Settlements – Fantasy RPG Reference

Begin with the place itself. Geography, supply, travel, law and institutions still matter in 1454, even where gods, monsters and magic are part of everyday reality. The supernatural changes material conditions; it does not make them irrelevant.

Medieval fantasy settlement landscape showing a fortified river city, harbour, market town, bridge, roads, farmland and surrounding countryside — A fortified city and its wider settlement network: harbour, market streets, roads, farmland and the smaller communities that sustain urban life.

Run This Settlement Tonight

A Game Master does not need to map every lane, name every resident or decide what is stored in every warehouse before play begins. Prepare the pieces most likely to create decisions.

Prepare six things

First impression: one striking sight, sound, smell or public event.
Immediate problem: one Pressure that cannot be ignored indefinitely.
Three active people: NPCs who want different outcomes.
Two useful places: locations the characters are likely to enter.
One organised move: something a guild, court, household, military force or other institution will do if nobody interferes.
One escalation: what becomes worse if the party delays.

End with a consequence

After the session, change something. A debt is created, a road reopens, a watch captain loses authority, grain reaches the market, an organisation takes a district, a monster withdraws, a law changes or a supernatural claim becomes harder to ignore.

A settlement should remember what the characters do.

For reusable guards, merchants, scholars, officials and other everyday characters, see Non-Player Characters.

Quick Settlement Builder

Answer these questions in order. A playable settlement can be built without a street-by-street map.

1Why is it here?

Choose the reason the settlement occupies this exact place: water, harbour, ford, bridge, road, mine, farmland, fortress, sanctuary, court, university, refuge, planar crossing or another defensible or profitable advantage.

2How large is it?

Assign a descriptive Scale: Outpost/Hamlet, Village, Town, City or Great City. Do not confuse size with importance.

3Who rules?

Record the Formal Authority, then separately decide who possesses Actual Power.

4What sustains it?

Identify food, water, fuel, labour, local production, trade routes, tribute and any magical infrastructure that keeps the population alive.

5What can adventurers obtain?

Decide the settlement’s lodging, equipment, specialist crafts, transport, information, healing, magical services and unusual markets.

6Who keeps order?

Name the watch, militia, lord’s retainers, guild guards, soldiers, supernatural servants or other enforcement body.

7Who claims the place?

Add external mortal authority and any deity, spirit, monster, magical order or planar power with a real claim.

8What makes it distinctive?

Choose two or three persistent Traits: Academic, Defensible, Guild-Dominated, Sacred Site, Strategic Location, Great Market, Under-City or similar.

9What is changing?

Choose one or two active Pressures: plague, food shortage, political conflict, curse, war, population surge, inflation, supernatural instability or another problem that can change through play.

Practical GM reference ▶ Creating a Fantasy Town in Dungeons & Dragons 5e — Dungeon Dudes A practical town-building guide covering lodging, equipment, authority, information, healing, population, food and water, defences, resources and landmarks.

Settlement Profile

Use this profile for a substantial town or city. Smaller communities can omit fields that do not matter in play.

Settlement: Name of the community.
Region: The geographic or political region in which it stands.
Campaign Present: Normally 1454 CE unless the entry explicitly represents another era.
Permanent Population: Usual resident population, with uncertainty acknowledged where historical evidence is weak.
Seasonal Population: Market-day, pilgrimage, fair, military, university, refugee, harvest or other temporary population where significant.
Scale: Outpost/Hamlet, Village, Town, City or Great City.
Civic Importance: Local, District, Regional, Realm or World/Crossroads.
Settlement Roles: Why the settlement exists: port, fortress, market, sacred centre, resource town, administrative seat and so on.
Site: Why this exact physical location was chosen.
Hinterland: The farms, fisheries, villages, forests, mines, estates or other territory supporting it.
Routes: Roads, rivers, coasts, passes, sea lanes, underground ways or supernatural routes connecting it.
Imports / Exports: What the community cannot supply itself and what it sends outward.
Critical Lifeline: The resource or route whose loss would seriously destabilise the settlement.
Formal Authority: The ruler or body recognised by law or custom.
Actual Power: The people or organisations capable of compelling action in practice.
External Claims: Higher mortal authorities that claim jurisdiction, tribute or allegiance.
Supernatural Claims: Gods, spirits, monsters, outsiders or magical powers with recognised, disputed or hidden rights.
Institutions: Courts, guilds, schools, military bodies, councils, archives, sacred organisations and major commercial institutions.
Watch / Enforcement: The people who physically enforce decisions.
Peoples & Communities: The peoples living in or regularly using the settlement and how their communities are organised.
Languages: Actual local and trade languages rather than a universal Common tongue.
Rights & Status: Citizenship, residence, guild privilege, foreign merchant status, military dependency, legal exemptions and similar distinctions where relevant.
Districts: Recognisable internal neighbourhoods, quarters, wards, compounds or suburbs.
Traits: Persistent characteristics that make the settlement distinctive.
Pressures: Problems and changes capable of creating adventures.
Inherited Claim: An older event, treaty, charter, ruin, migration, conquest, debt or oath that still matters.
Settlement State: Current condition after recent events.
Notable NPCs: People whose decisions matter to visitors or residents.
Adventure Hooks: Immediate situations that force choices rather than merely supplying background lore.

