So, I'm nuts (long, asking for campaign help)

[JoAT]

Such fun. Ah well, today I find myself before you, needful of a bit of help to construct a campaign setting - a fairly generic, mediocre world, something that's not very tied into itself and can thusly be readily acted upon by outside forces.

Now, the reason I'm asking is because I seem to have embroiled myself in a pickle of a dilly - I've began work on a three segment campaign meta-world, consisting of earth, the realms of the astral, and a fantasyish world.

I spent some time pieceing things together already, figuring, that my fellow players (there are three of us altogether) would be interested in doing something of a co-DM job - a sort of ”I get this world to detail and use, you get this world" and so on. I had planned on setting up most of the basics, and detailing earth myself - perhaps even running the sections of the campaign that fell upon this vast orb we call home. However when I called upon the first of my group, I outlined my plan, and he was obviously taken by the idea.

"I'll take earth," he said. "I've been wanted to do some dark modern stuff lately."

Now, somewhat surprised by this, I said that I had, in fact, been interested in looking after earth myself. This, of course lead to a not-so-length discussion, and as it turns out... I am indeed going to be detailing the fantasy world.

So here I am attempting to figure a fantasy world that is... well, suited to not being the center of things. One in which the ongoing setting is still vivid, but not enough so as to keep the players from journeying back to earth, or exploring the astral. In other words, a modest, self assuming campaign setting which at the same time, falls very close to the fantasy norm.

Now the problem is... I have no idea how to go about creating such a setting. I have created various other fantasy-esque settings in my time, there is no doubt about it, but I have not the skill to create something that seems to be somewhat unremarkable (it has been said that only a very good actor can play a bad actor. I like to think that the same applies to setting design and writing.). And thus, I ask for your help. I would be much obliged if some one out there could point me in the right direction, as it were.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I'm actually working on something that will fit your needs, but it's slow going because I've discovered that while I like game writing I hate game publishing. So can this wait about six months?

No?

OK, lets move on.

You really aren't looking for all that much. Basically if you had a map with one half labeled "Humans" and another half labled "Orcs" you'd be good to go.

However, failing that, I'd check out Bluffside: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2110&

It isn't exactly generic. But it's a good fantasy waypoint for you that your players probably won't know about.

 

[JoAT]

Hmmmm... Interesting.... I will have to look into this. And maybe is I slap a couple of small 'uber elf' labels on that map, it would be a good way to go.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Piratecat]

So. . . long. . .

As a hint, I've found that brainstorming threads work a lot better if you just present one question at a time with the bare minimum of info needed for folks to answer it.

I love the concept of the astral fragment realms.

 

[JoAT]

Yeah, I do tend to do that, don't I. Ah well. Never mastered the art of editing for length, methinks. *snips it down to the bare essentials... according to me, anyways* Thanks - I can't take credit at all for the Astral Realms idea, since the concept is basic ripped straight from White Wolf's Umbral Realms and the Astral Kingdoms from Palladium's Between the Shadows (which I am most definetly going to be using to describe the astral plane...)

I can't wait to use a Dark City realm, though, nor a Super-Hero realms wherein the only way out is do play the role of the bad guys, stealing things from museums, labs, ect.