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View Full Version : Our Favorite Homebrew Cities (Concepts, Stats, Stories, Good Times)



LordErebus12
2013-06-28, 01:03 AM
Im wondering... are there any really well thought out homebrew cities out there? I figured I should create a topic where we all post a little bit about our favorite cities what we have been in, a little about them, maybe some hard stats even. Perhaps a DM has this one city they really like that they made, perhaps they could post them to share with us.

It could be a valuable resource to someone in a pitch, needing a concept to build off of. Anyways, I could use some more ideas for my campaign setting, and im drawing a blank. I could help me come up with my own ideas.

So i hope it goes well.

Edit: Any settlement of any size. Homebrew only. No core cities.

Kol Korran
2013-06-28, 01:27 AM
Are we talking just big cities or small settlements as well?

I imagine that Sigil (Planescape), Sharn (Eberron) and Waterdeep (FR) will come up. All are huge cities, very varied, with their own books.

There is Sasserine from the Savage Tide adventure path as well.

I usually shy from bit cities most times, way too complicated for me to plan or handle. But I do use smaller settlements. I like places up to 5,000 at most usually.

Tvtyrant
2013-06-28, 01:36 AM
My big city is Megara (in 3.5). It is a geographically isolated town that manages to have a huge population due to a mysterious phenomenon. There is a fountain at the center of the town which geysers out a healing liquid that has the effect of a Heal spell and a Regeneration spell. Removing the water turns it into normal water, so people are forced to come to the city.

Over the years Megara has become a lot like a medieval Las Vegas with brothels, casinos and hotels surrounded by a shack town to service it. Several major nations guarantee the cities safety so that they can heal their soldiers/rich people in the waters, so the town is for its owners fantastically prosperous and secure.

Megara has three major power groups; the gangsters who want to siphon off the money, the socialists who want to collectivize labor in the town in the form of workers guilds, and the traditional leaders who want it all to stay the way it is. All three organizations are headed by the same individual, an Aboleth Mage who is slowly making the city more accepting to dangerous species so that it can live there openly and raise its children without the threat of being killed.

LordErebus12
2013-06-28, 01:41 AM
Are we talking just big cities or small settlements as well?

I imagine that Sigil (Planescape), Sharn (Eberron) and Waterdeep (FR) will come up. All are huge cities, very varied, with their own books.

There is Sasserine from the Savage Tide adventure path as well.

I usually shy from bit cities most times, way too complicated for me to plan or handle. But I do use smaller settlements. I like places up to 5,000 at most usually.

Any settlement of any size. Homebrew only. No core cities.

kieza
2013-06-28, 02:49 AM
One that I used in my setting is Lyons' Falls. The city was founded by halfling refugees when they were displaced by the goblins about 800 years ago; initially, they carved their dwellings into the stony sides of a river canyon for concealment. About 450 years ago, humans moved into the area and founded the kingdom of Waystone, and the halflings swore fealty. When humans started living in the city, they no longer hid their dwellings, and so now the entire cliff face on each side of the canyon is covered in row after row of buildings at different heights, and there are dozens of sky bridges crossing the canyon. The city stretches for more than 3 miles along the canyon, and at the downstream end is the eponymous waterfall, emptying into a small lake far below.

At the falls end of the city is the Lifting District; the river is the quickest route to the sea from the metropolis of Waystone upstream, uninterrupted except for the waterfall. Here, there are scores of cargo cranes sticking out from the canyon walls, where goods are transferred up and down the falls--some of the biggest cranes can even lift entire river barges.

Further upriver is the Residential District, where level after level of homes are carved into the rock of the cliffside. The most prestigious houses are on the outer face of the cliff, where they receive direct sunlight. Further in are three to five more layers of homes, which get less and less light as you go deeper into the stone. Past the third layer, natural light is rarely seen. In the past, these slum layers were dim and poorly-ventilated; the only available light came from torches and oil lamps, and it could be risky to leave one burning unless you lived near one of the air shafts. Now, with small magical lights becoming more affordable, the slums have become more livable, though still not pleasant.

At the upstream end of the city is the Market District. Ships with cargoes passing through the city dock near the falls and the Lifting District, but goods for sale in the city are unloaded near the markets. The lower levels of the Market District are an open-air market teeming with hawkers and merchants selling their wares from stalls and carts. Higher up are established shops, and public spaces: parks, hanging gardens and plazas. Near the top of the cliffs, the district is home to restaurants, theaters, and other forms of entertainment. The upper level is also home to a pair of airship berths, one on each wall of the canyon. Once or twice a week, crowds gather on the balconies of the district to watch as an airship lowers itself into the canyon and maneuvers into its cradle.

The Clifftop district is split between the two sides of the canyon. On the south (which is usually downwind) are factories, stockyards, and other industries that require more open ground than is available in the canyon. On the north is a small residential area for those who prefer to avoid the vertiginous heights or enveloping darkness of cliffside dwellings. Most of the people living in Lyons' falls view the "topsiders" with a small amount of disdain; to them, the stairs and ladders and bridges are part of life, and they cannot understand why anyone would live in the city but not appreciate them.

