Fantasy TTRPG City Generator

Want to create a unique and memorable city for your tabletop campaign? Simply roll on these 3 massive tables to instantly generate an idea for your next RPG settlement. This works for D&D, Pathfinder, or whatever fantasy RPG you're playing. If you’ve already figured out the narrative hook, the location, or the aesthetic of your next city, just skip the relevant table and use the other two to flesh out the city. For added chaos, roll multiple times for additional complexity.

Note that these tables are geared toward fantasy settings. You could roll for inspiration for more modern or futuristic campaign worlds, but you'll probably need to tweak some details. 

d100 Narrative Hooks for a TTRPG City

1. Benevolent bandits rule the city.
2. A serial killer stalks the streets at night.
3. The citizens worship a God but do not realize that their God walks amongst them.
4. An eternal flame burns at the city’s center.
5. The city’s coffers overflow with cursed gemstones.
6. Great heroes defend the city against legendary monsters.
7. Trade makes the city rich and cosmopolitan.
8. The city is infamous for disgusting food and drink.
9. An incurable plague grips the city.
10. Intelligent cats outnumber the humanoid citizens 10-to-1.
11. A magnificent machine whirs in the city center, but no one knows what it does.
12. Bones of a leviathan are scattered around the city.
13. No one who enters ever leaves.
14. Magnificent factories produce arcane ships, carriages, or dirigibles.
15. The city is spoken of in legend, but it is a shell of its former self. 
16. Half of all doors are sealed with wax.
17. Once a month, epic storms batter the city. 
18. Dueling wizards compete for control of the city.
19. Anyone born in the city gains mysterious powers.
20. Time in the outside world does not pass while one is in the city.
21. A great library holds secret knowledge.
22. The city’s banks are central to the world’s economy. 
23. The citizens ride dragons.
24. The city holds the world’s premier school for mages, bards, or warriors.
25. Constables rule the city with an iron grip.
26. A unique festival is held every single day.
27. Worship of any deity is strictly forbidden.
28. The city’s lone goblin is inexplicably the acting mayor. 
29. No one knows the history of the city, who built it, or why.
30. The city is far more technologically advanced than nearby settlements.
31. The city is far less technologically advanced than nearby settlements.
32. Poisonous plants grow out of every unpaved surface.
33. There is a grand castle at the city’s center, but no one ever steps inside.
34. Impenetrable fortifications surround the city. 
35. A cabal of cannibals holds unusual sway in local politics.
36. Expressing affection in any capacity is a punishable offense.
37. All children are raised to be warriors.
38. The buildings are temporary, as the residents don’t plan on staying.
39. The city has recently been conquered by an invading force.
40. The corrupt rulers were recently overthrown.
41. A great beast visits once a year and demands sacrifices.
42. Nature has reclaimed the city, and only wildfolk remain.
43. The city has always remained fiercely independent from neighboring powers.
44. The city’s “immortal” ruler is actually a series of clones or doppelgangers.
45. The city is inhabited by an ancient race long thought extinct.
46. Famine grips the city; it will soon be completely out of food.
47. Raiders are coming, and the city’s defenses are not yet ready. 
48. A magic obelisk bleeds otherworldly energy.
49. The city’s legendary protectors have disappeared.
50. Tourists flock to the city for vacation.
51. Pilgrims come to the city to worship.
52. The rulers say the city is protected by a magical artifact, but they are lying.
53. The streets are filled with refuse and debris that no one will clean.
54. Laborers have seized control of the city’s government.
55. The city is controlled by a minority population (elves, dwarves, goblins, or some such).
56. The residents do not speak. 
57. When the party arrives, they are inexplicably treated like celebrities.
58. The city’s infrastructure is made of pure gold. 
59. A legendary forge produces epic weapons and armor.
60. There are no adults in the city.
61. Smoke, fog, or arcane mist suffuses the city.
62. Beasts of burden crowd the streets.
63. An ancient prophecy suggests the city will be destroyed this year.
64. People trek to this city to consult with a friendly sage.
65. The citizens have untold riches, but nothing can make them happy.
66. Arcane masons build precarious towers ever taller.
67. The citizens remain ignorant of basic facts of the outside world.
68. The dead linger as specters, zombies, or reincarnated souls.
69. The city’s military plans to annex surrounding lands. 
70. The citizens are recovering from a once-in-a-lifetime weather event.
71. The city is mostly empty as many citizens recently migrated elsewhere.
72. A royal wedding has drawn elites from across the land.
73. Ongoing protests threaten to tear the city apart.
74. A great wall bisects the city.
75. Only women are allowed to wield weapons or occupy seats of power.
76. An overlooked shrine holds great significance to people from a distant land.
77. The people value the arts above all else, ignoring their other needs.
78. The citizens are blamed for a cataclysm that struck neighboring settlements.
79. Lycanthropy, vampirism, or possession is more common than it seems.
80. A complex feudal code stratifies the citizens.
81. Commonfolk know nothing of the city’s rulers but adore them unconditionally.
82. An enemy army has laid siege to the city for over a year.
83. Assassins are available for hire at a worryingly low price.
84. The city’s mages are the only spellcasters capable of wielding some particular magic.
85. The entire city is one massive, labyrinthine castle. 
86. Merchants sell curatives that seem too good to be true.
87. The city is built with mysterious stone that couldn’t have been quarried nearby.
88. Half of the city is overrun with monsters who won’t long remain contained.
89. The city was only recently built by a displaced people.
90. An arcane prison holds a chained demon, angel, or elemental.
91. A coliseum draws combatants from across the land.
92. Dozens of statues contain trapped souls of mysterious origin.
93. The city’s economy is in shambles after leaders signed exploitative trade deals.
94. Blood is the sole accepted medium of exchange. 
95. The clergy are weaving curses at the behest of some foreign power.
96. Authorities want to ban a local tinkerer’s new invention.
97. The city is home to legendary hunters, anglers, or trappers. 
98. The city is the world’s leading exporter of some foodstuff or industrial input.
99. Inquisitors from the capital have arrived to question the citizens.
100. The city is filled with traps meant to ensnare unsuspecting travelers.

