While at E3 2018, I had the chance to see some of Kingdom Come: Deliverance's new DLC, From The Ashes. In From The Ashes, you'll have the chance to build up a new village from scratch as its bailiff, choosing what's built and reaping the benefits. From The Ashes is set to release soon, with no release date given yet.
At a certain point, relatively early on in the story of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, you'll be given the opportunity to oversee the building and then maintenance of a village. As you see from the opening hour or so of the game, there are quite a few displaced people looking for a new place to live. Well, you'll be given the chance to help them out in From The Ashes.
The developers told me that one of the problems they noticed with Kingdom Come was that players had a lot of money to burn, especially towards the end of their game. From The Ashes offers a sort of "money sink" for you to put your hard-earned cash to good use, instead of having it slowly build up to not being much of a factor in your game.
In terms of benefits, aside from seeing a village spring up before your eyes, your village will have some unique items that you can only get from there. For example, one of the buildings will of course be a blacksmith. In that blacksmith will be some weapons or armor that can only be crafted at that particular blacksmith.
The blacksmith brings up another aspect of managing the village, as you'll have to make choices on what specific buildings will actually do. For the blacksmith that means choosing between it being a weaponsmith or armorsmith. So, are you going to want to craft some of the best weapons or armor in the game? Those sorts of choices will be littered throughout your time building up your village. What sort of specialty or focus will you want to come out of your village?
Those choices will often come in the form of upgrades, which each building will have. When you have the cash, materials, and desire, you'll be able to upgrade that building to something better. That's where those choices come in, like for the blacksmith. It starts as a simple blacksmith but down the line you'll have to make the choice of whether to focus on weapons or armor.
One building worth mentioning, or area really, will be a structure where you can go to train on all weapon types in the game. Before, you only had access to train with swords, but now if you're lacking in your mace skill, you'll have somewhere to practice on it, without, you know, the risk of dying.
Building's not as simple as throwing some money down and watching the building sprout up. You'll have to secure resources to build with, like wood and stone, as well. That means going out into the world and striking deals to secure that material for the village.
You're not done with the buildings when they're built, either. There's a maintenance cost to each one, and you'll want to balance that in your ledger book. Some buildings will run at a deficit, never making you anything. Others, like the blacksmith, will bring in an income. It's alright to work from a deficit, but you'll want to make sure there's enough in the bank to pay workers or they'll get pretty unhappy.
The village will be populated over time as people make their way there, but you will also have the opportunity to recruit some familiar faces with their own unique benefits (and some that may bring nothing but grief) to live in the village. For example, if you remember the town drunk Kunesh from the beginning of the game, you'll be able to find him in the world and recruit him if you so please. It's entirely up to you of course, as none of these named characters are necessary, nor will the game point you in their direction.
As bailiff of the town, you'll also have the opportunity to hear some grievances and pass down your judgment on what should happen. Reports of some lady practicing with herbs and claiming to heal people? Banish her for witchcraft, or maybe let her stay to help the people of the town. When you see these is up to you, with many different events to hear. The choices will of course have an effect on your relationship with the people in the village, so that's something to consider.
From The Ashes is something you can engage with as much as you want. If you don't want to manage a city, don't. If you do but don't like the idea of having to go there so frequently, you won't have to either. Once the village is running and bringing in money, or you've left it with enough money in the bank that it can run on a deficit for a while, you can go about as you wish. Playing a new game from scratch, From The Ashes is meant to fit in seamlessly, as if it were there from the start. The village will grow as you do, and you can put as much effort into it as you please.
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