City Buildings

Buildings: Most city buildings are made of a combination of stone or brick (on the lower one or two stories) and timbers (for the upper stories, interior walls, and fl oors). Typical roofi ng materials are shingles, tile, thatch, and slate.

Brick or Stone Wall (Lower Stories): 1 foot thick, hardness 8; hp 90; break DC 35; Climb DC 25.

Wooden Wall (Upper Stories): 6 inches thick, hardness 5; hp 60; break DC 20; Climb DC 21.

Most city buildings fall into three categories. The fi rst, which includes inns, successful businesses, and large warehouses—as well as manufacturers that require extra space such as millers, tanners, and the like—are large, free-standing buildings up to fi ve stories in height. Next come the majority of buildings in the city, which are two to fi ve stories high and built side-by-side to form long rows separated by secondary or main streets. These row houses often have businesses on the ground fl oor, with offi ces or apartments above. The last category includes humble residences, shops, small warehouses, or storage sheds, most of which are simple one-story wooden affairs.

Exterior doors on most buildings are good wooden doors that are usually kept locked, except on public buildings like shops and taverns.

Wooden Doors: 2 inches thick; hardness 5; hp 15; break DC 18; Open Lock DC 25.

Doors on the simplest buildings or sheds, as well as most interior doors, are flimsier:

Wooden Doors: 1 inch thick; hardness 5; hp 10; break DC 13; Open Lock DC 25.

Rooftops: A standard element of city-based adventures is the chase over the rooftops. Getting to a roof usually requires climbing a wall (and making Climb checks), unless the character can reach a roof by jumping down from a higher window, balcony, or bridge. Flat roofs are common only in warm climates (piled snow can cause a fl at roof to collapse), but are always easy to run across. Moving along the peak of a roof requires a successful DC 20 Balance check. Moving on an angled roof surface without changing altitude (moving parallel to the peak) requires a Balance check at a DC of at least 15, possibly higher depending on the conditions. Moving up and down across the peak of a roof requires a DC 10 Balance check.

A crisis point in a rooftop chase often arises at a dead-end, when the person being chased ends up on a roof with no escape, requiring a long jump across to the next roof or down to the ground. The distance to the next closest roof is usually 1d3×5 feet horizontally, but a higher roof than the one a character is on is much more diffi cult to jump to. Use the guidelines on page 77 of the Player’s Handbook—a horizontal jump’s peak is one-fourth of the horizontal distance—to determine whether a character can make a jump.

Example: Rhaud the rogue is fl eeing his pursuer across the rooftops. He reaches a dead end, and the nearest roof is 8 feet across an alley—and 4 feet above. He needs a Jump check good enough to clear 16 feet (or four times the rise in height).