Any ideas for what you'd like to see next, feel free to leave it down here in the comments below. One of my players gave me the idea to do videos on certain monsters and how to use them in adventures and dungeons. If a video on Goblins sounds interesting, let me know? Thanks guys.
Enjoyed the vid very cool insight to towns that can be as simple or as complicated as you want What would be cool to see is details of guilds or clans, groups of specialists among these towns that have special resources/features. Membership, services, that kind of thing.
@@Reerrzhaz Yeah these are things I typically define with settlements that my players value, but I might do a video on the topic in the future as an advanced guide.
My only suggestion is to resist the urge to crank out videos to feed the algorithm. Just make them on topics you genuinely think are interesting or would be useful, and at your own pace. Thanks for all your ideas so far!
A great resource if you are willing to read, is "Life in a Medieval Town" and "Life in a Medieval City". Two great resource books that lay out all aspects of typical life in Medieval society was like.
@@tankatim13 Depends on what you define as a monster. The books are a great resource for layout for what a medieval town or city had in the way of shops and how the trades/guilds interacted.
This video is easily one of my favorites, so far. Raw goods travel better than refined goods, and are slightly-less pilferable by bandits in a hurry.. Trade towns exist (and are quite handy) situated between resource developments. Fishing villages are also common resource settlements - lakeside and ocean coastal settlements. Another "military influence" motivator could be the traveling regiment sent to reinforce a particular emplacement, but they just happen to be passing through this area, at this particular time.. WALLS.. My particular setting has walls around established towns (and cities), whereas villages usually don't.. The biggest observable difference could be when your meal gets interrupted as the roof of your restaurant has been pulled open by a hungry giant sniffing the air and looking for tasty morsels.. This kind of thing rarely happens (at night) in a settlement with a wall and a watch..
Video was being promoted by RUclips on my recommended list. I’m leaving another comment in the hope that it helps the video reach a wider audience. Well worth watching again.
Thank you for the historical accuracy. Villages only existed as housing for the workers on a manor & were too small to bother with. A city was as small as 2000 & rarely larger than 10,000. A tiny population leaves room for monsters in large wilderness areas. However, there was nothing like a “general store” until modern times. If it wasnt made to order, you got it at the weekly market in the town square or churchyard.
Some areas in my campaign world have serfs. Especially if the area has specialized fighters instead of a local militia. With Hobgoblins, Gnolls, Orcs, Goblins, Bugbears, Ogres, and Giants, the average human farmer has a limited chance of dealing with them. The "elite" are better trained and armed (higher levels), and they don't spend time producing food, clothing, etc. They leave that to the serfs and freemen, and in turn, protect them from attack. Of course, not every area works this way. Some are more tightly knit communities where they coordinate their efforts to defend each other, and don't want "noble elites" running their areas. It all depends on the background I have for each area. Lots of variety.
Geezer here... It's been a long while. Sadly I cannot remember the publisher or title. But there was a system I encountered that used a very, scary accurate (to the best of my knowledge) of a medieval European setting. Serfs and the feudal system was in full scope. Ya, characters rolled for social position and serf was a good portion of possible results. The adventures we had included... Gaining any gear beyond farm implements. Avoiding problems brought about by simply leaving. Your a serf Bob, you should be working for your lord. They may not have been full slaves. But they needed permission to leave. Making "pilgrimage" a great excuse to get permission. Countless complications caused by a failure to acknowledge ones "betters". Endless variations on. Hey, you. "Where did you steal that"? Serfs showing any wealth got a hard look. A harder look. "Is that a SWORD on your belt"? Gaming on.
You mentioned feudal terms. I like using these, unlike the simplistic 5E "flavor" of a noble or "local hero" peasant/serf, with no mechanics For their inclusion For story, plot, motivations etc... For including different social classes, I've enjoyed including resources from other systems. One of my favorites was "Sword & Sorcery" by Highlander Games. Older editions of D&D also had similar resource guides over the years.
If that's the case, feel free to take the ideas I've done in my video, but slightly expand upon it through play. You can think of cities as being two or three towns combined, so you can have certain portions be MARKET, whereas another area could be RESOURCE. That is actually a really good tip for defining districts too, something I see a lot of people struggling with.
@@LokisLair For my campaign I need a busy urban background for some RP and obviously there'll be a dungeon underneath. I have a feeling my players don't care that much about government type and market availability of crops, but I WILL be putting in a Castellan so they'll run the risk of early arrest and imprisonment...
