Tag Archives: towns

20 Unusual City Encounters: From Beg, Borrow, & Steal

Posted on 27 January 2010 | Leave a comment
The Procuress, oil on canvas
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Once a month, I publish a newsletter of quick tips for busy GMs called Beg, Borrow & Steal. Some require advanced preparation to use, but most are designed to be last-minute tips you can add to your very next game session — even if that session is tonight. Below is a sample from Beg, Borrow & Steal #2. If you’d like to see more last-minute GM tips, please sign up for the newsletter in the left sidebar.

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20 Unusual City Encounters

Tired of bar fights and pick-pocketing musicians? Do your players find city encounters boringly routine? Here’s 20 unusual (more or less) encounters to help liven up your city trips. Some of these could be played for humor — others are deadly serious and may make your players uncomfortable. All are designed to be used in any genre, though some may need tweaking for a good fit. Roll randomly from the list below or pick one that appeals to you. And, as always, twist, distort, fold, spindle and mutilate these ideas to fit your group and your campaign.

  1. A boy prostitute approaches one of the PCs (male or female) for sex. If the PC sends him away without any money, the group will later hear that his father beat him for coming home empty-handed.
  2. A bear-baiter loses control of his animal, which mauls him and then attacks the crowd. If the PCs kill the creature, the owner tries to bring a law-suit against them.
  3. A small girl asks the party to help her find her lost kitten.
  4. The PCs are in a side street whose only outlets are at either end. Two funeral processions enter, one from each side. Neither party will back up to let the other pass and the situation degenerates into a fist fight between the two procession leaders, with the characters in the middle.
  5. The PCs watch a church procession carrying an icon, relic, or statue. On the other side of the street, a disturbance erupts and in the ruckus, the holy item is stolen.
  6. A small child (age five or six) jumps out of an upper-story window. The PCs should have a chance to save her from harm. If questioned, she will tell them that she was trying to prove to her friend (still in the room above) that she could fly. The friend (also five or six) will corroborate the story.
  7. In a visit to an open-air market, one of the PCs trips over a tent rope that sends him sprawling into the nearest food display. The display contents go rolling out into the public street or market square, where they’re quickly gathered up by nearby beggars. The stall owner demands the PCs pay for the broken stand and the lost produce.
  8. The PCs come upon a crowd in the middle of stoning a woman for adultery. This is even better if it’s a woman one of the PCs seduced recently.
  9. In a very public place, a woman announces that one of the PCs is the father of her child. It’s up to you to decide if it’s true or not, or even if any of the party members have ever seen the woman before.
  10. One of the PCs is a dead ringer for the town’s mayor. People keep stopping her to solve their complaints and problems.
  11. The PCs get roped into judging a beauty contest (for either men or women). If you want to be truly evil, have one of the party members of the appropriate sex coerced into participating in the contest while the rest of his group are judges.
  12. One of the PC is accused of raping someone in the town. A twist would be that the accuser is male and the accused is female (“Your honor, she held a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me.”)
  13. One or more of the PCs mounts or vehicles are impounded by the local constabulary. They claim the PCs did not obtain the proper permits and must pay a fine to recover their lost transportation. The permit is fictitious — the locals are actually trying to make extra money off of unsuspecting visitors.
  14. The PCs come across a beggar child who’s only parent has just died. The city will not help the child (“If we aided one, we’d have to aid all of them and we just don’t have the resources to do that.”)
  15. A horse or working aid animal takes an instant dislike to one of the PCs and will attempt to bite or kick the PC every time they cross paths.
  16. The PCs hear sounds of domestic violence inside a nearby home. To up the ante, a child runs out of the house and begs the PCs to come help because “Daddy’s trying to kill Mommy.”
  17. A goat (from a farmer’s market stall or escaped from a petting zoo) chews a hole in one of the PC’s purse or pouch. Make a hidden roll to see if the PC notices. If not, she’ll be leaking small items from her bag until she either notices or there’s nothing left that will fit through the hole.
  18. A traveling musician sets her sights on one of the PCs and begins to follow him around, trying to woo him. You can make this as humorous (a harmless youth) or as serious (a stalker) as you like.
  19. A pet or small child becomes attached to one of the PCs and follows him around everywhere. If taken home, the pet/child escapes and seems to be able to find the PC, no matter where he is in town. This can be either very funny or very creepy, depending on how you handled it.
  20. The PCs stumble on or are asked to witness the public marriage consummation of a newly wedded couple.

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“Where are we again?”: Creating Unique Fantasy Cities and Towns

Posted on 24 July 2009 | 5 comments

Sometimes creating a believable city or town is one of the hardest parts of building an adventure or campaign. You don’t want all your towns to look the same and you definitely don’t want to get stuck in the generic “fantasy town”, consisting of a tavern/bar, inn or other lodgings, magic shoppe, etc.

Below I’ve gathered a list of web resources to help provide city building know-how and inspiration. Enjoy!

