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Working on a City Template

Dremmen

First Post
Hi all,

I am working on a City Template that will hopefully allow me to populate my home made world with a wide array of cities. It also has spaces for relevant information that can help in building said city. What do you all think? How would you modify it?

To give credit where credit is due, I used CityWorks, by Fantasy Flight Games, heavily as a research tool when getting this together.

Here it is:


CITY TEMPLATE

CITY’S CURRENT NAME:
est.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

ANY PREVIOUS NAMES:
CITY ORIGINS:

HISTORY:



LANGUAGES:
APPROXIMATE POPULATION:

GOVERNMENT

TYPE OF GOVERNMENT(CHECK ONE)
□ ANARCHY
□ DICTATORSHIP
□ MAGOCRACY
□ MAYORSHIP
□ OLIGARCHY
□ REPUBLIC
□ THEOCRACY

RULING PARTY OR PERSON’S NAME AND STATUS:

FORM OF GOVERNANCE(CHECK ONE)
□ BY LAW
□ BY GOD
□ BY MAGIC
□ BY PAIN

GUARD HANDLED BY (CHECK ONE)
□ CASTELLAN
□ LAIRD
□ CONSTABLE
□ MARSHALL
□ CAPTAIN IN ARMY
□ BISHOP OR OTHER PRIEST

NAME OF ABOVE:

SIZE OF GARRISON:

QUALITY (CHECK ONE):
□ RABBLE
□ POOR
□ AVERAGE
□ GOOD
□ ELITE

RELIGION
STATE OF RELIGION (CHECK ONE)
□ APATHY
□ ATHEISM
□ COMPETITION
□ SUPREMACY

LIST MAJOR RELIGIONS AND THEIR MAJOR TEMPLES:




COMMERCE

MAJOR GOODS:

MAJOR TRADE PARTNERS:


GUILDS:



CITY AFFLUENCE:
POOR %
LOWER CLASS %
MIDDLE CLASS %
UPPER CLASS %

CITY HEALTH:
SEWER SYSTEM? Y - 1 N - 0
LAVATORIUM/
PUBLIC BATHS? Y - 1 N - 0
CORONER/
DEAD CART? Y - 1 N - 0
HOSPICE/
HOSPITAL? Y - 1 N - 0
HOSPITALLERS/
NUNS/CAREGIVERS?Y - 1 N - 0
CITY
DENSITY: RURAL (10 PPL/SQ MI) - 5
SPRAWL (50 PPL/SQ MI) - 4
VILLAGE (125 PPL/SQ MI) - 3
BOROUGH (625 PPL/SQ MI) - 2
WALLED CITY (3,125 PPL/SQ MI) - 1
METROPOLIS (15,625 PPL/SQ MI) - 0

TOTAL: 10 - CLEAN AS AN ELVEN ARSE
5 - AVERAGE HUMAN TOWN
0 - SUBJECT TO PERIODIC PLAGUES

FEATURES:
CHECK ANY THAT APPLY:
□ UNIVERSITY
□ LIBRARY
□ DOCKS
□ CARTOGRAPHER
□ MASTER MASON
□ MESSENGER SERVICE
□ ALCHEMIST
□ HERBALIST
□ DOCTOR/LEECHER
□ TOWN BELLS
□ FIRE RESPONSE
□ TRAILBLAZER/SCOUT
□ ANIMAL TRAINER
□ GLADIATORIAL ARENA
□ THEATER
□ MAGIC SHOP
□ ASYLUM
□ INFIRMARY/HOSPITAL
□ MILITARY BARRACKS
□ SCRIPTORIUM
□ WALLS OR PALISADE
□ SLAVE TRADE
□ CROW CAGES/STOCKS

CITY MAP
 

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EricNoah

Adventurer
Neat. Though using an "elven arse" as a measure of cleanliness doesn't make it portable to other settings that don't have elves (or whose elves don't have arses).
 

Dremmen

First Post
EricNoah said:
Neat. Though using an "elven arse" as a measure of cleanliness doesn't make it portable to other settings that don't have elves (or whose elves don't have arses).

Actually Eric I was developing it primarily for D&D. However, the elven arse comment can easily enough be replaced if that would make it more user friendly for folks using other systems. I hadn't thought about it, but I guess the template could be used in other games too.
 

S'mon

Legend
Looks very nice - I've saved myself a copy! It' very detailed, which is nice because I can always leave bits out, and it includes plenty of things it's good to be reminded about when presenting a locale to the players. Your population densities are too low for my taste (eg late medieval England had overall pop ca 50/sq mile, London 50,000 in its sq m) but that's just a matter of taste.
 

Dremmen

First Post
S'mon said:
Looks very nice - I've saved myself a copy! It' very detailed, which is nice because I can always leave bits out, and it includes plenty of things it's good to be reminded about when presenting a locale to the players. Your population densities are too low for my taste (eg late medieval England had overall pop ca 50/sq mile, London 50,000 in its sq m) but that's just a matter of taste.

Thanks S'mon! Yeah, the population numbers were tricky. I tried to look at some modern numbers and scale it back some, but it was hard to gauge. *shrug*. I invite suggestions on some other method of doing it though =)

Its a shame that I can't display the formatting properly on the template I copied to my post. I have a space where one can draw in the heraldry for the town on the original, and most of the info is divided up into columns which makes it less clunky. Maybe when its finalized I can pdf it and post it somewhere for folks, if they are interested.
 

