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Message: <blockquote data-quote="weem" data-source="post: 5426408" data-attributes="member: 9470">(Emphasis is mine)As has been mentioned, a DM really makes the world come alive (during play), but obviously you are not speaking to the aspect of the game that occurs AFTER players have decided to play - you are addressing the aspects of the setting that drew them to the game in the first place.We can suggest a lot of things to consider for your intro/hook - don't fill it with historical data (that's boring), keep it short (we all tend to have short attention spans), etc, but I think it really comes down is this...You want to create (with as few words as possible) an image in our minds that itself is worth a thousand words.This is not something you can achieve based on feedback about what hooks us into campaigns. After all, as I mentioned above, what we like will be different than what you like, which is different than what the next person likes, and so on. In other words, you are trying to figure out the best bait to use to catch fish... and bears, and bees.I think the more important focus should be developing a unique setting (as unique as can be that is) that connects to people on an emotional level. That image you are trying to create in our minds will be much more real and vivid if it evokes an emotional response of some kind.For example, if your image evokes fear in my mind, it will be much clearer to me. My imagination will run with that on it's own.On the other hand, if it's something mechanical like "in a world where Humans are the beasts, and Elves rule the land", you aren't going to get far. That's just information.Another thing to consider is not to feel compelled to give us the zoomed out view of the world in the beginning. I don't need to know all the races your setting has and their relationships with each other, for example. That is impersonal data and you will lose me.I need to be connected, so bring me in for the close up - let me get a view of the dirt I will be walking on.Let me give you an example of this.Last night I ran into a game called "Kentucky Route Zero" that is in the works for the PC. It's on kickstarter.com right now as they are trying to get money for further development. Here is their intro description...This had me interested right away. It was a very unique idea, and if I wasn't 100% hooked by that paragraph, the next one sealed it...This description evokes the feeling of mystery and awe, and even a little fear with the aid of the music they have for the game. I immediately imagined running a game in this setting and I didn't really know much about it! I don't really care to play the actual PC game itself, but setting sucked me right in.Anyway, those are just some quick thoughts on the topic - I am by no means an expert on it. My setting is popular with my players - I tried to start my 3rd campaign in a different setting (than the one I created) and they almost threw a fit - but I don't expect anyone outside of that group to be excited about it.Good luck with your setting!</blockquote>

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