Just a note - setting size, think long and hard about the size of the area you are focusing on. Example: all of the United States or just the East Coast or just the Mid-Atlantic area or the Chesapeake Bay area.
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Fantasy Campaign Setting: What do you want/not want?
- Thread starter AslanC
- Start date
AslanC
Explorer
It's funny, but the amount of "I never want to see another Tolkien/D&D fantasy world with Elves and Dwarves, etc..." replies I have seen on other forums where I ask this almost makes me want to make the most vanilla, generic, Tolkienesque setting there is, just to see what happens 
I must say I am really enjoying the posts here, you guys may have convinced me to give up that other place and migrate here for my gaming chat.
Cheers!
I must say I am really enjoying the posts here, you guys may have convinced me to give up that other place and migrate here for my gaming chat.
Cheers!
pogre
Legend
I enjoy the smaller area size campaigns that can be dropped into a larger world. However, I agree with HoE completely that scale and scope have to be a preliminary consideration.
I wonder if the larger you go the more you need to be tied to a specific theme and flavor; and the smaller you go, the more generic you should be.
That seems intuitive to me, but I have no idea whether the market would back up that assumption.
Electric Wizard
First Post
Size is another important aspect. It can be great to have an entire continent or more detailed, and I have respect for the kind of work it takes to build on that scale. But as a player, having the entire known world spelled out can limit options. If I want to make an exotic character like a psychic warrior or samurai and there's no place in the world they could come from, I don't want a DM to tell me "no".
So what's a good place between a low-detail "kitchen sink" approach and having a huge, carved-in-stone setting? Worlds that work best for me as a DM have a fairly small area that's well-detailed, with some notes about places beyond. A fun DM can work with players of exotic characters to develop setting information about foreign lands.
So what's a good place between a low-detail "kitchen sink" approach and having a huge, carved-in-stone setting? Worlds that work best for me as a DM have a fairly small area that's well-detailed, with some notes about places beyond. A fun DM can work with players of exotic characters to develop setting information about foreign lands.
dd.stevenson
Super KY
I want a setting that's the expression of an actual VISION... Not Just a riff on what's in the DMG. Something that makes me slap my forehead and wish I had thought of it myself.
Li Shenron
Legend
I'm trying to answer without making assumption on the genre of the setting...
I want a static world to explore, with all its regions described at a fair level of details that makes it possible to place an adventure everywhere or add your own details and stuff.
I want good details on powers, organizations, important NPCs, religions and other groups, and their interconnections.
I want consistency with the chosen level of technology and magic: if the world is full of wizards and spells are a common sight, I want this to have consequences on everyday life, otherwise don't fill it with magic.
Concepts of life, death and the afterlife that actually make sense. "There's a community of elves living in heaven" or "a demon prince that surrounds himself with undead" make no sense, because "living" and "undead" make no sense in the afterlife.
A metaplot.
Placeholders, like the usual asian-hinting, african-hinting and american-hinting continents beyond the seas but unexplored yet. Describe everything that is in this world, or otherwise if the settings represents only a small fraction of the world, just avoid hinting at all, at what is beyond.
Tie-ins to other settings. If I play Forgotten Realms, only Forgotten Realms exists. I don't need a hint that there is a route to Dragonlance.
A counterpart for everything. Just because there's a good XYZ in the setting, there doesn't have to be an evil XYZ. Asymmetry is more fun than symmetry.
I want a static world to explore, with all its regions described at a fair level of details that makes it possible to place an adventure everywhere or add your own details and stuff.
I want good details on powers, organizations, important NPCs, religions and other groups, and their interconnections.
I want consistency with the chosen level of technology and magic: if the world is full of wizards and spells are a common sight, I want this to have consequences on everyday life, otherwise don't fill it with magic.
Concepts of life, death and the afterlife that actually make sense. "There's a community of elves living in heaven" or "a demon prince that surrounds himself with undead" make no sense, because "living" and "undead" make no sense in the afterlife.
A metaplot.
Placeholders, like the usual asian-hinting, african-hinting and american-hinting continents beyond the seas but unexplored yet. Describe everything that is in this world, or otherwise if the settings represents only a small fraction of the world, just avoid hinting at all, at what is beyond.
Tie-ins to other settings. If I play Forgotten Realms, only Forgotten Realms exists. I don't need a hint that there is a route to Dragonlance.
A counterpart for everything. Just because there's a good XYZ in the setting, there doesn't have to be an evil XYZ. Asymmetry is more fun than symmetry.
Mercurius
Legend
I'd rephrase your question slightly and ask, "What are the qualities of a good fantasy setting? What do you like and not like?" The reason I recommend this approach is that the answer to your original question is either "any of the above" or "my favorite is..." In both cases, you're going to get a wide variation of styles and preferences. Some like sandboxes, some like vanilla fantasy, some like exotic...but what everyone likes is a setting that is well done.
Now the best way to create a setting that is well done is for you to love your creation. Don't create something that you think people want, create something that you would love to game in, or at least start with that and go from there. But if you start with "What do people want" you're immediately starting off balanced, so to speak. It is similar to a single man asking, "What do women want me to be?" First and foremost, women (as a general rule) want you to be yourself, to be confident in yourself. Or at least you probably wouldn't want to be with a woman that wanted you to be something other than what you are.
So I'd say, start with what you want to make and then take ideas for how to flesh that out, which is a lot of what you're getting in this thread. It is similar to the idea that a writer writes a story that they would like to read, but isn't out there. Create a world that you'd like to explore (because in creating it that is exactly what you'll be doing), to play in, that gives you that sense of wonder and mystery and excitement.
