other assumptions
- there is an old collapsed outer wall starting from point 17. only a few standing sections remain.
- 45 is a set of caves built into the cliff-face.
- 48 is the framework of an old ruined temple
Could I utilize the building north of the graveyard/broken wall without a number? Seems like a perfect spot for a Charcoal Burner/Maker. They had to be close to timber industries but far enough away that the constant smoke and smell wouldnt bother people. They also were often demonized by people since they constantly smelled of sulfur and smoke. Much like how tanners were disliked because of the smell. But everyone needs their product. I am assuming thats not a coast line to the north since there is a road out.
Oh check out this poem about a Charcoal Burner by AA Milne. He has a story to tell.
How about 16 for a small monastery/ winery?
Fishing mostly but small farm on outlying island. Unique soil makes for good grapes for wine. Island is not safe at night. (Maybe underwater creatures come up?) Secretly a halfway house for people running from powerful baddies. => High turnover of people.
49 might also work... I want near water away from town center.
The Charcoal Maker
Charcoal Maker: Lives on the outskirts of town. Regularly visited by timber sellers, he regularly sells to anyone who uses fire/heat for industrial/commercial purposes e.g.: smithies, bakers, chandlers, coopers. Also some well to do merchants/individuals would use charcoal for heating purposes.
Description: Name: Svenson Burner. Average, dully so. Middle aged human, 40-50yrs old. Balding. Average height but stocky due to working with logs most of his life.
Bio: Svenson Burner lives by himself at the edge of town. He is known to most all industrial people and generally they have a kind word for him and he for them. The exception to this is Svenson is a notorious drunk. While he does not get rowdy, he is boastful. Little in life backs his outrageous claims when drunk. Many of his stories relate to (insert creatures found in woods, think kobald). This stems from a traumatizing incident in his youth of getting lost in the woods, running into a (insert harmless version of creature, juvenile kobald) and being scared witless. While managing to get away from that creature he was never believed for the incident. When not diligently working he can be found and is known in all the local taverns. Upon meeting strangers he will tell them his larger than life stories in exchange for drinks. More than one adventurer has made the mistake of heeding his words and going on a wild goose chase. If they come back to confront Svenson the locals will stick up for their own, telling the adventurer: "its not his fault if the adventurer couldn't find the obvious creatures lair everyone knows its where Svenson said" or "it's their own fault for listening to a random drunk". To the surprise of everyone but Svenson a few adventurers have come back and thanked him for his valuable information. To this Svenson says, "but of course".
Location: number to be determined. The property is on the outskirts of the town. Svensons land is always filled with smoke. It is large enough to have several charcoal pits in various stages. There is a little hut he calls home and several larger sheds and roofed pole shelters for storage. Inside/under the outbuildings will be coal storage, drying timber, axes and other wood working tools.
@Manta
Sure, grab whatever available building you want.
If you like the idea of seclusion, you can request a detached island south of 19 for the monastery. Monks like their seclusion and it would only be accessible by row-boat (or levitate, etc). Or there could be a rock bridge leading to it. Anything you want.
Edit: If you stick with 16, there’s an opportunity for a secret entrance into the house from the cliffside via a tunnel.
-BEP
Let's go with that.
Hot damn, Pyx! I wish I was half the cartographer you are.
thanks
Starting to think of some ideas for a local Tailor, thinking they set up shop at 38. It's one of the smaller buildings in the richer area but also near the access to the lower area. A tailor would most likely serve higher scale clientele in a medieval setting since lower class working types most likely made/mended their own clothing, so they would be something of a stylist to the wealthy and middle class. Being on the upper plateau puts them near their primary clients, but with the ramp right there, accessible to everyone who wants to shop or commission something.
Yeah, sorting out organizations would help. I'm particularly interested on how we are looking at religion/churches in the town. Been thinking I need to add in a low level cleric/priest to flesh out my little drama I'm dreaming up between my chandlers and town guard.
