I like city crawls with relatively simply tables based around who, what, and where - the "how" is determined by then GM after all the dice hit the table.
A simple table is shown below. In practice, these tables are more fleshed out, with much more detail and interesting bits, but I simply need a table to illustrate how this works for a city crawl:
The way this works is simple: roll 3 dice and see what you get: (5,4,4) an obviously wealthy individual, very out of place; worriedly consulting some papers and looking about; (in) a tavern full of people minding their own business. That's got some teeth to it, leaves a lot of questions, but it's pretty mundane. We need a twist! But we don't want to overuse twists, so we'll add a trick - an additional column that only occurs when you roll multiples of a certain number. Luckily we did!
So now we have this wealthy woman, looking at her papers and glancing around the room of this tavern. Suddenly someone at a table keels over, revealing his sore covered hands and face. That's when you see what the drawing the woman is holding - a sketch of the man dead on the floor. This works out well, opens up a lot more questions, and is a lot less mundane.
The trick to generating tables like this is in how you create your categories and how you drill down into it. For a city you might begin with one who/what/where table at a very high level - the who listing large guilds, groups, or factions; the what listing common events in the city; and the where listing districts. Then take a step downward and make a table for each faction, listing members of the faction, what you might find members doing, and where they might be found. You might also make a table for each district, listing the types of folk, activities, and locations found there.
Tables created like this do a lot to describe an area that prose cannot do. Over the next few posts, I intend to illustrate this, drawing up a city and set of factions and districts described almost entirely by tables.
A simple table is shown below. In practice, these tables are more fleshed out, with much more detail and interesting bits, but I simply need a table to illustrate how this works for a city crawl:
| d6 | Who | What | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A small crying child | Being kicked and beaten by a small group of folk | An abandoned building, dark and creaky |
| 2 | A small gang of thugs, looking for action | Pursued by a wild animal | An alley just off the main streets |
| 3 | (a recurring character) | Running. Just running | A disreputable shop selling stolen goods |
| 4 | A blind priest, looking for alms | Worriedly consulting some papers and looking about | A cafe or tavern, full of people minding their own business |
| 5 | A obviously wealthy individual, very out of place | Eating a very large meal, and offering to share | A workshop full of carpenters and masons, working hard |
| 6 | A wandering minstrel, storyteller, or entertainer | Entering a masquerade party | A small park or garden, slightly secluded and a bit private |
The way this works is simple: roll 3 dice and see what you get: (5,4,4) an obviously wealthy individual, very out of place; worriedly consulting some papers and looking about; (in) a tavern full of people minding their own business. That's got some teeth to it, leaves a lot of questions, but it's pretty mundane. We need a twist! But we don't want to overuse twists, so we'll add a trick - an additional column that only occurs when you roll multiples of a certain number. Luckily we did!
| d6 | Twist |
|---|---|
| 1 | And everything is on fire |
| 2 | And the authorities show up, cracking skulls |
| 3 | And no one can see them but you |
| 4 | And someone suddenly dies from a foul disease |
| 5 | But they're completely still, as a statue |
| 6 | Suddenly, bears! |
So now we have this wealthy woman, looking at her papers and glancing around the room of this tavern. Suddenly someone at a table keels over, revealing his sore covered hands and face. That's when you see what the drawing the woman is holding - a sketch of the man dead on the floor. This works out well, opens up a lot more questions, and is a lot less mundane.
The trick to generating tables like this is in how you create your categories and how you drill down into it. For a city you might begin with one who/what/where table at a very high level - the who listing large guilds, groups, or factions; the what listing common events in the city; and the where listing districts. Then take a step downward and make a table for each faction, listing members of the faction, what you might find members doing, and where they might be found. You might also make a table for each district, listing the types of folk, activities, and locations found there.
Tables created like this do a lot to describe an area that prose cannot do. Over the next few posts, I intend to illustrate this, drawing up a city and set of factions and districts described almost entirely by tables.
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