D&D 5E Phandelver and Red Larch....I'm rethinking my approach to towns

[Uller]

I've always found town/city settings to be the most difficult to DM. I'm not very good at improvising interesting/memorable NPCs and my players (and I) often lose track of who is important and who isn't.

In my current group I have a couple of players that just want to get a hook to the next exciting adventure and one player that wants to scour every potential location for every clue and every hook available. Then I have two players in the middle that enjoy some investigating and will go along with whatever but after our last session agreed we need a different approach.

In our last session the party finally made it to Red Larch after infiltrating Rivergard Keep and leaving peacefully (then killing Grimjaw later as he hunted) and sacking Sacred Stone Monestary and freeing the captives.

I ran Red Larch as an exploration...they walked into town and I began describing places and people they met. Their plan at the time they entered the town was to go back to Sacred Stone Monestary and descend the steps in the mines...(6th level party...might be amusing for me...). Part of the problem I'm sure is that the hooks in Red Larch are all geared toward the start of the adventure, not the middle. Within 3 or 4 buildings one player had pretty much checked out and another was openly saying "screw this, I'm tired, I'm going to the Inn!". Once they were done, they had a total of 5 hooks: Feathergale Spire, Lance Rock, Rivergard Keep, go back to Sacred Stone Monestary or investigate the "Fire Witch" at the Nettlebee Ranch. The most bored player remarked "that's about 4 hooks too many." I don't agree with that necessarily...as a group we chose PotA because of it's sandbox nature. But I do agree it's a mistake for me to allow them to be overwhelmed with choices. Often as a player I have found myself wanting to say to the DM "just tell us where we're supposed to go already!"

As a player, I have to admit, I hate exploring towns looking for hooks to adventures and such. I want to spend time adventuring. If it is an adventure set in a city that's fine. Exploring cities/towns is one of my least favorite parts of CRPGs too. I'd like towns to be a series of menus that allow you to accomplish your between adventure business and a few cut scenes that give you the information you need (with some options and RP) that lead to the information you need.

So...I think I'm taking a different approach to towns.

When the players get to a town, describe the obviously public available information about the town...the kind of stuff they would be able to find just by asking a couple people on the streets: Inns, taverns, major shops, known important NPCs etc. Then give the players their obvious options of what they want to do. Things like the following:

- Find an Inn,
- Visit a Tavern for a meal and a drink
- Buy/Sell gear or prepare for next expedition
- Look for rumors/info regarding X
- Or something else...

Depending on what they decide we'll make some skill checks and describe the scene if it is interest and RP it out. Pre-session I can create a few "events" that can or will happen to be played as cut scenes as opportunities to introduce or emphasize specific hooks. My goal would be to reduce town time to an hour or so of table time rather than an entire session.

How do other folks handle towns?

 

[Nebulous]

So...I think I'm taking a different approach to towns.

When the players get to a town, describe the obviously public available information about the town...the kind of stuff they would be able to find just by asking a couple people on the streets: Inns, taverns, major shops, known important NPCs etc. Then give the players their obvious options of what they want to do. Things like the following:

- Find an Inn,
- Visit a Tavern for a meal and a drink
- Buy/Sell gear or prepare for next expedition
- Look for rumors/info regarding X
- Or something else...

Depending on what they decide we'll make some skill checks and describe the scene if it is interest and RP it out. Pre-session I can create a few "events" that can or will happen to be played as cut scenes as opportunities to introduce or emphasize specific hooks. My goal would be to reduce town time to an hour or so of table time rather than an entire session.

How do other folks handle towns?

When I ran Red Larch the PCs were coming from Phandalin and just had a simple mission to deliver some ore to the locales. In retrospect I should have used more of the included plot hooks in the book, but the PCs had already come up with some of their own elaborate back stories and I just rolled with that instead of adding more hooks (which again, I should have).

One of the early things that the PCs heard about was questions about the strange weather on their journey or any word about the missing delegation. The PCs have no idea, so they start questioning more about and more rumors start floating around about strange folks hanging around in town.

