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Froogleyboy
2009-04-18, 08:48 PM
Hey guys I'm working in adventure in which the team goes to a city constructed by undead.(there will be mainly vamps, liches, and mummies but there will be others) I need to know what buildings it would need and what there purposes are. and that kinda stuff

Flickerdart
2009-04-18, 08:51 PM
The city would have to be subterranean to accommodate the Vampires and Mummies. That's all that's really required for it. Maybe a temple to whatever god the clerics there would worship. In fact, you could put it underneath a graveyard, so that any buried dead could be snatched up to Animate.

chiasaur11
2009-04-18, 08:52 PM
Some kind of medical center would be useful. Clerics with negative energy access, that sort of thing.

Froogleyboy
2009-04-18, 08:59 PM
what about other buildings they wouldn't actually need but would help accomidate them

FoE
2009-04-18, 08:59 PM
I'm going to rip off Conan the Barbarian here and suggest one of the buildings be a stockade filled with either animals or people. Conan travelled to a town filled with vampires once (interestingly, it was a regular town and had been completely roofed over to protect the vampires from sunlight). One of the first things he ran across was a warren filled with cattle that the vampires would feed upon; when he came across the vampires, they complained about having to subsist on cow blood for so long.

Although your city doesn't consist solely of vampires, there are other forms of undead that feed on the living.

FoE
2009-04-18, 09:05 PM
As well, if the city is underground or at least covered, then there doesn't need to be any sleeping quarters. Private quarters, yes, but the undead don't sleep, so there would be little need for bedrooms. For that reason, the party will need to bring their own sleeping gear.

Food and water might be easier to get, because the undead would have to keep their captives nourished. But there certainly wouldn't be any restaurants and public eateries and the food for prisoners wouldn't be for sale.

The only way around that would be to have a token inn set aside for visiting mortal necromancers.

The undead do need a way to occupy their days. Since intellegient undead like liches tend to be scholarly types, I would suggest they have absolutely massive libraries and lecture halls, and on the entertainment side, they have a wide array of theatres and opera houses.

Thurbane
2009-04-18, 09:10 PM
A library or research center staffed by Necopolitans and Liches...

Ravyn
2009-04-18, 09:30 PM
Part of it depends on what the city is for. Are you going for a metropolitan or a military feel? Why are all these undead choosing to live together?

The city laws could be interesting. Some cities require the peace-bonding of weapons; a place like this might also require all holy symbols to be secured, since having to worry about some idiot outside trying to turn or rebuke you would be blasted annoying. There are probably exceptions made for the negative-energy-channeling healers, though that might only apply to within whatever building they do their work in. And I could see qualified, if very heavily regulated "Turn Resistance Coaches" in thick-walled buildings.

Since some of the builders were liches, we can expect awareness of many of the rules of magic regarding the undead in the founders, and they've probably been working contingencies for that. Having some way of looking for holy auras at the city gates wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Is this place all corporeal undead, or are there incorporeals hanging out here as well? If incorporeals are present, are they given a different sort of status? Are there attempts to work around the fact that there are residents who can walk through walls, like wards on private residences or the like?

Froogleyboy
2009-04-18, 09:35 PM
Part of it depends on what the city is for. Are you going for a metropolitan or a military feel? Why are all these undead choosing to live together?

The city laws could be interesting. Some cities require the peace-bonding of weapons; a place like this might also require all holy symbols to be secured, since having to worry about some idiot outside trying to turn or rebuke you would be blasted annoying. There are probably exceptions made for the negative-energy-channeling healers, though that might only apply to within whatever building they do their work in. And I could see qualified, if very heavily regulated "Turn Resistance Coaches" in thick-walled buildings.