LordErebus12
2013-06-28, 03:52 AM
One that I used in my setting is Lyons' Falls. The city was founded by halfling refugees when they were displaced by the goblins about 800 years ago; initially, they carved their dwellings into the stony sides of a river canyon for concealment. About 450 years ago, humans moved into the area and founded the kingdom of Waystone, and the halflings swore fealty. When humans started living in the city, they no longer hid their dwellings, and so now the entire cliff face on each side of the canyon is covered in row after row of buildings at different heights, and there are dozens of sky bridges crossing the canyon. The city stretches for more than 3 miles along the canyon, and at the downstream end is the eponymous waterfall, emptying into a small lake far below.

At the falls end of the city is the Lifting District; the river is the quickest route to the sea from the metropolis of Waystone upstream, uninterrupted except for the waterfall. Here, there are scores of cargo cranes sticking out from the canyon walls, where goods are transferred up and down the falls--some of the biggest cranes can even lift entire river barges.

Further upriver is the Residential District, where level after level of homes are carved into the rock of the cliffside. The most prestigious houses are on the outer face of the cliff, where they receive direct sunlight. Further in are three to five more layers of homes, which get less and less light as you go deeper into the stone. Past the third layer, natural light is rarely seen. In the past, these slum layers were dim and poorly-ventilated; the only available light came from torches and oil lamps, and it could be risky to leave one burning unless you lived near one of the air shafts. Now, with small magical lights becoming more affordable, the slums have become more livable, though still not pleasant.

At the upstream end of the city is the Market District. Ships with cargoes passing through the city dock near the falls and the Lifting District, but goods for sale in the city are unloaded near the markets. The lower levels of the Market District are an open-air market teeming with hawkers and merchants selling their wares from stalls and carts. Higher up are established shops, and public spaces: parks, hanging gardens and plazas. Near the top of the cliffs, the district is home to restaurants, theaters, and other forms of entertainment. The upper level is also home to a pair of airship berths, one on each wall of the canyon. Once or twice a week, crowds gather on the balconies of the district to watch as an airship lowers itself into the canyon and maneuvers into its cradle.

The Clifftop district is split between the two sides of the canyon. On the south (which is usually downwind) are factories, stockyards, and other industries that require more open ground than is available in the canyon. On the north is a small residential area for those who prefer to avoid the vertiginous heights or enveloping darkness of cliffside dwellings. Most of the people living in Lyons' falls view the "topsiders" with a small amount of disdain; to them, the stairs and ladders and bridges are part of life, and they cannot understand why anyone would live in the city but not appreciate them.

I really like this one. I might incorporate some part of it into my setting.

Eldan
2013-06-28, 06:44 AM
Caligo is the only one I ever invested a lot of work in. It was the first demiplane city to develop aethersailing technology, it has an interesting caste system and a nice amount of mystery in the flooded parts and the ports and waketown out in the aether is nicely culturally diverse.

I'd have to dig around if I have a full-write up somewhere. This is the longest one I could find.

Caligo
“The center of culture and sophistication in the Known Worlds. The cradle of civilisation and art. Home to all the greatest inventors, artificers and explorers. From here came the Aethership, the art of navigation, the founders and the guild. It is, quite simply, the greatest of all worlds.
We were born from hardship and turmoil, and we never grew complacent with what we had. We are the nexus of innovation.”
-Magister Calveria, Introduction to Caligan History

“It's a place to do business, and no doubt about that. The biggest, most diverse one in the Known Worlds, certainly. More money flows through the pockets of many a Caligan banker every day than flows through some Border Worlds in a lifetime. I don't much care, to be honest, whether it is better or worse than other worlds, it is a necessity.”
-Walgar Brebiniad, Guild Trader on the Fool's Gold

“It is a hellhole, in every definition of the word. The lower classes are listless wretches who care neither about sin, nor virtue. In the Undertow, a thousand criminals wallow in every secret vice. Their rulers are worse. They have made decadence an art, and call it a virtue. They are depraved beyond the imagination of other men, and the sooner a torch is taken to the entire World, the better, for whatever Caligo touches, it ruins.”
-Hierophant Delivrin as-Sambar of the Ascetic Monks of the Unfathomable Depth

“Well, yeah. Why do you think we came here?”
-Huskarl Rikard Torvaldson, a visitor

“I once met a girl, a girl from Caligo,
With eyes as deep as the sea.
And she told me that girl, that girl from Caligo
That she'd only ever love me.
But one day my girl, my girl from Caligo,
Was off with another man.
She left me my girl, my girl of Caligo
And I felt as if I might die.
And she said, my girl, my girl of Caligo,
When I just asked her “Why?”
“For I am a girl, and a girl of Caligo,
We lie just because we can.”
-Traditional Aetherfarer's Song

