[Mor's End] OOC: Questions and comments please post here

[David Argall]

no immigration duties

Requiring 2 years of work, or any other duties of immigrants, is out. The ancient authorities simply did not have the power to enforce such a law. Nor did they have any interest in doing so.

In the particular case here, the city needs trade, which means any barriers to entering or leaving the city are handicaps the city would not want. And if you let in the merchant and his hirelings without question, you have opened the door to letting in just about everyone.

For game purposes, this is not a good idea either. The PCs are likely to be immigrants, and that makes for a distinctly limited number of adventures they can get into while they are serving their 2 years. A good enough campaign can be run that way, but much better to not require such a linear game.

Now we might use a 2 year requirement for citizenship or require 2 years of good service before a slave gets certain legal rights, or... But requiring every immigrant to spend 2 years on duty will hurt, not help.

 

[jdavis]

Sometimes you get to a point where too much detail starts to hurt rather than help. If you live in the city then you pay taxes to the city and have to serve your time on the List of the Muster. When you start worrying about who's a citizen or not then you have to go around figuring that out, in a city of 10,000 people which is on a major trade route then it will be hard enough just keeping the peace more-less figuring out who's lived where how long. A lot of these poor immigrants will end up just falling through the cracks.

 

[Lalato]

David and jdavis... good points...
Beggars may be a part of every medieval city, but I don't think they've ever been an integral part of any campaign or plot hook most people have ever played in. Unless someone is going to write up a couple of beggar NPCs and provide the requisite plot hooks... I think that means that we can move on.

--sam

 

[Krug]

Yeap lets move on.

By the way, I want more Flumph. The Tower of the Flumph. Why not? It could hover above the city. What d'ya think? Love it right?

 

[Conaill]

Beggars may be a part of every medieval city, but I don't think they've ever been an integral part of any campaign or plot hook most people have ever played in.

Hmm... That might be the core of our disagreement on beggars . In almost all the cities I've played in, under all the DM's I've played under, there have been beggars present. Sure, they don't often play an important role to the plot, and they'll be virtually invisible to most PC's. Then again, that's what tends to happen with beggars anyway... people just tune them out.

But when my NG cleric says "I'll go down to the poorer parts of town and provide healthcare to the beggars and destitute", you can bet he finds a whole bunch of them!

Anyone seen "Gangs of New York"? Wrong time period, but that's what the poorer parts of Mor's End will tend to look like. Not even the Squats mind you, for that you'd have to look at slums in third world countries: people living in raw sewage, children dying in the street, etc. (Anyone have any other good movie references? "Jabberwocky" is another one that comes to mind...)

On a personal note, living in the centrum of Cambridge MA, during the 5 minute walk from my appartment to the bus stop, I pass by (hm... let's see... both sides of the street...) at least 10 homeless people. Probably some more if I count the ones hanging out around the bus stop itself. A medieval city is going to have at least several times that number of beggars in the streets. I find it much more plausible that the PC's simply don't notice them anymore because they're so used to them. (Besides, they are probably being kept away from the better parts of town, even more so than in current days.)

Unless someone is going to write up a couple of beggar NPCs and provide the requisite plot hooks... I think that means that we can move on.

Ok, I'll see what I can do. I have to write up Thora's followers anyway, most of which will be beggars. For now, let's assume jgbrowning's lower limit of 700, and assume that most PC's simply will tune out the beggars on the street...

 

[Lalato]

Ok, I'll see what I can do. I have to write up Thora's followers anyway, most of which will be beggars. For now, let's assume jgbrowning's lower limit of 700, and assume that most PC's simply will tune out the beggars on the street...

I think that's what I meant by them not being integral to a campaign or plot hook. I'm not saying that they don't exist... just that they're often ignored. Thanks for clearing that up... and thanks for offering to flesh a couple of beggars out.

--sam

 

[Tonguez]

Unless someone is going to write up a couple of beggar NPCs and provide the requisite plot hooks... I think that means that we can move on.

Already got Whistling Tom the Beggar in the NPC thread. I'd also suggest that the goblins in the Mors End (and Thora's bugbear and ogre babies) would be part of the beggar population.

Now we just need a Flower girl and some orphans

Oh yeah and I have done a campaign based amongst the beggars of a city in which a 'Beggar' was a major NPC (along with the tooth fairy and a ghoul that lead a goblin gang...)

 

[jdavis]

Yeap lets move on.

By the way, I want more Flumph. The Tower of the Flumph. Why not? It could hover above the city. What d'ya think? Love it right?

You mean like the Legend of the Giant Lake Monster Flumpzilla. Flumpzilla occasionally rampages through a small model of Mor's End and fights with stunt men in giant latex monster suits.

 

[jdavis]

I think that's what I meant by them not being integral to a campaign or plot hook. I'm not saying that they don't exist... just that they're often ignored. Thanks for clearing that up... and thanks for offering to flesh a couple of beggars out.

--sam

The beggers and street urchans and such are still there, we just don't need to know what legal rights they have in Mor's End. There will be enough things for the government to do than to try to keep track of which of the 700 beggers is a citizen and which one is a immigrant. Citizenship is based on paying of taxes, street people don't pay taxes, thus they are beneath the view of the government. The number sounds fine (700 to 1000 beggers and homeless), they just don't need to be fleshed out more than giving the number and adding some colorful NPCs.

I guess we have already gotten to that point though so back to Mutant Flumps and the Mor's End Flumpzilla tracking agency.

 

[Lalato]

I've always been partial to the dreaded Languishing Hephalump... as opposed to the run of the mill Flumph.

--sam