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Author Topic: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!  (Read 1265 times)

SHARK

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Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« on: December 19, 2020, 09:34:49 PM »
Greetings!

Have you developed great, diverse trade cities in your campaign? Have players lived there or visited such fantastic places? How influential are such cities in your campaigns?

I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Xingqing, the capital city of the Tangut Empire, was a large fortified city, fabulously wealthy from an advanced economy and rich trade along the Silk Road, connecting a major trade nexus between the northern steppes, the Jin Empire to the east, the Song Empire to the south-east, the kingdoms of Tibet to the south-west, Central Asian kingdoms to the west, and also to the lands of India, further to the south-west. The city's main religion was Buddhism, though the city also embraced Taoism and Confucianism from China, and certainly some also embraced Tengri, of the steppe tribes, as well as Islam.

Palermo, a great and wealthy city on the island of Sicily, ruled by the Normans. Palermo was a cosmopolitan trade center which embraced a diverse population of Latinized Christians, Orthodox Byzantine Greeks, and Muslims. Jewish populations were also present and influential. Sicily, being located in the central Mediterranean Sea, served as a crossroads between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Samarkand, a huge fortified city in Central Asia, to the west of the Fergana Valley, and a huge trade nexus centered on the Silk Road, connecting culture and trade from the Kievan Rus to the west, the steppeland tribes of the north, the Tangut Empire and the Jin and Song Empires to the east, Persia to the south-west, and the lands of India to the south. Samarkand embraced a huge variety of religions, from Tengri and Buddhism, to Christianity, Islam, Taoism and Confucianism.

I'm always inspired by such cities and fantastic cultures, as they not only mixed and blended various ethnic groups, but also blended economic systems and cultural customs, architecture, laws, and even religion and philosophy.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
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Shawn Driscoll

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2020, 10:45:02 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2020, 11:02:21 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

Greetings!

*Laughing* Well, yeah! ;D Apart from our own modern-era SJW nonsense, I'm thinking of the more historical manner in which such cultural focal points blended culture and customs, and created something that was distinct from the norm of the day and region.

Such as the historical examples I gave managed to embrace different aspects of diversity, in a genuine sense, while not being politically and socially retarded about it like our own cultural SJW's. If that makes any sense? ;D

"Brave and Stunning!" ;D Geesus, the SJW's are mind bogglingly stupid.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Slipshot762

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2020, 05:46:04 AM »
never made one myself but in FR around the 3rd lvl of undermountain  at sea level was a place called skullport which i think counts as a high fantasy version of what you describe. A place where you can find such oddities as a beholder running a tavern with clientele that looks like mos eisly cantina, a dragon running a pawn shop, lizard man dock workers, a necromancer construction company that uses skeletons as labor and so on. it was already included in muh boxed set so i never felt a need to make or detail such a place myself, but i would always draw from it if a diverse fantasy city was needed.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Skullport

Chris24601

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2020, 10:59:04 AM »
The main trade city in my book's default setting is called Blackspire; named for the massive pre-Cataclysm tower (the intact portion is 24 stories tall; another 50 floors is today a nearby hill of overgrown rubble and twisted steel) located on a peninsula where what is now called Lake Blackspire feeds into the mighty Titan River.

It was an older building before the Cataclysm, built far more ruggedly than the newer ones surrounding it, so when the Cataclysm's wave of eldritch fire and shadow blasted through the rest were pulverized while the Blackspire was only charred, had its windows blown out and upper floors sheered off. As such, it became a gathering point for survivors because of the potential protection it could offer in those dangerous times.

Two-hundred years later the city of Blackspire is the largest in Old Praetoria with 15,000 residents, two-thirds of whom live in the massive vertical tower (the empty floors now filled with clusters of primitive buildings laid out on the square acre that comprises each floor) is the natural trading hub of the entire region. It sits the crossroads of all trade up the Titan River, through Lake Blackspire and up the many branches of the Hydra River which feeds it and at the point closest along the river system to the easiest pass over the Bloodspear mountains and into the lands of Bestia have made it a natural crossroads for trade throughout the regions. Lake Blackspire also functions as a massive harbor, shielded from the oceans tides and storms and barely 20 miles up the miles wide Titan River.