History
Caligo was always imagined as a safe haven for people. Twelve great magi came together to build a world as complete as they could make it, each contributing their specialty. They signed an accord, outlining the geography and the division of the land. It was planned that each of them would select fifty people from amongst those people they trusted most and deemed most worthy to form a new and better society.
The plan failed. Raskahan the Traitor, a Sahuagin shaman, saw his race die as the oceans of the prime changed to slime and acid or boiled away into the void. As a master of water and weather, he began to channel more and more of his power into Caligo, burying much of the fertile land under an ocean and introducing savage storms. Over the protests of the other signatories he began saving more and more of his people into Caligo, ignoring the limits they had set in order to make the new society sustainable.
Things went out of hand. The other signatories soon began fighting amongst themselves, as each began bringing in more people of their own to counter the Traitor's power. The elements of the new world became unbalanced, and the Signatories began to slay each other, until only the Traitor and two others remained, the Dragon Hyormir Stormheart and Elera Iriana, an accomplished Luminist.
In a final push, the Traitor tried to flood Caligo entirely. The waves rose and almost swallowed the land, and a powerful storm extinguished Caligo's sun. The other two signatories pushed back, in a disparate attempt to stop him. It is said that in this struggle, that consumed the life of all three and shattered Caligo's Heartstone, the final shape of Caligo was determined.
The surviving mortals found themselves in a difficult situation: they were many more than intended when the world was founded, and though Caligo was intended to offer luxury to the Signatories' chosen, it was now much diminished, devastated by the floods and storms and retaining little of its antediluvian beauty.
The remaining Chosen were few, but they were the most capable survivors by far, having been hand-selected by the Signatories. After deliberating the situation, they imposed a new philosophy and political system on the plane: the Living Houses.
From the outside, the system may seem strange and even cruel, but it has a certain brutal simplicity. The world of Caligo, so the Chosen, was intended to be inhabited by the best and the brightest, and to offer them all the comforts needed to preserve civilisation. However, there were simply not enough resources to offer this life to anyone. Life, they said, was to be enjoyed, and making everyone suffer hardship could not be the goal.
Therefore, they would divide the Caligans into two strata: the Living and the Unborn. The Unborn, legally declared not alive, were to do all “simple” work, from fishing to farming to mining, while all complicated craftsmanship, as well as the pursuits of politics, the arts, magic and science were left to the twelve Living Houses, made up of the Chosen. The Unborn were to have few rights and fewer resources, at least until they could prove their worth in some way and thereby be “born” into one of the Houses.
In effect, the Houses formed a rather traditional aristocracy, though one with the promise of elevation based on merit in many fields. Even in these days, the Caligans hold many contests every year, with the promise of Birth into one of the Living Houses if anyone's accomplishments were deemed extraordinary enough.
There are, in effect, only eight true Living Houses left today, and their power is much diminshed. House Corava has, in effect, been completely absorbed into the Shipwright's guild it founded. House Stormheart, born of the dragon Hyormir, consists of only one Living member, the Dragon Turtle of Clavis, who was the only creature chosen by the dragon as worthy. House Iriana has become the two magical orders of the Keepers of the Spring and the Starwardens, who are to keep watch over Sky Arch of Caligo and keep its weather and environment in its carefully preserved balance. While they still have a word in world politics, and one that is given much weight, their day-to-day activities leave them little time for world administration. The Dragon Turtle, instead of elevating mortals, has founded the School of the Water Dancers, a martial academy on Caligo's most outlying isles.
These Water Dancers have been officially in charge of Caligo's defenses for almost three hundred years now, ever since, in B.G.Y. 289, Nathri of the Zatavira swept over Raider's End and attempted to invade Caligo City, only to be stopped, under heavy losses, by Water Dancer students.
Caligo, however, was not always an innocent victim of Nathri attacks. The Mist Raiders are a traditional organisation with an ancient history. It was an outlet for martial tendencies amongst the Unborn. Every three years, raiding parties were formed and let out into the mist, to find shards, Nathri tribes or even other worlds, to attack and plunder anything worth bringing back to the perpetually resource-starved Caligo. These Raiders, some say, are direct spiritual ancestors to the Guild, the only known organisation foolish or brave enough to regularly launch often suicidal missions into the deadly desert of the Aether.

Geography
The world of Caligo is dominated by water. Water fills the world to two thirds of the height of the sphere, creating oceans trenches dozens of miles deep and leaving only islands to breach the surface. These islands, once intended to be merely the top of tall mountains, are bare and rocky, with steep cliffs and hills of slate and granite, covered in bare soil and crippled, twisted mountain pines.
The oceans that cover much of Caligo are wilder than one would assume from water only a few miles wide. The weather is wild, even with an entire house trying to keep it in check, and floods, riptides and cyclones are regular occurences.
There was, however, so much water that the Signatories could not simply let it fill the world, or there would be no dry ground remaining. Instead, a layer of water covers the world walls of Caligo, a mere foot thick where people have to pass through from the ports outside, but becoming almost a second ocean overhead.
Light comes into Caligo only from the Star Splinters, tiny remnants of Caligo's Heartstone that shine with bright light, each in a different colour of the rainbow. They are arranged in the Sky Arch, a mile-wide expanse of glowing water that stretches over the dark Caligan sky. The Arch pulses and stretches, changing orientation and illumination regularly, thereby simulating a day and night cycle, though it never gets completely dark or any brighter than twilight.
The shards of the heartstones are still one of the dominant features of Caligo, as they still have magical powers in them. Storm shards control flows of air near them, star shards create light and wave shards control currents. Combining the shards, the Caligans have created some truly astounding structures: tunnels of air that extend below the ocean, currents of water flowing through the air and pockets of fresh air even in the deepst caves.
Below the land lies not only the ocean, however. Ancient cellars, twisting caves and fissures and many a channel built over into a street or building wind through the rock Caligo is built on. Collectively, the locals refer to these passages as the Undertow, and it is said that in the miles of tunnels that lie below the land, terrific crimes and the perverted rites of a hundred mad cults take place every day.

