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Sigil Population

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Sat, 2009-01-24 13:57
#1
Jack of tears
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Sigil Population

While I am certain it has been discussed here before, I can't seem to find it with the search function, so I was wondering if anyone recalled what the standard population of Sigil was.  Obviously the fluid population changes constantly, as berks come and go from all throughout the multiverse, but there is also a large, stable population in the city and that is the number I'm looking for.

New York City, in 2007, had about 8.25 million people, though I imagine it is a bit larger than Sigil in terms of square miles, (this, of course, ignores the city's very elastic nature) I can't imagine the greatest city in the multiverse being much smaller.  I seem to recall a tenative number of 5 million somewhere, but I could be mistaken. (and, while I can make the number anything I like, I want to be able to point at something semi-official, or a consensus, should my players balk at the number. [which one or two might])

 Normally this isn't an issue, but my Sigil Noir game is a little more grounded in reality, so I want believable numbers.

 At any rate, thanks in advance.

 

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Sat, 2009-01-24 19:27
#2
Zsu-Et-Am
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There had been given two

There had been given two official numbers: 250,000 citizens in Planar Handbook and latter books (although I always assumed, that it excludes all those who don't live in the city for most of their time), and -- according to the older In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil -- more than 1,000,000 people (though 2/3 of this would be transient planars and primes alike).

Wed, 2009-01-28 02:48
#3
Quale
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in Planewalker FAQ it says

in Planewalker FAQ it says the size is whatever you want it to be

in my game it's 30 mil. , think that's reasonable and sustainable e.g. when you have Ooze trash portals

 Shraktlor has 2 mil., comparing to that 250 000 would be odd 

Wed, 2009-01-28 13:03
#4
weishan
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I set the number high as

I set the number high as well--I also make Sigil a bit bigger to acomidate. 30-50 mil. is sound if you recognize that the logistics of getting that much food into the city are going to be really important.

Wed, 2009-01-28 16:21
#5
Jem
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Bear in mind that the

Bear in mind that the population of New York City is only about 8 million, and that's in 300 square miles with modern sanitation methods.  The entire New York metropolitan area is 18 million, and that's spread out over 6,700 square miles, or a square about 80 miles on a side.  50 million would be more like the population of the entire Boston-Washington corridor (and one-sixth the population of the U.S.)

I don't really picture Sigil as a week's hike side to side.  Ancient Rome had, roughly, 2 millions, packed in to 4 square miles (i.e. 2 miles on a side) in what we would consider awful conditions.

The surface area of a torus is 4 pi^2 AC, A and C being the radii from the axis and of the small circle, so if Sigil is 20 miles in circumference around the outside (meaning it's a 10 mile hike from one point to its antipode) its circumference is pi*(2A+2C) = 20, giving A+C about 3.3.  If we say A is 2.5 miles and C is 1 mile, the surface area of Sigil is about 96 square miles.  The maps in various supplements suggest it's much less than that.  96 square miles would get you your 50 million if they were packed in like Rome, but if they were more like medieval London (80,000 people in that same 4 square miles), which seems to be Sigil's flavor, you have a population of about 2 million.

Wed, 2009-01-28 19:34
#6
Zimrazim
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Jem wrote:Ancient Rome had,

'Jem' wrote:
Ancient Rome had, roughly, 2 millions, packed in to 4 square miles (i.e. 2 miles on a side) in what we would consider awful conditions.

It was the Iron Age and all, but Rome did have a decent water supply (aqueducts), public baths, and sanitation, which were hard to come by in later centuries (like medieval Europe).  Yes, it wasn't great living by 21st-century standards, but it was pretty impressive for the time period. 

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Wed, 2009-01-28 20:39
#7
Azure
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I always used the rule of

I always used the rule of 3's for Sigil's population, i.e. there are about 3 million in Sigil.  The unofficial line goes "1 million Sigilites, 1 million out-of-towners, 1 million out of town", so somewhere between 2 and 3 million at any one time.

Thu, 2009-01-29 02:17
#8
Kobold Avenger
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Well I also say there's a

Well I also say there's a few densely populated areas of Undersigil, where goblins, kobolds, drow, dark ones and more live.  But generally I'd put a few million at least for the population of Sigil as well.

Tue, 2009-02-10 10:51
#9
AlexanderDrake
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In some campiagns I have

In some campiagns I have been in the population depends on when the setting takes place,

In the usual fantasy setting, the normal population that I have seen is usualy around 3 million open and around 9 million hidden.

In a Planescape modern setting the normail population is around 25 million open and around 50 million hidden.

That takes care of the rule of three, but also takes care to notice that the open population is that of what one sees everyday. And the hidden is what one has to seek in the undersigil and thing that are hidden. That and some campigns state that Sigil itself knows when to grow and shrink.

Alexi

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