D&D Settlements A quick and easy guide for settlement creations.

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Settlement size Type Size (amount of people) Basic storyline ideas Notable characteristics Resource Hamlet <100 - No guards An NPC of interest lives here; information gathering; protection quests No church; very tight knit community; very young, mainly agricultural or mining settlement Small amounts Villages <500 - 1 guard for every 50 people Guard duties (Most guards are volunteers/weakly trained). Basic mercenary work (Hunting, clearing areas, guarding, protecting, retrieving etc.) Has a noble family in charge; Owned by a city; might be used to feed/supply neighbouring cities; poorly trained guard (most of the time); follows religion (has a shrine/church); low level craftsman Enough to sustain the settlement/ little bit of exports Town <3000 - 1 guard for every 25 people; Guard are decently trained Investigations, stealing, jailbreak, defending, retrieving and recovering, nobleman missions Known for trade; has several inns, taverns and shops; Better craftsman; Stricter government/rules; Guilds, government and churches do not get along; Noble families can own this land and play a vital role in the ruling of the town; Has a city hall; Areas within the town can vary based on income Import and export of large amounts of goods City 6 000 – 25 000 politically driven; jailbreaks; shakedowns; intimidations; investigations; guild related missions; retrieving; protecting etc. Layers of inhabitants; sections are split based on status and wealth; politics are also in layers; large military presence; many different types of stores; huge temples Massive amounts of productions, trade, imports and exports (often with exotic items) Points to consider 1. What was the reason for the settlement? Was the settlement placed there for a reason such as supply, food, resting point, mines, shipyard, timber etc. (Resource) Supply settlements Settlements such as these are used to supply neighbouring settlements with a resource that those settlements often cannot supply in sufficient quantities themselves. Example 1: If a settlement developed as a logging settlement there might be a river and adjacent to the river would be many sawmills working to chop the logs in half. The town folk would deem wood as their lifeblood and if anything were to happen to the forest, they would likely lose their livelihood.

Example 2: A settlement next to the coast will be very dependent upon fish and trade. Next to the coast there will be docks and a large port for ships to dock in. This can attract many visitors as well as industry, because of the ease of moving shipments from town to town. This settlement will likely have more than one inn and tavern ranging from expensive to cheap inns and taverns. There will likely be a large amount of foster children as sailors are known for their randy ways etc. Midpoint Settlements Midpoint settlements are often placed between two places of interest and is used as a rest point. Many military settlements start this way. Be it a keep, resupply station or even just a stopover for travellers. Example 1: An inn stands between two larger settlements on a long road. Over time the inn attracted more and more people as the surrounding settlements became larger. Thus, doctors and merchants started to move to this small settlement and over a long time the town that started from the inn, grew into a paradise for merchants. This all occurred even though the town does not have rich lands or ore, but it will always have a source of water.

Example 2: A small town has grown over the years as a rest point before embarking on a quest of pilgrimage up a mountain to visit the shrine at the top. (Look at Ivarstead in the game Skyrim as an example) Defensive settlements These settlements are small and built around a strong military presence. This could be a settlement defending a mountain pass, or a place of strong strategic value. Example 1: A more realistic example of this could be found in real life during the second world war. The island called Okinawa was of great strategic importance to the USA. This is despite the fact that there was no real productions in terms of food or ore however, from a military standpoint it was one of the most valued islands as it would allow the USA to attack Japan directly.

Example 2: There is a small town at the foot of a mountain pass. The mountain pass is the only way into a large valley where the capital is located. Therefore, a large military presence, blacksmiths, woodworkers, doctors etc. was needed at this millitary point. This led to the town of Footpoint which soul purpose is the defence of the capital. 1

2. Geography Geography has a direct impact on the type of settlement architecture. Take for example houses found in desserts, rainforests, grasslands and buildings built on a tundra. Deserts: Buildings built in sandy and dry deserts will often be round in shape as excessive wind speeds can become problematic. With so little cover sand storms often occurs and the buildings often have small windows, thick walls, very little in terms of paint and colour etc. Look at old buildings in countries such as Egypt and Morocco as examples of dessert buildings.

