Steerpike's Hex Campaign

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Maybe the Lengians use psychoactive spider venom to help them create, alter, and interact with tulpa/thoughtforms?

[Steerpike]

I hadn't thought directly about intentional tulpa creation (though now I will!) but they do use psychoactive spider venom to put themselves into coma-like dream states that allow for extended pilgrimages to the Dreamlands, and they have powerful lucid dreamers who can bring objects back from the dreaming world.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Sweet.

[Steerpike]

Long-delayed update for Session VIII. I kind of roll out the multiverse a bit more in this one.

We've played some more sessions that I haven't got write ups for yet (might be slightly shorter summaries). In an upcoming session one character acquires the Yellow Sign, a holy symbol of the Queen in Yellow, which is the weirdest item I've ever put in a game:

"In addition to functioning as a holy symbol, the Yellow Sign allows the character to temporarily exert control over the narrative of the game. Once per gaming session the player character may declare that they are invoking the Yellow Sign. They become the DM for the game for 13 minutes, while the DM assumes control of their character. Additionally, the character may use an Inspiration point to assume narration in a manner similar to plot points (see DMG p. 269) even in a game that does not normally use them – they can provide a new element or twist to a situation which the DM must accept as true."

[Steerpike]

I finished a gigantic map.

It's easily the biggest map I've ever made.

I'm planning on making it into a giant poster for use in the game itself.



[spoiler=Close Ups]













[/spoiler]

[Ghostman]

Wait, all of that was hand drawn? I must question your sanity. :wink:

[Steerpike]

I must question your sanity.

It probably wouldn't be the first time?

It took me about a year of drawing, but yeah, entirely drawn by hand, and slowly assembled. It probably took something like 200+ sheets of paper, I'm not sure how many it ended up at.

[Steerpike]

Some more details:

[Steerpike]

...and it's a poster now.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

W O W

[LD]

Really impressive and beautiful! Also, The Seven Deadly Sins bridge is particularly very cute.

A question though, why does the city end immediately at its walls; why no slums just outside? I assume it is because the city is totalitarian and can enforce the law against people trying to build shanties.

Also, does it have old and new walls as it grew? If so, where are the ruins of the old walls and why is it not growing any more? I know you take attention to age in the structures and worlds you build (figure I just missed something since I am not too familiar with your Hex world).

Also, I probably missed it, but where does potable water come from? Priests creating water? Wells? I do not see aqueducts except one by Sawtooth Sound on the far right (possibly). Where are entrances to sewers? Really, I ask these questions because you're so great at what you do, does not matter if it does not have it or not, but wanted to ask.

And garbage and inhuman/human bodily waste? Does it all get dropped in the Radula river?

Are there crypts in the city? (Wonder what the city looks like underground  :weirdo: (!))

I like the scattered statues, it reminds me of Rome- with scattered triumphs littered everywhere- each with their own historical significance and secrets.

[LoA]

Did you plan this city before you began drawing this, or did you just wing it, and slowly grow it outwards?

[Steerpike]

A question though, why does the city end immediately at its walls; why no slums just outside? I assume it is because the city is totalitarian and can enforce the law against people trying to build shanties.

There's actually some shanties in the lower right hand corner, but I picture the city as sort like a 17th/18th-century European city in style. Looking at period maps, many such cities seem to be mostly surrounded by farmland outside the walls rather than massive shanties.

For example: Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin. Even the massive Paris has a mostly agrarian hinterland.

That said, there would be laws about just building rampantly, though I don't think that makes the city totalitarian. It's a representative democracy with a parliament and an executive council with 6 years terms. Partial suffrage (casters only), so not a totally "just" city state by modern standards, but not a dictatorship either. There was a period where the whole city was ruled by a kind of mage-emperor, whose fortress, Delirium Castle, can be seen in the southeast (he retreated inside after a rebellion against him, and has not come out in centuries).

There are scattered villages and towns throughout the surrounding area.

Also, does it have old and new walls as it grew? If so, where are the ruins of the old walls and why is it not growing any more? I know you take attention to age in the structures and worlds you build (figure I just missed something since I am not too familiar with your Hex world).

