What are the best ways to make the Fantasy Starter Village in your campaign feel comfy and alive?
I feel like drawing some ideas from Slice-Of-Life anime could prove fruitful.
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD4rCHXzKy0
>>98883419Beyond the Wall is probably one of the best. Everyone makes characters together with the dm and answering questions on their character sheet builds the village as they go through life path generation, fills in npcs and ties them together with the first adventure.Its worth playing at least once.
>>98883419>Gates, fences, towers and walls have deteriorated not because of monster attacks but because peace has lasted for so long that no one bothered to maintain them.>everyone is gullible level friendly implying a high trust society>low density, low population place where everyone knows each other
>>98883542>peace is where you let your world collapse around youYou're insane.
>>98884657God forbid long term peace exists in my fantasy world
>>98884666Duuuude, haven't thought about Pandyland in years!Loved making those comics, too bad his took his site down years ago...
a sleepy rabbitfolk lady that runs an arcade>but fantasythe arcades are mechanical dwarven computers or run by magic
>>98884880That greentext wasn't necessary, everyone with a functional brain knows you can have fantasy in any time period.
>>98883419>feelIt depends on whose senses of comfort you're trying to appeal to.
There should also be NPC that the players meet regularly and get to know during their time at the village/town.
There should be NPCs who live there and have own lives and stories outside the player characters to make it seem more real.
And the players should have NPCS that present them with a good idea of what they are fighting for. NPCs that represent innocence and give the PCs hope.
There should also be some gruff faces there, but still good people at heart.
People should appreciate what the PCs are doing. And perhaps they could become like local heroes.
>>98883419comfy means slow paced and low stakes. comfy means no hard challenges and no immediate threats. comfy especially means no ideological or political themes whatsoever. seriously keep it to the absolute minimum required to make your story work. it cannot be stressed enough that nothing is less comfy than being confronted with a fringe worldview out of the blue. so no green-haired trans people or blue-eyed ubermensch. doesn't depend on your feelings regarding one or the other. it's just not suited for comforting/comfortable escapism
What are some good comfy quests you put into this part of your campaign.Eg: The traditional little girl missing her cat etc.
Ye olde friendly barkeeper
Things from your childhood. Children playing in ways you used to. People laughing about some stupid joke some guy said. Pets roaming near houses. Smells of food from the windows of houses. A beggar in the street who may or may not be drunk. Exct.
>>98885757>drunk beggar in the streets>comfyis this some southern hillbilly joke I'm not american enough to understand?
>>98884666No Satan, the issue is that you think long term peace means people stop maintaining their property rather than the exact opposite.
It should feel like this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qglEeUSqgu4
>>98885536
>>98885551There should be sentient hay bale men imo
>>98886163>>98886181funny concept for a mimick
>>98885944name one RL example of peace ever leading to disrepair or lack of maintenance. if anything it's exactly the opposite
>>98886234nta and I think something got read backwards there but post soviet russian nuclear missile maintenance.As an overly broad generalization military forces tend to get fucked up if you don't use them semi regularly so things like submarines and other vehicle fleet maintenance fall off and overall readiness, discipline and preparedness drop. I think >>98883542is caught up in the romanticism of the simple rural life held by people who have never had to live somewhere the rest of the natural world is constantly trying to retake and consume whatever has been built. Letting the forest overtake your gate means its in your village now. Everything require upkeep.
Specialty drinks at the tavern. One NPC is anothers cousin or brother or sister. Homely little shops. Go to a Renaissance faire and basically design the market square like that, especially if it's one of the faires that has permanent structures and wooden buildings.
>>98885528>>98885536>>98885549>>98886163>>98886181Thanks for ruining it.
>>98886234And that's the opposite of my claim.Shit stops being maintained when it serves no use. Though since that often includes decorative, ceremonial, and sentimental use that can be ambiguous. An empty mine will fall into disrepair, but then peace and conflict aren't relevant to that either way.The original claim was about walls, but they serve plenty of uses in peace time. And even if they didn't you'd just take them down and re-use the stone rather than waiting for them to fall down.
>>98885549
>>98885528
>>98883419Traveling soldiers at the coaching inn.
>>98883419Seriously now, there is comfy and there is "comfydanger". You're probably aiming for the latter, like Tolkien and Dinotopia did.
>>98883419Imagine training a bot to repost threads that were already tiresome reposts when done manually by a human baiter
>>98883419Host a game of Ex Novo (or similar) with your players as a part of your session zero.
>>98886364apologies, I just reread your post and realized I got it the wrong way. this and what >>98886312 said is what I was what I was thinking about. I truly believe that the only deteriorating aspect would be the ability of the people to fight or use the defensive infrastructure
>>98883419Massive Redoubts with the strewn corpses of Orcs, Bandits, and Monsters on pikes with bloodied veteran guards mulling about drinking ale. Doesn't get more comfy and alive than that.
>>98890614>I truly believe that the only deteriorating aspect would be the ability of the people to fight or use the defensive infrastructureYou're very wrong then. The rest of the world and the wilderness is always trying to reclaim farm land, roads and walls, houses and docks. Its not a thing that selectively gets maintained. The walls keep the forest out. Keep good neighbours too, which is what keeps things peaceful.
