Settlements often have unusual qualities that make them unique. Listed below are several different qualities that can further modify a community’s statistics. A settlement’s type determines how many qualities it can have—once a quality is chosen, it cannot be changed.
Note that many of the following qualities adjust a town’s base value or purchase limit by a percentage of the town’s standard values. If a town has multiple qualities of this sort, add together the percentages from modifiers and then increase the base value by that aggregated total—do not apply the increases one at a time.
Abundant (3pp)
The settlement has access to extraordinary natural resources: rich farmland, a deep lake, excellent hunting grounds nearby or even a convenient source of magical sustenance. The local food surplus makes the settlement a major exporting hub, and increases the standard of living for its inhabitants.
Increase Economy +1. Reduce the purchase price of most forms of locally-grown food and livestock by 25% or more.
Abstinent (3pp)
Special Restriction Lawful communities only
The settlement religious or moral convictions force it to deny some of the world’s more common vices. The settlement prohibits a common vice: usually alcohol is prohibited, but other abstinent settlements might ban stronger drugs, tobacco, prostitution, or even ‘indulgent’ foods like fine pastries, meat, or similar.
Increase Corruption +2, Law +1, Decrease Society -2.
Academic
The settlement possesses a school, training facility, or university of great renown.
Increaese Lore +1. Increase spellcasting by 1 level.
Adventure Site
Proximity to a famous adventuring location has long drawn curious adventures from across the land.
Increase Society +2. Increase purchase limit by 50%.
Animal Polyglot (3pp)
Similar to the Magical Polyglot effect, a magical aura hangs over the settlement. All creatures of the Animal type gain the ability to speak and think while within the settlement’s borders. Animals act as if their INT scores were 6, and gain ability to speak Common; they lose these benefits as soon as they pass the settlement’s borders. There are likely to be few butcher shops within the settlement’s borders .
Decrease Economy -1, Increase Lore +1. Increase spellcasting by 1 level. Add the settlement’s Lore modifier to Handle Animal checks made within the settlement.
Artifact Gatherer (3pp)
The sale of a certain kind of rare item is heavily restricted. This may be items of a magical, technological, or psychic origin.
Increase Economy +2. Reduce base value by 50%, purchase of such items is limited to black markets.
Artist’s Colony (3pp)
The settlement is renowned for the excellence of its local artists, performers and craftsfolk.
Increase Economy +1, Society +1. Add the settlement’s Economy modifier on all Craft checks, not just those made to earn a living.
Asylum (3pp)
The settlement is host to an infamous madhouse or asylum (or perhaps a prison, gaol or notorious workhouse). The presence of these dangerous, mad souls has hardened the townsfolk, making them suspicious of strangers and paranoid about the possibility of an escape or other tragedy.
Increase Lore +1, Decrease Society -2.
Broad Minded
The citizens are open, friendly, and tolerant, and react positively towards visitors.
Increase Lore +1, Society +1.
City of the Dead (3pp)
The settlement abuts a massive, historically significant graveyard, massive tomb or mausoleum complex. Its monuments are well maintained, and a powerful ancestor cult exists within the city, either in replacement or addition to traditional religions.
Decrease Economy -2, Increase Lore +2, Law +1. Add the settlement’s Lore modifier to Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (nobility) checks.
Cruel Watch (3pp)
Special Restriction Lawful communities only
The settlement’s civic watch or police force is infamous for its brutality, effectiveness, cruelty and corruption.
Increase Corruption +1, Law +2. Decrease Crime -3, Society -2.
Cultured
The settlement is well known for its culture of artistry, particularly among actors and musicians.
Increase Society +1. Decrease Law -1. Always counts as a prosperous city for the purpose of perform checks.
Darkvision
Most of the citizens have darkvision, and thus nights provide no cover for thieves and other criminals.Merchants lose little inventory to dishonesty.
Increase Economy +1. Decrease Crime -1.
Decadent (3pp)
Special Restriction Evil communities only
The settlement’s vast wealth and proud, ancient heritage has made it a haven for corruption and sin.
