Cities/Towns in your campaign

[Amal Shukup]

I think it depends a lot on the 'lives' of the characters. what are they doing and where are they doing it? What's important to them?

IMC, things went like this:

Levels 1 to 3: I took the time to describe their local neighborhood in their 'home' city. When they traveled, I established the characteristics of local towns (or other city districts) that they passed through - not exhaustively, usually, but enough to give 'sense of space' and to familiarize themselves with some locals.

Levels 4 - 8: Generally LESS detail, because party had already been to most of the places in the region. I emphasized changes more than anything else - evolving NPCs, changes inspired by World/regional events (threat of war, primarily). The party operated much more freely in their home city as well, and even invested in a local business, so the city was described in much more detail.

Level 9 - 10: They went on a VERY long trip (by land, sea, and briefly airship) pursuing some baddies who had very mistakenly kidnapped an employee (and sundry innocents). As I felt they were soon to reach the level where they would start teleporting all over the place, I figured it was my last chance to do any sort of travelogue.

So I made the most of it: exposing them to several significant locales and a fair number of cultures (quasi-Euro/feudal towns and cities, ersatz-Berber caravan, semi-Persian Metropolis, air genasi with airships, the external mountainside 'gatetown' of a Dwarven kingdom, neo-Celtic nomadic herders, etc.). Cities/towns were detailed down to architecture, culture - particularly music (party has a Bard), regional foods/drink, local dress/customs, NPCs of all sorts etc. I prepared descriptions that I would read off as the party approached and entered new locales, and leaned heavily on 'flavor' description in weekly recaps and during roleplaying interactions. These were supplemented by a bunch of supplementary maps and artwork.

Levels 11 - 12: Wilderness Travel plus Dungeon Crawl, so limited opportunity for city/town descriptions. Campaign is now on hiatus while I get the opportunity to play (whee!).

Incidentally, our other DM has a MASSIVELY detailed 'home town' that he's been working on it for 18 years. He also has it fully mapped out (table size) using Autocad and a plotter... If he didn't use "drive the party nuts" naming conventions*, I'd have SERIOUS town envy.

* Wright, Right, Write, and Rite Streets, the Green Dragoon and Green Dragon Inns. Everything in town has a bunch of Homonym counterparts. Blargh.

A'Mal

 

[dreaded_beast]

Good ideas and thoughts.

As a DM, I find that I feel the need to offer the PCs a chance to explore cities (adventure hooks/side quests) regardless if it deals with the current "story" or not.

 

[Ed Cha]

I try to use as much detail as possible whether it's a city/town or a dungeon. Putting a lot of detail into NPCs, shops, and encounters in cities and towns can offer a lot of great role-playing opportunities and lead to new adventures that dungeons cannot. A lot of players like to use cities and towns for resting and roleplaying their PCs. The focus moves away from combat towards interaction. Some of the most memorable NPCs and situations I've ever created were based in cities and towns. I think they're a great getaway for deeper character and story development.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

It depends.

For a "key locale," such as a capital or the main town the PCs come from/operate out of at first (kinda like a Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep, Sharn, Greyhawk City, Lankhmar, Tyr, etc.), I feel the need to detail the town completely. A good list of who's who, what's where, etc.

For places that the PCs "visit," I'll have minor details on hand, & generally make up the rest. More often than not, I'll recycle a city map for a town, but just relabel places.

Then there's the "passing through" places--locales where the PCs stop for lodging, food, recovery, etc., while on their travels from city A to town B or what have you. This stuff is generally made up as I go; if by some twist in in-game RPing this locale gets visited more often, then I'll start to set things in stone & flesh the place out a bit more. However, this only applies to places the PCs actually stop at--if they pass a place by, then they pass it by.

 

[DmQ]

When the PCs go travelling, I--as DM--go into one of two modes:

1. It's the journey, not the destination.
2. It's the destination, not the journey.

What he said.

 

[Hand of Evil]

On the other hand, town/city NPCs are important and they can provide a good bit of information to the players, such as road information, strange happening, plot information and such. An inn keeper always looks like a inn keeper but when he becomes a contact he has to be noted.

 

[sir_ollibolli]

I've just started the Dungeon Adventure Path and at the end of the second session we came to the first encounter in the first installment. Til' then the group journeyed from a harbor town to the volcano city, the second session was the introdutcion of the malachite city on top of the volcano... NPC's and locales were introduced and rumours were spread in real conversations (they inadvertantly started another rumour themselves, that tentacled monsters are making trouble in the mines, making a joke of those things they were hearing, and some bystanders took it for granted, nice reaction to the faces of the players ).

 

[MonsterMash]

Put me in the it depends camp - If its part of the adventure I'll try and bring it out and encourage the players to tarry, but if there is a mission which doesn't involve much interaction in the town then I'd use the more generic elements (keeping notes though so I know who they'll expect to meet again in that place).

 

[WayneLigon]

I describe towns and cities en route if it becomes important to do so, it advances the plot in some manner, or if it gives clues to future adventures.

When does it become 'important to do so'? Several reasons:

1. The area they are entering is significantly worse off or better off than the area they are leaving.
2. Laws have radically changed: maybe the kingdom they are entering has extremely stiff penalties for banditry. They start seeing public execution areas in small towns they pass through.
3. The racial mix changes. The kingdom they enter has a lot of halflings, so they start finding towns where some buildings are half-sized, made specifically by and for halflings.
4. Local alignment factors change dramatically. If they enter a village and see a temple to an evil god out in broad daylight, they then have a clue that Something Is Wrong.

 

[kigmatzomat]

For DMs and PCs:
In your campaign, are cities and towns important?

Very much so.

do you like to have a detailed description in every town/city along the way or do you prefer to just gloss it over until you get to your main destination? Or do you prefer a mix?

I'm a wing-it kind of DM. I pregen the NPCs directly relevant to the current plot, but otherwise it's a giant cloud of potential towns and such.

So what generally happens is that I toss out one or two flavored items out there and see if they respond. If they're in a hurry and go straight for rations, sleep, and next morning's meal I let it go and the town becomes a 45 second foot-note. If they respond to my attempts to flesh out the town I enable stream of consciousness and let the imagination flesh out the town. (Afterwards I make copious notes so I can keep continuity).

Some towns are thoroughly detailed despite only being visited once and then there's one that they've passed through literally dozens of times but never really spent any time in.

I've learned if I have a good idea for a town to keep it and reuse it later since the players are almost guaranteed to not notice the reuse of the hook.