When Fantasy meets Medieval Europe

[Thomas Bowman]

Neat. How did you get such pretty hex numbering? Plug in for Photoshop or Gimp? I would love that one.

It took a while. I was working on this before I started discussing it. I found the map on the internet, buy googling Dungeons and Dragons Map of Europe, and someone made a map. The original map was half the size of this one. I imported it to my paint program, and then I doubled the size, so each pixel became four pixels. I then copied each hex type, I erased the original hex number as it was blurry, and I created a generic hex for each hex type I then went over the map, pasting a generic terrain hex over each hex of a given terrain covering over cities, names of cities, labels and so forth until their were nothing but unnumbered terrain hexes. I then created a blank hex map with a background color of dark blue.

I originally tried white as a background color, but when I typed the numbers at the top of each hex, even if those numbers were a dark color, the edge pixels had that color blended in with the background color of white, thus giving it highlights, that made the numbers hard to read when they were on a dark background hex on the map. So I redid the numbers on a dark blue blackground, so now the dark font color blended with the dark blue background color creating dark numbering. The coordinates are an (x,y) coordinate system, the first hex number is the number of hexes across from left to right numbering 0 to 109. the second number is the number of hexes from top to bottom which were numbered from 0 to 72. So I typed the second number first, which is the number of hexes down from the top. I typed the numbers on the top right to create the first column. I then made the background color Dark blue transparent and then I copied the whole column and pasted it over the next 109 columns to the right. And then I typed the horizontal numbers at the top left of each column. I made sure to leave the second row starting with column 3 black so I could number that second row from left to right. I then copied the second row with the background dark blue as the transparent color and then pasted that seconf row on top of all the other rows, I then completed numbering the hexes left black until I filled all the blue hexes on the black map. Then I copied the entire black map with dark blue as the transparent color and pasted it over the map of Europe I created, and that way I numbered all the hexes on the map. These numbers are the same as on the original map, only clearer and sharper. I then when over the original, and on a notepad coped a hex number for each hex with a metropolis on it, then next to it I wrote the name of the city, and I rolled the population of each city with a d100 using this method:

Roll 1d100: If result is from 1 to 25 multiply by 1,000 and add 25,000 to get the population; if the result is from 26 to 50 multiply the result by 3,000 and add 25,000 to get the population; if the result is from 51 to 75 multiply by 5,000 and add 25,000 to get the population; and if the result is from 76 to 100 then multiply by 7,000 and add 25,000 to that number to get the population. These are the largest cities in Europe, I'm not sure what the actual populations were in 1100 AD. I suppose I could look it up somewhere and their were some educated guesses based on archeological evidence, but this is a magical world paralleling our own, but not 100%, so I don't let the facts get in the way of creating this campaign world. Next up are the large and the small cities. Anything smaller than a small city is too small to appear on this map, as each hex is 31 miles. The original map had hexes as 50 kilometers, so I converted it to Imperial Units and got the number as 31 miles. The metric system just doesn't look good in a fantasy universe, customary measures imbues an more traditional feel to the setting without the science metric system, which describes better a science fiction universe. I don't think knights in shining armor should be talking in kilometers but in miles, so this is the in game unit of measure and the units the players use to measure the map scale.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Here is the first city that I randomly rolled using 3.5 rules:

Hex# 00 58 Marrakech (Metropolis): Conventional: AL LG, Nonstandard: AL LG, Conventional: LN, Conventional: AL NG; 100,000 gp limit; Assets 1,625,000,000 gp; Population 325,000; Mixed (human 79%, halfling 9%, elf 5%, dwarf 3%, gnome 2%, half-elf 1%, half-orc 1%); Highest level locals (Adept 16th, 14th, 14th, 16th levels, , Aristocrat 14th, 15th, 16th, 16th levels, Barbarian 14th 13th, 15th, 14th levels, Bard 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th levels, Cleric 15th, 14th, 18th, 18th levels, Commoner 21st, 25th, 20th, 18th levels, Druid 13th, 15th, 14th, 18th level, Expert 23rd, 16th, 20th, 19th levels, Fighter 13th, 13th, 17th, 20th levels, Monk 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th levels, Paladin 13th, 14th, 13th, 15th levels, Ranger 13th, 13th, 14th, 15th levels, Rogue 14th, 14th, 13th, 14th levels, Sorcerer 14th, 16th, 13th, 13th levels, Warrior 17th, 16th, 14th, 17th levels, Wizard 14th, 14th, 13th, 15th levels); Captain of the Guard: dwarf 17th level warrior, Primary Language Spoken: Berber. Kingdom of Morocco, Majority Religion Islam.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Here is three cities:

