Civilized Places

Skarg · 12-14-2018, 02:21 PM

Your posts seem to emphasize a view that there would be one result, but I tend to think there can be many results, depending greatly on what the demographics are like of how many people have what sets of attribute values and spells and talents, and what the situation is like that governs who does what and in what way, and who chooses to do what.

Where I think there is more of a cause & effect concern is where there are specific things that can be done with reasonably limited groups of people that make something else very vulnerable, e.g.:

* No secure buildings protected by only a one-hex wall, because one Open Tunnel will get through it. So people who want to be proof against moderate-power rogue wizards need more than a wall, such as some guards, multiple doors, etc.

* No casual renting out of very expensive magic items to people without security/contingency/deposit or some counter to the likelihood of theft. And, considering who else with more wealth/power would get such items before they were commonly available.

* If there are large-scale gate networks, consider what all the powers that be will do about them. I can think of many different answers that seem far more likely than it just being a low-cost resource for everyone to go anywhere at will.

* Some spells do seem very problematic to me in terms of potential for espionage, assassination, and other mischief. As written, I think they suggest a very nasty situation, which tends to make me want to alter the spells, e.g.: Astral Projection, Summon (Lesser/Greater) Demon (even just for attack purposes), some uses of Gate, some uses of Word of Command, some uses of Lesser Wish, industrial Wish generation.

Wizards' Guild chapter houses I have laid out vary quite a bit by size and the nation/culture they are in. Typical ones in a large city tend to be a large building in the middle of large town with a strong connections to the local government and guard. They tend to have a perimeter in grounds and/or outer sections which at least prevent observation and may have various defenses and/or alarms, and public reception areas and other barriers to the more secure sections. Usually there are various offices, one or more libraries, stores, vaults, labs, often a gate room or two with 0 or a few gates with fairly high fees and limited access, and some meeting and administative rooms, a few guard rooms, etc.

When there isn't enough wealth/wizards/etc for such an elaborate hall, often the hall is not so much a secure headquarters as a token office, and the wizards have their own offices/residences which rely more on secrecy, vigilance and contingencies for defenses.

In places with less organized guilds, it's more just wizards making their own arrangements.

Some places have entirely different arrangements, particularly countries with more dominant aristocratic/military elements. There the guild may be subordinate to the ruling class or military, and their locations and defenses combined in one way or another.

When I've had centaurs, they've tended to not build much. But the more I think about centaurs, the less I tend to have them exist anywhere in my campaigns.

12-14-2018, 02:21 PM	#2
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Civilized Places Your posts seem to emphasize a view that there would be one result, but I tend to think there can be many results, depending greatly on what the demographics are like of how many people have what sets of attribute values and spells and talents, and what the situation is like that governs who does what and in what way, and who chooses to do what. Where I think there is more of a cause & effect concern is where there are specific things that can be done with reasonably limited groups of people that make something else very vulnerable, e.g.: * No secure buildings protected by only a one-hex wall, because one Open Tunnel will get through it. So people who want to be proof against moderate-power rogue wizards need more than a wall, such as some guards, multiple doors, etc. * No casual renting out of very expensive magic items to people without security/contingency/deposit or some counter to the likelihood of theft. And, considering who else with more wealth/power would get such items before they were commonly available. * If there are large-scale gate networks, consider what all the powers that be will do about them. I can think of many different answers that seem far more likely than it just being a low-cost resource for everyone to go anywhere at will. * Some spells do seem very problematic to me in terms of potential for espionage, assassination, and other mischief. As written, I think they suggest a very nasty situation, which tends to make me want to alter the spells, e.g.: Astral Projection, Summon (Lesser/Greater) Demon (even just for attack purposes), some uses of Gate, some uses of Word of Command, some uses of Lesser Wish, industrial Wish generation. Wizards' Guild chapter houses I have laid out vary quite a bit by size and the nation/culture they are in. Typical ones in a large city tend to be a large building in the middle of large town with a strong connections to the local government and guard. They tend to have a perimeter in grounds and/or outer sections which at least prevent observation and may have various defenses and/or alarms, and public reception areas and other barriers to the more secure sections. Usually there are various offices, one or more libraries, stores, vaults, labs, often a gate room or two with 0 or a few gates with fairly high fees and limited access, and some meeting and administative rooms, a few guard rooms, etc. When there isn't enough wealth/wizards/etc for such an elaborate hall, often the hall is not so much a secure headquarters as a token office, and the wizards have their own offices/residences which rely more on secrecy, vigilance and contingencies for defenses. In places with less organized guilds, it's more just wizards making their own arrangements. Some places have entirely different arrangements, particularly countries with more dominant aristocratic/military elements. There the guild may be subordinate to the ruling class or military, and their locations and defenses combined in one way or another. When I've had centaurs, they've tended to not build much. But the more I think about centaurs, the less I tend to have them exist anywhere in my campaigns.