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Old 09-26-2018, 09:33 PM   #51
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
According to the current beta PDF map, Dran just shrunk to 64% of its former linear size, as the hexes on the same map are now 5 miles across, or about 8 km instead of 12.5 km.

Of course, the map is inaccurate in other ways... ;-)
Oh. That means the mountain ranges shrank also. And Elfwood is only 20 miles across and Thargi swamp is about 35 miles across.

Good to know before I start putting caravans through Dran.
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Old 09-27-2018, 08:00 AM   #52
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Maybe this is a situation where someone wanted to change the reference associated with a hex and did not change the size of the hex on the map

As I have said before the scale of the map should be fixed. The size, use, and interpretation of any grid overlay on a map is independent of the map's scale
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Old 09-27-2018, 11:21 AM   #53
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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Oh. That means the mountain ranges shrank also. And Elfwood is only 20 miles across and Thargi swamp is about 35 miles across.

Good to know before I start putting caravans through Dran.
Though unless they change it or you are using your own travel rules, they also shrunk the travel rates of everything by keeping those listed in the same hexes.
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Old 09-29-2018, 12:21 PM   #54
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Yes, it's just a smaller area now; everything is closer together. I hope that makes sense; I did not think it was arcane.
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Old 09-29-2018, 01:59 PM   #55
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Yes, it's just a smaller area now; everything is closer together. I hope that makes sense; I did not think it was arcane.
I think it's actually good, though a literal change. Having GM'd the map and similar maps for years, compared to real-world places of similar size and thought about what ought to be in a 12.5km hex, and what'd be in the civilized open terrain hexes, I'd say the map actually feels like the hexes should represent less distance anyway.

The reduced travel rates seem reasonable to me too. (And it would be jarring to my map-oriented campaign (not that I've used it much lately) to have the travel time in days between places suddenly change much.)

(And semi-related, there should probably be a lot of little farms and hamlets and local wandering trails (that wouldn't help long-distance travel) in the countryside that naturally aren't shown on the map. If it's anything like most medieval populations on Earth, most of the population would be spread out in the countryside, rarely if even venturing more than 1/2 day travel from where they were born.)
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Old 04-06-2019, 08:26 AM   #56
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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The new page on Dran is only slightly longer. I hereby declare this thread to be a good place where Dran-builders can talk. I would like to officially publish a book on the city of Dranning, and fan-created villages, or hamlets too small to show on the map, would be fun.
Here are the assumptions that lead me to put a Wizard Academy (Harry Potter style) in Dranning: https://www.hcobb.com/tft/house_rules.html#Maps
  • A 20 year old wizard has both basic Wizard training and starting spells
  • At most 16 starting spells times three months each is four years
  • Apprenticeships therefore start at age 16
  • Real world skills start around age six so wizard training must start then
  • Ten graduates a year times an average career of 30 years gives 300 active wizards in Dran
  • Times the 300:1 ratio gives a human population of 90k in Dran
  • The cities of Dran have a total listed population of 31K
  • Total urban population is around 40k with 50k rural
Note that my assumption of 80 wizards in Dranning gives a ratio of 187.5:1 with respect to the city's population. Hence the ratio out in the fields is much higher and it's quite a ways from the average farm to the nearest Town Wizard with his chest and big book of spells.

This then gives a dozen labs in Dranning powered by 40 (10 each year times the four years of 16, 17, 18 and 19) poorly paid grad students (mirroring the real world too well for a "fantasy" game). Six of these are doing Weapon/Armor Enchantment, four are doing Lesser Magic Item Creation and two are doing Greater Magic Item Creation. There are at most another dozen enchantment labs scattered around Dran.

To give a feel for how small and tight these numbers are: At the moment in my story when miss Tsozan sits down for lunch with the Decosta twins there are zero to two other wizards their same age in the Dranning "Megahex".
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Old 04-06-2019, 02:55 PM   #57
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Interesting. I'd forgotten this thread. I wonder if it will stay active now for a bit longer than it did then?

On the Wizard Academy thing, I'd look for something a lot less "Harry Potter-ish" I think, and more along the lines of a classic University of the early Renaissance period. Mostly just because Harry Potter style magic seems too "cute" for the nitty-gritty "real" world to me. And, actually, I'd think such an Academy would be vanishingly rare, simply because most budding sorcerers would probably lack the money to indulge in something like that, and most experienced Wizards would have better things to do with their time. Having said that, it might be fun to see what something like that might look like. I can recommend a couple of examples I've collected over the years; Redhurst Academy, GURPS Worminghall, and Wizard's Academy (for Pathfinder). All are interesting, and all provide a slightly different look at what such an academy might actually be like, so are probably worth a gander if one is interested in this particular trope.

Most of you probably realize from many past posts of mine that I'm somewhat of a fan of macro-economic models that drive my fantasy worlds, so I envision Dranning as a major trade hub for the interior of the continent. Oddly enough, there doesn't seem to be much of an emphasis on the port cities along the coast in this setting, which inclines me to believe that the trade opportunities there are possibly somewhat limited. Perhaps the body of water at the southeast end of the map is more like the Black Sea (or even the Caspian) than it is like the Baltic or Mediterranean Seas. But, if so, then that means Dranning may be far more important for trade, and may be a hub filled with Caravansaries and connected with something like the Silk Road (see GURPS Hot Spots: The Silk Road for more information), or the Salt Road from Harn. Which gives us a basis for some wonderful adventure opportunities right there within and based on the city itself. Everything from a Lankhmarish thieves guild type of set up, to a city filled with rumors, legends, fake and real treasure maps, and plenty of available means of transportation to get you to where the adventure is. Plus there are always caravans to guard (and raid) if you want your players to go somewhere else. Then too, the city would probably be pretty cosmopolitan, giving you the opportunity to make contact with other races and civilizations under circumstances which do not automatically force confrontation upon the players.

So that's kind of my personal vision for the place -- something in spirit more like Constantinople or Venice than it is medieval London or Paris, with lots of color, vibrant cultures, and adventure opportunities based around the information, opportunities, and goods that arrive daily with the trade caravans.
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Old 04-06-2019, 03:03 PM   #58
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Trade isn't by ship. It's by wizard.

ITL 173: "Even villages may acquire temporary Gates after harvest, if there is a city in urgent need of their products."
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Old 04-06-2019, 07:25 PM   #59
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Trade isn't by ship. It's by wizard.

ITL 173: "Even villages may acquire temporary Gates after harvest, if there is a city in urgent need of their products."
Nope. Not in my world.
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Old 04-06-2019, 07:41 PM   #60
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Nope. Not in my world.
I can't speak to that, only the official setting.
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