Here’s some listing of world-building sites who’s information can be adapted for city creation:

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City Creation: Kael Pathfinder Stoutpoppy, Swordsmith

Posted on 1 July 2009 | Leave a comment

Since the PCs aren’t likely to interact with Meadowbrook’s blacksmiths other than to have items repaired or commission new ones, I’m not going to spend much time detailing them.

Most Meadowbrook’s blacksmiths focus on creating practical items — horseshoes, plows and farming implements, iron nails and building tools, etc. Kael Pathfinder Stoutpoppy is the exception to the rule: he’s only swordsmith in Meadowbrook. While he can and does do other types of blacksmithing to pay the bills, his primary love is creating strong, beautiful blades.

Kael Pathfinder Stoutpoppy

Kael is a former ranger who settled down in Meadowbrook. While his home and shop are actually outside of the city proper, he and his wife, Janna, are frequent faces in town, especially at The Butter Churn tavern. While adventuring, Kael met and fell in love with Janna Stoutpoppy, a skilled fighter in the group he traveled with. When the two of them decided to retire and settle down, they chose Meadowbrook — Janna’s home town.

While Kael and Janna aren’t the only human-halfling couple Meadowbrook’s history, the match is unusual enough to raise eyebrows and start gossip tongues wagging. The Stoutpoppys had some difficulty accepting an human son-in-law, but Kael’s friendly, outgoing personality finally won over Janna’s parents. The rest of the Stoutpoppy clan, including Janna’s two sisters and her brother aren’t so generous of spirit and the divide has split appart the clan. Janna’s siblings have not spoken to her for the last three years. The couple are very much in love, but the situation has put a strain on their marriage; currently, the two of them are discussing plans to move to a larger city where they won’t stand out so much.

A skilled storyteller, Kael can frequently be found at The Butter Churn when not working. He’s frequently pressed to tell stories of his and Janna’s younger, wilder days.

Janna Stoutpoppy

Janna herself is much quieter than her husband. She’s friendly enough, but much more reserved and usually content to let her more outgoing half speak for both of them.

Her split with her family weighs heavily on her, though she does her best not to show it. She’s glad her parents have come around about Kael, but the fact that her siblings and most of her clan refuse to speak to her saddens her greatly. She also experiences some discrimination in the town; a few of the merchants, both human and halfling, refuse to serve her or Kael. She loves Kael deeply, but the situation is putting a lot of strain on her. She and Kael have begun to talk about moving to an area where there are more couples like them, something she’s not sure she wants to do. She feels torn by her love for Kael and her love for her family.

For her own part, Janna is an excellent fighter, extremely skilled at taking down opponents several times her size. She’s agile and intelligent, though very shy without a sword in her hand. Her shyness can come off as cold or haughty to those meeting her for the first time.

  • Kael Pathfinder Stoutpoppy, human ranger (AD&D terms: 10th level ranger).
  • Janna Stoutpoppy, halfling fighter/warrior (AD&D terms: 11th level fighter)

Note about halfling names in Meadowbrook’s world: Among halflings, property is passed down matriliniarly, from mother to daughter. Consequently, most husbands take their wife’s surname after marriage, adding it after their own. Kael and Janna followed this tradition, hoping that would help them gain more acceptence in Janna’s home town. Unfortunately, this hasn’t had the effect they’d desired.

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City Creation: Hospitality

Posted on 29 June 2009 | Leave a comment

According to our demographics , Meadowbrook has two inns and ten restaurants/taverns/pubs and one of the innkeepers is a retired adventurer.

Let’s start with our inns.

The Inns

The most obvious choice would be to place one inn in Littletun and one in Bigtun. But since inns generally aren’t used by locals, and the river docks are in Bigtun, it makes sense that both inns would be located near the trade route. And rather than having one in cater to “littles” (halflings, gnomes, dwarves, etc.) and other to “bigs” (humans, elves, etc.), lets make both inns cater to both types of clientele equally.  Instead, we can have each of the inns cater to different income levels. So, our two inns are:

Marketstreet Inn

Catering to the working classes, Marketstreet Inn is run by Ellie Haymaker, a widow with two grown children — a son and a daughter — both of whom help run the inn. Marketstreet offers clean rooms for a fair price. The rooms are small and washrooms are limited to one per floor, but the beds are clean, if not the most comfortable. Ellie’s capable daughter, Maree, heads up the kitchen. The food choices are limited — stew, brown bread and cheese — but it’s warm, tasty, and there’s usually plenty of it. Ellie is the daughter of a traveling tinkerer, so she knows the kind of place working folk need when they’re away from home. She has an equal number of rooms for “bigs” and “littles”. Prices are by the bed, rather than the room, so frequently guests end up bunking with people they don’t know.

