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City Sites (2e)

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City Sites, the first in a series of AD&D game floorplans, includes extensive details on urban settings that player characters are liekly to visit in any campaign.
 
For instance, within you'll find
  • a smithy run by gnomes;
  • a temple that's home to an orphaned dragon; and
  • a tavern that patrons can't enter until they give the password
This book also describes two inns, a singing fountain, a jail, and much more! Each site's entry tells the Dungeon Master what the place looks like at first glance and offers a detailed floor plan of the interior, as well as a picture of the exterior. Readers will also find fascinating notes about the characters who live and work in each site, along with one or two ideas for personalizing the spot to suit any adventure.
 
From now on, make a trip to the city easy - and exciting! 
 
*****
 
Product History

As a DM, one can generally come up with large-scale plots and cinematic set-pieces; where we tend to be weak is in being able quickly to generate detailed, fully mapped locations. One of my favorite types of game supplements are those that give me clear and imaginative maps, numerous plot hooks, and pre-written NPCs.
 
City Sites (1994), a 96-page accessory by Skip Williams, fits the bill perfectly. With this supplement, I can grab a location at the last moment and whip off an impromptu adventure with virtually no prep.

First Impressions. This accessory is designed to give you locations that heroes in a D&D game commonly visit. The public locations that City Sites details include Drake's Barbican, a heavily fortified city entrance; Dawnsinger, a singing public fountain; Civic Temple, mapped from dome to crypts, customizable to the deity of your choice; Pantheon, a public temple to many gods, and its cemetery; and the Civic Court, with courthouse and dungeons. For businesses, it details Gryphon's Stables, a town stable and horse dealer; the Cracked Mug, a no-frills tavern on an unpaved alley; the Double Rose, a beautiful, top-quality tavern; the Rusty Clam, a decrepit tavern that hosts criminals, murderers, and cutthroats of the lowest sort; the Red Clover, a dilapidated apothecary shop; the Glowing Ember, a busy smithy; the Three Golden Rings, a notorious and unusual gnomish jewelry shop; and Schel's Cottage, the home of a city-based druid.

Descriptions are given immediately, making it easy for the DM to describe each location for players without having to wade through a lot of introductory text first. Maps are keyed to room descriptions, and NPC stat blocks include personality, belongings, motivations, and secrets. NPCs range from 0-level commoners to experienced 10th-level adventurers. While game stats are for 2nd edition AD&D, conversion to other game systems doesn't look particularly onerous, and the real treasure here are the edition-agnostic maps and location descriptions.
 
I particularly appreciate that each location lists at least one plot hook, an adventure seed designed to involve the character in the location's business.

Short-Term Solution. These locations are perfect for injecting color into common, oft-used city locations. They're also good, short pick-up adventures, particularly well suited for a DM who likes to steal and repurpose good maps. What you won't find here are epic villains, long-reaching plots, and dastardly world-shaking adventures. That's not a criticism; this is a supplement you buy for plain and simple usefulness, not abstruse and epic adventures.

About the Creators. Skip Williams is one of the people who influenced and developed the original Dungeons & Dragons game; he is the former Sage of Dragon Magazine's "Sage Advice" column. Joining TSR in 1976 and departing Wizards of the Coast in 2002, Williams masterminded the design and development of the 3rd edition Monster Manual.

About the Product Historian

History and commentary of this product was written by Kevin Kulp, game designer and admin of the independent D&D fansite ENWorld. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to kevin.kulp@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

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Daniel P July 19, 2019 3:13 am UTC
if you want the map in digital form AND additional adventure hooks, etc! Check out the product here at: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/283340/City-Sites-5E-Maps--Conversion-Notes-AddOns
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 Recent History















Product Information
Gold seller
Author(s)
Rules Edition(s)
Pages
98
Edition
1.0
ISBN
1560769238
Publisher Stock #
TSR 9464
File Size:
26.23 MB
Format
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File Last Updated:
July 09, 2013
This title was added to our catalog on July 09, 2013.