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<blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 3432313" data-attributes="member: 6777">I have to agree with rounser and rycanada. Extensive, detailed settings exist primarily to sell product, and/or serve as a creative, extra-play exercise for DMs. I don't really think there's many aspects of D&amp;D that demand a setting even exist beyond the scope of the adventure at hand. The implied setting built into D&amp;D takes care of most everything needed for play. It's only been recently that I've played in D&amp;D campaigns that were even officially set in a given setting. In general, as long as we had a module, we were good to go. The aspects of the settings in my current games are still pretty minimal, beyond players culling feats and PrCs from the sourcebooks.Now, I say the above despite having bought every damn Eberron book. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Setting material certainly can be fun, both for reading and as inspiration for actual D&amp;D play. I love the flavor of Eberron, and the books are filled with mechanical bits that often put a definite stamp on the game experience (e.g., Action Points, warforged, etc).Is any of this necessary for D&amp;D play? Not IMO. Do I really expect that anyone is ever going to hold the 1000+ pages of Eberron setting info in their mind as they run a game, much less end up using most of it over the course of a campaign? No way.Sourcebooks are a business model, not a requisite of running the game. I know full well that I buy Eberron books primarily out of being a fan and a collector. I am under no delusions that I actually need all of them to run an Eberron game. What confuses me is people who claim they do. E.g., a setting or game is &quot;dead&quot; if there isn't a steady stream of 200+ page supplements.Honestly, I'd bet that you could distill the important bits that make a game definitively &quot;Eberron&quot;-ic into a 64-96 page splat. I'd also bet that such a more-easily-digestible format would better serve DMs in keeping the setting's flavor than the stacks of hardcovers we see in the current model.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="buzz, post: 3432313, member: 6777"] I have to agree with rounser and rycanada. Extensive, detailed settings exist primarily to sell product, and/or serve as a creative, extra-play exercise for DMs. I don't really think there's many aspects of D&D that demand a setting even exist beyond the scope of the adventure at hand. The implied setting built into D&D takes care of most everything needed for play. It's only been recently that I've played in D&D campaigns that were even officially set in a given setting. In general, as long as we had a module, we were good to go. The aspects of the settings in my current games are still pretty minimal, beyond players culling feats and PrCs from the sourcebooks. Now, I say the above despite having bought every damn Eberron book. :) Setting material certainly can be fun, both for reading and as inspiration for actual D&D play. I love the flavor of Eberron, and the books are filled with mechanical bits that often put a definite stamp on the game experience (e.g., Action Points, warforged, etc). Is any of this necessary for D&D play? Not IMO. Do I really expect that anyone is ever going to hold the 1000+ pages of Eberron setting info in their mind as they run a game, much less end up [I]using[/I] most of it over the course of a campaign? No way. Sourcebooks are a business model, not a requisite of running the game. I know full well that I buy Eberron books primarily out of being a fan and a collector. I am under no delusions that I actually need all of them to run an Eberron game. What confuses me is people who claim they do. E.g., a setting or game is "dead" if there isn't a steady stream of 200+ page supplements. Honestly, I'd bet that you could distill the important bits that make a game definitively "Eberron"-ic into a 64-96 page splat. I'd also bet that such a more-easily-digestible format would better serve DMs in keeping the setting's flavor than the stacks of hardcovers we see in the current model. [/QUOTE]

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