  • Ellie Haymaker — halfling innkeeper, proprietor.
  • Maree Haymaker — halfling head cook for Marketstreet Inn. Ellie’s daughter and her eldest child.
  • Norvin Haymaker — halfling stablemaster, handyman and bellhop. Basically, whatever odd jobs Ellie requires, Norvin does. Ellie’s son and her youngest child. Ellie still has a tendency to baby him even though he’s a grown man.

Ellie also employs a couple of housekeepers, a stableboy and a cook, all of them “bigs”.

The Golden Slipper

The Golden Slipper caters to more monied class of travelers than Marketstreet Inn. Run by an ex-paladin/knight named Piers Caldwell, The Golden Slipper offers quality service, rooms, meals — and charges accordingly. Much smaller than Marketstreet Inn, The Golden Slipper charges by the room and offers one washroom for every two sleeping rooms. Meals are cooked to order and often contain imported delicacies.

Piers is an honest, trustworthy and reliable man, who found the conduct code of a holy warrior too restrictive — wealth and the opposite sex proved to be too much temptation for him. After a highly lucrative career as a sword for hire (i.e., adventurer), he decided to retire to quieter surroundings. The Golden Slipper doesn’t bring in enough money to cover all of its expenses; Piers hopes this will change as Meadowbrook’s trade continues to expand. Meanwhile, he’s supporting the inn out of his own savings, which don’t look as if they’re going to run short anytime in the next couple of decades. He employs a large staff, including a “companion service” and a couple of low-level spellcasters; Piers uses magical cleaning methods to make sure the Slipper is spotless at all times.

Piers and Ellie’s mutual dislike of each other is well-known and frequently causes conflict within their guild.

  • Piers Caldwell, human fighter/warrior (AD&D 3.x: ex 10th-level paladin).

Pubs/Taverns/Restaurants

Meadowbrook’s ten eateries aren’t as differentiated as modern ones. They’re a cross between a pub/tavern and a modern restaurant. Six of the establishments are in Bigtun, with four (including The Butter Churn) in Littletun. Most cater to travelers and locals alike, but three remain local hot spots and two focus on the trader business. I’m only going to detail the most popular places.

The Butter Churn

The Butter Churn is the favorite spot for local residents. Located in Littletun, it’s run by Kari Tallfellow who inherited the business from her father. It’s been in her family for seven generations and she’s training her own son, Martin, to take over when she retires. It’s widely recognized as having the best food in all of Meadowbrook and the surrounding villages. It’s a family-friendly atmosphere and many of the locals gather here when they’re not working.  On Saturday nights, the Churn (as its known locally) hosts music and dancing.

  • Kari Tallfellow, halfling owner and proprietor
  • Martin Tallfellow, halfling, 14 years own. Kari’s son and assistant.

Wind on the Docks

In contrast to The Butter Churn, Wind on the Docks caters to an older, more transient crowd. Wind on the Docks is the front face for Madam Lillington’s brothel. Though it draws mostly from traders and other travelers just passing through, Madam Lillington’s is also a time-honored tradition for local adolescents seeking their first sexual experience. [I had originally stated that Meadowbrook didn’t have an actual brothel, just independent streetwalkers. I changed my mind because I wanted to set up the contrast between The Butter Churn’s wholesome, family focus and a more “adult” and less reputable establishment].

Madam Lillington employs both humans and halflings, though she does insist they be over the age of majority, which in this area is 14. Compared to some establishments in larger cities, the Docks (as the locals call it) is quite tame in the pleasures it offers. Most of her “staff” are out-of-towners escaping bad situations in their home ports, but some are locals. She employs both “bigs” and “littles”, mostly humans and halflings.

  • Madam Lillington, human proprietor and madam of Wind on the Docks.

Gorseberry Blue

Not all traders and travelers are lone adults who might seek companionship for a night. Sometimes whole families work the trade routes and there are always a few devoted clerics, paladins, and other travelers who really are just looking for a hot meal. The best location for that is Gorseberry Blue, which serves good food at reasonable prices. What it lacks in menu diversity, it makes up for in both quality and quantity. Of all the food places in Meadowbrook, Gorseberry offers the best combination good food, quiet atmosphere, and friendly staff and is the most popular spot for those just passing through Meadowbrook.

  • Samar Tanton, human proprietor and owner of Gorseberry Blue

Grapeleaf Inn (The Rats’ Nest)

Not actually an inn at all, the Grapeleaf Inn (known locally as the Rats’ Nest) has only one thing going for it — the food is cheap. Frequented by those at the bottom rung of the economic ladder, locals and out-of-towners alike, the Rats’s Nest definitely lives down to its very poor reputation. Still, if you’ve only go a few coppers to your name, you can get a hot meal here, as long as you’re not too picky about its contents.

  • Bear Strongarm, human owner and propriator.

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City Creation: Religion

Posted on 26 June 2009 | 1 comment

The next entry on our list of Notable People is “Clerics of the local shrines”. While these would, indeed, be notable people (the head priest/ess of the largest shrines would likely have considerable influence), religions differ greatly from one game system to the next and one campaign to the next. So much so, in fact, that I’m going to leave it up to individual GMs to create the details for their own games.

