Need City-states [Archive] - Wizards Community

Need City-states [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
furor
02-28-07, 04:57 PM so far I have a theocracy called the Primacy of Rhonneux. I need a kind of french/spanish and in the south moorish influence and some classic greek city-states too. any ideas?
Morgana_Le_Fay
02-28-07, 05:49 PM Do a Google search for "History of Sparta" and "History of Athens" and BOOM! You got instant City-states!
*Truean*
02-28-07, 06:28 PM .hummm.....

Reading Romeo and J comes to mind.....

Also try Itailian city states.

Good luck
Truean
krichaiushii
02-28-07, 07:15 PM Do you want names, sizes, and governments, or fully-statted out city states, preferably with map?

You could just do a series of city-states that are theocracies dedicated to different deities. A LE church of tyranny and strength-ruled town is going to be FAR different from one ruled by a CG church dedicated to travel and magic.
dpity1
02-28-07, 08:22 PM Try for some unique ones. I've got a city in one of my campaigns that's ruled by the united Church of Hextor and Church of Heironeous, the leadership of both having realized that as long as they fought chaos ruled, and they'd both lose.
That one leads to some entertaining NPC guards. (And a good campaign backdrop to stick a paladin into.)
ragoftag
02-28-07, 09:14 PM Old CS: Kapelyn, once a thriving port city at a river mouth. As the river's silt created a ever broadening mudflat/swamp, the city fell onto hard times. The new 'land' is too soft to build on and the myriad river channels are too shallow for ships of any real size. Cargo transfer is done by flat bottomed boats that the wend their why back to the 'port' through an increasingly treacherous swamp. (Escort missions) Only a fraction of the city is now occupied by civilized folk, though the gangs of toughs and criminals who prey on one and all make that a tenuous statement. Humanoids, and others, have settled in the ruins and prey on the foolish who leave the improvised defenses of the inner city. (Bounty hunting) An extensive system of underground tunnels and passages might be a way to bypass those defenses, but are too dangerous for most. (Undead and slimes) The remaining citizenry are at dagger points due to cutthroat competition, feuds, etc. At least three nearby rulers have active agents working to entice the others to sinking too much into trying to control the city. (Intrigue) The swamp now hosts a number of creatures sought by wizards for magical components. (Exploration) Ran this as a jumping off point for 5 years.
ewancummins
03-01-07, 02:22 AM Dpity, can I snag that city state with the united temples of Hextor and Heironeous? It fits well into a world I'm making. I'll give you full credit.
GoriceXII
03-01-07, 10:54 AM the name Alvardo comes to mind as sounding nicely Moorish/Spanish. Imagine it as a port, with orange trees, ancient stone piers and a number of temples to ancient gods. It is ruled by a council of princely merchants.
furor
03-06-07, 07:05 PM thanks guys, great so far, I'd rather original stuff, I've already looked at the greek or italian city-states (I'm a history major). My real stumbling block is the french influenced city states.
krichaiushii
03-06-07, 07:08 PM thanks guys, great so far, I'd rather original stuff, I've already looked at the greek or italian city-states (I'm a history major). My real stumbling block is the french influenced city states.
Very elitist, very decadent, all related (their family tree rarely branches). Basically model the rulers after the nobility/royalty that existed right up to the French Revolution.

This makes easily hateable NPCs and sets the scene for a... revolution!
taradusis
03-06-07, 07:12 PM French colonies in algeria and vietnam were often set up near natural resources and featured repressive missionaries,this led to some NASTY wars?Vietnamese rubber plantations were highly unpleasent?RANDOM THOUGHTS
krichaiushii
03-06-07, 08:05 PM French colonies in algeria and vietnam were often set up near natural resources and featured repressive missionaries,this led to some NASTY wars?Vietnamese rubber plantations were highly unpleasent?RANDOM THOUGHTS
So the French-based citystates are ruled by colonist/plantation owner-types from a distant overseas land. This may mean that the ruling class is numerically small, but far more powerful - maybe they use magic to keep the original inhabitants subdued, then kill off all who show talent in magic?
taradusis
03-07-07, 05:09 PM Imagine a country ruled by warlords who have gangs of 40 men who control villages.A well organised army of 1000 marches from village to village and defeats the warlords without doing anything to upset the villagers.The villagers are the told they're going to be giving a chance to work on the big plantations that are being set up.The plantations have security forces and missionaries who attempt to "beat"the devil out of the pacifist clerics and convert them by force.The pacifist monks who were left alone by the warlords now tell the villagers not to defend the monks because they will be re-incarnated.The monks protest their treatment by setting themselves on fire and the villagers begin to get really upset.A second group of"civilised"people show up and begin to scheme against the first group.A third group who is dispised by the first two shows up and the fireworks begin?
Rell
03-07-07, 08:39 PM Actually, your description reminds me of the islands of Rhodes, and, later, Malta. When they were ruled by the Hospitalers. (Also known as the Knights of St John, the Knights of Rhodes, and the Knights of Malta).

