Growing a City

[Hobbo Jim]

I have a relatively generic setting - Continent previously unreachable, and currently wild, becomes available. Adventurers sent to go and discover/tame the area.
While they are off adventuring, I planned to have the city slowly develop and expand as a sort of "progression" and give them more stuff to do in town. Then I realized I had no real idea of how a town/city is created. Normally I would imagine that a city is built around a resource to provide to the larger/more centralized civilization. While this area would eventually supply to the "sponsoring kingdom", it would be some time before it's capable of that given the distance. What kind of progression of a city would you all expect? Food and housing first, probably, a bit of a market, some sort of governing figure/structure, but I'm a little at a loss of how to portray the progression aside from simply adding more characters that sell stuff. What sort of figures or buildings would you suggest to show up? If you're feeling creative, write a character and I'll do my best to toss them into the town (So far notables include a quartermaster, a cobbler, and an umbrella salesman)!

[Tiadoppler]

Can a city grow up around a specific resource? Maybe, but it's probably not going to be a big city, and it might not last any longer than the resource does. You might look at actual historical records of small mining towns. You can think of it sort of like the old west. You'd get a bunch of cheap houses with minimal amenities: a general store, a church, a bar(/house of ill repute), an inn, and a sheriff. As long as the gold(/whatever) flows out, money flows in, and the town gets bigger. As soon as the resource runs out, people start leaving for greener pastures, and you get a ghost town (a fully constructed town with no people, rapidly decaying in the middle of the wilderness).


If you want a bigger, healthier city that lasts a long time, you want its economy to be based on trade (and specifically, trade routes): major roads (and crossroads), rivers, harbors, or bridges. If the location is important, and has significant traffic, there's a steady flow of wealth entering and leaving the area, and that's what can support a bigger economy.

One thing you might think about: who's the first person to settle down in this area, and why? If this is the landing point for an expedition from another continent, then they probably came by ship, found a safe harbor, and (maybe) started building a fort. So, this town might start out with hundreds of people, with a wide variety of skills. When future expeditions arrive, they'll probably land in your town, and set off from there. That town would have connections to other towns by ship, and also be the starting point for several roads that head further inland.


On the other hand, if the first people to settle down are a farmers family who built their house near a crossroads, the town would develop differently. That first family would likely focus most of their effort on feeding themselves, but might also sell simple food and drink to passers-by, and even allow travelers to rent a room for the night. If traffic on those roads increases, they might have lots of demand for room and board - they might hire someone to help out on the farm, or cook food. That person needs a house, so they build a house next to the original farmhouse, and their family moves in.

Then the original family decides they want to build a separate inn building, so they hire a few people to help with that, and they build a bigger building for giving travelers a place to spend the night. That inn needs more employees, so those people build their own houses around. A traveling merchant stops by and sees a town forming, and he buys a plot of land from the owners, and sets up a shop where he buys and sells from travelers, rather than traveling himself. Over time, more and more people show up: farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths, brewers, cooks, etc. and use more and more of the surrounding land. There's no real plan or organization, at least until the town is big enough to start forming its own government.


On the other hand, this is your world, and you can organize things however you want. If everybody exploring this new continent is the employee of a massive corporation who communicates their wishes by magic mirror, perhaps cities are carefully planned and laid out long before the citizens ever arrive, and the first colonists simply settle down in their assigned location and start working their trade.


Still, I'd encourage you to read a few historical accounts of the rise and fall of gold rush era towns in the old west. It's fascinating stuff.

[hymer]

Tiadoppler gives an excellent answer. I'll add another possibility for the beginnings of a town: Strategic significance. With something distant, it's often a port for navies operating nearby.

As for the nearby resource, sometimes that resource is enough to get a city started, which will last beyond. Once you get above a critical mass, the city will endure after the initial reason to found it disappears (it helps a lot if the nearby land is being cultivated). As Tiadoppler indicates, cities grow on economic activity, but they also attract it. Once they get sufficient activity going, they can survive a setback such as the local tin mine closing down.

[MrStabby]

High magic or low magic?

Low magic you want a harbour. River inlet, sheltered cove or whatever. Somewhere to safely moor and unload ships. As the settlement grows you may want a deepwater harbour.

For higher magic, you may be looking at teleportation circles or possibly in the short term some objects shipped out to enable more accurate teleportation in. Likewise, some temples for word of recall could be important.


After that look at the hierarchy of needs. Securing a food supply - either farms or clerics. Security - what are the threats? Weather? Beasts? Monsters? Undead remains of long forgotten civilisations that scour the land to consume the souls of the living?

Then add some social structures. Pubs, meeting houses etc.. a chance to develop and distinguish a culture. Add laws, the means to determine those laws and the means to enforce them. Add luxuries and the ostentation needed to make them visible.

[Kurt Kurageous]

Donjon has a medieval city generator based on population called the Medieval Demographics Calculator under the Fantasy menu.