However, religion gives us an opportunity to bring our theme (new growth vs. stagnation) into play again. Before becoming a trade center, Meadowbrook was primarily a farming town, so gods of planting and harvest would’ve played a very important role in town life. The new focus on trade and commerce would have brought with more followers of gods favoring those aspects. This could cause friction between the clergy of the established temples and the clergy of the newer temples. Because the growth has been so recent, many of the newer temples are likely still in construction and competition for the best building locations could be very “hot”. Plus, there could be friction between the halfling temples (most likely among the established temples) and human temples (most of new temples would fall into this category).

In a more historically-based game, such as Ars Magica, you’re going to have the influence of Christianity. Depending on when in the medieval era you base your game, you could have the new Christian religion coming into conflict with the older pagan gods. Or you could set up Meadowbrook as a rare town with a large Jewish population and explore prejudice medievel Christians had for Judism. If you wanted to base Meadowbrook in a Middle Eastern-inspired setting, you could play up the conflict between the established Christian and the “new” Islamic faiths. And there’s always the antagonism between the Western, Roman, Chuch and the Easter, Greek, Church.

For traditional fantasy settings, Meadowbrook’s most influential temples will be dedicated to gods of harvest and trade, as well as those pertaining to the home and family. Gods of healing and prosperity would also have a large following among both “old-timers” and newcomers. Halfling gods would also be popular and could potentially even have many human followers, especially since there may be some families in Meadowbrook comprised of both halfling and human members, bonded by marriage.

Gods of lesser importance would be those pertaining to travel (popular among the traders passing through) and luck. Gods dedicated to magic would likely have few followers in the town, but certainly there would be some small shrines set up here and there, especially among the fix-it guild. Tammi Ravenswing and other guilds would have a small shrine dedicated to trickster or thieving gods hidden away.

The least influential gods would be those related to war and evil, as well as those related to other demi-humans. Darius, the town’s only resident with elven blood, would have a small shrine dedicated to the elven gods in his home and/or shop. The few gnomish residents would also have small shrines dedicated their gods, though they are also likely to follow some of the halfling gods, as well.

Next time: Kari Tallfellow, the Butter Churn, and places of hospitality.

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City Creation: Thieves Guild

Posted on 25 June 2009 | Leave a comment

What would a fantasy game town be without a thieves guild? Whether the PCs work with it or oppose it, the local thieves guild frequently provides many opportunities for adventure.

Meadowbrook’s thieves guild is extremely small: 10 members. Until the recent trade boom, Meadowbrook had no thieves guild — there simply weren’t enough thieves in town. The rise in commerce, however, brought with it a commensurate rise in crime. Larceny has become lucrative in Meadowbrook and Tammi Ravenswing and her group of rogues are reaping the lion’s share.

Tammi Ravenswing — Guildmistress

Tammi came to Meadowbrook from Sundown, a city two weeks ride to the west. Having engineered an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the guildmaster of Sundown’s major thieves guild, Ravenswing decided discretion was the better part of valor and made her way east for parts unknown. Arriving in Meadowbrook about the same time the new trade did, she saw wide open opportunity. She hand-picked a small group of accomplished rogues to form the town’s first actual thieves guild.

Having been the right-hand assistant to the guildmaster in Sundown, Tammi has clear ideas and experience running a guild. She’s an experienced sneak-thief and cut-purse, having learned her skills as an abandoned child of a prostitute. Sundown’s guild frequently took in orphaned or abandoned children as a means of replenishing their numbers and reducing “freelance” competition. Tammi proved to be extremely talented in matters of stealth and manual dexterity and rose quickly in the guild’s ranks. Had she waited another couple of years, she attempted coup might have been successful; as it was, it nearly cost her life.

Upon arriving in Meadowbrook, Tammi started a courier and body guarding business she named “Sworn Swords”. Sworn Swords acts as a front for the guild and employs three of her guildmembers; the rest of her employees are honest, hardworking private guards and messengers. She frequently employs children to deliver local messages and one of these is her adopted daughter, Gayna (now six). Like Tammi herself, Gayna had been abandoned to the streets at the age of three. Tammi took pity on the starving toddler who attempted to grab her lunch one afternoon.

Gayna is smart and dexterous, a quick learner who’s already showing an interest in swords and other bladed weapons. The warriors of the business have taken the girl under their wing as an unofficial “mascot”. In the last several months, Gayna has discovered her singing voice and Tammi has arranged lessons for her from Darius Sunrunner, in exchange for protecting his store, Doodles, from crime.

Tammi Ravenswing, human thief (AD&D 3.x terms: 8th level rogue). Main skills: appraisal, bluff, diplomacy (guile), pick pockets (slight of hand/legerdemain), escape artist, gather information, lockpicking (open locks), local knowledge [Sundown, Meadowbrook], search, sense motive, ride [horses], awareness (spot), short sword fighting, stealth, knife fighting, archery.

