My idea for the next megaproject

So, I actually have ideas for the next two megaprojects, but let’s talk about the first one for now, which is the smaller of the two. I want to get your feedback before I make any decisions about this, so nothing is set in stone here.

This project would be a city map drawn at a 5′ grid scale showing the interiors of every building, some of which will have multiple levels. It would be similar in concept to Finbarr’s Marsh, a map I drew a long time ago. Finbarr’s Marsh was a nice enough map for 2018, but it’s still the only full-city battlemap I’ve drawn and I think it’s time to make something better.

The sketch above shows the basic layout I have in mind: a trade city built on islands in a river delta. This design has a few advantages. First, I think it’s interesting and unique. And second, it allows me to easily break the map up into pieces. The whole city might be 500×500 tiles, which is a little big to use all at once. But since each island can be cropped into its own map, you’ll be able to use a much smaller (80×100 or so) map and change to a new one when the party crosses a bridge to another island.

So, what goes into this city? A lot. Harbors for merchants and naval ships, homes for the rich and poor, the ruler’s palace, a small fort guarding the harbor, several inns and taverns, dozens of shops, a marketplace, a college, a citadel and a ton of other stuff.

If I had to guess, I’d say this is about two months’ work. So, is this something you want me to spend the time to draw for you? If not, I can always come up with something else. Leave a comment and let me know whether this is a map you’re interested in. And if you’ve got any questions or thoughts about what might make it better, let me know that too. Your feedback will decide the future of this project.

6 Replies to “My idea for the next megaproject”

  1. Detailed maps for towns are *fun*, but aside from fun flavor handouts and recreational reading they are of little gaming use unless there is adventure happening in the town. Most PC activity in towns not tactical at the town level, so cool description and indexed lists are the thing most needed. (Also PCs should probably not have interior maps.)

    Finbarr’s is ok for this – there are lots of neat secrets, especially underground, and the overall map shows how they relate to each other. Still, a lot of them are just mini-dungeons connected to the rest of the map at a single point.

    Brazenthrone is really cool but main gaming use for it is the ruined/abandoned sections. I recall maps of suburbs that were just suburbs with no gaming adjacent-content. I guess I *could* run a “Real Dwarfwives” campaign but I think my players would not be into it. (Or maybe be *too* into it, which might be worse.)

    Damn it, ok, maybe we start out Real Dwarfwives, disaster happens, then the PCs end up running around chaotic post-apocalyptic Brazenthrone armed with kitchen wares and … ok, I’m on a tangent here.

    I guess my main point is city maps are most useful to me as a GM when there is a ridiculous overabundance of mini adventure hooks in the content, and said content has semi-hidden connections to the other content, like secret doors in the haunted temple crypt that lead to the basement of the tobacconists guild where the addicted fire elemental is barely contained, but the tobacconists need it stopped so they can pay their protection money to the thieves’ guild, who need that money to defend against the shadowy nighttime halfling crusader who is actually the mayor’s 8 year old kid who found the mayor’s powerful old adventuring gear he gained while temporarily destroying the lich who is currently hiding the in the temple crypt raising undead to harass the town and specifically the mayor in revenge.

    I realize this is unrealistic, but it is the kind of map I find the most fun.

    1. I appreciate the feedback! I’d definitely write some lore for the place. And I’ll keep in mind what you said about adventure locations.

  2. I once had a city that was a bunch of natural rock pillars in a desert canyon with buildings carved into them and wooden bridges and catwalks and balconies interconnecting it all. This reminds me of that a lot.

  3. I love the idea of an island city interconnected by bridges, walkways, skyways, ferries, ropewalks, docks, boardwalks, tidal causeways and sandbars, etc. How large a city are you imagining—both in terms of population and size (square miles)?

    If the city also features an underwater component that could be pretty interesting: the city is a site where sea elves and surface elves meet and trade, or where pirates and saughin conduct slave auctions, or whatever. So, in addition to the surface layer of the settlement, an undersea one as well, with areas where the two meet and interact.

    Being on a river delta emptying into a bay or inlet, the water may be a meeting of fresh and salt water, with a zone of brakish interaction too, which might make for an interesting diversity of creatures and wildlife.

    The river would also bring a vast amount of silt to the city each year, so perhaps they need to dredge channels to maintain shipping lanes, or perhaps there are lots of bargefolk who live there and ply its waters (like the Rhenne from the World of Greyhawk’s Nyr Dyv and river systems). Perhaps the silt/sand is a source for artisan glass, a key feature in the local economy (Murano glass?).

    Allan.

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