101 Fantasy city locations


Gamer Life General Discussion

Sovereign Court

Let's make this thing.

1. A rustic, mom and pop tavern with tasty food and homy atmosphere.


Hama, are you looking for actual city locations or locations within the city? Or maybe both?

Sovereign Court

Both works :)


Admittedly partially stolen. A huge shining city located in a massive hole. A series of chains attach it to the walls. Bridges cross tp the walls where many dwarves choose to dwell. The city proper is mostly human elf... etc.


How about a city placed at a Lagrange point, thereby seeming to float between the two celestial bodies?

Liberty's Edge

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3. The Sword n' Board Arena

This massive O-shaped building is wrought from stone and reinforced wood, and can easily seat several thousand people. The arena is known for its spectacles of deadly combat, in which warriors can fight one-on-one, as part of a four-man team, or in the dreaded "Thirty Man Bash." Particularly cunning/savvy PCs may be able to bet on their favorite gladiators or, indeed, fight for honor and glory (and wealth!) in the arena. (NOTE: The government of the city of Rampart and the operators of the Arena take no responsibility for, including but not limited to: Individual or mutual unconsciousness, brutal death, the fistic amputation of no fewer than three (3) limbs, or the general tearing-asunder of arena combatants.)


4: the Deep Library

This library is the one from which you can never check a book out , as its myriad and twisting walls have centuries upon centuries of Dwarvish lore and literature carved into them from ceiling to floor and ON the ceiling and floor. There is hardly a surface of this building not containing some form of writing or record.

Dark Archive

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5. The Pillar of Storms This extravagantly named slender metal rod rises thirty feet above a large stone catch-basin, and magically attracts and captures the morning fogs that sweep through this quarter, so that all morning, there is the sound of running water pouring down the stave into the waiting pool below. While it is usually safe, and the water quite clean and fresh, locals know to avoid the plaza during thunderstorms, as lightning is attracted to 'the Pillar of Storms' and anyone drawing from the pool beneath it is at risk of electrocution.


6. BOMBZ 'R US!

This solitary building, with nothing but vacant lots neighbouring it, stands within easy reach of the market square. People with nervous twitches seem to occupy the houses of the rest of the street. Occasionally, loud, enthusiastic hooting or sacrilegious cussing to shame a salty Shackles sailor erupts from the doorway, windows or various holes in the otherwise sturdy-looking facade and roof. Owned by a female Gnomish alchemist/wizard, who has made it her life's mission to somehow fit a Delayed Blast Fireball or even a Meteor Shower into a stable grenade, the proprietess sells a wide variety of 'splosives, as she affectionately calls her creations, at fair prices. Mostly they are stable. Mostly.


7. The Sunken Chest

Harbourfront tavern in three stories, with a central fighting pit, where exotic animals fight either each other or patron challengers. Occasionally, patrons fight patrons or even professional gladiators instead. The name, the Sunken Chest does not refer to a sunken chest of treasure, but to the chest of an unfortunate victim of a bear during the first fight staged. Run by a shady, lowlife half-elf and an even seedier crew, but with very handsome staff, male and female, waiting on the customers. Secretly a front for a local thieves' guild. The owner of the establishment is CG and the guild he's running are heavily invested in Robin Hood-tactics, making life miserable for misers and dodgy merchants in the city.

Liberty's Edge

8. Commandant Stoddard's All-Nite Rations

Not all adventurers adhere to the traditional fifteen minute adventuring day, and not everyone in the city of Rampart works IX to V jobs. For the adventurer who couldn't make it to the inn before the chef went home for the night, or the citizen on the go, the Commandant's there for you!

Founded by a retired war hero, Commandant Stoddard's All-Nite Rations has several stands open throughout the six wards of Rampart, open at all hours of the day. They usually have a human, elf, or tiefling standing outside wearing a childish bulette costume, shouting the franchise's slogan "Don't blame the Commandant if you starve!!" at people who don't buy rations.


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9- the Tavern of The Planes:
This odd establishment features food and drink from around the multiverse. From celestial fish to abyssal beef and everything in between and many patrons enjoy ordering popular dishes from other worlds; spiced potatoes from Krynn served with Evermead from the Forgotten Realms? No problem here. The dining area is laid out in a big wheel with furnishings from a particular plane at each point. But beware the prices are high and there is a waiting list days in advance to get a table. Rumors abound over how they get their fresh food delivered, ranging from pacts with Angels and Demons to a wishing artifact to a staff employed Noble Genie.