Increase Corruption +1, Crime +1, Economy +1, Society +1, Danger +10. Increase Base Purchase Limit by +25%.
Deep Traditions
The settlement is bolstered by its strong traditions, but its citizens have difficulty interacting with visitors.
Increase Law +2. Decrease Crime -2, Society -2.
Defensible (3pp)
The settlement is strategically situated to make it easier to defend, giving its inhabitants confidence and making the settlement a major local trade hub.
Increase Corruption +1, Crime +1, Economy +2. Decrease Society -1.
Defiant
The citizens of this settlement have a natural predilection for free thinking that borders on rebellious action.
Increase Society +1. Decrease Law -1.
Desecrate/Hallow (3pp)
Special Restriction Good or Evil communities only
The entire settlement is under the effects of a permanent desecrate or hallow effect (choose only one) of incredible power. This effect can be suppressed in small areas within the settlement. The caster level for the effect is equal to 20 + the settlement’s size modifier, for the purpose of dispelling.
Eldritch (3pp)
The town has a strange and unnatural air, and is a popular place for sorcerers and oracles.
Increase Lore +2, Danger +13. Increase spellcasting by +2 levels when casting divination or necromancy spells only.
Famed Breeders (3pp)
The settlement is known for the excellent quality of the animals bred there, from the mundane (horses, mules, cattle, pigs) to the exotic (talking tigers, Pegasai, griffons). People come from far and wide to purchase livestock, draft animals, mounts and animal companions.
Increase Economy +1. Increase Base Value and Base Purchase Limit by +20% when dealing with mounts and associated gear. Characters can purchase mounts or live stock in the settlement at a +10% discount.
Financial Center (3pp)
Special Restriction Non-chaotic communities only
This settlement is home to powerful banks, mints, trading houses, currency exchanges and other powerful financial and mercantile organizations.
Increase Economy +2, Law +1. Increase Base Value and Purchase Limit by +40%.
Free City (3pp)
Special Restriction Chaotic communities only
The city’s libertarian laws make it a haven for fugitives and outcasts of all kinds, from runaway children, serfs who escaped their lord’s lands, criminals and escaped slaves alike. Foreign adventurers and bounty hunters cannot arrest or capture fugitives within the settlement’s borders.
Increase Crime +2, Danger +5. Decrease Law -2.
Gambling (3pp)
The settlement caters to vice and greed.
Casinos, gaming houses, opium dens and bordellos are all common here, and serve as the town’s major industry.
Increase Crime +2, Corruption +2, Economy +2, Law -1. Add +10% to the settlement’s Purchase Limit.
God Ruled (3pp)
Special Requirement Theocracy or Utopian Experiment governments only
The settlement has no real government; instead it is ruled by religious codes and omens. Gods or other powerful spiritual beings or outsiders intervene directly in the settlement’s politics and daily life. Ordinary citizens are possessed by spirits to speak decrees, unmistakable oracles appear as flaming messages written on walls or in the sky, or perhaps each and every citizen has prophetic dreams that tell them what they must do in the coming day for the settlement to thrive.
Decrease Corruption -2, Society -2. Add one dice to the number of medium magic items for sale in the settlement.
Good Roads (3pp)
The settlement has an extensive road network. These roads are well-maintained and allow for quick movement of troops and merchandise.
Increase Economy +2.
Guilds (3pp)
A variety of trade and mercantile guilds control the town’s industry and trade. These guilds are highly specialized (a printer’s guild, an eggler’s guild, a swordsmith’s guild, a diamond cutter’s guild,ect), and usually semi-hereditary, with children following their parents into the guild.
Increase Corruption +1, Economy +1. Decrease Lore -1.
Holy Site
The settlement hosts a shrine, temple, or landmark with great significance to one or more religions. The settlement has a higher percentage of divine spellcasters in its population. (Corruption –2; increase spellcasting by 2 levels)
Insular
The settlement is isolated, perhaps physically or even spiritually. Its citizens are fiercely loyal to one another. (Law +1; Crime –1)
Legendary Marketplace (3pp)
The settlement is justly famed for its markets: almost anything may be for sale here! The settlement’s Base Value and Purchase Limits are treated as if the settlement was one size category larger. In the case of a Metropolis with the Legendary Marketplace quality, double the settlement’s Base Value and Purchase Limit.
