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So, I'm running a game in Ustalav (Not Carrion Crown, just a semi sandbox thing) I'm stating out the towns, and I'm trying to collate what types of shops would be in the various cities and whatnot. You know, you have:
Blacksmiths
Fletchers
Armorsmihs
Alchemist/Apothecaries
General Stores
Map Stores
Book Stores (& Spell Shops)
Jewelry Stores
Clothing Stores
Inns/Bars/Brothels
Mechanics Shop
Anything I'm missing? Im sure there is a good bit.
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Apple iStore!
Oh wait.
They just sell apples in various colors and 10 times the price of normal apples. Upon purchasing an apple from this store, you must sign a contract saying you will only eat apples from now on, and they must come from this store. Eating any other item from that point on will cause intestinal distress.
Hilarious.
Tinsmiths (cheaper pots and pans, for example)
Building and furnishing houses takes a number of different professionals (masonry, thatching, cabinetry, etc.)
I don't know for sure, but I imagine bedmaking (for luxury beds that actually had something like a mattress) would be a specialty industry
Street food vendors
Butchers and brickmakers, hegglers (egg-sellers) and carpenters, pastry-cooks and brewers as well.
If it's any help, there's an old City-building supplement available with lists and lists of shops and services and the sort of places you might find them. (written for 3.5, but 98% fluff)
Might I suggest a merchants guild, spellsmith(caster for hire), and a mercenary guild.
In a fantasy world? You can have everything from a magic clock maker to an Ice maker.
From a clockwork pets store to a real life monster pet store. Instant delivery services (Teleportation or flyers). Places to be cloned before you go on adventures, gunshops/wandshops (could be equivalent), golum makers, slave markets, zombie servant merchants...
Purveyors of the mundane and magical of all shapes and sizes. True potion hagglers rubbing elbows with snake oil salesmen. Fetish merchants and love potion sellers.
Bards and entertainers of all shapes and sizes. Fire breathers to jugglers, tightrope walkers to levitating ballerinas.
Numerous clothing shops from various regions and styles. Milliners (hat makers), cobblers, and jewelers...
Shops that provide ingredients for Alchemists and magicians and potioners. Poisons of various sorts available at less reputable and harder to find locations.
Various sorts of illicit entertainment.. and in a fantasy world there would be a LOT of different offerings here I'd guess... What would a doppleganger/shapechanger prostitute be worth???
Bounty hunters and adventurers guilds of various sorts. Stables for horses as well as fantastical mounts.
Imagination could create shops of numerous kinds and services based off even low level spells.... Continual flame torch sellers etc...
So, I'm running a game in Ustalav (Not Carrion Crown, just a semi sandbox thing) I'm stating out the towns, and I'm trying to collate what types of shops would be in the various cities and whatnot. You know, you have:
Blacksmiths
Fletchers
Armorsmihs
Alchemist/Apothecaries
General Stores
Map Stores
Book Stores (& Spell Shops)
Jewelry Stores
Clothing Stores
Inns/Bars/Brothels
Mechanics ShopAnything I'm missing? Im sure there is a good bit.
Don't forget the coopers, wainwrights and rope-makers!
Also: not all shops are shops. Fishmongers will likely have a cart, and a grinder not even that. Also: there will be hawkers looking to buy rather than sell, like dealers in rags or scrap metals.
Milliner!! (Hat maker)
How dark/light-hearted is the world or city?
Milliner!! (Hat maker)
How dark/light-hearted is the world or city?
you reverse ninja'd me by an hour+10 :)
you reverse ninja'd me by an hour+10 :)Milliner!! (Hat maker)
How dark/light-hearted is the world or city?
BAH! How did I miss that! :) That's just a +1 to your comment then :-D
Probably the most unusual "shop" I've put in any of my campaigns was a gnome illusionist who ran a combat simulator for training adventurers. He'd cast illusions for the party to fight so they could learn to fight properly. Had one party that actually used the service to good effect.
Tanners would definitely be on the outskirts. Way on the outskirts. Near the slaughterhouse.
Other possibilities not yet mentioned:
Red light district
Restaurants
Toymaker (this was actually a common profession even in medieval times)
Instead of "clothing stores" many medieval towns actually had tailors/seamstresses who made clothing to order. Clothes back then were usually either homespun or else were tailor made (thus the commonality of the name "Tailor" today.) There weren't many places you went in to buy pre-made clothes.
Livery stables were also common.
