Population density in your setting?

[S'mon]

Woah, cowboy.. what you talking about? Do we now have conflicting density reports?.... *makes ticker sounds* This just in.....

I'm talking about "population density in my setting", like the questioner asked. I took a representive chunk of the campaign map, took the population figures I had, and did a couple of quick calculations. My campaign world is a mix of Romanesque and medievalesque tone I think, with large tracts of wilderness within many claimed borders. A fairly typical swords & sorcery fantasy world. The largest empire has a current estimated population of 16 million and claims maybe 900,000 square miles of territory, of which about 2/3 (maybe a bit less) could be considered 'settled' land, which gives an average density of 18/square mile over all.

 

[Kichwas]

Quick, without researching the information (and without actually posting the answers here, because we don't really care either)...

* What's the population density of YOUR home city?

16,327 per square mile.
Or... 800,000 people in a 7 by 7 mile zone.

* What's the population density of any single 'major' city on the other side of the world from where you live?

Seoul Korea, 12 million people, about 230 square miles = 52,174 people per mile.

I've lived in both, so I have a feel for both.

* How often to you actually think about the vast number of people directly near you (or not) as you drive to work each morning to earn your weekly owlbear-slayer salary?
* Do those numbers make your life any more or less "real" to you?

The first question is not relevant to how I experience these cities.

It does not matter if I am aware of it, as 'God' writes adventures for me, it fills in the place with a whole pack of NPCs, or an absurd number of NPCs - so many than when I walk the streets I cannot help being bumped about by the press of bodies...

As GM, 'God' is the one working with the numbers, the one for whom that number says just what sort of feel to convey to me as one of the PCs.

So, as for the second of those questions, it's not a matter of how real it makes it feel, but the density of these two cities has a major impact in how daily life works in them. I feel that density everyday I spend in either city, I am constantly aware in Seoul that there is no concept of body space or privacy, and I am constantly aware in San Francisco that I live in a city who's people are not culturally well adjusted to how densely packed in they are, and yet have no idea just how good they have it on a global scale.

I am constantly aware of the stresses around me, because they constantly impact the way people in these two cities behave.


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In designing Fahla I haven't started by looking at total populations of cities, nations, or continents. I look only at density, and figure I will know population at some later point when I do the maps.

Density is what affects daily life after all. The great desert where you can go hundreds of miles and see only one person is going to impact you very differently from the streets of Coinic, heart of the Lomyrian trading empire, where you will see thousands everyday in the same neighborhood.

It's density that tells me that, not total population.

 

[Kichwas]

You're misunderstanding our goal, JG. Because what we're actually doing is trying to help you understand that you don't need such precision in a game to enjoy yourself.

Now if I told you - your game doesn't need a combat system to be enjoyable - you'd probably feel I was out of line. I don't need one myself, therefore you don't either.

So stop using one.

Your probable desire for one is foolish, irrational, and petty - because I don't need one to enjoy my game. I can play Everway just fine, so it's the only valid RPG that can ever be published.

I hope the above shows through as obviously flawed logic with inciteful wording, because it's exactly the same logic and wording style you're using, but applied to a different case.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Location location location. I live in the south, I grew up here. I think it is interesting that my campaign reflects my enviroment, tracks of open land with most population in the city/towns as a service hub.

 

[Orius]

My general argument is that fantasy worlds based around the common D&D theme would be likely to have slightly higher than medieval populations due to the beneficial effects of magic. I however, do think that the standard D&D tropes are just some fantasy bits layered over a pseudo-medieval environment. By pseudo-medieval I mean as more commonly conceived by people (through literature and movies mostly) as to opposed to a historian's understanding of the period. But that's fine with me, the point is to have fun playing the game and making up new things, not worrying to much about anything historical.

Yeah, I think that's more or less what I said.

What I did was compare populations estimations of ancient/medieval cities (to avoid the issue of the effects of industrialization which even impacts the 3rd world) with physical size as understood by historians. It's not perfect, but it's close enough for me at least. And I don't think I could have been more accurate without really researching at a high level.

Good point, but I was simply ballparking a number, rather than going for any accuracy. The numbers were fine as far as I was concerned, so I wasn't worried too much.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Hmm... never sat down to think about it, but now that you mention it.

Mine is sort of based on the population density of the High Middle Ages... right before the Black Death, so the equivalent of perhaps 18-29th century Europe. It's two major power centers are heavily based on China and the Byzantine Empire... two more population giants.

So compared to the average medieval/DnD world, mine is crawling with people. Then again, in the 7th century RL, Constantinople, Chang'an and at least one other city (Baghdad, maybe?) had over a million people, so...