District metrics¶

Wealth Level¶

What it represents: The average economic status of residents and businesses in the district. Not just income, but assets, savings, and capacity to absorb shocks.

Starting values (as defined):

District	Wealth Level	Numerical Proxy
Nap Hill	High	80-100
University Precinct	High	75-95
Merchant Quarter	High	70-90
Isle of Gods	Medium	45-65
Small Gods	Low-Medium	30-50
The Shades	Very Low	5-20
Cockbill Street	Very Low	5-15

Behavioural mechanics:

Aspect	Behaviour
Shock absorption	High wealth districts can absorb 2-3 weeks of disruption before significant hardship. Low wealth districts feel impact within 2-3 days.
Recovery capacity	Wealthy residents can pay for private repairs, bypassing city systems. Poor residents have no alternatives.
Tax contribution	Direct correlation: wealthier districts contribute more to city budget, but also demand more services.
Protest threshold	Low wealth districts protest faster (hunger), but high wealth districts protest louder (newspapers, guild connections).
Migration pressure	If wealth gap widens significantly, poor districts see out-migration (those who can leave) or in-migration (those with nowhere else to go).

Dynamic changes:

Event	Wealth Impact
Prolonged service failure	Decreases (businesses close, residents leave)
Successful resilience investment	Increases (area becomes more desirable)
Crime wave	Decreases (businesses relocate)
New transport link	Increases (access improves commerce)
Guild intervention	Variable (depends on guild)

Population density¶

What it represents: Number of people per square acre. Affects how many are affected by any given failure, and how quickly problems spread.

Starting values:

District	Density	Numerical Proxy (people/acre)
Nap Hill	Low	20-40
University Precinct	Medium	60-100
Merchant Quarter	High (day), Low (night)	200+ day, 30 night
Isle of Gods	Medium	70-110
Small Gods	High	150-200
The Shades	Very High	250-350
Cockbill Street	Very High	300-400

Behavioural mechanics:

Aspect	Behaviour
Impact multiplier	Direct correlation: a water pump failure in the Shades affects 10x more people than the same failure in Nap Hill.
Disease transmission	High density = faster spread of illness (and rumors).
Protest formation	High density = crowds assemble faster. Low density = protests require organization.
Service delivery efficiency	High density = cheaper per capita to deliver services (one pump serves many), but catastrophic failure affects more.
Housing pressure	High density = any housing loss (fire, collapse) displaces many.

Dynamic changes:

Event	Density Impact
Housing collapse	Temporary decrease (displacement), then increase (remaining crowd tighter)
New construction	Increase (if housing) or decrease (if commercial displaces residents)
Refugee influx	Rapid increase (crisis event)
Epidemic	Temporary decrease (death, flight)
=

Infrastructure quality¶

What it represents: The physical condition of roads, pipes, clacks towers, pumps, and buildings. Baseline probability of failure.

Starting values:

District	Infrastructure Quality	Failure Probability Modifier
Nap Hill	High	0.3x (failures 70% less likely)
University Precinct	High	0.4x (UU maintains its own)
Merchant Quarter	High	0.4x (guilds maintain)
Isle of Gods	Medium	1.0x (baseline)
Small Gods	Low-Medium	1.5x (50% more likely)
The Shades	Very Low	3.0x (3x more likely)
Cockbill Street	Very Low	3.5x (even worse)
River Ankh	Very Low	4.0x (it’s a river; it does what it wants)

Behavioural mechanics:

Aspect	Behaviour
Failure probability	Base chance × quality modifier. A pump in Nap Hill rarely fails; a pump in the Shades fails constantly.
Repair cost	Inverse relationship: poor quality districts cost more to fix because underlying systems are degraded. Fixing one pipe means replacing three.
Repair time	Same: poor quality = longer repairs (unexpected complications).
Detection time	Poor quality = failures noticed slower (fewer people report, harder to access).
Cascading failure susceptibility	Poor quality = one failure triggers others (weak pipe bursts, weak road collapses).