The city is broken up into seven Wards, each of whom elects a Warden to serve on the Warden Council. The Warden Council in turn elects a First Warden from among their number to serve as the head of state. All essentially serve until they choose to step down or a vote of no confidence (which is limited to one attempt per year) removes them. The wards also elect a Justice to adjudicate disputes between citizens and crimes committed within their ward (anything that crosses wards usually ends up before the Warden Council).

Here are some highlights of Blackspire;

- The Monument to Independence; when the now First Warden Kel Blackthorne raised an army to liberate the Free Cities from the tyrannical Lord Malcer, Malcer in desperation performed a mass sacrifice of the malfean and mutant slaves he kept and used it to enact a ritual that restored a Pre-Cataclysm Dreadnought Golem (think Mecha-Godzilla) to destroy the city if he could not "save the souls" of those within it. Blackthorne and his allies destroyed it from within and ended Malcer's reign of terror after which the wreckage of the 150' tall Dreadnought Golem was dragged and stood upon a pedestal at the mouth of Lake Blackspire so that all who visit the city can gaze upon the charred husk of one of the greatest weapons of war ever created and know that Blackspire is protected by those who brought it low (the unofficial name, at least according to some of my playtesters is "The Statue of DonFuqWitUs").

- The Daysmarch, Eastmarch, Ferrycross and Stonepoint Ferries; steamboats that make regular runs to and from the towns that are essentially the far edges of the Free Cities’ territory.

- The Salted Fish; a rough and tumble tavern for the common sailors. A great place to hear all sorts of gossip from distant locales if you can manage to fit in with the locals (the place becomes a very quiet if you cannot).

- Wrenchclaw’s; a gadgeteering workshop and scrapyard run by a clan of kobolds (kobolds in the setting are social and technology obsessed who build their homes in the gaps between the homes of larger folks).

- The Pit; a mutant run dive bar in the undercity sewers with a salvaged magitech jukebox loaded up with Pre-Cataclysm music.

- The Temple of the Covenant; likely the first temple erected for The Old Faith in millennia, the temple is a modest affair located in Low Ward that is home to many of the malfeans, mutants and former-barbarians who hold to it. It's construction was largely funded by First Warden Blackthorne, who converted to the Old Faith during his time among the barbarian Toria Tribes while he was in exile. Upon overthrowing the fanatical Lord Malcer, he instituted the present system of elected Wardens and ended the persecution of malfeans, mutants and followers of religions other than the Via Praetorum.

- The Commons; a large open air market at the base of Castle Blackspire where you can find just about anything (stalls are rented from the city government and, along with habor fees and tariffs on incoming and outgoing goods, are one of the main forms of income for the city-state). One of the most notable features is The Bounty Board; a large board littered with notices of jobs that need doing with offers of rewards for those who will do them.

- The Broken Mast; an upper-class tavern catering to ship captains and wealthy merchants just upwind from the docks. The booths are well insulated so business deals can be conducted in private.

- Greystone Mercenaries; a mercenary company with offices located near the docking district that both hires and hires out mercenaries for a share of the proceeds. Probably the best place in the city for PCs looking to either hire some extra muscle for an expedition or looking for a reliable way to hire themselves out to those needing mercenary work done.

- Nazric’s Apothocary; where a wizened human alchemist brews and sells most any of the common magic consumables and will happily buy up any raw materials you might bring him.

- The Inkwell; a bookseller run by the Undine-blooded Klarisa Deepwater. She has a variety of non-magical books (current best seller is Ghost Stories of The Spear, purportedly true stories of those who’ve survived expeditions to the Blood Spear and survived as compiled by noted local historian and teller of tales Arturo Greenfield; a Mark Twain like figure whose motto is “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”) and a smattering of magical rituals which she’s willing to provide in trade (i.e. bring her a ritual scroll and she’ll trade you one or more of equal or lesser value). She’s also the best bet for someone in town willing to buy old books or other Pre-Cataclysm documents a party might find in the ruins as she has many wealthy patrons with private libraries that are looking for unique items.