Edit: Is #12 on the map a graveyard or should it be more ruins? Was thinking #8 on the map would be a church if it is the former.
bepnewt wrote:Freakin’ Wow.
We’re there any assumptions you had when you made it? Examples:
- 38-44 is a wealthier area or perhaps larger businesses
- 12 is a graveyard
- 27 is a farmer’s market
- 33 is a general goods / trader / shipwright
- 1 is an Inn / TavernStuff like that. If there’s anything you had a specific thought about, mention it here before stuff getS claimed.
Did I mention Wow? Thanks, Pyx. Seriously.
-BEP
actually yeah pretty much spot on with all of those.
i'll bagsee me 19 and 34 for now (remote lonely cliffslide manor and a tower)
i can add more slots later when i do a proper version of the map anyway.
other assumptions
- there is an old collapsed outer wall starting from point 17. only a few standing sections remain.
- 45 is a set of caves built into the cliff-face.
- 48 is the framework of an old ruined temple
Before I start coming up with any content for the town, I was wondering if there was still the intent for coming up with some sort of generalized information like town-wide current events or history, or some sort of cultural overview, or any other kind of framing that needs to be kept in mind for consistency?
I was thinking coastal, bepnewt. Hence the more substantial built-up dock.
Here is another one if I may, a beggar:
Beggar: Lives in the back alleys and sewars. Unkempt and smelly, dresses in rags. Lives off of the generosity of others, appears to be lacking in full awareness or living in paranoid fear. Will randomly shout into and at shadows. Arrived in town several years ago, before then was unknown to this area.
Description: Goes by Hawker, due to the bundle of tied rags resembling a bird he keeps on his shoulder. Human of undetermined age. Average height, scrawny/wiry build. Seen often begging through out the merchants quarter. Shows up in really unexpected places. Attempts to remove Hawker from the town has only resulted in him appearing back in town the day following his removal. Guards are never aware of how he enters the city and he has never been seen to leave willingly. Successful attempts to follow Hawker have only resulted in boring days for the follower, watching hawker meander through town. Other attempts have ended in Hawker evading even the most skilled trackers quickly.
Bio: Hawker's real name is Seranis Thatcher. She is in the employ of a nearby city state, Hammerwall. Her mission is to gather information for the eventual attack. She is fiercely loyal to her home. She is an accomplished thief and spy all in the name of Hammerwall. Inside her hawk bundle is a figure of a bird that alerts her when she is someones focus. When she becomes someone's focus of attention the bird vibrates to let her know. It is a high value magic item that also increases her awareness. She has several disguises allowing her to move around town, but Hawker is her most useful. Who really sees the homeless?
Personally world building one of the best parts of RPG's. Especially fleshed out nobodies.
Are we posting things here, waiting until there's some repository, or is it to our discretion?
SpacePProtean what were you thinking for the wharf/market area? I have an idea for a harbor master corrupt (redundant I know) politician.
I think it's funny... all I am thinking of is 'good guys' and was initially put off by the 'bad guys' being put in the town... then I was like... 'oh' we need people to be against...
SpacePProtean what were you thinking for the wharf/market area? I have an idea for a harbor master corrupt (redundant I know) politician.
I figured someone else should do the harbor itself, what I've done with the wharf is limited to basically a fish market for locals, so go for it.
In fact, deets (spoilered due to length):
The Freeport Hamlet Farmer’s Market is fairly typical of any local farmer’s market--a collection of stalls and plots, slightly varying in size, operating from sunup to sundown, populated by rotating sellers and frequented by locals and visitors. Each stall or plot is available daily for a small fee, and while officially all fees are flat, paying a little more will see the seller placed in a more desirable spot. Stalls are, obviously, simple, but well maintained--tables, low fences, and rods and posts suitable for the hanging of awnings and signage. Different days will see different sellers present, a mix of local farmers (some of whom have regular preferred days, while others show up when they feel the need) and traveling merchants (who typically stay for a few days before moving on), and some days are more popular than others. While exotic goods are sometimes available, most of the goods on sale are staples. There is always a spice vendor, often part of a larger spice caravan.
