Under Portown: Placing Urban Main Features

After seeing the sheer variety of creature and costume that crawl through this stinking labyrinth of a city, I am beginning to put credence to the rumors that those I seek can be found here.
— The Journal of Sho Zo-ton from Afar

After mapping out the general layout of Portown, it is now time to start placing the Main Features of each hex. What I really like about this approach is that it can accommodate both concrete and abstract ideas. For example, take a look at the Main Features of hexes 1 and 2:

The Port

1. Port Master (3 in 6)
2. Northbound Ship (3 in 6)*
3. Southbound Ship (2 in 6)*
4. Guard Towers (2 in 6)‡
5. Smuggler’s Alley (1 in 6)
6. Lost

* 2 in 6 chance that the ship has a non-human crew; roll a d6: 1-3 = elf, 4-5 = dwarf, 6 = humanoid
‡ Roll a d6; 1-3 = West Tower, 4-6 = East Tower

Olde Town

1. The Insurance House (3 in 6) — a meeting place where merchants can buy insurance on their shipments north in case of loss due to pirates, monsters or natural disaster.
2. The Inklings Club & Collectibles (3 in 6) — a high-end gentlemen’s club where culture from around the world is discussed and experienced. Membership requires a donation of a rare and valuable object that then becomes part of the club’s collection.
3. The Bathhouse (2 in 6) — a remnant from when the Classical Civilization dominated the area. It is a spa with both salt and fresh water baths and servants that are paid not only for their massages, but for their silence. Many a political, business and criminal agreement is rumored to have been brokered within its walls.
4. The Ancient Corner Stone (2 in 6) — this strange stone is covered in runes from a long lost language, believed to have been used by the ancients. Scholars agree that it simply states the founding of a small colony. Rumors speak of something far more sinister.
5. Nor’Ar the Alchemist (1 in 6) — Nor’Ar is a famed alchemist capable of creating rare and wondrous potions; however, he is very exclusive and expensive.
6. Lost

As is plain, exploring the Port is a far more abstract and dynamic experience than exploring Olde Town. This, of course, is accomplished by placing abstract Main Features in The Port hex and very concrete Main Features in the Olde Town hex. Thus, not only does each area have its own unique feel, but the character of the entire city begins to take shape.

Note how easy this all is: I merely need a small Random Table with five entries with the sixth option of “Lost” to get to a roll of d6.

Under Portown: The Beginnings of a City Hexcrawl

I really cannot understand these city folk. Why would anyone want to live in this filth infested maze where you cannot see the horizon?
— The Journal of Sho Zo-ton from Afar

I used to live in Boston. I did not like it. Unless you live within spitting distance of the T (which I did not) Boston is an inhospitable maze of one-way former cow paths that can get you turned around faster than you can say “Red Sox.” Whenever you get directions to someplace, you have to make sure you get directions to get back as well, because these two trips are normally very different animals. Thus, when I found this post by WQRobb on Hexcrawling a City over at Graphs, Paper, and Games I grokked it immediately.

In Boston, navigation involves knowing landmarks and how those landmarks are connected. Thus, a trip to the school might be understood as “grocery store-church-school.” Very rarely did street names ever become relevant. Indeed street names are a false friend in the Boston area because there might be several streets by the same name in different parts of the city (which got me really lost once after which I never made the same mistake again).

The idea to make a FRPG city map abstract is nothing new (see Vornheim); however, none of them made me immediately think of my years in Boston the way WQRobb did. Navigating a hex crawl city evokes the navigation-by-landmark survival strategy I had to live by in Boston. It also opens up the possibility for getting lost or discovering things that you weren’t even looking for (like the time I was walking around Prague looking for a restaurant and spent the next several hours at the Jewish Cemetery instead).

Thus, I plan on mapping out Portown in the hex crawl style suggested by WQRobb. Thus, each hex in the city will have a theme. For example: The Monastery District. There will be several main features within each hex that can be looked for and found:

1. The Cathedral of St. Garbee (3 in 6)
2. Quasgadontee Monastery (3 in 6)
3. Skete of Seefeg the Searcher (2 in 6)
4. Catacombs of St. Ree’U (2 in 6)
5. Amit the Hut Dweller (1 in 6)
6. Lost

Thus, if one is simply exploring a hex, roll a d6 and find the result. A roll of ‘6’ gets you lost. This can mean either wasted time inside the hex (and more opportunities for random encounter) or ending up in an entirely different hex. This can be determined at the whim of the Referee.