The Guild

Meadowbrook’s thieves guild has no name of its own; it’s refered to simply as “the Guild”. This is intentional, as Tammi doesn’t want the guild’s existence known to outsiders. She’s kept the guild small by design — membership is by invitation only and anyone asking about the guild, even in Meadowbrook’s criminal underground, will be met with blank stares. Tammi has handpicked each member of the guild after conducting extensive research on them. A credit to her people-reading skills: no one who’s been invited to join has turned her down. Tammi wouldn’t force membership; if anyone did decline, though, they would be “encouraged” to move on to another area or town.

Being so small, the guild can’t impose a monoploy on theft in Meadowbrook. Members tithe ½ of their takings to the guild, but in return, they gain a guaranteed (though not necessarily luxurious) income. When times are lean, the guild ensures its members and their immediate family enough to eat and roof over their heads; Tammi also makes certain they have access to any needed health-care. Members are expected to turn over the required portion of all illegal earnings, whether gathered on guild assignment or their own initiative.

Tammi has instituted two strict rules: 1) no guild member may target any customer of Sworn Swords for a minimum of three months after the customer’s last contract and 2) any goods stolen in Meadowbrook cannot be fenced within Meadowbrook lands. These measures make it more difficult for thefts to be tracked back to the guild. Also, Ravenswing has refused to take any assassination contracts, either personally or on behalf of the guild. This isn’t because of any moral leanings; Tammi simply believes that in a town the size of Meadowbrook, the risks outweigh any possible reward.

The guild’s management consists of the guildmistress and her two assistants:

  • Tammi Ravenswing, guildmistress, human rogue
  • Didio Sparrow Carawaddling, gnome rogue (AD&D: 5th level), “Right-Hand”
  • Darla Stoutbarrell, halfling rogue (AD&D: 5th level), “Left-Hand”

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City Creation: The Town Guard

Posted on 22 June 2009 | Leave a comment

Town Guard are not employees of Meadowbrook. A guild in their own right, they’re employed by the town council. Each guild tithes a small percentage of their annual income directly to the Town Guard, in return the Guard protects the other guilds from dangers local and foreign. But how many town guard members are there? The 3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide gives a figure of 1 full-time guard for every 100 people, meaning Meadowbrook would have 40 guards, which seems like a reasonable number.

Unlike most guilds, the town guard is actually two separate guilds of 20 members each: the Littletun Guard, who police the halfling areas and the Bigtun Guard, who police the human areas. As you might expect, it would be extremely unusual for the Littletun Guard to have a human member and vice-versa, thought it has occasionally happened. This arrangement has caused some racial tensions, since the dock areas and most stores are located in Bigtun; rumors abound that the best imported goods get diverted away from the docks before they can reach Littletun markets. I’ll leave each GM to determine the truth of these rumors on their own.

Each Tun Guild (as the two “subguilds” are known) has their own guild leader who reports to the Captain of the Guard, the head of the combined guild. These are:

  • Captain of the Guard: Bryan Hartman, human fighter [10th level]*
  • Littletun Captain: Piper Hillbottom, halfling fighter [8th level]
  • Bigtun Captain: Robert Roark, human fighter [6th level]

Guild Structure

As mentioned above, each Tun Guild has it’s own captain, with each captain having two assistant captains. The two assistants supervise the “patrols” — teams of four guild members who monitor the streets of the Tuns.  Guildmembers are skilled warriors/fighters, but not as skilled as your average PC warrior/fighter (in AD&D 3.x terms, guild captains are fighters, but average guild members are warriors). Additionally, each adult citizen of Meadowbrook is required to donate time to the town guard as part of their civic duty.

Each citizen is required to serve two days every three months and is also expected to attend a two-hour weapons/training session once every two weeks, as this citizen force also functions as the town’s defensive militia. Last year, Meadowbrook’s town council passed a law allowing property owners to hire someone else to serve their “civic” time. Officially, the law requires the “stand-ins” to be citizens, but in truth, no one checks papers as long a capable, warm body reports for duty. This has caused resentment among the lower income residents, who see the rich being able to buy their way out of the obligation.

Captain of the Guard: Bryan Hartman

Bryan Hartman is a retired adventurer. Born and bred in Meadowbrook, he wandered distant lands for many years, believing there had to be someplace better out there, someplace he could make a name and a fortune for himself. Instead, he found the longer he was gone, the more he missed his home town. After losing his left hand in a war fought to protect a kingdom he didn’t care about for another bag of money he didn’t really need, Bryan returned to Meadowbrook, bought a large farm just outside of town, married a local girl, and settled down to raise a family. He’s a devoted father and husband who honestly cares about the wellbeing of his home town. He has four children — three daughters and a son — and the eldest daughter seems determined to follow in her father’s footsteps. Like many Meadowbrook natives, he views his town’s recent growth with worry, believing the new-comers will be here only as long as Meadowbrook’s new-found prosperity lasts.

