My cities suck

[Stahn Li]

On my constant quest to become a better DM I always try to pay attention to my weaknesses. And on of them is all my cities are genaric and flavorless. The mostly consist of a slum, a merchant square, a royal distric, ect.

What strategies do all of you use to develope a unique feel for a city.

What are some cool cities you have built in the past

 

[Trickstergod]

There are a number of ways, without having to resort to off the wall things like arches made of gold, or dragon bones framing the kings castle, or a black obsidian mages tower that looms over the city, which just get to be silly after a while.

One thing you can do is to go with the environment itself. Perhaps one city lies tucked into a mountain, with the open side bearing a massive protective wall. Describe how the place is constantly covered in shadows except for around noon time, due to the mountain and walls blocking out the light. Or a city that commonly has a thin mist which winds its way throughout the streets. Go with architecture; perhaps many of the buildings have gargoyles carved into them, or many of the streets or walls have mosaics of great battles in the past.

You can also go with the people themselves. In a sunnier clime, describe how the folk bare much skin, in another, colder one, how it's rare to see much more than a persons face. Go into their customs, their attitudes. One city is particularly friendly, the people embracing each other on the streets, unabashed about their feelings for one another - perhaps going so far as to carry this custom over to strangers who they've just introduced themselves to, to make them feel more at home. Or where the folk are sullen and gruff, hesitant to touch others, untalkative.

Try to find one trait that defines the city, and stick to it, and build off of it. Thus, while much of the city might be fairly generic - which most are, anyway - there will be something that makes it stand apart, something that people can latch onto and go "Oh. Yeah!" Where when something sticks out they might say, "Hey, wait a minute..." and question whether the building is native or new, or whether that sullen individual who acts almost violently to any who touches him might be a foreigner from that other city they visited. Just something that will be memorable, to set one city apart from another. It doesn't even need to be all that much.

 

[Altalazar]

I find it helpful to come up with personalities for the various folks that a player wants to see in a city. A player seeking an alchemist once inspired me to make a very, ahem, love-hungry alchemist - whenever they visited his shop, there was much "noise" and shifting around before he finally came to the door, all dishelved, to do business. So the character defined the trips to that store in that city. What makes a city come alive is the people. Give them interesting backgrounds and why they are there. Then it won't be the "generic" blacksmith shop in the generic town. It will be "Old Red" the dwarf with a limp and a false eye who was horribly disfigured by a displacer beast - the same beast whose hide now graces the back wall of his shop. After the attack, he decided to stop adventuring, etc etc - fill it in, add to it, make it have some adventure hooks, perhaps minor plot points that are secondary - like something that can be picked up along the way.

Really, what makes for an encounter is always the character of the NPCs - sure, there can be interesting things about the town, but when you tie that into the NPCs, and tie them together, it can make for a very memorable experience - and the players will start thinking of the city, not in terms of the shops and what they can do there, but in terms of remembering "old friends" there - their quirks and their good times.

 

[Wombat]

Start with a city map from the Harn series

Add D&D flavouring

Stir

Bake

Voila

 

[Varianor Abroad]

On my constant quest to become a better DM I always try to pay attention to my weaknesses. And on of them is all my cities are genaric and flavorless. The mostly consist of a slum, a merchant square, a royal distric, ect.

What strategies do all of you use to develope a unique feel for a city.

What are some cool cities you have built in the past

In addition to the fine advice already offered, take your standard city design above and try removing one of those elements. Then come up with an explanation for it.

What makes that city different from the rest now? Do the merchants all merchant under big tents outside the walls because the city outlaws their practices? Is there a ruling council instead of a king? Where are the houses of the council? The slums don't exist. Why is that? Were they burned out? Replaced? Has poverty been eliminated?

If you feel like reading up, try Life in a Medieval City by the Gies. Good stuff in that for getting ideas of what might be around.

 

[Trainz]

What I do is create a basic city, and THEN figure out what edge it has. In my setting, for example, I have:

-A big city, generally neutral aligned with some undergound touches of good and evil, led by a council of senators, in which slavery is everywhere (think Roman empire slavery). A few slave owners are good nobles that treat their slaves with respect and humanity, but most are simply treated as tools. Orgies are plentyful, and intrigue is common. A city ripe with adventure for players.

-A town, which was under the evil leadership of a church of an evil deity. At one point in it's past, it was terrorized by a trio of red dragons. Then came an elven ranger dragonslayer that killed the 3 critters, and then proceeded to weed out the evil priests. It is now a good aligned town led by that ranger, who implanted a church to a good deity. This town is currently the home base of my players.

-A HUGE city that is under the control of a chaotic neutral titan in human form (most people don't know he's a Titan). He is a self-proclaimed "emperor", and as his alignment indicates, the law is loose (and the life of the common populace is miserable). He uses Nerra to police the city, and at each street corner, there's a big mirror that allows the Nerra to move quickly through the city.

