In what format do you want your fantasy city presented?

[Cergorach]

I was thinking about fantasy cities, books about fantasy cities, making fantasy cities, and how to make them great. One of the things i find strange about most products about fantasy cities is that the book combines info from both the players point of view (POV) and the DMs POV. City books are not unique in that regard, but i'll stay with subject of cities for now. The poll is about what you want from a city product and how you want it presented.

A combined city product for both player and DM: The 'traditional' city product, that not only tells you that where the thief guild hall is and who the guild master is, but also stats him out in the same page as the one that describes what the criminality is in the city.

Seperate city products, one for the player and one for the DM: The players guide tells you what the criminality is like in the city, some rumours that are common knowledge. The DMs guide tells the exact thief guild structure, who's the boss, what his stats are and what kind of unique magical items he has and what they do.

My own opinion:
I often find myself looking at a cool setting book (in this case a city book) and thinking to myself "This would be wonderfull to use in my campaign!" Then i realise that a lot of info that is cool and great will only stay cool and great if the players weren't aware of it from the start (because it isn't common knowledge), so giving them the book to read isn't an option because that would defeat the point of using the it in the first place. But if i don't then the cool stuff that is comon knowledge is lost to the players, unless i get creative with some OCR software and start cutting and pasting usefull info into a player info booklet, but often this is just more trouble then it's worth.

 

[Buttercup]

I guess I don't mind a combined book, but I'd like it if the book came with a cd that just had player info. Usually I end up retyping lots of stuff, and that's a big hassle.

 

[Nifft]

Agree with Buttercup, but I think that better production value would be met via a "web enhancement" (called "player's guide", with only rumors and flavor text in it) than with a CD stapled to the cover.

-- N

 

[Gilladian]

I voted for separate products. I'd really love to see a player's map, keyed to the PCs knowledge, and with gossip/rumors/lore of the city noted down, but full stats held back for the DM.

 

[Klaus]

Since I haven't seen Sharn: CoT, I'll answer:

Just like the City of Greyhawk boxed set.

 

[Romnipotent]

Box set, with fold up micro version for reference, something about the size of A3. Possibly made with plastics, pewter, or maybe laser cut polyethyltitanium!
Maybe a simple guide to the city as well, "Lonely Travellers guide to [City]" for players.

I VOTED OTHER (if you hadn't gathered) because I never get the whole deal in a book/city set. I guess you could call things add ons, like Tavern sets, with tables and stuff. Maybe I like having tonnes of useless toys for my other toys that I hardly use, like D&D Minis.

I dont know if this is seperate or such, but I want toys as well!

 

[Cergorach]

I guess I don't mind a combined book, but I'd like it if the book came with a cd that just had player info. Usually I end up retyping lots of stuff, and that's a big hassle.

Adding a CD to a book is not cheap, especially when alternatives are also available, like electronic versions being available online.

Since I haven't seen Sharn: CoT, I'll answer:

Just like the City of Greyhawk boxed set.

*Looks up at his City of Greyhawk boxed Set, high upon it's shelf*
Damn! Now i've got to Climb... ;-)

*Climbs up, opens box, and looks through it*
Hmm... Although we have two different booklets, there's still non-player info in both of them. The players don't need to know that at H17 there's generally 5,00ogp in the vault or how many hit points the dwarf guards have. I do like the idea of the adventures/seeds having been seperated from the books.

Box set, with fold up micro version for reference, something about the size of A3. Possibly made with plastics, pewter, or maybe laser cut polyethyltitanium!
Maybe a simple guide to the city as well, "Lonely Travellers guide to [City]" for players.

I VOTED OTHER (if you hadn't gathered) because I never get the whole deal in a book/city set. I guess you could call things add ons, like Tavern sets, with tables and stuff. Maybe I like having tonnes of useless toys for my other toys that I hardly use, like D&D Minis.

I dont know if this is seperate or such, but I want toys as well!

While i liked boxed sets a lot, the problem is that they are expensive to make and have the danger of being labled as games instead of books, in some countries that means that you have to pay 19% taxes instead of 6% (like in mine). To be honest, these days i don't really see the advantages of a boxed set, maps can be stuck in the back of the book, just like smaller booklets, it's all been done. Pewter stuff, should remain seperate, not everyone is a pewter addict like us. ;-)

 

[Maliki]

I voted for two sperate products, or one product for the DM and a download with just player info.Giving the players info like the names of shops and shop keepers is fine but I don't want my players knowing which innkeeper may be working for the thieves guild or the level and stats of the NPCs.

 

[Romnipotent]

While i liked boxed sets a lot, the problem is that they are expensive to make and have the danger of being labled as games instead of books, in some countries that means that you have to pay 19% taxes instead of 6% (like in mine). To be honest, these days i don't really see the advantages of a boxed set, maps can be stuck in the back of the book, just like smaller booklets, it's all been done. Pewter stuff, should remain seperate, not everyone is a pewter addict like us. ;-)

As long as the toys are contained inside the book (think of it being a encyclopedia size thing) by a "secret" compartment. Leather bound with imprinted gold pressed "Guide to the cobblestones of ROMNIPOTENTOPIA."
This way it should be classified as a book with the accessories, ask your local commercial regulator for more information.

Personally I would like to have it made with plastic, for weight. For those of you who can find them, theres a game of cathedrals and such, and its on a grid board. Its the cooler cversion of a similar game with cars, you need to get the red car from one end to the other. Maybe I should get that.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I voted two seperate products, one for the GM, one for the player. As Buttercup mentioned, the player product doesn't have to be another book, a Cd or web enhancement works just as well. I think the best example of how this could be done is Redhurst: Academy of Magic from Humanhead Studios. The book is designed for the GM, while there is a PDF available for free as a Players Guide to the academy.