This is part 2 of a 2-part series on making realistic cities with the One-Hour Rule. This entry focuses on practical applications of the rule for game masters and worldbuilders. For the first part, which focuses on the theory and principles behind the One-Hour Rule, see Part 1 here.
IX. The One-Hour City in Practice (Quick Build Method)
Now that the principles are clear, it’s time to put them into action. The One-Hour City framework allows you to create a believable city quickly—perfect for worldbuilding, tabletop RPGs, or story settings—without getting bogged down in endless map-making.
Here’s a simple, step-by-step method:
- Pick the Anchor: Choose why the city exists. A river crossing, a harbor, a fortress, a market hub, or a holy site works perfectly. This anchor will determine the first streets, the densest districts, and where authority or commerce concentrates.
- Draw the One-Hour Travel Boundary: Sketch a rough circle (or other practical shape) around the anchor that represents what can be reached on foot or by common transport in an hour. Everything inside is the core city; beyond it, suburbs, fields, or satellite towns emerge.
- Place Markets and Authority Near the Center: Keep trade, administration, and power hubs within easy reach of most residents. This ensures daily life flows logically and gives you a natural city center.
- Push Dirty or Noisy Trades Downwind or Downstream: Tanners, smiths, and other industries cluster where they won’t pollute the core. Use rivers, prevailing winds, or streets to determine placement.
- Add Gates and Choke Points: Bridges, gates, and city walls organize movement, protect resources, and create natural locations for storytelling or conflict.
Optional quick touches:
- Sketch a few major streets radiating from the anchor toward key districts.
- Indicate natural barriers like hills, rivers, or cliffs—they shape growth and district boundaries.
- Add small secondary anchors for temples, minor markets, or guilds to make the city feel layered.
With this method, you can produce a coherent, believable city in 15–30 minutes. It won’t just look realistic on a map; it will function logically, offering natural travel times, social divisions, and storytelling opportunities. From here, you can add flavor—shops, taverns, magical features—without worrying that the city stops making sense under the hood.
X. Using the City for Story and Play
A city designed around the One-Hour Rule isn’t just visually coherent—it also creates a living, interactive environment for stories and gameplay. Travel time, district layout, and transportation networks naturally generate tension, conflict, and opportunity.
Natural conflict points:
- Chases and escapes: Narrow alleys, bridges, and choke points create interesting routes for pursuit. Players or characters must consider obstacles, shortcuts, and hazards.
- Crime and intrigue: Markets, docks, and industrial areas become hubs for theft, smuggling, or espionage. Authority is concentrated in certain districts, leaving peripheral areas less policed.
- Politics and power struggles: Proximity to the city core often equals influence. Disputes between old city and new city, merchants and nobility, or guilds and authorities are grounded in the physical reality of travel and access.
Immersion through movement:
Characters don’t just inhabit a city—they traverse it. By thinking about how long it takes to reach different locations, you make the world feel lived-in. Crowds, traffic jams, blocked streets, and weather all influence daily routines, giving players or readers a tangible sense of the city’s scale and character.
Story hooks from layout:
- Who controls the bridges, gates, or port entrances?
- Which districts are overcrowded, underdeveloped, or dangerous?
- How does travel time affect commerce, crime, or social mobility?
By using the city’s structure as a narrative tool, every street, district, and chokepoint becomes more than decoration—it becomes part of the story. Adventures, political maneuvering, and player choices gain depth because the city isn’t just a backdrop; it’s an active, functional world that shapes and responds to the people in it.
XI. Conclusion: Realism as a Creative Shortcut
Designing a fantasy city doesn’t have to be a painstaking exercise in arbitrary detail. By grounding your worldbuilding in real-world principles—most importantly, the one-hour travel rule—you gain a shortcut to cities that feel logical, lived-in, and immersive. Time, transportation, and functional districts naturally shape size, density, and social structure, giving your city coherence without endless micromanagement.
Realism in this context isn’t about limiting creativity; it’s about providing a framework. When streets, markets, and neighborhoods make sense, you can spend more energy on the parts that truly matter: stories, intrigue, and character. Magic, monsters, or fantastical architecture can layer on top, bending reality in interesting ways without breaking the city’s internal logic.
Ultimately, the One-Hour City is a tool for speed and believability. Whether you’re drafting a map in an afternoon, prepping a setting for a tabletop campaign, or writing a story, this approach ensures your city isn’t just a collection of locations—it’s a functional, dynamic environment that feels alive. By designing with human movement and practical constraints in mind, you turn a blank canvas into a city that not only exists on the page but also feels real to anyone who traverses it.
Part 1