To what degree do you alter published settings?
- Thread starter jdrakeh
- Start date
Arashi Ravenblade
First Post
The setting is used as is. It only changes based on PC actions.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
The one time I've used a published setting as a basis for a campaign world, I've left intact...oh, let's see...most of the map except the main campaign area, most major features-cities-etc. outside the main campaign area until-unless a party goes there, a few deities that fit in with what I had in mind, and...well, that's about it.
In other words, like Drowbane said: I stripmine.
Lanefan
In other words, like Drowbane said: I stripmine.
Lanefan
Wik
First Post
If I'm gonna use a campaign setting, I tend to adhere to things. That's not to say I don't make alterations - my changes to the DARK SUN world, for example, are sort of big. Not huge enough that a fan of the setting would feel out of place in my version of the world, but big enough that they'd notice.
(Actually, I think most DS fans would like my version of the setting, which I jokingly call Darker Sun, due to the fact that it's an even harsher setting than the original in terms of the acceptability of magic and whatnot).
Over the past six months, I've been thinking about running an Eberron game. My main changes to the setting, so far, include -
1) Changing the scale of the maps
2) Making the houses a bit more detailed (this might change once I read Dragonmarked)
3) Phase out the psionics and Kalashtar (yuck!)
4) Change some of the races around a bit.
Really, nothing HUGE, but just little tweaks that suit my purposes better.
(Actually, I think most DS fans would like my version of the setting, which I jokingly call Darker Sun, due to the fact that it's an even harsher setting than the original in terms of the acceptability of magic and whatnot).
Over the past six months, I've been thinking about running an Eberron game. My main changes to the setting, so far, include -
1) Changing the scale of the maps
2) Making the houses a bit more detailed (this might change once I read Dragonmarked)
3) Phase out the psionics and Kalashtar (yuck!)
4) Change some of the races around a bit.
Really, nothing HUGE, but just little tweaks that suit my purposes better.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
Incidentally, I ask because I'm trying to recapture that youthful sense of wonder in RPGs (for me). I've finally realized that part of what's missing is open-ended campaign expansion. Let me explain. . .
Way back when, in the days when D&D was a lone box set and Runequest was a single rulebook, settings were implied. The expectation of adherance to canon didn't exist because there wasn't much of it -- Bob's land of Greyhawk might be entirely different than Bill's, save for the minor details disclosed in the original Gazetteer and the three D&D core rule books. The first look at Glorantha came via Apple Valley and Snakepipe Hollow -- there was no all-encompassing body of setting material and, again, Jill's Glorantha was almost certanly nothing like the world that Greg Stafford would reveal in the years to come. Even the FR 1e material was painted in extremely broad strokes, with plenty of map left to fill in as one saw fit.
While it's true that today one can simply ignore the massive collections of setting canon that have since been published for worlds such as Glorantha or Faerun, the expectation seems to exist that the DM won't. Indeed, settings have a market presence of their own because many gamers want to have every last setting detail fed to them in print. Now, I know that sounds petty but if that desire didn't exist, neither would the market for setting product lines. Whether this desire came about as a marketing push for setting material on the part of publishers or vice-versa, I'm not entirely certain.
What I am certain of is that this "official continuity or none at all" mindest that seems to have become increasingly prevalent in my recent attempts to organize games is sucking much fun out of gaming for me. That players want me to buy, read, and adhere to all official canon for massive products lines such as FR is extremely off-putting. I hunger for the days of settings as backdrops for adventure, as opposed to hobbies in and of themselves. I hunger for the days of many Greyhawks and Gloranthas.
Way back when, in the days when D&D was a lone box set and Runequest was a single rulebook, settings were implied. The expectation of adherance to canon didn't exist because there wasn't much of it -- Bob's land of Greyhawk might be entirely different than Bill's, save for the minor details disclosed in the original Gazetteer and the three D&D core rule books. The first look at Glorantha came via Apple Valley and Snakepipe Hollow -- there was no all-encompassing body of setting material and, again, Jill's Glorantha was almost certanly nothing like the world that Greg Stafford would reveal in the years to come. Even the FR 1e material was painted in extremely broad strokes, with plenty of map left to fill in as one saw fit.
While it's true that today one can simply ignore the massive collections of setting canon that have since been published for worlds such as Glorantha or Faerun, the expectation seems to exist that the DM won't. Indeed, settings have a market presence of their own because many gamers want to have every last setting detail fed to them in print. Now, I know that sounds petty but if that desire didn't exist, neither would the market for setting product lines. Whether this desire came about as a marketing push for setting material on the part of publishers or vice-versa, I'm not entirely certain.
What I am certain of is that this "official continuity or none at all" mindest that seems to have become increasingly prevalent in my recent attempts to organize games is sucking much fun out of gaming for me. That players want me to buy, read, and adhere to all official canon for massive products lines such as FR is extremely off-putting. I hunger for the days of settings as backdrops for adventure, as opposed to hobbies in and of themselves. I hunger for the days of many Greyhawks and Gloranthas.
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