Cool Urban Sites

[thedearhunter]

I'm running a heavily urban themed campaign, and have been trying to include as much diversity within cities as i can. Though now, im quickly running low on cool adventures within cities that are not just dungeons. I've used towers, arena's, ballroom's etc. Any Ideas?

 

[Hand of Evil]

That is the problem with cities, the best idea is to place events in locations.

• The Waterfront - a murder everynight, filled with bars, gambling dens and drug holes. You also, have a seedy underworld, where people disappear, this is the slave markets to mines under the city or crew for slave ships.
• The Grave yard - In a city, this normally on the edge. Grave robbers fight the eaters of the dead for bodies or some one is dumping.
• The Slums - The poor side of town, where even thugs travel in pairs.
• The Park - A small forest in the middle of town but at night a different world.
• The Warehouses - Goods come in and good go out and this is where they are stored.
• The Shipping Docks - a part of the Waterfront, ships are loaded and unloaded, 7 days a week 24 hours, so they can catch the tides.
• Smuggle Hole - nuff said.
• Pilot House - Pilots bring ships to dock and they have a place to stay between being rowed out to those ships.

Will list more later.....

 

[aco175]

It always seems like I am taking them away from open spaces and putting them in back alleys and sewers. I find that monsters like to hide in dark places and evil men hang out with creatures that would seek to do you harm. Otherwise a town or city may not be that much fun for combat heavy players. My party can only take so much roleplaying and politics in one night so I need these areas for cool fight where they will not get arrested by civilized folk.

 

[gamerprinter]

Revealing one of my secrets...

Say you want to play some oriental flavor, but don't want to run an oriental campaign, just put a 'China Town' in one sector of the poor districts - some shops, warehouses, a monastary, temple, a small fortress for a 'samurai' lord, the yakuza are strong here, and perhaps ninja are about. You can basically redo all your previous location sites - temples, guard shacks, alleys, but now do them in a specific ethnic neighborhood. And while there's many human ethnic neighborhoods, you can have elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome and other diversity depending on the type and style of your campaign.

I use China Town, or Little Tokyo - lots.

GP

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As a variation on the abandoned factory, consider the number of old hospitals, asylums, office buildings, stadiums and other large buildings.

You could also use abandoned military bases or towns that have been evacuated due to toxic waste spills or the local economy going belly up.

Something that has always fascinated me is the "undercity" that is present in some areas. Essentially, some cities gets built in layers and layers over time, and you can find entire neighborhoods underground, completely forgotten. Other cities are built over this way on purpose, like Budapest. One common pathway to this are the tunnels of subways and/or sewers, but entries can be found in basements and wine cellars.

 

[Sigurd]

The game is rife with factions and the characters become heroes through action. It doesn't take much for one if the factions to embrace this and create a gang. Gangs with character levels might quickly be a nightmare for city guards without them.

If you want battles in open areas think of the old Kung Fu movies where competing styles of Kung Fu fought and destroyed markets and all sorts of public space. The police only get there after the fighting is over.

Any of those factions - even the good ones - might be a gang ripping up the city just because.

S

 

[Hand of Evil]

In any city there will be a number of repeat business, such as barber shops, bath houses, drug stores, markets and bars. For the most, you can cookie cutter them, they all look the same, just the location changes.

Now other locations:

• Stables - the rich have thiers and then their are those that are attached to inns. Now days, these are parking lots. Things happen in them, people meet, good get exchanged.
• Speciality Store - There are a lot of these, from second hand clothes, to pawn shops, to Antique, to 5 and 10 cent stores. You have your book stores, your knife and swords, tobacco and pipes. Name it and there is a store for it. The thing about speciality stores is they are found near something else; like a knife & sword store would be found near a military station. A Cleric garment store in the church area.
• Watch tower, there is one at every city gate. The control traffic into and out of a city.
• Police Station - a city ward/district normal will have one, maybe two if big. This is not just the place where police work but where people are held until trial, so it will have holding cells.
• Courts - some centralize them, having just one big building but I like to have little ones here and there, so I can have District Judges.
• Prison - Many are outside of the city, others are not.

 

[Hand of Evil]

About the under-city - there is more than just the sewers, and there are levels to each one.

• Level 1 - 5 to 10 feet down, basements. Normal stuff for the most part but what people don't realize is that basements in a city may lead to other places. You can have tunnels that go under the street to connect to another basement but some lead to maintenance tunnels.
• Level 2 - 10 to 20 feet down, Maintenance. This is a network of tunnels that allow workers to move goods. Today, this is forgotten but at one time common, it allowed goods to be moved without blocking streets nor being exposed to weather. They run from the waterfronts to all parts of a city, where the goods would then be placed in basements.
• Level 3 - 15 to 30 feet down, Runoff & Cisterns. Fresh water is important to a city but you have control the flow and that is what this level does. Rain water may be directed to Cisterns and some will be to the sewers. Normally it is roof pipes that feet this level.
• Level 4 - 15 to 40 feet down, Sewers. Yep, this is the waste removal area of a city. Street runoff feeds this.
• Level 5 - 10 to 150 feet down, Ruins. Things are built on older sites.

See:Cities Of The Underworld — History.com Videos

Also a site that I always found cool:
Wieliczka Salt Mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also World Heritage sites from Europe - just nice list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Europe

Another:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worsley_Navigable_Levels

 

[Hand of Evil]

Landmarks - Cities have tons of them, most people don't even know of them and they are right under their noses. There are two types, visual and historic. Visual landmarks are how people know where there are, they relate an area with it. Historical can be visual but also have an importance to the city. Go with hospitals, churches and public places.

 

[Hand of Evil]

So, tell us about your city?

Also, use the news to your advanage. Example: The ex-senitor that died in the plane crash. For me, this would become an ex-city father was killed while travelling through the swamp lands south of the city. He was know for supporting his city ward and fighting to try and get a bridge built from his ward to the eastern bank of the river but every one knows there is nothing over that way. He had to leave office because of a scandal but nothing was proven. Later this week, the ward will be honoring him.