Rainforests: With so much flooding often occurring, buildings will often be perched off the ground with logs to avoid flooding in the wet seasons. An alternative to this will be building on hills if possible. Look at traditional buildings from Vietnam or Thailand as inspiration.

Grasslands: Traditional houses built in grasslands are much more the stereotypical depiction of a house. Usually four sided walls, larger windows, slanted roof structures. Can be built from stones (Scottish Highlands, wood if close to a forest or supplier of wood. Some might even be in hills (Lord of the Rings - Shire). Generally, the creator can be much more creative in this kind of housing.

Tundra: Houses built in cold areas generally have hearths to combat the excessive cold. Traditional houses and halls from the Norwegians and Swedish descent can be used as inspiration. Viking style houses are also great inspiration as they were built with many insulating materials. These are but a few examples of how geography can influence the type of buildings found across the world a DM can create. It is always worth looking at real life examples if realism is a feature of the world you as DM create. If realism is not high on the priority list, feel free to create anything. 3.Types of labourers The type of labourers have a great impact on the general feel of the town. Slaves provide a cheap human resource but can promote poverty stricken areas. Paid workers tend to have a higher living standard but are often less in number. Slaves life in horrible conditions most of the time and thus poverty and disease. Military presence will typically be more prominent in areas that use slaves to harvest or mine resources. It is also important to consider where the food and resources come from and what the purpose of the labourers are. Example: Egypt used slaves to build massive monuments like the Sphinx and the pyramids and were capable of achieving great things. The slaves did not like the treatment and cruelty of the Egyptians and so forth and decided to un away. Without dabbling in religion for obvious reasons, it is important to note that in such a society their will often be two sets of culture. One being in this case the Egyptians (richer, have rights, will often use personal slaves to do menial jobs etc.) and the slaves who are oppressed and miserable, possibly scared even. The differences in culture and thoughts, education levels and so forth play vital roles in developing the NPC characters for your game. 4.Rulers of a settlement Leaders or rulers of a settlement can have a profound effect on the inhabitants of a settlement. It is important to ask what they are like to get a good general feel for a settlement. Are the rulers malevolent, benevolent, greedy, caring, arrogant, self-righteous, entitled etc.? These characteristics can play out very differently to whomever you choose as a leader. PCs will can either sympathise or empathise with leaders based on their views and policy, or it can make them brilliant antagonists to the story. Therefore, it is important to determine the role of the ruler as well as the tone they set. Hint: PCs can often encounter the main antagonist in the story in positions of power, but for an antagonist to be truly spectacular, the PCs will have to be able to relate to the antagonist. Example 1: An example of a truly great ruler character is King John played by Oscar Isaac in the 2010 adaptation of Robin Hood. King John plays a vital role in the story and it is easy to relate to the level of anger and hatred that he feals towards Robin Hood. The reason for this is even though we know the story, most people have felt the emotion behind the "He is always better than me at everything" feelling. This is what drives the story. Jealousy, anger and hatred from the antagonist point of view however, very relatable which gives us the ability to feel empathy and sympathy as well.

Example 2: Apologies for using anther Russle Crowe movie reverence. In the 2000 movie Gladiator the antagonist was also a ruler type character. The character Commodus (played by Joaquin Phoenix) was an example of a ruler who just wanted the love of his father and would go to great lengths to get it. Learning he would not become the next Caesar he flew into a fit of rage and the rest is history. The point is that need to impress and to be accepted by our family is yet another focus point of this character that we can relate to as human beings. We can feel sympathy towards this character even though we might not particularly like this character. The point for both these examples are that the rulers in both cases had direct influences on their kingdoms which drove a large part of the story. Bringing elements like personal feelings and emotions to the rulers sets them apart from being just another everyday ruler. As soon as the PCs can associate with the rulers it can grant a level of depth to the game that would otherwise have been lost. Therefore, rulers are as important NPCs as any recurring character. It is thus important to ask questions when creating rules such as: Were they born into nobility?

Did they usurp the previous ruler?

Was this perhaps an orphan taken in by a royal family (Prince of Persia)

Did something happen to place them in this position?

What are their drives/long term goals? And so on... 2