100 Worldbuilding Questions To Ask For A Fantasy City

Systemless Supplement by Azukail Games

Fantasy settings are rife with amazing cities, and from Shadizar the Wicked in Hyborea to the white walls of Minas Tirith in Middle Earth, these are some of the most unique places in fiction. However, making a fantasy city is no easy task, especially when it comes to roleplaying games. Because in a story you may only see a single district, or stay a short stint in such a place… but in an RPG your players are probably going to want to explore this location. Not only that, but they’re going to have questions, ranging from whether they have to peace tie their weapons, to whether anyone casting a spell will be burned as a witch, to what local delicacies are on the menu at the local tavern, and what bizarre urban legends are whispered in the back alleys of the low district.

That is where this supplement comes into play!

The following questions are meant to help you, as a Game Master, create truly unique fantasy cities that will feel organic, thought-out and lived in. Whether you intend to use these places as a hub in between adventures, or you are going to run an entire campaign in this one location, this list will help inspire you, while also adding meat to the skeleton of your city.

Before we delve into the list, though, it’s important to remember that not every question will apply to every city. They’re still good to consider, however, and to make sure that not including a particular element was a deliberate creative choice on your part, and not simply because they idea didn’t occur to you when you sat down to map out your metropolis!

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Here are some sample results:

What Is Considered Good Manners in This City?
Good manners will vary by culture, and perhaps even by district within a city, but it’s important to consider the rules of etiquette all the same. Is it common to leave a small bit of food on one’s plate when eating out, while eating everything is considered the sign of a glutton? Or is it the other way around, and eating everything is a sign the meal was delicious, while leaving some behind is an insult to the chef? Are physical contact greetings like handshakes or arm clasps a sign of good manners, or are they seen as something crude and vulgar? Everything from the words one might use in public, to whether eating with your hands is seen as normal or uncouth, could fit beneath this umbrella.

What Are Beauty Standards Like In This City?
Cities tend to have their own looks and fashion styles, even if the city itself is not considered on the cutting edge of current beauty trends. But it’s worth asking what features the city considers attractive, and how that will play into social interactions. For example, is short hair and a clean shave associated with soldiers, firefighters, guardsmen and other respected professionals, marking this as an attractive look? Are men with powerful muscles seen as virile and desirable, or are those the marks of a brute, while men who are more willowy seen as an ideal standard of attractiveness? Is a tan seen as a mark of an active, outdoor lifestyle, or is pale skin that’s been kept away from the sun a mark of real attractiveness? Height, weight, tattoos, piercings, eye color… everything has the potential to play into what’s considered beautiful in this city.

How Important Is This City?
We tend to think of cities as seats of power, or where important decisions that will ripple across the region are made. But step back, and ask exactly how important this city is in the grand scheme of this world? Is this a capital city where the ruling family or the parliament conducts business that will affect the rest of a nation? Or is this place just a regional hub where the surrounding rural provinces meet to sell crops, host horse trading fairs and so on? Is this city a major metropolis, or a center of culture, manufacturing or magic? Or is it just bigger than the other towns, so the smaller burghs look to this city to set the agenda?

100 Worldbuilding Questions To Ask For A Fantasy City is available through DriveThruRPG in PDF.

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