Dudes, I need help building a city.

[J. Chamberlin]

Basically what the title says, but let me get detailed here.

 

I'm trying to build a city from the ground up for the heroes in my game to protect, and I can't get past the name of the place! Damn, GMing is hard.

 

What I'm trying to do is name and detail the different neighborhoods in town, and then divide the neighborhoods into different boroughs. If it all goes like I hope it will, before too long the players will know more or less what side of town to patrol for what - maybe even set up patrol routes through known rough spots.

 

Okay, so now for the part where I appeal to the wisdom of experience. That'd be you lot.

 

What things should I detail about each neighborhood and borough? I can only think of population density and relative crime rate (low, medium, high) so far, and I guess a section of notable features (this or that borough sports a Stadium, etc.).

 

Thanks guys.

j

[MitchellS]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Do you have San Angelo, Bay City, Millennium City, Vibora Bay, and/or Hudson City? You might want to steal from what has already been published [for both 4E, Fusion, and 5E]. It might make your life simpler.

[Legendsmiths]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Oh, I see MitchellS, trying to make it past the FuZion sensor by using an S instead, very clever.

 

I do however concur. Those setting books are done well and have a lot of useful information and provide a solid guide as to how one might present it.

 

Perhaps you could include a roll to determine how many innocent bystanders there are during various times of the day on an average street in that 'hood and what the makeup might be.

[McCoy]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Start with transportation.

 

Most major cities are on the coast or a river (I believe Phoenix, Arizona is the largest city not on a navagatible waterway). Locate the docks, this is going to be an industrial area, and one of the more crime ridden neighborhoods in terms of drugs, prostitution, and places to fence stolen goods.

 

Still on the waterfront but a world away will be the yacht club, one of your more affluent areas with crime discretely kept out of sight.

 

If the city is on a river rather than the coast, place bridges accross the river.

 

Place the railroad tracks. They'll be passing by the docks, and will need their own bridge accross the river.

 

Now your freeways. Probably a loop around the city, and at least one spur going into the downtown business district. Airport and sports stadium(s) will be freeway convienent.

 

The river, railroad, and freeways will tend to act as natural or psychological barriers dividing the city into different areas (Something just seems further away if you have to cross the freeway to get to it).

 

Remember a University, for research projects.

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

where do people go at nights? where are all night liquor stores? dance clubs?

 

Make sure people have a place to work at during the day and a place to hang out during the night and the crime should follow.

[Hermit]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

What things should I detail about each neighborhood and borough? I can only think of population density and relative crime rate (low, medium, high) so far, and I guess a section of notable features (this or that borough sports a Stadium, etc.).

 

j

 

Try to keep track of social class and average income in the areas. An upper class neighborhood will have a very different look from a collection of streets where the lower classes live. If you decide you have any ethnic groups of sizable amount, consider where they live. Beyond just black, hispanic, etc, does your city have a china town?(or little tokyo, etc?) Even ethnic groups of the past will leave their mark. For example, Millennium City has Hammatrack (sp?) where a lot of Polish first moved, that's changed, but it did affect the character of the neighborhood. If you decide that refugees from a nation that were terrorirzed by a super villain fled here, and some stayed even after the threat was over, you now have an excuse for such a ethnic or cultural neighborhood.

 

Another thing to keep track of is the ages medium. The 'young' part of town will cater to different things than the area that tries to serve and draw the middle aged or elderly.

[BigJackBrass]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Beyond looking at existing cities published for HERO, or indeed any other system, I'd say have a look at the real world. Maps, travel guides, population statistics, even names of sections and streets, are all there waiting to be taken and tweaked. Many towns and cities have tourist and information boards just itching to send information like this if you contact them, and that's even without searching libraries and the Internet.

 

Too many cities I've seen created from whole cloth have fallen down because very, very few of us really understand what makes such a thing tick on every level. Things don't appear in a city for no reason, with no historical drive, and yet in roleplaying we tend to make perfect creations with barely a nod to the realities. An historical jumble gives the place that feeling of solidity, and you can pinch all the things you need from every continent on Earth.

 

And variety? Just compare a map of Toronto with one of Stockholm. There are wonders all around us.

 

(And then there's Milton Keynes, which is best avoided)

[casualplayer]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Unless you are really into mapmaking, steal one from an existing city. Invert it, rename the boroughs and features and you are practically done. Cities do have regional flavor so using Buffalo for a California city will feel off though. Hacks plagarize, artists steal!

[Hermit]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Someone told me that setting Sim City on rapid build after some adjustments and then making screen shots worked well... I don't have that program myself, so I never tried it.

[J. Chamberlin]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Awesome help so far guys, keep em coming.

