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- Steal this village for your game: This is the 3rd video in the Campaign Prep series.
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Dungeons and Dragons designs for encounters, dungeons and campaigns.
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Great advice here. I have been GMing since 1978 and this is still how I do it. Just to break it down further. 1) Make a hub settlement. 2) Make things to interest characters of various types. 3) Add leaders, NPCs and threads extending outward from the settlement hub in 3+ directions (whatever I have time for). 4) make those early encounter areas. 5) play and see what threads they tug on before expanding outwards further. It creates a spider's web of content they are interested in and where it led them. Subbed for future videos.
Awesome! That's very similar to my process! Have you watched the "5 steps to campaign prep" video. You'll probably notice even more similarities.
Berlin by Night for original Vampire the Masquerade.
Hello old timer. 👍
@@davea6314 guilty
(6 Plug this list into chatgpt and create a random settlement in 1/1000th the time haha
I love how this is framed from the perspective of the players! It's not just a list of things to put in your village, it's WHY they'll actually be useful in game. Great stuff.
That was my exact intent. Thanks for noticing and calling it out.
@@diredencrazy
C for f c
Not just that, but you don’t NEED to lay all of this out when they come into town. Having it ready though makes the flow continue as well as making the players WANT to care. A good example of this from the actual play realm is Aabria Iyengar introducing Byroden in Exandria Unlimited. We knew about the town from previous campaigns, but she gave it a purpose and a history that drew the party AND the audience in.
“We are experts in three things: mining, military, and merriment.” - immediately you knew this town had everything available listed in this video, which allowed the party to decide how they connected to the town, and in turn giving the GM and players things to use for their role play. You got to see Dariax in full chaos gremlin mode to help his friend, you got to see Dorian be his not-so-buttoned-up self, and you got to see Orym reveal his love of pie.
Those kinds of moments make the story matter to the table, and will be the things they talk about for years. Do I remember the combat in my campaigns as a player? Not always. But I remember discovering my party’s monk REALLY likes Ramen, my tortle barbarian wants their shell to be a neon sign, and our wizard accidentally started a cult.
"I didn't think about the servants... quarters."
SO much conveyed there, with just a brief pause. 😂
You got it, Thanks!
I didn't know how many people would catch that.
So here is a fun fact about sheriffs from early english history: They were generally not the man of the tharn, baron, count or duke. They were king's men and enforced the king's law. They sometimes would even prosecute the local noble, if they were found to break the king's law. And of course rake in the king's taxes.
That's awesome info. Also, that makes Robin Hood's Sheriff of Nottingham make a lot of sense.
Especially the Disney depiction of the character.
This is a great video. The small nugget of gold I took from this is, and I feel so stupid for not thinking of this myself, is to have your vendors recommend others. So I have been doing the whole limit equipment based on those that specialize in them. So when a player talks to a blacksmith, they will have certain things in stock which they produce but not everything which leaves the party half fulfilled. It never occurred to me that the blacksmith could recommend the blacksmith that does specialize in rest of the things the party needs. I guess in my mind, I didn't think the blacksmith would know of others if the other towns are roughly a days travel away, but they probably actually would since news has to spread via travelers and traders and the blacksmith could occasionally take a day to check out other nearby blacksmiths for various reasons like networking or improving their craft.
Guilds are another way professionals would know about each other. I imagine guilds would have regular meetings to organize, pay dues, and protect their profession from unfair taxation.
Also you would have apprentices who would travel from one master to another.
@@katybechnikova2821 Thats a great point too! Or the apprentices might watch the shop while the head blacksmith is away, but being lesser skilled they might not be able to do everything the players need. Either way, it kinda writes itself in terms of filling out the world, letting the players visit more locations, and giving them options. They could opt to go to the next town, or wait for the blacksmith to come back. If the blacksmith or their apprentice doesn't return for any reason that could be a quest hook to figure out why.
Oh I like the selection of potions that the alchemist sells. Climbing and Waterwalking for adventurers and/or hunters, and Growth for farmers, which is probably where most of her income comes from.
I use to think of work to setup any settlement. Every village is born of some form of work. Mining, fishing, farming, logging, hunting, brewing (which involves the farms), ranching, textiles, etc. For me, it's about picking one or two and fleshing out with the details you want. And these details will matter to make your village unique rather than a generic, bland group of ppl
I find we make D&D villages more like old west towns than a medieval village.
That's an excellent point!
Maybe because actual medieval villages were depressing places under the thumb of feudalism. Wild west towns are certainly more game-able.
@@direden I think playing more like real life would be very grim dark with really fun rays of light that shine through.
@poxous3854 The campaign I'm currently running is very grimdark. It's fun... but I wouldn't run every campaign that way. Of course, I wouldn't stick with any one style indefinitely. My last campaign was high magic swashbuckling. Before that was Avernus, Dragon Heist, and Tomb of Annihilation. So, I change things up from campaign to campaign.
This is a well structured video, very helpful to new D&D DMs! Other than the tavern you need definitely a defined leadership, a place to shop and a place to worship at every settlement, regardless of how small it is. The amount of NPCs can be a bit intimidating to new DMs though.
Keep up the good work!
One way to give yourself a short list of NPCs... is to look at the appendix in the monster manual. Here's a list of all the NPCs that are CR 2 or lower
Acolyte
Bandit
Bandit Captain
Berzerker
Commoner
Cultist
Cult Fanatic
Druid
Guard
Noble
Priest
Scout
Spy
Thug
Tribal Warrior
Use this list and make up a character and a job for each one. This keeps the list short, and it gives you a good sampling of different types of backgrounds.
totally changed my default setting from the magor city to a huge sprawling poverty stricken casino town. now public encounters seem permissible by standers by, so you can drag the plot to the players if need be. Make mundane weapons actually useful. this is all good stuff man.
