Ptolus, the Vai, and birth rates

[sckeener]

Does anyone else get bothered by little facts like this?

In Ptolus the Vai, a group of assassins, have to kill a sentient being every day. How does that work? I'd think the Vai would have to be a very, very small group.

In the baby boom years of the US, the birth rate was as high as 118 per 1000 and in the world today the country with the highest birth rate is only 49 per 1000.

Since the city of Ptolus has only a population of 75K (is mostly human) and using the US baby boom years birth rate, that would leave 118*75= 8850. Dividing by the days in a year in Ptolus 364, we get 24. At most 24 Vai could exist in the city without the population having a negative population growth (not counting immigrants). I figure much fewer Vai since there are so many other things that people could die from.

I have the same problem with standard vampires. In 3.5 they have to drain a level daily.

Admittedly I haven't finished reading Ptolus and just wanted to vent. I'll probably change it and make it that the Vai have to kill someone once every new moon cycle giving them a month to stalk their prey.

 

[hexgrid]

Admittedly I haven't finished reading Ptolus and just wanted to vent.

This is in fact addressed in the book. The truth is that they only have to kill something every day, it doesn't have to be sentient.

 

[sckeener]

This is in fact addressed in the book. The truth is that they only have to kill something every day, it doesn't have to be sentient.

ah...so it is different from the player's guide that says

The Vai is a wicked assassins’ guild in Ptolus. Each member takes an oath to kill an intelligent creature every day.

 

[Voadam]

Details like that do bother me as well on a world building level. How much/often do vampires need to feed, the food consumption of lycanthropes in ravenloft, mass spawning shadows, etc.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Player's Guide is intentionally salted with misinformation. Congrats on succeeding on a WIS check, though.

 

[darthkilmor]

ah...so it is different from the player's guide that says

For all the Players and general ptolus citizenry know , this Is true.

 

[sckeener]

The Player's Guide is intentionally salted with misinformation. Congrats on succeeding on a WIS check, though.

thank goodness. I was getting a bit concerned...lots of death seems to lurk in Ptolus.

I love it.

 

[frankthedm]

Last i check most fantasy setting don't have "health care" set ups. When folks cannot afford to set aside enough coin for a Cure Disease spell semi regularly, they need to have a lot of kids. Modern birth rates reflect a world where semi decent treatments are available for most ills and a pox will rarely take half of one's family away. Most fantasy worlds do not have that luxury and as such familys need to be larger.

Heck, assassins could easily pose as midwives. Even when they don't do anything nefarious, there is always a chance an unfortunate newborn may not have long for the mortal world. A perfect time for an assassin to apply their trade when a parent would have prolonged the innocent's suffering in denial of the situation at hand.

 

[lukelightning]

Easy. Cast summon monster and kill the fiendish rat you summoned.

 

[sckeener]

Easy. Cast summon monster and kill the fiendish rat you summoned.

yeah but that goes back into the whole metaphysical argument...if you eat the summoned rat, when the spell ends do the atoms inside you that were from the rat disappear? talk about stomach ache.

since nothing bad can happen to the summoned creature, when it dies wouldn't it just disappear like the spell ended?

If not, I think a vampire going good might just summon up some snacks to level drain.