Since Jakalla is build layer upon layer over the previous cities, are there stepped plazas or just sloping streets?

Does the "level" above base ground matter to who builds where?

Is foot traffic routed based on this "level"?

Have you had any encounters with "one way" or "exclusive" type streets?
=

Quote from: Greentongue;1042217Since Jakalla is build layer upon layer over the previous cities, are there stepped plazas or just sloping streets?

Does the "level" above base ground matter to who builds where?

Is foot traffic routed based on this "level"?

Have you had any encounters with "one way" or "exclusive" type streets?
=

As an addition to Greentongue's question- How high above the river is the city at this point? Does it snake through the city like in a canyon?

And we're back, over here in the corner booth where the old guys seem to have gathered to chat. Pull up a chair; I'll continue to try to answer any and all questions as best and as honestly as I can. I enjoy this conversation, wide-ranging and diffuse as it is. Please remember that you, the readers, are what drives this thread - I do work best in a Q & A format. If you want stories of Ye Olden Daze, ask. Tekumel? Ask. Where do I get all that crap that I put on the table? Ask.

It's what I'm here for. Join the conversation, if you like.

Quote from: Greentongue;1042217Since Jakalla is build layer upon layer over the previous cities, are there stepped plazas or just sloping streets?

Does the "level" above base ground matter to who builds where?

Is foot traffic routed based on this "level"?

Have you had any encounters with "one way" or "exclusive" type streets?
=

Yes, to all of the above. The city has 'risen' over time, as the lower layers are pretty extensive. The EPT map does not show elevations all that well; the bulk of the city is more or less 'on the flat', and the map shows the mean elevation. Inside that average, the local variations are about +/- fifty feet, with the trend being that 'low-status' areas tend to be on the low side, and high-status ones on the high side. The temple area is about at the mean level, with the Governor's Palace being higher and the 'slums' to the north side of the river being lower. I think this has a lot to do with the issue of the river flooding; the high folk stay dry in their palaces and temples and the low folk get wet.

Most of the traffic in town is foot traffic; handcarts are very popular. Chlen carts tend to stay on the wider streets, and are not popular; they cause some pretty impressive traffic jams.

A high-status street will usually be the ones going past a clan-house or palace; the clan's own guards will screen the pedestrians, with tradespeople - who know better, anyway - going around the back and the better class of folks being directed to the appropriate entrance to the place. The temples tend to front onto the open plazas, but the same thing happens; the temple guards do the traffic control, so you see people getting directions from any and all of the guards, regardless of their temple. They all know and work with each other, and will come to each other's aide if there is trouble.

Dies this help? Am I getting you what you're looking for?

Quote from: Big Andy;1042227As an addition to Greentongue's question- How high above the river is the city at this point? Does it snake through the city like in a canyon?

The city has a gradual slope, from east to west as seen on the EPT map, so the eastern banks are about 20 feet high sloping down to about five feet out on the western end. Tidal variations don't happen - the moons are too small to notice the very small effects they generate - so there are lots and lots of terraces, wharves, piers, and docks with steps and ramps leading to the working surface along the river. So, when you look at it from the side elevation, there is a channel, but it's not all that deep; the river has, over time, 'risen' along with the city. There are some very wet tunnels, down there.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042245Dies this help? Am I getting you what you're looking for?

Yes, trying to get a feel for the following. Where the "express lanes" that you don't want to stand in while talking and such.
Where the "out of towners" could make themselves obvious or get tripped up by protocol.
=

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042188I dunno. He used to be a lot better, but like his fellow directors seems to have lost his way after Phil passed away.

It was just a joke, Uncle:).

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042188The players were supposedly on vacation after their last adventure, but made the mistake of booking one of those cheap package tours that landed them in this pirate's lair of a town. After checking into their rooms, they started to do a little shopping - I had set up the table so that they could either take the long way around or use boats for short cuts - and got ambushed by pirates. The ambush went badly for the pirates, and the players continued on to do more shopping and will - in the next session - wind up at the local tiki bar where more encounters are likely to happen. They've been hired by another 'honest seafaring merchant' to go on a quest, but that will come later.

Excellent! Honest seafaring merchants are, of course, trustworthy individuals, so nothing can go wrong...right;)?

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042188Yeah, I think they were all pretty surprised. This is an 'off-the-shelf' game for me, as nothing had to be built for it; everything is from stock, and all I had to do was pull it from the bins and get it into the car. Set up was very easy; the GMs had done all the merchants and encounters, so all I had to do was set the table up to give the players excuses to adventure. (My thought was if they couldn't get into trouble on this table, they weren't hardly trying.) The sequence of islands was the key to this, with inn-market-temple-market-housing-village to lure them in. Worked quite well, I thought, and people seemed to have fun.

I don't think I'd call this a 'miniatures game' not nearly enough figures on the table, and not part of a campaign; this is what I'd call a 'role-playing game', as this is what was happening on the table. The players really got into the local sights and NPCs, and seemed pretty 'immersed' in the game. I think we're back on again the second weekend in July, but don't quote me on that - I'm just the stagehand...

Your "off the shelf" game has a lot more miniatures than all my games in the last 10 years combined, Uncle:D! Yeah, I can see why they were surprised...

Let's just call it "a miniature-assisted RPG", if you want to, of course.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042247There are some very wet tunnels, down there.

That's...potentially interesting.
Are the wet tunnels noticeable for containing something other tunnels don't? Other than mould, I mean?
What are the odds of Tekumel's maritime life installing itself there?

