Testing a Random Village Generator (and a City Generator)

ChaosGenerators · May 2, 2018

I would like feedback on a new Quick Village generator with several elements. (And also a Quick City Generator)

Currently always has name, population, leader, known for, beset by
It might also have descriptor, physical feature, leader status, history, recent event (replacing beset by)

On Normal mode larger villages have more features, on Minimal only the "always" elements are included and Everything has it all

Feedback appreciated on what to include for a village, anything that looks strange and anything you like!

Thanks!

Imaculata · May 2, 2018

I noticed the generator has a tendency to create very fantastic villages, which often contain rather outlandish details in the description, such as being beset by an insect plague. Plus even after 5 or so randomly generated villages, I already notice repetition. I think I'd rather have a more believable description of what the village looks like, rather than that it is known for yet another legendary hero... or an incredibly skilled roofer.

The names it creates are okay though.

ChaosGenerators · May 3, 2018

Imaculata said:
I noticed the generator has a tendency to create very fantastic villages, which often contain rather outlandish details in the description, such as being beset by an insect plague. Plus even after 5 or so randomly generated villages, I already notice repetition. I think I'd rather have a more believable description of what the village looks like, rather than that it is known for yet another legendary hero... or an incredibly skilled roofer.

The names it creates are okay though.

Thanks for taking a look! The names are from another generator.

What details would you like to see in a description?
- Details such as thatched roofs, a village green, a family having an argument on the street, houses mostly made of mud?

Repetition should reduce over time as more elements are added.

Imaculata · May 3, 2018

I think more descriptions of what the village actually looks like, would be a welcome addition. And perhaps more details regarding its geographical location, such as by a river, or by a lake.

ChaosGenerators · May 8, 2018

I've had a go at adding in some descriptions. I'll come in and add some more once I'm done with cities and towns!

ChaosGenerators · May 8, 2018

Also now added a Quick Fantasy City generator

Celebrim · May 8, 2018

In general, architectural details are unwelcome to me, because climate and geography tends to determine every feature of architecture and if I'm generating a village I generally know the climate and so can guess at the architecture. If you are going to give architectural suggestions, I'd suggest limiting your generator to embellishments like how the buildings are painted, carved, decorated, or whether the buildings are mostly old and rundown or new and well-kept.

As a minor note, the populations you are generating would be small towns in my more medieval inspired game. Villages in my mind tend to be under 200 people. As small towns, I'd want more details for them, similar to what you do for cities. Cities above 25000 are so rare that I don't need a generator for them, and the simple details of your village feel relevant only for hamlets of 80 or fewer people.

One of the main things I want to know for a town is what is the basis of the economy. Villages under 200 tend to be almost entirely agrarian and handcrafts, but towns of 200-2000 people pretty much always have at least one manufacturing activity per 1000 people or so. Examples of manufacturing activity include mining, quarrying, horse breeding, weaving, logging, basket-weaving, rope-making, brewing, distilling, cheese making, felting, pickling, smoking or drying meats, milling, forging, leather working, wainwrights, boat wrights, etc. Most manufacturing will distributed around a number of smaller work places, but occasionally it may be centered around a factory, temple, or monastery. Knowing the main economic interests tells me a ton about the town.

Calithorne · May 9, 2018

If every village has weird stuff going on, then you're really overloading the players with too much weird stuff to deal with. Most villages should have hum-drum problems, and if your players are into it, they can have fun dealing with that.

ChaosGenerators · May 9, 2018

Calithorne said:
If every village has weird stuff going on, then you're really overloading the players with too much weird stuff to deal with. Most villages should have hum-drum problems, and if your players are into it, they can have fun dealing with that.

There are a few elements every settlement has (which I'm still playing around with) and then a % chance depending on size of the settlement of more bits of information. So the larger the settlement the more details it will have. Still a work in progress

I'm also trying to match the problems of a village to be different to those of a city.

ChaosGenerators · May 9, 2018

Celebrim said:
As a minor note, the populations you are generating would be small towns in my more medieval inspired game. Villages in my mind tend to be under 200 people.....

...towns of 200-2000 people pretty much always have at least one manufacturing activity per 1000 people or so. Examples of manufacturing activity include mining, quarrying, horse breeding, weaving, logging, basket-weaving, rope-making, brewing, distilling, cheese making, felting, pickling, smoking or drying meats, milling, forging, leather working, wainwrights, boat wrights, etc. Most manufacturing will distributed around a number of smaller work places, but occasionally it may be centered around a factory, temple, or monastery. Knowing the main economic interests tells me a ton about the town.

Populations and what constitutes a village/town/city in different eras is a discussion that could take years. I've taken the population levels from the D&D 5E DMG but I see Pathfinder has a lower threshold for a village so I might reduce that down to 250-500 people mark as upper limit.

I've been thinking about what filters to add and one for economy seems like a strong choice. Or maybe one asking what you would like descriptions focused on (physical description, economy and trade, town in need...)