Greyhawk Musings: Developing a Village

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

― Plato, The Republic

World building is all in a day’s work for DMs. It’s what we sign up for when we take on the role. No matter how exhaustively detailed a weighty adventure tome may appear, it can never be all encompassing. It’s impossible that it could be. It falls on our shoulders to fill in the gaps, and it was in that capacity that we each probably first dipped our toe in that vast body of water of uncertainty.

Did we do it well? Some better than others, I expect.

Sometimes, we had to do more than a little. Consider what was expected of us if we wished to run U1 The Sinister secret of Saltmarsh:

Therefore, if there is to be an adequate background to the series, the DM is recommended to 'prepare' the town quite thoroughly, using the guidelines presented in this module as the basis for that preparation. The DM's own style and preferences will govern just how much preparation is done and in how much detail, but it is suggested that attention be given to at least some of the following:

1. The Town Council. Name the members; determine their trades/occupations and something of their backgrounds; decide how powerful and wealthy each member is, relative to the local community.

2. Treat other prominent local citizens who are not members of the Council in a way similar to Council members (in particular the merchant-receiver whose part in the plot is explained in the description of room 15).

3. Draw a map of the town, locating prominent buildings and the places where Council members and other important people carryon their business.

4. Decide where the characters could stay when resting in the town between adventures (the best inn? the only inn?); draw up a tariff (list of expenditures) for their accommodation and food.5. Decide where to locate the town's place(s) of worship and which deity is worshipped there.

[U1 – 3]

Introductory module, my ass! That’s a ton of work for a burgeoning DM. Probably a paralyzing amount. It was the lucky DM who had Hommlet and Orlane to guide them. Each is a wonderful template on the possibilities that towns present. Foremost, they should be a springboard to adventure; but they should also have dark undertones, secrets and intrigue, as well. They might even be dangerous. This is D&D, after all. Cities very likely are. That’s a tall order to imagine without a template.

What are they, villages and towns and cities, specifically, anyway?

The simplest definitions are that a village is a small community, a town is usually an incorporated community that is larger than a village, and a city is a large or important town. Populations are irrelevant. In Great Britain, for instance, a city, or a borough, was usually the seat of a bishop, upon which the dignity of the title was conferred by the crown; thus, a city could be smaller than a town, presumably.

Whatever their definition, all are communities; all have social structure; and all are a bedlam of possibility that can easily overwhelm a DM. Villages are the easiest to control, making them ideal for newly coined Dms to base their campaign from. They’re small and rather constrained, making them far easier to coral. It should be relatively easy to know everything about their people, their politics, their layout, their strife. As noted, Hommlet and Orlane are excellent examples of a village and town.

How do villages and towns and cities develop, anyway? From need; or they would never have been founded in the first place. Without understanding how your town came to be, it will never pass scrutiny. It will lack verisimilitude. How do we ensure that verisimilitude? By making it as real as possible.

Water is a basic requirement. So too access to food. That’s why almost all communities are on lakes and rivers—or oases—and ringed by farms.

Why do they pop up? A motherlode was struck. There is timber aplenty. The shoals offshore are teeming with fish. Whales migrate past its peninsula. A keep defends the realm. It may be as simple as they are on a crossroads. Whatever the reason, it serves a purpose. Maybe two. Maybe more.

Personally, I think towns are a better base than villages. They harbour more possibility. Villages are excellent support communities surrounding your base, vital sources of supply, and rest spots between sorties into the dungeon. Granted, we should never dismiss the possibility that brigands have been holding the tiny community hostage, or that the druid there needs help investigating a sudden blight inflicted upon them, or that it was founded atop an ancient and forgotten evil. Spreading adventure about the countryside is prudent, lest your town have the perpetual misfortunes of Castle Rock and Miskatonic.

There should be a major centre nearby where the PCs can migrate to later once they’ve exhausted the adventures that the town presents, and are ready to move on to bigger and better things, or are looking for a mentor, a well stocked library, or a high priest to raise poor Jimmy after he fell down the well. With careful planning, the PCs will never need to go to the Free City until you’re ready to tackle such a large and potentially unruly thing.

