Setting inspiration

[Stumblewyk]

Generally, my gaming world, which I recycle often(since any game I run rarely explores enough of it to find it dull), takes from pretty much all the quasi-history of the real world. You've got everything from classical Greek and Roman socities and your traditional "dark middle ages" to your high-dynastic asian cultures.

This pretty much sums up my homebrew world. The first campaign I ran in it (set on one of my world's three continents) was very much European in theme - everything from dark ages to Renaissance eras depending on the country.

This current campaign is starting on the same continent (for familiarity's and story's sake) and then moving to what I've dubbed my "Popular 17th, 18th, and 19th Century Misconceptions of South America" continent, replete with uncontacted jungle savages (tribal humans and halflings), lost empires and technologies, and a very palpable "Indiana Jones"-y exploration and pulp-action vibe.

I intend to save my third continent for a "New World"-style game. Where the Euro-centric continent cultures discover something there that prompts them to colonize, and struggle to establish a foothold in the new world.

3 very different styles, 1 world. It's worked so far, and I hope it continues to.

 

[SKyOdin]

A lot of my inspiration comes from studying history in college. Reading in depth about ancient and medieval cultures gave me a lot on inspiration. Since I ended up studying a lot of Chinese history, that means I have a lot of D&D ideas based on Chinese politics and culture. Likewise, mythology is a big source of inspiration for me, since I have been reading it since elementary school. Fairy tales are a great source of inspiration as well.

I also draw a ton of inspiration from anime and videogames. The short lived campaign my brother ran for me last year drew inspiration from the Tower of Druaga for some setting elements. My idea of what a Paladin should be like comes more from Final Fantasy IV than it does from anything else.

I also draw a lot of ideas from RPG books of course. I liked extrapolating setting stuff from descriptions of cybernetic implants in the D20 Modern cybernetics book, for example.

Just about the only thing I don't draw inspiration from are fantasy novels. I haven't gotten into any in a while.

 

[Brutalskars]

I search games of all kinds, MMOs, RTS, FPS and RPGs of course. I search books and most importantly, history. Then I take the "What if -" and throw those around with all my collected ideas to make more ideas. Then we get a nice formula for a campaign setting generator.

 

[Gilladian]

One of my earliest inspirations for this campaign world was Andre Norton's Witch World; the very points-of-light, shattered-history, ongoing conflict, lost civilization and many pockets of danger/evil... environment of the world very much intrigued me. I used it as a model for a long time, but I discovered that too much points of light meant it was hard to develop any urban/political adventure, so I gradually modified it.

I've also used a lot of pseudo-medieval motifs, some early Roman history, etc... but mostly it is just a mishmash. I take my inspiration nowadays from everything from folklore to Ivanhoe.

 

[Haltherrion]

Just about the only thing I don't draw inspiration from are fantasy novels. I haven't gotten into any in a while.

Yeah, it's funny. I used to read a ton of fantasy but have drifted away from that in later years. I don't draw inspiration from anything but Tolkien and there only certain aspects of his world.

 

[Argyle King]

Thinking about the question a little more...

Often, something I will do is blend two inspirations into something new. Another thing I will often do is to take a familiar concept and change one of the small details about the concept. This often gives birth to something familiar enough for the players to relate to, but different enough to still have a sense of wonder. One example of in which I used both of these would be the way I portrayed elves during one of the campaigns I ran. They were a blend of Nazis and ancient Egypt.

Elves are often viewed as idealied humans. They are smarter, longer lived, and more attractive. It seemed natural to take this a step further and have a group of elves who believed they were a superior race. Humans (and other races) were good for little more than slaves; even that was sometimes viewed as too good of a fate. Racial purity was a central belief, and even some elves weren't safe. Ear shape and size (among other things) was used as way to determine how close to the ideal elven image you were.

How ancient Egypt came into play was in regards to the upper class of the elven society. The leader -upon whom the ideal elven image was based- viewed himself as a living god and built monuments (such as pyramids) to honor himself. His ego is what kept humans alive; they were used for cheap manual labor.

The combination of those two ideas was the base. Then, the small tweak I made was to the second aspect of the idea. Instead of being in the desert, the empire was based in a cold region of the world. Chariots became sleighs, and the main sporting event became a somewhat modified version of hockey.

Even the emperor himself sometimes participated on the games. While it was typically a rather rough full contact game, it was generally accepted as an unwritten rule that more than the briefest amount of contact against him would incur a penalty of some sort.

 

[El Mahdi]

I'm using Sharon Kay Penmans When Christ and His Saints Slept as the inspiration for my current campaign setting. Set mostly in Europe and starting in 1135 (just prior to the death of Henry I). But the theme of the campaign involves the unwritten history (as opposed to alternate history) of the world. So it has some Cthulu (Ylem), Magic, and even some Aliens (Fraal).

I've also included in the setting, an Atlantis inspired by the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, Explorers. The episode is centered around a replica of a space faring sailship that ancient Bajorans had used to travel from Bajor to Cardassia. In my setting, Atlantis wasn't destroyed, they faked their destruction (in order to prevent the discovery/detection of Earth by some very evil entities). They have shifted their entire country/island slightly out of phase with reality. Their technology includes magic, but more on a par with the Ancient Aes Sedai of Robert Jordans Wheel of Time. The culmination of their technology led them to build an ancient type of Space Elevator with sailships to travel the solar system. I envision it as a gritty, realistic take on Spelljammer, adjacent to my D&D'esque, gritty Europe.

 

[Inez Hull]

I've always thought the themes of Babylon 5 would make a great campaign setting:

Humanity as a small fish in a big pond

Mimbari - think elves with a strict caste system including an agressive warrior caste, bad blood with humanity resulting in the near genocide of humanity before a mysterious last minute ceasefire when they had their boot to humanity's metaphorical throat.

A faded, corrupt, decadent empire based on the Centarii who kept another race (Dwarves, halfilings?) enslaved until a recent rebellion.

The mysterious Vorlons with overwhelmingly superior technology/magic who seem benevolent but play puppetmaster with unknown motives.

The mythical but now forgotten Shadows, sowing seeds of conflict, deception and chaos.

A looming war between Vorlons and Shadows drawing the unknowing other races into a conflict they do not know the true nature and history of.

 

[Hungry Like The Wolf]

When I play DND then I usually get inspiration from the same sources. Arthurian Legends, Robin of Sherwood, Harry Potter and Song of Fire and Ice. Lately though, I've been going back to fairly-tales and traditional monsters (like Trolls that live under bridges) so they have a big influence on any setting as well.

Sometimes I'll throw in Asian influences into the mix, especially religion and stories like the ten brothers which I use for heroes and big-time NPCs.

 

[David Howery]

I've used a wide variety of sources for inspiration, usually all inside one campaign world. Among them are:

HR Haggard's general theme of lost cities in Africa

a sorta 'wild west' gold boom setting on the edge of the wilderness

a 'Last of the Mohicans' wilderness war setting, with woodsmen, natives, settlers, etc.

a 'Zulu war' setting (with goblins taking the place of Zulus), with a copy of the battle of Rorke's Drift as part of it

the mythological Amazon River setting, with lost cities, a 'Lost World' of dinosaurs, Lake Parima, etc..