army can capture a Settlement by force. The Issue Order action must be taken to initiate an assault on a Settlement, Armies will not automatically engage with Settlements. During the Warfare phase each turn, the besieging army will make combat rolls until the Settlement is taken or the army is defeated. The Settlement only comes under the direct control of the conquering Realm, if there is an adjacent Region with an available location for the Settlement to be assigned to. If there is not an available location in adjacent Region controlled by the conquering Realm, then the Settlement is occupied, until all Settlements in its Region have been captured. Once all Settlements in the Region have be captured through Sieges, then control of the entire Region, including all of its Settlements, transfers to the besieging Realm.