City adventures vs. dungeon crawling

[Dr Zaius]

I think it's safe to say most of us have participated in adventures that took place in caverns, dungeons, ruined castles, alien fortresses, etc. But how many have spent significant time adventuring in big cities, getting caught up in the local politics, and making both friends and new enemies?

To be honest, nearly all of my adventures took place in outdoor locations, dungeons, or small villages. I really didn't see the alure of city adventuring until I was older and had also played some computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate.

 

[Aries]

City adventures are actually quite a challenge for the DM to run, but often there are some character classes that make no sense for players if not in an urban environment too.

I actually prefer city adventures for low number groups, as they allow for more political intrigue, more creative interaction and just plain more intense roleplay.

With dungeon crawls, all that seems to count is combat qualities.

 

[Double Deuce]

I think city adventures can be just as fun as other regions. I do think they are a lot more work for a DM though since there are so many more "personalities" packed into such a small area that require at least some basic data on them.

 

[Palantir]

City adventures = 2x MORE WORK for the DM without question!
As mentioned, the work required for all the diverse personalities of NPC's is the major stress.

However as Lesile said if you have a group of 4 or less players the payoff's in running city adventures can be huge in terms of PC roleplaying. (I found that with 6 or more players trying to run detailed NPC/PC interactions for all players never works, some players always get left in the wake.)

My players "home" is in Waterdeep so I try and run an indepth "city" adventure about every 3rd "adventure" or time they are in the city (if it makes sense plus when they are in other cities as well).

I've ran several city based adventures focused just around a player or players training in the city. (Ex. a Thief had to kidnap a child for the thieves guild & hold her until a ransom was paid. Another was on a Fighters training in the Gladiators Arena & past conflicts with a 1/2 ogre!)

I enjoy running city adventures but the work load is twice that of a normal cross country trek adventure. The big payoff in running city adventures form me comes in the FOLLOWING city adventure(s) when the players encounter previous NPC's and have to deal with previous problems/contacts (and seeing their faces as they recognize those connections).