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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6814039" data-attributes="member: 4937">The broad details are filled in when you create the city.You should note the system of government and the major factions.&nbsp; You should note the main sources of conflict and at least what each group would like to accomplish.You should note the important NPCs, and give each at least a blurb (preferably a seven sentence write up).&nbsp; You can't really go overboard here, especially if you are going to linger in the city for a whole campaign.&nbsp; Ideally, you'd have a 1000 NPC's with a brief write up for each, but that's impractical.&nbsp; Do what you can and keep making them up as you go.&nbsp; Consolidating a session by recording what you did and created as soon as possible after you did so is very important, preferably the next day.You should note the important buildings, public areas, and sources of danger and very briefly describe each.&nbsp;&nbsp; You should divide the city into important wards and briefly describe each.You should invent secrets and things buried.It sounds like you may have already done most of this.&nbsp; For the little details, nothing is better for the inspiration than a very well designed random encounter chart.&nbsp;&nbsp; The more you know about the city, the more detail and life you can put into the random encounter table.&nbsp; And the test is to roll encounters on the table, and see if you can work with the results in creative ways.&nbsp; The record your ideas so that you can use them later.&nbsp; Just because an encounter is random, doesn't mean you can't script it to contribute to existing plots.An example table from my game:Wandering Encounters in the CityNormal Encounters by Day (the streets are busy, always roll for two results)01-04&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Street Sweeps&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d4+105-07&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Litter Bearers&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d3+3 + 1d208-11&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Fiacre&nbsp; &nbsp; 112-14&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Carriage&nbsp; &nbsp; 115-16&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Caravan&nbsp; &nbsp; 117-19&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Drover&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d620-22&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Apprentice&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d623-24&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Foreign Merchant&nbsp; &nbsp; 125&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Feral Elf Pack&nbsp; &nbsp; 5d426-28&nbsp; &nbsp; Urchins&nbsp; &nbsp; 5d629&nbsp; &nbsp; Cats&nbsp; &nbsp; 3d630&nbsp; &nbsp; Songbird Flock&nbsp; &nbsp; 131-33&nbsp; &nbsp; Doves &amp; Pigeons&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 5d10034-36&nbsp; &nbsp; Touts&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 1d637-41&nbsp; &nbsp; Laborers&nbsp; &nbsp; 3d842-45&nbsp; &nbsp; Porters&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d1246-48&nbsp; &nbsp; Teamsters&nbsp; &nbsp; 2d449&nbsp; &nbsp; Mastadon&nbsp; &nbsp; 150&nbsp; &nbsp; Orine Bravo&nbsp; &nbsp; 151-52&nbsp; &nbsp; Rakes&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d453-54&nbsp; &nbsp; Students&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 1d655-56&nbsp; &nbsp; Acolytes&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d657&nbsp; &nbsp; Knight&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d458-60&nbsp; &nbsp; City Watch&nbsp; &nbsp; 2d461&nbsp; &nbsp; Hurin’s Soldiers&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d10+1062-64&nbsp; &nbsp; Pilgrims&nbsp; &nbsp; 5d665&nbsp; &nbsp; Idreth Youth&nbsp; &nbsp; 166&nbsp; &nbsp; Prostitutes&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d667-68&nbsp; &nbsp; Elf Party Goers&nbsp; &nbsp; 3d469-72&nbsp; &nbsp; Craftsman&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d473-75&nbsp; &nbsp; Street Performer&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d376-77&nbsp; &nbsp; Shopkeeper&nbsp; &nbsp; 178&nbsp; &nbsp; Tourist&nbsp; &nbsp; 