Barbershops were places people went for haircuts, shaves and healing, including light surgery (the red and white barber pole is an abstraction of the bloody white bandages that would be hung out to dry which advertised the activities within).
Although not a "shop" many medieval towns had an area for entertainment, with jugglers, poets, actors, etc who performed for a fee and could be hired for special events.
Every decent medieval fantasy town should have a tobacco shop selling fine pipes and tobacco...
Milliner!! (Hat maker)
How dark/light-hearted is the world or city?
Its Ustalav, so.... fantasy Transylvania. Very dark indeed.
By the way, thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I appreciate it.
Dotting. Been having trouble with this myself and this thread is a gold mine.
Mortician and casket maker
Couldnt be bothered reading them all, but dont think it was said.
Brothel
Best thing to do, look at kingmaker rules for towns. Lists heaps. Also things like age of empires and warcraft III etc
Since it's grim area, no reason to not have the tannery in the middle of the city (like revolutionary era Paris, talk about a foul location). The ingredients of that trade could go a long way towards building how bad a place is. Same thing goes for slaughterhouses (Chicago, until the last one closed made the whole city stink like blood).
Don't forget shops specializing in services like scribes, barristers/solicitors (types of lawyers), sages, security (town watch only did so much, it's mostly a property owners responsibility to secure his property), and sanitation (hiring somebody to come round and collect full chamber pots is nice, and the contents can be used to make gunpowder or fertilizer).
Couldnt be bothered reading them all, but dont think it was said.
Brothel
Best thing to do, look at kingmaker rules for towns. Lists heaps. Also things like age of empires and warcraft III etc
Clearly you didn't read the first post, because I said brothels. :-P
well, i suppose there will have to be 2 brothels in the town then =p
Here's a list I got from the old Haven module:
Business Types
i. Foodstuffs
a) vintner
b) Brewer
c) Greengrocer
d) Drygoods
e) Dairy
f) Butcher
g) Baker
h) Patisserie
i) Confectionary
j) Victualer
k) Suttler
ii. Clothing & Fabrics
a) Tailor
b) Seamstress
c) Haberdasher
d) Coutourier
e) Cordwainer
f) Weaver
g) Spinner
h) Lacemaker
i) Furrier
j) Dyer
k) Jewler
l) Perfumer
m) Cosmetitian
n) Barber
o) Hairdresser
iii. Various & Sundries
a) Chandler
b) Corder
c) Apothecary
d) Potter
e) Silversmith
f) Goldsmith
g) Blacksmith
h) Weaponeer
i) Armorer
j) Bowyer
k) Fletcher
l) Glazier
m) Leatherer
n) Woodcarver
o) Toymaker
p) Locksmith
q) Watchmaker
r) Carpetier
s) Furnituremaker
t) Cabinetmaker
u) Carriagemaker
v) Wainwright
w) Basketmaker
x) Cooper
y) Tanner
z) Saddler
aa) Antiques
bb) Secondhand Merchandise
cc) Luthier
dd) Instrument maker
iv. Food Services, Lodging, & Entertainment
a) Inn
b) Tavern
c) Festhall
d) Restaurant
e) Gaming Hall
f) Arena
g) Hotel
h)Boardinghouse
How about some Ustalav-specific things, like a Harrower, Varisian crafts, a shop that sells monster-hunting gear (you can even tie this in to the Order of the Palatine Eye and have the shopkeeper be a member of the Order). Don't forget the embalmer and the gravestone shop.
And people hawking relics (fingerbones, teeth, holy symbols) of Pharismain saints.
There are numerous types of shops.
Also don't forget a doranson. A special shop that buys and sells anything.
Doranson's are the medieval equivalent of a large department store and were common in small-mid sized communities where it was more efficient.
They are effectively a general store combined with the apothecary,
Smitheries, and the local Slave Trader. Sometimes it would be split into 2-3 buildings each with a separate theme and such. This allows similar professionals, such as blacksmiths, weaponsmiths, and armorsmiths, to share supplies, cost, and equipment.
Common Goods/Services Sold/Traded/Provided:
-Slaves
-Weapons
-Armorsmith
-Blacksmith
-Herbalist
There are some very excellent web resources out there.
http://citygen.crystalballsoft.com/index.php
http://www.rpglibrary.org/utils/meddemog/
http://www.worldthroughthelens.com/family-history/old-occupations.php
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/A_Magical_Medieval_City_Guide_(DnD_Other)/Arou nd_Town