A town offers a few important resources for players. They'll need somewhere to rest, as most OSR games have magical healing being rare and my game has no magical healing at all. A place to purchase weapons and armor will be needed, as well as buying all sorts of mundane items. Finally a place to interact with NPCs and learn rumors. Once those three things are taken care of the rest of the town can be created to fit the tone of your game or just for narrative fluff. I have an idea already that this town is an old walled military outpost. Some soldiers are stationed here still, but it's mostly a small farming community with merchant caravans trading between a nearby city.
A place to rest
Bluebell Bunkhouse, White Feather Inn
Arms and Armor
The Armory, Bi-weekly market
Mundane goods
General Store, Bi-weekly market
Rumors and NPCs
Vale Tavern, Bluebell Bunkhouse, White Feather Inn
Magic Identification
Bi-weekly market
I like adding limited time features to town, like the Bi-weekly market. I will have the costs of items fluctuate in the market, maybe the merchant caravans will have a better price on rope than the General Store usually does, or maybe they won't have any at all. Waiting for the market will mean spending more for rooms at the Inn or Bunkhouse but offers the chance of a deal on armor or arms that may not be available from the armory and that is a fun gameplay mechanic. Including two places to rest, the Bunkhouse and the Inn presents another choice, Spend more per night to sleep in the safer Inn, or risk a pickpocket or thief from trying to get your stuff while you sleep in the cramped Bunkhouse? Even the option of drinking at the bar in the Inn or at the Tavern is important, as the patrons and rumors will differ between the two. In total we have six locations to note, Bluebell Bunkhouse, White Feather Inn, The Armory, The General Store, The Vale Tavern, and a Marketplace. I use a district method for generating towns, so lets quickly sketch a map of the Keep. A simple four wall keep with a tower in the middle. Outside the wall is the bunkhouse and stables. The south of the keep has a cluster of homes the people live in. With a plan we can populate with NPCs.
Bluebell Bunkhouse, 1in6 chance to lose 1d6 coins at night
Anlerva Mavloom, She handles the desk, checks people in for 2 coins a night, Wife.
Ossik Mavloom, He works the stables, 2 coins a night plus a coin for feed per day, Husband.
Rathor, He is hired muscle, offers security at the bunkhouse.
White Feather Inn
Ingonia Valvici, She deals with the rooms at 4 coins a night, Widow.
Hellnola, She works cleaning duties for the Inn.
Folker, He works the bar at night and lives in the Inn.
Armory
Sekdred, Old soldier stationed here since the war. He will sell old arms and armor at an inflated price (Add 10%).
General Store
Sashker, He sells most goods at a fair price (No change).
Phyna, Sashker's daughter, helps clean the store.
Vale Tavern
Druis Ulisonia, A gaunt man who serves drinks with a smile. 1 coin for a pint of mead. Serves stew for 2 coins a bowl.
Hanicla Ulisonia, Sister who cleans the Tavern and brings drinks to the tables.
Marketplace
Finhoth, He runs the three wagon caravan that brings the goods to town. Will buy magic items appraised by Gridoth.
Gridoth, He is a scholar traveling with the caravan. Offers identification services for 10 coins, providing a note needed to sell.
Shaena, She Sells weapons and armor with the caravan at various prices.
(1 No change, 2-3 +10%, 4-6 +20%)
Lilisnia, She sells woven goods; clothes, blankets, bags, and packs.
Betsa, She sells pottery; cups, bowls, plates.
Anfli, She sells reed baskets and handmade candles.
Nulten, He works as an iron smith at his farm (hex 3,5) and sells; nails, horseshoes, hinges, cutlery, and takes requests for work.
Trogik, He is a carpenter in town sells; chairs, small tables, and takes requests for work.
I'll make another post on how I generated these names using a table, as names are one of the hardest parts of making NPCs. Having names on hand helps to keep your players from knowing if an NPC is important or not when you get caught with no name for them, although I have in the past made very obvious I'm rolling for a name for an NPC that will be important during that session, just to mess with players who make assumptions. Included in the descriptions of the various districts I have the cost for the items there, or assumed the prices in the rules are appropriate.
With that done, all I have left is the rumor tables for the areas that need them. I like my rumor tables to be mostly accurate with half of the results being true, occasionally inaccurate about a third of the time, and wrong rarely.
Bluebell Bunkhouse
1. In the forest are shadows that will grab you and eat you.
2. Don't trust every hunter you meet, some hunt for more than hides.
3. Trolls have been seen out of the mountains, not a good sign.
4. There is an old cabin to the north east in the mountains.
5. Be on the look out for spiders in the woods least you get eaten.
6. Pixies dance at night in the forest under the moonlight.
White Feather Inn
1. The temple to the north used to worship some goddess of knowledge.
2. Strange magics caused the half league tower in the east to fall.
3. Cipes was a mage that settled around here, but no one knows where.
4. Watch out for rockfalls in the mountains, they are deadly.
5. Never eat the mushrooms growing in the forest, it's not worth the risk.
6. Follow the river east and then head north along the mountain to find some of the best fishing in the world.
Vale Tavern
1. South of here is a hunters lodge if you need a rest in the woods.
2. The sticky goop that oozes from some mountain rocks makes a delicious tea
3. Bring plenty of climbing gear, you'll never know when you'll need it around here.
4. Fire beetles spit flame when threatened, tread carefully.
5. Some of the trees will come alive in the forest, Winrog died to them during a hunt last summer.
6. Hawks won't stop fighting if you go messing with their nests.
Now we have multiple hints as to what is out in the world. Monster descriptions, Locations, and advice are all given in these tables. I have each player roll a 1 in 6 chance when they spend significant time in one of these locations to hear a rumor, such as a day while resting or if they drink there during the night. This makes it worth splitting up to gather information in town, and should a player ask probing questions to an NPC they will have a 2 in 6 chance of knowing the appropriate rumor. That's all the prep I do before a game, I'll compile a PDF of all this information as I would print it for use at the table and post it when I run this for a group.
I'm gonna try the sticky goop tea!
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