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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Forgotten Realms in AD&D 1st Edition a better setting for adventures?
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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 8470939" data-attributes="member: 463"><p>The main problem IME is that the maps don't distinguish settled farmland from wilderness, so some authors will place wilderness right up to the city walls. I tend to put some work into drawing out/circumscribing the farmland around the towns and cities. Waterdeep needs dozens of farming villages and noble estates to make any sense at all. 555 square miles of farmland at minimum to support 100,000 people at 180 per square mile, but IRL agricultural surplus rarely exceeded 20% so to look historical you really need 400,000 rural people for a 100,000 city, and 500,000 people needs 2,777 square miles of farmland. Fishing should help, of course.</p><p></p><p>Mind you, even 2777 square miles of farmland can fit in a 60x60 mile square, so it's not undoable. Just don't put Waterdeep population much over 100,000. While Waterdeep looks more like medieval London (100,000 people in a national capital), classical Athens was a city state that also reached about 100,000 with a relatively small hinterland - plus rich silver mines and a maritime empire.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 8470939, member: 463"] The main problem IME is that the maps don't distinguish settled farmland from wilderness, so some authors will place wilderness right up to the city walls. I tend to put some work into drawing out/circumscribing the farmland around the towns and cities. Waterdeep needs dozens of farming villages and noble estates to make any sense at all. 555 square miles of farmland at minimum to support 100,000 people at 180 per square mile, but IRL agricultural surplus rarely exceeded 20% so to look historical you really need 400,000 rural people for a 100,000 city, and 500,000 people needs 2,777 square miles of farmland. Fishing should help, of course. Mind you, even 2777 square miles of farmland can fit in a 60x60 mile square, so it's not undoable. Just don't put Waterdeep population much over 100,000. While Waterdeep looks more like medieval London (100,000 people in a national capital), classical Athens was a city state that also reached about 100,000 with a relatively small hinterland - plus rich silver mines and a maritime empire. [/QUOTE]
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Forgotten Realms in AD&D 1st Edition a better setting for adventures?
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