Help me build a Vampiric City!

[Matafuego]

Hello everybody!

For the next games my party of two (I finally managed to include another player on our 1on1 sessions) are going to be touring a city ruled by vampires.

My main idea for the city is to build it like Venice with six different districts divided by water, each different district "ruled" by a different family of vampires (there'll be five families) and the other left alone as an everyone-on-their-own district.
Vampires inability to cross running water (except for extremely old and powerful vampires IMC) make it so that each district also imprisons the lesser vampires who must ask for someone to carry them over the bridges or in a "Gondola", while non-vampires can freely travel the city (as freely as you can travel a city ruled by vampires).

I still haven't decided if the five families are the "official" ruler of the city or if they are a power behind the throne.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[WayneLigon]

I like the Venice idea. I'd have the city laid out with the smaller 'family' islands surrounding a long narrow 'main' island where most of the free humans live. The human population of each island belongs to that family; maybe they even have tiny tattoos or brands to that effect like in Blade. They're cattle. Happy content protected cattle, but still cattle. Too happy. Too content. Scary content.

The humans on the main island are more free-willed. They both pity and despise 'The Kept', the humans on the other islands. They go about their lives and know that they are protected from and by their vampire masters; the balance of power among the families means that few spawn escape to hunt in the main area; those that do are ruthlessly destroyed. Still, the people in the main area are wary and use some defenses.

Things vampires dislike are banned. Garlic, silver, mirrors, holy symbols, etc. There are no churches here, at all; they don't even want evil churches since evil clerics can do worse than destroy them: they can control them.

 

[Desdichado]

Why do people live in this city if they can freely leave and the vampires can't? I mean, they're essentially livestock pens except it's the wolf that's penned in, not the livestock.

There's gotta be some reason; some incentive for people to live here.

 

[RSKennan]

Why do people live in this city if they can freely leave and the vampires can't? I mean, they're essentially livestock pens except it's the wolf that's penned in, not the livestock.

There's gotta be some reason; some incentive for people to live here.

The trains run on time?

Edit: I could see apathy and traditional connections with the city preventing a lot of people from leaving. All their ties are in the city, and the vampires keep their worst activities secret.

 

[Nifft]

Same reason anyone puts up with oppressive local monsters: protection from foreign monsters.

Suggestions:

1/ "The Kept" aren't fed upon, except as punishment. Instead, they are the core of the army which oppresses the surrounding region. Call each section of the city a "keep".

2/ The vampires are mostly secret. Outsiders don't know why priests are unwelcome, or why the city has never fallen to foreign armies.

3/ Slavery is legal. Otherwise, people going missing will raise some eyebrows. But no-one misses a slave.

4/ Perhaps, like Venice, the city is a center for trade. Specifically, the slave trade. Neogi, drow, even illithids are allowed in the city (under cover of darkness of course); the vampiric guardians ensure that all trade occurs on an fair basis.

Cheers, -- N

 

[phindar]

Plus, vampires are the sexiest of the undead. Lots of mortal hangers-on, charmed types, goths, as well as those lured in by the promises of eternal life or material wealth. Non-vamps could be stamped by the house or family that protects them, much in the same way that cattle are branded. And it makes a lot of sense for vamps to have mortal agents, people that can move about the city more freely, go out in the daytime, and manage the day-to-day operations of the vampires vast holdings.

Neat idea. Venice is such a cool city anyway, but the vamp angle definitely has that Old World charm.

 

[MHolland]

Perhaps the vampires and their more powerful minions are protecting the city from a dangerous threat near the city. As long as the vampires remain in power the city is safe?

Or perhaps the city was once dominated by an even more evil entity, a creature that demanded sacrifices of the young and fed off the misery of the city. The people were truly prisoners then. One day "salvation" made itself known in the form of a vampire with a plan to usurp the entity and free the people. He asked for a single representation from each of the remaining 6 noble families and turned them. Whatever the plan was it worked and the entity was destroyed. Now the six vampires rule and have created entire families. The city accepts this because the vampires used to be one of them and are still considered the saviors of the city. The original vampire may still be around and I am sure he had his own reasons but they have not been made known yet.

 

[Hjorimir]

I've been toying with an area of Vampire Nations in the back of my head for some time now, but haven't given the idea any serious thought. Great thread, keep the ideas coming, people!

 

[Allegro]

Since this is set in Venice, I had a thought about the merchant of Venice and the pound of flesh securing a contract. Perhaps being eaten is punishment for defaulting on loans. People are always getting into to trouble with debt why not make culling the herd part of the sacred duty of the Vampire. Remove the weak so the herd, humanity will prosper. Other nations the poor live horribly miserable lives but by divine providence the herd is culled. In the enlightened Vampire city the streets are clean and there are no dirty poor people panhandling.

 

[Ringan]

Sunlight would definitely be a problem. I think the city would be designed to have a lot of dark, shady places. Maybe this could be just an element of the architecture, so there are lots of awnings and overhangs. Or maybe a sorcerer or druid cast a powerful spell that limited light in the city.