On the topic of magic items for sale - I am a big fan of, assuming the setting has abundant magic somehow, having a fair quantity of *household* magical items available for a fair price; self-heating frying pans and laundry basins, animated brooms that can sweep the floor (and do nothing else), and for the wealthier and more paranoid people, drinking goblets that change color when there's (non-alcohol) poison in the drink, little crates that keep a freezing temperature for food storage, and so on. Essentially, things that would be useful conveniences in everyday life, but not so useful for combat. But this only applies if the setting justifies magic as commonplace enough that the common folk can trust and afford it - adventuring gear is, when it comes down to it, a niche market at best.
This village is actually a small town.
In my head a village can be a dozen farms clumped together. There's no "inn" but everyone makes house ale and they kinda take turns hosting the village drinking hangout at the end of the day. If you want to join in, you need an invite.
If you want bed and board you make a deal with one of the farms to house you or let you sleep in their barn. If you want a market or a temple you wait until market day and walk for a few hours to get there.
Same with smiths and sherrifs, they serve a couple of villages each.
I realize this "village" isn't a load of fun for adventurers. They'll most likely just ride through and continues to the small town - the center of maybe a dozen villages - that is described in this video. And that's just fine.
Hahaha
You're correct.
But if I called it a "town," I'd have 10 comments like this telling me it's too small. "You should've called it a Village."
Mmmm... in retrospect... the more comments, the better 🤷🏽♂️
@@direden To be fair, what has counted as a "village" has varied greatly with time and location. In the iron age you might arrive at what looks to you like a small fishing and farming village, with a dozen houses and over a hundred adult inhabitants in order to be told that "No, this is the farmstead of Halfdan Thorleifurson". In for instance Vietnam, a village could have hundreds of families, thousands of inhabitants, and a temple and marketplace.
" cough, cough, cough, " ... A sizeable village or town could have multiple blacksmiths. They could be a guild with friendly rivalry and pass work off to each other when they can't keep up with work orders. Or just hate each other.
Is the location fence or walled ? One location holds government locations such as the temple, jail, town meeting area along with village market. But surrounded by homesteads. Truck stop towns with a Casy gas station. Ever heard of " The House of Seven Gabbles," ?
Tanners and cloth dyers, stables, and butcher shops were downwind from the main gathering of buildings.
At lest they tried to keep it that way.
2.) We deal with different Xp/level skill training class advancement, bit of a work over of WotC 3e D&D/Star Wars.
Point being just the Xp you get from dealing with vermin found on a farm after 5years an average or sub par education you have 20ish 7th-leve n/pc Commoner or druid. Just by dealing with giants rats and spiders in your barn and under anything raise off the ground to prevent water rot.
Then break down a 1st-level Soldier class PC from WotC 3e Star Wars skills , feats " special abilities " more feats." With D&D 3e DMG section on optional training time for skills and feats. Compare that to real life military training. Throw Xp out and the PC still gains +1d3 class levels each year.
b.) Then again, growing up on horror action movies of the 1980's & 90's, we always played D&D as Run for your Life, and Attack by Ambush.
First encounter is nearly always lethal if you don't retreat, or flat out run !
c.) Other than parts of France, England and Germany was always in a state of war. Archery practice was mandatory after church.
All boys slap box for militia training.
c.I.) The players PCS .. lost .. in militia training that day, and they have to clear the spider nest under the windmill.
d.) I ran towns as lazy, overly arrogant proud, dumb, and poor.
Other locations they have four 15min breaks during the day where everyone stretches, slap/knife box, or go for a quick jog.
d.i.) Herders, Scot highlands or the Greeks behaving like Rams/Aries. The males herd animals, wrestle/box, jog, steal cattle/or goat/sheep herds and run for their lives when out numbered. -- there really was no Zer0-level npcs in our AD&D games.
There are so many ways to surprise your players.
Another weird fantasy trope is the "village smith" who also does fitted full metal armor, high quality swords and possibly jewelery. Instead of just farming implements and maybe spear- and arrowheads. Real history: the village blacksmith might or might not double as farrier, a coppersmith might also work with brass, but armor, weapons, gold, silver, locks, guns and soft "whitemetal" where all handled by different proffessionals.
But hey, we all love our first fantasy adventurer service hub, whether it is Hommlet (or as I know it: Brewersbridge) or Apple Lane. If we're thinking a bit more seriously about the fantasy stuff, it's actually not hard to come up with justifications for better armaments and magic services in a world where magic is real, ruins are full of enchanted loot and the forest has roaming monsters. The fantasy militia should reasonably be equipped and trained to handle a lot more badass problems than a medieval british village.
Yet another "village" type could be a post-collapse roman farming estate. Fortified, surrounded by war-torn empty villages, new growth forest, gangs of starving bandits. With a mill, an all-purpose smithy, a well, a temple, large communal kitchens, the owner's mansion (with library and private shrines), grain magazines, stables, individual homes and communal sleeping quarters for the hundreds of people living and working there - some of whom will be free and some slaves. And professional guards recruited from old army remnants.
@@danguillou713 " Large village/small towns, walled or not have a .. stable .. and other side buildings for travelers/wagon train merchants. Think USA western cowboy movies, tv series.
My last game shop DM, she like running .. soap operas .. and side B plot stories. Also the player PCs have to find each other for ant main stories.
Player group parties, starting at 1st to 3rd-level using WotC 3e DMG optional rules for Apprentice-level characters. Such as a rogue1/wizard1 PC with half starting saves, full rogue skill use with the ability to cast a couple of cantrips.
First group, " It is Their Turn to clear out the large spiders under the mill. "
Brief moments of terror in confined space with eight legged freaks with small shields and hand axes, short jabbing stakes. Don't forget to clear out all the webbing, the silk can be reused. The DM, she ran a seven hour gaming covering a week in the village. it was a comic sketch of nightmare fuel the players were running.
Second group, couple of highwaymen they just rob a section of the wagon training, hang low in the cheapest drinking shed/ lean to barn stretching out their ill gain profits. After the end of the session the DM said to them, you didn't roll play, you made no contacts, so no Xp awards for you. They laugh and kept playing cards MtG and said it was fun watching her screw over the other players with her random dice charts.
