the thankless job of campaign-building

[GlassJaw]

Let me preface this post by saying that I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew when it comes to DM'ing. I'm a good DM and have gotten compliments but I usually spend a lot of time on things that never find their way into the actual game.

That said, I'm in the planning/brainstorming stage of designing a new campaign and homebrew world. One of my groups is in a transitional period (one of the DM's is moving away) and we might be starting from scratch in the not so distant future. I'm currently running a pretty standard FR campaign along with another D&D campaign run by the guy moving. We are thinking of wiping the slate clean and starting 2 new campaigns, with me running one. However, I'm burned out on "normal" D&D so I proposed to the group that we try a low-magic campaign.

By doing this, I fully understood that I was creating a fair amount of work for myself. I've never done a completely homebrew campaign. I've got a good foundation just from doing some brainstorming and I can already see it taking off. Which finally brings me to my actual question:

When designing and running a homebrew campaign for the first time, where do you draw the line in the creation process?

What are the most important things early on in the campaign?

How do you deal with the "how many?" question? How many races, cities, countries, etc?

I know these are kind of open-ended questions and I'm not looking for the ABC's of campaign design, I would like specific advice on what to focus on and what not to focus on with respect to design and creation time.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

How do you deal with the "how many?" question? How many races, cities, countries, etc?

I know these are kind of open-ended questions and I'm not looking for the ABC's of campaign design, I would like specific advice on what to focus on and what not to focus on with respect to design and creation time.

It took three guys a year to create Eberron. You aren't going to whip up a full campaign setting in a week.

That said, the easiest method is to start with a small town, start the adventure there, and build out as the players explore.

For a "top down" approach, check out: A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe and A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture at http://www.exp.citymax.com/page/page/351667.htm

Ask your players what they like. This is a very important step a lot of DMs skip. For example, if you are going to ban gnomes from your game and one of your players is a gnome-lover, you're in for a hard time.

All that being said, I'd suggest keeping the number of human cultures down to three and having a seperate culture for each non-human race. That's about the number most casual players are willing to remember in my experience.

 

[Rel]

My advice (and you'll probably see it over and over in this thread) is "start small". I would try to encourage the players to make PC's that come from the same geographical area. A village or city and the surrounding countryside would work well. A hamlet might work even better (but could be somewhat restrictive). Then expend your "detail work" on the important facts about that particular area. Geography, local politics, important NPC's and close-by areas for adventure can be where you spend the majority of your work.

When they ask about the outside world, you simply tell them that their knowlege is very limited. Particularly in a world where magic is scarce, it isn't as though they are going to be as informed about outside parts of the world as we are now. They don't get to watch CNN.

Draw a rough (and I mean VERY rough) sketch of the continent they are on and perhaps tell them that this is what they saw in a book or is the map hanging on the wall in the local tavern. Tell them about any other nearby towns or cities and any other sites of national importance that loom large in legends. Don't detail these places beyond one or two big things that they are known for ("Sask is where the copper mines are and Jimoc is the capital city and the biggest port on the Salty Sea.").

If you design your campaign so that the adventures they are engaging in have local importance and keep them in the area for a lengthy amount of time, you'll get the biggest payoff for detailing that local area. It will also buy you more time to do similar amounts of detail for other areas that you anticipate them going into.

Also, don't put effort into an area that they MIGHT go into. Put effort into an area you KNOW they are going into. Once they declare, "We're headed to Sask to try and get Masterwork weapons forged by the famous smith, Wulfrax!", then start detailing Sask. If you need to buy yourself some time then have a side adventure along the way (a stranded copper caravan or just a few "wandering monsters" should kill off an extra session).

I think one of the areas that you'll need to pay the most attention to is the economy you're setting up for your game world and how you want that to interact with the rate at which the PC's level and the CRs of the encounters you throw at them. That all needs to be firmly in your mind and made clear to the players before you start.

Good luck.

 

[Hand of Evil]

To me you start small, simple question: What is the basic information a person will know? Answer: they will know thier kin, they will know the location of the next largest city, they will know their gods, their king, and they will know the foes of their land. They will have an idea of what is to the north, east, west and south.

