How big is your world?

[random user]

Wow. I just did the calculations. I think I'm around 10 million square miles (as compared to 3.5m sq miles for the United States), which is split among 8 territories (ie countries).

All of the campaign thus far has taken place within a 125 mile radius circle, though they have recently decided to travel to another territory.

 

[Arnwyn]

How big is your world? I'm not asking for the diameter of the planet, but rather how big is the setting of your campaign?

Big. Really big. I run:

Forgotten Realms (Faerun + Maztica) + Kara-Tur (includes Rokugan) + Al-Qadim (Zakhara) + Spelljammer (Realmspace) + Planescape (The Outer Planes + Inner Planes + Transitive Planes)

The characters can travel to any location that they desire (within their current means).

Is your setting a place to support multiple campaigns? Or do you change settings with each new campaign?

Multiple campaigns, for sure. I have no intention of ever changing settings.

 

[NewLifeForm]

My world is friggin big...



At one time no larger then the North American continent, it now covers over 6 continents and a slew of islands ranging in size from tiny sand bars to about 1/3 the surface of Australia. While we mostly focus on one Europe sized region at a time, the various campaigns taking place on my world have forced me to expand considerably. Add to this the large amount of transportation magic (flying ships, dragon mounts, flight and teleportation magic items, etc.) and my world seems to be getting larger all the time...or is it smaller...

AD

 

[Pierce]

Our original homebrew world was drawn up on a cocktail napkin after numerous cocktails. We played it for a couple of months before really sitting down and figuring out dimenions. Once we did, we discovered the world was about the size of Jupiter . That was a long running joke for us. Finally we decided to scale it to a more reasonable size. The bulk of the (mulitple) campaigns we ran were on one small new-worldish type island. We ended up increasing the size of the island relative to the rest of the planet. I think the resulting globe ended up roughly twice the size of Earth.

Of course now we play d20 Modern, set in the real world. So that's easy. 'Cause it's flat.

Right?

 

[Deadguy]

Yeah, that's probably it. I'm not sure I've ever heard it applied to the entire island, but I can't think of another term for it. The dictionary isn't very clear on it either, referring to Britannia as the name the Romans used for the portion of the island they occupy, and modern usage to refer to both the main island, as well as smaller related islands (Isle of Man, Wight, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, etc.) and Northern Ireland.

Well, generally, when wanting to refer to 'mainland Britain' it's Great Britain. In strictness no sea islands at all, but in practise it covers the coastal islands like Anglesey (North Wales). So when we refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland it's pretty clear what is being referenced. Interestingly islands like the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, but Crown Dependencies, i.e. possessions of the UK Crown. Traditionally, they legislate for their own internal affairs, but their external relations are handled by the UK Government.

Just some pointless trivia...

Oh, and to answer the question: the first campaign is a highly oblate spheroidal volume approximately 64,000 miles by 30,000 miles, though most of that volume is air. My newest one is 2700 miles by 1600 miles, and could well get a lot smaller if the Invaders have their way!

 

[Chunklets]

My own campaign world is fairly large; North-South it's nearly as long as Europe and Africa together, although the "active" bit is quite a bit narrower and more watery. East-West, I've left a fair amount of undiscoverd, "Here Be Dragons" territory, to be developed later on (I've got a bit of an idea as to what's going on in those areas, but haven't decided what it all looks like yet).

This little world (Brwydr by name), is actually on its maiden voyage right now, but I definitely intend to use it in any future campaigns that I might DM. I'll probably base the next campaign in a completely different area and time period from the current one, however.

 

[D+1]

Is your setting a place to support multiple campaigns? Or do you change settings with each new campaign?

Both and neither. I've run a number of Realms campaigns, most set around Waterdeep and The North but at least one noteworthy FR game based around Cormyr. For others I've done homebrews, borrowed maps, etc. So I sometimes change settings with each new campaign, and yet I can also take any given setting and run mulitple campaigns with it.

My current build is using Judges Guild's Wilderlands as a basis. I had earlier thought to use Arcana Unearthed rules therein but decided their unique perspective didn't quite fit with the "old school" vibe was looking for. I do intend to use this for several campaigns if not one VERY long one. That is, unless I just can't stand NOT to run something else that comes up later (I still have an itch to do an X-Com campaign, perhaps with d20 Modern or Future).

 

[Quasqueton]

Interesting answers. Most of your homebrew settings are quite huge.

Now, a follow-up question: Does the size of a setting matter? Do campaign settings *need* to be that big? Do the PCs actually visit or explore all the areas of the setting?

Those of you who have smaller campaign settings, do the PCs ever run out of room? Does the campaign ever feel too small? Have PCs ever gotten to a point and said, "This is it?"

Quasqueton

 

[Ibram]

Interesting answers. Most of your homebrew settings are quite huge.

Now, a follow-up question: Does the size of a setting matter? Do campaign settings *need* to be that big? Do the PCs actually visit or explore all the areas of the setting?

Personaly I like campaigns that cover large areas and involve interacting with different cultures but, a massive world with multiple continents is not needed. There is no reason why a campaign setting could just be an island kingdom in the middle of an ocean.

Those of you who have smaller campaign settings, do the PCs ever run out of room? Does the campaign ever feel too small? Have PCs ever gotten to a point and said, "This is it?"

Quasqueton

Though I dont have a smaller setting I think its inevitable that a campaign setting will grow over time. Every adventure adds to the size of a campaign, and its inevitable that that will enclude lands other then where the party has been (if nothing else then for a change of pace).

 

[WayneLigon]

I have a comparison graphic somewhere; It's big so I know I deleted it from my webspace but I might put it back up. The main setting for the desert campaign has a small detailed area, then large swatches of lands that are vaguely defined (much as 'Cathay' was to midieval England, and about as far away).

I wanted a comparison so I measured the FR map given in the campaign setting book, and the Greyhawk map. Both entire maps fit easily inside the main continent without being near each other. So, yeah, it's kinda big.