Tips and experience running a city campaign

[KnowTheToe]

great suggestions.

I especially appreciate the be wary of class differences in RPing by dice. Since fighters typically do not have high diplomacy skills, sneaking skills, and over all a worthless skill list for anything outside combat, how do you interest the player with the big muscles and sword?

Playing the silent body guard, or always letting the paladin or cleric or rogue speak for the group will get boring.

 

[GMSkarka]

There doesn't really need to be much difference between an urban campaign and any other. As any city-dweller would tell you, even modern cities have areas that are effectively wilderness, beyond the control of the rulers of the city.

Cities can also have extensive "dungeon" areas as well-- my own UNDERWORLD rpg was set in the tunnels, caverns, subways, basements and sewers beneath NYC...features comprised of literally thousands of square miles. It would be a simple matter, especially in a fantasy setting, for a non-modern city to have similar features.

If you choose to make the city the sole setting of the campaign, simply make sure that the scope of the setting is large enough to contain everything the campaign might possibly need. Remember that you're also dealing with a fantasy setting, as well...just because medieval cities were fairly limited when compared to the modern metropolis, it doesn't mean that you have to be likewise constrained.

Lastly--given communication between the DM and players at the outset of the campaign, there need be no classes that are at any inherent disadvantage in an urban setting. Even Rangers could be translated to the urban wilderness, rather than the pastoral. Druids could be the wardens of great green parklands within the city walls. All it takes is a little thought on the part of the DM, and the creativity of the players---as someone already suggested, let the players help craft the setting as well. They'll be more attached to it that way.

GMS

 

[drnuncheon]

Read drnuncheon's Freeport story hour for inspiration! That's great city adventuring, IMO.
[/list]

(Thank you, sir! The check is in the mail. For everyone else, the link is in the .sig.)

Here's some things that I've learned from running the Freeport game:

The city is a great place for small or unconventional adventuring groups. Because you have an entire community to fall back upon, you don't absolutely have to have (say) a cleric traveling with you.

On the other hand, things are a lot less straightforward. I remember a time when my players crisscrossed the city a dozen times trying to find some vital clue. Because the environment is not as restricted as it is in many other settings, it can lead to scope issues like not being sure where to go next - or maybe going in a direction you don't expect at all.

Because of the above two, you need to design your scenarios a little bit differently. I like to have multiple plot threads going at the same time - it helps give the feel that there's more going on in the city than just what the PCs are interested in at that moment. I also try to design them so that they're basically the outgrowths of what the NPCs are doing, and then open things up so that the PCs can mess with it.

Most of your opposition will be NPCs. If you follow the guidelines for NPC equipment in the DMG (and assume they're carrying it all), your PCs will wind up with way too much stuff. Potions and scrolls are probably the best way to handle this problem, because they are self-correcting: once the player uses them, it's no longer an issue.

For some great advice, check out Johnn Four's roleplayingtips.com - it's got several articles on cities.

I think city-based games have the most potential of any setting, simply because they can encompass all sorts of things that dungeon and wilderness cannot (not the least of which is the degree of social interaction possible.) I know my players have particularly enjoyed seeing their characters grow in comparison to the rest of the city - from being no-name Watchmen to being about as well known as the members of the Captain's Council.

J
...also kicking off a PS3e/Sigil game.

 

[Teflon Billy]

No offense to previous posters, but when asking for advice about city adventures, I'd be wary of advice along the lines of "Add dungeons and wilderness"

The assumption (and correct me if I'm wrong Beanbag), is that the point of the urban adventure is to get away from the dungeon crawl/sprawling wilderness scenarios so common to D&D.

 

[Desdichado]

But yeah -- if the police are so all-fired effective, then either the PCs should be part of the force, or they should look elsewhere for adventures.

That's actually my favorite hook for urban campaign settings -- the characters are part of some kind of law enforcement agency. It solves a number of problems, IMO, including:

• The have an excuse to get away with violence sometimes.
• They have an excuse to go wherever they want to and stir stuff up occasionally.
• They have a reason to carry weapons in the first place.
• They have a reason to care about the city, its inhabitants and what happens to them.
• Because its their job, you can avoid the "greedy mercenary adventurer" syndrom, wherein PCs don't do anything without substantial reward.

Another option is to make them part of the local mob, thieves guild, military temple organization (Whitecloaks?) or the like.

But the idea of adventurers just wandering around the city sits a little uneasily with me. At the very least, they'll be closely watched by local law enforcement, at worst they'll be clapped in irons on principle.

 

[GMSkarka]

No offense to previous posters, but when asking for advice about city adventures, I'd be wary of advice along the lines of "Add dungeons and wilderness"

The assumption (and correct me if I'm wrong Beanbag), is that the point of the urban adventure is to get away from the dungeon crawl/sprawling wilderness scenarios so common to D&D.

