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    Re: Population and Power Scales in Greyhawk (Score: 1)
    by ek on Mon, January 21, 2013
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    > So in summary I think the location and use of regular military force would have a big impact on the map.

    Yes, definitely that is one way to project power. Expand or contract the concentric circles of “power” as you see fit. I suggest the further you get from a seat of power, the weaker it becomes.

    > I would add some red along those roads that are well travelled and regularly patrolled.

    Yes, I expect well-traveled roads to encourage population, so red (indicating people) along major roads makes sense. Once you have a population, control/power exists with them, whether these are local village elders without any higher authority, or alliances chain-linking all the way up to an overking; they could be guild systems, or religions exerting control... whatever suits your setting. And, one type of power does not exclude another.

    When I made the sample map, I kept the low numbers of inhabitants in mind. There just aren't enough for long stretches of settlements.... vacuums exist. My world's assumption is: folks must congregate for protection. 100 villagers 30 miles away from the next village is asking for monstrous trouble, let alone outright eradication.

    As for patrols along roads: controlling a geographic feature is costly and difficult. A patrol is like a torch in the darkness. Darkness is held at bay for a small area, and once you pass through, the darkness is back. What if the area is cursed? You cannot control that with swords and spears.

    Building and maintaining a fort requires a lot of logistics. Doing this in an uninhabited area stretches your lines of supply and communication even more. Each resource dedicated to this outlying post are resources taken away from somewhere else. As some general said: if you try to defend everything, you defend nothing.

    My goal is to provide a mental tool to break up the political concrete, and give DMs complete flexibility for their own Greyhawk settings. The world has *not* been defined into paralysis. You do NOT need a Ph.D in commercial products just to play in Greyhawk. Picture a Volume knob for “power.” If you turn it to 10, then an area on the map is under full control from border to border. As you turn it down, the ability to project power and control outside the areas of sparse population reduces. When you turn it down to 1, stepping outside the wooden palisade of your hamlet is fraught with danger. There is too much unmapped, unknown out there... walking through a mist in the next valley courts a brush with the fantastic.

    Play with the Volume knob. Make multiple controls, each one you can turn up and down so they compete with each other. It's useful if it leads to ideas for play.


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