Which City Do I Buy?

[baseballfury]

You want Freeport. Not only is it hardcover (which you say you prefer), but it's full of rich detail, has plenty of statted up NPCs, and has it all over Bluffside in the "look and feel" department. Very good art, nice graphic design, and one of the best city maps (in full color even) you'll ever see.

Now if Green Ronin would just publish some new adventures to go with it. They are talking about a Freeport mega-adventure for next year, but I can't wait that long!

 

[kenjib]

I haven't seen Bluffside but here is a compare between Freeport and Geanavue. They are both really fantastic and super high quality but so different in theme and mood that it is not really possible to say that either is better. They are both around the same population, with Freeport around 10k and Geanavue around 8k.

Freeport: Pirates! Yerrrrg!!! If you want a lawless hive of scum and villany with a heavy naval theme this is the place. Tons of adventure and crime. There are some assumptions about the city - it is supposed to be built where an ancient reptilian civilization once stood. This may or may not mesh well with your campaign world. There are also rules for gunpowder weapons so if you don't want that tech level you need to filter some of the book content. The map to me seemed rather small for the quoted population though.

Geanavue: This is a prosperous and well ordered city - a relatively safe haven for adventurers to lick their wounds. It's also got potential for adventure though, with the dangers of the sewers, the machiavellian intrigues of the nobility, and tons of other plot hooks seeded throughout. This one's probably your best bet for court intrigues as the amount of detail given to the various noble houses is really fantastic. It's not very strong in the underclass department though - the seedy port of Loona is nearby to provide this but it's not really detailed much in this book. Again there are some assumptions here as well - various different races get along pretty well here and there are stone giants that are a benign part of the community.

An interesting thing to note is that in the Kalamar world Geanavue is situated very close to Aesaer, a city of pirates, so really one could pretty easily mesh the two cities together as neighbors.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

I'm still digesting Stormhaven, but you should see it in a day or too. More excited about ED: Shamans; it may sneak ahead of Stormhaven.

Huh. So they did send you Stormhaven. I wasn't sure if they had.
I still haven't gotten mine yet.

Hopefully you enjoyed it. More than you like the slayer's guides at least.


Patrick

 

[Psion]

Huh. So they did send you Stormhaven. I wasn't sure if they had.

Yeah, they did send it. Not sure why I didn't get the Orc city one. (shrug)

Yeah, it's safe to say I like it better than the Slayer's guides.

 

[baseballfury]

I Freeport: There are also rules for gunpowder weapons so if you don't want that tech level you need to filter some of the book content.

To be fair, the firearms rules are in an appendix. They are not integrated into the main body of the book, so you can add them or ignore them with ease.

 

[Leopold]

Bluffside or Cityscape, the latter by battlefieldpress. Bluffside is your average city divied up into multiple parts that is extremely modular. Cityscape is more along the lines of that planescape city that was so very popular (the name escapes me). Cityscape would be useful if you wish to incorporate other settings: Star Wars, Deadlands, etc. into your D&D setting. Either one is quality work and recomended.

 

[GrimJesta]

Hands down, my vote goes to Geanavue. I like Bluffside, dont get me wrong (I use it as the city of Asaer in Kalamar), but Geanavue is the better of any citybooks IMHO. I have LOADS of citybooks from many, many games and Geanavue is definately one of the best thought out and realistic cities I have come by.

I think what should be influencing your choice is what kind of game you plan on running. If you wrent into political machinations of guilds and nobility, then stay away from Geanavue. The city is all about politics, trade and fighting in the shadows. The surrounding area is a great source of adventure though.

-=grim=-

 

[discjacker]

I have all of the mentioned d20 citybooks, and the one I chose to run my campaign in was Freeport. I especially like the tough gritty aspects of the city. There is plenty of detailed locations and sites all put together nicely with detailed NPC's and multiple adventure hooks. The setting is great it is based on an ancient civiliazation long lost to the sea.
Treasure hunters of all types should be overjoyed by this. In my campaign it is mecca for archaeologists as well as pirates. Under the city is a vast sewer system linking up with countless underground caverns and cave systems so if you want a quick spelunking adventure you dont have to go far. All the books are great but for my wants and needs I chose Freeport the city of adventure (and scoundrels)

 

[Psion]

Hands down, my vote goes to Geanavue.

Gee, there's a surprise, coming from a noted KoK fan.

Anyways, all, I have the Bluffside review up! Check it out.

 

[nopantsyet]

i just got bluffside last week and i really like it so far. i wanted a good city setting in case i decided to move a campaign into an urban setting, but i was so inspired i decided to work it into the campaign i'm working on right now.