I've always liked the idea of a city where the waterways are the main mode of transportation. A place where small boats are the norm and people move about to and fro on them. Where the water, for the most part, is just another obstacle, but still has its secrets and mysteries. After all, in a fantasy game, who knows what monsters may lurk underneath the surface, depending on how deep the waterways are and how far they travel out.
Waterways provide a means of transportation.
Waterways provide a means of trade.
Waterways provide a different look and potentially feel for a city.
In a standard D&Dish campaign, a waterway ridden city could have a number of different origins. While D&D has traditionally used sea elves for such things, what if the people who founded the city were of a little more malicious nature, like pirates and bandits, and didn't have quite the reservations about working with the Deep Ones, or one of D&D's many takes on them such as the Kuo-Toa? Here the riverways are still mostly safe, but sacrifices are made in exchange for that safety. Perhaps the deep ones inform the pirates of ships in the nearby region. Perhaps they all make sacrifices to Dagon together? Perhaps there is a breeding program or eons old pact that keeps the people of the city tied to the people of the depths?
When looking at some unique or rarely used factors a city can have, waterways, such as those found here, are different enough to stand out in players minds.
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so I guess you're thinking of the Venetian "marriage to the sea" festival?
ReplyDeleteThe Dutch relied on waterways everywhere: when they spread their empire in SE Asia they dug canal systems all over: a shallow sailing boat, like a sampan, with a stepped mast and an outrigger for dealing with sea waves, could travel from the middle of one city to the middle of another hundreds of miles away just like a modern truck and unload right into warehouses, using the cranes that were ubiquitous parts of Dutch townhouses - it's an interesting thought for "medieval" heist/smuggling games.
My favourite canal cities though are 17th/18th c Bangkok and Ayutthaya - far upriver, in the jungle, with lofty brick temples and a crazy mix of Siamese, European, Burmese, Chinese, Japanese (during the 'closure' of Japan!) and everyone else. I'd love to do a Siamese heists and spies game up and down the mythical Chao Phraya river.
Thanks for the references there. My typical thing is indeed thinking of Italty with its canals but the Bangkok and Ayutthaya sound ver ycool so I'll have to check those out.
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