What is your favorite city to base your campaign around?

[Buccaneer]

Thanks to all of those that replied to my Bluffside/Freeport comparison question.

I did a little more delving into the Bluffside book and decided to go with that. It just seemed a little more flexible. Although, I'm not giving up Freeport all together. The flexibility of Bluffside will allow me to take the things I like from Freeport and work them into it.

Now, what campaign setting to use.... :evil grin:

Best Campaign Thread

 

[Ravellion]

I used to like Tilverton

(edit: though it doesn't matter anymore, since I homebrew now anyway. )

Rav

 

[Nightfall]

Of which I'm glad to say both the kalamar and Scarred Lands fans have partipated in. And I must add with some measure of civility. I thank both sides fellas.

 

[WayneLigon]

I normally use a homemade city.

If I were going to use a premade city, well.. my favorites are all out of print, for the most part.

City State of the Invicible Overlord. Very well done.
Sanctuary.
Pavis (from RuneQuest).
Carse (in Midkemia; based on the real-lfe Medieval Caernovon)
The stuff in Cities of Harn.

I really like the stuff in Seven Cities, for the descriptions, the adventure seeds, the building maps. I can even look at the city maps if I don't do so on a full stomach. There's a reason for that...

I don't own most of the city sourcebooks I've seen for 3E. I have.. strong issues with the maps for almost all of them. All the ones I've seen (save, I think, for Freeport) are done in the 'Buildings never touch each other' style prevalent in the early Forgotten Realms books. It's kinda OK, when you're presenting it as a 'we just want to show the major streets' abstract. It's quite another to take it as literal fact, as most city supplements do.

I'm not a huge fan for 'gritty realism' when I'm playing in a fantasy game, but there are limits. That's one of them.

I might someday get Freeport, but.. probably not. I hate the sharp-edged hard-to-read looks-like-it-was-drawn-on-a-computer city map. but I might be able to put that aside someday. Normally, art will not cause me to buy or not buy a supplement except if it's a city supplement. Then, the map that is presented to me must be well-done and believable.

Another small gripe while I'm on it. A drawing of the city (Iron Kingdoms, that Gygax city book, a couple others whose names do not leap to mind) is NOT a map of the city. It's almost worse than having no map at all. It's useless. Stop doing it.

OK, one other thing even more useless: A thing that looks at first glance like a city map, but is not. A 'map' that shows the fronts of buildings along the street may seem cute. It's not. A 'map' that combines street-map-like map but has pictures or little drawings for the major features instead of that feature's plan.. stop that.

 

[Ravellion]

Of which I'm glad to say both the kalamar and Scarred Lands fans have partipated in. And I must add with some measure of civility. I thank both sides fellas.

If the thread would be "FR or GH", it wouldn't have I think...

Rav

 

[WayneLigon]

I think it is up for grabs... At least I read something like that on a message board. Don't know where. Of course, if a d20 publisher got it, they would have an interesting problem - license the TSR property or write their own and cause confusion?

White Wolf currently has the license to print the books (I assume this, since they still list them in their catalog). I don't know if that included any sort of RPG works, or if it's an excuisive license.

 

[HellHound]

Lankhmar.

Ever since it was released for 1e AD&D, I've been in awe of that city-book. It is the single best city-book of all time in my opinion.

Now, mind you, I mix my Lankhmar with a bit of old Ankh-Morpork, but the maps are still Lankhmar.

Right now I'm about to TRY to move my game to Bluffside... but a Bluffside in Oathbound, so I'm tweaking it a bit.

 

[arwink]

Now, mind you, I mix my Lankhmar with a bit of old Ankh-Morpork, but the maps are still Lankhmar.

Interesting. What do you lift from Ankh-Morpork and still use if you're running a serious game?

 

[Nightfall]

Re: Re: Re: Llangwyr

You forget my young padawan, as DM I am Lord and Master of ALL the places in my game. but I really do have a soft spot for Llangwyr

So you say. I've been at this gig longer so if anyone is a padawan, it's you my friend. Btw San, I do like what you, Fevil and Graf are working on. Glad I could be of some help (I figured I added my 2 cents, you didn't need more than that. )

Rav, this is true. But it could have gone that way IF there were some ruder people involve. Fortunately for us, the Kalamar and Scarred Lands fans and publishers are pretty even headed lot.

 

[HellHound]

Interesting. What do you lift from Ankh-Morpork and still use if you're running a serious game?

In my opinion, Ankh-Morpork is totally derivative of Lankhmar (thus the name), and therefore it's pretty easy.

My lankhmar dwarves eat rat. They LOVE rat. Can't get enough rat.

And of course, CMOT Dibbler. Can't have a market scene without him.

The gargoyles are there too. A transient part of the architecture.

And the Assassin's Guild. After all, the assassin class we use in our games (The Practical One from Librum Equitis volume 1) is drawn almost directly from the assassins of Ankh-Morpork, so they need a guild, right?

The beggars guild, with the queen and everything.

Sometimes some other items make it into the mix, like a werewolf town guard with her carrot-topped paladin friend. And Unseen University, although less comical.