Game Settings and Locales

[dicechild]

In an effort to make games more interesting I have found that new and exciting arenas for players to explore always add some level of novelty of the campaign. In moving about the past few years I have started and abandoned several campaigns with locals and old friends that ranged from frozen tundra, to ocean beaches where sailing was important, to the bright evergreen forests and jungles.
I am looking for opinions, no right or wrongs here, in what is your favorite type of environment, and what makes it so?

In example, my favorite environment is almost always sea-vessels and port towns (unless I can convince players to try out blimp style combat and maneuvering). I know this is because I have a love for sailing and mechanical operations. I also extremely like playing all games with tinkerers and trap-builders who use their minds as weapons as much as their swords (cudgels, daggers, fists, etc.), so the advantages of constant engineering that exist in port towns are astounding. But I find that my players often have a difficult time wanting to quest out on open waters, so I find myself improvising to contribute a larger land-based campaign with little naval action at all.

I would just like to know what others experiences are in this, and what aspects of certain environments are stimulating to you so that I can try to introduce or envelope them in a way that still allows me to have an enjoyable time with the story as well.

Thanks,
DC

 

[Edgewood]

For me, nothing captures my imagination more than some out of the way little village, nestled in a lush forest thick with mist and shadow. It's one of those places that seems quaint but also a bit...off. Somewhat Sleepy Hallowesque if you will.

I also like port cities as well. Being from a port city myself, there is just something about a maritime city or town that is just overflowing with adventure. Be it on the high seas or in the streets themselves. Pirates, cults, thieves, weather, corrupt officials, superstitions, etc...are great sources for adventure.

 

[Verdande]

I'm always taken in by mountains, especially forested mountains. It's probably a throwback to my childhood in Vermont, where it seemed like absolutely anything could happen on and under them because they were so big and mysterious.

It's the same reason that dungeons tend to be found on the sides of mountains, or on top of them, and that dwarves and satyrs and the like are some of my favorite mythical creatures. Or that Greece is such an inspiration.

 

[Electric Wizard]

I've always been inspired by Mediterranean-style settings because there's so many opportunities for a wide variety of adventures. It's easy to have swashbuckling on the high seas one day, navigating a bustling cosmopolitan city the next day, then setting out into the desert the next day to explore ancient ruins.

Another appeal of Mediterranean-style settings is that very different cultures exist close to each other. It's a good excuse for the "Star Wars canteen" adventuring party, and it gives a lot of opportunities for unique conflicts and alliances that can develop into over-arching plots. For example, an Egyptian-style culture that bases its livelihood on the river wouldn't take kindly to a desert civilization building a massive irrigation system upstream from them. But the same culture might pay off orc tribes to regulate the flow of caravans through their border.

 

[Hussar]

Recently, my favorite type of environment is a complicated one. Doesn't really matter what the actual environment is - forest, urban, dungeon, whatever - so long as there are multiple dials and knobs related to the environment within the encounter. The environment should be a silent player at the table who is always present.

Couple of things I try to keep an eye on during encounter design:

Multiple altitudes. There should be two and more is better, different levels to the encounter.
Multiple approaches. There should be several paths to any given point.
Multiple effects. Every environment should have several different things going on - fire pits, ditches, spikey walls, whatever.

Kobold Quarterly has a FANTASTIC series called Inspiring Terrains for 4e that I am simply drooling over to use in my adventures.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'm a fan of deserts, from stony arid ones full of scrub brush and plenty of nomads and trade, to great featureless forlorn ones with the occasional horror lurking below. They can be intensely hot, or savagely cold-- or both with the passing of night and day. With plenty of stars by night and constant wind, they can contain weird pseudo-nautical elements. Sand hides ruins, collects into quickdust pits, and shifts over time. Sandstorms strip flesh from the bones, while thunderstorms can flood an area in the blink of an eye, and drain away just as quickly.

I think most appealing is that deserts well separate sub-settings, just as an ocean separates completely distinct islands. One oasis is completely different to another, while a forested mountain is buried to its knees some distance away, a deep river canyon hides a jungle temple, and a sandstone city rises up on the horizon in the center of it all.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

For me it's sand. I like sandy (usually tropical) beaches, shallow seas (think Bahamas), and sand-dune deserts. I can also occasionally go for other sorts of hot deserts and savanna. Maybe urban areas within these sorts of terrains, but not all that much.

I think it's a color issue: I feel motivated by bright, warm colors. Anything other than open, tropical terrain generally doesn't have that color (especially not pseudo-Europe, unless you're talking about the areas in the south), so I prefer to avoid forests and climates with cool seasons.

I suppose if those areas I don't like were described with the right words to make them seem bright it would be okay. Although I think if you weren't going for that mood it would ruin things.

 

[dicechild]

I suppose on a grand scale deserts are easier to navigate for characters and they provide solid ground for combat. I do think that adding in some of the environmental affects that occur, such as extreme heat during the day and freezing temperatures during the night.
I do like the idea of maybe adding in things like sand skiffs and sailing. It wouldn't be that difficult to make those work with high winds. And it could lead to interesting sand pirates.

I would like to add a question to this post as to ask what kind of governments do you generally run in campaigns. Classically I have gone with several forms of republic and monarchy's, often conflicting. But I would like to try out a couple of new forms of things in new campaigns, and with desert oasis being the only watering holes existent aside from what people can dig and scrounge, it might be a good way to set up multiple forms of government that are all different factions that control separate oases.

Thanks for all the ideas and help so far guys.

 

[InquisitorLeet]

For me, nothing captures my imagination more than some out of the way little village, nestled in a lush forest thick with mist and shadow. It's one of those places that seems quaint but also a bit...off. Somewhat Sleepy Hallowesque if you will.

I agree wholeheartedly! Small out of the way country villages are perfect, they can be the home to the cabal of inbred cannibals or the disney-esque haven after a hard day of adventuring. They also provide a great home base for the PCs. They quickly can become local celebrities and a GM can easily play of the inflated egos of famous heroes

Jungles also hold a special place in my games. Especially massive jungles infested with the ruins of lost civilizations. For example, Eberron's Xen'drik too a very basic concept and created such fantastic imagery to invoke excitement and wonder!

-InquisitorLeet

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

re: oases and government

I'm not certain of the details, but at least some modern oases supporting a town maintain a large orchard, which is communally owned. When the community orchard (dates, citrus, pomegranates, etc) is harvested, a council of some sort decides how much of the proceeds needs to go to village repairs, upgrades, equipment (ie, roads and city walls, harvest equipment, irrigation, and so on). The rest is divided amongst the residents. Anyone at anytime can go into the orchard and pluck fruit off any tree to feed the family.

I don't know if that's how oases have always worked traditionally, or if it's a more modern social structure. In any event, the communal thing is little different governmental system than the standard monarchy or republic. Might be interesting to throw one into the campaign, maybe at the fringes of a greater sultanate that controls many oases or something.