What they will not know, anything 100 miles beyond their place you start them out at.

Knowledge will flow based on the movement of the party, you only have to provide that on a need to know.

 

[Ryltar]

I am currently facing the same thing: building an all-new homebrew campaign world. Against all advice, I haven't started small, but this is definitely valid advice if you need to whip something up in a hurry (which you can expand on later).

I have chosen a different course, going all the way: first, a map. then, the regions. then, the races. then, the classes ... and so forth. It's a huge load of work, but I take a certain delight in writing up all these things - so I don't really care if it takes a year or two to complete. It goes faster this way if you've already got the world you want pictured in your mind - the only thing you'll need then is lots of time on your hands .
Taking inspiration from other sources is the key to campaign world building, IMO.

 

[Belen]

It took three guys a year to create Eberron. You aren't going to whip up a full campaign setting in a week.

That said, the easiest method is to start with a small town, start the adventure there, and build out as the players explore.

For a "top down" approach, check out: A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe and A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture at http://www.exp.citymax.com/page/page/351667.htm

Ask your players what they like. This is a very important step a lot of DMs skip. For example, if you are going to ban gnomes from your game and one of your players is a gnome-lover, you're in for a hard time.

All that being said, I'd suggest keeping the number of human cultures down to three and having a seperate culture for each non-human race. That's about the number most casual players are willing to remember in my experience.

I use regional cultures instead of racial ones. I then place each race as a niche in that culture. I never liked elves in one place to be the same elves encountered 500 miles away.

 

[Wombat]

I have not found the task of world creation "thankless", mainly because I involve my players in the process.

For an example, my current campaign has been in the "planning process" for about six months now. One item we now have on the table is "The New Mavarga Miscellany", a collection of short articles, bits of fiction, and drawings done by all seven of us (six players and myself). Everyone has contributed at least one page; one fellow has included over two dozen. The point is that everyone has added to the vision of New Mavarga as a whole. I find this terribly exciting!

I have not tried to detail every inch of the world. I have only mapped out a smallish area, including a city, three villages, and some specific "sites of mystery". I have detailed some of the important shops of the city, but not all of them by any stretch (few of the players are really interested in the details of the dyers or fullers shops).

Each of the players have also helped create a larger backstory for the campaign through the character creation process. I have a Character Background sheet that asks them to discuss such thoughts on their character as "Are you native to New Mavarga? If not, why did you come here?" "Are you married? If so, do you have children? If not, why not?" "What sort of education did you recieve?" Again, the players are helping to fill in the shape of the world.

This is probably the most "interactive" world I have put together, but this is part of a trend in my games in general. I have asked in the past for players to come up with rumours and folktales (some of which turned out to be true, many of which did not). I have had players create their home villages. Overall, I have always enjoyed creating "OUR" world rather than "MY" world. I find it much more fun that way.

 

[Turanil]

I am currently in the same position as yours! Totally burnt out of D&D, I have decided to make a new campaign setting to use with Grim Tales.

--My first problem, is that I want to run a campaign up to the 20th level, and why not beyond. So, I had to design a campaign setting that would allow overpowered adventures, yet not seem ludicrous. IMO: when high level adventurers face incredible foes such as uber demons and dragons, how can it be that such creatures didn't already destroy the world? So, I opted to create a Moorcockian world with Law vs Chaos. In lands governed by Law, challenges remain low level (it is the worship of millions to Law, that hold check to the progression of Chaos), but in zones of Chaos, you can find many uber horrors. As such, adventurers will progressively being headed toward lands rife with Chaos.

--My second problem is that I don't want to spend ages writing everything from scratch. As such I first based the world on Dragon Lords of Melnibone that I already have, then bought a couple of books (including Serpent Kingdoms and Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia), then I have no qualms about pillaging homebrew settings over the Internet. In fact, it's just intended for my players, and even if i put all the stuff on a small website, I don't expect more than 2 dozen of people on the Internet to ever be interested in taking a look.