Basically, when the Muslims conquered back the crusader-held lands in the Near East, the Knights Hospitaller did their best to conquer a piece of safe land. They first fled to the crusader Kingdom of Chyprus, and from there set out to conquer Rhodes. They also managed to take tiny parts of the Anatolian mainland.

Rhodes is an island close to the southwest coast of Anatolia (what's now Turkey). When the Knights arrived, it belonged to the weakened Byzantine Empire, but it had already changed hands as the Byzantines were fighting the Turks and the Arabs in Anatolia and in the seas. At the time, I suppose its inhabitants were mostly Greeks, but the Knights, having spent several centuries in the Levant, now had their own culture.

From Rhodes, the Knights managed to fend off several Arab attacks and they tried to fight pirates and raiders, and even two major invasions - one from the Egyptians, and another from the Turks. From their position, they were a thorn in the side of the Ottomans. But Suleiman eventually came up in the XVIth century with huge forces. After a long siege, he allowed the Knights to flee.

Then, the King of Spain gave them Malta to fortify, so that they could protect Italy. Malta is an island in the middle of the Mediterranea, just between Tunisia and Italy. It had been conquered by the Arabs in the IXth century, and they had brought their language with them. But Norman (that is, adventurers with a blend of Scandinavian and French origins) had taken over the south of Italy and conquered Sicily and Malta from the Saracens in the XIth century. Malta then evolved its own language, a sort of Arab with European influences. It changed hands many times during the Middle Ages, but at the end it belonged to Aragon, and later to Spain.

The Knights had a strong base in Malta, and used it to fight off pirates and the Ottoman navy. They faced a great invasion from Suleiman in 1565, but he failed his attack. They stood there and resisted until Napoleon, on his way to Egypt, took Malta. But that's not really the timeframe we're thinking about any more, is it ?

My sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Hospitaller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malta#Knights_of_St._John
Heros_Backpack
03-08-07, 05:58 PM This may mean that the ruling class is numerically small, but far more powerful - maybe they use magic to keep the original inhabitants subdued, then kill off all who show talent in magic?

Why kill off perfectly good workers when you can just slap on a Bestow Curse and drop their casting stat to under 10?
furor
03-08-07, 06:00 PM preaching to the choir, you guys have sidetracked my thread (Not that I really mind) I need help coming up with names, rulers etc. for small culturally french territories and kingdoms in a french climate. Basically move the 30 years war over to france. There is gunpowder, but swords predominate still. There are vast technological gaps between the "barbarians" and "civilization"

example of what I'm looking for

Duchy of Laissonne
Leader: Caramon Jacarse, Regent and Marshall of Laissonne
Once the realm of the powerful Lereau family, the Duchy has ceased to be an electorate of Rhonneaux and announced its independance from the landgrabbing praetorian dominion. In a short and bloody revolution, the Jacs (supporters of the Jacarse junta) swept the capital, killing thousands of innocents and decimating the Praetorian garrison .

confusing, yes, but its because theres a lot of campaign specifics.
Asharlin
03-15-07, 10:06 PM The Princedom of Kentara / Avignon (depending on whether you want a 'legitimate' french name or not)
Leader: Prince-Bishop Aldric Saint-Pierre, Bishop of the Church of Pelor and Lord Protector of Kentara (unmarried, 19) (NG)
Heirs: Princess Rene Saint-Pierre (unmarried, sister, 16) (CG), Prince Robert the Second Saint-Pierre (unmarried, brother, 9) (LN)

Standing Military (average strength, ~4000 men): 50% Infantry, 25% Archers, 15% Cavalry, 10% Clerics of Pelor, 5% Arcane Spell Casters, 5% Misc (e.g. Engineers, Quartermasters, Scholars, Artillerists)

Capital (and only) City: The Metropolis of New Terisia

History:
The House of Saint-Pierre has ruled the former Terisian colony of Kentara since colony's founding, over 150 years ago. When the Hextor-governed Terisia was obliterated during one of it's expansionistic wars, the persecuted Church of Pelor was overjoyed, and along with most of the colonies of the conquered Terisia, assert their independence. The conquerers of Terisia had little interest in a minor colony of the once powerful Terisia and permitted the 'freedom' of those colonies.