You could take a couple passes between different population levels and see what grows with the city.

https://donjon.bin.sh/

[Laserlight]

Historical cities were generally on rivers, because transport costs per ton/mile by water were significantly less (<1%) than by any other means. So I'd set it at a rivermouth (if you want "the first city on the continent"), or as far up the river as you can get without crossing rapids / falls (for a major city later in the region's history)

The occupations of the Jamestown settlers were:

1ea: blacksmith, barber, tailor, sailor, mason, preacher, drummer
2: bricklayers, surgeons
4: boys
6: carpenters, councilmen (master and 5 captains)
12: laborers
28: gentlemen

Donjon (https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/demographics/) has a fantasy demographics page which might help, although you may need to tweak the numbers a bit--in a new settlement, you're more likely to have tanners rather jewelers, for example.

[blackjack50]

Historical cities were generally on rivers, because transport costs per ton/mile by water were significantly less (<1%) than by any other means. So I'd set it at a rivermouth (if you want "the first city on the continent"), or as far up the river as you can get without crossing rapids / falls (for a major city later in the region's history)

The occupations of the Jamestown settlers were:

1ea: blacksmith, barber, tailor, sailor, mason, preacher, drummer
2: bricklayers, surgeons
4: boys
6: carpenters, councilmen (master and 5 captains)
12: laborers
28: gentlemen

Donjon (https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/demographics/) has a fantasy demographics page which might help, although you may need to tweak the numbers a bit--in a new settlement, you're more likely to have tanners rather jewelers, for example.

Yes! This! Transport via water was SO important. Even once the America’s has been colonized, rivers and lakes and oceans were incredibly important to traverse the continent.

[blackjack50]

I have a relatively generic setting - Continent previously unreachable, and currently wild, becomes available. Adventurers sent to go and discover/tame the area.
While they are off adventuring, I planned to have the city slowly develop and expand as a sort of "progression" and give them more stuff to do in town. Then I realized I had no real idea of how a town/city is created. Normally I would imagine that a city is built around a resource to provide to the larger/more centralized civilization. While this area would eventually supply to the "sponsoring kingdom", it would be some time before it's capable of that given the distance. What kind of progression of a city would you all expect? Food and housing first, probably, a bit of a market, some sort of governing figure/structure, but I'm a little at a loss of how to portray the progression aside from simply adding more characters that sell stuff. What sort of figures or buildings would you suggest to show up? If you're feeling creative, write a character and I'll do my best to toss them into the town (So far notables include a quartermaster, a cobbler, and an umbrella salesman)!

Friendly neighborhood social studies lover here:

https://youtu.be/3PWWtqfwacQ

He does a wonderful job explaining cities. You are going to want some homes, farms, some sort of religious/government establishment, and forming around a resource is how you get the bigger cities. But the biggest cities form where multiple resources meet to be shipped off to where people buy them. New York? Boston? At least at the start of your new world.

[Hobbo Jim]

Just over the course of of a morning you all have been extremely helpful! I'll definitely look into some of this information, definitely enough to start this city going. Thanks playground! :smallbiggrin:

Aside from that, if you're feeling creative feel free to add an NPC below that I'll try to add, but I don't think I'll need any further city development information. Relatively high magic campaign.

[blackjack50]

Just over the course of of a morning you all have been extremely helpful! I'll definitely look into some of this information, definitely enough to start this city going. Thanks playground! :smallbiggrin:

Aside from that, if you're feeling creative feel free to add an NPC below that I'll try to add, but I don't think I'll need any further city development information. Relatively high magic campaign.

Rigoberto Gallo Rojo...or the “The Red Rooster.” He is a sailor (cough privateer cough cough pirate cough cough) with a big green hat and a BIG red rooster feather in it. His personality is larger than his rooster feather.

[Imbalance]

I was going to suggest crystals or giant mushrooms until I realized you weren't talking about literally growing a city.

Instead, I give you Urry Jealba, the portly but hard working fellow who jumped at the chance to get away from his humble roots and find wealth (and hopefully a bride) in the new world.

The governor's daughter, Mabel, superficially the model socialite, polite and demure, yet deep down longs to run wild and free through the unspoiled, natural lands.

Treng, formerly an expert weaponsmith, now content to forge more mundane tools. Still practices his swordcraft when he gets a break from making nails or repairing wagon hitches.

[blackjack50]

I was going to suggest crystals or giant mushrooms until I realized you weren't talking about literally growing a city.

Instead, I give you Urry Jealba, the portly but hard working fellow who jumped at the chance to get away from his humble roots and find wealth (and hopefully a bride) in the new world.

The governor's daughter, Mabel, superficially the model socialite, polite and demure, yet deep down longs to run wild and free through the unspoiled, natural lands.

Treng, formerly an expert weaponsmith, now content to forge more mundane tools. Still practices his swordcraft when he gets a break from making nails or repairing wagon hitches.

Jealba speaks with a vaguely Russian accent doesn’t he?

I forgot to add Dirx Sparkchest...he is a drunk blacksmith turn prospector who frequently works shirtless. And walks around town without a shirt. Or pretty much anywhere. He smells and is vaguely racist against halflings for being short. Which is odd given that he is vaguely short for a dwarf.