Real World Adventuring: Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Western World

Real World Adventuring: Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Western World


I thought I would make a few posts in a series called Real World Adventuring.

I'm thinking right now about the following posts in the series:

Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Western World
Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Eastern World
Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Middle East
Ancient and Medieval Geographic Locales
Favorite Ancient and Medieval Legends, Myths, Miracles, and Folklore for an Adventure or Campaign
Ancient and Medieval Wonders, Artifacts, Items, and Devices of the World
Ancient and Medieval Books, Manuscripts, Artwork
Ancient and Medieval Science and Technology
Ancient and Medieval Organizations, Guilds, Institutions, and Organizations
Ancient and Medieval Buildings, Structures, and Architecture
Real World Exploring and Adventuring versus Game Exploring and Adventuring


The intent is to post about real world places, events, people, things, than can be incorporated into a game, adventure, mission, scenario, etc. to make it more relevant and fascinating. For the first post I'm gonna list some of my favorite Ancient and Medieval Cities of the Western World that I think would make extremely good adventuring locations, both for what they really contained, and how, with slight modification, they could be "fanaticized" and made into incredible game locales, and maybe even in-game operational bases.

You're welcome to add your own suggestions to the list of course, and comment on why you think they would make great locales, if you wish. I'll add more later but for now two cities I truly admire.


My list is as follows:


Constantinople (New Rome) - This is where my parties play, and is the base of operations for most of the teams that adventure in my/our games (the ones I DM). We have been playing Constantinople as the base of operations for ten years or so. It had everything as far as I'm concerned, from the Golden Horn to the Great Chain, from ancient documents to monasteries galore, harbors, the almost unbreachable city walls, the treasures of the Old Roman Empire, it was the end of the Silk Road, had the Hagia Sophia, the hippodrome, enormous monuments, a complex system of underground cisterns and the underground ruins of the older cities, an incredible military, an advanced and sophisticated Navy, Greek Fire, it was the home of Orthodox Christianity, hermits and holy men were all around, miracles were often said to abound, it was in contact with the Middle East, Western Europe, many parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Black Sea, optical intrigue abounded, it was possessed of tedious libraries, and at one time was the wealthiest (by far) and one of the most well-populated cities in the world. And that's just the real city. If I could have called any ancient city home, this would have been it. Bar none.


Alexandria - Alexandria would have been my undisputed second choice for city living (though I'm personally not much for city living) and if I had not lived there I would have certainly visited every chance I got. The catacombs, the greatest library the ancient world ever saw, the Pharos, the incredible buildings and structures, the proximity to the Pyramids and to Karnak, the naval traffic, the Gateway to Africa and the middle East, the constant commerce, the proto-science and advanced technology (for that day), the number of truly fascinating people who lived, worked and visited there, the incredible diversity of the people types, the incorporation of ancient knowledge into even the city design, the learning, the secrets, the buried treasures, the almost limitless opportunities for adventure. The vadding must have been incredible too. Absolutely incredible

I used a map of Constantinople as the basis of one of the major cities in my campaign world...

I like to refer to real world locations for inspiration - though not always the big cities. I've used Sighisoara (rumored birthplace of Dracula), Vernazza, and a few others. Other neat cities that are still in existence that look remarkably like they did in olden times include Carcassone and St. Malo in France.

Hmm, interesting. I'd have placed both of them in the East. Of course, since they both straddle East and West they really belong to both.

A good city to use is Troyes, France. Home to two of the anual big Faires of the Middle Ages, it is the one used for primary referance in 'Life in a Medieval City' by Joseph and Francis Gies. (And from which we still use the term Troy Weight for precious metals.)

I like to refer to real world locations for inspiration - though not always the big cities. I've used Sighisoara (rumored birthplace of Dracula), Vernazza, and a few others.

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That’s a good point. It shouldn’t be limited to major metropolises, even much smaller areas can have some fascinating and very useful aspects to them.

Hmm, interesting. I'd have placed both of them in the East.

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That’s also a good point. I guess it is kind of subjective whether I consider Constantinople the far eastern reaches of the West, as I do, or the far western reaches of the East, which you seem to.

