How to Start a Village(Without getting killed)

[Shadow7168]

Me walking around W6, I see loads of insecure villages, camps, outposts and many more. It's laughable how easy it would be to break into them, should the wrong person happen across it. So, I present you with a guide on how to properly build and secure a village. If you want to add onto/correct any part, feel free to leave a post.

Section 1 - Before Building the Village

If nothing else, get your toon up to a decent level. The bare minimum materials you will NEED to start a village are: 10 leather, 2 bone glue, 5 rope, 4 bones. This will allow you to secure your compound with a Pclaim and palisade. However, I do not recommend bringing only that. What I recommend is: 4 bear tooth, 4 deer antlers, 25 wrought, 5 steel, rustroot extract, 3 seedbags with 3 of each seed in the game, pickaxe/HQ stoneaxe, silkworm eggs, and two bow/slings.

Equipment-wise, bring your basic tools, metal ones if possible, a bear cape and tooth talisman, and any armor you can find/make.

Skills wise, get all the basic skills, lawspeaking, masonry, locks and bolts, prospecting, mining and all smithing skills.

My recommendation is to bring 1-2 more people with you before making the village. Pick the most experienced and loyal one as the chief.

Section 2 - Finding a Good Location

After you got your little group up, build 3 boats and load as much food and other misc supplies you can fit in. Metal, bones and weapons are extremely useful. Before you set off, think of what kind of village you want to make. For most people, it comes down to two basic choices:

Option A: A mining village. If you find an iron vein, good job, you are set. Bronze is worth alot more, but it is hard to find both tin and copper in the same area. Your best bet if you don't have extract is to mine every few tiles of a cave.

Option B: Trading village. Should you not find any ore deposits, find a flat area with little to no cliffs in it. You will be making silk, manufacturing goods, cloth, and anything else that is worth something. Since you don't have direct access to metal, you either need to trade, or set up a mining outpost later.

Whatever town you want yours to be, you should always scout around the area really good. Who knows, you might even find some abandoned places with loots in it, but this is to make sure there are no evil people who stab people in the face and steal stuff. Contrary to popular belief, some Rus are actually friendly. Well, they are alot friendlier if you have someone who can speak Russian atleast... While you are looking for the location, talk to your group, and decide what kind of layout and social structure do you want the village to be. Do your villagers have to trade to get things, or are they provided to by the village? Will they get plots for themselves? Do they have to share plots? What size will the plots be? Are a few important subjects to discuss, and the perfect time to do it is on the boats. Also while looking at the area, make surethere is a clay node nearby, with decent Q soil and water for farming. If you must make a village on low quality soil, I suppose you can make a walled farm nearby.

Section 3 - Setting up the Village

Right, you found a empty spot that is a good place to start up your village? To properly do so, follow this list:

1: Look for string, and build 3 or 4 dreamcatchers. Set up a Pclaim, and move the boats on it.
2: Measure a large area, then pave a perimeter.
3: Build a palisade cornerpost with the materials you (should have) brought.
4: Pave a 7x7 area where you want the village center to be, and start building a timberhouse.
5: Pave a area around the timberhouse, or an optional inner wall.
6:(If you brought bones, teeth and antlers) build the village idol.
7:a) If the CP is dry, build the wall ASAP, with only 1 gate. DO NOT carry the key, put it on an alt, and only open it on demand for less than 1 minute at a time.
b) If the CP IS NOT dry, start paving the village layout.
8: Now assuming that the wall is finished and the idol is ready, gather your members and found the village.
9: If you have a cave or mine, wall it and surround it with 1 layer of signs. Your mine is now 100% secure to people trying to get in through the cave/mine.
10: Build 5ish kilns, fill them all with clay and mass produce bricks.
11: Build the BW just outside the palisade.
12: Your basic village structure is now set up. Now claim all the walls and build the rest yourself.

[jordancoles]

There are many many many more guides made with this topic in mind. They have been sticked to my knowledge also though I suppose you can never have enough of them.