Dynamic changes:

Event	Quality Impact
Resilience investment	Significant increase (new infrastructure)
Technical restoration	Temporary return to baseline, but underlying degradation remains
Neglect (no investment)	Slow decay over time (years)
Catastrophic failure	Sudden drop (bridge collapse, main burst)
Age	Very slow decay (decades)

Political influence¶

What it represents: The district’s ability to get the Patrician’s attention. Not population, but voice. A function of wealth, guild presence, noble residents, and symbolic importance.

Starting values:

District	Political Influence	Attention Multiplier (from earlier)
Nap Hill	Very High	2.0x
Merchant Quarter	Very High	1.8x
University Precinct	Very High	1.5x
Palace (district)	Absolute	3.0x (but not a residential district)
Isle of Gods	Medium	0.8x
Small Gods	Low	0.5x
Cockbill Street	Low (Vimes proxy)	0.1x (spikes with Vimes)
The Shades	Negligible	0.2x

Behavioural mechanics:

Aspect	Behaviour
Complaint effectiveness	High influence = one complaint triggers action. Low influence = hundreds of complaints ignored.
Media coverage	Direct correlation: Nap Hill broken pipe = front page. Shades broken pipe = paragraph on page 12 (if that).
Resource allocation	High influence districts get priority repairs, even if low influence districts need it more.
Guild backing	High influence districts have guild representatives who attend Council meetings.
Vetinar’s personal attention	Very high influence districts occasionally receive direct Patrician inquiries. “I hear Nap Hill is unhappy about the new tax.”

Dynamic changes:

Event	Influence Impact
Noble moves in/out	Significant change (one family can shift Nap Hill’s influence)
Guild relocation	Major shift (if Merchants’ Guild moves, influence moves with them)
Vimes visits	Temporary spike for Cockbill Street (while he’s there)
Major disaster	Temporary increase (media attention, sympathy) - the “victim multiplier”
Decades of neglect	Slow decay (if ignored long enough, a district’s influence atrophies)

Special case: Cockbill Street:

Cockbill Street has baseline negligible influence, but a standing “Vimes proxy” of 1.5x whenever Samuel Vimes is personally aware of an issue. If Vimes visits, the street briefly has Nap Hill-level attention. This creates interesting dynamics: nobles resent it (“why do they get priority?”), and Vimes must choose which battles to fight.

Local trust/satisfaction¶

What it represents: District-level confidence in the city government. Can diverge significantly from global Public Trust. A district can be furious while the rest of the city is calm, or vice versa.

Starting values (baseline):

District	Starting Local Trust	Rationale
Nap Hill	Moderate-High	Services work; they have alternatives anyway
University Precinct	Moderate	Wizards don’t trust anyone, but UU insulates them
Merchant Quarter	Moderate-High	Guilds handle most problems; city is backup
Isle of Gods	Moderate	Temples provide community support
Small Gods	Low-Moderate	Services patchy; residents expect little
The Shades	Very Low	Services almost nonexistent; trust is for fools
Cockbill Street	Paradoxical	Low trust in city, high trust in Vimes personally

Behavioural mechanics:

Aspect	Behaviour
Decay rate per incident	Inverse to wealth: poor districts lose trust faster (less margin), but start lower so less to lose. Rich districts lose trust slower, but drop further when they do (expectations violated).
Recovery rate	Direct correlation with remedy effectiveness in that specific district. A fix in the Shades matters more there than a fix in Nap Hill matters there.
Inequality sensitivity	If residents perceive they’re treated worse than another district, local trust drops even if service is adequate. “Nap Hill got new pipes again?”
Protest threshold	When local trust drops below 20 (on 0-100 scale), protests become likely. Threshold lower in Shades (fatalistic), higher in Nap Hill (entitled).
Crime correlation	Low local trust = residents don’t report crimes = more crime = lower trust. Vicious cycle.

Decay rates per incident type (district-specific):

Incident Type	Nap Hill	Small Gods	Shades	Mechanism
Water failure (1 day)	-5	-8	-2	Shades expected it; Nap Hill outraged
Water failure (1 week)	-30	-25	-15	Everyone angry, but Shades started lower
Watch delay (burglary)	-15	-5	-1	Shades never expected Watch anyway
Bridge closed	-8	-15	-20	Shades workers can’t get to jobs
Guild strike	-10	-20	-25	Shades more dependent on informal economy
Symbolic failure	-5	-2	-1	Who cares about museum?

