No D&D campaign would be complete without a city, in which thieves skulk, assassins ply their trade, and merchants pinch pennies (with oft-surprising strength). Here in the scummy tavern, The Lost Lunch, Stinking Ed and his five lowlife pals will slip you a knife ’twixt the ribs more likely than not; there in that garbage-blocked alley Don the Slimy will sell you foul, polluted drugs.
The rotten part of town, by contrast, has its denizens to make Ed and Don resemble St. Francis and Grandma Moses. The thieves’ quarters and the South Slum of this city would make Boston’s Combat Zone look nice. (Well, not nice, but better. )
Have you just been pickpocketed for the fourth time? Are those murderers you spy up on the roof? Is this a dagger I see before me? Call for the watch! And if they respond, and if they arrive before it’s too late, the odds are even that they’ll shake you down, confiscate your property, and haul you in for shouting.
Perhaps, though, you are rich, and have a fortress for a townhouse, a household guard of 100 strong fighters, and two trusted wizards. Jealous merchants, angry at your success, have hired a saboteur, it seems, and thieves have tunneled into your wine cellar. Count Bombazine is considering treason charges, your guard has 15 spies and two assassins, and here comes the tax-man.
I wouldn’t play a merchant for all the gold in Utah! They are, however, necessary. They are also too easy to kill. A merchant, in D&D, gets 1-6 hit points, and that’s that. A ten-year-old could kill one. Therefore . . .
I propose that Merchants, and a number of other non-playercharacters, playercharacters, be given opportunities for advancement. There should be 7th-level beggars, 4th-level tradesmen, and so on. Below are the four charts of the City Encounter Table. Rolling on this is a complex task, requiring four (at least) percentile rolls, but rolls are not too frequent, and the situations can balloon easily into fullfledged and ornate encounters.
First, roll on the Encounter Probability Table. If an encounter is specified, continue with the procedure. If a meeting with the watch is specified, the situation may be handled easily on a “fight ’em/ignore ’em” basis.
Next, a roll on the Type of Person Encountered Table is made. Explanations of the cryptic symbols used therein are given below. Note that this table does not give the statistical breakdown of the city’s populace; it is foolish to claim that the beggars outnumber the tradesmen. Rather, this table gives a good sample of the types of people who cause encounters. Beggars will always call for attention, while tradesmen seldom will.
After that, roll for the level of the non-player-character called for, using the Level of the Encounter Table. Many non-player-character types mentioned below have an upper-level limit: ignore results above this.
Finally, roll on the Type of Encounter Table. This will give a situation, usually fraught with conflict. At this point, responsibility devolves upon the referee to place the elements together to give a true encounter.
Daytime: Roll every 30-60 minutes.
00-31 Encounter
32-47 The Watch
48-99 Nothing
Evening: Roll every 20-30 minutes.
00-34 Encounter
35-49 The Watch
50-99 Nothing
Night: Roll every 15-20 minutes.
00-38 Encounter
39-59 Nightwatch
60-99 Nothing
| copper | silver | electrum | gold | platinum | gems | jewelry | magic | |
| C1 | 1-4 | 50% 1 | ||||||
| C2 | 2-12 | 1-4 | 60% 1-2 | |||||
| C3 | 4-24 | 3-18 | 1-6 | 50% 1-2 | ||||
| C4 | 5-30 | 2-12 | 1-10 | 1-3 | ||||
| C5 | 6-36 | 4-24 | 3-18 | 1-8 | 1-3 | |||
| C6 | 6-36 | 5-30 | 3-18 | 1-3 | 10% | |||
| C7 | 1-600 | 1-400 | 6-36 | 2-12 | 1-6 | 20% | ||
| C8 | 3-1800 | 2-1200 | 1-800 | 3-18 | 2-12 | 40% |
Additional rolls may be made on the Type of Person Encountered Table as desired. On the Type of Encounter Table, it must be noted that many encounters are things seen, not things actually happening to the players. A Chase, Fight, or Discovered Ambush need not directly involve the players (although they might): These are often merely things observed that might draw in the players.
It is important to note that the level of a non-player-character represents the skill with which the person performs his or her jobs, not the person’s rank. A 12th-level noble might be a lowly baronet—but a good one. Since skill is (supposedly) rewarded, there should be a loose correlation between Level and Rank—a 10th-level merchant has a better chance of being the master of the shopkeeper’s guild than does a 4th-level merchant—but this relation is not precise.
Examples: Three encounters are rolled, none of which involve the watch. First Encounter: On the Type of Person Encountered Table, a 16 is rolled: a Scud. This lowlife ruffian is of the 2nd level (roll on the Level of the Encounter Table: 52—too high; scuds may only advance to the 3rd level. Roll again: 93—too high. Once more: 24: the scud is of the 2nd level, and has two four-sided hit dice). On the Type of Encounter Table a 68: Overhear Plot is rolled. This may be handled in many ways. Perhaps the scud hears someone plotting revenge and asks to be let in, and the players hear this. Perhaps the scud is receiving instructions from his master on when to waylay a merchant, and it is the players who overhear.
Example Two: On the Type of Person Encountered Table, a 28: Magic User is rolled. On the Level of the Encounter Table a 68 comes up; the magician is of the 7th level. The Type of Encounter is 88: Mugging. Possibly the mugger is unaware that he’s trying to alleybash a magician; if so, he’s in for a well deserved surprise. Or (less likely), possibly the magician is out to make a few groschen by Sleeping a passerby or two, to take their coins.
Third Example: On the Type of Person Encountered, a 10: Tradesman. On the Level of the Encounter a 93 (too high), 97 (too high), 27 indicates that the tradesman is of the 2nd level, with two three-sided hit dice. The Type of the Encounter is a 08; Pickpocket. Since this almost always involves a thief, this could mean many things. A: Maybe the thief is pickpocketing the tradesman, and the players see. B: Maybe the thief is pickpocketing the players, and the tradesman sees. C: Maybe the thief and the tradesman are acting as a team, pickpocketing either the players or someone else entirely, while the players either see or don‘t see.
These tables put the raw data into your hands in a random fashion. The detailed structure is up to the referee. Imagination and the skill of adlibbing are essential—just as they are in all facets of D&D. Once I rolled 00—referee’s choice-three times consecutively on the Type of Encounter Chart (I only later found out that Chet’s programmable calculator was misprogrammed). I stated that the first was a three-alarm funeral, with the masses whooping and wailing for a departed minor official. The second was a pack of wild dogs leaving the sewers to avoid a wizard’s Cloudkill. The third, a diamond thief with a hole in his loot-bag, dropping diamonds to the delight of the crowded streetful of peasants.
My players never dreamed that I was making it up as I went along, and assumed it was a pre-plotted series of adventures.
Frequency: V = Very Rare, R = Rare, U = Uncommon, C = Common.
Type of hit dice: This-many-sided-dice for each level, e.g., a 4th level Hooker would have 4-12 hit points.
Treasures: C1-C8 are explained on the Treasure Table.
Alignment: N = Neutral, LN = Lawful Neutral, CN = Chaotic Neutral, NE = Neutral Evil, CE = Chaotic Evil. (Most of the city lowlife care only for themselves).
Charisma: This is the effect of the occupation upon the charisma of the non-player-character, only with respect to other non-playercharacters; the players, as always, may make up their own minds.
