Your First Town | Running the Game 

haha :D

Edenia "Tumaipipal"

Edenia as long as you don't go in to my people, we good

callback to episode one, nice

Dang, that’s brilliant.

@@theendicott2838 It really, really is.

I'm building a town kinda inspired by the concept of the Twins from Game of Thrones but crossing a wide chasm near essentially Niagra Falls I was watching this to get ideas on filling out out and I had a sudden thought about the whole right and left brain so now the Twin Town is separated on those ideas

Add a road leading to a coal mine, and you'd be all set. The mine itself could provide plenty of opportunities for dungeon delving, as well.

Dude, it was a joke, a pun on Matt's last name ;)

Hmm, thanks for the inspiration! I just started a campaign with my niece and nephew (8 and 11 yrs old)... currently characters are done meeting a friendly gnome NPC and are about to meet the Big Bad for the first time (prolly a hag of some type). Going to have the gnome cast gate and tell the players to "run for your lives" as the gnome gets dusted, thru the gate and right to Coalville, an abandoned mining town, then will run a quick Goblin Go Carts adventure from Ab Tab. Annnnnd, were out! At least a night or two of fun there! Thanks for the idea - a perfect fit!!!

SG710 a joke, but an inspired one

You know, I actually live in a town called Coalville, in England. Built around mines that are now pretty much abandoned. That's a plot hook for a good adventure if you ask me.

ExistentialOcto I prefer the P.E.R.M.S. method, personally.

"To give birth to a good setting, you're gonna need some S.P.E.R.M." Silly and memorable, like all good mnemonics should be. I like it.

@@leonspilogale8512 legendary, underatted comment.

​@MrKenpachi28 where those rats at?

Dungeony Masterano

This man is no melon!

Coltony 45tano here

Two worlds I never expected to cross

Internet's busiest Dungeon Master.

Bruh it’s almost 3 here. The sleep hath not cometh

Same for me!!! I couldn't resist a Matt Colville video!

Specifically, the tanner would almost certainly live DOWNRIVER on the outskirts of town. Likewise any other tradesperson who needs ready access to running water and who's use of it would contaminate the town's water supply.

And it is madness that the Inn and the Stables are across the RIVER from each other. They should be across the ROAD from each other.

Also, why there isnt an abbatoir? I guess the farmers can butcher their own animals, i know a few who do that still.

Dinuial +

+

Others things that influence names: -Geography: If you have two Johns in town, you might differentiate them by saying one is "John Forest" (because he lives next to the forest), and the other is "John Fields" (because he lives out in the fields). If you want to disguise this a bit, you might take the equivalent words from other languages; in German, it would be "John Forst" and "John Feld". -Religion: Just examine our Real Life culture, and note how many common names are taken directly from religious traditions. Mathew, Mark, Luke, John. Mary, Eve, Jezebel, Ruth. Millions of people named Muhammad. There may also be specific religious movements that create naming trends. The Puritans liked to give children elaborate names with direct religious meaning, like Nicolas "If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-You-Thy-Soul-Has-Been-Damned" Barebones. Or various references to virtues...or disparaging concepts like "Disappointment". (Where do you think Tieflings got their Virtue names? WotC didn't invent that whole cloth). -History: For many of the same reasons people might be named for religious figures, they might be named for historical figures. Alexander, Ulysses, Martin Luther, etc. In a DnD world, the names people go after might gives clues as to who that society considered important in the past. -Deeds: Speaking of importance, we're all already familiar with the fantasy trend of naming characters after important deeds, because people in ages past tended to do that. Sometimes these names can stick, with family lines, clans, or houses taking the moniker of an important founding member. You see this a lot in depictions of Dwarves, since their cultures are often proud, family/clan oriented, and focused on accomplishment, whether that be in warfare, exploration, mining, or craftwork. -Superstition: Names have great mythic significance. The distinction between a "True Name" and an "Adult Name" arises from superstition that if a supernatural being or hostile magician knows one's True Name, they hold power over one. The name one goes by can not only protect a True Name, but could, in superstitious thought, act as additional protection or utility, depending on the name. People taking on names so as to derive power from it, through the Rule of Similarity. To keep a witch from charming him, a man might call himself "Ironheart", while a warrior looking for success in battle may try to channel a beast's ferocity by calling himself "Wolfclaw". The Fey are said to prey on names, so using a nonsense name may be helpful for confusing their alien mentalities.