Again, at this point the players had little to go and no obvious mission in Red Larch other than to "be investigative" which I could have done better. They felt like they should be helpful to these people, and they have some Faction contacts which makes it easier, as these contacts said "Hey, I could use some help with this," or "Be on the lookout for such and such."

Things soon heated up though when they learn about some missing little girls and feel like they can help the town's obvious dismay over the loss. Eventually they follow clues that led to the Tomb of the Delvers and their first brush with the Black Earth, and this kicked off the campaign proper as they learned that violent cultists had already infiltrated Red Larch and were controlling some of the locales. Furthermore, one of the PCs was killed by the Black Earth and later raised, so now they had a personal motivation for revenge, as well as several faction incentives to find the delegation and find out what is causing the imbalance in nature across the Sumber Hills. Subtle clues, but enough to draw in the players and characters personally and motivated.

As far as skill checks...if I know it is a plot point the PCs NEED to find out, I have reached the point where I will not allow a random skill check to possibly fail and not reveal information I need to move the story forward. In fact, i'm moving away from d20 skill checks altogether and just having PCs ask me what they're looking for, and I'll tell them if they see it or not or understand it or not. If there is some important consequence from failure, then I'll use a d20 check.

As we keep going through PoA the clues are building and they are starting to more and more realize that there's some big conspiracy going on, far bigger than even just the Feathergale Knights or Black Earth cult. I've already seeded the Elemental Evil Eye twice so far, so it will be a more important emblem by the end of the campaign, which is a LONG way away.

 

[iserith]

How do other folks handle towns?

I handle them as little as possible. Generally, I treat them as safe havens and places for imparting exposition, not for spending any appreciable time during the gaming session. I am definitely not interested in spending time on tavern or shopping scenes or for tedious interviewing of NPCs. It's the characters that have interesting lives - the NPCs should be interviewing them!

So when it's time for the PCs to hit the town, I provide a pithy description and go around the table and ask each player to:

1. Describe the most important thing he or she is planning to do in town (downtime activities or the like).
2. Tell me of some minor trouble that the character witnessed, started, or prevented.
3. Offer something that makes the town particularly unique, interesting, or memorable.

As the player is describing these things, I can build on what they say, adding expository information and flavor. If that naturally leads to a short scene we want to play out, then we do it. Otherwise, it's handled in just a few exchanges before we move on. For example:

DM: Describe the most important thing you are planning to do in town (downtime activities or the like).
Player: I'm going to do some research on the mysterious map we found in the necromancer's lair.
DM: Okay, how do you go about that exactly?
Player: I consult with local sages and experts on the area.
DM: Sure, by spending a little gold, it doesn't take you long for you to find an outlander, a half-orc by the name of Thokk, who tells you that the map shows a landmark - a barrow - with which he is familiar. He tells you how to find it and recounts some tales of the wilderness. What trouble did you witness, start, or prevent as you set about your research?
Player: The day after I got the information from Thokk, he was found stone cold dead.
DM: Yes, and nobody seems to have seen what happened to him, despite his head being completely twisted around. What makes this town particularly unique, interesting, or memorable?
Player: Their funeral practices. Without much ritual, they tossed old Thokk on the pyre.
DM: Yes, and some tell you that's due to a problem they had with the dead rising from their graves long ago. How about you, [Player 2]?

So here, we've created some stuff about the town. I've dropped two hooks (the barrow, the dead rising). And we didn't have to spend a lot of time interviewing quirky, cagey NPCs. Now I'll repeat this for the other three players, dropping my hooks in there where it makes sense, establishing some flavor for the town, and resolving their activities. I'll write down the interesting tidbits for use later.

Sometimes I create adventures that take place in towns, but not often. I prefer adventures to take place outside of civilized areas and to spend as little time in town as possible.

 

[practicalm]

Now that my PCs are all 6-8th level, towns are a place where they are being asked for help or their enemies are trying to lay traps for them.

When in a town each players tells me what they want their characters to do and unless there is some possible reason for failure it just happens.

I throw many rumors at them and many are just that rumors or something that will happen much latter. If I had more time I would make up some kind of broadsheet newspaper that reflected what the town crier or rumor mongers are talking about. This way they have to spot more important clues among the dross. (Something like the newspapers in the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Game).