Third group a few players that were working/ guarding the wagon train, nursing their wounds for the past week socializing. They gain a few hundred to a 1,000xp improving their rogue social skills. The start of the game 2nd player group battle/raided the 3rd group of PCs.
4th, then there was me, my rogue/wizard lawful minor evil edge lord walking in from the forest tree line with a bag of something carrying a crafted swager stick. Dress in dark blue padded armor/dark green cloak, with rapier on his hip, stern grimace face with an eye patch covering his right eye. He walks politely up to a group of old women making a Diplomacy roll, ask if they like some live rabbits for dinner and where is a stable or where the men folk gossip area to locate some work on as a wagon train guard.
Old woman one, " What happen to your eye ?"
Me, edge lord, " I walked into a tree branch, I have a bad habit of doing so. Is it bad?"
Everyone at the table laughs and the DM makes a dice roll. Other said I should not have said that, cause now the DM will use your right side to blindside in encounters.
Second old woman, " What is with your swagger stick ?"
Me, My granny beat me with it for years teaching me proper manners."
First woman, " Your rapier my'lord ?" said teasing .
Me, " My local blacksmith does a good chopping short sword but this is more of a wall hanger to look nice. "
Then a few minutes of the old women making polite fun of my rapier.
Along with telling everyone in the village the way my PC was dressed was the way the women folk of my village thought was what looked .. " Proper."
End results, my edge lord lawful minor evil network through the village, beat a few disrespectful young punks. " With their parents approval."
And became the wagon training rookie sub junior aid to learn the ropes of dealing with minor nobility. Later skip a few years/levels and he was the county road clerk keeping check on local trade/taxes. He was legal entitle to cane you for being a gold cion short in public, but .. he under the table and made the difference IF it had long term business growth in the region.
" Don't make me look bad in public where my lord will make an example out of me. Cause .. I .. Will make an example out of you."
2.) More or less this was a game just to pass the time and set up campaign background n/PCs to use.
Short hit and fade raid melee, over the top hamming it up spider hunt. Chance for everyone in the shop to N/pc the locals, such as old women talking about how bad an imaginary black eye looked.
One player is now the n/pc stable hand, fancy dress edge lord walks in asks a few polite questions, toss some coin to .. help .. the stable hand in cleaning for local gossip. Stable own makes a few remakes, so my edge lord .. plays with .. 5cp asking to help hang out. Rolls good on diplomacy and the owner pockets the cions and says if I clean up good I could sleep in the rafter with the stable hand. Cantrip tavern entertainment goes a long way to making friends.
Start small locations help build up the campaign lore.
As for higher level NPCs?
Hag runs a shop, she doesn't help solve the problems because she genuinely enjoys watching people suffer even if it's probably not her doing....
High level preist? They can't leave the temple because there is a sealed evil in a can and they have to dedicate their spell-slots to hitting the reset button on the wards to keep this problem sealed up... (Possible future BBEG if something should happen to prevent said priest from being able to "push the button" with their powerful magic.(Naturally something may eventually happen that prevents them from doing the thing once you as the DM think the players can survive the possible encounter with the potential BBEG... Probably at such a time as the players are now each an equal to this NPC)
Powerful mage? Paranoid and sitting on a hoard of dangerous magical artifacts they dare not leave unattended.... (Probably also engaged in some time sensitive experiment or some such that would fail/explode/fall apart without their constant monitoring.... Could also be sitting on a sealed evil in a can they are actively trying to keep sealed.) Or you know just being a crazy mad wizard too busy doing their own thing to even want to deal with it, and have contracted the party to deal with the problem so they can keep doing "science."
Solid ideas! I especially like the priest one.
Every village has at least one outcast... the urchin, or the drunk, or the crabby old guy with cane. I've had several occasion where the players remember villages by citing the outcasts. "We need to go to that town where the weird guy was breeding tiny dogs." It's purely an engagement trick, just toss in a random fun character idea in one of the many discriptions you provide while in the town, or a toss away gripe from NPC dialogue about the crazy cat lady.
Love this idea!
This kind of worldbuilding is what DMs love, especially with players that add NPCs to their backstories. Yes, any NPC in your backstory is a potential D.I.D. (Damsel in Distress) but the hero moment from coming to their rescue is meant to lift up the PCs if used sparingly.
Add people the PCs like and who like the PCs, it'll make the world feel lived in. With NPCs who are huge fans of the PCs, having the players return to the town to find it half-devastated by the BBEG, it will have the players go through hell just to get revenge.
I appreciate this straightforward actionable advice, and not just a list of vague ideas or could-bes. You explain what to include, and why, and that is as good as gold.
Thanks for recognizing that!
I try to make that the theme of my channel.
Hello DD
I used to run a D&D campaign decades ago (D&D ver 1 and 1.5). To make things easier on me, I used a pre-made city and a homemade village or two. A port town, and a fishing village, and a few other sites.
The city was fairly large, with a total population of several hundred people of various races. But the city was not the major site one would think it would be. Mostly, the city was a place to obtain higher level goods and services, but adventuring was pretty much all taken up by local groups and more advanced delvers.
Towns would run as few as 50 to as many as a hundred population, and villages would be mostly small places with 20 to 50 people living in and around it.
Like yourself, I had all the basics covered, even in villages, along with a few things to 'keep things interesting'. Like: a non-working clock that no one remembered ever working (hook for an advanced quest once the player's party levels get high enough, and that they have to return to that village at some later date to get and complete the quest).
Any village should have a leader of some sort, be it a 'head man', 'mayor', or a small council like yours. A Tavern is a good thing to have, but if the place is small, perhaps your players might have to bunk up in the hay loft of a stable, or some farmer's barn. Shops of one sort or another a good, but if it is a farming district, one might have a Baker's shop, thus allowing the villagers to buy pre-made bread, and not have to bake their own, which would be taking time out of their busy days which should be spent on more important things.
Everything you covered is well and good, but there are even more things one can add to a decent sized village to make the place 'come alive'... A large enough town might have 2 or even 3 taverns of various qualities, a blacksmith AND a copper smith, or bronze smith.