Scarab Sages

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Fox News:
The printing and editorial offices of the Kitsune community's foremost newspaper of note.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

11 - The Hoof And Hammer
A blacksmith who specializes in shoeing and armoring beasts, the more exotic, the better. It's actually a husband and wife dwarf team-- the husband is a master blacksmith, and the wife is a druid with a looot of Calm Animal prepped, because clients often have difficulty getting their trusted animal companion to stand still while fitted for armor, or, in some cases, having it physically-and-painfully attached.

Anyway, this is where you get your barding for your gryphon, or whatever.


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12. The Pampered Talon
This inn caters specifically to the needs of adventurers with animal companions, familiars and mounts. The main house is accentuated with numerous outbuildings, sheds and lush grounds for open play. The proprietess, Mynika Silvermane is a trained wizard with an owl familiar named Moontalon who takes great pride in caring for the animals of her guests. The creatures she cares for are given space to frolic, fine meals suited to their native diets and sumptuous accommodations either within their owners' suites or one of the support buildings throughout the compound. Mistress Silvermane will not admit guests who do not have an animal companion of some kind, and this includes adventurers with improved familiars, bound elementals, constructs or other faux support creatures.

Sovereign Court

13. Guild of adventurers
This unassuming building made of brick and wood usually stands in a less reputable part of the city. All doors to the building are sturdy and reinforced and windows have bars on them. Sounds of merriment and conversation can be heard at all times.
Lower floors of the guild are one large Inn that caters to adventurers and their needs, including a small office for bounties as well as a notice board for needed jobs. Upper floors and the basement are reserved for guild members, including a training room, laboratories and studies as well as a well equipped library and a small shrine to all gods.

Scarab Sages

14. The Vitruvian Sanctuary
What looks like a small, but very well-designed and maintained, building constructed of metal, porcelain, and rare woods is actually a staggering palace on the inside. It is a cosmic asylum for Outsiders who, for whatever reason, seek sanctuary from the extraplanar forces they once rubbed elbows with; fallen angels, risen devils, genies who've angered their lords, bastard godlings hiding out until they can rise to challenge their elders, great Powers taking a holiday from their duties - all these and more call this their home-away-from-home on the Material Plane. The furnishings are modest and generic, but very nice, and is attended by a small but dedicated staff composed of powerful (exclusively mortal and godless) monks, magi, and oracles. Its walls are bound by some of the most complex and powerful wards against planar travel and espionage - both from beyond and from within - in existence.

Dark Archive

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15. The House of Respite
This magically warded inn only admits sex workers, and does not discriminate between the high priestess of the goddess of passion, and the cheapest camp follower. Whenever the door opens to admit such a person, others nearby can see and hear glimpses of sensual abandon to titillate and shock the senses (although an impenetrable force prevents others from passing through with them). This is an illusion, and the inside of the inn is filled with relaxing people playing games like chess and keeping all of their clothes on, although smirking at the notion that they are engaged in some sort of sexual antics on their down time, when they very much have no interest in bringing their work home with them.

Dark Archive

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Set wrote:
15. The House of Respite

Set, you old prude you.

;)

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

from one of my favorite Facebook Pages.

16. – Citadel of the Paladin Omyrka, Friend to the Falcon –

Here rests the shield of the great paladin, atop his skeletal remains. His devotees pray here for the re-founding of the Noble Empire he once served.

Dark Archive

17. The Bathing Pools This squat onion-shaped dome is an airy hollow structure that looms over six separate enclosed pools, providing a modicum of privacy and protection from the direct light of the sun, and is surrounded by a dozen more shallow pools exposed to the open air and sun. Cantrip-level magic worked into the interior pools, keeps the water both purified and either warmed or cooled to different degrees, depending on the pool in question (one always steams, another is always quite cool, regardless of weather or local climate). The outer pools are kept purified by a dozen soft-spoken adepts that attend the pools, which are a holy shrine to devotees of a god of water to whom cleanliness and bathing are sacred rites.

There is no set fee, but tipping is encouraged, and the inner pools are often 'reserved' for 'generous regular patrons.' (I.e. someone paid for exclusive access.) Even for the paying patrons, showing up late means forfeiting your place.

A competing bath-house across town has begun to spread rumors, such as that the water-god judges those who use the pools and afflicts the unworthy with disease (or just bad smells), or that the attendants eavesdrop and sell information on patrons, or that the waters are tainted in some way and make the bathers susceptible to the magic of the attendants, or that the otherwise little-known local water god is in fact not a god at all, but some sort of demon or rakshasa, explaining the lack of actual clerics at this 'shrine'...


