Randy Ellefson's Blog, page 25

Creating Towns

Towns are the smallest settlement that we’re likely to create files of information about and draw on maps. They differ from villages not only in size but competition and backup resources; to use the example from the previous section, multiple carpenters or blacksmiths if one dies. Our traveling characters are unlikely to get away with bartering their services for fare and lodging, unless the skill is something rare, like wizardry, healing, or specialized engineering skills. The variety of people and skills tends to raise the quality of everything, including town walls, gates, tools, buildings, food, clothing, and other merchandise.

The amount of crime will depend partly on population size and character, and which species are here. While some diversity of species can exist, one tends to be a majority and others less well represented. Smaller towns mean less anonymity, so if someone steals something and tries to sell it to someone else or wears/uses it, this is more likely to be noticed unless sold to visitors who leave before wearing it. Conversely, a business can cheat people more easily with the lack of oversight, regulation, and laws found in a city. Corrupt officials might also hold considerable power, intimidating residents and visitors alike; the towns in Hollywood westerns come to mind.

A town often has formal guards who report to someone. This is one reason that taxes are almost a certainty, as these professionals need to be paid somehow. We can imagine a skilled swordsman from a village wanting to be paid for his services and moving to a nearby town, maybe even to a city. In addition to guards (who act like police), specialized forces might be here and will depend on terrain; horsemen, knights, and archers are some skilled positions in fantasy, while sharpshooters and pilots are likely in SF, and we can invent others to go with technological weapons or defenses we create. The larger the town, the more likely a wall, and its height, materials, and the prevalence of archer towers, for example, also rises. Some buildings might lie outside the wall due to the town’s continuing expansion after it went up. In a world where flight is common, newer walls might be rare, since they can be flown over.

A town will have considerable farming nearby and needs a larger source of drinking water, so these are often by rivers and lakes. They may employ irrigation. In our modern world, farmers don’t get much respect, which is partly an effect of population size and industry making it easier to take our food for granted. In less civilized worlds, the importance of farmers and effects of floods or drought are harder to overlook. Especially in smaller settlements, any town council will likely focus in part on farming issues, and life will revolve around agricultural events like the planting or harvest. When inventing plants and animals for our setting, as covered in Creating Life (The Art of World Building, #1), we may wish to decide if farmers can grow a crop and what the harvest cycle is.

A mayor and formal town council may exist, with individuals appointed by vote, reputation, or prominence, which could be influence, wealth, or land ownership. A family can hold sway over generations, too, for better or worse, and may be the ones whose name graces the town or areas of it. Larger towns are sometimes divided into wards, with each such neighborhood bearing a name and having a representative on a ruling council. Zoning also occurs, but this typically occurs as the settlement grows so that the oldest areas are more likely to be mixed use than later additions.

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Creating Villages

While there are smaller permanent settlements, like a hamlet, world builders don’t typically need anything less than a village. There should be a reason the village exists there, such as good farmland or natural resources, or even just being the halfway point between two other locations that can’t be traversed in less than a day, requiring somewhere to stay. If there’s a water source there, what starts as a known resting/camping place can become a village when inhabitants or passers-through begin adding buildings. If this is the case, an inn or two is quite likely and might be the focal point of town. Naturally, such a place is likely welcoming of strangers.

By contrast, a village that a group formed in an out-of-the-way location might be there to retreat from others, especially if the founders share a vision, such as a religious creed. We don’t need to state why our village exists, but a detail like this can make it easier to characterize the place. It also creates reputation, which one of our visiting characters might know. Or they might find out the hard way. Villages tend to have a population with a limited number of religious and political views, which our characters can run afoul of if wearing a talisman of a despised god, for example.

A village is unlikely to have a dedicated, official protector like a sheriff, but the most skilled warrior living there will probably take it upon himself to protect others and resources as needed, with help from the able-bodied. These individuals may not be formally paid, as it’s not a full-time job, but receive perks like a free meal or two for an act of bravery. They could also be trouble instead of a protector, intimidating others.

A village usually lacks a surrounding wall or has a wooden one at best, and less durable materials like wood are likely to be used for buildings. The quality of craftsmanship might be poorer due to fewer trained carpenters or blacksmiths, but if such individuals are present, they may be prominent. If our visiting characters have skills a village needs, they may be able to barter their work for food and lodging. For example, the town’s blacksmith died recently—just don’t make his death yesterday (that’s too convenient). If this was months ago, not only is this more believable, but it means more work is needed as a village falls into disrepair. This sort of thing works with wizards or healers, too, or mechanics and scientists in SF.

