(this first bit was an idea I found on here a while ago) The world was united in one massive civilization that spanned the entire world. Cities and towns were connected by a network of portals. Any place could be reached by stepping through just a few portals. People worked far from home, shopped far from home, and socialized far from home. Eventually, no one really knew where anything was physically, but rather maps showed networks of portals. But 7 years ago, the portals deactivated, and teleportation rituals stopped working.
Port Central is a massive metropolis, over 15 miles across. The city covers more than half of the island it inhabits. Before "the Severing," the city was the hub of civilized society. It had protals to anywhere that was anywhere, and tens of thousands passed through it regularly. The city housed over two hundred thousand residents. The city existed primarily on imports from other places. Craftsmen worked with materials from all over the world, and the people ate food of every sort. A few small fishing guilds caught local fish, and humble farmers raised exotic animals in the land outside the city, but everything else was traded through portals.
Everything changed when the portals stopped functioning. Lack of food caused riots and mass starvation. The government fell apart. Gangs hoarded food. The fishing guilds soon became the only ones with food, and the only ones with a way off the island. They quickly exploited these facts, and took control of the city, trading food for muscle, and using that muscle to keep the people in line. Local gangs were hired on as police and soldiers. The guilds warred and competed.
Eventually, an equilibrium was reached. The three most powerful guilds consumed the rest, and came to a stalemate. They staked out their territories, but none has a monopoly on the food. People now had some options, and the guilds had to sell competatively. Normal citizens could again afford to live.
More details:
The population has been reduced to a tenth of what it was: about 20,000 people in the huge city. There are plenty of places to live, though most are controlled by some guild, gang, family, curch, or other organization. Inhabited sections of the city are often seperated by expanses of abandoned, looted, and destroyed buildings.
Many races have become segregated. A family of dragonborn keep to their own territory, occaisionally fighting with the gang of tieflings that claim a large tower and the surrounding buildings nearby.
Each guild controls a portion of the land otuside the city. They use the land to grow food, and have hired druids to tend their fields and grow enough to feed the city. The land also contained animal farms and zoos. Some animals are still kept as livestock, and others have escaped into the city.
Under the city exists an extensive sewer system. Strange creatures, some edible, live in these sewers, and hunting them is a common profession. Navigating the tunnels is also a valuable skill, allowing a person to bypass unfriendly parts of Port Central.
The guilds, having access to ships, have established colonies on the shores far from the island. These colonies are seen by many as a new life to strive for, but few are lucky enough to get sent to one.
Where I need input:
I'm not sure what sort of jobs would most people have in order to pay the guilds for food.
I'd like there to be more interesting smaller organizations, like gangs ans families that control areas of the city, and ideas from other people would help a lot. Similarly, ideas for making the guilds more distinct and fleshed out would help.
Any other ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
This has the advantage of making the city a very dreary place, as most people just go from cradle to grave living dull, unfulfilled lives. Steal some imagery from Soviet communism, and you're off to a good start.
But this 'severance' is an apocalyptic event (or, like DL, a catalclysm). It would take a lot longer than seven years for the world to return to equilibrium. Some places might take a century or two, other places might take less time. You would either want to push this even back a few decades or have the campaign begin in this upheaval.
And like AZg has said, the socio/ecomonic/political landscape would have changed drastically. In fact, it looks like the economy has become primitive.
The P.C. island is effectively cut-off from the rest of the world. Unless you have an alternate means of travel, you've limited your campaign to a very small area. P.C. does not need to worry about outside threats (armies, etc.) and so any conflict would come from within.
One idea, is to have a cabal of evil charlatan wizards who claim to have developed a one-way portal off the island. Of course, those who can afford the steep price are never heard from again.
But this 'severance' is an apocalyptic event (or, like DL, a catalclysm). It would take a lot longer than seven years for the world to return to equilibrium. Some places might take a century or two, other places might take less time. You would either want to push this even back a few decades or have the campaign begin in this upheaval.
The kind of equilirium I was thinking of is more 'not constant fighting in the streets' and 'people have food.' Not so much a stable world economy, but just a city that isn't on fire all the time anymore. But I could probably push it back a bit too. It might be more itneresting having the characters not remember what it was like before the portals closed. Or maybe some were small children at the time.
I'm not too worried about having no outside threats. In fact, there easily could be some force looking to take over or destroy the city from outside. But there are also plenty of challenges inside the city. The sewers and probably ruins under the city make for some dungeon crawling. And all the gang wars and territory disputes have plenty of adventure potential. Plus guild politics and the colonies.
One idea, is to have a cabal of evil charlatan wizards who claim to have developed a one-way portal off the island. Of course, those who can afford the steep price are never heard from again.
You could even give them a name, like... I dunno... The Wizards of the Coast.
One idea, is to have a cabal of evil charlatan wizards who claim to have developed a one-way portal off the island. Of course, those who can afford the steep price are never heard from again.
This is a cool idea, and reminded me of the manga/anime Battle Angel Alita. Maybe the people living on the other side have better technology and a more stable society. You could have legends and rumors about what it's like through the portal, where it's a paradise (compared to the city, anyway). Perhaps, in addition to the few people shipped through the portal, the guilds also 'port food and supplies through it to whoever is living there, in exchange for weapons and crafted goods. Bounty hunters searching for criminals from beyond the portal could show up in the city, looking for their marks, and slavers could raid the city occasionally, searching for more cheap pleasure slaves.
I'm a little hesitent to make food freely available, as that means everyone must be a member of a guild, but perhaps that could work. In that case, the guilds would have to have signed some kind of truce, as there would be no market keeping their resources conserved in competition. Without some kind of truce, they'd most likely end up in open war. Though that could be interesting as well.
Well, it's just a thought. If you want guild membership more exclusive, maybe only people that can demonstrate talent in some useful craft, like masonry, carpentry, magic, and so on could join freely. Otherwise, you have to enlist in their military force to get food.
The problem with this system, though, is the question of what happens to the people without a guild membership. If this a minority, they may just starve to death. But then, you'd still just be left with guild members after the independents die off. If there are quite a few of these people, then they will very likely gang up and attack the guilds to get what they need to survive. There's a saying that any society is three days without food away from collapse. If these guys have a monopoly on food, they will likely want to find a way to leverage it against the masses (as there's only so much any one person can eat, and uneaten food will rot and be wasted anyway). You could divide the city up into smaller city-state-like districts, each with it's own borders and laws, each ruled by a guild.
One idea, is to have a cabal of evil charlatan wizards who claim to have developed a one-way portal off the island. Of course, those who can afford the steep price are never heard from again.
I'd like to keep all portals nonfunctional, but the same thing could apply to the colonies and ships.
Well, it's just a thought. If you want guild membership more exclusive, maybe only people that can demonstrate talent in some useful craft, like masonry, carpentry, magic, and so on could join freely. Otherwise, you have to enlist in their military force to get food.
I think I may do something like this, but only require something like one member of a family be a member. So if one person is a spellcaster or a mason or a soldier, they could join and feed their family.
Also, since there are huntable animals in the sewers and ruins under the city, some people could have moved down there and become relatively self-sufficient. Perhaps they occaisionally steal from the guilds.
I'd like to keep all portals nonfunctional...
Well the thing with these evil wizards is that their portal doesn't work. They just take some rich person's money and in a flash of magic light, the person disappears (through distinegration or something similar). It's all a big lie. No return, no refunds.
Also, since there are huntable animals in the sewers and ruins under the city, some people could have moved down there and become relatively self-sufficient. Perhaps they occaisionally steal from the guilds.
There would definitetly be an underclass of those who were not members of a guild. But how long can the guilds maintain their authority?