Why Settlements Exist

A settlement should have a reason to occupy its site. Water, food, defence, movement, resources, authority and sacred geography determine where people can gather and why they remain.

Agricultural Centre

Collects, stores, processes and redistributes the production of surrounding farms, orchards, pasture or managed woodland.

Ford, Bridge or River Centre

Controls a crossing, landing, navigable river or other point where movement is concentrated.

Port

Connects a hinterland to coastal or river traffic. A port needs both water access and something worth moving through it.

Market & Fair

Exists where producers, travellers and merchants can exchange goods under recognised protections or customs.

Resource Settlement

Grows around mines, quarries, timber, salt, fisheries, unusual crops, magical resources or specialised manufacture.

Fortress

Controls a frontier, road, bridge, harbour, mountain pass, border or other strategically valuable location.

Administrative Centre

Hosts a court, ruler, treasury, mint, tax administration, archive or other institution that draws people and wealth.

Sacred Centre

Grows around a sanctuary, oracle, sacred landscape, divine estate, pilgrimage route, ancestral site or supernatural covenant.

Scholarly Centre

Supports a university, school, archive, magical institution, learned court or specialist craft tradition.

Refuge

Occupies a defensible or hidden location where displaced or threatened communities can survive.

Mobile Centre

A seasonal, pastoral, naval or military community whose political and economic centre moves rather than remaining inside permanent walls.

Supernatural Crossroads

Exists because a planar gate, magical road, divine presence or other supernatural feature changes the value of the location.

No Settlement Is an Island

Even a fortified city depends on a wider network. Villages feed towns; towns gather regional trade; cities draw specialised labour, administration and long-distance exchange. A mine without food must import it. A port without a productive hinterland needs a reason ships still call there. A fortress without supply becomes a trap.

Network test: if the settlement’s critical road, river, harbour, bridge, magical route or food-producing hinterland is cut off, decide what fails first and how quickly the consequences become visible.

Settlement geography ▶ On Worldbuilding: WHY are cities where they are? — Hello Future Me Useful for thinking about rivers, routes, terrain, resources and the geographical pressures that cause settlements to develop in particular places.

Scale, Population & Civic Importance

Population and importance are not the same thing. A relatively small town can control an indispensable bridge, host a famous fair, house a major university or possess political privileges far beyond what its population suggests.

Scale	Typical Character	What Matters Most
Outpost / Hamlet	A small cluster of households, post, camp, fort, fishing site or specialist community.	Personal relationships, immediate resources and one or two dominant authorities.
Village	A rooted community with several families, local institutions and a defined relationship with surrounding land.	Land, custom, local production and nearby routes.
Town	A recognised market, craft, administrative, fortified or transport centre serving a wider district.	Markets, law, guilds, roads, specialised services and political privilege.
City	A dense centre with multiple districts, complex institutions, specialised labour and regional influence.	Competing powers, supply networks, jurisdiction and political rivalry.
Great City	A major regional or international centre whose consequences extend far beyond its walls.	Long-distance trade, major courts, armies, learning, sacred authority, diplomacy and overlapping claims.

Civic Importance

Local — matters mainly to its immediate inhabitants.
District — serves several surrounding communities.
Regional — controls or influences a wider territory or route.
Realm — important to a kingdom, confederacy or major political power.
World / Crossroads — affects long-distance trade, diplomacy, cosmology or several major regions.

