Creating a Town, City, or Big City

Table 1: Settlement Size

Settlement	Families	Notes
Thorpe	Fewer than 20	Administered by a nearby Village
Village	20-1,000	Temple, maybe an Inn/Tavern, definitely a pub
Town	1,000-8,000	Temples, Inns/Taverns. Usually fortified above 2,000
City	8,000-12,000	Fortified. All building types are possible
Big City	12,000+	Fortified, may have equal to a town outside the fortifications

Typically a small town will be a Market Town or the seat of a Duke or Earl. Towns of this size are generally within an 8 hour walk of each other, ensuring that no villages in between are further than 4 hour walk from one market town or the other.

A city is definitely a Market Town. It might be the seat of a Duke or Earl or a Free City run by Merchants. A big City tends to be a really old city. Cities are generally within a 3 day walk of each other. Big cities tend to be one per Kingdom.

Table 2: Government

1d20	Settlements
01	No one (anarchy)
02-14	Autocrat (Baron, or Earl)
15-18	Council (Guilds or Town Council)
19	Overlord (Conqueror or appointee of)
20	Secret Syndicate (roll again for who appears in charge)

Wards

Towns and Cities are divided into wards. This makes creating the place easier as different ward combinations ensure towns that feel different. Each ward will have different building types and encounters tables. Table 3 shows the different Ward combinations and Table 4 provides some interesting additional districts that depend upon the settlement (upon a river or ocean, monotheism or polytheism) so it seemed best to separate them from the more random tables.

Table 3: Wards

Town	City	Big City	Wards
01-05	--	--	High Town, Peasant Town
06-10	--	--	Crafters Ward, Peasant Town
11-15	--	--	Crafters Ward, Poor Ward
16-20	--	--	Merchant Ward, Poor Ward
--	19-20	01-15	Admin Ward, Crafters Ward, Merchant Ward, Poor Ward, Wealthy District,
--	--	16-20	Admin Ward, Crafters Ward, Merchant Ward, Poor Ward, Peasant Town, Wealthy District,

We've included numbers on Table 4 because we're suckers for tables but the GM should select these wards depending upon the Town's location. 

Table 4: Supplemental Wards

1d20	Supplemental Wards
01-19	Castle Ward
20-30	City Walls
31-49	Dockyards
50-69	Foreign/Ethnic Ward
70-89	Outside the walls
90-00	Temple Ward

The economic base indicates what is done locally and sold/traded in the town markets. The GM should roll once on Table 5 per Ward. That is not to say that a ward has anything to do with the economic base, bu the wards are a rough thumbnail of size. The GM is encouraged to cheat if they know what is grown/sold in the region already. 

Table 5: Economic Base

1d100	Base
01-10	Barley and oats farming
11-15	Nuts and olives farming
16-29	Wheat or cereal grain farming
30-34	Cotton farming
35-39	Fruit orchards
40-45	Cabbages and beets farming
46-49	Hardwood lumber
50-55	Cattle
56-59	Fish
60-79	Sheep or goats
80-82	Iron or copper mining
83-84	Gold or silver mining
85-86	Clay or granite mining
87-88	Quartz or salt mining
89-90	Peat or coal mining
91-00	Trade

Admin Ward
Free Cities, that is cities without a castle or lord, build administrative districts for public proclamations, government meetings, and public punishment (gibbets and stocks).

Table 6: Buildings, Admin Ward

Square/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-04	01-04	01-03	Arena/Theater
05-06	05	--	Public House
07	06	--	Fortress
08	07-08	04-08	Manor/Palace

Castle District

Castles are usually built to defend a settlement or to keep it under control. 

