What do you want from a campaign setting?

[jaldaen]

Believability is high on my list. Sound strange in the context of fantasy RPG's? Well, even so. I like settings that make sense, that are consistent throughout, that feel like living, breathing worlds inhabited by real individuals with real lives.

I'm a big fan of consistency as well, even in the most fantastic of settings... consistency is important for the suspension of disbelief and drawning both GMs and players into a setting.

 

[jaldaen]

I like campaign settings which encourage me to take them over and make them my own.
I like campaign settings with plenty of plot hooks, but I like them to be subtle. My favourite plot hook is a throwaway sentence in the middle of a paragraph somewhere, which gets my imagination working when I read it.

These seem to be a popular answers and I'll be sure to make the setting a starting point for adventure and slip as many adventure hooks as I can to get the gears turning.

 

[jaldaen]

Things I look for:
Good Index

Ah yes... the good index... something I also appreciate... now here's a question: What do you look for in your index (important rules, locations, npcs, etc)? What products have you seen with the best indices and why?

Maps are good, but something I havent seen in a long time. PLAYER MAPS. Make one simple overland map like a PC would buy. On the maps I say put a full collection on a cd, (or if in a PDF, put it in an appendix). If within reason give several random area maps, the various countries etc. DM's can always use maps, hence the success of Map Folio's.

Player maps are definately a good idea... now here's a question for you and others... Would a map folio for a campaign setting be something you would be interested in purchasing? Would that be a useful follow-up product to a campaign setting release? Would knowlegde that such a product would come out influence your purchase of a setting?

 

[jaldaen]

See "The Wilderlands of High Fantasy," "Players Guide to the Wilderlands" and "City State of the Invincible Overlord".

Anything about these three products that particularly standout for you as a GM? as a player? What about them would you like to see emulated in other campaign setting products (layout, art, mapping, adventure seed setup, npcs, impending conflicts, etc...)?

 

[Gansk]

Player maps are definately a good idea... now here's a question for you and others... Would a map folio for a campaign setting be something you would be interested in purchasing? Would that be a useful follow-up product to a campaign setting release? Would knowlegde that such a product would come out influence your purchase of a setting?

A map folio of player maps, maybe. A map folio of DM maps is not very useful unless there are write-ups of the map details.

 

[TheYeti1775]

Ah yes... the good index... something I also appreciate... now here's a question: What do you look for in your index (important rules, locations, npcs, etc)? What products have you seen with the best indices and why?

Don't be afraid to have a more than 2 page index.
One of the better ones was the FR Campaign Setting ones, where you could look up something and see the MULTIPLE pages it is referenced on.
Some of the new indexes end up being just a Table of Contents in ABC order, not very pleasing. You can add the Table Listing (normally in the TOC in new books) to the Index as a sidebar or whatever they call it. Between a good TOC and a good Index I should never have to hunt very long for general information.

Player maps are definately a good idea... now here's a question for you and others... Would a map folio for a campaign setting be something you would be interested in purchasing? Would that be a useful follow-up product to a campaign setting release? Would knowlegde that such a product would come out influence your purchase of a setting?

It would depend on the Folio's design and price. And how good the Campaign Setting was.
Would I for the Realms? I might, extremely popular and almost every D&D'er has played one game in it.
If Destan created one for Valus based off the existing maps in the original Valus Campaign Setting. Most likely not, his book had very good overview maps. Now if he added in the major city layouts both player and dm versions I would jump on it. Throw a few 'village' layouts for random small unnamed towns, and perhaps a few 'special' locales, a few random dungeons (let the DM stock them). And your talking an ideal product.

As a PDF I would love it because of the ease to print off what I want or to zoom a spot and add my own detail.
If it is hardcopy only, make it thick if it is a seperate product.

