(TFT) Re: TFT Digest V3 #160

[JohnDHamill@aol.com]

In a message dated 03/01/01 9:25:00 AM Central Standard Time, Neil Gilmore 
writes:


> Not to mention streetlights and other 'modern' amenities. If Gates are
> prevelant, they are the analogue to the modern transportation system. Part
> of the reason that modern cities can grow so large is that they have a
> steady supply of goods coming in. If all you have is a dirt path and
> oxcarts, this is a problem. But, if you can use Gates from the agricultural
> centers to the cities, then you have better, fresher distribution. And you
> could probably insecticide pretty well with Cleansing and such.

My TFT campaign is based on my old Gurps campaign, not set in Cidri. Gates 
are not available to the known world (yet!) and there is a very large city, 
named Aratan, that the campaign is based on. The solution to the problem of 
transportation is solved in my campaign a couple of different ways. First, 
there is no death penalty for crimes in Aratan, all prisoners are assigned to 
work duties, which includes road construction and maintenance. This means 
that Aratan has a road network rivalling Rome. Secondly it is a seaport city, 
as well as being at the confluence of two river that are navigable for most 
of their length. Thirdly, there is a type of tree in my world that has 
levitational properties, like the liftwood in GDW's SkyGalleons of Mars, so 
travelling and shipping by windship, as the aerial sailing vessels are 
called, is common in my world. This and the fact that my fantasy world isn't 
inspired by medieval europe, is what makes large populations possible, even 
likely. Magic, and Psionics, make that much more feasible, due to using both 
to assist with food storage and preservation, and with curing disease.
Another reason is that the traditional guild mechanisms that were present in 
medieval to early rennaissance europe actually stifled progress, and that 
doesn't exist in my world either. Rather a system of competing guilds, each 
striving to gain over the others, makes innovation not only likely, but 
important. The religious intolerance that lead to many of the problems in 
europe of the time doesn't exist either, as the city started as  a mixture of 
different peoples.
Economics is important in my campaign as well, and the PC's that run in it 
usually have an easier time of things if they participate in the economy, 
rather than just go about looting tombs, which doesn't pay very well.

John (returning to lurk mode)
JohnDHamill@aol.com