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Patron Voted Map | City Street & Shops Discussion!
🕑 Added 2021-06-14 16:47:54 +0000 UTCAlright, you have voted!
And the winner is City Streets & Shops!
So, now I want to know what you would most like to see represented in this map, both in the streets themselves, as well as in the variety of shops that might be portrayed.
One thought I had was to join THIS map with the previous Bent Coin Brothel map and make that a larger space (in the same world), and have some additional shops, homes and maybe some more central area (like a square/fountain).
As for shop ideas, let me which of the following would be most useful to you -- armorer, weaponsmith, general blacksmith, herbalist, food store, general store, magic shop, potion/alchemy shop, poison shop, stables, mercenary company for hire, another tavern, furs and hides, etc...
If you would NOT like to see this extended from the Bent Coin Brothel map (attached below), what style/feel would you like to see represented?
Speak now, or I'll....just do what I want, I guess. ;)
[Art by Floris Roding]
Comments
Kimberly Pauley
I'd love a herbalist, a dive bar/tavern (as the brothel is fairly upscale), armourer, blacksmith, maybe some things that are both upscale and low? I have some players/PCs that always love a bit of finery. Maybe a Curiousity Shoppe (could double as a magic shop as well or a Pawn Shop).
Frank Askvig
Maybe a bank for the thieves guilds to work or something like a east Indian trade company warehouse, maybe and abandoned house or even an abandoned city quater version.
Jeff Todd
I definitely like the idea of that -- store fronts, or shops that aren't immediately something an adventurer needs, but would totally exist within the city. Allows you to potentially use those shops/areas as potential sources of conflict (i.e. the local gang of assassins operate out of the Butcher's shop) where one would absolutely be in a city, but wouldn't necessarily be anywhere a PC would choose to go.
Patreonoob
I think one or two unusual shops would add options to the roleplaying aspect of the map. Maybe an undertaker or butcher? Something uncommon, or seemingly useless.
Sam Kahle
Yes, exactly. Urban environments are rarely planned then built in one go, they're haphazard and develop over time which leaves voids or clearings of "deadspace". Those interstitial spaces would give DMs the flexibility to create a battle location that's not obvious. I imagine using the map for shopping, etc as a social tool, but given that an area of the map isn't clearly visible/accessible, I can set up an encounter that they'd be 'spontaneously' pulled into after some time has passed in the urban setting.
Jeff Todd
Sam -- you mean like some slightly larger area, an urban "clearing" if you will, surrounded by a lot of buildings/cover, that would provide an area for an encounter that isn't immediately visible/accessible to the rest of the town/area easily?
Alaskankare
I like what you already suggested in your post. I might suggest a book store, stables with different styles of riding/pulling animals for sale. Lol exoctic pet shop? Clothing/Seamstress? Along with what you listed. Maybe a martial training club? Somewhere to help dms make players work into their newly found skills/feats. haha You just inspired me as a DM!
Alessandro Masi
The way I see it, if we're going down to the battlemap scale for a city, it needs to be designed for round-to-round considerations. Depending on the aesthetics of the city, we can conceive that a city would have 3 major layers: street-level, rooftop, and underground. The ground level should have plenty of areas for distraction or attraction: both open spaces for merchants or street preachers, and winding alleys to cut past the crowds. It's not useful in a map to have features that permanently block an area, so no permanent broken down carts or whatever, but it is useful to imagine where we DMs could place such obstacles to block certain areas. The underground could be a mix of catacombs, sewers, out-of-use mining tunnels, etc. These will have entrances on the street layer, so that fleeing monsters have clear areas that they can rise to terrorize the citizens, and flee once the heroes arrive. The rooftops should also have their own map so that it is clear how they can be navigated, like over tightropes, gaps, ziplines, etc.
Sam Kahle
An idea to throw in the mix for the city streets portion would be to include a portion/network of alleys or more secluded spaces, which can be used as a battlemap. The bent coin map is great, and I love the rooftop aspect, but having at least one area that doesn't have lots of visual surveillance would be very helpful.
Riley Vann
I'm very excited for this! I can't see any downside to having this map join with the brothel, but maybe keep the option to just have the brothel if someone just wanted to drop that into a city already established and mapped. I liked all your shop ideas. Just consider what kinds of shops a party would likely go to--potion, MU shop, blacksmith, weaponsmith, general store, etc. I have so much trouble mapping out towns that look interesting but also make sense, so I'm very excited to see this. Thanks and good luck!