 

I haven't got any City books yet, and I won't be able to afford any new stuff until some time in September (yay, poverty!). I intend to get some sooner or later, but I just always liked thinking I made everything up - I'll be using them for inspiration, but not setting my game in them.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

 

j

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

sim city is an awesome way to do this, depending on the edition and the feel you are going for. Sometimes the view is too far out.

 

 

Buy a book of maps. Invaluable.

[Hermit]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Don't neglect the topography and geography either. A hilly city will have a definite different pattern than one on the flat plains.

[Ura-Maru]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Don't forget age. Newer cities, (or cities that have been rebuilt after being horribly destroyed) tend to have straight streets that follow a reasonably navagatable pattern. Older ones tend to be much more chaotic mazes of one way and inconsistiantly numbered streets, as anyone who's ever had to find an address in Boston or the outskirts of Philly can attest.

 

I once walked around for HOURS trying to find a cable company on the outside of Philly's university city. It was on '17th street' You might think that 17th street would be between 16th and 18th. It wasn't. It was a dead end street, off an unlabled street, off of PARK STREET, with no other building or sign within almost a mile . . .

 

---

ONE BLOCK further west and I could have used Comcast. No, I was stuck with 'Wade Cable' And don't get me STARTED on Verison . . .

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

McCoy is right about transportation, but don't forget other infrastructure like critical bridges, power stations, airports, oil refineries, and other things villains like to blow up. (Modern cities don't actually have huge walk-in sewer tunnels, BTW, but it's kindof a convention of the genre.)

 

Natural disasters: depending on where you're loacting your city, is it prone to earthquakes, hurricans, tornadoes, or what all?

 

A general idea of thecity's emergency response capability: where are the police stations, fire stations, hazmat response units, that sort of thing.

 

Most major cities these days have some kind of "tech center." What other major industries does your city have, and where are they located?

 

If you know where your schools are, it's easier to pull the old "This explosion will level everything for 4 blocks -- and there's an elementary school 2 blocks away!" (Tho that's probably more detail than you need to start with.)

 

 

bigdamnhero

"Seasoned? That’s a hell of a thing to say to a man!"

[clsage]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Don't forget age. Newer cities, (or cities that have been rebuilt after being horribly destroyed) tend to have straight streets that follow a reasonably navagatable pattern. Older ones tend to be much more chaotic mazes of one way and inconsistiantly numbered streets, as anyone who's ever had to find an address in Boston or the outskirts of Philly can attest.

 

I once walked around for HOURS trying to find a cable company on the outside of Philly's university city. It was on '17th street' You might think that 17th street would be between 16th and 18th. It wasn't. It was a dead end street, off an unlabled street, off of PARK STREET, with no other building or sign within almost a mile . . .

 

An aside, which might prove usefull in visualization:

There was a quote in one of the local (NYC metro area) papers around

the time the movie "Batman Begins" opened. The basic statement was

that, if you look at NYC North to South, above around 18th-21st

streets you have the sort of environment you might find in Metropolis

(more modern, "brighter", etc) while from that point South towards Tribeca,

the Battery, etc you get more of the feeling of Gotham (older, narrow

streets, "darker", etc). Having spent last Saturday wandering "the city"

I can definately see that interpretation. The article also mentioned how

some of the "major supers" in the world (Spidey, The FF, etc) might be

followers of particular sports teams (eg: Spidey = long suffering = Yankees

fan).

 

-Carl-

[Harry Canyon]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Borrowing from Roy_The_Ruthless, apply some Sim City like concepts. Think in terms of residential, commerical, and industrial. Where's the following

1. main financial district?
   
2. all the manufacturing plants, big or small?
   
3. the smaller less expensive houses?
   
4. the big expensive houses?
   
5. the low income high density housing, i.e. projects?
   
6. the entertainment spots (theaters, museums, amusement parks, city/county/state parks, sport stadiums)?
   
7. schools?
   
8. infrastructure: fire departments, police stations, water facilities, power generation, military base, courthouse(s), jails/prison?
   
9. possibly PRIMUS and/or UNTIL offices?
   
10. public super bases

If you start with transportation as suggested by McCoy some of these things will be somewhat obvious. Industrial sections need to be able to move goods, this could be through shipping, rail, or trucking. So they'll occur where those facilities exist. Also, industrial sections are frequently isolated in some way from the other two zones, particularly residential.

 

Hope that gives you some food for thought!

 

Take care,

 

Derek

[BNakagawa]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Something I like to do is to peel a city like an onion and see what it looked like one, two or a dozen generations ago.

 

As somebody pointed out, a city that is as old (or even older) than our country tends to have a very confused, organic feel to it as it has sort of happened rather than been planned. Boston = happened. Washington DC = planned.