A fishing villages might have a Fish Monger, to sell freshly caught fish to visiting farmers around the outskirts of the village, or as much as half a day's walk distance or so. Such a place would have a Harvest Festival, and 'farmers market' for produce. One can even have 'abandoned' mines nearby, or any distance away, for the delvers to deal with animals and other things using them as lairs, and you never know what one might find in the deeper caverns.
A City, to me, is just a place for players to go to obtain upgraded gear, dump money into the local economy, party and celebrate (perhaps the resurrection of a party member), and obtain the services of specialized persons, like Masons, harness makers, wagon and carriage makers, etc.
That old Wizard's Tower that the party might end up in possession of, might need repairs and upgrades, to house the party in any level of comfort. A staff drawn from the surrounding villages as housekeepers, cooks, butlers, grooms, etc, can be hired to keep the Tower 'livable' while the party is away. And specialists like mason, carpenters, furniture makers, etc, would be needed to be hired from the nearest large town or city. One should not forget the setting, and arrange for a guard detail to guard the specialists to and from the tower site. If the party is between quests, or adventures, they might do the guarding, since they need to travel to the town or city in any case (selling off rare or semi-rare items, obtaining better equipment and arms, exchanging fair amounts of gold for the more common silver and copper coins, selling gems, jewelry, etc).
The only limits are your imagination... but do keep things simple and in perspective. Only a major town, or fairly large city will have a real 'magic shop', like what your players might think of. And even then, there is no guarantee that the shop would have some rare item a party member might be seeking.
But such a site might have an adventure to obtain it. I did this many times. One that comes to mind was that a party member desperately wanted a Portable Hole. So, following rumors and tales, they found an adventure that might have such an item... After many trials and tribulations, they obtained a portable hole. Just not what they expected. Instead of making a 10-foot diameter cylinder to put things into, that could be peeled off and taken away... they got an item that magically makes a 10-foot, open on both ends, cylinder through almost anything (handy for bypassing some kinds of walls, and usually allowing direct access to lower floors of buildings).
As I said, imagination is your only limit.
OSR play needs an equipment shop not just because of low magic resources but also because equipment/resource management is often an important part of the game. I almost had a character die because he failed two hunts in a row while traveling. And my archer has ran out of arrows in hostile territory more than once. I recommend trying this style of play if you're GMing for one or two seasoned players, who will appreciate the new challenges.
I usually design or write village/towns/city thinkng not allways humanoid/living being settlememts has everything for you, being a bit realistic....
- Small settlements usually poor or low midclass people with basic knowledge, if they are together in a village or small town is for their survival
- Sometimes arcana/divine supply are in the same vendor/location; it would because one person, two or small groups understand the differences
- Armory/blacksmith is basic but sometimes could has a special merchamt friend who trade special weapons
- special or exotic merchant/collector has uncommon or rare items(for most villagers who not travel so much)
- Some Villages/Towns would be specialized or Infliuences by their needs, problems, geography or comercial roads
- Leaders, Religions, Goverments or special groups marks on their lands laws or problems
This video was actually really helpful. I've watched a multitude of these kind of videos, but yours stands out. I love how you look at the town from the perspective of the players and add something to it that helps every class out. That's something I tend to forget at times. Thanks.
I know that a lot of advice in recent years has focused on realistic and persistent worlds. Which is great! However, at the end of the day... it's still a game. And it's helpful to make things game-able. This is why I love the practical advice from Kyle at Map Crow and Mike Shea, The Lazy DM.
Amateur DM here. Ran a few campaigns but I’m creating a pirate themed one for the first time. Been scrounging lately for pirate themed tips but this actually helped on an overall level and I definitely feel this will make the campaign more fun to play through! Earned a sub my friend
Awesome! I ran a pirate campaign last year... so fun.
Welcome to the Den.
I'm just about to start running my first campaign and this video has been such a help and has given me so many cool ideas.
I'm really glad I found your channel, thanks for the great video.
You're welcome!
Glad you're here... welcome to the Den.
We actually started a factory to process a special metal. It ended up becoming our base of operations instead of the tavern.
I love it when players do their own world building.
Once we defeated a group of bandits and decided their tree fort was too cool to leave behind. We made it our home base. But it wasn't close enough to a town. So, we hired loggers to create a logging camp. Then slowly grew the camp into a village. That way, we had resources near our base. It provided extra quests... we not only sought out treasure and villains... but skilled artisans willing to relocate.
It'd be great if there was a summary of the 10 things for easy reference later. Very useful info.
First video I've seen of yours, solid content, really concise, subbed
Thanks! Welcome to the Dire Den
PCs: "Great, we cleared out the traps and guardian creatures, now we can make this tower our base!"
The wizard returning from saving the world: "What are you idiots doing in my home?"
And that... is why we play the game
I've been gaming and DM for decades. I have also on a few occasions taught players how to get started running their own games. I've always told them to remember that old nursery rhyme line: the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. I always start with the shops and locations that every small village or town would have. The rest of the village will build itself.
Yep!
I actually mention that rhyme in this video...
th-cam.com/video/IBtSd1UM6L4/w-d-xo.html
If a village is large enough to support these crafts. Historically, most would not be; which is why you have itinerant traders, fairs and market towns.
This is the best thing ever. I'm very much a beginner and I build my own worlds because I don't agree with any of the published ones. This is very helpful.
Thanks! I hope the rest of the campaign videos help too
This is a great video! I thought I was pretty darn good at making a town after 11 years of doing it but I learned a thing or two here. Just goes to show you can’t learn too much! Subscribing for sure!
Awesome!
Welcome to the Den
this was very helpful and gives me some ideas for setting up my first campaign. thanks for that
I really appreciate your choices of the art. Loved those books as a kid.
Thanks! I tried to choose classic D&D characters... as I'm sure you noticed characters from Dragonlance, R. A. Salvatore's books, and of course, Mordenkainen made the cut.