That being said, learn from your mistakes.
Here's one: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=26682

You left your BW open. Though there's a palisade around it, palibashing is extremely easy this far into the game. To the point where nearly anyone can accomplish it in a short amount of time depending on how driven you are. Rule of thumb, never leave your gates open. Also, brick wall. Always brick wall. Once you find a place you'd like to make your home for the entire world, make your basic structure and BW it. After that, get to work on the curtain wall. A curtain should be 51 tiles away from your inner wall so that snipers can not shoot you in your village. This provides near total safety unless you're a derp and don't BW your mine/check your walls. You should check your walls every 8 hours or so also. A simple walk around the curtain is all you need. To make your patrols more effective, make a path with a milestone and run an alt around the wall. Oh, and seal your cornerposts. Don't make random bits of wall sticking off of the cornerpost also, it's just as easy to bubble a ram with it as an unsealed post. Lastly, do NOT make a palisade right beside your BW. Ever. By doing this anyone who can bash can easily bash your palisade and then use it to bubble a ram up against the brick. With your own wall.

I cannot stress the brickwall enough. Don't even THINK about anything else before the BW.

[MagicManICT]

jordan means a Milestone

[Patchouli_Knowledge]

One of things you should not do is make a minehole in your village. If anything, you should make the minehole in an outpost of so and mine towards the direction of the ore deposit. The reason for this is because a minehole is another security routine required attention to which requires you to wall your minehole from within your village and perhaps at the lower level as well. Another thing is that it is another checkpoint you need to patrol for rams and with different checkpoint

Essentially the minehole is only as secure as the wall you make around it. If you only secure your minehole with a palisade, your village is only as safe as a palisade village despite your layers of brick walls on the surface. Still it is best to skip all of this by not making a minehole in your village.

For the other basics things you need to know about secure village (some has already been mentioned here), refer to this post. It may be a bit outdated but still is fairly worthy.

[ArtemisGray]

One of things you should not do is make a minehole in your village. If anything, you should make the minehole in an outpost of so and mine towards the direction of the ore deposit. The reason for this is because a minehole is another security routine required attention to which requires you to wall your minehole from within your village and perhaps at the lower level as well. Another thing is that it is another checkpoint you need to patrol for rams and with different checkpoint

Essentially the minehole is only as secure as the wall you make around it. If you only secure your minehole with a palisade, your village is only as safe as a palisade village despite your layers of brick walls on the surface. Still it is best to skip all of this by not making a minehole in your village.

For the other basics things you need to know about secure village (some has already been mentioned here), refer to this post. It may be a bit outdated but still is fairly worthy.

Can't you just put signposts around the minehole. Can go down it, but not up. Have to hearth/village teleport to get out. No wall needed really.

In a village that is.

[ApocalypsePlease]

Can't you just put signposts around the minehole. Can go down it, but not up. Have to hearth/village teleport to get out. No wall needed really.

In a village that is.

You can simply signpost it off, yes. The issue with that is it requires you have total trust in each and every of your village members, which can be hard to have. Trust is a powerful tool, you shouldn't depend on trust when it comes to security in large numbers.

[Bywall]

I'm having trouble making the village idol. I've got the Lawspeaking skill and a few of the materials to start making an idol, but the option to doesn't show up under the Adventure menu. Please help.

[LadyV]

I'm having trouble making the village idol. I've got the Lawspeaking skill and a few of the materials to start making an idol, but the option to doesn't show up under the Adventure menu. Please help.

You must discover each item to be able to build the idol.

[Realak]

op killed one of my alts tonight, almost got main, and my hermit mates, got bitch smacked by a friend and is currently mia underground. little update, scents still fresh

[Bywall]

I'm having trouble making the village idol. I've got the Lawspeaking skill and a few of the materials to start making an idol, but the option to doesn't show up under the Adventure menu. Please help.

You must discover each item to be able to build the idol.

Oh damn, every item?
I see. Thanks for the help.