How do we make a community feel “real?” There are certain things we need to consider:

Personality

1. Pick an adjective, any adjective

2. Technology level

Disputes

3. Feuds

4. A Town Divided

5. Sporting Rivals

6. Other battles

Points of interest

7. Buildings

8. Natural features

9. Historical

10. Collections

11. Oddities

Characters

12. The Character

13. He used to live here

Legal Limits

14. Ridiculous rules

15. Bureaucracy

16. Guilds

17. Other organizations

[“From Dot to Dot, Ideas for interesting towns,” by Michelle Bottorff, Dragon #226 – 40]

Fleshing out these points will make your town unique. They need not be that detailed at first, but they will become so as time passes, like who rules there, what is its economic focus, how many constables and nobles and inns and brothels there are. Yes, I said brothels. Rough towns will have them, as assuredly as cities do, although those of frontier towns may be less refined. Will your PCs use them? That depends on your players, I imagine. Players being what they are, law and order and defence will have to be considered. Keep in mind that in the real world, most nations have about 3 police officers per 1000 civilians, and a like number of military personnel. Israel, on the other hand, has about 25 per 1000. Ratik would have a similar ratio, I imagine.

The constabulary of a town or city will be drawn in part from citizen soldiers, the city watch or police force and militia called up in times of great need. Most other soldiery, by far the bulk in most cases, will be hired mercenaries. When any army is fielded, the leading men of the city are likely to be in overall command, with assistance from mercenary captains, the force being a composite of the municipal levies and the hired soldiers. [DMG 1e – 90]

Riverport

Speaking of Ratik, let’s analyse my town Riverport as example. Riverport is a frontier town on the northern border, a defensive outpost, and a crossroad of supply for the forestry and mining camps that “surround” it. It prospered because it was at the extent of navigation from the coastal town New Port. Beyond it are rapids, a lake, and far rougher terrain than that leading to it. Though relatively young, as far as towns go, sinister secrets abound, for this land is old. Long before Percival Ratik pushed the frontier unto the Porcupine River, the Fruztii dwelt here, and before them the Flan, and before them the elves. Winters are long and harsh. Nightfall sees those who cling to the moors scurry for shelter, breathless from the enduring horror of long forgotten ancient evils.

It is Greyhawk fantasy medieval, if we are to classify it; and seeing where it is, it is not a metropolis, and will never hope to be. It’s not even a city, population wise, although there is a High Priest in residence. It’s a town of about 300 souls, give or take. Who can say for certain? People are always coming and going, all of them seeking fortune, most failing. It was founded as a vanguard against an expected Fruztii invasion that never happened, and served as such for decades before gold was discovered in the Rakers and southerners began “flooding” into the region. Although the garrison still exists, Riverport’s focus has shifted from vigilant defence to supporting the logging and mining camps of the northern Timberway. The primary function of the garrison now is to keep the trails and river routes clear of raiders and bandits. These days, there is a greater threat from raiding Fists than Fruztii war bands. And smugglers. Smuggling has always been a problem. Tax evasion, too, seeing that the isolated and freewheeling northern communities have little loyalty to the civilised south. If anything, Riverport has greater ties to Asperdi and Eastfair than it does to Marner.

Northern Ratik

Originally, it was a town of the Great Kingdom, more specifically Aerdian (southern) Ratik, but it is now a melting pot of Suel and Oeridians, with a few ancestral Flan scattered about. There are more halflings than other demihumans there, and not many of them, either. Dwarves are not scarce, but few live there. Gnomes are far more visible in the south of Ratik than the north, but there are a few tinkering about. Elves are a rare sight, indeed. There are more half-orcs than you might expect, given the constant threat from orcs, thereabouts; but half-orcs have always been far more tolerated here than they’d ever be in Marner and Ratikhill.

The Suel Barbarians still claim the land, and most people in that corner of oerth are Suel, even if most residents of Riverport are of Aerdi descent; indeed, the regional Thane is Fruztii, as are all the overseers of the Timberway, but the burgomeister is, and always has been, a scion of the Great Kingdom.

