I mean, even adding the option to donate money to poor peasants or beggar seems like a barebones thing to put in at least (the dialogue is there); whether it gives a basic +1 relation or something too...
It's weird how it's been half implemented - animations made, the NPC given a name and unique dialogue - and then forgotten.
I would make it so that when you give gold, it gives a little progress to your Mercy and Generosity traits, since those are so hard to gain through normal gameplay.
I guess that's one thing TW held true with keeping for the BL sequel
Yeah, Warband towns weren't really worth visiting in person either. But it is so mystifying that towns have been massively expanded in playable area and detail from WB while the amount of reasons to visit them is roughly the same. The alley fights are something, at least.
In a perfect world I would add stuff like
* Beggars as mentioned above
* "Cripples" who you can give medical attention to increase your Medicine skill and Mercy trait, and gain a small amount of denars
* "Bargain traders" who can only be found by walking the streets, and will offer you some goods for 10% cheaper than the current market rate in that town
* "Luxury goods dealers" who are guaranteed to sell rare items like crowns, so the player can get a crown when they become a ruler
* "Skill trainers" who can be paid gold to gain some XP in a specific skill to you or a companion, eg: there is a crossbow trainer in Galend, or riding trainer in Chaikand
* Each day, the first 5 people you talk to in a town/castle/village will grant some Charm XP, which scales with your current Charm level
Combine these with the existing alley fights and I would find myself choosing to spend a lot more time in the town scenes TW has obviously put so much effort into making.