tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4930065815010914887.post4744041454249181959..comments2023-07-01T05:04:43.376-07:00Comments on Really Bad Eggs: Points of Light in a Sea of LightsBlack Vulmeahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270071699114783644noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4930065815010914887.post-9543963823226539262012-10-26T13:10:32.276-07:002012-10-26T13:10:32.276-07:00That sounds truly excellent, Matthew.
I tried to ...That sounds truly excellent, Matthew.<br /><br />I tried to look over <i>Travel in Modern Europe</i>, but while Melvyl listed it as in the stacks, it wasn't on the shelf on either of my visits to the UCI library - some grad student probably had it tucked away. I should run down there one morning next week and see if I can find it. The description sounds like it would be right in my wheelhouse.<br /><br />And thanks very much for checking out the blog - most appreciated.Black Vulmeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04270071699114783644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4930065815010914887.post-23101746032922235172012-10-26T03:09:10.088-07:002012-10-26T03:09:10.088-07:00Good post, Mike. I agree with approaching cities ...Good post, Mike. I agree with approaching cities like a tourist (tour guides and travel writings are often more helpful for RPG prep than academic history books).<br /><br />In the Ming China campaign I've been "prepping to improvise," I also started with the basic unit of the province. But quickly it became apparent that (in China at least) the boundaries of the provincial chunks are sometimes arbitrary (and have shifted over time) and do not necessarily correspond to natural social/cultural/economic boundaries. I found that a classic text on China's geography (by George Cressey) was actually more useful as a framework to "hang" the setting on. Cressey divided China into 15 geographical regions (e.g. North China Plain, Central Asian Steppes and Deserts, Yangtze River Plain, Southeastern Coast, Southwestern Tableland, Red Basin of Szechwan, etc). These regions do not always correspond with individual provinces -- some provinces are split among several regions, some regions contain several provinces, etc. Of course, the cultures in each region are distinct and have been shaped by the environment, and are often separated from each other by formidable mountain ranges. For example, the dry, level land of the North China Plain, with its precarious agriculture and frequent famines, has created stolid and conservative individuals; whereas the hilly South with its abundant rainfall and humid climate has nurtured teeming populations crowded into cities with narrow streets, and more radical and revolutionary personalities.<br /><br />One thing about geographical sources that I find especially useful for an RPG sandbox is that they clarify how people <i>traveled</i> in these different regions. For example, in the flat, dry North, people traveled on well-worn roads with two-wheeled carts and draft animals. The hilly, wet South, by contrast, was a land of canals and paddy fields where the shortest path between A and B was by canal boat or coolie carrier.<br /><br />I wish someone would write the Chinese equivalent of Maczak's "Travel in Early Modern Europe." Have you read it? It's a goldmine for any RPG set in that period. <br /><br />Anyway, keep up the great work with the blog. I remain an avid follower.Matthew Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17343263539473683579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4930065815010914887.post-14812933564196555952012-10-18T14:45:22.382-07:002012-10-18T14:45:22.382-07:00Yup.<a href="http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/le-ballet-de-l-acier/wikis/viceroyalty-of-new-france" rel="nofollow">Yup</a>.Black Vulmeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04270071699114783644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4930065815010914887.post-3956961823952825912012-10-18T13:24:42.214-07:002012-10-18T13:24:42.214-07:00How about New France? You've got Montreal, Que...How about New France? You've got Montreal, Quebec, Louisburg and other places (of which I'm personally ignorant). And, based on <i>Brotherhood of the Wolf</i> Kung Fu Indians. With the 'Evil English' just to the south, with all that coastal trade just ripe for the plunder. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com