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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 5968963" data-attributes="member: 2205">I specialize in urban adventuring, but rather than keeping details straight, I mostly generate a lot of them on the fly.  The benefit of the big city is that any given shop or NPC is basically disposible... you meet them, but then they disappear into the crowd to never be seen again.  You only make notes of stuff that you actually mean to have repeat, either because it's already your plan, or because the players take so much interest in it that it would be a bad idea not to.The best tool for running stuff in the city is a bunch of lists.  Lists of names, so you can have NPCs be named on the fly.  Lists of taverns and inns, or shops.  Charts with urban encounter types to add color and flavor.I actually create screen panels with this kind of stuff and have it on the GM side of my screen.  I use it a lot more than rules references.Other than that, knowing the city in broader strokes is better than knowing the details.  What are the various neighborhoods like?  Who are the important players--organized crime, City Watch captains, important delegations from other polities, etc.  Some notes about plots, intrigue and skullduggery between the NPCs that the PCs can get involved with, etc.</blockquote>