A port town is a busy place full of sights and sounds both exotic and mundane. Here can be sampled the delights of many different lands.

You can download this material for free as a .pdf and .txt file by hitting the button at the bottom of this post. You do not need to give us your email or set up an account.

Sights & Sounds

A group of sailors get into a brutal brawl; fists and teeth fly, blood splatters.
A one-man dinghy skims the waves, bobbing across the harbour like a skipped pebble.
Sails appears on the horizon, but in the dusky light their colour is unclear.
A rocky “mound” clinging to the dock wall is actually a barnacle as big as a human head.
Coarse laughter rings out amidst the sound of giant crab shells being cracked with massive hammers.
A dock worker shouts a warning as a crate tumbles and smashes to the cobbles.
A well-dressed dockmaster stands at the end of a pier, surveying incoming vessels.
Every single dock in the harbour appears taken, and more ships wait out on the water.
There’s not a single ship lashed to the docks, nor any anchored out in the bay.
The sea is choppy today, the scoring wind whips up the harbour’s cloudy green water.

Businesses

Sailrats (recruiter) stays quite busy digging up new crew members for shipping ventures, by promising solid pay.
Drop Anchor (tavern) caters to sailors who are eager to swap their hard-earned coin for a few days of blissful drunkenness.
Anchor Exchange (ship sales) acts as the middleman when a captain decides it’s time to pass on their ship’s charter to another owner.
Three-Cords (ropemaker) is run by an old salt who enjoys trying to invent new types of knots.
Tar & Nail (ship repairs) sees to it that every ship coming into the port gets patched up before they head back out again.
The Venerable Foam (church) was founded by a priest who believes the one true god lives in the sea’s blackest depths. Her weekly sermons (little more than madness-tinged rants) are sparsely attended.

Folk of Interest

Bornnuit Cenan (N male half-elf druid 2) is a dark-skinned sailor who was born on a boat and intends to die on one.
Hildgrid Sugara (LE female human) runs an orphanage that also doubles as a “recruitment” site for ships needing cabin boys.
Gorma Seanric (LN female halfling) paints ship hulls with names and intricate designs for easier identification and gaudy decoration.
Kimmah Eldbyrt (NG male halfling) spends most of his days out on the piers, fishing line trailing out into the water.
Phiales Vulmon (NG male elf fighter 3) is a rangy, hard-eyed fighter who claims he’s prophesied to die at sea; that’s why he doesn’t sail anymore.
Ahnric Standers (LG male human fighter 1) is a gate guard who despises smugglers and thoroughly inspects everyone going in or out of town.

Adventure Hooks

A crate hits the ground and cracks open, spilling golden treasure all around. Everyone freezes for a breathless moment before scrambling to scoop up as much as they can.
Warning bells sound across town, signalling the black sails of pirate ships have been spotted on the horizon. The small fleet will likely arrive within the hour.
A single, poorly tossed pipe match threatens to set the whole of the docks ablaze. The party are conscripted into a water crew to help stop the fire at all costs.
Two crews seem determined to slaughter one another. Unfortunate, then, the party are standing right between the groups of murderous sailors.
Deep in his cups, a ship captain asks the party to take back his ship from the mutinous crew that stole it from him. He’ll take them anywhere for free, if they succeed.
A local merchant has highly valuable cargo that needs to be transported to the docks, but he doesn’t trust any of the usual hired hands to see it done. He asks the party for help.

Credit

This is a short system-neutral extract from Urban Dressing: Port Town by Josh Vogt. Urban Dressing: Port Town is available from Raging Swan Press in 5e, OSR, Pathfinder First Edition and Pathfinder Second Edition.

Get the Free Download

Download this post by hitting the button below—you’ll get a zip file containing a lightweight one-page PDF and a superlight text file for your digital GM’s folder or virtual tabletop (VTT).

If you’ve found this resource useful, please let me know by leaving a comment. And also leave a comment if you have a suggestion to make this kind of post better.

Download Now

Port Town Dressing One-Pager