I only discovered this video today and it explains well how to build a settlement. Interesting approach also on how to concentrate on the services that PCs will most likely look out for when they visit a settlement. My approach till now was more what would the settlements inhabitants need first and only then, especially when it isn't anylonger a hamlet but a town, what it could offert to "outsiders" - most also the reason while the settlment has grown into a town and isn't a simple hamplet anylonger. Interesting, really interesting. Also love to see that you have developped this to publish "Designing Hex Towns". I wouldn't miss to have this one in my (vast) collection. Great stuff. Cheers 🍻
I am putting an epic 6 type adventure/campaign together for my son (14yo) and I to adventure in. So much of what you are talking about in your videos is directly applicable to my world building. I just want to say, "Thank you!".
The one town I tried to brainstorm was back in Basic Training. I was just thinking of what a town would look like if it grew around a wizards' college and how magic could take the place of natural resources.
I've heard that it's actually a historical misunderstanding that serfs were never able to travel. As always it's a question of when and where. There was actually a lot of travel going on in the middle ages, and often times it was a matter of formality to ask your lord for the permission to go for instance on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Santiago de Compostella (which a lot of people did). While there were instances of cruel tyrany of course (same as today), people for the most part were a lot more free than we think today.
Another great video. Well explained with clear source material to back up important and useful points. Ideal for TTRPG players, DMs, content creators and fantasy writers alike. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I’d be interested to know how you can tie in a mega dungeon to a map - such as you’ve illustrated here. Perhaps this could be a future video? A clear explanation of how to create a believable settlement with the various trades and citizens needed. You made the topic digestible and really easy to follow. So thank you!
I did a video on Orcs a few months ago but it kind of sucked. I'll work on a better way of doing it and I'll start the series in the near future. Thanks!
How to set up a mountain pass outpost. How to deal with mass army movements (enemies) against such an Outpost while giving the party fun/important things to do.
I recently was reading Icewind Dale Rime of the Frost Maiden, and it occurred to me that the book does a good job of showing how you can make a variety of towns in your dnd game since it includes ten different towns in one single isolated region.
Goblins, .. I had to deal with 12 yo cousins that wanted to have a war between 3rdE D&D gnome multiclass druids/wizard(illusionists)/sorcerer/ rogues having a verbal insulting and magic wand battle contest against druid/ sorcerer/rogue goblins who leaders are a copper dragon vs a green dragon. Harry Potter style of magic. Turn into a few month-long rubber band fights around the house. I had to run multiple games at my last game shop 15years ago for grade school children and junior high school age teenagers. Since we were a bunch of word math nerds we adults made a game out of trying to figure out how big and strong a 7yo frost giant girl would be in a given game. Or a fire genie or such. Found out a 13yo girl that been RPG since the age of five RP a baby dragon with three levels of rogue tend to be murderous in creativity.
I really like the tables and steps approach. Have you put them online anywhere? I aspire to DM again once I get comfy as a player after my 30 year break from D&D. Fourteen years of mostly being forever DM and life got in the way.
Any ideas for what you'd like to see next, feel free to leave it down here in the comments below. One of my players gave me the idea to do videos on certain monsters and how to use them in adventures and dungeons. If a video on Goblins sounds interesting, let me know? Thanks guys.
Enjoyed the vid very cool insight to towns that can be as simple or as complicated as you want
What would be cool to see is details of guilds or clans, groups of specialists among these towns that have special resources/features. Membership, services, that kind of thing.
@@Reerrzhaz Yeah these are things I typically define with settlements that my players value, but I might do a video on the topic in the future as an advanced guide.
My only suggestion is to resist the urge to crank out videos to feed the algorithm. Just make them on topics you genuinely think are interesting or would be useful, and at your own pace. Thanks for all your ideas so far!
Hey my man would it be possible to get a PDF of the tables in the video?
@@elderwookiee I was planning to do an updated version of this video in a few weeks but I might upload some extended tables to my patreon before then.
A great resource if you are willing to read, is "Life in a Medieval Town" and "Life in a Medieval City". Two great resource books that lay out all aspects of typical life in Medieval society was like.
Medieval society didn’t have to deal with monster incursions.
@@tankatim13 Depends on what you define as a monster. The books are a great resource for layout for what a medieval town or city had in the way of shops and how the trades/guilds interacted.
