What makes a good port city?
Plenty of adventure
A port
Prostitutes, lots of them. Take however many prostitutes you think is a lot, and double it.
>>43979498
Also boats
>>43979466
Let's break this down
>what makes a good port city?
So first, you need a port city. That means you need a port, and a city on it. Already you might you be thinking "who does the port belong to? How did it form? What's it like?"
All good questions, and you should think of answers to some of them after brainstorming.
But then we come to the crux of the matter. How do you define 'good'? What metric are you using? What purpose is this port city going to be used for? Are you, anon, going to make a port city in an RPG to be explored? Are you a modeler designing playset terrain for a battle? Is this a design plan for a military installation?
A good model port city might need fine detail, good areas of open areas for the docks and tight cramped areas in the slums for fighting, with perhaps a military section or drydocks as an objective.
Military wise, a good port is one easily defended and has fortifications and sea walls.
A science fiction port city might need to be a bustling hub of commerce and trade, full of aliens and oddities alike.
For an RPG you'll want all sorts of interesting characters and factions for your players to interact with.
So the answer to your question, you magnificent faggot you, is
I T D E P E N D S O N T H E S Y S T E M.
>>43979514
Can't argue with this guy.
Take a look at how Pompeii did it 2000 years ago, and sass it up with whatever tones there are in your setting.
>>43979519
Maybe some water
Shit man. I'm gonna design one right now. Fucking christ it's like 2am. lets start. Gonna pull up my drawing program.
PIRATE ATTACK!
>>43979572
Pretty much this. It has to be a pretty active place given port cities exist to be a hub for lots of trade and tons of people. And, of course, a black market. Not really gonna have a city with that much trade and money around without some sort of seedy underbelly around.
- as others have noted, lots of prostitutes. The larger the port, the greater the variety. This includes weird fetish shit like BDSM dungeons
- bars, depending on the style of the local government you could have taverns run by individual families, or there could be separate services for locals vs transients
- usually a "transit zone" for migrants, depending on the severity of local diseases. Most of these would be located on islands just off the coast
- lighthouse, fairly self explanatory
- a port, also maintenance services nearby. Drydocks if the port is large.
- lots of hotels, but not much in the way of markets or farms. All that stuff is further inland. See Rome vs Ostia
At the end of it, port cities are places of work. But not "fun" work like picking grapes and fucking the farmer's daughter in a field, ports are filthy places where boats are stored and where the people that run said boats are stored until they can find more work. They're not pretty, all the fancy plazas and baths are in the inland, protected, capital.
If it's a 20th/21st century setting than ports are grids of sterile concrete and steel, and are usually silent and very noire. The only place of activity is where boats unload their goods (bulk goods or intermodal containers) onto trains. Nobody can be seen for miles, because there's no reason for anyone to be walking about. There might be a lower-income suburb bordering it and a walmart. Prostitutes can be found inside massage parlors, and aren't on the street. Most of the area feels inhuman, everything is built for ships, trains and trucks (in that order) not for people walking around.
>>43979660
>1
Fairtire Spire is an enormous basault island straddling the bay, it has long sense been carved into and now exists as a catacomb of tunnels filled to the brim with cannons. Between it and each shore iron nets can be raised to cut off the bay.
>2
Eventide Spire one of the three tide towers lain claim two by the nobel Three Salt Kings. Each of them stands as a separate palace for the family, the area on shore residents for the gentile populous. Eventide is residence of the Belwiks, masters of trade.
>3
Fartide Spire one of the three tide towers lain claim two by the nobel Three Salt Kings. Each of them stands as a separate palace for the family, the area on shore residents for the gentile populous. Fartide is residence of the Paynes, masters of war.
>4
Endtide Spire one of the three tide towers lain claim two by the nobel Three Salt Kings. Each of them stands as a separate palace for the family, the area on shore residents for the gentile populous. Endtide is residence of the Deuits, masters of ships.
>5
The Silt, as it is known locally, are the slums of the city. The residence have long sense been too numerous to fit into the walls proper, instead ramshackle huts are built against the walls, some attempting to scavenge bricks, prying them from the mortar.
Places of Interest: Quivering Hills Brothel, The Drowned Dog Inn, Three Penny Veils Inn, The Waxdipper's Guild, The Tanner's Guild
>6
Harris Town, named after it's most famous mayor, is nearly a city unto itself, occupying the eastern wall. It is on a hill, overlooking the bay, and enjoys the stiff sea breeze. It's residence are mainly the wealthier merchants, and it is littered with shops catering to foreigners.
