Re: (TFT) Worldbuilding question

["Neil Gilmore" <raito@raito.com>]

> >> - A "town watch" of 4-6 men
> >
> >    This seems low.  I would expect a guard for every
> >100 to 200 people in the town.
>
> I'm basing it on the modern US figure of 1 policeman per ~500 population.
But
> there would be private guards as well. In fact, I could make a case
against
> having any "official" town watch at all.

You could make a case for a professional captain of the guard, and the rest
made up from volunteers, as a sort of civic duty. Given the sort of milieu
you describe, the town watch's duties aren't strictly police in nature, but
making sure nothing's on fire, noting when strangers come to town, calling
out the local's as a militia if bandits come through, helping the drunks
home, and that sort of thing.

In the capital, you might just have those 4-6 professional fighting men do
duty as police/royal guard/town guard.

It's also important to figure out the politics, as it affects things
greatly. If you're going with the late Italian city-state model, the
fighting men are essentially mercenaries, controlled by the ruling families.
If you're going with an earlier feudal model, the fighting men are the
aristocracy, and there's feudal contracts and such to deal with.

Neil Gilmore
raito@raito.com
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