Fleshing out Cauldron

[Dee]

Hi all,

I've just finished putting my players through Chapter 1, and now that I know many of you are most (if not all) of the way through the SCAP I was wondering if you had ideas on ways to flesh out Cauldron? Basically, at the end of Ch1 the players are kind of meant to chill out in Cauldron for at least a couple of days and well...they need something to do! Of course, there are the descriptions for a couple of shops, but somewhere the size of Cauldron would surely have more shops and things than that. How about guilds? Other interesting people/places? Black markets? I know there has been a couple of threads on this topic before, but without much success :/

I'm also looking for resources such as...random city generators or some such that could give me an idea of how many of each thing there should be for a city of Cauldron's size, or books on interesting ideas for inclusions in cities etc. However, if you added in something extra which really worked well for you, I'd love to hear about it!

I know I should use my own imagination and creativity, but I fear my job has sucked it all out of me ;)

Thanks in advance to anyone who posts here.

[Frank Steven Gimenez]

The DMG has a helpful chapter on Urban Environment, which includes a handy "wandering encounter" chart. DMG2 goes further in describing what a city would contain. And also Saltmarch, which you can use to rip out specific city locations into Cauldron.
Races of Destiny also has descriptions of urban adventuring.

[farewell2kings]

Check out this old thread

[EHunter]

At the WofTC's D&D website there is a random city builder download called Building a City. It is under downloads for the Players Handbook I think. Each city district is given total population (550 for Warehouse, 350 for Noble Estates) as well as exact compositions (338 commoners, 60 warriors, 8 wizards, etc). Descriptions of neighborhoods are flavorful, and the list of shops, buildings is complete - though they are generic.

I'm sure you know to check out the Shackled City Resource website for more info.

For specific buildings and locals the D&D website includes a section called Viscious Venues which as detailed desriptions of buildings, Philandal's Livery and Courier Service, Forgotten Garden, Sinister Fountain, House of Metege, Courthouse, all of which could be used as urban encounters. All of these are free to download and ready made.

[tdewitt274]

EHunter wrote:

At the WofTC's D&D website there is a random city builder download called Building a City. It is under downloads for the Players Handbook I think.

Actually, the 3.5 DMG:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030719a

[Dee]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the links to useful information :) I snatched a couple of descriptions from the "building a city" document and also used City Works (I forget who did that pub) which uses a similar kind of thing for working out how many "blocks" are in a city, and how many of those blocks are dedicated to such things as entertainment, industry, docks etc. etc.
The building a city thing was also great for getting ideas on the kinds of services that should be available in the city. What I actually ended up doing was dividing Cauldron into three areas. The first I called "Inner Keep" which is basically Ash Avenue inwards (i.e. the poor section), then Midslope consisting of the next two avenues (Magma and Lava I think) which houses the middle class and then The Cusp which is basically Obsidian Av (i.e. high class). I then put a market place in each of these sections, with the markets having a mix of permanent and temporary services/stores based on the listings for high, middle and low class services and shops. For example, I made a market called Church Market which is in that little bit right next to the church of St. Cuthbert which has a mix of middle class services and shops and is heavily patronized by the clergy of the various churches and is thus not heavily frequented by the typical mix of unsavoury characters.

Dividing blocks into particular kinds also stimulated some other ideas. For example, it was suggested that there be 2 blocks for docks. I made two competing companies, one called "The Morkoth Fishing Company" and the other called "The Real Morkoth Fishing Company". I think I will make it so that the "Real" company is a splinter group of the first (maybe a rebellious son or some such?) with accompanying rivalry. Should be fun :)

I also took the "Cauldron Alive" idea from the thread that was linked in a previous post. I am also thinking of taking one of the Taverns from the Book of Taverns (again, forget who published this) as that particular book completely details taverns including patrons and other notable NPC's, their history, secrets and plot points etc.

Lastly, I'm actually thinking about using the Tournaments, Fairs and Taverns book (I think that's the title) for Chapter 3 to flesh out the start of the chapter with fun games for the players and the potential for prizes etc. It may even set up the scene for the rivalry with Stormblades if the two go into competition with each other?

Anyway, thanks again for the links guys, I have managed to get some great new ideas which should make Cauldron more like a real city...can't wait! :)

[koramado]

Dee wrote:

What I actually ended up doing was dividing Cauldron into three areas. The first I called "Inner Keep" which is basically Ash Avenue inwards (i.e. the poor section), then Midslope consisting of the next two avenues (Magma and Lava I think) which houses the middle class and then The Cusp which is basically Obsidian Av (i.e. high class).

I like the division of the city into rings, too, since the poor end of town isn't "eastside" or "southside" etc. but radiates from the center. I used "Lakeside" to name the poorer, inner streets and "Rimside" for the outer. I can imagine a patrol of town guard approaching a PC in the evening streets and asking, "You there! What business have you walking Rimside this time of night?"