I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
So I'm a HUGE fan of Urban Fantasy. With 3e drawing to a close, I'm going through some of my favorite cities from 3rd party and WotC products throughout the history of the 3 editions, and figuring out why they are so great, in an effort to get kind of a master list of awesome fantasy cities that have been used in the game.
I'd like EVERYONE's input on this. And you don't need to limit it to WotC or 3rd party publications, either. Cool fantasy cities aren't limited to game settings, after all.
So give me your cool cities. Tell me why they're awesome. I'll start the list:
Sigil, the City of Doors. From the Planescae setting in 2e. It has a big dose of Age-of-Exploration London in it: you travel down the street and see wonders from all over the world! Add in the philosophical ruling groups, (the Factions) as the major political forces, and the enigmatic Lady of Pain (the unseen master of the city who rules absolutely, but rarely directly). Easy travel to and from the city in the way of portals is a bit of a stroke of genius, and makes the city believable as a center of trade for all the dimensions of reality. It's one of my favorites, if not my #1.
The Reason It's Great? Diversity. If there ever was a city that screamed loudly the ability to see and do and be anything, it's Sigil. Walk down any given street and you pass a hundered different portals to a hundred different worlds, all of which has thousands of different inhabitants who may come through this city at some point. Most settings would balk at a priest of Set next to a walking cube of a modron, but Sigil loves it!
Penance, The Bottomless City. From the Oathbound setting by Bastion Press. It's a seedier city than many, whose streets and dark allies are not safe to walk down, and a place where you can get lost and never find your way home again. Immense, but situated in a definite plain, Penance has no ground. The residents use walkways built above the remains of old buildings. You could go straight down for miles and not see one spec of natural dirt. This gives the city it's own "dungeon," right below everything, always ready to collapse at a moment's notice, inhabited by creatures drawn from all across reality.
The Reason It's Great? An endless Challenge. Penance is ruled by violent warlords and presided over by a caged goddess of sorts. Penance reflects the "testing" nature of the Oathbound setting by being more of a challenge than a city -- simply living there and getting food and work and living day-to-day life is frequently a matter of life and death.
Give me yours!
I'd like EVERYONE's input on this. And you don't need to limit it to WotC or 3rd party publications, either. Cool fantasy cities aren't limited to game settings, after all.
So give me your cool cities. Tell me why they're awesome. I'll start the list:
Sigil, the City of Doors. From the Planescae setting in 2e. It has a big dose of Age-of-Exploration London in it: you travel down the street and see wonders from all over the world! Add in the philosophical ruling groups, (the Factions) as the major political forces, and the enigmatic Lady of Pain (the unseen master of the city who rules absolutely, but rarely directly). Easy travel to and from the city in the way of portals is a bit of a stroke of genius, and makes the city believable as a center of trade for all the dimensions of reality. It's one of my favorites, if not my #1.
The Reason It's Great? Diversity. If there ever was a city that screamed loudly the ability to see and do and be anything, it's Sigil. Walk down any given street and you pass a hundered different portals to a hundred different worlds, all of which has thousands of different inhabitants who may come through this city at some point. Most settings would balk at a priest of Set next to a walking cube of a modron, but Sigil loves it!
Penance, The Bottomless City. From the Oathbound setting by Bastion Press. It's a seedier city than many, whose streets and dark allies are not safe to walk down, and a place where you can get lost and never find your way home again. Immense, but situated in a definite plain, Penance has no ground. The residents use walkways built above the remains of old buildings. You could go straight down for miles and not see one spec of natural dirt. This gives the city it's own "dungeon," right below everything, always ready to collapse at a moment's notice, inhabited by creatures drawn from all across reality.
The Reason It's Great? An endless Challenge. Penance is ruled by violent warlords and presided over by a caged goddess of sorts. Penance reflects the "testing" nature of the Oathbound setting by being more of a challenge than a city -- simply living there and getting food and work and living day-to-day life is frequently a matter of life and death.
Give me yours!
