The Pirate Town of Babel

The pirate town of Babel was originally conceived for the D&D 1e game, but has very little in the way of actual game rules and is ready to insert into any campaign with only minor adjustments.<o:p></o:p>

Included in the pack is a fully labelled map of the town, with all of the buildings and other areas numbered (over 200) and their inhabitants named and described in an extensive key, with details of their professions and sundry notes. Further details are given in another document for over 50 of these entries, being noteworthy NPCs or institutions of special significance, such as temples/churches, guilds, specialist expert trades, or the pirate Houses.<o:p></o:p>

There is an encounter table for the town, and an events list which both provide a huge amount of game-play possibilities. How will the players react to a woman trying to sell them her young children, in order to spare them from the brothel? (It could be true, it could also just be a sale’s pitch designed to elicit sympathy and secure a deal.) Or to finding out that the meal they had just eaten was in fact made with human remains? <o:p></o:p>

Also provided is a much simpler key to the town for the players to see, if you are feeling generous. Personally, I would let them tell you where they are going, and then tell them what they see. It probably won’t be pleasant, whatever it is. Will they even dare to enter a town that displays severed heads on spikes at its gates? Why are all the residents wearing a different number of yellow badges on their clothes? None of the locals seem to want to talk to the newcomers, their eyes are downcast and they behave in a very guarded manner.<o:p></o:p>

Babel is a dark place with a prevailing black mood. There is wanton brutality, and pain and suffering are roundly ignored by all, with the occasionally disregarded corpse littering the street ... that is until the slave clean-up crew arrive. Some respite from the misery of life for the residents (not the slaves) comes in the form of the X factor games festival of competitions to find the best torturer in town. The kids’ version of the event is on at an earlier time of course.<o:p></o:p>