big city description [Archive] - Wizards Community

big city description [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Golden Zealot
10-16-05, 03:34 PM i really need some help in describing any kind of city/town. AFter the first aventure, my PCs are going to need to go back into the big capital city to the guild where they got their quest from. It's basically a massive big city, it has a lot of people going through, lots of shops and traders since it's in the middle of a ducky which is in the middle of the local cluster of duchys and small kingdoms. it was rebuilt after a war not too long ago, so most of it is brand new. My problem is if the PCs say "let's go to the city", aside from how long it takes, im screwed for what to say or how to describe the general everything and how to navigate through it.
Thynass
10-16-05, 03:49 PM Just a quick question: Do your players enjoy description. I tend to use it, but my players seem to bore of it if it goes on too long. I just thought it might be worth asking, because if they are not overly bothered, then it's unlikely that they wil care much about a description, and thus you will put a lot of time into nothing (descriptions take up a huge amount of time when quest making; when I started reducing descriptions and doing it more ad hoc it reduced quest writing times by at least a third!).

But back to your question: Towns are big, and generally smelly; doesn't matter how new it is. So describe it as such. What you could do is tone down the description of the city as a whole down, and just focus on individul incidents, like maybe a particular building, someone throwing waste out of a window or something. It makes it seem more personal; what the PCs see rather than just a blur of images. Really what you're doing is providing little examples of description, and letting the imagination of the players do the rest of the work. If you give them an idea of what the city is like, and they are really bothered, they wil fill in all of the blanks themselves, maybe without knowing it. It's like a book; description does not tend to tell you everything, but it tells you enough for the reader to make up the rest themselves.
trolloc
10-16-05, 04:24 PM if you don't have it already, i suggest you download this web enhancement for the Dungeon Master Guide. "Building a City"

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a

Most PCs will only stay in one district, usually the Tavern District. Work only on one district at a time, you not need to create a whole city.
imperialjunkie
10-16-05, 05:09 PM if you don't have it already, i suggest you download this web enhancement for the Dungeon Master Guide. "Building a City"

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a

Most PCs will only stay in one district, usually the Tavern District. Work only on one district at a time, you not need to create a whole city.
Thanks for that trolloc. That looks very helpful. I have a large city to create soon too.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Golden Zealot 10-16-05, 03:34 PM	i really need some help in describing any kind of city/town. AFter the first aventure, my PCs are going to need to go back into the big capital city to the guild where they got their quest from. It's basically a massive big city, it has a lot of people going through, lots of shops and traders since it's in the middle of a ducky which is in the middle of the local cluster of duchys and small kingdoms. it was rebuilt after a war not too long ago, so most of it is brand new. My problem is if the PCs say "let's go to the city", aside from how long it takes, im screwed for what to say or how to describe the general everything and how to navigate through it.
Thynass 10-16-05, 03:49 PM	Just a quick question: Do your players enjoy description. I tend to use it, but my players seem to bore of it if it goes on too long. I just thought it might be worth asking, because if they are not overly bothered, then it's unlikely that they wil care much about a description, and thus you will put a lot of time into nothing (descriptions take up a huge amount of time when quest making; when I started reducing descriptions and doing it more ad hoc it reduced quest writing times by at least a third!). But back to your question: Towns are big, and generally smelly; doesn't matter how new it is. So describe it as such. What you could do is tone down the description of the city as a whole down, and just focus on individul incidents, like maybe a particular building, someone throwing waste out of a window or something. It makes it seem more personal; what the PCs see rather than just a blur of images. Really what you're doing is providing little examples of description, and letting the imagination of the players do the rest of the work. If you give them an idea of what the city is like, and they are really bothered, they wil fill in all of the blanks themselves, maybe without knowing it. It's like a book; description does not tend to tell you everything, but it tells you enough for the reader to make up the rest themselves.
trolloc 10-16-05, 04:24 PM	if you don't have it already, i suggest you download this web enhancement for the Dungeon Master Guide. "Building a City" http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a Most PCs will only stay in one district, usually the Tavern District. Work only on one district at a time, you not need to create a whole city.
imperialjunkie 10-16-05, 05:09 PM	if you don't have it already, i suggest you download this web enhancement for the Dungeon Master Guide. "Building a City" http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a Most PCs will only stay in one district, usually the Tavern District. Work only on one district at a time, you not need to create a whole city. Thanks for that trolloc. That looks very helpful. I have a large city to create soon too.