This is a guide for PC’s who may or may not have access to the amount of information completely available to a town/city. Use this in order to build a picture of what a town’s economic, population, hygiene, etc. actually look like in the grand scheme. Credit: GBX’s words, exactly Disclaimer: The DM is always right, even when he/she’s wrong.
Population
This value represents the total number of people who dwell within a locale.
This value is not simply “How many people live in this locale?” but may also affect actions that require more individuals. For example, if an individual was looking for a buyer/seller, a certain profession, a certain business style, or more, the greater the population, the greater the chance you have to find it. A city with a population of 500,000 is easier to find exactly what you’re looking for than a city of 500 people.
It can also affect other values such as how much tax is collected and how good the hygiene is in the city, and so on.
Terrain
This is essentially the terrain and geography around the city. This can affect what natural resources might be nearby or what sort of creatures/encounters are dealt with, it can affect hygiene, as well has difficulty of travel.
Arctic, Mountain, Desert, Plains, Island/Beach, Swampland, Jungle, or Woodlands.
Some places may be artificial and therefore may have different terrain options.
Appearance
This is the visual quality of the city or how much time is spent caring for it. Higher values mean people are more likely to be impressed with the town and wish to be within it. Lower values mean you will have a problem with people wishing to leave the region or will harbor dislike for it.
Acceptable values are:
Horrific: Indescribably monstrous or unspeakably foul, and normal mortals likely panic with fear. Example cities might be something you’d find in a planar world where buildings are carved from caustic flesh, street lamps are souls begging for mercy, and fountains spray putrid bile. You’ll never find anything like this in the normal world without magic.
Monstrous: A more natural version of the above. This city is monstrous and clearly unnatural or utterly grotesque. Maybe bodies of dead are piled around, bones are used instead of wood, perhaps there is a river of fecal matter flowing by, and many other. This may still be supernatural but it doesn’t go as far as above.
Hideous: Just disgusting. Might be a garbage pile, who knows.
Ugly: Orc dens, rubble of a ruined town made to live in, mud pits, just a place you wouldn’t want to be but it’s livable.
Unattractive: Shanty towns, poor districts, places that just look less than acceptable to Humane standards.
Average: It’s a town, people live in normal houses, there’s some plants here and there, but no one is going out of their way to look appealing, yet it’s not given to ruin or decorated in bodies.
Attractive: Aesthetics are mildly important. People trim their lawns, they plant some gardens, homes and businesses are well kept. Hardly any litter if any.
Beautiful: Marble statues and pillars, granite surfaces that are smoothed, homes have a great deal of natural appeal with gardens and parks. There’s no trash and probably laws against it.
Very Beautiful: Gold and silver adorn the city. Roads are neatly pieced together stones like they are the golden brick road. Not a single home isn’t carefully decorated for the appeal of visitors. Businesses feel as though Sune herself has placed it there and you never want to leave.
Transcendent: There is nothing natural about this city but it’s magically created to draw in everyone’s attention. Cities in Celestia might all have this aesthetic appeal. You’ll not likely find a place this magnificent on Toril.
Hygiene
This is the cleanliness of the city and it’s people. It’s given in modifier levels which would probably directly affect how well someone would roll if they would get a disease or sickness visiting the city.
All cities start at -1 simply because they are naturally bad for someone’s health. Then a few things affect it from there. Here’s some samples that can modify it.
Healthy or Unhealthy Environment: +1 for a healthy environment; Arctic, Desert, or Mountain terrain is often healthy. -1 for an unhealthy environment; Jungle or Swampland terrain is often unhealthy. If the foundersmade a point of choosing the healthiest possible site available, as the ancient Greeks and Romans often did, treat this as a healthy environment.
Strict Public Health Enforcement: +1 (see Control Rating, below). Poverty: -1 for Wealth stat Poor or Dead Broke (see Wealth, below). Catastrophe: -2 for the effects of a recent famine, natural disaster, military conquest, or collapse of government.
Just imagine it a modifier to your fortitude of CON roll to see if you catch a cold or sickness in the city against a certain DC. A poor hygiene city means sickness is likely to spread quickly. A good hygiene city means it’s not likely to at all.
Magic Level (Enchantment Level)
Generally D&D tends to keep the same magic level across the world, but if this is a factor, this is essentially how magically rich the area is. Is it in a place of power? Does a leyline cross over it? Etc.
None: Magical dead zones.
Low: Weak or Sublevels of magic.
Normal: Same as the rest of the world.
High: A leyline or place of power might be nearby.
Very High: Magic power is utterly potent here.
Enchantment levels are a sub level of Magic Level. This is how easy it is to find enchanters or magic users that’ll enchant something in the city region.
None: The idea of magic items in this city is practically unheard of. No alchemists or enchanters.
Very Rare: Maybe some outsiders have sold a few or some were discovered, but no one is beyond a dabbler if there are any crafters at all.
