D&D General How time do you put into working on settings you never run?

[MNblockhead]

In another thread, the question was asked how many PCs have you created that you have never played and that go me to thinking about all the time I put into world building for settings I may never run.

Beyond prepping areas for my current game where the players may never get to, I also work on a homebrew setting that I have not run a game in for about four years or so. Then there are all the settings and games I've bought from kickstarter and other places that I enjoy reading through and thinking about but may never play.

This is a common enough trope in TTRPG circles that I know this is a fairly common situation DMs find themselves in.

How much time do you spend on creating or reading settings and adventures you'll never run? How much of that is material that you feel bad about not being able to run versus just lonely fun that you are happy spending time on?

 

[Shiroiken]

In the other thread, my ratio is about 1:1, since I don't put effort into building a character I know I'm not likely ever going to play. As a DM... the hours wasted (well spent!) on my Greyhawk setting is astounding. While I do run Greyhawk, 99% of my work never actually comes up, so I think this counts...

 

[Gilladian]

I am a forever DM. I put 3-5 hours a week into the current campaign, and on top of that, I have 3 other campaign worlds with “some building” done on my wiki. I will put 3-4 hours into one of them here or there, sort of randomly, every few months. Sometimes I will get inspired and work longer, but they are settings “for me” because there really aren’t enough adventures to run, or they are too weird, or other reasons.

 

[Stormonu]

Hundreds of hours, I suspect. I own copies of all the official D&D settings, most I haven't played in but have surface knowledge of them all. I've actually run games in Greyhawk, DragonLance, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft and Spelljammer.

I also own dozens of non-TSR settings (original Blackmoor, City-State of the Invincible Overlord, Scarred Lands, Sovereign Stone, Wheel of Time, Humblewood, etc.), but haven't used anything but a few monsters or tidbits from them at best.

I have about a dozen or so campaign worlds of my own devising (Amberos, Crimson Empire, Crystal Lattice, Frost & Fire, Moltaire, The Narrows, Kalaria, Twilight Realms, Steel & Powder and Nine Necromancers). Of the homebrews, I've actually managed to play Amberos (my main homebrew), Crystal Lattice (created for a TV show, but never went anywhere) and Crimson Empire (playtested for publishing).

I'd have to say over 80% of my time has been spent reading/creating vs. actual play time. But, I do enjoy the reading quite a bit, and a fair bit has inspired me to incorporate bits & bobs into various segments of my games.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Hmmm I always run a game or two in any world I build, but Space Fantasy! and Islands World are both pretty underused considering how many hours I’ve put into development.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Tons! But these aren't wasted hours though right? It's part of the creative process. An Olympic swimmer's flounderings whilst a 10 year old are not wasted effort either!

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Doing it now (and I can't believe I'm able post this again in a different but appropriate thread!):

Revisiting Reavers of Harkenwold
1: Expanding the Iron Circle || Part I: The Iron Circle || Part II: The Iron Circle (cont.) || Part III: The Fell Court || Part IV: The Ashmadai || Part V: Gardmore Abbey
2: Building the Adventure Outline || Part I: The (Original) Adventure Synopsis || Part II: Just Add the Starter Set || Part III: The Revised Synopsis (Part I) || Part IV: Regarding Eladrins, Elves, and Goblins || Part V: TBA

I honestly don't know if will ever be able to run any of this, but I wanted to share my thought process and approach while I have the time and freedom to do so. At least it might give other DMs ideas and something to use. Plus, it's helping me get back into the practice of good writing.

 

[el-remmen]

These days? Basically zero. I have a current homebrew I develop as it becomes necessary for the game (either by the PCs directly traveling there or learning about it) but aside from the initial few hours work I did to establish the place (based in part by a place in my old homebrew I never really got to use - so I cheated) I have not spent time developing the setting overall.

My old homebrew Aquerra, on the other hand, I spent many many hours working on over a period of a couple of decades during which I mostly ran games (and later, others ran game there too). I used to love just making up places, and cultures, and histories - but these days my interest lies a lot more in crafting terrain and stuff, since world-building stuff can be easily stolen from other sources.

I have never really run games in a world that was not a homebrew. In the early days, as a DM I never gave much thought to "the world," I just ran modules - some of which were set in Greyhawk, some in the Known World (aka Mystara), and some that were generic. I started my first homebrew in HS around 1987 and started my second in 1989 (with 2E) and finally gave up on that second one in 2016.

 

[Musing Mage]

Almost none, truth be told. Any work I put in is for groups that are already in play, so the settings get used. I am lazy and don't like prepping stuff that won't get used...

That said, there are obviously elements within any given seting that don't see the light of day. Adventure hooks, NPCs etc. That's fine, they are there and ready just in case.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Creating settings is a real hobby of mine. On long drives or in boring meetings I'll start brainstorming new D&D settings.

That said, if I'm not using it for actual play I'll just create about 25% of a setting, trying out new systems or bits of it that most interest me.

It's when I have players actually interacting with a setting that my creative juices really start to boil!