A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Urban Dressing: Traders & Craftsmen

Urban Dressing: Traders & Craftsmen by Brian Liberge is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 13-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $2.45 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one an ad, three the front matter, Contents and Foreword and one is the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one designed for print and high-end devices, the other for mobile and low-end devices.

The supplement is intended to create traders and craftspeople for an urban setting and consists of several options.

A: Characteristics and Appearance is a d100 list for generating features of the shops.

B: Selling is a d100 list of professions.

C: Hooks, Complications and Rumours is a d20 list of potential adventure hooks.

D: Associated NPC is a collection of tables for generating NPCs, not just the tradesfolk. There are tables for generating sex, male and female names, races, appearance, mannerisms, rumours and purpose for being in the shop.

Urban Dressing: Traders & Craftsmen in Review

The PDF is well bookmarked with everything but the sidebar linked. The Contents is less thorough but is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a couple of pieces of black and white stock art. Presentation is okay.

This may be one of the worst entries in the Urban Dressing range. The shop details are interesting, but not necessarily appropriate for the supplement, the list of selling is much less so – since when is a tax collector a trader or craftsperson? – and the NPC tables are somewhat lacking; some seem to be definitely filler. Urban Dressing: Traders & Craftsmen is adequate at best when compared to other entries in the series and it can be found by clicking here.