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  1. - Top - End - #91
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    jagadaishio's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by Renrik View Post
    God, I want to play in this city.
    Isn't that the point of a worldbuilding project?
    GENERATION 12: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
    ----------
    Fogmere City
    ----------
    Brute
    ----------

  2. - Top - End - #92
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Goblin

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I suppose it it.


    Koboldsarbeiter avatar by Mindfreak

  3. - Top - End - #93
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Good point about The Monastery. I suppose that could be the nickname for a Place of Interest in The Temple District.

    I still think that the Art District might be good as its own district. It could have circuses, stadiums, large stages, huge public sculptures and statues, museums, art markets, and entire buildings that have been painted with giant frescos and graffiti. Also, a big art community would be the best way to decide who the best artists were on a social level. Rich people who want to appear impressive would appreciate and cultivate an easy way to find and discern the best artists. This way they would not have to go artist hunting throughout various parts of the city.

    It could also be an Entertainment District. All the art, plus colliseums, fighting pits, strip clubs, etc.

    Also, The Falcons should have a secondary duty of scouting the airspace around the city. That is, when the rich people at Mithral Heights aren't having them catch every lowly pickpocket to muddy their doorstep.

  4. - Top - End - #94
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    jagadaishio's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by Strawman View Post
    Good point about The Monastery. I suppose that could be the nickname for a Place of Interest in The Temple District.

    I still think that the Art District might be good as its own district. It could have circuses, stadiums, large stages, huge public sculptures and statues, museums, art markets, and entire buildings that have been painted with giant frescos and graffiti. Also, a big art community would be the best way to decide who the best artists were on a social level. Rich people who want to appear impressive would appreciate and cultivate an easy way to find and discern the best artists. This way they would not have to go artist hunting throughout various parts of the city.

    It could also be an Entertainment District. All the art, plus colliseums, fighting pits, strip clubs, etc.

    Also, The Falcons should have a secondary duty of scouting the airspace around the city. That is, when the rich people at Mithral Heights aren't having them catch every lowly pickpocket to muddy their doorstep.
    I like the idea of an Entertainment District a lot more, especially if it has all manner of other entertainment. It, of course, isn't as successful as Hedon, but it is a lot more family-friendly. I agree entirely on the Falcons.
    GENERATION 12: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
    ----------
    Fogmere City
    ----------
    Brute
    ----------

  5. - Top - End - #95
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Location
    Name: The Collected Colleges
    Other Names: The School, The Book Stacks, The Nerdland
    Government Type: Merit based council of Experts
    Police Force: Law Enforcement Network (devices mounted on every street corner and in every building are capable of immobilizing criminals until the Watch arrive)

    The Book Stacks are the home of the most intelligent and best educated people in the city. These men and women are called upon by nearly every organization in the city, from the Streetbuilders and Merchant Agents to the Alliance and The Eyes, consult the Collected Colleges when they need the opinions of experts. The Collected Colleges have apparently made discoveries that allow technology to rival magic, but since magic is so much cheaper, these technologies have not spread to much of the city. The Steamworks owe much of their success to the developments and discoveries of Nerdland.

  6. - Top - End - #96
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by 50cr4t3s View Post
    Location
    Name: The Collected Colleges
    Other Names: The School, The Book Stacks, The Nerdland
    Government Type: Merit based council of Experts
    Police Force: Law Enforcement Network (devices mounted on every street corner and in every building are capable of immobilizing criminals until the Watch arrive)

    The Book Stacks are the home of the most intelligent and best educated people in the city. These men and women are called upon by nearly every organization in the city, from the Streetbuilders and Merchant Agents to the Alliance and The Eyes, consult the Collected Colleges when they need the opinions of experts. The Collected Colleges have apparently made discoveries that allow technology to rival magic, but since magic is so much cheaper, these technologies have not spread to much of the city. The Steamworks owe much of their success to the developments and discoveries of Nerdland.
    The Collected Colleges sound like they could easily be combined with the Academy.
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    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
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    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  7. - Top - End - #97
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Just a thought I had for a district.

