City
Table 3–1: City Names 1 Accordport
Forked River 7
Table 3–2: City Names 2 Mithriltine
Port Deepwater 5
Slayer's Point 10
Sorcerer Crest 11
Stillwater Bay 15
Stonebridge 16
Swordburg 17
Treant Grove 18
Waretown 19
Table 3–3: City First Impressions Aging and outdated architecture 1
Bustling transportation of carts and canals 2
Busy and colorful 3
Chaotic and wild society 4
Crowded and unkempt 5
Foul-smelling and smoky 6
Heavily guarded and well armed 7
Heavily taxed but kept up 8
Heavy beggar population 9
Lawful and controlled society 10
Many large manors with nobles 11
Pride of citizens shows everywhere 12
Private and withdrawn 13
Quiet and sleepy in general 14
Racially diversified everywhere 15
Racially separated neighborhoods 16
Shame of citizens can be seen 17
Strong with industry of various sorts 18
Well patrolled neighborhoods 19
Wide streets with vendors 20
CITIEs
This chapter's distinct flow may not readily be apparent. First, there are tables that help GMs view and build cities. They answer the basic questions—how big is it, what is the population like, who rules (and who really rules). Next, descriptive tables help GMs visualize and describe a city from a character’s point of view, almost like a tour.
This is a basic city description (perhaps as seen from a distance) and lore they may have heard, followed by the city gates and initial architecture. Then there are sights, sounds, and smells to help set a mood. Third, the chapter delves into the different places for characters to explore and interact with—
merchants, guilds, inns, taverns, and the like and the various interests that naturally attract adventurers.
Table 3–4: City Gatehouses
Ancient stonework, with stone doors each with a lion head bas relief.
1
Ancient stonework towers. Foreboding gargoyle statues on each side. Fitted rock/iron gate.
2
Gigantic archway with massive darkwood doors set in place on massive hinges.
3
Iron towers and walls with an iron gate. Banners hang from the ramparts.
4
Loose stonework and shoddy craftsmanship make up the walls and gatehouse.
5
Masterfully carved and worked reinforced wooden towers and gate doors with iron rings.
6
Stone guardhouse with an iron portcullis worked into the city’s coat of arms.
7
Stone guardhouses resemble dragon statues.
8
Stone towers and portcullis, with signs of dwarven craftsmanship.
9
Stone towers and walls with wooden gate. The sigils carved on the stone are elemental in nature.
10
Stone towers and drawbridge. The marks of a stone giant clan betray its origin.
11
Stone walls and gatehouse reinforced with steel bands. Stone golem gate doors.
12
Stone walls and iron gate. Blast marks show it has resisted battle sorcery.
13
Wooden gatehouse is a replica of the castle or keep which it guards.
14
Wooden gatehouse holds multiple side watchtowers and crenelations.
15
Wooden tower and gate with steel reinforcements.
16
Wooden towers and portcullis. Some portions are worked with druid magic.
17
Wooden towers with wooden gate built into and around giant trees.
18
Wooden towers, walls, and drawbridge. Flies flags of the city’s emblem.
19
Wooden walls and gate topped with wooden spikes.