Table 7: Buildings, Castle Ward 

1d20	Building
01	Motte & Bailey
02	Tower-house
03-04	Keep
05-06	Keep with outer walls
07-08	Concentric Castle

City/Town Walls
Not really a Ward but city walls do deserve some attention on their own to determine the type and the folks that might linger about or the inns that might cluster near city gates to provide stabling and room & board for folks visiting the settlement. Some towns allow buildings to be built right up against the walls, others keep a buffer between the walls and nearby buildings for security sake. Strangers are generally not allowed to walk on top of the walls and nobody except guards are allowed free access to the gatehouses. Typically if any road in a settlement is paved with cobblestones it will be the ones that pass through the city gates.

Table 8: Buildings, Walls

Entrance	Walls	Buildings
01-05	--	Gatehouse
06	--	No gate
07-08	--	Inn
--	01-04	Stone Walls with tower
--	05	Wooden Walls with wooden towers
--	06	Earthen Berm/Moat
--	07-08	Walls and moat or Concentric walls

Crafters Ward

As a settlement grows the crafters often group together and build guild houses to represent their needs to the local government. Crafter townhouses typically double as living space and workspace so the district itself serves the purpose of a market in settlements without an actual market. Leatherworkers and butchers are often segregated from the crafters Ward, usually on bridges whenever possible, so they can dump their waste into a river whenever possible. Beyond those two businesses the Crafters ward is pretty average sanitation wise and will rarely have cobblestones except upon the main road.

Table 9: Buildings, Crafters Ward

Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-03	--	Crafters Guild Hall
04-05	01-02	Crafter work/home
--	03-05	Residence, poor
06-07	06	Townhomes
08	07-08	Public House

Dockyards

Any settlement on a river or sea is likely to have dockyards to enable larger ships to dock and load and unload cargo. Such areas tend to develop businesses dedicated to sailors (taverns and public houses) and maritime trade (Warehouses, Fish markets, etc). Typically night soil and garbage will be dumped into the harbor. Roads may have cobblestone. Docks will be wood or stone depending upon the wealth of the city. Privately hired guards are typically used to defend people and property in the dockyards, these private soldiers rarely care to get involved beyond their specific orders which has helped encourage criminal gangs who infest the dockyards.

Table 10: Buildings, Dockyards

Wharfage/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-02	01-04	--	Fishmarket
03	05-06	--	Mariners Guild Hall
04	--	01-03	Public House
05	07	--	Tavern
06-08	08	04-08	Warehouse

Foreign/Ethnic Enclave

A foreign/Ethnic enclave is a settlement within a larger settlement. The character of the foreign enclave depends upon the foreign/ethnic group. The Portuguese enclaves in Macao and Nagasaki were very different than the Jewish enclaves in York and Venice and all would be different from a High Elf Enclave anywhere.

Table 11: Buildings, Foreign/Ethnic

Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
--	01-04	Residence, poor
--	05-06	Ruined building (roll again to determine kind)
01-04	07	Tavern
05-08	08	Townhomes

High Town

At some point as a town grows the wealthy move into proximity to each other. Often this is on the higher ground (thus the name) but not always. High Town may have cobblestones on the streets and the market.

Table 12: Buildings, High Town

Square/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
--	01-02	01-05	Crafter work/home
--	03-06	06-08	Townhomes
01-03	--	--	Market
04-05	--	--	All Guild Hall
--	07-08	--	Tavern
06-07	--	--	Temple
08	--	--	Inn

Merchant's Ward

A Merchants Ward is full of wealthy homes, warehouses, and a large market. Night soil will be taken away, rats captured, streets cleaned and there are usually a horde of private guards to keep the place safe. The Merchants Ward will have cobblestones on the streets and the market.  

Table 13: Buildings, Merchant Ward

Square/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-02	--	--	Guild Hall
03-04	--	--	Market
05-07	--	--	Merchants Guild Hall
08	01-04	--	Merchant Trading House
--	05-06	01-02	Tavern
--	07-08	--	Wealthy Home
--	--	03-08	Warehouse

Outside the Walls

Small settlements often grow up outside the gates of larger settlements to take advantage of the safety provided by a cities walls and to cater to the needs of those that are unable/unwilling to go into the city for some reason. Eventually if the Outside the walls becomes big enough the city may build a wall to protect the area as well. Any streets or roads in the outside the walls will be packed earth. 

