''City System'' is an accessory for the '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. It was written by Jeff Grubb and

Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold ...

, and published in 1988 by TSR. It includes extensive and detailed maps of the city of Waterdeep, and was intended to serve as a companion to ''

Waterdeep and the North ''Waterdeep and the North'' (product code FR1) is an accessory for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting ''Forgotten Realms''. It was written by Ed Greenwood and published by TSR in 1987. Contents ''Waterdeep and the North'' describes t ...

''. The sheer expanse of the maps drew praise from Ken Rolston of ''Dragon'' magazine, although he criticized their lack of personality and utility.

''City System'' contains ten large detailed color maps of the city of Waterdeep, with another map of the entire city, and another of the Castle Waterdeep interior. The set includes fold-out maps, a booklet of essays, and presents a large city through numerous charts and tables. Ten of the twelve full-color fold-out maps fit together to depict a vast maze of streets, alleys, and rooftops, with over 200 numbered-keyed locations. The floor diagrams shown on the maps for some of the more notable locations are filled with schematic icons for tables, fireplaces, beds, trunks, barrels, lumber, and other standard features.

Publication history

''City System'' was written by Jeff Grubb and

, with a cover by

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

, and maps by

Dennis Kauth Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...

and Frey Graphics. It was published by TSR in 1988 as a

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with a 32-page booklet and 12 large color maps. The set includes full-color 22" × 34" maps. ''City System'' is intended to be a companion to ''

''.

Reception

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join th ...

reviewed ''City System'' for ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' magazine #156 (April 1990). He thought the title misleading, as it is not a system for designing or presenting fantasy role-playing cities: "If you're looking for guidance and support in designing and developing your own FRPG city settings, or for a stand-alone FRPG urban adventuring supplement, this is of no use to you." According to Rolston, the fold-out maps are "lovely" and the booklet with essays is useful, although the essays would have been more appropriately included in ''

'', and the charts and tables are "of dubious utility". Rolston wrote that "the Waterdeep urban setting is more sprawling and less cohesive than the Greyhawk setting, and is somewhat less persuasive as a theater for real role-playing action". However, the sheer expanse of Waterdeep is "impressive, and the 12 full-color fold-out maps in ''City System'' are equally impressive", although "not particularly interesting, useful, or expressive of the setting", and "the Waterdeep birds-eye view hasn't got very much personality and isn’t so readily cross-referenced to keyed locations". Rolston concluded that anyone who owned and enjoyed ''Waterdeep and the North'' "ought to have this set; it’s not an inspirational model of game design, but the maps are big and colorful, and might be useful for Waterdeep campaigning". To those who want to run urban adventures in the Forgotten Realms and must choose between ''Waterdeep and the North'' and the more expensive ''City System'', he said: "by all means the former is the better deal, and all you really need; ''City System'' is only a big, colorful, and unnecessary secondary accessory to ''Waterdeep and the North''". Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book ''Heroic Worlds'', writes that the ten city maps, when combined, "can cover an entire wall".

References

{{D&D topics Forgotten Realms sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1988