I have nobles and gentry offering them jobs. As successful adventurers they have people inviting them to parties and other events to make impressions. (In my game since adventuring companies are chartered by the crown, adventurers are required to take jobs from nobles if they meet certain payment criteria.)

I encourage town adventures to be solved by means other than combat but because it isn't popular with all the players I try to limit them. Working within constraints is popular with some of the players just not all of them.

 

[Rune]

It all depends on what role the town is supposed to fulfill. If it is dangerous or sinester, I'll run it as a dungeon. If a safe haven, a mostly off-screen exchange with the players. If a mix, probably an off-screen exchange with event-triggered encounters.

However, [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION], I may switch over to something like your example, there. It strikes me as somewhat Dungeon Worldish in its approach. I approve.

 

[Zak S]

I run towns like Vornheim, unsurprisingly.

That said: I think it's totally legit to say to your players "Look, in this game towns are boring and the adventure's on the frontiers, tell me what you need to do, anything complicated we'll handle with some rolls, and a week later you head back out toward the target of your choice"

 

[aramis erak]

I think first about nature of the town/city.

I think in terms of population size first - Hamlet, Village, Town, or City

Hamlets are just a few buildings around a common well. One of the houses is larger, and serves as the pub. Religion is usually either a circuit preacher or is "hike to the village."

A village likely has a dedicated square - if it's a small village, it's the combined market, well, and meeting square... And villages usually have a fixed house of prayer. Larger villages may be 2 or even three neighborhoods...

If it's a town, I also think in terms of how many wards/parishes/neighborhoods. (each ward likely has a well of its own, and a public house of its own.) It also is big enough to have more than one each blacksmith, miller, carpenter, mason, joiner, cooper, tailor, and butcher. It also has a dedicated full-time market, and may have additional part-time markets - one additional per ward or two. It will have multiple wells or multiple fountains. A town also usually has a nobleman's estate either overlooking it or on one side of it.

If it's a city, each "quarter" is a couple wards or more. Cities are big enough to have real wealth - both nobles and merchants - and both have a ward of their own, with guards and walls to "keep the riff-raff out"... They may be one "quarter" together, or may be separate quarters each their own. Most cities are big enough to have a couple full-time markets.

If there's a waterfront, anything bigger than a small village is liable to have a distinct dock-ward or even quarter.

Once I have an idea of how big it is, I figure out the main roads.

And then, I can also figure which wards are ethnic, which are racially distinct, and which are religiously distinct. A temple's ward is likely to be almost exclusively followers of that temple's faith....

Theaters are a cultural issue. Roman villages had an outdoor one as a matter of course. Most towns in the middle ages had some theater presence, and most large villages would simply present plays on the churchsteps... so in my games, those are staples.

I usually describe the ward they entered from, and its features.

For example, in my current home game...
Fort Vellay is a large village in the fort, and a small village half a mile down the hill.
The fort proper has 3 wards - the castle, the garrison, and the peasants. It's got three walls, forming 3 baileys, with the keep in the center on a motte; the middle bailey is offset so that 1/3 is to the east of the inner bailey, and 2/3 to the west; likewise the outer bailey is offset 1/6 and 3/6, with the inner taking most of the remaining third. There are 3 chapels - one to Barg & Barb, one to Necron and GORD, one to Arnold Swordundhammer; there are shrines to Noradth and Daotain Mu by the south garrison gate, and one to Snuffy just inside the south gate. The peasants are in the outer bailey, on the west, and number some 75 families. The garrison is on the middle bailey, and comprises barracks for the border patrols - about 300 men. The castle quarter houses about 20 families, including the Vellay Valley governor, plus the offices of the tax collector, and the smiths and wrights guildhalls for the valley. It also has a mage in residence in the castle quarter, in a tower in the inner bailey; only the governor's keep and the wizards tower are freestanding in that bailey, with the other families living in townhouses on the inside of the bailey wall. The martial road runs east from the keep to the valley through three large gatehouses wide enough for paired cavalry. The Civil road runs west, through 3 smaller gate towers. The fort has a south gate in the outer and garrison walls, but not into the keep. The eastern side of the outer bailey includes the necropolis, the butchery, and the inn.

