Campaign Setting layouts (online) - your thoughts?

[weem]

I am putting down a new setting of mine (online) as I develop it from a cloud of memories and ideas I have had over the years. One of my main problems is deciding how to best present the information. My take has been present light information on the surface and allow readers to dive deeper into the various areas as they go.

I love reading about peoples settings, but often times this is long blocks of a ton of text all mashed together, so the act of reading it is a pain even if the ideas and information are awesome - so I want to avoid this.

With that said...

1. What do you think is a good method for sharing a Campaign Setting? For example... a wiki with a table of contents, etc.

2. What information about a campaign setting do you want to see first? For example, maybe you like to know the hooks... or maybe the races are the first thing you like to know about

3. Are there any sites online that you think exemplify the best (or at least a good) way to display this kind of information (races, gods, etc)?

I'm not trying to sell mine, or expect people to see it and use it - but that doesn't mean I don't want to present it well, you know? This setting will be used by me for all future campaigns (including my new campaign starting next week) and I have a number of people who will be pouring over it even if they aren't playing in it

Thanks guys n gals!

[Derulbaskul]

I've started to use obsidianportal.com for my latest 4E Forgotten Realms campaign. It's basically a wiki and, IMO, it's just perfect for what you're talking about. My players really like it as do I.

I wouldn't recommend my site but if you go to the front page of the site there are several sites recommended that are worth a look.

You're limited to one map on the map page if you use the site for free but it is simply to post a small version of a map as a picture then link to one of the free picture storage sites.

[weem]

Thanks for the response +XP!

Yea, I've installed a wiki and have wordpress going for the front end and it's working out well, I'm just not so sure about how to present the information - in what order, format etc.

I looked at some there at obsidianportal.com and you are right, there are some decent ones there. I know what I myself am into, so of course I have been going that route so far, but I started to wonder what others thought.

I think my primary question is...

...what information do you tend to want to see first about a campaign setting?

I, for example, dig seeing the Races and how they interact with each other followed by important events that have shaped the world and how those are related to the primary hooks of the setting.

[Mercutio01]

...what information do you tend to want to see first about a campaign setting?

What is the hook for the setting that differentiates it from every other setting. Like 3.5 Eberron had that introduction that said exactly what it was about and mentioned a few movies to keep in mind when playing it, Ptolus is meant to be one city as the entire campaign setting, Dark Sun is about the hardships of desert survival, etc.

[Jack99]

I use a blog - and with the blogs I use tags, makes it very easy to find things for my players.

[Hand of Evil]

All comes down to how it will be used, which I see in the following topics:

• Campaign World
• --> Overview
• --> Backstory
• --> Locations
• --> People & Groups
• Gaming in my Campaign World
• --> House Rules
• --> Locations (Detail)
• --> People & Groups (Detail)
• Stories of my Campaign World
• --> Adventure Logs
• --> Stories

A site I find useful in kick starting my brain is FANTASY WORLDBUILDING QUESTIONS - while for writers it is a great tool for gaming.

[weem]

Originally Posted by Mercutio01

What is the hook for the setting that differentiates it from every other setting. Like 3.5 Eberron had that introduction that said exactly what it was about and mentioned a few movies to keep in mind when playing it, Ptolus is meant to be one city as the entire campaign setting, Dark Sun is about the hardships of desert survival, etc.

That's good - focus on one hook. I think I have it down to the three or four important aspects, but I can see how I would sum it up around the most important one.

Originally Posted by Jack99

I use a blog - and with the blogs I use tags, makes it very easy to find things for my players.

That's cool - I had thought about that since the front end is a blog (Wordpress) but ended up doing the wiki thing. Your way makes it more immediately accessible though, so that's good.

Originally Posted by Hand of Evil

All comes down to how it will be used, which I see in the following topics:

• Campaign World
• --> Overview
• --> Backstory
• --> Locations
• --> People & Groups
• Gaming in my Campaign World
• --> House Rules
• --> Locations (Detail)
• --> People & Groups (Detail)
• Stories of my Campaign World
• --> Adventure Logs
• --> Stories

A site I find useful in kick starting my brain is FANTASY WORLDBUILDING QUESTIONS - while for writers it is a great tool for gaming.

Thanks, I have a table of contents going that shares some things in common with your setup there, but there are some good ideas there I will be adding/adjusting.


Thanks again all.

So, here's the next question (or another one if you are in the mood)...

What Campaign Setting (published) book do you think got the information to you (that you wanted) in the best way... for example, it had all the info you needed, but not too much and it was all easy to find, etc.