Excerpt: City of Brass

[gizmo33]

You are aware of the City of the Brass Boxed Set that some of us have been referring to since page 1?

Or are you strictly speaking some WotC and/or 4e offering?

I'm strictly speaking of WotC/4e. And this is because WotC are the owners of the intellectual property we're discussing - even though in the case of CoB these have probably been circumvented for reasons somewhat outside the scope of what I'm talking about. IMO WotC is in the best position to develop these ideas so that 5E will not have YET ANOTHER 3 page description of CoB.

It just seems like these setting guides are easy to churn out and full of a lot of paragraphs of boring uncreative pseudo-history. "The elves live in a forest. The elves serve a queen. The queen makes laws and has a bodyguard of knights..." blah blah. I'm finding it hard to find WotC products that I want to spend my money on.

 

[Sir Robilar]

In today’s Manual of the Planes preview, we introduce the City of Brass: where dark dreams gather, and the ghosts of mortals linger for a time.

Today we also introduce you to WotC's website: where copy/paste errors gather, and the remains of other excerpts linger for a time.

 

[frankthedm]

So Sigil is one step short of being a warzone. It's legal system (such as it is) is run in pieces by 3 separate factions, none of which is strictly subordinate to any other. Sigil itself is jumble of rather distinct micro environments. And you wonder why its not a bigger trade hub? IIRC, many of Sigil's portals are somewhat idiosyncratic, and thus not especially suitable for moving large amounts of cargo.

Maybe the stability provided by the City of Brass facilitates trade?

This is the way I am thinking as well. Also the rulership of the city of brass probably takes steps to encourage a merchant friendly environment. Rather than the uncaring Lorrai....er Lady of Pain and her factions.

Still not envision CoB as THE trade point. Heck, a lot of good aligned people would never trade there because of slavery...

Yeah, but to me few really successful merchants are good. A strong sense of altruism is much more liable to get in their way. And for them the CoB is the place to be and that is what makes it the trade point. And i can't shake the feeling Sigil has more folks powerful merchants would consider riff-raff and trouble makers.

Also, I might be going out on a limb here, but more folks may have the City of Brass in thier campaigns than Sigil.

 

[Shemeska]

Don't get me wrong, I use City of Brass, and like it. But it's not the eldest city on my games and Sigil's beginning is unknown, as far as I know.

At least by anything in print, the CoB has never been hinted at being especially old compared to any of the other major planar cities. Sigil on the other hand has literally been there as far back as records go, seemingly ancient even once the fiends literally stumbled across it.

But back to the main topic, Sigil vs CoB for trade purposes. Sigil must have something going in its favor for trade, given that the major power brokers in the Planar Trade Consortium and the Merkhant sect live there, along with probably the single richest person in the cosmos - Jeremo the Natterer.

But both city's might cater to different sectors of mercantile traffic, depending on who you are.

Having said that, the most valuable prizes in the multiverse probably change hands in Sigil with some regularity (legally or less so), but on the other hand, it's probably a more exclusive club in Sigil, where influence and power matter just as much as how much money you can offer for something. It's probably more a free-for-all in places like the CoB, where in Sigil it's a more exclusive club for such activities unless you can insinuate yourself into it's social circles by for example being a godawfully wealthy human, a wealthy and influencial ogre magi, a titan capable of ascensing raw potential, or a jackal-headed gossip monger who really truthfully is just that so please underestimate them, or a jackal-headed shopkeeper who even more so is just a friendly guy that you needn't worry about; etc etc etc.

 

[Shemeska]

This is the way I am thinking as well. Also the rulership of the city of brass probably takes steps to encourage a merchant friendly environment. Rather than the uncaring Lorrai....er Lady of Pain and her factions.

The Lady of Pain doesn't have any role in the day to day administration of Sigil, but the people that do themselves probably go out of their way to keep Sigil a thriving environment for trade in all its forms, just as much as the nobles of the CoB do.

And the Lady of Pain was never inspired by TSR's onetime director. As far as I've ever seen, it's a fairly late urban myth that began as a bad joke. The Lady of Pain came about from a conceptual sketch done by Dana Knutson, who did a lot of the early concept art for the Planescape setting.

 

[Psion]

I'm strictly speaking of WotC/4e. And this is because WotC are the owners of the intellectual property we're discussing

Their owners of it like they are owners of "demons" or "efreeti" or "the Abyss".

 

[avin]

At least by anything in print, the CoB has never been hinted at being especially old compared to any of the other major planar cities. Sigil on the other hand has literally been there as far back as records go, seemingly ancient even once the fiends literally stumbled across it.

So this "eldest of all cities" it's just a 4E stuff coming from people that don't like Modrons that much... I see...

 

[Scribble]

Still not envision CoB as THE trade point. Heck, a lot of good aligned people would never trade there because of slavery...

Don't get me wrong, I use City of Brass, and like it. But it's not the eldest city on my games and Sigil's beginning is unknown, as far as I know.

Well, whatever... it's pointless, your arguments can't convice me and vice-versa...

Yeah... when talking about the imaginary stats of an imaginary city, in an imaginary place full off imaginary people and things for sale... Pretty much any idea is as right as the next.

 

[DandD]

The 4th edition implied setting city of brass is not the same city of brass of older editions. That should be quite clear. Also, the mythology, the entire cosmos and the origin of the implied setting is different to the Great Wheel, Eberron and the Forgotten Realms (both latter settings being disconnected from the Great Wheel in the first place, at least, since Wotc retroactively said it is so).

 

[avin]

Yeah... when talking about the imaginary stats of an imaginary city, in an imaginary place full off imaginary people and things for sale... Pretty much any idea is as right as the next.

Sure. But we were comparing both cities using facts from the books... my bet is Wotc top guys at moment doesn't like Planescape and mention Sigil as they mention other places and settings, just for the sake of expanding their multiverse for playing, which is good...

...but not that good for long therm Planescapes fans...