We found a town. Now what?

Perhaps the characters are on the long journey of an exploratory hex crawl, or they’ve just finished sacking a dungeon (those poor unsuspecting skeletons) and now they need to rest. They come across a small village. What are some things that they can realistically expect?

First and foremost is a seat of power. In the real world this might have been the Lord’s Estate or Manor House in England, for example. It might also have been the Longhouse or Hall as would have been found in Scandinavian lands.

The Longhouse or Hall was the place for communal gathering, leadership, feasting, law, and governance.
This was the heart of the town, often serving as the chieftain’s or jarl’s seat of power. It was used for feasts, legal assemblies (things), and council meetings. It could also be used to house multiple families in smaller villages. Symbolically and practically, it was the social and political center more than the inn or alehouse ever would have been.

 Next up, almost universally across all cultures and a place the PCs would certainly want to visit was the Workshop or Smithy (Smiðja) It was used for craftsmanship, repair, and local industry. This would be very keen for certain professions in Dragonbane. A blacksmith or general workshop was essential for tools, weapons, horseshoes, locks, and daily repairs. It may have included **carpenters, leatherworkers, and shipwrights** in coastal towns. In a TTRPG, this is your go-to place for item repairs, gear upgrades, and local rumors.

Another almost universal building was  the Storehouse or Granary (Hlöða / Kornhús) Obviously it was for food storage and preparation for winter. This building stored grain, dried fish, salted meat, and other preserved food. In some cultures it would have been lorded over more tightly and referred to as the “tithe barn.” In the real world it was essential for survival through the long Nordic winters. It sometimes held surplus trade goods, which could be bartered or sold in nearby markets.

Most other settlements would have some sort of shrine, church, holy building, or Temple. Silly sentient beings and their needs for (looks in his notes) religion or spirituality. (That’s an upcoming article. I haven’t forgotten yet.) It seems that many cultures in the real world do put priority on building some place to pray or give thanks to some Greater Power. Go figure.

In England and several other communities, a mill would be common for grinding grains into flour. Bread was a main staple food back in ye olden days.

Another thing that comes up quite often in fantasy games is the market hall,  especially in larger trade towns, at least in colder climates. In warmer climates or in the summer this would most often consist of outdoor stalls in a central area. This whole bloody notion of separate shops and buildings, especially someone selling magic items comes largely from fantasy as far as I can tell.

One of the most fascinating things I find in both Asian, Middle Eastern, and Scandinavian cultures among others is the bathhouse or sauna (Badstofa) for hygiene and socialization. I mean, I’m kind of a shy bather myself, so I find this concept a bit awkward personally. Mostly I’m in there to shave my head and listen to a podcast or YouTube. I can’t imagine sitting in the same dirty bathwater as half the town and just hanging out having a good time. (Shudder. Cringe.) And yet this is a potential really awesome feature in TTRPGs. We all loved the shower scene in the original Starship Troopers, right? It’s a good place to get the gossip and hang out (Giggity) that’s not a bar or inn.

The last thing that carries over well in a lot of real world cultures and I think would be a necessity in a lot of my fantasy towns and villages is the guardhouse or watchtower for defense, especially in border or coastal regions. This would definitely ring true for any settlement near a forest teeming full of monsters and magical creatures.

Please do what works best for you as a Game Master and your group. What works for me at my table may not work for yours and vice versa. The main focus is to have fun. There is no right or wrong way to roleplay.

Building a fantasy village around this concept puts a different spin on things.

The adventurers trek into town with packs full of shiny baubles and chests full of gold, silver, copper, gems or other valuables that the fools are looking to sell. I hope they have their own cart or wagon and maybe some retainers because it might be a while before they can unload it all. This is one time where having a “home base” or “bastion” might come in handy.

If strangers were welcome in town, they might ask to stay at the longhouse or they might have to sleep on the cold, hard ground again. If they were lucky they might be able to sleep in a barn. Then again, the “barn” might have been a cramped, smelly affair depending on how small they were and what all was being stored in it. Some cultures people still keep their livestock indoors at night- in their homes.

So what are adventurers to do? The locals might not have an interest in even talking to these strangers who’ve wandered into their village. Spending gold is going to possible devastate the local economy. A massive injection of gold into an economy tends to separate the haves from the have-nots rather quickly. This particular rising tide does not lift all boats, which can even be seen in the real world today.

The adventurers in question then need to keep their filthy lucre mountain under wraps or potentially have the locals flocking to them in droves looking for handouts or trying to sell various household items. Some adventuring parties just don’t want that kind of attention. Flaunting wealth might also attract a lot of unwanted criminal attention, and nobody wants a party of adventuring murderhobos on their hands.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

What am I driving at with all this?

Game Masters might not want to populate every town the same way with the same buildings and services. The PCs could very likely run into smaller villages and minor outposts before they come to a full on medieval fantasy town. I don’t think the stereotypical medieval Dungeons & Dragons town we’re all used to should be every town.

Am I shooting for realism? No. The real medieval world was a somewhat messy affair as I recall. Running water, sewage systems, waste collection, proper hygiene, medicine, dentistry, veterinary care, electricity… we take a lot of things for granted in the real world.

No, I don’t think the real life ugliness of the real medieval world belongs in a fantasy game with elves and magic. All I’m saying is we don’t have to make life totally easy on the PCs. Dysentery sucks. Let’s not go there.

However, it could present the PCs an opportunity to do some things that are humanitarian and altruistic. The healer of the group could treat the villagers with various maladies in place of an apothecary. The fighting men of the group could spend some time training up a couple of local teens and fortify their watchtower. The rogue of the group could distribute a reasonable amount to charity or help clean out the criminal element in town. The bard could run amok and raise the town’s population in nine or so months… Okay, maybe not all of the PCs are a big help.

Regardless of how it goes, the opportunity for some real roleplaying can occur in these smaller outposts of civilization, even as the group is just passing through. Maybe they buy a couple of pieces of fruit and stop to water the horses. Is an apple worth a whole silver piece? No. But would the local farm kid freak out of some stranger riding through showed that level of kindness and spread the word of a good deed? Absolutely!

Maybe karma then comes around for the PCs later in the form of information that can help them on their quest or present new NPCs helpful to the party. You never know when you might need that barn to hide out in or supplies to tide you over to the next town. Even small favors like a place to leave a wounded comrade or hire a few of the locals to help carry things might go a long way.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.