CITIES! (How do I do this?!)

question
#1

Hi, everyone! I need your help. I have a game to run this coming weekend, and my players are approaching the City of Grey. Aaaand I feel like I don’t know how to run a big city.

How do you use the ICRPG philosophy when running games in large cities? Do you take the time to map everything out? Do you just make it ultra-simple and make big “nodes” do interact with, and fill in the detail with theater of the mind?

And most importantly, how can I do it fast so I can be ready for my next session in time? Thanks, everyone!

#2

Ask your players in advance “What do you want to do in the city?” They’ll answer and you’ll prep. Easy peasy.
I’ve had loose ideas of different people in a city so I can hopefully wing it if they go into non prepped stuff.
Like in my previous campaign where my players had created a cure for a raging virus, they realized they wanted all the honor but had to massproduce it. So they got a paper from the Mayor and changhaied an alchemist shop. In the back of my head I knew about That Alchemist Shop With An Imprisoned Ogre In The Basement Making All Those Elixirs and just ran with that.

#3

Borrow a map and list out locations of interest. I am a big fan of generic key locations. For example my seaside bar might look a lot like The Wandering Tea Kettle or any other Gar guzzling building.

Sensay
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Feel free to use/ edit this map. It was from earlier d&d and I changed the name, added my list of locations.
https://images.app.goo.gl/pEtZvXbkgNGfzGg5A

#4

Here’s how I do:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/239344

CHUNK it, run days in Turns as usual. You’ll find details and RP happen pretty naturally. Also, super fast to set up and run.

#5

My lord…I am unworthy of such plentiful bounty!

#6

I bought and use a copy of Midlands. It contains fantastic city maps, really nice details about cities that you can tweak to your game and interesting urban encounters.

The price to useable content ratio is fantastic. On the cities side it comes with 6 fully fleshed out cities, each with their own short history, map, culture and unique encounter roll tables.

#7

My question to you is: what purpose do they have going there? Is there anything exciting happening in the city or it a rest and resupply trip? I usually aim for keeping the action moving. If nothing exciting is happening why play through it?

If it’s a supply run give each player 2-3 actions that cover the time in town and call it done. Move on to the action.

If there’s adventure stuff happening just use maps for the specific points where that action takes place. Cover the moving through the city from one area map to the next with a narrative transition.

Use your 3 T’s and LOG and it’ll go beautifully. (Timer, Threat, Treat. Location, Obstacle, Goal.) :metal:

Just my two cents, man. :blush: May your dice roll high!

#8

I’d agree with all of these comments. I too was going to recommend GMgrizzly’s product, it’s really good! My main point of agreement is to use turns and have an impending danger or timer so they can’t waste too much time there.
*Also, I’ve already borrowed maps from across the web and renamed them to match all of the locations on the Alfheim map so if you would like to use any of them, just message me.
Good luck in your games this weekend!

#9

I second using the Midlands. I picked it up at GaryCon, its a fantastic product.

#10

You mentioned you want it fast and are playing ICRPG, I actually like the turn based visit and a timer if people linger in the city. If the whole campaign is city based or this city is their home base, then maybe generic map, but as already stated, if this is a dot on the map, keep the game moving.

I have not tried a turn based visit to a city, but I remember reading some brilliant stuff in the core book on this subject.

#11

I want Grey to be a significant location not unlike the other regions in the world, so I would like to run a session or two there, depending on what unfolds. So my goal is to prepare some actual encounters, but also to be at least semi-prepared for whatever they might want to do (shops, taverns, craftsmen, etc).

#12

Have them come up with a Goal for the City. It could come with a Heart, or just require a few successful separate Checks to pull off. Depending on the nature of the Goal, have Turns in Hours or Days. One roll determines how much progress they’ve made toward their Heart in that Turn (Day or Hour), or whether or not they succeeded their Check (for example, a Charisma check to get information on where the thieves’ guild or secret temple is). One roll per Turn, no matter how much they try to get done in that time. It’s all or nothing. That keeps it simple. A Timer could be used to keep them focused on their goal. If the Timer runs out, they get attacked by suspicious watchmen or something like that. As for how to lay it on the table, you could lay down an aerial view map of the city and have them hop from node to node for each turn to show about where they’re at in the city. Or you could lay down index cards representing relevant destinations/buildings they ought to check out. If it’s time for Combat/Moments, you could set down a detailed encounter map of the area or building where the fighting is taking place. Hope that helps.

#13

I basically run large cities by breaking it down, so it’s just a group of villages. Each card a different village, main characters, thing to see, feel of the area, and plot lines.

#14

Never heard of this book, thanks for bringing it up. I’m pouring over the pages now. Something I’ve been looking for.

#15

Hey, I’ve been enjoying this supplement a lot, but I had a question. In a few places, like in the Festival roller, it mentions to “Roll CURSED” and later if players win Gar to “roll for type” of gar. Where are these rollers? Or is it assuming I need to make my own lists to roll on?

#16

CURSED refers to the cursed loot table in core. Thanks! Type of gar you might need to make a list (it’s similar to a core loot item that basically tells you to do the same thing). My understanding is there is common, red, black, and golden gar. Can’t remember if there’s more but each has different properties found in the core loot tables, which is why I didn’t include them. I’ll look into a simple version for the update.

#17

Thanks for the pointer to Midlands! Love the art…this image sold me

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