Some investments are better than others, so some may decide to concentrate on those. Like having 50 apiaries. So how many can one fit into the land of your ancestral manor until its just plain FULL? Ofcourse the case of 50 apiaries really should face some kind of monoculture danger. Then again, the biggest problem was that the player KNEW the numbers :p

Then again with 10 apple orchards, 10 pear orchards, 5 walnut.. 30 apiaries, 10 rabit pens, 8 cow herds, 10 sheep herds etc... you should, while possibly avoiding the monoculture danger, face the problem of running out of space. Or just drive the low producing peasants off their lands? I hear thats what the scottish lords did, with sheep being more profitable than farmers.


Then ofcourse we start havng the question of a knight earning more than his Early lord.. Which cannot possibly end well.

I believe Greg has said in the past that you should only, as a rule, have one of each investment on a knight's land. (But that a GM could specifically wave this every once in a while - for example, it might be that a knight has multiple apple orchards and becomes famous as The Knight Of The Apple)

You might therefore end up with two or three apiaries very occasionally, but usually only one and certainly never comedy amounts like 50. So these sorts of problems shouldn't factor in so much.

Actually, Greg has said that more than one is possible, but he may also have said you are limited to just one. Gods are fickle. :)

The rules as written don't say one way or the other, but I limit it to one of each investment per manor. Like you, I'd also allow the occasional manor to have more than one of something to make it special.

or the combination of scholars of say sword, lance, horsemanship, battle and siege. Then as many scriptoriums publishing books on the matters :) (althought i suppose one has to be a lousy knight not to get checks on those skills anyways during the year ;) )

I recommend resolving each purchase by imagining it in reality. The limit is usually not physical room.

Apiaries:
The hives themselves don’t take up much space – certainly much less than an orchard or fish pond. But the bees in the additional apiaries do need to find flowers in the ecosystem that the bees in nature and the first apiary missed. If your neighbor has no apiary, fine (“You don’t have the cash to buy an apiary. Let me put up one on our border, you don’t raid it, your lands get the -1 Weather and I get the honey. Deal?”). But if everybody has bee-homes, adding more won’t get you any more bees to live in them.

Personal trainer for sword/lance/horsemanship:
Finding an old swordsmaster is easy. The limit his how much time you put into the training that is on top of what a professional is expected to do. You’ll want a Famous Energetic score – and what are you giving up to make that time for exercise? Relaxation time? Social time bonding with the guys who have to watch your back in battle? Time with your wife? (“Oh good sir my husband is always out exercising leaving me aloooone …”)

Personal trainer for Battle:
Not possible to get checks on your own. Trust me on this one. Having every military text from Sun Tzu to Guderian memorized doesn’t do diddly-squat to help you spot weak points in the enemy line or re-form your unit after your charge. The problem isn't learning the theory but reliably putting it into practice. And for that you need a field cleared for battle exercises, a bunch of your buddies getting together for regular drills, and a veteran knight watching from the sidelines and correcting mistakes.

or the combination of scholars of say sword, lance, horsemanship, battle and siege. Then as many scriptoriums publishing books on the matters :) (althought i suppose one has to be a lousy knight not to get checks on those skills anyways during the year ;) )


It's rare you'd get checks on siege, and you can't be guaranteed of making roll against battle either. Also, not everyone plays though every year. Sometimes the GM will fast forward a couple of years, meaning players will only do the winter phase for those years - no adventures. Those extra roll opportunities are then very valuable.
Also, would scholars be teaching you battle skills? I don't have my book to hand, but doesn't the Patron to Philosopher give a personality trait, not a skill?