Getting started with city building

[Ronson2k10]

Try picking a geographic area that you would want to settle your town in. Hopefully one that already has some towns in it. Then dig into their history. You could use the Library of Congress database of maps. It's a great resource. You will always have rural areas around your center as people will come from great distance to settle but also there will be those that were already there. Those are less likely to move in closer if they can get to the city/town readily. When you are going through the histories of the towns make note of important events. They can lead you to your city. For instance if there was a fire or flood that forced the relocation of people to a new area that could also effect your city.

Most people will want to move to a newish town for opportunity (jobs/commerce) so think of what major industries/trade are happening in your city and supply the proper amount of workers for that. You will also need transportation in and about as well is to and from your city. That often decides a location as well.

You can write a history for your city it's major events and growth. It's much like a character. Give it a beginning and move forward...

[the-golem]

Okay, I worked up a quick idea in Paint.NET.

I tried to keep things that are closely related close to each other. For example, The warehouses are next to the docks, and the industrial things (like boat-building and smelting) are right next to both of those. Connected to industrial and the warehouse district is the metalworkers district, and in the center of the city is the market/trade area. On the right side, I have the fort and military garissons, with the royalty/rich folk just above them.

Then I have a gigantic hole where I guess religous centers and middle class people could stay... not sure.

Ideas?

[Talmariel]

Pyrandon's tutorial for Eneini got me started.

Basically, do your geography first (water, hills, other features), then sketch in the town's expansion. Start with the original settlement and major roads, and mark all the growth as it happened, bearing in mind the city's history. It gives a much more organic feel.

As far as town size, D&D's Dungeon Master's Guide suggests a building (of any kind) for every 10 people for an average medieval-fantasy city. Double it for a sparse population, and half for dense. That worked out well for me, using the growth-sketching method.