Increase Economy +2, Crime +2.
Living Forest (3pp)
This settlement is a magical place, carved from the living heart of an ancient forest. The trees form themselves into homes, and branches bend to provide the settlement’s inhabitants with food, in the form of magical, druid-tended fruits and berries.
Increase Lore +1, Society +2, Decrease Crime -2, Economy -4. Increase Spellcasting by 4 levels (druidic spells only).
Long Memory
The people of this settlement have a deep-seated hatred for a specific group or faction. Any such individual who makes their presence known in town is attacked within 1d4 hours, and either violently out of the settlement or executed. Similarly, residents look upon those who deal with this enemy faction with suspicion, and they must pay 200% the normal price for goods and services and may face mockery, insult, or even violence.
Magically Attuned
The settlement is a haven for spellcasters due to its location; for example, it may lie at the convergence of multiple ley lines or near a well-known magical site. (Increase base value by 20%; increase purchase limit by 20%; increase spellcasting by 2 levels)
Magical Polyglot (3pp)
The settlement is blessed with a magical aura that allows all sentient creatures within its borders to understand one another as if they shared a common language. This permanent magical effect is similar to the tongues spell, and has no effect on written language, only the words spoken by the settlement’s inhabitants.
Increase Economy +1, Lore +1, Society +1.
Majestic (3pp)
The settlement is known for its dramatic, sweeping architecture, monumental statuary and is built to a scale alien to most Medium size humanoids. Perhaps the settlement was once a domain of giants, or simply a human metropolis hewn to an epic scale for the sake of grandeur.
Increase spellcasting by +1 level. Add +1d8 to the number of the most expensive category of magic items the settlement offers for sale, as determined by its size.
Militarized
The populace is devoted to the armed forces. Civil and military law is intertwined, punishments are harsh, and loyalty to the state is expected.
Increase Law +4. Decrease Society -4.
Mobile: Frontlines (3pp)
The entire settlement can move, albeit slowly, not much faster than an average man could walk. Perhaps it floats on a cushion of magical air, hundreds of feet above the landscape, is a fortress- castle growing from the back of some impossibly large creature, or is some kind of enormous steampunk or magi-tech tank.
This city is designed to patrol its kingdom or territory, responding to threats and offering the city’s defenses to those in need.
Reduce Corruption -1, Economy -1, Society -1. Increase the Base Value and Purchase Limit of the settlement by 25% when trading weapons and armor.
Mobile: Sanctuary (3pp)
This mobile settlement is designed to retreat from danger, moving to a safer location when threatened by natural disasters, invasion or famine threatens.
Increase Economy +1, Decrease Society -1.
Morally Permissive (3pp)
Divine indulgence or perhaps just a corrupt church selling indulgences has made this settlement famous (or infamous) for its lax morals. Select 1d4+1 acts that would normally be considered sinful or immoral; these acts are not crimes or sins within the settlement, and committing these acts does not violate a paladin or cleric’s moral code, so long as the offense is limited to within the settlement’s borders.
Increase Corruption +1, Economy +1. Decrease divine spellcasting by -1 level.
Mythic Sanctum
The settlement is a seat of power for one or more living mythic characters, granting each of the mythic characters additional influence so long as they reside here.
Decrease Corruption -2. Increase each resident mythic character’s effective mythic tier for the purpose of granting spells to followers.
No Questions Asked
The citizens mind their own business and respect a visitor’s privacy.
Increase Society +1. Decrease Lore -1.
Notorious
The settlement has a reputation (deserved or not) for being a den of iniquity. Thieves, rogues, and cutthroats are much more common here.
