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Thread: RE: Online City

  1. #1
    HSwiftfoot@aol.co
    Guest

    RE: Online City

    One further thought...can we get an official comment from Ed on whether there
    are any plans for an Imperial City supplement any time within the next couple
    of years?
    That might help settle the question of location. Thanks in advance,

    Kevin M.

    "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

  2. #2
    Akash Kanojia
    Guest

    RE: Online City

    At 04:04 PM 1/28/98 -0800, you wrote:
    >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:

    I've come up with some ideas for this.

    >* 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.

    Agreed for the most part.... what is the population of the Imperial City?
    Like above 100,000 right? I think there could be far more than 30-40 magicians
    if they were low-level. The Colleges of Sorcery DO have to have some students,
    after all :)

    I think 10-15 is a good number for true wizards. Magicians, maybe 100 is more
    appropriate, IMHO.

    >* 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.

    I think some rules would be great.

    >* 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.

    I think a shop that regularly *sells* magic is out of the question.
    There might be a few independent wizards and priests that sell potions
    or scrolls for a living, but their inventory should be extremely small
    (considering the number of people that want to buy such things). I don't
    think anyone, even in the Imperial City, could have a regular supply of
    permanent magical items for sale. There just aren't that many magic items
    out there.

    >* 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.

    Well, let's consider this - 1% of the population of the city probably has
    a character class. Assuming the size is 100,000 people, that limits us to
    1,000 classed characters. Using the 90% rule, we have 900 1st level chars,
    90 2nd level, 9 3rd level, and 1 4th or above. This probably makes sense for
    armies and such, but not quite feasible for the Imperial City. I'm inclined
    to make some arbitrary calls here. I like the 1000 classed characters only,
    but the levels should be spread out. Maybe 900 of levels 1-3, 90 of levels
    4-7, and the remaining few (about 10) higher than 7th. Any character of 9th
    or higher level should definitely be mentioned. And most of the lower level
    chars will be fighters or thieves. The classes may be more evenly balanced
    at the higher levels.

    >* 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.

    I agree here.

    >* 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.

    Agreed here, too, except we may want to relax the restrictions a little bit
    at the higher levels. Although these limits on NPC magic pretty much rule out
    the possibility of a magic shop in the city, unless it sells non-permanent
    items.

    >* 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.

    And the offer of the sale of a permanent item should be a cause for great
    excitement, as this very rarely happens. Perhaps at any given time in the
    city, only 2-3 permanent items should be available for sale.

    >* 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.

    FYI, the Chamberlain is a 12th/16th fighter/diviner.
    Agreed here for the most part too - see my above note.

    >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".

    I agree with you in keeping magic rare. I think Ed should be the one to
    roleplay the Chamberlain, too.

    Btw, I'd like to be on the committee.

  3. #3

    RE: Online City

    In a message dated 98-01-28 16:41:55 EST, you write:

    >

    Hey!

    I am a very devoted lurker :) Besides, with you all providing such good
    answers to people's questions, there's hardly a thing for me to do :)

    And for the record, I also think the Online City is a great idea. Go for it!

    Carrie

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