Managing Miscellania


 * For a calculator helping you with determining profits from kingdom management, see Calculators/Miscellania with live data from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

Managing Miscellania is a repeatable reward from quest Throne of Miscellania, in which the player is the regent of the nation Miscellania. The player is in charge of the subjects on the island by assigning them to collect resources. If the player maintains high popularity with the citizens and invests a considerable number of coins, the subjects will share a portion of their resources with the player. Because many of these resources are valuable, this quest reward is considered to be highly profitable. After the completion of the quest Royal Trouble, players gain more subjects from Etceteria and can increase their profits with the new labour at the expense of an increased maximum salary.

Managing the subjects
The idea is to manage the island in a way that is most profitable to the player. Players have control over three factors that influence productivity: what the subjects collect, the salary of the subjects, and the approval of the subjects. Controlling what the subjects collect and the salary of the subjects is done through Advisor Ghrim in Miscellania castle. Talking to him brings up an interface with all the options. Players can also speak to him via the Lunar Magicks spell NPC Contact without having to visit Miscellania, but they can only ask about their approval rating. Using the contact spell does not allow players to change their settings.

Factors of productivity
Players have control over three factors that influence productivity:
 * The approval of the subjects
 * The investment of coins in the coffers (the salaries of the subjects)
 * The resources that the subjects collect

The approval rating and coffers are drained every 24 hours at a specific time that is different for each player. It is assumed that this time is determined by when the player finishes the quests, but this is not confirmed. It is currently not possible to change this time.

Approval rating
The approval rating, ranging from 0% (bad) to 100% (good), depicts the feelings of the subjects towards the player. A high approval rating increases the number of resources you obtain, so it is recommended that players maintain this figure high at all times. The approval rating falls by 2.5% per day or 1% per day if Royal Trouble has been completed. The approval rating can be checked by speaking to one of the several NPC subjects on the island or by talking to Advisor Ghrim. The Game Bar is a great way to stay updated on the approval rating and coffers.

Players can increase their approval rating by helping the subjects around Miscellania in various tasks. These tasks have a level requirement and some also require the use of tools such as a hatchet. Fremennik sea boots 2 (or higher) increase the percentage of approval gained per task (see table below) which can speed up trips to Miscellania. The player does not need to be wearing the boots to get the rating boost, but does need to wear them for the agility shortcut. Once the approval rating reaches 100%, the subjects will prevent the player from performing the task again. These tasks do yield experience, but it is not recommended that players use them to train skills due to the negligible amounts.

One action on the island actually decreases the approval rating and that is killing the subjects. Since attacking is the default left-click for many citizens, care must be taken to avoid attacking them. High-level players can kill them in one hit, compounding the problem of accidental clicks. Players may wish to make themselves unable to attack by wielding a bow without arrows or a "fun" weapon, as it deals no damage when attacking. Alternatively, players can use the minimap to click where to go.

Players are recommended to 'top up' their approval rating as often as possible. Many players do it weekly, and some do it daily. The most popular tasks to gain approval rating are cutting maples, mining coal or weeding, because they are on the route to visiting Advisor Ghrim, especially for the players that use the fairy ring CIP. Players who need to gain approval rating, but have no items with them, can use barbarian fishing to fish bare-handed. Alternatively, players can use a rake or watering can from the tool leprechaun near the bush patch. This is good for players accessing the island from the spirit tree network. There is no real advantage to one task over another, and players should choose the task that is easiest and fastest for them.

Note: Despite rumours, approval ratings do not drop to 25% after completing Royal Trouble.

The table below outlines the actions that can be performed that influence approval rating. The approval rating will only increase if the subject recognizes the player's work by saying "Thanks!". The player may have to perform between 0 and 5 actions without being recognized. The percentage values in the table marked with an (*) need to be checked for accuracy.

Coffers
The coffers is an investment of coins that the player uses to pay the subjects for their work. The completion of the quest Throne of Miscellania allows for a maximum of 5,000,000 coins in the treasury. This amount increases to 7,500,000 coins after the completion of Royal Trouble.

The salaries are paid out to the subjects every 24 hours. The amount withdrawn from the coffers is always equivalent to 10% of the balance. However 50,000 coins (75,000 coins after Royal Trouble) is the maximum amount that can be withdrawn out of the coffers as a salary. Players are advised to make sure that the maximum amount is withdrawn everyday in order to receive the most resources from the subjects. This means that players need at least 500,000 coins (750,000 coins after Royal Trouble) in the coffers to get the maximum deduction. To go seven days without adding to the coffer, players would need 800,000 coins (1,200,000 coins after Royal Trouble) in the coffers to get the maximum amount of resources (since to get maximum resources it also requires the maximum salary to be withdrawn from the coffers daily). If the player deposits the maximum of 5,000,000 or 7,500,000 coins, 91 days will pass without having to add to the coffers.

Flatpacks
After completing all of the hard Fremennik Province Tasks, Advisor Ghrim will accept flatpack items as payment into the coffers. Only un-noted flatpacks are currently accepted. Players may purchase flatpacks from the Grand Exchange for incredibly small sums and convert them to make a large profit. Alternatively, those training Construction can use this to regain some of the lost coins. See flatpack for information on prices. This is not very popular because it takes a huge amount of time to run un-noted flatpacks from the bank.

Subject distribution
There are 10 subjects (15 after Royal Trouble) are available to gather resources. The subjects can be split any way among the six resource categories, but a maximum of 10 subjects can be assigned to each resource. Suggestions on how to distribute the subjects can be found within the descriptions of each resource below.

