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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 4202584" data-attributes="member: 40961">The thing about implied settings-Its a really fine line.  But frankly, a game with an implied setting is almost always better than one without.Why?Because implied settings justify crunch that wouldn't otherwise exist.Look at the Tome of Magic.  Sure, there were balance issues in it, but its almost universally loved for its flavor.  Take the Shadowcaster.  Its a spellcaster that has powers involving darkness, light, reflections, negative energy, counter-magic, cold, storms, and so on.  Why do all of those things fit so well together?  Because of an implied setting locale called the Plane of Shadow.  Or take the Binder.  Look at any random pact.  They contain abilities which, if considered in isolation, don't make sense together.  For example, mist, ranged touch attacks, and unlocking doors.  Why?  What does mist and unlocking doors have to do with each other?  Not much without the implied setting, but thanks to the extensive backstory on that particular vestige, they go together amazingly well.So... I kind of put implied setting in three categories.1. Unimportant.  This is of course the type that ENWorld cares about the most.  Stuff like the name of deities.  If you're going to have special abilities for priests who worship different types of gods, then you pretty much need a default name for that god.  The game would be kind of obnoxious if each god was labeled in the PHB as "Deity of Valor- check with your DM for this deity's name."  So a name gets slapped on.  Easiest thing in the world to change, and honestly doesn't matter if you don't change it.2. Good.  This is fluff that ties together crunch in an interesting manner, but which doesn't clutter the game if you don't need it.  See Binder pacts for reference.  In 4e, this is stuff like the Eladrin connection to the Feywild.  It justifies Eladrin having teleportation tricks.  Teleportation tricks are cool, and this gives an explanation for why they belong to the Eladrin in particular, and thus the game is richer.  But if you don't want the Feywild in your game, just say "Look, we're not using the Feywild (or any other planes).  Eladrin can still teleport, all the magic stuff works, but there's no such place, ok?"  Its lightly tied in, so its easy to reap its benefits without any harms.3. Fluff that is appropriate in other games, but not in D&D.  This would be your city maps, your kingdom names, that kind of thing.  Stuff that ties your game down to a specific world, instead of a generic world with a couple of specific attributes like we have now.  In certain other games this would be appropriate.  In Feng Shui, its a game of Hong Kong cinema, so a map of Hong Kong is appropriate.  The game would be lessened without it.  But a map of Waterdeep in the PHB just gets in the way of D&D's goal, which is to be a relatively generic, modifiable fantasy game.</blockquote>

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