Max Liebermann painting of a compact Dutch village road with houses and residents — Max Liebermann, *Dutch Village Road*. A later painting, but useful for the compact scale and social visibility of a village street.

Settlements in 1454

The campaign present is 1454 CE. Communities depend on agriculture, transport, legal privilege, taxation, household labour, warfare and local custom. Magic and supernatural powers can alter those systems, but they do not abolish them.

Food, Water & Fuel

A large population needs extensive production or dependable imports. Wells, rivers, springs and cisterns can be as politically important as walls. Wood, charcoal, peat and other fuels sustain households and industries.

Movement, Protection & Labour

Roads, rivers, bridges, passes, harbours and seasonal weather determine what can reach the settlement. Walls, castles, militias, households and alliances provide protection, while every form of construction, production and administration depends upon labour.

Magic changes constraints; it does not erase explanation. If magic supplies water, food, transport, protection or healing, decide who performs it, who controls access, what it costs and what happens when it fails.

Historical urban reference ▶ We Explored the Hidden Medieval City of London — History Hit A historical case study of the surviving traces of medieval London: narrow streets, landmarks, religious buildings and the urban fabric beneath the modern city.

Seasonal Population

A single population figure can hide the rhythm of a settlement. Record temporary population whenever it changes markets, accommodation, crime, supply or authority.

Market day
Annual fair
Pilgrimage
Harvest labour
Fishing season
University term
Military muster
Campaigning army
Refugees
Seasonal migration
Supernatural festival
Plague flight

Inherited Claim

A substantial settlement should possess at least one piece of earlier history that still creates a right, obligation or dispute.

Legal Memory

A charter, old boundary, toll right, tax exemption, market privilege or disputed succession still shapes who may command whom.

Material Memory

A ruined predecessor settlement, buried wall, abandoned mine, changed river course or older road still shapes the place.

Mythic Memory

A broken divine oath, monster treaty, ancestral boundary, spirit compact or supernatural catastrophe remains politically real.

The Timeline can help connect local history to older wars, migrations, disasters and changes of rule.

Authority, Government & Actual Power

A legal ruler may lack the resources to enforce a decision, while guilds, military commanders, wealthy families, criminal organisations or supernatural powers can wield enormous influence without holding the formal title of ruler.

Field	Question	Example
Formal Authority	Who possesses recognised legal or customary right to govern?	A civic council, noble, clan assembly, military governor or sacred authority.
Actual Power	Who can obtain compliance in practice?	Three merchant houses control credit and grain despite the council’s formal rule.
Institutions	Through what bodies is power exercised?	Courts, guilds, councils, households, military commands, schools or sacred bodies.
Enforcement	Who carries orders into the streets?	A paid civic watch backed by guild auxiliaries and the ruler’s retainers.
External Claims	Which greater mortal authority claims superior jurisdiction?	A prince claims taxation and appellate rights despite local autonomy.
Supernatural Claims	Which non-mortal powers possess recognised or disputed rights?	A river spirit’s older toll is still recognised by boatmen despite civic objections.

Common Authority Types

Single Ruler
Council / Oligarchy
Chartered Community
Guild / Merchant Rule
Military Authority
Clan / Assembly
Sacred Authority
Administrative Rule
Hidden / Syndicate Rule
Magical / Supernatural Rule
Mobile Confederation

Use culturally and historically appropriate titles on individual settlement pages. These categories describe how authority functions rather than imposing one political vocabulary on the entire world.

Rembrandt painting of the Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers Guild seated around a table — Rembrandt, *The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild* (1662). Merchant and guild institutions could hold substantial practical power without being the formal sovereign.

Economy & political power ▶ D&D City Geopolitics, Explained! — Dungeon Masterpiece A useful RPG-focused treatment of why cities differ in size, how neighbouring settlements depend on one another, and how economics and authority create adventure pressures.

Supernatural Claims

A supernatural claimant should be described with the same precision as a mortal one: who claims, what they claim, why the claim exists and what practical consequence follows.

Example: the river dragon claims toll on every vessel passing the eastern bridge and regards the civic harbour dues as subordinate to its older right.

Deity
Divine servant
Local spirit
Monster
Undead ruler
Magical order
Outsider
Planar authority
Ancestral power
Supernatural covenant

Claims can be recognised, disputed, hidden, dormant or dominant. Relevant claimants can be found through the Gods, Bestiary and Planes.

