Ultimate Settlement Guide

Example Settlement

Kephas

STEP One

Draw the Terrain

Before we can determine where our settlement boundaries are, we have to lay out the surrounding areas (i.e. terrain, landmarks, neighbouring communities). Once those are in place, we can sketch out the boundaries of our settlement. If the settlement you’re creating has defenses, such as walls, we’ll be sketching those in now too.

First, sketch out the terrain that you decided on in part I.

For my example settlement, I chose a valley, with a river running through it. There’s an island in the middle of the river that I plan to base the settlement around. To the north there will be forests and a mountain pass. The river itself will meander through the valley from east to west.

Here’s what I came up with.

STEP Two

Mark Landmarks and Neighbours

I’ve included two neighbouring communities. One neighbour is to the North by the mountain pass and one is to the West, downriver. To the north is a mountain pass and forest, while the southern mountains lie below. There also is a hostile settlement south of the river, several days ride away. There’s a significant landmark that my settlement is built around (“The Balancing Rocks”) which I’ve marked on the river island.

1. Balancing Rocks
2. Western Neighbour
3. Northern Neighbour

STEP THree

Town Boundaries, Entrances, and Defenses

With the landmarks in place, it’s time to sketch my settlement’s boundaries. Because of the importance in of the Balancing Rocks to my settlement, it’s going to be situated close to the river island. I’ve decided to put my settlement on the North side of the river as means of defense from the hostile neighbours to the south. I am putting wooden walls around my settlement, so I’ve drawn in the walls after I sketch out the boundaries and mark the four three entrances (North, East, and West). There will also be gatehouses at each entrance, so I’ve drawn those in too.

STEP Four

Draw Primary Roads

Now that we’ve got our terrain, landmarks, and boundaries sketched out, we can place our roads. While you can place your roads anywhere and in any formation that you see fit, there are some basic rules of thumb that you can use to make the process easy on yourself. These rules are as follows:

• Main roads connect your entrances, in more or less of a straight path.
• Main roads extend from your entrances towards neighboring communities or landmarks (e.g. mountain pass)
• Roads tend to follow natural lines in terrain (e.g. along a river)
• A perimeter road lies around the inside of your settlement’s boundaries; this can be a physical road or merely an imaginary boundary where secondary roads end
• Secondary roads divide your settlement from the perimeter and the main roads, often in a orderly fashion (e.g. blocks)

When sketching roads, I start by drawing the main roads connecting the entrances. An easy example is a settlement with four entrances (north, south, east, and west). This settlement would likely have two main roads connecting from North to South and East to West with a crossroads somewhere towards the center of the settlement.

In my settlement example, there are three entrances. I start by drawing the two main roads that connect near the center of the settlement using dotted lines.

STEP Five

Draw Perimeter Road (Optional)

Second, we’ll decide whether we want dedicated perimeter road or simply use the perimeter as a boundary for secondary roads. I am a fan of perimeter roads in walled cities, however, I typically set them far enough from the walls to allow for buildings to be placed between the perimeter road and the walls. If you want a perimeter road, sketch it in.

In my settlement example, I decided that I wanted a perimeter road that ran along the walls of the city and drew that in.

STEP Six

Draw Secondary Roads

Third, we’ll mark the blocks that we want to divide the settlement into by sketching secondary roads connecting the main roads to the perimeter. If no real perimeter road, just end the secondary roads at the perimeter.

In my settlement example, I decided to break it down into a grid of 4 * 4 using the shape of the river to allow my roads to curve and provide some variation.

STEP Seven

Continue Primary Roads

Fourth, once I’m satisfied with the settlement roads, I draw the continuation of the main roads out of the settlement towards the marked landmarks. If a neighbouring settlement is friendly and a trade partner, there is most certainly a main road that connects my settlement to theirs. If there are hostile settlements the roadways may intentionally avoid them, or additional defenses may be added along the roads.

In my settlement example, I knew that there would be main roads to my neighbouring allied settlements on the North side of the river. Due to the significance of the northern mountain pass the main road was extended north. I also decided to place the agricultural region that supports my settlement on the south side of the river, so I drew in a bridge and extended the road south. My whole settlement concept is built around this idea of the “Balancing Rocks” on the river island – so I also drew in a bridge from the city walls to the island to provide access to the sacred site.

STEP Eight

Sketch In Significant Buildings

With our roads now in place, it’s time for us to start placing some buildings. It’s important to start with the larger, more significant buildings in your settlement before you populate the streets with housing. If you start with houses, you may not have space for all of the bigger buildings that you want to place, or you may force yourself to put a building in less than ideal spot. There’s no hard or fast rule to what makes a building significant, however, I’d consider any building that you care about the location of or the layout of. If the building could be placed anywhere in the settlement and still fit your narrative, it’s probably not significant.

In my settlement example, I knew that the theocratic government would require a large temple to operate out of. I also knew that I wanted there to be a large open area for the citizens to crowd while the temple held court. Because of this, I decided to place the marketplace at the foot of the temple, instead of in a more central location. For determining where to place the temple, I chose the one location where water was on all sides, providing the most protection to the temple itself.

Step Nine

Sketch In Buildings

With your significant buildings placed, we’re now free to go ahead and draw the rest of the buildings that you want in place. When drawing houses, I tend to alternate between a set number of different sizes and shapes and when applicable, shape the buildings layout to the roads. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, so feel free to sketch your layouts in pencil first and commit to ink when you’re satisfied.

It’s important to note, the building list we came up with in part I is still relevant here, however, we’re not as worried about going in and placing every building individually. Instead, I like to group together buildings that make sense (e.g. all the shops) and pick a section or block of the map to place those buildings in. How you determine what building is what is really up to you – most of the time, I’m simply just drawing boxes and assigning what shop goes where after, when it’s more relevant to the story.

In my settlement example, I started by labelling my blocks A through L.

Then, I took it block by block, starting nearest to the temple. I knew that I wanted my shops to be placed close to the marketplace, so block A was reserved for shops. After that, I wanted to have the elite of the settlement close to the temple, reserving blocks D and B for housing of the upper class. Block C was left for additional buildings that could be used for the temple (e.g. food stores) or additional shops. Next, I determined where the inns and taverns should be located – near the entrances (blocks G, I, and L).The rest of the blocks will be used for general purpose and housing. I also remembered the agricultural industry that needed to be drawn in south of the river (marked by fields and a few buildings).

Here’s what I came up with.