The Scope of the City

The Scope of the City examines the fundamentals of city design and structure. After a brief overview of city living, this section launches into a discussion of cities by type, and includes such archetypes as the capital city, the military city, the slaver city, and the trading hub. Following a similar analysis of cities by nontraditional culture and location, the chapter focuses on the characteristics of the city itself, from design features like sewers and wall fortifications to environmental hazards, such as sinkholes, plagues, and even arcane pollution. The bulk of the remainder of the chapter examines the various sorts of districts found in many urban settings. This is primarily a chapter oriented toward the Dungeon Master, but players should find it useful as well.

ALIGNMENT

A fundamental aspect of any major urban center is the moral and ethical outlook of its populace. The alignment of a city’s power center (DMG 138) is certainly infl uential, but the overall attitude of the city’s inhabitants, known as the community alignment, is separate from that of any leader or group of leaders. A given city’s community alignment depends not only on the mindset of its leaders, but also the history of the region, the indigenous cultural mores, and even the local geography. Specifi c individuals have their own alignments, but the community alignment represents the city’s overall cultural outlook.

In most fantasy settings, the default community alignment is lawful, representing a popular consensus to follow local laws and traditions. Often a city’s outlook has no bias toward good or evil, which is typical of humans in general. A typical campaign also assumes that humans are the dominant race. Cities founded or dominated by nonhuman races could have very different attitudes, often refl ecting the typical racial alignment (such as chaotic good for elves or lawful good for dwarves).

Consult the table below when randomly determining the community alignment of any sizable urban center— typically, a community larger than a small town.

Community Alignment

d%	Alignment
01–20	Lawful good
21–28	Neutral good
29–36	Chaotic good
37–61	Lawful neutral
62–67	Neutral
68–69	Chaotic neutral
70–89	Lawful evil
90–95	Neutral evil
96–100	Chaotic evil

Cities by Type

The following example cities serve a dual purpose. Each has a name and demographic detail so it can be dropped as-is into almost any campaign. An example city can form the basis for long-term urban adventures, or be simply a brief stopping point for PCs on their way to some other destination.

These entries also serve as models, much like the terrain material in prior environment books. Each demonstrates the most typical features of its function, whether military, commercial, or political. You can simply replace the names and details with your own, or construct your own cities that follow similar patterns.