You can actually see some old walls in the district of Catch-All in the southwest, which has been converted into a quarantined district for the city's magically ill. These were more for a small walled portion of the city rather than the walls for the entire city, though. Again, looking at period maps of those old cities, not all of them seem to have a ton of old walls.

I do imagine that the main walls themselves have shifted over time. But this is a very magical city, so when they need to expand, city wizards enchant the bricks to disassemble and reassemble themselves, duplicating as necessary.

The city could certainly grow beyond its current walls in the future, just as the walled cities of Europe did, but of course the walls are useful for protection against various enemies/monsters in the countryside. This is an era of rather horrible mundane and magical warfare, as the ruins to the southwest hint at.

Presumably if we fast-forwarded a hundred years the city could look pretty different; right now the idea is that it's undergoing the beginnings of a magically-fueled version of the industrial revolution, so the population could become a big concern. Right now there's a lot of protest in the city over humanoid labour being given to reanimated workers (i.e. zombies), bounds demons, and clockwork automata being developed by the gnomes of Mainspring.

And garbage and inhuman/human bodily waste? Does it all get dropped in the Radula river?

Some is dumped in the river, some is transported to cesspits outside the city, lots of garbage gets put in the Midden (a scrapyard/garbage-tip), and some is used as raw material for transmuters to turn into useful material.

Also, I probably missed it, but where does potable water come from? Priests creating water? Wells? I do not see aqueducts except one by Sawtooth Sound on the far right (possibly). Where are entrances to sewers? Really, I ask these questions because you're so great at what you do, does not matter if it does not have it or not, but wanted to ask.

Water comes from the endless magical storm in Downpour Heights, which then pipe it throughout the city. Those aqueducts are actually carrying water away from the city to fields and farms as irrigation. The storm is magically silenced outside the district.

There are also wells here and there, and there are some waterworks in the Swelter which help supply the (mostly poorer) south side of the city with water.

I honestly didn't worry about drawing tiny manhole covers everywhere, but there would be plenty all over the place.

Are there crypts in the city?

There's a ton of crypts in the city, especially in the south under the graveyards, and in fact there's a massive megadungeon sprawling beneath it; Enigma Heap is the sort of "outer extrusion" of this megadungeon, the Old City.

Did you plan this city before you began drawing this, or did you just wing it, and slowly grow it outwards?

I planned about 90% of it, writing out descriptions of all 36 districts, and I sketched out where each would be, but there was some improvisation and moving things around as I went, too.

[LD]

A question though, why does the city end immediately at its walls; why no slums just outside? I assume it is because the city is totalitarian and can enforce the law against people trying to build shanties.

There's actually some shanties in the lower right hand corner, but I picture the city as sort like a 17th/18th-century European city in style. Looking at period maps, many such cities seem to be mostly surrounded by farmland outside the walls rather than massive shanties.

For example: Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin. Even the massive Paris has a mostly agrarian hinterland.

Did not realize that! Had thought most medieval cities were like London: http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/17th-century-map-of-London.jpg (note the walls). Thank you for the maps.

There was a period where the whole city was ruled by a kind of mage-emperor, whose fortress, Delirium Castle, can be seen in the southeast (he retreated inside after a rebellion against him, and has not come out in centuries).

Interesting.

You can actually see some old walls in the district of Catch-All in the southwest, which has been converted into a quarantined district for the city's magically ill. These were more for a small walled portion of the city rather than the walls for the entire city, though. Again, looking at period maps of those old cities, not all of them seem to have a ton of old walls.

Was thinking of cities like Jerusalem: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yERZHhMLinI/ViozncfT9eI/AAAAAAAAUik/A7jItCAtibw/s1600/Jerusalem%2Bmap%2B1.jpg

[q]
I do imagine that the main walls themselves have shifted over time. But this is a very magical city, so when they need to expand, city wizards enchant the bricks to disassemble and reassemble themselves, duplicating as necessary.[/q]
Magic always seems to make things work out. Not criticizing, though. It's a fair solution :)

Thank you for the explanations.