The Main Districts of City of Mist TTRPG
Welcome to the City of Mist! We’ve got everything residents need from daytime opportunities to a thriving nightlife! We’ve also got a hidden population of people and monsters with superpowers, but don’t let that stop you from seeing what each of our wonderful Districts have to offer!
Every part of the City hides a story, and these stories are just waiting to be used in your own game. Today, we’re going over the hottest spots, the people to know, and the spookiest urban legends in each District for your crew to discover. There are many Districts within the City, so we’ll focus on the four most notable Districts shown in the MC Toolkit.
DOWNTOWN
We’re starting our tour in the beating heart of the City. Downtown is where business and pleasure collide. As you walk through the bustling streets, surrounded by tall buildings and neon lights, you’ll find there’s no shortage of sights to see.
The Mist is thickest here in the center of town, meaning magical activity is hidden that much more by the constant distractions and illusions of modern living. As a result, places tend to be a bit more real. Downtown is the perfect place to have scenes in the typical, gritty noir locations like the run-down PI office, the corrupt politician’s headquarters, or the dark alleyway.
That realness makes it that much more potent when things become strange. For example, the Financial District famously has a skyscraper that reflects a foreboding castle in its windows. No one can seem to get to the skyscraper, so it’s often dismissed as an urban legend. But once it’s seen, it begs the question: who’s the King or Queen inside?
Locations full of intense lights and sound, from busy stock markets to loud nightclubs, are everywhere Downtown. My personal favorite is Reeds Jazz Club, a little known local spot that’s one of the finest clubs in town. For players, this groovy hangout is the perfect place to ponder your life in a Voiceover Monologue, meet up with your crew to plan, and maybe have a fateful meeting with that mysterious figure in the corner.
BLUE COLLAR RESIDENTIAL
For the City’s less than wealthy citizens, the Blue Collar Residential District is where many call home. Those homes are often a bit cramped, with rents that are too high and in neighborhoods that can get a bit rough at night. Most people that live here are just trying to get by while they go to work and avoid the local gangs that sprout up.
This is the District where daily life trudges on. The investigation can hit close to home as a chase takes you through a maze of backyards or a clue leads you to a friend’s apartment. It’s also full of local shops and diners, like Joe’s Burgers and Stews. Smack dab in the middle of half a dozen neighborhoods, Joe’s diner is the perfect place for the crew to meet up over coffee or stage a sit-down between rival gang leaders.
The best way to use the Blue Collar Residential District is to allow the paranormal to disrupt the mundane. This is where a casual walk in the park leads to an enchanted forest, or where your neighbor from hell turns out to be an actual demon. For players, this is also the perfect place for your average joe or neighborhood vigilante to come from.
THE INDUSTRIAL ZONE
The Industrial Zone is the center of the City’s industry, filled with mechanics, factories, and workshops of all kinds. From the endless graffiti to the skyline of belching smoke stacks, it’s clear this is not the nicest place. But this District holds a lot of dramatic potential precisely because it’s where citizens tend to avoid.
Quite a bit of unscrupulous activity goes down in the Industrial Zone, from the mundane to the mythical. It’s not only the perfect place to hold an illegal smuggling deal or conduct a secret warehouse operation. It’s also the perfect place for Rifts to let loose, because the Mist is thin as a sheet. No one’s quite sure why, but since most Sleepers here just want to go to work and then go home, the running theory is that the Mist just doesn’t bother when it can focus on areas with higher population.
Of course, it’s not just empty factories. Among the bars, warehouses, and strip clubs are countless small shops with hidden treasures that could secretly be a Relic. One such shop is Tokugawa Blades, run by master swordsmith Nico Tokugawa, who only sells her best blades to customers she deems worthy.
The Science Hub is also nearby, where top pharmaceutical companies like Helix Labs have their campuses. This is the best place to hide a secret experiment that requires the crew to break inside. If you want to get a little less urban fantasy and a bit more sci-fi, this is the perfect place for your mystery to turn to.
THE OLD QUARTER
Our final stop on this tour is The Old Quarter. This is the District where history comes alive, sometimes literally! Everywhere you look, there are historic buildings, magical street performers, and a visible Mist that hangs on every gaslight.
An ironic aspect of the Mist is that the thinner it gets, the more visible it becomes, almost as if that’s the best it can muster to obscure what it doesn’t want you to see. Because of its nature, the Old Quarter is filled with ancient magic and bloodlines, so this thin Mist is seen everywhere. But Sleepers come to the Old Quarter expecting it to feel displaced from the normal, so it all apparently balances out.
When an investigation reaches far into the past or begins to delve into the truly magical, the Old Quarter is where the mystery typically ends up. The Museum is the perfect place to hide historical artifacts that are secretly Relics. Likewise, the many small book shops, alleyways, and fortune tellers create endless potential for mystical encounters. If your character is more in touch with the magical world of the City, this is the perfect District to set their home.
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There are so many places to see in the City of Mist that it’s impossible to experience them all in one visit. Whenever your crew finds the time to hit the streets, we hope this article gives you ideas of where to go next.
If you want to know more about some of the other Districts within the City like Fortune Row or La Colonia de Sombras, we’ll be going over them in a future article! Until then, you can find more information about the core Districts in the MC Toolkit. You can also find the expansion districts in affordable bundles as part of our #GameTogether sale.
What’s your favorite local spot in the City? Are there any Districts you’d like to know more about? Tell us about it in the comments, on social media, or on the City of Mist Discord. Until then, have fun!