A Fortified Manor

Riverport is a partially walled town, anchored by a fortified manor. Not a castle, you ask? No. I thought about a castle (Keep on the Borderlands has one, after all), but I presume they are VERY expensive to build, requiring a great many labourers, and a great many years to complete. I expect that castles are built where one “civilised” country makes war on another with regularity, where vast armies are employed, and not particularly far from densely populated areas. A fortified house seemed more realistic. What exactly is a fortified manor? It is a keep, but its walls are its outer defence. It is sans courtyard, outlying buildings, and moat. It can have those things, but it likely does not. My inner city has a barbican, for instance.

The Wealthy Quarter

The stone wall encompasses the wealthy “quarter” attached to the fortified house, where those estates, and businesses, and site of worship directly associated with the burgomeister reside. It is within the fortified house where the town’s only library is, owned by the meister himself; and it is within the walled portion of the town where the most valuable trade is conducted: jewellers, alchemists, actual medicine, faith, and the like; and those of sufficient wealth and importance deemed worthy of protection. Beyond the wall is the town proper, where the regular people live. It is here where most of the inns and taverns are, and where the usual day-to-day trade rounds the town circle: tailors, bakers and candlestick makers; midwifery, barbery, and such. There are docks on the river; warehouses abut them; and farms further afield.

Can you see it? Does it feel real, like it has a purpose and a history?

So, tell me about the town you propose.

To be or not to be walled...

To be walled, or not to be walled, that is the question while creating your town.

Is your town on the border, in the borderlands? A hostile neighbour requires defence, a wall at the very least. If he tests your defences often, perhaps a motte-and-bailey keep is a necessity.

A wall is unlikely if your town is a considerable distance from borders, or far from dark and dim forests replete with things that go bump in the night. Villages might never be walled; although either may have an earthen ring surrounding it; probably not though, unless they’ve been attacked sometime in the past.

My outlying villages are not walled, for the most part. They are mining and logging towns. Isolation is their primary defence. Indeed, most outlying logging camps rarely have permanent buildings of any sort, aside from a single, central structure for supply and mess. The tall trees of the Timberway ring them, crowd them, loom over and overhang them, obscuring them from view and scrutiny. The mining towns have bona fide buildings, as do the central hubs of forestry. Even so, only a few are walled. Those forestry towns that have experienced frequent orc raids will have a wooden palisade, not a stone wall like the mining camps will (when I say “wall” I mean a windrow of talus; it’s all about material availability, isn’t it?).

How does one begin creating a new town? I like to start with a map. I think better while I doodle. The terrain lends itself to thought. And what might be. If the town is on a river, I wonder from where does it flow? My playground being Ratik, all rivers flow from the Rakers and into the Grendep, obviously. Is the terrain rocky? Marshy? Arable? Fertile? Pastureland? Crowded by forest? That would be cut back from the walls if the town has existed for long and if it is in hostile territory. What might be within a day’s travel of the town? Stone circles, centuries-old trees, lakes, waterfalls, hills and cliff faces that look like sleeping giants and skulls? These will inspire regional lore. How’d they get there? How do they fit into my world view and vision? That stone circle would indicate an ancient Flan presence. That centuries-old tree might have once hosted mysterious, long forgotten sylvan rites. That tangled grove might be a gate into Fading Lands. Might those caves be infested with orcs?

That considered, it’s time to consider how the town is laid out.

Is the town a mere crossroads? Is there a central court, or a ring road at the village core? In either case, that is where most commerce would be, not to mention the centre of worship, where people gather. Thus, taverns and eateries. If not a chapel, a shrine. The Hôtel de Ville will surely be there, if there is one. Riverport has two centres, one within the walls, the other without.

Villages will have the basics:

A Blacksmith

A blacksmith. A weaver, a tailor, a cobbler [sells] tunics, breeches, shirts, cloaks, blankets, [and] boots. Maybe a beekeeper and a candlestick maker [selling] torches, brands, incense, candles.

A barber/surgeon. [Get a] haircut and shave one gp. […] [For] a fee of 25 gps the doctor will attempt to cure 1-6 wound points (50% chance of success); for 35 gps he will attempt to cure poison (a one in six chance for success). Maximum of one attempt per day and one successful healing or cure per week. Money paid despite the success or lack thereof, of the attempt.

[Dragon #8 – 5]

What else might a village host? There will definitely be a general store. There will be a public house. There might not be much else, not even an inn.

