Eladrin Cities...

[Scribble]

So in another thread:

Forked from: The tragedy of 4th edition.

Someone made the followign statement:

The Eladrin teleport is my favorite example. The idea that a core race could just pop all over the place, I cannot even imagine what their homes, cities, society must be like to have such an awesome power. Excellent and kewl as a tactical combat move, but totally completely WORLD BREAKING as anything else. (Imho)

I personally dissagree with this statemebnt... But it did cayuse me to start thinking about exactly WHAT an eladrin city would look like... I kind of like the thought that non-human cities shouldn't just be human cities with difefrent statues. They should be designed from the ground up with the basic race in mind...

For instance I don't think Eladrin cities would have many stairways, or ladders, except for places that absolutely need them... Like where large carts of goods would travell, or places where visiting non eladrin would be.

And a lot of the stairways would probably be added later, almost as an afterthought.

I could also see a lack of "doorways" being somewhat prevalent to... Just ports to see through.

Wht other differences do you think we'd see?

 

[EATherrian]

I don't see how they can't teleport out of an encounter if they can in an encounter, but on to your point. I imagine Eladrin cities as akin to the Dagda of legend. They are both well-hidden and expansive, with delicate towers and bridgeworks hidden by glamours. The areas where other races might visit are relatively normal, with roads and paths and such; but the Eladrin only areas are full of hidden paths and illusory towers and walls. One second a non-Eladrin would see a hillock, and the next they would see the pale shimmering towers. At least that's the idea I'm working with, I need to do some refining.

 

[ki11erDM]

Well you have to remember they can only do it every 5 mins. And only 25’. So I think only important places that they don’t want other races to get to would setup for teleport only.

 

[aurance]

Almost all hard boundaries (walls, doors, bars) would be replaced by soft boundaries (curtains, lines) simply to mark where one thing ends and another thing begins, rather than keep anyone in or out.

Imprisonment would be an impractical form of punishment. Justice would take other forms - swift and brutal physical punishment, or alternatively, societal ostracization.

 

[Scribble]

I could see an Eladrin house being way up high, and just have a small "porch" area in front of the front door. A neighbor who wanted to visit would simply TP to your porch, and knock...

Also there are probably "pads" around in various places. Since the TP range is limited, you still need a place in between some areas...

 

[ki11erDM]

Imprisonment would be an impractical form of punishment. Justice would take other forms - swift and brutal physical punishment, or alternatively, societal ostracization.

Why? Just use a ritual to secure the prison.

 

[pogminky]

Doesn't needing a short rest between uses of teleport imply that it is in some way draining? If so it'd be easier to use stairs - plus at what age do they learn this trick? Kids need access too.

 

[DogBackward]

I don't think it'd really be like that. Honestly, when you've gotta wait at least 5 minutes between 'ports, it wouldn't be convenient or efficient at all. A 30ft height takes 5 minutes to climb instead of a few seconds. I think it'd be mostly like a "normal" city, with a few changes.

One: Less open spaces and no glass-less windows in homes; a simple security matter, given the ability to teleport. And very few ground-floor windows, 'cuz all you need to do is drill a hole into a glass pane to 'port through. And no ledges on higher-than-first floors, to prevent teleporting thieves from having an easy climb.

Two: Telelportation-only road-blocks at important places. If the only way to get into the palace is to teleport twice, and you have to wait 5 minutes in-between, you've got 5 minutes in a spot with no protection while the guards and such are swarming all over you. Great for defense. And anyone trying to get in normally has to wait 5 minutes anyway, so why bother to complain about the searches taking some time?

I can see a few other ways to benefit, but given the time limit on regaining encounter powers, I'm not seeing nearly as many drastic differences as you are. It'd just be too inconvenient.

 

[Caliber]

Why? Just use a ritual to secure the prison.

Why even go that far? Just keep prisoners blindfolded. Right?

 

[fba827]

The only thing I can think of would be stuff you already mentioned (i.e. no ladders, etc)

Though maybe there are some for the 'teleport-imparied' akin to the real world's use of handicap access ramps on all public buildings.

Another odd twist might be, what happens when you have a lot of teleporting to the feywild in a localized community area -- do small rifts start to form? Are these rifts harmful and let random things in through to the community (from the other side)? Or maybe the rifts simply grant everyone teleporting an extra X squares? Or maybe if someone wanted to do some sort of special ritual to get to the feywild (or from the feywild to the default plane) then they may specifically go to this Elardin community in hopes of the fabric between the worlds being "thinner" allowing a more successful plane shift...

Keeping in line with their high-int nature, I would expect libraries of sorts (perhaps built vertically and no need for steps to the different levels, just catwalks in front of the bookshelves that have holes to see through from below) and colleges rather than rough and wild live in the woods like their elf relatives.

Given their inclination for mage casters, probably magical defenses around town, and lots of tensor's discs carrying cargo from location to location.

(all this is given as an example of an extreme, of course)