Weirdly enough the history of it. My first campaign had a steampunk city-state called New Solaeus. It was built on the ruins of a holy city that was destroyed several centuries before.
Oh yea, imagine like dilapidated white brick and corrogated sheet metal in the poor districts and you get an idea what it looked like. but Even the great tower in the center was retrofitted, rising up like some sinister amalgamation
I personally like designing the groups that run my city and then deciding where they are located. Where you choose to do business can decide a lot, I clouding the neighborhood around them. Trade guilds, gangs, shops, and spaces of development. It helps me keep the creativity flow. Lots of questions.
That definitely informs a lot! I tend to do run opposite in that regard, deciding what I need from my factions and working out who they are from there.
I have a tendency to have a tendency to build my places like the Westward Expansion. Build a bunch of staples, make the place liveable. Then, deciding how big I want it to be to produce duplicates. Either from there is based on other outside factors (environment, resources, economy, neighbors, etc).
My favourite thing is local nicknames. For instance near where I live we have a street called tacky street or grockle street by people who live in the area. This is cause its a tourist hub, and a lot of the shops are holidaymaker tat.
It's something I try and incorporate into my cities to make them feel more lived in.
An example is Beggars Rest, which is the area in town notable for its jacked up Inn prices, and the last resort got travellers. Beggars can't be chosers after all.
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An example is Beggars Rest, which is the area in town notable for its jacked up Inn prices, and the last resort got travellers. Beggars can't be chosers after all.