Urban campaign and Bounty Hunter ideas...

[gamerprinter]

Disclaimer - I'm not at all familiar with Sigil (other than the concept behind it), and have very limited knowledge of Eberron and Waterdeep.

A bunch of questions that popped into my head (in no order):

- how big is the city?

I'm assuming pretty big if you are talking about multiple wards, and the fact that it's obviously big enough for criminals to get 'lost' in

I've already mentioned above that I'm looking at a city of 100,000 approximately, mapping anything larger would be one serious task.

- what is the make-up of the populace? Standard races? How weird do they get?

Again, I'll assume there is a pretty eclectic mix else all these outsiders will stand out like a sort thumb.

Despite the presence of outsiders, they would still comprise the minority and there might not a 'race' of such present, rather individuals from various outer planes, in addition to ambassadors and staff serving embasseys. I seriously doubt there would be neighborhoods of fiends in existence here.

However I do see an eclectic bunch of lesser known races mixed with standard races, each having their own neighborhoods in the city.

- What do the 'ordinary' people do?

Presumably all the functions of a standard city have to be fulfilled as the economy will drive everything. If there are merchants, refuse workers, doctors, teachers, clerks etc, how do they react to the (apparently) fairly commonplace occurence of extra-planar creatures appearing?

Inter-planar trading would comprise a bulk of the goods exchanged in the city. However, all the typical urban occupations will be present. Perhaps a slave class may exist as well.

And on the subject of economy, while putting it in a bizarre location sounds fun, how do people trade (how do they do it in Sigil?)? Are the trade routes by sea, land, both, extra-planar themselves? Something else? The more you have to shoehorn things in, the more it will either turn into Sigil, or possibly become weird enough that it turns people off.

Most trade traffic comes via the sea, as this is a port city. The coastal range behind the city cuts off access to the continental interior so no roads inward. There will be a few extra-planar portals, though I don't see high traffic coming through any of them, and 'gate guards' would ensure to keep this to a minimum allowing only those absolutely necessary to enter.

With all these ordinary fleshpods on the go, *any* sort of extra-planar creature could easily go on a killing spree before the law caught up with them. That suggests that there is some sort of compact which is well understood by all regarding how to behave (regardless of alignment). There must be a compelling reason why outsiders come to this place for the 'amnesty' - why not just disappear to some backwater of the Prime Material? Why run the risk of being caught by the bounty hunters? And if the 'carrot' for refugees is the possibility of freedom if they remain hidden (freedom from whom exactly?), then the penalty for breaking the 'First Law' has to be final - any outsider who kills/rapes/insert other capital crime while in the city, will, when caught, have their essence completely and irrevocably destroyed for all eternity. Who is capable of carrying that out?

Amnesty seeking outer planar denizens will most likely be from lawful races, as it would require their fellows of their kind would acknowledge and agree to the rules, as well as honoring the amnesty gained. While neutral and chaotic individuals may seek the same amnesty. Being granted such might mean absolutely nothing when they return home. Because of the nature of he who signed the charter giving outsiders the opportunity to gain amnesty - the city laws are recognized by the various authorities on concerned lawful planes.

As far as turning it into something like an AP, there needs to be a plot apart from just 'go and catch this guy'. Episode 1 has the new recruits doing just that, but by episode 2, a seemingly routine assignment has to lead to something more. Some ideas might include:

- another outsider is the only one with the info the PCs need; but he needs something from them...

- a crime is committed that spans the authority of the city guard and bounty hunters; who has jurisdiction?

Whoever captures the fugitive first is the law of the land. Even if such fugitives commit crimes while in the city requiring capture and prosecution by the city guard, if they are in fact fugitives with bounties on them, if the PC bounty hunters capture them first - they get first dibs on rewards, etc. However, it might also occur where the authorities capture the fugitives and the PCs have lost that particular mark.

Rivalries exist between Bounty Hunters and the Police, Bounty Hunters and various embassey agents, Bounty Hunters and local guilds that might include outsiders as part of their membership. Beyond hunting down fugitives for bounties there would be multiple encounters between Bounty Hunters and the various competitive agencies - a political 'war' beyond the simple mission of seek and capture of specific fugitives.

- someone/thing is framed and the PCs have to assemble the clues to prove their/its innocence

- perhaps the bigger plot could be that something has escaped from a (let's say) lower plane. Normally, compact rules apply, but in this case, the escapee has something so powerful/explosive that the powers that be have decided they want it back and will go to any lengths to get it. Part 1 might be that they send something to find and silence the escapee; the PCs intervene and stop it. Part 2 is an escalation, maybe the powers deliberately stir up trouble and attempt to use the turmoil as cover for another snatch attempt. Then the denouement (perhaps of the whole AP) is a full scale assault on the city by the legions of hell/the abyss.

Just rambling now but maybe throws up some questions you haven't thought of.

Lots of ways to go on this, and you have some ideas were thinking on. I'd kind of want to avoid any outright war between the city and various outer agencies, rather a cold war, or clandestine war is more likely.

