1/28/2024 0 Comments Fantasy town marketOf course more often than not the walls have nothing to do with defense. The simplest answer-it's a slight oversimplification but it works-is that towns have walls. If there's buildings outside the main settlement, they'll be similarly defensible, and if possible, there'll be a quick route back to the main settlement.īest way to tell the difference between a village and a town in my opinion? Do they have at least two taverns and the population to keep all of them operating at a minimum of break even? Settlements near potentially dangerous areas - the borders of the realms, a forest/mountain range if there's hostile creatures around etc - would be quite militaristic and fortified. Processing equipment (wind/water mills for grain, smelters for ore, charcoal ovens) may be in the area, or they might be further away and the raw materials transported to it - if there's a river nearby, or a canal has been constructed, it probably makes better sense to transport it in bulk, while if there's difficult terrain (a mountain pass), it probably makes better sense to process it in place and transport the refine product. They would give you purpose built taverns, merchants warehouses etc, and likely a bank/money changers (although some money changers may move around the smaller market towns on a circuit, rather than be tied to a single location). Market towns will spring up where trade routes cross each other (crossroads, bridges over rivers, where rivers join each other, areas of the coast which have either a natural or an artificial harbour, and so on), and in the rough centre of a group of agricultural villages (as the central point where everyone can bring their produce for sale). Why the settlement is there defines what's there, and in a lot of cases, the architectural style. Some form of communal space for various uses - a village green in smaller settlements, a market square in larger ones. Depending on the diety(s), there may also be a place for the dead to be treated according to ritual alongside it (burial, cremation, left for carrion animals), or that could be elsewhere in the surrounding area - there would be such a place though. Larger settlements would have a place of worship, smaller ones might share a single one, but they would all be in walking distance of it (say 2-3 miles). And if they've any sense, any cattle watering, laundry, sewage disposal and the like would take place downstream of that location. Some place to get fresh water - a well, a fast flowing stream or something. Larger settlements may have makers of luxury goods, or people might order from a trader for delivery the next time they pass through. Most settlements would have a smith and maybe one or two other professions, and all but the smallest would have a tavern - which could be a single purpose building, part of the local general store (or the general store could be a part of the tavern), or someone's front room. Only the cheapest goods not worth transporting will be produced on site here.Ī building for whoever controls the settlement - whether that's the village chief's hut, a Knight's keep, a Mage's tower, a sheriff's office and jail or whatever. Gods of travellers may be well represented.īasic goods may be less likely to be produced here than in other towns of a similar size - buying from caravans coming through gives more choice and probably lower cost for a given quality. Clerics or religious orders may be more limited than in other settlements of a similar size and more of the population is passing through rather than a permanent "flock". Add a stable to send riders out or maybe a low level wizard who knows sending.Ĭonversely there will be some things missing or less abundant in this type of town. Being on a couple of transport routes the town acts as a communications hub. Visitors + information gives rise to needs for communications. Populace grows and a few more shops spring up. Grown as on two roads so lots of travellers-> more inns.Īs it grows it will need a police force, and information may begin to be traded there. Personally I pick the reason for the town being where it is than add buildings appropriate. It could be military - a town sprung up around a watchtower. It might be a source of production - a mine or in the middle of arable land. It could be as simple as a bridge or a crossroads.
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