Laputan City Generator
Contrary to popular belief, there are many Laputas. The Laputans lived in giant flying cities that sailed above the landscape. These are ponderous vessels that might take an entire lifetime to migrate from one region of the globe to another. As they travel, they gather resources, take on new settlers, and form long term relationships with the peoples they pass.
These rules are heavily inspired by Tony Dowler's How to Host a Dungeon, though I'd say significantly divergent. Dowler's work is so concerned with the ground and its mineral contents, whereas this... is not.
For practical reasons for my current campaign, this generation process needs to end with a cataclysm. You, of course, could ignore that and just have the city floating around. The crisis could be looming on the horizon or something for the distant future.
Players in my bi-weekly Cairn game, maybe don't read this one for now. Significant spoilers ahead.
Setup
Gather a sheet of paper, a pencil, a d6, and two types of tokens (dice, coins, etc.). I'd suggest having an eraser on hand as well.
The city starts with a Gravity Drive (that keeps the city aloft) and two Residential Compartments (where people live). Draw these close to the center of the bottom half of your page.
Building
Additions to the city are called compartments. They must always be connected to another compartment.
When the Laputans build a new compartment, they prefer:
- to keep the city symmetrically balanced (i.e. arranged with an equal number of compartments on each side).
- to build in tiers, with each tier having less compartments than the one beneath.
- to retrofit damaged compartments first before adding new ones.
If it is ever ambiguous whether the Laputans should build up or out, roll a die or let the margins of your paper break the tie.
Tokens
As you work, you'll need to keep track of two kinds of tokens: people and treasures. Tokens must always be in an appropriate compartment. If the compartment a token is located in becomes damaged, that token is lost.
Generations
The history of a Laputan city goes back hundreds of years. Each generation perform the following procedure, in order: Expand, Travel, Build, Reflect.
I. Expand
Families grow and new settlers come aboard. Add 1 people to a residential compartment. If none are available, build a new one.
II. Travel
The city drifts to new territories. Roll d6 on the following table to determine what they find there.
If the result indicates a Battle, roll a d6:
- If the result is less than or equal to the total number of fortifications and hangars in the city, the Laputans win.
- If the result is greater, damage compartments equal to the excess. (E.g. on a roll of 4 versus 2 fortifications, damage 2 compartments).
| d6 | Region | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monstrous | The Laputans encounter a great titan that threatens the city. Battle. On a victory, add a treasure. If there is no suitable space for it, build a Treasury. |
| 2 | Grasslands | The Laputans establish farmsteads, returning their harvest to the city. Build a Granary. |
| 3 | Forests | The Laputans send loggers and naturalists. Build an Arboretum. |
| 4 | Ocean | The Laputans fish and perfect the design of their skimmers. Build a Hangar. |
| 5 | Mountains | The Laputans dig mines and craft arms and armor. Build a Fortification |
| 6 | Settled | The Laputans encounter a densely populated land of cities and towns. Roll a d6: On a 4+, relations are peaceful. You may trade a treasure to take an extra Build action this generation. On a 3-, relations are hostile. Battle. On a victory, add a treasure. If there is no suitable space for it, build a Treasury. |
III. Build
The Laputans build a great work. Each may only be built once. Count your total people and look up the result on the following table. If all the entries at a current value have already been built, build a previous item (if possible).
| People | Construction |
|---|---|
| 2 | Tomb. Add a treasure here that the Laputans will never trade. |
| 3 | Agora. Add a treasure here. |
| 4 | Dry Dock. Counts as a hangar. |
| 5 | Academy. Next time you build, you may add or subtract 1 from your people for the purposes of selecting a building. |
| 5 | Reactor. Allows you to build powered constructions. |
| 5 | Golem Manufactory. Allows you to build golemantic constructions. |
| 5 | Citadel. Counts as a fortification. |
| 6 | Minor Wonder. E.g. a huge statue, library, theater, or throne room. Add a treasure here. |
| 7 | Furnace. Build twice as many compartments from travelling. |
| 8 | Reservoir or Bridge. Cannot be built on top of. |
| 9 | Weather Engine. Counts as a fortification. |
| 10 | Ascension. Draw a monument or temple. The Gravity Drive and the Laputans disappear. The city crashes. |
Powered Constructions
| People | Construction |
|---|---|
| 6 | Floating District. Connected by a bridge. Ignore symmetry preferences when placing. Counts as a hangar. |
| 7 | Great Beacon. You may reroll the Travel die. |
| 9 | Impossible Engine. Build another construction of your choice. |
| 10 | Reactor Meltdown. Draw destruction and waste. The city crashes. |
Golemantic Constructions
| People | Construction |
|---|---|
| 6 | Golem Hangar. Counts as a hangar. |
| 7 | Inference Engine. Next time you build, you may add or subtract 1 from your people for the purposes of selecting a building. |
| 9 | Doom Weapon. Automatically achieve victory in the next battle. |
| 10 | Civil War. Draw a battlefield. The city crashes. |
IV. Reflect
On a separate sheet of paper, make a note of what happened this generation. How will these event influence the city going forward? If the city gained a treasure, what is it? If the city gained a people, who are they? How does the material culture of the Laputans - the stuff they make and the stuff they make it out of - reflect these changes?
Next Steps
If you want to use this as an adventuring site, you'll need to resolve the crash. My current plan is to treat the top two layers as surface level ruins, scattered across the surface. Imagine if you pushed the top of a wedding cake horizontally. The rest is now subterranean or so overgrown as to be close to it. For convenience, I am not going to worry too much about rotation or tumbling that might have occurred on impact.
Every treasure is now a hoard - a stash of significant treasure or magical artifacts. Generate those or invent them as you see fit. As monsters or factions enter the dungeon, they are particularly likely to claim fortifications as their lairs.
If you wanted to feed this back into How to Host a Dungeon, I would consider superimposing it onto a ground surface generated per their rules (p2). You can then pick up in the "Age of Monsters." Your dungeon may be slightly treasure-light, but I don't think it significantly effects that results.