D&D 5E What Makes a Good Urban Adventure?

[Yaarel]

I just want to point out, the mechanics and implementation of nonlethal combat, allows players to turn the city itself into a perpetual combat zone.

Borrowing from 4e, have combat go strong until half hit points when bloodied. Once bloodied, conditions like frightened (low morale, flee) or intimidated (surrendering) can kick in. At zero hit points, if the combat should last that long, the target is unconscious, or otherwise successfully disabled.

 

[Eltab]

You can look at Murder in Baldurs Gate.
Ignore the published meta-plot and run some of the sub-plots. There are three 'lords' who all want promoted to Duke; they cannot all succeed (at once). Who wins, and how, will affect the PCs when they come to town.

 

[Yaarel]

Urban settings must deal with the issue of how to stat civilian NPCs.

In my view, D&D ‘classes’ by definition mean ‘combat training’. Some people fight with magic, some people fight with swords, some fight with stealth, and so on. In this way, ‘noncombatants’ have little or no class levels. Normally NPCs have no stats. Simply assign whatever stats seem to make sense, if and when appropriate. A powerful and experienced noble, may well be only Fighter 2, for example, depending on actual combat experience. A sage may be able to cast a high level spell, but be only Wizard 3, in terms of combat experience. And so on.

In these cases, it is extremely useful to use the 5e tier system.

Novice = Level 0
Student = Levels 1-4
Professional = Levels 5-10
Master = Levels 11-16
Legend = Levels 17-20
Epic = Level 21

These levels specifically refer to the combat classes. But use the general expectations of power and competence, to ballpark the tiers of noncombat experience. For example, is the chef at a restaurant more a ‘Student chef’, a reliable ‘Professional chef’, or perhaps a celebrated ‘Master chef’?

As a rule of thumb, a population of a million, being a small nation or a big city, will produce a handful of individuals operating in the Master tier. For example, the medieval small nation of England, can produce a Beowulf, who is arguably about Fighter 12 or so.

A Student is familiar to peers. A Professional is familiar to a community. A Master is familiar to a nation. A Legend is familiar to the world.

All of the above depends on the tone of the campaign setting. But it is a useful default assumption.

 

[LordEntrails]

Urban settings must deal with the issue of how to stat civilian NPCs.
...

In these cases, it is extremely useful to use the 5e tier system.

Novice = Level 0
Student = Levels 1-4
Professional = Levels 5-10
Master = Levels 11-16
Legend = Levels 17-20
Epic = Level 21
...

IMO, we often concern ourselves too much with stat'ing or placing hard labels on NPCs. Most people I interact with IRL I don't need to worry about how strong or healthy or xyz they are. Their personality, appearance and motivations are more important. Of course, that leaves many GM's having to build things onthe fly when PC's decide the baker needs to be attacked *G*

As a rule of thumb, a population of a million, being a small nation or a big city, will produce a handful of individuals operating in the Master tier. For example, the medieval small nation of England, can produce a Beowulf, who is arguably about Fighter 12 or so.

A Student is familiar to peers. A Professional is familiar to a community. A Master is familiar to a nation. A Legend is familiar to the world.

All of the above depends on the tone of the campaign setting. But it is a useful default assumption.

Really good ways of thinking of student (apprentice), master, expert and legend; and what they mean. Of course it depends on the campaign, but probably a thought I will appropriate

 

[Fleetwood C. DeVille]

So to respond to this I made a "Bar Brawl" deck - a collection of random events that could occur in a bar fight - written on flash cards. I presented a bunch of ruffians looking for a fight and in no time had a barroom brawl, so I put the flash cards on the table. This works similar to the Chase rules in the DMG, except I had each player draw a card at the start of their turn. Sample random events included:

Bell Rung: a bottle is smashed over your head from an unseen patron (1d4 damage; make a DC12 Constitution save or be stunned until the start of your next turn).
Knucklebones: your punch fully connects with your opponent and knocks him out cold. However, you broke your hand on his face and can no longer use that hand until healed.
Whoops: slip on some spilled beer. Make a DC 14 Dexterity save or fall prone.
Mob Rules: a crowd of people pile into you. Make a DC10 Dexterity save or be restrained.
Curse of Wile E. Coyote: a random anvil falls from above (+5 to hit, 2d6 damage). I couldn't resist...

And so on. The players had a blast and it added some humour into the scenario, as well as creating a cast of npcs and a memorable tavern in the city. Throw in the law showing up (or maybe the thieves guild running the joint as a front) and the urban campaign begins to run itself.

Would you consider sharing the entire deck?

 

[Luz]

Would you consider sharing the entire deck?

Sure. I'm out of town until the weekend, so I'll post it when I get home.

 

[Yaarel]

For the sake of completion, there is an other good thread that focuses on nonlethal combat, that is relevant to this urban thread.

Killing is Wrong: Adding Theme to a Campaign
by [MENTION=57494]Xeviat[/MENTION]

 

[Yaarel]

What are some combat-friendly jobs within a medieval urban environment?

• Bounty hunters.
• Personal bodyguards for a prominent citizen (politico, guildmaster, celebrity), often sent out on ‘quiet missions’.
• Spy.

Others? (Heh, besides criminal activity.)

 

[Yaarel]

• Professional duelist. (Creates many enemies and rivals, but is quasi-legal.)
• Get jobs as police officers.

 

[Fleetwood C. DeVille]

• Get jobs as police officers.

Heh. Clockwork Orange FTW!