I guess I should delineate my intentions to make it easier to understand but I’m not gonna insist that others use my definitions. But as for me, I’ll basically consider anything west of Israel the West, anything between Israel and Persia (modern Iran) the Middle East, and anything East of the eastern border of Iran, such as Afghanistan onwards, the Orient.

I’m not gonna follow that absolutely though because I would place cities like Moscow and Kiev in the West because of culture and basic ethnicity, rather than geography.

But it did cause me to add a separate listing or classification for the Middle East.

Also I’ve decided that at some time in the future, when I have the spare time, I’m gonna start a thread comparing Real World adventuring and exploration (based on my own explorations, expeditions, travels, and vadding experiences) with Game adventuring and exploration. I’ll call that the: Real World Exploring and Adventuring versus Game Exploring and Adventuring thread, which if you think about it, makes a lot of sense in the big scheme of things.


As for my next set of cities:

Carthage – Once the jewel of the world and the Queen of Africa I think this must have been both an extremely handsome city and an immensely interesting one. Before being put to the sword and the torch by Rome. But the good thing about Carthage is that any game could locate so much there and make most things seem quite believable due to locale, and it’s clouded history.


Kiev – I have a sort of personal love and fascination with ancient and Medieval Kiev. From a small village upwards to the Great Gates, and beyond. It would make a superb frontier’s city and was visited by everyone from Asiatic steppe raiders to the Vikings and Rus, to the Byzantines, and German knights, and any number of other peoples. I can imagine it in some periods very much like a brawling and very rough American West mining encampment deep in Indian Territory during open hostilities. It would have been an interesting and brutal place to live for any number of reasons, not least of which was the clime.


I was thinking about putting Troy here too, but I'm gonna put that in the Middle East, though that really doesn't feel right to me in some repsects.

Sounds like a great article series... you would definitely have my support if you used the knowledge of said cities and showed ways to incorporate them into games/adventures.

Or, I could always hack some of your articles into Good Gaming. Either way, if you're up to the task it sounds like a great series to start with, and you'd have my full and utmost support. As a Modern Fantasy DM and worldbuilder, I love having as much information as I can about ancient and medieval cities... and sadly, I just don't have enough time to do all the research I could in many cases. Having a solid template set forth to build off of... it's a dream come true .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I love having as much information as I can about ancient and medieval cities... and sadly, I just don't have enough time to do all the research I could in many cases. Having a solid template set forth to build off of... it's a dream come true

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I’m not sure I could provide detailed information, because that would take a long time to write, I’m not sure there would be any profit in it to me, and so forth, but I did want to give some people ideas about incorporating real world things into their campaigns because it has been my personal experience that in the real world so many odd, bizarre, and amazing things happen (though often aren’t well know generally speaking) that most things that are entirely imaginary pale by comparison.


However I have been thinking a lot lately about my own real world explorations and how they influence the way I DM and game, and how things I have learned in the real world could be of benefit in the game, and even vice-versa.

For instance I have a number of different equipment packs I have developed over the years. Real World packs and parks. One for case-work (investigative), one is for emergency medicine and contains my field surgical kit, one for vadding, one for archaeological expeditions, one I carry everyday, and so forth.

I actually got this idea back when I was a kid playing the game, hey, if I can have equipment packs in game that serve my purposes or that contain whatever tool or device I will need when necessary, why not in real life? (I also learned some of my early mapping skills and land navigation skills from playing D&D.) Later on as I began doing things in real life, professionally, I expanded this idea and began developing more complicated packs so that no matter where I went and what I was doing I had the proper equipment. My friends took to calling me Batman as a nickname, partially because of my criminal work, but also partly I think because I always had equipment packs with me, even when just putting around town.

Anyways that is one of the things the game taught me that I later employed in real life. As I had other experiences of my own, both professionally and personally, say with gathering Intel or vadding or working with codes or with forensics or civil defense I began incorporating those things into the game so that I developed, both for myself and my players, a Feedback Loop of ideas and skills and capabilities. Fro instance the game taught me something of being prepared, about creating packs for the real world, about logistics and supply, that kind of thing. So I put that to use. However doing that kind of thing in real life also gave me ideas for equipment bags, for tactical team combat formations, for codes and ciphers, inventions and other things I use in-game. So game needs give me ideas for the real world, and vice-versa.