Since some of the builders were liches, we can expect awareness of many of the rules of magic regarding the undead in the founders, and they've probably been working contingencies for that. Having some way of looking for holy auras at the city gates wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Is this place all corporeal undead, or are there incorporeals hanging out here as well? If incorporeals are present, are they given a different sort of status? Are there attempts to work around the fact that there are residents who can walk through walls, like wards on private residences or the like?

it is more of a metropoliton feel. the city was made because, in my campaign world, there is a succubus vampire who is the queen of the dead. and undead follow her kinda and so there are tons of undead cities around her kingdom. and yes, there are ghost and such

chiasaur11
2009-04-18, 09:41 PM
Then you definitely want a steady stream of fodder (IE people and animals) and a temple or two to the dark god.

I mean, Succubus Vampire is two major worship sources for evil gods in one.

Ravyn
2009-04-19, 06:54 PM
Of course, then there's the question of what you want to do with your people. Penning them up could work, and it certainly keeps them out of trouble, but it's not your only option, particularly if you're dealing with undead like vampires who can feed without actually killing their food sources.

I'll assume for purposes of argument that we're underground anyway, with the city in a system of caves. Now, let's imagine for a moment that you've got a huge cavern below the city. Within this cavern there are people, probably mostly humans but I could see a decent variety of races depending on what's been convenient to grab. They have, functionally, a city of their own, raising their own fodder and taking care of their own supplies. At the center of this city is a temple, probably administered by some relatively innocuous undead creature. And there they pray to their goddess, bringing sacrifices of goods and livestock--praying for the things they cannot make themselves, for whatever else it is they might need--and for the chance to meet the goddess. And sometimes, what would seem unnervingly regular in any other place but is perfectly normal here, those who show the most zeal, or the most skill, or otherwise impress the temple's attendant, have their prayers answered; they are brought into the center of the temple, where the floor is painted with runes no citizen may identify. Usually they are never seen again, though some have gotten to return as her avatars and to tell the people more of her deeds.

Extra worship, a nice docile food supply that practically begs to be eaten (and you can choose whether to just slaughter them, keep them around as servants and gnaw on them occasionally, make spawn of them, or whatever suits), no need to post guards or waste time with unnecessary farming; what's not to like? And for the incorporeals, this might be a source of added amusement, as they can entertain themselves watching the pathetic little creatures interact without anyone knowing they're there.

As to the rest of your buildings, you'll probably want residences for the founder and for some of her higher-ranking minions. (And everyone else, really, but think about it--what better thing to do with eternity than create buildings the likes of which the world has never seen anywhere else?) These buildings will probably be magically reinforced against ethereal entry, as it wouldn't do to have ethereals just intruding without so much as a by your leave. You'll definitely want a temple or two. You'll want the building that serves as the access point for the city of the fodder, down below.

If there are living creatures considered interesting enough to live among the vampires themselves (stranger things have happened), they might have social rituals on their own. (I actually have a thought-exercise about social blood-drinking (http://exchangeofrealities.today.com/2008/10/28/undead-week-social-drinking/); can you tell I think about things like this a lot?)

As for those incorporeals, they're going to be an interesting case. Since they don't have much by way of physical contact with the world, either there's going to be a booming business in ghost-touch gear, or they'll be limited to nonphysical interaction--I'd expect them to be intellectuals or socialites, as it's easiest for them to talk and think. Unless you can find an item that would allow the ghosts to possess mortal hosts. That might even serve as a way to deal with the occasional living outsider; you send in the enfleshed ghosts to serve as a welcoming committee, keeping them in 'safe' areas until they can be either controlled or fed to someone.

Help any?

LoopyZebra
2009-04-19, 07:58 PM
As others noted, if you've got vampires, you're going to need people to feed on. If there's any substantial density of vampires, it seems like you're going to need a large, steady supply of people, depending on how much blood your vampires need. You could have living slums alongside the city, where people who serve both as labor and meals live. Or, the undead might tax the surrounding countryside for people, in a pseudo-feudal fashion, like as in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (a horrid movie by all other accounts). Raiding or slave-trading might be other interesting options, but wouldn't work for a large supply. If new people are constantly needed, then you're going to need a large underlying food base and system.

