Payn's Ponderings~ Campaign settings and you?

[dragoner]

My setting grew out of 10 years of playing, it's only 250 years in the future so that everything up to today remains intact. So it is more like how things evolved.

 

[aramis erak]

So, short and sweet here; What do you prefer in a campaign setting? Do you like a "kitchen sink" setting? Do you like specific purpose settings? Does it rely on generic vs bespoke RPG design?

I prefer licensed settings when players are familiar with them.

For game specific settings, I want

• mechanics to be representative of the setting. (In other words, the mechanics need to do what the setting claims is it's coolest things to do.)
• Setting elements provide interesting hooks.
• The setting needs to be able to be given a 500 word or less elevator pitch
• Middling levels of Detail. While I know star Wars quite well, Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion have good enough details in core for exemplar.
• clear or no metaplot. Fuzzy metaplots annoy me.
• Edited such that, if it wasn't written in US Standard English nor UK RP English, I can't tell that it wasn't.
• Evocative art, but not too much.
• GOOD MAPS!!!
• Overlays or overlay-applied maps for cultures, governments, and languages.

 

[Distracted DM]

I like my settings the way I like my game systems: opinionated. I do not care for kitchen sinks in general, though there are exceptions.

Have the setting be about something, give it weird rules and restrictions!

 

[dbm]

What do you prefer in a campaign setting? Do you like a "kitchen sink" setting? Do you like specific purpose settings? Does it rely on generic vs bespoke RPG design?

First, some explanation of how we think about campaigns. There is the rules system, there is the genre, there is the campaign setting, and there is the premise.

I personally prefer genre-flexible rule systems. My favourite systems are Savage Worlds, GURPS and Fate which are all genre flexible with a different feel (pulp, gritty, and ‘narrative’ for want of a better word to describe Fate). But sometimes we’ll go with a targeted rule system like Ars Magica; more on that later.

The genre is fantasy, sci-fi, space opera etc. The campaign setting could be Forgotten Realms, Star Wars, mythic Earth. Those are pretty common reference points I think.

The premise of the campaign is kind-of the elevator pitch for what the characters are or do, or the situation they find themselves in. For example, you could have a campaign in Eberron where the PCs are all members of The Kings Citadel (Breland’s secret service). Or you might have a campaign where super abilities appear in the world and the PCs are some of the first people to gain them for some reason.

So - the answer to the question is largely ‘it depends’. For 95%+ campaigns I would run with one of my favourite systems, with 90% probably being Savage Worlds. The campaign genre and setting are usually closely tied together for obvious reasons, though you might do a bit of subversion like playing in the Star Wars universe but all based on a single planet with a more Wild West feel. Generally I like the campaign setting to be big and fairly all-inclusive as I can then focus in on the relevant bit while keeping a framework that the group are mostly familiar with. The premise is the most specific of course.

For some combos the balancing act is more tricky and all or at least most parts need to be aligned. Ars Magica is the best example of this from my personal experience. The way magic works can be matched in other systems but the unique things with Ars are how that then interplays with the troupe-style play, the way characters advance, and the constraints that mythic Earth puts on the mages. Take out any of those legs and the game starts to topple. But those combos are in the 5% since Ars isn’t a system I would personally want to run or play all the time.

 

[delericho]

So, short and sweet here; What do you prefer in a campaign setting? Do you like a "kitchen sink" setting? Do you like specific purpose settings? Does it rely on generic vs bespoke RPG design?

These days I very much prefer a setting with a strong voice: Ravenloft, Dark Sun, or Spelljammer (the original, of course). Though, oddly enough, I completely bounced off Planescape.

I can understand the value of kitchen sink settings and more generic fare like FR, but they're just not for me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For me, it’s always dependent on the campaign I’m trying to run. Sometimes, I need something narrowly defined. Sometimes a kitchen sink approach is more appropriate.

 

[Committed Hero]

A giant beehive balanced on top of a mountain, and the PCs and major NPCs swinging a lot of ten foot poles around near the summit.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

At this point, for D&D, I've got enough kitchen sink settings that if I'm not going to use Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, I want it to be a specific, themed setting (whether it's homebrew or purchased).

Looking outside of D&D, some of my favorite settings are the ones that are purpose-built for a specific game. Cyberpunk, World of Darkness, Warhammer Fantasy, The Spire all spring to mind as examples of that. Games that come with a specific setting built into them.

 

[R_J_K75]

I prefer kitchen sink settings; FR has been my go-to for years. With them I can do whatever I want. More specific settings with a specific premise such as Darksun or Midnight, requires more players buy in, more DM exposition that limits what you can do to a point. If the players could care less about the settings premise (which is usually the case) or the DM is inundating them with lore or changing things to suit their or the player's needs, then I don't see the point in bothering to play it. World building my own campaign is more work than I care to do or playing in someone else's homebrew game is even worse. I have never played in a homebrew world that I enjoyed, in fact, these days if someone invited me to play in their world, they created I won't because they think it's the best thing since sliced bread and more often than not are trying to convince you of the same. I prefer to start a campaign off small with a short adventure/locale and build out from there and let the campaign create itself within a pre-made generic setting.

 

[Reynard]

I wonder if I am an outlier in that, generally, I like a new setting for every campaign, no matter how short or long. I run a lot of convention mini-campaigns and create a whole new setting everytime. As I said above, I like shallow settings, so it isn't like I put in months of work and then abandon it. But I do think the setting through enough to serve its purpose, then move onto the next.

Earlier in my "gaming career" i adored sitting with a setting for a long time. My main setting lasted 20 years of play through 3 campaigns (AD&D 2E, 3E and ultimately Mutants and Masterminds). As a kid, i ran multiple campaigns in Krynn. But now, I want something fresh and I don't really want to run a campaign that lasts forever.