d100 Locations for a TTRPG City

1. In a verdant valley
2. Astride a river
3. In the middle of a river
4. On a snowy mountaintop
5. In a dry canyon
6. On the edge of a cliff
7. In a desert
8. On the shore of a lake
9. In a nasty bog or fen
10. On a tropical island
11. On a bridge
12. Next to a massive cemetery
13. In a subtropical savanna
14. Surrounding a pleasant lake or pond
15. In harsh, dry highlands
16. Along rolling hills
17. Up in the forest canopy
18. In a jungle / rainforest
19. Atop a mesa
20. Carved into the hillside
21. In a muddy crater
22. On both sides of a narrow ravine
23. In fields of colorful flowers
24. On a tropical beach
25. In a bayou
26. On a narrow isthmus
27. Along a thriving thoroughfare
28. In dangerous badlands
29. At the foot of a mountain
30. Halfway up a craggy peak
31. Where two rivers meet
32. At a busy crossroads
33. Where the river meets the sea
34. On a defensible bay
35. At the foot of a colossal dam
36. On a series of tiny islands
37. Along the rim of a caldera
38. On a sandy barrier island
39. In a gloomy grotto
40. On the only hill for dozens of miles
41. Next to a desert oasis
42. In the frigid tundra
43. Next to a frozen lake
44. Next to a waterfall
45. In an abandoned mine 
46. In a droughted plain
47. Alongside a canal
48. In an extremely shallow lake bed
49. Astride terraced farms
50. Atop the ruins of a former city
51. Carved into a massive tree
52. On the shore of an infinite ocean
53. In a withering dell
54. On a sun-scorched peak
55. On windswept seaside bluffs
56. In an enchanted forest
57. In a cursed moor
58. On shrinking ice floes in a warming sea
59. Underground
60. In a dried up lake bed
61. In a glade at the heart of a massive forest
62. In the midst of strange, stony pillars
63. Surrounding a magical monolith
64. In trenches carved in centuries past
65. In the sewers / bowels of a larger city
66. On the moon
67. At the convergence of lines of magical power
68. In a dark and infinite void
69. On an asteroid
70. On the side of a volcano
71. Hidden behind a magical veil
72. In a grove of crystals
73. On a sinking island
74. Aboard a flotilla of ships at sea
75. In the skeleton of a dead beast
76. Atop a leviathan / wandering titan
77. At the edge of the world
78. In a shadowy dimension
79. Hanging from the roof of a giant cave
80. Where a blessed forest once grew
81. Atop a dense labyrinth
82. In the path of a glacier
83. Amidst hot springs
84. On the only stable ground between lava flows
85. Atop gargantuan lily pads
86. Inside a child’s dollhouse
87. In a pocket dimension
88. In a forest of eternal autumn
89. Built into an abandoned temple
90. Underwater
91. Floating in the sky
92. Inside an ancient machine
93. In the dream of a dying God
94. Inside a glass dome
95. In the Feywild / fairytale land / elven dimension
96. In a hellish dimension
97. In literal heaven
98. In some non-Euclidean, M.C. Escher-style dimension
99. In a God’s divine realm
100. Outside time and space

d30 Aesthetic or Tonal Inspirations

1. Antiquity / Ancient Roman
2. Circusy
3. Cozy Fantasy
4. Dieselpunk
5. Dystopian
6. Early medieval European
7. Eldritch / maddening
8. Elegant and elven
9. Epic, heroic, Godly
10. Faded glory fantasy (à la Dark Souls)
11. Fae / fairytale
12. Feudal Japanese
13. Film noir
14. Folk horror
15. Gothic horror
16. Grimdark
17. Magical utopian
18. Ornate and majestic
19. Painterly, idyllic, Ghibli-esque
20. Polychromatic dreamland / psychedelic
21. Post-apocalyptic
22. Renaissance European
23. Somber and moody
24. Stark and minimal
25. Steampunk
26. Surreal, eerie, Lynchian (à la Twin Peaks)
27. Victorian
28. Viking / Norse
29. Wild West / Frontier
30. Whimsical Alpine