Ahnehnois
First Post
Well, I've done it every way. Generally, I think big cities are better for campaigns that focus on social interaction and avoid combat, and I think it's hard to do a big city in D&D without emphasizing the "magic as technology" vibe.
The thing about smaller settlements is that by comparison, they make the PCs seem exceptional. In a big city, a 10th level fighter isn't anything out of the ordinary, but in a village, he could probably wipe out the entire population if he wanted to. Conversely, he can also take care of a problem big enough to wipe out the entire village. In a small settlement, you can actually sell the idea that magic and weird races and things are out of the ordinary and that peasants don't understand them, where as its hard to imagine an urbanite being ignorant of such basic things.
I think my campaigns probably are determined at least in part along those lines. If I'm trying to make the PCs seem important, a small town is the starting venue. If I'm emphasizing that the world is bigger than them, no better way to do it than a city full of D&D characters.
The thing about smaller settlements is that by comparison, they make the PCs seem exceptional. In a big city, a 10th level fighter isn't anything out of the ordinary, but in a village, he could probably wipe out the entire population if he wanted to. Conversely, he can also take care of a problem big enough to wipe out the entire village. In a small settlement, you can actually sell the idea that magic and weird races and things are out of the ordinary and that peasants don't understand them, where as its hard to imagine an urbanite being ignorant of such basic things.
I think my campaigns probably are determined at least in part along those lines. If I'm trying to make the PCs seem important, a small town is the starting venue. If I'm emphasizing that the world is bigger than them, no better way to do it than a city full of D&D characters.
