I am narrating a D&D campaign in a late medieval/early modern setting. Sort of based around 16th century Italy, but with magic.
The party will now live in a big town (population of around 800 people, please tell me if that actually makes sense?) and help run it.
What are some services and trades that must be available, and what would be some that shouldn't? I'm thinking, what would day to day life look like? The town is in the hills, surrounded by Lemon groves (main export) and some crops (mostly tomatoes, wheat and spinach).
So basically I want to flesh out some NPCs, and think of some problems that would disrupt life in town (like bad crops, or running out of clean water, but maybe more specific).
Thanks for reading!
A handy reference is the list of livery companies of London, many of which have their roots in medieval guilds. Obviously not the Honourable Company of Air Pilots (unless you're running some kind of really extravagant clockpunk campaign?), but after number 50 or so the list is roughly ranked in order of origin date of company. So you can draw the line pretty much wherever you want.
It definitely skews towards artisans--you won't see things like innkeeper, tavern operator, prostitute, sellers of secondhand goods. There are also distinctions that were made in the Middle Ages not visible--like, in Rouen, the guild of drapers for clothing made with new fabric were serious rivals of the guild of drapers for clothing made with secondhand fabric.
But it should help you fill in some worldbuilding-type details. :)