These are likely simple folk, so the Old Faith should be predominant. A grove will watch over them, or that centuries-old tree. What village would be without its druid’s grove, its wise woman/midwife, its folk hero: a ranger?

Coastal/river settlements will have the same, but also some sort of fish processing, as fish will be salted before being “shipped.” A sailmaker. A sundry shop specializing in seafaring.

Towns ought to have considerably more. It will definitely have a town square. Cobbled, taller buildings to all sides, smaller beyond.

[An] open air square where freelance prostitutes, spies, assassins, and thieves can be met. Another good area to purchase purloined items.

And yes, a brothel. You didn’t think that I forgot about that, did you?

No thieves’ quarter would be complete without one. As well as being a haven for earthly delights it should be brimming with privy information (available for bribes of 10-100 gps). Fees are about 20 gp (35 for the “special”). One to six male patrons of all types and classes will be in the waiting area.

There will of course be other, less dubious, trades perused. An armourer that repairs, and fashions armor and weapons.

I imagine that a smallish town might have a hedge magician, and in the case of coastal towns and remote settlements a cartographer.

[Wilderness] and dungeon maps available 100-600 gp depending on remoteness of the area.

Might there be pawnshops, a soothsayer?

[For] 20 gps this woman (or man) will “predict” how a planned expedition or exploit may turn out. Once players give a general idea what they have planned the DM will respond, drawing on his knowledge and an accuracy die roll.

There will most definitely be a chapel, if not a temple.

The lord might have a library. I would recommend that he do.

[A] number of scholars will seek out knowledge among the many tomes and volumes for a fee. The base value of general information is about 100gps with specific facts increasingly more expensive. (Types of knowledge might include legends concerning a certain area or dungeon, or DM created monster, Scribes available to identify and write in languages.)

[Dragon #8 – 5,6,7]

STANDARD HIRELINGS TABLE OF DAILY AND MONTHLY COSTS

Occupation	Daily Cost	Monthly Cost*
bearer/ porter	1 s.p.	1 g.p.
carpenter	3 s.p.	2 g.p.**
leather worker	2 s.p.	30 s.p.**
limner	10 s.p.	10 g.p.
linkboy	1 s.p.	1 g.p.
mason	4 s.p.	3 g.p.
pack handler	2 s.p.	30 s.p.
tailor	2 s.p.	30 s.p.**
teamster	5 s.p.	5 g.p.
valet/lackey	3 s.p.	20 s.p.

*Monthly rate assumes that quarters are provided for the hireling and that these quarters contain a bed and like necessities.

**Additional cost is 10% of the normal price of items fashioned by the hireling.

[DMG 1e – 28]

EXPERT HIRELINGS TABLE OF MONTHLY COSTS IN GOLD PIECES

Occupation or Profession	Cost
alchemist	300
armorer	100*
blacksmith	30
engineer-architect	100*
engineer-artillerist	150
engineer-sapper/miner	150
jeweler-gem cutter	100*
mercenary soldier –
· archer (longbow)	4
· archer (shortbow)	2
· artillerist	5
· captain	Special
· crossbowman	2
· footman, heavy	2
· footman, light	1
· footman, pikeman	3
· hobilar, heavy	3
· hobilar, light	2
· horseman, archer	6
· horseman, crossbowman	4
· horseman, heavy	6
· horseman, light	3
· horseman, medium	4
· lieutenant	Special
· sapper/miner	4
· sergeant	Special
· slinger	3
sage	Special
scribe	15
ship crew	Special
ship master	Special
spy	Special
steward/castellan	Special
weapon maker	100*

Cost does not include all remuneration or special fees. Add 10% of the usual cost of items handled or made by these hirelings on a per lob basis, i.e. an armorer makes a suit of plate mail which has a normal cost of 400 gold pieces, so 10% of that sum (40 g.p.) is added to the costs of maintaining the blacksmith. [DMG 1e – 29]

Each profession is detailed in the 1^st Edition AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide—page 28 for standard Hirelings, and page 29 and 80 for expert hirelings.