Recovery rates per remedy (district-specific):

Remedy	Nap Hill	Small Gods	Shades	Mechanism
Technical restoration	+5/day (fast)	+3/day (moderate)	+1/day (slow)	“About time” vs. “Well, that’s something”
Resilience investment	+2/week (sustained)	+4/week (hopeful)	+6/week (transformative)	New pipes in Shades = miracle; in Nap Hill = expected
Compensatory measures	+8 (one-time)	+10 (one-time)	+15 (one-time)	Free beer in Shades = genuine celebration
Accountability actions	+10 (if noble blamed)	+5 (general)	+20 (if Vimes involved)	Vimes appearance = max recovery in Shades
Vimes visit	-5 (resentment)	+10 (hope)	+30 (faith restored)	Paradox: Nap Hill resents attention elsewhere

Special interactions:

Vimes effect: When Vimes personally intervenes in a Shades or Cockbill Street failure, local trust recovers 2-3x faster than any other remedy. However, this decreases local trust in Nap Hill slightly (jealousy) and increases regulatory pressure globally (nobles complain about favoritism).
Moist effect: When Moist von Lipwig is assigned to fix something, local trust initially drops 5-10 points (“a con man?”), then if he succeeds, recovers 15-20 points (“remarkable!”).
Guild intervention: If a guild fixes a problem in their district, trust in the guild increases, but trust in the city may not (residents credit the guild, not the Patrician).
Contagion: Low trust in one district can spread to adjacent districts. Shades dissatisfaction seeps into Small Gods. Nap Hill smugness annoys everyone else.

District metrics behaviour¶

District	Wealth	Density	Infrastructure	Influence	Local Trust (Start)	Special Characteristics
Nap Hill	High	Low	High	Very High	75	Outraged by minor failures; recovers fast when fixed; resents attention to poor districts
University Precinct	High	Medium	High	Very High	70	Insulated by UU; wizards don’t care about city; but dependent on UU functioning
Merchant Quarter	High	High (day)	High	Very High	72	Business-focused; any disruption = lost income = rapid trust decay
Isle of Gods	Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium	60	Religious factions complicate response; river isolation magnifies transport failures
Small Gods	Low-Med	High	Low-Med	Low	45	Forgotten middle; not rich enough to matter, not poor enough for Vimes
The Shades	Very Low	Very High	Very Low	Negligible	15	Expected nothing; small improvements generate huge trust gains
Cockbill Street	Very Low	Very High	Very Low	Low (Vimes proxy)	20 (in city), 80 (in Vimes)	Proud; won’t complain; Vimes is their real government
River Ankh	N/A	N/A	Very Low	Medium	N/A	No residents, but affects all districts; symbolic heart

Interactions with City-wide metrics¶

Global Metric	District Interaction
Public Trust	Weighted average of district trust, weighted by population and influence. A Nap Hill trust crash affects global trust more than a Shades crash.
Budget	District wealth affects tax contribution. District infrastructure quality affects repair costs.
Regulatory Pressure	District political influence determines how much a local failure increases global pressure. A Nap Hill complaint = high pressure. Shades = negligible.
Political Stability	Weighted by inequality. High inequality (Shades vs. Nap Hill) creates structural instability regardless of average trust.
Legitimacy	Not directly district-affected, but if all districts lose trust simultaneously, legitimacy erodes.

This district-level framework creates meaningful choices:

Do you fix Nap Hill’s water first (high political influence, low population) or Small Gods’ (medium influence, high population)?
Do you invest in Shades infrastructure (huge trust gains, cheap in absolute terms, but high regulatory pressure from nobles asking “why there?”)?
Do you send Vimes to Cockbill Street (massive local trust recovery, but Nap Hill resentment)?
Do you let the Merchants fix their own problem (saves budget, increases guild power) or intervene directly (costs budget, maintains city control)?

The Patrician’s art is balancing these pressures moment by moment, district by district, while never letting anyone see him sweat.