DIY: So you need some Adventure Game towns?

Disclaimer: I took a blank area of an expansion map of my world, which had nothing in the area. I created the concept of the towns and the adventures off the top of my head. There is no detailed adventure site of the Ruins of Ik or the Beastmen Mines. But maybe some day.

I saw some discussion on how to set up towns in an open world campaign, which I default to a hexcrawl. Many people use existing campaign materials to set up their world, perhaps even using the hexcrawl that they are meant for as a wholesale solution. But there are some people who aim to build out their own world, using others materials or not, and towns/cities/etc become one of the areas where it could be useful to see how other people create theirs.

With my campaign, I have a whole vision of how the world works and that informed most of the major civilized points. But sometimes, you need to fill in the gaps and introduce a more complete ecosystem to the world that requires some brainpower.

The first thing that people accomplish is knowing the adventures nearby, as this is the focus of the game. Veteran gamers have their own methods and mine is a mixed bag itself. There are a ton of tools for town and city generation out there as well. I figure it might be useful for me to detail some basics on how I begin in an area using The Sandbox Generator. (Not sponsored, I just find it useful and you can get it here.) And we begin by looking at the adventures nearby.

The adventures on a brief level:

Ruins of Ik

• Relatively small, 15 keyed area adventure site. 
• Crypt and monument built to ancient heroes.
• One of the ancient heroes, Ik, was a fighter who carried the Cat Claw, a renowned blade.
• Attracted looting once, but a lone survivor fled after seeing his friends slain in the dark.

Beastmen Mines

• Runs three tiers deep totaling about 100 dungeon rooms.
• The primary mining exports was iron. But silver and diamonds were found.
• Old mining town outside, now lies in rubble.
• The albino beastmen came from the depths and wiped out the miners.
• The demon cult of Baphomet has subjugated the beastmen.

The towns on a brief level:

• Tolrek, a Neutral Good farming village that deals in livestock. Population 100.
• Fendale, a Lawful Neutral palisaded town that primarily deals with hunting furs, fresh water fish, root vegetation, and has a small military force that protects the town from brigands and occasional beastmen who wander too close to the walls. A lake sits to the south.

That's it, that is all I know and we want towns that feel like a part of the world.

Filling out the Village in a Hurry:

Using Sandbox Generator, let's see about setting up Tolrek first.

I always start with an Inn. Small towns like this don't always have an inn. Looking at the map, it's out of the way of any primary travel. Flipping to page 28, a quick glance at the names pops something out for me: The Dream Orchard. Okay cool, I'll decide it can have an inn. Not exactly scientific and you could always use a name generator or figure out one.

I already know the basics of the village, so I go to page 34. I decide it's a heap layout. I draw the map and label one "The Dream Orchard". 

I know the occupation, so I move on. It's only got one other point of interest, which is the horse stables. That immediately clicks into my head that a livestock town also breeds excellent mounts. I label the stables on the map. I detail that out and check for defenses. It appears that Tolrek has built a moat around the town. After all, livestock being killed by wolves in the night would be bad for livelihood.

How about an interesting NPC? I roll a misunderstood witch. I decide that on the outskirts of town, an old female druid lives in a hut of mud and sticks. Perhaps she could be a source of poison removal in the future.

Who is the town ruled by? I roll a priest. Which means I need to detail a church. I come up with the oh-so-holy Church of Alaunus in my campaign world. Given the size of the town, he should be level 3. Not real useful for raising the dead, but he serves a purpose in town. And probably has his small town religious folk talking ill of the witch. Perfect. I label the church on my map.

I already know the towns general disposition, which is friendly. After all, travellers means more money flowing through the small village. But I hadn't considered a secret... Not being committed to the idea, I roll and there is no secret. No events.

That's generally it. Not the best place for adventurers to buy new swords, but a general store would serve this community by having poles, rope, pitons, etc. I label the general store. I now have a functional town, mostly.

Lets get some rumors for the Dream Orchard. In town we have the witch and the potential of predators stalking livestock in the night. Nearby, we may have something for Fendale. But we definitely should have something for the Ruins of Ik and maybe the Beastmen Mines.

1. The town seems pretty supportive of their Church, so a vicious rumor about the witch poisoning livestock is number one. We decide it's false and that visiting the witch shows she is caring for chickens and goats herself. One down.
2. We add a rumor about the moat protecting the wealthier residents, but wolves have been taking livestock from some outer residents.
3. We earmark a rumor for Fendale, later to become a rumor about thieves coming from Fendale and robbing homes in the night.
4. We add a rumor about the Ruins of Ik, particularly the folklore about the Cats Claw.
5. We add another rumor about the Ruins of Ik, particularly about the failed looting.
6. We add a vague rumor about the Beastmen mines, that it runs three tiers deep and the village is in ruins.

There, that's 6 rumors. This place is ready to game. Ultimate lazy map that I can redo later (or even use one of the map town generator tools online to make a cleaner map with):

Filling in the Town in a Hurry:

We next go to Fendale. Starting over on page 34, we come up with going with a round layout which facilitates the palisade nicely. I have decided to give a blacksmith, market, and tavern. I make up a name for the tavern, which is also an Inn called The Running Stag. 

A special location I roll up is a Library founded by a retired Magic-User (level 5), which can also serve as a trainer. I roll up a church to Aenahn (my god of justice) and also make the head priest level 5. I also roll a mill, and have decided that a retired Fighter lives here (I also rolled up 'Retired Mercenary on the notable NPCs). I have trainers. I label them on the map and draw the mill in on the lakeside.

I also roll up a lonely widow, I decide she's wealthy, and decide that she lost her husband to a giant catfish that haunts the lake to the south. It's a hunting town and I have decided that albino beastmen pelts are worth 50 gp. I roll for a secret and get a secret society. I make them a small thieves guild. This could play into thief training well.

The market should be able to provide arms and armor, food, supplies, as well as sell furs and trade meats.

The church can provide services up to level 3 cleric spells.

Knowing more about the town, I revisit Tolrek. I put in a rumor about the thieves guild. Seems like they tend to go outside the walls to rob from Tolrek from time to time.

I develop the rumors for Fendale and come up with:

1. The giant catfish swallowed a small fishing boat whole carrying a wealthy man. Surely he had valuables.
2. We add a rumor about beastmen wandering too close to town.
3. We add a rumor of the haunted Ruins of Ik, where the dead don't rest.
4. We add a rumor of the old mining town being a ruined nest of beastmen.
5. We add a rumor of cult activity deep within the mines.
6. We add a rumor of the lost diamonds and silver of the mines.

I can develop more, but there is 6 rumors.

That's it, I have something to go off from. I develop the NPCs of the thieves guild, the retired mercenary, the retired magic-user, the clergy of the church and decide how they would feel about each other. Given the hidden nature of the thieves guild, I decide it would be fun to have a basement-tunnel network of rooms underneath the town and write a 10 room set up in case investigations lead there for adventure. And I did all of this in 90 minutes. 

But I wouldn't feel done with this. This is a draft. I can run a session with this in a pinch, but the real work happens once you let it live in your head for a bit. You've familiarized yourself with the town, some of the people, and its surroundings. Think about it while you work out, while you're watching a boring movie, on a drive, whenever. Re-read your notes a few days later. Let it sink in and think about how you can make it cooler. Then go back and revise it. Then revise it some more. Then probably redraw it using a higher fidelity tool if you want to show it to another living soul.

So how do I do a city? That's a bit more involved. How do you whip off a draft for a town?