For map making, we seldom draw villages unless doing a close-in view of where the story takes place. A continent or regional map would have so many villages as to become unwieldy. This means we can often invent a village on the fly for our needs. We’re less likely to care about its symbol, colors, slogan, or anything else, and can skimp on much of this until needing it. Unless the village is famous for something, we’re unlikely to ever mention its existence unless characters are arriving there or originated from it. Villages seldom have zoning and are more likely to have buildings that are a combination of a store on the ground floor and a home above it. And everyone knows everyone else, for better or worse.

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Creating Castles

In this section, we’ll look at castles that have no village surrounding them.

Unless abandoned, castles are populated year-round and will be much like a village in which the residents live within the castle walls; there may be buildings scattered outside the walls, such as stabling for animals or guard houses, which are easily replaced if destroyed in a siege. The land around the castle offers farming and hunting opportunities, while the water source is typically protected (such as a well inside the walls). The castle is self-sufficient due to its defensive nature, and in times of peril, food may be stocked for a significant amount of time, but bear in mind that the ability to preserve foods is somewhat lacking in eras during which castles are widely used. Due to their self-sufficiency, castles typically have everyone they need, such as a healer or blacksmith.

Castles can be placed along important trade routes, at the opening to dangerous territory such as a mountain pass, or near valuable resources. They might take advantage of a natural fortification that is easily defended and be a general defensive/offensive location within a sovereign power. They can also protect borders, though these borders can and likely have changed at times, often with the castle being conquered and finding itself part of another kingdom. Decide if each castle is currently in the hands of those who built it (or their descendants). Changing possession can mean that two opposing kingdoms have each occupied it at times, both knowing its secrets; this is seldom discussed or utilized in fictional work, as occupants are typically portrayed as knowing the castle’s secrets while their enemy has no idea.

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Creating Outposts

The difference between settlement types is largely physical, determined by population size, defenses, and the availability of resources. Magnitude affects everything, including the amount of territory covered to how much of it can be farmed or protected and how often the settlement is visited. Those with a lot of traffic, something to offer residents, or both, are likely expanding. Conversely, those with less to offer may be shrinking. Most of this chapter will apply equally to all settlement types, but here we’ll look at specific considerations.

Outposts

These are structures or groups of them where the population is too small (or not perpetually present) to qualify as a village. Whether we call them outposts or something else, the smallest permanent dwellings are anything from a single building that might not be perpetually manned, like a tower, up to a larger fort more like a castle. An outpost might only be needed during certain seasons or conditions, getting overgrown during the absence of people, or just minimally staffed. It could be a refueling station or scientific observation post, particularly in SF.

This has practical consequences. Farming is unlikely if no one is there year-round, requiring residents to either bring food with them, hunt for it, or be supplied from elsewhere, which is believable if the outpost is associated with a larger settlement that built or maintains it. We take for granted food and water supply or the presence of doctors/healers, repairmen (such as blacksmiths or mechanics), or police, but many of these may be missing from the outpost’s staff. Decide which absences make sense or propel your story forward; wounded characters with no healers around adds tension, but a missing blacksmith is harder to make interesting or worth commenting on; in SF, those who can repair equipment are seemingly needed more often.

While it’s typically known who built a larger settlement, an outpost might have been long abandoned and possibly used by someone other than its builder. This can offer mystery, such as hidden rooms or ones with disturbing contents and purposes. There’s also the possibility that whoever (or whatever) normally occupies it will return and catch our characters making themselves at home. It’s important to decide who, if anyone, has been using this place lately, its condition, and what we intend to happen to our characters while here. Do they know about this place and think it’s abandoned, or do they know something bad is here but they need it for shelter anyway and come prepared for battle? Unknown outposts that are stumbled upon are the most nerve-racking if something seems “off” about the place, as though danger lurks.

Our less civilized species are likely unable to create buildings. This suggests they’re the ones to take over somewhere abandoned or often unoccupied. They may even do so seasonally so that the regular inhabitants know this and prepare, either by laying traps, making it otherwise less desirable when gone, or coming back heavily armed for the yearly reclaiming of their outpost. The unsavory inhabitants might also leave behind a mess, including carcasses of food, enemies, or both.

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Understand City Zoning

Young settlements will have no clear zoning, which is a designation of how the land can be used (residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture, mixed). The longer a place exists and the larger it becomes, the more zoning takes place to handle incompatible land use, such as dirty factories being beside homes. A place advanced enough to have sizeable industry is also advanced enough to have zoned that into separate areas. More mature towns may also have separate housing areas for the wealthy or upper class, but this is not always the case and we can have different classes mixed.

When laying out a settlement, consider whether these zones exist. Unless it’s been rezoned, “old town” will have mixed use, possibly with buildings that are a store on the first floor and a home on the second; this might have been the original purpose, now changed. Upper-class areas might be by the river (upstream) or higher up a mountain, or near another natural resource like a glade or lakeshore, away from industry. Farmlands are obviously farther out from the settlement. Otherwise, we have residential and commercial zones, but they tend to be near each other, just like they are in your town; this sort of zoning is often on a block-by-block basis because no one wants to travel far. For that reason, the wealthiest might live in the center of town.

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Does Your City Have Quarters?

This section talks about how to set up quarters for your species and races in a settlement.

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How Do Races Get Along in the City?

This section talks about how to decide how the different species and races get along in your settlement and how to decide for your story needs.

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Important People in Your City

Aside from leaders, other significant figures could be associated with the settlement, whether they reside here, have been born here, or visit frequently. This includes world figures such as heroes. Monuments might exist for them, whether that person is alive or dead. Where do they reside in town? What made them a hero? Did those acts occur here so that they’re adored for having saved citizens or the town, or did events happen elsewhere so as to make people proud they call this home? Decide if they were born here, or just moved in at some point, and whether that was before, during, or after the associated heroics. There might be some who resent him. This person might be one of our town’s secrets or have powerful friends who come to visit openly. Is there any spectacle associated with the hero-in-residence?

Villains might also be here. They could be hiding after a horrible act or just use this as a clandestine base of operations. Is there something that tips off others to the villain’s presence, such as a specific type of arrow? Clothing they’re seen in, or even technological/digital trails could also lead some to realize their presence. Do they moor a distinctive vessel, whether a spaceship or a sailing ship, in the port? Do they have a feared stronghold nearby?

Our settlement might also be home to other similar people so that they fit right in; this could be the reason they’re here. Just as heroes bring pride, villains bring shame unless they’re expected, tolerated, or even welcomed. Remember that a villain to some people is a hero to others, so we might need to decide on their values and those of our settlement before we know how they’re viewed. Their means might be despised while their end results are admired.

Wizards could have a tower here or a more modest home that doesn’t call attention to them. A priest likely lives in or near their temple, if one exists, and makes their presence known for healing or guidance. We might have celebrities, depending on our world; actors, musicians, athletes, and other performers seem more likely in SF than in fantasy, where life is often too hard, and mass consumption is unlikely, for people to have elevated these people to celebrities.

We might also have monsters or creatures here, on the outskirts of town, in a tower, or beneath the ground in catacombs. We’ll need a good reason why they haven’t been destroyed, if known. Maybe someone has control of them. Perhaps there’s a use for them, like the way Jabba the Hutt of Star Wars fed enemies to them. Decide on the creature’s capabilities before figuring out how it can be used, where it is, and how it manages to survive if people know it’s here.

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Who Leads Your City?

The smallest settlements, like villages, may have no formal leader but will still defer to someone who makes good decisions or who has some power, such as a wealthy farmer. This may change if that leader makes a few poor choices, or even one disastrous one is made. A large village, and certainly towns and bigger, will have a definitive leader, who might rise to power in the same way as a village leader, or through actual elections in a free society, or by appointment from someone within a sovereign power. This is largely a function of government, which is discussed in chapter five, so what we really care about within the settlement is who this person currently is, what sort of influence they wield, and what curbs their power. On one extreme is someone who can enact laws or simply declare something a crime and someone guilty of it, and what punishment would happen. Such tyranny tells us much about a place and the quality of life there. We may use this in authoritative states but not elsewhere. Conversely, a place with elections and laws that reflect the moral code of the population is likely to be fairer to all, though minorities can still suffer. Leaders of such settlements can be accountable for their actions, decisions, and even be the victim of poor situations, such as an economic downturn that isn’t their fault but results in losing the next election. In between these extremes is a wide variety of possibilities that provides us leeway to create limits that impact our story.

Determine Power Structures

The larger the settlement, the more formal its structure, but unless our story features this, we can skip this stage and focus on our actual leader. If we need it, we can decide on a structure such as a city council made up of individuals who represent each ward, or neighborhood of town, each of whom are elected by their ward. A mayor might be little more than another member of the city council, albeit one who presides over all meetings and has ceremonial duties, but little power to act independently. He might have final say over financial matters or anything else we assign to him, such as decisions on magic or technology. Other mayors have more power, including veto rights, the ability to hire and fire staff within administrative bodies, and some legal authority. They are more definitively in charge but still need cooperation from the council on certain initiatives, which are at our discretion to decide upon. Great variety exists on Earth and gives us leeway to determine what we need. When inventing a settlement, only decide on the details of power structure when you need to use it. Otherwise you might just contradict yourself later, or find yourself needing to change it for another story. That a council and a mayor exist can be assumed in any place larger than a town, so all we might need to do is decide who the person is and the influencers on them, then worry about council and mayor interactions when, and if, needed. Our characters might need to understand relationships if they want cooperation from a settlement. This is when the mayor’s power, or lack thereof, becomes an issue we can leverage. They might think they can appeal to him only to discover that he’s powerless to help. An appeal must be made to the council, meaning several people must be swayed, not just one. This adds complexity and makes goals harder to achieve, even if an audience cares little for the details of government; the workaround is to make this about the council members’ personalities, turning them into characters with agendas that interfere with our main characters.