    Name: Ravenshome
    Other Names: That district, the place, that place, the district, place of the stone ravens, That place where those bloody bird statues are always watching everything you do
    Government Type: Marital?
    Police Forces: The Sentinels

    No one is quite sure where it came from. One popular theory is that the place used to be the home of a powerful spellcasters who had somewhat better defenses than needed. Others say that it was always there and just hadn't been noticed until later. Still others say the Sentinels came with raiders from a random gate in the distant past. None the less, that the place exists can't be denied.

    People who enter that district will quickly notice the abundance of raven statues, most of which are slightly larger than a human (usually the first notice it with the large pair that sit on either side of every way in and out). People who are there for more than a few minutes will notice the feeling that the statues are watching them, and don't seem to stay in the same place. Asking the residents will just get the answer that they're the sentinels. Thats about all that is known about them. It has been noticed though that while no one has ever seen them move, they do seem to do so, as sometimes they will show up where it is known there weren't any before, or not be where you just saw one. Similarly covering them will always result in the cover having somehow come off as soon as you aren't looking. Attempting to break them will result in it wither being intact again as soon as you look away, or it and the rubble missing when you look back again.
    It is also noted that wherever you go, the statues are there. Even inside the buildings and homes, any room one enters there will always be one of the statues there. Due to this, the place is not very popular to live. The reason people will go there to live however is that it boasts the lowest crime rate of any place in the city. Something attributed entirely to the sentinels. No one is quite sure what they do, but people who break the law seem to have a high tendency to disappear the next time they go somewhere alone. Those that don't, usually the one with only smaller crimes, will usually find the place suddenly become dark, and the next time they can see they will find an ornate raven tattoo on their left hand and arm (its head on their hand and its wings extending up their arm). Looking closely one can see their crimes listed in over 100 languages making up the lines of the wings (which are proportional to their crimes and the severity of them in length). While normally harmless, if they try to cover it, they will feel a burring pain, after which they will find the mark has bled through what they used to cover it and the wings will be longer under the charge of avoiding justice. Some have tried going so far as to cut off their arm, which will have similar result with the whole mark showing up at the point they cut the arm off and the wings much larger under the charge of preventing justice. The mark is also noted to grow with every crime the person commits. No one is quite sure what else the mark does, but some have noticed that the statues that are around the person will frequently have red gemstones in their eyes, and that once the mark gets too large the people seem to vanish.
    Due to this, criminals tend to avoid the place, and when they must enter are quite well behaved. Some have thought that if they leave they can remove the mark only to find that if they're mark is too large they can't seem to get past the sentinels at the exits of the place, and always seem to become disoriented and take a wrong path whenever they get too close. Others have tried having the mark dispelled or having it removed like a curse. None have been found to be effective, instead they will cause the mark to grow and a stone bracelet with a raven head carved in it will grow out of the persons arm, seeming to match up with the mark. These are found to be irremovable in a similar way to the mark, and are believed by many to be smaller portable versions of the sentinels. This has even lead to the theory that those who disappear are actually turned into sentinels. For such reasons those who are marked are often avoided by other criminals.
    Those who have tried to use magic for crime in the district will also quickly find that the sentinels seem to be able to form an anti-magic field between three or more of them. Oddly enough, they seem to be able to function just fine inside the fields, or at least are believed to be able to (considering no one has ever seen them do anything). Their marks also seem unaffected by anti-magic fields, to the general dismay of their bearers.
    Outside the sentinels, there is no government in the district. None seem to be able to gain any control over them, nor can they figure out why they are there or uphold the rules they do. The laws of the district are displayed on a pillar that was made in the center after the actions of the sentinels were found. The laws have been mainly determined by what people do before disappearing and what the marks say. Every so often someone will find a new offense that causes a mark to be found on them and it will be subsequently added to the list.
    Also, while there is no real proof, there are some that would swear the district has been gradually getting bigger, and the sentinels at the exits have been getting further and further from the center over the years. Though most dismiss the idea as paranoid.

    Owrtho
    Last edited by Owrtho; 2009-08-11 at 05:51 PM.
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    [creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
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    other hombrew

  8. - Top - End - #98
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by BRC View Post
    The Collected Colleges sound like they could easily be combined with the Academy.
    The Collected Colleges are not supposed to be an actual school. It's really more of a home/office/lab for established experts in their respective fields. While the residents may continue their education at places like the Academy, the Collected Colleges is a forum of geniuses, not a school.