Table 14: Buildings, Outside the Walls

Near Gate	Main	Buildings
01	01-03	Cemetery
02	04-07	Commons
03-07	--	Inn
--	08	Necropolis
08	--	Ruined building (roll again to determine kind)

Peasant Town

Peasant town is the informal name for a part of a town that is very similar to a village with the same peasant hovels. Each home in a Peasant town typically has a garden plot/field behind them to grow supplemental food and raise livestock (even in an urban setting). Because of this Peasant towns are smelly and noisy. When the settlement grows and enough owners replace the garden plot/field with buildings to rent out the Peasant town will become a Poor Ward.

Table 15: Buildings, Peasant Town

Main	Buildings
01-07	Residence, Peasant
08	Public House

Poor Ward

A Poor Ward is similar to a peasant town except the small gardens fields for each plot have been replaced by buildings rented out to urban workers. This makes the area far more crowded and creates a warren of alleys and back areas. The low tax values of the area and general disdain for lower classes by those that run settlement tend to make the area worse with little or no sanitation removal or attempts by guard to keep the peace. Poor Wards will have dirt main roads with side streets in alleys covered in a layer of mud and dung.

Table 16: Buildings, Poor Ward

Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-02	--	Gambling Hall
03	01	Public House
04	02-05	Residence, poor
05	06	Ruined building (roll again to determine kind)
06-07	--	Tavern
08	07-08	Thieves Guild (roll again to determine host building)

Temple Ward

A Temple Ward will not be found in a monotheistic culture. In such cultures the temples will be spread around the settlement to better serve the populace. Most temples will be surrounded by walled gardens and the district itself is often walled off with a guarded gate to keep the riff-raff out at night. Night soil is taken away, rats are removed, and there is usually someone to clean up any kind of mess. The temple ward will have cobblestones on the streets and the square.

Table 17: Buildings, Temple Ward

Square/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-03	--	--	Great Temple
04	--	--	Park
08	01-05	--	Temple
--	06-08	01-08	Wealthy home

Wealthy Ward

Once a city becomes large enough (and typically after a fire clears out some housing) the wealthy folks start to segregate themselves into districts for sanitation, and security reasons. Night soil will be taken away, rats captured, streets cleaned and there is usually guards (city or private) to keep the place safe. The wealthy district will have cobblestones on the streets and the square.

Table 18: Buildings, Wealthy Ward

Square/Plaza	Main	Sidestreet	Buildings
01-02	--	--	Greenway/Park
03	01	--	Library
04-05	02	--	Theater
06	03	--	University
07-08	04-08	01-08	Residence, Wealthy

Oh, and don't forget to name things such as taverns and inns. If you run out of name ideas you can use something like the tavern name generator.

Encounters: Rural Encounters (aka the Manor or settled areas)

Rural Encounters are the encounters on the roads and trails throughout the manor but not in the actual settlements. These are relatively safe areas although bandits might be about hiding in the waste or in the hedgerows that outline most fields. If one has to trek an hour or two to the next field that stretch would not qualify as rural but would be wilderness.

Table 1: Rural Encounters

Day	Night	Encounter
01-05	01-02	Noble
06-49	02-09	Peasant/Townsman
50-59	10-11	Cleric/Priest
60-64	12	Wizard/Hermet
65-74	13	Merchant/Crafter
75-84	14-19	Soldiers/Forester
85-89	20-25	Special Encounter
90-00	26-00	Nothing Special

Table 2: Rural Noble

1d6	Noble
01	Noble with large entourage passing through
02	Noble with small entourage passing through
03	Noble alone, passing through
04	Noble on business in village (holding judicial court, collecting taxes, etc)
05	Nobles representative on business in village (discussing crop rotation with village head, etc)
06	Nobles small entourage, Noble not present

