Dungeon Master 101 - Creating a City

[@killergm6962]

Citybuilding 101 (taken from history of human settlements, a 101-level urban planning class): 1) water runs downhill in predictable channels 2) people need water, and prefer to settle near it 3) people also need food and shelter, so anyplace that has an abundance of water, food, and building materials is going to be settled first. If it is strategic and easily defended, it will likely become a large and important place very quickly. 4) consider transportation. Settlements also tend to grow at important travel hubs (convergences of rivers, fords, below mountain passes, etc). 5) things tend to be located as near as possible to base needs assuming that rapid transit is not available. Fishmongers will set up near docks. Leatherworks will set up near the edges of town where the pastures are. All of these areas will likely be a mix of residential and commercial uses, as without rapid transit people will have to live reasonably near where they work. Anything not tied to a base need will exist anywhere- bakeries and markets, for example. Civic buildings will either be centrally located or located in the most defensible spot of the city - and military/LE presence will tend to concentrate in those areas too. 6) if cities can't expand out, they will expand up. If they can expand out, they will invariably create a bullseye effect with the older cities and walls in the middle and the newer expansions and walls outside of that. 7) any great disaster will be evident in the city's form. A large fire, an earthquake, a catastrophic storm or flood- all of these will leave a mark on the city's design and function. A visitor to the city will be able to see where these things occurred, even if what happened isn't immediately evident (for example, an area of new construction surrounded by markedly older buildings might mark where a fire ravaged parts of the city and was rebuilt). 8) geopolitical and societal norms will dictate who lives where. Any demographic who is undesirable will be pushed to the fringes - both in society and physically. The privileged, in contrast, will live in the areas which are most conveniently located or otherwise desirable. The poor almost always live in the most undesirable parts of town (flood-prone areas, etc). Note: by "cities" I really mean, "any settlement of any size in a reasonably earth-like world with reasonably humanoid inhabitants". If we're talking about a desert planet whose predominant life form are sentient humanoid cacti, obviously a lot of the above won't apply at all. Of course, that all assumes that the fantasy world is more or less like the real world. In a world where water doesn't flow reliably downhill through paths of least resistance, things may be very different indeed! Not to mention, how would something like high magic affect the city? In a city confined to a narrow valley in high-magic world, there might be floating islands of city above that! Or, a city with a high population of dwarves or gnomes may instead expand down, not up!

[@davidmorgan6896]

Perhaps you should make a video. You clearly know significantly more than this lady.

[@killergm6962]

@@davidmorgan6896 Thanks! I actually have in the past written for an online RPG website called RPG Review. MY first article about worldbuilding is in the December 2017 issue.

[@davidmorgan6896]

@@killergm6962 Cool, I'll have a look. I'm especially interested to see if you expand on your last few comments concerning the impact of magic. I'm wrestling with this. I can look up mineral distribution in the real world, but in a world created by gods 6000 years ago that doesn't apply. I can limit the magic and improve the plausibility, and my ability to figure out what's going on, but then I lose the fantastical.

[@Steamer173]

Most city building advice I have focuses heaps on important people and in-city questing, which is great, but I love the way you speak on the "feel" of the city.

[@KurtBuhler]

Just discovered your channel. Really good DM material. Lots of inspiration. Bit sad to see you haven't uploaded in 3 years!

[@WesleyBrown2000]

I absolutely love watching your videos. I've been DMing for 25 years, and have gotten so much inspiration and knowledge from your videos. Keep up the good work. :)

[@laguaridadelgremlin]

Great tips. Loved the dog story too, heh. Another thing that is useful when making cities or settlements in particular is to treat them, a bit, like characters. Stereotypes, as bad as that sounds, are useful for that. We all hear them, "oh yeah, people from X are always doing this" or "they loooove their (thing)" so thinking up stuff in that vein can help you give more character to a city. Speech or mannerisms or tiny cultural traits like that can go a long way when you need to improv really secondary NPCs, like the kind they'd stop in the street to ask for directions, as well as give you a way to distinguish more important NPCs when they have their own take, or break away entirely, from the stereotype. Not to mention, it helps you distinguish Snotty Noble A, from the city of Snotshire, from Affable But Actually Sort of Patronizing Noble B, from the city of Condescendingbourne.

[@Turd_Rocket]

Yo, so I just want to let you know: you're brilliant. Your advice to new DMs is true insight from someone who clearly has thought about these RP subjects a great deal, but also loves to game, and it shows in your awesome content. Don't know if you're still out there, yo, but I wanted to thank you for helping me feel more confident in starting new campaigns and thinking outside the box, to breathe new life into adventuring worlds. Thank you, for real. You rock. Your next biscuit's on me, dude.

