The Commons
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[dc]W[/dc]ithout any competition, the Commons is the largest borough in the city in population. It occupies almost everything to the east of Journeymen’s Road and Caravan Street on the north side of the river, includes the section east of The Trax and north of Wall Street, and contains most of the factories located inside the city’s walls. One quarter of the city’s population lives here, and they are the primary labor force for these factories (factory as applied in the context of the city of Haven does not mean one of the highly automated, noisy, smoky leviathans we know in 1981 - it doth refer to a building in which different items are made, but there are few assembly lines, and any technological equivalents tend to be arcane, not mechanical; there are simply a lot of people engaged in making the various products of the business), and tend to be on the lowest scales of income available (just above the beggars).
Along the river’s edge is a substantial section of piers and wharves, which service the large sea-going vessels which beat their way through the delta and up the forty-odd miles of the Dorian to Haven. These ships may carry cargo from as far away as Carrenth in fabled Khemmia, and many are owned by the wealthy traders of the city; each trip only seems to make these men richer.
Most of the factory buildings are situated near the wharves and along the walls south of Coppergate, taking advantage of major sources of both water and land transportation. The homes of the laborers fill the remainder of the borough. There are few single family homes, the majority of the buildings being tenements and rooming houses, with only a small number divided into flats (these tend to be the homes of the supervisors and foremen). Small shops (mostly subsistence goods like food or clothing) are scattered throughout the area, and there are some taverns, but the Borough of the Commons is primarily people, many people, many common people.
There are almost no families of note in the Commons; those who achieve sufficient status to have some political power will usually quickly migrate to better neighborhoods. The major powers in the area are the absentee factory owners and The Black Hand, a dissident group of thieves who split off from the Thieves’ Guild almost fifty years ago. This rival clique nearly wrested control of the city’s criminal activity from the Guild’s grasp; but after years of internecine warfare, with many dead on both sides, their operations are now largely confined to the Commons. In this area, however, their power is close to absolute (assignment as the lieutenant for the Thieves’ Guild in the Commons is a virtual death sentence - of the last fifteen to be so assigned, all but one have been contemptuously murdered by The Black Hand, and none has lasted longer than 8 months).
Life in the Commons is hard, and there is little of glory or adventure in the daily grind of earning a living. Few of the average inhabitants of the borough have the energy left at the end of a long hard day in the mills and factories to do more than visit their local tavern for a quick mug, and some friendly griping and chatter. It is not a soul-expanding existence.
The Guard contingent of the Commons has its barracks near the Copper Gate, on the eastern wall. The contingent numbers 120 men, and patrols the area of The South Docks, the warehouse and factory district, and the dwellings up to Caravan Street. They tend to travel in groups of three to five after dark, and will normally respond to cries for help or assistance. The overall captain of the Haven City Watch in The Commons is Tikkan Maltby (#402), who is generally available at the barracks during the day; his four watch lieutenants are Hial Burry, Radanthis, Llor Dimhee (#403), and Cabal Thunderstroke (a ham-handed individual with a penchant for roundhouse rights) - each has a 25% chance of being on duty at any given time, and only Radanthis is married and lives at home.
Persons of Interest
—Bokkhra::An exceptional troll, the only member of his race known to be resident in Haven.—
—Tikkan Maltby::The Captain of the Commons Guard—
—The Black Hand::Recent rival to the Thieves Guild—
GM’s Notes
Two shops, a tavern, and a rooming house have been included for those GMs whose players insist on wandering into the area, but the only sensible reasons for entering the Commons are to seek temporary employment at one of the numerous factories and/or mills in the area near the docks, or to find a cheap place to live.
Jobs of all descriptions are available, so that anyone with any type of practical training should have no problem locating a job, regardless of their level of expertise. Base chances should be modified by the following factors:
-
- 5% for each point of CHA > 13
- -5% for each point of CHA < 7
- -35% if character has no experience
- -15% if character has only apprentice level training
-
- 10% if character is an experienced journeyman (5 years’ experience in the field)
-
- 25% if character holds a master’s rating in the skill sought
In the common trades (laborer, carpenter, tanner, etc.), there is a 65% base chance that the job will be offered. In the business trades, such as bookkeeping, architecture, etc., or if one is looking for a foreman’s or supervisor’s position, the base chance for a job offer is 40%; in the executive positions, or the exotic trades (perfumery, goldsmithing, etc.), the base chance is 20%. In all cases, the GM should play the prospective employer, and have the player “interview” for the job; a bad interview with the boss can cost a qualified worker a fine job opportunity, while exceptionally good interviews frequently bring job offers at much higher rates of pay.
