D&D 5E Does anyone else suffers from setting paralysis?

[Tonguez]

Spend your first session with your players getting them to do the grunt work of how your setting works - you just need a broad overview of the flavours, let PCs answer who they know, how they fit and why they want to go adventuring.

My version of Spelljammers ‘Pirates of the Nexus’ a shattered world setting racked by trans dimensional nexus storms that created random portals to other realms. Each realm could be entirely unique and range from fantasy to sci fi to horror to modern.
The Nexus was a stable region at the Center of worlds with 5 permanent stable portals - all of them at sea and big enough to sail an Airship through. The PCs were on a ship tasked with discovering and mapping a network of stable portals.

 

[Laurefindel]

I can ignore realmslore, but if you start ignoring 90% of the lore, it becomes just a map with (lotsa) names on it.

Yep, a map with names on it

... and a description of geographical regions
and of the people living there
and who's the big boss around there
and a pantheon
and a bunch of organisations/factions
and a bunch of dungeons and lost underground cities...

ya know, that's already a lot. As much as many other published settings at any case. Enough to base your homebrew setting on and save A LOT of work. And as a bonus, the lore you actually like, you can keep!

But poor-taste condescending humour aside, Faerun stripped of 90% of its lore is perfectly playable. Personally, I believe the realms are at their best with a good 10-20% lore removed.

[edit] I understand that this isn't the crux of the issue, or the point of the thread really, but still. Just saying

 

[oreofox]

I don't suffer from setting paralysis, luckily. However, my suffering is something else. I just use my homebrew world, but I suffer from wanting to flesh out the thing in excrutiating detail. Stuff my players would almost never encounter, such as ancient history and even the world in prehistoric times. My players would never need to know that stuff, yet I have the need to try and flesh that out.

 

[Tonguez]

I don't suffer from setting paralysis, luckily. However, my suffering is something else. I just use my homebrew world, but I suffer from wanting to flesh out the thing in excrutiating detail. Stuff my players would almost never encounter, such as ancient history and even the world in prehistoric times. My players would never need to know that stuff, yet I have the need to try and flesh that out.

tis the curse of frustrated geniuses such as we - to obsess about the societal effects of increased spore density throughout the myconoid reproductive cycle in the Far Untervelt only to have players come out and burn it all with fire

 

[Mercurius]

You sound like a candidate for Planescape, or perhaps your own homebrew version of it.

A question: do you enjoy world-building? Because if you do, I would suggest seeing it as a hobby/art-form in and of itself that you happen to use for your RPGs. I think that will satisfy your urge to constantly change it up--just expand your world, detail it...there is really no end to it.

Now if you find world-building tedious and only do it for RPGs, I can understand your frustration. I think Planescape would be worth looking into, or a version of it that is only connected to prime material worlds (if you don't want to deal with the planes themselves). Use Sigil as your home base, or perhaps Ravnica. Endless worlds to explore...

 

[Mercurius]

tis the curse of frustrated geniuses such as we - to obsess about the societal effects of increased spore density throughout the myconoid reproductive cycle in the Far Untervelt only to have players come out and burn it all with fire

I just spend several weeks researching demographics, trying to pin-point the most analogous period in Earth history for my secondary world I use for fiction (I use something different for DMing, as this world is fantasy, but only mildly D&Dish). If you're wondering, I settled on the early modern era (1500-1800), probably closer to the end when the Industrial Revolution was starting. This allowed me to ground my urban and national populations, in terms of distribution, size, etc. I then went about distributing, naming and assigning populations to all 150ish cities in the world with populations of 50,000 or more (in 1750, there were a bit over 150 cities with 50k, and twice the number at the end of the High Middle Ages, in 1400). I keep tweaking it, but the gist of it is finalized.

Now I'm working on a variety of maps, with ongoing work on a detailed historical timeline, and the myths and cosmologies of various cultures...

I only share this to say...I know what you mean ;-). But I love it.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

I have no illusions most of the things I prepare for the homebrew interest no one else except me. But I do it because I enjoy it. Does that make it a form of mental masturbation? Maybe, but that's ok sometimes.

 

[Helldritch]

I dropped creating my own setting a long time ago. Too much work for almost no gain whatsoever. It was fun but about 90% of what I had done was never seen by the players.

 

[Mercurius]

I have no illusions most of the things I prepare for the homebrew interest no one else except me. But I do it because I enjoy it. Does that make it a form of mental masturbation? Maybe, but that's ok sometimes.

No, its called "creativity." I mean, otherwise just about all arts and hobbies are masturbatory; and worse yet, the performing arts means you're going to try get people to watch...or participate.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

No, its called "creativity." I mean, otherwise just about all arts and hobbies are masturbatory; and worse yet, the performing arts means you're going to try get people to watch...or participate.

I think you misunderstand me. I think its great. Sometimes enjoying your own creative passion is its own reward.