Take Earth. Advance it to being one planetary city. Inject magic. Inject Fantasy. Result equals a fantasy equivalent of Star Wars Coruscant.
In a Pathfinder game, how would such a setting work? How would the races work now that there is no more wilds? How would racial traits change? How would the classes change? What kind of new classes or archetypes would emerge. How would the blending of magic and tech work, and what new things (magitech) would appear?
This is something I've been thinking about for a very long time. Expect to see answers to these questions soon.
Thinking in regards to the question of there being no more wilds: I think that's false. I can see the concept persisting, but instead of rampant, unexplored nature, it would now be the buried, derelict ruins of the old structures that the new shiny city is built on. I'm thinking like extensive catacombs and old cities just buried underneath everything, and there the concepts of what you'd expect of the "wild" would still be there. With this in mind I can see some classes like Druid or Ranger dealing with these areas instead of what you'd classically consider "nature".
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Lets take earth - what population and density are you looking at? Does it grow its own food? You could put a billion people on an acre each in the northern territory of Australia. Does everyone produce their own food? Where does the fuel (even simple firewood) come from? Where are the forests to provide that fuel? Is it a land of halflings farming their little piece of paradise?
In a firewood economy you need a half acre of light forest per population per year (light forest yield: 20,000lb firewood per acre) which regrows in about 50 years.
The Movement of fuel from a central Source by people who haul it to a population center is one of the big reasons there should be thousands of wagons a day pouring wagon loads of firewood into even the smallest fantasy city.
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As it's a magitech society, it seems more than possible that mundane resources are a non-issue due to them being magically created or grown. That said, other resources might be a major factor now, like components for said spells that are being used on an industrial level... hmm they might even be using portals to strip mine other planes for their own resources now that I think about it.
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Imagining entire clockwork districts.
Not just districts made of clockwork parts. I mean districts taht are as a whole part of the pieces that make up the clockwork.
Replace "clockwork" for higher technology as needed.
Entire streets and blocks could be realigned according to the time of day, season, planetary alignment, whatever. Some of the patterns they form could hold magical power in and of itself.
Some building/towers might not just extend into the sky, but could also pierce the earth deep enough to exist as part of the Underdark. Think of it, entire gigantic cave systems with upside-down towers shared with their right-side-up halves aboveground.
Murlynd's spoons would be useful. Of course, that means a lot of folks will be living on cardboard-flavored gruel!:)
As Chaoseffect suggests, we may see urban 'wilderness.' In addition to the buried stuff he notes, think about using aboveground areas like big vacant lots overgrown with brambles, derelict parks, and swampy canals or reservoirs.
Abandoned sections of the ecumenopolis could become, in effect, large dungeons. Animals, plants, and monsters move in as people move out. Stuff left behind (or collected by monsters) becomes hidden treasure. Unstable structures form 'trapped' areas.
I really like Mikaze’s notion of clockwork districts and buildings.
Try having a look at magic the gathering's Ravnica setting. It could provide an idea of what it would be like with different groups emerging. Of course it doesn't have advanced technology but it could provide a starting point once you strip the colours of magic out.
Agreed. Start with Ravnica. Add trains above, on and below the ground. Make the buildings taller. That's a damn good start.
You might also take inspiration from shadowrun, with the same organisations acting as equivalents of its megacorps and ravnica's guilds.