Making quick, useful settlements in AD&D 1e

Here is how to make a settlement with armed forces as a function of income (the only relevant information?)

1. Determine settlement category & population size (DMG p173 gives population sizes for different types of settlements) - normally I know what type of settlement I want, so would just roll for population using the metrics given.



In 1e no more than 12 people can live in a single house!


2. Now, you can assume every settlement is someone's domain. This means that a classed individual owns it. Determine what type of domain it is (as per the PHB rules for which classes can found strongholds/attract followers). This is important for income determination. (Obviously a single house or small thorp won't likely have the owner present, but given the implied feudal hierarchy in the DMG it probably belongs to someone other than the peasants).
   
• 1d6: 1-3 = fighter domain 4-5 = cleric domain 6 = magic-user domain (if no classed person owns it, I would default to "fighter" for income determination)
  
3. While you are at it, determine the patron's (and likely settlements) alignment using the random table in DMG p100 (re-roll true neutral results for clerics)
   
4.  Determine the settlement income as a function of population
• Fighter: 7sp per person per month (PHB p22)
  
• Cleric: 9sp per person per month (PHB p20)
  
• Magic User: 5sp per person per month (PHB p25)
  
5. Determine the military force of the settlement. Turn your attention to DMG p29-31 for mercenary types, their command structure, and their costs. Now, the DMG actually differentiates the level brackets for leader types among mercenaries and town guards - see this post.
6. This next bit can be approached at least 3 ways:
1. Fiddle with what the settlement can afford, juggling costs around, or
2. Roll up some mercenary bands (DMG p30) and/or some city watch/city guard encounters (DMG p191) and just make sure the settlement can afford them.
   

Maybe cities have a police academy for leveling up?

 

It is safe to assume a town guard will simply be Light Foot, with some bowmen/crossbowmen among them. Heavy Foot are proper military that are trained to fight in formations. Throw in any other types you think the settlement ought to have, such as some horsemen.

 

That is all I would do to start with. If the players give the place some extra attention or you hand it over to a Patron to develop, then I would possibly want a map furnished with any relevant structures and fortifications that would come up in a siege/raid scenario (see DMG p106 "Construction & Siege").

 

An Example

My PCs saved a backwater hamlet from a grotesque pig cult. Since then, it has entered a path of development and growth. It had no guard before, but now, it demands one. I deem it to have reached "Town" status - population range 1500 - 6500 (1d6 going up in 1000s - alternatively 1d12 going up in 500s, re-roll on a 12).

It's got 5500 people. The new Lord Bryne is a Lawful Neutral (good) Fighter, so we will be using 7sp/person/month for a total income of 5500 x 7sp/mth = 38500 sp or 1925gp per month.

Due to the settlements violent history, and the fact that it is just off the main drag between two cities, Lord Bryne chooses to invest 3/4 into a reasonable guard force (about 1450, rounded generously) with the remainder going into construction.

Being a military minded man, he immediately hires a Captain of 5th level, who can thus command 100 troops and manage 5 ancillary lieutenants (who can extend his command capacity). This is 500gp/month. Lord Bryne could certainly fulfill the role himself, but he has his mind on other affairs than exclusively managing a town guard. 

Now, we have to be careful - one captain can't run the show 24/7. He would need breaks. So two lieutenants minimum will give at least 1 person in charge for every 8 hour period. Lord Bryne thinks level 4-5 lieutenants from the city are wimps and would rather bring in some rough but efficient (and cheaper) level 2-3 lieutenants. If he hires two mercenary level 3 lieutenants, it will cost him 600GP a month, but they can manage 30 troops each, which is a pretty good number for a guard shift in a town (I think). In dire straits our Captain is capable of rallying and managing up to 100 troops at one time.

So far we are at 500GP + 600GP = 1100GP. Leaving us 350GP for infantry. This is a cinch - we see in DMG p30 that "Crossbowmen will bear hand-held weapons and fight as light foot if meleed by enemy troops". They only cost 2GP per month. Lord Bryne straight away wants 30 of them. This means we have (30 x 2gp) = 60 gp per month for crossbowmen, and (10 x 2gp x 3) = 60gp for serjeants to run them (so 10 will be on every guard shift). Now we have 230gp left which will go into Light Foot. Since we have 30 troops already, and our Captain can only manage 100, we'll get 70 Light Foot, which will cost (70 x 1gp) = 70 gp/month with their respective serjeants costing 70gp/month as well. That leaves 90gp of the budget that could be put into ancillary serjeants for the lieutenants. However, Lord Bryne will keep the balance for construction, as he is an orderly man and would not see his flock exposed in an un-walled settlement.

This is about as much as I would develop for a settlement that didn't see a heap of activity but was frequented enough. Now you can handle Chainmail battles with it. Other fluff such as shops, trades, villagers etc. just don't really matter - you can improvise all of that as it is needed. AD&D's rules are not an engine to produce realistic towns and economies, and if you try to force that it to do that you will be disappointed. It is a Ruleset For Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns!