-	-	Structures && Professions	-	-
Dragon 136	-	-	-	Dragon

Shamra remembered deep mines. She
remembered the dungeons of dark elves
and the mazes of minotaurs, but none of
those places had been as bewildering as
this huge, uncaring city. Somewhere, she
had to find the Blue Wizard Inn to join her
party, but she had searched all day, and
dark was coming. The street was like a
tunnel, with rooftops leaning against one
another overhead and patches of light
shining between eaves. When night came,
marauders would emerge, easily evading
the city watches, robbing, kidnapping, and
killing. She had to find directions or at
least a sanctuary, a base camp from which
to explore the city. Finally desperately,
without looking to see where she was,
Shanra climbed a staircase and knocked
on a dry wooden door. Somebody would
be inside....

No DM can plan encounters for every
single part of a town. This problem is
compounded by the fact that PCs seldom
need so much information as when they
enter a city and wonder what all the buildings
are for. Worse yet, PCs often visit a
town on a whim -- perhaps because they
want to trade with some rare sort of merchant,
forcing the DM to decide if the
businessman even exists.

One solution to this problem is a random
city generation system, and that is what
this article provides. These tables show
what buildings PCs may find in urban
areas of all sizes and what customs might
be expected, in both Occidental and Oriental
campaigns.

The buildings tables (Tables 2-5) can be
used in several ways. Each attributes a
modified die roll to a building type, so that
an otherwise undefined building can be
given a purpose. ("Looks like you've found
a livery stable, Brak.") Each also has a
column that determines the chance that
the building exists somewhere in or near a
city. ("The peasant says there's a livery
stable around here!") Always override this
second column when it conflicts with
other data; if the DM wants a building to
exist in a city, it exists. Furthermore, if a
roll on the first column indicates that the
PCs find a certain building, it is there, no
matter what the second column says.
Note that 1d100 results above 100 are
given in the first two columns of Tables
2-5. These figures are 1d100 rolls modified
by figures from Table 1 (hence the possibility
of ?rolling? a number larger than 100).
The Table 1 modifiers are used to reflect
the size of a given city. Each such modifier
is added to the 1d100 roll for the first
column and to the percentage chance for a
building's existence on the second. Thus,
the larger the city, the easier it becomes to
find unusual businesses.

Structures and professions
Although many of the entries listed in
the city-generation tables are self explanatory,
others require a bit more definition.
The following notes describe structures
and professions listed in these tables. For
further details on these structures, DMs
may consult the books listed in the bibliography of this article.

City-State of the Invincible Overlord

Table 1
City-Size Modifiers

Town type	Population	Modifier
Hamlet	1-500	--
Village	501-1,000	+10
Town	l,00l-3,000	+15
City	3,001-10,000	+20
Large city	10,001 and up	+25

Artisan: Roll this result on Table 6. Most
tradesmen live in their workshops. These
house/factories have large windows (without
glass) that let people on the street
watch the craftsmen at work, serving as a
sort of advertisement. A large wooden
panel is used to shut each portal at night,
being used as a drop-down table to display
wares during the day.
 

Bridge: Bridges span canals, rivers,
chasms, or aqueducts, and can be found in
even the driest cities. Passers-by must pay
a toll at many city bridges; any attempt to
avoid this toll (by swimming or other
means) is a serious crime. Offenders will
have to pay costly fines and may be
whipped or imprisoned if they have no
money. Cities need their revenue, after all.

Guild hall: Roll on Table 6 to see which
guild owns this building.

Castle: This is the fortified home of a
great noble, possibly the ruler of the city.
If the city is not ruled by a lord, castles
usually belong to priesthoods or knightly
orders.

City wall: Most cities stretch far beyond
their walls. City fortifications usually
surround as small an area as possible
because the people who build them want
only to protect their own property without
wasting money on bigger walls. Therefore,
characters may find streets blocked
by the defenses. The urban area outside a
city?s wall is called the faubourg, an old
French word for suburb, and is usually
poorer than inner city districts.

Court of law: District magistrates administer
these courts, commanding bands of constables. Their functions are described on page 140 of OA.

