Cities and Towns are the life blood of a gaming world. It is in these places that a gaming world gains much of it's flavor and style. In Most games the cities and towns are little more than a place that pc's must go to in order to find people or get rid of items found. Many of these places are extremely generic and many game masters can't handle the running of these environments. With luck, we'll show how easy it can be to work with these places.

To begin with let's consider the overall layout of a city or town. By placing pc's into one of these places the gamemaster is assumed to have done his/her homework on the layout and style of the city or town. By this we mean appropriate maps have been made. These maps make it easier for the gamemaster to keep track of where the pc's are in relation to everything else. Several decisions will have been made, like how big is it? how large is the population? what races are most common? what are the city or towns major imports and exports? it is questions like these when properly addressed that give each city/town it's uniqueness. If we keep in mind the many reasons that a group of people would have inhabited the area then we learn how to answer these questions.

Why does the halfling village sit in a wide plain with a river running near it?  well, halflings are excellent farmers and the river provides water for irrigation. the fact that it is in a wide plain makes it easy to lay out the farms, and watch for any potential threat to the community. Most likely this same village will be close to a major roadway, to facilitate the transport of goods out of the village. livestock and green produce will be common in this village while most other goods will probably have to imported.

Larger areas like the city of Uthren (featured in this web site) are considered very metropolitan for the medi-evil fantasy game. Boasting a population of over 50,000 people it easy to imagine the chaos of managing such a place in the game.

With simple rules made up before hand it becomes less troublesome to handle large populations and maintain a realistic feel in the game itself.

Create a table to use when describing the  races seen in a given area (many races will tend to congregate in their own areas in a community and we'll look into that later) such as this one for Uthren:

Humans = 65%

Elves = 15%

Halflings = 11%

Dwarves = 6%

gnomes = 2%

other = 1%

With this formula we have an idea of what races are to be found in this community. Next we look at the way the community is run. Uthren is a part of a kingdom and so will have some representative of the king present. For Uthren it is a Knight of the realm who has recently built his castle on the outside of town. While he is the kings representative here, the day to day function of running the city is delegated to a lord mayor. Who with the help of the heads of the town's guilds sees to the needs of the community.

The Uthren city Watch is Comprise this way:

Chief Constable =

Deputy Constable =

1st Watch = 5th level +, this deputy maintains the watch for 12 hours, usually from 6:00am till 6:00pm

Deputy Constable =

2nd Watch = 5th level +,this deputy maintains the watch for 12 hours, usually from 6:00pm till 6:00am

Deputy Constable =

Warden of the city gaols = 5th level +,this deputy oversees the gaols in the city

Deputy Constable =

Chief Inspector = 5th level +, this deputy oversees the investigation of crimes

Watch Captain = 4th - 5th level, each watch captain over sees 8 watch sargeants, a watch captain will have 2 sargeants and 20 watchmen for staff personnel

Watch Sargeant =2nd - 3rd level, each watch sargeant over sees 10 watchmen, each watch sargeant will always have two watchmen with him at all times

Watchmen =0 - 2nd level, watchmen always patrol in pairs

The knights men handle the policing of all other areas outside the city proper and also perform customs duties. They are also on hand to assist in the collection of taxes, and work closely with the city watch in the apprehension of known criminals. Because the knight rules under charter granted by the king, his forces are supplemented by a large compliment of the king's soldiers.

The lord mayor  runs the city in conjunction with the heads of the cities guildmasters. this forms the city council, while the constabulary is technically under this council the local lord takes an active part keeping the peace. So oft times the will of the council is over ridden by the knight, and the loyalty of the constabulary is his.

The towns guilds are:

The Carpenter's guild

The Warrior's Guild

The Scrivener's Guild

The Innkeeper's Guild

The Miller's Guild

The Laborer's Union

The Stone Mason's Guild

The Farmer & Rancher's Union

The Merchant's Guild

The Wharfmen's Guild

The Shipwright's Guild

The City Maintenance Union