Location Of Standard Hirelings: In general the various occupations represented here are common to most settlements of village-size and above, although each and every village will not be likely to furnish each and every sort of common hireling. Towns and cities will have many available, and each sort will be found in the appropriate section or quarter of the city (or town). [DMG 1e – 28]

Employment Of Standard Hirelings: This requires the location of the desired individual and the offer of work. If the employment is for only a few days, there will be no real difficulty in locating individuals to take on the job. If the offer is for long term employment, only 1 in 6 will be willing to accept unless a small bonus is offered – a day's wage is too small, but double or treble that is sufficient to make 3 in 6 willing to take service. [DMG 1e – 29]

Location Of A Sage: Sages will be found only in large towns and cities. They are typically in or near colleges, schools, universities, libraries, museums, forums, and public speaking places. Sages belong to a Brotherhood, but as a general rule, this association is informal and not likely to have a headquarters at which a sage could be located. (However, the employment of a sage will become common knowledge to all sages within the area.) [DMG 1e – 30]

Maybe one of the most important part of laying out a community is understanding ratios. One should never look at a city map and wonder, where the hell does everyone live, like I did when I gazed at the map of Suderham in A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. Homes for the common people ought to outnumber all else. The next most frequent sort of structure should be businesses, and industry. Then estates and rural residences. Farms go without saying, and should be widely spaced. It’s all about balance.

THE CITY’S BUILDINGS

Not all buildings in a city [/town/village] are residences. Each city also has a number of shops, temples, public offices, and the like. Buildings of similar purpose tend to be clustered together, forming specific districts in the city.

Residences (30% of buildings): Homes of citizens. Each residence shelters an average of twenty, ten, or five individuals, depending on the city’s population. Most homes sit in districts far from the main thoroughfares and markets, but they can also be found in all other districts.

Administrative (5%):
Clustered Together
Town halls, militia barracks, city centers, military installations, and so on. Administrative buildings are usually found near the center of town.

Entertainment (5%): Taverns, gambling houses, brothels, playhouses, theaters, and the like. These buildings are usually found near heavily traveled roads or wealthy districts.

Industrial (10%): Shipwrights, carpenters, masons, slaughterhouses, lumberyards, fishmongers, and so on. These buildings are usually found far from residences or mercantile areas, but should have relatively easy access to busy streets or shipping.

Nobility (5%): Mansions, townhouses, villas, and so on. These buildings are typically the farthest from the slums and industrial buildings, often close to administrative buildings.

Shops (10%): Smiths, bakers, jewelers, grocers, alchemists, curio shops, and the like. These buildings are found along heavily traveled areas. Many cities have a large open marketplace near the town’s center as well.

Slums (15%): Flophouses, shanties, shacks, and so on. These buildings are usually located in the least desirable section of the city.

Public Works (5%): Temples, parks, graveyards, schools, libraries, public forums, and so on. These buildings are generally located between residences and administrative buildings.

Travel (10%): Inns, shipyards, messengers, stables, and so on. These buildings are generally found along heavily traveled roads.

Farms (5%): Farms are almost always found in the outlying areas of a city, usually outside any city walls. A city that relies on farms for trade could have double or even triple the normal number of farms, often at the expense of industrial buildings.

[DMGII 3e – 108]

As important as buildings are, they are just buildings. What’s a town without people? They come in all shapes and sizes, and dispositions. How they might react to our heroes will vary as widely as they themselves differ. And regardless how well-mannered or good-natured those people might be in times of peace and prosperity, they may not be as welcoming in times of stress and war….

VILLAGE ENCOUNTERS

Encounters
Player characters entering an unfamiliar village should not expect a warm welcome. Fearful of raiders and unaccustomed to dealing with strangers, villagers regard adventuring parties as threats until proven otherwise. A villager approached by adventurers typically avoids conversation, seeking out a reeve, beadle, or priest to do the talking. Once summoned, the authority figure carefully questions the adventurers, hoping to divine their intentions. Farmers are a conservative lot and respond best to eloquent folk of obvious virtue, such as clerics or paladins.