Who Has Influence?

Before we decide on power and limits, we might also decide if there’s someone other than the nominal leader who is in control. A clandestine group might have corrupted settlement officials and be getting their way. Lobbying groups can bribe and otherwise influence someone, or get their chosen people into government and then exert control behind the scenes. Some leaders become little more than figureheads. In these cases, the apparent authority they wield is sharply curbed. This creates a good conflict where the public might know the leader can do something but he refuses because someone is controlling him, and yet he can’t admit this. Our characters might also run afoul of this influencer and find a more challenging situation than they had prepared for. It doesn’t have to be “evil” people who influence leaders. A benevolent wizard could insist things be a certain way. Those running a space port might need a degree of cooperation and assistance from town officials. A group of farmers may influence decisions that benefit the crops, which aid many in town. A resident hero might inspire not only the population, but the leaders into doing some things his way. Decide what role this settlement plays in your story and whether some complication can help enliven it. If not, we can decide a leader is truly in charge and then change this later if needed. A new influencer can always arrive.

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Which Species Live in Your City?

Along with setting, our residents are the most important aspect of a settlement. This includes the species and their collective dispositions, leaders and others in power or exerting influence, and whether everyone is segregated into their own neighborhoods, or intermingled.

Which Species Are Here?

We should decide which species are present in our settlement and in what percentages. Someone is a majority. There’s a tendency in fantasy for that to almost always be the humans, unless another species originated the town. In modern times, a melting pot is increasingly common, and with travel easy in SF, a mix seems more plausible. In less advanced times, as is often the case in fantasy, with less travel, each settlement or region will be more homogenous. That’s believable but a little restrictive. Perhaps we should have a few well-visited settlements that run counter to this assumption. If you choose one, select a politically neutral city along a trade route, rather than an out-of-the-way settlement that’s also a hotbed of war, where strangers might not be welcome. This place is also more likely to be a city due to these factors. A port that lies on a continent edge, so that visitors from this land mass and others arrive here, is a good candidate, with visitors not necessarily moving on to other settlements.

Consider the nearby land features. In fantasy, elves go with forests and dwarves with mountains or hills, for example. A settlement near either feature with a native population is significantly more likely to have that species living in the settlement. However, with their homeland so near, they may not. If there’s no such land feature near, then why would they be here long term? They likely wouldn’t be if truly attached to their native habitats. We can invent species that aren’t so caught up in their origins. Why can’t a dwarf be sick of living underground? He can be, but would enough of them feel that way as to live here? What is it about this place that draws them? A good reason is encouraged. Perhaps there’s work to be done cutting stone. Maybe tunnels are needed. Can they create a home away from home?

In SF, travelers get around a lot and might find habitats on other worlds which differ only somewhat from their home. This gives them enough of what they grew up with while providing something new. Consider that in artificial environments like ships or vacuum settlements, the climate control can be set to accommodate the species residing there—or purposely not set for them by those who are indifferent or cruel, like our villains.
With multiple species in a democracy, we might have an elf be president with a human for vice president, for example. In a hereditary monarchy, we may not have such variation, but who’s to say that an elven ruler doesn’t have some human in their ancestry? When this sort of thing is included, contempt for ‘half-bloods’ may surface, where that person is considered bad by both sides, but some societies might even insist the ruler be such a half-blood (to represent everyone). Strive for variety among your settlements and sovereign powers.

The military might also have people of different species at different ranks. Restaurants can certainly be elven, dwarven, or whatever. Shops can cater to a niche or everyone, whether this is clothing or weaponry. Why can’t the humans fancy elven clothes and buy some outright or just have human clothes influenced by other species? Integration has its advantages for making our world more believable.

As an example, let’s take Jai, a human character. Maybe she fancies elven styles for aesthetic reasons and is considered to have high ambitions by her peers, who misunderstand her style choices because they like the idea she has a big ego. Maybe Jai spends a lot of time with dwarves and swears like one, or uses their expressions. Maybe she’s considered a dwarven sympathizer when the dwarves have pressing political issues that are causing tension. Jai could love dragons and get herself an apprenticeship to one that can shape shift, so she’s assumed to have access to all sorts of powerful items or information, which places her in danger.

To integrate species, we might have to rethink how they get along, and this can change from one locale to another, which also adds variety. We can have a traditionally segregated continent, and a more integrated one elsewhere. This can seem like a radical departure from expectations, but this is a good thing. It’s also one reason to invent our own species—we’re not beholden to anyone else’s ideas. Despite this, there will probably still be settlements that are predominantly one species and which are preferred that way by the founders.

Decide how each of your world’s species is welcomed and viewed in this settlement.

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