———————

*All levels given are for 3.5 AD&D and are intended to be used as guildelines. If you’re using Meadowbrook with another games system, assume 20th level is the PC maximum, then scale accordingly. So 10th level would be a fighter/warrior/knight who’s about halfway to maximum skill level, etc. For the purposes of creating Meadowbrook, I’m ignoring Epic Level characters – they’re too powerful for inclusion into an “average” town.

You can find a very helpful article about town militias at The Round Table of Bretonnia.

Next time: Tammi Ravenswing and the thieves’ guild.

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City Creation: The Fix-it Guild

Posted on 18 June 2009 | Leave a comment

Continuing our description of Meadowbrook’s notable citizens, we come to Barsus Tinner, the head of the fix-it guild.

The Fix-It Guild

First off, let’s give the fix-it guild an official name. As low-level arcanists, I can see the guild trying to give themselves a greater sense of status with a lofty-sounding name, something like: “The Noble Brotherhood of Magical Repair Workers”. That being such a mouthful, most of Meadowbrook’s citizens call them “the fix-its”.

The fix-its are low-level wizards and sorcerers who focus on mending inanimate objects. The guild does employ some non-spellcaster repair people, but they can’t become actual guild members until they’ve developed some rudimentary spell-casting ability (in 3.x AD&D, this would mean gaining at least one level of wizard or sorcerer). Since Meadowbrook isn’t a large city, there are only five actual  guild members (as stated in the previous post on Business Demographics). In addition to full guild members, Meadowbrook has three apprentice fix-its and six regular non-magical repair people.

Spellcasters (full guild members):

  • Barsus Tinner, guild head. An halfling wizard of mid-to-low ability (in AD&D terms, 6th level). Like most fix-its, Barsus focuses on repair magic, but with a particular talent for reparing metal items (in Ars Magica terms, Muto Terram specialist).  Apprentice: Tommy Tinthorn.
  • Kerwi Sorrell, assistant guild head. Human, mid-to-low level sorcerer (AD&D: 5th level). Her main talent is fixing wooden items (Ars: Muto Herbam). Apprentice: Brand Jolan.
  • Lyza Marybelle, halfling  wizard, low level (AD&D: 4th level). Especially talented at repairing leather and hide goods (Ars: Muto Animal).
  • Ace Ackerly, human sorcerer, low level (AD&D: 4th level). General, all-around fix-it, no particular focus. Apprentice: Tabina Tallflower.
  • Aerinlie Mouse Taitewyncoddle, gnome wizard, low level (AD&D 3rd). Very good with creating replacement parts for an item, especially metal parts (Ars: Creo Terram). Mouse especially enjoys fixing complex machinery. He is the newest full member of the guild, having just been granted full status after being Barsus’ apprentice for six years. Aerin likes to experiement and try new combinations and unusual applications of spells. He loves researching new ways of doing things, which has set him at odd with his former master, who believes in using methods and approaches that have stood the test of time. [Here’s our theme again — new growth vs. stagnation].

Each full guild member owns and operates their own shop and is responsible for the employees and appretices who work there.

Non-Spellcasters (Guild Employees):

  • Barret Dione. Human, employed by Barsus. Specialty: metal items
  • Lenah Maylinn. Human, employed by Barsus. Specialty: fabric items
  • Brandiwyn Fairweather. Halfling, employed by Kerwi. Specialty: wooden items. Brandi (as most folks call her), can also perform some minor magics (0-level spells), but didn’t have enough magical talent to progress beyond that. She was Kerwi’s apprentice for a short time, before concentrating on non-magical fixes. She is considered by many members (read: everyone by Barsus) as an unofficial guild member, but has no voting privledges or (officially) guild benefits. Kerwi makes sure she and her three children are well-cared for though and grants Brandi as many of the guild “perks” as she’s able.
  • Silas Strongbarrell. Halfling, employed by Lyza. Good all-around fix-it.
  • Meredith Danelyn. Human, employed by Ace. Especially good with children’s toys.
  • Langdon Roundcopper. Halfling, employed by Mouse. Very talented at fixing clocks and clockwork items.

Apprentices

  • Tommy Tinthorn. Halfling, apprenticed to Barsus. Strong potential with metal repairs.
  • Brand Jolan. Human, apprenticed to Kerwi. Strong potential with wood and other items derived from plants.
  • Tabina Tallflower. Halfling, apprenticed to Ace. Shows a talent for working with stone items.

Each apprentice is assessed by the guild as a whole, before being assigned to a specific guildmember for training. In general, the guild tries to match an apprentice’s potential with a fix-it’s particular specialty, though politics and bribery are not unheard of influences on placement.

All full guild members are also skilled at non-magical repairs. The guild charges more for magical repairs than non-magical ones, but in either case, the guild requires all fix-its to stand behind their work: if a problem reoccurs within a specified period of time (which varies, depending on the nature of the specific repair), guild members are required to fix or replace the item at no cost to the customer.