This video is easily one of my favorites, so far.
Raw goods travel better than refined goods, and are slightly-less pilferable by bandits in a hurry..
Trade towns exist (and are quite handy) situated between resource developments.
Fishing villages are also common resource settlements - lakeside and ocean coastal settlements.
Another "military influence" motivator could be the traveling regiment sent to reinforce a particular emplacement, but they just happen to be passing through this area, at this particular time..
WALLS.. My particular setting has walls around established towns (and cities), whereas villages usually don't.. The biggest observable difference could be when your meal gets interrupted as the roof of your restaurant has been pulled open by a hungry giant sniffing the air and looking for tasty morsels.. This kind of thing rarely happens (at night) in a settlement with a wall and a watch..
Video was being promoted by RUclips on my recommended list. I’m leaving another comment in the hope that it helps the video reach a wider audience. Well worth watching again.
Thank you for the historical accuracy. Villages only existed as housing for the workers on a manor & were too small to bother with. A city was as small as 2000 & rarely larger than 10,000. A tiny population leaves room for monsters in large wilderness areas.
However, there was nothing like a “general store” until modern times. If it wasnt made to order, you got it at the weekly market in the town square or churchyard.
Some areas in my campaign world have serfs. Especially if the area has specialized fighters instead of a local militia. With Hobgoblins, Gnolls, Orcs, Goblins, Bugbears, Ogres, and Giants, the average human farmer has a limited chance of dealing with them. The "elite" are better trained and armed (higher levels), and they don't spend time producing food, clothing, etc. They leave that to the serfs and freemen, and in turn, protect them from attack. Of course, not every area works this way. Some are more tightly knit communities where they coordinate their efforts to defend each other, and don't want "noble elites" running their areas. It all depends on the background I have for each area. Lots of variety.
Geezer here...
It's been a long while. Sadly I cannot remember the publisher or title. But there was a system I encountered that used a very, scary accurate (to the best of my knowledge) of a medieval European setting. Serfs and the feudal system was in full scope. Ya, characters rolled for social position and serf was a good portion of possible results. The adventures we had included...
Gaining any gear beyond farm implements.
Avoiding problems brought about by simply leaving. Your a serf Bob, you should be working for your lord. They may not have been full slaves. But they needed permission to leave. Making "pilgrimage" a great excuse to get permission.
Countless complications caused by a failure to acknowledge ones "betters".
Endless variations on. Hey, you. "Where did you steal that"? Serfs showing any wealth got a hard look.
A harder look. "Is that a SWORD on your belt"?
Gaming on.
That sounds fucking brilliant. If you remember let me know, I’d love to do a piss about in a system like that.
Was it perhaps Pelinore?
You mentioned feudal terms. I like using these, unlike the simplistic 5E "flavor" of a noble or "local hero" peasant/serf, with no mechanics For their inclusion For story, plot, motivations etc... For including different social classes, I've enjoyed including resources from other systems. One of my favorites was "Sword & Sorcery" by Highlander Games. Older editions of D&D also had similar resource guides over the years.
Love your towns, they always feel like there's something to do around every corner if you look for it!
thanks boss.
I'm just doing a city for my 5e group. Tricky!!
Thanks for the thoughtful vid.
If that's the case, feel free to take the ideas I've done in my video, but slightly expand upon it through play. You can think of cities as being two or three towns combined, so you can have certain portions be MARKET, whereas another area could be RESOURCE. That is actually a really good tip for defining districts too, something I see a lot of people struggling with.
@@LokisLair For my campaign I need a busy urban background for some RP and obviously there'll be a dungeon underneath. I have a feeling my players don't care that much about government type and market availability of crops, but I WILL be putting in a Castellan so they'll run the risk of early arrest and imprisonment...
"I doubt any of you are including serfdom in your games"
Me: *laughs in Ars Magica*
I only discovered this video today and it explains well how to build a settlement. Interesting approach also on how to concentrate on the services that PCs will most likely look out for when they visit a settlement. My approach till now was more what would the settlements inhabitants need first and only then, especially when it isn't anylonger a hamlet but a town, what it could offert to "outsiders" - most also the reason while the settlment has grown into a town and isn't a simple hamplet anylonger. Interesting, really interesting. Also love to see that you have developped this to publish "Designing Hex Towns". I wouldn't miss to have this one in my (vast) collection. Great stuff.
