Why Cities?

Why Cities?

In fairy tales and children’s fantasy, we hear mainly about kingdoms. "She was the most beautiful girl in all the kingdom." "You must save the kingdom!" But in more modern adult fantasy–and in particular fantasy associated with rpgs–we hear more about cities. Lankhmar, Greyhawk, Bas-Lag, Waterdeep, Tanelorn, Sigil, Ambergris, and yes, Ptolus. And that’s just a few off the top of my head. Even in Lord of the Rings, while Gondor is cool, Minas Tirith is cooler.

I think authors (and DMs) often focus on cities rather than kingdoms because it’s easier to distill a city down to a single theme or idea. Lankhmar is a city of rogues and thieves. Sigil is the crossroads of the multiverse. Authors and designers can develop a city like a character. They can be given a personality. As the embodiment of a single concept, they become a familiar touchstone we can revisit again and again with well-managed expectations.

Plus, cities are just geographically compact. It’s convenient to set a story in a city because everything the story (or game session) needs is all right there. Everyone knows each other. City characters are knowledgeable and even sometimes world-weary misanthropes, not wanderers or eager explorers. The city isn’t filled with the wonders of the unknown, it teems of the jaded cynicism of the all-too-well-known. Their mysteries are more complex because they deal with humans, not with geography.

And, most modern writers live in cities, not out in a strange wilderness. They understand how cities work, and enjoy the complex dynamics of having so many different people all pushed together. It makes sense, then, that this is mostly a more modern phenomenon.

Which leads me to the last point, which is that I think the abundance of fantasy cities is itself a reaction to the whole fantasy kingdom idea. Cities seem more mature. You don’t have the deep, dark woods, you have the shady part of town. You don’t have the shining castle where the king lives, you have the (probably corrupt and Byzantine) city court/administration/whatever building. Cities are dirty, edgy, crime- and vice-filled places. It almost makes me wonder if the pendulum will swing back the other way at some point. It will be interesting to watch.