Now the best way to create a setting that is well done is for you to love your creation. Don't create something that you think people want, create something that you would love to game in, or at least start with that and go from there. But if you start with "What do people want" you're immediately starting off balanced, so to speak. It is similar to a single man asking, "What do women want me to be?" First and foremost, women (as a general rule) want you to be yourself, to be confident in yourself. Or at least you probably wouldn't want to be with a woman that wanted you to be something other than what you are.
So I'd say, start with what you want to make and then take ideas for how to flesh that out, which is a lot of what you're getting in this thread. It is similar to the idea that a writer writes a story that they would like to read, but isn't out there. Create a world that you'd like to explore (because in creating it that is exactly what you'll be doing), to play in, that gives you that sense of wonder and mystery and excitement.
gamerprinter
Mapper/Publisher
I much prefer creating regional settings, rather world settings. I don't need a comprehensive this is how the world works concept, just particulars unique to a specific region. In the development of my Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (published by Rite Publishing), I wanted a plug-and-play region that could be placed in anyone's existing campaign world. It's an archipelago of islands easily placed in the ocean of an existing world. If you don't have a specifically Japan-like place, this would fit easily. The unique mechanics of the place would only apply to Kaidan and not the rest of the world, it would be less flavorful if it was the same as the rest of the world.
As a cartographer, I also much prefer regions instead of worlds as I can show lots more detail than what a 'satellite view' might show. I like details in the geography, the culture, the races, the monsters - I try to make my developed region very unique, every time.
As a cartographer, I also much prefer regions instead of worlds as I can show lots more detail than what a 'satellite view' might show. I like details in the geography, the culture, the races, the monsters - I try to make my developed region very unique, every time.
Any game for me has to almost a perfect storm of 3 crucial elements: story, rules & minis. I need as much of it to be "drag & drop" or "plug & play" as possible. I'll touch on each element in more detail.
The story has to be compelling. I want to present something epic. It can start slowly and build to conclusion or begin big & go bigger. But, I think the game has to tell a story and have a beginning & an end (as noted by Robin Laws). I also think the players have more buy in if it is a little familiar, so using something grounded in the real world increases that factor (good advice from Ken Hite).
Next are the rules. The rules have to be cool & accessible. For me, this means most versions of D&D, especially d20, and Savage Worlds. But, it could be something new. Since the OP asked about a setting, my advice is to pick a rules set or several that many players find useful and publish for it or them. A system-less setting might do, but then it's missing the plug & play factor.
Last is what I call minis. This is the stuff of the game--the physical artifacts. I find it most helpful if actual miniatures are available, but counters work almost as well for the foes especially when juxtaposed against miniatures for the heroes on the tabletop. It also includes maps, battle maps & handouts. All those things enrich the RPG experience for me.
All these elements blend into my perfect RPG storms. I don't mind doing some of the work myself. If I find a cool story, I will work to fit it to rules I understand and make minis or counters for the game. Same for using great rules to tell cool stories. Minis are not as compelling for me, but I keep a stock of them along with maps so that I can fit all the pieces together.
I am more likely to at least purchase a game that delivers all those elements. Even if I don't run it, I will enjoy reading it and thinking about it. The game is very subjective after all, and not everyone enjoys everything.
The story has to be compelling. I want to present something epic. It can start slowly and build to conclusion or begin big & go bigger. But, I think the game has to tell a story and have a beginning & an end (as noted by Robin Laws). I also think the players have more buy in if it is a little familiar, so using something grounded in the real world increases that factor (good advice from Ken Hite).
Next are the rules. The rules have to be cool & accessible. For me, this means most versions of D&D, especially d20, and Savage Worlds. But, it could be something new. Since the OP asked about a setting, my advice is to pick a rules set or several that many players find useful and publish for it or them. A system-less setting might do, but then it's missing the plug & play factor.
Last is what I call minis. This is the stuff of the game--the physical artifacts. I find it most helpful if actual miniatures are available, but counters work almost as well for the foes especially when juxtaposed against miniatures for the heroes on the tabletop. It also includes maps, battle maps & handouts. All those things enrich the RPG experience for me.
All these elements blend into my perfect RPG storms. I don't mind doing some of the work myself. If I find a cool story, I will work to fit it to rules I understand and make minis or counters for the game. Same for using great rules to tell cool stories. Minis are not as compelling for me, but I keep a stock of them along with maps so that I can fit all the pieces together.
I am more likely to at least purchase a game that delivers all those elements. Even if I don't run it, I will enjoy reading it and thinking about it. The game is very subjective after all, and not everyone enjoys everything.
Herobizkit
Adventurer
I want the reverse of [MENTION=11868]DragonLancer[/MENTION]. *lol*
Magic as technology: It's been around, can do anything, no reason why people shouldn't put it to use.
Flying ships, firearms and steampunk: See above.
Sci-fi technology and monsters: Make Aberrations the enemy of the game and use bizarre weapons to defeat them.
Add new races, especially ones which are traditionally monster races: Humanoids are great. Throw in an Ogre race.
Basically, if it belongs in LotR, it doesn't belong in the setting I'd like to see. Except for maybe Dwarves.
Magic as technology: It's been around, can do anything, no reason why people shouldn't put it to use.
Flying ships, firearms and steampunk: See above.
Sci-fi technology and monsters: Make Aberrations the enemy of the game and use bizarre weapons to defeat them.
Add new races, especially ones which are traditionally monster races: Humanoids are great. Throw in an Ogre race.
Basically, if it belongs in LotR, it doesn't belong in the setting I'd like to see. Except for maybe Dwarves.
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