OK now that I have a human character idea, here are some questions that are popping up for me about the world:
1) What is the current year in-game? The FAQ/Play Guide page mentions that 2000 was when the demons crossed worlds but how long ago would that be for characters in the "present" when the game is starting?
2) What are transportation options like? Is there any working public transportation or is everyone left to shift for themselves? I'm having some trouble getting a sense of scale off the map on the Locations page, so I'm trying to get a feel for how far apart everything is.
(Or, here's a world-building idea, there IS public transport, but it's all now ruled by some powerful demon(s), who charge exorbitant fares, but the bus or subway or whatever is still arguably safer than trying to make your way alone, especially for the pactless...)
3) Kind of a similar question but for utilities. What are options for getting potable water? Electricity? Does it vary by area? I ask because despite its dystopianness Gehenna does seem to be an actual functioning city, at least in some respects, so it seems like there must be someone (or several someones) in charge of the infrastructure things that would allow it to continue functioning as a city.
4) Also kinda related to the map, are the dark lines meant to be roads/formal borders demarcating the districts or are they just for visual distinguishing?
5) Is there any sea trade? It sounds like no, based on the location page, but given the mentions of floating markets and magical trinkets and so on it seems like there must be some source of more esoteric items for trade/sale/crafting. Is there any smuggling by sea? Or does all smuggling take place through Fell's Limits?
6) Related to the above, how big is Fell's Limits? Could a non-demon get through Fell's Limits to the rest of the continent if they wanted to? (I'm assuming Fell's Limits is relatively safe for the average demon compared to a human, pacted or otherwise.)
1. 2006ish. Most everyone knows what it's like before the demons were there, except very young children, even most older children have a few dim memories, but it's still enough time for people to have adjusted to their new normal.
2. Do people want to play with transportation? If people want trains and subways to be a thing, yes, sure, if not, then I think we're cool also handwaving it. The problem with huge fares and things is it might keep people too locked to their neighborhoods and they'll have trouble going around doing things.
Ah, good point! Though I think, even with some handwaving being done, having general guidelines for what transportation options are or aren't available could be useful. It could add some additional flavor to the world and also generate potential hooks for later plots and/or havoc. :U
I'd think if you're a minor demon you need to get from one side of town just as much as someone else. Makes sense to have bus/light rail, or even a subway system. Maybe now instead of natural gas or electricity they're powered by more infernal means, but still makes sense to have them around.
I'd imagine that there might be different classes of service; good coverage for the commercial areas and neighborhoods for demons; less service for humans, maybe none for outlying areas or poor folk. Probably home-grown businesses have cropped up where the demonic administration doesn't; kinda like you'll see in some poorer areas now--someone has a minibus/minivan/hacked together cart? and uses it to shuttle poorer (probably humans) to and from certain neighborhoods public transit doesn't service, and markets, etc. Probably lots of people (and possibly low-level demons) with motorbikes and bicycles as well.
...idk just throwing things out
But is there a number for the current population of the city?
3. Pandemonium keeps the city up and running utilities-wise, for the most part. It gets spotty in some areas, and there's people who willingly have cut themselves off and gone off the grid, so to speak, using gas generators or demons who just use their own magic as needed. Downtown definitely at least is all as it should be.
5. No sea trade is correct. Some magical things are brought through land via. Fell's Limits, some things brought up from hell, some things freshly enchanted, and others... well. there's a reason Gehenna was chosen as the invasion hot-spot. (the call is coming from inside the city)
6. Fell's Limits goes from little nature park to leading into a pretty big actual forest area. think the forbidden forest from harry potter or the traditional black forest in fairy tales. There's also what used to be a freeway that led in and out of town, but a lot of the overpasses and cement have collapsed from total lack of maintenance. Even a demon would have lots of annoying things to run into, like the lack of road, but if someone really wanted to leave Gehenna, it's certainly possible.
By which I mean, HAVE people come from there previously? Is there some sort of general knowledge about what sort of place is out there? Has anyone brought back news?
Yes! People have come from outside to Gehenna, and news is much the same: digital technology crashed, things are back to analogue. Demons have poured in, and sometimes taken over, and sometimes devastated cities. It seems the general situation is much like Gehenna's.
