Lore Check – 7 Interesting Locations for Modern RPG Encounters

Modern cities are home to a vast and varied array of interesting yet not uncommon locations which would be ideal settings for an RPG encounter, so why is it that only a few see heavy rotation? Not that there’s anything wrong with high end office buildings and back alleys in the bad part of town, but here are some other locations you can find in or nearby most urban population centers, just begging to be used in your game.

 

Hydro Electric Dam

Power plants in general make for interesting modern “dungeons,” but hydro electric dams have some unique features; massive turbines, spill gates, large reservoirs of water. They can have large open areas as well as tight cramped hallways. The halls and rooms nearest the turbines are going to be cacophony of noise.

For bonus points, if anything happens to the dam, any nearby population centre downstream is at risk of losing power while being flooded. Prime real estate for all sorts of modern bad guys, be they terrorists, mad geniuses, or super villains.

Zoo

While the Gamer Nation Blog is firmly opposed to animal cruelty, zoos can make for great in game locations. Zoo patrons can be a dangerous, panicked crowd, hostages, or just innocent bystanders as needed. Various habitats like the reptile dome or polar bear enclosure have their own specific climates.

Most importantly, the zoo animals themselves can provide a whole range of hazards. If released from their confinement, most of the creatures will be a source of chaos at the very least. Even inside their cages many of the beasts would be dangerous to any unwitting characters foolish enough to invade their territory.

 

Hospital

Large, multistory buildings with labyrinthine corridors, hospitals have all the makings of an excellent encounter location. Regardless of the time of day, there is always a large number of people from all walks of life on site.

Hospitals are also full of hazards, including narcotics, radioactive materials, medical waste, experimental medications, and occasionally carriers of highly infectious disease. Ideally all the proper measures have been taken so as to minimize any risk, but the middle of a shoot-out/super-powered punch-up/heist gone wrong is hardly ideal, now is it?

 

Sports Arena

Regardless of the sport, most sporting arenas tend to have the basic design: a large, open area, surrounded by seats facing inwards, with a variety of access hallways for patrons, and off-limits areas for the athletes, VIPs, and support staff.

During the big game, arenas are going to be densely packed full of people in a heightened emotional state. Sports fans riot when their team wins, never mind when the game is interrupted by some sort of crisis. The relatively competent in-house security force could aid or hinder the player characters as needed.

Arenas are also fairly likely to be set-up for media broadcasts, which is great when your villain wants to make sure the whole city is going to hear their demands.

Finally, why wouldn’t you want your big showdown to take place at the 50 yard line, center ice, half-court, or in a boxing ring?

 

Airport

There could probably be a whole article devoted to what makes airports great modern dungeons, but we would be remiss if we didn’t at least mention them here.

Airports are huge locations, comprised of several buildings, and they’re sites of frantic activity regardless of the hour. Most airports have several security check-points, as well as a relatively capable on-site security staff, and often a dedicated police presence.

Due to their size, airports have their own fleets of vehicles. Shuttles, tugs, fuel trucks. Why not include a high-speed chase down a runway between a baggage truck and a stair car while a 747 is coming in to land? Or as high speed as those vehicles are likely to get.

Best of all, if you want to surprise your players with something out of the ordinary, whether it’s just coming off a cargo plane, or has been sitting on a shelf in the unclaimed baggage storage for years, almost anything that exists in your game world can be found at an airport.

 

Amusement Park

Roller coasters, tilt-a-whirls, fun houses, creepy mascots, and all the cotton-candy you can eat. Amusement parks have a special blend of bright lights, loud noises, and complete disregard for human safety which makes them perfect for RPG encounters. Not just with supervillain serial murderers in clown make-up, either.

The rides in an amusement park make for great hazardous terrain. Roller coaster tracks, the fetid water for the bumper boats, merry-go-round platforms, everything is moving, and there’s no reason for any of it to conform to any sort of safety standards in your RPG.

One great feature of amusement parks is that they often have a theme, which can allow you to temporarily switch up the genre of your game. There’s a lot you can do with some bad lighting and animatronic dragons, robots, or Frankenstein’s monsters.

 

Casino

Whether they’re on the Vegas strip, or illegal underground gambling dens, there’s a certain allure to casinos. They make excellent settings for heists, meetings with the criminal kingpins, and classic espionage drama. Fortunes can be won or lost — mostly lost — on the roll of a die, and we challenge you to find a gamer who doesn’t like rolling dice.

Casino floor plans are specifically laid-out in such a way to make it difficult to find the exit. Flashing lights and loud noises from the slot machines are a constant distraction, and cheap drinks cloud the senses. Due to the large amounts of physical currency on hand, house security is above average and, if you’re going with genre convention, not afraid to get their hands dirty.