How to create a city in Dungeons and Dragons
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- Prepping cities and towns in D&D can be a challenge. In this video, I'm laying out a step-by-step process for developing urban environments in D&D.
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Music Credits: "MidNyte" by Noir Et Blanc Vie
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All artwork used in this video was created by me using premium Inkarnate (inkarnate.com/) and is used here for the purposes of entertainment and education.
Well now I need to add a giant city destroying monster named Titch that can only be appeased by fish and open doors.
Legendary action: falling asleep on my keyboard.
@@TalesArcane the most devastating of attacks.
I like the idea of a few flavored quarters. One thing I've done to save time in prep is not listing the shops and workers for each city, but have a master list of pregenerated NPCs and shops I can pick from.
The amount of times my group went into a town and didn't check out certain shops is staggering. This way the NPCs and shops aren't wasted. Once the group interacts with any, I move them off the master list and put them in the specific town.
Love this! Recycling unused content is always a great idea - on many occasions, my players have ignored a certain store, only to have it appear under a new name in the next town. They don't realize, of course, so all's well that ends well. "Work smarter, not harder."
I do list shops and workers, but I only have one shop for each city, not guaranteed of each kind either. All cities will have a general store, but maybe not all cities have an apothecary, or a jeweler, so on and so forth. My reasoning for this is that most shops are gonna be for the common folk that live off of 1 silver or less per day, and aren't equipped to handle the amount of business a PC might bring, so I have one store, and lore-wise, that's the shop in the city that's welcoming towards "Adventurers and travellers", AKA PC's. This helps avoid overthinking it, and if they stay in a city for long, they will get to know the main merchants. Helps out a lot as opposed to thinking about every merchant that would realistically exist in a city of thousands or tens of thousands.
this is by far the best guide i have found on building towns and cities. So glad I found this channel, has severely upped my DMing game because of it
Love this! Thank you so much for the guidance. As someone about to embark on their DM journey this is invaluable!
That's so good to hear, mate! Good luck in all the games to come 💪
Cats are very territorial and constantly need to patrol their territory to protect themselves (and you). A closed door prevents them from doing this.
I enjoy all of Tales Arcane videos
Unique cities is something seriously lacking in my current campaign, which is also my first time DMing. We have two sessions left in this campaign, and the next one is going to have more towns and cities, and I intend to make each one feel a bit more unique and interesting. These tips are great to get me started and remind me not to overwork myself.
I really appreciate the comment, thank you! It's always tricky to find that balance between not overworking yourself horribly and also arming yourself with enough content in case of unexpected player actions. Hopefully the tips helped a bit with that 🙏
New favorite ttrpg youtuber. You are good and REAL! Love it. Your advice is valuable and reasonable, unique and super useful.
My players are about to enter a big dwarven city. These advice will come in handy! Cheers, mate!
Thanks for the comment! Also, I love dwarven city adventures, dwarven mines, aaaaall that stuff. Dwarves are definitely one of the coolest fantasy races.
Interrupting cats! A gold content star for you, sir!
My cats have Proficiency in Interruption 😂
Great stuff! Lovin it from across the pond
I've watched a lot of "building a city vidoes" and even though you aren't reinventing the wheel, the way you get your points across make its seems so much more manageable and I've never wanted to build a city more than I do now :)
Thank you! For every video you make being packed full of information and ideas to use as a DM.
this was really cool. i will definitely use these tips
You are seriously doing excellent work. Keep it up man!
That's good of you to say, mate, thanks! I'm really enjoying the long-form videos, they're really rewarding to make.
Your cat is very cute, and your advice is super helpful. I’ve been looking for help on running cities and this is perfect for me!
Thank you, from me AND from Titch 🐈
5:50 The cat!
Loving these guidelines. I've had to make a few huge cities before as centerpieces for a campaign and there were always a few things I was missing. I'll be coming back to this video next time around.
Glad I (and the cat) could help!
Thank you for this Video, Kitty appearance was Awesome too😊
Thank you for all this great content! I'm a complete newbie and might have to start off as a DM for fellow newbie friends. I'll obviously be starting off small and simple, but it's great to see the big bits made so less daunting!
Thank you for this great video. Nice cat.
