Hi!
First I’d like to thank you guys a ton for great work you’re doing, I’m having a blast with BB.
That being said, I feel like the out-of-combat part of the game needs some love so that the “management” of company doesn’t boil down to stuffing coffers with crowns and sacks with supplies. Namely: camping mechanics expansion, with a side of utilizing brothers’ background more, and non-randomly.
I first wrote a genuine wall of text with lots of details but now figured it’s better to keep it relatively short and expand on it if the idea gathers some interest. Here we go:
TL,DR:
1. Brothers gather fatigue as they battle and travel, receiving progressively worsening penalties to their performance until they get a proper rest (either at camp or a tavern). On the flipside, well-rested and well-fed brothers gain noticeable (but not game-changing) bonuses.
Rate of acquiring fatigue should be low enough so that resting doesn’t become an annoyance.
The fatigue mechanic itself should be a toggle-able option (just like ironman) so that players can choose whether they want to manage an additional thing or not.
2. During camping the Captain can order brothers to perform beneficial tasks – previously random events – corresponding to their backgrounds: hunters hunt for meat, craftsmen upgrade or fix equipment (at a faster rate), minstrels sing to increase morale, wildmen brew poisons, thieves scout out the nearby ruins to determine the inhabitants, etc.
Tasks like crafting a wolfhide armor might require additional materials and considerable investment of both time and money, comparable to buying equipment from a store.
Performing tasks requires additional gold (increased wages for brothers) and resources.
3. Advantages gained from utilizing new camping mechanics shouldn’t grant an “easymode” but offer a discernible edge over just charging into the fray without any preparation.
I hope that you will find the idea interesting. If the development schedule is too tight to include any of them, maybe a future modder can find it inspiring? One can only hope :)