Should Dragon publish mini settings?

[Wik]

You know, it's funny to bring this up. I mean, wasn't the original Forgotten Realms (now wotc's "best" setting) a "Dragon" campaign setting? There were numerous articles, and then they were purchased by TSR to make into the original FR boxed set.

I think something like this would be a great idea - a communal fantasy setting that would be shared by the fans. That being said, you'd need a writer to co-ordinate it, and with today's market, he'd probably be better off just publishing it himself. And that's why I don't think you'll see it.

Of course, there have been hints of this. A few years back, one of the designers (I think it was Andy Collins, but I'm just guessing here) aluded to a bunch of stuff in his "bloodlines" campaign that wound up getting detailed in UA. It's a minor detail, but I think you can see little things like that throughout Dragon - writers putting their own settings in the articles they write.

 

[glass]

Given that Paizo has apparently been told not to eat WotC's lunch with a hardcover Age of Worms

Is that actually confirmed?

From what I have seen from James & Erik, I never got the impression that WotC had said 'no'; only that they hadn't said 'yes' yet. Which really isn't surprising given that these sorts of reviews always take forever (just ask the James Wallis).


glass.

 

[greywulf]

I loved the old funky settings from the Polyhedron side of Dragon, and would love them to devote more pagespace to mini settings. To my mind, that's what Dragon/Dungeon does best - showing you how to take the core rules, and run with them in cool ways. I'm thinking Incursion, Isle of Dread, revised Dark Sun, etc. They're pure classics.

Not that I'm suggesting going back to the Poly days at all - but 2 or 3 issues a year offering a completely new, cool setting and a handful of adventures in Dungeon to flesh it out could be just the thing to kickstart new campaigns or send existing games in excellent new directions.

I'd rather see that than any computer game content, personally.

Just my 2c.

 

[delericho]

Maybe not a full setting, but perhaps a city or other self-contained region that could be slotted into an existing setting would be good.

 

[Technomancer]

I like the mini-settings they occasionally run that don't take up more than one issue. They're really more like ways to adapt D&D to a setting that's already out there, usually froma fantasy novel or something. In the past I've seen Shannara, Westeros (way before the AGoT RPG), and a dark age eastern Europe campaign (called Red Sails, I believe). I'd love to see more settings like this, write-ups that help us play in the world of our favorite novels.

 

[Stormborn]

Maybe not a full setting, but perhaps a city or other self-contained region that could be slotted into an existing setting would be good.

In a way they do that now, mainly with FR, there was an extinsive desert based region in a recnet issue. Dungeon does cities periodically. We will have to see, but the forthcoming Perdido Street Station seems like it may be enought to create a minisetting if you have read the books. I loved it when Poly's mini-games were around, and hate that they didn't make it.

Ideal situation might be a Paizo Annual/Special each year with a more elaborate mini-setting. For example it could have an overview of a city or area, organizations, a setting specific PrC/feats/spells, full details of some NPCs and monsters, a guide to incorporating the various WotC classes and PrC into the setting.

 

[sckeener]

I like the idea of mini-settings. I'd like it even better if they expanded on the adventure paths. Expanded on the society of the paths. Give them more flavor.

As for WotC, they should view Dragon like studios view the UK or the comic market, small test beds for future products. If a product gains traction release under WotC.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

To be a success this would need to be handled very carefully. While I'd love it in any form (I trust Jason, Mike and Wesley to only allow in the cool setting ideas), I suspect a lot of readers would only go for it if all the information provided could be used with very little modification in their generic, Greyhawk and FR games. That'd be tricky, though I beleive they could manage it.

The real question is, would that be more useful than interesting, unconnected ideas a GM could string together to form a campaign if he was so inclined?

 

[CaptainChaos]

I enjoyed the Polyhedron mini-games and would love to see something like them return. I wouldn't expect they'd do things like WWII or mecha again, but even variant D&D settings could be fun.

 

[Aeric]

I enjoyed the Polyhedron mini-games and would love to see something like them return. I wouldn't expect they'd do things like WWII or mecha again, but even variant D&D settings could be fun.

Agreed. I really loved the re-imagining of Spelljammer they did and can't wait to use it for a campaign setting one of these days.