Additionally there is the Wharf, which is much less ordered than the Market--basically a dock where fishers can dock and sell their catches directly from their boats.
Both of these are overseen by Jamus “Ludo” Ludoviggo, who often calls himself “The Merchant of Merchants,” but is also often surreptitiously called “Lord Pilot Fish.”
Ludoviggo is a 50-ish human, large and overweight in that usual middle-aged way, with a deep but clear voice and a gregarious demeanor. He dresses richly, though nothing extremely ostentatious (he does have to spend a lot of time moving around outside). His role is to coordinate things at both markets--collecting fees, assigning spots, arranging maintenance, and (for the wharf) ensuring smooth traffic. Additionally, he resolves minor disputes, altercations, and arguments, trying to keep the peace so that the (guard, sheriff, whatever the enforcers of law are) needn’t become involved, and keeping an eye out for illicit activities. He has four underlings in his employ who assist him.
Most of his time is spent looking to one market or the other. Despite being a constant presence, however, Ludo is very “hands off” with the markets’ vendors (though he does know them all by name) once their daily fee has been paid. Instead, he keeps an eye out for notable customers--nobility, the rich, successful adventurers, and so on. Ludo is a very ingratiating man, in the modern parlance a “clout chaser,” cozying himself up to those with more esteem, making great shows of pride in connecting them with his “very good friend” who can see to their needs (after meeting them once, Ludo calls everyone “my very good friend”). His method is not sycophantic or fawning, but rather to seem impressive himself, styling himself “The Merchant of Merchants,” the man who knows everyone and thus knows how to find what anyone could need in the market.
Ludo maintains a very thick veneer of legitimacy, and has no commonly known connections to criminal elements. Still, it is widely speculated that such connections exist, both due to his role, but also because his behavior is fundamentally suspicious. PCs of the Criminal background will likely conclude that he is not any sort of gang leader or kingpin, but is someone such people would very much like to know. While he will trumpet his role in keeping the market on the up-and-up to the nobility and authorities, he is nowhere near above accepting bribes to look the other way on smuggling and the sale of contraband, though he is cautious enough to see that such activities are limited, discrete, and ideally undertaken by outsiders who will be on their way soon.
No one seems to have appointed Ludo or granted him his position--he was simply there one day 15(?) years ago, but his system resolved so many problems, the vendors accepted him. He is widely tolerated by the vendors, though his habit of swooping in on prominent customers earned him the nickname “Lord Pilot Fish,” which started at among the fishers, but spread to the market vendors. Ludo stays at one of the nearby inns.
The 4 hirelings in Ludo’s employ are not quite goons, though they do have a goonish air. Each was previously a mediocre mercenary, and appreciates easy, low risk pay. None carry weapons beyond utility knives and truncheons, and though they know how to fight, none pose much of an actual threat to an experienced adventurer. They will signal prominent people to Ludo, and will, when opportunity presents, seem to be resolving disagreements against such people, giving Ludo the chance to intervene and “fix” things for his new good friend.
The hirelings are:
Philozan - a female blue dragonborn equivalent to in her 40s, typically in a foul mood, she will try to brush people along their way as quickly as possible. Drinks heavily when off duty.
Kadash - a male dwarf equivalent to in his 20s, missing all the teeth on the left side of his mouth (battle wound). Business-like and efficient in dealing with people.
“Sticky Wicket” (also called innumerable variations: “Stick,” “Wick,” “Sticky,” “Wicky,” “Sitcket,” etc.) - a male half-elf equivalent to in his 30s, has the classic sneery look of a shifty guy up to no good.
Rolf - a male human around 18. An exceptionally large local-ish lad, hired on by Ludo after the loss of his family’s farm. Pitied by the other locals.
If any of you ever wants to create another random town, this medieval fantasy town map generator is pretty cool.
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