You gain surprise against me lol you get the first round to yourself since I totally didn't think of a lot of this 😅 didn't know I needed this until I watched
Thanks! My goal is to give specific actionable advice. I feel like there's a ton of generalized content out there.
This might be plodding and winding but, something like this.
The southern valley city of the silverite bog now called Holsprey by its more grateful visiting traders, who view it as a seasonal workhorse for the lands at large. The city is marked by the Prospectors Peace as it's tavern; built from a converted bunk house that previously housed the miners from the cities sadly passed golden age. While the nearest neighboring building is a tradesmen guild under the name of Ballocks Pathfinders; licensing rangers, druidic farming/gardening experts, chemist potion makers, iron competent selfeducated blacksmiths and ranger taught tanners with a few local merchants to support it otherwise. Besides these the place is typically defending itself through the hosting and trading of its own militia guard, simply assumed as typical local guards, who keep holed up in Feldri's Barracks, named for the guard commanders great grandmother who trained the cities earliest militia members. The barracks is walled with three consecutive rings of stacked stone unpainted walls, one with a marching line within it and guarding farms for the militia to make use of in time of need. Another with three intermittently empty dark wood temple houses, the one most constantly occupied being devoted to Yaela SilverScar, the dark elven goddess of music and battle (reflavored Elistrae of forgotten realms). Beyond this and the silver clawed Scab-shell shepards guild quietly nestled on the outer walls of the cities neighboring silverite bog... A majority of the townsfolk otherwise merely farm and carry on simple lives reminiscing to their nearly forgotten plentiful days of yesteryear.
"Tavern" as the starting point feels off, since it's not logically how settlements develop. Basically the way I'd build it out:
1. What resources created the settlement? Settlements don't exist for no reason, so there's some inherent value to building a settlement there. It might be arable land or an iron mine or water or lumber. It even includes more abstract concepts like trade: if four towns have roads in a plus-shape (+) then the center crossroads is basically the halfway point for everyone involved and there's lots of value if a trading hub forms there.
2. Those resources determine the buildings.
* farmland results in farms (though they wouldn't be weirdly center-of-town like in the image at 2:16; they'd be large fields spread all over)
* sufficiently rich farmland can result in specialized businesses (rich cotton fields might result in weavers/tailors, rich grape crops cause wineries, etc), _especially_ if the finished product is easier to transport.
* forests can result in tanneries (which prepare leather from hunted animals), butchers, and lumber yard (though the latter tend to crop up when a town is prosperous enough that people stop chopping their own fuel and are willing/able to pay dedicated lumberjacks)
* iron deposits cause an iron mine, though this will often be a little distant from the center of town (which usually gets placed near a source of water)
* population itself causes tavern
* high-traffic roads cause inns
* economic prosperity causes a marketplace
* rivers or wind can enable mills (to process certain crops) or lumber mills
3. If key resources are missing, that's a cost that detracts from the growth of the settlement. So if you're a mountain iron mine town, you'll probably stay small if most of your water must be shipped in by cart (and this is especially true if there also isn't good hunting). Desert towns face even tougher challenges.
4. Magic can significantly change how a fantasy world's settlements deal with getting resources. For example if water-based druids for whatever reason create a holy site in a desert, they might have created spells to permanently cause a spectacular fountain to create water in the middle of town, with aqueducts or sewers moving that water to different parts of town (probably using gravity). But of course they should have a reason for doing this so it makes sense why they'd waste the significant effort; maybe it's an actual holy site, maybe it's a leyline junction, or maybe it's just a crossroad town that by itself would've been pretty mediocre but due to these druids' influence is now the richest trade city in the region.
This comment should be pinned not avoided. This is exactly how build alive worlds, with interconnected cities and people. What truly defines a city, a person, organization or world is WHAT IS MISSING. And that's what brings adventure.
I use Magical Walmarts in larger cities, with smaller shops for higher quality items. My players once spent a whole session buying basic supplies and signing up for a Bargain Barn credit card. The fighter stole a shopping cart.
solid advice! i do a lot of these things but for sure got some amazing ideas thank you!
That intro had just the level of nerdy awkwardness I expect from a fellow DM lol. Very entertaining. :)
Wonderful! Symphonic fantasy! ♥
Instant Sub just based on the topic. Came for the content and you delivered! Well done Dire Den.
Thanks, man!
Hope you get the time to watch the whole Campaign Prep series. Let me know what you think...
Thanks! :D this's really helpful, as I love town building and develop, in My campain I'm currently at 27 different buildings, some with tier Ii and III, and some accesible only when some other conditions are rached.
Very cool
Im actually creating my own village in D&D, called alerem, and randomly came across this video. Thanks alot, this video realy gave me stuff to think about!
You're welcome. I hope your players get to enjoy your village soon
@@direden Thanks, tho im extremely new to dnd in general, at the moment im just a over excited player who wanted a mysterius hub for my own characters to be from. Dont get me wrong i actually want to be a dm eventually, but i have zero confidence. At the moment im looking for some experienced dm or player to help me runn trough the village to make sure it all checks out :)
I like this, very smart and well thought out, you get my ear from now on :D
Thanks, welcome to the Den
Arcanepunk mechanism as protector, awesome. My son wants to make a mech in his campaign I am dming for him and that was a great seed for me to try and weave mechs into the world. So far I call them Gels or gelleks which alludes to angel or angel mek
Stumbled across this and found it very entertaining - always been a player but some of this got me interested in trying on the DM hat
You definitely should try it out. The world needs more good DMs
What an excellent video! Subscriber earned
Welcome to the Den!
Very good video, you have a new follower!
Stole my line, roll for initiative
Really informative video, definitely more geared to high fantasy.
But there is plenty that can be extrapolated for a lower magic tone.
Well done!
Excellent Inkcarnate Map love that tool 🧡🧡
Me too!
Fantastic video!
Thanks
Thanks for agitating my imagination and creativity - needed that!
Thanks! I may use elements of this in my low lvl campaign. 😊
You're welcome!
