Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
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Great Fantasy Cities (and what makes them so awesome)
- Thread starter I'm A Banana
- Start date
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Turanil said:
I agree with the feel of it but in the novels themselves, there is little of the city per say that has any real meat. It's the twain and their adventures that brings it to life.
Wik
First Post
Tyr from DARK SUN. A city that has overthrown the existing social order, and is now a threat to the other sorcerer-kings. It has numerous political factions (Former Templars, Merchants, Freed Slaves, Freedmen, the Military, Nobles) all having to work together - despite their dislike for one another - in the Tyrian Council.
So, you've got a "We freed all the slaves!" city that at first seems like a haven for PCs, until you realize that this freedom has come with a price - Tyr is a city falling apart at the seams.
***
Pretty much all of the Dark Sun city-states are good, of course. Raam, an overpopulated state on the verge of chaos, ruled by a woman who seriously believes she's a god. Nibenay, an ancient city of stone that houses dark secrets and a people very mindful of courtesy, personal space, and order. Urik, a walled city-state that seeks to impose it's military might upon all others. Balic, a "democracy" that is anything but, built on a sea made entirely of silt. And so on.
So, you've got a "We freed all the slaves!" city that at first seems like a haven for PCs, until you realize that this freedom has come with a price - Tyr is a city falling apart at the seams.
***
Pretty much all of the Dark Sun city-states are good, of course. Raam, an overpopulated state on the verge of chaos, ruled by a woman who seriously believes she's a god. Nibenay, an ancient city of stone that houses dark secrets and a people very mindful of courtesy, personal space, and order. Urik, a walled city-state that seeks to impose it's military might upon all others. Balic, a "democracy" that is anything but, built on a sea made entirely of silt. And so on.
Sigil, of course 
I've loved Planescape for years, and Sigil is for me the archetype of a fantasy city, full of possibilities.
Besides Sigil, I really love New Crobuzon, the city of China Mevielle's Perdido Street Station.
I would really love seeing a New Crobuzon's based setting !
I've loved Planescape for years, and Sigil is for me the archetype of a fantasy city, full of possibilities. Besides Sigil, I really love New Crobuzon, the city of China Mevielle's Perdido Street Station.
I would really love seeing a New Crobuzon's based setting !
Aholibamah
First Post
Dragon actually did put out an article based on New Crobuzon. I was intrigued enough to want to plan to buy at least his first book as a result.
My votes are for:
Sanctuary (reasons stated above in jdrakeh's post)
Nibenay (my favourite of the Dark Sun cities, because it is somehow civilized and secretive at the same time--also I liked it's particular Dragon King the best of all of them. And the idea that all of the templars were female was cool too.)
Scuttlecove (I like the Pirates of the Caribbean meets Clark Ashton Smith feel to the whole place.)
Tashal (I probably got more ideas for ordinary npcs and locations from this than from any other. While I don't run Harn I highly recommend it for people who want a vast cast of ordinary tailors, shopkeepers, labourers and so on to flesh out their city based campaigns.)
Sigil (I've never run Planescape and probably won't, but I have to say I really enjoy the writing. Totally outside the box fantasy thinking. If I had to imagine what a city where many different alignments and creature types mixed I think this would be how it would work.)
My votes are for:
Sanctuary (reasons stated above in jdrakeh's post)
Nibenay (my favourite of the Dark Sun cities, because it is somehow civilized and secretive at the same time--also I liked it's particular Dragon King the best of all of them. And the idea that all of the templars were female was cool too.)
Scuttlecove (I like the Pirates of the Caribbean meets Clark Ashton Smith feel to the whole place.)
Tashal (I probably got more ideas for ordinary npcs and locations from this than from any other. While I don't run Harn I highly recommend it for people who want a vast cast of ordinary tailors, shopkeepers, labourers and so on to flesh out their city based campaigns.)
Sigil (I've never run Planescape and probably won't, but I have to say I really enjoy the writing. Totally outside the box fantasy thinking. If I had to imagine what a city where many different alignments and creature types mixed I think this would be how it would work.)
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Two more to keep us thinking about some new cities...
