A Detailed City?

[Psion]

Freeport and Bluffside are both excellent. I think Freeport is a better product (nice layout, art, good editing, and some good ideas), but Bluffside appeals to me more as a city in that is seems more accomodating to a "roll-your-own" GM like me who already has some ideas what he wants to do but just needs an interesting backdrop to run it in.

I also have stormhaven. It's nature should make it easy to drop in any campaign. A lot smaller than the other city books out there.

Reviews of Bluffside and Stormhaven on the way; my Freeport review is already up.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Freeport and Bluffside are both excellent. I think Freeport is a better product (nice layout, art, good editing, and some good ideas), but Bluffside appeals to me more as a city in that is seems more accomodating to a "roll-your-own" GM like me who already has some ideas what he wants to do but just needs an interesting backdrop to run it in.

Interesting.

I see Bluffside as a 'home port' for my players, feeling it has more adventuring arcs, and Freeport as a place they have extended adventures in. I am working on building my game with a trade route between the two. Love the way they can work with each other.

 

[jasper]

Just get a good map of your town.
And stock yourself.
And if it a really big town, stock as you go.

 

[Nightfall]

Can't wait to see your review then Psion. I have a feeling it will match my impressions too.

 

[Utrecht]

It is interesting to see the debats surrounding the three main cities:

Freeport
Bluffside
Geneveue

I have both Bluffside and Geneveue. I looked at Freeport - but as someone said it is very wild-westish and believe that major cities have more stability than that.

I do not like the concept of Bluffside - in fact it seems like a cheesy way of justifying seven different city types in one location. However, the detail in Bluffside is what I bought it for. The people and the detail is nice - pluce there is a larger underside to it than Geneveue

I like Geneveue, because in my mind (and research) this is more in line with how cities operate - but it can be a bit bland for adventureing (at least the kick the doors kind - Political adventuring would be ideal for Geneveu (almost a Game of Thrones level - all with the PCs being innocent pawns )

 

[Nightfall]

Again just proves that I'm not for politics. Nor are my players. Thus that's why I dislike Genuave on that basis alone. It's like my hero Druss says "Politicians are good at convincing others that horse turds taste like honey, but even I know they still are turds."

Me, I'm all for a little power play, but ultimately, force of arms prevails MUCH more than some. Power may be a illusion for some, but illusions are what people believe or disbelieve by each time the sun rises and sets.

 

[CullAfulMoshuN]

I haven't read Bluffside or Freeport, so I can't offer an opinion on either, but another place you could try depending upon the degree of detail required could be Quorull, the port city setting for Aurans free download adventure module Shades of Grey.

Its quite a cool adventure and comes with a full colour map of Quorull, with brief descriptions of all areas of the city and stats for some generic and important NPCs. Quorull is set in the middle of a fuedal countryside with various political interests from rich merchants, surrounding lords with alligences to a distant crown and powerful temples.

For fitting Quorull into FR it could be used with little modification as Wheloon in Cormyr (Post Azoun IV), or possibly Murann in Amn/Tethyr before being claimed by the Sythillisian empire (could make a great plot device for a campaign, make the dragon-carl brothers half-orcs who really work for the Sythillian Ogre magi). And for religions, make Ormocea = Helm, Yaarneya = Sune/Sharess, Unnamed goddes = Shar.

http://www.auran.com/d20/shadesofgray.htm