 

First thing you need to do is figure out which one your city is more like. Then it's just like making a character background. Figure out how the city started. Did it start out as a Spanish Mission? (most cities in California and the Southwest) Did it start out as a frontier army post? (Numerous midwestern cities) A port that was founded even before our nation? (most of the eastern seaboard) or maybe a recent development or technology (Las Vegas, others)

 

Then figure out the most important events in the development of your city. Did it figure into something like the industrial revolution like Pittsburg? Did it get a huge influx of people as a result of WWII? Did it wither like the bulk of the rust belt during the recession? Etc.

 

Stuff like this gives your city a little depth and history to play with. I like cities that have that lived-in feeling to them. This sort of approach almost guarantees such an atmosphere if you use these details to flavor current events and attitudes.

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Maybe a bit of topic, but these sites might help:

 

City Creator

Design your own city. Maybe not exactly your taste, but it might give you some ideas.

 

Sim City Classic Live

The original game is free to play online.

[Phil]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

I have two different suggestions to those already made.

 

Firstly, take a look at Paragon City, the setting for the MMORG City of Heroes. Might have some ideas you can pinch there (although possibly try to avoid the level of crime and murderous gangs on every corner).

 

Secondly, use a real city, but one your players dont know. Pick something slightly obscure (depends where your players are from as to what this means - perhaps Sevastapol, or Jakarta or Singapore). Change a few of the names, and shift a few bits of geography around perhaps, but you've got instant everything you need.

 

Phil

[J. Chamberlin]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

I knew I was doing the smart thing asking you folks. Kudos to the lot of you.

 

Okay, so far Champion City (speaking of uncreative...) is rolling right along. I figure since this is being so helpful for me I might as well throw another question at you guys.

 

What sort of cool stuff does a city full of super heroes have? The University probably has some cool stuff in it, and I know there are Stadiums/Colliseums. A really big Museum...? A huge Library?

 

I'm a small towner every year of my life accept the last one (yes, Edmonton is a big city to some of us) so I don't really have a frame of reference for this beyond comics and tv - and thats proving too chaotic to be fruitful. Any more suggestions guys?

 

j

[Hermit]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

Well, Super City is meant to be a parody, but it does mention some sorts of buildings and institutions that you might find in a campaign setting of a city. Just make them serious. Hope it helps

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

What sort of cool stuff does a city full of super heroes have? The University probably has some cool stuff in it' date=' and I know there are Stadiums/Colliseums. A really big Museum...? A huge Library?[/quote']

Depending on the mood you want to invoke, you might need a super-prison or an asylum.

 

Well' date=' Super City is meant to be a parody, but it does mention some sorts of buildings and institutions that you might find in a campaign setting of a city. Just make them serious. Hope it helps

Wow, that was cool! It reminds me of a light version of Freedom City.

 

Since, we've already entered the comedy area, we might as well mention The Tick. It might be silly, and the city might be called "The City". Still, it has some less silly ideas too. Like a superhero night club.

[clsage]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

What sort of cool stuff does a city full of super heroes have? The University probably has some cool stuff in it, and I know there are Stadiums/Colliseums. A really big Museum...? A huge Library?

j

 

The "worldbook section" of Justice, Inc. mentioned the probabilty of

an area around a place like The Empire Club having a "hero/adventure

supply district" (or the like) spring up around the clubs location. Stores

that sold outdoor gear, a gunsmith, etc. In my concept of what a "hero

city" would be those sorts of things would almost have to exist as well.

A dry cleaner who can handle "unstable molecule costumes"....That sort

of stuff.

 

Also, don't forget that museums in a supers world would probably have

exibit halls or even whole wings devoted to para-humans, aliens, etc. A

fine place for an origin story ("Young Joe Normal, while on a school trip

to the American Museum Of Natural Historys' Hall Of Xeno-Biologies and

Cultures, is exposed a previously dormant crystal sphere. The artifact is

actually a storage device for the "justice energy" which defended a now

dead world. Sensing Joes' purity of heart it chose him as its' new vessel,

creating....")

 

And I'd suspect that universities would be falling over themselves in the

rush to get a super (active or retired) as a visiting lecturer...Imagine

Wonder Woman presenting a graduate seminar in para-human

ethics.

 

I'd also add a major military/government base, such as a technology

proving ground or flight test station (think Edwards AFB or White Sands)

to allow for the government to keep tabs on things.

 

Just my rambling $.02US.

 

-Carl-

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: Dudes, I need help building a city.

 

And I'd suspect that universities would be falling over themselves in the rush to get a super (active or retired) as a visiting lecturer...Imagine Wonder Woman presenting a graduate seminar in para-human ethics.

Speaking of retired heroes. It might be nice to make up a few retired heroes (maybe reminding of a PC). For some reason non-active NPC:s tend to become teachers (or at least mentors). Other possible non-active super jobs might be media personalities or entertainment place owners (for example resturants or night clubs).