Rare: There’s a decent number of practitioners and magical goods can be found in multiple locations.
Common: Lots of crafters are within the city and magic goods are practically on the list of exports for the city. Potions, trinkets, enchanted wares… you name it you can find it.
Very Common: Magic items find every day use. Even the average citizen has magical wares and potions.
Language
The main language or languages found in this city.
Literacy
How educated the population is essentially. A city’s Literacy is defined as None, Broken, Accented, or Native. This represents the ability of a typical inhabitant to read and write. Cities of illiterates don’t have written street signs, legal notices, or inscriptions; cities with Broken literacy may have these, but supplement them with regular oral proclamations and visual iconography.
Wealth
This is where economy begins. Wealth is a rating in the amount of coin (Or equivalent) income a citizen of the city makes. AVERAGE. Assume the average D&D income is 10GP per month. (See below for values).
Dead Broke (0GP/Month): You have no job, no source of income, no money, and no property other than the clothes you are wearing. Either you are unable to work or there are no jobs to be found.
A city can be Dead Broke, but only temporarily, usually in the aftermath of war or natural disaster. If it stays Dead Broke for more than a week or two, its population will crash, leaving it a deserted ruin.
Poor (Less than 100GP/Month): Some jobs are not available, and no job you find pays very well. People live in poverty, ruined state of dwellings or worse. Squatters and beggars are common and likely high amounts of hunger.
Struggling (200GP/Month): Any job is open to you (you can be a Struggling doctor or alchemist), but you don’t earn much. Perhaps the economy is on hard times, or there is an overpopulation problem.
Average (400GP/Month): Normal D&D Citizenship. The citizen lives in his own apartment, small house, or similar location.
Comfortable (600GP/Month): The citizens are doing well and they eat well, have good quality homes or have amenities to make life relatively stress free.
Wealthy (800GP/Month): The citizens are well off and has sizeable homes or apartments. They enjoy quality suites within inns and they eat very well.
Very Wealthy (1000GP/Month): Citizens can buy quite a bit and have comfortable lifestyles. Large homes and manors with many amenities afforded them.
Filthy Rich (1200GP/Month): Citizens can buy almost anything they want without considering cost. Estates, small castles, large manors and more are quite common. Almost everyone has one for themselves and their families.
The overwhelming majority of cities are Struggling, Average, or Comfortable. A city above that range is either an enclave for the privileged, or a magnet for immigrants seeking to find places in its rapidly growing economy. A city below it is probably dying off as its people move elsewhere in search of work.
This value becomes important because when you take the population and multiply it by the average income you get the total production level of the city.
For example, a wealthy city of 1,000 people will bring in 50,000 GP per month on average. Where a poor city of 100, 000 will bring in 200,000 GP per month with 100x the people!
This comes into play later for things like budgets and military and what not.
Status
This represents the status level of inhabitants of the city. It is two numbers, the low end to the high end, not the average.
Here are what each number represents roughly if in a feudal system:
Code:
8 – Emperor/King/Queen
7 – Imperial Consort or Heir
6 – Prince/Princess
6 – Duke/Duchess
5 – Marquess/Marchioness
5 – Earl or Count/Countess
4 – Viscount/Viscountess
4 – Senior Baron/Baroness
3 – Lesser Baron/Baroness
3 – Landed Knight/Dame
2 – Unlanded Knight/Dame
2 – Governor/Mayor
2 – Guildmaster/Guildmistress
1 – Squire
1 – Captain
1 – Craftsman, Merchant
0 – Villein, Townsman, Citizen
-1 – Serf, Urban Rogue
-2 – Beggar, Slave
So a town might have simply 0 to 2 if they have a mayor, but Sundren may have -1 to 6 since slavery may be illegal in the city and the lords aren’t heads of an entire empire. Usually capitals of empires have up to 8.
Government
This represents the system of rule used in the city. I won’t describe each here as it can be quite long, but here is some possible ideas for what would be considered rule models.
Anarchy
Athenian Democracy
Caste
Clan/Tribal
Corporate State
Dictatorship
Feudal
Hive Mind
Representative Democracy
Technocracy
Theocracy
Bureaucracy
Charismatic Rule
Cybercracy/Machine
Civilization
Matriarchy
Meritocracy
Military Government
Oligarchy
Patriarchy
Sanctuary
Socialist
Teratocracy
Thanatocracy
Thaumatocracy
Utopia
Control Rating (CR) (Corruption Level)
Control ratings represent how strictly a city’s government regulates the behavior of its people. Aspects of this include civil rights; economic freedom and taxation; information access and censorship; legal restrictions on personal conduct; public health and the environment; punishment severity; and reproductive choice. A city may have a CR higher or lower than its overall CR for one of these areas or for some other special sphere.