Increase Crime +1 and Danger +10; Decrease Law –1; Increase Base Value by 30% and Purchase Limit by 50%)
Peacebonding (3pp)
By local law, any weapon larger than a dagger and all wands and rods must either be peacebound or stored at the local sherrif’s office or jail (at the settlement’s option) for the duration of the visit. Peacebonding a weapon involves winding a colored cord tightly around the weapon and its scabbard, and then impressing the local seal in wax. Removing the peacebond requires a full round action before the item can be drawn. (Disable Device DC 12 to untangle the bond as a move equivalent action; bond hp 5, no hardness)
Increase Law +1, Decrease Crime -1.
Phantasmal (3pp)
The settlement simply isn’t always there!
This magical settlement might only appear in the moonlight, appear out of the mist on particularly holy or infamous dates, or only appear in this plane during thunderstorms or on particularly hot days. At other times, the settlement simply doesn’t exist on this plane; powerful, plane-crossing magic is required to access the settlement outside of the ‘proper’ time. The highly magical settlement is insular and clannish as a result of its isolation from the outside world.
Decrease Economy -2, Society -2. Increase spellcasting by two levels when dealing with planar magic or conjuration (summoning or teleportation) spells only.
Pious
The settlement is known for its inhabitants’ good manners, friendly spirit, and deep devotion to a deity (this deity must be of the same alignment as the community).
Increase spellcasting by 1 level; any faith more than one alignment step different than the community’s official religion is at best unwelcome and at worst outlawed—obvious worshipers of an outlawed deity must pay 150% of the normal price for goods and services and may face mockery, insult, or even violence)
Planar Crossroads (3pp)
Natural or artificial planar gates near the settlement make it a cross-roads for planar travel. Creatures from across the multiverse, both malevolent and benign, can be found here, as can their artifacts.
Increase Crime +3, Economy +2, Danger +20. Increase spellcasting by two levels, and the Base Purchase Limit by +25%. In addition, the Planar Crossroads settlement is the point of origin for many breed of monstrous player characters. Reduce the ECL of any monstrous player race if that race has its origin in this settlement, making heroic versions of these creatures more common in the region.
Planned Community (3pp)
Special Restriction Lawful communities only
The community’s design was determined in advance, every detail planned out before the first keystone was laid. Streets are wide, straight and laid out on an orderly grid, neighborhoods and districts are segregated by purpose, as are the living quarters of the city’s inhabitants.
Increase Economy +1. Decrease Crime -1, Society -1
Pocket Universe (3pp)
Thanks to a magical fold in space and time, the settlement exists in a place far too small to sustain it. A sleepy hamlet might be found in an old mansion’s disused pantry, a huge fortress might hide the space between two old oaks, or a planar metropolis might be contained within a single cramped alley of a much less important city-state.
Increase Spellcasting by +2 levels. Decrease Economy -2. Depending on the nature of the settlement and its relationship with the outside world, the settlement might be impossible to find. It may skill checks to even find the entrance to the settlement: usually a DC 20 Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (the planes) check. The settlement’s size modifier is applied to this check, albeit inverted. After all, it’s easier to find a Metropolis (DC 16) than a Thorpe (DC 24).
Population Surge (3pp)
This settlement is home to a greater than usual percentage of children, making it energetic and lively.
Increase Crime +1, Society +2.
Prosperous
The settlement is a popular hub for trade. Merchants are wealthy and the citizens live well.
Increase Economy +1; Increase Base Value by 30%; Increase Purchase Limit by 50%.
Racially Intolerant
The community is prejudiced against one or more races, which are listed in parentheses. (Members of the unwelcome race or races must pay 150% of the normal price for goods and services and may face mockery, insult, or even violence)
Racial Enclave (3pp)
The settlement is dominated by a single race: a pleasant halfling farming community, an elven capitol, a collection of half-orc yurts on the open plains, ect.
Decrease Society -1.
Members of one or more races, chosen when the settlement is founded, is especially welcome in the tight-knit and homogeneous settlement. Members of this race can purchase goods and services in the settlement at a 25% discount.
Resettled Ruins (3pp)
The settlement is built amid the ruins of a more ancient structure. The settlement might be little more than a collection of tents and yurts erected in ruined plazas, or a thriving metropolis whose stones were recycled from long-forgotten temples and fortresses. While ruins provide a ready source of building materials, near-by dungeons to plunder and ancient artifacts to explore, they might also provide a hiding place for modern dangers or old curses.
