Edge City, Part 1

We've moved our game from Windemere Crossing to Edge City for the 2 Fantasy Trip games I am currently running. Having a copy of the Compleat Ankh-Morpork City Guide, that is my map and resource for Edge City. Not that I use it a lot, but it does show the sheer scale of Edge City.

I also realize I've never dug into Edge City. The last couple of games we have established that the city is at least a couple hundred years old, and built on top of another ancient city, which in turn was probably built on the ruins of yet another ancient metropolis. This allows for all sorts of dungeons under the city itself. Are they all connected? Probably not, but as I've got two sets of adventurers travelling under the city, it behooves me to come up some ideas for what lies below as well as what lies above!

Unlike Windemere Crossing, Edge City is full of temples and churches, schools and taverns. Anything and everything can be found on this coastal City, end point of the Ocean Trade Route to the East. At least on land - the ports of Edge City have ships cruising out into the ocean, visiting such places as the Rainy City or the fabled Isles of Elencia of the Amazons (which I cannot find anywhere so may not be available). But Edge City is a bustling, busy city. Which gives us urban type of adventures rather than the wilderness. And one of the players has added an island chain where the Lizardmen come from. 

Islands of the Lizardmen

We've also had players meet and in once instance so far, kill some of the local citizens. So far, we have met:

• William, a street urchin and thief who tried to pickpocket Dawn, our Elf bard. There are a few others associated with this child gang, including 'Lizbeth, Bobby and Scraps. Their local boss is George, who the characters have not yet met.
• Derek Goldensunder, Dwarf proprietor of the Drink. Killed by the two gargoyles, vampire Elf and rogue. There are badly drawn wanted posters for the gargoyles and the Elf. The Drink is currently closed until the owner's kin comes along to deal with it.
• Several guards who refuse to go into the sewers.

Outside of town, there is also Gudeliva's Inn and Tavern. She was having issues with Derek who wanted to buy her inn to have a second tavern outside of city walls. She thinks the Dwarf had her father killed and sent the 2nd group in to find proof. And of course that went sideways. She also has an odd dungeon under her well. I'll note the last two entries here came from Philip Reed's Fantasy City Scenes books.

We've also established that Hexis, our Lizardman, lives in a tenement building and has two rooms. It is not far from the market square which was near the docks. He also has hired out as a bodyguard for a few people, and we'll throw in an Orc named Bugunutei who has a list of fighters and grunts that the upper class can hire out as needed. The name is apparently Medieval Mongolian from the Fantasy Name Generator. I have a few Orc minis so one will become this employer and contact. Bugunutei will be a contact for Hexis.

And just how large is Edge City? Based on the Discworld Fandom site, it is about 50 square miles including the surrounding fiefdom. There are about 1 million people in the city and fiefdom, including about 50,000 Dwarves. So, a very large city, with a complex fiefdom surrounding it. We do know that a bit north, about 2 days travel so 40-50 miles, is a pear farm where they make peary, a sweet alcoholic beverage. This from a game I ran years ago. And used the same place for at least one other adventure. Now if I can just find the name!

think my scale may be off. never good with scales in my games!

This part of my game world is over 40 years old but never really developed. I was a loner in high school, but really liked the idea of RPGs even though I never played. So, I bought minis and made maps for where they came from. I still have those paper maps! For instance, the Centaurs are from Triplaner Island.

the electronic version as I learn Campaign Cartographer. Slowly.

And again, it all comes down to how much of what I do in world building actually gets used or is even useful? And it becomes even more difficult when we've got multiple games going on. However, at least for the various fantasy games I run, they are all on the same world, and mostly in the same region. There is a bit of cross-pollination there so that I only have to worry about 1 fantasy world. And the player with the Lizardman islands may also be working on adding things to this world. Of this current group, just the two of us seem to collaborate on world building beyond a few simple things. Though he does have a much darker world in mind at times. But of course, I am digressing yet again. 

Let's bring out some of my city building books and see what we get. Some things are pre-determined: the location and size primarily. And that the city is ruled by the patriarch until the King returns. Who just may be a large, red-headed guard in the town raised by Dwarves.

Bringing out Campaign Builder: Cities and Towns, we have five questions:

1. What is the city's age?  This is a mature community, and mostly planned out though it has grown somewhat organically over the centuries. There are families that have lived here for generations. It is also built atop an ancient city, though most of that city is buried under Edge City.
2. What is the city's primary function? Trade - it is a busy port city at the base of at least two major trade routes: the western-heading Ocean Trade Route and the north-ward route which I've yet to name. Though Stubboon's Last Stand is part of that. Cargo ships come and go, caravans and traders on land come and go. Merchandise from all over the world can be found here.
3. What are the city's trade goods? Being a trade town, it is at the crossroads of many trading routes by land, sea and gate. It is known for its peary (an alcoholic drink made from pears), though most of that comes from small towns to the north of Edge City but is traded in the port. Surrounded by farms, produce of all sorts is also available. And hmm - trade goods have a pricing table based on scarcity. Useful if I could remember that!
4. What is the city's size and population? As above, we're talking a million people in the city and surrounding towns and villages. It is a large city and has several large towns around it as well. 
5. What is the city's government structure? In theory this is a kingdom ruled by a monarch. But there has not been one on the thrown in quite some time, and the Patrician manages the city and its environs. Technically this makes for a dictatorship, but he seems to have the best interests of the kingdom as the driving force of his rulership. 

Magic in my world is all over the place. The Fantasy Trip treats is as a fairly pedestrian affair, with regular magic-based jobs. OSE is more classic fantasy based so a bit more special and not as common. In Edge City, I'm going with it is pretty common and mundane, and people don't think much about. Parts of the world, though, magic can be seen as a corruption, a divine and rare gift, and something not even known. Having said that, magic I think should be special, and while there is a wizard's college in the city, the Unseen University, magic has its costs so is not as prevalent as say, a floating city with magical fountains and unicorns grazing everywhere. 

I had started to use some of the books I have on cities and things, and then realized this post was getting way too long. So this will be continued in part 2!