20
Table 3–5: Gatehouse Diversions
Bounty hunter watches everyone who enters 1
Cleric of a holy order is welcoming and inviting everyone to his house of worship 2
Contains a heavy patrol of town guards 3
Contains a light patrol of town guards 4
Crowd is being cleared to allow a coach to enter or exit 5
Guards check wagons and goods 6
Guards search all who enter 7
Members of the ruling family are here to greet all who enter 8
Members of the town guard check all who enter against a wanted poster 9
Merchants caught smuggling illegal goods into the city 10
Monks from another land look for someone specific in the crowd 11
Noble, surrounded by his entourage, passes easily into the city 12
Nonhuman is refused entrance 13
Pack animals in a caravan become alarmed 14
Patrol with a watch wizard 15
Pickpocket cases the crowd 16
Pilgrims set up camp outside the walls 17
Struggle begins when hooded figures are revealed to be nonhumans in disguise 18
Young woman passes out wooden tokens for free ale at a tavern just inside the gates 19
‘Watchwizard’ stands by and occasionally casts a divination (or other) spell as people enter 20
Table 3–6: City Location Background Built around a very wealthy noble estate 1
Built around prominent fortress 2
Built over ancient ruins 3
Built over tribal burial cairns 4
Built to conquer a river mouth 5
City was taken by current inhabitants from other people 6
Constructed near woodlands for foresting 7
Constructed to bring local towns together 8
Crafted around a set of ancient monoliths 9
Crafted on the site of a prosperous academy 10
Gradually built around a consortium of guilds 11
Location chosen to watch enemy lands 12
Once acted as a meeting locale for neighboring villages 13
One the sight of a great battle 14
Rebuilt completely after a terrible fire 15
Site chosen for its excellent defensible position 16
Site of a prosperous trading post 17
Site of an ancient peace treaty between warring neighbors 18
To help secure a border with a nearby nation 19
Was funded by wealthy adventurers where they chose to settle 20
Table 3–7: City History, Basic
Corruption split the government, creating a vaccuum of power as disparate forces vie for control 1
Cultist plot caused many deaths and paranoia, leaving many commoners xenophobic and guarded 2
Destruction of local basilica created hopelessness, demoralizing even the least religious people 3
Economic recession caused hardship among the working classes and only now is the city recovering 4
Enemy invasion was barely repelled, leaving the leadership of the city in disarray 5
Flooding from a broken levee toppled walls and ruptured infrastructure 6
Frequent monster attacks against the city have forced an increase in taxes for guards and defenses 7
Guild collapse caused shift in goverment and financial problems that rippled throughout the city 8
Incurable disease ravaged every neighborhood, regardless of wealth 9
Magical disaster has citizens distrusting spell casters 10
Massive fire raged, destroying large sections of the city and leaving many people homeless 11
Monetary influx allowed time of great prosperity 12
Neighborhood battles once nearly tore city apart 13
Plague nearly wiped out the original founders 14
Racial animosity and war have marred every stage of the city's history 15
Residue and resentment from a recent civil war are still felt today, dividing the city into two camps 16
Religious upheaval turned the citizens against one another and threatened to cripple the city 17
Riots against the government destroyed civic centers, cultural halls, monuments, and prisons 18
Usurper conquered the city in a near-bloodless coup years ago 19
Wharf collapse caused the docks to be rebuilt anew with great care 20
Table 3–8: City History, Detailed
150 years ago an outcast dwarf clan set up a roadside smithy and business in this valley, used by 1
transients from the surrounding human lands as a shortcut, chosen for its many hilly streams rumored to be rife with gold. This initial greed and spreading of rumors built up the community around the location, and while the gold has never made anyone rich, it still draws new prospects to its good location.
What began as a border town turned into a mass grave when merciless barbarians sacked and 2
razed it to the ground. Once the nation reclaimed the border, the graves were marked and warded by a wall and monument. A settlement grew around the new trade and the city grew from the necropolis.
Built in a vale of great safety and beauty, a paladin order chose this spot to build their stronghold 3
and move their families and friends. Soon, clerics of the paladins’ faith flocked to visit and bless the site, and the same security and beauty that drew the paladins had many visitors relocate here permanently.
Built on the site where a great dragon was defeated not more than 20 years ago, a community 4
sprang up to support the treasure seekers and hunters who comb the nearby mountains searching for the beast’s supposed multiple lairs to this day.
A brotherhood of celestial monks cornered and put down a great demon on this spot over 300 5
years ago. Defeat did not come easily for the creature, and the monks had to settle for encasing it in a great rune in the earth forged by magic of obsidian. They built their monastery on the spot to guard it eternally, and soon drew curious support from surrounding lands to the spot.
A cliffside dwelling of an ancient civilization which was revealed by an earthquake over 50 years ago 6
continues to impress newcomers and explorers with its strong architecture and winding passages.
Bards and magi agree there are no curses or hauntings to be found, and declared that to be so, which began a boon of movers soon after discovery.
The community was built around a gigantic stone golem. While inert, scholars and bards agree its 7
runes speak of a prophecy of protection. Now the towering figure of an ancient hero stands silently among a field of buildings and roadways all depending on it in a time of need.