[@mikegould6590]

I can't believe I'm just finding your channel. I've been gaming and DMing (I'm sure) longer than you've been alive. And you've not only made me laugh, but inspired my imagination. Thanks for that. Subscribed.

[@WUBRGer_King]

I'm working on a campaign now where rather than having centralized kingdoms, there are lots of littler city-states, ranging from mega-cities to large towns. This was super helpful for me to plan and make running them a little less intimidating. Thanks!

[@LucasPitcher13]

Great advice, thanks! I especially like the idea of 3-4 random interesting, but non-significant events to throw in to each city quarter or region. Nice!

[@Sukerkin]

Wonderful vid, dear lady. Especially loved the “Sausages!” dog tale :): Genius :D So refreshing to find content that is helpful and discursive amidst the torrent of min-maxing BS that seems the staple fare of nearly all other D&D channels I have found. P.S. honourable mentions to Matthew Colville and Seth Skorkowsky for their channels too ;)

[@TimBaker]

Thank you for the helpful video. I'm glad I came across your channel. By the way, in the U.S., I've only heard "scone" pronounced with a hard 'o'. You occasionally see a proper scone sold, here, although they're not common. Our biscuits are flakier and fluffier than scones, and are typically more buttery in flavor. We seldom bake berries into our biscuits, whereas I sometimes see scones with fruit, such as cranberries or blueberries, sold in our bakeries.

[@MarsRisingFilms]

OMG! I love the idea of a pub of all one color! That's brilliant!

[@agentlion8434]

Genuinely found your videos really helpful when coming up with my very first campaign! Thank you so much for these.

[@zan917]

Awesome video! I've been working on homebrewing a city and I had thought of none of these things. So helpful!

[@timgreen6384]

Well no questions (see other vids for questions) but thinks for some of the breakdowns! Like you would use Glasgow I can use Toronto as a guide to bigger cities. I try to keep up on these possibilities when it comes to being a DM. As a kid I tried and was not gifted at all, no patience and too confrontational with the players the old I had to win story again came out so I stopped and remained a player for probably longer then you have been in this world. Now I am trying to be a better person and a DM for the first time for real and thank you, you might not realize you are now part of my toolbox (dark in there when I close the lid eh?) tools I use to be a better DM, thank you!

[@stetsuninu2374]

thank you so much!! I'm trying to plan a city for a few upcoming sessions and you gave some really helpful pointers I hadn't heard elsewhere

[@Damnationization]

I like your weird ideas. They sound cool. The different parts of a city are just like in the real world or from old times a castle within each set of walls is a higher class. Nobles in the center, middle class in the next level, and farmers/serfs on the outsides.

[@ishmiel21]

This was a fantastic video. Thank you! There’s a bunch of stuff I’m just going to straight up steel Ha ha ha. I’m really happy that I stumbled across your channel this morning.

[@anniebot_45-73]

i have a character i've never gotten the chance to play; Setevios Dulaskry (going by Steven Dallas) is a tiefling born into a cult, but at the age of 13, he heard an almost musical voice draw him towards a nearby town, in which he saw an old man getting mugged. without the voice telling him to, he immediately jumped into action to help the old man, and that's how he was adopted by a cleric of the neutral good deity Sarenrae. Setevios worships Sarenrae, but is himself lawful evil. every day he asks Sarenrae for the strength to resist the evil in his blood. he is a cleric, but doesn't get alignment-granted spells (pathfinder). if you like the character concept, feel free to introduce him as an NPC to your campaign

[@monomakes]

Nort soide/ Sout soide! :) 5:56 'something casually on fire' love it!

[@johnmorse6726]

THIS WAS SO GOOD YOURE AWESOME! Maybe my favorite breakdown on creating a city. Thanks yo!

[@lordpraga]

Lots of good tips. Love the sausage story, might borrow a version of that. I'm sure you hear it all the time but I could listen to you all day, even if you was just reading the dictionary. LOL keep the good work and I'm headed off to watch some of your other stuff now.

[@Jeromy1986]

Hey Acreletae, I've a couple questions. Would shop districts offer new inventions? If so, what would fantasy people invent? Something massive like a new type of weapon, or just a different brand/style of the same old sword? What kind of advertisement is there? Criers of course, handbills, maybe magical signs? Another question: Would there be gambling halls? What games would they have besides 3 Dragon Ante? Would billiards and darts be a staple of bars?

[@Elderos5]

On the note of randomness, I once placed a severed hand in a pool of blood in the PC's path. They looked at it for a bit then shrugged and moved on.