Table 3: Rural Peasants/Townsmens

1d6	Peasant/Townsman
01-04	Working hard (working in fields, watching sheep or cattle)
05	Celebrating (birth, marriage, harvest)
06	Trying to sell produce or fish

Table 4: Rural Cleric/Priest

1d6	Cleric/Priest
01	High ranking Holy Person traveling with entourage of 2d6
02-03	Cleric/Priests doing priestly things (wedding, baptism, blessing crops, etc)
04	Cleric/Priests Helping peasants (working in field, teaching literacy)
05	Church is landholder and 1d6 Cleric/Priests are collecting taxes
06	2d6 Cleric/Priests arresting someone for Witchcraft

Table 5: Rural Wizard

1d6	Wizard
01	Wizard traveling with Entourage of 1d6 (bodyguards, apprentices)
02-04	Wizard traveling alone
05	Two Wizards engaged in a rising conflict
06	In disguise (roll on Rural Encounter table again for disguise)

Table 6: Rural Merchant/Crafter

1d6	Merchant/Crafter
01	Merchant caravan of 1d6 wagons (with guards)
02	Merchant caravan of 1d4 wagons (no guards)
03-04	Single Merchant Wagon
05	Crafter buying raw goods (charcoal, wood, wool, etc)
06	Peddler selling crafts to villagers

Table 7: Rural Soldier/Forester

1d6	Soldier/Forester
01-03	2d6 Soldiers/Foresters traveling from here to there
04	1d6 Soldiers/Foresters hunting
05	1d6 Soldiers/Foresters Searching for bandits/monsters
06	1d6 Soldiers/Foresters Engaged in military action, will likely harass anyone they come across

Table 8: Rural Bandits

1d6	Bandits
01-04	1d8 Bandits waiting in ambush to demand a toll
05	1d8 Bandits waiting in ambush to demand a toll
06	1d8 Caught unaware, counting their ill gotten booty

Encounters: Thorpe and Village

I've never been happy with typical wandering encounters tables in an urban setting. First they tend to give the impression that the encounter was the only person/thing on the street which is silly in an urban setting. To change that I use an additional roll for crowd size. After all, even if there is no encounter of note there might be a lot of people milling about.

Table 1: Thorpe/Hamlet crowd size

Time	Main
Day	1d6
Night	--

Secondly most encounters tables tend to have a one-size fits all aspect (DMG, I'm looking at you) with massive cities using the same encounter table as a small town. To change that I've customized encounter tables by the ward because the craftsmanship ward should feel different than the dockyards. Also I like the idea of sub-tables that can be the same from ward to ward to save effort, that can be customized to fit a Thorpe if necessary, or just used to give the encounter something to do. Lastly we have Special Encounters which is designed to allow the GM to drop module related encounters into the system.

Table 2: Thorpe Encounters

Day	Night	Encounter
01-05	01-10	Animals (chickens/goats/swine)
06-10	11-20	Animals (dogs/rats)
11	21-22	Beggar/Cripple/Etc (see undesirables table)
12-15	23	Craftsman (see merchant/crafter table)
16	24	Criminal (see undesirables table)
--	25-26	Drunk/Drunks (roll again to see who)
17-20	27-28	Farmer/Etc (see peasant table)
21-30	29-30	Fisherman/monster (see peasant table)
31	31	Foreigner/Barbarian
32-33	--	Hunter/Trapper/etc (see peasant table)
34-35	32-33	Laborer/etc (see peasant table)
36-37	--	Peddler (see merchant/crafter table)
38-40	34-35	Teamster (see peasant table)
41-43	36	Elite (see elite table)
44-55	37-45	Special Encounter
56-00	46-00	Nothing Special