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18. The Community Gardens. In a quieter section of the city is a large walled-off garden. Many ornamental trees and shrubs grow here, tended by devotees of the god of justice. This strange development owes to the fact that the gardens are actually the city's prison. Throughout the gardens are various statues, each of which bears a plaque at its feet with a name on it, as well as two years: the date the statue was placed, and a date in the future. On that future date, the statue will be unpetrified, as all of the statues are criminals guilty of serious crimes. None of them were guilty of treason, mass murder, or whatnot, so they are kept petrified until their sentence is up. The warden is the chief gardener, a powerful sorcerer who actually does enjoy gardening and knows both the stone to flesh and flesh to stone incantations.

Further into the garden is a large reflecting pool. Names are carved into the stones here, but no statues are present. Each stone radiates powerful magic, as it is the site of a victim of an imprisonment spell, a criminal deemed too dangerous to let live or even keep petrified.

The entire garden was the idea of a powerful king many decades ago who wanted to find other ways to deal with criminals besides killing them or keeping an active prison. His name is found over the entrances to the gardens.

Dark Archive

Lathiira wrote:
18. The Community Gardens.

Ooh, I like this. High magic solution to jail!


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A problem with The Community Gardens is that simple removal from society for a period, in which you experience no passage of time, is arguably insufficient penalty for crime. One should be aware that one is imprisoned. It's a punishment, after all, not just a confinement. The realization of not having your freedom is part of the deterrent. Hell, certain guilds in which you have a lifetime membership might even think this an advantage. Do the crime, enjoy the short-term benefits, pay a price of which you're not even aware ... and go back and do the same thing again.

In addition, I wonder how many prisoners—murderers, rapists, or those who've perpetrated a serious assault—have had their statue smashed or damaged by some aggrieved victim who didn't think the punishment was sufficient. Stroll in, break off a piece or two, stroll out. None the wiser, and you get your shot in.

The fact that I considered it this much upon reading means it is a great idea.


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If you altered the stone to flesh spell such that the target remain conscious and aware during his incarceration then it becomes a particularly cruel and stressful punishment

Dark Archive

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It's still a decent punishment if the person 'stoned' had a family or friends or job or home, since all of those things would have changed by X number of years while they were doing time as a fancy coatrack.

"Hey, my sentence is over and I don't remember a thing! Woo! What do you mean that my wife has remarried, my kids are grown up and have kids of their own, my house is now a stable owned by the orphaned kid of my victim, and my father passed away and disinherited me and left the mill to my younger brother?"

"Yes. Your sentence is served. Welcome to being homeless in a city that's nothing like you remember. The crown requires that I give you these five silver pieces to help you get back on your feet..."


I'd considered both of those, and they're valid points. Not sure those outweigh the fact that in many cases the sentence would be an inconvenience and not a life-changer.

Really depends on the sentence's length. Some people would wait ten years for the man/woman he/she loved. Others would be planning year-long minus two days nookie about which their SO would never know if the sentence were one year.

I guess you could make the argument that the sentence, if it's more than two or three years, might be even more terrifying because your life is going to change in the blink of an eye.

The kingdom would probably have to have provisions written into the law, such as, "Any sentence of four years or longer constitutes a de facto divorce, if the still animate spouse so desires, with an equitable distribution of funds to the prisoner's spouse, etc."

Like I said, it is a great idea. Really makes you think.

Dark Archive

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Jaelithe wrote:
I'd considered both of those, and they're valid points. Not sure those outweigh the fact that in many cases the sentence would be an inconvenience and not a life-changer.

Oh yeah, there's always gonna be the nutjob who comes out of it and says, 'Woo, all the people who hate me are dead! A whole new world in which to burn every bridge I come to, and nobody knows to never trust a word I say!' :)

In which case it becomes a medieval version of Demolition Man movie, and the ex-convict is in the Wesley Snipes role, unleashed into a future that is ill-prepared for a man of his viciousness.


A man like Simon Phoenix would be imprisoned. Not turned to stone for a few years.

Liberty's Edge

Set wrote:

It's still a decent punishment if the person 'stoned' had a family or friends or job or home, since all of those things would have changed by X number of years while they were doing time as a fancy coatrack.

"Hey, my sentence is over and I don't remember a thing! Woo! What do you mean that my wife has remarried, my kids are grown up and have kids of their own, my house is now a stable owned by the orphaned kid of my victim, and my father passed away and disinherited me and left the mill to my younger brother?"

