-Ask Ungrak The Troll

- Site Review

- Editor's note

What I really want to get across in my idea of urban adventure construction is the successful use of "domino effect" styled thinking. Cities and city life thrive on social interaction; indeed, cities are built around people who want to be close to other people for myriad reasons. The trick in DMing a city game for a bunch of roleplayers is to get them as involved in the city's workings as possible, without overwhelming the party or the DM with the vast possibilities.

Interaction really is the name of the game in the city; while the occasional cad or bounder gets into a scuffle with the constabulary, the key difference between most traditional "dungeons" and cities is the focus on actual role-playing. Even forest or other wilderness settings are just dungeons without walls - the chance for meeting another group travelling is much, much smaller in a large open space, even assuming the groups actually seek one another or otherwise wish to contact peacefully. In the city, though, you *know* you'll meet someone, and success depends on how you interact with them, not on swordsmanship or magical powers.

The surroundings of the city should be presented deliberately to the party. What I mean is that the familiar (or even unfamiliar) locales of the city, whether taverns, smithies, intersections, or simply landmarks, should be doled out sparingly, added upon as the PCs become familiar and comfortable with their starting area. When moving to another city a person tends to stay close to home at first, learning the immediate lay of the land. They learn what resources are nearby; a restaurant or other place to procure food, a shop for necessities, major points by which to navigate, etc. Still, not all the important sites should (or logically would) be located near home. This allows the DM to begin to draw the party out of what would otherwise be an insular existence encompassing no more than the equivalent of a single city block: as the PCs develop needs, wants, or habits, putting the shop which fills that need a few minutes downtown can open up avenues of discovery (literally and figuratively!).

This idea holds similarly true for NPCs; new characters in town might make one or two initial, tentative contacts at first, becoming familiar with the corner shopkeeper or the serving maid at the tavern, before going on to meet other people. Or, for example, they encounter a contact in their chosen field - a veteran fighter patrolling for the town guard, or a local devout doing good deeds near the local temple. Once there are familiar faces in town, the PCs will be more apt to branch out and meet even newer people, and the most probable route to these encounters is through existing NPCs. Remember, game-master characters know other characters, too. The veteran on the guard would likely know a reliable blacksmith across town who gives good deals on weapons, as well as who to talk to about a job with the guard. The religious NPC would know the local temple personnel, especially the most public figures such as high priests or ministers, and might know something about their relationships as well.

Now that the idea is in place, how could an enterprising DM put this theory into his own game? The "domino effect" mentioned above is one way to approach this PC tendency of branching outward from familiar contacts.

This requires a little work on the DM's part (but what campaign doesn't?). Try making a notecard or crib sheet with each of the major groups in town listed. For my examples, I'll use the set-up from my post above. With each group, list a few short phrases to remind you of their possible interests, goals, and immediate activities.

Now you have a clearer idea of what each group stands to accomplish. You should also notice that group goals sometimes conflict or coincide; this is where the real relationships and complexities lie. As a DM, your job will be to draw players into these "hot spots" to keep the conflict, and the game, rolling.

To set up the first domino, simply pick any one group from the list that would be interested in working with or against the PCs, and why. For example, if your group is somewhat roguish they might be approached by one of the groups of thieves in town. Let's arbitrarily pick the smaller rival thieves.

A contact from the rival guild comes first to get the PCs to join up. How this is done is up to you, but it should reflect the attitude of the group towards the PCs and in general - this first encounter often sets the tone for future relations. If the thieves are harsh, attempting to blackmail or shanghai the PCs into service, they might well turn immediately to an opposing group, or worse yet, extricate themselves from dealing with *any* group in town. If the rival thieves come on with gifts, ingratiating comments, or other positive tactics, they will be much more likely to link up (and set themselves in position to deal with all the opposing factions).

This first domino is the ignition of the campaign; how the PCs react will ultimately decide the actions of the majority of the other factions in town. Let's suppose that the PCs decline the rival thieves' guild: this automatically establishes the rivals as an enemy. It also makes the established guild friendly towards the group, depending on what happens next. You see, the rival thieves can count the established guild, the Barony Guard, the town militia, the merchants, and the clergy as enemies, and the political radicals as friends. Any one of these enemies may approach to try their turn at courting the PCs - again, it is your choice as DM, but keep in mind that only a couple of these groups will have noticed the PCs at first. In this case, the Barony Guard comes forth to speak with the PCs regarding their contact by the thieves. If the PCs turn friendly toward the Guard, the main guild of thieves will default from friendly to enemy status - the PCs associate with their main foes! Also, the political radicals, already miffed by the party's law-abiding ways in turning down the first set of thieves, are put off by association with the Guard and swear to somehow, later, undermine the group. The clergy, meanwhile, also become friendly to the PCs, and the town militia (who resent the Guard, but hate the thieves more) will be neutral, watching closely and developing a relationship based on later actions by the PCs.

All of these relationships are now already set into motion by the first encounter with the thieves. Even more complexities can be introduced on an individual level, with NPCs and personal agendas to consider, but for now the party has begun to strike alliances with factions in town that will probably persist through the campaign, lending depth and intrigue to the mix. As in the example in my earlier post, not even half of the factions at large in the city are involved in the action so far, meaning that there is still plenty of the room for the DM to experiment and the PCs to branch out further. With a modicum of work, the existing groups can be modified, new splinter groups or interlopers added, and alliances between groups changed by "off-screen" events. Good luck with the campaign!

-Neal Stidham aka [PaRaDoX BoY]

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