City Supplements - What do we like?

Fenris-77 · 2026-03-02T22:39:16+0000

Voadam said:
I was going to say almost no statblocks but this is a good reason to want them. You generally want to be able to pull out any of those things for a city adventure.

So my book is Shadowdark specific, not system agnostic, so there will be stat blocks. Confined, for the most part, to a long appendix section though, with only core NPCs and the occasional necessary block in the city ward write-ups.

Voadam · 2026-03-02T23:18:57+0000

Fenris-77 said:
So my book is Shadowdark specific, not system agnostic, so there will be stat blocks. Confined, for the most part, to a long appendix section though, with only core NPCs and the occasional necessary block in the city ward write-ups.

Sure, but even being for a specific game system I sometimes really prefer more general descriptions and less specifics to keep the city flexible on stat power level.

For instance I really like the 10 pages on the White Witch ruled city of Whitethrone in the Pathfinder 1e Cities of Golarion sourcebook (covers six specific different cities in 64 pages). A few Pathfinder mechanical bits here and there (an ice witch sorcerer bloodline, a witch mirror spell, etc.) but no NPC stats. It talks about the Baba Yaga witch descended Jadwigga royalty, different intelligent monster factions in the city, and the different social classes of humans in the city. Places of interest, stories, themes, etc. I could get a sense of it and riff on the ideas as a DM.

I ran the Reign of Winter AP which has one of the modules set in Whitethrone and plenty of NPCs and monsters there themed to the city's themes, the adventure's themes, and the party's expected level.

I got the Cawood Urban Monsters book too, I love themed monster books like that as a general resource to draw on in whatever D&D city. I remember in running Freeport in the 3e era using a book called Everybody Else for 3e statblocks for random sailors and pirates when I was running my Freeport game. Doing a similar thing as a big appendix for your city book could be great, or you could focus on the flavor stuff and keep the statblocks for a standalone separate product.

I only have the Shadowdark basic set so I don't know how extensive or narrow the full set is and how much it can cover things the way a 5e DM can plug in a thug or an assassin or noble NPC out of the MM.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-03T00:38:28+0000

Voadam said:
I only have the Shadowdark basic set so I don't know how extensive or narrow the full set is and how much it can cover things the way a 5e DM can plug in a thug or an assassin or noble NPC out of the MM.

Shadowdark generally has one of each type of "NPC" monster. So there's one rogue, one pirate, one assassin, a wizard and an archmage, etc. For a lot of purposes, this is fine, but if you're running an urban campaign, you probably want more than one stat block for a thief NPC.

Fenris-77 · 2026-03-03T04:32:11+0000

Voadam said:
Sure, but even being for a specific game system I sometimes really prefer more general descriptions and less specifics to keep the city flexible on stat power level.

For instance I really like the 10 pages on the White Witch ruled city of Whitethrone in the Pathfinder 1e Cities of Golarion sourcebook (covers six specific different cities in 64 pages). A few Pathfinder mechanical bits here and there (an ice witch sorcerer bloodline, a witch mirror spell, etc.) but no NPC stats. It talks about the Baba Yaga witch descended Jadwigga royalty, different intelligent monster factions in the city, and the different social classes of humans in the city. Places of interest, stories, themes, etc. I could get a sense of it and riff on the ideas as a DM.

I ran the Reign of Winter AP which has one of the modules set in Whitethrone and plenty of NPCs and monsters there themed to the city's themes, the adventure's themes, and the party's expected level.

I got the Cawood Urban Monsters book too, I love themed monster books like that as a general resource to draw on in whatever D&D city. I remember in running Freeport in the 3e era using a book called Everybody Else for 3e statblocks for random sailors and pirates when I was running my Freeport game. Doing a similar thing as a big appendix for your city book could be great, or you could focus on the flavor stuff and keep the statblocks for a standalone separate product.

I only have the Shadowdark basic set so I don't know how extensive or narrow the full set is and how much it can cover things the way a 5e DM can plug in a thug or an assassin or noble NPC out of the MM.

My general approach to stat blocks for bestiaries is to present a range of power options. Some low level types, some mid level, and a couple of leaders. In terms of this specific book the bestiary stuff will be in an appendix and not tied too specifically to anything else. I want to avoid making things too concrete - lots of conflict and evocative ideas, but not so much specifics that would set levels for anything. It won't be an adventure or module set in city for example. More of a sandbox with lots of interesting stuff lying about.

