DMG to include a "starter town".

[BBQ]

My Top Five List of Towns it "Could be"

1) Hommlet
2) The Keep on the Borderlands
3) Silverymoon
4) The City of Greyhawk (Okay, just my personal pipe-dream)
5) Darokin City (Again, a personal pipe-dream.)

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

I've found it to be different. In my experience, most players do not want to take on the role of the DM, since it requires a lot more non-game time work.

Depends on what kind of DMing it is. My group passes around the DM duties whenever we run a one-shot, since it's usually just a free adventure from the WotC site. That requires about 15 minutes of prep time, not counting the cursory read-through to determine whether the thing has even the slightest bit of merit -- I think the most was 1-1.5 hours I spent writing out a dungeon's worth of monsters in the new stat block format and swapping a few levels on some NPCs. Admittedly it's just a one shot, but it's not like there aren't lengthier adventures available.

 

[Rechan]

I've found it to be different. In my experience, most players do not want to take on the role of the DM, since it requires a lot more non-game time work.

That's odd.

While I've ran into this, I also know several DM/GMs who basically cannot be players because they are control freaks. All but one is the "I must have ultimate power" but the others are just that they can't relinquish the reigns of the world and merely have their own actions.

Me, I'm torn. I love DMing (because I have the time to do planning). I just yearn to play. My problem is that I'm ever critical of the plots I'm in. They're lackluster or are too slow for my tastes. (And I have that problem with players - they move so damn slow! I want to get get get to the next adventure, the next leg of the plot!)

 

[MerricB]

My problem with being a player is that I want to *know* more about the plot than the DM is telling me. I'm a good roleplayer and tactician, but I can get very frustrated at the story's pace.

Cheers!

 

[TarionzCousin]

Look up.

I'll try to compile the choices we've had so far...

The Village of Hommlet
The iconic town of AD&D, designed by Gary Gygax and shown in the adventure module of the same name. Hommlet is a sleepy hamlet that just happens to be near to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It saw a lot of action during the first rising of the Temple, then reverted to its sleepy state.

The second rising of the Temple is where it first was published: the nearby Moathouse is inhabited by agents of Chaos and Evil, and cultists infiltrate the village. Local retired heroes provide training for the members of the party, and there is tension between the Old (Druidical) Faith and the new faith of St Cuthbert.

The third rising of the Temple (as published in Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil) sees Hommlet no longer quite so sleepy.

Threshold
The example town in the D&D Expert Set edited by Mentzer (possibly also Moldvay; I'll check). It has a few inhabitants detailed and some adventure hooks. It is set in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. Monkey Boy notes that it sees extra detailing in B10 Nights Dark Terror, but I never saw much of late-Basic D&D material.

Restenford
Less well known than Hommlet, Restenford is the town featured in the AD&D adventure "L1: The Secret of Bone Hill" by Len Lakofka. It's set on Greyhawk in the Lendore Isles.

Keep on the Borderlands
If you don't know this place - probably the most well-known of any D&D adventure, due to its including in many, many sets of Basic D&D - you should hunt down a copy. The dungeon may not always make sense, but it's designed to be fun for beginning players & DMs. In that it succeeds.

The Keep itself is unusual in that none of the NPCs are named. Another Gygax design, it has infiltrators, tavern-keepers, a head priest, and interesting places to visit.

Cheers!

Someone mentioned the town from Under Illefarn--which is called Daggerford. It was nicely done. One of the first towns I ran in 2E--except that the campaign had been running in Waterdeep for six months already.

I don't believe that the village will be the Keep on the Borderlands. It wasn't a village. (Of course, if this is wrong I'll edit this away. Ha!)

 

[Maggan]

So what do you think - Good idea? Bad?

I love it. The impact Threshold had on my games was profound, and I have gone on record several times over the year asking for a starter "place" included in the core rules (or actually, in a starter set, but if I can get it in the core rules, it's also great).

I think it will be Union*, so that each campaign can start with the PCs being heroes!

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Nah, Hommlet might be the one. I guess that's ok, even though I have no special relationship with the town. It's just a name to me.

And they've got a sample dungeon in the DMG som why not a town?

/M


* From Epic Level Handbook

 

[Soel]

Honestly, I think a starter town is a perfect addition -- as a web enhancement to the DMG. It'll take up too much space in an actual book, imo.

But, since its most likely gonna be in the book, well, I'm sure I'll get some use out of it.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

I don't know how iconic it was, though. The "Keep" on the Borderlands is far more well known, as is Hommlet (and Saltmarsh), as they were the site of actual adventures.

It's iconic for everyone who's played the Basic D&D boxed sets, I'm sure.

Personally, I've never played any of the adventures where KotB, Hommlet or Saltmarsh come from, so they have zero iconic potential for me.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I'd like to see the Keep done up right.

Mostly cause it is neither the dime a dozen sleepy village nor the utterly exotic locale on the flank of the fitfully sleeping tarrasque.

Keeps are useful, too, for more than just a starting location and easy to create recognizable variation in.

 

[delericho]

I won't make any use of a 'sample town' in the DMG. Nonetheless, I think it absolutely should be in the book.

In fact, not only should the DMG include a sample town, it should also include a (short) complete sample adventure set in or near the town, as well.