Being Y2K and all, yeah this feels like it takes place in AU American Earth but just how AU is it? Is it like comic books where you can mention major cities like New York or Bombay? Can I have references to disco or boy bands or the Jackson 5? Historical events like Prohibition or the Inquisition? Broadway or Woodstock or Studio 54 or pinball machines? Just wanna know before I have my dude jamming out to Bootsy Collins if funk even existed...
If not, what sort of culture is there, historically?
ASSUME LIKE COMIC BOOK EARTH. EVERYTHING UNTIL 2000 WENT V. SIMILARLY.
Also I guess I should clarify where Gehenna is: it's in norcal, but SF still exists and is not replaced by it, like Gotham exists in comics and there's still an NYC. I THINK.
Am hoping to have my Plague-Carrier run a club called Abandon in Judecca Heights.
Huge, fancy place, very luxurious. Patrons are almost exclusively demons, with some few exceptions. Humans are sometimes called in to work menial jobs, or kidnapped to provide entertainment in the form of forced battles, torture shows, and other unpleasant things.
Is this a thing that sounds in keeping with the world? :oa
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WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
1) What is the current year in-game? The FAQ/Play Guide page mentions that 2000 was when the demons crossed worlds but how long ago would that be for characters in the "present" when the game is starting?
2) What are transportation options like? Is there any working public transportation or is everyone left to shift for themselves? I'm having some trouble getting a sense of scale off the map on the Locations page, so I'm trying to get a feel for how far apart everything is.
(Or, here's a world-building idea, there IS public transport, but it's all now ruled by some powerful demon(s), who charge exorbitant fares, but the bus or subway or whatever is still arguably safer than trying to make your way alone, especially for the pactless...)
3) Kind of a similar question but for utilities. What are options for getting potable water? Electricity? Does it vary by area? I ask because despite its dystopianness Gehenna does seem to be an actual functioning city, at least in some respects, so it seems like there must be someone (or several someones) in charge of the infrastructure things that would allow it to continue functioning as a city.
4) Also kinda related to the map, are the dark lines meant to be roads/formal borders demarcating the districts or are they just for visual distinguishing?
5) Is there any sea trade? It sounds like no, based on the location page, but given the mentions of floating markets and magical trinkets and so on it seems like there must be some source of more esoteric items for trade/sale/crafting. Is there any smuggling by sea? Or does all smuggling take place through Fell's Limits?
6) Related to the above, how big is Fell's Limits? Could a non-demon get through Fell's Limits to the rest of the continent if they wanted to? (I'm assuming Fell's Limits is relatively safe for the average demon compared to a human, pacted or otherwise.)
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
I'd imagine that there might be different classes of service; good coverage for the commercial areas and neighborhoods for demons; less service for humans, maybe none for outlying areas or poor folk. Probably home-grown businesses have cropped up where the demonic administration doesn't; kinda like you'll see in some poorer areas now--someone has a minibus/minivan/hacked together cart? and uses it to shuttle poorer (probably humans) to and from certain neighborhoods public transit doesn't service, and markets, etc. Probably lots of people (and possibly low-level demons) with motorbikes and bicycles as well.
...idk just throwing things out
But is there a number for the current population of the city?
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
These are all awesome ideas that would be really cool in play. :oa
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
I'm not planning a character like that, I'm just curious about the possibility.
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Being Y2K and all, yeah this feels like it takes place in AU American Earth but just how AU is it? Is it like comic books where you can mention major cities like New York or Bombay? Can I have references to disco or boy bands or the Jackson 5? Historical events like Prohibition or the Inquisition? Broadway or Woodstock or Studio 54 or pinball machines? Just wanna know before I have my dude jamming out to Bootsy Collins if funk even existed...
If not, what sort of culture is there, historically?
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Also I guess I should clarify where Gehenna is: it's in norcal, but SF still exists and is not replaced by it, like Gotham exists in comics and there's still an NYC. I THINK.
Re: WORLD BUILDING / HISTORY
Huge, fancy place, very luxurious. Patrons are almost exclusively demons, with some few exceptions. Humans are sometimes called in to work menial jobs, or kidnapped to provide entertainment in the form of forced battles, torture shows, and other unpleasant things.
Is this a thing that sounds in keeping with the world? :oa