Ankh-Morpork, the Jewel of the Disc
Mentioned a little above, A-M has the distinction of being gloriously gritty and corrupt, slightly evocative of an early New York City. It's strength largely has to do with ideology -- the concepts that run the city are as important as the day-to-day operation of anything. The Patrician rules by manipulation, the Thieves' Guild has a standing contract for a number of robberies per year, the Beggars have a guild, the Assassins are gentemenly and soulless, the City Watch is dedicated but motley, and the city is being dragged through something of a technological revolution. The locales are not so interesting as the people you'll meet, and adventure springs from characters and ideas more than from monsters and treasure. And at the center of it all sits the Unseen University, a wizard's college in an arcane tower.
Why It's Awesome? Ideas are real in the Discworld, and that makes a place with so many people a very likely place for a lot of crazy ideas to become very powerful very quickly. A-M is great not only for running a slightly comedic game, but also as a fantasy vehicle for commentary on the modern-day events in our world. Racism, itellectual property, capitalism, and an entertainment industry might not be good topics for adventure in most standard games, but in Ankh-Morpork, they're ripe!
Midgar, the City of Shin-Ra
Not mentioned yet is this central city to the Final Fantasy 7 universe. It is a decrepit icon of corporate greed and toxic pollution, whose lower class lives almost literally underground, separated from the upper class by a metal plate. The upper class consists of people employed by one massive city-wide corporation, Shin-Ra, whose main product is power generators that promise "free, nearly-limitless energy," known as "mako." In truth, this energy is harvested from the spirits of the dead and the unborn, and revolutionary organizations (dubbed terrorists) from the slums are building with an awareness of this, and of the ecological disaster which it harversts. Genetic experiments like cloning are also not out of the picture, as Shin-Ra maintains a paramilitary group known as SOLDIER whose members are very elite, and who have had exposure to mako radiation.
Why is it Awesome? Techno-fantasy dystopia. Very much in the "magi-punk" genre, Midgar serves as a blight on the planet where the poor have worthless lives and the rich pursue decedant and perverse pleasures at the expense of the people, the planet, and anything else they desire. The slums are dangerous, riddled with monsters, and Shin-Ra itself serves as a great monolithic force for evil. Modern themes of sci-fi can be explored with swords and magic, such as the ideals of environmentalism, or the limits of "designer genetics," or possible abuses of unchecked corporate power. Rebellion is heroic here in a way that it isn't in most cliched fantasy worlds.
Ankh-Morpork, the Jewel of the Disc
Mentioned a little above, A-M has the distinction of being gloriously gritty and corrupt, slightly evocative of an early New York City. It's strength largely has to do with ideology -- the concepts that run the city are as important as the day-to-day operation of anything. The Patrician rules by manipulation, the Thieves' Guild has a standing contract for a number of robberies per year, the Beggars have a guild, the Assassins are gentemenly and soulless, the City Watch is dedicated but motley, and the city is being dragged through something of a technological revolution. The locales are not so interesting as the people you'll meet, and adventure springs from characters and ideas more than from monsters and treasure. And at the center of it all sits the Unseen University, a wizard's college in an arcane tower.
Why It's Awesome? Ideas are real in the Discworld, and that makes a place with so many people a very likely place for a lot of crazy ideas to become very powerful very quickly. A-M is great not only for running a slightly comedic game, but also as a fantasy vehicle for commentary on the modern-day events in our world. Racism, itellectual property, capitalism, and an entertainment industry might not be good topics for adventure in most standard games, but in Ankh-Morpork, they're ripe!
Midgar, the City of Shin-Ra
Not mentioned yet is this central city to the Final Fantasy 7 universe. It is a decrepit icon of corporate greed and toxic pollution, whose lower class lives almost literally underground, separated from the upper class by a metal plate. The upper class consists of people employed by one massive city-wide corporation, Shin-Ra, whose main product is power generators that promise "free, nearly-limitless energy," known as "mako." In truth, this energy is harvested from the spirits of the dead and the unborn, and revolutionary organizations (dubbed terrorists) from the slums are building with an awareness of this, and of the ecological disaster which it harversts. Genetic experiments like cloning are also not out of the picture, as Shin-Ra maintains a paramilitary group known as SOLDIER whose members are very elite, and who have had exposure to mako radiation.
