[URBIS] Two Evil Empires and a Pogrom

[Jürgen Hubert]

Now that I've worked out the basic geography of Urbis, it's time to develop some regional flashpoints for the setting. Having a few conflicts that might turn into full-fledged wars is always good for getting ideas for adventures...

With that in mind, take a look at this:

"Kalab (Metropolis, 1,253,769): Kalab lies close to the border to the Hobgoblin Dominions, and has a large minority of hobgoblins who live here. The High War Council has frequently commented that the hobgoblins who live there should be "brought back into the Dominion". League diplomats skillfully played on the fears of invasion that loomed large in the minds of the Kalab city council to bring that city into the League five years ago.
This might backfire on the League, however, since now the city council feels it has nothing to fear from the Dominion, and started to persecute the hobgoblin residents. The property of many hobgoblins was confiscated, and they were driven into crowded ghettos. "Random street violence" against them became common. Now the hobgoblins are beginning to show organized resistance (possibly with covert Dominionite aid) to the oppression, which in turn has caused the city council to crack down on them even further (and once councilwoman was quoted as saying "Let's just get this over with and kill the lot of them!").
Meanwhile, the Dominion High War Council have stated that they won't permit this repression of fellow hobgoblins to degenerate even further, and have threatened to send in soldiers to protect them. Since the League Council of Equals is treaty-bound to protect Kalab, but doesn't want an all-out war with the roughly equally strong Dominions at this point (not while there are still smaller realms and city-states to be conquered), League diplomats are working overtime to come to some kind of peaceful solution to this dilemma."

Your thoughts on this?

 

[ajanders]

The Hobgoblin Solution

With multiple Epic-Level spellcasters powered by nexus towers in the city, I'm not sure this would ever be a real issue.
Just cast an Epic-level Polymorphing spell...something like Polymorph other, but with selectivity.
One spell later, all your dirty, destructive, inconvenient hobgoblins are turned into clean hard-working dwarves.
And if their former brethren take violent offense and invade, you've got a good strong army with hefty to-hit bonuses.

Transmute Hobgoblin to Dwarf.

It has rather a nice ring to it.

aja

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Re: The Hobgoblin Solution

With multiple Epic-Level spellcasters powered by nexus towers in the city, I'm not sure this would ever be a real issue.
Just cast an Epic-level Polymorphing spell...something like Polymorph other, but with selectivity.
One spell later, all your dirty, destructive, inconvenient hobgoblins are turned into clean hard-working dwarves.

Changing their forms is one thing. Changing all their personalities permanently is another. Doing this to a few hundred thousand people would strain most nexus towers...

And even if it would work, they'd have to gather the neccessary energy (which means they couldn't build as many magical items, which means that the city can't sell as many, which means that the city council members can't line their pockets as much...

And if their former brethren take violent offense and invade, you've got a good strong army with hefty to-hit bonuses.

The first thing they would do is cast an epic-level dispel at the lot of them.

The Hobgoblins got nexus towers and epic-level spellcasters, too... and it is always easier to tear something down than to build it. In this case, it's a mass polymorph with mind control...

 

[ajanders]

Changing all their personalities permanently is another.

Fair point...I had forgotten the changes from 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition Polymorph other. Ahh, for the old days, when some poor adventurer could get polymorphed into a frog, caught in a random dispel magic, and spend the rest of his life sitting in a wet tavern somewhere saying "Ribbit".
That said, while expensive, it might save them a prolonged war to invest in a few hobgoblin-only mass suggestions. Just saying things like:
"The standard of living here is much nicer than there. Over there they turn their matrix towers up to 11."
should slow down fifth column efforts. Come to think of it, with an epic level illusion, the hobgoblins could find themselves living in anything the city wanted. Or anybody could.
Maybe that's another reason the proles are so quiet: enchanters and illusionists could provide magic VR on demand -- at least, someone's demand. Why actually fix the hole in the road: just make it look fixed. It's not like anybody important would actually be walking there.
Over the long run, of course, such a system would probably break down. Even with matrix towers, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Sorry for the hijack, that kind of ran away with me.

