D&D General Do you Prefer a Bespoke Setting or Established Setting for a Campaign

[Lanefan]

How about you? Do you set your games in the same setting, over and over again, building a library of lore specific to your table? Or, are you more like me and each setting is a specific backdrop for a specific campaign and even games set in the same setting likely have nothing to do with each other? Or, something in between?

In-between for me.

For each campaign I build a new setting*; within that campaign different parties can operate in different parts of that setting (and may or may not ever meet each other, it depends) and those parts can be quite unique.

The constants to the setting as a whole is that the rules and mechanics work the same wherever you are; and the history etc. is the same. A major change to the setting (e.g. the appearance of a new deity in a pantheon) affects everyone as they hit the in-game date on which it occurs.

* - which is a big reason why I like my campaigns to run long - setting-building is a hell of a lot of work that I'd rather not do very often!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How about you? Do you set your games in the same setting, over and over again, building a library of lore specific to your table? Or, are you more like me and each setting is a specific backdrop for a specific campaign and even games set in the same setting likely have nothing to do with each other? Or, something in between?

It depends on the stories I want to tell. I’ve run many campaigns set in Greyhawk and FR, and even more in homebrews.

In one shared world (3 DMs, taking turns) campaign setting that lasted a couple of decades, we told stores from newbies to “epic” level.

But each of us also ran individual campaigns in published settings (Dark Sun, Spelljammer, etc.) and homebrews as well, as needed.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I have a dream of running a campaign with a group of creative players, where I would design the starting region, but each player would design a new region... for another player's character! They could include stuff from the other character's background, or goals the character has, or monsters and enemies specific to that character's build...

They'd write up the notes, and then I'd run adventures in the region for the group.

 

[Hussar]

Does bespoke mean new?

Bespoke means custom or tailor made for a specific campaign.

If you run multiple campaigns in the same setting then it is not bespoke.

 

[gamerprinter]

I probably do bespoken, even in my homebrew days, before I ever published, I designed the maps for a specific campaign, rather than an existing world where multiple or all campaigns take place. I love designing settings, and every campaign I run is in it's own world. Of my pubished Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror (PFRPG), because it came with a trilogy of modules and 4 one shots, those could be bespoken, except it wasn't really ever developed with a full AP/campaign, so it was more a setting that came with some modules. Right now I'm developing for publication a Mini Setting Guide series of my interstellar Starfinder setting where my existing modules reside within. It was previously just the backstory for adventures, so now I'm creating the setting as a stand-alone product line...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Does bespoke mean new?

No it means made out of old bicycle wheels*.


*This is, of course, bullocks. It actually means "made to measure". It is the antonym of "off the peg".

 

[Remathilis]

Even today, that still holds true for me. Since the release of 5e, I've either DM'd or played about 8 different campaigns. Some have reached a conclusion, some died a sad death, but, out of those 8 campaigns, I've played in Krynn, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Primeval Thule, Greyhawk and Nentir Vale (sort of). Six settings for eight campaigns.

How about you? Do you set your games in the same setting, over and over again, building a library of lore specific to your table? Or, are you more like me and each setting is a specific backdrop for a specific campaign and even games set in the same setting likely have nothing to do with each other? Or, something in between?

To me: setting works best when it's tied to genre. Not all my games will use the same genre considerations, so why use the same setting? I don't read novels all set in the same settings, or only watch cinematic universe movies. My setting is dependent on the game I'm running.

I USED to run a consistent homebrew world, but as time has marched on, I have found it to be a detriment both in terms of genre (my world has to support gothic horror, merry pirates, urban intrigue, pulp exploration, magi-steampunk etc) and continuity (both in tracking past PC exploits and in tracking the changes that have happened to the setting). In the end, I preferred to run my pirates in Eberron, my horror in Ravenloft, my pulp in Thule, etc.

It also allows me to tailor my options to each game rather than the "a dhampir, an Atlantian, and a warforged all meet in a tavern". And don't get me wrong, I like kitchen sinks too. But I prefer to choose if I want a kitchen sink or a more tailored setting.

 

[BookTenTiger]

One thing I enjoy about creating bespoke settings is that the rules of the setting only have to apply to that campaign. They don't have to follow the rules established by a greater world. This means I can plop really quirky things in the setting without having to justify why it's there.

As an example, my current setting takes place in a single swampy valley that can be crossed in about three days. Most people in the valley worship animal gods, which have both a spiritual form and an actual physical form.

Do these animal gods exist outside of the valley? Do their powers work there? One is the god of the sun and moon, what's that mean about a sun god outside of the valley?

None of that matters, though, because the whole campaign takes place inside the valley!

 

[Hussar]

bullocks.

Would this be a moo point?

 

[Hussar]

One thing I enjoy about creating bespoke settings is that the rules of the setting only have to apply to that campaign. They don't have to follow the rules established by a greater world. This means I can plop really quirky things in the setting without having to justify why it's there.

As an example, my current setting takes place in a single swampy valley that can be crossed in about three days. Most people in the valley worship animal gods, which have both a spiritual form and an actual physical form.

Do these animal gods exist outside of the valley? Do their powers work there? One is the god of the sun and moon, what's that mean about a sun god outside of the valley?

None of that matters, though, because the whole campaign takes place inside the valley!

I have to admit, this is largely my thinking on it.

I like having much smaller, focused campaign worlds. Even if it's a sandbox, my sandbox will probably only be a week of travel at most. OTOH, if I want to run an Epic Fantasy campaign, with a cast of thousands and a huge problem to solve, then I'd rather only break that one setting.

I have to admit though, having the Forgotten Realms wiki is really handy if I want to pull up some lore quickly and plop it into the game. It has served me well in my Candlekeep campaign. I do get the allure of a huge, sprawling setting with an encyclopedia's worth of material. But, then again, that's only for that campaign. I won't need that for my next one.

And there's ALWAYS a next campaign.