Here's the maps and details if you need them.
diredenizens.wixsite.com/direden/post/village
This was EXCELLENT
Thanks!
Excellent content.
Thanks!
Very Well Done.
Most villages would have a lord, not a council.
Also a sheriff would be in charge of pretty much a county, not a small village. He's an administrator for the crown. It's in the name: shire (county) reeve (official).
Yep, "Shire and Reeve" ...I said that
@direden I heard and understood. But a shire is a county. A village would not have it's own sheriff. He would be in charge of many villages and towns.
A village might have some sort of unofficial council subordinate to the lord, but more likely any such cases would be heard by the lord himself or the hundreds council.
If you want a shriff stand in you could use other manor members. Here's a small info sheet on the subject.
Life in a Medieval Village - Tatton Park www.tattonpark.org.uk/pdf/medieval_realm_information_sheet.pdf
@direden Not sure if my response went through. Not showing.
Shire is a county. So Sheriffs were far above village level.
Manor courts were subordinate to the lord. Hundreds courts were the courts of larger areas.
Nearly every single village would have a lord, whether they lived in the village or not.
Here's an infographic for it
Life in a Medieval Village - Tatton Park www.tattonpark.org.uk/pdf/medieval_realm_information_sheet.pdf
This village is a hybrid of a 'civilized center' and a sandbox campaign map. The adventure sites feel static relative to the distance from the town. Why have the Spider Fang goblins not already cut every throat and purse in town when they are literally next door?
It's an example... that was easy to illustrate the point about ecounters nearby 😉
But you could come up with a number of reasons to explian why.
This is a good help for worldbuilder, but more for a town than for a village
Go for the eyes, Boo!!!
The tavern is run by kobolds, and the herbalist and blacksmith are gnomes?
I can just _imagine_ the tension there... *takes out notebook*.
I think you're the first person who caught that 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
@@direden I love kobolds, and I've used settings where they're more commonly neutral than evil (ie. more very private and standoffish, rather than suspicious and xenophobic)...but the bad blood between Kurtulmak and Garl Glittergold is always too juicy to completely pass up!
very helpful!
Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback. Have you had a chance to see the other 2 campaign prep videos?
I'm hoping they all make a cohesive plan for people to run their own games. Feel free to hit me with questions on the process, and I can answer them here... and in later videos.
This is a great video (and series of videos). Did you design your village map on inkarnate? I'd love the link to the original file so I can clone it for replication purposes!
There's a link in the description
Longtime dm here, lots of great advice in this vid.
Thanks, I really appreciate you saying that. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Welcome to the Dire Den.
Is there a link to the map of the village without any markings on it? I’ve looked and I think I’m just stupid 😂
Very good, how did you get the map?
Inkarnate.com
I have the paid version. But there is a free version. It's a fairly easy learning curve. You can make different scale maps. They have battle map, local, regional, and world map assets.
It’s all effort and work until the lawful good paladin strikes the local goblin merchant cause he’s a goblin and the cracked wizard cast fireball on a homeless man •_•
Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!
One of my all-time favorite characters!
@@direden Squeaky wheel gets the kick!!
Village of Hommlet
Classic
Unless there is a story reason for it, for me haggling with shop keepers and shopping in general is the most boring thing ever. Just make a list and I'll tell you if those items are available in the local market. That said--if there are unusual shortages, that could be a story reason for the shopping excursion, or if there are rumors to pick up in the market square. Or there's something like Uncle Gus's Wondrous Puppet Show where Uncle Gus is a mad mage and the puppets are little demon infested little golems
I agree. When players try to force a dice roll to haggle... I'll say, "Now the shopkeeper likes you." Then I'll give them a quest hook... "If you do that for her... she'll sell you the item for a discount."
@@direden Got to gauge that though. More quest hooks aren't always good. If the party's at loose ends, then it's great. If they've already got a ton of stuff on their plate, then it's just one more thing to juggle.
Personally, I find it easier to just make a town full of taverns, but this works too.
😁😅🤣😆... 🤔
Interesting video and points. However, you are assuming some things about the type of class/characters.
I unfortunately don't have a group to play with:(
However, I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters.
1. A Drow Female Feylost Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen.
2. A Mountain Dwarf Runecarver background Male Wizard (planning School of Necromancy).
3. An Astral Elf Anthropologist background Female Paladin (planning Oath of Conquest).
4. A Sun Elf Gate Warden background Female Druid (planning Circle of Spores).
5. A Half-Sun Elf Half-Moon Elf Sage background Female Ranger (planning Drakewarden).
6. A custom Race Half-Moon Elf Half-Frost Giant Planar Philosopher background Female Barbarian (planning Path of Giants).
Where it came to your assumptions, my Ranger character took at lvl 1 Deft Explorer rather then "Favored Terrain" and "Favored Enemy" is Fiends. Since Fiends are rarely early game foes my Ranger likely wouldn't be interested in going full out on hunting some other type of creature/enemy.
Then your level 1 ranger isn't a expert, go play with the warrior's stuff I guess. Or look at the stuff to do around town and figure out how to use that Sage background.
@@cameronlancefrii7356 At current lvl 1, she knows 8 different languages and she has 11 HP 16 AC with Proficiency Skills of: Animal Handling, Arcana, History, Nature, Perception, and Survival. Her stats are: 14 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 12 Constitution, 12 Intelligence, 12 Wisdom, 11 Charisma.
ALL THAT AT LVL 1!!!
@@morrigankasa570 cool. So if you were playing in this village, did you figure out what you'd be doing?
@@cameronlancefrii7356 At most I would maybe check out the Temple & Market if they had Book-Sellers.
A couple of my Ranger's Long-Term Goals are: Learn every Language possible (without Multi-Classing), discover as much history of the World/Universe possible, and Collect as many Books/Documents as well as None-Dangerous Historical Artifacts & then send those Books/Documents/Artifacts back home so when her Adventuring days are done, she will organize them all & create a vast secure Library ( sort of like the Real World's historic Library of Alexandria combined with the Smithsonian and the Central British Library).
