Yes, someone definitely has to define areas for the city and come up
with a reasonable map. Nor do I think we can do this without first
establishing some guidelines about certain things:

* How many spellcasters can be developed? How many priests and how many
mages? There aren't supposed to be more than 150 true mages on the whole
continent. It seems reasonable that there might only be 10 or 15 in the
capitol city, plus maybe 30-40 magicians.
* What's the limit on magical items for NPCs? If we don't set a limit, I
may (IMO reasonably) use a third level thief with a dagger +1, while
someone else has a third level NPC with a vorpal sword and two or three
other powerful items and feel that this is totally reasonable. We need a
set of rules about what magic can be used on an NPC.
* Are magical items for sale or not? If so, I think they should be
expensive one-shot items. A permanent item, even a dagger +1, would
carry a far higher price than a potion of healing....also to be
considered is where the items will be sold? If there are just a few
vendors, prices will be higher; if potions and scrolls are for sale
everywhere, competition will drive down prices.
* How many NPCs with class and level can be used, and what are the
proportions of classes and levels? I.e., no tenth level innkeepers.

I realize this may seem a bit stodgy, but settling these things in
advance will save some time and aggravation down the road and make it
easier to reconcile the various pieces with each other. Here are my
opinions on the above issues:

* Special dispensation from a "committee" of sorts is required to put a
spellcaster in an environment outside the norm. Temples naturally will
have lots of priests and the Magic college will be populated by mages.
These folks might even frequent pubs and the like nearby. Other than
these environments, no spellcasters should appear.
* No more than one permanent and two one-shot magical items per three
levels of NPC experience, no 1st-level NPCs with magical items other
than potions or scrolls, and restricted plus on items to a single +1 per
two levels of NPC experience. Also, no more than three permanent and
four one-shot items for any NPC (exceptions can be received through the
"committee"). Items with special powers, like Vorpal swords or Staves of
the Magi, require special dispensation to be included.
* Only temples and the Magic college should sell magical items, plus
perhaps two or three black market "shops" that deals with stolen items.
Prices at the black market shops should be considerably higher than the
public shops; most permanent items for sale will be sold through the
black market shops, but some few minor items could be sold by temples or
the college.
* Most NPCs with classes and levels will be in the levels 1-3 range.
Above this level should be rare; above sixth or seventh level should be
almost unseen. The Chamberlain himself is probably only third or fourth
level and most high priests won't exceed seventh level.

These are just my suggestions, but I like to keep magic rare. Comments
anyone? Comments from Ed Stark would be especially appreciated....I
think he should be a voting member of "the committee".

Jonathan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Gothe [SMTP:daniel.gothe@mailbox.swipnet.se]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 1998 2:57 PM
> To: birthright@MPGN.COM
> Subject: Re: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Online City
>
> Assuming we select Imp City:
>
> I think that since the city is so large, anyone who is interested
> could go
> ahead and produce a minor location or an NPC. This work won't really
> need
> any directioning, at least not to start with.
>
> However, I guess we need someone or some people to come up with a
> rough
> sketch over the city, to provide 'neighborhoods', or parts of the
> city.
>
> Then as the independent locations and NPC increase in numbers, they
> can be
> placed in appropriate neighborhoods.
>
> I recall Darkstar mentioning something about an Inn or a tavern he had
> created. Since I haven't seen it yet, I don't know what it's like, but
> that's the kind of stuff we could do for now. Small, yet atmosperic,
> location without a MAJOR impact to the overall city.
>
> Then some people should get together to write some stuff about the
> more
> important locations.
>
> Anyway... I'm just really excited about this. The netbook is a great
> place
> to have it at, but I realize that it would mean a lot of extra work
> for
> Darkstar et. al. Anyone else who would like to 'host' it?
>