Table 3: Village crowd size

Time	Main	Side street
Day	1d12	1d6
Night	1d3	--

Table 4: Village Encounters

Day	Night/Alley	Encounter
01-05	01-05	Animals (chickens/goats)
06-10	06-10	Animals (dogs/rats)
11-12	11-15	Beggar/Cripple/Etc (see undesirables table)
13-20	16-20	Craftsman (see merchant/crafter table)
20	20	Criminal (see undesirables table)
--	21-40	Drunk/Drunks (roll again to see who)
21-22	41-50	Farmer/Etc (see peasant table)
23-27	51-55	Fisherman/monster (see peasant table)
28-29	56-59	Foreigner/Barbarian
30-40	60-61	Hunter/Trapper/etc (see peasant table)
41-42	62-63	Laborer/etc (see peasant table)
--	64-65	Peddler (see merchant/crafter table)
43-44	66-67	Teamster (see peasant table)
45-50	68-69	Elite (see elite table)
51-60	70-79	Special Encounter
61-00	80-00	Nothing Special

Table 5: Undesirables table

1d6	Encounter
01-02	Racing through crowd (roll again to determine who is chasing them)
03	Working crowd
04	Visible on roof
05-06	Roughing up someone (roll again to determine who)

Table 6: Peasant table

1d6	Encounter
01	Avoiding eye contact
02	Looking for a fight
03-05	On the job
06	Appears to be following

Table 7: Merchant/Crafters table

1d6	Encounter
01-03	Guiding a wagon/cart
04-05	Unloading a wagon/cart
06	Arguing about their business

Table 8: Elite table

1d6	Encounter
01-03	Soldiers from the manor
04-05	Priest and/or acolytes
06	Lord and entourage

And of course the GM should customize each and every table as necessary to fit their campaign.

Creating a Medieval Manor: Part II (Filling out the Settlements)

Table 1: Settlement Size

Settlement	Families	Notes
Thorpe	Fewer than 20	Administered by a nearby Village of the same Manor
Village	20-1,000	Temple, maybe an Inn/Tavern, definitely a pub
Town	1,000-8,000	Temples, Inns/Taverns. Usually fortified above 2,000
City	8,000-12,000	Fortified. All building types are possible
Big City	12,000+	Fortified, may have equal to a town outside the fortifications

Initially we intended to relate how we create villages and thorpe maps but our own system is more than a little complicated and the illustrations required to make sense of it all are beyond us so we decided to scuttle the idea in favor of actual village maps which will probably be more readily useful for most GMs.

What types of buildings in the Thorpe
A thorpe will primarily be peasant hovels with the chance of a Public House. Peasant life is rough and they like to drink a lot, and most can't/won't afford tavern rates so pubs developed. In this context a pub is simply a normal peasant hovel dedicated to serving ale or small beer to the locals. Most locals brew their own ale or small beer and will provide the latest batch to the pub for distribution/sale when ready (presumably the provider drinks free for the duration of their batch). It's all very friendly if everyone knows your name, less so for strangers. 

Table 2: Is there a pub?

1d8	Well do they?
01-07	Yes
08	No

In case it becomes necessary to know what the owner of each peasant hovel does we have table 3.

Table 3: Occupants Occupations

Thorpe	Village	What do they do?
01	--	Hunter
02-08	01	Shepard (swine/sheep/goats)
09-10	02-09	Farmer
11	10	Laborer/Jack-of-all-trades
12	11-12	Special (works in mill/manor/temple/illegal

What type of buildings in a village center
The 'center' of larger villages may develop the buildings on Table 4. Roll 1d6 and roll that many times on Table 4 to determine the buildings in the village center. Any remaining buildings will be regular peasant hovels.

Table 4: Urban Center Buildings

Square/Green	Main Street	Building
01-06	01-08	Townhomes
07	--	All Guild Hall
08-09	09	Tavern
10	--	Inn
11	10	Den of iniquity, thieves guild, smugglers hangout, rebels, cult, etc. Roll again to find out what type of building fronts the operation

Oh, and don't forget to name things such as taverns and inns. If you run out of name ideas you can use something like the tavern name generator.