If one is looking for a specific location (like the Cathedral) there is a given success rate for actually finding it. A failed roll results in getting lost with the same results as above. At the discretion of the Referee, chances to find a particular location can be increased with multiple visits (demonstrating a better knowledge of the layout of the city); however, there can never be better than a 5 in 6 chance of success (one can always get lost).

To pass through a hex requires a roll of a d6. A roll of 5 or 6 results in getting lost.

Every time a die roll is required inside a hex to find a Main Feature, to explore or to pass through the Referee gets to make a roll for a Random Encounter. The chances on having a Random Encounter are up to the whim of the Referee.

A Random Encounter Table in the Monastery District might look like this:

1. Roll on Main Features Table (you’ve accidentally found a location, but a ‘6’ still means getting lost).
2. A Religious Procession
3. Monk(s)
4. Pilgrims
5. Temple Guard
6. Monster (TBD)

Add a +1 to the roll when exploring at night. The “Monster (TBD)” is an opportunity to take whatever faction is currently dominant Under Portown and bring them to the surface whether on some nefarious errand or to track down and take revenge on the PCs is up to the Referee.

While this might look like a lot of work, I think it actually will end up being less work than trying to draw out an actual city map and placing all these features on that map. I also believe it will make urban adventuring a lot more evocative and interesting than a traditional street map.

Saintly Saturday: St. Martin the Confessor

Today is the feast of St. Martin the Confessor. He was born in Tuscany in the 7th century. Prior to being elected as bishop of Rome, he served several years as a papal legate in Constantinople. During the reign of Emperor Constans II (A.D. 641-668), St. Martin was encouraged by the emperor to support a theological treatise called The Typos. Not only did St. Martin not support it, but convened a Lateran Council in 649 to condemn it.

The Typos espoused a heresy called Monothelitism, which held that there is only one will and energy in Christ. This runs counter to St. Gregory the Theologian’s axiom that whatever part of humanity Christ doesn’t assume as His own isn’t saved. Thus, under Monothelitism, our will and energy are not saved because they are not part of Christ’s humanity. To put it simply: the salvation of a Monothelite Christ is incomplete.

As a result of his defiance, St. Martin was arrested in A.D. 653 under false charges (conspiring with the Saracens) and exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea. He died there two years later.

Given that so much of St. Martin’s life is centered around Rome and Constantinople, it has me meditating upon one of the campaign tropes that I personally have the least experience with: The City. There was a brief period where I toyed with the idea of an urban campaign, but it proved to be short lived. It is a style of play that requires a level of detail that I am not good at, nor is it the easiest medium for the improvisational style I prefer to play.

Of course, The City State of the Invincible Overlord was never something that I or any of my friends owned back in the day. For those unaware, Judges Guild just released The Guide to the City State which is Bob Bledsaw’s original in-house 1976 edition. Though a delightful read, (I especially find it fascinating that many of the rumors to be found are about events that are supposedly occurring right now), I am not convinced that had my friend’s and I had access, that we would have had any more interest or success in urban campaigns.

The Invincible Overlord is portrayed as an inaccessible, untouchable and indifferent ruler whose only real interest is maintaining power. In contrast, the denizens of dungeons and wilderness areas are tangible things that can be encountered and overcome, if need be. I can understand the need for an Invincible Overlord — it simplifies the urban environment by keeping things at the immediate street level; however, I know my friends and I would have preferred a campaign that would allow us to be like St. Martin — to stand defiantly against the unjust rule of the Overlord/Emperor.

Unfortunately, this adds a level of complication to the urban environment that is much easier to handle in the classic dungeon/wilderness campaign. In the former, politics can color every single aspect of the game, and keeping track of all the various factions can be a real headache (at least for me) — even when the players are not that much interested. In the latter, politics can be kept at a background noise level until such time that the players choose to scratch that itch, by which time they have probably established strongholds or are seeking places to do so. As such, the political situation can be very simplistic and even binary.

Thus, whereas St. Martin’s life took place in urban environments with complex political issues, being able to emulate his conflict with Emperor Constans II is much easier in context of the classic dungeon/wilderness environment.