Recent Posts
They look like tiles from Streets of Shadow.
I would be surprised if the current image *isn't* a mockup, and doesn't reflect the finished product... but I couldn't say that with certainty.
From what I understand these Mastersets are going to be kept in print and will be the first port of call for designers when creating encounters for WotC.
I suspect therefore that all the tiles are reprints - probably from several sets. However I don't see this as a money grabbing move given the fact that they will be kept in print - if you already have the sets, don't bother picking this up.
As stated these look like they will contain tiles from Streets of Shadow (it might be nice to also have some of the 2d tiles from Harrowing Halls as wells for building interiors, but I doubt it will have that).
I have the City set and there are many new tiles. It allows you to build city streets and sewers like the Streets of Shadow set, but it also includes building interiors (such as a tavern), a wharf or pier area with water, and a city gate/wall, all of which are brand new. It's really quite a useful set.
I just looked around and found some photos at enworld for what the set looks like.
It's pretty to look at until you start to think about it, noticing that the street is more of a five-foot alley, and then you start to wonder what sort of insane passive-aggressive villagers built their roofs such that they'd dump rain or snow onto their neighbors or have it build up in the crack between the buildings where there should be an alley. I mean, look at this design. In snow country, this would be the city of collapsing roofs and even in temperate zones it would be the town of dry rot.
It would have made a lot more sense to have the roofs the flipside of the sewer tiles and have the box be bare cobbles so you can arrange the city as you like.
I just looked around and found some photos at enworld for what the set looks like.
It's pretty to look at until you start to think about it, noticing that the street is more of a five-foot alley, and then you start to wonder what sort of insane passive-aggressive villagers built their roofs such that they'd dump rain or snow onto their neighbors or have it build up in the crack between the buildings where there should be an alley. I mean, look at this design. In snow country, this would be the city of collapsing roofs and even in temperate zones it would be the town of dry rot.
It would have made a lot more sense to have the roofs the flipside of the sewer tiles and have the box be bare cobbles so you can arrange the city as you like.
Well, it is hard to tell what angle the roofs actually have, but if it is a heavy snow area then rest assured the roofs have a very steep angle, they have for centuries. Plus shovels have been around for centuries as well. So those streets and alleys will get cleaned up as soon as the people who want them to be open get around to it. Or they won't. Such was the life in cities of old.
Well, it is hard to tell what angle the roofs actually have, but if it is a heavy snow area then rest assured the roofs have a very steep angle, they have for centuries. Plus shovels have been around for centuries as well. So those streets and alleys will get cleaned up as soon as the people who want them to be open get around to it. Or they won't. Such was the life in cities of old.
Yes, but you're missing my point: There's no alleyway between the houses. They're row houses. Regardless of the pitch of the roofs, snow or rain will be caught if it's trapped in a V formation.
Row houses usually go like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Row_Houses.jpg
The houses all share the same roofline and extra variation is formed by gables out front.
To get a configuration like shown on the box, you can't be in any area where it snows and you still need to have slight gaps between the buildings (not depicted) and a pretty heavy grade to the ground itself. That does occur, but only in places like San Francisco:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haight_Ashbury11.JPG
In any case, not being able to reconfigure the roofline of the city is a bad design choice.
Well, it is hard to tell what angle the roofs actually have, but if it is a heavy snow area then rest assured the roofs have a very steep angle, they have for centuries. Plus shovels have been around for centuries as well. So those streets and alleys will get cleaned up as soon as the people who want them to be open get around to it. Or they won't. Such was the life in cities of old.
Yes, but you're missing my point: There's no alleyway between the houses. They're row houses. Regardless of the pitch of the roofs, snow or rain will be caught if it's trapped in a V formation.
Row houses usually go like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Row_Houses.jpg
The houses all share the same roofline and extra variation is formed by gables out front.
To get a configuration like shown on the box, you can't be in any area where it snows and you still need to have slight gaps between the buildings (not depicted) and a pretty heavy grade to the ground itself. That does occur, but only in places like San Francisco:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haight_Ashbury11.JPG
In any case, not being able to reconfigure the roofline of the city is a bad design choice.
Well, many older cities I know of (and have visited) in Northern Europe have preserved buildings and whole blocks from the medieval times (for example, Old Tallinn or Prague). No doubt by modern standards these cities were too "packed" with buildings next to each other in "rowhouse-like" city blocks. Often warehouses, gardens and servants' houses were located in the middle of the "blocks". Wealthier areas in major cities such as Paris or London might have been a different story, but smaller cities (at least those I've seen) did not have "gaps" between buildings. Most alleys were -- at best -- 5 feet or so wide, but they did not exist between every building or even between blocks. Sometimes you had to walk several hundred feet to find an alley or a sidestreet -- this was also due to defense purposes, for if the enemy invaded the city, the major streets were easier to defend.
Also, steep (pitched) roofs would make sure that at least around half the snow would fall "inside" the block; if the roof could not handle the weight, then the household menfolk (or servants/hired hands) could clean the roof.
Those tiles look just fine to me.
Snorter
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber; GameMastery Superscriber)
It's pretty to look at until you start to think about it, noticing that the street is more of a five-foot alley, and then you start to wonder what sort of insane passive-aggressive villagers built their roofs such that they'd dump rain or snow onto their neighbors...
Seems quite historically accurate, if you ask me...
It's pretty to look at until you start to think about it, noticing that the street is more of a five-foot alley, and then you start to wonder what sort of insane passive-aggressive villagers built their roofs such that they'd dump rain or snow onto their neighbors...Seems quite historically accurate, if you ask me...
Okay, I'll recant. After looking at Google streetview for the Shambles, I even found the old inn with the giant inverted W style roof that would need some serious shoveling in case of a snowstorm.
If anything, the roofline on the box is too sane and modern.
Snorter
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber; GameMastery Superscriber)
Seems like snow would be the least of your worries; the street was full of butchers, who would wash the blood and offal down the centre of the road.
Not to mention, no-one had an indoor toilet, so they'd stick their bums out the upstairs window.
No, they'd just dump their chamber pots out the window.
For me, the roofs are a really cool edition to giving the game a city feel. Taking the scissors to the box for the roofs does not really sound appealing to me. I do have Streets of Shadows and I bought three of them. I was hoping to get more roofs from this City Tile Set and was shocked to find out that it came with none other than the decor on the boxes which is just about unusable for my needs. It would have been a lot cooler had they taken a look at Paizo's recent product that combined flip mat and map pack. I would love to have more peek-a-boo stuff that the PCs can interact with.
Also very lame that they show tiles of loose roofs on the pachaging without giving any roof tiles! WTF?
Snorter
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber; GameMastery Superscriber)