RLR: Domain Size and Population - Sounds right?

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RLR: Domain Size and Population - Sounds right?

Post by WolfKook »

I'm currently working on a model to calculate the size and population of the domains. Basically, the size of the domain is determined by the darklord's power and influence (As has previously discussed in this project), while population density is determined by how rich, prosperous and culturally advanced it is. The model is pretty complex, but so far has provided the following results:

1. Barovia: Medium - 51.150 sq.mi. (About the size of Louisiana/Greece); 2,73 inhabitants per sq. mi., for a total of 121.163 inhabitants.
2. Borca: Tiny - 18.107 sq.mi. (About the size of Estonia); 4,37 inhabitants per sq. mi., for a total of 79.093 inhabitants.
3. Darkon: Huge - 125.172 sq.mi. (About the size of New Mexico/Norway); 34 inhabitants per sq. mi., for a total of 4'264.093 inhabitants.
4. Dementlieu: Small - 34.074 sq.mi. (About the size of Maine/Jordan); 97,52 inhabitants per sq. mi., for a total of 3'420.521 inhabitants.
5. Falkovnia: Small - 43.779 sq.mi. (About the size of Virginia/Honduras); 20,73 inhabitants per sq. mi., for a total of 907.397 inhabitants.
6. Har'Akir: Large - 91.572 sq.mi. (About the size of Romania); 0,1 inhabitant per sq. mi., for a total of 8.791 inhabitants.
7. Kartakass: Diminutive - 6.730 sq.mi. (About the size of Connecticut/Palestinian Territories); 0,72 inhabitant per sq. mi., for a total of 4.862 inhabitants.
8. Lamordia: Tiny - 23.246 sq.mi. (About the size of West Virginia/Georgia); 4,26 inhabitant per sq. mi., for a total of 99.043 inhabitants.
9. Mordent: Small - 26.100 sq.mi. (About the size of West Virginia/Georgia); 25,58 inhabitant per sq. mi., for a total of 667.596 inhabitants.
10. Nidala: Medium - 59.558 sq.mi. (About the size of Georgia/Nepal); 34,16 inhabitant per sq. mi., for a total of 2'034.675 inhabitants.

So, how that sounds? Logical? Incoherent?

BTW, if anyone has stats for Stezen d'Polarno and the Nightmare Man (I just need CR, Charisma, Alignment, whether they're spellcasters and whether their curse involves restrictions on the size of their respective domains), please let me know.
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Interesting. I like the sizes pretty well, although I for one wouldn't complain if they were even bigger. For population, I think Falkovnia should be second only to Darkon in population (they have a lot of big cities, relative to other domains, in canon Falkovnia, and a very significant rural population). I'd make Dementlieu and Nidalia about half what you've given for population, and Mordent I'd drop to about 100,000--lots of empty moors and forest there.

I'd make Borca bigger, too--close to the size of Dementlieu, population-wise.
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Post by WolfKook »

Ok, I increased the size factor so that Darkon is now about the size of Egypt, which makes Barovia the size of California, Dementlieu the size of Nevada (About half the size of continental France) and Falkovnia the size of Texas. The fact that Blaustein is now around the size of Dominican Republic makes it sound about right...

Falkovnia still has a population lower than Dementlieu (10.904.175
vs. 12.547.732, with the new sizes), but that's because life conditions in the later (90%) are better than in the former (30%). Perhaps if I decrease that factor for Dementlieu to 70%... 9.759.347 inhabitants sounds better? That decrease in quality of life should be reflected in the domain's write-up, though...

I decreased the population factor of the marshes (And the percentage of Mordent that are marshes), and Mordent's population dropped accordingly. In fact, I adjusted the population factor of all the terrain types.

Borca's population density increased about half that of Dementlieu, and the main reason is again the lower quality of life in the domain.

