Fantasy Campaign Setting: What do you want/not want?

[AslanC]

Hey there,

So I am debating designing a new fantasy campaign world (for publication, but not only for D&D) but before I put a single drop of ink to paper, I was curious as to what the general desires of the modern gamers are.

I know the grognards (myself being one) love sand boxes, while there are those who love the details of a Forgotten Realms or Harn and yet others who love the mystery and uniqueness of a Talislanta or Journe.

So what would you like to see in a new fantasy setting?

What would you like not to see there?

I thank you for taking the time to read this and look foward to your replies.

Cheers!

 

[JamesonCourage]

Interesting question.

I like more sandbox style stuff in my homebrew worlds. I like things pretty low-fantasy -there's not tons of flying ships, gunpowder, steam-anything, or the like. There aren't a lot of "main" races, and there's no real "meta plot." There's plenty of room for political intrigue, and status is important. Tension between certain races, usually, too. I tend to like things being a bit grittier, too, so not a lot of bringing people from the dead, one creature taking out an army, etc. (those can happen, but not often).

I don't know. It's hard to express. Harder than I'd thought it'd be. Thanks for asking, if nothing else. Answering (or trying to) is an interesting exercise. As always, play what you like

 

[Daztur]

To be written up more like a set of good DMing notes than a Lonely Planet guidebook.

 

[Thunderfoot]

History - a well thought out and established history up to the point of where the "story begins". It's nice to know how we got here. Established Kingdoms and political intrigue, why do the Hatfields hate the McCoys and why do they shoot each other on sight? Loose explanation of beliefs, religions, superstitions, etc. Who are these people? Mannerisms, activities and normal everyday behaviors of the main races and maybe even a few monstrous ones too. The ability for the end results to vary with each gaming table. The problem with Dragonlance, the characters aren't the heroes, the Heroes of the Lance are, The problem with Forgotten Realms, every game is identical to every other game because the history is good, but the present is too well defined.
I also say poo-poo to the Steampunk, techno-wizardry stuff. I like swords and sorcery.

 

[GhostBear]

I like sandboxy style gaming as well, but it does depend on your players. That aside...

I prefer lower-fantasy worlds; E6/E8, with perhaps a few (and a very few) stronger individuals. Fantasy games get ridiculous when every little hamlet has a druid that can call lightning, a wizard that can throw fireballs, and a fighter that can take the contents of hell all on his own. Most people really are just people, trying to scratch together enough food for the winter. A tiny smidgen are more than that.

Also, magical items that are more than just "Sword +1". Having a story attached can not only make "Sword +1" special, but it also builds your world out a bit as well.

I'm working on a world of my own at the moment in bits and pieces, and here's a few things that I intend to include:

Some non-standard races available to the PCs, with power in the world. Yeah, dwarves, elves, they're around (or maybe not), but when was the last time you had a politically powerful kobold tribe, a crumbling empire of sea-faring minotaurs, or a theocratic society of griffins?

A variety of flora. Flowers that are lighter than air; vines that emit flammable resin; venus fly-trap like things that have an amount of mobility; addictive mushroom spores; plants that change color based on the temperature. Now we have cool plants - how do people make use of them?

Who said the dwarves and elves had to be at odds anyway? Right now, I'm trying to question some of the standard tropes. It's harder than it sounds, actually... Not questioning the tropes, but realizing all the parts of fantasy we take for granted so that they CAN be questioned. I know that elves are supposed to be these tall, thing, beautiful people that live in the woods and are good with bows and never really age and blah, but at this point in my life... I can't take it anymore.

I love what 2nd Ed. Dark Sun did with a lot of the races. Just reading those books long ago felt... wonderful. Cannibal halflings...

A world that is generally unexplored. Perhaps it is new or, in my case, the landscape was drastically changed a hundred years or so ago. You have these maps, see, but they're not necessarily accurate anymore. Also, it's not nearly as fun when someone says, "Oh, yeah, that forest, been there a million times, here's a map, look out for the owlbears." That doesn't feel like exploration and adventure - you're treading worn ground.

I'm ditching alignment completely (for several reasons), and running things in shades of gray (but not 50 of them, har har). Not many people are actually evil anyway - a war band may raid a town and take the food stores, but if the choice is that or starving... There's long threads on the subject, won't repeat here, but alignment isn't popular with my group.

Part balance, part flavor, and part wanting to get people out of the rut of picking the same spells over and over, many commonly used spells will have been lost, or are going to cost a lot of coin to access.

