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Message: <blockquote data-quote="[OMENRPG]Ben" data-source="post: 5596098" data-attributes="member: 6677983">Homebrew campaign setting design:I tend to start with a very simple concept or "theme." A lot of this has to do with what system I plan on running, as well as what group. For the purposes of this illustration, I will stick with D&D. From this theme I determine things such as: -Religions-Cultures / nations-Geography-Political / social situationsThen I can focus in on the things of that setting that are most pertinent to the game. For example, my long-running campaign world was reconfigured to accommodate 4e races and classes. I intended to run a city-based origin in one of the larger "free cities" (away from the violent theocracy which was attempting to colonize all of the city states in the continent), so I had to design that city.The influences of a free city is an interesting microcosm to examine the different cultures of the world and how they would interact in a city in an open-trade environment. The religions and architecture and language all play a central role in the immersion of my DMing style, so I focus on those to the "localized" region of the game starting.Once the game progresses further away from the central origin, I put more detail into the roughly worked out areas that perhaps were just City Names and a brief description. Eventually, over an epic campaign or multiple shorter campaigns, the majority (if not entirety) of the campaign world gets "filled in."Published Settings:I tend very rarely to use published settings, having only run a single FR game and a single Dark Sun game. Both of them were short lived and not particularly fun. I find that I have the most fun when playing in a world of my own design; but if I were to use an established setting I would look for something that is either very very fleshed out, very very interesting, or very very unique (preferably all three.)Fun Campaign Settings:Campaign settings which are fun to me greatly depend on the sort of tone or theme that I want to play in for that specific game. If I want to play in a high-intrigue, gritty, simulationist game, I would prefer a completely different setting than a game involving high magic heroics battling epic beasts. But, I will attempt to address some fundamentals that I especially enjoy.Consistency and Continuity: If a world establishes principles and concepts, I want those principles and concepts to have a plausible foundation and realistic reasons for continuing to exist. Continuity is a key part of "selling" a system to me. Now, having many variations and unique sub-settings within the world is completely fine, but a clear attempt at consistency will keep me captivated. Mystery and Simulation: I enjoy a setting to have a sense of mystique about certain areas that only the most cunning or the most daring can find / survive / control etc. Even if not actual territories, something like secret guilds or societies or religions create a degree of realism that I think is very tangibly intangible (if that makes sense.) But, as a balance to that extreme, I like the mundane reasons to exist as well. What do people eat? Where do they farm? Do they drink potable water, or simply magically evoke it into being?Danger and Growth: Settings which allow for level one heroes to be extremely powerful can be fine in certain games, but in general I enjoy the thrill and the concept of there always being something "better" out there, something more dangerous, more powerful. I tend to create my worlds in a sense that there have been heroes in the past, and as those heroes ascended to power, they became leaders and generals and religious hegemon. As such, there are very few "important people" who are weak comparatively to the party. This gives a sense of attainment, of growth for the party to explore and to seek greater power and greater achievement. So, all in all, I deeply enjoy settings which I can "immerse" in, something that is easy to empathize with, yet is still interesting enough to keep me intrigued. Great Campaign Setting Design:Off the top of my head, I think everyone on EN World is familiar with Sepulchrave II's Tale of Wyre, and if they're not, they should check it out. I haven't seen many more fleshed out, believable, but highly appropriate D&D settings. Ever. As always, play what you like, and what you want specifically for that game.</blockquote>

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