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Post by heavymetaljess on Aug 5, 2013 13:17:28 GMT -8
Hello Fellow GMs.
On topic with the last podcast episode, I thought I'd try crowd sourcing some locations for my massive capital city in my AD&D game. Feel free to post anything you like that might exist in a Medieval Fantasy world like Al-Qadim for a middle or lower class city.
Here's some information about Charjarni:
- There is an imperial government with very strict laws and taxes. Hands are cut off thieves, nobles are executed for treason, paperwork must be filed for weapons, magic users are registered, etc.
- The capital is peopled with humans and elves. Occasionally there might be a stray gnome.
- The middle class, merchant portion of the city is separated from the lower class portion of the city by a manned wall. It is similarly blocked off from the upper class and imperial portions of the city (which I have already built).
- The culture and climate of Charjarni is based on the Spanish Moors. So think Moroccan influence on European sensibilities.
- The entire city has a series of canals much like Venice, Italy.
- There are museums dedicated to the religions of the area, the city's past, and cultural achievements must like the Smithsonian.
- The people are polytheistic. The main gods are a sun god (LG) and a fire goddess (NG) who are constantly at odds.
I need blacksmiths, jewelers, eateries, shops, markets, personalities, marshals, knights, and pretty much anything else. The setting is mid-magic. So a potion shop may exist in the middle class portion of town, but would be quite expensive.
Ask any questions that might help you out and feel free to include weird location quirks like the head of the stable selling steeds left too long without pay to a local butcher.
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Post by Forresst on Aug 5, 2013 14:43:13 GMT -8
If there's a middle class, where is the underclass? Is there organized crime?
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D.T. Pints
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Post by D.T. Pints on Aug 5, 2013 15:35:57 GMT -8
Aw yeah! This will be perfect as I am also setting a Pathfinder campaign in a heavily moorish influenced world. And the capital city of Alesandria definitely needs more detail.
One detail I've definitely incorporated is a heavy reliance on slaver culture. The elves are the dominant species controlling all aspects of magic and religion. They however are very slow to reproduce and are being overtaken by humans. The humans are kept in check by enslavement and being wiped out in intense gladiatorial games. The elves are creating constructs or demon possessed monsters and watching them battle for entertainment against hordes of poorly armed slaves.
More to come...this will be very helpful and fun!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 17:27:54 GMT -8
You just want locations or would you like NPCs to go with them. For instance would you like the spice merchant to go with the market stall, or you are you just looking for stuff to plop on a map as you flesh things out?
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Post by guitarspider on Aug 5, 2013 21:47:02 GMT -8
If you want to go historical, have the artisans bound to their respective quarter (meaning they have to settle there, can't move within the city and can't legally leave the city of their own free will) and separated from the rest of the city by walls and such. Like this:
The column of moving sand in the middle of the city? That's the fucking mage quarter. Trinkets, potions, stuff like that I'm told. Any thief tries to get in there, the sand holds him and when he's spit out his bones are picked clean white. Some say it also keeps the mages in. How to get in there? Hell if I know, I'm just a blacksmith staring at this blackened piece of brick wall all day. We don't do fancy magic walls around here.
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Post by suboptimal on Aug 6, 2013 4:11:09 GMT -8
How about low class humans & gnomes who work as canal & street clean up crews? They could be organized in city district unions which belong to the city ruled union for such specific matters/tasks.
Would natives have spanish, or arabic sounding names?
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Aug 6, 2013 8:28:42 GMT -8
I borrowed quite a bit from moors vs inquisition history, I think I mentioned the first time you emailed this campaign idea into the podcast. But definitely check out: Just some of the locations mentioned in moorish Spain had me running to google images. Really incredible real world places. Also very useful are the list of Arabic names. www.firdaous.com/en/?11-aI'll post some of my locations in a bit. Off to work. Cheers, Curt J.
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Post by heavymetaljess on Aug 6, 2013 8:45:39 GMT -8
If there's a middle class, where is the underclass? Is there organized crime? Yes, the working poor and well as those in abject poverty live in the walled off area for lower class citizens and transient poor. This area is big enough to be it's own large city and the burrow is known as Mirador. Working poor live closest to the wall since the canal system causes the water in the poorest areas are quite foul. There is a good deal of organized crime. So far, I've created one large organization called The Hammer Handed. Because the Emperor heavily regulates what can be exported to other countries, they make their money running a booming black market. Most of their clientele are the noble merchant families. Due to this involvement with the upper class, they also trade in secrets and political backstabbing. They operate out of a system of underground tunnels the spread throughout Charjarni and are rumored to extend under the Emperor's Palace complex. There is still LOTS of room for other organized crime units especially arms dealers, drug merchants, pimps, and hit men. Some recreational drugs are produced at one of the temples, but I'm sure exotic, novelty items have a place in the crime work for the city.