00 58 Marrakech (Metropolis): Conventional: AL LG, Nonstandard: AL LG, Conventional: LN, Conventional: AL NG; 100,000 gp limit; Assets 1,625,000,000 gp; Population 325,000; Mixed (human 79%, halfling 9%, elf 5%, dwarf 3%, gnome 2%, half-elf 1%, half-orc 1%); Highest level locals (Adept 16th, 14th, 14th, 16th levels, , Aristocrat 14th, 15th, 16th, 16th levels, Barbarian 14th 13th, 15th, 14th levels, Bard 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th levels, Cleric 15th, 14th, 18th, 18th levels, Commoner 21st, 25th, 20th, 18th levels, Druid 13th, 15th, 14th, 18th level, Expert 23rd, 16th, 20th, 19th levels, Fighter 13th, 13th, 17th, 20th levels, Monk 14th, 14th, 14th, 14th levels, Paladin 13th, 14th, 13th, 15th levels, Ranger 13th, 13th, 14th, 15th levels, Rogue 14th, 14th, 13th, 14th levels, Sorcerer 14th, 16th, 13th, 13th levels, Warrior 17th, 16th, 14th, 17th levels, Wizard 14th, 14th, 13th, 15th levels); Captain of the Guard: dwarf 17th level warrior.

05 54 Fez (Metropolis): Conventional: AL LG, Nonstandard: LG, Conventional AL LN, Conventional AL LG; 100,000 gp limit; Assets 165,000,000 gp; Population 33,000; Mixed (humans 75%, halflings 8%, elf 5%, dwarf 5%, gnome 3%, half-elf 2%, half-orc 2%); Highest level locals (Adept 14th, 16th, 13th, 18th levels, Aristocrat 15th, 15th, 16th, 14th levels Barbarian 16th, 14th, 14th, 14th levels, Bard 15th, 16th, 13th, 15th levels, Cleric 18th, 17th, 16th, 18th levels, Commoner 20th, 25th, 24th, 23rd levels, Druid 14th, 15th, 17th, 15th levels, Expert 19th, 18th, 19th, 17th levels, Fighter 14th, 15th, 17th, 15th levels, Monk 15th, 14th, 16th, 16th levels, Paladin 15th, 15th, 15th, 13th levels, Ranger 13th, 15th, 15th, 15th levels, Sorcerer 13th, 16th, 16th, 16th levels, Warriors 18th, 17th, 17th, 19th levels); Captain of the Guard: human 17th level fighter.

08 48 Cordoba (Metropolis): Nonstandard: AL LN, Conventional: LE, Conventional: LG, Magical: LE; 100,000 gp limit; Assets 153,000,000 gp; Population 31,000; Mixed (humans 74%, halfling 8%, elf 7%, dwarf 4%, gnome 2%, half-elf 3%, half-orc 2%); Highest level locals (Adept 13th, 17th, 16th, 14th levels, Aristocrat 13th, 14th, 14th, 14th level, Barbarian 15th, 13th, 14th, 13th levels, Bard 17th, 17th, 13th, 13th levels, Cleric 17th, 14th, 14th, 13th levels, Commoner 22nd, 21st, 24th, 19th levels, Druid 15th, 18th, 18th, 17th levels, Expert 22nd, 17th, 19th, 18th levels, Fighter 19th, 17th, 15th, 14th levels, Monk 13th, 15th, 13th, 14th levels, Paladin 13th, 13th, 14th, 13th levels, Ranger 14th, 14th, 14th, 15th levels, Rogue 17th, 19th, 13th, 14th levels, Sorcerer 13th, 16th, 16th, 14th levels, Warrior 16th, 18th, 19th, 19th levels, Wizard 16th, 14th, 13th, 16th levels); Captain of the Guard: human 19th level warrior.

Still working on some more, and on some encounter tables when the die rolling gets monotonous.