  9. - Top - End - #99
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by 50cr4t3s View Post
    The Collected Colleges are not supposed to be an actual school. It's really more of a home/office/lab for established experts in their respective fields. While the residents may continue their education at places like the Academy, the Collected Colleges is a forum of geniuses, not a school.
    What I mean is that the Colleges may be part of the Academy District. Within the Academy grounds, even though it's not technically part of the Academy.
    Last edited by BRC; 2009-08-05 at 10:26 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  10. - Top - End - #100
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by BRC View Post
    What I mean is that the Colleges may be part of the Academy District. Within the Academy grounds, even though it's not technically part of the Academy.
    Actually, in a city as large as the one we're making, the Academy District would actually have to have several satellite campuses throughout the city. The Collected Colleges would probably just be a neighborhood set-up by the Academy to house retired professors, associates, etc.

  11. - Top - End - #101
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by 50cr4t3s View Post
    Actually, in a city as large as the one we're making, the Academy District would actually have to have several satellite campuses throughout the city. The Collected Colleges would probably just be a neighborhood set-up by the Academy to house retired professors, associates, etc.
    Idea: When it was first founded, the Academy was much smaller. As the City grew, they soon found their current facilities insufficient for the large number of students they now found themselves faced with. The new Academy was built, and the old grounds were left abandoned for awhile, until abunch of old professors who still remembered the origional building, had it turned into what eventually became the Collected Colleges.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dsurion View Post
    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  12. - Top - End - #102
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Strawman's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District.

    I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.

    On a more general note, has anyone had any thoughts about what deities are in this setting. Will it borrow from an existing setting or have its own pantheon(s)?

    There could even be a single deity or a pantheon that exists specifically for the city, given its huge size and population. The Steamworks god, whose avatars are made of pipes and steam. Hmmm... or not.
    Last edited by Strawman; 2009-08-05 at 10:37 PM.

  13. - Top - End - #103
    Halfling in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by BRC View Post
    Idea: When it was first founded, the Academy was much smaller. As the City grew, they soon found their current facilities insufficient for the large number of students they now found themselves faced with. The new Academy was built, and the old grounds were left abandoned for awhile, until abunch of old professors who still remembered the origional building, had it turned into what eventually became the Collected Colleges.
    I approve of this idea. It's an excellent compromise.

  14. - Top - End - #104
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by 50cr4t3s View Post
    I approve of this idea. It's an excellent compromise.
    You go to the Academy to Learn, you go to the Colleges to be Smart.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dsurion View Post
    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  15. - Top - End - #105
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Goblin

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by Strawman View Post
    I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District.

    I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.

    On a more general note, has anyone had any thoughts about what deities are in this setting. Will it borrow from an existing setting or have its own pantheon(s)?

    There could even be a single deity or a pantheon that exists specifically for the city, given its huge size and population. The Steamworks god, whose avatars are made of pipes and steam. Hmmm... or not.
    I think the DM gets to choose the secret of the district and how to find it out.

    As for Gods? I don't know. We could make our own Gods or we could allow the DM to fill it in.


    Koboldsarbeiter avatar by Mindfreak

  16. - Top - End - #106
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    Owrtho's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by Strawman View Post
    I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District.

    I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.
    Well, mainly I left the name black since I couldn't think of a suitable one. The other names such as that district and that place would be due somewhat to its infamy, especially among criminals (sorta like, "Where's Bob? Haven't seen him recently." "I heard he went to that place. With his kleptomania odds are he isn't coming back.").
    As said, its up to the DM if the secret can be found and if so what it is. And yes, kids are likely to have issues from growing up there. And there are likely quite a few people in the city who are rather paranoid of raven statues as many of the residents of the district are people who thought they'd try raising they're kids where there isn't and crime (of note). They usually don't stay more than a few years, due to not being able to take the statues everywhere, but there ends up being a good number people who remember spending a few years there as children. Then there are the ones who spent all they're youth there. They tend to have it worse...

