Recent content by Hand of Evil

Thing about a city is there are so many conflicts and jurisdictions that can generate plot hooks. Some examples: Law - in a fantasy this can get complex, you have guild law, civil, church, nobles and so on. Magic - Religion vs Mage, Schooled vs Unschooled, the casting of magic in general...

But Dingoes are another story

The old AEG GM Toolbox had some great tables in it, think it is on DriveThu

Start with a map, use nick names and have some thoughts of what the city looks like (don't think the real Yanjin looks like this but...)

Something I do with my players is allow them a number of NPCs that they can pull out at any given time. Say a player needs a to see a friend he knows of, so he just gives a description and brief backstory and I as the GM create the location where he can find them. Only rules I have most be a...

Also look at crazy history stories, examples: Shanghaied, press gangs, Edinburgh body snatchers, London undergrounds and such. The biggest thing in a city is figuring if something mundane or supernatural.

Steal from your local news. :) Police, detective, crime dramas and most other shows are full of plots for a city game.

Got to say I think conditioning plays a very big role in this; size and shape of books are imprinted in us. When something is outside of those parameters it feels and looks wrong. (Okay, it may just me)

Well, back in the day it was a lot of history books about European history and design that I could steal and base my games on. :) You use what is most available to you. :)

I don't want the magical of fantastical to be placed into a game world just because it is cool. There need to be some thought to how it interacts. Magical and the fantastical should not be an answer but a resource in the game. Personal taste, I like a world like Warhammer or The Witcher...

Zweihander Paranoia! Ghostbusters I need to think about looking at Shadowdark.

I like to see plot hooks built around it. There are campaign pros and cons to that can be used to help build backstory for players.

Thinking it is the other way, AI replacing Players. The GM would set the parameters for the AI to follow based on the campaign and let it run and just throw plot hooks and NPC in.

Keeping the game FUN.