Do players really care for the campaign setting?

I prefer homebrew games as the DM almost necessarily has a passion for the setting -- and the DM being really into the world really helps me get into the game more than anything else.

My homebrew games have gone off a lot better than my published setting games -- because I simply like them more because I created the settings.

Some players care, and some don't. Almost no player cares about the setting as much as the DM does. Which is understandable, because the players spend most of their time working on their PCs, while the DM spends most of his time working on the campaign.

I don't take it personally when the players aren't as into the campaign as I am. Rather, I get enjoyment out of developing the campaign for my own amusement -- in addition to that of the players.

Ok, as a player I really like exploring the world. At the same time I just dislike the concepts of every major published setting. What it comes down to is that I don't like mixing my fluff with my cruch. In too many settings the world is fleshed out through rule changes instead of inventive changes to th culture of the world.

I love a good, solid setting with plenty of history, mystery and, as has already been stated, ale and whores.

That's why we play in Greyhawk.

I have never played in a home game of Greyhawk. But I run Greyhawk all the time. If anyone in my area ever offered to run a campaign set in Greyhawk I would jump on it like stink on a monkey. But everyone here but me plays homebrew and Eberron. It's... sad.

As a player I want to know the game world with its geography, nations and history. I want to be able to use that knowledge in my gaming. It brings the world to life rather than just asking questions as I go along.

However, in my experience as a DM, I find that generally players don't give two hoots about the setting. They want a good game and thats it. Which, to be honest, I find both dissapointing and a little soul-destroying (especially if its a homebrewed world/setting).

Genre is the most important thing for my group. We all enjoy the Swords & Sorcery genre as well as the occassional Horror/Suspense/Mystery and Mind Bender genres. Campaign setting doesn't matter all that much, but I can attest that not once have we played Eberron. This is to say that we haven't not played it because of disinterest, but just due to the want to invest in supplements that will enhance any other DnD game. Not one person in the whole group has bought any of the eberron books. I plan to rectify that next year with the purchase of the CS, PG, EH, FoE, MoE and CoT all in one fell swoop.

We mostly play a world spanning game that hops between Grewhawk and Faerûn, with gate ships that make trasportation possible.

One of my most successful D&D campaigns of all time was set in: "Uh, D&D."

Pretty much I got blindsided one day by some friends wanting to play D&D, so we just played some D&D. Everything about the setting got made up on the spot. Cities, nations, etc, when they were needed.

It congealed into a decent setting, everybody thought I'd had it up my sleeve the whole time, but it just sort of built organically from the first storyline.

So I don't think players particularly CAN care about stuff they don't know about.

One of the most "huh" games I've ever ran was an Eberron one-shot ... I'd dissiminated via email and a website a pretty comprehensive compact run-down of the Eberron setting and the interactions of the nations and races, etc etc. Got to the table ... nobody had bothered to read any of it, nobody had any idea what was going on "behind the scenes". I had to explain "what you need to know" about the one little area the adventure was in ... I guess everybody had fun, but really, it could have been set in "D&Dland". In fact, had I been prepared to have to tell everybody about everything by pulling it out of my rear, it probably would have been BETTER. I certainly could have saved alot of time putting together the micro-handbook-to-Eberron that nobody looked at and it probably would have had a little more "punch" knowing it was just what -I- was making it for that one game.

--fje

airwalkrr said:

But everyone here but me plays homebrew and Eberron. It's... sad.

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At least your players are willing to run a game. *sighs* wistfully.

Turanil said:

Many of us, including me, love to create homebrew worlds, and strive to create the perfect one. However, do those who will play in it really care fo all so much work and "brilliant" ideas? Do the players really care for what exact campaign setting they are playing in?

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Try creating the setting as a group activity. Where everyone gets a chance to put in "brilliant" ideas. Then everyone is going to care about the setting. When other people are using your brilliant ideas in new and clever ways, it's awesome.