Running Cities in D&D and Fantasy RPGs #dnd #lazydm

Comments · 46

• BR

  @Bravo.Tango.1410 · 1 year ago

  Super late to the conversation here, but I recently watched Pointy Hat's video on cities as theme parks, and it really reduces the task into something clear and manageable. Definitely worth a watch!

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• CH

  @ChazzKaskes · 3 years ago

  I'm so glad to hear even the best struggle with this

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• BI

  @Birdman_LIVE · 8 days ago

  I’m about to run water deep. This video has been invaluable. Thanks man as always.

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• CE

  @celebkiriedhel · 3 years ago

  One of the things that I did was tailoring the random encounters to move the story forward. Its never just a random mugging, or a chance encounter. Its always got some significance  (not always picked up by the players).

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• LI

  @liampezzano · 3 months ago

  Almost a decade ago when I started to GM for the first time I found your blog, read the entire thing, and your book. I cannot recommend it enough. I still haven’t found better advice and the other places I find good advice are variations or expansions on what you’ve given. Thank you.

• MI

  @michaelmullenfiddler · 3 years ago

  Two cities oriented publications you might want to check out some day: <br>1] Cities of Harn. Harn is a system neutral ttrpg setting. There are several cities scattered around the Isle of Harn. Harn is simply great, and the original Cities Of Harn was my gateway drug into that world, way back in 83/84.<br>2] &nbsp;DCC RPG Lankmar. Excellent setting: seedy, smoky, sultry. The Land of 10,000 Smells. Lol. Perfect setting for a bunch of ne&apos;erdowells who want to wallow in the criminal side of life.

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• SQ

  @Squiggfish · 3 years ago

  Make the city a point crawl! And I agree, limit the options. Players may go off course or want to explore an unplanned area, but that&apos;s okay - just add it to the point crawl. And I agree - give them a tasty hook to chase. If they are focused on an adventure hook, usually they don&apos;t go down every street and ask a hundred random npcs their life story (haha - usually).

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• MA

  @matteofurlotti6211 · 1 year ago

  I divide the city in sectors that are separated by walls and heavily regulated, each sector has its identity: travel encampments, peasants, merchants, docks, army, academics, clergy, nobility. Makes it easy to deny access ti certain areas, e.g. a player wants to buy a +3 sword they will have to get access to the army sector with either shady dealings, honest dealings, become part of the army, infiltrate it etc...

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• GA

  @Gareth79 · 3 years ago

  I like to create an “NPC” sheet for each district that the players interact with to record important events/changes in those places. I also find an NPC/Organization social web helpful. It allows me to connect plots across the city rather than conceptualizing things geographically.

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• SI

  @silverhurst7241 · 3 years ago

  One of the biggest problems I have with fantasy cities is that they are too large, leading to some of the issues DM&apos;s have running them.<br><br>London in 1500 had a population of about 50k and was the capital of England. Most people at this point lived within the walled city, but the surrounding countryside was quite domesticated. By 1700 it was 500k and capital of a globe spanning empire, with few residents living within the city walls. <br><br>Rome was much the same, but hit around 1 million residents at the peak of the Roman Empire.<br><br>Personally I keep national capitals at 20k to 50k, with non-capital major cities capped at about 10k residents, &nbsp; large cities at 5k and small cities at 2k. I usually cap villages at 500, with the vast majority well under 100 residents.<br><br>To me keeping control of the population of cities and villages has helped to keep my game manageable over the last 4+ decades.

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• BL

  @blorpymcnornor2415 · 3 years ago

  I tend to have around 5-6 districts and just focus on what’s most notable in few blocks of each. Then I write a loose 10-25 points of interest around the city and a list of d6 encounters that could happen along the way. <br><br>I actually draw the city as a hex crawl and then plant a point crawl on top of it. 99% of the time players stick to the point crawl but if they go off path you have some general idea of what’s around.

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• TO

  @ToddPutnam · 3 years ago

  Great ideas. &nbsp; Thanks for for keeping it simple but effective. &nbsp;Appreciate the video.

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