- The Templum per Via Praetorum; a temple dedicated to the gods of the Via Praetorum (state religion of the fallen Praetorian Empire) located in the High Ward with the requisite twelve pontiffs (one dedicated to each of the gods) and a host of deacons required of a full temple of the faith. Auxiliary offices and buildings on the grounds are to the affiliated Scribes of Verax, The Templars of Bellos, the Castians, Seers of Cassia, Knights of Viatus and Order of Venetrix.

- The Black Guard Barracks; the 6th floor of Castle Blackspire is the headquarters of the city's defenders; the 150 "man" Black Guard; a mix of city guards (whose number include beastmen, dwarves and mutants), wyvern cavalry and warcasters (wizards specializing in attack spells).

- The Overlook Inn; an Inn and Tavern built into the western face of Castle Blackspire on the 10-12th floors with a stunning view of the city and Lake Blackspire (particularly at sunset). It has the best lodging in the city.

- The Rookery; the top floor of Castle Blackspire is where you can obtain stabling for flying mounts as well as buy/sell them. Half is open to the public the other half is reserved to the Black Guard’s wyvern mounts.

- The Crow’s Nest is a watch tower that rises another five stories above the Rookery and offers a full 360 degree view of the entire Free Cities region (the horizon is about 21 miles on a clear day). More importantly, the signal towers of the smaller cities of the realm can be seen and, if a warning fire is lit, the Black Guard on their wyverns can reach even the most distant location of the Free Cities in just 30 minutes.

- The Hanging Gardens comprise the entire southern face and half the other faces of Castle Blackspire with various herbs and vegetables being grown on what amounts to about four acres worth of vertical crop beds (the north face gets plants that do better with shade/indirect light, the east/west faces for those that get by with partial shade and the south face for those that do best with all day sunlight).

- Aspiro Aviation and the Blackspire Skyport. The floor beneath the Rookery has been fitted with gantries to allow airships to dock. They’re not something that shows up every day, but there’s typically 1d4-1 airships moored there on any given day. Aspiro Aviation is a local airship crew (a family of Sylphs) who takes charter flights (and as a local operation can be booked in advance... whereas it’s luck of the draw to charter ones who just happen to be there that day; there’s a fairly regular one running cargo to and from Riverhold that’s willing to make a slight detour to drop or pick up from Stonepoint Monastery, but any others are probably from much more distant lands).

BoxCrayonTales

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2020, 10:38:07 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

https://www.philosophy-of-art.com/2018/06/blackwashing-is-racist-too.html

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2020, 11:17:06 PM »
Greetings!

Here is an interesting historical video from Kings & Generals, which provided some of the inspiration for my topic.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2020, 11:34:48 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

https://www.philosophy-of-art.com/2018/06/blackwashing-is-racist-too.html

Greetings!

Geesus. "Whitewashing" and "Blackwashing" it is all such nonsense. I despise all of the SJW REEING about racism and representation everywhere, in everything. How about making movies, books, or games set *in Africa* with *all black African characters*? The whole "Oh, we need to get black Africans in everything that white people create!" How stupid. That chick's assertion that "all of the West's wealth is founded upon the blood, sweat, and tears of black people"--such BS, too. Like white Europeans didn't create unimaginable wealth before effing African slavery began in Europe? Gee, how about the ancient Greeks, the Ancient Roman Empire, Byzantium, and not to mention the fabulous wealth of the Norse Vikings, or the Kievan Rus. Oh, that's right--all of their wealth, for thousands of years--was based on white knowledge, white technology, white labour, and white military prowess. The monstrous historical blindness and stupidity from these whining, racist SJW people is so pathetic and mind boggling.

