GM Tools: Community Traits
By Connors
This material follows on from the "Generating Towns" in Core Rulebook II p137. What follows will generate ideas on how to give communities more character. The chart is most useful when preparing ahead of the game, but I am sure a few ideas could be elaborated upon on the fly when the PCs wander into a random community that was only a dot on the GM's map.
To see how many traits any given community has, roll 1d6 and then apply the Community size modifier used to determine the community's power centre (same as the one in Core Rulebook II p137). Roll at least once on the Community Traits table no matter what the result. The results for large communities may be applied to different sections or quarters of the town or city.
Alternatively, as always a GM may simply go through the chart for ideas. If developing a detailed community as a home base you may wish to make use of each of the entries. With little modification this chart could also be used for humanoid tribes or for people of a certain area, such as forest, not just actual communities as they are referred to in Core Rulebook II.
Again, I am willing to provide examples and answer questions. Comments are MOST welcome!
Traits (1d6) +
| Community Size | Population | Community Modifier |
| Thorp | 20-80 | -1 |
| Hamlet | 81-400 | 0 |
| Village | 401-900 | +1 |
| Small Town | 901-2000 | +2 |
| Large Town | 2001-5000 | +3 |
| Small City | 5001-12,000 | +4 |
| Large City | 12,001-25,000 | +5 |
| Metropolis | 25,001+ | +6 |
Community Traits Table (d100)
| d100 | Community Trait Idea |
| 01-08 | Personality: The place has a very distinctive personality. Roll on any personality charts used for NPCs and apply this to the town as a whole. (Some in Core Rulebook II, and may appear here as a new GM Tool). |
| 09-20 | Famous Trade/Profession: The community is well known for a particular service or craft. Roll a random one from sources such as the 2E World Builders Guide p72. (Or simply roll a random Craft or Profession skill). Roll d6. The town may be popular for: (1-2) the many skilled people who ply this trade, (3-4) one famous person/family/guild or (5-6) for the availability and use of an exceptional resource from which the items are made, or for the amazing locale that makes this profession desirable. Generally items made here are masterwork and/or a large percentage of the population is involved in the given profession. |
| 21-25 | Famous Person: The community is the home of a famous person. There is a 50% that this person is deceased but he/she may have left their mark on the place. If alive there is still only a 50% chance that the person currently lives in the community (making use of Ray Winniger's 3rd? Rule of Dungeoncraft). To determine whom this famous person is, first roll a random alignment using the Power Center Alignment chart for Generating Towns in the Core Rulebook II. Use racial percentages for region to determine race. Then to decide what he/she is famous for roll d6: (1-2) Random skill, (3-4) Random heroic class [50% chance muticlass and if 5th lvl+, 50% chance prestige class], (5-6) Random NPC class [where aristocrat equals great leader or nobility, see Famous Trade above for expert]. |
| 26-32 | Prominent Religion: A random religion plays a prominent roll in the community. Could be an evil cult or simply the dominant religion of most of the inhabitants. |
| 33-38 | Organization/Guild: A non-religious organised group is featured in the area. This could be a guild of some sort, a secret society, a heroic group with a specific purpose or a headquarters for a prestige class. |
| 39-44 | Important Structure: The community features an important building or monument. (egs: temple, castle, tower, bridge, food stores, library, palace, school, barracks, fort, statue, plaque, fountain, palisade, moat, walls etc). |
| 45-48 | Historic Site: The town or its surrounds is an important historical site. (egs: battlefield, area that previously suffered devastation, gold fields, early/first building or structure, ancient site from another civilization, site of a profound discovery, where a famous hero accomplished something etc). |
| 48-55 | Exceptional/Superior Product: The town is known for its quality manufacture of a masterwork or rare item. (egs: transports, weapons, armor, herbs, magical items, elixirs/alchemical stuff, animals/mounts and/or their gear, food or drink, class tools or skill kits, furniture, clothing, mundane equipment, jewelry, special or superior equipment, etc). |
| 56-61 | Resource: The community has an abundance of a locally available resource that may well control a large part of the industry in the area. (egs: building stone, expensive stone, gems, special type of wood, building wood, metals, precious metals, coal/peat, minerals, pitch/tar, flint, herbs/plants, special water, etc). |
| 62-65 | Location: Something about the town's location makes it unique. (egs: half underground, in the trees, built on/over water, into a cliff, top of a cliff, access from one way only, intersected by river/road, mountain/hill top, bowl-shaped depression etc). |
| 66-70 | Class: The area houses an unusual amount of members of one class. Roll a random class including NPC classes. For purposes of determining members of this class treat the community as being 1d4 sizes bigger than it really is. There would have to be a reason for this, such as a local guild, monastery, temple, castle, academy, cabal, mercenary band, military base, or circle depending upon the class selected. Alternatively there may be a well-known trainer for the class, or it may be the center of or only place for learning a particular talent such as sorcery. |
| 71-76 | Festival: The community is known to be the home of a famous festival or games that are known throughout the kingdom. Usually festivals of this size are only held once a year. (egs: harvest, religious, competition [joust, archery, fighting style], gladiatorial combat, largest/best item/produce/find/catch, drinking, races, musical, historical, unusual [gold panning, running of the bulls, crab catching], etc). |
| 77-82 | Local Fauna or Flora: The community is well known for its abundance of a particular animal or plant. Alternatively it could be the place to locate rare varieties of plants/trees/herbs or home to a rare/strange/unique beast or monster, or the local fauna could play a significant part in the community's operations, such as having giant lizard pack animals or trained bear guards, or the area may simply be famous for breeding the biggest/best particular type of animal. |
| 83-86 | Unique Item: Located within the community is a unique item of importance. This is usually a magical item of known importance and uniqueness. The item can be communal or owned by a particular member of the community (possibly secretly). |
| 87-89 | Unusual Race: A small part of the community is made up of a race not usually commonly found in that particular realm. If this trait is rolled, roll a random race for that continent and assign them a percentage. (For normal demographics use region percentages). |
| 90-00 | Recent History: The local inhabitants are still under the effects of a recent event that has changed the normal dynamics of the community. It happened d6-1 months ago. For ideas roll on the Set Encounter chart. (Coming later J). This can be anything from a recent intrigue like the town rulers forming a pact with an evil sorcerer in the woods to a large fire that burnt many buildings. The 2E World Builder's guide also offers random historical events. |
Re: GM Tools: Community Traits
Thanks Ghostwind. I am hoping others have found it useful. Not many comments going on :(
I am also interested in additions to these tables. if anyone has an entry I have missed I would be happy to hear it. I can always modify my copies.
Has anyone used any of the GM Tools so far? I would love to hear about that too.
Connors
Re: GM Tools: Community Traits
This is a very cool chart. It has great variety and got me thinking about a campaign I'm starting this weekend. I've been wanting to include an interesting town with some unusual traits. Thanks for sharing this with the group!
T
Re: GM Tools: Community Traits
No worries. How did that new campaign go? What elements did the town have?
Re: GM Tools: Community Traits
I really like this table. It adds a ton of flavor to what is usually a boring town. Keep up the great work!