11 Tips to Create UNFORGETTABLE D&D Cities...

Step 1. Draw the whole owl

Honesty a lot of my Lore came together after drawing my map. Every spot asked questions and i was really excited to answer those questions. Sometimes I threw communities together and said "now what?" And found varieties of conflict and harmony that lead to me answering basically every question you asked. Thanks for the video, just wanted to mention another way to get there!

Time-stamps for reference 0:14 #1 Start with a strong concept 1:28 #2 Think about the beginning of the city 2:17 #3 Think about the economy 3:20 #4 Who rules the City? 4:10 #5 What is the Religion like? 5:14 #6 What organizations and Guilds are there? 6:02 #7 City Defenses and Military 7:32 #8 Focus on the Details 8:04 #9 Create Plot Hooks 8:46 #10 Use Maps and Visual Aids 9:51 #11 Create Believable NPCs

I think the one thing you got wrong would be about volunteers dropping their post. I feel they’d be more willing than any of them to lay their lives on the line as they get nothing out of being guards, but volunteered for it. Meaning they value the safety of the town a lot

I tried to have a religion hook for one of my cities once. The amount of prep it took only for the players to completely ignore it and go a different direction, lol. I like the street vendors idea, I can't believe I missed that before. Thanks

I enjoy all of The Fantasy Forge videos 😊

Distinctive architecture; the occasional fantastical element; colorful locations; a memorable layout; compelling npc's; a few unique bits, like a festival, a type of food, or maybe an unusual law; a nearby body of water, or a very good reason there isn't one; one or two things the city is well-known for in the region or even farther away (correctly or not); and a handful of secrets the pc's might uncover if they go digging around in the right/wrong places.

One important thing i focus on (especially in high fantasy like DnD) is what kind of people live there. It's included in 1, 2, & 3, however, it's probably important enough to be its own bullet point! A city inhabited by halflings will probably be shaped differently than a city built by goliaths; one might have doors that are too small for you, another might have stairs that sre awkwardly large to climb up.

The idea that a volunteer guard in a small town is less likely to defend it because they’re not getting paid is ridiculous. They volunteered to protect their family and their community , I would argue they would be more motivated and willing to risk their life than the average paid guard who only cares about the check at the end of the day

Thank you, most of these I already knew, but you improved upon these ideas. Some I've been doing unconsciously doing already. (The different guards and quests) But I'll return to this video a couple times over to write stuff down. Thank you again and have a nice day.

I'm running a game this week and the video really helped to make a memorable city for my players, keep up the great work 😊👍

Solid video mate. Certainly some of the better laid out D&D advice out there.

This has been very useful for me, as making cities feel alive is something I usually struggle with, and even just watching this with a city in mind helped me develop it rapidly. You’ve earned my subscription, and I thank you for your advice

Well put together list. I feel like pushing it to 11 really helped me divide some of those concepts. Ie Organisations different from NPCs and history from initial concept. Separating them as to think about them individually is a good idea. Ty, great video

Here's what I do to make my cities more "believable": random encounters. I am running a DnD campaign in a capital city, and at least once per session my players run headfirst into something unexpected. Not all my encounters are combat though, and they are different for each district. Sometimes its a guard patrol or a rival gang, of course, but sometimes its a bunch of orphans, asking for food and pickpocketing, a suspicious merchant, scamming or offering actual magic items, a drunken fight, an chest full of bloody human bodyparts... and these encounters often aren't connected to the story or a quest. It just something that happens in the city. Though sometimes players are too inteterested and investigate this, or use it to their advantage.

Great vid as always. Hopefully more with this type of length are coming 😊

I typically start with some art that fits the culture / biome of a city...

I'm not a DM myself, but this video has inspired me with its insights into world building. Whether it's for a game or other creative project, I think these tips are helpful. Setting is important as the characters who will walk in them. Furthermore, the world is full of stories, but how they're told can change from place to place as well as the storytellers who translate them. Thank you for the tips/video

Thanks this is a wonderful video idea :)

My formula for building cities is: Who runs the city? Who REALLY runs the city? What brings gold to the city? What is the city's form of entertainment? Who/what guards the city? Where is the city located? What are the possible 3 secrets of the city?