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How to Run Towns in ICRPG (and D&D)

Ultimate Effort Podcast's most contested topic in Episode 3 was that of Towns; how to run them in ICRPG, or if they should even exist.  Many were strong proponents of simply doing away with towns altogether.  And why not?  Towns are boring places which only serve to waste time and pocket change, two things that are quite different in this system.  I, however, propose something else: make town useful, nay, vital adventures to the player characters' journey.

By this, I mean to simply use the basic principles of ICRPG's Room Design with your towns the same as with any dungeon. The only caveat here (or perhaps not, depending on the type of game master or style of game you are running) is that towns should be avoided if they are not story, plot, or adventure relevant. Player characters can rest anywhere in the wilds given a campfire, abandoned ruin or random tavern on the roadside. The foundation of the game is adventuring to find loot and with no official commerce system (more on that in another post), purchasing gear should be a thing of the past. So what does that leave for towns? 

People. Towns are where the people are, and where there are people, there is drama, there is intrigue, there is Story. Perhaps the first thing players see when they walk into town is a small child being chased by a mob of armed, angry men. Why is this happening? No chance to find out, the child trips and the mob will descend in mere moments. What do you do? Perhaps as they walk into town, the outer walls are blocked by what appears to be a slum of the wretched, sickly and destitute. Curiously, they all seem to be of the same race and have the same ailment.  They beseech the players for aid.  What do you do? You enter the city and are approached by a curiously dressed group of men asking you which of two families you are from. How do you respond?

The point here is that Town should be as exciting an adventure as the Lich King Gillian's tomb.  The benefit of Town as an adventure is the variety it provides.

  1. The child being chased through the town?  It's the start of a witch hunt quest.  Do they side with the townsfolk?  The accused witches?  Or do they uncover the secret plot behind the hunt itself, stopping the madness and saving innocent lives?  
  2. That slum they walked through?  It is a refugee camp of plague victims.  The inner walls of the city have been drained of that particular race in fear of the disease spreading.  What is the sickness?  Why is it only targeting these people?  Who, or what, is behind it and what motive would there be to drive so many from a town?
  3. The group asking about family matters?  There's a mob war in town, and the two families are at each other for blood and honor.  Which side do they choose?  Or do they take both families down?  
Notice something interesting about those quests?  They are all mystery, intrigue and drama driven.  There is plenty of room for swashbuckling, but the best way to run a Town is with role-play focused adventure.  

Make Town Exciting Again!
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