@@morrigankasa570 so they're still not an expert, they're a nerd. Sorry, jokes aside, this video made a generic town with something to offer to every class. If you break the mold of the class, you shouldn't be surprised that they stopped fitting. It's your job as the player to figure out how to apply your character to the game.
If I was your dm, and I was running a game for 6 people, I don't have time to make specially tailored everything to suit your needs, or that of 5 people. I'd just be doing a lot of fishing. "Here's this vague generic thing, let's see who bites on this story hook."
But also, if I was the dm, I'd have pitched a campaign or sandbox idea, asked my players what sort of playstyles and adventures they'd be interested in, and tried to be present during character creation to manage expectations, answer lore questions, and read backstory ideas and give suggestions and what I liked or keyed into for things I could use in future sessions. Which is a lot of pre-game work that can't be done as a content creator trying to help A LOT of people on youtube to make a town.
A family of flying kobolds running a tavern... ok... I´m out.
But, in Bavaria, every second village is just: Farmers, Tavern and a little Church 😅
😄 I didn't realize how many different opinions people have on the difference between a village and a town 😳
But my other video on the topic is called "Let's make a town in D&D 5e" 🤷🏽♂️
Interesting video.
I've never build a campaign around dungeon crawling. I love world building and some campaign settings are great foundations to make a world come alive. The Old DnD world Mystara is the most detailed example. I also love the Underdark, Dark Sun, the planes and high/epic level stories.
This resulted in a world that works and exists regardless what PC happen to do. It also means a mix of all kinds of levels. I despise the idea of a world filled with 1st or even 0th level characters. Only kids should be below level 4, and veterans and people that are experts at what they do for a living should have the traits to portray that.
What would your approach be to a world where most people are 5-10th level, a fair chunk is 11-15 and the world is run by many 16+ ones? Any house rules you'd advice for balance, spells to consider their impact of (like teleport) and possibly restrict?
I recently ran a Mystara campaign. You can certainly build larger settings... and my "5 Steps Campaign Prep" video and "Factions" video explains how to do that in more detail. The "2 Simple Locations" is just one step in a five step process for Campaign building.
Using the "Four Factions" and "Ten Tense Conflicts" steps helps you flesh out a larger setting.
Regarding NPCs and their power level. I see it as... NPCs reach a certain level of experience, success, and comfort, and then they stop growing and learning. Like in real life, some people settle into a career and just groundhog-day until retirement.
Regarding running high magic settings like Mystara: I create tense Conflicts between the powerful NPCs. This not only keeps them occupied, but their conflicts create plot hooks. So, the PCs are doing jobs that powerful NPCs could be doing themselves. The PCs are doing jobs the NPCs are too busy to do.
Or... the PCs realize the powerful NPCs are oppressing the common folk because the NPCs are consumed with some important plan or "greater good." Then the PCs take on the challenge of standing up for oppressed and downtrodden.
Does that make sense?
@teambellavsteamalice another thought on world building high-level characters...
You can consider magic in the same way we do technology in the modern world. Every new technology has to be reviewed for both ethical and legal consequences. So, a world with magic would need to do the same. Like not allowing fire magic for the same reason we aren't allowed to discharge a firearm within the city limits. Regulations on summoning magic the same way we use technology to track and protect pets... and have laws against dangerous animals as pets.
So, there would be laws about magic. Then you would need someone to inforce those laws. There's incentive for mages to follow these laws because they want to maintain their own use of magic. They wouldn't appreciate others abusing magic.
The other thing... you can consider how magic would affect the economy. Imagine a world where every 5th person can cast prestidigitation and mending. That would impact service jobs... and to an extent, trade jobs. Ultimately, powerful spells like teleport, raise dead, and so on... would have big price tags.
Likewise, Abjuration & Divination spells would become a commodity because people would pay to protect their property and privacy. Just like we do with security and internet services in our world.
Good advice and nice ideas.
I like stealing ideas for my games too.
Thanks!
Leather-worker? Carpenter/Woodworker?
I guess I could've explained... that this list is from a game design perspective. The list is intended to create a game-able space for players.
You could certainly make a list of 10... that approaches things realistically.
1. Water Source: well, stream or river
2. Food Source: hunters, fishermonger, farmer
3. Housing: carpenter, mason, thatcher
4. Food Goods: butcher, baker
5. Wearable Goods: Shepherd, weaver, dyer, tailor
6. Leather Goods: tanner, leather worker, cobbler
And do on...
@@direden I was thinking somewhat on the playable space as well. For example, the leather worker would serve multiple roles. Not only would they have leather goods for sale, (Such as armor, leather clothing, and other sundries) they could repair damaged items the party already has, and potentially purchase/trade for hides and furs.
how does the town defend itself?
Good question.
Regarding this method: that falls under leadership and law enforcement. However, this video focuses more on playability than realism. But in this particular village, all the council members are spell casters. You can see that if you click the link... diredenizens.wixsite.com/direden/post/village
My thought was... the council would protect the village.
So the tavern is being run by flying xp?
Hahaha
What village has such exotic races
One that sits on a road between a Dwarven city and an Elven port... and next to a Gnomish forest.
Or one that's fun for the DM... because they deserve to have fun too 😎
A tavern run by flying kobolds? That is far out. Good bye.
your town sounds absoluty evil
This is a game.
Don't sell a lot of magical items but there definitely could be a pretentious rich person flaunting a family heirloom
I’m your 1000th subscriber, you owe me a dollar. 😂
🍻 To You, Sir
Flying Kobolds? So is that Urds or Dragonwrought?
😆 If memory serves the Urd was the 2nd edition flying kobold... and Dragonwrought showed up in 3rd edition. 5th just calls them "flying" kobolds. There's probably some minor difference like Puma vs. Mountain Lion vs. Florida Panther.
Urds are weaker and have wing flaps stretching from arm to chest. Dragonwrought Kobolds are literally kobolds with draconic wings on their backs. While Urds are their own independent species under the same pantheon, Dragonwrought are a rare variant that appears seemingly at random, a sort of throwback towards their draconic bloodline.
