Settlements

Summary

This video script delves into the intricacies of world-building, focusing on settlements as pivotal elements in storytelling. It advises Dungeon Masters to detail only locations relevant to the player's journey, emphasizing the necessity of a place to stay, pray, and shop for short visits. The script outlines settlement types from hamlets to cities, detailing their hierarchy, resource dependencies, and evolution. It discusses the importance of government, religion, trade, and the role of various NPCs, providing a comprehensive guide for creating immersive and dynamic settings in tabletop RPGs.

Takeaways

• 🌍 For world builders, settlements are crucial as they reflect the history and provide a setting for storytelling.
• 🏰 Dungeon Masters should focus on creating detailed locations relevant to the party's journey, rather than exhaustive world-building.
• 🏠 In short visits, players typically need places to stay, pray, and shop, which should be given personality if the settlement is a home base or quest hub.
• 🏡 The foundation of any settlement is a resource, most commonly food and minerals, which can be exploited and potentially exported.
• 🏞️ Hamlets are small, with less than a hundred people, and are unlikely to have much to offer adventurers beyond basic survival and information.
• 🏕️ Villages, with a population of up to a thousand, have farms, animal husbandry, and a basic government structure, often with a noble family in charge.
• 🏪 Villages also feature a church or shrines, reflecting the need for faith in a world with many unseen secrets.
• 🏢 Towns, with around 3,000 citizens, are hubs of trade, with an influx of merchants and a variety of goods, and often have guild systems for craftsmen.
• 🏦 Cities are complex, with layers of development and a diverse range of experiences, governed by a circle of nobles and featuring extensive law enforcement and trade guilds.
• 🏛️ Cities are also religious centers, with grand cathedrals and temples, and are the heart of a kingdom, offering a wide array of services and opportunities for adventurers.
• 🏖️ Kingdoms are networks of settlements under one ruler, typically centered around a city, and are the highest level of organization in the settlement hierarchy.

Q & A

What is the primary factor that leads to the formation of a settlement according to the script?

The primary factor that leads to the formation of a settlement is the presence of a resource, such as food and minerals, which can be exploited.

Why are hamlets rarely visited by adventurers in the script?

Hamlets are rarely visited by adventurers because they are small communities with little to offer in terms of goods or services, and they generally have a tight family mentality that discourages outsiders.

What are the key differences between a hamlet and a village as described in the script?

The key differences include the number of residents, with villages having more than hamlets, and the presence of cultivation of food, a government structure, and a church in villages, which are absent in hamlets.

How does the script suggest handling the creation of settlements for a short visit by adventurers?

For short visits, the script suggests focusing on providing a place to stay, a place to pray, and a place to shop, as these are the essentials for adventurers.

What is the typical government structure of a village according to the script?

The typical government structure of a village is a single noble family that owns the village and is responsible for its upkeep.

Why are towns characterized by a surplus of a rare good in the script?

Towns are characterized by a surplus of a rare good because they either pop up on major trade routes or their export rarity makes trade routes form around them, attracting people from far and wide to trade.

How does the script describe the evolution of a town into a city?

The script describes the evolution of a town into a city as a process involving a significant increase in population, the development of layers with each expansion, and the establishment of a complex governance system involving a circle of nobles and a bureaucratic legal structure.

What are the two types of guilds mentioned in the script, and how do they differ?

The two types of guilds mentioned are traders and craftsmen. Traders band together to set prices for goods, while craftsmen set standards for the quality of goods representing their trade.

How does the script suggest adding personality to locations in a settlement?

The script suggests adding personality by describing the people who run the locations, such as a family that runs an inn or a tavern, the presence of other guests, and the types of entertainment available.

What is the significance of a kingdom in the context of settlements as described in the script?

A kingdom is a network of towns and villages under one ruler, with a city serving as the administrative center, and it represents the political and economic structure that connects smaller settlements.