 

[CapnZapp]

Here are the populations of the metropolises:
Hex Name Population
00 58 Marrakech 325,000
05 54 Fez 33,000
08 48 Cordoba 31,000
25 30 Paris 28,000
28 29 Gent 40,000
32 40 Genoa 390,000
33 38 Milano 40,000
35 41 Firenze 35,000
37 39 Venezia 160,000
38 53 Palermo 103,000
63 46 Konstantinopolis 718,000
70 68 Cairo 673,000
93 56 Baghdad 613,000
93 47 Tabriz 169,000
108 48 Nishapur 592,000

I rolled them up randomly, they are not based on actual census records from 1100 AD. I did make sure Konstantinopolis has a large population, I switched it with a number I rolled for another city, it is supposed to be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire after all!

Why on earth would you randomize the populations? Perhaps you come from outside Europe so you don't know what cities were historically large? I would have thought finding out real numbers (if approximate) would be relatively quick, and it would yield much more satisfying results.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

These are the ones I found
Hex Name Population
00 58 Marrakech 325,000
05 54 Fez 33,000
08 48 Cordoba 31,000 Actual population 450,000
25 30 Paris 28,000 Actual population 50,000
28 29 Gent 40,000 Actual population 10,000 (small city)
32 40 Genoa 390,000 Actual population 50,000
33 38 Milano 40,000 (Actual population in 1200 AD) 90,000
35 41 Firenze 35,000 Actual population (Florence) 50,000
37 39 Venezia 160,000 Actual population 60,000
38 53 Palermo 103,000 Actual population 350,000
63 46 Konstantinopolis 718,000 Actual population 500,000
70 68 Cairo 673,000
93 56 Baghdad 613,000
93 47 Tabriz 169,000
108 48 Nishapur 592,000

I couldn't find sources for North African, Middle eastern, or western Asian cities, but I think I'll go with those actual population. It appears Gent got demoted from a metropolis to a small city according to the DMG 3.5 definition.

Here is the entry for Cordoba with the actual population:

08 48 ​

Cordoba

(Metropolis): Nonstandard: AL LN, Conventional: LE, Conventional: LG, Magical: LE; 100,000 gp limit; Assets 2,250,000,000 gp; ​

Population

450,000; Mixed (humans 74%, halfling 8%, elf 7%, dwarf 4%, gnome 2%, half-elf 3%, half-orc 2%); ​

Highest level locals

(​

Adept

13th, 17th, 16th, 14th levels, ​

Aristocrat

13th, 14th, 14th, 14th level, ​

Barbarian

15th, 13th, 14th, 13th levels, ​

Bard

17th, 17th, 13th, 13th levels, ​

Cleric

17th, 14th, 14th, 13th levels, ​

Commoner

22nd, 21st, 24th, 19th levels, ​

Druid

15th, 18th, 18th, 17th levels, ​

Expert

22nd, 17th, 19th, 18th levels, ​

Fighter

19th, 17th, 15th, 14th levels, ​

Monk

13th, 15th, 13th, 14th levels, ​

Paladin

13th, 13th, 14th, 13th levels, ​

Ranger

14th, 14th, 14th, 15th levels, ​

Rogue

17th, 19th, 13th, 14th levels, ​

Sorcerer

13th, 16th, 16th, 14th levels, ​

Warrio

r 16th, 18th, 19th, 19th levels, ​

Wizard

16th, 14th, 13th, 16th levels); ​

Captain of the Guard:

human 19th level warrior.

Cordoba's status as a Metropolis doesn't change, so the only thing the increased population affects is the Assets which is calculated as One tenth the population time one half the gp limit this number is 2,250,000,000 gp.
​

​

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Here is the first installment of the encounters tables:

 

[Lylandra]

so the female commoner is the leader?

 

[Thomas Bowman]

so the female commoner is the leader?

It is incomplete, I was just giving you what I had so far. Stating out the cities was a bit tedious so I needed a change of pace, these stats don't represent warriors, I am doing that later. The Commoner is the most numerous character class out there, most of them are farmers or peasants, when they are traveling in the forest, they do go armed. I made a mistake with the woman, a Commoner is only proficient with one simple weapon and I gave her three, it is also a known fact that on average men are bigger and stronger than women. Both stats are given Elite ability scores, the Male has Strength as his strongest ability and he gets a 15, the Female has hers in Charisma, she also has a dexterity of 14, so she gets the ranged weapon and the male gets a long spear to do melee, I'm going to use a feat to make her proficient with a short bow and I'm going to give her a short bow, since one of her skills is Craft(bowmaking), she can probably give herself a discount when she makes one. I got the character sheets for them see below. If you want, you can fill in the blanks and use them as player character sheets, it would be an interesting challenge to play a commoner. You got any good names for them? I thought of a couple, I call the woman Gretel, and the man's name is Hansel, these two are brother and sister, and also twins, that had a traumatic experience some time ago in the Black Forest of the Holy Roman Empire when they were children, having to do with a cannibalistic witch living in an edible home. This is them about 15 years later.

