This advice is spot on. Letting the PCs’ actions, reactions, and backstory hooks drive the encounters really helps flesh out urban encounters for me.
Totally. City guards and the local constabulary are constantly hounding the PCs and casting a suspicious eye on their activities in my current campaign, even when the party is conducting their business legitimately. I like to let my players know in a very obvious fashion during roleplay with the city watch that they are just making up ordinances and taxes on the fly, because the fees and reasons behind them are different every time they visit. It’s hilarious…
