For an excellent example of this type of adventure, read Joe Abercrombie's short story "Tough Times All Over". It's included in Sharp Ends, and in the first Rogues anthology by GRRM & Gardner Dozois.
City adventures in very low-magic fantasy
…and I just realized I edited my post and pasted between “Guard” and “duty”.
Look to something like Inkwells Ideas for their playing card products. Sidequest Decks: Political and Urban Fantasy
Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
I ran a 2-year Yoon-Suin campaign, and a good portion of the adventures were set within the Yellow City. Here are a few scenario structure
1: the big stink: No one is picking up garbage anymore, what is going on? (in Yoon-suin, the local Coackroach farmers clans do garbage disposal, but insert whatever group that would be responsible for this in your game). A new protection racket gang has moved in the city, and they are putting pressure on the waste-disposal people, who simply have left the area since they can't fight/pay.
2: Blood theft. One PC is "not from here" and their blood is a valuable component. A local slugman alchemist has a deal: why don't I take some of your blood and sell it on the market before some desperate mage puts a hit on you? PC agrees... but the blood is stolen! The alchemist is furious (he's "technically" nobility and is insulted), and it turns out that a powerful merchant has now a monopoly on the local blood trade and is behind the theft. Investigation reveals that this merchant is up to no good.... (in my game: had captive slugman as a source of blood).
3: The city is a port, and has a large granary (local farmlands are poor so it imports a lot of grain). Foes of the city attack the granary, and the PCs happen to be nearby.
4: (a hook that the PCs never followed): a local criminal gang is making fake coins. Authorities have found out and are about to crush the gang.... but a corrupt member of said authorities makes a deal with the PCs to steal most of the fake coins before the raid so they (and the PCs) can share the loot instead of it being destroyed.
In general, I would recommend Yoon-Suin as a great source for plot generation, institution/faction generation etc etc.
1: the big stink: No one is picking up garbage anymore, what is going on? (in Yoon-suin, the local Coackroach farmers clans do garbage disposal, but insert whatever group that would be responsible for this in your game). A new protection racket gang has moved in the city, and they are putting pressure on the waste-disposal people, who simply have left the area since they can't fight/pay.
2: Blood theft. One PC is "not from here" and their blood is a valuable component. A local slugman alchemist has a deal: why don't I take some of your blood and sell it on the market before some desperate mage puts a hit on you? PC agrees... but the blood is stolen! The alchemist is furious (he's "technically" nobility and is insulted), and it turns out that a powerful merchant has now a monopoly on the local blood trade and is behind the theft. Investigation reveals that this merchant is up to no good.... (in my game: had captive slugman as a source of blood).
3: The city is a port, and has a large granary (local farmlands are poor so it imports a lot of grain). Foes of the city attack the granary, and the PCs happen to be nearby.
4: (a hook that the PCs never followed): a local criminal gang is making fake coins. Authorities have found out and are about to crush the gang.... but a corrupt member of said authorities makes a deal with the PCs to steal most of the fake coins before the raid so they (and the PCs) can share the loot instead of it being destroyed.
In general, I would recommend Yoon-Suin as a great source for plot generation, institution/faction generation etc etc.
theCourier
Adventurer
Check out the DCC Lankhmar adventures. Gang wars, heists, theatre plays, there's some good stuff to be found in there.
Tell us about your City, where is it located, what is its claim to fame, what is its nick names?
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