--My third problem is to convey the mood of the setting to the players. As such, I am making a PDF with texts (copypasted from here and there), and a careful selection of art (also picked up from here and there) that seems to fit the ambiance I want to give. I will also print this document, to have it available on the gaming table whenever needed. Of course, it helps to be a graphic designer to do that PDF! As above I don't ask authors of the drawings, but it's not for any commercial purpose, and as said, probably very few people will ever get a look at that document.

--I created (copypasted) 8 races, to get rid of elves, dwarves, etc., yet don't give the impression that players are to be limited in their choices. Empires, kingdoms, islands, etc. are created only to fit with plots I intend to have in this campaign. Since I want to make sea-based adventures, I added a few isles, etc., plus lands where will be the serpent kingdoms, and a desert for Mesopotamia adventures.

 

[GlassJaw]

Great stuff guys. Definitely what I'm looking for.

I have not found the task of world creation "thankless"QUOTE]

I guess thankless was a bit strong. I meant that even though the players have fun and enjoy, they really don't know the work involved unless they've DM'ed. I'm defiitely not bitter, it's just the way it is.

mainly because I involve my players in the process...Everyone has contributed at least one page; one fellow has included over two dozen. The point is that everyone has added to the vision of New Mavarga as a whole. I find this terribly exciting!
[/

I do too! This is a great idea. Doing something like this would be different for our group but hey, I'm trying to shake things up a bit.

My third problem is to convey the mood of the setting to the players. As such, I am making a PDF with texts (copypasted from here and there), and a careful selection of art (also picked up from here and there) that seems to fit the ambiance I want to give. I will also print this document, to have it available on the gaming table whenever needed

Another great idea. I'll definitely give the players info early on and probably post it online too.

To take this one step further, here are some ideas I have already and maybe you can give me some pointers about where to go from here:

- The setting will be sort of a Conan meets Cthulhu meets Mad Max.
- I'll be using Grim Tales for most of the crunchy stuff.
- Playable Races: humans, orcs, half-orcs, dwarves. Players will then have additional choices based on the race they choose. Humans can be from one of various tribes or city-states in the region. Orcs can be nomads, merchants, or slavers. Half-orcs can choose anything.
I plan to make the races a bit more powerful. Each will have racial bonuses as well as bonuses depending on their tribal or regional affiliation.
- Alignment: none.
- Magic: NONE at the beginning. The magic system will be skill-based and individual spells must be learned. The spells will be borrowed heavily from Cthulhu.
- Religion: no deities (and therefore no divine magic). The tribes revere nature "spirits" like the sun, moon, sky, etc. but gain no magical ability from it. It's more like a Native American belief system.
- Politics: no centralized government. There are city-states (called tarns), mostly human and half-orc, scattered around. These have a single ruler who is part of a house or clan. A house is made up of various families.
- History: world was once a "standard" high-magic culture. Cthulhu-like creatures came (and were actually "summoned" by an evil cult) and layed waste to most of the civilized areas, destroying most of the magic in the process. Some of the archmages were able to force the creatures into slumber at the bottom of the oceans. Many of the survivors (including other humanoids) fled inland during the wars and away from the oceans (the campaign will take place far away from any ocean).
Fast forward a few thousand years: Most of the people have forgotten what has happened (very few books survived, people couldn't take books with them) even though they still practice (albeit somewhat changed) some of their previous traditions (like the political and house structure) even if they don't know their origins. Humans and orcs "put aside their differences" long ago in order to survive and commonly interact (although some orcs practice slavery for the more evil city-states).
The catch is that the Cthulhu creatures and the ensuing wars have corrupted much of the world. Mutations and "offspring" of the creatures roam the land. The barriers and protections that keep the creatures in slumber have begun to fade over the past few hundred years. Because of this, some people have developed marking on their bodies and have hideous visions and develop odd abilities (the players, of course). Some of the rulers hunt these people. Some ancient texts from the original cults have been discovered and contain dark rituals and spells. Ruins of the original civilizations are set to be found as well.

Phew! Anyway, you get the idea.

 

[Psion]

Get the 2e World Builder's Guide. It's nicely organized and helps you "fill in the blanks."

You can find it used at amazon, or get the electonic version at RPGnow or SVgames.