Mystic Eye
First Post
All fantasy d20 uban settings should include Foul Locales: Urban Blight as part of the source material.
The Urban Gamer
- Thread starter Sidran
- Start date
Ok so I agree that the Characters should not be the center of a Cities attention (again unless they are very respected or feared) but the average party member is one of those that would get lost in the flow of traffic.
As a DM I make my players learn the city there in by asking a random NPC which way it is to this or that place. Also I make places like the Market, and the port come to life with vast descriptions of stalls, and the bustling of people ( trying to give my players a sense of awe at the wonders from far off lands)
The things I use most are the 5 Senses
Smell I inundate my players with the description ( and if I have it) the scents that are smelled in the market (Things such as Rum, Spices; curry, cilantro, red pepper, and the like)
Sound I have a recording or two of bustling places ( San Franscicos Wharf, and the Boardwalk in San Diego for instance) that I have burned to a CD after adding calls such as " A Necklace for your lady Sir, and such things in different voices)
Taste Occasionally when I am in a cooking mood I feed my players authentic foods from areas similar to the area in my world such as fresh authentic Soupa, and Polish Meatballs, Lamb chops, Goats Milk, and Spiced Ribs, also a Good Dram of rum sometimes it is usually in the city or at a Town Inn that we break out the food this way.
Sight Usually descriptive, but sometimes I will run across a picture or a piece of artwork that I can show my players.
Touch Not often do I have the ability to use Touch as anything other than descriptives but with certain things I.E. Gold Coins, Silver coins, ring and the such the players can get the feel of the wieght and such.
Anyway keep the subject up guys
Answer the following questions
1. Is the Cities Bad Guys always bad?
2. Cobbled, Dirt, or Paved ( Which do you use in big cities for the streets)?
3. Urban Druids, Do you use them?
4. Is the Coin the only means of Buying, Selling, Trading in your cities?
As a DM I make my players learn the city there in by asking a random NPC which way it is to this or that place. Also I make places like the Market, and the port come to life with vast descriptions of stalls, and the bustling of people ( trying to give my players a sense of awe at the wonders from far off lands)
The things I use most are the 5 Senses
Smell I inundate my players with the description ( and if I have it) the scents that are smelled in the market (Things such as Rum, Spices; curry, cilantro, red pepper, and the like)
Sound I have a recording or two of bustling places ( San Franscicos Wharf, and the Boardwalk in San Diego for instance) that I have burned to a CD after adding calls such as " A Necklace for your lady Sir, and such things in different voices)
Taste Occasionally when I am in a cooking mood I feed my players authentic foods from areas similar to the area in my world such as fresh authentic Soupa, and Polish Meatballs, Lamb chops, Goats Milk, and Spiced Ribs, also a Good Dram of rum sometimes it is usually in the city or at a Town Inn that we break out the food this way.
Sight Usually descriptive, but sometimes I will run across a picture or a piece of artwork that I can show my players.
Touch Not often do I have the ability to use Touch as anything other than descriptives but with certain things I.E. Gold Coins, Silver coins, ring and the such the players can get the feel of the wieght and such.
Anyway keep the subject up guys
Answer the following questions
1. Is the Cities Bad Guys always bad?
2. Cobbled, Dirt, or Paved ( Which do you use in big cities for the streets)?
3. Urban Druids, Do you use them?
4. Is the Coin the only means of Buying, Selling, Trading in your cities?
Jürgen Hubert
First Post
Sidran said:
Nope. In fact, most people with an agenda should be painted with shades of grey - there are so many plots and schemes going on that it is often very hard to tell if the results turn up as "good" or "evil"...
All of the above. It depends on how affluent (or old) the neighborhood is...
Good question. Must ponder this...
Probably yes. The cities in Urbis are so huge that they have ecosystems of their own. Not particularily healthy ones, but still...
Nope. There are also IOUs and favors...
Yeah when I asked question #1 I was thinking about that Raunchy little Dwarf Tyrion (Sp?) Lancaster from Swords of Fire & Ice.
Next stuff I am going to write about is Industry in Midieval Settings. Not tonight unfortunetly but I have been playing a Ton of Patrician 2 lately while not DMing and its rubbing off a little
Next stuff I am going to write about is Industry in Midieval Settings. Not tonight unfortunetly but I have been playing a Ton of Patrician 2 lately while not DMing and its rubbing off a little
pogre
Legend
I think you may be referring to Mesa Verde in CO. I highly recommend this as a source for building a non-human dominated city (or at least non Western Civ).
http://www.nps.gov/meve/
The National Park page above gives details of the different types of buildings, their functions, and their lay outs. If you are ever fortunate enough to visit this cool place they give out brochures with maps of all the cities. (At least they did a few years ago.)
I also have brochures from a travel agent friend on the lost Incan city in Latin America. Very inspirational stuff.
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