Embassy: Embassies in Oriental worlds
are not intended for diplomacy but as
hotels where foreigners are quarantined
to keep them from infecting the local

Table 2
Buildings in an Inland City

Mod. 1dl00 roll	Chance building exists	Building
01-42	100%	Hut
43-45	30%	Beekeeper's hives
46	20%	Herbwife's shop
47	20%	Quarry
48	30%	Lumber mill
49	10%	Mine
50	10%	Smelter
51-60	70%	Inn
61-65	70%	Burgher's home
66-70	70%	Temple
71-75	70%	Tenement
76-77	30%	Monastery
78	60%	Storehouse
79	50%	Bridge
80-81	70%	Market
82	40%	Livery stable
83	15%	Castle
84-95	*	Artisan's shop
96-101	50%	Shanty
102	30%	Falconer's aviary
103-104	30%	Villa
105-106	30%	Tinker's shop
107	40%	Thieves' den
108-109	30%	Fortification
110-111	30%	Bordello
112	20%	College
113-114	50%	City wall
115-116	50%	Guild hall
117-118	30%	Hospital
119-120	40%	Moneylender's shop
121	20%	Alchemist's shop
122	20%	Magic shop
123	20%	Theater
124	20%	Park
125	50%	Tomb

* See Table 6.

Table 3
Buildings in a Port City

-
 

Mod. 1dl00 roll	Chance  building  exists	Building
01-20	100%	Hut
21	15%	Herbwife's shop
22-27	50%	Bait shop
28-32	100%	Dock
33-36	40%	Lumber mill
37-40	70%	Shipwright
41-45	70%	Fishmonger
46-58	70%	Inn
59-62	60%	Burgher?s home
63-67	70%	Temple
68-72	60%	Tenement
73	60%	Storehouse
74-76	60%	Bridge
77-87	100%	Market
88	30%	Livery stable
89	10%	Castle
90-98	*	Artisan?s shop
99-100	50%	Shanty
101-103	30%	Villa
104	30%	Tinker?s shop
105-108	40%	Thieves? den
109	30%	Fortification
110-114	70%	Bordello
115	20%	College
116	50%	City wall
117-118	50%	Guild hall
119	30%	Hospital
120	50%	Moneylender?s shop
121	20%	Alchemist?s shop
122	20%	Magic shop
123	20%	Theater
124	20%	Park
125	50%	Tomb

* See Table 6.

< peasants with barbaric ideas. >

Table 4
Buildings in an Oriental city

Mod. 1dl00 roll	Chance  building  exists	Building
01-10	70%	Small shrine
11-15	20%	Herbalist
16-17	20%	Mine
18-19	20%	Smelter
20-36	70%	Minka *
37-38	10%	Lumber mill
39-43	80%	Market
44-53	80%	Temple
54-55	50%	Rice paddy
56-60	70%	Inn
61	30%	Fortress
62-64	40%	Merchant's home
65-67	60%	Restaurant
68-70	50%	Monastery
71	50%	Bridge
72-80	70%	Bathhouse
81-90	**	Artisan's shop
91	30%	Court of law
92-93	40%	Storehouse
94-97	50%	Training hall
98	60%	Nobleman's castle
99-100	50%	Theater
101-110	60%	Thieves' den
111-112	40%	Tattoo shop
113	20%	Embassy
114-115	40%	Laquerware shop
116-117	40%	Moneylender
118-119	60%	Geisha house
120-125	50%	Tomb

* See Oriental Adventures, page 142
* * See Table 6.

Fortification: This indicates some sort of
barracks or tower, manned with city
guards and controlled by the city council.

Hospital: Charities operate most hospitals
and treat anyone entrusted to them.
They have few trained physicians or clerics,
but they do provide a safe place for
sick or injured people from any social
class. A few hospitals (20%) cater to lepers,
and 5% are mental institutions.
 

Table 5
Buildings in an Oriental port city

Mod. 1dl00 roll	Chance  building  exists	Building
01-05	70%	Small shrine
06	10%	Herbalist
07	10%	Mine
08	10%	Smelter
09-29	70%	Minka *
30-33	40%	Lumber mill
34-36	100%	Dock
37-38	80%	Shipwright
39-40	70%	Bait shop
41-50	80%	Market
51-53	80%	Temple
54	40%	Rice paddy
55-65	70%	Fishmonger
66-70	70%	Inn
71	30%	Fortress
72	60%	Bridge
73-74	40%	Merchant's home
75-76	60%	Restaurant
77-79	50%	Monastery
80-85	70%	Bathhouse
86-96	**	Artisan's shop
97	30%	Court of law
98-99	40%	Storehouse
100-101	50%	Training hall
102	60%	Nobleman's castle
103-104	50%	Theater
105-110	70%	Thieves' den
111-115	60%	Tattoo shop
116-118	20%	Embassy
119-120	40%	Laquerware shop
121-122	40%	Moneylender
123-124	60%	Geisha house
125	50%	Tomb

Hut: Huts usually belong to peasant farmers. In large cities, laborers and poor craftsmen live here.