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Post by heavymetaljess on Aug 6, 2013 8:59:02 GMT -8
You just want locations or would you like NPCs to go with them. For instance would you like the spice merchant to go with the market stall, or you are you just looking for stuff to plop on a map as you flesh things out? Whatever you're willing to contribute. The contributions already made include a former adventurer turned merchant who rides around in an extravagant gondola, an enchanted tavern, and a clockwork shop run by a deaf gnome named Baloden. All three of these were just a paragraph, but the more the better. I just don't want anyone to feel like their idea is too basic to contribute. I believe settings really benefit from the diverse worldview that a group of people can pull together.
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Post by heavymetaljess on Aug 6, 2013 9:05:00 GMT -8
How about low class humans & gnomes who work as canal & street clean up crews? They could be organized in city district unions which belong to the city ruled union for such specific matters/tasks. Would natives have spanish, or arabic sounding names? Locals have Persian sounding names, but right now there are refugees from other countries involved in wars, so feel free to add color to immigrants. The next country North of Charjarni is Slavic styled and a nearby area has Non-Vikings (Nordic) that could easily arrive by ship to try and make trade negotiations.
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Post by suboptimal on Aug 6, 2013 9:50:54 GMT -8
Svyrn Hillestad (Nordic Human), Age: 50 - 60 yrs, former Navy Military Captain who just wants to live a peaceful live. On one of his trips he fell in love with the beatiful Anahita Sharareh. Once he was out of the military services he came back, became a (gem?) merchant & married her. (Maybe he even picked her surename?) Arngeir Onsager (Nordic Human), Age: around 40 yrs, former Navy Military turned weapon / armor smith / merchant. He belonged to Svyrn's Crew & came with him, guess he just liked the exotic enviroment? One, or both of them might know someone in the higher ranks of the cityguard. This person might give them grieve from time to time, for one reason or another.
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Post by shadrack on Aug 6, 2013 11:51:40 GMT -8
If you're building a city, I would suggest you take a look at Vornheim. Vornheim: the complete city kitIt is a small book with ideas on how to run city adventures. Even stripping out the weird (don't get me wrong, I find the weird stuff cool, and mean it as a complement) Vornheim stuff, it's a valuable resource. Need an on-the fly floorplan. Draw a rectangle and drop some d4's. Have a chase through an unknown part of town, randomly determine the layout of the streets. (or canals) It has tables for random NPCs as well. For Example: Aristocrat: Lord Ascarious The Insidious, only derives pleasure from others fear, he is an expert in gems and jewels. Is often seen wearing the rare fur of a snow leopard and a monocle (jewelers loupe, probably) lots of fun ideas.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 17:15:30 GMT -8
Well I through a little something together for you.
The sign above the cart reads in simple characters “Baharat”, beyond that simple sign however nothing about the cart could be called simple. In fact even to call it a cart is something of a misnomer, a result merely of it being made of wood and having wheels. This ignores the folding panels that create a pair of long tables at either side, the great awning that likewise folds out and stretches across said tables, creating a space much like a long covered alley. Within one is assaulted by the smell of a thousand spices, each more pungent then the next. At the end of the hall, more often than not wreathed in shadow and the smoke of incense, is the carts owner and the traveling spice shops proprietor.
Short, plump, and with a beard that hangs nearly to his feet, he is a man of olive skin but deep blue eyes. He is always wrapped in vibrant robes, seemingly a different color upon every visit, and a matching turban sits upon his head. He speaks many tongues, but always with a strange accent. He is a man of much knowledge, not just of spices, but of secrets as well.
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Post by guitarspider on Aug 9, 2013 2:28:42 GMT -8
The Endless Corridors Everyone in Charjarni fears the endless corridors and the bureaucracy behind its doors. You're unlikely to get anything unless you pay a little here and a little there and it takes forever and they're sending you back to where you just came from and here's another form and would you come back tomorrow and no,we're closing now and OH GOD KILL ME NOW! The locals have renamed this place "the eternal waiting line" and avoid it like the plague. You need to go there if you want certain permits though. Unless you have a way to fake them or the money to have someone else do it for you. Also consider that you really do not want to get caught with fake permits...
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Post by suboptimal on Aug 11, 2013 6:58:43 GMT -8
The shops sign simply reads: Hylienna´s. After Hylienna´s husband Rayshek died she took over the enterprise "Rayshek´s Fine Spices & Drinks" and had the sign redone with her name on it. Just a couple of days later a fire broke out in the neighbourhood destroying almost the entire sign. It now simply read "Hylienna´s". She kind of liked it, had the sign cleaned up, reframed and the name stuck. Hylienna Semja: Age 45+, Merchant, she´s selling fine spices & drinks (wine, beer, ale...). She´s also selling drugs in the back (think "Heylia James" from Weeds). She got her niece (Vhirrneeta Pareshd: Age 18) and her nephew (Colmarhy Pareshd: Age 19) working for her. Hylienna likes to make money, but she knows that getting bigger means getting onto more and more trouble. So she´s very carefull regarding her "other business". Maybe her niece or nephew think differently?
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