Settling the Issue of Settlements III

In Which the Actual Writing of the Article is Discussed

It's one thing to craft your settlement; it's quite another to write about it. The information you want to pass on to your reader needs to be clear, concise, and informative. It's all too easy to share too much-or not enough- information, and leave the reader wanting. What I have here is a Settlement template to walk you through what information is most important to your readers, and how to best share it.

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The most important is your Abstract; that's this bit right at the top here. Written in the generic vignette, this is your reader's introduction to your settlement. Quotes, artistic descriptions and the most basic information about your settlement belong here. If your player has 30 seconds to read about your settlement, this is where they look. It should be no more than a couple paragraphs; the details belong in the segments below. Remember that you can use as many or as few of them as you like, and mix to your heart's content.
This is also the part I mention the Tone of your page; is this written from the perspective of an objective Wikipedia Article, or is it a report or book entry written by someone within the world? This will dictate what information is shared. If the Tone of your settlement page even somewhat mimics the Tone of your world, it will enhance the reader's understanding without mentioning information directly. Start by considering what information a merchant would share about your settlement to another merchant, or a spymaster to their boss. What do they consider relevant? What can be left out? Are numbers and statistics important in this setting? Can anyone count past 20? Little details like this can greatly enhance the Tone and general readability of your article.
Tiny Author Rant

If there is ONE assumption you must make about your reader, it is that they have never read any of your work before. You don't need to explain every detail of the world in each article, but they must be able to disseminate the relevant information about your world and how it impacts your settlement without going on a 20-minute wiki walk. If you must make references, refer to Real World concepts that they can use as an anchor point. Your article is an explanation, not a puzzle.

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Before We Start; Custom Headings

It's important to keep in mind that the following Vignettes are in order as they appear in the editor; if you want them to appear in a different order, you will need to write them in the generic Vignette as their own category. You may also do this if you are writing in a style where the below categories may not be relevant to you and your settlements.

There's a lot you can do to break up an article; use shapes, quotes, and rows/columns to give the page some variety and give the reader a break from walls of text.

by TinkerTech

Demographics

Demographics are important for larger settlements, or ones that can be expected to have a multi-cultural influence. Your small farming village probably won't warrant this category, but the Capital will.
Rembember that you are sharing information the reader can't intuitively guess themselves, and is relevant to their understanding of the settlement. Unless your reader absolutely needs to know that there's 25 pig farmers, 3 chicken farmers and a farrier in this tiny farming village, it's best to leave it out.
For those of us that do need in-depth demographic information, and the Tone of the settlement allows such information to be appropriate, consider making a chart in exel and importing the image; A picture says a thousand words, and a graph is more interesting to look at then several lines or a list of percentages.

Government

Who's in Charge? If you're a GM building a settlement for your players to pass through, you will need to know this, if only so you know who's inevitably throwing them in jail two sessions from now. Most readers and players aren't political science majors¹ and aren't going to care if you slightly mix two different styles of government, so long as they can tell who's wearing the crown and who's supposed to be wearing it at the end of the chapter. As such you don't need to mention every member of parliament, just the one twisting his mustache while muttering to himself.
Consider using rows and columns to create a physical representation of how your government branches, as such:

Branch of Law

The branch that enforces the law and keeps folks in line. Also occasionally nudges traffic around.

Branch of Politiks

The Branch that sits around and talks about the Nature of Politiks. Politiks may or may not actually be in progress during these meetings.

Branch of Exectuor

The branch that has to pretend there's at least one person in charge. This is usually also the first person tarred and feathered when the wind blows the wrong way or Miss Sally doesn't get her salted egg for lunch.

Branch of Commerce

The branch that keeps the money flowing, one way or another. Preferably through the marketplaces and not into the dragon's vault. It's hard to collect taxes from him.

Branch of Nature

The branch that keeps the settlement looking nice and pretty, even on the rainiest of days. Those days are the easiest as it means the leaky watering can gets a break.

Grandmasters and Sages can take this even further with Containers, if they so choose.

Districts

This is a category that gets mentioned far more often than it really needs to, in my experience. While most larger settlements and towns will have multiple districts and sub-divisions, your reader or players will likely only care about one or two. Give those one or two in depth, and use a handy map to show the rest. You can always add the other sections back in later, if you wish.

Cincini Street Banner.JPG

by TinkerTech

A picture I took on an island known for its partying. It's also a lovely placeholder image.

History

The history of the settlement can be a tricky category; while it is usually very interesting and is great for building out the rest of the world, your reader/player may not care as much if they're just here to check out the cookie shop on Fleenor street. It's also further down in the list of prompts than it needs to be, in my opinion.
It's usually best to mention this if the history of the settlement is pertient to how the settlement as it is stands today. Or if the Long-lost leader that founded the settlement turns out not to be so lost after all. If the historical event is important enough to warrant its own entry, such as The Night of Falling Crowns, you should link to it so that your readers can read up on that as well and save you explaining it Twice.
This being said, there should be enough inherent references and explanation in your history that a reader unfamiliar with your world can put together the basics without wiki-walking. Events like WorldEmber and Summer Camp are great times to mooch feedback off other people if you are concerned about readability.

Tourism

By Tourism and Points of Interest, we mean 'Plot Hooks'. If there's anything important to know about the settlement like the All-Famous Cookie Shop or C. Trust. Worthy's 1st Regional Bank and Crematorium, it's going to be here. It's probably why your characters are here, after all.
Buildings and Organizations that have their own pages can be linked to, with a one-to-two line description here. Those without, if they get beyond a couple of paragraphs, will probably warrant their own pages.

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¹Those of your players/readers that Are will make themselves inherently known. They'll feel better and more valued if you use them as a reference. Just tell them to use plain words like 'the'.
² If you do have a crest or flag, share what program you used (I used Amoria here) in the credits so the rest of us can mooch resources.

by Rachel Bentz via Amoria

If your settlement is large enough to warrant its own coat of arms or flag², put it here! It gives a nice sense of national pride. Unless you're Oregon and have a random beaver on the back.

What belongs in the Sidebar?

Sidebars hold, at base, the single-line information you put into the prompts, such as 'Current Owner' and 'Date it Became a Ruin'. It's also a good place to show your own single-line information. If there's not much information to share on the demographics? Toss the basics up here and call it good. It's short and allows the reader to focus on the relevant information in the main article. For example:

Type

Village

Population

2,500.7

Climate

Warm and Breezy in the Summer, With Mild Winters

Geography

Nestled in a valley in the Heart of a quiet continent.

Natural Resources

Forestry, Mining, and certain livestock all form the basis of the economy of this village.
That's three entire prompts done, right there. Now you can focus on more important things like Governments and How Many People In This Village Have Blue Eyes.

You'll find as you tweak your article that you will need to throw in some extra indents or break bars to keep bits from smooshing together. This will vary depending on the CSS style you use, so play away!

So Now What?

Don't tell me you were reading three separate pages of my rambling because you enjoyed it! Go back to your world and play around with making your own settlements!