Magick shop: This store sells material
spell components (see "Living in a Material World" by Michael Dobson, in DRAGON® issue #81, reprinted in the Best of DRAGON Magazine Anthology, Volume IV).
Magical items are almost never for sale,
but the shop might buy them from PCs for
roughly half the normal sale value.
 

Table 6
Artisan Subtable

1d100  roll	Chance  building  exists	Craftsman
01	30%	Armorer
02-04	60%	Barber
05-07	60%	Baker
08	30%	Bowyer
09-10	40%	Brewer
11-12	40%	Candlemaker
13-14	60%	Carpenter
15-16	40%	Chandler (general merchant)
17-18	60%	Chicken butcher
19-20	50%	Cooper
21-22	40%	Cutler
23-24	30%	Doctor
25	30%	Fletcher
26-27	60%	Fuller
28-29	30%	Furrier
30-31	30%	Glassblower
32-33	40%	Glovemaker
34	30%	Goldsmith
35-36	60%	Harnessmaker
37-38	40%	Hatmaker
39-41	50%	Hay merchant
42-43	30%	Jeweler
44-45	40%	Laundry
46-48	40%	Masons
49-50	60%	Meat butcher
51-53	50%	Mercer of wool
54-55	40%	Oil merchant
56-58	40%	Old-clothes dealer
59-60	50%	Painter
61-62	40%	Perfumer
63-64	50%	Plasterer
65-67	67%	Potter
68-69	3%	Pursemaker
70-71	6%	Roofer
72-73	5%	Ropemaker
74-75	4%	Rugmaker
76-77	6%	Saddler
78	3%	Scabbardmaker
79-80	5%	Scribe
81-82	4%	Sculptor
83-86	6%	Shoemaker
87-90	6%	Smith
91-92	3%	Spice merchant
93-95	6%	Tailor
96	6%	Tannery
97	6%	Weaver
98	6%	Winer
99	6%	Woodcarver
00	6%	Woodseller

 

Market: PCs can buy almost anything
from hawkers here. Almost all of the
people in a market (80%) are peasants
trying to sell farm produce, but 10% of the
street vendors are merchants from distant
lands; another 10% are artisans rolled
from Table 6.

Rice paddy: Oriental peasants farm rice
everywhere, even in the centers of huge
cities. In the real Orient, rice growers still
work in modern Tokyo despite its staggering
population.

Shanty: These shacks have been illegally
built by squatters. Many belong to serfs
who are fleeing servitude on some rural
manor.

Storehouse: Most cities store a supply of
food to be rationed out during famines or
sieges. Although storehouses do not usually
have permanent guards, characters
caught robbing these granaries will be
severely punished.

Tattoo shop: Almost all tattoo shops are
operated by yakuza.

Thieves' den: This sort of building is
always disguised as something else. Roll
again to see what it looks like. These dens
have a 30% chance of belonging to assassins
-- guilds or other secret societies. In the
Orient, thieves' dens serve as meeting
grounds for the yakuza.

Training hall: This is the dojo of a
famous teacher. The master has a 20%
chance of teaching martial arts and a 40%
chance of teaching philosophy; the hall has
a 80% chance of involving martial arts, a
20% chance of teaching some court proficiency,
and a 20% chance of teaching an
artisan proficiency (roll each chance separately).
The DM may choose exactly which
martial art or proficiency is taught here
according to the needs of the campaign.
Some of these professions are extremely
specialized. In most cities, guilds force all
businessmen to specialize and prohibit
them from practicing each others? trades.
Guilds also set prices and standards of
quality. Merchants control most cities, so
these guilds are extremely powerful and
seldom defied.

DMs should never use random rolls as a
substitute for writing exciting adventures.
However, a dice-generated city would be
quite realistic in most fantasy worlds.
Ancient cities laid their streets wherever
there were gaps between buildings and
had no definable slums or rich neighbor
hoods. A merchant's villa might stand next
to the town's rowdiest bar or a stinking
tenement. Artisans often clustered along a
single street, and mighty kings sometimes
had cities built to order. But in general,
medieval cities were designed randomly.

Bibliography-
Dore, R. P. City Life In Japan. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1958.

Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life In A Medieval City. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.

Rorig, Fritz. The Medieval Town. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967.

Saalman, Howard. Planning and Cities: Medieval Cities. New York: George Braziller Inc., 1968.