Creating a Medieval Manor: Part II (Filling out the Settlements)

Table 1: Settlement Size

Settlement	Families	Notes
Thorpe	Fewer than 20	Administered by a nearby Village of the same Manor
Village	20-1,000	Temple, maybe an Inn/Tavern, definitely a pub
Town	1,000-8,000	Temples, Inns/Taverns. Usually fortified above 2,000
City	8,000-12,000	Fortified. All building types are possible
Big City	12,000+	Fortified, may have equal to a town outside the fortifications

Initially we intended to relate how we create villages and thorpe maps but our own system is more than a little complicated and the illustrations required to make sense of it all are beyond us so we decided to scuttle the idea in favor of actual village maps which will probably be more readily useful for most GMs.

What types of buildings in the Thorpe
A thorpe will primarily be peasant hovels with the chance of a Public House. Peasant life is rough and they like to drink a lot, and most can't/won't afford tavern rates so pubs developed. In this context a pub is simply a normal peasant hovel dedicated to serving ale or small beer to the locals. Most locals brew their own ale or small beer and will provide the latest batch to the pub for distribution/sale when ready (presumably the provider drinks free for the duration of their batch). It's all very friendly if everyone knows your name, less so for strangers. 

Table 2: Is there a pub?

1d8	Well do they?
01-07	Yes
08	No

In case it becomes necessary to know what the owner of each peasant hovel does we have table 3.

Table 3: Occupants Occupations

Thorpe	Village	What do they do?
01	--	Hunter
02-08	01	Shepard (swine/sheep/goats)
09-10	02-09	Farmer
11	10	Laborer/Jack-of-all-trades
12	11-12	Special (works in mill/manor/temple/illegal

What type of buildings in a village center
The 'center' of larger villages may develop the buildings on Table 4. Roll 1d6 and roll that many times on Table 4 to determine the buildings in the village center. Any remaining buildings will be regular peasant hovels.

Table 4: Urban Center Buildings

Square/Green	Main Street	Building
01-06	01-08	Townhomes
07	--	All Guild Hall
08-09	09	Tavern
10	--	Inn
11	10	Den of iniquity, thieves guild, smugglers hangout, rebels, cult, etc. Roll again to find out what type of building fronts the operation

Oh, and don't forget to name things such as taverns and inns. If you run out of name ideas you can use something like the tavern name generator.