Inhabitants
Of all known Worlds, Caligo has the most diverse makeup. Each Signatory selected people to the best of his ability, and with the Traitor's betrayal, many more specialists came in to fight in the battle for Caligo, or rebuild afterwards. A thousand years have passed since then, and intermarriage, magical experiments and the odd mutation have resulted in a society where few, if any, people are still of what might have been considered“pure” blood before the Cataclysm. Caligan society, however, cares little about these distinctions, putting more value on actual accomplishment over blood.
Below the waves, the situation is not much different. The Traitor brought in at least a dozen aquatic races he wanted to save, and though there is little exchange between the races above and below, the water-living are just as intermixed and diverse.
On land, there is little animal life in Caligo. Goats, cats and dogs are the only domestic animals, though they have been bred to a variety of uses, from draught dogs to mill goats. There are a few wild crows, ravens, pigeons and sparrows, and a variety of insect and rodent life, but not much else. Under the water, the diversity is much greater, and as a result, most Caligans traditionally depend on fishing for their livelihood.

Society
Traditionally, Caligan society knows only two strata: the Living Houses and the Unborn, though that system has been weathered away much, since the Shipwright's Guild came into being. Contact with other societies has shown the Caligans other ways of living, and the influx of resources from trade and exploration has done much to improve the life of the Unborn.
Still, some traditions die hard. While hundreds or thousands of travellers come to Caligo every day for trade and work, many of the traditional society still frown at any public displays of strong emotion or even just clothing that is too colourful, especially if they come from someone who has not earned such a place by being accepted into a Living House.
On the other side, the distinction of being Living has worn away just as much. Where once being Living meant a decent life and some luxuries, with the riches of the Guild many of the Living have become examples of an enormous decadence to rival the rich and noble of any known World.
There is one thing still keeping that society in check: the Wraiths. When the new rules of Caligo were laid down, the houses were aware that there was a line between being alive and being corrupt. The Wraiths exist to police that line. Their charge is to make sure that the unborn know their place and do not try to rise above it unless they prove themselves, and to ensure that the living use their responsibility wisely, with lethal force, if necessary. They are selected by other Wraiths, anonymously, from the ranks of the living and perform their duties always hidden behind characteristic white, featureless masks and black suits.

Locations

http://s17.postimage.org/bshgiuwjh/Caligo.jpg
Caligo City started out as a fishing village of flint and granite houses surrounded by the parks and mansions of the living, and that fact still shows. It is now the heart of the guild network, but conservative laws passed by the Living Council mean that, while the city has grown massively to cover most of the free space on the mainland, much of what has been built is in the same style as what was there before, massive, dark buildings, separated by canals and connected by bridges. Similarly, not everyone is just allowed to live here: the traditional Unborn still live in the Old Town around the bay, but apart from that, most of the space is taken up by the town houses of the richest merchants, built and intended mostly to flaunt their riches. This has produced a feeling of superiority in the original inhabitants: the Unborn take pride in their frugality and flaunt it just as much as the new rich, while the Living, for the most part, have sold off their holdings on the main land for the isles. Monuments, mansions and parks now cover most of the area, or that which is not taken up by ports and canals
Among the isles, of which there are thirteen major ones, some deserve mention. Clavis, Monos and Claustre are dedicated entirely to the Water Dancers and their monasteries. In recent times, they have become important enough as a fighting school and provider of high-class mercenaries that the guild has dragged several shards to the Aether outside Monos to build Monk's port.
Sky Anchor is important for it's function in enabling the Wardens of the Spring control the sky arch, Caligo's source of weather and light, which can be accessed only from here and the Sky Pillar, the tallest mountain in the center of Caligo, which touches the top of the word wall.
Blackrock is just what its name implies, a bare rock standing out of the sea. Until guild contact, rebellious living were imprisoned there. These days, Blackrock prison is more famous for housing guild traitors and dangerous magical creatures and artefacts no one knows how to safely dispose of.
Every city, of course, has its underbelly, and in Caligo, it is more literal than in most places. The Undertow is a collection of old cellars and ruined houses sunken beneath the ground level, watery caves and passages kept aerated by ancient storm shards, canals since covered up by bridges and squares simply built over them and all the things people built underground in ancient times to keep them out of sight. The network under the mainland is at least as large as the city built on it, and no one knows its full extent. It is the lair of aquatic monsters from the traitor's house, cultists and worshippers of strange dieties and concepts just as much as a convenient pathway for smugglers, rogue traders and other criminals, since it is entirely impossible to keep such a large extend of tunnels under any kind of supervision.