For example, a city may gain +1 to its Hygiene statistic by public health measures at CR4 or higher. Each government type has a typical range of CR scores. However, the exceptions can be interesting! For example, an anarchy might have CR4 if informal social control based on public disapproval of certain activities were strong enough. Or a theocracy that taught nonviolence and trusting the inner light might have CR1.
CR0 – Anarchy. There are no laws, taxes, or controls.
CR1 – Very free. Nothing is illegal save use of force or intimidation against other citizens. Taxes are light or voluntary.
CR2 – Free. Some laws exist; most benefit the individual. Taxes are light.
CR3 – Moderate. There are many laws, but most benefit the individual. Taxes are moderate and fair.
CR4 – Controlled. Many laws exist; most are for the convenience of the state. Broadcast communications are regulated; private broadcasts (like CB) and printing may be restricted. Taxation is often heavy and sometimes unfair.
CR5 – Repressive. There are many laws and regulations, strictly enforced. Taxation is heavy and often unfair. There is strict regulation of information technology: computers, photocopiers, printing presses, transmitters, etc. All goods are effectively controlled; you can’t buy anything without the appropriate ration coupons or paperwork.
CR6 – Total control. Laws are numerous and complex. The individual exists to serve the state. Many offenses carry the death penalty, and trials – if there are any at all – are a mockery. Taxation is crushing, taking most of an ordinary citizen’s income. Censorship is common, and private ownership of any information technology is forbidden. All goods are controlled, and the government might even withhold basic necessities.
Corruption
People whose actions are restricted by the law will often try to find a way around the restrictions. The Corruption statistic measures how easy this is to do in a city. Corruption is a number from 0 to -6; apply this as a penalty to the official CR to determine the effective CR for people who have the right connections. Taking advantage of a city’s Corruption usually requires a player to be suitably skilled with making connections. Social skills tend to help, as well as faction affiliations. For example, the above city has a CR3 and Corruption of -2. This means for those with the right connections they can treat the city as CR1: Nothing is illegal save use of force or intimidation against other citizens. Taxes are light or voluntary. In other words they can get away with quite a bit and skip taxes, etcetera. Actions by those in charge may fluctuate CR and Corruption.
Tax Rate
This is the percentage of average income taxed by those in charge. To figure out the income from taxes you simply use the following formula.
Income = Population * Gold Income * Tax Rate.
In my above example, I used 10% which is actually a steep tax but not horrible.
Income = 12,000 * 5G/Month * 10%
Or, 6000 gold pieces per month. This will be important later.
City Income
This is the amount of gold a city can work with each month by the figure heads. A figure head will pocket some of this income for themselves and also use it to pay authoritative figures, city upkeep and maintenance, public services and more. Any action that requires funding will be pulled from this income. For example, if the city decides to build a temple out of pocket. That’s where money management comes into play.
Military Resources
This is the amount of gold available each month for military. Since soldiers and equipment, barracks and more require upkeep, this is where the gold will come from. Soldiers expect income just like every other citizen so expect them to be paid based upon the wealth level of a citizen (10G / month average). The less a military is paid the weaker it’s morale will be, the more it’s paid, the greater it’s morale.
Defense Bonus
This is the tactical defense value of the city in a time of all out war. Think of this value as an AC for the city on top of 10 if an army was to make an attack roll.
Select the highest relevant Defense Bonus from the first table below. Then include one or more modifiers from the second table below to get the total DB.
DB – City Features
+4 – Improvised fortifications
+5 – Many stone or concrete structures
+5 – Underground tunnels
+6 – Entirely underground
Modifier Geographic Features
-1 to -2 – Ruined permanent fortifications
+1 – On a hill or small island
+2 – On a high mountain
It’s entirely possible a city could have 0 in which case it’d be easily sacked by anyone with attack bonuses.
Think of these numbers above as guidelines. You can have negative or positive numbers. A total of +10 is basically nearly impregnable. A defense value of -10 means a brute could probably walk in and conquer the city.
Soldiers
This is the military forces, upkeep and size of the forces for use in military action. The more income, population, taxes and more a city has, the more it can afford to pay more soldiers.
Resident Factions
These are the factions expected to be found in the city.
Major Imports/Exports
Every city has needs and likely has surpluses. Any time a city produces something it does not need this can become an export. Any time a city has a need that is not fulfilled by it’s own production, this can become an import. This does not mean they are actively imported or exported, however it does have the environment to if need arises. For example, people drink ale, this comes from somewhere. Unless there are distilleries, this will go unfulfilled, hence import. With low amounts of hunting grounds and fertile farms, grain and fur becomes important. However, being near the coast, fishing would likely be done in excess with Avanthyr, allowing a need for fish to be in surplus, hence it becomes an export. Does this mean there is no grain or distilleries, etc? Not at all, but maybe there are not enough to support it’s population density.
Notes
This is basically information and blurbs on the city, categorized by topic.
Dispater