Bluecho4 on the location names, another plausible variation of that is picking up a name related to where one lived before they moved to the town. This would likely be rare, as it would only occur in mostly sedentary populations as a more mobile population would likely adopt a true surname system. Would also make sense to use of/O' as appropriate for the culture. John O'NorShire would be a plausible name along these lines (with the prefix being used/dropped depending on cultural norms) Of course, you could also go with the classic [parent's name]daughter/son system for some cultures.

But not as it was - in medieval times. But his world might be different which is fine.

@WalkOnNick weird how you can suspend your disbelief for dragons but not for gay people

@@scritoph3368 We all know dragons are real, gay people are not! /s

​@@scritoph3368 He didn't say he couldn't suspend his disbelief my guy

When did you realize Conyberry was supposed to be a bunch of ruins?

I came to the comments looking for this one.

Roman law prohibited burial inside city/town boundaries, so most Roman settlements had some sort of Necropolis outside of the city. As with most things, cemeteries and the laws around them got re-used by later civilisations (such as the Anglo-Saxons). One interesting practice is the exhumation of older bodies into mass graves (or funeral pyres) which I think is a great way for the undead to rise up and attack the town.

MORCANT85 well if the graveyard is on the opposite side of the town from the church, then a funeral can be an important facet of their society. When the body is being laid to rest there is a parade from the church to the graveyard so the community can pay their collective respects one last time. Take it if you want it :)

What if having the dead near the church would be seen as dirty?

If you don't yet follow A.J.Pickett's channel too. Great channel for D&D lore.

I think because it both offers privacy and a view over the town. It also sets them up as dominant in the area and separate which plays into classic wizard tropes. In a cases where they need to defend their tower the view and the aoe spells give them a huge advantage

Jackson Bockus A good vantage point, potentially helpful in scrying and dealing with air spirits and the like and a place elevated to where natural landscapes get less in the way of viewing/working with the stars. And if you have all this important valuable equipment on the roof or upper floors of a tower it does a lot to warding off random gits and would be thieves. Not to mention that comfortable privacy in those upper floors.

It totally depends on what you want, but canonically (in some, but not all mythos) wizards experiment in towers for a number of reasons. First, they tend to be a fairly defensible structure against the local rabble that want to blame you for every ill that befalls them for which they have no other explanation. Second, towers are imposing structures that would tend to dissuade curious passers-by...especially once they become connected to wizards in the minds of the masses. The last I will mention here is the idea of ego. A classical wizard (of the kind most thought of when referring to D&D and high fantasy) has an ego altogether too large to permit them to live in any structure other than one which rises far above others. Obviously, there are many more other reasons and branches of the reasons I stated above. You can make up your own , too. For example: in my game towers allow a wizard to experiment in a location which is as distant as possible from the magic-dampening ground while still being anchored by gravity. Don't forget, many wizards choose NOT to live in towers. Whether this is in bucking the trend or because they prefer immense and deadly underground mazes, some wizards just don't appreciate altitude like others do.

Because wizards are flavoured to be like old-timey astronomers (or alchemists, or any other vaguely magical science) and they would love to be closer to the stars so that they can observe them and use them for Divination purposes. Also being in a tower gets you nice and far away from the riff-raff or anyone who thinks your magic is evil. It's just nice to have a little security that it's difficult to throw stones through your window at you because you're so high up. Also if someone breaks in, you have time to prepare a spell to counter-attack or cast Fly and get outta there with a few of your most prized possessions stuffed in a Bag of Holding. TL;DR - towers offer a social, scientific and strategic advantage over living anywhere else.

Because the wizard is wealthy and the wealthy get to have the coolest houses.