179-81&nbsp; &nbsp; Waif&nbsp; &nbsp; 182-83&nbsp; &nbsp; Almsman&nbsp; &nbsp; 184&nbsp; &nbsp; Tumesi Gypsies (Bodger, Tailor, Tinker, Fortune Teller, Entertainers (Minstrels, Plays, Puppet Shows))&nbsp; &nbsp; 1d1085-87&nbsp; &nbsp; Masons&nbsp; &nbsp; 3d1088&nbsp; &nbsp; Funeral&nbsp; &nbsp; 189&nbsp; &nbsp; Wedding&nbsp; &nbsp; 196-00&nbsp; &nbsp; Special&nbsp; &nbsp; Normal Encounters by NightDice Roll (d%)&nbsp; &nbsp; Encounter&nbsp; &nbsp; Number Appearing01-06&nbsp; &nbsp; Litter&nbsp; &nbsp; 07-13&nbsp; &nbsp; Fiacre&nbsp; &nbsp; 14-21&nbsp; &nbsp; Carriage&nbsp; &nbsp; 22-23&nbsp; &nbsp; Feral Elf Pack&nbsp; &nbsp; 24&nbsp; &nbsp; Youths&nbsp; &nbsp; 25-29&nbsp; &nbsp; Cat Pack&nbsp; &nbsp; 30-34&nbsp; &nbsp; Thugs&nbsp; &nbsp; 35-42&nbsp; &nbsp; Merchant&nbsp; &nbsp; 43-50&nbsp; &nbsp; Rakes&nbsp; &nbsp; 51-53&nbsp; &nbsp; Sidhe Troop&nbsp; &nbsp; 54-59&nbsp; &nbsp; Dissidents&nbsp; &nbsp; 60-67&nbsp; &nbsp; Revelers&nbsp; &nbsp; 68-69&nbsp; &nbsp; Cultists&nbsp; &nbsp; 70-76&nbsp; &nbsp; City Watch&nbsp; &nbsp; 77-82&nbsp; &nbsp; Prostitutes&nbsp; &nbsp; 82-87&nbsp; &nbsp; Elf Party Goers&nbsp; &nbsp; 88&nbsp; &nbsp; Assassin&nbsp; &nbsp; 89-90&nbsp; &nbsp; Vagrants&nbsp; &nbsp; 91-95&nbsp; &nbsp; Monster&nbsp; &nbsp; 96-00&nbsp; &nbsp; Special&nbsp; &nbsp; Special Encounters1 Guild Parade2 Royal Procession3 Ambassador4 Esoteric Order Member5 Cat Spirit6 Songbird Spirit7 Domestic Dispute – A domestic dispute is a public violent argument between two individuals who formally had friendly or at least cordial relations.&nbsp; This could be partners in a business, a husband and wife, young lovers, two rival street performers, a waif and her guardian, a prostitute and a client, or anything else of the sort.8-9 Brawl (between rival thieves guilds, rival teamsters or porters, dissidents and royalists, elves and men, or two groups of rakes)10 University Professor11 Runaway Cart12 Pegasi CavalryAn example entry reads:&quot;Acolytes – Acolytes are students of one of the great temples, either being trained to serve in the laity or initiated into the priesthood.&nbsp; They occasionally are granted leave from their studies and liberty, and then act much like any of the other students of the city save that they are generally fiercer, more fanatical, and more purposeful in their zeal.&nbsp; All are 1st level; 40% are clerics, another 20% experts, and another 40% have a class appropriate to their particular deities’ purpose.&nbsp; They will be adherent to one of the following faiths: (1)Lado, (2)Showna, (3)Aretos, (4)Aynwyn, (5)Aymara, (6)Urian, (7)Shalimyr, (8)Jord, (9)Sesstra, (10)Tinel, (11)Justian, (12)Nuati, (13)Corwin, (14)Labelas, (15)Aerdrie, (16)Diancetta, (17)Raniclus, (18)Umdios, (19)Thellos, or (20)Pyrnetta.&nbsp; Ten percent of the time, there will be an additional group of acolytes from a compatible faith, since the churches encourage fostering intersect relations and the forging of future alliances between the priesthoods.&quot;Of course, that's pretty meaningless without context.&nbsp; But the more you know about the life of the city - the more you know about an individual priesthood - the more you are likely to know about the life of this acolyte and what he might be about and how encountering him or her might draw the PC's into some element of the cities life.Another thing that I've always found inspiring is to as often as possible never roll for a single encounter.&nbsp; 'Roll again twice' or simply 'Always roll twice' is often far more interesting than rolling single encounters, and often gives you a more usable hook.&nbsp; An encounter of a waif and laborers might imply a damsel in distress, or an urchin stealing something from the wrong group of toughs.&nbsp; The PC's of course don't have to intervene in any conflicts they come across, but many will have compelling reasons to do so or simple curiosity.&nbsp; The other thing to keep in mind is that if you bother to roll for an encounter, you are automatically suggesting that the encounter has at least some interest in the party - even if they have no interest in it.&nbsp; They may be seeking aid of some sort and consider the PC's likely helpers - even if they are only asking directions to something or inquiring if the PC's know of something or someone they wish to find.