Note: The game only records the money taken from the coffers and the approval rating. This means that just before claiming the rewards, players can switch the subject distribution, which will then apply to the entire period.

Resources
There are many different resources that a player can assign their subjects to. However, some resources have larger profitability than others. Players are recommended to assign ten subjects on farming herbs, and the rest of the subjects (if Royal Trouble has been completed) to whatever resources the players desires. Each resource also rewards the player with bonus items such as gems from mining, birds nests from woodcutting, or caskets from fishing.

For exact calculations and the current most profitable area to assign subjects to, see here.

Harvesting
Herb farming is currently less profitable than it once was due to a decrease in price of herbs on the grand exchange, although a decent profit is still made. At the time of writing, a better option would be to assign workers to woodcutting and/or mining, sell these materials and use the profit to buy herbs.

Flax farming uses the same slot of subjects as herb farming, yet gives a worse return. For the same reasons as above, players would be better off assigning workers to more profitable activies and selling the materials.

The bonus items for this resource option include the regular herb seeds between guam and torstol, not including wergali or spirit weed.

Fishing
Raw fish is a commonly chosen option. The value of raw fish alone covers all the costs of running the kingdom. Players may also choose this option to train Cooking without the need to spend time Fishing.

Cooked fish is an option that really only makes sense if players need food for training combat. It is more profitable to choose raw fish and sell them for money to buy cooked fish.

Players receive caskets, gems (sapphire through diamond), and level 1 clue scrolls as bonus items when choosing this resource.

Mining
Coal mining also covers the cost of the kingdom. Players may choose this option as a good alternative to purchasing coal to train Smithing, since the cost to collect coal is cheaper than buying it from the Grand Exchange.

Players receive gems (sapphire through diamond) as bonus items when choosing this resource.

Woodcutting
Maple woodcutting is a good option if players need to obtain logs for training Firemaking or Fletching bows without spending the time Woodcutting. This can be very profitable, even without taking into account bird's nests as a bonus item.

Bird's nests are very commonly given as bonuses, in quantities of about 8 (given the maximum number of workers). The profits from seeds can be very large, but are highly variable depending on what seeds are received from the bird's nests. Bird's nests themselves can be crushed to obtain crushed birds' nests which players require for saradomin brews, and so a steady profit is obtained from these even when the seeds are not valuable.

Hardwood Woodcutting
Both Teak woodcutting and Mahogany woodcutting provide little profit and very few materials, so therefore it is not recommended. Even if players need planks for Construction, which still requires the cost of the sawmill or the use of Plank Make, they should choose a different option and use the money from that option to purchase logs or planks from the Grand Exchange. Players also receive bird's nests from these options just like from maple woodcutting.

Farming
Farming seeds is a not a recommended option due to the very low prices of seeds. Players who need specific types of seeds are better off choosing a profitable option and using the money to buy seeds. This option should only be chosen if the player needs a diverse collection of low level seeds. The bonus items for this resource include all tree and fruit tree seeds.

Rewards
Players can collect the rewards by talking to Advisor Ghrim. Because the items go directly to the bank and not the inventory, players need to have enough room in their bank in order to collect their rewards. Collecting can be done at any time, but a player will gain more resources by collecting less often. For example, a player with 10 subjects on maple woodcutting with 100% approval rating will get 892 maple logs and 8 bird's nests. This is because one bird nest is received for every 100 logs round down. If the player collects once a week, they will receive 6244 maple logs and 62 bird's nests instead of just 56 nests if collected every day.

The table below indicates the maximum daily reward for each resource (75,000 coins deducted from the coffers with an approval rating at 100% and the selected resource at maximum.

Trivia

 * If there is money in the coffers and the player's membership ends, the workers in Miscellania (and Etceteria, if Royal Trouble is completed) still continue gathering resources and deducting money from the coffers accordingly. Therefore if players plan on renewing their membership later, it is recommended to fill the coffers with as much as players can spare in order to take advantage of the days without membership as well. This is also true for when members get temporary bans. The workers will similarly continue to gather resources while players are banned.
 * Likewise, if players plan on not renewing their membership, it is strongly recommended to withdraw all money and resources from Miscellania, as it will become impossible to recover anything upon losing membership.
 * If you have installed RuneScape toolbar then you can use it to track your kingdom while not being a member.
 * The expressions on the chatheads of Miscellanian citizens will vary depending on your approval rating. If you have a very low approval rating, they will look annoyed with you, but as your approval rating rises, they will change to a friendlier expression.
 * There is a misconception that putting nine workers on maples produce the same amount of nests as if you use all ten. This is only true if you collect every day, where both options will provide eight nests. If you choose to collect once a week, ten workers will give you 62 nests while nine only offer 56.

Glitches

 * On 4 August 2010, the day of the Treasure Trails update, there was a glitch which allowed people to get 100 times the resources collected. Players who exploited this glitch did not get action taken against them, because they had not the choice to abuse the glitch or not (when you see the collected recources you gain them, there is no way back). Jagex eventually disabled the option to talk to Advisor Ghrim. This has now been fixed.
 * If a player teleports while on the "depositing to your bank" part of talking to Advisor Ghrim, after teleporting, the "subject distribution" interface will appear, and players are able to change distribution from their teleport point.
 * After gaining Fremennik Boots 2 or higher, if a player purposefully drains their rating to zero (by killing civilians and stealing), their rating will actually rise 1% each day if there are no coins in the coffers and if the player does not do any actions to increase their rating manually. This will go all the way to 100%, but of course this takes 100 days and it is much faster for the player to just do it the normal way. It is unknown if this is intended.