Why is it Awesome? Techno-fantasy dystopia. Very much in the "magi-punk" genre, Midgar serves as a blight on the planet where the poor have worthless lives and the rich pursue decedant and perverse pleasures at the expense of the people, the planet, and anything else they desire. The slums are dangerous, riddled with monsters, and Shin-Ra itself serves as a great monolithic force for evil. Modern themes of sci-fi can be explored with swords and magic, such as the ideals of environmentalism, or the limits of "designer genetics," or possible abuses of unchecked corporate power. Rebellion is heroic here in a way that it isn't in most cliched fantasy worlds.
Arnwyn
First Post
Well, to be fair - the first book sucked, and the revised version is too new (and generic, which doesn't really get a lot of love on a general basis).GlassJaw said:
I particularly like:
- Ptolus (reasons mentioned above)
- Midgar (from FF7 - again, KM got it bang-on)
- Sharn (because it reminds me of Midgar)
- Cauldron (a city in a dormant volcano, with tons of things to do below - and in)
Robert Ranting
First Post
I second New Crobuzon, Ptolus, Ank-Morpork, and Sigil.
I also nominate the floating city-state of Armada from China Mieville's The Scar, a city composed entirely of ships and rafts tethered together, and whose economy is based on piracy and aquaculture. Each of its districts or "ridings" has a completely different form of government, the most interesting of which is ruled by the Brucolac, a vampire who takes his property taxes in blood safely drawn from each citizen once a month by trained doctors using a mechanical pump so he doesn't risk accidentally producing unwanted spawn. Those he does produce serve as his police force and army.
Robert "Mieville Minion" Ranting
I also nominate the floating city-state of Armada from China Mieville's The Scar, a city composed entirely of ships and rafts tethered together, and whose economy is based on piracy and aquaculture. Each of its districts or "ridings" has a completely different form of government, the most interesting of which is ruled by the Brucolac, a vampire who takes his property taxes in blood safely drawn from each citizen once a month by trained doctors using a mechanical pump so he doesn't risk accidentally producing unwanted spawn. Those he does produce serve as his police force and army.
Robert "Mieville Minion" Ranting
Shades of Green
Explorer
The City (Thief series of computer games)
A dark, massive city going through an industrial revolution, with the elements of technology grafted into the old medieval castles and town-houses. The City is ruled by the Baron, but he is away battling the rival city of Blackbrook, so local nobles make most decisions, and the lines between 'noble' and 'criminal overlord' (called "Warden") are blurred... And crime, crime is everywhere, creeping through the cracks of the corrupt city, offering illicit pleasures for those who seek them and fat profits to those who control criminal activity. The Hammerites, the once-powerful church worshiping The Builder [think LG god of technology, craftsmanship and morality), are in decline, and various cults use this to their advantage - including splinter-sects within the Hammer order itself as well as chaotic Pagans. Old secrets from the city's distant past lie hidden beneath the streets, as well as in the walled-in Old City with its undead hordes...
The Reason It's Great? Atmosphere, and the vast amount of possible intrigues, plot hooks and dark secrets it provides, not to mention a strange combination of magic with technology (electricity, for example, is - at least partially - harvested from astral or elemental energies).
A dark, massive city going through an industrial revolution, with the elements of technology grafted into the old medieval castles and town-houses. The City is ruled by the Baron, but he is away battling the rival city of Blackbrook, so local nobles make most decisions, and the lines between 'noble' and 'criminal overlord' (called "Warden") are blurred... And crime, crime is everywhere, creeping through the cracks of the corrupt city, offering illicit pleasures for those who seek them and fat profits to those who control criminal activity. The Hammerites, the once-powerful church worshiping The Builder [think LG god of technology, craftsmanship and morality), are in decline, and various cults use this to their advantage - including splinter-sects within the Hammer order itself as well as chaotic Pagans. Old secrets from the city's distant past lie hidden beneath the streets, as well as in the walled-in Old City with its undead hordes...
The Reason It's Great? Atmosphere, and the vast amount of possible intrigues, plot hooks and dark secrets it provides, not to mention a strange combination of magic with technology (electricity, for example, is - at least partially - harvested from astral or elemental energies).
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