&nbsp; They may see the PC's as well suited to mediate some petty dispute, or see the PC's as a source of potential succor from danger.&nbsp; They may mistake the PC's for someone else.&nbsp; They may have taken some offense at the PC's for an unintentional insult, even just bumping into the PC's while they were looking the other way.&nbsp; They may have some demand to make of the PCs, as of a magistrate wishing to clear the street or seeking a suspect - the PC's might even find themselves deputized unwillingly.&nbsp; They may be interested in the PC's faith if the PC's openly display religious signs, or they may see the PC's are foreigners and ask them if they have news from some distant place, or they may recognize the PC's as compatriots of the same nation and seek to by them a drink out of feelings of homesickness.&nbsp; They may be related to someone to whom the PC's have done a favor and wish to offer thanks.&nbsp; They may beg alms or charity or implore the PC's to buy something.&nbsp; Or they may be unwisely trying to con or steal from the PC's, or lead them into an ambush.&nbsp; In short, while you can use such table to answer questions like, &quot;What do I see in the street?&quot;, if you are initiating the action some sort of action should take place.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6814039, member: 4937"] The broad details are filled in when you create the city. You should note the system of government and the major factions. You should note the main sources of conflict and at least what each group would like to accomplish. You should note the important NPCs, and give each at least a blurb (preferably a seven sentence write up). You can't really go overboard here, especially if you are going to linger in the city for a whole campaign. Ideally, you'd have a 1000 NPC's with a brief write up for each, but that's impractical. Do what you can and keep making them up as you go. Consolidating a session by recording what you did and created as soon as possible after you did so is very important, preferably the next day. You should note the important buildings, public areas, and sources of danger and very briefly describe each. You should divide the city into important wards and briefly describe each. You should invent secrets and things buried. It sounds like you may have already done most of this. For the little details, nothing is better for the inspiration than a very well designed random encounter chart. The more you know about the city, the more detail and life you can put into the random encounter table. And the test is to roll encounters on the table, and see if you can work with the results in creative ways. The record your ideas so that you can use them later. Just because an encounter is random, doesn't mean you can't script it to contribute to existing plots. An example table from my game: Wandering Encounters in the City Normal Encounters by Day (the streets are busy, always roll for two results) 01-04 Street Sweeps 1d4+1 05-07 Litter Bearers 1d3+3 + 1d2 08-11 Fiacre 1 12-14 Carriage 1 15-16 Caravan 1 17-19 Drover 1d6 20-22 Apprentice 1d6 23-24 Foreign Merchant 1 25 Feral Elf Pack 5d4 26-28 Urchins 5d6 29 Cats 3d6 30 Songbird Flock 1 31-33 Doves & Pigeons 5d100 34-36 Touts 1d6 37-41 Laborers 3d8 42-45 Porters 1d12 46-48 Teamsters 2d4 49 Mastadon 1 50 Orine Bravo 1 51-52 Rakes 1d4 53-54 Students 1d6 55-56 Acolytes 1d6 57 Knight 1d4 58-60 City Watch 2d4 61 Hurin’s Soldiers 1d10+10 62-64 Pilgrims 5d6 65 Idreth Youth 1 66 Prostitutes 1d6 67-68 Elf Party Goers 3d4 69-72 Craftsman 1d4 73-75 Street Performer 1d3 76-77 Shopkeeper 1 78 Tourist 1 79-81 Waif 1 82-83 Almsman 1 84 Tumesi Gypsies (Bodger, Tailor, Tinker, Fortune Teller, Entertainers (Minstrels, Plays, Puppet Shows)) 1d10 85-87 Masons 3d10 88 Funeral 1 89 Wedding 1 96-00 Special Normal Encounters by Night Dice Roll (d%) Encounter Number Appearing 01-06 Litter 07-13 Fiacre 14-21 Carriage 22-23 Feral Elf Pack 24 Youths 25-29 Cat Pack 30-34 Thugs 35-42 Merchant 43-50 Rakes 51-53 Sidhe Troop 54-59 Dissidents 60-67 Revelers 68-69 Cultists 70-76 City Watch 77-82 Prostitutes 82-87 Elf Party Goers 88 Assassin 89-90 Vagrants 91-95 Monster 