[@seidhamr]

Late, I know, just had to say; If you want to place things like that and they ignore it, then pick it up by placing more hints something sinister is going on, having someone mention disappeareances, murders or people being assaulted and have their hands cut off. Let the hook sink in. Or make it a theme for that city. :D

[@Domarius64]

Hahah, you have a great sense of humour. Your games must be fun :) The main piece of advice I took from this (which I wasn't doing) is describe moving through the different districts. That alone was worth watching the video.

[@PriceTheAvocadoKing]

Best video on the topic yet!! Thank you!

[@jabinhawkins3]

Thanks for taking the time.

[@GBV1436]

I've found that there's a view of 'we'll be able to get everything we need in a city', so I think there has to be a careful balance between them finding everything and it providing more than what can be found in a town. There should also be more and different types of dangers too. Thieves would be more common, especially in certain areas, like where wealthy travellers like to celebrate their successes at the finer taverns. I'd love to know how you and your mates got into D&D.

[@LotharTheFellhanded]

In my friend's campaign, we have the running gag that all the taverns are named, literally, The Adjective Noun.

[@fostropicax5149]

Something casually on fire 5:54

[@northernwolf9196]

I actually written notes. I never did that before. Bests advice ever for town building.

[@Theseareit]

16:00 THIS sums up how I became a DM. I was the only one who was even familiar with the game and I ended up DMing even though I had never played. Holy crap I was just doing some world building with this video in the background when I heard that. Holy crap I thought they were reading my mind.

[@hoppyroo110]

There are several REALLY good random village/town/city generators online... I use two to generate random maps... does the city have walls, does it have a town square / farmers market / castle / massive church / etc... for villages & smaller I typically just have 1 or 2 points of "interest"... for cities, I might have upwards of 10+ places of "interest"... so, every town is gonna have a kinda generic inn / tavern whatever... but a city might have a high class tavern with a gambling section and even a stage for performers etc... and the bigger city might be renown for some specific attractions... say a fantastic greenhouse where hundreds of kinds of herbs are available? a world famous tobacconist? or one of the best forges / smithy in the region ( prices might be high, but if you can afford it, go ahead and buy that +3 long sword while you are here... ;)... )... sky is the limit! Larger cities will almost always also have guilds... which I incorporate into lots of adventures... you got thieves guilds, assassins guilds, adventurers guilds, religious guilds / cults, bards / acting guilds, sailing / pirate guilds, you name it... large cities might even have arenas with gladiators and who knows what... One of the best ways I get my teams to do stuff is having them perform tasks in service to a guild for membership etc... and of course, once they are members, they can always come back for new adventures / payment / etc... So what do I decide... 1 - how many points of interest does the city have / 2 - does it have a castle & who is in control of city & guards etc... / 3 - religion of city & racial prominence of city / 4 - how "seedy" is the city... lots of gambling dens? or super legal... / 5 - what major industry is in city? agriculture / carpentry / metal works / ship building / magic / slave trade / banking / textile / mining / etc... Current adventure for my team - The leader of the thieves guild in a minor metropolitan city runs 4 gambling houses... over the course of the last 2 weeks some stranger has been showing up at them, playing cards for a couple hours and leaves after making a PILE of money... guy never loses... The team is to investigate "how" this guy is winning so much and apprehend him if they spot him somehow cheating... however do it discretely as he doesn't want any gambling house to turn into a mob scene and piss off other patrons... ;) ( obviously this is just the tip of the actual plot, but it sounds simple enough... the guild will pay the team 500 gold up front and upon completion of said mission, given membership into the guild plus additional reward... )

[@manisimmati]

Hey! Nice video, and really helpful, too. :) I especially like the random events. Sometimes there is random stuff going on in my cities, but usually these events are just obvious quest hooks, haha. Thanks for the advice and keep up the good work!

[@AcreletaeDnD]

My cities were like that for a while, too :) glad it was interesting for you ^^

[@Samwise7RPG]

I find it handy when running a city to have a bunch of random tables to roll on. I found a shop/store name generator online somewhere and printed out like 100 names so that I would have some random places with cool names to use on the fly. There are some great free city maps out there. I've always wanted to run a game set in Minas Tirith with its seven levels. Zak S' Vornheim: A Complete City Kit was also a handy reference. Another thing that I found helpful was to have those random encounters you mentioned in a table for each district. Those tables in a way are a shorthand for each district, and if there are a higher percentage chance of certain encounters that tells you a bit about who or what lives there. I love weird in high doses as well. If you want some weird NPCs to drop into a city, check out The People of Pembrooktonshire. It is over 100 weird NPC descriptions. Also, I love the way you say "about." :)

[@Samwise7RPG]

I have ran a couple of campaigns set in one city with the social contract basically being "stay in the city." hehe. When the GM knows that they can put more detail and effort into putting in more details into that one city. Using published cities can be tough as you need to know enough of it to reference parts of it quickly. If you make things up as you go along you need to take good GM notes.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

+Samwise Seven RPG thanks for the feedback and the sources! Definitely checking them out! :)

[@TheOfflineRaider]

Glad to have you back!

