D&D 5E How advanced/civilized are your cities?
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bedir than
Full Moon Storyteller
Mine vary based on the kingdom/region in which they exist
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
True, but you need to stow 'em somewhere till you hang 'em.
More seriously, most cities would have a prison for important prisoners = those who could be ransomed, or are of political importance, or are potential information sources (by whatever means), etc.The Tower of London, which is at its heart a prison as well as a keep, has been there for about 1000 years, so it's not like there ain't any precedent.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
Most communities I've researched start near a river, so aqueducts would only be need for those that don't have a natural (sufficient) source. Seems difficult to start a community if you have to build a waterway system first.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Depends what other reasons there are for the community to be there. If it's controlling the only safe sheltered harbour along 500 miles of coastline, for example, you'll find a way to get fresh water to it whatever it takes.
That said, a river or lake or aquifer or other reliable source of fresh water is certainly a prerequisite most of the time.
cbwjm
Legend
A lot of these things I hadn't even thought of since I tend not to really map out my settlements (at least not in minute detail) it means that if I need a park in the city due to an adventure or PC query then I can add one. Still, of the things I do think about, mine tend to have a central stronghold around which the rest of the city is built. A river as main water source, guilds, city watch and walls, a magical academy if some sort (the city I'm thinking of has Draconis Sorcere, a guild/academy which draconic sorcerers can join), underground sewer/water ways, a harbour (in this case the city is built around a large lake), magic shops which have mostly uncommon items and consumables (but they might be able to find someone willing to sell other items), and a large trade centre (several actually). Their library is also the temple to the Sage since this god deems that knowledge should be used by all the temples tend to have large libraries and keep historical documents for all to peruse. This is one of the largest cities in my world having been the seat of draconic power back in the mythic age it has retained much of its majesty and influence.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Yes. But thinking of those landlocked cites I see on both "official" and homebrew fantasy maps so often.
Others have mentioned it, but "Typical" makes things hard as it's going to vary for all sorts of reasons ranging from political to why the city exists & for how long. In the end I decided to vote for bazaar/trade plaza, city guards/watchmen, gardens/parks, graveyard, jail/prison, library, magic shops, Organized Guilds, Standing army or military force, Theaters, underground sewers, waste disposal but feel like it needs more than just a check in a box. The most interesting thing I noticed is that currently jail/prison is at 81.0 while library is at 85.7 yet libraries seem to almost never exist in wotc's HC adventures
- bazaar/trade plaza This can be anything from a literal trade plaza/bazaar to a main street trade district or whatever depending on the size of the city with larger cities scaling as makes sense. I tend to use individual shops though.
- , city guards/watchmen To a degree these sometimes pull double duty in a more military type role & vice versa as the needs of plot fit best.
- , gardens/parks This is such an important thing for cities that they tend to form naturally simply because the town needs an open area to hold whatever events it might hold if nothing else.
- graveyard There's big money involved & problems for not having something like this, even sharn sorta has one.
- , jail/prison for smaller towns this might just be a root cellar or fortified closet in a watchtower somewhere to toss the drunks till they sober up but the size & security is likely to grow with the size of the population.
- library It might not be a good library, but printing presses & similar exist on top of dragonshards storing books so a library of some form is almost certain but it might not be (fully) open to the public & some things might need special access
- magic shops They might not have everything you want, but you can buy some magic items alongside other nonmagic things in moderately sized cities. Major cities likely have a wider selection of shops happy to take your money & finding the right item might be more a matter of footwork than making a custom order. Smaller cities will vary & you might have more difficulty getting thigs you want. Either way you might need a special license or similar certificate saying you are legally allowed to buy the magic item you want & getting that might involve questing of some form for those with political power.
- Organized Guilds I guess the dragonmarked houses fit this close enough as proto-megacorps. decently sized cities might have private clubs & similar guid-like things that provide benefits to their members,
- Standing army or military force. They aren't likely to be in town unless there is something like a millitia that can be called up quick but any organized government beyond a certain point needs to have this somewhere close enough to do occasional patrols for bandits & monsters. Alternately they might get called in if everything goes to hell somehow similar to how FEMA & the national guard move in after things like natural disasters once the PCs solve the crisis problem.
- Theaters Larger cities yes Phiarlin scry houses exist. Smaller ones & even towns might brag about how they recently got one or that there are vague nonspecific plans to build one. Fixing that lack gives a hook PCs can grab
- underground sewers heck yea. Cannith & Kobolds make/maintain these for most cities & towns (but not for free). Kobolds might live on another level but the sewer itself is more likely to have problems due to rain & storms than monsters. Of course someone needs to cull the ooze population sometimes. I also have self prestidigitating chamber pots (ie. toilets that magically erase your deposit)
- waste disposal Garbage needs to go somewhere & the poorest might sort through it before recycling or even feeding it to things like oozes/incinerating it. smaller coties towns probably havea less well maintained area with some of that.
My Final Fantasy/MtG setting had a Noble and Barnes library/university chain.
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