City Districts

Most cities are divided into districts. The decision to create districts might occur during the planning stages of a city, with an eye to accommodating specific structures and functions. In many cases, districts grow from habit: The wealthy favor the area with the best views and greatest security, while tanners and butchers and alchemists end up far downwind of the general populace.

A district might be a single neighborhood or city block, or it might encompass a large area. Districts have their own purposes or identities. Some contain similar types of buildings, such as a waterfront or shop district. Others, such as a lord’s keep or a garrison, are single buildings or complexes with large numbers of residents and staff. A district can contain as few as several dozen people, or as many as several thousand. Most average between 300 and 600 individuals. Some cities have multiple examples of the same district, but few contain every kind. As a general guideline, small cities have about twenty districts, large cities around forty, and metropolises roughly eighty.

The terms “quarter,” “neighborhood,” “ward,” “end,” and “section” might be used instead of “district.”

DISTRICT DESCRIPTIONS

The following district descriptions assume a traditional city government (rule by nobles and royalty), and a human-dominated culture. You should alter details to fit specific circumstances. For instance, the theater and redlight districts are normally considered lower-class areas, but in a city widely known for arts or debauchery, they might be middle- or upper-class destinations. Similarly, a city with a high population of dwarves might have an upper-class dwarf neighborhood, while one dominated by elves might have no specific elf neighborhood at all, but instead a human quarter.

Districts are presented in descending order of social class. Each district’s entry includes the following information.

Social Class: Upper, middle, or lower class. See the Community Wealth sidebar, page 46.

Power Center: This entry describes whether a district has its own power center. If such is the case, the presence of that power center need not affect the power center of the city as a whole. A district that “always” has an independent power center cannot exist without the required powerful leader (for example, a civic district requires a city government). Typically, a small city has up to two independent power centers, a large city up to three, and a metropolis up to four.

If a district can have a power center, its type is identified as on DMG 137: conventional, magical, nonstandard, or monstrous. A parenthetical entry describes the most common form a power center takes.

Buildings: This entry gives some information about the sorts of buildings a given district might contain. The listed percentages do not add up to 100 but allow a remainder of 1–2% to account for unique buildings, such as temples, keeps, specialty shops, garrisons, and the like.

Description: This entry provides a summary of the district’s purpose, as well as its fl avor and feel—what sorts of sights, sounds, and smells characters are likely to notice while passing through.

Plot Hook: This entry offers a brief adventure suggestion to involve PCs who visit the distric

BUILDING AND BUSINESS DESCRIPTIONS

The entries in this section make frequent references to concepts such as “fine lodging” or “exotic trade.” Examples and definitions of each are provided here.

Temples: Church, cathedral, roadside altar, shrine. (Temples note representative deities but do not necessarily restrict worship to those faiths.)

Lodging: Almshouse, boarding house, hostel, inn. Lodging ranges from good to poor (PH 129 in upper-class districts, fine lodging is available. Food: Club, eatery, restaurant, tavern. Food ranges from good to poor (PH 129 in upper-class districts, fine food is available.

Trades (Exotic): Alchemist, art dealer, calligrapher, costume shop, imported goods, magic armor dealer, magic item dealer (general), magic weapon dealer, pet store, potion dealer, rare wood merchant, scroll merchant, soap maker, spice merchant, trapmaker, wand vendor.

Trades (Fine): Antique dealer, bookbinder, bookseller, candy maker, clockmaker, cosmetics dealer, curio dealer, dice maker, distiller, fine clothier, gemcutter, glassblower, glazier, goldsmith, inkmaker, jeweler, map vendor, papermaker, perfumer, pewterer, sculptor, seal maker, silversmith, slave auctioneer, toy maker, trinkets shop, vintner, wiresmith.

Includes average trades with higher quality and increased cost (masterwork).

Trades (Average): Armorer, baker, bazaar, blacksmith, bowyer, brewer, butcher, carpenter, carpet maker, cartwright, chandler, cheesemaker, cobbler, cooper, coppersmith, dairy, fletcher, florist, furniture builder, furrier, grocer, haberdasher, hardware store, herbalist, joiner, lampmaker, locksmith, mason, merchant, music shop, outfitter, potter, provisioner, religious items dealer, roofer, ropemaker, saddler, sailmaker, shipwright, stonecutter, tailor, tapestry maker, taxidermist, thatcher, tilemaker, tinker, weaponsmith, weaver, wheelwright, whipmaker, wigmaker, woodworker.

Includes poor trades with higher quality and increased cost (masterwork), as well as fine trades at lower quality and lower cost (80% normal).

Trades (Poor): Bait and tackle shop, basketweaver, brickmaker, broom maker, chandler, charcoal burner, dyer, firewood vendor, fishmonger, fuller, leatherworker, livestock yard, lumberyard, miller, netmaker, tanner.

Includes average trades with lower quality and lower cost (80% normal).

Services (Fine): Animal trainer, apothecary, architect, assassin, bank, barrister, bounty hunter, cartographer, dentist, engraver, illuminator, kennel, masseur, mews, moneychanger, sage, scribe, spellcaster for hire, tutor.

Services (Average): Auction block, barber, bookkeeper, brothel, clerk, engineer, fortune teller, freight handler, guide, healer, horse trainer, interpreter, laundry, messenger, minstrel, navigator, painter, physician, public bath, sharpener, stable, tattooer, undertaker, veterinarian.

Services (Poor): Acrobat, actor, boater, buffoon, building painter, burglar, carter, fence, gambling hall, juggler, laborer, limner, linkboy, moneylender, nursemaid, pawn shop, porter, ship painter, silo, teamster, warehouse worker.

Not all services represent established places of business. Many—particularly providers of criminal services such as assassins, burglars, and fences—are individuals who live in the district and are available for hire to those who know how to reach them. Similarly, professionals such as architects, bookkeepers, and guides might not have fixed offices, but might work from their homes or travel to their employers’ place of business. Finding such professionals is usually easy, though, since most rely on advertising or word of mouth.

Residences: Fine residences cost 2d8×10 gp per month to rent, or 2d8×1,000 gp to buy. Average residences cost 1d4×10 gp per month to rent, or 1d4×1,000 gp to buy. Poor residences cost 1d4 gp per month to rent, or 1d4×100 gp to buy.

In addition to buying or renting a residence, characters might wish to purchase a business or other building in a city. A poor shop (for trades or services) typically costs 2d4×100 gp, including rough shelves, a sales counter, and a back room for storage. An average shop costs 2d4×1,000 gp, including polished wood floors, handsome shelves, a picture window, and glass cases. A fine shop costs 4d8×1,000 gp and has marble floors, locked display cases, leather chairs, and various other luxuries.