How Detailed Would Your Ideal Published Campaign Setting Be?

[Wik]

I like the old DARK SUN model, really:

A few books focused on the core conceits of the setting (in Dark Sun, that would be any book about city-states - Free City of Tyr, Ivory Triangle... and the Veiled Alliance comes pretty close, too).

A few books that explore some strange regions/facets of the game (in DS, that'd be Thri-Kreen/Elves of Athas; or maybe Slave Tribes).

And definately some books that fit the setting, but can be transplated into other settings (the monster books).

 

[3catcircus]

It Depends...

It depends on *what* detail is included. For me, tons of maps are extremely useful. Imports/exports are useful. Military and nobility composition and hierarchy are useful. A list of taxes are useful.

Knowing that, for the purposes of the game, that the average innkeep has a Diplomacy of 8 or an Appraise of 6 is much more useful than giving me full stats for him.

Details that are useful == good. Details that are there just to be there == less than useless.

As an example: the FRCS book. Having an entry for each region showing imports and exports (along with the map showing rough trade routes) is incredibly useful. What would make it even more useful would be to provide greater detail (i.e. rather than "fruit" as an export for one region and "apples" as an export for another region - provide some consistency). I'd really like the details of just which imports and exports are common items, which are commodities or luxuries, and which are black market only. As a contrast, all of the NPC stat blocks are kind of worthless to me - I have no intention of ever having my players be forced to interact with those types of NPCs on a level requiring the use of a full stat block (i.e. no matter how powerful they get, my PCs *will* be used to mop the floor if they tangle with a Manshoon or Halaster).

I also really don't like metaplot or running plot based upon novels being added to subsequent books. I didn't need the Time of Troubles adding new deities, eliminating old ones, then having one of them return to take the place of his bastard child godling, then all that followed by "dead gods" in Lost Empires of Faerun basically allowing the ones eliminated to return in some fashion. Likewise, the whole Shadovar thing I could do without.

 

[SiderisAnon]

I have to vote for "other" as well.

I would like the hundred of maps. I love maps.

I don't care about number crunch for NPCs. Give me a few paragraphs of fluff, including a few hooks and memorable bits about the character. I don't really care about crunch because I'm rarely going to use it anyway.

I see there being two kinds of NPCs: Those that will be on the battlemat and those that won't. When I get setting books, I'm looking for information about those who won't ever see the battlemat. I care about who they are, what they're about, and maybe some general information about what they can do. I'd rather know that someone is a well-experienced diplomat who generally can smooth over any situation, not that he has 10 ranks in Diplomacy. With the variety of levels out there, a set number of ranks doesn't always translate into being able to do a particular thing -- you may be able to smooth-talk a low level NPC and then have absolutely no effect on a high level one.

As for NPCs who hit the battlemat, I have to use anything I'm given as rough guidelines at best, so the crunch is mostly wasted. Mooks I have tons of stats for. People who aren't mooks I have to tailor to the current campaign and party anyway.

But you can never get enough maps... especially ones you can print out and show the party.

 

[GlassJaw]

I'm firmly planted in "Other" as well.

More maps the better, especially cities and smaller overland regions. I actually find massive continental maps not as useful as smaller locale maps when I'm designing a campaign and adventures.

I don't need full NPC stat blocks. One-line stat description is fine just to establish relative power. Description of personality, motivations, etc is much more important.

The two things that are absolutely CRUCIAL for me in a setting are motivations and adventure hooks. Bland descriptions and wordy historial accounts aren't useful. I want to know what makes these NPC's, organizations, and even cities and countries tick. How do they feel about each other? What are their goals? What are their alliances or feuds? Immensely useful when using a published setting.

Same goes for adventure hooks. There's nothing more useless than describing a region in detail without some hooks about the goings-on in that region. Same goes for NPC's, organizations/cults, and important locations. Heck, I'll buy products just for adventure hooks.

Maps + motivations + adventure hooks = lots of options for the DM = enjoyable campaign

 

[Odhanan]

A few dozen maps, a few scores of characters with still plenty of room to customize... my ideal setting has been published. It's called Ptolus.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Ideally, the more detailed the better, but I have to say that in practice when a setting is very detailed (e.g. Forgotten Realms) it's harder for me to prepare/run a game since there is more stuff which I feel I have to keep in mind...

I don't find that a problem. The good part about the Realms (and the like) is that you're under no obligation to use it all.

I don't buy the idea of a book that makes you "fill the blanks", e.g. gives you a dungeon, describe some rooms and leave others to be defined by you. Adding or changing I can do anyway, anytime I want, without the need for the book to tell me where and when.

Yeah, I don't like a half-baked solution.

My campaign setting needs are the world, not the populace. Maps and History. No NPC stats please. Names will suffice.

I don't need many maps. No detailed maps please.

So, the setting that is for both of us: Does it add the positive things, or the negative? Will it have both maps and NPCs with more than names, or will it have neither?

 

[GlassJaw]

I don't need many maps. No detailed maps please.

I'm just the opposite. The maps are one of the key ingredients of bringing the world to life for me. Even the cartography style is HUGE. Are they black and white? Color? Historical? Hand drawn? Topographical? Same goes for art. Art and maps can relay a lot of information about the style and feel of a setting very quickly.

 

[Desdichado]

Well, you're poll describes maps and characters; characters in particular are the least interesting or important part of a campaign setting. At least, if you mean statblocks. Why do I need the statblock of the king? I'm not going to have anyone fighting him. Etc.

I think the level of detail in a setting like Eberron or Iron Kingdoms is just about right. Forgotten Realms is definately more than I want, and something like Diamond Throne is a bit too little. I want a main book that I can run the setting with, with the possibility of further books to explore aspects of the setting that are particularly interesting.

 

[Shemeska]

I can't really answer the poll, because it's notion of what "detail" is, doesn't match mine.

Do I want maps? Yes. Pages upon pages of history? Yes. Detailed characters, organizations, religions, and interwoven lines of metaplot? Absolutely.

But do I think I need pages of character stats? Absolutely not. I could care less about stat blocks beyond (at most) an alignment, gender, species, and class levels. Go on for pages about a character's history, goals, motivations, hint at dark secrets, etc etc but for God's sake, don't waste pages on what +'s they have to basket weaving and how many feats they have. Stats are superfluous in setting material as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I'm just the opposite. The maps are one of the key ingredients of bringing the world to life for me. Even the cartography style is HUGE. Are they black and white? Color? Historical? Hand drawn? Topographical? Same goes for art. Art and maps can relay a lot of information about the style and feel of a setting very quickly.

QFT