And if their former brethren take violent offense and invade, you've got a good strong army with hefty to-hit bonuses.

The first thing they would do is cast an epic-level dispel at the lot of them.

That's why you use them for defensive operations at the city walls, not in the field.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the metaphysics and geography involved, but unless cities are far enough separated that it's very difficult to fling dispells at your neighbors, nobody is going to rely exclusively on magic.
If all your climate control, logistics, health, water, sewer, communciations and defense systems could be destroyed by an Epic Mordenkainen's Disjunction, people would develop mundane alternatives.
I guess I'm once again wondering how far a city-state can project power against an opponent. Unless you've got matrix relay stations, of course...
(This didn't respond to your question so much as ask new ones, of course. This is why I appreciate Urbis so much: lots of insights into gaming, gamebuilding, and reality all at once.)

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

That said, while expensive, it might save them a prolonged war to invest in a few hobgoblin-only mass suggestions. Just saying things like:
"The standard of living here is much nicer than there. Over there they turn their matrix towers up to 11."
should slow down fifth column efforts.

That's probably the kind of solution the League Council is hoping for. However, they don't have absolute control of the city (if a city joins voluntarily, it has a large amount of self-rule... and if these perks were taken away, it might make other cities even more leery of the League, and some other member cities would get second thoughts about all this.)

Meanwhile, the Kalab city council members are (a) acting either out of irrational hatred, or (b) using the hobgoblins as a scapegoat to distract the citizens from their lousy record (and the b-Type councilmen have nothing to gain from a "final solution", as they would suddenly be left without a patsy..)

Come to think of it, with an epic level illusion, the hobgoblins could find themselves living in anything the city wanted. Or anybody could.
Maybe that's another reason the proles are so quiet: enchanters and illusionists could provide magic VR on demand -- at least, someone's demand. Why actually fix the hole in the road: just make it look fixed. It's not like anybody important would actually be walking there.
Over the long run, of course, such a system would probably break down.

Which is why few cities would probably do this. However, it might be fun to use this in a city or two...

(sound of mental gears turning)

Even with matrix towers, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Sorry for the hijack, that kind of ran away with me.

No problem - I find these kinds of suggestions extremely useful in figuring out more details of Urbis.

That's why you use them for defensive operations at the city walls, not in the field.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the metaphysics and geography involved, but unless cities are far enough separated that it's very difficult to fling dispells at your neighbors, nobody is going to rely exclusively on magic.

That's a given - though most cities are too far away from each other for Epic Dispel spells (I checked the Epic Spellcasting rules, and extremely long-distance spells get expensive real fast...).

However, most spellcasters using nexus towers aren't epic-level spellcasters themselves, so mundane (if high-level) dispel magic spells (possibly provided by wands for just such occastions) should work quite well for most occasions.

In other words, you won't defend your cities through long-term wards and enchantments, but through short-term spells and an intensive spy system that discovers threats before they can get ugly...

If all your climate control, logistics, health, water, sewer, communciations and defense systems could be destroyed by an Epic Mordenkainen's Disjunction, people would develop mundane alternatives.

Magic is useful for most situations, and still the preferred solution to most problems - but smart rulers have mundane back-up solutions that can last at least until the nexus towers come back online...

I guess I'm once again wondering how far a city-state can project power against an opponent.

Nexus spells can often reach a few miles from the closest nexus tower. But the spells usually have less impressive spell effects if they are designed for an extended range...

Unless you've got matrix relay stations, of course...

Nexus towers can tap into the energies of any other nexus towers within line-of-sight (which is why they are usually quite tall), but that's about it.

(This didn't respond to your question so much as ask new ones, of course. This is why I appreciate Urbis so much: lots of insights into gaming, gamebuilding, and reality all at once.)

Well, that's what I am aiming for, after all...