The Third GM Inspiration: Runequest Cities

 

The Third GM Inspiration: Runequest Cities

Long out of print but still available at used game stores or on Ebay (recent search here) for probably more than I would pay for it, Runequest Cities is one of the oldest resources in my game collection that I persistently find invaluable at the game table. There may also be PDF versions of it somewhere online. 

Originally published in 1979 by Midkemia Press, Cities was part of a series of resources for OD&D/AD&D providing some excellent altenrative resources to other third party publishers of the day (especially Judges Guild, which managed to produce both great stuff and also invented the concept of shovelware for print games before it existed as a concept for video games). At some point the series, which includes other more directed books named Carse and  Tulan of the Isles, Chaosium acquired ownership and published an edition of the books. Eventually when Avalon Hill took over as publisher for Runequest III they released the book as Runequest Cities in a fourth edition. This is the copy I have held on to since its release, and have used in countless fantasy campaigns.

While there have been many good City campaign resources over the years, the reason I like this particular book the most is that it manages to pack an incredible volume of interesting randomized detail into a tight 64 page package. It also did a lot of stuff that is "back in vogue" today but was honestly invented, if not by this book, then certainly by the first generation/era of RPGs. Among these inventions are some excellent rules on generating realistic towns and cities procedurally, along with a lovely section on character catch-up; downtime rules, effectively, for seeing what is going on the PCs when they have been out of action for a while, or had some decent time off between adventures. Today games often pack in some rules on this (see Pathfinder's downtime rules or D&D 5E's section on the same in their expansion books as an example), but here is, in my opinion, a much nicer set of interesting rules for doing exactly that.

Runequest Cities is also excellent for campaigns looking for a baseline sense of mythohistorical verismilitude. It provides a fine picture of a city setting that could easily have nestled somewhere in antiquity with ease, and the tables fit settings with such baseline assumptions easily (ergo the reason it was adapted as a Runequest resource). If you play Mythras, GURPS, Savage Worlds or even, say, Pathfinder of D&D with some baseline assumptions set in a more Romanesque era rather than a renaissance or steampunk era then this book will prove incredibly handy for generating interesting encounters on the street and building realistic settlements.

The downside of Runequest Cities is it is out of print. You can find copies for a pretty penny on Ebay, but if you are interested in the closest modern equivalent resource I think the next best book like this I have found it Kobold Press's Campaign Builder series, especially Cities & Towns.