Bengt Petter
Topic Author
Posts: 772
Joined: Sat 09 Apr 2011, 11:27

Brainstorming unconventional city concepts

Sat 14 Aug 2021, 15:42

Hi, this is my first post in this game forum. I just heard the interview with Erik Granström in the Effekt Podcast. He quite briefly mentioned cities in the Forbidden Lands setting. As I think we all know, there is a kind of staple fantasy cities that you could find in many games. You can do a lot even with a standard city. But that’s not what I will focus on here. Instead, I will try to think outside the box. Maybe they could fit the setting of The Forbidden Lands, or maybe not. I’ve only focused on ideas I haven’t seen myself (but maybe something similar could be found elsewhere). These are my ideas:

1. The Dragon’s City. This once prosperous city has been taken over by an old and powerful dragon. The dragon spends most his (her?) time recieving various gifts and offerings from the city people. Of course, they have tried to get rid of the dragon, but so far without any success. Now the dragon is running the city, forcing the inhibatants to fred him and do many kinds of bizarre tasks. Most people in the city hate the dragon, but there are also some who benefit from the tyrant regime.

2. City of Giants and Man. Already from a quite long distance, you see that something is very different in this city: several giants are visible behind the city wall. They have been hired to work as city guards. Sometimes they are also used for various construction projects. During nights, some of the giants sleep outside the city walls. Their snores and farts are so loud that the ground is vibrating. The giants aren’t very smart and sometimes they really disturb the much smaller, mostly human population. Lately, they have also been included in various local intrigues. Houses have been smashed and there are talks about killing some of the giants. How should they be delt with? Who could use them and for what?

3. The Necromancer City. Most of the people in this remote mountain city are already dead. The only living inhabitants are a group of necromancers who have escaped the more conventional world. Now, they are surrounded by numerous undead servants. The city has a terrible stench that could be smelled from a long distance. Those who are allowed to enter the city will meet thousands of undead, living in a place created mainly for the dead. But there are also possibilities for living visitors to gain new knowledge or buy bizarre artifacts.

4. The Fortress Island. A powerful ruler has founded an entire city for his troops. The city is quite new, and most blocks are founded to serve an army. Since the city is built on an island, you will need a boat to get there. The high city walls are well guarded and there are several high towers for protection. Most of the inhabitants are soldiers, going to or coming back from a war somewhere. This means that the number of people who live here may vary a lot. Most visitors are soldiers, and the who aren’t should have good reasons to get inside the walls.

5. The Town On A Giant Tortoise. A couple of centuries ago a town was founded on the shell of a giant tortoise. The tortoise is an ancient being, perhaps once born or created in another world. He needed some people to protect him from the dangers he encounted. His rocky shell is well suited for buildings, and the human settlers formed their own town upon the shell. You will need to use a long ladder to get up on the shell. The tortoise town has slowly been moving across the world, and sometimes even swimming across oceans. The population of the tortoise town has formed a culture of their own, based on desicions made together with the very old and wise turtoise. They also have to take care of the old creature, and feed him when he wants to.

Would you like to present your own city concept? Just post whatever you like. I might also have some additional concepts myself.

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