Things went well for the former colony, for a few decades anyway, until Prince-Bishop Robert the First was assassinated by a group of (insert LE religious group here). His eldest son, while old enough not to need 'adult supervision', is ill equipped to assume the throne despite his upbringing and the best of intentions. Plotting has become the city-state's favorite pasttime as courtesans try to become the new King's paramour, nobles debate on trying to take the throne 'for the good of the people', and several members of the constitutional monarchy's house of commons are debating about attempting a coup for a true Republic.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
furor 02-28-07, 04:57 PM	so far I have a theocracy called the Primacy of Rhonneux. I need a kind of french/spanish and in the south moorish influence and some classic greek city-states too. any ideas?
Morgana_Le_Fay 02-28-07, 05:49 PM	Do a Google search for "History of Sparta" and "History of Athens" and BOOM! You got instant City-states!
Truean 02-28-07, 06:28 PM	.hummm..... Reading Romeo and J comes to mind..... Also try Itailian city states. Good luck Truean
krichaiushii 02-28-07, 07:15 PM	Do you want names, sizes, and governments, or fully-statted out city states, preferably with map? You could just do a series of city-states that are theocracies dedicated to different deities. A LE church of tyranny and strength-ruled town is going to be FAR different from one ruled by a CG church dedicated to travel and magic.
dpity1 02-28-07, 08:22 PM	Try for some unique ones. I've got a city in one of my campaigns that's ruled by the united Church of Hextor and Church of Heironeous, the leadership of both having realized that as long as they fought chaos ruled, and they'd both lose. That one leads to some entertaining NPC guards. (And a good campaign backdrop to stick a paladin into.)
ragoftag 02-28-07, 09:14 PM	Old CS: Kapelyn, once a thriving port city at a river mouth. As the river's silt created a ever broadening mudflat/swamp, the city fell onto hard times. The new 'land' is too soft to build on and the myriad river channels are too shallow for ships of any real size. Cargo transfer is done by flat bottomed boats that the wend their why back to the 'port' through an increasingly treacherous swamp. (Escort missions) Only a fraction of the city is now occupied by civilized folk, though the gangs of toughs and criminals who prey on one and all make that a tenuous statement. Humanoids, and others, have settled in the ruins and prey on the foolish who leave the improvised defenses of the inner city. (Bounty hunting) An extensive system of underground tunnels and passages might be a way to bypass those defenses, but are too dangerous for most. (Undead and slimes) The remaining citizenry are at dagger points due to cutthroat competition, feuds, etc. At least three nearby rulers have active agents working to entice the others to sinking too much into trying to control the city. (Intrigue) The swamp now hosts a number of creatures sought by wizards for magical components. (Exploration) Ran this as a jumping off point for 5 years.
ewancummins 03-01-07, 02:22 AM	Dpity, can I snag that city state with the united temples of Hextor and Heironeous? It fits well into a world I'm making. I'll give you full credit.
GoriceXII 03-01-07, 10:54 AM	the name Alvardo comes to mind as sounding nicely Moorish/Spanish. Imagine it as a port, with orange trees, ancient stone piers and a number of temples to ancient gods. It is ruled by a council of princely merchants.
furor 03-06-07, 07:05 PM	thanks guys, great so far, I'd rather original stuff, I've already looked at the greek or italian city-states (I'm a history major). My real stumbling block is the french influenced city states.
krichaiushii 03-06-07, 07:08 PM	thanks guys, great so far, I'd rather original stuff, I've already looked at the greek or italian city-states (I'm a history major). My real stumbling block is the french influenced city states. Very elitist, very decadent, all related (their family tree rarely branches). Basically model the rulers after the nobility/royalty that existed right up to the French Revolution. This makes easily hateable NPCs and sets the scene for a... revolution!
taradusis 03-06-07, 07:12 PM	French colonies in algeria and vietnam were often set up near natural resources and featured repressive missionaries,this led to some NASTY wars?Vietnamese rubber plantations were highly unpleasent?RANDOM THOUGHTS
krichaiushii 03-06-07, 08:05 PM	French colonies in algeria and vietnam were often set up near natural resources and featured repressive missionaries,this led to some NASTY wars?Vietnamese rubber plantations were highly unpleasent?RANDOM THOUGHTS So the French-based citystates are ruled by colonist/plantation owner-types from a distant overseas land. This may mean that the ruling class is numerically small, but far more powerful - maybe they use magic to keep the original inhabitants subdued, then kill off all who show talent in magic?
taradusis 03-07-07, 05:09 PM	Imagine a country ruled by warlords who have gangs of 40 men who control villages.A well organised army of 1000 marches from village to village and defeats the warlords without doing anything to upset the villagers.The villagers are the told they're going to be giving a chance to work on the big plantations that are being set up.The plantations have security forces and missionaries who attempt to "beat"the devil out of the pacifist clerics and convert them by force.The pacifist monks who were left alone by the warlords now tell the villagers not to defend the monks because they will be re-incarnated.The monks protest their treatment by setting themselves on fire and the villagers begin to get really upset.A second group of"civilised"people show up and begin to scheme against the first group.A third group who is dispised by the first two shows up and the fireworks begin?