Villages on roads leading to well-known dungeon complexes greet adventurers with greater sophistication, though with no less suspicion. Most residents can tell stories of abuse at the hands of thuggish treasure-seekers. Inns exist only in villages on extremely well-traveled roads. In other villages, locals might be willing to lodge the PCs in their homes once the characters earn the trust of the commoners. This calls for delicate negotiation—peasant hosts want to pocket any fees the adventurers offer them, while village officials try to divert those payments to their lord’s treasury (or their own purses). If the PCs are on friendly terms with a lord, they can procure a letter of safe passage that urges good treatment from villages throughout her fief. The peasants won’t be literate, but reeves, bailiffs, and priests can read and will obey their lord’s demands in most cases.

Mid- to high-level adventurers face little resistance from ordinary villagers. In fortified villages, they retreat inside castle walls. Most villages are under a knight’s protection; that knight and his local peers will eventually attack adventurers who repeatedly raid a village. If they fail, the governing overlord will hire other adventurers to suppress the bandits harassing her serfs. Lords are highly motivated to ward off bandits. A lord who can’t keep order in her lands becomes a laughingstock at court. An aggressive king might use the failure as reason to strip her of her fief. [DMGII 3e – 87]

That’s a lot to digest, but far be it for NPCs to be so predictably cliché. There is no telling what alignment those people will be, or how they might react to the PCs, regardless how the PCs treat them. Let’s face it, some people are belligerent by nature, other not. This aged chart will help keep those encounters random.

Extract from “The Development of Towns in D&D”, by Tony Watson, Dragon #8, 1977

Die Roll	Alignment 1	Alignment 2 [my add]	Age	Personality	Loyalty	Initiative	Level
1	Law	Good	Young	Very cooperative, friendly	High	High	Special
2	Law	Good	Young	Cooperative, friendly	Loyal	Average	3
3	Law	Neutral	Young	Friendly	Average	Average	2
4	Neutral	Neutral	Middle-Aged	Non-committal	Average	Average	1
5	Neutral	Neutral	Old	Unfriendly	Disloyal	Average	1
6	Chaos	Evil	Very Old	Hateful	Low	Low	1

Chart Key:

Alignment — Again, just as it appears. I’ve reasoned that a town is a lawful place just by its nature of structure and emphasis on order in its design. Hence, only a small chance for chaotic alignment.

Age — more informational than functional. I only wanted to provide a characteristic to help tell people apart. Add one to roll for each whole group of two levels above 2nd level the character has gained. Add one always, for magic-users.

Personality — The hardest, and the one the DM will have to add to the most. This will give a basic idea of how a particular person is going to act when players interact with him. A die roll of 1 here would affect subsequent random reaction die rolls with a +2 when the character is asked to do something, go on an expedition, etc. A die roll of 2 would be a + 1 while rolls of 5 and 6 would be -1 and -2 respectively.

Loyalty — In a manner similar to personality, this category would affect any rolls for desertion or other tests of loyalty. Low loyalty coupled with a chaotic alignment might result in the character betraying the party to an evil high priest, etc.

Initiative — This is to help the DM mainly. Average initiative will mean a character won’t be particularly bright or innovative, while high initiative might mean a strong character who could be a leader if the players are botching the show. Low initiative characters have to be told to do everything.

Level — straight forward, simply the experience level of that character. For “special” roll an eight-sided die and number rolled equals the level of the character.

After you have rolled up a bunch of people, enter them in your notebook. In addition to the above material, it’s a good idea to list a place or two where the character might be found. To real flesh them out, add a few bits of information about them personally.

Blatherson of Hillock
For example: Blatherson of Hillock […]

Align: Law — Age: Old — Perspective: Cooperative/ Friendly — Loyalty: Loyal — Intelligence: Average — Level: 4

Found in Golden Goblet tavern, likes to tell war stories of his heroics in Goblin Wars (over-emphasizes his own importance), loves a good mug of meade.

More now than just monster fodder, Blatherson is a real, if somewhat Falstaffian, character. By adding these little bits your die roll generated population will take on a little semblance of real people and become more than bodies attributed with certain mathematical characteristics. Your players will actually be able to make friends with certain townspeople, as well as cross others. With the inclusion of personified townspeople your town will literally come alive.

[Dragon #8 – 7]

Speaking of making a town come alive, a town is a town is a town unless it stands out, and it should. All villages are unique, and should be. Towns doubly so. Cities exponentially so. What makes them so? What happens there?