How about what Black Africans were doing down there in Africa, all by themselves? That's right, there were black African kingdoms that were swimming in gold, ivory, and gems without ever laying eyes on white Europeans. How about the Tang Empire, or the Song Empire of China? Or the Gupta Empire or the Cholan Empire of India? Yeah, they were stupidly wealthy and awesome without having anything to do with white Europeans or black Africans, either.

It is so sad that genuine, real, interesting diversity in history is somehow mangled and corrupted by racist SJW's in our modern era, even infiltrating gaming. So frustrating.

In history, there were many regions that were ethnically homogenous, and not exposed to a lot of diversity in many ways, which makes the few locations that were actually diverse, very interesting places, as noted in my original post. In my own campaign, I have some locations like these cities, which provide different forms of architecture, different cultural influences, and exchanges of skills, technology, and knowledge. I think such environments are pretty interesting, and provide different contrasts to whatever the base of the cultural regions beyond them happen to be.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

BoxCrayonTales

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2020, 01:25:52 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

https://www.philosophy-of-art.com/2018/06/blackwashing-is-racist-too.html

Greetings!

Geesus. "Whitewashing" and "Blackwashing" it is all such nonsense. I despise all of the SJW REEING about racism and representation everywhere, in everything. How about making movies, books, or games set *in Africa* with *all black African characters*? The whole "Oh, we need to get black Africans in everything that white people create!" How stupid. That chick's assertion that "all of the West's wealth is founded upon the blood, sweat, and tears of black people"--such BS, too. Like white Europeans didn't create unimaginable wealth before effing African slavery began in Europe? Gee, how about the ancient Greeks, the Ancient Roman Empire, Byzantium, and not to mention the fabulous wealth of the Norse Vikings, or the Kievan Rus. Oh, that's right--all of their wealth, for thousands of years--was based on white knowledge, white technology, white labour, and white military prowess. The monstrous historical blindness and stupidity from these whining, racist SJW people is so pathetic and mind boggling.

How about what Black Africans were doing down there in Africa, all by themselves? That's right, there were black African kingdoms that were swimming in gold, ivory, and gems without ever laying eyes on white Europeans. How about the Tang Empire, or the Song Empire of China? Or the Gupta Empire or the Cholan Empire of India? Yeah, they were stupidly wealthy and awesome without having anything to do with white Europeans or black Africans, either.

It is so sad that genuine, real, interesting diversity in history is somehow mangled and corrupted by racist SJW's in our modern era, even infiltrating gaming. So frustrating.

In history, there were many regions that were ethnically homogenous, and not exposed to a lot of diversity in many ways, which makes the few locations that were actually diverse, very interesting places, as noted in my original post. In my own campaign, I have some locations like these cities, which provide different forms of architecture, different cultural influences, and exchanges of skills, technology, and knowledge. I think such environments are pretty interesting, and provide different contrasts to whatever the base of the cultural regions beyond them happen to be.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
The article wasn’t disagreeing with you. It was criticizing the BBC’s practice of blackwashing history for the sake of political correctness. It relied on two points to support this: 1) blackwashing denies the existence of racism, 2) blackwashing denies the history of the African continent.

I am concerned about blackwashing because if I wanted to write a fantasy novel, I wouldn’t be able to find a publisher in today’s climate without adding a diversity quota or writing wholly non-white fantasy. But that still risks me being accused of racism or cultural appropriation and having my writing career destroyed, or even being accused of not writing my characters as black enough.

Greentongue

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2020, 01:46:51 PM »
From my experience, while people say they want diverse and detailed, what they want is for you to amaze them with your ability to ad-lib details.

For example, Empire of the Petal Throne has more than 40 years worth of accumulated details and almost needs a degree to play "Correctly". 
At some point, the details are just fluff and players don't want to learn Too Much just to play.

While they are great reads as reference guides, they are an impediment to gaming. IMHO

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2020, 09:31:16 PM »
The main trade city in my book's default setting is called Blackspire; named for the massive pre-Cataclysm tower (the intact portion is 24 stories tall; another 50 floors is today a nearby hill of overgrown rubble and twisted steel) located on a peninsula where what is now called Lake Blackspire feeds into the mighty Titan River.