Thank you for a lot of good, solid, actionable advice. I'm GMing a Superhero game and running the city was giving me a lot of anxiety. This helped me think of ways I could break things into smaller bits. Thank you.
Great job! I would add a few things though. First, how do important NPCs and the organizations and factions that they belong to support themselves? What is their means of subsistence? (where subsistence is everything they need to support their existence). Consider the means of subsistence for individuals, organizations and factions and the city as a whole. Second, design conflict within this city as a “war”, cold, warm or hot, for control of this life supporting means of subsistence. Being immersed and caught up in these conflicts constitute the adventures for the PCs. The PCs actions will make new NPC allies and new NPC enemies. They will respond accordingly. Third, How does the town relate to other towns? What are the resource conflicts and mutual aid relationships between town? Now flesh out your town with what is needed for the initial PC hook adventures including NPC, organizations, factions and resources and their locations. Now, rather then merely exploring a town that presumably was designed exclusively for their benefit (which is bad), instead, the PC feel that they are ignorant strangers immersed in a vibrant city full of mysteries and intrigue that exists for the benefit of its NPC citizens (which is good). Following each adventure, upgrade the city with all the new NPCs, places, needed to expand each adventure taking the PCs actions into account. After several adventures in the city, the PCs will now be part of it rather than just visitors exploring in a static city. I run all my locations this way, not just cities. Parts of the city, such as the Tavern are run that way as well. Initially, the PCs are strangers but after that they are not. Also, cities may be known to some PCs or may have been visited by some PCs, Based upon a PCs backstory. When this is the case, I provide information to that PC so that they can be the guide for the other PCs. I may even involve them to some limited extend in the initial design of the city or it’s politics.
My favorite campaign cities so far:
Ring City: A city built at the base of a mountain that has continuously built walls to surround the city, but as the city grows they have added more walls. Built near a magic school that is on. A source of weave energy in the world.
Rota: a city built on a mountain sized rock kept aloft by magic.
Colony: A city made of hundreds of interconnected ships in a port.
Love the idea of Colony! As a fan of swashbuckling pirate settings, that's right up my street 👏
@@TalesArcane My players loved it. They also blew up the Capital ship of the Colony fleet. They all have bounties on their heads from the Pirate King since it was his ship.
I'll add a few tips...
1. Have a bunch of pictures of old cities for your own use. It's easier to come up with a theme or describe places if you have a picture.
2. Add culture, dress, languages, mannerisms, architecture, and world cycles. Look at the climate, have some weather planned out, look at calendars, etc. In a hot climate, the market might close at midday. Most places have worship days. Imagine rainy market day or a big celebration, or a wedding happening. Thing colorful clothing as in India or the drab dress in a Scandinavian village. The city activity should change based on the time of day, day of the week, and key events.
3. Add a "guide" NPC. From a street kid willing to show you around the city for silvers to a helpful tavern patron who knows people. You want someone the PCs can go to for basic information, directions, etc. Also, consider if any of the PCs have even been here. If so, feed them information from inn names, to locations of key buildings, to cultural norms, etc.
You're from Glasgow? OMG Best town & best D&D youtuber
Hey, you're too kind! And yeah, I never picked up a strong accent, for some reason, but I'm a Glaswegian 😁
Good stuff!
Thank you mate! Hope you found the video useful 💪
I'm running my campaign using The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and I've enjoyed putting my personal spin on some of my favorite cities from Critical Role. My party just recently arrived in Nicodranas and this video is really helping me structure everything in a way that's compelling, fun, and unique. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for saying so! Wildemount is such a fun setting, I keep meaning to pick up the Explorer's Guide. Would you recommend it as a book?
@Tales Arcane I would recommend it for DM's of any experience because the information about the world is so expansive and charming. When I decided I was going to DM, I knew I was going to use Wildemount, but I didn't realize when I bought the book that it's really suited for newer dm's. The foreword really helped me get an idea of what my DM philosophy would be, and now that I've been running my game since July 2022 it's one of the most fun and rewarding experiences I've ever had. The Wildemount bestiary is very unique, and it can not be overstated how absolutely awesome Vestiges of Divergence and Arms of The Betrayers are. I've even homebrewed some items that level with my players as well, my favorite of which is a mystical fishing pole that can fish in other dimensions and is connected to the Wildmother.
