Sin City or Ankh-Morpork?

[RobF]

The way I see it, a city this gritty and corrupt could be run one of two ways: Sin City or Ankh-Morpork.

Sin City would be if I wanted to emphasize the utter squalor and destitution of the city, and how the Age of Worms might end up being a good thing, devouring the diseased flesh of the city like maggots on a gangrenous wound.

Ankh-Morpork would be more if I wanted to emphasize the sheer over-the-topness of the city. Reading the description of some areas, like the Whirling Giantess and the old observatory with its rotating cast of mad wizards, I couldn't help but think of Discworld. The lake even reminds me of the Ankh river.

Which do you think is more appropriate to the tone of the series, or do you think it would be somewhere in between?

[Dryder]

I say SIN CITY!
But I like it dark, vile and Cthulhu-like.
Of course, from time to time a little Discworld-thing lightens up the whole campaign.
But as a whole I will try to keep it dark. In this way, my players might get the feeling that leaving the place would be the best...

[Busker]

I plan on running it like HBO's Deadwood. The town on that show is almost exactly like it: gritty, corrupt, people trying to get mining claims, competing whorehouses, gambling. The two settings are very similar.

The one exception is the freakshow at the Emporium. For that, I am going to draw inspiration from another HBO show, Carnivale.

[James Jacobs]

Deadwood is an excellent source of inspiration for Diamond Lake, as is Carnivale. Our playtest on Thursday nights certainly approaches some of the more notorious aspects of Deadwood, certainly...

[blackotter]

James Jacobs wrote:

Deadwood is an excellent source of inspiration for Diamond Lake, as is Carnivale. Our playtest on Thursday nights certainly approaches some of the more notorious aspects of Deadwood, certainly...

Yes...we use lots of Al's and Mister Wu's favorite word :)

Of course, I can't post it here :)

[MetalBard]

What D&D city *doesn't* have a little Ankh-Morpork in it? :)

Diamond Lake could be some Carnivale with a little Discworld, but the Free City could definitely go with full-on Ankh-Morpork.

[LeapingShark]

Maybe Diamond Lake could have a bit of the Las Vegas feel. Glittery lamplights plastered all over the casinos, inns with gaudy interior decorations based on hokey "themes", billboards and hand-out flyers everywhere, hookers in the alleyways, Free City tourists roaming the streets at all hours of the night like so much cattle.

[Snorter]

James Jacobs wrote:

Deadwood is an excellent source of inspiration for Diamond Lake, as is Carnivale. Our playtest on Thursday nights certainly approaches some of the more notorious aspects of Deadwood, certainly...

What's the save DC for knob-rot, again?