Best single page of D&D not from a core book.

[doublejig2]

Is Melan's Design Notes for his City of Zothay, the best single page (or page and a half) ever written for D&D, especially for urban adventuring?

Here are 3 take aways:
"Good information, in my mind, fulfils two purposes: it is suggestive of a broader context instead of over-describing it, and it is conductive to its purpose – some of which serves to evoke a certain mental image, but more often to encourage action." [Comment: this is as close to DM marching orders as D&D will ever garner - multi-faceted, it declares what information is good (valuable) for the game and also the terms of this value. Just thinking in this way can be practiced and refined to good effect].

"There is my fascination with enclaves, exclaves and parallel power structures – as a subjugated city state, Zothay basically had to give over its inner city to criminals, spies and vagrants, and while there is an uneasy coexistence, a clash between agendas of containment from the outside and subversion from the enclave can become a dominant issue in the campaign." [Comment: this is a sure fire way to add dynamism to the urban center, which is then subject to built-in bilateral economic, civil, and political forces alongside the responses to the doings of adventurers, NPCs, and factions.]

"The supplement also has a selection of “hidden places” – opportunities to discover locales sealed in the distant past, expeditions into other realities and a possibility to discover things that can completely change the players’ understanding of their present environment. [Comment: this is just cool, the changing of the lens / the jaw drop of the players.]

One could go far in cerebral campaign design, thinking about and working with just these three "conceptual tools."
To see what Melan did with these, here's a link to the City of Zothay.

[cadriel]

I think the amount packed into the Ready Ref Sheets was pretty serious. My favorite page and a half is "Ravaged Ruins" - you could create a whole campaign using nothing but that table and a hex map if you were so inclined. But pages 2-3 (the "City Encounter" table and its immediate expansion) would be up there for urban adventuring. Mind you, this is very raw and doesn't even rise to the level of prose, but it's very useful if you're looking to roll a quick encounter or trying to do prep quickly. Honorable mentions to my favorites, the "Precious Pearls" and "Startling Statues."

[doublejig2]

Agree. Whatever sources are chosen, the work ultimately finds the map, encounter tables, and ruleset. I use the single page Dungeoneering Reference Sheet for game table management.

[machfront]

Jun 1, 2023 11:23:50 GMT -6 cadriel said:

this is very raw and doesn't even rise to the level of prose

That’s the best thing about it. It’s useful, inspires, doesnt bore me, and doesnt require me to read stuff that also always bores me (as all published adventures and campaign books always always do).