OSR Review & Commentary On Castles & Crusades Engineering Towns by Davis Chenault and published by Troll Lord Games

 Written by Davis Chenault and published by Troll Lord Games, Engineering Towns is a 50-page world-building resource designed to construct medium-sized fantasy settlements. Functioning as a direct follow-up to Engineering Villages, the system gives Castle Keepers (CKs) modular tools, systemic mechanics, and random tables to generate organic, functional towns.

The methodology breaks town generation into key structural frameworks:

1. Types & Origins of Towns

Towns do not exist in a vacuum; the system focuses on how a settlement transitions from a small village into a mid-tier urban hub.

• Development & Location: Rules for establishing why a town formed where it did (e.g., river crossings, natural harbors, crossroads, defensive high ground) and how its geography dictates its physical expansion.

• Resource Base & Food Supply: Direct mechanics accounting for food sources, agricultural hinterlands, and the supply zones needed to sustain non-farming urban populations.

2. Functional Categorization

Rather than generating static lists of shops, settlements are categorized by their primary macro-economic or social purpose:

• Agricultural Hubs: Processing centers for surrounding farming hamlets.

• Mercantile Towns: Trade hubs focused on market plazas, caravans, and river shipping.

• Military Garrisons: Fortified settlements built around keeps, walls, and supply depots.

• Administrative & Cultural Centers: Capitals, seat-of-power towns, religious shrines, or university districts.

3. Economy, Demographics, & Civic Life

• Settlement Zones: Frameworks for dividing towns into distinct districts (e.g., high-income, merchant quarter, industrial artisan zone, slums, docklands).

• Governance & Political Systems: Random tables and guidelines to determine who rules the town (autocracy, merchant council, guild oligarchy, noble feudal fief, or religious council) and how law enforcement operates.

• Supply & Logistics: Rules governing trade routes, local market pricing, goods availability, and labor pools.

4. Housing & Fantasy Integration

• Architecture & Construction: Rules covering structural density, building materials (timber, stone, wattle and daub), and housing availability based on social class.

• High-Fantasy Factors: Dedicated integration for magic and non-human ancestry:

  • Magical Infrastructure: How the presence of magic (e.g., permanent light spells, wardings, mages' guilds, or magical sanitation) alters urban development.

  • Ancillary Races: How dwarven, elven, or subterranean urban planning differs from human settlements in architecture, defense, and layout.

5. Settlement Generation Process

The core utility of the book relies on a step-by-step procedural workflow supported by charts and tables:

1. Determine Core Purpose & Size: Roll/select the primary economic function and initial population scale.

2. Assign Political & Law Systems: Establish leadership structure, guard presence, and local laws.

3. Map Zones & Features: Layout functional districts, major landmarks, walls, and roads.

4. Determine Infrastructure & Trade: Populate local industries, specialty guilds, and import/export needs.

5. Apply Fantasy Modifiers: Add racial architecture or magical conveniences.

Created by Davis Chenault and published by Troll Lord Games, Engineering Towns is a solid supplement part of the 'Engineering'  series for Castles & Crusades rpg. These books are a great series and Engineering Towns is a perfect addition. By providing a good generational  foundation adventuring point for OSR game adventures & C&C campaigns. 
Adventures can be centered around towns, cities, and other fantasy locations with all the appropriate details. Engineering Towns is that supplement that fits the bill by providing the details for these adventure location. These fifty pages pack a ton of options for the dungeon master for creating adventure locations especially for towns & villages.