Increase Economy +1, Lore +1. Add +1d3 to the amount of magic items in any category the settlement’s size would allow it to normally offer. If the settlement’s size would not normally allow it to have magic items of a particular category, it always has at least one randomly chosen item of that category for sale. However, if a buyer rolls a natural one on any Appraise or Diplomacy check made to examine or purchase a locally bought magic item, that item is always cursed.
Religious Tolerance (3pp)
The settlement is known for its widespread religious tolerance, and many faiths have temples, cathedrals or monasteries here. Religious debates in the public square are common.
Increase Lore +1, Society +1. Increase divine spellcasting by +2 levels.
Resource Surplus
A surplus of a certain community has made for very competitive markets in those kinds of goods. This commodity and items primarily made from it can be purchased for as little as half the normal cost. The additional cost of making an item with alchemical compounds related to that resource (for instance, alchemical silver for silver or cold iron for iron) is halved in this settlement’s marketplaces.
Restrictive
Foreigners who settle in this settlement are prohibited from owning property in certain districts and sometimes pay a higher price for goods. This disdain rarely involves violence towards foreigners, though the city guard monitors strangers to ensure they don’t cross the boundaries of the city without appropriate paperwork.
Decrease Corruption -1, Lore -1.
Romantic (3pp)
The settlement’s inhabitants are renowned for their stunning beauty and charm, and the location has been made famous in dozens of romantic songs, poems and bawdy limericks. Affairs of the heart are common here, among the town’s hotblooded, lusty inhabitants.
Increase Society +1. Double the amount of minor magic items available for sale in the marketplace. Such trinkets are a popular, if expensive, token of affection here.
Royal Accommodations (3pp)
One or more members of a royal dynasty call the settlement home. As such, security is extremely tight, and the local economy has taken flight, as merchants catering to the nobility have sprung up.
Increase Economy +1, Law +2. Decrease Society -1. Increase the Purchase Price of high quality or luxury items, such as jewelry, fine clothes or food, entertainment, weapons and all magical items purchased in the settlement by +10% due to widespread inflation.
Rule of Might
The settlement has a tradition of rule by the strongest individual.
Increase Law +2; Decrease Society –2.
Rumormongering Citizens
The settlement’s citizens are nosy and gossipy to a fault—very little happens in the settlement that no one knows about.
Increase Lore +1; Decrease Society –1.
Rural (3pp)
The settlement, no matter its size, has never lost its sleepy, small-town atmosphere. The settlement sprawls across a wide, mostly open area, and despite the distances between homes and buildings, neighbors look out for one another.
Decrease Economy -1, Crime -1, Danger -5.
Sacred Animals (3pp)
In this settlement there is a great taboo (punishable by death, exile or other severe penance) about killing a particular breed of beast. Depending on the settlement, the sacred animal might be innocuous (house cats, ravens), irritating and mischievous (monkeys) or a stubborn hazard on the roads (horses, cattle). The animals have free run of the settlement.
Increase Lore +1; Decrease Corruption -1, Economy -1.
Sexist (3pp)
The settlement’s laws have completely disenfranchised one gender or the other: the oppressed sex has no more legal rights than a pet or a slave, and cannot buy property. While within the settlement, members of the oppressed gender cannot legally make purchases of items worth more than 5 gp, and are usually ignored by the settlement’s inhabitants, and may suffer mockery, violence or legal persecution.
Decrease Society -2.
Slumbering Monster (3pp)
The settlement is home to some form of powerful and ancient monster- a slumbering behemoth, a dark god imprisoned by magical means, an ancient war-robot kept in stasis, or some other, currently inert threat. The inhabitants of the settlement expend vast effort keeping their monstrous prisoner contained, and by doing so, they have developed an impressive mastery of arcana.
Increase Lore +2, Society +1, Increase Spellcasting by 2 levels.
At the Gamemasters discretion, the slumbering monster might be awakened. Doing so removes this quality, and afflicts the settlement with the Hunted disadvantage instead. The slumbering monster must either be destroyed or re-imprisoned by PC actions to restore this quality to the settlement.