Peoples, Communities, Rights & Belonging

A population list alone says little about how people actually live together.

Peoples & Communities

Who lives here permanently?
Who arrives seasonally?
Are communities geographically concentrated?
Do occupation, kinship or ancestry shape neighbourhoods?
Are nonhuman communities integrated, autonomous, itinerant or legally distinct?

Rights & Status

Who is a citizen, resident or subject?
Who may own property?
Who may enter guilds?
Do foreign merchants possess protected status?
Are some groups exempt from particular courts or taxes?
Who owes military, labour or financial obligations?

Languages

Record the languages people actually use. A market may require interpreters, multilingual brokers or scribes; a court may operate in a different language from the surrounding streets; merchant communities can maintain their own languages across long-distance trade.

Markets, Trade, Services & Magic

A larger population does not automatically provide every item or magical service. Availability depends on routes, institutions, specialist labour, patrons and current supply.

Medieval market and craftsmen working from street-facing shops and stalls — Medieval craftsmen and market stalls. Workshops, retail, production and public street life often occupied the same small urban spaces.

Market Reach

Rating	Meaning
Sparse	Household production and a handful of local specialists. Unusual purchases require travel or commission.
Local	A regular market provides ordinary regional goods and several established trades.
Regional	Merchants and specialists serve a wider district; uncommon services can often be arranged.
Major	Long-distance merchants, specialised crafts and significant finance make unusual transactions plausible.
Exceptional	An international, supernatural or uniquely specialised market whose reach exceeds normal expectations for its population.

Services Adventurers Actually Use

Food & lodging
Weapons & equipment
Specialist crafts
Transport
Guides
Healing
Scholarly research
Translation & scribes
Credit & money-changing
Rare buyers
Magical commissions
Information brokers

Pieter de Hooch painting of guests paying a hostess inside an inn or domestic interior — Pieter de Hooch, *Paying the Hostess* (c.1658). A later scene, but a useful reminder that lodging, payment, information and social contact are often inseparable.

Magic in the Settlement

Instead of simply writing “magic is available,” decide who teaches it, regulates it and provides it.

Who teaches magical practice?
Who licences, tolerates or suppresses it?
Which institutions possess magical specialists?
Are magical services public, private, guild-controlled, court-controlled or sacred?
Which wards protect gates, archives, treasuries or prisons?
Which magical resources enter through local or long-distance trade?
What happens if a magical service fails?

See Magic for spells, rituals and magical traditions.

Law, Watch & Justice

Law becomes more useful in play when it is described through jurisdiction, institutions and response rather than reduced to a generic guard encounter.

Jurisdiction

Who has authority over the offence, location and accused person? Civic, noble, military, guild and supernatural jurisdictions can overlap.

Watch

Who patrols streets, gates, walls, harbour and markets? Is service professional, rotational, household-based, military or privately funded?

Alarm

Bells, horns, criers, runners, gate signals, beacon systems and magical alarms determine how quickly authority learns of trouble.

Restrictions

Weapon carrying, curfew, gate closure, market regulation, magical practice and access to particular districts may all be controlled.

Detention

Stocks, lockups, castle cells, civic prisons, guild custody and supernatural containment imply very different adventures.

Judgment

A ruler, magistrate, civic court, council, military tribunal, guild authority or customary assembly may decide the outcome.

For offences, courts, imprisonment and punishment, see Crime and Punishment.

Districts & Neighbourhoods

Large settlements should not behave as though every street has identical wealth, policing, politics and culture. A city can change character as soon as the characters cross a bridge, gate, canal, hill or legal boundary.

Henry Thomas Schafer painting of a dense historic street in Ulm with timber houses and a church tower — Henry Thomas Schafer, *Ulm* (1875). The painting is later than the campaign date, but evokes the dense streets, irregular sight-lines and strong landmarks of an old city.

District Profile

Name: Recognisable local name.
Function: Docks, market, workshops, court, residences, military quarter, sacred precinct, university and so on.
Boundary: Wall, canal, road, gate, river, former village, guild jurisdiction, sacred limit or social convention.
Formal Authority: Who legally governs this district?
Actual Power: Who dominates life here?
Market: What can be bought, sold or arranged?
Watch: How visible and effective is enforcement?
Organisation: Which organised group matters most?
Trait: One persistent feature.
Pressure: One current problem.
Day / Night: What changes when work stops, gates close or another population takes over the streets?