Mustrum_Ridcully · 2026-03-03T10:21:37+0000

Fenris-77 said:
Another question. What kinds of stat blocks would you want to see in a city setting (aside from core NPCs, obviously)?

What are "core NPCs" for you? Important characters in the city?

NPC stats can be important to get some guidlines on how the players can fit in the world. If your major NPCs are mostly CR 15+ stats that is quite different frm them being CR5. In the latter, a level 10 adventuring party might practically be able to run the city, because they can solve problems (and become problems) that no one else can deal with. In the former, the party might wonder if they are even needed for anything (and then your line-up of NPCs and plots needs to account for that.)

What is also important along the way is all the "lesser" NPCs that they might encounter. You might not need stats for shop keepers, black smiths and barkeepers (but maybe you do, sometimes?), but obviously criminals, mercenaries, guards, military forces and maybe also members of temple hierarchies, cults and wizard academies.

It will make a big diference if the average watchmen is CR 1 or CR 5 or CR 15, obviously, or whether the Guard Captain is Level 1, 5, 15 (and not always does authority equal ass-kicking, maybe the guard captain is just a bureaucrat that barely remembers the last time he pulled out his baton, but he has an elite guard under his command that is much higher level, or a skilled investigator that is trying to identify all the dangerous players and had his share of experience). Finding the right spread so it feels believable and there is a niche of enemies and allies at all levels isn't so easy. It will also inform to what extent the city stays an adventuring location where all the exciting stuff of a campaign happens, or is there a point where it might be more one of the locations you care about (and maybe go back for rest) when you deal with challenges of the wider world?

Fenris-77 · 2026-03-03T10:57:08+0000

Mustrum_Ridcully said:
What are "core NPCs" for you? Important characters in the city?

NPC stats can be important to get some guidlines on how the players can fit in the world. If your major NPCs are mostly CR 15+ stats that is quite different frm them being CR5. In the latter, a level 10 adventuring party might practically be able to run the city, because they can solve problems (and become problems) that no one else can deal with. In the former, the party might wonder if they are even needed for anything (and then your line-up of NPCs and plots needs to account for that.)

What is also important along the way is all the "lesser" NPCs that they might encounter. You might not need stats for shop keepers, black smiths and barkeepers (but maybe you do, sometimes?), but obviously criminals, mercenaries, guards, military forces and maybe also members of temple hierarchies, cults and wizard academies.

It will make a big diference if the average watchmen is CR 1 or CR 5 or CR 15, obviously, or whether the Guard Captain is Level 1, 5, 15 (and not always does authority equal ass-kicking, maybe the guard captain is just a bureaucrat that barely remembers the last time he pulled out his baton, but he has an elite guard under his command that is much higher level, or a skilled investigator that is trying to identify all the dangerous players and had his share of experience). Finding the right spread so it feels believable and there is a niche of enemies and allies at all levels isn't so easy. It will also inform to what extent the city stays an adventuring location where all the exciting stuff of a campaign happens, or is there a point where it might be more one of the locations you care about (and maybe go back for rest) when you deal with challenges of the wider world?

Core NPCs, as far I was using the term, means the NPCs that represent key factions and whatnot. I get the argument about leveling the NPCs in terms of challenge to various party scales, but there's only so much you can do with one city. I doubt that any of the NPCs that make it into the book will be higher than level 15, and the 'big' names are so far more like 8 and 9. All of those NPCs have factions at their beck and call though, and their individual level isn't completely indicative of their actual 'challenge level'. Most people play low and mid-tier characters and that's mostly what I'm aiming for.

The other stat blocks I was talking about are the ones best described as not coming with specific names. As the GM I need a high-end bodyguard, so I go to the bestiary and find one, give him and name and motivations and we're rolling. Obviously you can do that yourself, but I think there's a balance somewhere between having a nice range of options and having so many options that most of them will never see the light of day.

