capturing the feel of a big city

GlassJaw · Jul 14, 2005

The next campaign that I'll run will most likely be a Grim Tales/steampunk-ish low-magic campaign mainly set in a large, dark, gothic, and industrial city.

I've been acquiring various city supplements lately (Freeport, Thieves' Quarter) and I have a lot of other city supplements (City of Greyhawk, City of Splendors, City System, etc) but I'm really unsure how to bring the feel of a big city to the table.

Besides actual NPC's or locations, are there any helpful in-game methods to make the city itself seem very imposing and labyrinthine?

One of the other daunting tasks I've always encountered in cities is when the players ask about a certain place or shop they want to go to. Since the campaign will mostly take place in the city, I'm wondering how much of the city I need to detail in advance.

Also, does anyone know of any good resources (online or otherwise) of information on daily life and living conditions of cities in the Victorian-era?

hexgrid · Jul 14, 2005

One thing to check out might be the PBS "reality" show, 1900 House. It can tell you all you'd want to know (and more) about life in a Victorian household.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/

Turanil · Jul 14, 2005

GlassJaw said:
The next campaign that I'll run will most likely be a Grim Tales/steampunk-ish low-magic campaign mainly set in a large, dark, gothic, and industrial city.

Also, does anyone know of any good resources (online or otherwise) of information on daily life and living conditions of cities in the Victorian-era?

City is foggey almost all of the time, due to coal pollution.

JimAde · Jul 14, 2005

Here are a couple of useful links:
http://www.philm.demon.co.uk/Steampunk/
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/index.html

And look in Turanil's sig for a collection of 100 mundane urban locations. (Turanil, why didn't you mention that?)

EDIT: ACK! He changed his sig!

Turanil, can you post a link?

Edit again: It's in his "d20 downloads" link.

HellHound · Jul 14, 2005

The trick with a huge city is to make it not feel like a huge dungeon.

I have a map drawn out with the street names and some ideas. When the players want to go to a shop, I pull out a shop name, pick a street for it to be on, and try to make it flavorful enough that the players don't go looking for another shop that sells the same goods.

In time, the city becomes a series of transit ways from shop X to bar Y and residence Z, with the players dividing the city into 'known' and 'unknown' in their minds and their characters' perceptions. Bax Y is known, but Bar P is unknown. In time, people in the known areas will be friendly to the characters and gather information checks in known areas is easier, while going into unknown areas (even if you know where they are, you just don't go there often) feels vaguely alien, and unfriendly.

Players are generally good for helping this phenomenon out. As you describe places and people in detail, they begin to feel at home in those environments - now give them reasons to keep going back to those same places, and add a new shop or tavern or residence into the mix every game session - either to add the new area to their collection of repeat locations, or to remind them of how big the city really is.

Turanil · Jul 14, 2005

JimAde said:
And look in Turanil's sig for a collection of 100 mundane urban locations.

EDIT: ACK! He changed his sig! Turanil, can you post a link?

Edit again: It's in his "d20 downloads" link.

LOL! (Thanks for mentioning!)

JimAde said:
(Turanil, why didn't you mention that?)

Because he said he wants a "steam-punkish" Victorian city, and I thought that the 100 urban locations would fit a standard medieval or D&D, but not what he wants. But maybe I am wrong...

JimAde · Jul 14, 2005

Turanil said:
LOL! (Thanks for mentioning!)

Because he said he wants a "steam-punkish" Victorian city, and I thought that the 100 urban locations would fit a standard medieval or D&D, but not what he wants. But maybe I am wrong...

I think some of them are generic enough to fit in. Besides, it's FREE! Definitely worth a look.

GlassJaw · Jul 14, 2005

JimAde said:
Here are a couple of useful links:
http://www.philm.demon.co.uk/Steampunk/
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/index.html
.

Wow, those rock! Thanks Jim. Looks like I have some reading to do.

JimAde said:
And look in Turanil's sig for a collection of 100 mundane urban locations. (Turanil, why didn't you mention that?)

Turanil said:
Because he said he wants a "steam-punkish" Victorian city, and I thought that the 100 urban locations would fit a standard medieval or D&D, but not what he wants. But maybe I am wrong...

Turanil, pimp away, please!

I have a map drawn out with the street names and some ideas. When the players want to go to a shop, I pull out a shop name, pick a street for it to be on, and try to make it flavorful enough that the players don't go looking for another shop that sells the same goods.

In time, the city becomes a series of transit ways from shop X to bar Y and residence Z, with the players dividing the city into 'known' and 'unknown' in their minds and their characters' perceptions.

This is good stuff. What I would like to do is create some of the major locations in the city and then use published materials (Freeport, Thieves' Quarter, etc) to pull out things quickly as I need them. With my trusty laptop at hand, I would record what places the PC's go to and being to build up a database of locations in the city.

I would also like to give the players some creative freedom in the campaign. Since the campaign would be very plot and character-based (and there would probably be some experienced players in the group), I would let them develop and flesh out their favorite hot spots in the city. If they are a "regular" at a hole-in-the-wall pub, then they could design the layout, pick a name for the pub, develop the personalities of the owner and regulars, etc.

I really want the players to feel that they are "residents" of the city rather than just passing through.

Storminator · Jul 14, 2005

I play in Sharn. I have all the Sharn Maps up on the wall, and I use a laser pointer to point to the wards where the location of interest is. I pretty much never get more detailed than that. I also have a list of all the important places the PCs go and the NPCs associated with them. I've found the players keep going back to the places they know.

Sharn also has a nice rule for being a regular at a tavern that you might want to cob.

And I recommend reading the Great Train Robbery. It's set in Victorian London and has tons of great details about the crime scene there.

PS

Quickleaf · Jul 14, 2005

You know, I have two crazy ideas that might just be what you're looking for.

#1 -- You can get lost in the city. Avoiding getting lost requires a Knowledge (local) check (or just an INT check), with a DC depending on what district you're in. Use the rules in the SRD Wilderness and Environment section as inspiration, perhaps increase chance of dangerous random encouners (muggers, wandering into enemy's HQ) while lost.

Convenient district with street signs and friendly people (DC 2)
Industrial district with surly folk and many alleys (DC 10)
Slum or ghetto with suspicious people and tangled houses (DC 15)
Labyrinthine thieves' district with secret passages (DC 20)

It is raining heavily +2
It is at night (+3 if there is poor street lighting, +1 if there is good lighting)
A fog sets in +5

#2 -- Allow PCs to make a skill check to locate a type of store, with a DC based on the store's rarity in your campaign, and allow them to describe the site, who their PC knows, how they know about the place, etc. Knowledge (local) and Gather Information are likely candidates, though for a church you may allow a PC to use Knowledge (religion) or for a spell components shop Knowledge (arcana). An example of DCs...

Industrial/steam-mech forger/royal smith (DC 14)
Spell component dealer/talismonger (DC 15)
Illegal operations/thieves guild (DC 16)

capturing the feel of a big city

GlassJaw

Hero

hexgrid

Explorer

Turanil

First Post

JimAde

First Post

HellHound

ENnies winner and NOT Scrappy Doo

Turanil

First Post

JimAde

First Post

GlassJaw

Hero

Storminator

First Post

Quickleaf

Legend

Similar Threads