My D20 Rant

[Celestian]

First off, Gah, whats wrong with tables! I love them =(

Secondly, I find Necromancer games good for DMs that have their own world. The stuff they create is a tool for the DM to use. If you have your own story and need a dirty dungeon, hellish hole or the like then they got what you want.

 

[7thlvlDM]

Re: "Made for use right in your home campaign!"

I can also see the need for world-building guides, especially for new GM's who are just learning. These are inherently useful and could incorporate the nuts and bolts of good world design.

The thought that there are "too many campaign settings" comes to be rather hard to believe, from the standpoint that the market has only been going for about a year and it is not certain which campaign settings will be popular and which ones will fade away. One of the reasons for a new market (like d20) was to encourage new competition in the industry and also create new jobs to support the demand for D&D. This could be why the OGL and d20 System Licenses are free for use.

I guess my beef with campaign settings is that one is enough. Buying Rappan Athuk doesn't preclude me from buying Nemoran's Vault. The Book of Eldritch Might will probably work great with Arcana: Sorcieties of Magic. But I sure as hell wouldn't want to trying using the Iron Kingdoms with the Scarred Lands and Paradigm Concept's Arcanis. No matter how good they are, you're not going to go through more than 1 in six months. And the companies pour their hearts into the setting books, 200+ pages, hardcover. Seems like a major resource hog. I don't want companies making or breaking themselves on one huge product. One setting is all I can use, and I don't foresee myself buying any in the near future. I'm affraid they'll all take each other out of business.

Out of curiousity, what are the nuts and bolts of world design? I see countries lodged together half-hazardly on Oerth, but it seems to work just fine. Cities near rivers, ok. North Umber Keep has (rolls random dice) 236 militia. Provocative histories and culture are probably hardest to create, but I don't know what kind of advice would be useful except lots of examples.

Q1000: It sounds to me like you're having trouble making a cohesive campaign world because the d20 products are much more diverse than their 2nd edition counterparts. You're not going to be able to use everything together. IMO, why bother describing what's on the other side of the planet if the PCs are never going to get there or if it has no bearing on their future? What I like to do is think about what I see my PCs doing at 20th level, and start planting the seeds early on. You want them to eventually rule provinces, start thinking of a way they can become heroes in the eyes of their king. Maybe they save him/his family from a conspiracy or something. You want them to end up ascending to godhood, start rumors of some fruit of the gods while they're level one and have them discover a solid lead when they're level 15.

 

[zouron]

Tables in World Creation, the Easy way!

Personally I recently made a complaint to a friend of mine, putting out a document on his website about world building, some general suggestions. I found that this approach have been seen more often, and having build many worlds, and settings for my own games (12 settings, and 14 different worlds (two are composed of crosses of my own and existing settings like DL)) I found that it is almost an endless task doing it, a well structured book with lots of (not endlessly long tables, but many!) tables is a real good foundation, it have to of course be designed so it works for both FR or more magic, or gritty no magic, as well as if someone want to construct hell, well go ahead. It needs a solid guide to each step (using both methods of world creation I suppose... personally I am a outside in persona).

Tables are easy for people especially beginners to work with, doesn't mean they shyould be constructed to primary produce random worlds (in fact, I advice against the silly on 20 reroll twice stuff!). A table is an easy overview of what there is, catagoried, then you can pick, through own desire or a suggested amount of the table, so you have something done! Whoa I have a country here to here, whgat government does it have? hmm Table 9-1B have different type to choice, from heh mageocrazy sounds nice! now let me see next I need to figure out something about population table 10-4... ahh there I was a Few Larrge city structure! and that means X things.
The very fictional example shows how easy and fast it would b, of course there will always be a lot of work attached, but it easy it a lot fo GMs if they don't have to go research 20 different forms of rulerships or take them out of a descriptive text, a table makes every item equally important, and set a focus at the task just aat hand.

Someone putting a very table with description book on world creation is surely to have me as a buyer, world creation is not just for the elite, it is fun for the whole family, it just lacks prober tools at the moment.

 

[Skald]

I've also been aware of the need for d20 material that could rather easily be incorporated into existing campaign settings and games. Skald Book's "Maidenheim: The Age of Scorn" is a stand-alone campaign setting that can certainly be used on its own as a long-term and epic world of adventure, but there are still plenty of ways that this Amazon based campaign setting can easily be inserted into just about any other standard d20 world without overwhelming the game.

Maidenheim doesn't reinvent the wheel, and she uses only the standard magic and combat systems found within the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook, and although she isn't "officially" a D&D world she can just as readily be reached from Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms with a wee bit of imagination. Even the mists of Ravenloft are known to engulf these lands from time to time.