Good thoughts.

GP

 

[gamerprinter]

On the prime material...

Prime Material location:
I've decided the location is on a prime material plane, and as in my homebrew version, the city sits at the foot of an impressive coastal range preventing accessing into the continent. However, a river cascades with a high drop waterfall from between two peaks flanking the city from behind provides ample water supply to maintain the city. The cleft formed along an otherwise cliffsided coast, where the city lies is at the mouth of this river.

The distance from the foot of the mountains to the rocky shore is a scant three quarters of a mile. As a cleft on the edge of a mountain range the entire city sits in a bowl surrounded by high peaks, perhaps three miles in width. The mountains to the north and south of the city drop straight into the sea. So this is the only safe landing along this portion of the coast for hundreds of miles.

Due to the limited real estate, there are an abundance of towers, mansions, keeps, and small castles, most in the noble ward, but many scattered across other wards throughout the city. On a narrow strip between the city walls and the sea is the harbor war, most of the urban power live in 4 to 6 story wooden apartment shanties right up to the city defenses. A road separates the dwellings from the city, and stout wooden piers, boardwalks, serving anchorage for both the naval fleet and the trade wharfs. A great pier of stone along the north bank of the river is flung from the shore 100 feet to an ornate tower of the harbor master (marid princess, free on amnesty.)

Also many stone cut tunnels, and dwarf style mansions are built into the rock of the surrounding mountains around the city. By law however no tunnel gate nor residential tower can exceed 50 feet below the height of the city wall and the Block.

The Block - Temple Prison:
It is an ideal location for a prison, known as the Block, due to its shape, though more trapezoidal in shape than a cube. Because the prison came before the city it sits at the prominent center of the city by the sea. A holy order of clerics, called Keepers serve as prison watch, as part of their eclesiastical duties, members of many races include celestial ones are among the order. For this reason the temple prison is capable of holding extra-planar inmates through power divine dweomers, which are reinforced daily as a part of morning prayers. These prison guards are far more zealous and incorruptable than sovereign prison guards might be.

The Block is 400 feet tall and 800 feet to a side, though it is presumed to contain extra-dimensional spaces within to accomodate its prison population.

Diabalistae:
The city's defenses includes a stone parapet wall 400 feet high and 60 feet thick at the top and 100 feet thick at the base, with a verticle face on the exterior, and a sloping wall on the interior. Of course a system of tunnels, elevators and clockworks within the walls operate other subsystems in the defense grid.

The wall crosses the river as a bridge, with an iron gate that can lower to just below the river surface with a portcullis gate from below rising to meet it - to allow river passage, but prevent direct access from the sea. An access road passes along the edge of the south bank under the seagate bridge, also can be closed from entry when the sea gate shuts.

Outside the walls is a 50' level surface, a kind of road that serves massive anti-siege towers capped with balistae, and bristling with artillery systems both oversized mundane and arcane. Metal armor encases these towers. The weapon systems are operated both by humanoid and the incarcerated devils housed in the Block. In some cases the captains are devils despite being prisoners as well. The towers, as well as its operators are called Diabalistae.

These anti-siege towers stand flanked one next to the other completely preventing direct access to the city wall itself. Enemy artillery must bypass tower defenses before reaching the wall itself.

As suggested the devils are tasked as part of their sentence to labor in the construction of the city's defenses, as most have eons of experience fighting the Blood War, many are defenders of great fortresses in Hell. Thus the city is protected by the anti-siege machines as those used in the Blood War.

That's what I got so far... more coming soon.

GP

 

[Thanael]

Somehow i think that this would fit with the Echoes of Heaven line of products, about which i have heard only good things:
RPGNow.com: Echoes of Heaven
(There are even a few free adventure seeds available!)

Once Man stood in the full glory of God. Now he must strain to hear even the echoes of Heaven.

Veteran game designer Robert J Defendi brings you a world of darkness and danger, where a monolithic church has split into dozens of quarreling factions and holy war looms like a shadow. Here, strength and brutality win the day and only those with the most faith, honor, and courage can stand against the terrible tyranny of those who would enslave everyone of a different belief, a different philosophy, a different race.

Worse, it is a world infected by the very fabric of Hell itself.

The Echoes of Heaven is a game world of infinite possibilities, where the nature of Hell corrupts the Mortal Realm, creating adventure sites both many and varied. Ulcers shape themselves to the minds of the Demon controlling them, the dreams of the former inhabitants, sometimes even the minds of adventurers. In an Ulcer, even the most basic laws of nature can break down, making possible any adventure the GM can envision. Ulcers grow, mature, and devour. Only prompt actions can stop them from becoming permanent, and one day an Ulcer will destroy the world.

The Echoes of Heaven/The Throne of God (OGL Version) - Final Redoubt Press | RPGNow.com
This product details a city setting:

The Throne of God:
Pages: 53
An adventure that spans ten thousand years.