>>98890691People don't understand the safety bubble they live in during modern times in 1st world countries. Being randomly killed by a horde of wolves or highway men was a common issue.
>>98890705It doesn't even have to be that. There's plenty of decaying farmland and harbours that have been poorly looked after because of socioeconomic reasons all over the 1st world that has been largely at peace for the whole time. The bush or the desert or the snow or the rain or the ocean always wants in. Its constant effort to keep things comfy, which I think is at odds with the romanticism of pastoralism being easy and counter to being able to pretend everything would be perfect without one thing.
>>98890705Diseases, too.
>>98885944>>98886364>>98890614>>98886312You silly autists, I wasn't talking about walls and gates of a town being completely run down, overgrown and destroyed. I'm talking a bit overgrown walls. A gate that has a busted lock and people just use rope. Guard/watch towers with too many stork nests in it. Why is it the first thing y'all thought was a crater. Jeez.
>>98890751>Gates, fences, towers and walls have deterioratedBe more descriptive next time. It'll help have actual discussion and understanding a lot more than hyperbole like >Why is it the first thing y'all thought was a crater. You're talking about the mix of life clutter, there being real things to deal with, and people being lazy dumb dumbs. Its a constant struggle in areas when you have smaller populations that have to make do with who they have around and spread their competence thin.
>>98890741One thing largely ignored too is that the whole comfy cottage core thing was really only enjoyed by upperclass land owners, who often had to work like crazy to manage the estate. People have this utopian fantasy about just existing in a comfy cabin in the woods or by some farmland like they're not going to be working their asses off for the entire day just to survive.
>>98890769It can be quite satisfying, its why I do it, but it is a different pace than both urban living and the imagined comfy pace. Sometimes you're working you ass off sometimes you've got a lot of down time depending on what's going on and you use that to build or rest or read or can or whathave you. Except farming. That part's fucked if you're trying to farm for more than 4 people. There's a reason they had lots of kids and most of those kids got the fuck out of farming as soon as they were able.
>>98890769it's just a pace of work life balance most people are unacustomed to. there is little to do in winter and the hight of summer but spring and fall are laborious by any definition of the wordalso nothing keeps you from being a laid back farmer George Washington style
>>98890751You said "deteriorated", saying it was not due to a monster attack, which suggests a similar scale of effect with a different cause. And instead of clarifying what you meant you just pouted. Stop expecting people to read your mind and learn to express yourself properly.In any case long term peace would give people plenty of free time for maintenance, and probably social pressure to make them clear up weeds and shit.The biggest sign that a society feels safe is probably letting kids wander freely. Not to be confused with their running wild.
>>98890769nah, nowadays with hydroponics and small scale farming methods homesteading has become more feasible than ever before. only barrier is land and money/materials for starting up but that's nothing a little magical fluff couldn't explain away in your setting
>>98883419I think taking inspiration on games like Kingdom Come (the first one) might help. I think it captured the essence of a peaceful village well.It still has some minor troubles (a fistfight with a dude who didn't pay your father, or with a group of young men), but otherwise it's pretty chill.
SUDDENLY THERE'S A GOBLIN INVASION AND THEY WANNA DO THE RAPEY!!!
>>98890751>y'all
>>98885528Ugh, this looks like shit.>>98885536This, too.>>98885549This is the worst one yet!>>98885551And somehow this is even worse!
>>98895529>youse
>>98895955Why do you dislike them? You think it looks artificial?
>>98896507It's clearly all AI.
>>98883419Kill everyone and light it on fire.
>>98896523You'd have to be retarded to think that.
>>98885720It can be something that will hook up with the actual rest of the campaign. Something that seems innocuous and simple, but that has repercussions and hooks with something greater.
>>98896575You sound worried. It's obviously gemini, and everybody can tell.
>>98896575imagine feeling the need to lie to strangers on the internet
>>98900068I know, right? It's obviously not even from a modern model, either. Kinda embarrassing...
>>98900195>>98900068That's bait lol
>>98883419big tiddy barmaids
>>98883419>feel comfy and alive?Fill it with Zombies & The Undead.The Necromancer finally made a home for his family and friends.
>>98885528>Redditor pucke℮21 (puckee) spamming his commission againhttps://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1kiihss/artcomm_sarah_pheltan_barmaidtavern_wench_by/https://desuarchive.org/tg/search/image/sUNE9rziWzq0VmQQskuT0A/>posted 33 times since May 2025>>98885536>Redditor pucke℮21 (puckee) spamming his commission againhttps://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1m5p93c/artcomm_edmund_cruft_medieval_fantasy_dd_peasant/https://desuarchive.org/_/search/image/s-9odapy5EaryUxR4j2RRw/https://desuarchive.org/_/search/image/2bloBO94VPyI8EioQNuUyw/https://desuarchive.org/tg/search/image/yrOXe_B-jktUmwwL4zSxXw/>posted combined 41 times since June 2025>>98885549>Redditor pucke℮21 (puckee) spamming his commission againhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryCharacters/comments/1j0ooso/katelyn_katy_parsons_young_farmgirl_by_kartstudio/https://desuarchive.org/_/search/image/bURegZDTHSZ0zZLlMDv8RQ/>posted 41 times since May 2024