Mustrum_Ridcully · 2026-03-03T11:13:32+0000

Fenris-77 said:
Core NPCs, as far I was using the term, means the NPCs that represent key factions and whatnot. I get the argument about leveling the NPCs in terms of challenge to various party scales, but there's only so much you can do with one city. I doubt that any of the NPCs that make it into the book will be higher than level 15, and the 'big' names are so far more like 8 and 9. All of those NPCs have factions at their beck and call though, and their individual level isn't completely indicative of their actual 'challenge level'. Most people play low and mid-tier characters and that's mostly what I'm aiming for.

That is probably very sensible, but some might feel the urge to have a city that is useable as main adventure place for level 1-20. But that might just be asking too much from a single city.

This is probably an issue a game like Shadowrun can avoid - the characters just don't "level" in a way that you'd expect them to fighting Policlub gangers at the start of their career and a horde of western dragons at the end. And of course, a Megalopolis like Seattle or Rhein-Ruhr is still much larger than any semi-plausible medieval/fantasy city.

Fenris-77 said:
The other stat blocks I was talking about are the ones best described as not coming with specific names. As the GM I need a high-end bodyguard, so I go to the bestiary and find one, give him and name and motivations and we're rolling. Obviously you can do that yourself, but I think there's a balance somewhere between having a nice range of options and having so many options that most of them will never see the light of day.

I'd say it would be interesting is to have some things that might be unique to the city and the organizations that exist. Probably not every organizatino needs them and for them just mentioning the existing creatures can be enough. Of course, maybe it might just be an exotic combination of pre-existing entries of the bestiary. Maybe the city guard uses some blink dogs to deal with some smugglers handling dangerous magic substances. Though it would be useful to have groups of NPCs that you are likely to encounter together (like the city guard or the thief's guild lair) on a single (double) page, regardless of whether these are new stat blocks or existing ones.

Fenris-77 · 2026-03-03T11:49:57+0000

Mustrum_Ridcully said:
That is probably very sensible, but some might feel the urge to have a city that is useable as main adventure place for level 1-20. But that might just be asking too much from a single city.

Shadowdark PCs only have 10 levels, not the 20 that D&D has. I'm covering about 2/3 or 3/4 of the total PC level arc.

Mustrum_Ridcully said:
I'd say it would be interesting is to have some things that might be unique to the city and the organizations that exist. Probably not every organizatino needs them and for them just mentioning the existing creatures can be enough. Of course, maybe it might just be an exotic combination of pre-existing entries of the bestiary. Maybe the city guard uses some blink dogs to deal with some smugglers handling dangerous magic substances. Though it would be useful to have groups of NPCs that you are likely to encounter together (like the city guard or the thief's guild lair) on a single (double) page, regardless of whether these are new stat blocks or existing ones.

Yup, not everything needs stats. In think it's important to leave room for GMs to make their own fun. The template here is Warhammer Fantasy cities rather than D&D ones btw, which means a bit 'history' than a lot of fantasy cities have. My main writing goal is interesting details, so I think we're on the same page.

In terms of format, they'll look like one I posted on the previous page with themed 2 and 4 page spreads along with some related random tables.

Ralif Redhammer · 2026-03-03T15:09:29+0000

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I specifically bought Cawood Publishing's Monsters of the City book for 5E because I want a bunch of generic urban NPC types.

I want multiple levels of thieves, from pickpockets to muggers to cat burglars to master thieves. I want low level guards, I want more experienced guards and I want the ruler's bodyguards. I want vermin of all sorts. I want all levels of the religious hierarchy. I want all sorts of nobles, including Romeo & Juliet street-brawling toughs. I want alchemists and the stuff that lives in the alchemists' sewers. I want the wizards guild.

Books like the Shadowdark core book had to have limits to what they can include, so there's only a handful of urban NPCs (although I still think they could have jettisoned the chuul for some other monster stat block), but an urban setting should have a bunch of these.

Monsters of the City has some really creative monsters. The Codfather is genius.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-03T18:06:02+0000

Ralif Redhammer said:
Monsters of the City has some really creative monsters. The Codfather is genius.

View attachment 430779

I really like it. The districts map nicely to Ptolus and many other fantasy cities and while, at first, I was iffy on the idea that there are powerful celestials and fiends working secretly against each other in the city, I came around to it as a bit of extra intrigue (that also fits well with Ptolus' themes).