Best Fantasy City Supplement For Sandbox Play

[ilgatto]

What City supplement is the best for an open Sandbox fantasy game? I will probably be running the thing in 5E, but it doesn't have to be designed for 5E so long as I can get ahold of a PDF (preferably with a VTT usable map). Extra points if it comes with plenty of generators for random stuff, from street gangs to shops to brothels.

Thanks.

I've always used Cities of Hârn (Columbia Games, 1983) to base my cities on. Perhaps not quite what you're looking for but it has helped me to understand the workings of cities - and the maps are ace for many reasons* imho.

For full-on random weirdness (and some definitely not-so-well-aged tables) I do believe that City State of the Invincible Overlord (JG, 1976) is pretty hard to beat.

*:

Bit of a work in progress (as it has been for many a decade) but there you go.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So, I am given to understand that Ptolus is based on Monte Cook's office 3E campaign: how does that translate in the 5E version?

Not bad at all. The biggest issue is that some of the D&D monster names in the 3E version are replaced with the names of other MCG monsters. An umber hulk in the Banewarrens, for instance, is replaced with a "burrulk," which is in Planebreaker. But it's completely obvious from context that it was originally an umber hulk, and so I just decided that "burrulk" was Dwarven for umber hulk and didn't even break stride in my campaign.

Otherwise, the book is almost unchanged, other than even more art.

 

[kronovan]

Zobeck, the central city in the Midgard World setting for D&D 5e is a terrific city setting published by Kobold Press - same folks that publish the 3 Tome of Beasts and Creature Codexes.

There's the Streets of Zobeck which details key locations with text and maps and has an anthology of adventures. As well there's the Zobeck Gazetteer, which highly details the city and adds some nice 5e features, such as new spells, backgrounds, mounts, magic items and feats. I can't access either currently, but IIRC neither has adventure generation tables. I have found the adventures and locations to be supportive of sandbox style campaigns, although the adventures are targeted at specific PC levels. Were you to use another adventure generator and replace locations with those in Zobeck, it'd probably work just fine. Kobold Press through their fan contributed Warlock series, have published a truly dizzying number of adventures for the setting.

There also a newer Zobeck: Clockwork City Collectors Edition, which includes both Streets of Zobeck and the Gazetteer and also bundles in additional content. I don't own it, so I can't comment on the additional content. It does mention that it includes 30 new maps and 2 new adventures.

 

[Hand of Evil]

IF you can find it AEG's Toolbox, it is a book of tables, lots and lots of random tables. Things you will find inside, Urban Diversions, Pick Pocket Yields, Marketplace Goods, Tavern Interiors, Taver Patrons, Encounters and so much more. It is a wonderful and helpful book to help a GM to add details and information. Can find Ultimate Toolbox on DriveThurRPG

 

[Mannahnin]

For a highly magical city, Skerples' Magical Industrial Revolution is full of generators, for all sorts of wild stuff. If you were looking for an Ankh-Morpork type city that the player characters could make their fortune in while trying to prevent multiple apocalypses caused by runaway magical innovation, it's your book.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but I find Vornheim, which does include lots of random generators, to be pretty overhyped. It's thin, in every sense, and leans hard on the edgelord stuff, but doesn't really have much to recommend it as a city book, IMO.

Skerples writes amazing stuff. I have not played with or read MIR but based on his blog content and The Monster Overhaul, I'm sure his setting book has to be quality.

I had good success with Vornheim, but it is a bit thin, and Zak's no longer someone I want to support.

One book I haven't seen anyone mention yet here is Baklin: Jewel of the Seas, by Gabor Lux AKA Melan/EMDT (same creator as Castle Xyntillan). I find his stuff eminently gameable and well written, and at only 72 pages this one is more digestible than a lot of the big tomes.

 

[Voadam]

IF you can find it AEG's Toolbox, it is a book of tables, lots and lots of random tables. Things you will find inside, Urban Diversions, Pick Pocket Yields, Marketplace Goods, Tavern Interiors, Taver Patrons, Encounters and so much more. It is a wonderful and helpful book to help a GM to add details and information. Can find Ultimate Toolbox on DriveThurRPG

AEG's Toolbox is on DriveThru as well (and for one third the price of the 400-page Ultimate Toolbox one).

 

[Hand of Evil]

InkWell Ideas also may have "deck" to help out with a city.

As far as Cities, I liked Bluffside and WFRP Middenheim but you can use real world cities, a hack to get some craziness is to use two or three city maps and lay them one on top of the other.

 

[Fenris-77]

Fever Dreaming Marlinko is a really well done city setting with a ton of useful random goodies. Yoon-Suin is also excellent.

 

[Aldarc]

I will also second Green Ronin's Freeport setting. There are so many conversions for so many different systems out there: e.g., 3e, AGE, Pathfinder, Fate, Shadow of the Demon Lord, etc. so you can use the material for a lot of common games out there, though I don't know if there is one for 5e.

 

[Hand of Evil]

If you are looking for some maps of cities, check out Cartographers' Guild - a community for maps of fantasy, sci-fi and real world locations