Waketown

"Caligo is a calcified fossil run by corrupt nobles pretending to be philosophers. What has their culture produced, in the last century? Nothing. Everything good to come out of that place has stayed outside of it, here, in Waketown."
-Kiardun Skelwore, Respected Man

"Waketown is a cancer growing on a healthy city. It is a breeding ground for all manners of crime and villainy, of disease and anarchy. It should be removed, with extreme prejudice."
-Theremi Garaldo Belisori Illorien es-Corava

"Well, we have to live somewhere. We are "civilized" now, after all."
-Danara Sayage, Nathri Elder

History
Caligo has strict laws about who is and is not allowed to settled there that, basically, amount to an income barrier. And yet, as the guild network's prime node and its origin, Caligo has an immense attraction to all manners mercenaries, sailors, mercenaries, prophets and adventurers of all kinds.
Over time, the outskirts of Caligo's Trident Port grew from a loose collection of taverns, abandoned warehouses, walkways and hastily built shacks into a sprawling community that is estimated to house more people than the city itself.
Organisation, here, has always been very lax. Technically, Waketown is both outside of Caligo and the Guild jurisdiction of Trident Port to which it is, at this point, only loosely attached. In earlier years, various gangs, cartels and merchants controlled the town and the power struggles were bloody, but with help from the Order, a citizen's council and militia was formed that has kept the worst off the streets for more than twenty years now. With a mixture of diplomacy and well-applied violence, the council has successfully managed to get everyone from gangs to Nathri outcasts to form one community.
The city is home to hundreds of small communities, usually living together in one house. Family clans of weird creatures from the outer worlds, merchant houses and businesses too small for proper buildings in Trident Port or Caligo, every kind of shady business known to the Aether. Each is headed by a Respected Man (or Respected Woman, Respected Nathri or Respected Tentacled Monstrosity), which has a seat on the council, which, as a whole, regulates disputes between communities and anything affecting the town as a whole.

Geography
Waketown is a city truly adapted to weightlessness, to a degree that no place outside the Evershard could possibly match. Starting from one of the outermost rock shards of Trident Port, called the Shardheart by most, the city has grown in all directions without any regard for style, safety or an arrangement that is even remotely clear to outsiders.
Most of the building materials are scavenged, as the Aether itself offers little building material beyond the mists itself. Somewhere in the depths, there must be buildings of actual stone and timber, but they have long since vanished under a crust of salvaged parts of wrecked ships, condemed buildings, barrels and anything else that could be dissembled and stuck on a rock.

Society
Where Caligan society is highly regulated, that of Waketown is almost the exact opposite. There are only few crimes that the council and its militia will get directly involved in: murder, theft of the property of another Waketowner, slavery, kidnapping. Apart from those crimes that directly hurt others in ways that make it difficult for them to defend themselves, keeping order is left to the individual communities.
As such, almost everything from necromancy to exotic drugs and eldritch cults can be found somewhere in Waketown. It is a hotspot of runaway guild engineers, wizards studying areas of magic not tolerated at the universities and artists and philosophers studying the most extreme of experiences. For all that, few things that are new and stand the test of time ever come out of Waketown: the freedom of hte place means that few ever cooperate on anything, and that few find the focus to ever develop any idea to completion.

Kol Korran
2013-06-28, 06:58 AM
The blue eel islands
A group of Caribbean islands, in a fantasy setting, that gain their names from the hard to see eels that are the common catch in the isles. The Isles Are located at a dangerous location, near a strange magical phenomena called The Harikian- a perpetual storm located about 10 miles of the main island. The Empire ships avoid gettign close, making the islands a safe haven for pirates with enough skill and daring to find the island and brave the winds and waves.

Much of the info on the islands is setting specific, but a few things can be imported and are general enough.

Drunneg's Cove
The small island is the main isle of the group. It has a small harbor that functions as a legitimate harbor, in case Empire people come looking, and Another secret cove, a pirate port where those seeking a bit of secrecy come to.

The 400 or so constant island's inhabitants are mostly Shoalings- halflings who are more prone to the seas (the sub race in Stormwrack), who make fine fishermen, and have a small fleet of keel boats. The major family, the ruling one is the Drunnegs, a family who sports a few witches (sponaneous casters of all kinds), who was before a pirating clan, but have now settled into a semi legitimate business. The second major family are the Biggins, who runs the pirate's cove ship yard, having learned much from elven ship builders in the south. Both families vie for control, but quite relay on each other. They seem friendly up front, but are scheming and conniving underneath, seeking opportunities.

A few elven families also make this their home, especially some aquatic elves, who find the safe and limited interaction with the surface world tolerable.

Harikian's Teeth
lots of tiny pieces of a reef, mostly underwater on most times of the day, sometime above water. These jagged rocks are the closest to Harikian, and as such some mishappen ships tend to crash on them. On the teeth lives a mysterious old lady, who seem to make a small living of the rmeinas of ships (and people). She looks like a small, crumpled and muttering old lady, but she is also quite strong and fast. In my campaign she was a were-crab-swarm creature, a sort of a living entity/ hive mind of the crabs that inhabit the teeth. Though most islanders don't know what she is, or who she is, they revere her as a mystical being, and people come offering sacrifice to her (small precious objects and such) at times, braving the teeth.

Crealog's graveyard
Another island with skeltons and remains of crashed ships only... they don't come from the teeth, and they reach deep inland, and some of these are really... really old. A strange and weird place, some people come treasure hunting in it. There is a strange singing from the inside of the island at night, but also the sounds of... a storm?

There are but two groups living on the island- the first is just a small family of hobgolbins, veterans of the last war, who mostly turned their violent ways into healing, the best healers in the blue eels islands. the other is a small group of halflings, who consider the island a holy site, the ships as living beings. They seek to communicate and speak "with the dead".

