City Sites - TSR, Deaden Sound

Yesterday I wrote about Castle Sites. Today I will put together a  few words about the first in the Sites series from TSR. City Sites  was released by TSR in 1994 under the Second Edition. It describes  different locations within a city that the DM can use within their  campaign. This is not a city in and of itself but locations in a  city.

Castle Sites from yesterday is a product that I mentioned had  varied layers of ease of use. Some of the locations it had would  be much easier for the DM to use than others. City Sites has much  less of an issue where the locations might be hard for the DM to  use. The limitation in this case will be the size of the city the  DM is trying to use them in. As long as they are used in what  would be classified as a city then all could be used with little  change.

As one might expect the number of locations presented in City  Sites are more than what were presented in Castle Sites. There are  a total of thirteen different locations described in City Sites.  The locations are broken down into two types. The first are public  locations and the second are business. The Public Locations  section has five entries and the Businesses section has eight.

All of the locations described in the book provide the DM with a  map that provides them with the layout of the establishment or  building. This even more so than the actual described area will be  a boon to the time stretched, creatively challenged or even just  lazy DM. The maps can even be recycled for later use in other  locations because very few players bother to map shops and city  buildings.

There will perhaps be an obvious comparison to this product and  the City Book products from Flying Buffalo. The comparison isn't  really comparing apples to oranges but it comes close. The  offerings in this book are much more detailed and come closer to  being encounters in my mind. The offerings in City Book and the  later offerings are painted with much broader strokes, In the end  I am much more likely to steal maps from this book or use it as a  single shot and I am much more likely to look at City Book for  inspiration and also for fun reading. All that said both serve a  well defined purpose and a DM could not be hurt by having both.

From the back cover:

"Come to the city and take a look around!

City Sites, the first in a series of AD&D game floorplans,  includes extensive details on urban settings that player  characters are likely to visit in any campaign. For instance,  there's:
* A smithy run by gnomes
* A temple that's home to an orphaned dragon
* A tavern that patrons can't enter until they give the password

This book also describes two inns, a singing fountain, a jail, and  much more!

Each site's entry tells the Dungeon Master what the place looks  like at first glance and offers a detailed floorplan of the  interior as well as a picture of the exterior. Readers also find  fascinating notes about the characters who live and work in each  site, and one or two ideas for personalizing the spot to suit any  adventure.

From now on, make a trip to the city easy - and exciting!

Also in this series of accessories: Castle Sites and Country  Sites."


Spell:

Deaden Sound

Level: First
Range: 3"
Duration: 1 Turn + 1 Round/Level
Ares of Effect: Special
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 4 Segments
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast the magic user causes the sound caused by a  person or creature to be deadened. This will allow the affected to  move and operate with little chance of being detected because of  the sounds that they might be making.

Recipients of the spell must be willing. If they are not the spell  will not have any affect on them. The caster will be able to  target who the spell will affect. The spell will affect a number  of creatures based on the level of the caster. The caster can  affect themselves and then one other target for every level of  experience they have.

This spell does not have the same effect as a Silence spell as  that prevents all sound in the area of effect. This spell causes  the sounds from the affected or anything they had on them for any  part of a round to not cause any sound. Sounds from others or  things can still be heard. Since this affects individuals it will  move as they move and not be a static area of effect.

Items on the affected will not produce or cause sound either. A  toll or weapon dropped on the ground will produce no sound  provided it was in the possession of the affected for part of the  round. This spell will have the side effect of limiting audible  communication between affected individuals. The effect will also  prevent the casting of spells with a vocal component. Affected  individuals can drop the effect at will at any point.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the  write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the  80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other  than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be  slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of  spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on  me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please  let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.