The City deck contains cards for creating a city full of excitement and adventure. Cities are defined as neighborhoods connected by power dynamics, and represented by strong personalities.
Two neighborhoods are connected via artistic expression. One may house artists who draw inspiration or receive funding from the other. Artists of different traditions may cross-train, creating a new and unique tradition.
Two neighborhoods are connected via artistic expression. One's artists may be exploited by patrons from the other, or the artists are improperly borrowing from a neighboring culture. Two neighborhoods may have competing cultural and artistic traditions.
Two neighborhoods are connected via criminal activity, from petty theft and pickpocketing to smuggling to murder. Organized crime cartels, thieves' guilds, etc. from one neighborhood may prey on the other. Or legitimate business in one is being propped up by criminal activity in the other.
Two neighborhoods are connected via criminal activity, From petty theft and pickpocketing to smuggling to murder. Gang wars between rival factions, a single criminal mastermind, or open corruption are all possibilities.
People from one neighborhood buy or sell goods and services to the other. Advertising, word of mouth, or tradition might entice new visitors. Supply and demand are roughly balanced, or the market is adaptable enough to cope when they aren't.
People from one neighborhood in the dynamic buy or sell goods and services to the other. Market prices are volatile, or there may be an imbalance in supply vs. demand.
Two neighborhoods interact through arcane goods and services. One may supply the other's needs, or contain a natural source for something vital or valuable. Or both may contribute ingredients to complete a final thing.
Two neighborhoods interact through arcane goods and services. Although one needs what the other has, the exchange is threatened by mistrust, scarcity, or the volatility of the materials and processes themselves.
Two neighborhoods are connected by something happening outside the city. This could be immigration, trade, religious or political action, cultural trends, or something else.
Two neighborhoods are connected by something happening outside the city. Whether people, things, or trends, life in the neighborhoods is being shaken up by it.
Two neighborhoods are connected by the production of goods. One may supply workers and/or raw materials for the other, one may buy what the other makes, or the two may cooperate in other ways.
Two neighborhoods are connected by the production of goods. Labor disputes, material shortages, sabotage, or technological progress can all make that process unstable.
Two neighborhoods interact via power, influence, and leadership. There is a long-standing arrangement or entrenched leadership keeping things stable. Enough people, or the right people, like things as they are and work to keep it that way.
Two neighborhoods interact via influence, and leadership. One might dominate another, depend on another for legitimacy, or prioritize or ignore the other. When the corrupt edifice falls, who will be beneath it when it finally falls?
Two neighborhoods play off each other via fashion or pop culture. The trends of the moment may shift between the two, or the tension between them may be what creates the magic. The results are disseminated through parties, performances, and gossip.
Two neighborhoods play off each other via fashion or pop culture. One may be trying to crush the other's creative efforts, or upstage the other in increasingly desperate ways. The results may be soulless, gaudy, or seen as needlessly aggressive.
A Boulevard is where the city's artistic and aesthetic offerings connect with individual citizens. Shops, eateries, arcades, and more offer visitors chances to spend money and time. A variety of sights, sounds, and smells attracts both tourists and locals.
A Boulevard is where the city's artistic and aesthetic offerings connect with individual citizens. Right now, people aren't there. Whether it's fallen from former glories, or nurturing an unblossomed seed of new ambition, it's not giving people a reason to come.
A Harbor is the home of trade and travel. It is a visitor's introduction to the city, and the city's commercial blood and breath.
A Harbor is the home of trade and travel, to and from the city. It is often the last sight a regretful traveler sees before leaving. Commercial transports - caravans, trains, or zeppelins - are run down, neglected, or underutilized.
The Marketplace is the commercial core of the city. It might include a rowdy labyrinth of vendors hawking their wares, a smoke-smothered block of forges and anvils where blacksmiths arm the soldiery, or warehouses full of grain or rice.
The Marketplace is the commercial core of the city. The vendors may be few and far between, the fires of the forge may lie extinguished, and farmers' crops may rot in warehouses - or be taken away at insultingly low prices.
The Sanctuary is a city within the city. It might be a walled-off enclave, a culturally distinct community, a gentrified neighborhood, a historical relic, or something else. Its shops, home, and infrastructure are self-sufficient, and aesthetically or culturally unique.
The Sanctuary is a city within the city. It might be an isolated enclave, a brow-beaten borough, a place to abandon the unwanted, or something else. A sanctuary can barely sustain its residents, whether due to lack of goods or intentional deprivation.