What I did is start describing the city, with maps, and generic places (shops, temples, guilds...) and only then, sitting back looking at my notes thinking "O.K. ... TALK to me... what makes YOU special... ?"

It works well for me.


YMMV...

 

[Trainz]

To give you an example, I'll post the description of the third city above (the one with the Titan):

========================================

A very special city, it is also known as the City of Mirrors. It is ruled by emperor Zotis, a Chaotic Neutral Titan that is always in human (medium) form. 350 years ago, a group of adventurers led by king Kewadis, the former ruler of the city, went to the plane of Limbo to try to grab a lost artifact: the Bracers of Ugandis. These bracers allow the wearer complete control over 1000 of the creatures known as the Nerra, as well as the ability to summon them permanently from a mirror (1 per hour). However, the bracers where the property of Zotis. When the adventurers arrived in his lair, he captured them all. When he learned of the king, he gave him two choices: either Zotis would kill them all and go destroy his beloved city, or either the king would return with Zotis and proclaim him his heir. Such is the way of chaotic creatures… The king decided on the second obvious choice, and after his death, Zotis took control of the city. He then proceeded to slowly replace the normal city guard, watch, and army with Nerrii.

The city is full of polished bronze plates at each street corner, allowing the Nerrii to travel very quickly in the city. Because of the spiritual desolation, a drug called the Dreamweaver (a phosphorescent mushroom) is very popular. It costs 1 g.p. per dose, and is an hallucinogen that lasts 2 hours. A will save DC 10 must be made or the person receives 2d4 Wis. damage. The day after, if the initial save was missed, another will save DC 5 must be made or there is a permanent 1 Wis. loss.

1- The Palace of Mirrors. There used to be a castle at this place, but Zotis personally destroyed it and had the populace build him a palace, with polished bronze plates lining the inside of the walls. It is quite a magnificient achievement.

2- 3- 4- 5- These gates are guarded by 4 Kalareem and one Sillit at all times.

6- Temple of the Horizon, church of Fharlanghn. High-Priestess Debandria Artandrianisonian (NG hf C14) is the leader. She despises Zotis, but knows how powerful he is. She is much too old to challenge him, or so she feels.

7- The Fortress. This is the prison, where all the enemies of Zotis are sent to rot the remainder of their lives.

8- The Market. Although the general people feel oppressed, business is booming, and the market is very active.

9- Noble estates. Many noble merchants live in this green part of the city, but they are more Zotis boot lickers than truly independent nobles. Some of them use slaves.

10- The Mirror Gate, mage guild, currently under the power of Syakanos, a 14th level Wizard Sillit. He is, of course, under the control of Zotis.

11- The Harbourmaster, currently Georey Vanlyant (CG hm F5).

12- House of Knives, thieve’s guild. The current guildmaster is Scotdan the Green (LN em T17). He is quite good, and so far has evaded Zotis’s attempt at capturing him. The fact is, Zotis only gives a half0hearted effort in the matter.

13- The Singing Mouse Inn. Innkeeper Zed Stepherson (N hm S8), His singing mouse trick made his Inn quite popular.

14- House of Marandria Tedanean (LG hf W6). She used to be the right arm of the previous guildmaster of the mage guild, but Zotis had him killed and replaced. She was attacked and blinded by the mirror shards of the Nerra, and to this day, no way was found to bring her sight back. Her little brother, Antagarik, often comes to visit her and help her out.

15- The Fire Vulture tavern. Current tavernmaster Abraham Ferabie (NE hm F5)

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Urbis is all about cities, and I try to make each and every city unique and memorable. A few examples:

Gigam (Small city, 60,312): Two hundred years ago, the shifting sands of the Desert of Thunder revealed the cyclopean ruins of an ancient city of unknown origin. Shortly afterwards, several highly productive wells were discovered there, and the resettlement began in earnest. Still, even today, only a small portion of the city is truely inhabited again, and explorers manage to find an ancient artifact now and then despite generations of looters.
The most striking feature of Gigam are the ubiquetous lion statues, which range from small figurines to a giant crouching lion more than two hundred yards long. Defacing the lions is said to bring terribly bad luck, but some outsiders claim that the "bad luck" in question is nothing more than the retribution of a local lion-worshipping cult.

Medras (Small Metropolis, 562,932): This ancient city was the center of several death and funeral cults in the days of the Atalan Empire. Therefore it had sprawling underground catacombs when the Eternal Storm broke loose. When the surface was ravaged, most inhabitants retreated beneath the surface - and have stayed there ever since.
Today, Medras is the largest permanent settlement in the region, and serves as its unofficial capital. Its inhabitants have expanded ever further downwards to expand their living space, and their tunnels reach all the way into the Underdark. Most prospectors come here to sell their finds, restock their supplies - and spend the rest of their money in the city's casinos and brothels.