Here are some ideas to do just that:

A town with numerous taverns built around a bustling town square conveys a totally different mood than one built on a grid, with one small tavern and no inn, with only a way-house at the nearby religious retreat. [Dragon #226 – 37]

Progressive towns are interested in news of other places and are delighted by anything that is innovative and new. Anti-progressive towns aren’t interested in the rest of the world and are scornful of any device (or fashion) they haven’t seen before. Some towns are mixed, with half the populace eager for change, while the other half clings desperately to the past. [Dragon #226 – 37]

Feuds work well. Take, for example the story of Romeo and Juliet. It’s about two important families whose feud is so severe that they manage to involve a good part of the city. [Dragon #226 – 38]

Another interesting situation occurs when the town is divided politically. For instance, the last election was a tie, and both candidates now consider themselves mayor. [Dragon #226 – 38]

Buildings are common points of interest, though they rarely contribute directly to a campaign. Buildings are generally notable for their architecture, purpose, and historic association. Good choices for small towns are: the Deserted Tower of Joe the Ultra-magical, the tavern where Black Bart the famous Outlaw ate his last meal, or one of the Royal Hunting Lodges. Haunted buildings are also good, especially if the characters actually get to meet the ghost. [Dragon #226 – 38]

Historic towns are a lot of fun but are easier to improvise if you already have a good grasp of the history of the campaign area. If the campaign area has no predetermined history and you are inventing it, remember to take notes. Absolute consistency, however, is unnecessary since most history tends to get distorted. In fact, it is more authentic to have several versions of a particular historical incident. [Dragon #226 – 39]

Often a town is remembered not for itself, but because of someone who lives there. […] The town’s interesting character may not live there any longer. This is potentially very useful. If he is a personage of importance in your planned campaign, this is a great way to let the players dig up some back-ground information on him. Not only do the townspeople know all about his childhood, but they likely have a very good idea of what he is up to now. [Dragon #226 – 39,40]

A small town may have developed its own set of laws and rules. […]

rules are obvious as to the reasoning but irksome to the players: one way bridge, no wearing of unregistered weapons, no mounts allowed in the village proper, no killing the local wildlife without a license, taxes. [Dragon #226 – 39,40]

What do they say about Death and Taxes?

DUTIES, EXCISES, FEES, TARIFFS, TAXES, TITHES, AND TOLLS

Tariffs, Taxes, Tithes, and Tolls
The form and frequency of taxation depends upon the locale and the social structure. Duties are typically paid on goods brought into a country or subdivision thereof, so any furs, tapestries, etc. brought into a town for sale will probably be subject to duty. Excises are typically sums paid to belong to a particular profession or practice a certain calling; in addition, on excise can be levied against foreign currency, for example, in order to change it into the less remarkable coin of the realm. Fees con be levied for just about any reason—entering a city gate is a good one for non-citizens. Tariffs are much the same as duties, but let us suppose that this is levied against only certain items when purchased—rather a surtax, or it can be used against goods not covered by the duty list. Taxes are typically paid only by residents and citizens of the municipality and include those sums for upkeep of roods and streets, walls gates, and municipal expenses for administration and services. Taxation is not necessarily an annual affair, for special taxes can be levied whenever needful, particularly upon sales, services, and foreigners in general. Tithes are principally religious taxation, although there is no prohibition against the combination of the secular with the sacred in the municipality. Thus, a tithe can be extracted from all sums brought into the community by any resident, the monies going to the religious organization sponsored by the community or to that of the character's choosing, at your option. (Of course, any religious organizations within a municipality will have to pay heavy taxes unless they are officially recognized by the authorities.) Tolls, finally, are sums paid for the use of a road, bridge, ferry, etc. They are paid according to the numbers of persons, animals, carts wagons, and possibly even materials transported.

If the Gentle Reader thinks that the taxation he or she currently undergoes is a trifle strenuous for his or her income, pity the typical European populace of the Middle Ages. They paid all of the above, tolls being very frequent, with those trying to escape them by use of a byway being subject to confiscation of all goods with a fine and imprisonment possible also. Every petty noble made an extraction, municipalities taxed, and the sovereign was the worst of all. (Eventually merchants banded together to form associations to protect themselves from such robbery, but peasants and other commoners could only revolt and dream of better times.) Barter was common because hard money was so rare. However, in the typical fantasy milieu, we deal with great sums of precious metals, so use levies against player character gains accordingly. Here is an example of a system which might be helpful to you in developing your own.

