What is needed in a town

[DeathLich]

I need to know what a large town (largest in the region) needs (like types of buildings, etc.). This town is in a desert-like (average temp is 90 degrees and it doesn't rain much) environment that is next to a freshwater, sea-sized lake that they call a sea. Also about 85% of the population in this town is halflings. Thanks in advance for any comments . Make the information in a list from most important to least important if you have the time, please. Thanks.

[Xandax]

In no specific order I'd say that there should be:

Townhall/Government Center.
Market.
Blacksmith (armour- and weaponsmiths)
Some taverns
Libary
An area for poor/slums people.
An area for wealthy people.
Thieves guild
Mages guild
Temple(s)
Large containers to hold water (possible out side town well-guarded with meeting spot for caravans) if water needs to be brought to the city or a good deal of wells. Possible aqueducts combining water source with distribution.

And at least one thing: NPCs - the city should be alive so remember the NPCs.

Some information from little ole me

[Volk]

Yea if theres one thing i cant stand its going into a citty and having the streets all to your party, i love it when people bump into you or theres a market in town for example.

No need to make all of the NPCs important but its a nice to have the feeling that you didnt just enter a ghost town and everyone refuses to leave their huts/homes/shops.

You also need to be specific about a few things, weather its a settlement, a small village or weather its a huge citty surounded by stone walls with guards posted at every entrance. Smaller villages will have a temple, a place of authority, blacksmith with a small selection of items, stables in case anyone in your party rides in our curent party we all use horses for travel, its just more realistic then walking 50 miles per day, a few taverns, and of course an Inn

To add onto Xandaxs list:

Baracks ( depending on the town of course )
Inn
Mercenary guild ( party gets hired to do quests for gold/exp/items, use thease in case you feel your party isnt strong enough to handle whats ahead, and the story could also continue from them as well)

[DeathLich]

Here is more info on my town

This town is the largest in the area. It does have a gigantic wall(wider,longer,and taller than the great wall of china) surrounding the city with many guard towers to the sea shore and along the entrance (the entrance is about as wide as two, maybe 3 houses. Its castle (which contains the barracks, kings quarters, town army, and a worshipping center/town hall). To the left of the castle is one bar, the library (very small and rarely used), halfling luxury hotel (place for rich guys), and the moneymaker of the town (aka: the grand fighting coliseum which is now under construction because the south wall fell in). Above the castle is all the purchasing areas of the town (weapon smith, clothes, shipyard*closed*, mounts, exotic items, custom items, potions, goods, etc.) and the lake/sea. To the right of the castle is low quality inn/resturant and the jail *secret mages gild is located under the jail*). Finally, below the castle is the civilian homes (place for scum and homes to much of the theives guild) and the entrance/exit to the town. Along the outside of the entrance is a monastary for the monks and non-yondalla worshippers to use (well guarded). Also im going to add some abandoned old temples (maybe new house of thieves guild), some wells next to the lake (freshwater lake), some trading posts (near entrance), and a couple of horse/mule renting areas for travel (near entrance). Also there wont be any mercinary guild because there is no spellcasting or use of weapons allowed in the town. If I need anything else or you need more information, then please post it here or send me a pm.

[boo's daddy]

With halflings, and that sort of heat, you might like to think about having them underground, either in rock tunnels or partially sunk like in star wars. Some sort of militia would probably be in evidence.

With a decent sized town you'd probably have quite specialised craftsmen, so fletchers, armourers, swordsmiths, cartwrights, etc, might all be separate. You'd also want different markets (perhaps in the same place but on different days) for different types of produce (food, livestock, textiles, etc) as well as stock yards, storage depots, customs posts, assayers (sp?) etc. You could throw in a bazaar of the bizarre where all manner of components, weird animals, unusual items etc. can be bought and sold.

Also stalls and eateries of all kinds, perhaps schools or nurseries, depending on what the culture you're creating is like; academies, alchemists, sages, animal trainers, liege-lord's army recruiting stations, graveyard, theatre, healers.

Oh, and any self-respecting town would have brothels of course.

[MikeCooper]

hmm the idea of having underground tunnels and such would fit the typical halfling. Have you ever checked out the Unearthed Arcana book, i believe they have stats for a varient halfling species that is found in the desert. Ahh w/e ill just type it out for ya

Desert Halflings
Desert halflings have all of the same racial traits given in chap2 of the player's hand book with the additions and the exceptions as noted below:
<0> +2 racial bonus on hide and slieght of hand checks, desert halflings and stealthy and nimble fingered
<0> No racial bonus of climb and jump checks

Ahh **** thats not very many changes... Well they are desert halflings nonetheless

good luck, i love making towns

[Magpie]

In order of importance:

1. Taverns
2. Town Hall
3. Casino (halflings love to gamble)
4. Market
5. Blacksmith
6. Inn
7. Houses