November 26, 2024

Points of Interest

One of the interesting things about worldbuilding in D&D and many of the games it’s inspired is that D&D claimed to be set in a pseudo-medieval European realm — and then mostly ignored the actual demographics of medieval Europe. Though its population was nowhere near what it is today, Europe in the Middle Ages was positively full of people, most of whom lived in tiny settlements scattered between larger towns and occasional cities. However, D&D in its earliest days created a baseline sense of the adventuring world as being mostly frontier, with villages scattered at distances of a day’s walk apart or more.

A map showing an area predominantly in light green, suggesting farmland, with crisscrossing roads (solid brown lines) and tracks (dotted brown lines) connecting dozens of small settlements.

A lot of fantasy GMs who are into this sort of thing got an initial sense of what a real pseudo-medieval milieu might feel like from “Medieval Demographics Made Easy” by S. John Ross, whose mechanics have been implemented all over the internet. That approach to fantasy game demographics talks about villages as being home to the largest segment of any territory’s population, scattered in large numbers and often less than an hour’s walk away from the nearest other villages. Of note, though, “Medieval Demographics Made Easy” shares with the D&D 5e rules the use of “village” to cover a wide range of settlements with populations of 1,000 or less. D&D 3e broke that category down into villages (maximum 900 population), hamlets (maximum 400) and thorps (maximum 80). And for me, hamlets and thorps set only hours apart from each other in settled lands have always been a great baseline for worldbuilding.

Using thorps, hamlets, and villages as touchstones while adventuring heroes are traveling is a great way to help create a sense of the world that those heroes are fighting for. Which is to say, small settlements remind characters that there’s actually a world of people around them, not just empty landscape. Villages, hamlets, and thorps are small enough that they don’t need a lot of development when the characters are just passing through. Random name generators for settlements are easily had, and a baseline sense of what a village, hamlet, or thorp looks like can be improvised fairly easily, inspired by prevailing culture, environment, and the industry derived from that environment (farming, mining, fishing, and so forth).  But on top of that baseline, you can make a village, hamlet, or thorp memorable with a defining unusual characteristic using the following table. This is the table I use in my own campaigns, including a current game focused on a lot of short-distance traveling through densely settled lands as the characters track down lore and secret dungeon sites long lost to history. 

Some of the features on the table are overtly magical. Some are clearly mundane. And some can swing both ways, letting you decide how far to lean into the fantastic in your own campaign.

Unusual Small Settlement Features

d100   Feature

  1. Abundant household animals
  2. A freshwater pool of unknown depth, its bottom never sounded
  3. Locals wear distinctive clothing or jewelry
  4. Old watchtower
  5. Outdoor clock
  6. Well water acts as a healing draught for ill and injured livestock and mounts
  7. Copious flower gardens
  8. Ancient statue randomly bestows magical benefits to those who touch it
  9. Geothermal spring or vent
  10. Ancient shrine sometimes bestows good luck to those who meditate before it
  11. Raised walkways cross over difficult or dangerous terrain
  12. Trained animal messengers
  13. Colorful lanterns
  14. Beautiful fountain
  15. Ramshackle buildings
  16. Brightly painted buildings
  17. Outdoor gallery of statues
  18. Clockwork labor-saving devices
  19. Unusually large cemetery
  20. Well dispenses limited amounts of holy water
  21. Well-groomed parks
  22. Wild green space
  23. Several awakened animal residents
  24. Polluted well
  25. Extensive fishponds
  26. Colorful flags
  27. Tall spire
  28. Burgeoning local theater or music scene
  29. Tall spire
  30. Unusual-colored stone in buildings and field walls
  31. Proliferation of sign languages
  32. Carnivorous domesticated animals (bears, lions, and so forth)
  33. Glowing moss or flowers
  34. Shrine holding ancient bones
  35. Standing stones
  36. Ruins hold a magically floating altar
  37. Locals wear tokens of good luck
  38. Scattered statues are clearly petrified creatures
  39. Abundant birds
  40. Copious pleasant arthropods (butterflies, crickets, and so forth)
  41. Copious unpleasant arthropods (roaches, flies, and so forth)
  42. Freestanding arches
  43. Underground tunnels connecting buildings
  44. Mechanical lifts for ascending tall buildings or steep terrain
  45. Large heated communal pool
  46. Vines or trees bear fruit even in winter
  47. Life-sized statue of a dragon
  48. Local landscape sometimes yields up cut gemstones
  49. Old bell tower 
  50. Superior local beer, wine, or spirits
  51. Rooming house is a secret thieves’ guild safehouse
  52. Elemental fire vent
  53. Stone disks are intermittently functioning teleportation portals
  54. Locals raise and competitively race dire animals
  55. Crystal geodes are common decorations
  56. Local oracle correctly predicts the future exactly half the time
  57. Communal barn has a large extradimensional space within
  58. Unseen creatures pilfer non-valuable items from those passing through
  59. Ancient giant-sized structures repurposed to humanoid size
  60. Protected by retired mercenaries
  61. Noticeably cooler or warmer than surrounding environs
  62. Fully lit up at night by swarms of fireflies
  63. Local wild flying mounts (griffons, hippogriffs, and so forth) will transport characters in exchange for delicacies
  64. Ancient shrine to a forgotten deity
  65. Settlement protected by local lycanthropes
  66. Fey creatures common in area
  67. Wind chimes on most buildings play soothing music
  68. Arched bridge doesn’t cross over any obvious obstacle or barrier
  69. Teleportation portal connects to another nearby settlement
  70. Grand statue magically takes on the visage of one random person in the settlement each midday
  71. Ancient lightning rod retains electrical energy from recent storms, arcs out to zap anyone engaging in violence
  72. Extensive and elaborate topiary
  73. Settlement is built partly underground in repurposed dungeon ruins
  74. Benevolent ghost of settlement founder watches over locals
  75. Large number of gamblers
  76. Proliferation of edible mushrooms 
  77. One or more buildings are built on ancient stone foundations that float above the ground
  78. Roving floating glass orb allows anyone touching it to telepathically communicate with anyone else in the settlement
  79. Crumbling wall sends back unnaturally loud echoes
  80. Healing spa bestows temporary hit points
  81. Cheap alchemical reagents sourced from local bogs
  82. Glass obelisk retains the images of the last people to look into it
  83. Wild animals (bears, lions, eagles, and so forth) protect the settlement and patrol the outskirts
  84. Area of wild magic grants a one-time ability to cast a random cantrip
  85. Large magical sundial also tracks local weather for the next three days
  86. Earthbound or swimming wild animals can magically fly within a hundred paces of the settlement
  87. Built around the bones or skull of an ancient monster
  88. The sound of wind is heard even when the wind isn’t blowing
  89. Ancient shrine randomly summons low-threat creatures who serve nearby characters for 1 hour
  90. Harmless giant arthropods escort travelers into and out of the settlement
  91. Always shrouded in light fog
  92. Exceptional local cuisine or baked goods
  93. Natural scrying pool activates randomly once per month
  94. Huge boulder grants spider climb ability to anyone while climbing it
  95. Ancient pump dispenses limited amounts of lamp oil
  96. Unusually high number of local poets
  97. Visitors who eat local food learn one bit of secret lore
  98. Ruined library contains a magically shifting array of books
  99. Retired master smith repairs one nonmagical weapon, suit of armor, or shield at no cost in exchange for a promise to do good
  100. Awakened tree willingly serves as a children’s adventure playground