Great Fantasy Cities (and what makes them so awesome)

[khyron1144]

Firstly I've gotta second Lankhmar, Ankh-Morpork, and Sanctuary.

To me, superheroics is a sort of subgenre of both science fiction (Iron Man, Hulk, Superman) and Fantasy (Thor, DR. Strange, The Spectre). As such, tow of my favorite cities are Gotham City and Marvel New York.

Gotham City because it can be played for horror (good Scarecrow arcs), noir (The Long Halloween), and laughs (the episode of Batman: The Animated series where Harley Quinn/ Harlene Quinzel was pronounced sane).

Marvel New York because it has flavors, niches and neighborhoods. Dare Devil's Hell's Kitchen feels different from Dr. Strange's Greenwich village.

 

[Gundark]

The Five Fingers . By far the best city evar.

Sharn.

Corvis.

 

[GMSkarka]

New Crobuzon-- which is why we've licensed the setting from China Mieville.

As for what makes it so awesome -- I've always liked the mix of Dickensian poverty and borderline steampunk. New Crobuzon feels more like a real city to me than other fantasy cities.

 

[GlassEye]

Korvosa, from the upcoming Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, has a lovely map, urban unrest, and plague. I can hardly wait til it comes out so I can learn more (and hopefully place it amongst all these other splendid cities).

 

[Betote]

Count another vote for Ankh-Morpok here

Also:

Arkham: I've run countless games using just the core CoC book and Arkham Unveiled. A nice, peaceful town where everybody has a hidden agenda.

Sharn: A recent love, the more I read about it, the more intrigued I become. It takes a standard "big fantasy city" and adds a lot of levels, both physically (towers, 3-D city) and intrigue-wise, with the Dragonmark Houses, the University and all the racial and social interaction. Also, it's the perfect "home base", from where you can go to any place.

Mithril, City of the Golem: Because of its raw coolness. A city on the edge of civilization, built around a divine avatar and whose coast is tinted by the blood of a wounded and chained Titan. What's not to like?

 

[meomwt]

Though I haven't used it in a game yet, I'd like to nominate the cool city of Gate Pass from the ENWorld War of the Burning Sky Adventure Path Campaign Saga. It's a great concept: a long, narrow city running the length of a ravine between two mountains. Gives a great feeling of enclosure whilst in the open air. I'd love to see more detail on this little gem, it screams to be expanded on further.

Another great locale is The Grey Citadel from the Necromancer Games module of the same name. It's set on a rock in the middle of a river, just above a waterfall, shrouding the buildings in a permanent mist (and making the streets just that little bit slippery when instigating a chase). As well as a great sense of location, the book has enough developed NPC's that the City can continue as a base of operations once the adventure set there has finished. Whilst not as extensive as Ptolus or The Free City of Greyhawk, its eminantly usable as a campaign setting if the DM is willing to put in a bit of work.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Ankh-Morpork.

Also, my own version of an underwater Atlantis.