Help with a canal city

[thebax2k]

Okay, now that I have a better idea of where you want your canal city to be I have some more useful pointers.

If you can find it, try getting the MERP map of Pelargir in Gondor. Its an incredible Pete Fenlon work of a city located on both banks at the mouth of a river (the Anduin) linked by bridges to a dyked triangular island in the middle. Tharbad from MERP is also an inland river city with a great map.

Marsember from the Forgotten Realms should be a help as well. Even if you don't like FR, Marsember is built on islands in a marsh in Cormyr on the Sea of Fallen Stars.

All though I'm not too fond of the cartography, the D20 supplement Bluffside may be worth a look. Built on a series of islands at the top of a waterfall, Bluffside can provide quite a few pointers (as well as npcs, although Bluffside was developed for 3.0, so some conversion may need to be done) for your city.

One of the most spectacular examples I can think of a fantasy city with canals is Waterfall City from Dinotopia. I'm pretty sure that one of the more recent books featured a map of the city, and Gurney's pictures of it are incredible.

Another fantasy city with canals you might use for inspiration is the capital city of Naboo from Star Wars Episode I. Although not much of its scope is shown in the films, the various DK Star Wars cross section and panorama books do an excellent job of covering it.

For flavoring, see if you can pick up one of the Merovingen Nights series by C.J. Cherryh (I think I spelled those correctly). The series follows the exploits of a band of lowlifes/heroes in a Byzantine fantasy city thats built on a series of islands in a delta.

Best of luck and I hope your project goes well.

[ravells]

In addition to Venice also have a look at Amsterdam and Brugge for more references. Good luck with the project!

Ravs

[Uthoroc]

I second taking a look at Netherland cities. There's a lot of material on them available, because some of the most prolific cartographers of the 17th and 18th centuries came from the Netherlands. Here's a map of 1730 Amsterdam:
http://www.pierre-marteau.com/images...erdam-1730.jpg

[GlennZilla]

Hi! I've been lurking for a few days now after joining. But I found a thread in which I can't avoid a response.

I had my honeymoon in Venice 4 years ago next Halloween. I learned a great deal about the but the biggest point I haven't seen mentioned is that the bridges are natural gathering points in a city connected together with them.

The Rialto in Venice is a market and it's a stone bridge. One of only three that used to connect the two halves of Venice together. All the piazza (plazas) near it are filled with shops and an open air market. I watched a fishmonger stock an entire table of fish still gasping in the air.

Google earth will tell you a lot about Venice but some of the most important details are in it's history. For example the common "truss" we use to build homes and bridges was developed there to put a roof over the local government builds who needed a large space to meet each other. The trusses they built were designed like a boat hull flipped upside down. Without this structure to spread the weight of the roof to the out walls the large senate room of Venice would have to be braced with several columns.

Anyway, I'd look up some details on the history of Venice to flesh out some of the questions you may have about why Venice and by extension your city arrived at it's current form.

[RobA]

GlennZilla -

Thanks for the additional information! This is great as I am still filling in the city details on my canal city WIP thread and your observation will com in handy here.

Thanks!

-Rob A>

[Rog]

RobA:

I'm Rog, the guy who thebax2k referred to above. How's it goin?

Anyway, thebax pointed this thread out to me and asked if I could give a couple pointers.

After reading the other posts, I'm not sure what, if any, advice I can give you, considering the depth and scope of what others have already contributed. Also, Ka-Rone was my first map, so I'm not entirely sure I'm qualified to be dishing advice

However, if you have any specific questions, post them and I'll give it a shot.

[Paul]

Cities of Harn also features a canal city you might study as a model:
http://index.rpg.net/pictures/show-pic.phtml?picid=8120

(It's the third city in the above picture).