The Urban Crawl

A specific procedure is not compiled and detailed in a step by step order in any of the AD&D core rulebooks.  So, I've attempted to gather together my best attempts at understanding the different portions of the rules and how they would apply to the adventurer in an Urban Environment.

The way to handle sessions within a Urban Environment really depends on what the Party is attempting to do.  There are a number of reasons a session can utilize a Settlement:

• Overland Travel - Just passing through, resupplying, or resting/healing.
• Exploration - they actually want to know what's in the Settlement and engage with the environment or this could take on a few different aspects:
•  Investigation - Searching for a specific person, item, or information
• Spell Research or Magic Item Creation
• Cure for Disease or Resurrection
• Carousing - Spending all that loot they just acquired, trying to level up through training or improved equipment and spell casting ability
• Crime - Thievery, Assassination, Extortion, Arson, etc.
• Recruiting - Finding and Hiring Henchmen, Hirelings, or additional Party Members.
• Political motives -  Want to become Mayor or Sheriff?
• Combat/Encounter - the settlement could be a target in a large scale strategic war, a tactical mass battle set piece, or they just want to take out a specific person or party.

I will touch on all of these aspects, but mainly on the Exploration type of Urban adventure, because it seems unique to this level of play.

The Basics:  Movement , Time, & Chance of Encounters

Movement is described on PHB 102:

To extrapolate this movement rate to typical turns exploring:  A turn is   This party with a 6" movement would cover 600 feet in one typical turn or 3,600 feet in an hour.  Since outdoor environments are usually expressed in yards this equates to 200 yards per turn or 1,200 yards per hour.  (For reference, there are 1,760 yards in a mile.)  

Interesting that GG titles this paragraph "Movement in Cities", but then refences the party in an inhabited area.

Time would follow the same structure outlined on DMG 37&38 and PHB 39:

Overland Travel by the Day (24 Hours)
Time spent in Exploration by the Turn (10 Minutes)
Time spent during an encounter by the Round (1 Minute)

GG tells us how often to check for encounters on DMG 190:

How does all of this come together to structure the different types of adventuring within a City?

Let's keep in mind travel speed is modified, depending on if the PCs are familiar with the location.  Referencing back to DMG 102:

This is where we return to the different reasons the Party might be in the Town.  

If they are just stopping in to hit the first Inn they find and head back out, I would use the Wilderness random encounter check probability for a densely populated location.  

I would use Turn by Turn Exploration with checks every 30 minutes if:

•   This their first time in this particular settlement.
•   They are seeking a very specific person, place, thing, or piece of information.

So, if an encounter is indicated, how would you generate the particulars?

1.  Who (or what) is encountered  

     a.  Are they local inhabitants

     b.  Are they foreigners (travelers or monsters)

2.  Surprise

3.  Distance

4.  Why - What triggered the encounter

       a.  What do they want  (motivation)

       b.  What are they doing (or what is happening)

We'll dig into these in some future posts.