So, population-wise, the new sizes are:

1. Barovia: Medium (About the size of Paraguay/California); 2,9 inhabitants per sq. mi., 463.011 inhabitants.
2. Borca: Tiny (About the size of Nepal/Iowa); 43,1 inhabitants per sq. mi., 2'438.855 inhabitants.
3. Darkon: Huge (About the size of Egypt); 45 inhabitants per sq. mi., 17.578.249 inhabitants.
4. Dementlieu: Small (About the size of Ecuador/Nevada); 91,5 inhabitants per sq. mi., 10'025.072 inhabitants.
5. Falkovnia: Medium (About the size of Madagascar/Texas); 51,7 inhabitants per sq. mi., 11.890.190 inhabitants.
6. Har'Akir: Large (About the size of Zambia/Texas); 0,1 inhabitant per sq. mi., 33.466 inhabitants.
7. Kartakass: Tiny (About the size of North Korea/Mississippi); 0,6 inhabitant per sq. mi., 27.758 inhabitants.
8. Lamordia: Tiny (About the size of Syria/Washington); 6,6 inhabitant per sq. mi., 482.283 inhabitants.
9. Mordent: Tiny (About the size of Syria/North Dakota); 27,1 inhabitant per sq. mi., 1.907.457 inhabitants.
10. Nidala: Medium (About the size of Cameroon/California); 51,5 inhabitant per sq. mi., 9.581.203 inhabitants.

What I like here is that once the model's done, we would be able to calculate the size and population of any domain we write (And perhaps other things, given DeepShadow's countrycraft project)
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Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

What I like here is that once the model's done, we would be able to calculate the size and population of any domain we write (And perhaps other things, given DeepShadow's countrycraft project)
So how do these compare with the Countrycraft ratios?

For example, in Countrycraft, deserts and swamps have a x1 population multiplier, while plains have x12, firests x7, hills x6, and mountains and jungles x3. Therefore, a plains region can support four times the population of a mountainous region the same size.
Last edited by DeepShadow of FoS on Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

So, with all these domains being resized, I take it the that the map is to be redrawn? Or are they all resizing to scale with each other?
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Post by WolfKook »

DeepShadow of FoS wrote:So how do these compare with the Countrycraft ratios?

For example, in Countrycraft, deserts and swamps have a x1 population multiplier, while plains have x12, firests x7, hills x6, and mountains and jungles x3. Therefore, a plains region can support four times the population of a mountainous region the same size.
In my model, hills (currently) have a x1 population multiplier, swamps x0,01, deserts x0,05, forests and mountains x0,1 and plains x4. Thus, a plain region can support forty times the population of a mountanious region the same size. The model is still under development, so these values may change. Does the article explains why were these multipliers chosen?
So, with all these domains being resized, I take it the that the map is to be redrawn? Or are they all resizing to scale with each other?
No. The map is to be redrawn entirely. Some domains in canon RL won't appear in RLR, some will be created for this project, the sizes of all domains included will be determined by this model (When finished), and the frontiers between them will be determined by the cultural (i.e. Nidala will probably share a frontier with Tepest), geographical (Har'Akir with Pharazia) and historical (Darkon with Falkovnia) relationships among them, so even as the final map will probably resemble the original, there'll probably be some substantial changes.
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Post by NykylaiHellray »

I like the sizes here, and they make the place seem more like a world.

One thing I have been wondering about, is what about the issue of the sky? As some domains have oddities like two moons, when some have just one. Would it be best to suggest they all see the same thing? Or would it be more flavourfull to keep these anomalies?
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Post by Paladyn »

Remember, that people there have not knowledge we have. They will grow accustomed to black moon of Sithicus, permanent full moon in Verbrek or other oddities. Almost nobody will question them, maybe some scholars would investigate such matter.
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Post by WolfKook »

NykylaiHellray wrote:What about the issue of the sky? As some domains have oddities like two moons, when some have just one. Would it be best to suggest they all see the same thing? Or would it be more flavourfull to keep these anomalies?
One of the main goals of the project is to remove inconsistencies like those, so they would probably be removed unless we can find a logical explanation for them.
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Post by WolfKook »

I've been developing my model further, using my old World Builder's Guidebook and some info I found on this page, and I've becoming very excited about it: Suddenly, as domain size starts depending on the Darklord's influence, and the population on the amount of resources available, everything starts making sense.

The model is still being refined, but I feel closer to it than I was when I first posted in this thread. If anyone wants to make a revision of the model, please let me know and I'll send you an Excel sheet where I made all my calculations.

DS, I would like you to take a look at it and tell me if there's something you would change, given the countrycraft article you've been talking about.
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