Every time you say "do it on the night" I imagine Nick Frost in Sean of the Dead and it's great
I have a continent city capital that the rest of my campaign should be played in and this helped so much. Thanks 😅
This is awesome!
Thank you mate, glad you enjoyed the vid!
This is amazing advice and I can’t wait to apply it! Do you have any advice for how to create these quests you mentioned? I want to have maybe 4 or 5 side quests during a festival all contained within the city to incentivize the players to explore and engage with the districts and it’s characters
Thank you for this great video. There are many nice advice in it. I usually go with 3 steps:
1. Turn on my Gaming Brain and put shops like: Blacksmith, General Shop, Magic, Alchemy Shop, Inn etc. What they can buy in each shop depends on location of shop. In Magic shop that is in Magic District they can find more powerful magical items etc.
2. Then I think about quests, adventures and hooks. Adding like: Guardhouse, Tample of some Deity, Thief Guild Hideout, House of some nobleman etc.
3. Then it’s time to turn off Gaming Brain and turn on Realistic Brain. Military Places - Military Academy, Armory, Barracks, Watchouse. Law Places - Prison, Courthouse, Privy Council. Cultural Places - Theater, Mausoleums etc. Knowledge/Information - Library, University. Civic - Great Manor House, Hall of Record, Post Office, Reservoir, Aqueduct. Transport - Stables, Transport Hub. Financial - Banks, Treasury, Mint, Exchange. Other things like farms outside of city, tanners, tailors, lumber mill, carpenters, quarry, stonecutter etc.
I like the gaming brain vs realistic brain approach, I think that could apply to a lot of areas of world building 👏
that was great thx for making it
Glad you enjoyed it, mate - thanks for watching!
Have you bought a new camera? The this video feels so much more crisp visually, good job in any event - I'm only like 20 seconds into the vid and it's already noticeable
Is that Rimworld background music I hear? Great video!
I am about to run my first ever campaign that is set almost entirely in a homebrew city, so this is great timing for me! Super helpful video. Any advice for developing a city for a whole campaign rather than just a few sessions?
😂love how the cat was going off at the door.
I keep the cat outside so they can't disturb the show
Cat: Am I a joke to you?
Can you do a video on some tips/tricks you use to make maps on Inkarnate?
Loved the video, city building is always so much fun for me. Titch sorta stole the show though.
That's really good of you to say! I love city adventures, too - most of my favourite campaigns have been the ones that played out in sprawling cities, with warring criminal factions and rival guilds.
There is something about being able to stay in a location, developing the area, characters and story that becomes very satisfying
I came for the tips, I stayed for the cat.
That cat wanted to come in and hear about your cities man
Your cat sounds Scottish. great content man
what mapping tool should i use for cities?
Perfect timing. Group is entering their first major city on Monday
Heeey, just in time! I love when a video pops up just when someone needs it. Good luck in the city!
@@TalesArcane thanks! It's a Yuan-ti city, so I didn't make it easy on myself
would the same logic work for creating and running villages as well?
Everything but the multiple districts would work there, I think! Otherwise, this would all be applicable, especially when it comes to prepping stores.
Did you make those maps? Are there cities in your patreon?
Haha, I was thinking, that it was my cat meowing :D
Yeah, every cat owner's ears are tuned to pick up that distant wailing 😂
Comment for the algorithm 😊
I always appreciate that, mate, thank you! Spreading the word 😁
Cat content is a plus. You should have taken on a New Jersey accent though when you dropped to the green screen just to mess with everyone.
Turns out I was never Scottish, I just put on an accent so no one got mad at me for putting out Scottish-themed D&D supplements 😂
@@TalesArcane lol accents matter I always wonder if some guy from the hills of Tennessee has solved fusion and no one will listen.
„… or in any TTRPG.“
100%! That's why I went out of my way to highlight the system-agnostic nature of the tips in the video. Sadly, for SEO purposes, a short D&D-focused title is always going to be my best bet for getting the video in front of my subscribers.
First!
Hi Titch
@@flyingcamel74 Titch says "Hello, but also, when is dinner?"
Ive basically gave up on playing real dnd because the rules r too much for my group to follow with no experience so im just making the setting modern day chicago ☠