You missed my point, then---or probably I just failed to communicate it effectively.

I wasn't suggesting "add dungeons and wilderness"---what I was saying is that the same sorts of adventures can occur within urban settings as well, if you think about it a bit, and do a bit of mental translation.

To come up with a completely arbitrary and simplistic example:

Old D&D chestnut #101A: Adventurers must save village being raided, attacked, terrorized and generally menaced by nearby goblin horde. The adventurers discover that the goblins are in the thrall of an Evil Wizard who occupies a dark tower deep within the dark forest that borders the town. The baddy wants the villagers gone, because a legendary item is supposedly buried in a long-lost barrow, somewhere beneath the land the village now occupies.

A little bit of mental gymnastics, and you can translate that as: Adventurers must save the residents of a poor neighborhood who are being terrorized by a street gang. The adventurers discover that the gang are agents of a powerful member of the City government, who occupies a villa within the walled-off, exclusive, wealthy district of the city. The baddy wants to own the property in the neighborhood, because he IS an Evil Wizard, and needs that location under his power to complete an "urbanomantic sigil"...a string of locations under his power that form a magical design and consolidates his power within the City.

See what I mean?

GMS

 

[Shallown]

MOst of the advice has been most excellent so I don't have much to add but I'll try.

Don't get lost in the details. Mapping every city street and shop is not worth the effort. Have a general idea of where things are. This allows you some leeway in manipulating the world and is less work.

Picture it in your own mind, how much attention do you pay going cross town when you know how to get there and where it is. Not much. I drive past places all the time then realize, "where did that come from" When it was always there.

Let characters form relationships both good and bad and expect that the will fall back for help on some of them. just remember it is a two way street sometimes friends need the adventurers help.


Take time to walk through part of your own city or home twon. Smell the air, look around think about what the adventurer would see, hear and smell. True they won't smeel exhuast and oil but what would they smell. think about the smell of cooked food or the stables. Real world experience helps you translate and be conscious of the fantasy world. Plus it is a good place to pick up faces and personalities from people you meet or see.

Just a Side note on NPC's - I once got this advice and it helps a ton. Base most important NPC's off someone real that you know but the players don't, an old friend, a teacher, coworker etc. this helps you remember and define that Npc and they become more real and don't forget physical mannerisms as well.

Hope this helps

later

 

[Gizzard]

The assumption (and correct me if I'm wrong Beanbag), is that the point of the urban adventure is to get away from the dungeon crawl/sprawling wilderness scenarios so common to D&D.

I dunno. I was trying to specifically bring this point up; I know that my players get sort of wound up if there are too many sessions of "talking and thinking" in a row. Finding a den of evil bad-guys and putting them all to the sword is a welcome change of pace. For some groups it might not be necessary, but, from my experience it's something to keep an eye on. Anyway, the easiest way to fit this into a city is to have bits of under-city to explore.

This does remind me of something no one has mentioned - chases! Whenever the crew is working or making trouble above ground they have to keep an eye out to see if they are attracting attention. The cops showing up while you are ransacking someones building for clues leads to some fun. Chases are harder to pull off in a dungeon or a wilderness, but theres a lot of flexibility in the city. The DM has to plan this out ahead of time, but its another nice change of pace.

 

[Dave G]

Thanks everyone, there's some great stuff here!

One reason I've wanted to play in a city campaign forever, and am now running one, is that I believe if characters are more closely tied to a place they're more likely to care about what happens there.

Bluffside has plenty off opportunities for exploration and such, without having to spend a lot of travel time...

I'm thinking of making my character's home base be a boarding house/apartment building. I want to whip up the tenants they know in advance, and try to tie at least one plot hook or rumor to each NPC... I'm also thinking the bottom floor might be a somewhat small tavern run by a dwarf in the building...

I bought a couple of packs of colored index cards yesterday, and I think I'm going to color code the NPC's by either location (i.e. red cards are the military district) or by occupation (Yellow cards are rogues), just to aid in my finding them quickly.

This is a great thread! Thanks!

 

[Morpheus]

Flavor Text

One of the things that helps a city to come alive is using flavorful words in describing the people and places of the city. I am running Freeport in the Iron Kingdoms (as the city of Five Fingers) and here are some of the things I have used to make it seem more alive:

1) "They say that misery loves company. If that's true, Scurvytown must be the biggest party in town."

2) "It would be a beautiful night; if not for the smog from the coal factories, the stench of unwashed bodies and the creepy people eyeing you."

3) "Looking around, you know you have entered a part of the city that knows no law."

4) "If you had to look up suspicious in the dictionary, there would be a picture of this guy."

It's all in the details...