TwoSix
Dirty, realism-hating munchkin powergamer
That probably explains the difference. My main groups all have rotating DMs, so we kind of have to sell the group on our concept to get buy-in to be the next DM.
D&D 5E Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Official Campaign Settings
Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Kind of but not really.
To me, consistency is getting at having some continuity from, say, edition to edition; and a certain degree of reliability and-or predictability (though those might not be exactly the right words for what I'm trying to say). But this could apply to any number of official settings.
Shared-experience more revolves around there being only one, or one important and-or default one among many; meaning the majority of players/DMs are likely to have dealings with it at some point and thus build - even if loosely - a shared experience.
Yeah. If you have standing group, it'd probably be much easier to pitch a published setting than homebrew. I wanted to meet new people, so I started my campaigns at local stores; as I said, I've had more people wanting to play than I had table seats since roughly the beginning.
TwoSix
Dirty, realism-hating munchkin powergamer
Do you have trouble getting new players immersed in your setting, or is your setting a little more improvised so that it doesn't matter as much?
Oofta
Legend
Huh. Maybe I'm an outlier but I've never liked using published, well, anything. Then again that's probably just because I make up 80-90% of it as I go along. Fortunately my players are too dense (love you guys! Honest!) to ever notice. It's one of the reasons I prefer in-person gaming so much; I don't have to make up excuses for why the map and icons don't really match up to the scenario.
That, and whenever I have used published materials for AL-type stuff, there's always that one guy who has to explain the entire backstory of the bartender of the Holy Bucket tavern and that no, Elminister would not be dressed up like Santa Claus and that Jarlaxle is actually ... and then I just about want to scream. Not to mention the ones that tell be that there were supposed to be 3 gnolls in room 32b, not 4 as I just said.
In any case, carry on.
P.S. It's not "Cry and you're probably reading one of my threads." it's "Cry because you're reading one of my threads."
That, and whenever I have used published materials for AL-type stuff, there's always that one guy who has to explain the entire backstory of the bartender of the Holy Bucket tavern and that no, Elminister would not be dressed up like Santa Claus and that Jarlaxle is actually ... and then I just about want to scream. Not to mention the ones that tell be that there were supposed to be 3 gnolls in room 32b, not 4 as I just said.
In any case, carry on.
P.S. It's not "Cry and you're probably reading one of my threads." it's "Cry because you're reading one of my threads."
My setting is really all that improvised, but it's also ... not really all that outre. Since I knew there were some new-ish players (and to remain new-ish-player-friendly) I made a conscious choice to eliminate very little from the PHB. The biggest change is that the Gods have been cut off from the setting (because I have never cared for how D&D has handled divinity, going back to 1e). Minor changes are that I eliminated (with narrative justification) a small number of things from the PHB (drow and fiendlocks) and allowed a few things from other expansions. I don't think any of the players who are looking for immersion have had any difficulty there.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
My simple answer: Because WotC hasn't been putting out any DM-oriented books to encourage and help a newbie DM develop his/her own.
I don't want what they've been putting out; "generic" books with the same stuff, different colour, minor differences. It's a handful of monsters, some new races to play, maybe some new spells and/or feats. Rinse and repeat. Oh, sure, there are tid bits of DM "stuff" tossed in here and there, with some books having more than others, but overall....it's main philosophy that it's teaching new DM's is "Turn to US for new stuff...because we're the professionals. Trust us".
(Full Disclosure: I do not own ANY of the books from WotC 5e other than Starter Box, PHB/DMG/MM, DM Screen; all my info is from others reviews and 'walk throughs' of the books)
What I'd LOVE to see from WotC is a book or two that is just for DM's. No new races, no new monsters, spells, etc. Just pack it full of stuff that an aspiring DM would need, or might find useful, in creating, developing and maintaining his/her own campaign world. Stuff like the Dungeoneers Survival Guide, Wilderness Survival Guide, Dungeon Builder's Guidebook, World Builder's Guidebook, Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide, Creative Campaigning, Manual of the Planes, etc.
The "d20 Toolbox" books from Alderac Entertainment were wonderful books....but lacked the info on the "subtlety" of DM'ing (suggestions for dealing with different types of players in the same group, creating player hand outs, etc).
So....imnsho...this is why so many people playing 5e keep asking for "official worlds"; because they don't know any better or because they have been taught that the "default" for a 5e game is Offical Books Only. No, it's not the actual case...a D&D campaign is whatever the DM makes it. But that's the problem....there's no "official" book to help a DM "make their own campaign and run it". Just a seemingly endless supply of the same ol' same ol' every couple months. A book with some NPC's name on it that has some new monsters, races, classes/archtypes, spells, and feats. Nothing about how to handle extreme environments like the arctic, desert, or underwater. Nothing on building and maintaining a keep or inn. Nothing about water-born adventuring like ships, boats and battles on the high seas. Just "Here's some more races to play...yay!". :rollseyes:
Give the new DM's tools to learn to be independent DM's with their own campaign settings. Do that and you'll see a drop in "I want [Official Setting ABC or XYZ]".
My 2¢ anyway.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
My simple answer: Because WotC hasn't been putting out any DM-oriented books to encourage and help a newbie DM develop his/her own.
I don't want what they've been putting out; "generic" books with the same stuff, different colour, minor differences. It's a handful of monsters, some new races to play, maybe some new spells and/or feats. Rinse and repeat. Oh, sure, there are tid bits of DM "stuff" tossed in here and there, with some books having more than others, but overall....it's main philosophy that it's teaching new DM's is "Turn to US for new stuff...because we're the professionals. Trust us".
(Full Disclosure: I do not own ANY of the books from WotC 5e other than Starter Box, PHB/DMG/MM, DM Screen; all my info is from others reviews and 'walk throughs' of the books)
What I'd LOVE to see from WotC is a book or two that is just for DM's. No new races, no new monsters, spells, etc. Just pack it full of stuff that an aspiring DM would need, or might find useful, in creating, developing and maintaining his/her own campaign world. Stuff like the Dungeoneers Survival Guide, Wilderness Survival Guide, Dungeon Builder's Guidebook, World Builder's Guidebook, Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide, Creative Campaigning, Manual of the Planes, etc.
The "d20 Toolbox" books from Alderac Entertainment were wonderful books....but lacked the info on the "subtlety" of DM'ing (suggestions for dealing with different types of players in the same group, creating player hand outs, etc).
So....imnsho...this is why so many people playing 5e keep asking for "official worlds"; because they don't know any better or because they have been taught that the "default" for a 5e game is Offical Books Only. No, it's not the actual case...a D&D campaign is whatever the DM makes it. But that's the problem....there's no "official" book to help a DM "make their own campaign and run it". Just a seemingly endless supply of the same ol' same ol' every couple months. A book with some NPC's name on it that has some new monsters, races, classes/archtypes, spells, and feats. Nothing about how to handle extreme environments like the arctic, desert, or underwater. Nothing on building and maintaining a keep or inn. Nothing about water-born adventuring like ships, boats and battles on the high seas. Just "Here's some more races to play...yay!". :rollseyes:
Give the new DM's tools to learn to be independent DM's with their own campaign settings. Do that and you'll see a drop in "I want [Official Setting ABC or XYZ]".
My 2¢ anyway.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Faolyn
(she/her)
Technically it is. Unless you put your setting notes online, you have to sit down and describe your setting to each person, individually or as a group, and hope you don't leave anything out and are able to get the mood across properly.
If you say "I run games in Grayhwak," then people can google Grayhawk and see what it's about. It might still end up being different from your version of it, but they'll get the gist of it.
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