Bodenwald (Metropolis, 1,837,284): In Bodenwald, the Astromantic Society was founded, and the city still serves as its headquarters. Thus, Bodenwald serves as the center of most activities involving the exploration and colonization of other planets, and many people who hope to start over on a new world come here. The city has become rich by trading exotic goods and minerals from the colonies, and its zoological gardens, which feature many creatures from other worlds, attract many scholars.

Markub (Large City, 341,782): This city is famous for its glass blowers. Its glasses, lenses, and colored window plates are renowned the world over, and always fetch high prices.
To the citizens of Markub, however, this is only a secondary concern. Their pride and joy is the Observatory, an array of giant telescopes on the mountain above the city. The dry air and the high quality of the lenses used in their construction allows viewers to see other planets as if they were close by. Most citizens of Gol Algor, and many other gnomes and dwarves from all over Rothea travel to this observatory at least once in their lives to marvel at it. A strange sect of predominantly gnomish priests controls access to the telescopes, and recruits from promising pilgrims.

Bagrash (Small City, 56,335): This unique city is located directly on the acid waters of the Molten Lake. It consists of a large number of floating metal barges that are connected by walways and rope bridges. Its unique location and flexible structure (the barges can be moved very easily from one location to another) make the city highly defensible and more than make up for the city's dependency on imports. As a result, Bagrash houses a large military garrison that often patrols the borders to the Eternal Storm region. The headquarters of the Dominion River Navy is also located here.
The city's industries are mostly based on the unique alchemical properties of the lake waters, which are used in all kinds of refining processes. The city is also noted for its unusually high goblin population - many of them squatters - who are adept at finding living spaces for themselves on the barges and use the ropes that tie the city together to evade all foot patrols.

Kalab (Metropolis, 1,253,769): Kalab lies close to the border to the Hobgoblin Dominions, and has a large minority of hobgoblins who live here. The High War Council has frequently commented that the hobgoblins who live there should be "brought back into the Dominion". League diplomats skillfully played on the fears of invasion that loomed large in the minds of the Kalab city council to bring that city into the League five years ago.
This might backfire on the League, however, since now the city council feels it has nothing to fear from the Dominion, and started to persecute the hobgoblin residents. The property of many hobgoblins was confiscated, and they were driven into crowded ghettos. "Random street violence" against them became common. Now the hobgoblins are beginning to show organized resistance (possibly with covert Dominionite aid) to the oppression, which in turn has caused the city council to crack down on them even further (and once councilwoman was quoted as saying "Let's just get this over with and kill the lot of them!").
Meanwhile, the Dominion High War Council have stated that they won't permit this repression of fellow hobgoblins to degenerate even further, and have threatened to send in soldiers to protect them. Since the League Council of Equals is treaty bound to protect Kalab, but doesn't want an all-out war with the roughly equally strong Dominions at this point (not while there are still smaller realms and city-states to be conquered), League diplomats are working overtime to come to some kind of peaceful solution to this dilemma.

Bargeto (Metropolis, 1,349,772): The citizens of Bargeto mostly live an easy and carefree life, for its wizards have created a race of homunculi with the aid of alchemy and the nexus tower's magic that serves as laborers. This servant race can be made to look in whatever way its creators choose. The magic spells put upon them with the aid of the nexus towers keeps most of them loyal and obedient to the city and its citizens.

Byblos (Large Town, 23,120): Possibly the oldest settlement in the Siebenbund, the remote mountain town and monastery of Byblos has the largest concentration of loremasters on the continent. Their stated mission is to gather a copy of all books in the world, and while they are still far from that goal, they make a good effort nonetheless. Outsiders are only given access to the library after a large donation and a lengthy waiting period, though bringing books that are not yet in the library can speed up things considerably.

And there are many more. Take a look at them - I hope you can find some inspirations...

 

[Nightfall]

Start with a city map from the Harn series

Add D&D flavouring

Stir

Bake

Voila

No offense but I prefer to use the maps in Freeport or Bluffside if I want interesting cities. But then that's because I love them a lot.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Location, location, location! Think about where your city is located, port cities will have sailors, bars and organized crime. Business will support that industry, rope makers, sail makers, boat builders, so-on. Change location, change industry and what you see will change. Farming towns are more stable, people are up with the sun and in bed with it.

Real world and stealing ideas - look at real world cities and their history for use in your game. I live in Columbia, SC which was created as the capital because it is the center of the state, it is all so the point where the Broad River stops becoming navigable, and it was the first place granite and marble could be found near the surface for easy strip mining. Granite and marble was a major export, shipped down river and along the coast for buildings.

Take ideas and use them - look at old maps and use them in your game.