Places of Interests: Several Embassies, The Royal Post Office, The NOW (National Organization of Wizard) Branch Office, Carter n' Son Law Firm, Elrik Detective Agency, The Laughing Boar Inn, The Squeezed Grape, Guldum's Confectionery, The Candy Maker's, Weaver's, and Glassblower's Guilds.
>>43979687
Port cities themselves aren't hubs, the cities further inland are. Basically grain and lumber are collected inland (in a city like Rome or Sacramento) and then sent to the coast in midsize boats to be transferred onto large oceangoing vessels. That's not to say they aren't active, they certainly are, but all the fancy things are inland a bit.
Also, having multiple currencies is a thing that happens. Which can cause problems with vendors, and be a potential source for quests.
When the PC'S return from their latest adventure to their favorite tavern or setting equivalent, stocked with the NPC's they know and have come to care for, have one of the NPC's ask to meet a PC in private to give them a gift. It turns out to be the local romantic lovers lane, but the NPC does have a large wrapped present. Once they are alone and as the PC opens the box, with the NPC smiling in happiness and excitement, looking out into the harbor with glee, remember that no such scene in a port city is complete withoutPIRATE ATTACKS!
>>43979793
Port cities are the definition of a hub. Cooler stuff may be more inland, but all the stuff inland has to go to the port city and be sold and put onto the transports, while anything coming in from somewhere else has to be taken off and loaded to go where it has to go. Port cities are where all the transactions happen.
Trading areas are always hub areas. Unless it's a port city that's small and local like a fishing village or something. But if it's a big nation, town, or an influential area the port city is going to be a hub.
>>43979781
>7
The Grey Harbor occupies the lowest portion of the city, filled mainly with warehouses and the sort of establishments that cater to sailors. Numerous working women wait, bodices unlaced to entice men. It is said that one can get nearly anything here if they knew who to rub elbows with and are willing to pay in cash.
Places of Interest: The King's Pinkie, Rosewaters, Pale Mare, The Bellringer's Inn, The Chapel of St. Melbrooks (gives generously to the poor, feeds them), Copper Pot Inn, The Dockworker's Guild, The Ironmonger's Guild, Velp's Money Lenders
>8
Augerheim holds some of the more industrial parts of the city, chimneys dotting the skyline and belching smoke.
>9
Copper Keep sits on the peninsula into the bay, and holds the armies of the Three Salt Kings. Barracks and training facilities are both supported by Augerheim, reliant on it for fresh weapons, armor, and siegecraft.
>10
Westround is a menagerie of hodgepodge towards the the shore, and flophouses inland. Most of which are occupied by factory workers. It stands as one of the more residential areas of the city.
>11
The Ache is the dirtiest part of the main city, and the most dangerous. The poorest live here. The only point of pride is a single street running through it's center. Steel Street, owing it's fame to the numerous artisans that rent from it. A certain breadth is given to them to do their work, the local gangs leaving them mostly to themselves.
>12
Harkford Prison is known for the tide cells, which fill up to more than chest high with seawater each evening. It houses the thieves and murders swept from the streets, and sometimes serves as a recruitment ground for the military.
>13
The Oil Gate, is so massive twelve carts could go through side by side. It is named for it's massive portcullis, which can be raised and lowered. When raised numerous workers oil it's joints, causing a pattering of dripping oil rain to fall onto those passing beneath.
>>43979844
>14
The Bridge is so old it has lost what ever name it once possessed, and is likely the oldest structure in the city, predating even the Salt Kings. It is tall enough to allow for massive barges to pass beneath into the bay from inland.
>15 (the left one)
The shipworks is where most of the vessels owned by the salt kings are constructed, numerous shipwrights are at work constantly, taking in lumber shipments from inland.
>15 (the right one)
Pelmeir Sporting grounds are a massive stadium, field, and more, making up one of the largest sporting facilities on the continent. Inside are hosted gladiatorial events, ball sports, and even plays. One, with enough coin, can rent out one of the stages/stadiums/facilities for nearly anything.
>>43979862
>>43979844
>>43979781
Rate m8s
>>43979781
>>43979844
>>43979862
>>43979889
8/10 better than anything I can come up with
>>43979889
Nice level of detail, but it needs a rewrite for readability.
>>43979655
I guess you need a city in there somewhere as well.
It produces and exports a strong fortified wine.
>>43984044
Can't have boats without docks.
>>43984044
Buildings? Lots of buildings.
>>43984109
gotta have people to look over that shit
>>43984102
>>43984194
Looks like we're going to need wood and oxygen.
>>43979466
Lots of water.
