Gentlemen, please.
Psycho, you make an excellent points, and you deserve a longer answer, but sadly I can only echo what has already been said: I did not intend raiding farmland to be profitable, unless done en masse. Yes, if done without thought to the expense, it will cost you money, as upkeep is paid so long as the men are raised. It will also piss off people. It should therefore only be done unless you plan a very long campaign of raiding, or know that you need to keep your levies raised, and want a way to keep the upkeep costs low. I am indeed still working on the rules, so nothing I've said is final. The reason for my initial suggestion [which tied into So Boerd's suggestion well] was because the peasants simply do not have that much.
Most peasants deal in coppers, the semi-equivalent of pence. 1,000 coppers equal a single bulli, which itself is the semi-equivalent of a gold ducat [not the more common silver ones]. The average person will make six coppers in a day, and live off three a day. This means they'll make 2,190 a year, or 2 bullis. Since 1 is taken away by tax [1 bulli per 1 person; the convenience!] they are left with the bare minimum they need to live off of. This is a game, and of course it doesn't need to be this way, but I'd like to keep things realistic, and these were the most realistic results I could come up with. If these results are incorrect [I use The Economic History of England as my source], or not a good translation of my findings in the book, then I'd be more than happy to change them.
You are also correct on time: each round of posting will cover 1 season. The specific units of time are simply a way to keep track of specifics, and help avoid arguments or confusions. I have technically have time worked out, but it needs polish before I'd care to say anything more about it. And yes, a single fief can only be raided once in a year, but that's a single fief. There are dozens in Lundland.
As jiwon and So Boerd have said, its much better to raid trade routes if your concern is money. There are two more towns belonging to the Overlord and Archbishop [was actually going to post the Overlord's sheet tonight] that I made in the event that no one created a town, so there would at least be one trade route to raid. Manors are also made to be quite profitable, as if they have no garrison, they can be easily overcome, and offer a quick source of wealth.
And jiwon, a border guard would mean you would need to keep some of your raised levies on constant patrol around an area. A hundred or so soldiers will likely be enough to deter most bandits, but obviously will not stop an NPC or player army.
Again, no rules are finalized yet. I may consider adding crops, or an additional bulli to the amount gained from raiding farmland, or perhaps even base money gained on the fief's fertility, but I promise nothing.
Lastly, So Boerd was referring to raiding player and vassal Houses, the nobility that owns land. I think. He might have been referring to manors. But he certainly was not referring to real-life criminal activities.
EDIT: Got work for the next three days [the managers screwed me], but the rules I expect to have out this Monday. I can project a date for the map's completion once Mouseking [and Rare?] finish their sheets.
EDIT, THE REDUX: I didn't add extended family options because I assumed nobody would want them. But if that's not the case, I'd gladly add them. The rules as they are need a couple minor updates as-is, so I can patch it in along with doing the Overlord's sheet tonight.
Vassals still won't have extended family, however, as I'd prefer to not extend their details that far.
