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Post by lasersniper on Jan 20, 2016 21:57:01 GMT
I don't know why I just know thought of asking you guys this but, how do you build a city? Not a village or a small town but a city. I know not everyone has the time/resources to go out and map something such as the map below, so how do you do it? Do you make vague districts, do you actually try and map out city streets and important buildings, or do you keep it to the confines of your mind? I am really curious on what other people do. Personally I can't draw for crap, and for all of my organization I apparently suck at city planning, so I usually rip maps from online and re-purpose them for my use.  |
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Post by dm_mainprize on Jan 21, 2016 1:55:53 GMT
My process is generally to give the city a focal point, like the image above it could be a town center, a tower, a river cutting the city in half, or an important building. I work out from that decided what districts or section would make the most logical sense moving out from that point. I then label them and then try to name and fill out 3-5 buildings in each district. Thats kinda my process. Here is an interesting city generator! Click Run!!Here is a reddit thread on why villages/towns/cities exist and appear where they do! Why? Where?Lastly a link to randomly generated city demographics! Demographics! |
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Post by DM Kiado on Jan 22, 2016 21:01:57 GMT
I am working on mapping cities now, so as I learn things I will come back and add to this. dm_mainprize just slapped down some good links there. You might check out City Cartographer, which takes drawing out, and it's just placement. |
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Post by frohtastic on Jan 23, 2016 12:44:08 GMT
well I did (am doing) mine through pen and paper and I try to split (in my mind) which districts are where.
Probably gonna copy the map and colour code it to show
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Post by robosnake on Jan 24, 2016 20:19:37 GMT
I try to find similar cities and see if there are any historical drawings or maps available online, and I go from there. A lot of times you can get great evocative names for districts, neighborhoods, streets and so on by taking them from historical cities and translating them into English (google translate ftw). I also think about what stands out about a particular city? What are the first three to five things people think of when they think of a given city? Make sure one of those noteworthy things is connected to your setting and themes. What is the equivalent of Big Ben, or the Empire State, or Eiffel Tower, or Sydney Opera House?
I also try to have colorful slums. You can draw from favelas in places like Rio, or high-rise tenements in Chicago, etc.
Also, why is the city there? It has to have a lot of reasons for existing - it's often some kind of center of trade, religion, and political/military power. Many cities are on a coastline, and the ones that aren't on a coastline tend to be on a river.
Lastly, history. Is there a ruin? A cursed aristocratic family? Another whole city buried beneath it, like in Edinburgh or Rome (almost all real world cities are built on top of older cities, sometimes many layers of cities accumulate)? Or maybe a drowned part of the city, with parts visible at low tide? Huge corroded iron chains that once held a demon?
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Post by GMcrates on Jan 24, 2016 20:45:03 GMT
I only worry about doing this whole hog if it is going to get the use out of it to make my effort justifiable. If I have no idea if the players are going to come back, that city exists mostly as description I create on the fly. I keep detailed notes of what proper nouns I use (Guard / official names, other NPCs, specific shops or Inns, district names, temples et al) but other wise the city exists as a bare-bones idea of "big city, started by worshipers of X god or members of Y race"
Rarely have I done the city-as-a-campaign base. I find players usually end up looking for reasons to move around.
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