The Temple is devoted to the spiritual and religious elements of the city and its inhabitants. It might be a single colossal church, a network of holy places for every faith, or tiny shrines to tiny gods scattered across the city.
The Temple is devoted to the spiritual and religious elements of the city and its inhabitants. It might be a disgraced or amoral mega-church, a collection of squabbling rival churches, or the remnants of an older and forgotten belief system.
The Underground is what people don't see about the city. It might be literally underground, like sewers or burial chambers, or just necessary but boring infrastructure like aqueducts.
The Underground is what people don't want to see about the city. It is the filthy waterways and skull-strewn tombs. It has been abandoned or is being misused, and may be dangerous due to its inhabitants or simple neglect.
Uptown is the city's crown. It is home to the elite, including skilled creators, wealthy merchants, influential politicians, and beloved performers. Visitors might beseech an Uptown resident to fund their ventures, or seek their attention for some new idea or creation.
Uptown is the city's fallen crown. Bourgeoisie merchants with pretentions to greatness, shabby aristocrats fallen from favor, or forgotten influencers might all be found here, hunting for real power or comforting delusions.
The Warren is the hidden heart of the city. It is an organic tangle of alleyways, residences, nameless shops, side streets, historical buildings, and more. The things that make the city unique emerge from here unannounced.
The Warren is the hidden heart of the city. It is an impenetrable maze of dark alleys, boarded-up shops, narrow streets, ancient graveyards, and more. It is the city's secret suffering.
The Activist longs for change and represents those who feel likewise. They may use rhetoric, influence-peddling, money, or direct action to achieve their aims. Whatever their goal, it now seems to be in reach.
The Activist longs for change and represents those who feel likewise. They may use rhetoric, influence-peddling, money, or direct action to achieve their aims. Although driven, they are unsuccessful and desperate.
The Factotum is not a leader, but serves those who do. They handle the complexities of day-to-day business. They hold the keys to the doors of power, and may unlock them for the right querent.
The Factotum is not a leader, but serves those who do. They struggle with complexities of day-to-day business. Their inexperience, their patron's incompetence, or a heavy workload all weigh them down.
The Hardliner upholds the de facto or de jure state of affairs. They resist change, whether from hard experience, stubbornness, or selfishness. They are likely to prevail against uncoordinated efforts at reform.
The Hardliner upholds the de facto or de jure state of affairs. They resist change, whether from hard experience, stubbornness, or selfishness. With reform looking likely, they fight even harder to hold onto their diminishing status.
The Mediator tries to negotiate between competing factions or ideologies. Doing so depends on good relations within each group. Right now they're able to strike effective bargains, achieving meaningful change rather than mere calm.
The Mediator tries to negotiate between competing factions or ideologies. Doing so depends on good relations within each group. Those relations may be threatened, the groups may refuse to budge, or the Mediator has settled for a facade of peace rather than progress.
The Newcomer is unfamiliar with the city and their place in it. They may be a new ruler, an important visitor, or the heir to a fortune or legacy and now returning to inherit. For now, those around them are helping them adjust.
The Newcomer is unfamiliar with the city and their place in it. They may be a new ruler, an important visitor, or the heir to a fortune or legacy and now returning to inherit. Alas, those around them do not have their best interests at heart.
The Plotter wishes to exploit conditions for some private goal. They might be corrupt officials, influence-peddlers, or blackmailers. Whether their goals are selfish or selfless, they seem likely to succeed.
The Plotter wishes to exploit conditions for some private goal. They might be corrupt officials, influence-peddlers, or blackmailers. They are hunted, on the verge of exposure, using their remaining tools to survive.
The Scion is the beneficiary of long city tradition. They may come from noble stock or long-hoarded wealth, hold an old and honored name, or hold significant land or relics. They seem well-liked and happy in their position.
The Scion is the beneficiary of long city tradition. The may come from once-honored aristocratic stock, inherit ill-gotten gains, or live in the shadow of whispered accusations and dark secrets about their bloodline.
The Turncoat betrayed someone or something else, and that betrayal will always hang over their head. They have secured a place for themselves, but those who know may still remember, and watch.
The Turncoat betrayed someone or something else, and that betrayal will always hang over their head. They now suffer for their transgression, however right or wrong it was, and scheme or hope for a return to power.