The idea of having something happening while the characters are going on about their business is important to me as well. When there's rumors of war, or a new king is crowned, there's trade negotiations, that kind of stuff going on regularly, it should help the world feel more alive in general. It may be helpful, if you do end up with a print product, to have some pages dedicated to "big things" and how they might affect the world.

When it comes to maps, I like to jot down the major land features and the big cities, but leave the rest empty. This allows me to fill things in as they're needed while we play.

Oh. And if there's a big city, please add farm land around it.

History is always good and fun to have - especially if there's missing pieces, or if parts of it are flat out wrong. History is, after all, written by the victor...

Holidays! Everyone needs holidays. They're useful for all kinds of things. They can help define the world, identify major players (small religious sects won't have a nationally recognized holiday, for example), and mark the passage of time while providing role playing opportunities. As we all know, nasty plots always happen during holidays, too. So they're doubly awesome to have. A lot of holidays could be regional, or only observed by certain subsets of the population.

Local customs are always fun; for example, in my game, every single tavern/pub commissions a bard to write a song dedicated to that business before the doors open that first time. Part advertising (if the tune or lyrics are catchy, you may sing it while you walk), part superstition about good luck, and part fun.

I like the idea of a "Dead Legion" as a subset of a military. People who are sentenced to death, but decide to go out with a modicum of honor by going againt the vicious beasties, with little to no chance of long term survival. A little cliche (and here I am trying to keep away from tropes, har har). Sure would suck if you ended up there accidentally. Ooops. But subsets of organizations like this (even if given just a brief paragraph) can expose a lot about your world. They show what kinds of special needs an organization needs.

Maybe the 23rd Royal Calvary is set aside for people who have earned favor of some kind or another, and they get extra pay with little, if any, combat exposure. Now, you have a ready-made insult, a place for intreague, something characters can stick into their backstory, etc., etc. Lots of little things like that, which can be sprinkled about, can be really helpful.

In fewer words: If there is a region of people, how do they live? What is their life like? What is important to them? How do they react to the dangers the world contains?

I apologize for rambling and probably babbling off topic, but I just started typing and dear god it is way past midnight now...

Making a game world that feels full and rich, instead of a couple of random cities with Dungeon #14 on the outskirts, is really difficult. Take a ton of time and effort.

 

[Evenglare]

I'd love to make/see a generic fantasy world. When I mean this I truly mean a generic fantasy world, one with elven forests, dwarven mountain ranges, swamps of misery, castles in the clouds. I want something so generic it actually is the essence of the classic fantasy world.... it's really hard to put into concise words. I dont want the 3rd prince of Kardraks kingdom to send me on a quest to slay the dragon of Tharandul who was responsible for Arduins murder when he raided the town of Lanathor . I want the High Elf King to send me to slay the silver dragon for being a menace to the nearby laketown. I want it to feel like a children's fairy tale book... maybe I need to just make a Classic Fantasy World generator or something.

Edit: If anyone has played Gauntlet dark legacy that is a pretty good idea of some of the things I want. How the realms are divided up into the quintessential fantasy locales.

 

[Electric Wizard]

Fluff-wise, my ideal setting would have classical tropes re-imagined in interesting ways that remain recognizable.

There's nothing wrong with dwarves, nymphs, dragons, etc. But do all dwarves need to live in mountains, act gruff and fight with axes? For example, maybe something drove them from their mountain homes centuries ago and most now dwell in the foothills of their ancestral homes. Thanks to ta lack of agricultural traditions, they are forced to trade most of their crafts for food. Their eyes are more suited to unlit tunnels and chambers, so in the daytime they wear deep hoods that protect their sensitive eyes. Some tribes might have adopted a nocturnal lifestyle. This makes other races believe they are shifty and duplicitous. Dwarves are making honest attempts to deal with once-distant races and cultures, but have trouble overcoming their stubborn pride and ironclad tradition. Those who can't take up a trade are often forced into mercenary service for other races, spending their lives taking out their frustration on monsters and mugs of strong brew. These unfortunate souls are the basis of most dwarf stereotypes.

Another thing I like: lots of adventure hooks. I hate trudging through the nuances of a city's economy, culture and statblocks of guard captains and getting no ideas on how to send players on a fun adventure. Who cares if the people in this village raise wheat, enjoy fishing in the river and are friendly to travelers? Tell me more about that troll living in the blacksmith's basement or why the mayor's daughter is never seen during new moons, even if it means cutting out the section about the count's lineage.

