D&D 5E D&D Needs New Settings

[Manbearcat]

I have no idea if this would be even remotely doable or not but here's a thought I've had for a while:

Put out, say, a couple of hexes worth of map, with some terrain features (using a standardized legend for it). Describe a location within each hex, using no more than a couple of sentences to do so, and include a typical encounter for the hex. This is all the information you get for this world at the moment.

Invite people to submit their own hexes, or ideas for locations and encounters within the hexes. Each week/two weeks/month/whatever, increase the map by a couple of hexes chosen from the submissions.

a crowd-funded hexcrawl?

I mean, maybe? I know that a lot of the problem some people have with settings like the Realms is that there's so much info. So that's why I was thinking something very minimalist built up over time--and if crowd-sourced, then it could also end up with a lot of potentially cool weirdness. It would probably end up very kitchen sink, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but could be cool.

What you’re describing here is basically a slightly different operationalizing of Dungeon World.

Make a map with a few adventure sites.

Leave it mostly blank.

The map fleshes out during play as a product of GM/player/system interaction.

Except for a Hexcrawl.

And yes, it works.

 

[Mind of tempest]

D&D does not "need" a new setting.

Worse they could not even do it in the current businesses practices. WotC only releases a couple books a year and makes them all super generic. So "all" D&D gamers will buy "all" the books.

A setting book(s) by it's very nature "says" to many gamers "don't buy this book, you can't use it in your game...unless you use this setting". Like how Dark Sun has pages of rules of "Hard Fun in the Desert" that just don't fit in any other setting. So if you make a new setting The Primal Wastelands, full of animal people that use "primal power", that is all useless to anyone playing "core" D&D.

But, wait....it gets worse. With the WoTC thing of "A book once in a while" you will never "get" the setting. Sure they can make a slim Campaign Setting book and fill it with vague stuff. Wow, the Land of Dancing Penguin Ninjas! But such a book is lucky to get like five paragraphs to describe a whole land. Same thing with races and setting and divine power and features and everything else. You'd get a baddy written glossed over vague mess of words. And you'd never get a source book on EACH land, or even land area. Or god. Or race. You'd be lucky if in a couple years they even put out a "players guide" or something like that.

have considered doing something about it?

 

[Faolyn]

back in the 3e era there were a couple of Collaborative threads here at Enworld that were focussed on creating settings.

I know that Mors End and Cressia are searchable in the Archives, I also recall a Shark World (?)

could do another such thread for 5e

I remember all the "Vote Up A Setting" threads on the SJ Games forums. Could be interesting to do one for 5e.

 

[Faolyn]

@Faolyn I mentioned Midnight, explicitly where the Evil Gods had conquered and won. >.>

Musta missed that. Sorry!

 

[Mind of tempest]

I remember all the "Vote Up A Setting" threads on the SJ Games forums. Could be interesting to do one for 5e.

that could be interesting.

question what idea from this thread would be selected?

 

[Faolyn]

that could be interesting.

question what idea from this thread would be selected?

The "Vote Up A Setting" ideas were done by putting up a poll like, say, "what sort of races would be on this world?" with options like "All of them!" or "Humans only" or "Tolkien races only" or "Hand-picked selection of races" or "Something else; write-in answer". Then additional questions might be asked to clarify the poll results.

So If we were to do one, some questions could be:

• What PC races are available?
• What's the tech level?
• What's the magic level (for how common are spellcasters, how common magical creatures are, how common magical items are, and how powerful magic typically is)
• What are the primary Bad Guys?
• What are common mundane elements?
• What are common magical elements?
• What things don't exist in the world?

And so on.

Obviously, there are probably a lot more questions that could be asked.

 

[Tonguez]

Link to Mors End City Project Archive

 

[Mind of tempest]

The "Vote Up A Setting" ideas were done by putting up a poll like, say, "what sort of races would be on this world?" with options like "All of them!" or "Humans only" or "Tolkien races only" or "Hand-picked selection of races" or "Something else; write-in answer". Then additional questions might be asked to clarify the poll results.

So If we were to do one, some questions could be:

• What PC races are available?
• What's the tech level?
• What's the magic level (for how common are spellcasters, how common magical creatures are, how common magical items are, and how powerful magic typically is)
• What are the primary Bad Guys?
• What are common mundane elements?
• What are common magical elements?
• What things don't exist in the world?

And so on.

Obviously, there are probably a lot more questions that could be asked.

okay but we were talking about basic setting niches less the composition of races.

 

[Faolyn]

okay but we were talking about basic setting niches less the composition of races.

Right, which would be another question to be asked. I just grabbed questions off the top of my head.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Right, which would be another question to be asked. I just grabbed questions off the top of my head.

okay so do we make it?