a Christian podcast about tabletop RPGs and collaborative storytelling

Episode 159 – We Built This City on Rock and Wool

Grant’s out on vacation in lovely Myrtle Beach, SC this week, so Jenny and Peter tackle a special project—working together to create a unique setting centerpiece for a game Jenny will be running at her library! First, we answer a question from Patreon supporter Tom Stephens, who asks, “What is your favorite item that you’ve created for use in a game?”

Jenny's eleven-district map of the city
Jenny’s map of the city’s eleven districts

With that handled and our Scripture read, we move on to creating a city from scratch. Jenny starts us off with a few basic ideas and restrictions, and everything builds from there—pun intended, of course. What’s the economy based on? Why do people come to this city? What makes it unique, geographically and politically? Who lives there, and who is in power? How is it governed? What sort of crime flourishes within its walls? What opportunities are available to player characters who start their careers in this city? And what, exactly, is a forcefield goat?

Ideas Jenny had after recording:

  • It’s in a crater, but the crater isn’t even because the meteor came in at an angle. The Shepherding district is on a gentle slope up and out of the crater, and the Glassworking district is basically a straight wall.
  • Might switch Factotum and Shepherding districts so that the mining and stoneworking can be done on a wall, maybe even under an overhang.
  • At least one magic metal node per district is preserved. Always the biggest node.
  • Civic district is Full Of Lawyers to help out the people seeking sanctuary.

Scripture: Exodus 31:1-11, Joshua 21:41-45, Hebrews 10:24-25

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