Demand for a specific mineral clay found only in the nearby foothills drew miners, excavators, and 8
dwarf ambassadors to this site long ago. The ability of the clay to be molded to replicate ivory and other materials keeps explorers of the mazelike tunnels around and beneath the city occupied.
Numerous trade routes flow through the city, as well, increasing traffic.
Explorers found a great stone building containing a foundry, forge, and waterwheel, apparently run 9
by elemental power. Sages eventually figured out the runes to command the trapped spirits, and a community built up around what has become a workhouse of industry and craft for the nation.
For 200 years this struggling border community tried to main a stable trading area for the northern 10
realms, but barbarians and wild elves held that dream in check. A prince of an aging king of a nearby metropolis took his fortune and family and created a principality of the land, investing heavily in leading guilds here and creating a haven for trade caravans.
The great forest had long been exploited by the hobgoblin raiders of the western islands. An 11
alliance between elves of the wood and men built a protective city at a natural harbor from which to launch patrol ships to keep the coast free of invasion.
Human engineers and their dwarf stone-guild allies spent a princely sum to complete a great stone 12
bridge stone bridge connecting two interested but separated lands. The consortium collected large fees from anyone wishing to build at the new point of interest (either on a cliff bank or on the nearly 100 foot-wide bridge itself), and it grew very quickly thereafter.
Obsidian Crest was a growing trade town until the nearby volcano — believed to be dormant — 13
erupted. Because of the stone architecture used and the nearby gully’s leading to the lake, many of the structures survived. When rebuilding began, the city planners encouraged wizards to build towers and accompanying wards to protect the city below.
Once a countrywide, sprawling noble estate, eventually five children inherited the land, divided 14
it into districts, and attracted parties interested in their whims to their lands, slowly filling in the community and populating the fields. Old farmland slowly spread outward from the central city, which today is run by great-grandchildren of the founding nobles.
Originally the site of a military border keep where patrols from the central land flocked in droves 15
to ensure security, the site grew and expanded as guard’s families and supply businesses natural migrated to the area. More than a few brutal conflicts have been fought there in years past. Now the city thrives, still basing most of its income on military spending.
Over 100 years ago the great hero Galston Magus led a small army against the forces of a 16
neighboring nation that had been bolstered with demonic warriors. When the hero and his team finally won the day, a camp was erected from across the blasted battlefield. As support came for the troops and the border was determined, permanent buildings were finally set in place and Galston was named mayor.
Religious pilgrims, persecuted for their multi-pantheon faith, fled their homeland until they came to 17
an ancient spiraled tower. It was abandoned, but contained runes of many gods. The faithful settled here and the curiosity slowly drew others. Buildings grew around and near the spire, which slowly grew to the city-state it is today.
Scholars came for years to study towering, monolithic standing stones until one university 18
sponsored a field trip with its best decipherers. While still very little progress was made, the college built an outpost and soon a community to support it was built within the great ring.
A team of explorers discovered a portal beneath the surface in the darklands leading to other 19
worlds. The last magical communication with their families before they vanished kicked off a decade of researchers, wizards, and rescuers studying the ancient device. Support soon formed a community and before long a city.
Upland communities finally had enough of the longship raiding from the land’s northern barbaric 20
neighbors. They gathered church and royal sponsors and built a protective wall to guard the mouth of the river and build up the nations’ best ship manufacturer.
Table 3–9: City Description, Detailed
Amoeboid in shape, this irregular city straddles a fork in a great river. An irregular wall of many 1
small towers tightly surrounds the community. A series of bridges and docks are found on the waterfronts. The quarters are castle, noble, commons and gold. The gold quarter is dominated by large mining and smithy businesses and guilds.
A circular city built on the side of a steep hill, the walls are stone and broken by many fortified 2
towers. From top to bottom, the city has castle, nobility, market, and residential quarters. Large buildings are not in vogue; instead a small, simple dwelling or design is favored by all.
Built into a wedge cliff beside a tall mountain, this city has a single simple wall blocking the one 3
mouth to the community. Towering stair sections lead up to the many districts in the cliffside itself, including guard and jail, red-light, guild, residential, and magic. Below on the ground the city is divided temple, keep, noble, and warehouse quarters.