"Yes. Your sentence is served. Welcome to being homeless in a city that's nothing like you remember. The crown requires that I give you these five silver pieces to help you get back on your feet..."

"Welp! Welcome to life as a first-level adventurer! (whistles the Duke Nukem 3D theme as he saunters off)"

Anyway...

19. The Temple of the Harvestmistress

This massive wooden barn looks out of place among the stone buildings that comprise most of the city of Rampart; however, this is how the goddess of community and farming, Ruma, prefers her temple.

Inside the temple, besides an area for confessions and services, is a massive charity kitchen. All a traveler needs to do is sit on the floor, and they will soon find rice, bread, and lentil soup before them. The only compensation the priests ask is that one help out in the kitchen a bit afterwards.

(Yes, I was looking at an article about the Harmandir Sahib. Why do you ask?)

Silver Crusade

20. The Bloody Barstool

Some bars cater to a certain kind of person. Many seek to attract adventurers, due to their tendency to drink heavily and their heavy wallets. The Bloody Barstool attracts a VERY specific kind of customer.

The sounds of conflict often emanate from this basement bar. It has no windows, and its only means of entrance are a very sturdy metal door and a smaller door behind the bar, which lets out into the alley behind the tavern.

The only staff are the gruff ex-guardswoman bartender and her young daughter, who serves as waitress. There is no bouncer, and this is probably because being rowdy is almost entirely the point of the Bloody Barstool.

The Bloody Barstool is probably one of the only bars in existence that has scheduled bar fights. When the time comes around, the bartender rings the bell, and the waitress retreats behind the bar. Then the fighting breaks out, lasting until everyone's either unconscious or spent. Afterwards, everyone who's left standing gets a few drinks from the owner's special stock. This usually makes sure that everyone's passed out by the end of the night, and the bartender eventually shoves everyone out onto the streets to lick their wounds and nurse their headaches.


21. No Cleric Cures - This apothecary shop that is just on the outskirts of the temple district doesn't promise miracles - just treatment free of proselytizing and sermons. It is slightly ahead of its time with respect to tinctures and leeching, but doesnt offer potions or anything of the like- just a collection of cures and treatments that will work and don't include a plea to the gods with them. This place is popular with all manner of scientists and atheists.


22. the Warren of Alleys

The entrances to this extradimensional maze are marked by strange glyphs resembling nothing so much as nets or webs; all the entry points lead into shadowed, often smelly alleyways. Without knowledge of the brief incantation required to operate the glyphs, these alleys lead in a twisting path through a couple of blocks before leading back to a main road.

Speaking the proper words opens the Way of the Warrens; after much winding and branching, an intruder is deposited in the Plaza of the Shadowmaster. There, a disembodied voice whispers in an ancient tongue, demanding a sacrifice of some worth to grant passage beyond the Plaza, through the Warren's maze and out, back to the sunlit world.

Provided a suitable offering, the voice directs visitors to the outlet which -- after another hour of winding ordure -- will lead them back out, to almost anywhere in the world.


I would like to start cross posting between the 2 topics. That way both can reach their target numbers faster. I would like to have community gardens in Random Village..

23.Looking Glass Tea House.
Where it's always tea time.
Resources-In addition to tea and pastries, this is a good place to roll on the rumor table. The owner, Alice, has growth and reduction potions to sell. The upper crust comes here and can provide adventuring jobs.


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What about a version of #18 that's not a garden, but an orchard. The spell used is similar to Meld Into Stone but with a much longer duration which is renewed every so often by the "Gardeners." The spell isn't defensive but an imprisonment; the victim is forced to merge with the trees for a certain duration (sentence) while the tree itself grows around them. The occupants are conscious, so their loved ones or victims can have monitored visits.

Because of this consciousness and the fact that the victims are inside a living organism, they also develop an empathy with their tree. The prisoners then feel the joy of each new branch, the sorrow of loss when their fruit is harvested and perhaps even some discomfort when insects burrow in or limbs are pruned.

Finally, since they are a conscious but captive audience, they are occasionally spoken to by the clergy tending to them. This adds a final, rehabilitative function to the Gardens. The "Gardeners" remind the prisoners of their crimes but also inform the convicted of how the world around them goes on. The clergy offers lectures on justice, civility and manners; they encourage repentance; absolution is made available.

