How to Design City Adventures for D&D & Pathfinder

At last - recognition! Now, come on, son-of-Prof, how can your father, who wears so much beige, stink? I don't think you've thought this through properly.

Well done, once again. I've had a lot of trouble explaining to newer players that, unless you are in a large port city and/or capitol, the locals are going to be suspicious of you because you didn't grow up here. Combine that with being 'adventurers' (read, trouble follows you) and are some odd-ball race and folk give you the cold shoulder pretty quickly. A comment regarding Sumptuary laws....if a PC/NPC can afford a 10gp hat and a 100gp embroidered tunic, the 2-3sp 'fine' is a pittance to show exactly how wealthy you really are. This is grounded in late-medieval Europe, where the sumptuary laws were flouted with abandon, as it says not only can I afford an ostrich plume, I can afford the fine to wear it every day.

Professor, you have been a huge inspiration for me to return to D&D. I haven’t played since the 90’s, and I’m now getting ready to start an epic campaign online. You are a rock star! Keep the great advice coming.

Frances and Joseph Gies have written several books on medieval history, and culture. One item which stands out, in their works, for D&D games, is the Merchants' Fairs: basically wholesaler's bring their mass of goods to cities in a Fair, once per year, to sell them to customers, and retailers. The Fairs travel around the continent, moving goods. They were a huge festival! I put them in my game world, at fixed times, in various locations. PC's plan to visit these cities, during the Fair, because it is full of adventure! The Fairs are a month-long party... It usually takes the city several months to recover from the Fair: narcotic, highly addictive, wines are sold/traded, and drunk. The churches make bank healing/curing. There are jousting/fighting tournaments, for prizes (money, armor, horses, weapons, etc.). Thieves, and prostitutes, make bank, plying the exuberant crowds. They are a wild time, but they only last one month, per location. Then the Fair vendors, and others, move onto the next location, to do it all over again. The cities welcome it because it brings in huge amounts of cash in taxes, fees, and punishments for those caught doing naughty 's. The churches love it because they charge for healings and curing of diseases, and addictions; they also make converts because of their efforts. It is chaotic, exciting, adventurous, and fun! It is relatively easy for the DM to come up with interesting, challenging, adventure ideas to seed into a Merchant Fair. There are sooo many possibilities... It will also suck the PC's into the life of the city. Cheers!

I Love ALL Dungeon Craft videos! Especially his back catalog.

Invincible Overlord was an excellent campaign setting. I played back Advanced D&D (called 1e but at least the third set of rules published). Its been awhile but the charts and detail really made the city a thing of itself.

Seeing your older videos coming up is way cool

City States of the Invincible Overlords got that 80s Metal song title feel to it.

Thought; a great reward for early players would be getting citizen ship to a city. Maybe without it they pay higher taxes/can't go everywhere. But earning it by helping someone out would be a great hook to open up the space and get them invested in it.

It's nice to see the d12 getting some love.

Very informative! Thanks. The innkeeper telling the authorities on the shifty rogue with a grappling hook sounds like a great start to an adventure. I always loved when players did that sort of thing.

“Thieves World” by Chaosium is also a great resource for city adventures. Based on the Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn books by Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin. It was also multi-system so you could use it with D&D, RuneQuest, Tunnels and Trolls, and even Traveller!

I like running city and village adventures. I try to emulate video game RPGs - basically, walk around and gather clues from quirky townspeople, buy or barter for supplies, find hidden goodies, maybe have a confrontation or two. To keep players on the ball, I apply ICRPG-style timers. When the timer goes off, they notice that they're missing supplies (pickpocketed? accidentally dropped it and won't find it again?), or a gang confronts them for a fight, or something bad that might happen in a city or in a village of strangers. I like to keep it nicely structured, so it's one move + one action in a building and/or with an NPC in an "hour" turn time in the game, and the players go one at a time. The action can be talk/search area/mend/shop etc. That's where I use neat things like bird's eye view town maps. Most buildings are considered locked up and "unplayable," so the players focus on node-hopping their mini-figures from one important building or map feature to another. Wherever they land, they can "search" and sometimes they'll find a narrow alley (not marked on the map, because I like to keep maps kind of vague) leading to something interesting or useful. It's as much fun as combat. If a fight breaks out, I lay down cardstock drawings of buildings and features of the fight area on UDT so that the background can be utilized. I'm pleased with how smoothly it works. I play with my wife and kids, and they get a kick out of it.

I've never before imagined such depth in City Adventures... I will never look at them the same way again. This video will be a massive help. Although, I now find myself conditioned to always look at a City's roads and streets, to see if they are paved or muddy... it's an OCD thing.

finally, some good old school dm advice. i started with a Dm like you and it's been my personal favourite ever since

Another great video. Ive watched it 3 times, and I keep coming back!

1:53 warrhammer poster. haven't seen that since 1991. LOVE IT!!

Ancient times: let’s move to the city for safety Modern times: let’s move out of city for safety

Our Lady of Perpetual Vengeance. I LOVE it!! There will be one of these in every city going forward.

What the hell, professor... I have been seeking Youtube help and advice for a good decade to be a better DM and player and today is the first time I have ever seen your channel mentioned anywhere. Finally, pure substance. THANK YOU.