Okay, now that I'm a bit more functional today, I'm hoping to do a few scattered posts regarding this idea. It's a hectic day/week in the library, so the posts will take some time. Bear with me here, and again, feel free to toss some ideas for help.
Now, if anyone has done some city creation, I'd appreciate some input. I'm starting with the general location notes and Themes, then moving onto Threats/Story Hooks, Faces, and then how this can be reused. Locations are variable, depending on how this should be done (i.e. the kind of event/grounds), so most GMs may want to make a few changes of their own. For this project
I know it is common to work with players for the City Creation as to get the desired ideas onto the table, but as I doubt the party will be ready to give up everything and live this life, I don't have much to worry about. So the Themes will be directly from my head and onto the table.
But, in general, I haven't done city creation in , so any input to the below will be helpful. . .
General Location Overview
The "Faire Grounds" are a bit isolated in terms of distance to civilization, situated on acres of farmland purchased and converted to this cause.
There are a few buildings set up on the grounds, and they are often as historically accurate as possible (except for the tourist rest rooms; they don't count). Some of these permanent buildings are set up for "businesses" (such as the apothecary/herbalist, blacksmith/other tradesman, other options as needed/suggested), others act as more permanent housing for the die-hards and staff, and there are empty "lots" in the area for more temporary vendors (traveling tradesmen, salespeople, etc) and those who wish to camp out for a time.
Certain sections are blocked off for certain events; an arena for jousting is well cared for (which is sometimes used for certain displays of archery and small-scale combat), a smaller ring is set up for single combat, and an entire field is often used for larger-scale battles, displays, and various training.
The grounds host events throughout the summer, and even see some use throughout the year, ranging from themed parties (halloween, weddings, etc) to those who choose to follow the old ways and live to care for the grounds, assist with training new actors/staff, etc. It is not unheard of for the "seasonal" actors to come by and essentially LARP for a weekend a month, making the population something that is always in flux.
GM Note: Some of these "faceless" characters can be the Face of a location, Theme, or even a Threat. These are the characters that can fill most "in-character" roles, and are left blank for that very reason.
On my next post, I'll work on the general overview of the aforementioned themes and a few others (sans faces; more on that later).
Hopefully, I can get a post done in under three hours ^^;