Here is the Encounter Table and the related subtables, I still have a warrior character sheet to fill out.

 

[CapnZapp]

it is also a known fact that on average men are bigger and stronger than women.

It is also a known fact that rpgs have moved beyond gender issues a long time ago.

The modern approach is to call these two stat blocks something like warrior and hunter and relegate sex to mere description; so that female warriors and male hunters aren't excluded from the outset.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

It is also a known fact that rpgs have moved beyond gender issues a long time ago.

The modern approach is to call these two stat blocks something like warrior and hunter and relegate sex to mere description; so that female warriors and male hunters aren't excluded from the outset.

Well they are commoners not warriors, thus they are most of the population, according to the DMG the commoner class is proficient in just one simple weapon, but they are farmers, the weapons they carry are for self defense and for hunting. I want the World I am portraying to have a certain level or reality to it, most women I meet in my world aren't "Six-foot tall Amazons ready for battle," The commoner is the "everyman" and the "everywoman", there are physical differences on average between men and women, so most women on this World aren't going to be the warrior type, they will be mothers, farm hands, they will take care of the children and the household. the men do the heavy lifting, and the back breaking work out on the field, women help out too, but their roles are clearly defined in medieval Europe, and that is what this thread is about. When I do warriors, I think about 20% of them will be women, and this would be overly generous for the setting that I am describing, but the fact remains, most warriors will be men, even in our modern world, despite all the advancements, most soldiers in the Army are men, and that's not because women aren't allowed to join, but because most aren't interested in a career in the military, although there are exceptions. A significant percentage of women are at home with children in the Middle ages, so they are not available to strap on armor and to serve in the military, even if the military would allow them to join. Many women in villages would be informal combatants, that is they practice with weapons to defend their children from attack, but they are not usually part of any military units.

I think perhaps 50% of Barbarians would be women, that is because being an Barbarian is an identity and not a profession. Female Clerics could get in big trouble in Medieval Europe, as there are not supposed to be any, but the God granting spells does not have to obey church rules made by men. So female clerics will not be Catholic Priests, and not all Catholic Priests will be of the character Class Cleric either. Druids are 50/50, maybe more of them are women perhaps, that would make sense since Druids exist outside of Church structures, and are liable to be accused of witchcraft, that is why they meet in secret and live out in the forest. Since the priesthood is exclusively men, that reduces the amount of available men to become druids, so you will see more female druids than male druids. Some Nuns in convents are also Clerics.

Catholic Monks do not fight, they are not especially skilled in hand to hand combat without weapons, the D&D class Monk is another category altogether. A lot of women are Bards, about 50/50. Anyone can be a fighter, though women fighters will tend to go with more ranged weapons as accuracy is more important with those than brute strength, and an Orc that is shot and killed with an arrow is one less orc that you have to wrestle with. Rangers can be equally men or women. Most of these Player Character classes do not make a significant proportion of the population so members of these classes tend not to be average. I think someone like Joan of Arc could be classified as a Paladin in this World, the fantasy version of Joan would have spells to cast in this setting. Women would make great Sorcerers, as being a Wizard would require something of an education, something that is less available to women in medieval times, but being a sorcerer would be an innate ability that one is born with. Women make great Rogues, as Rogues main attribute is dexterity, and a woman can use a charisma skill to distract a male and perhaps pick his pocket!

You see here I'm trying to make a compromise with what D&D is with what the Medieval World was, nothing is perfect. With classes that make up a large percentage of the population, such as commoner, I have to give a nod to statistical averages, with less common classes, that is less true. With Magic using classes, that is not true at all. I would say that perhaps the availability of magic would tend to be an equalizer between men and women.

Getting back to the D&D Monk, their specialty is unarmed combat, they are not required to take a vow of chastity, they do not necessarily live in Monasteries, they come mostly from the peasant class, as that class is restricted in their weapons choice in many places, so they learn unarmed combat to help with their self-defense, and orders of Combat Monks have developed from that. Although some Catholic Monks may also be the other kind of Monk as well.