It was an older building before the Cataclysm, built far more ruggedly than the newer ones surrounding it, so when the Cataclysm's wave of eldritch fire and shadow blasted through the rest were pulverized while the Blackspire was only charred, had its windows blown out and upper floors sheered off. As such, it became a gathering point for survivors because of the potential protection it could offer in those dangerous times.

Two-hundred years later the city of Blackspire is the largest in Old Praetoria with 15,000 residents, two-thirds of whom live in the massive vertical tower (the empty floors now filled with clusters of primitive buildings laid out on the square acre that comprises each floor) is the natural trading hub of the entire region. It sits the crossroads of all trade up the Titan River, through Lake Blackspire and up the many branches of the Hydra River which feeds it and at the point closest along the river system to the easiest pass over the Bloodspear mountains and into the lands of Bestia have made it a natural crossroads for trade throughout the regions. Lake Blackspire also functions as a massive harbor, shielded from the oceans tides and storms and barely 20 miles up the miles wide Titan River.

The city is broken up into seven Wards, each of whom elects a Warden to serve on the Warden Council. The Warden Council in turn elects a First Warden from among their number to serve as the head of state. All essentially serve until they choose to step down or a vote of no confidence (which is limited to one attempt per year) removes them. The wards also elect a Justice to adjudicate disputes between citizens and crimes committed within their ward (anything that crosses wards usually ends up before the Warden Council).

Here are some highlights of Blackspire;

- The Monument to Independence; when the now First Warden Kel Blackthorne raised an army to liberate the Free Cities from the tyrannical Lord Malcer, Malcer in desperation performed a mass sacrifice of the malfean and mutant slaves he kept and used it to enact a ritual that restored a Pre-Cataclysm Dreadnought Golem (think Mecha-Godzilla) to destroy the city if he could not "save the souls" of those within it. Blackthorne and his allies destroyed it from within and ended Malcer's reign of terror after which the wreckage of the 150' tall Dreadnought Golem was dragged and stood upon a pedestal at the mouth of Lake Blackspire so that all who visit the city can gaze upon the charred husk of one of the greatest weapons of war ever created and know that Blackspire is protected by those who brought it low (the unofficial name, at least according to some of my playtesters is "The Statue of DonFuqWitUs").

- The Daysmarch, Eastmarch, Ferrycross and Stonepoint Ferries; steamboats that make regular runs to and from the towns that are essentially the far edges of the Free Cities’ territory.

- The Salted Fish; a rough and tumble tavern for the common sailors. A great place to hear all sorts of gossip from distant locales if you can manage to fit in with the locals (the place becomes a very quiet if you cannot).

- Wrenchclaw’s; a gadgeteering workshop and scrapyard run by a clan of kobolds (kobolds in the setting are social and technology obsessed who build their homes in the gaps between the homes of larger folks).

- The Pit; a mutant run dive bar in the undercity sewers with a salvaged magitech jukebox loaded up with Pre-Cataclysm music.

- The Temple of the Covenant; likely the first temple erected for The Old Faith in millennia, the temple is a modest affair located in Low Ward that is home to many of the malfeans, mutants and former-barbarians who hold to it. It's construction was largely funded by First Warden Blackthorne, who converted to the Old Faith during his time among the barbarian Toria Tribes while he was in exile. Upon overthrowing the fanatical Lord Malcer, he instituted the present system of elected Wardens and ended the persecution of malfeans, mutants and followers of religions other than the Via Praetorum.

- The Commons; a large open air market at the base of Castle Blackspire where you can find just about anything (stalls are rented from the city government and, along with habor fees and tariffs on incoming and outgoing goods, are one of the main forms of income for the city-state). One of the most notable features is The Bounty Board; a large board littered with notices of jobs that need doing with offers of rewards for those who will do them.

- The Broken Mast; an upper-class tavern catering to ship captains and wealthy merchants just upwind from the docks. The booths are well insulated so business deals can be conducted in private.

