A Broken Spoke Production: The Urban Generator

[derv]

Here's my latest project- The Urban Generator. It gives the active GM a quick method of randomly creating urban environments of adventure while allowing room for their own personal touches.

The Urban Generator

Let me know your feedback if you try it.

Cheers!

[tkdco2]

Thanks for sharing! I'll take a look at it this weekend.

[hamurai]

I took a quick look at it already and it seems quite a good tool! Thanks for sharing!

The only thing I was wondering about is the 1-in-6 chance to find a Patriarch in a temple, or to meet a superhero. I don't have the numbers in my head and no access to the books right now, but the chance seems quite high.

[derv]

Jan 31, 2020 1:52:51 GMT -6 hamurai said:

I took a quick look at it already and it seems quite a good tool! Thanks for sharing!

The only thing I was wondering about is the 1-in-6 chance to find a Patriarch in a temple, or to meet a superhero. I don't have the numbers in my head and no access to the books right now, but the chance seems quite high.

One of the things I tried to do was stick with six sided dice throughout. The sub tables you mentioned are modeled after U&WA's castle inhabitant table on p.15 which also uses a d6. But the probabilities are easy enough to change if a GM wanted by opting for a different die type and likelihood of particular outcomes. For instance, if you wanted a Patriarch to be a rarer outcome you could instead roll a d10 where 1= Patriarch, 2-3= Cleric level 4-7 (d4), 4-6= 1-6 assistants level 2-3 (d2),7-10= 1-6 x 10 followers. And of course a GM can override the die outcome completely if they think it makes better sense for the setting.

The idea is that any one could be roaming around town at any ole time and you never know who you'll bump into.

[waysoftheearth]

Great work derv as always.

A couple of observations that spring to mind as I read:

I'd prefer "ref" over "GM" throughout.

Step 1:
It might be nice to relate these sizes to the population centres that are mentioned in OD&D (e.g., castles, towns, villages?).

Step 2:
Love it. Perhaps the D option should be replaced by a # option (four lines making a square)?
Perhaps the N heading could also be diced for as a step?

Step 2a:
8d6 side-streets, per street, per side is a lot of dice (potentially 8 x 4 x 2 = 64d6). Not really something I could practically do on the fly. I wonder if an simpler approach might be "some calculated number" of side-streets + 1d6, regardless of the urban centre size?

Step 2b:
Hmm. Let me think about it...

I notice that all the roads are straight-ish, whereas curvy roads could be the norm in many places.

Step 3:
Another rule of thumb for buildings could be something like: there's a building wherever two roads intersect (at L, T, X intersections) then dice for: the type of each building, and for what is at empty lots. Empty lots between building might be filled by another building (or a terrace/row of buildings), or not, by dicing rather than trying to fit X many buildings into the space. (kinda analogous to dicing for what's in each dungeon room: empty, monster, treasure, or monster+treasure).

This would potentially result in lots of dice, but you could do them "as required" rather than all up front. I guess the front-loading and lazy-loading methods each have their pros and cons...


That's all I got for now. More thoughts after I've put it through its paces a few times...

[derv]

Thanks for the feedback waysoftheearth .

For step 1 I had originally considered making that association. I didn't end up doing it because the tool isn't really designed for small communities like hamlets and villages. Basically it's ideal for anything from a small town to a large city. It could even be expanded or utilized for creating super cities (5+ miles) if a GM was inclined. But, I don't think it would be highly practical for such. I think most people will be more likely to design 1/8 or 1/4 mile environments. Castles are mentioned as an add on feature for large cities. Though there's nothing stopping a person from attaching them to smaller cities or towns- perhaps a manor even.

Step 2- yeah, there are a few options a person could use. My thought with a square main street is it's association with modern layouts, essentially creating a grid of blocks within the community. Maybe I should include a note about trying out other possible layouts not presented.

Definitely the Northerly orientation could easily be diced for. I opened the door for people to determine that however they chose by suggesting it didn't have to be strictly as it appeared.

Step 2a- 8d6 would be your largest city map (1 mile). You'll be generating 1/8th mile at a time. Typically though, a GM would generate a more complicated map before hand.

If I was doing it on the fly, I would only draw the main streets. Then generate 1/8th mile of the side streets and buildings. That's plenty to describe as a party enters town. If they decide to turn down a side street, go ahead and generate up to 1/8th mile of the branches and buildings on that alley way. This way you are really only rolling a d6 x2 at a time.

Step 2b- yeah curved streets are not easily replicated so I stuck with straightish roads. But, it might be worth while adding a sub-step after buildings have been placed that allows for a GM to add some freehand curved pathways that wind through the open areas. Seems like a good idea. I'll have to think on it a little.

Step 3- this is the initial draft. It is really only section one with the addition of the essay/tables on running an urban adventure at the end. I intend to include a section 2 and 3 that involves fleshing things out a little more. It's in the works. Just a quick explanation, it involves breaking the map you created into sectors and reducing the scale to 1/4" square= 10 feet.


Thanks again. I hope you have fun tinkering with it.

[linebeck]

Jan 30, 2020 21:12:00 GMT -6 derv said:

Here's my latest project- The Urban Generator. It gives the active GM a quick method of randomly creating urban environments of adventure while allowing room for their own personal touches.

The Urban Generator

Let me know your feedback if you try it.

Cheers!

Link did not work.  

[doublejig2]

Same here.

[derv]

Thanks for the interest guys. I'm still working on Urban Generator. But, it's on a backburner at the moment. I plan on returning to it at some point and I'll link to an updated file at that time. This is the only place I post this stuff, so you can expect to find it here when I do.

[doublejig2]

cool beans.

[Piper]

Merely curious -- how's this project coming along?

[bobjester0e]

Yes, how is this project coming along?

I just got here by way of "Wandering Around Town" and "Dungeon Size Preference" threads.

I could definitely use what I learn here in my roll20 table macros.

[tdenmark]

Jan 30, 2020 21:12:00 GMT -6 derv said:

Here's my latest project- The Urban Generator. It gives the active GM a quick method of randomly creating urban environments of adventure while allowing room for their own personal touches.

The Urban Generator

Let me know your feedback if you try it.

Cheers!

How is this coming along?

[derv]

Sorry to not have responded earlier guys. Been preoccupied with other things lately and haven't been on.

Due to my method of writing and research, which is pretty clumsy in appearance but works for me, the Urban Generator sits in a state of a rough draft accompanied by a pile of loose notes, on assorted sizes and types of paper, that need to be reviewed and incorporated into the document.

If you DL'd the first draft, that is a transition point. In reality what you would have created is entirely useful all on it's own without going any further. My intention is to add more detail by breaking the map (macros) into equal size sectors each fitting an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper at a different scale. I should have picked this project back up by now. I'll try to return to it soon-ish.

Thanks for your interest.