The Village of Fort Vellay is about 60 families. It's got a daub and wattle wall, two gates, and is surrounded by worked fields. The north gate leads to the fort's south gate. There is one chapel to an as-yet undefined farm-god, and a shrine to Barb and Barg. The shrine is tended by an old paladin of Barg who happens to be blind, crazy, and the party's patron.
There's a dual smithy - both white and black - that helps with the keep's needs, right on the center square. Population is mixed halfling and human, with an elven family. There's an inn across from the smithy. Next to the in is that chapel. There are two wells - the main well, and the back well. 40 of the houses cluster around the main well, while twenty surround the back well. Both gates lead to the main well-square; you turn west to go to the back well. The paladin is just inside the wall in the southwest.

To the south, there's a hamlet only a mile off - 10 families in tenant to a wealthy peasant. The landlord's hall is also the public hall... but he doesn't like visitors.

There's a village 4 miles west of the villages, too: Elfdale. It's elven and human, with until recently, one family of halflings. It's an oval of around the 3 wells and 8 buisinesses: Tavern, Glassblower, Healer, Blacksmith, Wainright, Cooper, Butcher, and Inn. There's a shrine to The Bard in Silver. 15 great rounds (30' diameter, typically have a cellar.) house 3-5 "families" each. The coopers were halflings, but are deceased due to a recent takeover by cultists. There is a miller, and a brewer, but the best brew is sold in the tavern. The majority is shipped off to pay taxes. The buisinesses and shrine form a U-shape in the center; the family halls are each fenced off with gardens. If it grows, a second court will be the expansion, but one of the halls will like be moved, There are a dozen surnames here....

 

[Uller]

I handle them as little as possible. Generally, I treat them as safe havens and places for imparting exposition, not for spending any appreciable time during the gaming session. I am definitely not interested in spending time on tavern or shopping scenes or for tedious interviewing of NPCs. It's the characters that have interesting lives - the NPCs should be interviewing them!

So when it's time for the PCs to hit the town, I provide a pithy description and go around the table and ask each player to:

1. Describe the most important thing he or she is planning to do in town (downtime activities or the like).
2. Tell me of some minor trouble that the character witnessed, started, or prevented.
3. Offer something that makes the town particularly unique, interesting, or memorable.

I think this is a great approach and we're going to try it. It gives my players a chance to be more involved in the workings of the world, let's towns fulfill their game purpose and be interesting without taking up an entire session. Essentially a trip to town becomes an encounter and takes about that amount of time.

One of the things I've been trying to do is find a nice balance between the 5e "magic items aren't for sale" approach and my player's desire to be able to use their gold for buying/crafting magic items. So one thing I did was I rolled several times on the random magic item tables and let them know that I had interspersed the results about the town...in hindsight this was a terrible mistake because then the more thorough player wanted to go to every place to find them and the other players quickly realized that most of the items were interesting but not what they wanted to buy or way out of their price range so they became bored and the trip to Red Larch became an entire session.

But I think with isreth's approach I can make it work. If a player says "I'm going to ask around to see if there is any interesting magic items on the market here" I can allow an appropriate skill check and depending on the result and the size of the town grant them some rolls on the tables to see what is available. I'll have to think on this a bit but I think that is way better than wandering about town asking random shop keepers for "the good stuff". Same applies to information about adventure hooks...

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm a fan of cities and towns in D&D, I think they're a big supporter of the Interaction pillar and can highlight what a bard or a paladin or a sorcerer or a rogue is really good at.

The essential part of any town for me is the services it can provide, which is why I'm a fan of "you can only take a long rest in a town." I'm also a fan of training rules for basically the same reason. And I usually have one or two unique services that a town can provide that are a little partial to that town (a town I'm developing now has an herb of forgetfulness that one chef in the area has worked into an innovative cuisine). That, plus the various shops, makes towns important to my playstyle.

