Tips about Boston

[Jeivar]

I'm planning to run a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign set in Boston. Problem is, none of us have ever been to America. At all.

I do have this map for reference, but I'd still appreciate some hints/tips about the place. I'm not going to bother getting it exactly right with religious devotion, but having something real to build upon is easier than designing a whole city by myself.

[Keld Denar]

Whatever you do, change the names of all of the streets about every 3-4 blocks. This will give you a true taste of the insanity that is Boston.

Are you going modern? Or like, 1700s Boston? I can't click the link where I am, so...not sure.

[valadil]

Whatever you do, change the names of all of the streets about every 3-4 blocks. This will give you a true taste of the insanity that is Boston.

But if you do this, make sure there are no street signs.

If you're making transit matter, here's the most detailed MBTA bus map I've ever found.

The T stops running at 1am. Disregard this. In a universe with nocturnal vampires, at least one of them has taken control of the MBTA and removed this absurd restriction.

Pretty much everything in Boston is a college or hospital. People who aren't involved in academia are townies.

[Jeivar]

Whatever you do, change the names of all of the streets about every 3-4 blocks. This will give you a true taste of the insanity that is Boston.

O...kay.

Are you going modern? Or like, 1700s Boston? I can't click the link where I am, so...not sure.

Modern.

[SDF]

Matt Damon movies are the key!

Good Will Hunting
The Departed

Two vivid depictions of the city with different aspects shown.

[Moff Chumley]

Driving in Boston is a strange and mysterious art form. Also, it takes absolute ruthlessness. Here on the West Coast, drivers are too wimpy to take the prison time, but in Boston especially, drivers will think nothing of three years in the slammer on involuntary manslaughter for mowing over someone who thought they could jaywalk and get away with it.

EDIT: But seriously, trying to figure out where you are and where you're going in Boston is a goddam headache.

[Jeivar]

What about culture? Are there a lot of theaters? Coffee shops? Street performers? Something? Aside from horrible traffic and street planning, what characterizes the city when one traverses it?

[Oracle_Hunter]

This is probably a good place to start.

This is a good place to check second.

That should give you a good groundwork in Boston. After that, if you have specific questions we might be able to give specific responses

Also: For color, here is some local slang you can pepper your game with. If you can do accents well, try to cultivate a Bostonian accent for your NPCs.

[bobbofeet]

And sports. Talk about the Red Sox (Baseball), the Patriots (Football), the Bruins (Hockey), and the Celtics (Basketball). Most Bostonians I've run into are obnoxious sports fans...

[Gnomish Spambot]

What about culture? Are there a lot of theaters? Coffee shops? Street performers? Something? Aside from horrible traffic and street planning, what characterizes the city when one traverses it?

It certainly does have terrible and confusing street designs.

The city is basically a giant college town. Two of the nation's most prestigious Universities, Harvard and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) are located there (in Cambridge), as well as Boston College and Boston University.

Many districts such as Cambridge and Somerville are separate cities with their own police forces etc.

Lansdowne Street is where all the clubs, nightlife, etc is. It's a small street near the baseball stadium Fenway Park.

The 'bad' parts of the city are Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.

The city has a heavy Irish flavor, especially in South Boston, called 'Southie'. This is the setting for Good Will Hunting. The city also has an Italian community centered in the North End, and a recent influx of Central and South Americans. The upper class traditionally has been descended from the original English settlers and Episcopalian (Protestant Christian), some remnants of hostility between them and the later Catholic immigrants lingers.

The big story in Boston right now is the upcoming trial of recently captured Irish Mafia leader James 'Whitey' Bulger, who had a criminal history stretching over half a century, including wars with the Italian Mafia and collaboration with corrupt elements of the FBI and others. His brother is the former head of the state senate (legislature) and President of the University of Massachusetts (which is actually located about 100 miles west of Boston). He might provide some good adventure story hooks if you want to read up on him.

Boondock Saints is another good movie to watch to get yourself in campaign flavor.

Notable nearby areas:

Springfield, Pittsfield, Lowell, Lawrence, Worcester, Fall River: These are run down deindustrialized cities full of crime.

Martha's Vineyard: at the end of Cape Cod. Vacation spot for the very wealthy from across America.

Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire: rural, mountainous, forested states to the north. New Hampshire is about an hour straight north or less, the others maybe 2 hours away. If you've ever read anything by Steven King, most of his stories which are set in the real world are set in Maine.