D&D General If I had the D&D/WotC Worldbuider job, I would... (+ thread)

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm tempted to say "a world with psionics instead of conventional magic," but that's Dark Sun.

Not necessarily. It's also Blue Rose, which is wildly different than Dark Sun.

 

[Chaltab]

Also Dark Sun has conventional magic, it's just ecologically dangerous.

 

[cole1312]

A new setting designed for warlord/nationbuilding campaigns.

It would have various 'slots' for starting state, magic level, existence of deities/their level of involvement if they do exist, etc. that would let DMs easily create a setting for the PCs to get started in.

Domain play is one of those things lots of people love, and everyone else doesn't seem to understand the love at all. I'm definitely of the former, and the bastion rules being directly implemented and improved upon in a book would be nice... but I also have no faith in wotc so lmao.

 

[Osgood]

I really think a new setting needs to do something very different with the D&D paradigm. Nostalgia has worked, but they can't rely on it forever. Someone posted on a thread somewhere that they were a (middle school?) teacher and their D&D playing students had no idea what an elf or a dwarf was; they were mostly playing anthropomorphic animal characters. These forums skew older (sorry gang, but it's true). The world builder needs to stay relevant to the trends of the modern audience to stay relevant.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I really think a new setting needs to do something very different with the D&D paradigm. Nostalgia has worked, but they can't rely on it forever. Someone posted on a thread somewhere that they were a (middle school?) teacher and their D&D playing students had no idea what an elf or a dwarf was; they were mostly playing anthropomorphic animal characters. These forums skew older (sorry gang, but it's true). The world builder needs to stay relevant to the trends of the modern audience to stay relevant.

I agree with the doing something different and staying relevant, but let's be real for one second here and not get ahead of ourselves. If someone is running D&D for a group of kids who have "no idea what an elf or dwarf is", those kids are truly wild outliers as even young D&D players go. Elves and dwarves are ever-present in videogames for all ages (including F2P/mobile ones), and a lot of board games as well, as well as appearing plenty in TV/movies/books. This is true even in Asia (particularly Japan/Korea/China) and I know its true to a large extent in Latin America. You can't have both "relevant to kids today" and "never heard of an elf". There's no overlap between those groups. I suspect this might be a case of a game of telephone and/or hyperbole re: the DM running a setting like Humblewood.

 

[Osgood]

I agree with the doing something different and staying relevant, but let's be real for one second here and not get ahead of ourselves. If someone is running D&D for a group of kids who have "no idea what an elf or dwarf is", those kids are truly wild outliers as even young D&D players go. Elves and dwarves are ever-present in videogames for all ages (including F2P/mobile ones), and a lot of board games as well, as well as appearing plenty in TV/movies/books. This is true even in Asia (particularly Japan/Korea/China) and I know its true to a large extent in Latin America. You can't have both "relevant to kids today" and "never heard of an elf". There's no overlap between those groups. I suspect this might be a case of a game of telephone and/or hyperbole re: the DM running a setting like Humblewood.

That very well could be right, I have no clue. I saw the post from the teacher and it shocked me. But I haven’t interacted with anyone under the age of 20 in close to a decade, so I’m not a good judge. I suspect most of the old timers around here are also poor judges.

I do remember how out of touch I though my parents’ generation was when I started playing D&D (and I’m now more than 15 years older than they were)—neither of them had any clue what an elf or a halfling was was (and dwarves were those guys from Snow White), so I can buy a major generational divide that we could be blind to.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

I think any new setting would have to support unique tones, game styles, and genres, the way Eberron did. As an Arab, I would love to take a crack at a new setting with Arab folklore (i.e. not Al-Qadim; if I'm doing a setting, it's all mine, and I wanna start from scratch).

A fun adventure anthology would have the characters trapped in the court of an Efreet, an impossibly large palace, and each day they collectively must tell a story to stay in its good graces and win their freedom. Each "story" is a mini adventure starring the characters (or different characters!) that the players play out in real time as the Efreet listens. The players each would get one or two "story interjections" where they can change a small element of the adventure to their advantage. The Efreet gets a story interjection for every one the players use--i.e. the Efreet makes some element more difficult. Between adventures, the characters would be embroiled in some palace intrigue.

 

[Mercurius]

I'd fire the people who oked Worlds & Realms, then re-do it as "micro-settings" with MAPS and proper write-ups, including short treatments of even the most minor settings from D&D canon.

 

[Mercurius]

I'd create either a book, or set of small books, that are one-part world-building tutorial, one-part world example. First book/section would be something akin to Nentir Vale: local region, with guidance on creating locally. Second book/section would be regional, third book/section would be world (broad sketches).

The book/series would include guidance on overall theme, exploring the range of what a D&D world can look like.

 

[J-H]

I think any new setting would have to support unique tones, game styles, and genres, the way Eberron did. As an Arab, I would love to take a crack at a new setting with Arab folklore (i.e. not Al-Qadim; if I'm doing a setting, it's all mine, and I wanna start from scratch).

A fun adventure anthology would have the characters trapped in the court of an Efreet, an impossibly large palace, and each day they collectively must tell a story to stay in its good graces and win their freedom. Each "story" is a mini adventure starring the characters (or different characters!) that the players play out in real time as the Efreet listens. The players each would get one or two "story interjections" where they can change a small element of the adventure to their advantage. The Efreet gets a story interjection for every one the players use--i.e. the Efreet makes some element more difficult. Between adventures, the characters would be embroiled in some palace intrigue.

This is a great idea!
The adventurers don't even have to be "trapped." They can be trying to compete for a Wish or a one-of-a-kind McGuffin, or trade rights or an army for their king. You can have some modules in here that are full gonzo "the time we traveled into the void and fought aliens" or "time travel" or anything.