Previously I hinted at details of a new world building/RPG design challenge for 2026 and here it is: welcome to City '26! It’s also a “megapost” in that I’ll provide links to anyone else participating who wishes to share their blog: please provide details below or give me a shout on Reddit, discord or Instagram.
The participants:
- A 1920s Midwestern City: New Babylon with a beautiful map
https://crimewave.blot.im/tagged/city-26 - Seed of Worlds produces Hive RT-87 a homage to Rogue Trader '87 Hiveworlds: Necromunda before it was Necromunda!
https://seedofworlds.blogspot.com/search/label/city26 - Wenya Lagoon by Nova @Idle Cartulary: "Hot, wet, sweat-drenched, salty, long-legged birds, crabs, fish, mosquitos, octopus, sharks, coral, sailing ships, blue waters, mangroves, anchors, shipwrecks, tidal pools..."
https://idlecartulary.com/2026/01/03/preparing-for-city-26-week-0/ - Bogblins is doing something.... more to be revealed!
https://bogblins.blogspot.com/2026/01/year-in-review-city26.html - Christopher Kurts introduces Rainbow City "a post-scarcity, anarcho-mutualist, megacity gift society " over on Playtest Dummies:
https://playtestdummies.substack.com/p/skyfield-a-rainbow-city-neighborhood
So What is It?
Essentially it is achallenge is to build a city over the course of one year, each week detailing one ward. Peter Lattimore of Garblag Games came up with this infographic while we workshoppedg the idea on his server:
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| Infographic of City26 Challenge by Peter Lattimore, text below |
The Classic
The original version of the challenge, codified by Pete is detailed below. Don’t feel constrained by genre: this could be a fictional contemporary city, a far-future utopia, a Dying Earth era Sorcerer King complex or the capital city of your fantasy’s medieval campaign world. Ideally this is a project you’ve been thinking about already or perhaps one you have already begun.
Commit to adding one detail of the ward every day, using the following schedule or adapting it to your requirements. Text below by Pete.
Mondayprincipal building/monument/feature defining area and overview of the ward- who lives and works here? Is it rich, poor or what?
TuesdayRandom encounter table for district (bonus: day/night encounters)Wednesdaygoods and services (with prices?) available to PCs hereThursdaykey faction or NPC controlling (or vying for control or just embodying) district/area etcFridayRival faction or NPC specific to districtSaturdayhooks and plots within the districtSundayTransportation and connections to other areas
PLEASE TRY NO AI!
You can follow along on the Garblag Games Server via this link
Other Variants
You don't have to follow the schedule above, the challenge is to commit to consistent worldbuilding and hopefully end up with something that can be explored in play.
You could...
- Treat this as a reiteration of Dungeon '23: exploring a huge ruined city, one room at a time
- Do the legwork: follow Sam Sorenson's suggestion and detail how many HP each of its denizens possesses a la City State of the Invincible Overlord
- Follow whatever model other city-based games (Gangs of Titan City, Spire, Necromunda) utilise and either expand or provide greater detail
- Exercise your artistic talents and detail architecture, clothing, trade goods, weapons found in each district on a weekly basis
I'm attempting to flesh out my existing City of 100 Gods project, so plan to tailor the schedule to fit the flavour of that world specifically: I'm not committing myself to detail transport every week, for example.
There's lots of challenges going on this year and I think i'm at least going to have a bash at one or two of them (besides this) but I'm very excited to see what emerges on the other side of this. A city can be terrifying or beautiful or both and always more than single adjectives, a whole world for PCs to explore and experience. I'm not very good at ending on a pithy note so I will trail off into idle self reflection now.
POST EDITED 9th January 2026
Links
City of 100 Gods Post
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2025/12/city-of-100-gods-traders-wake.html
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2025/12/city-of-100-gods-traders-wake.html
Garblag Games Patreon (you can join for free, City '26 post will be publicly accessible I believe)
https://www.patreon.com/cw/GarblagGames
Pete's Discord
Dungeon 23
https://seanmccoy.substack.com/p/dungeon23
In Praise of Legwork
https://samsorensen.blot.im/in-praise-of-legwork
https://seanmccoy.substack.com/p/dungeon23
In Praise of Legwork
https://samsorensen.blot.im/in-praise-of-legwork
Great post and I'm really looking forward to getting started on Sheerfoot in the coming week.
ReplyDeleteI'm likely to sub out the occasional day to write some short fiction, to give more of a sense of the setting.
Its all heading towards a science fantasy setting for Mothership: In the Shadow of the Sheer.
Pkease come join us in Gartopia (our discord) as we explore these cities together!
As I've said previously I don't think I'll have the energy/focus to be able to fully commit, but I look forward to following along with this!
ReplyDeletethere was also this great post from bearded devil six years ago, before plague - https://bearded-devil.com/2019/04/09/how-i-run-a-citycrawl-campaign/
ReplyDeleteI'm participating on City26 on my blog as well: https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/01/myths-landing-city-26-project.html
ReplyDelete