96-00 Special Special Encounters 1 Guild Parade 2 Royal Procession 3 Ambassador 4 Esoteric Order Member 5 Cat Spirit 6 Songbird Spirit 7 Domestic Dispute – A domestic dispute is a public violent argument between two individuals who formally had friendly or at least cordial relations. This could be partners in a business, a husband and wife, young lovers, two rival street performers, a waif and her guardian, a prostitute and a client, or anything else of the sort. 8-9 Brawl (between rival thieves guilds, rival teamsters or porters, dissidents and royalists, elves and men, or two groups of rakes) 10 University Professor 11 Runaway Cart 12 Pegasi Cavalry An example entry reads: "Acolytes – Acolytes are students of one of the great temples, either being trained to serve in the laity or initiated into the priesthood. They occasionally are granted leave from their studies and liberty, and then act much like any of the other students of the city save that they are generally fiercer, more fanatical, and more purposeful in their zeal. All are 1st level; 40% are clerics, another 20% experts, and another 40% have a class appropriate to their particular deities’ purpose. They will be adherent to one of the following faiths: (1)Lado, (2)Showna, (3)Aretos, (4)Aynwyn, (5)Aymara, (6)Urian, (7)Shalimyr, (8)Jord, (9)Sesstra, (10)Tinel, (11)Justian, (12)Nuati, (13)Corwin, (14)Labelas, (15)Aerdrie, (16)Diancetta, (17)Raniclus, (18)Umdios, (19)Thellos, or (20)Pyrnetta. Ten percent of the time, there will be an additional group of acolytes from a compatible faith, since the churches encourage fostering intersect relations and the forging of future alliances between the priesthoods." Of course, that's pretty meaningless without context. But the more you know about the life of the city - the more you know about an individual priesthood - the more you are likely to know about the life of this acolyte and what he might be about and how encountering him or her might draw the PC's into some element of the cities life. Another thing that I've always found inspiring is to as often as possible never roll for a single encounter. 'Roll again twice' or simply 'Always roll twice' is often far more interesting than rolling single encounters, and often gives you a more usable hook. An encounter of a waif and laborers might imply a damsel in distress, or an urchin stealing something from the wrong group of toughs. The PC's of course don't have to intervene in any conflicts they come across, but many will have compelling reasons to do so or simple curiosity. The other thing to keep in mind is that if you bother to roll for an encounter, you are automatically suggesting that the encounter has at least some interest in the party - even if they have no interest in it. They may be seeking aid of some sort and consider the PC's likely helpers - even if they are only asking directions to something or inquiring if the PC's know of something or someone they wish to find. They may see the PC's as well suited to mediate some petty dispute, or see the PC's as a source of potential succor from danger. They may mistake the PC's for someone else. They may have taken some offense at the PC's for an unintentional insult, even just bumping into the PC's while they were looking the other way. They may have some demand to make of the PCs, as of a magistrate wishing to clear the street or seeking a suspect - the PC's might even find themselves deputized unwillingly. They may be interested in the PC's faith if the PC's openly display religious signs, or they may see the PC's are foreigners and ask them if they have news from some distant place, or they may recognize the PC's as compatriots of the same nation and seek to by them a drink out of feelings of homesickness. They may be related to someone to whom the PC's have done a favor and wish to offer thanks. They may beg alms or charity or implore the PC's to buy something. Or they may be unwisely trying to con or steal from the PC's, or lead them into an ambush. In short, while you can use such table to answer questions like, "What do I see in the street?", if you are initiating the action some sort of action should take place. [/QUOTE]

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