D&D Cities, looking for a little help

[Hjorimir]

I’m looking for help (or a product to help) breathing some extra life into the cities in my D&D campaign. There’s this huge void in regards to things like guilds, trading, and banking. Heck, I’d love to see some guidelines on appropriate laws for a D&D setting. The thing is, I could probably research how many of these things worked throughout Earth’s history, but that doesn’t meld with the D&D economy.

Anyway, does anybody here have any ideas or product suggestions to throw my way? Cityscape doesn’t look like it was received all that well, so I’m hesitant to buy a book that I won’t get good use out of.

 

[BV210]

I like Cityworks from Fantasy Flight Games. It's got some goodies in it.

 

[Mark CMG]

http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG3223.php

http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG3213.php

Those should both help.

 

[I'm A Banana]

You've tried Cityscape, right?

I mean, it's kind of mediocre, but it does go into the shape of things like guilds, noble houses, churches, etc. pretty well.

 

[Jdvn1]

Cityscape doesn’t look like it was received all that well, so I’m hesitant to buy a book that I won’t get good use out of.

I liked Cityscape. You should at least take a look in there.

 

[jgbrowning]

You could try the free A Magical Medieval City Guide

It won a gold ENnie and it's all about cities...

joe b.

 

[bento]

You might want to look through DMG2. I think there's a section on developing guilds, and their sample city, Saltmarsh, is a great example of a "fleshed-out" city with guilds, NPCs and adventure hooks.

 

[Voadam]

The basics have pretty much been covered, cityworks by FFG, Magical Medieval City Guide by Expeditious Retreat Press, Crime and Punishment by Atlas Games.

I would add Bits of the Boulevard by Tabletop Adventures, for on the go instant scene descriptions. I don't have the Boulevard city one but the wilderness and underground setting ones I have from them I've found useful.

 

[kigmatzomat]

You could try the free A Magical Medieval City Guide

It won a gold ENnie and it's all about cities...

joe b.

Joe's a polite sort, who wouldn't push anyone to buy his works.

Me, I'd tell you to go on and pick up Magical Medieval Society:Western Europe to get the whole kit and kaboodle. It really is an excellent book with excellent writing (okay, they need someone with OCD to proof read), the mechanics presented are elegant and efficient, and it covers a much wider range of topics than just the free PDF.

 

[Phaedrus]

I'll throw in a vote for 7 Cities as a good product, but it's not a help for building your own towns--it's a collection of ready-made towns. 1 town of each size with good flavor for each. The only knock I have on it (and it's minor), is that it recycles the people. The locations in the hamlet are used in the village, town, etc. It multiplies the detail of the larger towns without adding page count, but it precludes using each of the 7 cities in the same campaign without doing some customizations. But a solid product for sure.