Barsus Tinner

Barsus has been guild master for almost 20 years. He’s very much focused on traditions and long-established methods for doing things. He views new ideas and approaches with much suspicion, which frequently causes him to butt heads with his former apprentice, Mouse. Tinner believes in a solid days work, reliable and timely repairs and frowns on guild members making “improvements” to a customer’s item — he believes that the item should be made as much like new as possible, but shouldn’t be given more features, functionality,  or capability than the item originally had — unless the customer wants to pay for improvements and “upgrades”, of course.

A widower after 40 years of marriage, Barsus frequently works 10-hour days. No one in town works harder at anything than Barsus does at his repairs. “Hard-working”, “predictable”, and “reliable” are three words he consideres compliments. Which isn’t to say he can’t relax and enjoy himself; after-hours will frequently find him at The Butter Churn, sharing a half-pint and a smoke with other locals.

Next time: Bryan Hartman and the town guard.

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City Creation: Character Class Demographics

Posted on 15 June 2009 | Leave a comment

Generally, I don’t detail numbers for the NPCs of my games. Unless I expect the PCs to pick a fight with one of them, I don’t even created stat blocks. I look at the NPC’s history, role in the game, personality and profession to decide what they can do, which is generally I need them to do in a particular situation. If the players start to interact extensively with an NPC, then I’ll create a character sheet for them.

It saves me work, as I only end up detailing the NPCs that need it: Joe, the butcher — who the PCs only see once when they beat him at a card game in the tavern — doesn’t need any details. Even critical or important NPCs don’t usually get more than the very cursory stat treatment, though I’m likely to have several pages of history, background notes, political ties, etc. written out for them. If I need stats, I tend to make them up on the spot, noting them down for future reference. In particular, I don’t sit down and figure out how many levels of Noble or Commoner a particular NPC has.

That being said, I do keep some notes of characters with PC class levels. Most residents of Meadowbrook won’t have PC classes and if they do, they’re not likely to be very high level. The most likely candidates for PC class levels are:

  • Our half-elf magic shop shopkeeper
  • The head of the fix-it guild
  • Head of the town guard
  • Head of the thieves’ guild
  • Clerics of the local shrines

Just for fun, let’s add some retired adventurers to the town residents:

  • The owner of one of the inns
  • One of the blacksmiths
  • The head of the dockworkers guild

A note about retired adventurers: I’ve never liked the profession of “adventurer”. To me, adventuring is something a character does, not something they are. So, in Meadowbrook, a retired adventurer is someone who went on adventures in their younger days, but has gotten the restlessness out of their blood and settled down. No one advertises for adventurers in my world; instead, you’ll see requests for “hardy souls” or “brave youths”.

That gives us some characters with PC class levels. To that, we can add “notable citizens” who, even without PC class levels, are important to Meadowbrook, to wit:

  • The mayor
  • The magistrates

Notable Citizens

Let’s create a brief background for each of our “notables”:

Darius Sunrunner
Darius is the only actual resident of Meadowbrook with any elven blood. While elves may stop occasionally for a night or two, they don’t generally like to live within towns; they prefer their own settlements, which they call “groves”. Born of a human mother and an elven father, Darius was raised outside of both cultures. Showing an early talent for music and a prodigious memory, he became a bard, spending almost 20 years as an itinerant musician and “troubleshooter for hire”. Eventually tired of travel, he settled down in Meadowbrook five years ago, just as the town became a trade stop. He opened a magic and “what-not” store he named “Darius’ Doodads”.

More gregarious than many “half-bloods” (who usually inherit their elven parent’s aloofness), Darius enjoys chatting with anyone who comes into his shop. He can frequently be found after hours at The Butter Churn — the favorite watering hole for the town’s residents — trading his songs and stories for dinner or drinks (though never to the point of becoming drunk). He’s free with information and will happily share what he knows with anyone who asks, provided they share their own adventures and stories. He likes Meadowbrook’s quiet and strong sense of community; he has made many friends in both Littletun and Bigtun, making him welcome wherever he goes in town.

Darius’ Doodads (called “Doodles” by the locals) sells magic items, paper goods, antiques, knickknacks and anything unusual that strikes Darius’ fancy. The magic items tend to the practical, as most of his business comes from the local populace, but occasionally he has a magic weapon or “adventuring” item.

Stats: (AD&D 3.5 ed): Male, half-elf, 10th level Bard. Neutral good. Very high charisma-type scores, high intelligence and wisdom scores, average everything else. Darius’ spell list covers a wide variety of spells, with no real focus in any one type. I’m not going to detail out his stat numbers or his spell list for two reasons:

  1. I can give him whatever I need him to have when I need it.
  2. I want to make these characters transferable to other fantasy games than D&D.

Magic and portability
Whenever Darius uses a spell, I’ll make a note of it, building his spell list as I go along. That way, he doesn’t end up with “useless” spells taking up slots and the spell list is appropriate to the game system being used.

