Using the DMG to stat out a city... [D&D 3.5]

[TheCountAlucard]

Return of the Iron Star players, stay out!

So, I was using the Dungeon Master's Guide to provide some quick numbers for a metropolis. I got some odd results, to say the least.

For one thing, no matter what I rolled, I ended up with exactly 124 people of each PC class, exactly 64 of which are first level. I also ended up with four epic-level commoners.* With a population of 35000, that means that less than 4% of the population has levels in a PC class, and less than half of them are higher than first level.

Is it ordinary to get weird numbers like this?


*Tom the Shepherd has to get up extra-early every morning, to defend his sheep from hungry wolves... and the Tarrasque.

[Eloel]

Try the MW town-creator
http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_town.php?do=town

It really is a good one...

[Gralamin]

Yes, since the rules for generating cities there honestly don't make much sense.

[TheCountAlucard]

Try the MW town-creator...

I keep clicking, "Generate Town!", and nothing happens...

[Crow]

Nevermind!!!!

[Gaiyamato]

Try the MW town-creator
http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_town.php?do=town

It really is a good one...

Hey that is really awesome. :)

[Harperfan7]

Yeah, same thing happened when I spent like 3 hours making a freakin metropolis for my campaign. Apparently there are 24th level commoners running around making super baskets while tending their mega farms.

The best part of all was when I realized that none of the crap I just did will ever matter ever in an adventure. Just make up whatever people you want and leave space for more if you ever need them. The pcs wont know what the stats of the populace are and probably wouldn't care anyways.

[BobVosh]

Yeah, same thing happened when I spent like 3 hours making a freakin metropolis for my campaign. Apparently there are 24th level commoners running around making super baskets while tending their mega farms.

The best part of all was when I realized that none of the crap I just did will ever matter ever in an adventure. Just make up whatever people you want and leave space for more if you ever need them. The pcs wont know what the stats of the populace are and probably wouldn't care anyways.

Now thats dead on the money.

Hmm, I would love to see a swarm of epic goat herders fighting the tarrsque though.

[TheCountAlucard]

The pcs wont know what the stats of the populace are and probably wouldn't care anyways.

True... I suppose I was doing it more for myself than anything.

[Colmarr]

The best part of all was when I realized that none of the crap I just did will ever matter ever in an adventure.

While this is true of the rules for generating city populations, I found the rules for generating the city itself (released online as a web enhancement for the 3.5 DMG) exceedingly useful.

I was a quick and relatively easy way to bring a city to life.

[TheCountAlucard]

It was a quick and relatively easy way to bring a city to life.

I actually went back and used that web enhancement afterward, and it does its job fairly well.

[Eldrys]

I keep clicking, "Generate Town!", and nothing happens...

I Tried to use it and I think I had the same problem. After it loads, you have to scroll down, then theres a statblock for the town.

[Colmarr]

I actually went back and used that web enhancement afterward, and it does its job fairly well.

It's true beauty is that it makes you think about the city as a place rather than a hypothetical "there".

For example, when I created a national capital for my 3.5e campaign, I ended up with some pretty diverse wards (a ghetto, docks, a military ward, a park, a noble ward, a religious ward, a caravan site etc).

Knowing what that list contained allowed me to sit down and think: "Right, where does the ghetto go? Hmm. Nearest the docks is the obvious place. And what about the noble ward? As far from the ghetto as possible, on high ground (for views of the ocean) and near the Park ward." etc

It turned the capital from a place that consisted solely of a "name" and a few set locations into a palpable setting, and all with an absolute minimum of fuss.

And it allowed me (quite possibly one of the worst cartographers ever) to construct a useable map of the capital simply by laying out where all those wards sat in relation to each other.

I personally think it's one of the best things never released for 3.5e

[Thurbane]

There's another town gen in my sig...

[arkol]

While this is true of the rules for generating city populations, I found the rules for generating the city itself (released online as a web enhancement for the 3.5 DMG) exceedingly useful.

I was a quick and relatively easy way to bring a city to life.

Is this still avaiable somewhere?

[Kosjsjach]

There's another town gen in my sig...

There's a gen for everything in your sig.

Is this still avaiable somewhere?

Found it!

[Thurbane]

There's a gen for everything in your sig.

I aim to please!

[Foryn Gilnith]

By RAW, epic level commoners aren't possible. Page 138, last sentence of "Other NPCs in the Community". But I like to use them sometimes anyway. I believe one of the kings in a campaign setting of mine was an epic level commoner. They aren't very "common", and do not act as such.

[Sanguine]

By RAW, epic level commoners aren't possible. Page 138, last sentence of "Other NPCs in the Community". But I like to use them sometimes anyway. I believe one of the kings in a campaign setting of mine was an epic level commoner. They aren't very "common", and do not act as such.

Wouldn't it have been more appropriate for him to be an epic level aristocrat?

[Coidzor]

yeah, but commoner would get more lulz, so I can see why someone would do it for a gag.