How many books should a game setting require?

[Kilmore]

You as the DM have prepared for your brand new campaign using the SMURFWORLD campaign setting put out by Lisence Pirates, Inc. You have the SMURFWORLD game setting book, the SMURFWORLD gazateer book which has some nifty prestige classes and a bit of equipment you think the players would like, Gargomel's Guide to Magic for some vital spells, the SMURFWORLD Varmint Volume featuring Azrael, and the suppliment that has rules for creating Smurfettes, as per tonight's host's girlfriend's insistence (she's been pestering you to let her play one all summer). You just hope Arlo remembers to bring his "Handy Smurf's Equipment Guide" that you couldn't afford yourself.

How much is too much?

It would be nice if everything one needed to play in a particular world fit neatly into one tidy book. But realistically, that would be one darn hefty book to contain a worthwhile setting.

Let's face it. Game companies can't make the hearty chunk they can be making on modules alone. They need books with meaty goodness in them and they need to keep them rolling if they are to exploit a setting's potential. While this may sound a bit mercenary, game companies need to make money to survive, and unfortunately, many fine companies that had good things to offer have not been able to meet the bottom line and had to fold.

In other cases (RIFTS being an example), a campaign world starts off with a vague direction when the setting book is released, and gets developed more as sourcebooks are created. These sourcebooks, of course contain character classes and other nifty things that justify toting them along on game day.

Keeping this in mind, what is a good balance between having enough information to keep things interesting and having to buy a shelf and back cracking library of books to keep up to speed on the campaign setting?

 

[Crothian]

It should be like your example, Rifts. They have books that cover different areas. You only need to take the few books that you need this week. As long as each book covers a specific area or topic, it's real easy to pick and choose what you need.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well, how many licks does it take to get to the center of...

I think for most settings 5. The three core books (DMG, PG, & MM), the setting book, and a monster of the setting book.

Now if you are creating your own (stealing from others), 3 to 1000 (if not more) just from using bits from this book and that.

From a publisher view I would think as many you could sell.

 

[Kilmore]

Rifts

As far as RIFTS goes, it's really helpful that they compiled much of their stuff into a few (thick) volumes, but for a while it was looking scary.

We'd have players who would play someone out of Lone Star or the west or something and would want to keep the book handy. Another, playing an Atlantean would want the same thing. Unfortunately, our RIFTS refs rarely felt it neccessary to ask "Okay, how exactly did you get from Germany to here?"

I've always favored station wagons because of the books we'd end up carrying.

 

[Johno]

How much knowledge is enough knowledge?

How much detail is really required?

A campaign world description is quite easily handled in one book, IMHO.

Is the game more fun because you get a hernia lugging around your books? Or is it because of the company and imagination of the participants, regardless of whether you use Core Rules Only or if you have Munchkins Guide to Munchkinland, Volumes I to XCVIII, and appendices.

 

[trix]

value

Well, u need to ask yourself the question "What is most valuable to players & DMs?".

If you've got 2000 pages, you've got to decide how you'll split those pages into books. What if a player only wants the new prestige classes... why buy 1950 pages of stuff u dont want?


World Guide (Vol 1,2,3,etc)
Magic Guide (1 vol only)
Player Guide (1 vol only)

That would be reasonable.
In addition, i'd split the world guide into 2 volumes.

Unrestricted volume 1
Restricted volume 2


Volume 1 should contain everything that is needed to GM and a few common monsters.

Volume 2 should contain extra stuff and mystries and a few uncommon monsters including those common monsters.

Effectively, the GM should be able to hand volume 1 to players, giving them the ability to gain a reasonable understanding of the world.

It would be reasonable for the players to know stuff about the monsters in volume 1, since they'll be the typical banes of the world.

That stuff mightaswell be duplicated in the players "suppliment", but why duplicate it?

Rather include a summary in the players suppliment.

From a marketing perspective, a group has to buy everything.

From a player perspective, they might get the players guide, magic guide. The DM would get the first 2 volumes.

 

[kenjib]

There should be one book with everything you need to play. Additional books can then be published with material that is nice to have, but not necessary. Most of the 3e/d20 settings are like this. You can take just the campaign setting and play to your heart's content without ever needing another book.

So SMURFWORLD would have a handful of only the most necessary PRCs, variant classes (suped up NPC classes for PCs are needed), and equipment. It will also have a few important monsters, villains, and NPCs, like various named smurfs, Gargamel, Azrael, Pee-Wee, and Yohan. The balance of the page count can then be used fleshing out the setting proper. It can all fit in one book ala the FRCS. Alternatively, if your world is 100% core rules compliant out of the box like Kalamar or Greyhawk you can just focus almost the entire book on setting and not worry about using up page count on lots of new rules.

 

[bwgwl]

i agree with kenjib -- a setting should only require one book. everything else should be optional.

 

[drnuncheon]

I agree that in general a game setting should only require one book.

On the other hand, I would not mind seeing a setting that was split into two books - a players' guide and a GM's guide - as long as they didn't overlap or ridiculously pad the books.

The players' guide could contain new character options (feats, PrCs, skills, spells) and 'public knowledge' about the world, including the information you'd need to play a person from the various cultures. The DM's guide would include secrets of the setting, monsters, NPCs, and the like.

J

 

[tsadkiel]

Ideally? One book. And that's including all the rules for the game, as well as the setting.

While I'm not a Wheel of Time fan, the rpg book is an example of exactly how I'd like to do it, if I were putting out a setting.