How do you describe your cities or towns?

[Nyeshet]

If they're in an area I'll give as much detail as they request or should be able to notice. There is no need, for instance, for any of them to request to know about tall buildings. If one happens to be within sight and of notable height, I will mention it as it should be something they would have seen while casually looking around. Bardic Lore checks could also grant details of locales in the city beyond where they currently happen to be, as will the appropriate Know (local) or a Gather Information check.

I will not hand out a full map, but I might hand out a brief outline of the city - general shape of its perimeter, main roads, major buildings (the royal palace, the largest temple, the tallest building, the largest plaza, the main gates - general and obvious landmarks, basically). As they walk down particular roads I may toss in some visceral details - appearance of the setting, of those walking by, unusual creatures if any, anything that stands out readily, etc).

 

[Crothian]

I tell them about places and important details they would know about the city and then we go through it as they travel into the city.

 

[reason]

...

Sparsely and with a broad, light brush - let the players fill in as much as possible with their imaginations; it's very helpful not to have to do all the work. For example, in-play versions of these would not be that much more descriptive at the city / fortress level. The high level flavor and individual items and people are what fill out the picture really - describe the era and a single peasant beside a wall of scarred forgen and the players will populate a fortress in their minds.

Witan and Freberg of the Prophet's realms:
http://www.principiainfecta.com/archives/2006/05/least_festival_1.php
http://www.principiainfecta.com/archives/2006/06/to_fraberg_and.php

Turyth of the red realms:
http://www.principiainfecta.com/archives/2006/05/procession_of_t_1.php
http://www.principiainfecta.com/archives/2006/05/teryth_stands_b.php

If this is WH40K/Fading Suns style future high medievalism on Earth and Mars, how much do you know about these places now?

Reason
Principia Infecta

 

[el-remmen]

It depends on their POV and how the approach the city or town, how much of it is clear to see and the route they take through it.

The best I can do is give an example of an adapted description of the town of Nikar from my story hour. Obviously, the POV has been switched a bit to work for the story hour, but the details of the description is what I said to the players.

One of the PCs had lived in this town briefly, but had never been there "in-game" - so ahead of time I had given hims brief overview of the town.

The light of the nearly full moon washed over the town giving a clear view of it.

“Fascinating,” Martin murmured.

Nikar was a town of three tiers built into the side of the mountain. The tunnel led out through a gatehouse onto the central tier, which had a gradual curve to the northwest. The lower tier was about thirty feet below on the left, and the upper tier was nearly sixty feet above on the right. A natural wall of jagged rock protected the town from access from above the tunnel on the mountain face, while a severe drop-off protected from below. They could see the road that led to Nikar widened and continued beyond the town.

The central had a handful of tiny tree-lined streets made by white stucco houses with shale roofs. Immediately on the right was an imposing structure. A building surround by fortified walls that was built into the cliff-face and ran all the way up to an impressive round building with a central spire above it that sat on the edge of the upper tier. Narrow towers flanked the building all the way up and decorated galleries were on each level. It among the finest dwarven stonecraft Kazrack had ever seen, and it was clearly a safehouse for the Nauglimir Dwarven Merchant Consortium, and the building above it was the Temple of the Grandfathers. (1)

They could also see a set of stone steps similar to those leading down from the cemetery leading to the upper tier. From the little of what could they see of the lower tier from where they were, it seemed more spread out, with many gardens and smaller scattered building with tin and zinc roofs that glistened in the moonlight.

Ratchis led the group down a narrow alley that was in the shadow of the cliff that formed the third tier towards the stairs. The town was shutting down for the evening and they could see shopkeepers taking down their signs and turning down their lanterns. Most of the shops on this level looked as if they served as the shopkeepers’ homes as well. They passed a cobbler, a baker a cooper and a general store.

As they climbed the tall, partially open steps to the upper tier, more of the lowest tier became visible. There was a wooden set of steps that went down from the central tier to the lowest, but even in the moonlight they did not look to be well kept. There was a broad set of stone steps on the western side of town that marked the edge of the lowest tier. It seemed like nearly all of the western third of the lowest tier was built partially underground. They could see the lights of many colored lanterns from down there.

“That is the gnomish quarter,” Ratchis said to Martin, noticing the watch-mage had stopped to look. “Halflings live there, too, though. There are mines and public baths down there as well.”

The party noted a dwarven guard checking in on two human guards posted at the top of the steps. They considered the party carefully, and though they did not stop them they were obviously looking to see if their weapon were knotted.

Kazrack nodded to them.

The cottages and buildings of the upper tier were much nicer and more extravagant than those below. Each cottage seemed to have a lot more land around it, and the gardens here were filled with colorful flowers, not with spare roots and herbs. There was a great plaza at the eat end of town, above the tunnel entrance to the town. The muted moonlight of Mind’s Eie (2) shone against the tall peaked council building, with its four tall columns above marble steps. It was one point of the triangle-shaped plaza. The other two were the gray and black stone of the dwarven temple, and the caramel-colored stone and brilliant golden roof of the temple of Bast. There was a fountain in the center of the white-brick plaza.

In fact, most of the upper tier’s buildings were made of white stone and brick, and the flicked of candle and lantern light and the contrast of flowers, ribbons and velvet curtains in this affluent area gave it an almost ghostly glow.

 

[Odhanan]

Well usually what I do is have some art that represents an overview of the city. Not necessarily the map from the get-go, but it could be something like this, for instance:

(From aidedd.org)

Then, I present the city as the characters discover it and get a chance to find a map or guide, at which point I'd produce the map and keep on describing each district and particular feature as the PCs walk through.