S'mon

Legend
Dremmen said:
Thanks S'mon! Yeah, the population numbers were tricky. I tried to look at some modern numbers and scale it back some, but it was hard to gauge. *shrug*. I invite suggestions on some other method of doing it though =)

Modern US numbers are already too low, because cars create urban sprawl & low density housing. If you look at populations for 3rd-world cities like Dhaka or Bangkok you'll get closer to the mark. Rem medieval cities were walled, and the area within the walls was distinctly cramped and restricted, = high density. I think 50,000/sq m was about the highest you'd see, maybe 20-30,000/sq m more typical. Most cities were well under a square mile in size, a typical town would only be a few hundred yards across.
 

Dremmen

First Post
S'mon said:
Modern US numbers are already too low, because cars create urban sprawl & low density housing. If you look at populations for 3rd-world cities like Dhaka or Bangkok you'll get closer to the mark. Rem medieval cities were walled, and the area within the walls was distinctly cramped and restricted, = high density. I think 50,000/sq m was about the highest you'd see, maybe 20-30,000/sq m more typical. Most cities were well under a square mile in size, a typical town would only be a few hundred yards across.

CITY
DENSITY: RURAL (10 PPL/SQ MI) - 5
SPRAWL (100 PPL/SQ MI) - 4
VILLAGE (1,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 3
BOROUGH (10,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 2
WALLED CITY (25,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 1
METROPOLIS (50,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 0

Whatta ya think?
 

S'mon

Legend
Dremmen said:
CITY
DENSITY: RURAL (10 PPL/SQ MI) - 5
SPRAWL (100 PPL/SQ MI) - 4
VILLAGE (1,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 3
BOROUGH (10,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 2
WALLED CITY (25,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 1
METROPOLIS (50,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 0

Whatta ya think?

In medieval terms 10/sq mile would be borderlands wilderness, say the Scottish Highlands.
France's medieval population was over 100/sq mile across the whole country, and it was definitely rural (most of it still is).

Personally I use 50/sq m as baseline rural population for inhabited areas (medieval Britain ca 40, France ca 118, Germany ca 87).

The population of a village would probably be denser than 1000/sq m within the village, as it would tend to cluster round a village green, mill pond, etc. Maybe 5,000/sq m (but 1 village only covering a tiny fraction of that). The other figures look ok to me.

Thinking about it, maybe just a note "Density: Low/Average/High/Very High" would prob achieve the effect you wanted, it tells the GM the _feel_ of the city, which is really what's important.
 

S'mon

Legend
Dremmen said:
CITY
DENSITY: RURAL (10 PPL/SQ MI) - 5
SPRAWL (100 PPL/SQ MI) - 4
VILLAGE (1,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 3
BOROUGH (10,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 2
WALLED CITY (25,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 1
METROPOLIS (50,000 PPL/SQ MI) - 0

Whatta ya think?

In medieval terms 10/sq mile would be borderlands wilderness, say the Scottish Highlands.
France's medieval population was over 100/sq mile across the whole country, and it was definitely rural (most of it still is).

Personally I use 50/sq m as baseline rural population for inhabited areas (medieval Britain ca 40, France ca 118, Germany ca 87).

The population of a village would probably be denser than 1000/sq m within the village, as it would tend to cluster round a village green, mill pond, etc. Maybe 5,000/sq m (but 1 village only covering a tiny fraction of that). The other figures look ok to me.

Thinking about it, maybe just a note "Density: Low/Average/High/Very High" would prob achieve the effect you wanted, it tells the GM the _feel_ of the city, which is really what's important.

BTW do check out http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm - much goodness there for you! :cool:
 

Dremmen

First Post
S'mon said:
BTW do check out http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm - much goodness there for you! :cool:

Nice find S'mon! After reading on that I'm adding an entry in the City Template for businesses. It should be easy to figure out using the population of the town and the SV numbers he provides.
I rather not use the Low/Avg/High system because I don't think most players would know what an average medieval density would be. At least I don't, other than vague notions from many a fantasy flic. I like the system that Mr. Ross put to use there sssso, since mimicry is the highest form of flattery:

Village (this is the quaint little town with a few houses around a well) - 250 ppl sq/mi - and that's probably the whole population of said village
Town (this is what I'd call most average fantasy towns) - 2,500 ppl sq/mi
Walled City (these are the cities that make it on the maps of the kingdom) - 10,000 ppl sq/mi
Metropolis (the capital, maybe a particularly massive port) - 20,000 ppl sq/mi

Take that and look at it in terms of average sizes for these places, and Towns end up probably around 5,000 ppl total pop, Walled Cities at 20,000 to 30,000 ppl since they tended to build up, and a metropolis that was say 5 square miles would have around 100,000 ppl, which is in keeping with Mr.Ross' numbers. Of course, I'm not altogether sure how big a medieval city was in diameter,but like you mentioned, they tended to cluster so I'm thinking the city proper would be no more than a few miles in diameter at the most. Lugo in Spain, a walled city that I lived in for a while, measures about half a mile from wall to wall. But that wall was built by the romans so its predates what we're talking about.
 

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