The water market
Not exactly a settlement than a location: place where old ruins and mountains reach near the surface, and where travelers can stop and trade with the aquatic elves of the depths (many more than the those on Drunneg's cove). The trading takes place underwater, with the surfacer diving overboard and communicating with the aquatic elves underwater, using sign language. Usually you need one of the shoalings, the water related halfings of Drunneg's cove to act as both introduction and translator.

the rest of the isles are more settings for adventure or waaaayyy to specific to the campaign to be easily explained.

I hope this helps!

LordErebus12
2013-06-28, 05:25 PM
Glowing Caverns
A massive city built within four main caverns beneath the sands of the Great Saltdunes, with two large passages interconnecting them all. The largest cavern in the Glowing Caverns is referred to as the Hive. The Hive is a megastructure carved from stone, reinforced through several means, and used to house the Kreen population. The Kreen all fit comfortably, if cramped, into the Hive. The Kreen have built massive supports to protect their home and to reinforce to cavern itself. The second largest cavern is known as the Glowing Gardens. Although smaller in overall size than the Hive, the Glowing Gardens were built to house as many separate platforms and buildings as the Kreen could on four levels, making use of every single square foot of space possible. This cavern is known as the Glowing Gardens for two reasons.

First, special types of mycelium known as Faefire Caps (http://i.imgur.com/4ZZTmI2.jpg) grow throughout the city. Faefire Caps are short, white-green and glow faintly when young, but mature within three months. Mature caps grow taller stocks and radiating much more light. After they dim with age, roughly after another three months, they can be plucked from their beds. After a wash they are boiled for several hours. Finally they are sliced into bit sized pieces, dried then bagged up; for shipping on the caravans to Hammerhold or else given to the many residents living in the Glowing Caverns. They are used to decorate the entire city, as well as to feed the city's inhabitants.

Second, each plant/fungi type within Glowing Gardens are separated by this glowing fungi, which are not harvested and are used just for light. Each type of plant/fungi are in their own ecosystems, separate to provide different environments. The upper levels are for growing of edible types, while the lowest levels are for poisonous types. The place has nearly ten thousand species of plants and fungi growing within its stone walls, making it renowned for its danger and beauty. Lastly, The final smaller two caverns are used for businesses and trade, as well as entertainment and general living.

Water absorbed from the air and land above, combined with several species of glowing mosses and fungi that the Kreen have cultivated, the Kreen have created both a filter for radiation and a natural dew-catcher for the water. Several large side caverns are full of collected water, making this region plentiful with water, nearly pollutant free and protected by ancient magic weaved into the very lands by the ancient Kreen elders from ages long past.

CG Theocracy (Clan Mother Brikya, Kreen Cleric of Klik'chak)
Size: Metropolis
Adult Population: 90,000 est (Integrated; 60% Kreen, 40% Other)
Wealth: 200,000 gp limit. (900 billion gp est. total)
Strengths: nearly self-sustaining food and water source; well defended from above and below.
Weaknesses: surrounded by extremely barren terrain; sandworm attacks in surrounding areas

Bulhakov
2013-06-28, 05:41 PM
I created a homebrew version of an Earthdawn core city/kingdom Throal, with its satellite Market Town:

Throal (a.k.a. "the LG city")

It is basically a giant underground fallout shelter built under a mountain (Earthdawn world is characterized by cyclic high-magic apocalypses every thousand years or so). Glowing crystals simulate day cycles. Each city district is in a separate cavern. Some are further away, such as whole underground farm districts, easily accessible by magical subway platforms. Almost half of the citizens are dwarves, with humans and orcs being the next most plentiful. There's a mix of other races as well, some live in enclaves of their own kind.

I made the city into a magical near-utopia, overcrowded, but with efficient sewage (focused on recycling of waste and water), stone buildings, bustling trade and banking system, mines and workshops, many schools and temples, a huge magical university with its own district, an efficient unseen secret police and a bored but good-willed city watch.

One of the main cornerstones for this utopia is a homebrewed use of minor blood-oath magic. Citizens and visitors can take an "honest citizen oath" upon entry. The blood oath manifests itself as a small tattoo on their palm. The oath lasts for a year and states that the marked citizen will never willingly or knowingly cause unsolicited (so duels or sports are allowed) harm or financial loss (so all business deals are open and fair) to any non-aggressive intelligent and self-aware being within the city limits. Breaking the oath causes bloody tears to run down the eyelids and cheeks. These magical tears dye the skin red for a full year. The effect is well known as "oathbreaker's eyes" and anyone with such red marks on their face is shunned within the city limits and often refused business.

Throal Market-Town (a.k.a. "the CE city")

Just outside the giant gates sprawled a market city started by those who just couldn't wait to get outside when the fallout shelter opened. The chaos of the market town perfectly complements the perfect order of the underground city. The buildings are wooden, multi-storied and built in chaotic patterns. The town is run by guilds and crime families controlling various small districts. The market town flourishes thanks to being a trade hub with the outside world - the quality and prices of goods are of much bigger range than in the underground city. The town is also known as a place where even "honest citizens" can come and blow off some steam. There is a lot of gambling, prostitution, wrestling and gladiatorial combat, alcohol and drug abuse. Oathbreakers are a common sight and are often pitied (or sometimes feared). Some citizens even live double lives - as perfect honest "innocents" in the city limits, and as dangerous criminals in the market town.