- Greystone Mercenaries; a mercenary company with offices located near the docking district that both hires and hires out mercenaries for a share of the proceeds. Probably the best place in the city for PCs looking to either hire some extra muscle for an expedition or looking for a reliable way to hire themselves out to those needing mercenary work done.

- Nazric’s Apothocary; where a wizened human alchemist brews and sells most any of the common magic consumables and will happily buy up any raw materials you might bring him.

- The Inkwell; a bookseller run by the Undine-blooded Klarisa Deepwater. She has a variety of non-magical books (current best seller is Ghost Stories of The Spear, purportedly true stories of those who’ve survived expeditions to the Blood Spear and survived as compiled by noted local historian and teller of tales Arturo Greenfield; a Mark Twain like figure whose motto is “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”) and a smattering of magical rituals which she’s willing to provide in trade (i.e. bring her a ritual scroll and she’ll trade you one or more of equal or lesser value). She’s also the best bet for someone in town willing to buy old books or other Pre-Cataclysm documents a party might find in the ruins as she has many wealthy patrons with private libraries that are looking for unique items.

- The Templum per Via Praetorum; a temple dedicated to the gods of the Via Praetorum (state religion of the fallen Praetorian Empire) located in the High Ward with the requisite twelve pontiffs (one dedicated to each of the gods) and a host of deacons required of a full temple of the faith. Auxiliary offices and buildings on the grounds are to the affiliated Scribes of Verax, The Templars of Bellos, the Castians, Seers of Cassia, Knights of Viatus and Order of Venetrix.

- The Black Guard Barracks; the 6th floor of Castle Blackspire is the headquarters of the city's defenders; the 150 "man" Black Guard; a mix of city guards (whose number include beastmen, dwarves and mutants), wyvern cavalry and warcasters (wizards specializing in attack spells).

- The Overlook Inn; an Inn and Tavern built into the western face of Castle Blackspire on the 10-12th floors with a stunning view of the city and Lake Blackspire (particularly at sunset). It has the best lodging in the city.

- The Rookery; the top floor of Castle Blackspire is where you can obtain stabling for flying mounts as well as buy/sell them. Half is open to the public the other half is reserved to the Black Guard’s wyvern mounts.

- The Crow’s Nest is a watch tower that rises another five stories above the Rookery and offers a full 360 degree view of the entire Free Cities region (the horizon is about 21 miles on a clear day). More importantly, the signal towers of the smaller cities of the realm can be seen and, if a warning fire is lit, the Black Guard on their wyverns can reach even the most distant location of the Free Cities in just 30 minutes.

- The Hanging Gardens comprise the entire southern face and half the other faces of Castle Blackspire with various herbs and vegetables being grown on what amounts to about four acres worth of vertical crop beds (the north face gets plants that do better with shade/indirect light, the east/west faces for those that get by with partial shade and the south face for those that do best with all day sunlight).

- Aspiro Aviation and the Blackspire Skyport. The floor beneath the Rookery has been fitted with gantries to allow airships to dock. They’re not something that shows up every day, but there’s typically 1d4-1 airships moored there on any given day. Aspiro Aviation is a local airship crew (a family of Sylphs) who takes charter flights (and as a local operation can be booked in advance... whereas it’s luck of the draw to charter ones who just happen to be there that day; there’s a fairly regular one running cargo to and from Riverhold that’s willing to make a slight detour to drop or pick up from Stonepoint Monastery, but any others are probably from much more distant lands).

Greetings!

Awesome, Chris! Giant war golems from a bygone age! Very interesting different shops and locations! So many cool opportunities with these places for your players! And Airships???? *laughing* Nice! Malfeans, and Kobolds? That's cool and weird, too!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2020, 09:36:27 PM »
From my experience, while people say they want diverse and detailed, what they want is for you to amaze them with your ability to ad-lib details.

For example, Empire of the Petal Throne has more than 40 years worth of accumulated details and almost needs a degree to play "Correctly". 
At some point, the details are just fluff and players don't want to learn Too Much just to play.

While they are great reads as reference guides, they are an impediment to gaming. IMHO

Greetings!