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Definitely glad to be back :)

[@olliewilliams6683]

Your games sound like a lot of fun - I might have to nick your Orc Fruit Ninja idea! This video was really helpful, thank you for making it. I hope you're still playing/DMing!

[@EPGelion]

Thanks for another great video! Always excited to see a new one from you. I've gotten lazy as a DM and I've been relying on being decent at improv. These always make me want to sit down long before the game and get some work done. Cheers!

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Glad to provide inspiration! Let me know if there's ever anything you want me to chat about :)

[@EPGelion]

I'm always curious about each DM's approach to putting a campaign together. Some start at the encounter level and go up while others start with a whole campaign world and then take it down to adventures and then encounters. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

+EPGelion check out my planning video then :) if that doesn't cover everything, I'll be happy to fill in the blanks! :)

[@Celerott]

I'm not doing D&D, but I'm making a complete table top game and this was still a big help.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Glad to be of help :) if there's anything you want my two cents in let me know :)

[@Celerott]

Thanks I will. :)

[@archangel2106]

really great advice! Totally going to use it!

[@deadinside-iq2ry]

I never like videos. the last time I did had to be literally years ago. maybe 2. but this video. I had to like. it gave me r really great insight on what I want my world to be like and your also a very entertaining talker. love the stories and examples you use. thank you so much. you should have a biscuit for making such a good video.

[@miket4050]

First off, great video. Currently, i'm trying to figure out how to create and use the city of Neverwinter in my next campaign. This was very helpful. like most DMs, I don't get a lot of chances to play as a character either. What that ends up doing is I don't get too many opportunities to see other DM's lead a game. I have watched a few youtube games and it is helpful. I'm curious about your DM style. Combat is of particular interest. How do you personally resolve and lead combat? Maybe during one video you can give us some tips and better yet a short example of how you might run combat with your players. How do you make it exciting? How do you speed it along? is it just numbers or is there a lot of acting and description? Maybe bring one of your players on to do 5 or 10 minutes of action.

[@bodywhey8]

Another great vid. Keep up the good work. You nailed the topic perfectly!

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Awh thank you :3 I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@BenniBodinJagell]

Easy and helpful advice!

[@monomakes]

The 'sausages dog' story was great! I'm going to have to steal that I'm afraid (reskinned, obviously)

[@danieldib4268]

great video, super helpful. thank you

[@broceollomon]

Really great video! This is was really helpful for me fleshing out NYC for a 1920s CoC campaign. Also, what is that plush on your bed? It looks adorable.

[@icywinterof88]

I love that blind begger story! That's so smart

[@gengargreens]

ack sure well. thanks for all the dungeon master info. ^^ shall prove useful.

[@alexandervaucrosson7841]

great advice, and inspiration!

[@3squareddesigns]

Great info thanks so much!

[@neonpinkapokalypse]

nice step by step. got a couple of new ideas =)

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Glad to help :)

[@smallspidersad78]

This video is so helpful, thank you!

[@tobydunne1342]

I love the personality, new sub👍🏼

[@StudM01]

Thank you for the information. Interested in city planning since world-building an accident society similar to Rome. Btw: that accent is cute as hell. Irish?

[@patrickroelant5171]

You mentioned your campaign that was focused only in a city. It is my first time dming and I'm doing a city campaign. I would love any advice you have cause I really need it. On like the advice and other misc. things

[@williamhieke]

Suddenly the sausage dog became important XP

[@PseudoBasser]

random happening up Your video... good info, thank You! do You run any online Roll20 type adventures? Your ideas sound really fun!

[@michealgonzales5347]

I would love to play in one of your games if you do anything online 😊

[@pragmat1k]

I think I need to steal the half-orc woman headbutting watermelons...

[@hookanomaster3789]

Thank you.

[@bagok701]

do more of these.

[@SpaceOrbisGaming]

As someone who has never played to me a town or village is small something you can see on a hilltop a city would be to big to do that. People would be less helpful in a city then in a town or village. That said any jobs would pay way more in gold in city's than in towns due to it being a city.