    Owrtho
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    [class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
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    other hombrew

  17. - Top - End - #107
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I bet the knowledge that almost anything you do could be in violation of some obscure law that you forgot about, or that they havn't put on the pillar yet, doesn't help much.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dsurion View Post
    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  18. - Top - End - #108
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    Owrtho's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Yah. I'd also think it could be interesting if there were some rather odd ones. Like: When closing a door from inside a room with 6 other people in it and no other open doors, you must first trace a line from your left shoulder to your right shoulder with your right thumb and then nor your head to the left.

    And then have some somewhat less odd things like how you must act when first entering someones home or the like. Due to such things it would be clear what people happen to have grown up there by certain little quarks they have.

    Owrtho
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    [creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
    [class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
    [class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror.
    other hombrew

  19. - Top - End - #109
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    You know what, lets call it "Ravenshome". Stick it right next to the necropolis...
    Or did I just make a gratuitous Half-Life 2 Reference, because I think I did.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dsurion View Post
    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  20. - Top - End - #110
    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I wonder how undead would act if they decided to visit or live in Ravenshome.

    Also, perhaps Ravenshome should stay unnaturally clean and structurally maintained. I doubt that many city-wide organizations will want to enter Ravenshome regularly. Instead, the ravens, or something, maintains the district. This would increase the appeal of living there.

    And if anyone decided to get rid of their trash by dumping it in Ravenshome and assuming it will just go away, bad things happen.

  21. - Top - End - #111
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Good idea. I changed the name to Ravenshome. Also I had sorta imagined it as being rather clean. Also normally bright except around the perimeter. I'd think it would have magical lighting.
    I would expect it to be surprisingly well maintained, and I kinda see it as having more stone buildings than most other places (also the lack of vandalism helps things last longer, and when it occurs it quickly goes away. Sometimes with the one who caused it). I could see some idiot trying to dump trash there too:
    "Hah, now my trash is out of the way and time to go back to my district." few minutes later "Man, I coulda sworn this was the way out. Wait where am I. Now that I think about it these statues really are kinda creepy. I can't help but feel like they're watching me. Wait, there wasn't a statue there a minute ago. Hey, why'd all the lights go out. Someone Hel..."

    Edit: Also I could see one of the rules being something like not lying about the products one sells. This would mean that Ravenshome would be a good place to go to avoid getting ripped off in the markets as you wouldn't need to worry much about people trying to sell false products.

    Owrtho
    Last edited by Owrtho; 2009-08-06 at 12:44 AM.
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    [creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
    [class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
    [class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror.
    other hombrew

  22. - Top - End - #112
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    Goblin

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I wish there to be at least one establishment that travels through the city, perhaps blinking out and reappearing at vacant lots elsewhere on a semipredictable schedule. A magic shop would be an obvious choice and would work well, but a number of other buildings would be interesting. What if it were a crowded apartment complex? This apartment complex occasionally blinks out and appears in the next place in line. The people inside have some kind of very limited control over it, kind of like petitioning the building to move or not move. It would wreck havoc on their ability to hold a job, though. They would all have to be employed in home industries, probably with a couple of merchants or merchant collectives in their that buy from one district and then sell to the next. I imagine they would stop in The Necropolis, The Grove, Hedon, Gulliver's Heights, and a number of others.


    Koboldsarbeiter avatar by Mindfreak

  23. - Top - End - #113
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Some Places of Interest-

    Name: Crystal Observatory
    District: Mithral Heights
    Description: Crystal Observatory is a huge telescope in Mithral Heights. Several rich professors from The Academy own Crystal Observatory. The telescope uses crystal lenses. The owners are always willing to spend their riches for better crystals that could allow them to see just a bit farther into space.

    Name: The Copper Junkyards
    District: The Steamworks
    Description: Each Steamworks has a massive pile of junk and scrap metal. This pile is called a Copper Junkyard. Poor inventors and builders come here for supplies. The Wild uses the Copper Junkyards as examples of everything wrong with the city. Every now and then a rust monster emerges from a Copper Junkyard and attacks someone.

    Name: Holy Ground
    District: The Temple District
    Description: The Holy Hands and The Holy Sword refuse to sell their fall comrades to the Necropolis. It is expensive, but they maintain their own graveyard.

    Name: The City Forge
    District: The Steamworks
    Description: All of the giant pipes and machines in The Steamworks have to come from somewhere. Extraordinary craftsmen make them in The City Forge. It is a monstrously huge forge that many people cannot work in due to the extreme heats. Most of the people who work in The City Forge are old tough dwarves.