The dock ward of this seaside city sits outside the common, irregularly-walled community, which is 4
itself divided into two by a tall wall. In the smaller district are the market, warehouse, and caravan districts intermixed with slums. In the larger are the keep, guild, and wealthy residential districts.
The outside docks sprawl with wooden buildings and act as another third of the city.
Hexagonal in shape, a single river runs directly through the city, and a sturdy simple stone wall 5
surrounds it. One large bridge dominates the center of town and is part of the castle. Smaller docks can be found irregularly along the river. There is a park of considerable size in one quarter with a small lake. The districts are guard, market, military, slums, and aristocrat.
An irregularly shaped wall dominated by massive towers surrounds this city, which straddles a 6
river mouth as it empties into a larger body. Docks line the entire open end, and the keep is in the northeast quadrant in the government quarter. Others quarters are residential, market, and warehouse (which is mostly in the dock quarter).
An “L” shaped city wall takes advantage of the mountainous hill where the castle sits surrounded 7
by government buildings and mansions in the noble quarter. Below the city is divided into remaining quarters (business, residential, and temple) by extra wide, well-patrolled roads.
This multi-section walled city surrounds a natural cove harbor, with high points rising to the crest 8
of each side of the bay. A keep acts as a gatehouse leading to the central section of town, where the castle and government buildings lie. The central city is used for market, taverns and inns, ship repair and warehouses. Two sections divided from the central city by low walls at opposite ends house the wealthy residents in one and the common folk in the other.
Nestled deep in a forest is this elf city, mostly consisting of elf businesses and homes built above in 9
the trees and visitor’s quarters of market, inn, magic, and temple on the ground below. A careful gully system filled with wooden traps surrounds the city in a natural way difficult to spot for invaders. In only three places does a large, natural-looking giant tree bridge span these defenses.
Nicknamed Five Points, this oval high-walled city acts as a crossroads for five major roads that pass 10
through this community to the surrounding nations. The wide roads divide the city into temple, market, inn, embassy, and noble districts respectively.
No wall surrounds this city among the pines, with a combination keep and walled university at 11
the center, slowly spanning out into other districts as allowed by the deep valleys nearby. Building styles are extra strong. The many small districts include embassy, tavern, noble, residential, guildhall, and marketplace.
Octagonal walls surround a high hill where the castle is situated, looking down on the city.
12
Government buildings are nestled tightly around the hill. The tavern, guard, caravan, warehouse, wealthy, and common residential districts span out from the government buildings to the walls.
Oval in shape, this city straddles the north bank of a mighty river. Two levels of hill surround 13
the community, each topped by a reinforced wooden wall with watchtowers. The keep is by the riverside, surrounded by the dock ward, marketplace, commons, red light district, and guild quarter.
Oval-shaped city with few but high towers dividing the wall. One edge of the city sits aside a 14
great cliff face, with a natural caravan road leading down to the lowlands below. Two gatehouses lead visitors to the west and north from the city. The castle sits in the center, surrounded by the residential, guild, market, and caravan quarters.
A perfectly rectangular city built with double walls in many places was built ambitiously, for there 15
are still open fields between the central community and the walls which 50 years have not yet filled.
There are east and west gates only, as the city straddles a great trade route. Vegetation is plentiful in and around the buildings. The quarters are trade, residential, military, and market.
A sprawling city in a giant clearing uses the thick, oppressive jungle surrounding it as a defense, 16
patrolled from many small watchtowers and guardhouses. A fourth side is a small natural harbor.
A castle with a moat sits toward the center, surrounded by the inn, dock, guild, residential, noble, and ambassador’s quarters. Small streams divide the quarters, with patrolled bridges to access each.
A sprawling metropolis built at the mouth of a river, no wall surrounds this community built in and 17
among the various tributaries of the river. Bridges and spans cross the waterways, and docks and ferries are plentiful. The districts include dock, warehouse, market, wealthy and average residential, and castle (containing a number of fortress-like holds of the government).
A three-sectioned wall cuts off the entrance to this mountain community originally founded by 18
dwarves (who remain the dominant population). Squat, stone buildings dominate the area outside and within the cavern, with residential areas on the cave walls. The keep and military quarter are
dwarves (who remain the dominant population). Squat, stone buildings dominate the area outside and within the cavern, with residential areas on the cave walls. The keep and military quarter are