Aside from services, the folks in town are the folks who needs stuff done by the heavily-armed people who traverse the wilderness, which means they are a source of patronage for the PC's. Because I like D&D as a game of interesting choices, having a lot of hooks in the air at any one time is very useful for that - they can choose which plotlines to resolve, which to let grow worse, etc.

Players who want to know what they're "supposed" to do should look at their character sheet - they have goals, motives, things to accomplish. Tell me what your character wants to do, and how they want to do it. Be pro-active. Think about what your character WANTS. Play your role.

 

[Wik]

Well, different strokes and all that - I love town encounters, and my players kind of do, too. I run a sandboxy game, too, where I always drop three hooks to the players - each one is a different adventure. The players pick which adventure they want to "bite", and I prep it. It's working pretty good so far.

When I do a town, a describe the main areas. The neighborhoods, the prime buildings, the geographical features, whatever. I also define a downtime activity specific to that town, either a brand new one, or a modification of an existing one that represents what the town is known for (Las Vegas would give bonuses on Carousing, for example, while Malibu Beach would have a "Spend time surfing" downtime activity that naturally would lead to an encounter with sharks).

I have my hooks all figured out, and figure out who is getting what. Players state their downtime activities in the town, and how many days they're spending. I declare things as being "rubber time", so that what happens is, players who take fewer days of downtime get a reserve of days to "catch up" to the PCs who took longer amounts of downtime (they often use this to just make a bit of money, or pray at a church for advantage, or whatever else piques their fancy).

Players also tell me which buildings they frequent, and I give them quick descriptions of what's going on. If they seem interested in that locale, I make sure I attach the hook they'll get to that location. I also might drop hooks through downtime activities, if that seems logical, or through organizations.

Since I'm "hooked" to three adventures, and I have 5 players, two players "share" a hook, and the fifth gets a hook all to him or herself. I make sure that the PCs get a decent amount of info, and then let them ask whatever pertinent questions to get some more info on the adventure. I try to time this for the end of a session, so they can pick the adventure, and I can prep it and run it for the next session.

***

So, how this actually looks (it's a bit long):

I have five PCs in the town of Bronze Shore. A tiefling fighter who belongs to the Imperial Foreign Service, a half-elven bard who works for a bunch of magical smugglers, an awakened bear barbarian who belongs to a collective of druids and awakened animals, a gnome arcane trickster who is a member of the tinker's guild who is a bit of a religious traditionalist, and an eladrin diviner who belongs to the cartographer's guild and is seeking admittance into an arcane university.

These PCs spend twenty days of downtime in Bronze Shore. I know that there are three adventures I'm thinking of running:

1. DCC "People of the Pit", in which the PCs seek to stop a crazed tentacle cult from destroying the world
2. DCC "The Croaking Fane", in which the PCs seek to stop a frog/slaad cult from returning
3. Pathfinder's part 2 of "The mummies curse" where the PCs are asked to go to a town to investigate an undead uprising.

So. PCs declare their downtime, and as we resolve actions, I do this:

(to the tiefling, who wants to improve relations with his organization): "You're busy watching a merchant who may have ties to the Ravenglas spy service - counting his shipments. One night, while talking to some animal handlers and guards to get information, you hear that things up on the island of Pelican are getting rough. The local lord is having problems with some sort of tentacled beast eating townsfolk, and wants someone to investigate. He's offering good money. You get some info through your spy agency that the tentacle beast is served by a faceless cult with some messed up powers."

(to the Eladrin Diviner) "You're at the university's 'safehouse' in Bronze Shore, talking around and scribing a spell offered to you by a contact from last adventure, when a visiting teacher asks for your help in the city of Kael Oslocai. You know he died when he was young, but somehow came back to life, and has ever since had visions. He's had one now about something rising up from the grave, and asks for your help to defend his city".

and so on, and so forth.

***

For hooks, I'd make sure you stop at three. Never give more than three hooks, unless the PCs are actively looking for them. But generally, you should have three, and tell them "if you keep looking for more, tell me what you're looking for!". And don't be afraid to let hooks expire - if they're not taken, let them end... with consequences, if you'd like, but I'd rather just ignore the consequences for all but the most major ones.