The combination of these two locations proved to be a gold-mine of plot hooks.

kieza
2013-06-29, 05:10 PM
Here's another from the same setting: Inthior Thionel, the Towers of the Forest.

As a sidenote: the high elves in this setting have a strong emphasis on family and lineage; the rulers of the nation are powerful houses which have accumulated power and respect over centuries, whereas the houseless--those with no illustrious ancestors--have very little political power, though they may be wealthy. In the middle are the wizards, who are very powerful by virtue of making the magical society of the high elves run, but completely egalitarian.



Intior Thionel is the capital city of the high elves, home to the world's greatest wizards and scholars. The city is built in the depths of an ancient oak forest, where the trees have grown to massive heights due to centuries of care from elven foresters. However, unlike the wood elves, the high elves do not actually build in the trees; the city's structures are artfully constructed around the trees, leaving an almost unbroken canopy of leaves over the entire city.

At the center of the city is the Presidium, containing the Conclave of Houses, where the great noble houses of the elves shape the laws and philosophy of the elven nation. Around the Conclave building itself are the compounds and mansions of the noble houses; the most powerful nobles have residences just across the street, whereas minor nobles live further away. There are a handful of ancient houses that have held power since the city's founding; they have lived in the same compounds for generations, but the less stable houses move frequently as dictated by the balance of power in the Conclave.

Around the Presidium, the city is split into three districts: the Mercanta, the Militum, and the Schola.

The Mercanta is west of the Presidium, and is home to the merchant houses. It is not a market district, however. Markets for food and everyday goods are spread around the city, and more specialized shops are mostly found in the appropriate districts: swordsmiths in the Militum, bookshops in the Schola, and so on. The Mercanta is where the business of trade is conducted: merchants conduct business here, buying and selling, without the goods ever entering the district. Indeed, by using magic to correspond with agents in distant cities, many of the richest merchant houses buy and sell goods that never enter the city at all. Also, where the Mercanta meets the Schola, many of the merchant houses are involved in the business of banking, finance, and investment.

The Militum, northeast of the Presidium, is home to the warrior houses and the industries of war such as armories and training yards. The entire district is enclosed in a strong wall as protection against attack, and it is difficult for anyone other than members of noble or warrior houses to gain entry. The district is dotted with defensive strongpoints: bunkers, towers, gryphon aeries, and so on, but they all remain hidden under the trees. If the city were ever besieged--which has never happened yet--powerful enchantments would form a barrier over the Militum, while simultaneously raising the towers out of the ground in order to pierce the canopy.

The Schola, south of the Presidium, is a center of arts and learning. It is home to the learned houses, as well as schools and colleges for every mundane subject imaginable--science, medicine, mathematics, history, art, music, theater, and so on--but not magic. The district is also home to galleries, stages, and other venues of entertainment, restaurants and a great many taverns, and to the makers of complex and exotic things: lensgrinders, bookbinders, clockmakers, jewelers, and so on.

The third ring of the city, outside the Mercanta, Militum, and Schola, is the Plebeia. Here, the residents are not members of any house. They are farmers, laborers, and everyday craftsmen. However, even they have a high standard of living compared to their counterparts in other lands; the farmers have enchanted, self-propelling plows, and many of the laborers work with hovering freight carriers or manage teams of small labor golems. What the houseless lack is political power, and they are constantly ignored or patronized by the houses of the Presidium.

Outside the Plebeia and the city proper are two additional districts: the Fluvum and the Arcanum.

The Fluvum is located at the end of a road west of the city, which passes through the Mercantum. Here is where all of the warehouses, stockyards, and river docks are located, rather than in the Mercantum proper. Being near the river, where the forest thins somewhat, the Fluvum is partly out from under the trees. The district is populated by elves who would otherwise live in the Mercanta or Plebeia, and by foreigners who cannot acclimate to the perpetual twilight caused by living under the forest canopy.

The Arcanum is similarly at the end of a road which passes southeast, between the Militum and the Schola. Here, the city's wizards live in towering spires, which reach through the trees to give a clear view of the sky for astronomy--and so that student wizards can aim their spells harmlessly into the sky. Aside from the Conclave building in the Presidium, these towers are the only buildings in the city to reach through the trees. The Arcanum is home to schools of magic, and to established magical orders. It is also where one finds shops selling magical reagents, enchanted objects (aside from those considered "everyday" by the elves, such as magical lanterns and self-heating cookware), and spellcasting services.

Yora
2013-06-30, 04:49 AM
I have a rough idea about a city build in the walls of a group of huge connected sinkholes, which are located in a high cliff that connects two of the sinkholes to the sea.
In one of the deeper caverns, there are eight huge crystals that are basically possessed by demons. The demons are not evil and entered the crystals to contain the Taint that all demons usually spread in the material world. The demons are the power behind the human government of the city, but their main goal is to send out their small army of demon hunters to find and destroy and free roaming demons that don't care about the damage their presence causes in the material world.

LordErebus12
2013-07-04, 10:48 PM
I have a rough idea about a city build in the walls of a group of huge connected sinkholes, which are located in a high cliff that connects two of the sinkholes to the sea.
In one of the deeper caverns, there are eight huge crystals that are basically possessed by demons. The demons are not evil and entered the crystals to contain the Taint that all demons usually spread in the material world. The demons are the power behind the human government of the city, but their main goal is to send out their small army of demon hunters to find and destroy and free roaming demons that don't care about the damage their presence causes in the material world.

