I am about to start my players in another campaign set in the Gran March. They will all have newly mustered out of the Gran March army. I'll take them on a small run through Cult of the Reptile God with some modifications. Anyway, they need a town to base themselves in while they adventure. Do you feel that towns on the plains of the Gran March should be similar? Towns to the north may be brimming with mercenary companies, but what about to the west, east, south, the hinterland? You folks offer an excellent insight into the world, so any opinions would really help me flesh out my town. Thanks!
Well I think the homogeny would only be in the make up of the populace. every town will have some similarities as far as say having an Inn or a mill or some form of tradesmen like a Blacksmith maybe. But, each town will also have something that makes it diffrent too. Maybe one has an old Wizard who lives there or is known for it's horses so they have a horse market and leather workers and sadlers. Maybe another one is along a river or waterway and has a small dock area for the river trade. Another might have orchards as it's main trade while yet another might have a large amount of Vineyards in the area and thus have a more affluent populace. For that matter maybe one has a mineral spring where the rich come to take the waters. I think you can make each town unique without going over board or giving yourself too much work. Just make it fit logicaly into the setting that you want to do.
Excellent. You just tripped a switch for me. I believe I read somewhere that Keoland and the Sheldomar Valley in general is well suited for wine. Yes, that gives one of my NPC's a perfect fit. Orchards and wine. Perfect. Thank you.
On a similar note, do you think the various areas will have been influenced by other countries or do you think the Gran March has held on to its cultural heritage and staved off the influence of different modes of construction? I like to think of the buildings similar to what you would find in Warhammer Fantasy "the Empire" areas for Gran March, as opposed to say Geoff where I imagine Warhammer Fantasy "Brettonia" type buildings. Sorry to use other gaming products, but I needed to make a reference.
I would direct you to the Gran March Project Website at www.greyhawkonline.com/granmarch the password for member section is bunionofvecna .
We have a great deal of detail on Gran March, at least our version. I will say that there are very few Merceneries, in our version, other than in the disputed border towns such as Hochoch.
There are already plenty of armed persons in the March, between the members of the Army and veterans reserves, the Knights of the Watch, and the Nobles and their armies. We have a complete census including all armies, trades, races and non human entities. It is broken down by baronies.
Also check out Yabusama's excellent maps. Firepower has also produced excellent articles on religion and their churches in the March. Hammar has provided excellent break out of the Army. Wolfsire and I have provided a set of Laws of the March.
GVD and I are working on the History and tying up all the politics and hope to start wrapping up the project over the next few months.
Well with the Greyhawk Wars passing and everyone trying to rebuild, reclaim or simply take posession, I was curious as to the cultural capital of the Gran March. Do the people forgo one type of dress for one that is undeniable to the Gran march? Do they have influences penetrating their lands and culture? Have folks begun to make a return to the Oridian gods and slowly push away from Flan deities or otherwise? There be a whole lot of fighting up north and how has the stalemate affected the region? Are there refugees that refuse to leave? Are the refugees skilled and now making the Gran March a powerhouse of skilled labor. These are just a few cans I've been kickin around in my head. As always, opinions are welocome and desired.
Problem with the Gran March is it's full of plains,
Dwarf from Nyrond
As far as Cutural identity you have to first off figure out what that would be. Are they still based off of thier old Kingdom of Keoland or was their a switch a few centuries ago to something else. I would say the Idea of using the buildings like The Warhammers Riek works pretty well and is based off of European examples anyway. Also building and archtectural syles are also influneced by available materials more so than cultural influence. although Dutch and german styles were similar in setup, the dutch used more brick than wood as they had less wood to use. Same goes for Spain. If you look at european fashion as a guide, there was a common over all style among most of the countires in Central and Western Europe with only slight deviatins in minor details and fabric choices and patterns. So you can have a country that has it's on culture and yet still not be vastly diffrent from it neihbors. I don't think anything other than that could exist in a country that doesn't close off all of it's borders. Which gran march can't anyway.
As to the question of mercenries, they were more common thatn any other troop type with medieval armies. Even if they wore the coat of arms of a lord or king they were most likely only there for as long as they got paid. Even the English longbowmen, although almost alwayts fighting for thier king, were still just paid soldiers of fortune.
as an addendum to the architecture styles, weather ahs a lot to say about how you build too. In desrt or very dry areas having a flat roof gives you more living area as you can have roof gardens and patios open to breezes. However in a region with lots of rain, having a peaked roof makes a lot more sense. And in areas like the Alps where there is a lot of snow having very peaked roofs is just good for allowing the snow to slide off and not cause your roof to collapse under the wieght.
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