[@1freethinkr388]

I've found, at least for pathfinder, that the gamemaster's guide & a truly priceless book known as ''toolbox'' printed by AEG some time ago make city creating fairly easy. Start with an idea; is the city primarily a military outpost, a trading center or perhaps the capital of the local nation or empire? Also consider the primary race(s) there. Dwarven cities will be FAR different than an Elven or a human settlement. IF the city is located in an area that has been civilized and peaceful for a VERY long time, it's possible it may not even have walls but that's unlikely & tactically foolish. There are countless cities & settlements already out there produced by so many outstanding people & companies that you can just rename & repackage as your city as well. What the PCs & players don't know in regards to this issue sure as heck won't hurt them (unless they run afoul of the law or other 'civilized' dangers).

[@Jedicake]

Ok, you're awesome.

[@ProtestantsRUs]

Wooo nice thumbnail and profile pic!

[@AcreletaeDnD]

As promised! :D

[@mrl9418]

Informative 👍👍👍

[@JonMW]

I was initially skeptical of how good your advice was going to be but as soon as I heard the accent I somehow became instantly credulous.

[@ollywright]

Good video, thank you. The sausage dog is going into my city.

[@OminousGlowGames]

Lots of good advice :)

[@dannyglands4565]

Super helpful

[@TheEndKing]

I'm gonna be co-running a superhero game with a friend, so city building is as vital as anything else. In D&D you can run around vague wilderness for a while and be ok, but here that shit don't fly. Also, I like your bandanna, is that a bandanna? It's very snazzy and stylish.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

It is a bandana :3 thank you for the compliment! And definitely no-city wouldn't be great for heroes... A hero-based game sounds like fun though :)

[@TheEndKing]

Acreletae Oh it's tons of fun. The hardest thing is makins villains, though. Unless the party is a bunch of little murderers, you have to have a good, solid recurring cast, as well as throwing new scary challenges at them just when they think they're hardcore.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

+TheEndKing villains are some of my favourite things :D especially the ones that can scrape themselves off the pavement, spend months and millions recuperating and rebuilding themselves after they've been "killed" only to rise, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of their destruction and wrench their revenge from the pulsating entrails of their enemies

[@TheEndKing]

Acreletae That sounds like entirely too much fun.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

+TheEndKing villains, man. They're the bomb.

[@davidmorgan6896]

Surely, the city exist regardless of the players goals. Design your cities, let the players loose. Cities are not just big towns. Cities will have stuff that towns don't have; E.g. towns don't have cathedrals. This includes problems - if horses are used for transport, getting rid of horse manure is a major problem for a city.

[@alejandrogangotena9033]

*hears the watermelon thing while doing other stuff* "Have I given yu a like yet?" *confirm i have* "oh, next step then" *subscribes*

[@Clarafication]

YOU ARE BACK !!!! HOOZAY =D

[@AcreletaeDnD]

Yep! So excited!!

[@Keaggan]

There's a lot steal here Thank you lol

[@NitsujRelis]

Creating cities has always been my weakest area. Oh EVERYTHING I've watched or listened to, nothing has helped me as much as this has. Subscribe

[@MrTrebze]

Are scones really such a posh thing to eat? x)

[@AcreletaeDnD]

They are if you do it right :P

[@madscientistshusta]

Acreletae that's funny because here in America (at least the Seattle area) scones ,real ones are only sold at the fair,which is kinda ghetto,however they do taste great. I think Starbucks sells em too though now.

[@B.OKwithShay]

you irish? where do you play?

[@TheSoling27]

stumbled here from Matt Colville -- he working on his "Capital" city for his new campaign -- also found this for map making -- watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator

[@NicoDaGuido]

I'm like #420 yesssshh

[@BillionSix]

If you want something really useful and interesting, get a book called Vornheim, The Complete City Kit. It's by the guy who does the Playing D&D With Porn Stars blog.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

I'll have to look into that for Christmas :)

[@bodywhey8]

+Acreletae Vornheim is great. It's PDFs was good enough for me. I think the print edition would be cool. There are some roll charts where you have to physically roll dice on the charts. I just printed those pages. PDFs was great for me. It's worth a look.

[@BillionSix]

bodywhey8 Yeah, the author does not like to waste space. Every inch has something in in, including the book cover and the dust jacket inside cover. The pdf is good, but the print one is really cool.

[@AcreletaeDnD]

+BillionSix hmmmmm maybe pdf for now, physical book for Christmas >:)

[@madscientistshusta]

Mildly attractive women don't play dnd. Take off that mask and show us who you really are!