Settlement Traits & Pressures

Traits

Traits are persistent features that explain what the settlement is unusually good at, known for or shaped by.

Academic
Defensible
Free City
Great Market
Guild-Dominated
Living Settlement
Magical Centre
Major Port
Planned Community
Planar Crossroads
Road Hub
Sacred Site
Strategic Location
Trading Post
Under-City
Resettled Ruins
Renowned Crafts
Scholarly Archive
Military Centre
Seasonal Fair

Pressures

Pressures are present problems. They can worsen, change or disappear through play.

Anarchy
Curse
Food Shortage
Plague
Poverty
Inflation
Population Surge
Refugee Crisis
Political Conflict
External Hunt
Siege Threat
Political Oppression
Trade Disruption
Pollution
Magical Dead Zone
Wild Magic
Supernatural Predation
Temple Suppression
Succession Dispute
Failed Harvest

Removing one Pressure can create another. Overthrowing a brutal governor may improve justice while temporarily weakening Authority; reopening a trade route may relieve shortages while enriching a merchant monopoly.

Settlement State & Lasting Consequences

Settlement State records what has changed. It is descriptive rather than a second numerical subsystem.

State	What It Measures	Possible Signs of Failure
Authority	Ability of institutions to make and enforce decisions.	Orders ignored, rival courts, unpaid guards, contested appointments.
Supply	Food, water, fuel, transport and essential goods.	Shortages, queues, hoarding, theft, price spikes and rationing.
Safety	Protection from violence, monsters, disease, fire and military attack.	Empty streets, abandoned districts, armed patrols and flight.
Public Mood	Confidence, fear, anger, hope and willingness to cooperate.	Rumours, unrest, panic, scapegoating, desertion or revolt.
Power Balance	Whether rival powers remain checked or one has become dominant.	Purges, private armies, coups, monopolies and captured institutions.
Magical Stability	Reliability of wards, supernatural boundaries, magical services and planar conditions.	Failed wards, curses, manifestations, uncontrolled crossings or magical contamination.

Strong
Stable
Strained
Failing
Broken

Example: bandits close the principal grain road and Supply becomes Failing. After the road is reopened, Supply returns to Stable, but if the crisis empowered warehouse monopolists, Power Balance may remain Strained.

Game Statistics

The settlement itself remains the same across editions. Use the tab that matches the campaign’s rules.

5.5e PF1e D&D 3.5e

5.5e Settlement Rules

These rules keep settlement effects simple. Local conditions change access, time, availability and Advantage or Disadvantage rather than adding a second set of numerical settlement modifiers.

Settlement Ratings

Rating	Levels	What It Describes
Authority	Weak · Ordinary · Strong · Dominating	Institutional ability to compel cooperation and enforce decisions.
Watch	None · Informal · Organised · Professional · Fortified	Readiness and capability of organised enforcement.
Market	Sparse · Local · Regional · Major · Exceptional	Reach and specialisation of trade and available services.
Knowledge	Limited · Local · Specialist · Scholarly · Exceptional	Access to archives, specialists, witnesses, schools and accumulated information.
Magic	Rare · Limited · Established · Major · Exceptional	Availability and institutional depth of magical knowledge and service.
Danger	Calm · Guarded · Unstable · Dangerous · Extreme	How readily ordinary settlement activity becomes hazardous.

Using Settlement Features

Advantage or Disadvantage: use when local circumstances materially help or hinder an attempt.
Access: require an introduction, membership, payment, warrant or permission before an attempt is possible.
Time: information or goods can exist without being immediately obtainable.
Availability: some services simply do or do not exist locally.
Leverage: relationships, debts, status and useful information can matter more than settlement size.

Example Traits

Academic

Characters who gain access to a relevant institution can receive Advantage when researching subjects that institution genuinely studies.

Insular

Unknown outsiders can suffer Disadvantage when trying to win cooperation until a trusted resident introduces or sponsors them.

Great Market

Characters have an easier time locating specialist mundane goods, merchants or buyers that logically pass through the settlement.

Efficient Watch

Authorities communicate and deploy rapidly, reducing reasonable response delay and making conspicuous public crimes harder to conceal.

