tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post7398736053160994736..comments2024-03-26T02:31:48.024-05:00Comments on Trollsmyth: The Hows and Whys of City Statestrollsmythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-37657047390348359752010-11-12T04:44:38.756-06:002010-11-12T04:44:38.756-06:00@Chris
Yeah, but: nothing out of the Monster Manu...@Chris<br /><br />Yeah, but: nothing out of the Monster Manual, and no spells, wands, magic swords, and etc.<br /><br />Not that it matters, but it sure is fun to complain about.Cameron Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06659549078009511670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-57148136427761268442010-11-11T15:06:06.150-06:002010-11-11T15:06:06.150-06:00Chris and Bigby's Left Hand: Chris is absolute...<b>Chris</b> and <b>Bigby's Left Hand:</b> Chris is absolutely right... for certain definitions of medieval. If you're talking 9th through 13th centuries, absolutely, and even more so if you go back into the Dark Ages. But Gygax himself was more interested in later, more Renaissance periods, with their cornucopia of pole arms and articulated plate armours.<br /><br />Even worse, BLH is absolutely right to append the "faux". No matter the trappings, most "common people" in fantasy RPG settings have the outlook and attitudes of modern Western suburbanites. None of us worry that strangers in our neighborhood are advanced scouts of an invading army, or that a sail on the horizon heralds the arrival of raiders bent on murder and looting. Readers in Southeast Asia or the Middle East may have a better feel for such things (I occasionally get hits from Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Kuwait), but for the rest of us, such thoughts are utterly alien, and so they are utterly alien as well to the citizens of our sleepy pastoral villages. Most of us can't imagine trying to get on with our daily lives if we knew there might possibly be marauding orcs within two-days march from our homes, and yet the truth is, such assumptions of peace and tranquility are the exception, and not the rule, for most of human history.<br /><br />Living in such a world didn't mean people were always hunkered down, afraid to go outdoors or out of sight of city walls. But it certainly did mean they took such concerns far more seriously than we do. I try to build my worlds accordingly, but I'm a history geek, and I love delving into that sort of stuff.trollsmythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895349218958093151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-39377532952402787012010-11-11T10:04:37.024-06:002010-11-11T10:04:37.024-06:00Most guys just draw up a faux-medieval Europe...
...<i>Most guys just draw up a faux-medieval Europe...</i><br /><br />Bigby mate, you do realise that medieval Europe was essentially a militarised society with massively redundant defences in depth, right? Castles every 10-15 miles (in Western Europe at least), every city walled or built on a hill, city states hiding in lagoons, island fortresses and habitable bridges, etc; these things don't crop up in peaceful, orderly societies. <br /><br />Medieval Europe or frontier-era America are all good starting points for D&D societies. Then you add the 'magical' elements on top.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072272223837426211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-26168003231894205412010-11-10T11:47:35.780-06:002010-11-10T11:47:35.780-06:00Well, since the subject has come up . . .
One thi...Well, since the subject has come up . . .<br /><br />One thing that has always bugged about many campaign world maps is how the designers place and design their cities and towns and etc. according to "real world" criteria (the ones we understand) while seeming to ignore the fact that they are placing cities that don't just have to deal with ancient-style seasonal warfare, or even post-Peloponnesian-War all-season-all-the-time warfare; they also have to deal with the very real threat of monster hordes - anything from a goblin army to rampaging dragons - and powerful, evil, magic-dealing bad guys and all that. <br /><br />Your average D&D world is <i>insanely</i> dangerous and frankly inimical to life and civilization, and I've never really seen that addressed in city and campaign design. Most guys just draw up a faux-medieval Europe and lay monsters over it pretty much at random, like a projector sheet on a slide, with no thought about the dynamics they're putting into play. Frustrating.<br /><br />Seems to me that the closer the city is to a dangerous wilderness, the more militarized and fort-like it has to be just to survive, and lonely villages and inns and peaceful shires the like are only feasible in lawful, peaceful, "cleaned out" and strongly protected territories.<br /><br />Just my two cents on a personal point of annoyance.Cameron Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06659549078009511670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-17613498270928230082010-11-09T19:04:19.894-06:002010-11-09T19:04:19.894-06:00I've posted further on the matter, but it was ...I've posted further on the matter, but it was before reading your post.<br /><br />You may find the second part here http://inplacesdeep.blogspot.com/2010/11/underworld-demographics-part-ii.html<br /><br />I wanted to thank you for your very well reasoned presentation here. This makes a lot of sense and is good advice for anyone making a campaign, especially one that draws upon antiquity for its inspiration.<br /><br />I may make another post in short order taking this entry into account.Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28751902.post-74753176419522712852010-11-09T18:50:35.907-06:002010-11-09T18:50:35.907-06:00Think warfare as well. Greek city states essential...Think warfare as well. Greek city states essentially spent the whole summer making war on one another. Low intensity combat with few casualties, for the most part. But war none the less.Dangerous Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11494853825931603065noreply@blogger.com