Civil Defense!

[Mark]

Not sure if it is a national, state or municiple occurence, but the first Tuesday of every month, at 10 AM, brings the blaring of the Civil Defense horns.

What methods do the communities in your campaign world have to get the word out that trouble is nigh and to be on the alert?

 

[Zhure]

I think ours is the first Sunday of every month at 10 AM (Nebraska). They don't do it during stormy weather as the sirens are primarily used as a weather-warning system, for tornadoes and such.

IMC they'd use the church bells. (Odd you should mention that, it's coming up.)

Greg

 

[dave_o]

Depends on who we're talking about here.

Inhabitants of the Great Forest beat on trees, some hollow, some not, in a similar vein to various African tribes' drum messages. In more civilized areas, horns, bells, and gongs are often used - as well as various magical displays (sorta like fireworks).

There's a group, called CoMA (Conversatory of Mystic Anomalies) who all carry brooches of Whispering Wind. It's not tough for them to spread bad news.

 

[Hand of Evil]

My major empire (Kel) uses watch towers, border forts, messagers, and some magical devices.

But warning to the general pop is horns, big ram horns.

 

[Yeoman]

Most of the major civilized empires in my campaign use bells or horns to signal alerts, but the major empire on the continent also uses a messenger system who ride into a town and spread the news, and the next rider in the chain takes off for the next town.

 

[daTim]

Where I live now in Florida, they never do any of that. I guess a hurricane gives you enough warning since they arent too difficult to spot. Interesitngly enough the city is literally covered in nuclear fallout shelters as a relic from the cuban missle crisis and cold war. When I lived in Ohio they would test the tornado warning system about once a month. Always scared me as a kid.