Rumour Network

Local information circulates quickly, but conspicuous actions by the characters can also become public rapidly.

Planar Crossroads

Relevant lore, specialists and routes are easier to obtain, but the settlement should normally possess a supernatural Pressure reflecting the risks of such access.

Quick Stat Block

Authority: Weak / Ordinary / Strong / Dominating
Watch: None / Informal / Organised / Professional / Fortified
Market: Sparse / Local / Regional / Major / Exceptional
Knowledge: Limited / Local / Specialist / Scholarly / Exceptional
Magic: Rare / Limited / Established / Major / Exceptional
Danger: Calm / Guarded / Unstable / Dangerous / Extreme
Traits: Two or three settlement-defining features.
Pressures: One or two active problems.
Notable NPCs: Three active people are usually enough to begin play.

Settlement alignment: rather than assigning thousands of people one moral alignment, describe law, institutions, conduct and competing interests directly.

Pathfinder 1e Settlement Rules

PF1e uses a dedicated settlement-stat-block subsystem. Alignment, modifiers, Danger, Base Value, Purchase Limit, spellcasting and magic-item availability all belong to that subsystem.

Settlement Population Ranges

Settlement Type	Population Range
Thorp	Fewer than 20
Hamlet	21–60
Village	61–200
Small town	201–2,000
Large town	2,001–5,000
Small city	5,001–10,000
Large city	10,001–25,000
Metropolis	More than 25,000

Settlement Statistics

Type	Modifiers	Qualities	Danger	Base Value	Purchase Limit	Spellcasting
Thorp	−4	1	−10	50 gp	500 gp	1st
Hamlet	−2	1	−5	200 gp	1,000 gp	2nd
Village	−1	2	0	500 gp	2,500 gp	3rd
Small town	0	2	0	1,000 gp	5,000 gp	4th
Large town	0	3	+5	2,000 gp	10,000 gp	5th
Small city	+1	4	+5	4,000 gp	25,000 gp	6th
Large city	+2	5	+10	8,000 gp	50,000 gp	7th
Metropolis	+4	6	+10	16,000 gp	100,000 gp	8th

Available Magic Items

Community Size	Base Value	Minor	Medium	Major
Thorp	50 gp	1d4	—	—
Hamlet	200 gp	1d6	—	—
Village	500 gp	2d4	1d4	—
Small town	1,000 gp	3d4	1d6	—
Large town	2,000 gp	3d4	2d4	1d4
Small city	4,000 gp	4d4	3d6	1d6
Large city	8,000 gp	4d4	3d4	2d4
Metropolis	16,000 gp	Nearly all minor items	4d4	3d4

The Six Settlement Modifiers

Corruption

Measures civic honesty and openness to bribery. It modifies Bluff checks against officials or guards and outdoor Stealth checks.

Crime

Measures lawlessness and the prevalence of theft and violence. It modifies appropriate Sense Motive and Sleight of Hand checks.

Economy

Measures the health of trade and wealth-producing activity. It modifies Craft, Perform and Profession checks used to generate income.

Law

Measures strictness, vigilance and organisation. It modifies specified Intimidate and Diplomacy checks involving authorities or calling the guard.

Lore

Measures access to conversation, libraries, research and sages. It modifies information-gathering and appropriate Knowledge research.

Society

Measures openness to visitors and social diversity within the PF1e abstraction. It modifies Disguise and specified Diplomacy checks involving nongovernment residents.

Settlement Alignment

Lawful increases Law by 1.
Good increases Society by 1.
Chaotic increases Crime by 1.
Evil increases Corruption by 1.
Neutral increases Lore by 1; a truly neutral settlement increases Lore by 2.
Alignment does not modify Economy.

Core Governments

Government	Effect
Autocracy	No modifier.
Council	Society +4; Law −2; Lore −2.
Magical	Lore +2; Corruption −2; Society −2; increase spellcasting by 1 level.
Overlord	Corruption +2; Law +2; Crime −2; Society −2.
Secret Syndicate	Corruption +2; Economy +2; Crime +2; Law −6.

