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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6413894" data-attributes="member: 59082">[MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION], I'm in a similar situation - building a town and region for 5E. It is the same homebrew setting I used in 4E, but I'm using this opportunity (we don't start until January) to adjust and develop some things. Ironically enough the name of the starting town is Mistfall, so named because it is right up against a cliff over which a river falls, which churns up constant mists as they hit the hot springs below. Mistfall is on an island in the river just past the falls.Anyhow, as someone mentioned, 5E has a lower magic and more traditional feel than 4E, to some degree 3E. For me this requires little adjustment, as I excised some of the gonzo elements of 4E - there are no tieflings or dragonborn, at least not in this region (and not unless a player insists), and magic is quite rare, even frowned upon or at least feared. But I'm also wanting to veer from "Medieval plus a bit of magic," which I find a bit boring. In a way I'm going for a bit more along the lines of "5E + American Frontier + twinges of Walking Dead." The aesthetic isn't one of Medieval heraldry and culture, but more frontierish, with flavor of non-human cultures. More similar to Eriador in Middle-earth or the North or Dalelands in the Forgotten Realms than Medieval England or France.Anyhow, Mistfall has about 1,000 inhabitants. It is the largest settlement in a collective holding called Mist Haven, which also includes another town of similar size, a handful of villages, and a bunch of thorps/hamlets and farms, with a total population of around 7,000 in the 200 square mile region - which, according to <a href="http://www.welshpiper.com/medieval-demographics-online/" target="_blank">this generator</a>, is "adequate" population density - not ample, but not arid or inhospitable. The towns and holding is well fortified, because it is amidst a larger region called the Fringe Lands, which is about the size of the Dalelands and is frontier-ish, between more civilized regions to the east and wilds to the north and west. Scatttered throughout the Fringe Lands are about ten Havens, more densely populated and protected areas, one of which is Mist Haven. They're inspired by the Dales of the FR, but adapted to a more hostile region.Anyhow, the tech level is Medieval, and there aren't abundant magic items, but there is an herbal apothecary that sells potions and ointments, and the dwarf-owned shop, Hod's Emporium, has a few low-powered magic items for sale (in, of course, a back room for more clearly well-to-do customers). The Fringe Lands has a fair number of explorers and adventurers, so there's a market for potions and magic. There is an adventurer's guild, the Seeker's Guild, with a small chapter in Mistfall. There are also an assortment of shops, a few taverns, and a couple temples as befits a town of its size. I figure that a population of 1,000 is large enough to have "one of everything" beyond more exotic things.I share all of this just as a way to give you a sense of how I'm thinking about and dealing with similar issues. I think it really depends upon the specifics of your setting, as 5E seems to be less reliant on an implied setting and more intended to support a variety of approaches.</blockquote>

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