Paris: Brainstorming Help!

[Doctor Comics]

Four friends and I are beginning a Dresden game set in the city of Paris. We have some ideas for the city already, but we're new to the FATE system and I'd love to see what you all think would make for good Themes or Threats for the city.

We already have agreed that Paris has become "the place where all the Black Magicians run to." We're calling it "Black Magic Mecca," and these Black Magicians have formed a sort of "do what thou wilt is the whole of the law" club. The White Council, busy with the Vampire War, finds it easier to contain these guys in the city and post an observer there than go in and try to root all of these guys out.

But we're looking for more Theme/Threat ideas. There's plenty of Locations we can use, but because we know so little about Paris's actual crime/social/economic problems, coming up with Themes/Threats that are appropriately dark and, well, threatening is a challenge.

Any ideas?

[Wyrdrune]

from the top of my head: catacombs, opera, eiffel tower, the grave of the lizard king...

[skakid]

I've been thinking about this one for a long time and I've got lots of ideas:

One thing that has always interested me is the concept of circles existing in and around cities.  Paris has a couple that would particularly neat to think of as "boundaries" for one reason or another. 
The modern day circle that is most prominent is the Périphérique, the highway that goes around the outside of Paris.  It's always been described to me as the boundary of truely living inside Paris.
There is also an old wall that ran around Paris.  Several sections of that wall still exist and it could serve as a boundary for some of the older supernatural things, a prison maybe?

You've also got 20 very distinct districts called arrondissements.  It would be entirely logical to think that a Dresden files Paris would have each of these controlled by different warring supernatural factions.  They're numbered from 1-20 and the lower the number is a traditionally higher class neighborhood.

Also don't forget the islands on the middle of the Seine, Ile de la cité & Île Saint-Louis. Ile de la cité, where Notre Dame is located, was the first settled area in Paris.  Lots of fun possibilities on why people would settle there.

Also on that island is Sainte Chapelle, it was built to house the Crown of Thorns from the Crucifixion.  It goes on display in Notre Dame with a piece of the Cross on Fridays during Lent (if I'm remembering correctly.)

[MijRai]

The catacombs, definitely. Imagine hundreds (if not thousands) of miles of tunnels, with many of them built and supported by skeletons. I've seen pictures of a seven foot tall wall made completely of skulls, holding up the ceiling and going off into the distance. A necromancer's wet dream, and a nice place for a guy who is disdainful of the First Law to dump bodies.

Also, I think ghouls, vampires, etc. would like the area.

[Doctor Comics]

Yeah, we have plans for the Catacombs, and I would like to use the Metro, Notre-dame and more. As I say, locations are easy to come up with.

It's Themes that are more challenging. But something about "Boundaries" sounds potentially useful, and one of our players had already clued us in to the spiral nature of the city's neighborhoods.

I appreciate everyone who has chipped in so far, and look forward to any and all comments. This is our first attempt at making a city.

[mostlyawake]

On the mundane side, france is notorious for their employment laws, which disenfranchise those joining the work force.  The (small-scale) riots we have seen in the last decade stem from people graduating, possibly doing their 2 years in the military, and then being unable to find work.   So you're going to have a section of the most active population (18-25) who are mad at the system.  How that plays into the supernatural is your call, but it makes them easy pawns for those offering work.  However, paris has a sort of history of discontented populations, so perhaps this is caused by spirits of malcontent?

[Doctor Comics]

I didn't know about this at all, so that's a great tip. Thanks!

[ralexs1991]

You really can't do a paris campaign without having a powerful white court presence there also maybe think about putting a black court scourge lair in the catacombs
another thing to take advantage of while in europe are the mass burial pits left over from the Plauge if that doesn't scream ripe ghost material/ possibly another attempt at the Darkhollow idk what does

[skakid]

ooh White court gives me an idea.  With Paris being known as such a traditionally romantic city a cool theme would be "City of Love and Lust"

[mostlyawake]

I thought the catacombs were partially a result of the plague?

Also, there's a crazy documentary just about Paris sewers, and how they've had to adapt over time.  Not only do you have the catacombs, but you've got miles of old sewer lines, giving you a setting very much like that of underground chicago in Dresden.
http://itotd.com/articles/432/paris-sewers/

There's one article about it, at least. 

I also thought about white court presence and the city of love, but it just seemed too easy... perhaps easy is good though.

Hrm... the champs-elysees used to have a white-light only ban, causing it to be the only place in the world where mcdonald's golden arches were white. I'm not sure if the ban still holds, but it's proximity to elysee castle (and the elysian field mythology, "where heroes go to relax") could mean that the 1 1/4 mile strip of white light could be a calculated occult development... perhaps serving as a sort of "landing strip" or "take-off strip", launching certain beings into the ether.  The veil between worlds (particularly heaven?) could be treated as 2 less in that area, giving angels and the like a more powerful way into the city.  I mean, sure, churches work like that too probably, but come on, why would heaven have NEEDED such a large landing strip?

[Doctor Comics]

"City of Love and Lust" is a great one. I'm a sucker for a good romantic subplot, personally, and while I'm open to vampires in Paris I want to make sure it's not just another bunch of vamps the same as everywhere else, you know?

Thanks for the link to the documentary!