Small-Folk Settlement (3pp)
This settlement is designed for the comfort of a mostly gnome or halfling population. Its doors and ceilings are built for the comfort of the smaller races, and can be absolute murder on the foreheads of taller humanoids. Everything in the settlement, from furniture to forks, is sized for small creatures.
Increase Law +1, Lore +1. Medium-sized and larger creatures treat the Settlement’s Crime and Society statistics as a penalty due to their difficulty in maneuvering or sneaking around in the miniature Settlement. Small or smaller creatures treat the Settlement’s Crime and Society statistics normally.
Strategic Location
The settlement sits at an important crossroads or alongside a deepwater port, or it serves as a barrier to a pass or bridge. (Economy +1; increase base value by 10%)
Subterranean
The settlement is primarily built underground, sheltering it from enemies but also isolating it culturally.
Increase Law +1; Decrease Lore -1, Danger -5.
Superstitious
The community has a deep and abiding fear of magic and the unexplained, but this fear has caused its citizens to become more supportive and loyal to each other and their settlement.
Increase Law and Society +2; Decrease Crime –4, Spellcasting by 2 levels.
Supportive
The settlement provides aid to its citizens. A number of programs provide food and shelter to he less fortunate. Everyone in the settlement is guaranteed at least two meals a day and a place to sleep with a roof over their head.
Increase Society +2.
Timid Citizens
Citizens are quiet and keep to themselves. Crimes often go unreported.
Increase Crime +2. Decrease Lore -2.
Therapeutic (3pp)
The settlement is known for its minor healing properties- medicinal hot springs, clean, invigorating mountain air, a plethora of locally grown healing herbs and fruits, or perhaps some divine blessing. Whatever the reason, hospitals, nurseries, retreats and sanitariums are common within the settlement.
Increase Economy +1 and Lore +1. Heal checks made within the settlement’s borders also receive the settlement’s Lore modifier if positive.
Trading Post (3pp)
The settlement’s primary purpose is trade.
Merchants and buyers from all over the world can be found within the settlement.
Double the Purchase Limit for the settlement.
Tourist Attraction
The settlement possesses some sort of landmark or event that draws visitors from far and wide.
Increase Economy +1; increase Base Value by 20%.
Unaging (3pp)
The settlement’s magical aura prevents those within its borders from aging. They do not suffer the ravages of time, and do not physically age. Usually, several kibbutz or schools near the settlement, but not within its borders are established, to allow the community’s children to age to adulthood before they take their unchanging place in the settlement’s immortal society.
Increase Lore +4, Decrease Society -3. Increase Spellcasting by +1 level, when casting spells of the necromancy school only.
Under-City (3pp)
The settlement is built atop a dangerous subterranean structure, filled with monsters and a haven for criminals and outcasts. This under-city might be a massive sewer system, disused railway or subway tunnels, ruined and forgotten basements or dungeons, or a nearby mine or natural cavern system, perhaps even one that descends miles beneath the earth.
Increase Lore +1, Danger +20.
Unholy Site (3pp)
The settlement serves as an unholy site for an evil god or philosophy. Worshipers of the evil deity flock to this settlement.
Increase Corruption +2. Increase Spellcasting by +2 levels.
Untamed (3pp)
The area around the settlement is still mostly untainted, unclaimed wilderness. This settlement may be a remote logging village, a trading post sprung up around a desert oasis or a small mountain keep, for instance.
When rolling for random encounters within the settlement, instead of using an urban random encounter chart solely, alternate between the urban encounter chart and the wilderness encounter chart (or chart) most appropriate to the surrounding terrain. The settlement’s Danger rating applies to both encounter charts.
Well Educated (3pp)
The settlement’s inhabitants are incredibly well educated and known for their sharp wits.
Increase Lore +1, Society +1.
Wealth Disparity
The wealthy and poor of this settlement are segregated. High wealth districts gain +2 lore but-2 society. Low wealtch areas gain +2 society but -2 lore. Some ares may be unchanged. The entire settlement gains +2 corruption.