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<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 3438396" data-attributes="member: 1106">Adventure hooks can be sublimated by the adventure design process, and probably should be because they make them much easier to design; you don't need setting to create a hook.&nbsp; I'd also suggest that you've put the cart before the horse; the setting should bow to the needs of the adventure and the hooks it requires, rather than the other way around.&nbsp; After all, the adventure is where the PCs spend most of their time (interacting with encounters and situations), whereas the setting is mere backdrop to that action. After the adventure and it's hook needs are decided upon, a setting can be created which integrates them even more thoroughly, because adventures generally aren't as easily made plastic as settings can be (mainly because adventures tend to have more plot structure and fiddly gamist components, making them a lot harder to design than the sweeping macro-level statements of setting design).Let's face it: The most easily gamed and designed setting for D&amp;D is a big dungeon with no &quot;overworld&quot; - PCs can be funnelled to appropriate challenges, and the areas to detail are finite.&nbsp; Wildernesses present problems because they are so large and cannot funnel PCs to prescribed locations and challenges commensurate with their level.&nbsp; Urban areas present problems because they involve hundreds to thousands of NPCs and buildings, such that they too can only really be dealt with in the abstract.&nbsp; It's all far too much work, so your choices are to improvise the game off-the-cuff, restrict the setting to a small area, or railroad the campaign from one adventure to the next.&nbsp; Mix that with the desire for epic grandeur so heavily associated with fantasy writing, and it's no wonder that many DMs attempt to sidestep the problem entirely by designing empire and race overviews and big world maps, and hope that the nitty gritty of actually running the game takes care of itself, perhaps preparing a dungeon for the next session as an afterthought.&nbsp; What a waste.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 3438396, member: 1106"] Adventure hooks can be sublimated by the adventure design process, and probably should be because they make them much easier to design; you don't need setting to create a hook. I'd also suggest that you've put the cart before the horse; the setting should bow to the needs of the adventure and the hooks it requires, rather than the other way around. After all, the adventure is where the PCs spend most of their time (interacting with encounters and situations), whereas the setting is mere backdrop to that action. After the adventure and it's hook needs are decided upon, a setting can be created which integrates them even more thoroughly, because adventures generally aren't as easily made plastic as settings can be (mainly because adventures tend to have more plot structure and fiddly gamist components, making them a lot harder to design than the sweeping macro-level statements of setting design). Let's face it: The most easily gamed and designed setting for D&D is a big dungeon with no "overworld" - PCs can be funnelled to appropriate challenges, and the areas to detail are finite. Wildernesses present problems because they are so large and cannot funnel PCs to prescribed locations and challenges commensurate with their level. Urban areas present problems because they involve hundreds to thousands of NPCs and buildings, such that they too can only really be dealt with in the abstract. It's all far too much work, so your choices are to improvise the game off-the-cuff, restrict the setting to a small area, or railroad the campaign from one adventure to the next. Mix that with the desire for epic grandeur so heavily associated with fantasy writing, and it's no wonder that many DMs attempt to sidestep the problem entirely by designing empire and race overviews and big world maps, and hope that the nitty gritty of actually running the game takes care of itself, perhaps preparing a dungeon for the next session as an afterthought. What a waste. [/QUOTE]

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