Now since the Meld Into Stone spell isn't permanent it has to be renewed once in a while. The criminals during this time are interviewed through use of spells by a "parole board" of sorts. If they are truly repentant they are allowed to help work on the grounds for a time and then released back into society for "good behavior." If they lie or attempt to otherwise escape their imprisonment they are remanded back into their trees.


24. Fox Snooze
Upstairs from Fox News. This is the Kitsune Bedding supplies.

25. Joe's Brawl and Grill
This is where the low level Adventurers come to meet. Of coarse this is also where the Bully adventurers come to beat up the low level guys and take their lunch money!

Shadow Lodge

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ngc7293 wrote:

24. Fox Snooze

Upstairs from Fox News. This is the Kitsune Bedding supplies.

25. Joe's Brawl and Grill
This is where the low level Adventurers come to meet. Of coarse this is also where the Bully adventurers come to beat up the low level guys and take their lunch money!

Never take more coin to a bar than you are willing to have beaten out of you.

Dark Archive

26. Cheape Meats
Located outside the city walls, this bustling butchery handles every aspect of the trade, bringing in live animals to a room for butchering, producing everything from fine cuts to sausage from the 'lesser cuts', and having ties to a half dozen other local businesses (hides go to the tannery, etc.). Run by a cleanliness-obsessed fellow with a pronounced nervous twitch (so much so that he's known locally as 'Twitch, the Butcher') and some strong and sullen lads of foreign demeanor who pretend not to speak or understand the local tongue, the owner of Cheape Meats is a nosferatu alchemist, who alchemically treats and stores the blood and offal from butchered animals for his own use, and that of his 'after hours' clientele, ranging from vampires to ghouls, living in or below the community. Be warned that these locals may not hunt and kill people regularly, preferring to keep a low profile and not attract undead-inquisitions through indiscriminate feeding, but they still aren't nice people, and anyone poking around and threatening to expose their operation may end up being the sausage in tomorrows meat pies...


Jaelithe wrote:

A problem with The Community Gardens is that simple removal from society for a period, in which you experience no passage of time, is arguably insufficient penalty for crime. One should be aware that one is imprisoned. It's a punishment, after all, not just a confinement. The realization of not having your freedom is part of the deterrent. Hell, certain guilds in which you have a lifetime membership might even think this an advantage. Do the crime, enjoy the short-term benefits, pay a price of which you're not even aware ... and go back and do the same thing again.

In addition, I wonder how many prisoners—murderers, rapists, or those who've perpetrated a serious assault—have had their statue smashed or damaged by some aggrieved victim who didn't think the punishment was sufficient. Stroll in, break off a piece or two, stroll out. None the wiser, and you get your shot in.

The fact that I considered it this much upon reading means it is a great idea.

The problem I foresee is that this punishment doesn't actually give any real chance at rehabilitation. There's no education or anything—you're just plucked out of time and thrust a few decades in the future. On the bright side, an innocent prisoner isn't overmuch changed by their time within, though they'll probably still run into the whole "out of their time/nobody will hire them" issues.

27. Fawke's Gnus
Across the street from Fox News, this specialized petting zoo is run by a gnome from the savanna named Fawke. The owners of Fox News are growing increasingly paranoid that Fawke has concocted the entire name and business just to mess with them. He has. It is working.

Dark Archive

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

27. Fawke's Gnus

Across the street from Fox News, this specialized petting zoo is run by a gnome from the savanna named Fawke. The owners of Fox News are growing increasingly paranoid that Fawke has concocted the entire name and business just to mess with them. He has. It is working.

And as we all know, No Gnus is Good Gnus!


Lama Labs
This storehouse has been repurposed to be a modern lab. It's run by talking Lamas who evolved similar to the talking ponies. The ones with horns have telekinetic powers. They built a lightning rod and a big capacitor to power the lights and devices. These science Lamas are running experiments on the interactions of science and magic, so they will recharge your gear for any equipment you don't need. They make the most money 'resurrecting' androids.


Set wrote:
And as we all know, No Gnus is Good Gnus!

Yoouuu caaallled?


29. Rocksteady Vault
Just off the market area Halgrev Rocksteady, a dwarven priest of Abadar, maintains a brutally fortified keep. She holds it not for personal glory or even in devotion to her patron, but primarily for the sake of her clients. 7 deep earth chambers, accessible only through the dwarves who ward the keep, are used to safeguard some of the most precious valuables outside the private nobility. The common hall is also a place of money exchange where loans can be obtained. It is frequented by travelers, adventurers and well-heeled merchants.

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