Metroplis in e6

[kulosle]

So I've been reading city scape and I've noticed that your usual metropolis in dnd is littered with magic. Magical defenses, water purification, lighting etc. But I was wondering how is a metropolis that has all the magic money can buy different in an e6 setting. What kind of defenses might a mage guild be able to provide without permanancy, or other high level stuff? What mundane defenses might become required that are not normally done?

[Fouredged Sword]

I would think the situation would be a lot more like early European metropolis.

In E6 you need a large standing defense force that can deal with threats. A troll can kill a LOT of people in E6, so a metropolis needs to be able to rally enough of a defense to drive of such threats with minimal loss of life. Bows, longspears, and alchemical items are the go to for killing threats. Guards are likely expert 2 / warrior 2.

A city will exist only when water is available. They will almost 100% exist next to a river or lake, with easy access to water. Purification is done the hard way, ether through boiling or by drinking nothing but beer. If the city is particularly advanced, they will have a basic sewage system so that their drinking water is cleanish and won't kill you to drink it. Not RAW, but I would have anyone who drinks any tainted water save for filth fever. Any water within 10 or so miles of the city sewage output should be considered tainted.

Many poor will skew towards having a high con and likely having great fortitude as their starting feat. They have no money for magic, so anyone who can't survive a few fort saves just dies before they hit 6 years old.

Food needs to be ever flowing. Farms surround a city for miles. A city's population is always in decline due to disease and such, but the excess population from the farming villages is ever flowing to the promise of work within the city. The farms benefit from the protection of the city's army. The city needs the farms to eat.