Alternatively, the vampires may take special precautions to leave their cattle alive, either alongside one of the other ideas or to reduce the numbers of people they need. If vampires can keep people alive through many feedings, then it drastically reduces the need for new blood (puns are fun), although they probably still seek out more people for variety's sake. Certain people could become particular favorites. Magic, medicine, or simply knowing when to stop feeding could all be used by the vampires to allow them to keep people alive.

Another interesting thought - perhaps vampires do not need human(oid) blood, and can summon demons and the like for their meals. Alternatively, they could possess a regenerating monster, such as a hydra. This could completely remove the need for these large humanoid populations or supplement it. Vampires might see demon/monster blood as better or worse than humanoid blood, depending on its taste and difficulty to acquire.

Your other mentioned undead - liches and mummies - don't need (any) food bases, meaning any blood system would be entirely vampire-driven. They might still siphon off people for experiments, entertainment, rituals, etc.

Also, Ravyn, your blog is really cool. I only read a few entries, but they were all interesting, especially the one about blood-drinking.

Ravyn
2009-04-19, 10:14 PM
Glad you enjoyed it!

Valentyne
2009-04-19, 10:37 PM
City of the dead

....already mentioned libraries and lecture halls. Inns for the visiting necromancers. And "stables" for human fodder for the vampires.

But how about "beauty salons" for the undead with things like bone polishing, or gold/silver bone plating. Or monthly injections of formaldehyde...to keep up that skin tone.

For the incorporeals how about a secondary "human stable" service...hosts for possession?

BlueWizard
2009-04-21, 06:57 AM
The undead brothel....? ugh...

Another_Poet
2009-04-21, 10:11 AM
In addition to the above here are some suggestions.

I suspect that mold and bugs/beetles/worms would be a rampant problem. Some of the lower-status undead might run vermin-catching businesses. Even though many undead seem immune to being fully decomposed (or just don't care), that many roaches and vermin will quickly destroy the city itself if not constantly exterminated.

Extra points if some of the vermin-catchers reanimate thousands of dead roaches as undead servitors. I think a zombie roach-swarm mass would make a decent patrol creature along the city perimeter, too.

For entertainment, no city is complete without a gladiatorial arena or two. Sure the liches might have better things to do (then again, maybe not) but I'm sure plenty of undead would enjoy watching mortal creatures, fellow undead, or both locked in deadly combat. For living gladiators, winning 10 matches straight might result in the offer of freedom or undeadification (gladiator's choice). Undead might be thrown in the arena if and only if they have broken some city laws.

I think it'd be fun if the PCs were asked to help a living gladiator win his 10 matches. They presume it's so he can go free, they help him, then he chooses to become a death knight instead. Hehe.

It would also be cool if there was a college or order dedicated to researching an undead equivalent to Resurrection. Maybe they're first working on how to twice-reanimate bones of skeletons that have already been destroyed once, and after that, plan on creating a Dessurection spell to return destroyed sentient undead to unlife. Multiple redundant phylacteries would also be a nice research project for them.

I think an Illusorium would be nice. Undead could go there to enjoy powerful simulations of eating, getting drunk, sexual pleasure, etc. Things that their bodies are no longer capable of (okay some of them maybe, let's not get into THAT argument) but that they miss from when they were alive.

It'd be nice to have an academy that trains undead to Turn Living, i.e. to turn/rebuke the living the way good clerics turn/rebuke undead. That'll scare your PCs.

Lack of toilets, sewers and chamber pots would be a nice thing to keep in mind. About 3 hours after they get into the city pass one of your PCs a note that says "You have to take a Number 2... bad." There are no trees to go behind, there are private rooms but no pots or bowls to do your business in. None of the PCs will have any idea if it will offend the undead for them to just do their business in the street or on the floor. Could be funny.

Good luck.

ap