As an example of portability, in 4th ed Ars Magica Darius’ magical arts might look something like this:

Cr 3, In 4, Mu 4, Pe 1, Re4
An 2, Aq 3, Au 3, Co 3, He 1, Ig 2, Im 3, Me 5, Te 2, Vi 4

and might include the following spells:

  • Discern Images of Truth and Falsehood
  • Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie
  • Veil of Invisibility
  • The Chiurgeon’s Healing Touch
  • Eyes of the Cat
  • The Gentle Beast
  • Rise of the Feathery Body

And, of course, he’d have the virtue Fairie Blood

[Note: these are just off the top of my head — I haven’t sat down to balance them out according to mechanics rules and the spell list is certainly not exhaustive].

Next time: Notable character continued — Barsus Tinner, the head of the fix-it guild.

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City Creation: Guilds and Guild Politics

Posted on 9 June 2009 | Leave a comment

Now that we know what kinds and how many of each type of business Meadowbrook has, we can work out how powerful each of those guilds are, how they relate to each other, what part they play in Meadowbrook politics.

We’ve already postulated a split of the town council between the merchant guilds and the craft guilds. Basically, every trade in Meadowbrook would have its own guild, but not all of them would be large enough to play an important factor in the town’s politics. We want the town council to be big enough to allow opportunities for politics, but not so big it becomes unwieldy for the GM.

Guilds and the Town Council

Based on sheer numbers, Meadowbrook’s most influential guilds are:

Merchant Guilds:

  • Dock workers (boat-handlers would fall under the jurisdiction of this guild)
  • Millers
  • Livestock dealers
  • Food vendors
  • “Hospitality” workers (inn-keepers, pub and restaurant owners, hostlers)

I put millers here, rather in the craft guilds. While millers do, indeed, produce flour, they act more as selling agents for the grain farmers.

Craft Guilds:

  • Leatherworkers
  • Barbers
  • Weavers
  • Clothiers
  • Masons (for simplicity, lets include all building trade workers here, including roofers, framers, etc.)
  • Coopers
  • Chandlers

Additionally, a couple of businesses would have more clout when their numbers would suggest:

Others:

  • Banks/moneychangers (after all, they hold most of the town’s money)
  • Fixits (because of their magical ability, minor as it is)
  • Magic shop owner (the owner would be a wizard with actual class levels)

Meta-Guilds: cutting the numbers down to size

That gives us 15 council members, not including the mayor and the two magistrates. That seems awfully large for a town of 4ooo people. We can trim it down some by creating a set of “meta guilds” — guilds made up of related guilds. For instance, we can have a clothing guild, comprised of shoemakers, clothiers, tanners, and dyers. Since this is a fantasy world, we can use history as inspiration, but we don’t have to slavishly follow how the real, historical guilds worked. So, by grouping the above listed guilds into logical “meta guilds” we have:

  • Dockworkers
  • Grocers (those who provide foodstuffs, comprised of millers, livestock dealers, brewers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers, etc.)
  • Hospitality (Inn, restaurants, pubs, hostlers — and lets add food vendors here, too, as a type of restaurant)

and

  • Builders (coopers, woodworkers, masons)
  • Clothing (weavers, tanners, dyers, shoemakers, milliners — let’s also include barbers here. Even though they don’t make clothes, per se, they still play an important part in developing fashion and appearance)
  • Metalworkers (blacksmiths, metalsmiths — let’s also include leather workers here, since they often work closely with the metalworkers to produce their goods of scabbards, harnesses, saddles, etc.)

Finally:

  • Magic-workers (fixits, the magic shop owner)
  • Bankers

This gives us a town council of 8, a more reasonable size. Add in the mayor and the magistrates, we have total voting council of 11 people.

Politics

Now that we’ve figured out who comprises the council, we can figure out the politics of it. Here’s where we can start to bring in our theme of stagnation vs. growth to flesh out the bare structure and give it some life.

Basically, the town council is split into two sides: the craft guilds and the merchant guilds. We can postulate that the mayor and magistrates’ sympathies lie with which of the two groups they belong to. Or they can attempt to form a third, neutral faction. The merchant guilds would have much to gain by increasing the town’s size, revenue, trade “clout”, etc. While the craft guilds would also benefit from this, lets say they’re the older guilds in the town and are, therefore, more conservative and would perfer things remained “status quo”.

This would imply that the merchants are a newer influence on town. Perhaps Meadowbrook hasn’t been a trade town for very long — it could’ve been primarily a craft town until something changed and caused it become a stop on the trade route (we can figure out the exact reason later) within the last 5 years, or so. This could’ve caused rapid town growth, say 30%, taking the town from a population of 2800 to it’s current population of 4000. This rapid growth would also cause resentment between “old-timers” — those who were born and raised in Meadowbrook — and the “newcomers” who’ve recently moved here.

Information about medieval guilds:

Next time: Character class demographics

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