Cheers 🍻
@@bhorrthunderhoof4925 thanks for the feedback. If you’ve bought the product, I’d love a review on drivethrurpg. ❤️
@@LokisLair Thanks for reminding be. Shall be done in the next 4 hours.
@@LokisLair Just written.
@@bhorrthunderhoof4925 thank you so much!
I am putting an epic 6 type adventure/campaign together for my son (14yo) and I to adventure in. So much of what you are talking about in your videos is directly applicable to my world building. I just want to say, "Thank you!".
Aww man you're welcome. Best of luck!
The one town I tried to brainstorm was back in Basic Training. I was just thinking of what a town would look like if it grew around a wizards' college and how magic could take the place of natural resources.
Selling scrolls and magical components could in itself be a resource worth importing/exporting to be fair.
I've heard that it's actually a historical misunderstanding that serfs were never able to travel. As always it's a question of when and where. There was actually a lot of travel going on in the middle ages, and often times it was a matter of formality to ask your lord for the permission to go for instance on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Santiago de Compostella (which a lot of people did). While there were instances of cruel tyrany of course (same as today), people for the most part were a lot more free than we think today.
Yeah serfs had more time off in the medieval times than most workers do today. Pretty nuts huh?
Town leaders: don't forget Burgers or Burgermeisters for a bit more exotic title.
Another great video. Well explained with clear source material to back up important and useful points. Ideal for TTRPG players, DMs, content creators and fantasy writers alike. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I’d be interested to know how you can tie in a mega dungeon to a map - such as you’ve illustrated here. Perhaps this could be a future video?
A clear explanation of how to create a believable settlement with the various trades and citizens needed. You made the topic digestible and really easy to follow. So thank you!
This is good information for new and old GM's alike. Well done, sir 🤘
That guild video would be a great resource as well.
Keep up the good work 🤘
Cheers Mark. It'll be out in a week or two.
I’d love to see a bestiary type series! How monsters can be used or how you’d custom build them to fit in your world/to combat a party!
I did a video on Orcs a few months ago but it kind of sucked. I'll work on a better way of doing it and I'll start the series in the near future. Thanks!
this was really entertaining and you tell it well. I don't even play d&d and it was still good!
Another good video to help bring out ideas for building your own world
Great video! Guild video would be kick ass!
How to set up a mountain pass outpost. How to deal with mass army movements (enemies) against such an Outpost while giving the party fun/important things to do.
I recently was reading Icewind Dale Rime of the Frost Maiden, and it occurred to me that the book does a good job of showing how you can make a variety of towns in your dnd game since it includes ten different towns in one single isolated region.
Really loved this one. Of course, I love tables.
Excellent advice and utility
Yes a guild video would be appreciated
Very useful video, thanks.
Goblins, ..
I had to deal with 12 yo cousins that wanted to have a war between 3rdE D&D gnome multiclass druids/wizard(illusionists)/sorcerer/ rogues having a verbal insulting and magic wand battle contest against druid/ sorcerer/rogue goblins who leaders are a copper dragon vs a green dragon. Harry Potter style of magic. Turn into a few month-long rubber band fights around the house.
I had to run multiple games at my last game shop 15years ago for grade school children and junior high school age teenagers. Since we were a bunch of word math nerds we adults made a game out of trying to figure out how big and strong a 7yo frost giant girl would be in a given game. Or a fire genie or such.
Found out a 13yo girl that been RPG since the age of five RP a baby dragon with three levels of rogue tend to be murderous in creativity.
I really like the tables and steps approach. Have you put them online anywhere?
I aspire to DM again once I get comfy as a player after my 30 year break from D&D. Fourteen years of mostly being forever DM and life got in the way.
Ill be putting most of my advanced tables and documentation on my patreon in a week or so.
Please a dungeon design video!
It's in the works my friend.
@@LokisLair I’m really trying to improve!
😎👍
For farming towns you forgot a big one.
Fiber farming.
Like flax, cotton and others.
Can’t expect me to remember EVERYTHING 😂
I literally learned of serfdom from the 3rd edition Dungeon Masters' Guide 2. Isn't that meant to be a part of D&D??
Most dms don’t know about it or choose to disregard it, usually because it’s basically a step above slavery.
Isn't a bailiff the security guard of a courtroom?
That’s the modern term but in the medieval times in France and the UK, it was basically a Reeve/Mayor
Volume! I can't hear you!!!!
Huh?