Now your next question will most likely willingness to pay.
My friends will laugh at this one, but I'm a little finicky about what I actually will pay for. They just see me walk in a store and walk out with a bunch of stuff when I want.
PDF - $5-$10 if non-interactive, basically print and use only.
If it is interactive (i.e. commentable and what not without too much work on my part)
probably closer to $15-20.
Figure the high range of these if very detailed/superior designs.
Hardcopy - $10-20, and to get the $20 it would have to be high quality. If it received one bad review I would be hard pressed to spend the money on something I could take the time to create myself. I don't DM very often, but I do enjoy the time-saving these offer. But if it just creates more work, then it won't see my money.

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Someone just sugguested the details to the DM's. Make them placard like (heavy bond paper) with the details on the reverse.

Within the Campaign Book in your Adventure Hook setting have them numbered. Use those numbers in the Folio to reference the suggested hook.
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Now another idea that would earn you love and whatnot from fans.
Make a GREAT Campaign Book. (If worthy I would pay top dollar for it.)
Use WOTC's idea of a free web supplement - Map of the Week/Month
have these be linked to your Adventure hooks. Do 3 at a time (if detailed), low level (sub 4th), low mids (6-8), high mids (9-12), your 13 and highers become a chore for the DM's mainly. Release one of those maybe once a year or so.

(I assume PDF)
Make a Political/Economic Accessory, go into detail for the individual politics detailed within your Campaign Book. Many Players love the intrigue game even more than the plan hack and slash. Problem is a lot of DM's don't have extraordainary amounts of time available to fully flesh out the various local mayors and their endevaors. An accessory with this title could cover everything from merchant guilds to kings and emperors. Again use the Adventure hooks and then for your Web supplement, provide castles, guildhouses, city halls, places of worship that are partially detailed in the supplement (i.e. tells what room is 1a Abbot Tuck's Room) but the individuals are fully detailed in your Accessory (Abbot Tuck 13th Level Cleric of Lathandar).

I like giving input and my opinion.

PS - If you hook me with the Campaign Setting I will buy most accessories for it. Case example, I haven't played FR in almost 2 years, but I still buy its supplements. Mainly because I like the world's detail. But Eberron's Campaign setting never grabbed me and didn't pull me with it. So the Campaign Setting book sits alone on my shelf, even though I'm currently playing my 4th campaign in it.

Yeti

 

[Wil]

Good point about the scenarios in sidebars being a nice touch to keep the rythmn of reading. I think I've got a few ideas on how to proceed, thanks

One thing that I like is to put the adventure seed in one sidebar and on the opposite page a few NPCs or other stats (artifacts, whatever) that might tie into that adventure seed.

 

[jaldaen]

Any setting I ever liked had lots of novelty - new races, classes, themes, forms of magic, etc... Any setting has to have engaging novelty, something that you'd love to get out and roleplay, experience in game, and read up on.

The bad thing about novelty for me is that once you've experienced it, seeing it appear in another setting just doesn't thrill as much.

Thanks for the example settings... the campaign setting I'm thinking will definately have the novelty angle down and I hope it will draw both GMs and players into the world. As for Birthright... that was one of my favorite settings. If only I had the money to do a d20 Birthright campaign setting... sigh.

 

[jaldaen]

For example, the map on the Narnia website is way cool.

Thanks for the link... the map is quite nice and rest asured I'll make a point of doing the maps right for the campaign setting.

 

[jaldaen]

Adventures - I'd like to see a campaign setting that was really a series of adventures that told the story of the world. I suspect this will never happen because I suspect that the bulk of gaming stuff, including campaign worlds, are designed to be read and admired, rather than played. A sort of a fantasy of fantasy gaming, if you will.

That is a pretty cool idea... Shackled City seemed like a great adventure setting while I was in a group playing it. Though a campaign setting adventure would be an interesting idea. Something that started at a tipping point in the world's history and allowed the characters to affect the outcome with their actions... sort of like the Wrath of the Immortals campaign... man I miss that campaign.

Anyone else have opinions on campaign settings that are laid out like adventures?