  24. - Top - End - #114
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    ...did nobody pick up on the Half Life 2 Reference, you know, Ravenholm? With the Zombies?
    Did I need to say "A cleric named Grigori lives there" or something?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dsurion View Post
    I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much everything BRC posts is full of awesome.
    Quote Originally Posted by chiasaur11 View Post
    So, Astronaut, War Hero, or hideous Mantis Man, hop to it! The future of humanity is in your capable hands and or terrifying organic scythes.
    My Homebrew:Synchronized Swordsmen,Dual Daggers,The Doctor,The Preacher,The Brawler
    [/Center]

  25. - Top - End - #115
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Goblin

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Sorry, never played Half-Life.


    Koboldsarbeiter avatar by Mindfreak

  26. - Top - End - #116
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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Nor I.

    Also, I notice that we haven't done much of figuring out where the districts are in relation to each other or the approximate sizes of the districts (layer number and area). Might be a good idea to do so.

    Owrtho
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    [creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
    [class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
    [class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror.
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  27. - Top - End - #117
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Strawman's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I've cooked up some numbers. Let me know what you think.
    Total population of city: 3,375,100,000.
    Population of city(Canyon layers): 3 billion.
    Length of Canyon: 400 miles.
    Width of Canyon (average): 2000 feet.
    Height of Canyon: 1600 feet.
    Layers in Canyon: 40.
    Average Height of a layer: 40 feet.
    Height of the big tower (starting from top of city): 1000 feet.
    Population of big tower: 100 thousand.
    Number of extraplanar settlements: 50
    Average population of extraplanar settlement: 50-100 million
    Size of lake: 80 square miles. Between 10 and 500 feet deep.
    Population on and in lake: 300 million.

    If the average district contained 100 million people, there would be about 30 districts total. The average district size would around 13 miles long, with a presence on all 40 layers. Of course, this is just the average, and each district varies in its own way. Mithral Height, for example, is certainly not on the lower layers.

    I think that if we are going to decide which districts go where, we should base that on historical and geographical reasons. Steamworks may be placed near the lake when possible, as water will be easier to obtain. The Temple District certainly will not be next to the Necropolis. The whole process would be a lot easier to go about if we came up with an exact idea of what the canyon’s geography was before the city was founded.

  28. - Top - End - #118
    Titan in the Playground
     
    PirateCaptain

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Is it wrong that we are nowhere near done with the setting, and I already wrote a short story set in it?
    Graveyard Shift

