You Approach a Settlement

A Guide to Well Defined Cities

How to Use:
This is a brief questionnaire designed to help RPG Game Masters produce cities, towns and other sorts
of settlements that don't feel exactly like the last dozen cities towns and settlements your players
visited. A small amount of description can go a long way towards making your world feel alive,
vibrant and diverse and can make your cities memorable and well defined in your players minds.
The first section deals with details apparent to the player's senses as soon as they enter town. The
second section deals with details that the players may have to do some investigating or deducing to
learn.
This questionnaire can be used for any setting or time period and can be applied to any size of
settlement. It was designed with tabletop RPGs in mind but could easily be applied to any creative
world building endeavor. It also doesn't need to be applied to an entire town. It can be used to describe
specific sections, boroughs and subdivisions just as easily.
Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to sit down before your game and answer all these
questions for each town that will appear. This list can easily be used as an improvisation tool to help
you come up with details on the fly as you introduce new locations.
Remember to try to keep your details consistent. A fishing village on an ocean with forest at its back is
likely to smell of salt and fish and have buildings made of wood. It is less likely to have buildings
made of adobe clay and smell like a fresh meadow. That is unless a detail that doesn't seem to fit with
the others is something you want the players to specifically take notice of.
I hope you enjoy this resource and that it helps make your games fun and memorable.

A. Tettenborn. August 2015

The Immediately Obvious:

1. What kind of terrain is the city/town/settlement built on? What is the surrounding
ecosystem? Is it on a lake, river or ocean?
2. As the players approach, does it begin abruptly or is it a sprawl? Is there a wall? What
kind of structures might be seen on the way up to the town?
3. What kind of security stands in the way of getting into town? Can the players just walk
in? Is there a toll to get in? Are they stopped by armed guards? Are the guards
friendly, suspicious or outright hostile?
4. How many people do they see in the streets? Is it bustling? If so, does it looks like
overcrowding, or does it have the look of a street festival or celebration?
5. How wealthy does this area look? Is it an affluent area or a total slum?
6. What do the people look like? Are people vividly dressed in colorful silks, or is their
garb drab and basic? Are they fair skinned and tall? Olive skinned and stoutly built?
Are they all adults or are there children around?
7. What are the people doing? Are there merchants peddling wares? Beggars begging?
Blacksmiths blacksmithing? Preachers on soapboxes sermonizing?
8. What kind of road are the players on? Hard cobblestones? Mud squelching underfoot?
9. What does the air smell like? What does the air taste like. What does it feel like? Cold,
hot, humid, dry?
10. What kind of sounds do they hear? Is it loud? Is it completely dead? Do the players
hear the banging of hammers, the ringing of church bells, the sounds of a conflict?
11. How do people respond to the players? Do they seem suspicious? friendly? outright
paranoid? Do they even notice the group? Does anyone hail them or try to get their
attention as they walk into town?
12. Are there vehicles? Are they wagons, carts, automobiles, tractors, transport trucks? Can
the players see what they are carrying?
13. What is the town's architecture like? Are buildings made of wood? stone? mud? What
features are common? What are the roofs made of?
14. How wide are the town's paths or roads? Is this a town full of big open thoroughfares,
tight windy alleys, or a mix of both?
15. Are there advertisements? Are they big and gaudy or subdued and in the background?
Are there so many that they none of them can even stand out?
A. Tettenborn. August 2015

16. Can the players see a significant police or town guard presence? How friendly or
unfriendly do they seem to be?
17. Are there animals apparent? Are they mundane animals like horses, cats, dogs, camels,
or does this town have domesticated manticores?

The Less Obvious:

18. What system of government does this town have? Is it ruled by a single person, a
council, elected officials? Does it owe fealty to anything outside of itself?
19. How strong is the law enforcement? Does the town have a single sheriff, a small law
enforcement body or a large military barracks? What kind of armor, weapons and
technology are they outfitted with?
20. What's the economy like? Are things going well or is the town in trouble? Whichever
the case, is this a new development or something that's been happening for a while?
21. What does this town produce or export? What are their industries?
22. What is the town's population?
23. What is the social structure like? Are there well defined levels of affluence and what
proportion of citizens are in each? Are there sections of the town that are off limits to
some of the citizens?
24. Is the town at war or involved in any sort of conflict right now?
25. What sort of religion or religions are practiced here. How powerful are the religious
leaders? How restrictive are those rules and how likely are the players to break those
rules?
26. How much does the climate vary? Is the weather always like what the players first
encounter or does is it more variable? If so, does it change in seasons?
27. What are this town's events, holidays and festivals? Are they secular, religious or a
mix of both?
28. How much crime does this town experience and if so, what is the source of that crime?
29. What kind of games and sports do they play here? Are they important social events or
just things to pass the time?
30. What kind of health care is available? Is there a local healer? a whole hospital? Do
citizens need to travel a day's journey just to buy medicine from the next town over?

A. Tettenborn. August 2015