Thanks for answering! When you mentioned roads… What kind of roads are in Sword Coast at the end of 15 century DR, for example? Say "High Road", or "Trade Way"? Is it wide cobbled kind of road, or dirt road?
— Saša Medan (@Medan_DM) July 10, 2020
1)
I answer similar queries every 2 months or so, so this answer is a retweet:
Some major roads in places like Waterdeep are wider than 50 feet; the idea being that you can easily turn a large wagon drawn by three pairs of oxen… 2)
…yoked in harness one in front of the other. (See real-world American brewery wagons, back in horse-drawn days.)
Dotted-line-on-maps roads/wagon trails have at least 30 feet of ‘crown’ (traveled area), with a grassy verge of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 10, 2020
3)
…about another three or more feet per side before pitching down into grass-lined drainage ditches, on either side. The idea here being that wagons can easily pass each other without danger of wheels catching, or… 4)
… projecting-to-the-side loads snagging on each other. So, 30-foot minimum, except when cutting through rock (mountain passes/prime ambush areas!), and wherever the road comes out onto exposed bedrock, the cleared area widens…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 10, 2020
5)
…into a layby/stopping area/turning area.
Follow up question: In town (in Amphail) would the Long Road be dirt, cobblestones, or Roman
road?
In Amphail, it would be a combination of crushed-rock gravel, crushed-old-pottery-roof- … 6)
… -tiles gravel, and flagstones. (So, yes, Roman roads. ;} ) Dirt is to be avoided, as it turns into mud and potholes too readily.
For this mud-and-potholes reason (which in turn causes subsidences and eventually building…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 10, 2020
7)
…collapses), cities that have sewers/gutters/catchbasins and other ‘guided drainage’ will have a layer of cobblestones over top of the gravel. Cobblestones are heavy and expensive, so will be used elsewhere only if necessary. 8)
(Cities have residents who can be taxed annually, or by special levies, to pay for paving work.)
Swampy areas tend to have ‘log roads’ (VERY bumpy), with gravel and dirt laid over them and relaid every spring (winter frost…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 10, 2020
9)
…and frost heave logs up, and the rest of the time they slowly sink into the swamp, so many such roads are several log-layers deep), or more often if need be.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 10, 2020