Ad-Libbing details! *Laughing* The players don't want too much detail! *laughing* They say they want lots of things, but don't really. Geesus. So true, huh?

Tekumel was just so wild and different! That's another thing--players *say* they want something different, but deep down, no, no--they *LIKE* microwaved Tolkien European settings, dammit! ;D

Same thing why Talislanta always burned.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

SHARK

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #12 on: December 21, 2020, 09:39:45 PM »
I'm thinking of some historical examples of such fantastic and wealthy cities that were not just large or well-fortified, or otherwise famous and renowned, but also embraced a distinctive cosmopolitan nature of different ethnic groups, different cultures, different religions, and besides trade networks, were also focal points of knowledge and cultural exchanges. Such examples were particularly noteworthy for being especially tolerant--and relatively successful--at integrating and accommodating diverse ethnic and religious populations.

Like Brave and Stunning, you mean.

https://www.philosophy-of-art.com/2018/06/blackwashing-is-racist-too.html

Greetings!

Geesus. "Whitewashing" and "Blackwashing" it is all such nonsense. I despise all of the SJW REEING about racism and representation everywhere, in everything. How about making movies, books, or games set *in Africa* with *all black African characters*? The whole "Oh, we need to get black Africans in everything that white people create!" How stupid. That chick's assertion that "all of the West's wealth is founded upon the blood, sweat, and tears of black people"--such BS, too. Like white Europeans didn't create unimaginable wealth before effing African slavery began in Europe? Gee, how about the ancient Greeks, the Ancient Roman Empire, Byzantium, and not to mention the fabulous wealth of the Norse Vikings, or the Kievan Rus. Oh, that's right--all of their wealth, for thousands of years--was based on white knowledge, white technology, white labour, and white military prowess. The monstrous historical blindness and stupidity from these whining, racist SJW people is so pathetic and mind boggling.

How about what Black Africans were doing down there in Africa, all by themselves? That's right, there were black African kingdoms that were swimming in gold, ivory, and gems without ever laying eyes on white Europeans. How about the Tang Empire, or the Song Empire of China? Or the Gupta Empire or the Cholan Empire of India? Yeah, they were stupidly wealthy and awesome without having anything to do with white Europeans or black Africans, either.

It is so sad that genuine, real, interesting diversity in history is somehow mangled and corrupted by racist SJW's in our modern era, even infiltrating gaming. So frustrating.

In history, there were many regions that were ethnically homogenous, and not exposed to a lot of diversity in many ways, which makes the few locations that were actually diverse, very interesting places, as noted in my original post. In my own campaign, I have some locations like these cities, which provide different forms of architecture, different cultural influences, and exchanges of skills, technology, and knowledge. I think such environments are pretty interesting, and provide different contrasts to whatever the base of the cultural regions beyond them happen to be.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
The article wasn’t disagreeing with you. It was criticizing the BBC’s practice of blackwashing history for the sake of political correctness. It relied on two points to support this: 1) blackwashing denies the existence of racism, 2) blackwashing denies the history of the African continent.

I am concerned about blackwashing because if I wanted to write a fantasy novel, I wouldn’t be able to find a publisher in today’s climate without adding a diversity quota or writing wholly non-white fantasy. But that still risks me being accused of racism or cultural appropriation and having my writing career destroyed, or even being accused of not writing my characters as black enough.

Greetings!

Ok, Box, I suppose so. I mean, I can see some of where she was clearly agreeing, but other times, she seemed to be giving way too much credit to the whole SJW, ant-white, victimhood narrative. It was an interesting read though. It often made my brain hurt though. ;D

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Chris24601

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #13 on: December 21, 2020, 11:09:26 PM »
Greetings!

