Campaign Area - Size at 1st Level

[Snoweel]

This applies more to homebrews but is also relevent to off-the-rack campaign settings.

What geographic area do you think is appropriate for a starting (1st level) 4e campaign?

I refer specifically to the size of the area PCs will initially be adventuring in.

Also, what sized area will they have intimate knowledge of, and what sized area will they have second-hand knowledge of.

I understand these will vary greatly depending on the type of campaign and so I value all contributions.

 

[rounser]

If you need a guide, why not update Keep on the Borderlands to 4E?

It's probably the quintessential "starting campaign setting". And if you can hunt down 2E's Return to the KotB and Hackmaster's Little KotB and remix the three of them to your taste, then you've probably got enough material right there for several campaigns. Campaign setting - the Borderlands, and one Keep which you've rendered in gorgeous detail.

If you're worried about scope, consider natural barriers like beginning on an island (the PCs have some vague knowledge about other islands nearby, which they'll visit at higher level), or unnatural ones, like ye olde village and dungeon in a very special Bag of Holding (perhaps with "black cliffs that go up as far as the eye can see" around the edges, an artificial sun, and villagers who don't know they're in a magic bag...and the PCs can exit the bag when you're ready). In the latter scenario, the Bag could be anywhere, from Faerun to the Demiplane of Dread, so I suppose it avoids your question entirely.

I guess my point is that you really don't need a campaign world for D&D. In fact, it's arguably something of a drawback because it draws your attention away from the bread and butter of the game. On the other hand, you can't really do epic without a lot of real estate.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Small, very small. A village or town and a handful of neighbouring settlements, no more than half-a-dozen. The forests, hills, lakes and rivers near those settlements. A half dozen mysterious places and/or monster sites. That's it. Nentir Vale in the DMG is a good example.

 

[Snoweel]

Oh I've got a setting - my homebrew has been evolving (ie. I'm happy with it for a few months and then decide it's rubbish and throw most of it out and start again) since the mid-90's.

Developing it has been mostly just a hobby since a campaign only ever explores a fraction of it - so I'm never committed to too much peripheral detail anyway.

But I do have bare-bones detail for a fair proportion of my map, so my new 4e campaign could start anywhere.

I'm just finding out what geographic size (in miles/kilometres) people think is suitable for a starting 4e campaign, given the implied setting (tech/magic/cultural-level).

 

[rounser]

I'm just finding out what geographic size (in miles/kilometres) people think is suitable for a starting 4e campaign, given the implied setting (tech/magic/cultural-level).

I don't think it's so much the miles and kilometres as the nearest place you've put something interesting. If Trollclaw Ford is one mile away or one hundred miles away, the PCs will have to go there/be aware of there one way or another if it's the only adventure near town.

More good examples of a "local" campaign environment can be found around Restenford in The Secret of Bone Hill and around Phlan in Ruins of Adventure. Or you could use Hommlett and it's Moathouse as a model, maybe.

Or maybe work out the time in hours or days you want it in travel away from home base, and work out the distance that way.

 

[Snoweel]

Nentir Vale in the DMG is a good example.

And how big is that?

I don't yet have the DMG due to the fact that I didn't jump on the 4e bandwagon until yesterday afternoon and the shops aren't open around here on weekends.

What's the area of the Nentir Vale map?

 

[Mokona]

My games generally range across a small continent with lots of travel (like The Lord of the Rings tale). Characters are usually familiar with only one nation and usually not all of that.

 

[hong]

One dungeon, one town, one boss.

Sounds like a rock song.

 

[Baron Opal]

"Hey DM! Come over here!"

"What you need?"

"One town, one dungeon and one booossssss...!!"

Yeah, it could work.

I sketch things out so that there are 2-3 things to do, and 2-3 "steps" to each. So, Town --> River --> Swamp --> Lizardmen or Town --> Hills --> Goblins in mine. Things like that, and come up with a semi-realistic travel time. I do use the JG Wilderlands maps for my homebrew so that gives me an "objective" starting point to plan out my games.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

I'm working on a new campaign at the moment (see sig). Since it's set in a city, I've developed quite a bit about the city overall but have also homed in on a small area in the Dock Ward where I think the first few adventures will take place. There is a very vague map of the world.

For a more conventional campaign, I think you need a small town or village, surrounding wilderness (with adventure hooks) and a dungeon or two. You can expand out from there. The only thing you might need to do is have a rough idea of the larger world in your head (eg the Caliphate of Akhran is to the SW, Urskovia is to the North etc).

Cheers


Richard