RTTR Leather Economy Addon - by aztimh

NEW BUILDINGS:

Hut:

• Skinner

House:

• Tannery
• Leatherworks

NEW WARES:

• Skins (Leatherworking)
• Leather (Leatherworking)
• Armor (Weapons)

NEW PEOPLE:

• Skinner (Cleaver)
• Tanner (Saw)
• Leatherworker (Tongs) (we can work out whether you start with any leatherworkers or if requiring tongs forces a metalworks so you can get the tongs)

GAMEPLAY CHANGES:

• After a hunter kills wild animals and collects meat (or they perish) the carcass will now remain temporarily giving the skinner the ability to collect skins for the tanner to make leather. This provides early game leather until pig farms can be invested in later on.
• Pigs can now be sent to the skinner as well as the slaughterhouse. Default distribution of Pigs: Slaughterhouse (80%), Skinner (30%)
• New wares transportation type: leatherworking (uses leather icon): for skins and leather. Defaults to below coal on the tree.

NEW BUILDINGS

1. SKINNER

• Hut: 2 Boards
• "Skins are gathered from animal carcasses by the skinner. They are sent to the tannery for leather production. The skinner can also be supplied with pigs for extra skins."
• Worker/Tool: Skinner/Cleaver
• Worker Icon: Knife and animals
• Goods in: Pigs (storage capacity of 3)
• Goods out: Skins
• Work sound: None
• Range: Equal to hunter when collecting skins from animal carcasses.
• Default Distribution of goods: Pigs (30%)
• Notes: it is best to place a skinner near woods where the hunter is hunting game so he can make use of the carcasses for skins. If you supply him with pigs he will use them first.

2. TANNERY

• House: 2 Boards, 2 Stones
• "The tanner works animals skins to form leather. Before tanning; the skins are cured, scraped and stretched on wooden frames made from boards. Leather is used to produce armor at the leatherworks."
• Worker/Tool: Tanner/Saw
• Worker Icon: Saw with skins on frame
• Goods in: Skins and Boards
• Goods out: Leather
• Work sound: None
• Default distribution of goods: Boards (10%)

3. LEATHERWORKS

• House: 2 Boards, 2 Stones
• "The leatherworker makes armor from finely tanned leather. This is used to bolster your soldiers' defence."
• Worker/Tool: Leatherworker/Tongs
• Worker Icon: Tongs and Leather
• Goods in: Leather
• Goods out: Armor
• Work sound: Metalworks sound

NEW MILITARY OPTIONS:

1. ARMOR

• Armor crafted by the Leatherworker is taken to military buildings (like coins). It is used up 1 soldier at a time to give a +1hp bonus to soldiers. Once hit, this bonus hp is lost until an additional armor is equipped. A (+1) is indicated next to their HP if soldier hp addon is enabled.
• *Armor also gives soldiers a 30% chance to resist a single hit from a catapult increasing resilience against siege bombardment. So 70% of the time they die as normal; 30% of the time they just lose their armor instead.
• *The capacity of military buildings to store armor is the same as coins: 1,2,4,6 for barracks, guardhouse, watchtower and fortress.
• There is now a stop armor toggle as well as the stop coins toggle.

*These numbers could be adjusted for balance. For example armor could resist catapults less or we could lower the capacity for storing armor in buildings so it isn't too effective at countering catapults. Or resisting catapults could be a separate addon. My other idea for capacity was: Barracks/Guardhouse/Watchtower/Fortress: 0/1/2/3. Meaning it encourages building the larger fortifications and also you can't have too much armor in reserve when under attack from catapults.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

The leather economy addon adds a new economic chain that can bolster military strength and assist in resisting catapults. This gives you an edge when attacking and defending at your borders.

In early game you can build skinners near hunters to gain skins from wild animals, mid to late game when you have built up your agriculture you can send extra pigs to the skinner for skins.

The strength of armor is balanced by the number of buildings required and also the resources/tools needed also by the fact it breaks easily and needs to be replaced. Game regenerates in large woods, or you need pig farms. The tanner needs boards as well as skins so it will require a robust wood economy similar to the shipyard/metalworks meaning it is more costly in the early game when wood production and stockpiles aren't as established.

There is strategic incentive to invest in leather production if you are not able to produce gold yet, but even after having gold it is an additional boost. It is up to the player to weigh the costs vs benefits and find the appropriate time to build this chain.