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    Graveyard Shift
    The Steamcart clattered along the deathly quiet streets, the Column and Road crest on it’s side proclaiming to all that it belonged to the Streetbuilders. Not that it could have belonged to anyone else. Such vehicles were rare outside of the Steamworks, and even then it wouldn’t be driven by a kobold, with a young human in the passenger’s seat and an ogre in the back. And even if such a group came together under other circumstances, they wouldn’t be escorted by a pair of steely-faced and suspicious-eyed Civil Servants
    The Kobold spoke first. “Something the matter kid?”
    “I just don’t like being here. I don’t feel safe.”
    “The Necropolis is perfectly safe. The Bonesheilds will come down hard on anybody who tries to mess with us, and we’ve got the Civil Servants here in case they do.”
    The Kid, whose name was Patrid, knew all these things to be true, but they gave him no confidence. He had grown up near the temple district, he’d volunteered at the Hands hospitals, and listened to the sermons. When possible, he always tried to attend services at the little all-purpose chapel that abutted the Streetbuilders barracks where he now lived. Because of this, he had trouble with the idea of trusting the undead, even those that belonged to the Order of the Bone Shield, and while the two Civil Servants certainly looked tough, he doubted they could do much against the shambling horde of flesh-hungry ghouls he expected to rush them from the shadows at every moment.
    “Geeze kid, lookatcha. You were just fine on last weeks Trimming Job in the Oakgrove, and we all know what can happen on those. Besides, you get along just fine with Rattle”.
    “Rattle’s not like these undead”. Patrid gestured at some of the zombies walking on the street outside the window.
    “Of course not. He’s a skeleton. These guys are more similar to you than he is. At least they’ve still got flesh on ‘em”.
    The Kobold, whose name was Kritlid, stopped the steamcart and checked his map. He didn’t want to admit to the kid that he’d felt the exact same way on his first job in the Necropolis. Perhaps less so, since his eyes were better in the dark, but not that much. He’d just have to get over it. The Streetbuilders served the city, not just the parts they liked. He’d feel better once the job got started, one he had something to do.
    Kritlid stopped the cart in front of a derelict looking house and checked his map again. This was the place. He was about to tell everybody to get out and get started, but instead he turned to the human sitting next to him.
    “Kid, you ever done a 470 before?”
    Patrid shuffled through his memory. 400 jobs were for small groups, but he knew that from the team in the cart. His mental index came up blank. Then he remembered that the Ogre had brought his sledgehammer.
    “A Demolition job?”
    “Close, Demolition/repair. This building has some load-bearing pillars that are starting to crack. I don’t need to tell you what happens if they fail, especially with the new developments being built on the upper layers. What’s going to happen is this, Tark’s gonna knock out a pillar with his hammer, then we’re going to assemble the mold around it and pour the concrete. Now we’ve already got some reports of subsidence on the layers above, so we’ll want to be quick about it. Surveyor reports say we should have more than enough time to replace the pillars before things start collapsing on our heads, but that’s no excuse to dally once Tark’s done his thing. Now get out of the Cart and start unloading.”
    As the Civil Servants took up their positions on either side of the doorway, the Streetbuilders began to haul their equipment inside. Patrid dropped the mold piece he had been carrying with a yelp when he witnessed somebody step out of the shadows.
    Kritlid glared “Hey, you, get out of here. Streetbuilders at work yaknow.”
    The figure, whose face was obscured both by the darkness and by a hood spoke, but without the
    trademark rasp of the undead. “My apologies, I was merely interested in which pillars were scheduled
    for replacement”. The figure gestured towards the red X’s the surveyor team had left on some of the pillars.
    “Well you’ve seen. Now Git!”
    “As you wish”. And with that the Figure slipped into the street.
    “Who do you think that was?”
    “A squatter probably, I dunno and I’m not interested. He wasn’t supposed to be in here and he knew it, but he also knew we weren’t going to go through the trouble of doing anything about it, which we aren’t. Now get those molds built”.
    It took them ten minutes to assemble and place the first of the molds, getting it positioned around the first of the pillars. One everything was to his satisfaction, Kritlid gave the signal, and Tark hefted his hammer, smashing into the massive support pillar, and emerging from the other side.
    “Nice swing Tark!” Patrid squealed, only to be cut off by the ogre’s grunt.
    “Wasn’t me. Dis tings hollow”
    Six eyes at varying heights off the ground looked in confusion at what, according to the records, was five feet by five by ten feet of mortared brick. Instead, they saw only one layer of brick, minus the hole the ogre’s hammer had made.
    What was more disconcerting was what was inside. A Halfling, with a knife in his chest, lying slumped against the wall. A bottle of wine clutched in his hand.
    “Hey, what’s the big idea!” the Halfling rasped.
    Kritlid screamed a draconic word that translates to "Sleeping on rocks". Tark dropped his hammer, it punched a hole in the floor and interrupted a heated debate on the nature of life between two ghouls downstairs. Patrid simply fainted.

    …To Be Continued, Maybe.
    Last edited by BRC; 2009-08-06 at 05:06 PM.
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  29. - Top - End - #119
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Vadin's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    Quote Originally Posted by BRC View Post
    Is it wrong that we are nowhere near done with the setting, and I already wrote a short story set in it?
    On the contrary, that's excellent! The more like that the better!

    Excellent adaptation of Poe, by the way. Just wonderful.
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  30. - Top - End - #120
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Owrtho's Avatar

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    Default Re: Community Worldbuilding Project [Urban and Urbane]

    I'd expect that the layer height would be closer to 30' than 40'. Also, I'd say that none of the districts would likely span all the layers, and most would only be 5 layers or less (with a few larger ones like Necropolis). Also I take it you didn't factor in the caverns? Anyways, pre-city geography could be useful, but likely isn't that important in most cases as the city has likely overridden most of it by now.

    As for the short story, that would be quite the opposite of bad.

    Owrtho
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