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Why Your D&D Towns Feel Dead

Mystic Arts

57,715 views

Why do your D&D towns feel dead? Did you prepare data or toys?

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▼ DILLHORNE ▼
Available in CROWN OF THE FUNGAL QUEEN: Patreon: crown-of-fungal-158667331

▼ SUPPORT US ▼
Our Patreon: Patreon: MysticArtsDM
Our Store: https://www.crwnstudios.com/collectio...

▼ CREDITS ▼
🎬 Created by Daði & Anna Birna ♥
🌊 Sketch by How to Iceland & BaraPalli

▼ INDEX ▼
00:00 Data or Toys?
00:57 Vík í Mýrdal
02:17 Dillhorne
02:47 Part 1: Geography & Maps
05:12 Making a Map
08:34 Pocket Bard
09:39 Part 2: Situations & Themes
10:50 Situation Examples
13:34 Part 3: Adventures & Quests
14:43 Dungeons in Town
15:47 Minor Quests
18:20 Part 4: Establishments & Shops
19:36 Types of Establishments
20:22 Part 5: Doing the Work
21:03 Background Towns
21:25 Putting it Together
21:57 Crown of the Fungal Queen

20 Comments

@palfrevman 1 month ago

Priest of the actual Dilhorne, UK here! Never been jump scared by a D&D advice video before! 😂

@garrickstangle5996 1 month ago

Trivia point, it ain't all about metal ores: quarrying for building materials, salt or clay deposits, peat for fuel...

@purpleniumowlbear2952 1 month ago

If there were an award for best shot transitions in a D&D youtube channel, I'd nominate Mystic Arts.

@fortunatus1 1 month ago (edited)

In my games when I do a small town, I replace Potion shop with Apothecary. A fantasy Apothecary can deal with herbs, spell components, poisons, and potions. I often have two people owning a shop with different but related professions. For example, an Apothecary with a Scribe - paper maker, book binder, and ink maker. So the shop wiill also produce the materials a Wizard needs to craft scrolls and to write new spells in their spell book. Maybe they're a married couple or siblings splitting costs for their small shop.

@Pablo_Del_Norte 1 month ago

Two minutes and six seconds into the vid and I am already stunned by the superb production values.

@purpleniumowlbear2952 1 month ago

This video (while great on its own, don't get wrong) is low key an amazing advertisement for Mystic Arts' homebrew content.

@ericrawlins6849 1 month ago

This has to be the most actionable advice I have ever seen on a D&D YouTube video. I shall begin playground construction immediately

@matthewholevas5039 1 month ago

Remember kids. Settlers of Catan. Your town or even series of adjacent towns can be one hex from the board.

"This is a 1d4 BRICK TOWN!"

@salimufari 1 month ago

6:15 The only change I would make to your train station is it would be on the spur line & not the main through line. This accommodates the stopping train will take the turn & the faster moving long run would just blow straight through. Hopefully not at full speed but you get the pt.

@richardschmidt8954 1 month ago

Dying laughing at the Welcome to Mountport insert. It’s maybe my favorite episode they’ve ever done. And as someone who grew up in Oregon, I can also very much appreciate having mountains at the coast

@maggiedacatt 1 month ago

4:36 Love the Game Changer reference 😂

@bigtimmy13 1 month ago

Between you and Tony at Grainbound, it’s really shifted my thinking on how fantasy settlements work. He focuses on how they’re created and now thanks to you I have a good framework for understanding how they slot into story structure. I’ve gotten good mileage out of Darkmoon Vale from Paizo’s old line of books, but I’ve been kicking around trying to add an old whaling town (based on Pico in the Azores). You make the process sound so straightforward with this video and I’m excited to finally flesh it out at my table!

@Eric-jy4qm 1 month ago

This feels like a nice companion to pointy hat’s two videos about making cities and traveling! I think maybe his approach is further on the “amusement park” end of the DM spectrum, while mystic arts is a little more on the “simulationist” side

I’ve been thinking a lot about making towns lately as I’ve been working on my homebrew setting, so I’ll definitely be saving this video as a reference! ^^

@2015Noble 1 month ago

I don't mean to alarm you, but a certain Hat may have appeared on your head 22:05

@ForeverWog 1 month ago (edited)

I love that Dadi is slowly combining his channel to be DnD guru and Icelandic Ambassador. This is the content I need!

@garrickstangle5996 1 month ago

If there's little constraint from geography (I grew up in flat, grassy western Kansas) towns tend to become round or oval blobs because people don't want to walk further than necessary to get to other things in the town.

@MarcWagner75 1 month ago

Having visited Iceland a couple of years ago and stayed in Vik for some of the trip, I love that, along with great advice, your channel gives me a warm sense of nostalgia about my vacation!

@Xenolith234 1 month ago

Every time I watch your videos where you walk around, I wonder if I’ll see a location I remember from my honeymoon and finally I did! The Vik chapel and the Reykjavik church! Skool Beans was such a cool place to go to, as was the bakery near the Reykjavik chapel…