Accessible, usable background material is a plus, too. You may have spent hours concocting a unique calender, three thousand years of history or a magic system based on your research of medieval science. But unless it affects how a wizard can cast a spell or gives characters something concrete to use in the here and now, I'm only going to read it if I'm bedridden and my Kindle runs out of batteries. Keep the relevant bits concise, and don't overload it with explanation. Leave something untold to stimulate the imagination. That's one of the main reasons people love pen-and-paper games.

 

[Hussar]

For myself, above and beyond anything else, I want a setting that WORKS.

As an example, I love the Scarred Lands setting. I do. Fantastic flavour. But, it doesn't work. There is a hub of commerce called Shelzar. Now, the basic idea of Shelzar is that it is a merchant city where all the other city states come and do business. Ok, think Medici Italy or Florence, that sort of thing. Very cool.

Until you look at the map and realize that Shelzar as a center of trade makes about as much sense as a rubber hammer. The geography of the setting places most of the major populate areas on the coastline of a fairly round continent. Shelzar is also on the coastline. It's nearest neighbor in one direction is a nation of slaver dwarves that hate everyone and attack on sight. The other direction is the hated empire that won't let anyone else pass through their territory. Ummm, how exactly can you be the hub of trade when you are the furthest point away from every other trading partner?

It makes zero sense.

So, yeah, what I want to see in a fantasy setting is a setting that actually functions the way it's supposed to. If this nation trades with that nation, there better be a way to ACTUALLY do that. If this nation is at war with that nation, then there should be a reason for these two nations to fight. That sort of thing.

 

[jasper]

Places with a lot history and details and some not. For Example, The Kingdom of USA in Duchy of Alabama I know about all the major religions, sects, prior historyl, strange customs etc. For the Duchy of New York, I know there is island city state call New York New york and the terrian for the Duchy. That way the some of the published adventures can take place in a highly detail setting, and other adventurers take place in low detail locations. For example the Villiage of Hommlet could take in the Duchy of New York, or any state/duchy the terrian allows.
Look at the old Judges Guild maps and City State books.

 

[Janx]

I like some of the points I seen:
farms around cities and towns to logically support those populations
trading centers located in central locations where folks WOULD trade

Here's some stuff I like to do:
make sure there's a place in the world for every class and race that I'm going to allow to explain where that race came from, and how that class fit into society
There's no ninjas in my game, if I don't have a culture that produces ninjas
there's no halflings in my game, if I don't have an area where halflings are/were from

exposure to high level NPCs is granted by social recognition which is granted by PC level.
1st level PCs do not get orders from the king. They don't get brought in to meet the king for a reward. They don't solve kingdom-level problems. A 1st level PC impresses and meets the local leader of the village. As the PC accomplishes more, his renown grows and the scope and scale of his quests increases to higher levels of leadership and municipality.

Holidays, seasons and the passage of time
PCs should be seeing festivals and stuff going on
adventuring should happen in the spring-fall time, with winter being taken off
time should pass between quests/events the PCs deal with, rather than playing out the hour-by-hour advancement from 1st to 20th level in 13 days of game time.

Religion that makes sense
Religions and religious orders should be defined and setup so cleric PCs know where they fit in the game world

Wizard and sorceror support network
a world where magic is feared and loathed pretty much gives the finger to the player who wants to run a Wizard. Making the PC an outcast from the onset, unlike the rest of the players isn't really fun or fair.
It's always OK if there's some area where they are mistrusted or outlawed, but the default starting point should at least tolerate the magical PC as much as any other class.

Racism and bigotry is Over There
like anti-magicism, the starting area for the PCs should generally tolerate the party. Likewise, we don't need the elves hating the dwarves as backstory such that it bleeds into immediate party in-fighting. Let the players explore such things once they get started when they get "over there" where an example of a bigoted society can be demonstrated, without foisting it on the players immediately. Especially if you don't know how close to home such a topic might hit with a player.

Cities and villages with important, expected shops and services defined. If every town has an inn, put it on the darn town map, as well as description of the place and its keeper. the GM should not have to guess if a pretty common service exists or not, and then have to make up a place and its NPC. With all the random generators on the internet, it's pretty trivial to generate a random town map, NPCs and such for every place in the game world that you drew on the world map.

Nations and their history and governments
once you have your world map, carve it into nations and pick some interesting forms of government for each. Then make up some history for each, so there's some flavor to use later.