The city of Belm is the center of culture, government, and commerce for the Kingdom of Ludremon. But when a young girl disapears just miles outside the city walls at the same time the cathedral's holy relic is stolen, who will dare undertake an adventure that leads into the tattered fringes of reality itself.

An adventure for 3rd level characters.

The Bounty Hunter concept fits with both a church inquisition and the lawful nature of Hell. Maybe you could adapt/use some of these products...

There are some additional downloads available at GM Only Downloads

 

[gamerprinter]

I originally imagined the Bounty Hunters serving a Lawful Neutral force, however, I could just as easily see a Lawful Evil authority being in charge instead.

Thanks, Thaneal, I will check on 'Echoes of Heaven' as a possible resource. Sounds like there some similarities in adventure ideas and directions here. Though I don't really want to isolate Heaven and Hell, rather include all/many outer planes in the mix.

GP

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Just popping in to say I read the first post and it was awesome. I would play the hell out of that game. I'll read the rest of the thread and see if I have anything to add, but for now, wow.

 

[gamerprinter]

Ways to play the setting:

Bounty Hunter Grind: bounty hunter teams are given one or more bounties to pursue, with a data sheet containing last known whereabouts, known skills, weapons, powers, details on crimes committed, and bounty amount. Investigators from the team begin to search for clues, gather information, then pursue their bounty as well within the law as possible.

Factions and Subterfuge: bounty hunters are expected to have lives and connections outside of their organization. Many bounty hunters are former criminals themselves, some even active bounties in hiding. The various city, extra planar agencies, guilds, even various crime syndicates court relationships with individual bounty hunters, to act as their own agents, offer clues to fulfill their agendas, as a means of distracting the bounty hunters to protect whom they don't want captured. These could become information sources, providers of specialized equipment, and a means for interparty conflict with differing outside agendas trying to manipulate them in opposing directions.

I think the setting is made to use the former as the primary occupation with the second as the environment one is working under, so both occur in game.

Rather than creating actual linear adventures for such a setting, I see the better way to develop this is to:

1. Create a City Setting Resource book that contains a complete map of the city, an overview description of the various wards in the city, the civic agencies - police, military, ministry of extra planar affairs, a list of primary extra-planar agencies involved, a statted list of major NPCs.

Included would be the Bounty Hunter agency and a player's guide to being a bounty hunter, then add several low level bounties to pursue with all their own required information.

2. Create City Ward Gazateers - that provide closer in maps of an entire ward, mapped locations within the ward, a list a factions that exist in that ward and their various relationships with each other. A list of Ward specific NPCs complete with stats and agendas, and a mix of known bounties hiding in that ward. Create one for each (?) ward of the city as its own product.

3. Perhaps higher level bounties, with their appropriate woven agencies and agendas made into a single adventure, with a touch more linear than the basic game.

I think rather than create a full AP, its better to offer bounties, ward specific guides, and make this setting more like a sand-box in the city.

Thoughts?

 

[invokethehojo]

Name, the city needs a good name... what about graboidtown?

 

[gamerprinter]

Keeping in mind that Constantinople and Samarkand keeps flashing in my mind as I develop this thing - a mid east flavor city name seems to be the direction I intend to go. Though the city won't necessarily be middle eastern in flavor, rather a mix of many cultures as a truly cosmopolitan place.

Once I created a city called Calishem, which I do like, but I think that sounds too much like Kalim Shan (which I always thought sounded more Chinese than Arabic), but because of the latter, I won't call it Calishem.

However, at the Cartographers' Guild, I had been developing a Silk Road terminus region (for the CWBP - Community World Building Project). I did call its capital Calishem, but the region it is the capital of, I called Qashya Mal.

I like that name too, so unless something changes, my current direction is to name the city, Qashya Mal.

 

[pawsplay]

Pathfinder specifics:

I don't want to invent any new classes for this, I think relying on the APG archetypes that currently exist plus its new classes seem most appropriate to fit the role of Bounty Hunters: Detective Bard, Inquisitor, Investigator Rogue, Urban Druid, and Urban Ranger. Perhaps an investigative flavor of sorcerer new archetype might fit as well.

If you've got $2.39 to throw around, my Fistful of Denarii includes the Bounty Hunter, Corbie, Scholar, and Spy classes which would fit in well with a bounty hunting guild.

 

[gamerprinter]

If you've got $2.39 to throw around, my Fistful of Denarii includes the Bounty Hunter, Corbie, Scholar, and Spy classes which would fit in well with a bounty hunting guild.

I'm not opposed to that, as stated, I'm not really trying to build new classes to fit this setting, rather build a setting, a bounty hunter agency, a set up rules governing the laws, vying factions, the police, the military, and outer planer agencies/bounties, in a large urban center with maps.

I'll check them out when I can, and he do a mention of them in the publication perhaps a link in the PDF version...

Right now, I'm heavily desiging/developing Kaidan - still trying to recruit Patrons for this ongoing project, so I'll be busy over the next few months with Kaidan. Incidentally the first product is now called Kaidan: the Gift and Other Tales of Horror.

GP