Core Qualities

Quality	Effect
Academic	Lore +1; increase spellcasting by 1 level.
Holy Site	Corruption −2; increase spellcasting by 2 levels.
Insular	Law +1; Crime −1.
Magically Attuned	Base Value +20%; Purchase Limit +20%; increase spellcasting by 2 levels.
Notorious	Crime +1; Law −1; Danger +10; Base Value +30%; Purchase Limit +50%.
Pious	Increase spellcasting by 1 level; additional faith-related restrictions apply under the original subsystem.
Prosperous	Economy +1; Base Value +30%; Purchase Limit +50%.
Racially Intolerant	Legacy PF1e terminology for hostility toward specified peoples; associated social and pricing penalties apply.
Rumormongering Citizens	Lore +1; Society −1.
Strategic Location	Economy +1; Base Value +10%.
Superstitious	Crime −4; Law +2; Society +2; reduce spellcasting by 2 levels.
Tourist Attraction	Economy +1; Base Value +20%.

Core Disadvantages

Disadvantage	Effect
Anarchy	Replaces Government; Corruption +4; Crime +4; Economy −4; Society −4; Law −6; Danger +20.
Cursed	Choose one settlement modifier and reduce it by 4.
Hunted	Economy −4; Law −4; Society −4; Danger +20; Base Value −20%.
Impoverished	Corruption +1; Crime +1; halve Base Value and Purchase Limit; halve magic-item availability.
Plagued	−2 to all six settlement modifiers; Base Value −20%; communicable-disease exposure applies.

Cityscapes 3PP Options

The following options come from Cityscapes: New Settlement Options for the Pathfinder RPG rather than the Paizo core settlement rules.

Governments

Colonial
Dynasty
Military
Plutocracy
Theocracy
Utopian Experiment

Qualities

Abundant
Abstinent
Defensible
Financial Center
Free City
Gambling
God Ruled
Good Roads
Guilds
Legendary Marketplace
Living Forest
Mobile: Frontlines
Mobile: Sanctuary
Morally Permissive
Planar Crossroads
Planned Community
Pocket Universe
Population Surge
Racial Enclave
Resettled Ruins
Religious Tolerance
Romantic
Royal Accommodations
Small-Folk Settlement
Trading Post
Unaging
Under-City
Unholy Site
Untamed
Well Educated

Disadvantages

Atheistic
Bureaucratic Nightmare
Fascistic
Magically Deadened
Magical Dead Zone
Mutagenic
Rampant Inflation
Soul Crushing
Polluted
Wild Magic Zone

Calling the Guard

The PF1e urban rule uses a Diplomacy check modified by the settlement’s Law modifier to call the guard. The baseline DC is 5; success normally produces a response in 1d6 minutes, while substantially better results shorten the response.

Bribery, corruption and punishment should still be grounded in the settlement’s actual institutions and Crime and Punishment rather than treated as universal prices for offences.

D&D 3.5e Settlement Rules

This compatibility framework uses familiar 3.5e community concepts without reproducing the Dungeon Master’s Guide town-generation and GP-limit tables.

Community Scale

Thorp
Hamlet
Village
Small Town
Large Town
Small City
Large City
Metropolis

Keep the historically researched population in the settlement profile. The community label is the game-facing category.

Power Centres

Identify the individuals and organisations capable of compelling action. A small community may have one overwhelmingly important centre of power; a town often has a rival or secondary centre; a city can sustain several.

Civic Power

Rulers, councils, courts, noble households, town officers and other recognised authorities.

Factional Power

Guilds, merchant houses, criminal organisations, military companies, clans, schools and other organised interests.

Magical Power

Spellcasters, magical colleges, temples, oracles, supernatural institutions and controllers of magical infrastructure.

Monstrous Power

A dragon, giant, undead ruler, outsider or other creature whose demands amount to genuine civic authority rather than a nearby encounter.

Typical Active Power Centres

Community	Typical Active Centres
Thorp / Hamlet	Usually 1 dominant centre
Village	1 dominant centre, sometimes 1 rival
Town	Usually 2 competing or cooperating centres
City	Usually 2–3 major centres plus lesser interests
Metropolis	3 or more major centres, often with overlapping jurisdictions

Settlement Profile

Community Scale: Thorp through Metropolis.
Primary Power Centre: The person or institution most capable of compelling action.
Secondary Power Centres: Rivals, allies or specialised authorities where appropriate.
Market Reach: Sparse / Local / Regional / Major / Exceptional.
Specialist Services: Which crafts, professions and magical services genuinely exist?
Knowledge Access: Local / Specialist / Scholarly / Exceptional.
Watch: None / Informal / Organised / Professional / Fortified.
Traits: Persistent settlement characteristics.
Pressures: Current problems affecting play.

