"You Come Upon A Town"
Drawing Inspiration From Towns and Villages Around the World
Credit: jamesrpgart https://www.patreon.com/jamesrpgart
"The rutted track emerges from a wooded hillside, and you catch your first glimpse of Phandalin. The town consists of forty or fifty simple log buildings, some built on old fieldstone foundations. More old ruins—crumbling stone walls covered in ivy and briars—surround the newer houses and shops, showing how this must have been a much larger town in centuries past. Most of the newer buildings are set on the sides of the cart track, which widens into a muddy main street of sorts as it climbs toward a ruined manor house on a hillside at the east side of town."
- The Lost Mine of Phandelver, Part 2: Phandalin
If you are a new player to Dungeons & Dragons, it's possible that this is the first description of a D&D town, that you have heard. It comes from The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Basic Set, often the first step into the world of RPGs. It's a great introduction into the aesthetic of a typical D&D town - a rundown, vaguely European (likely medieval British) village, built on the bones of something older. Digging into the nearly 50 years of official D&D material, you will find a high percentage of the "starting towns" to be very similar to Phandalin.
But, were medieval British towns actually like this? Yes and no.
Are there more interesting, or even just more diverse, styles of towns that we can incorporate into our RPG worlds? Absolutely!
Town vs. Villages
Today, in American English, we use the terms town and village interchangeably. But from a historical perspective, Phandalin is not a town; it's a village. With forty or fifty buildings, at an average of four people per building, it most likely has a population around 200 - 250 people. In the Middle Ages, a town averaged between 1000 and 3000 inhabitants, and had a much higher population density than Phandalin does. Towns - like modern day cities - were urban and their population was often more diverse.
A village was more subsistent and agrarian, with a static population. Villagers grew what they needed on the lord's land and gave a portion of that bounty to the landowner. If there was something that the villagers needed but didn't produce, they would trade with other villages; eventually, markets might be set up to support such trade. Medieval towns grew up around these markets, established by the local lord or church on a well-traveled route. As the market became established, other businesses would grow up around it to support it, villagers would move to the town for work, and eventually, the town would become a destination worth the travel.
Towns in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy RPGs trend towards this British village or "market town" model. Because they are mapped out on a flat piece of paper, they are often fairly flat as well. Maybe there's a river that flows nearby or a forest not too far off but the "default" town has very little elevation change. However, that is simply not the case when we look at medieval towns as a whole. They varied greatly in both design based on the terrain and sometimes even in function.
Hill Towns
The term "hill town" can be used to describe any town built on a hill for fortification, but especially in European countries like Italy, Spain, and France, the term describes a citadel protected by walls on a hill top or cliffside. In Italy specifically, hill towns rose out of the fall of the Roman Empire as a means of protecting the settlement from the marauding Visigoths. Three examples include San Marino, Civita di Bagnoregio, and Orvieto.
San Marino
Many Italian Hill Towns grew to become their own independent city states, like San Marino. In San Marino's case, it still is independent, making it the third smallest country in Europe. The town of San Marino is built atop Monte Titano and the country encompasses the mountain and the lands around it. Founded in the year 301, it became a refuge for Christians fleeing persecution by the Romans. Eventually three impregnable towers were built to defend the town, allowing San Marino's famous Crossbow Corps and the Guards of the Rock to keep the town independent through the Crusades and all the way into the modern era.
Civita di Bagnoregio
Civita perches on a plateau, slowly succumbing to erosion caused by the winds that blow through the rocky valley around it. Civita was founded by the Etruscans, the pre-Roman Iron Age people of Italy, over 2500 years ago. The city has been added to and improved by every major civilization since. Many of the exterior buildings have long since fallen as the sides of the plateau crumbled beneath them. Even the ridge that used to provide access to the city has disappeared and Civita is now only accessible by footbridge.
Orvieto
Credit: Roberto Ferrari
Orvieto is another Etruscan hill town that has been built on by successive civilizations. After the Roman Empire, Orvieto became the location of one of the Papal Residences, homes throughout the papal territory that allowed the Pope to tour like a king or seek refuge from would-be usurpers. Orvieto is also known for the labyrinth of tunnels and vaults built into the volcanic rock it sits on. These tunnels served many functions including cellars, cisterns, and even escape routes for the noble families during a siege.
Besides Europe, hill settlements can be found in South America, North America, Africa, and Asia as well. Other examples include Machu Picchu, Darjeeling, Addis Ababa, and Guanajuato.