Pay is low in the Commons, with the average being 10gp a week, for six days of 10 hours each, at a journeyman’s equivalent level of training in one of the common trades. Apprentices will normally be offered half that, 5gp, while experienced journeymen will hear offers of 15gp to 18gp. A master will seldom be content to work for less than 30gp. Wages in the business trades are about 150% of the common trades, and the exotic trades run about 250% of the common wages. Foremen’s and supervisors’ positions will usually pay experienced journeymen’s wages for the particular class of trade, and executive positions (plant manager, chief clerk, etc.) will pay masters’ wages for that class. The GM is advised that “out-of-towners” are unlikely to find executive positions, and will have much less chance of getting middle management jobs (foreman, supervisor) as well.
Living expenses in the Commons are comparatively low, but are not dirt cheap (unless one has to kick aside the dirt to get at the cheap).
- A moderate room and board rate would be about 5gp a week in many of the boarding houses in the Commons. Bath down the hall, breakfast (coffee and donut equivalent, brown bag lunch, and dinner) no service for latecomers, and the bedding changed and cleaned once every two weeks.
- Rooms alone run from 8 SP (kick the rats out and fight the bedbugs for the sheets) to 12gp (a relatively clean two-room suite with fireplace for cooking) a week, slightly less if taken by the month. All rents in advance, please,
- A flat will normally rent for 50gp to 80gp a month unfurnished, about a 30% more if it is furnished.
Food costs in the taverns that do serve food are capable of running from the sublime (3cp for steak) to the ridiculous (1gp for beans), and hitting all the points in between. The GM should scale meal costs according to the quality and price ranges for the various taverns.
Groceries in the Commons should run around 4gp for a family of four (let’s face it - they’ll probably run the same for a family of one, two, or three) for a week’s worth of minimal eating (little meat - and that mostly poorer cuts, lots of vegetables, and heavy on the starches). Better eating will cost more.
[anchor|street_encounters]
Random Street Encounters
While a party is wandering through the area roll d1000 to determine what random encounter they may have. Note that some encounters may happen in multiple locations in the city so feel free to ignore the results if the event is a one-off and already happened.
| [roll:d1000] | Encounter | Encounter | Encounter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001-025 | Boy Fight | 346-355 | Veils | 676-695 | Jingle Bells |
| 026-055 | Guide? | 355-375 | Trick Shot | 696-715 | Bag Lady |
| 056-085 | Shell Game | 376-405 | Urchin Gang | 716-735 | Escapees |
| 086-095 | Centaur Cab | 406-430 | Mean Drunk | 736-745 | Nathty Job |
| 096-130 | Traffic Jam | 431-455 | Happy Drunk | 746-765 | Leopard |
| 131-160 | Rats | 456-480 | Dead Drunk | 766-775 | Alchemist |
| 161-190 | Puppets | 481-510 | Argument | 776-800 | Storyteller |
| 191-210 | Warning | 511-520 | Carlo | 801-820 | Lost Child |
| 210-230 | Collection | 521-525 | Kidnapping | 821-840 | Peddlers |
| 231-235 | Relative? | 526-535 | Ransoming | 841-870 | Fire Brigade |
| 236-255 | Assassin | 536-555 | Monster Man | 871-900 | Cock Fight |
| 256-275 | Chase | 556-575 | Crier | 901-925 | Beckoner |
| 276-285 | Hell-fire | 576-595 | Astrologer | 926-935 | Green Cards |
| 286-295 | Book sale | 596-615 | Crotofiran | 936-955 | Girl Scam |
| 296-305 | Buy a Duck? | 616-635 | Hot Priest | 956-965 | Old Man |
| 305-325 | Yok | 636-665 | Runaways | 966-000 | Gardayloo |
| 326-345 | Mang | 666-675 | Directions |
People and Locations in the Commons
| People | Places |
|---|---|
| [tagged:the-commons-person | list |
Demographics
Government
Defenses
Industry & Trade
Infrastructure
Districts
Assets
Guilds & Factions
History
Points of Interest
Tourism
Architecture
Geography
Climate
Natural Resources
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Image:
Persons of Interest
Neighborhoods
Type: Quarter
Other Name(s):
Located In: Free City of Haven
Population:
Demonym:
Founded:
Runied:
Ruler:
Rank:
Ruling Organization:
Other Rulers:
Founders:
World Anvil Metadata
Id: 8ff1c19a-c29d-4050-9c7c-7200f23453be
Entity Type: Article / settlement
Category: Districts of Haven
Tags: fcoh,quarter
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