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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 5003603" data-attributes="member: 54707">Wik, CB is on the right approach here in one sense. Real ruined cities, or formerly inhabited areas which are then abandoned or ruined, are not just two dimensional fields of exploration.I vad a lot and have been on archaeological expeditions, so I've seen this first hand.Depending on how long a formerly inhabited area has been ruined, and/or whether it was then later re-occupied, and/or weather and geographic conditions, a "ruined city" becomes a very 3-dimensional expression of prior occupation.Some buildings will be for all practical purposes completely wasted or disintegrated, others buried, some only partially buried (large buildings, temples, etc might still be visible or might appear as basically large barrows or mounds - i.e.., seeming like artificial hills - and many structures will later appear to be something they are or were not, until properly cleared and examined, etc).(The idea of architectural multi-purposing, counter-purposing, and misdirection is an important one when examining ruins - often one's first assumption about prior use will be totally wrong or at least only vaguely or partially correct. This can be easily worked into a game though it is often over-looked. An adventurer comes upon a ruined temple and of course it must be a ruined temple. But was it in fact a ruined temple? If it's a totally alien or dead culture or species, how do you know on first examination? chances are you'll be wrong in such cases.)Most ruined cities will likely have been abandoned or partially abandoned at one time or another, then re-occupied, modified, etc. Meaning, as was suggested with the sectional grid idea that the implication will be that one should view certain areas of the ruined city as having been thriving at a given period, while others are in decay. This also means that development of the city at any given period will not be homogenous. Construction will be under-way in the forum while the walls are in decay, or a palace undergoes refurbishment while the granaries are burned in a fire. All of these normal developmental processes mean that just as with a human body, different rates of development, repair, growth, decay, and stratification are underway at any given locale at any given time.You might consider a series of questions related to the background of your ruins in order to better flesh out and enhance your design. For instance:Why was city abandoned? For how long? Was it ever later reoccupied? For how long? Was it possibly re-occupied by a people different from the original inhabitants? What was the city constructed of (this will tell you basically how it weathered and what ruins are likely to have survived, in what state of decay)? What was the architecture like (did the inhabitants build up, out, down, or some combination of these things)? Did they have readily available resources, food, water, etc, or did they have to import these necessities? What was the major occupation(s), produce, or function of the city? What is the surrounding environment, geography, terrain, and weather conditions, and have such circumstances changed over time (telling you how and in what manner the city has been preserved, or degenerated). How long was it occupied and by exactly whom (cities occupied for long periods of time will have well-developed and distinct stratas of existence, and some occupants are better or more active builders than others)? How big an area did it occupy and for how long? What was the greatest extent of development? What was the median state of development? What was the state of existing technology? And so forth and so on.A good examination of real world archaeological ruins and techniques will give you a great number of useful ideas, as will a good text of archaeological excavation methodologies. But the important thing to remembered is that a ruined city, like a living one, is not simply a 2-Dimensional space, to be examined and mapped merely on a horizontal plane of investigation. Rather it is a very varied 3-Dimensional space, and even a 4-Dimensional space - assuming you or your players also want to examine prior stratification, occupation, and development.With magic involved it might even be possible to examine the future state of the ruins, or even a future period of re-occupation. In D&D I've done present period examinations and excavations of ruins, past-time or regressive examination of ruins, and even games involving future-time exploration of a set of ruins. Making it a truly active rather than merely passive 4-Dimensional plane of exploration. Leading to a possible set of solutions for your sand-box campaign.But my best advice is do not become entrapped by the idea of thinking of a city as just a 2-Dimensional grid or space. It's at least a 4-Dimensional "Super-structure." So it's useful to map it that way.Good luck with your design and project.</blockquote>

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