Typically, demons are always evil and chaotic (in my experience). why cant they be some other variety of spiritual creature/entity?

Yora
2013-07-05, 06:53 AM
Because the word daimon does not describe either a good or evil spirit and the setting for which the city is created does not have alignment anyway.

LordErebus12
2013-07-05, 12:55 PM
Because the word daimon does not describe either a good or evil spirit and the setting for which the city is created does not have alignment anyway.

this is true, if you had said Daimon, but you had said Demon. Thats where the confusion (on my part) came in. As you know, in D&D Demons are synonymous with Chaotic Evil outsiders, such as the Tanar'ri. No big deal, but yeah.

LordErebus12
2013-07-10, 10:11 AM
Carnix
Within the thickest part of the swamp, jutting out from an algae covered bog is a hidden village, ringed with densely packed evil-looking trees. Entrance to the village within is only accessible from the surrounding lake itself. At the southern edge of the bog there is a lone empty dock facing the village. Those who toss a single gold coin into the swamp and wait will soon spot an algae covered boat piloted by a lone, cloaked hag. The ferrywoman inquires with each traveler mid-trip, asking what their business is within the swamp, as well as within the village. Those who attempt to lie or otherwise evasive in their answers find their selves unable to do so, truth spouting from their mouths uncontrollably.

If the answers are not acceptable, the boat begins to sink into the bog, with no way of stopping it. Those who attempt to use their own boat to get across find the same thing happening, their boat capsizing suddenly before sinking. Any further attempts to swim to the outlying ring of trees that surround the village or the shore find themselves sinking into the mud at the bottom of the bog, drowning anyone under ten foot tall. Those who finally faint from lack of air awaken within a large filthy cell as they wait for further questioning. If they meant the village harm, they never awaken from the swamp, finding their graves at the bottom of the bog.

If the answers are acceptable, the boat reaches the edge of the ring of trees, which part to allow travel through the ring. After entering the ring of trees, the village comes into view. What appeared to be a rather small ring of trees from the shore proves to be easily four or five times the size from within, no doubt through magic. Within the trees lies a small town built on an island at its center.

The town is Carnix, sometimes referred to as the sinking village for its ability to vanish into the swamp at the command of the Carne Sisters, the Hags that rule over the village. While Carnix is not a dangerous village, it is widely considered evil and corrupt by many of the more “civilized” races. Most of the residents are hags or lesser giants, although some other races live within, generally humans. Under the Carne Sisters, a broad and powerful coven of alchemists, warlocks, witches, shamans and necromancers live within the village, many bound to the Carne Sister’s will in one way or another. Friends of the Carne Sisters and their coven are few but are always welcome. Their friends are treated extremely well and with hospitality, assuming their favor remains.

Those who are friendly with the village find a great number of spellcasters at their disposal; many are quite powerful in their own right. While wealthier in magical goods, the spellcasters within the village are far more willing to trade either goods or services for their goods or services, often without the need/want for monetary return. However, while this may seem a tempting offer, many will often attempt to offer goods for an unspoken service at a later point, a potentially dangerous and problematic offer for those foolish enough to agree. Many find themselves suckered into nearly impossible or extremely lethal tasks for a few trinkets that prove of little comparison to the later deeds.


Power Center: Magical; LE Magocracy
Ruler(s): Sika (LE Eldest; Wizard 17th), Sova (NE Middle; Druid 15th) and Sema (CE Youngest; Warlock 13th)
Size: Village
Adult Population: 700 est, excluding coven members (Isolated; 51% Hag, 45% Lesser Giant, 2% Human, 2% Other)
Wealth: 5,000 gp limit. (175,000 gp est. total)
Strengths: Highly magical village with access to high levels of magic.
Weaknesses: Extremely mistrusting of random travelers/visitors.
Physical Defenses: Hidden village, surrounded by both swamp and thick woods.
Magical Defenses: Incredibly protected and paranoid village, including the abilities to weed out unfavorable visitors, sink beneath the swamps to hide from those best hidden from, and near constant surveillance by divination magic from the coven.
Goods: Cursed Items, Magical Items (especially Potions (90% off), Schema (MoE), Scrolls, and Wands)


Coven of Carnix
Ruled and Founded by the Sika, Sova and Sema; the Coven of Carnix controls an entire two mile area of the swamplands surrounding the village. Nothing enters the area without the coven knowing about it, not when every bird, toad, snake and spider being a potential spy and massive networks of divination magic spun through the land, monitored at any given moment. The sheer level the coven goes through to keep their village safe and secure borders on paranoia.

Friends or members of the Coven typically have access to magic far exceeding the normal for such a small village, a rare boon for such a forbidding place. Many evil spellcasters have attempted to join their ranks over the years, but many are denied access, often leading to troubles for the Coven.


Leader(s): Sika, Sova and Sema, Hag sisters
Members: 90 total; 26 Wizards (11 Diviners, 9 Necromancers and 6 Generalists) as well as 29 Druids, 21 Warlocks, 7 Artificers and 4 Dread Necromancers.
Wealth: 100,000 gp limit (per item).

LordErebus12
2013-07-25, 02:37 PM
Throal and its outer city is rather cool, but would it literally be LG and CE cities?