I don’t think the game, or to be honest most RPGs, are exploited properly in that fashion, to some of their true benefits, but I think more people could if they wished to do so and ideas were given on how to do this. I’m still not sure of exactly how to go about this, but I’m kinda experimenting around a bit. But that's the real motivation of these articles.

Anyways it is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile.

But I am appreciative of your post and maybe as I get going, time allowing, we could help each other in some way.

Gotta go.
I got a long distance call coming in.

See ya.

Jack7 said:

I’m not sure I could provide detailed information, because that would take a long time to write, I’m not sure there would be any profit in it to me, and so forth, but I did want to give some people ideas about incorporating real world things into their campaigns because it has been my personal experience that in the real world so many odd, bizarre, and amazing things happen (though often aren’t well know generally speaking) that most things that are entirely imaginary pale by comparison.

. . .

I don’t think the game, or to be honest most RPGs, are exploited properly in that fashion, to some of their true benefits, but I think more people could if they wished to do so and ideas were given on how to do this. I’m still not sure of exactly how to go about this, but I’m kinda experimenting around a bit. But that's the real motivation of these articles.

Anyways it is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile.

But I am appreciative of your post and maybe as I get going, time allowing, we could help each other in some way.


See ya.

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I wouldn't so much call it a Batman mentality as I would a Bean mentality. However, being a student of history as well as a historian, and the emails I have received from the articles, I think there is a small niche market for products which explore cities in the terminology of adventurers. Also, kit-based assistance is pretty big in d20 Modern; the Kits you can produce (and later Masterwork kits) actually give some pretty decent benefits for nonmagical (much less magical) use.

I would especially be interested in your interpretations of the effects of mythology vis a vis a modern fantasy setting. As I seem to be one of the few (and proud) people who try to utilize folklore and tales in both my Fantasy and Modern Fantasy games, it is always a nice thing to see someone who does said same. I will be presenting an entire article in the future focused on fictional texts with strong relations to certain mystic themes in a Modern World (extrapolating on ancient Indian manuals of conduct which included mystic practice and the 'witch hunter' tomes of the Late Middle Ages), so any cooperation will be given freely.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Great Thread and I'm really eager to see what further offerings you can make for my own contributions I'd like to suggest

Timbuktu - Founded when the Fulani woman Buktu dug a well the Place of Buktu quickly grew to become the intellectual and trading capital of the Mali Empire. Timbuktu is primarily made of mud reinforced with wood which bristles out from the unique architecture and yet Timbuktu is home to the prestigious Sankore University and other madrasas, and has three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya. The University and many mosque were commissioned by Mansa Musa who is famous for his Hajj in which he was accompanied by a caravan consisting of 60,000 men including a personal retinue of 12,000 slaves, all clad in brocade and Persian silk. He also brought with him 80 camels loaded with 300 pounds of gold each. The emperor himself rode on horseback and was directly preceded by 500 slaves, each carrying a 6 pound staff of solid gold.

Timbuktu is the intersection of an east–west and a north–south Trans-Saharan trade across the Sahara to Araouane, it is populated by Songhay, Tuareg, Fulani, and Mandé people, is about 15 km north of the Niger River. and was important historically (and still is today) as an entrepot for rock-salt from Taoudenni.
Its geographical setting made it a natural meeting point for nearby African populations and nomadic Berber and Arab peoples from the north. Its long history as a trading outpost that linked west Africa with Berber, Arab, and Jewish traders throughout north Africa, and thereby indirectly with traders from Europe, giving it its fabled status as a metaphor for exotic, distant lands: "from here to Timbuktu."
Timbuktu is famous for its scholarship and the city is the centre of a significant written tradition in Africa. Families still maintain medieval manuscripts on music, botany, astronomy, law, history and sciences

Leo Africanus said:

The rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 pounds. ... He hath always 3000 horsemen ... (and) a great store of doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the king's expense

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I once ran a campaign set in Mali and a major arc based on Mansa Musa' Pilgrimage (although IMC the Pilgrimage was to Great Zimbabwe)

Now this is a series I would dearly love to see!