The town charges a 1% duty on all normal goods brought into the place for sale—foodstuffs, cloth and hides, livestock, raw materials and manufactured goods. Foreigners must also pay this duty, but at double rate (2%). Luxury items and precious goods—wine, spirits, furs, metals such as copper, gold, etc., jewelry and the like—pay a tariff in addition to the duty, a 5% of value charge if such are to be sold, and special forms for sale are then given to the person so declaring his wares (otherwise no legal sale is possible). Entry fee into the town is 1 copper piece per head (man or animal) or wheel for citizens, 5 coppers for non-citizens, unless they hove official passports to allow free entry. (Diplomatic types have immunity from duties and tariffs as regards their personal goods and belongings.) Taxes are paid per head, annually at 1 copper for a peasant, 1 silver for a freeman, and 1 gold piece for a gentleman or noble; most foreign residents are stopped frequently and asked for proof of payment, and if this is not at hand, they must pay again. In addition, a 10% sales tax is charged to all foreigners, although no service tax is levied upon them. Religion is not regulated by the municipality, but any person seeking to gain services from such an organization must typically pledge to tithe. Finally, several tolls are extended in order to gain access to the main route from and to the municipality - including the route to the dungeon, of course.

Citizens of the town must pay a 5% tax on their property in order to defray the costs of the place. This sum is levied annually. Citizenship can be obtained by foreigners after residence for one month and the payment of 10 gold pieces (plus many bribes). The town does not encourage the use of foreign currency. Merchants and other business people must pay a fine of 5% of the value of any foreign coins within their possession plus face certain confiscation of the coins, so they will typically not accept them. Upon entering the town non-residents are instructed to go to the Street of the Money Changers in order to trade their foreign money for the copper "cons", silver "nobs", gold "orbs", and platinum "royals". Exchange rote is a mere 90%, so for 10 foreign copper pieces 9 domestic copper "commons" are handed out. Any non-resident with more than 100 silver nobles value in foreign coins in his or her possession is automatically fined 50% of their total value, unless he or she con prove that entry into the town was within 24 hours, and he or she was on his or her way to the money changers when stopped. Transactions involving gems are not uncommon, but a surtax of 10% is also levied against sales or exchange of precious stones and similar goods. [DMG 1e – 90]

Wow! That was longer than I intended, and I barely scratched the surface. I should have known better. World building is a huge task, and towns and villages may be the least of it. But I would suggest that you spend ample time in their development. They are where the people are, where you gear up, where the drama of an ongoing narrative evolve. D&D may be about adventuring, hexcrawls and smiting evil, but there is precious little drama in slaughtering orcs and hording gold.

Someday you may build that castle, and as they say … if you build it, they will come.

And before you know it, you have a town at the foot of that castle.

And people to protect.

And eventually, some villain will come along and turn that bucolic world into Hell on Oerth.

“The villages slept as the capable man went down,

Time swished on the village clocks and dreams were alive,

The enormous gongs gave edges to their sounds,

As the rider, no chevalere and poorly dressed,

Impatient of the bells and midnight forms,

Rode over the picket docks, rode down the road,

And, capable, created in his mind,

Eventual victor, out of the martyr's bones,

The ultimate elegance: the imagined land.”

― Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems

One must always give credit where credit is due. This History is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable.

The Art:

Medieval-Town by grimdreamart

Saltmarsh map, by Mike Schley, from Ghosts of Saltmarsh, 2019

The-Aldeigjuborg-Staraya-Ladoga by andrei-pervukhin

Northern Ratik detail, by Anna B. Meyer

Katarzyna-Habros-Watercolour by modulschoolofart

The-Day-Dawns by lpsdc

Aelfdreim-and-Mensendreim by shabazik

Krak, from L2 The Assassin's Knot, 1983

Medieval-town by hetman80

Street-Signs by ralphhorsley

Late-Night-Lush-01-B8 by adadia