Post Towns
Naraijuku
Luka Peternel, CC BY-SA 4.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The term "post town" refers to any settlement along a travel route where posting takes place. Posting is the practice of providing fresh horses so that a rider (often a messenger) might continue at their rapid pace. The stations at which posting occurred started as literal posts where public notices would be hung. The name eventually moved from the messenger practice to the actual message, and that is where we get our term "post," meaning mail, today. Post towns were common throughout Europe during the middle ages, allowing for travel over greater distances.
Similarly, towns and caravanserai along the Silk Road allowed for the transportation of goods from very far away and the sharing of cultures among the people who gathered for rest.
In the Edo Period of Japan (c. 1610), post towns known as Shukuba sprang up with a slightly different purpose. They not only served as a rest stop for messengers, but they also provided lodging and regional offices for government officials. This allowed the government officials to move about the land with greater ease. Naturally, over time, other facilities were added on to the Shukuba that accommodated for other types of travelers. These accommodations included:
Toiyaba - the government offices for the town
Honjin - the lodgings (often large houses) for government officials, nobles, samurai, and other notable visitors
Waki honjin - similar to Honjin, but regular travelers could stay there if there was a vacancy
Hatago - inns with meals for regular travelers (as opposed to nobility)
Chaya - teahouses that served tea, alcohol, and simple meals
Shoten - shops that catered to the travelers
Kosatsuba - "The Post", a central structure in the town where the declarations of the government were hung
Notable examples of Shukuba that still exist are Ouchijuku, Naraijuku, and Tsumagojuku.
Building Towns With Character
These are just two examples of the wide variety of towns found in our actual world that you can look at for inspiration when building your own RPG world. Both the Hill Town and the Post Town make excellent starting points and home bases for your players' adventures.
I have discovered in my own career as Dungeon Master that using something fresh, even if borrowed from real life, breathes life into your world. If a location is unique and novel, the world you have built will seem more believable. It doesn't have to always be fantastical. But if it stands apart from the "default town" it will be memorable and enticing for your players to explore further.
For example, consider the following descriptive hooks:
A hill town once fortified against marauding bands of gnolls has now become a center of commerce along a trade route. From there, merchants refresh their horses and hire on escorts for safe travel to the next city.
The winding streets and stair laden alleyways of a hill town lead to a hidden courtyard where the workshop of the town wizard remains green throughout the year.
Your adventurers wander into a post town bustling with fellow travelers and the soldiers of the king. There is no room at any of the inns, but for a favor one of the local merchants has a vacancy in his house he will let them have.
The local lord has hung a large notice board on the town post - "The North Pass is Closed Until Further Notice. Those Who Ignore This Notice Will Meet Certain Death."
The next time you are stumped for a memorable starting point for your adventure, don't pull out the one-dimensional British-like village again. Instead look around the world and find something that strikes you as unique and begin your worldbuilding journey there.
Worldbuilding Prompts For Unique Towns
Here are 20 worldbuilding prompts to get you started:
What are the unique features of the town?
Is it on a hill or in a mountain pass?
Is it hard to reach and easy to defend?
What is their source of water? A bubbling underground spring? A mountain stream that flows through town?
What are the buildings made of and why? Is it all stone quarried from the hill itself? Is the town mostly wooden structures because of the encroaching forest?
Who are the local powers?
Is it a government official who acts as the representative of the king or lord?
Is it a council of prominent families? Why are they prominent - are they merchants, bankers, tradesmen?
Is it the church or temple? Is there a particular saint or legendary hero that is revered in the town?
Is it the corrupt nobility who prey on the travelers with taxes and fees?
What are the businesses in town?
Are there inns and restaurants? What are the specialties that draw travelers to them?
What sorts of shops are in the town? Is there a market? How often is it open?
Is there a church or shrine? What power is it dedicated to? Who maintains it?
Are there any unique businesses? A clockmaker? An artist's workshop? A bath house?
Who are the notable people in the town? What are their names? What are their motivations?
Who are the ruling class?
Who are the tradesfolk and merchants?
Who are the martial forces?
Who are the commoners?
What secrets can be found in the town?
Is there a labyrinth of dungeons carved out of the rock that the town sits on?
Is there a shrine that is believed to appease a malevolent spirit or demon in the area?
Are there criminal elements who walk the streets after dark?
Perhaps the secrets lie in the strange shipment that was brought in on a wagon for a pair of fresh horses in the middle of the night?
Find out more information about what life was like in a medieval village in this book:
Life in a Medieval Village
