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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Azuresun" data-source="post: 8136062" data-attributes="member: 7022312">I've seen a few things that gave me that vibe. Symptoms include:--The world lacks any obvious reason for PC groups to form in the first place, or any indications of what a typical group would actually do. This is why the Scion 2e books I kickstarted got a look through and then sat undisturbed on the shelf. OK, so they're children of the gods, but.....what do they typically DO?! The book gives examples of fighting monsters, gathering a cult, etc, but there's no context for why any particular Scion would want to or be forced to get involved with that stuff.--The factions / nations with the "players will probably want to fight these guys" labels feel too competent, too entrenched and and too aware of their own weaknesses. It gives me a strong vibe that the writer is slapping themselves on the back because "My villains read the Evil Overlord list!" and ignored the ways those weaknesses give dramatically satisfying ways for the villains to be deeated by heroes (the ultimate purpose of a villain). The World of Darkness was pretty infamous for zillion-year-old Elders with every dot on their character sheet filled in, but it was also my sticking point with the Midgard campaign setting, where it felt like the writers were waxing just a bit too rhapsodic about how kewl and unstoppable Baba Yaga, the ghoul / vampire kingdom, the Despotate or that demon sorcerer guy who lives on the mountain were. I think a lot of this comes from how writing NPC's is an RPG writer's only real way to have "their characters" in the setting (since they don't know who the heroes of the story actually are), so the bad guys end up getting a bit too much creator love.--Powerful friendly NPC's who don't have any limiters that would stop them from needing PC's to fix their problems, vs solving those problems themselves. Elminster is probably the most iconic example here.I think the things that get me interested in running or playing in a setting are:--Factions, with most of them being open enough that I could have a hero or villain come from any of them. Eberron is brilliant for this, as is Fading Suns.--Bad guy factions with a fairly easy-to-summarise weakness, or a driving goal other than "become more powerful and crush all opposition". Give them ways in which a small band of abnormally powerful individuals can plausibly oppose them.--An easily graspable possible premise for stories that provides a ready-made reason why disparate people might choose to hang out together and get into adventures.</blockquote>

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