Rell 03-07-07, 08:39 PM	Actually, your description reminds me of the islands of Rhodes, and, later, Malta. When they were ruled by the Hospitalers. (Also known as the Knights of St John, the Knights of Rhodes, and the Knights of Malta). Basically, when the Muslims conquered back the crusader-held lands in the Near East, the Knights Hospitaller did their best to conquer a piece of safe land. They first fled to the crusader Kingdom of Chyprus, and from there set out to conquer Rhodes. They also managed to take tiny parts of the Anatolian mainland. Rhodes is an island close to the southwest coast of Anatolia (what's now Turkey). When the Knights arrived, it belonged to the weakened Byzantine Empire, but it had already changed hands as the Byzantines were fighting the Turks and the Arabs in Anatolia and in the seas. At the time, I suppose its inhabitants were mostly Greeks, but the Knights, having spent several centuries in the Levant, now had their own culture. From Rhodes, the Knights managed to fend off several Arab attacks and they tried to fight pirates and raiders, and even two major invasions - one from the Egyptians, and another from the Turks. From their position, they were a thorn in the side of the Ottomans. But Suleiman eventually came up in the XVIth century with huge forces. After a long siege, he allowed the Knights to flee. Then, the King of Spain gave them Malta to fortify, so that they could protect Italy. Malta is an island in the middle of the Mediterranea, just between Tunisia and Italy. It had been conquered by the Arabs in the IXth century, and they had brought their language with them. But Norman (that is, adventurers with a blend of Scandinavian and French origins) had taken over the south of Italy and conquered Sicily and Malta from the Saracens in the XIth century. Malta then evolved its own language, a sort of Arab with European influences. It changed hands many times during the Middle Ages, but at the end it belonged to Aragon, and later to Spain. The Knights had a strong base in Malta, and used it to fight off pirates and the Ottoman navy. They faced a great invasion from Suleiman in 1565, but he failed his attack. They stood there and resisted until Napoleon, on his way to Egypt, took Malta. But that's not really the timeframe we're thinking about any more, is it ? My sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Hospitaller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malta#Knights_of_St._John
Heros_Backpack 03-08-07, 05:58 PM	This may mean that the ruling class is numerically small, but far more powerful - maybe they use magic to keep the original inhabitants subdued, then kill off all who show talent in magic? Why kill off perfectly good workers when you can just slap on a Bestow Curse and drop their casting stat to under 10?
furor 03-08-07, 06:00 PM	preaching to the choir, you guys have sidetracked my thread (Not that I really mind) I need help coming up with names, rulers etc. for small culturally french territories and kingdoms in a french climate. Basically move the 30 years war over to france. There is gunpowder, but swords predominate still. There are vast technological gaps between the "barbarians" and "civilization" example of what I'm looking for Duchy of Laissonne Leader: Caramon Jacarse, Regent and Marshall of Laissonne Once the realm of the powerful Lereau family, the Duchy has ceased to be an electorate of Rhonneaux and announced its independance from the landgrabbing praetorian dominion. In a short and bloody revolution, the Jacs (supporters of the Jacarse junta) swept the capital, killing thousands of innocents and decimating the Praetorian garrison . confusing, yes, but its because theres a lot of campaign specifics.
Asharlin 03-15-07, 10:06 PM	The Princedom of Kentara / Avignon (depending on whether you want a 'legitimate' french name or not) Leader: Prince-Bishop Aldric Saint-Pierre, Bishop of the Church of Pelor and Lord Protector of Kentara (unmarried, 19) (NG) Heirs: Princess Rene Saint-Pierre (unmarried, sister, 16) (CG), Prince Robert the Second Saint-Pierre (unmarried, brother, 9) (LN) Standing Military (average strength, ~4000 men): 50% Infantry, 25% Archers, 15% Cavalry, 10% Clerics of Pelor, 5% Arcane Spell Casters, 5% Misc (e.g. Engineers, Quartermasters, Scholars, Artillerists) Capital (and only) City: The Metropolis of New Terisia History: The House of Saint-Pierre has ruled the former Terisian colony of Kentara since colony's founding, over 150 years ago. When the Hextor-governed Terisia was obliterated during one of it's expansionistic wars, the persecuted Church of Pelor was overjoyed, and along with most of the colonies of the conquered Terisia, assert their independence. The conquerers of Terisia had little interest in a minor colony of the once powerful Terisia and permitted the 'freedom' of those colonies. Things went well for the former colony, for a few decades anyway, until Prince-Bishop Robert the First was assassinated by a group of (insert LE religious group here). His eldest son, while old enough not to need 'adult supervision', is ill equipped to assume the throne despite his upbringing and the best of intentions. Plotting has become the city-state's favorite pasttime as courtesans try to become the new King's paramour, nobles debate on trying to take the throne 'for the good of the people', and several members of the constitutional monarchy's house of commons are debating about attempting a coup for a true Republic.