Awesome, Chris! Giant war golems from a bygone age! Very interesting different shops and locations! So many cool opportunities with these places for your players! And Airships???? *laughing* Nice! Malfeans, and Kobolds? That's cool and weird, too!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
Yeah, the central conceit of the setting to explain all the potential ruins for PCs to explore is that 200 years ago there was a vast magitech utopia called the Praetorian Empire that obliterated by The Cataclysm, a wave of supernatural fire and shadow that wiped out 99% of the population, followed by 90% of the survivors succumbing to lingering magical effects, hostile predators, starvation and suicide within the year... dropping the global population from nearly 8 billion to just 8 million scattered across the globe.

Civilization clings in pockets where some geographic feature or access to lost technology gave the survivors an edge and if they are to have any hope of surviving, heroes are needed to go and explore the monster haunted ruins in the wilds that lay just beyond the safety of civilization's walls; to clear away threats so that settlers can safely found new communities and to hopefully recover some of the lost wonders of the previous age.

"Thundarr the Barbarian" was a huge inspiration for the setting, with airships, sapient (and not-so-sapient) golems, steam engines and the like meant to highlight all the things of the previous age that were lost and are now just barely understood.

Kobolds are a species of Beastmen who resemble small lizardmen with deep blue scales (from which they derive their name... a play on the fact that the element Cobalt was named for the spirits who caused mischief in the places it was mined) and a natural affinity for technology. The Beastmen were created as slaves through the lost magic of Biomancy in an age that preceded even the Praetorian Empire, but won their freedom with the aid of the Astral Gods (and the losing humans converted to the religion of the winners and abandoned the Old Faith because their prayers to The Source were ignored; refusing to acknowledge that those prayers to save them from their rebelling slaves went ignored because creating whole races of slaves went against every teaching of The Source).

Malfeans are essentially elementally-themed tieflings. The Source's servants, the Primal Spirits who created the material world each embodied various elements and some who chose to rebel became the demons and retained echoes of their elemental power that were passed on to the mortal offspring they created to oversee the slaves of their Demon Empire. Mankind, with the help of the Primal Spirits eventually overcame the demons and they were banished to the Outer Darkness (able to enter the world only if a foolish mortal opens a doorway and provides them some sort of tether), but their malfean offspring were spared their fate by the primal spirits and given a Promise; if they would convert to the Old Faith and remain true to it, then one day a savior would be born among their number who would end the demonic curse upon their bloodlines. Thus, even after thousands of years of persecution for the sins of their ancestors, the malfeans are among the most faithful followers of the Old Faith as they await the fulfillment of The Promise (barbarians and other remnant groups that were never a part of the empire that created the beastmen also hold to the Old Faith, but they are a distinct and often persecuted minority).

A related thematic element of the setting is that the world itself is generally more fantastic than many fantasy settings, but the tradeoff is that there's no way (save death) to actually reach the otherworlds where gods and spirits are believed to reside. As such many things such as which gods are true and which are false is something that CAN'T actually be answered (vs. Forgotten Realms where you could just plane shift, walk up to a god and ask away) and so must actually be taken on faith and many faiths are mutually contradictory so that, while the world has more fantastic things like flying islands, massive volcanos with rivers of lava, perpetual storms and all sorts of things you'd normally find only on other planes in other settings... the big questions about the meaning of life, the universe and everything are just as unknown to those in the setting as they are to us, thus making them more relatable to us than if you could just plane shift to go meet your dead relatives in some deity's realm (I can't even begin to fathom how differently society would work if the existence of gods and the afterlife were provable vs. something that needs to be taken on faith).

Opaopajr

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Re: Diverse and Fantastic Trade Cities of the Campaign!
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2020, 09:44:29 AM »
Tekumel was just so wild and different! That's another thing--players *say* they want something different, but deep down, no, no--they *LIKE* microwaved Tolkien European settings, dammit! ;D

Same thing why Talislanta always burned.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

We will always have Talislanta...  Here's looking at you, kid.  8)
Just make your fuckin' guy and roll the dice, you pricks. Focus on what's interesting, not what gives you the biggest randomly generated virtual penis.  -- J Arcane
 
You know, people keep comparing non-TSR D&D to deck-building in Magic: the Gathering. But maybe it's more like Katamari Damacy. You keep sticking shit on your characters until they are big enough to be a star.
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