Using 3.5e Skills

Let local circumstances affect the skills characters actually use rather than applying one universal settlement modifier. Particularly useful skills include Gather Information, Diplomacy, Knowledge (local), Appraise, Profession and appropriate Craft skills.

An Academic settlement can make relevant research easier once characters gain access to its scholars.
An Insular settlement can make social investigation harder for unknown outsiders.
A Great Market can improve access to buyers, appraisers and specialised merchants without guaranteeing every possible item.
A strong watch makes public crime riskier because witnesses, patrols and authorities respond more effectively.

Buildings, Institutions & Strongholds

Some structures deserve their own treatment because they concentrate authority, wealth, specialists, prisoners or military force.

Chapterhouses

Headquarters and fortified complexes for organised orders, including quarters, training areas, vaults, defences and specialist facilities.

Open Chapterhouses →

Manor Houses

Elite residences and estates combining household authority, property, staff, local administration and defensive potential.

Open Manor Houses →

Shiro

A reference for fortified Japanese complexes and associated defensive structures.

Open the Shiro →

Wizard Towers

Magical strongholds, specialist spaces, defences and facilities for powerful arcane residents and institutions.

Open Wizard Towers →

Castles & Keeps

Fortifications, defensive authority and strongholds.

Open Castles & Keeps →

Justice & Detention

Prisons and detention structures make most sense when read through the settlement’s wider legal and jurisdictional system.

Open Crime and Punishment →

PF1e Sample Settlements

These quick-reference locations use the older PF1e settlement format and can be dropped into play when a Game Master needs a community immediately.

Sample Capital City

Large-city marketplace, modifiers, population and notable NPCs.

Open sample →

City of Thieves

A criminal urban template for rapid use.

Open sample →

City-State of Intrigue

A high-pressure urban political template.

Open sample →

Creepy Backwoods Hamlet

A small isolated community suited to horror and investigation.

Open sample →

Dwarven Trade Town

A trade-town stat block centred on a dwarven population.

Open sample →

Elven Town

A settlement template for an elven community.

Open sample →

Failing Fishing Village

A community built around economic and environmental decline.

Open sample →

Sleepy Crossroads Thorp

A tiny roadside community intended for rapid insertion into play.

Open sample →

Find Settlements in the World

Towns and cities make more sense when encountered through their wider landscape. Use the Geography atlas to explore regions, roads, seas, realms, wilderness and settlements together.

Sources & Rules Notes

Original Material

The general settlement framework on this page—including Site and Hinterland, Critical Lifeline, Formal Authority and Actual Power, Supernatural Claims, Inherited Claim, Traits and Pressures, Settlement State, the quick-building procedures, and the compatible 5.5e and 3.5e implementations—is original material created for this reference.

Historical Calibration

These works help calibrate late-medieval scale and urban importance without treating English urban history as a universal model for every region.

5.5e Compatibility

The 5.5e settlement rules are original compatibility guidance and do not reproduce an official settlement subsystem.

System Reference Document v5.2.1

Pathfinder 1e Core Rules

Archives of Nethys — Settlements in Play

Pathfinder 1e Third-Party Options

The Cityscapes governments, qualities and disadvantages are separated from the Paizo core rules in the PF1e tab.

d20PFSRD — Settlement options and source labels

D&D 3.5e Compatibility

The 3.5e section is an original compatibility framework and does not reproduce the Dungeon Master’s Guide Random Town Generation, GP Limit or Power Centre tables.

Hypertext d20 SRD — general D&D 3.5e rules reference

Open Game Content copyright notices

Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide © 2010 Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Cam Banks, Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Jim Butler, Eric Cagle, Graeme Davis, Adam Daigle, Joshua J. Frost, James Jacobs, Kenneth Hite, Steven Kenson, Robin Laws, Tito Leati, Rob McCreary, Hal Maclean, Colin McComb, Jason Nelson, David Noonan, Richard Pett, Rich Redman, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Amber Scott, Doug Seacat, Mike Selinker, Lisa Stevens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, Penny Williams, Skip Williams and Teeuwynn Woodruff.