This Could Get Dicey

By: Becky (DM)

I love city builders and simulation games, but I tell you what building a city in a fantasy world is much different! Much to think about and yet you don’t want to get carried away. What are the politics of the city, what’s commerce like, what’s the area around the city like, what natural resources are available, what does it look like, who lives here? Let’s start with what it looks like. 

To me, Lothlorien from Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic cities in all of fantasy. The way it’s depicted in the films as being surrounded by dense woods with almost a constant fog blurring everything inside of it. You look at it and know that this wasn’t built in our world of Earth and that it perhaps wasn’t built by humans or by those who are mortal. I wanted Mistfall to be reminiscent of that to some extent. A city built within the trees, with architectural wonder, and an air of mystery. So I started with wanting buildings in the trees, which is typically not very practical. Trees grow, they change, they die, and buildings do not do these things. But we’re in a fantasy world, we’re surrounded by magic, little mushroom guys, and there’s a talking bird god who loves demons. So suspending all forms of practicality, I decided to build the city within the trees. The city being in the forest is part of the identity of the city and what makes it unique.

Now thinking about the day-to-day in Mistfall I had to think about commerce. Mistfall is at the base of a mountain where two rivers are created. North of it is Theram, a mining town, and way down the river is Venzor. It’s a city built for exporting refined goods. Resources come in from the mountains, and down the river to 3 towns and a city. Knowledge is also something that can be gathered and exported, especially in a city that serves as a sort of hub. People come into the city to trade or apprentice, they bring stories and experiences from all around. Thus the academy and library of Mistfall was born to serve as the eastern hub of knowledge for Eistrune. 

Combining commerce with the general feel of the city is how the details get built. Let’s take The Squirrel’s Folley, an inn and tavern built on a platform surrounding a tree. All possible because refined metalwork would probably create engineers out of necessity to create better tools and machines. And these same engineers could then figure out how to create a cool tavern to relax in after work, and obviously, it’s very cool if they have to take an elevator of sorts up to the tavern right? And let’s take the academy, what scholarly subjects would it focus on? I think it could be agreed that most academies in fantasy realms should probably focus on arcane and religion. Where else will wizards go to learn their magic, and how else can clerics ask philosophical questions to their deities? But two subjects are not enough and knowing that Mistfall is embedded within the lush forest landscape of northeastern Eistrune, botany became the third subject. Suddenly the city is alive feeling because there is a believability to it, that it could actually exist given the circumstances.

It’s a slippery slope creating a town or city but I think it’s best to start with location. Cities on Earth were founded where they are today because of their location and resources available. If the city is by a coastline, it probably has a fishing industry of sorts. If it’s by a mountain there are probably mines for metal or coal. If it’s at a crossroads of rivers, then it probably is destined to be a tradetown with a mixing pot of cultures. Think about your own town, who founded it, and for what reason? What came to be out of necessity and what was added as luxury? Although I’m creating a fantasy world, having the world be grounded with some level of logic from our world can make it more believable and easier for the players to understand and play within. I hope you found this to be a helpful and insightful look into the building of Mistfall.