Remember, the legend of the Kobolds' birth is that they were created from the blood of a powerful green dragon. Urds were made to be surface scouts, while regular Kobolds were manual workers. Dragonwrought Kobolds only appeared later.
@tristanmitchell1242
Interesting, in the original Monster Manual, they were just described as red-eyed, rusty skinned, horned, and hairless.
@@direden but there is official art for both.
My tavern is run by a Morlock
That's interesting 🤔
Wouldn't it in more modern gaming be a warden instead of a sherif, I think it was in pathfinder kingmaker.
Could be whatever you want... it's your world to build
Pretty high fantasy...
So no system of duties and obligations in this medieval fantasy setting?
Just explaining that concept would probably take a whole video unto itself
kobald live under ground
There's exceptions to every rule...
Wait we need more than a tavern?
😄
Apparently my villages are anarchistic 😅
Leadership
Law Enforcement
Equipment
Character Activities
Animals
Encounters
*Urds.
Yes
Little lazy with each thing being "things for class", when you could have had one item as "Class Specific Interests".
There are at least 3 examples for each of the "10" things on the list... so, there's over 30 different suggestions.
Whats a kobald? Lol
A kobold who lost his hair (and with it, his boldness) in a tragic bonfire accident.
4:02 xD Put full plate mail on her as well. As an Eastern European I have a great laugh at this race mixing. Rather than do genuine setting with African, or Asian people Unitedstatesofamericans just throw everything to one bag. That's just says a lot about creativity.
Our fantasy worlds reflect our real experiences. The US is a nation of immigrants from all over the world and has many fewer culturally isolated conclaves than most old world countries.
^ this
I have Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and LGBTQ players. The people around my game table are diverse... so why not my game?
It always bothers me to see law enforcement in remote villages. Come on, who is going to pay them? The folks are more than enough to juge criminals - just gather some pikes, shovels and what not and beat the hell out of the alleged suspect! That's all she wrote! Ain't no need in sherriffs or other bureaucrats
And there would be a garrison only in case the village is regulary raided or too close to border
In remote villages, that's true.
As I mentioned in the video, the sheriff would be responsible for a whole shire or county.
As a previous commenter pointed out, the Sheriff would answer to a noble not to the village itself. Their primary roll would be collecting taxes for that noble.
a christion a jew and a muslem walked in to a tavern.... they teamed up and killed the flying kobald Demon
is this poop?:)
Hahaha 😆
Honestly, this whole Chuck-E-Cheese band of world-making is stupid and creates an unrealistic world. The idea that you'd have a village with such an odd mix of races (hence the Chuck-E-Cheese band comment) makes no sense. It creates a less realistic world overall. Have a village of humans, dwarfs, halflings, etc. The idea that you'd have a box of chocolate mix in all of these towns and villages is beyond silly.
I think that depends on your world building. If you're more like Tolkien and want your races to be alien to each other... then I suppose you're right. But in a world more like Andrzej Sapkowski's it could be very different. When history includes an invasion of one race like Sapkowski's where the humans conquered everything, it's reasonable to assume that non-humans would be dispersed throughout the human kingdoms. Likewise, in our own history, the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Mongolian Empire spread across the known world. This led to a good deal of diversity across Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. There's even historical and genetic evidence of Africans living in England... most likely relocated there by the Roman Empire.
I personally prefer a more colorful and diverse world. With so many different ancestries available in D&D and Pathfinder its kinda boring to have everyone segregated. Because world building becomes a simple matter of... here's the dwarf mountains. Here's the elf forest. Here's the halfling hills. I've built a half-dozen of those worlds over the years... and I've run Mystara... and played in Middle Earth... that gets old after 30 years. Nowadays, I mix it up.
Are you saying there wouldn't be villages with multiple races? Because that would be insane.
Ultimately, this is a pretty solid video and PCs would more than likely be stoked there is so many things to do in just this one small village.
@@ironpalmmonk1199 it would be insane and unrealistic to have such a mix. Lets do some reality, both real-world and fantasy. Like groups always flock to like groups. No matter how much you want to change that that is the reality. In fantasy like groups create entire towns, cities, and empires of like groups because that is how things would progress naturally. The idea that you'd have a little of this, a little of that, and something in between in a single village creates an unrealistic world. More so when you factor in the different types of societies for each group are, more often than not, incompatible. Though this goes to what one commentator said about the issue with the current 5e mindset. That is every group is simply a reskinned human when they're not supposed to be. You're also not at all going to see this because when you have one Kobold family in a village of a mix of other races how are they expected to create future families, future generations, and grow? They can't. They are ensuring that they are it, nothing more, their personal group will not advance nor grow. This would make zero sense also as no one would put themselves in such a situation. Much less live in an environment with people and other creatures so counter to their own society and way of life. But again, when you view everything through the lens of reskinned humans it makes sense but if you view it through a realistic world setting of varying societies it doesn't at all. You also have the final major issue and that is once everything is mundane nothing is special. Nothing is unique, cool, or interesting if you can see Harry to Kobold down the street, William the Tiefling next door, John the Dwarf a couple houses over, etc, etc. It all becomes boring, dull, mundane, and the same crappy human charaters simply reskinned.
@@direden as I said to the poster below, it makes zero sense and turns every single group into a mundane, reskinned human. Nothing is special, it's all just mundane crap that you see everywhere creating both a boring and unrealistic world.
@@Doodle1776 the direden summed it succinctly: it depends on your world building. There is nothing wrong with having mixed raced towns if the GM so wants it to be. They are free to build out as they choose. While not a 1:1 match, even our own world (as direden responded) are hardly homogenous. Is it so hard to believe that a village can exist , say, at a cross road of multiple races hence you have a mixed town? While reality can inspire, it is not a hard set template.
Easily enough if it bothered you just change all the races in this video guide to one race. The content for building is still valuable and at the end of the day you can world and lore build all day long but if you don’t have anything for the players to do, you’ll have a dull game.