During a game a few months ago my players visited several cities in Germany. During these sessions one of my players described the cities as she had seen them when she traveled around Germany.
This gave the game some flavor that you just don’t find in the books.
In searching the web for information for the next session (in a place no one had been) I found an over abundance of information from travel agencies and the like that gave all that is wonderful and beautiful about the city. But it wasn’t the grit and grime. It wasn’t the flavor of the city. And much of my time was wasted on irrelevant (for gaming purposes) information.
So I wondered.
Could I get gamers around the world to collect and contribute information on their city, town, area, places they had lived or places they had visited extensively so that I could post the information for all gamers to use freely in their games?
Ideally this would only be a page or two of text for each city for the GM and players to use. Maybe include some links to additional information.
I want to give it two weeks to gage interest and to see if there is any more info that people feel they need.
At that time I’ll start a new post with some better instructions and hopefully a basic format.
Pictures will not be required. Actually I would prefer not to have them (save space) links to pictures would probably work better. I.e. travel sites with pictures.
Links, on the other hand, should be included when relevant. Especially things like theme parks and convention centers that include maps.
If I move forward with this project…
I will first ask what people think is relevant. What information do you feel would help about a city town or area
My initial list is
Name
Population (estimate)
Brief history, Brief description – usually easily taken from cities website or travel site.
Public transportation – is there any, what kind, where does it go
Local authorities – police generally have a prevalent attitude. I.e. pull over every little infraction and write a citation, or go flying past you in the right lane even when you are traveling over the speed limit.
Notable laws – is the city dry (no alcohol sales in the city) etc
Public facilities -convention centers, sports stadiums
Power and water - do they have their own power plant
Military bases – is there one, what kind, is it considered a boon for the city or a scourge.
Universities – is there one, how big, are they known for anything (engineering, medical, law)
Entertainment districts, Shopping districts, Residential districts, Major industries, Places of interest. Divide the city into nine sectors
North west North central North east
West central Central West central
South west South Central South east
Give brief descriptions. Poor area, rich area, middle class, old side of town, new, development, industrial, major shopping centers, theme parks etc.
Weather
Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall – temp ranges and general predominate weather.
Natural disasters – area prone to earthquakes, when is tornado season, hurricane season, blizzards ect.
Dispel any rumors of your town, or area.
Adventure seed (if any)
Additional information request
How long were you in that location? Estimated years
When were you there? Month/year
Why were you there: resident, military service, tourist/vacation, visiting/business, school, etc?
Name or handle, I will not be posting email addresses or contact information, but if you want credit for your info, include a name for it to be posted under. If you do not specifically state a name (in every submission, because I will not be tracking anyone) I will post the information without a name.
I’m not worried about getting duplicated cities, different people have different opinions when they see the place at different times and for different reasons.
If you don’t have any knowledge about a particular item, skip it. Not everything will be relevant. My form is a list of ideas not a rigid structure that must be conformed to.
Privacy concerns.
I will probably ask that this information be emailed to me.
When I receive emails I will collect the relevant information and delete the email. I will NOT be collecting any “user info” or disseminating any information to any other party. Unless you specifically ask me a question, you will not receive a response.
Editing.
I will review each submission for obvious grammatical, spelling and typographic errors.
I will review links to make sure they don’t send people to porno sites or pop-up explosions (I have a pop-up stopper but they are still annoying).
I will remove and or reword any foul language and may remove any blatantly false defamatory, or libel statements.
I don’t want to curb anyone’s creativity or belittle anyone’s opinion, I want it kept civil.
This gave the game some flavor that you just don’t find in the books.
In searching the web for information for the next session (in a place no one had been) I found an over abundance of information from travel agencies and the like that gave all that is wonderful and beautiful about the city. But it wasn’t the grit and grime. It wasn’t the flavor of the city. And much of my time was wasted on irrelevant (for gaming purposes) information.
So I wondered.
Could I get gamers around the world to collect and contribute information on their city, town, area, places they had lived or places they had visited extensively so that I could post the information for all gamers to use freely in their games?
Ideally this would only be a page or two of text for each city for the GM and players to use. Maybe include some links to additional information.
I want to give it two weeks to gage interest and to see if there is any more info that people feel they need.
At that time I’ll start a new post with some better instructions and hopefully a basic format.
Pictures will not be required. Actually I would prefer not to have them (save space) links to pictures would probably work better. I.e. travel sites with pictures.
Links, on the other hand, should be included when relevant. Especially things like theme parks and convention centers that include maps.
If I move forward with this project…
I will first ask what people think is relevant. What information do you feel would help about a city town or area
My initial list is
Name
Population (estimate)
Brief history, Brief description – usually easily taken from cities website or travel site.
Public transportation – is there any, what kind, where does it go
Local authorities – police generally have a prevalent attitude. I.e. pull over every little infraction and write a citation, or go flying past you in the right lane even when you are traveling over the speed limit.
Notable laws – is the city dry (no alcohol sales in the city) etc
Public facilities -convention centers, sports stadiums
Power and water - do they have their own power plant
Military bases – is there one, what kind, is it considered a boon for the city or a scourge.
Universities – is there one, how big, are they known for anything (engineering, medical, law)
Entertainment districts, Shopping districts, Residential districts, Major industries, Places of interest. Divide the city into nine sectors
North west North central North east
West central Central West central
South west South Central South east
Give brief descriptions. Poor area, rich area, middle class, old side of town, new, development, industrial, major shopping centers, theme parks etc.
Weather
Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall – temp ranges and general predominate weather.
Natural disasters – area prone to earthquakes, when is tornado season, hurricane season, blizzards ect.
Dispel any rumors of your town, or area.
Adventure seed (if any)
Additional information request
How long were you in that location? Estimated years
When were you there? Month/year
Why were you there: resident, military service, tourist/vacation, visiting/business, school, etc?
Name or handle, I will not be posting email addresses or contact information, but if you want credit for your info, include a name for it to be posted under. If you do not specifically state a name (in every submission, because I will not be tracking anyone) I will post the information without a name.
I’m not worried about getting duplicated cities, different people have different opinions when they see the place at different times and for different reasons.
If you don’t have any knowledge about a particular item, skip it. Not everything will be relevant. My form is a list of ideas not a rigid structure that must be conformed to.
Privacy concerns.
I will probably ask that this information be emailed to me.
When I receive emails I will collect the relevant information and delete the email. I will NOT be collecting any “user info” or disseminating any information to any other party. Unless you specifically ask me a question, you will not receive a response.
Editing.
I will review each submission for obvious grammatical, spelling and typographic errors.
I will review links to make sure they don’t send people to porno sites or pop-up explosions (I have a pop-up stopper but they are still annoying).
I will remove and or reword any foul language and may remove any blatantly false defamatory, or libel statements.
I don’t want to curb anyone’s creativity or belittle anyone’s opinion, I want it kept civil.
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