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042245Yes, to all of the above. The city has 'risen' over time, as the lower layers are pretty extensive. The EPT map does not show elevations all that well; the bulk of the city is more or less 'on the flat', and the map shows the mean elevation. Inside that average, the local variations are about +/- fifty feet, with the trend being that 'low-status' areas tend to be on the low side, and high-status ones on the high side. The temple area is about at the mean level, with the Governor's Palace being higher and the 'slums' to the north side of the river being lower. I think this has a lot to do with the issue of the river flooding; the high folk stay dry in their palaces and temples and the low folk get wet.

Most of the traffic in town is foot traffic; handcarts are very popular. Chlen carts tend to stay on the wider streets, and are not popular; they cause some pretty impressive traffic jams.

A high-status street will usually be the ones going past a clan-house or palace; the clan's own guards will screen the pedestrians, with tradespeople - who know better, anyway - going around the back and the better class of folks being directed to the appropriate entrance to the place. The temples tend to front onto the open plazas, but the same thing happens; the temple guards do the traffic control, so you see people getting directions from any and all of the guards, regardless of their temple. They all know and work with each other, and will come to each other's aide if there is trouble.

Dies this help? Am I getting you what you're looking for?

This is very helpful. My Jakalla is prone to flooding by the docks and Foreigner's Quarter.

As to Part III, I'll bring the beer. Requests?

Blaise

Quote from: bconsidine;1042410This is very helpful. My Jakalla is prone to flooding by the docks and Foreigner's Quarter.

As to Part III, I'll bring the beer. Requests?

Blaise

Beer...Six Point Resin!!! Here's to Chirine baKal long may he answer our questions!!! Now I will have to do some Reading so the questions flow.

H;0)

Quote from: Greentongue;1042280Yes, trying to get a feel for the following. Where the "express lanes" that you don't want to stand in while talking and such.
Where the "out of towners" could make themselves obvious or get tripped up by protocol.
=

It'd be the 'meduim-sized' streets on the map. The narrower ones are in the neighborhoods where everybody knows everybody else, and the streets are a hotbed of activity and gossip. The really big 'avenues', like the processional way with all the statues, see a lot of 'tourist traffic' of out of towners who get accosted by all the touts, grifters, 'tour guides', and pickpockets. These also tend to have more 'official' presence as well, so you'd be able to get your players into trouble there as well - just as we did; one PC actually fell for the Missuma River Bridge wheeze, much to our amusement.

Quote from: AsenRG;1042392It was just a joke, Uncle:).

Excellent! Honest seafaring merchants are, of course, trustworthy individuals, so nothing can go wrong...right;)?

Your "off the shelf" game has a lot more miniatures than all my games in the last 10 years combined, Uncle:D! Yeah, I can see why they were surprised...

Let's just call it "a miniature-assisted RPG", if you want to, of course.

That's...potentially interesting.
Are the wet tunnels noticeable for containing something other tunnels don't? Other than mould, I mean?
What are the odds of Tekumel's maritime life installing itself there?

No problem; sorry for the misunderstanding.

Exactly. The players were astounded to see the ship with the Blazoned Sail Clan glyph, and finding out that they are sailing with Guess Who? and his mates...

And I didn't have my usual number of figures on the table, either. I had brought something like forty assorted townspeople and another twenty pirates, and I'd normally be moving them around to give a sense of life to the place. In this case, the GMs were a little overwhelmed and overloaded by the sheer scale of the table, so I kept it simpler.

Okay.

Why yes, they do. Nshe are a particular problem, he said from experience.

Quote from: bconsidine;1042410This is very helpful. My Jakalla is prone to flooding by the docks and Foreigner's Quarter.

As to Part III, I'll bring the beer. Requests?

Blaise

Sounds good; so was Phil's version.

This thread is yours; I'm just the maintenance guy.

Quote from: Hrugga;1042458Beer...Six Point Resin!!! Here's to Chirine baKal long may he answer our questions!!! Now I will have to do some Reading so the questions flow.

H;0)

Thank you! I'll be here as long as folks want me to be here.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1042480Exactly. The players were astounded to see the ship with the Blazoned Sail Clan glyph, and finding out that they are sailing with Guess Who? and his mates...

I kinda suspected you might have done that...as soon as I heard "a honest seafaring merchant"!

QuoteAnd I didn't have my usual number of figures on the table, either. I had brought something like forty assorted townspeople and another twenty pirates, and I'd normally be moving them around to give a sense of life to the place. In this case, the GMs were a little overwhelmed and overloaded by the sheer scale of the table, so I kept it simpler.

I understand the GMs...

QuoteWhy yes, they do. Nshe are a particular problem, he said from experience.

Why do I suddenly remember the tunnels from Aliens 2, Uncle;)?

Quote from: AsenRG;1042516
I kinda suspected you might have done that...as soon as I heard "a honest seafaring merchant"!

I understand the GMs...

Why do I suddenly remember the tunnels from Aliens 2, Uncle;)?

I couldn't resist it. The GM knows who Harchar is, but nobody else, I have a suspicion that mayhem will ensue.

Yep; it was their first time out for a game like this. I'd sent them photos of this table from one of my previous games, but they flat out told me that actually seeing it in 3-D was very much more then what they had expected. And both they and all the players thanks me for the table, so i'm scoring this one as a win...

Why, yes, now that you happen to mention it...