Housing

is a system and one of the many unique Features to Shroud of the Avatar. This system allows any player to claim a lot, and then place a Home related to the size of the lot claimed, as their own personal property. Once placed, a Home can be fully decorated and customized to however you want inside and outside your home.


 * Player housing is one of the most impressive ways to make your mark on the world. Players can stake their claim to lots that appear in the world to everyone, and build and decorate dwellings ranging from humble cottages to towering island castles.

Several different styles of homes can be purchased in game from Housing Deeds Merchant, crafted by players, or purchased in the in game Crown Shop.
 * Some unique style homes were only available to backers of the game, or investors. These items are no longer available, but can sometimes be found and purchased from other players in the game.

To initiate the housing system, the Avatar will need to click on a stone or sign like Property Marker object.

Claiming a Housing Lot
To claim a lot, you need a Lot Deed in your inventory. In Offline mode, Lot Deeds are generally for sale from or near the same merchants who sell house, basement, and dungeon foyer deeds (such as those who work upstairs in many banks throughout New Britannia). Certain pledge levels will also begin with appropriate Lot Deeds already in the Rewards section of the bank.

When in a scene with player lots, you can ask town criers or guards how many lots are available by asking them “how many houses are free?” Town Criers will display a list of all lots in a scene and allow you to set a compass waypoint to any specific lot. Town Criers may also bind you to a town on request, which sets that town as your Recall point for Recall scrolls. This can be handy if you do not own a lot to bind to.

Holding down the P key will send out a visual “flare” beacon from any available lots nearby.

To claim an available housing lot, walk up to the “For Sale” runic sign or marker stone and double left-click the sign. Click the “Claim Lot” button to bring up the Lot Deeds panel and choose which Deed to associate with this specific Lot. While Lot Deeds can be expensive, associating a Deed with an unclaimed Lot does not cost gold.

Deeds can be associated with any Lot their size or smaller. For example, a Town Deed can be used to claim a Town or Village Lot, but a Village Deed cannot claim a Town or Castle sized Lot. Although once limited, anyone can claim water lots. However, the only water deeds available for purchase or upgrade are limited to POTs and will be taxed. (Some pledge deeds are exceptions in that they are allowed to be placed anywhere, including water lots, and are tax free.)

Deeds may also be Tax Free, Player-Owned Town, or both. Both modifiers work as you would expect. You will not need to pay taxes on any lot claimed with a Tax Free deed (although ownership of a lot used by a Tax Free deed can still expire—see Lot Expiration, below). Player-Owned Town deeds only work on lots in a Player-Owned Town.

Decorations
Houses and their decorations and trophies will be visible to all other players (unless you choose to lock it). We fully expect people to proudly display their exceptionally crafted goods and items from their glorious adventures! What fun is a house if you can’t fully personalize it!

Basement Decorations by Size

 * The chart below shows the decorations limits for basements. Note that these limits are based on the basement size, not lot size. So, a row basement placed on a village lot still has row-based limits.

Fences
Fences can be placed around a Village,Town or City lot. As a guide to enclose a lot with a gated fence you will need the following:


 * Village - 4x Corner Fence, 1x Gated Fence, 4x Long Fence and 2x Medium Fence.
 * Town - 4x Corner Fence, 1x Gated Fence, 8x Long Fence and 2x Medium Fence.
 * City - 4x Corner Fence, 1x Gated Fence, 14x Long Fence and 2x Medium Fence.

The 2 Medium Fence items give you some flexibility about where you can place your gate on your lot.

Ownership
House ownership involves two main elements, the property deed and the house. The deed is actually the more valuable element and when acquired will come with a house of some sort. The deed is the claim to be a landowner in the game and allows a player to claim a lot and build a house. Once a lot has been claimed with the deed, houses can be constructed and torn down at the player’s whim, for a cost of course, but the player need not fear losing his claimed lot. The player can however choose to unclaim their lot at any point and reclaim their deed. Deeds are NOT tied to the City/Town/Village in which they are sold! Players can own more than one House at a time.

Deeds
Property Deeds are either a PA (Place Anywhere) or POT (Player Owned Town) type of Property Deed. Each different type of Property Deed determines which which Town type you can claim a lot with within the town. PA Property Deeds can claim any lot in any Town in New Britannia. POT Property Deeds can only claim lots in a Player Owned Town or Player Run Town.

The Property Deeds are either a Row lot, Village lot, Town lot, City lot, Keep lot or Castle lot. City being the rarest and most valuable, followed by towns and then villages. If someone chooses to, they can use their deed to claim a lot smaller than the one the deed is for; for example, a City deed could claim a town or village lot.

Siege
So what is the advantage of being in a larger town or city? There are a number of reasons players will want to be in a big city. First is safety and accessibility. Big towns are more heavily defended and nearly immune to attacks. When the city/town/village your house is in is under attack, you don’t risk losing the items inside but there could be some period of time in which it is inaccessible. You can of course join in the defense of the town to help clear the attackers or just wait until it is safe.

Houses
Your house is designed from a prefabricated plan but can be uniquely decorated as you would like. There are different size houses that fit on the same size lot so keep in mind your decorations and design plans prior to selecting a house.

House Purchasing
There are three ways to purchase a house. Backers at Citizen level and above receive their house(s) with their pledge (which are exclusive). Players can also purchase houses in the game through earned in game currency. Finally players can purchase houses from the Add-On Store (which are exclusive).

Basements
Your basement is designed from a prefabricated plan, but can be uniquely decorated as you would like. There are multiple basements that fit beneath each size of lot, so consider your decorating and design plans before selecting a basement. Basements can be used on waterfront lots.

Basement Purchasing
There are three ways to purchase a basement. Backers may receive a basement with their pledge (which are exclusive). Players may also purchase basements in the game using in-game currency. Finally, players can purchase basements from the Add-On Store (which are exclusive).

Permissions
Current plan for house permissions is Kindred, Guild, Friends, Open. "Locks on doors would be cool but not final for Ep1 just yet"-

All lots are set to public permissions by default, which means other players can enter your lot but cannot decorate it.

Guests
Are allowed to enter the lot, but not modify items on the lot.

Kindred
Are can modify items on the lot. They can also move or take any decorations on the lot, including those placed by the owner.

Trustee
While they are also able to modify items, move or take any decorations on the lot, including those placed by the owner, they can also modify the Guest and Kindred permissions lists.

Housing FAQ
Did we miss something? SotA's site has an FAQ that might answer your question: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=19#faq_52