As for world building books, I would suggest the now out-of-print "2nd Edition Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide" by Paul Jacquays and William M. Conners. This was perhaps the best sourcebook ever written about designing campaign settings, and I would recommend that you order it used through Amazon.com or your favorite retailer. For those of us who have been around through the 1st, 2nd, and now the 3rd Edition rules, I don't think anyone will dispute my claim that this book is probably the best friend a DM could ever have.

 

[Q1000]

Now that the D&D system is open it takes more work to determine what is cannon and what is not. From a technical standpoint the players handbook was just the Grayhawk players handbook and the DMs guide tried to put us back in to the dungeon.
My official listing of supplements includ.
WOTC: Manual of the plains, Psionics handbook. Class books.
AEG: Dungeons, Undead, Dragons and of course Evil.
Legends and Lairs: Mythic Races and Traps and Treachery.
SSS: Relics and Rituals and their monster collections.
From the past I use the following out of print items: ICE campaign law. Ready Ref Sheets from Judges Guild and Cities from Chaosium.
Campaign source: Harn World

Thus you see my concern.

D20 many pathways, many headaches

Q1000

 

[Damror]

I've noticed the lack of generic campaign material too. I think, as someone else mentioned earlier, a flood is coming. I for one, am working on several "localized campaign settings" that will fit into any other larger setting. for example, the Seven Cities Sourcebook will detail 7 large, unique cities that can be transplanted into any world, or used as complete settings in their own right.

I'm also working on a collection of islands, but they probably won't be done until next year.

Several other publishers are also working on cities, towns and regions that can be easily transported into other worlds. So, it's coming. By this time next year there wil be plenty of material around to build a unique world out of.

 

[Nightfall]

Well to each his own, I always say. Even though as a whole, the Scarred Lands ARE a campaign world, there are elements can be transposed on it. Say like a city of necromancers that are more interested in research and learning, that world wide take over. Certain Hollowfaust may be a little much for some that don't think outside a box (in my view at least) when it comes to necromancy, but you do have to admit, it's DIFFERENT, and that's what a campaign world should be about.

In any case I hope you all find what you are looking for. As for me, I'm happy! SL DM's Screen is in my grasp AND I now have a completed Mongoose set for Encyclopedia Arcana!

 

[jdfrenzel]

I understand the desire for plug-in chunks for homegrown campaign worlds, mostly because the amount of effort required to invent and detail so many things is huge.

The trouble with generic campaign plug-ins is that they are, after all, generic. A successful campaign world is different in some way. Consider the success of Deadlands or Cthulhu settings - these are radical settings when compared to stock fantasy. Plug-ins are easy to use and acquire, so it makes sense that, once they appear, they will be used quite a bit. But how unique can a world be if most of them have a Freeport or a Windhaven?

I am glad to see the publishers take the risk that they will have the next Dragonlance. The Iron Kingdoms and Nyambe settings have great hooks, and I think these 2 will do well. But for home growns, I prefer inspiration from history (Durant is a favorite) rather than a supplement for three reasons: Truth is stranger than fiction, most people don't know history, and you can bet your players are browsing the games store!

 

[PrivateerMatt]

The trouble with generic campaign plug-ins is that they are, after all, generic. A successful campaign world is different in some way.

Huzzah!

I don't mean to disregard the original poster's desire for broadly useful campaign material, but that just isn't what we are interested in making.

Now, I don't mean that future Iron Kingdoms products will be useless to people who aren't playing IK campaigns. Far from it, there will be a lot that can be easily moved about. I think our monster book and our campaign sourcebook will be very popular, even with people who don't play IK campaigns. But if I said that general-use material was our FOCUS, that would be a lie.

 

[mythusmage]

With all the material being produced these days the prospective buyer is going to have to make choices. Which can he afford? Which fit or can be made to fit his game? Which can be used in a number of situations? Which will add substantially to his campaign?

Not everything being put out is going to be compatible with every game, every campaign. So you have to choose wisely. If you need a campaign setting, choose the one the appeals to you most. With the setting in hand, or a setting of your own devising, consider those settings with elements you can fit into the core. Then go on to those books covering certain setting subjects such as cities, societies, and the like. Finally, select those adventures that can be made to fit your world and the type of game you wish to run.

Of course, you don't need to use published material as is. You can always take parts from the various books and adventures you own and incorporate them into your own game and game world. You might end up getting it published (please make sure that all the stuff you "borrow" from other works is open gaming content).

The pessimist looks at all that's out there and says, "Look at all that stuff!"

The optimist looks at all that's out there and says, "Look at all that stuff!"

You?