What do you want to see in a campaign setting book?

[Zaran]

So I am an avid player of 4e DnD. I think it's the best edition for encounter design and character balance. While I have my issues with some of the things WotC has done (Where's my freaking mule!?) I wouldn't choose any other system or edition to play a fantasy based game.

With that being said, I have really HATED the campaign settings I have seen so far in 4e. I have bought both Forgotten Realms and Eberron. Dark Sun is in the mail as I write this. And I've been thinking, what exactly would make me happy with a campaign setting?

First of all, I would want the setting to based around the most popular time period. I don't really know where that would be in Forgotten Realms but I know it's not 100 years later. In Dragonlance, I would pick the War of Lance Era for the setting. That way the GM has a good grasp on what is going on in the background. If the campaign is painted into a time that is blank then there isn't much backstory to pull ideas from.

Secondly, I don't want to see just a vague outline with entire regions only having a paragraph of information devoted to it. I'd like to be able to look up an area in the index, go to that areas section and learn what kind of creatures are in the area. I'd like to know about the local government and what kind of groups I would see there. As a GM I would rather have too much information to use than to have to make everything up. And I'm sure there are alot of GMs out there that like to do eveything from scratch and don't want all those details. So I ask, why do you need a campaign book to begin with? If I buy a setting book I don't want to have to make up anything except the story line and the encounters that go along with that. What really gets to me is the fact that the combat is ruled out to deal with every concievable situation with the caveat that the GM can ignore any rule they don't need. Why not use that same design concept on the campaign worlds?

Third, take out the silly adventure in the back of the book. That's space that could have been used for more reference material. Sell me a module to go along with it if you have to. I don't want a whole chapter to be useless to me after the first adventure.

And last, keep giving us more. The outline idea for a campaign setting isn't bad if you keep giving us more books to fill in more info. If you just put out one book on setting and say "That's all you get this year. Good Luck!" ... well that's just lame. I understand that the general merchandising concept is to sell to as many players as possible and that selling to just the GM is said to be not profittable but I disagree. A friend of mine said it well, if you give a GM good material to work with they will bring more people into the game. Those GM aids might not be sold to everyone in the group but they could get players to buy other books.

Sorry for the long post. What would you like to see in a campaign book?

 

[hewligan]

90+% fluff (ala Freeport, which is 100% fluff).
Great characters, but only a tiny amount of high powered people.
Fantastic writing.
Original ideas, or at least not just another Europe.
Strong central idea, or if you go kitchen sink have tons and TONS of good ideas for the DM to feed off of.

Basically Freeport (for the strong idea, great writing, fluff, and characters), Grey Box Forgotten Realms and Golarion (for kitchen sink with TONS of ideas, good writing, etc.)

 

[Zaran]

Yeah, I had the Grey Box Forgotten realms. I remember being able to look up something in that book, learn about a related subject and be able to almost wander around the book like I sometimes do with wiki today.

 

[DragonLancer]

Mostly fluff with some small amount of game mechanics.
More European-centric feel and less weird. Faux-medevial is where the game works best IMO.
Have a hook to the setting that isn't evil has trimumphed or changes the core mechanics of the book.
Don't change the feel of the setting two or three years down the road.
Detailed maps.
Continous source material for regions, kingdoms...etc.
No dungeonpunk art.

 

[IronWolf]

Lots of fluff. Good maps. Some power groups of good and evil. Variety can be nice as it can act as a home for more than one type of genre within the same campaign world.

Of course I feel like I already have this campaign setting in either Forgotten Realms Gray Box set/3.x hardcover or Paizo's Golarion.

 

[TheNovaLord]

not to much history / back story that has

a)already happened so theres nothing we can do about it, play with....thats the adventure we missed, whats the point
b) lots of interesting fluff, but as the PC's wont know, or really have a chance to know about it, whats the point

I want almost everything in it, something the PCs can visit, play with, affect, etc.

 

[cdrcjsn]

I think the best campaign setting that I can think of is actually one of the old basic D&D Gazetteer books. Specifically, the principality of Glantri.

It had maps. City/regional statistics with population numbers and typical exports. Various power groups. Lots of adventure leads. Details on a new type of playstyle (political maneuvering, with details on how their parliament voting system worked).

Basically, it had lots of new PC options as well as lots of DM options.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Maps.

The most important part of a campaign setting for me is the main map. Sure, the fluff is important but without a good map the campaign world just doesn't take shape for me (which is one of the reasons I won't go with PoL-land).

I'm in a small minority of liking the 4E version of the Forgotten Realms but the map was rubbish and, IMO, one of the main reasons so few people gave the setting a second chance.

By comparison, the maps for the 4E version of Eberron are stunning. I wish the same people had been in charge for FR!

 

[karlindel]

As others have mentioned, a campaign setting book should be primarily fluff.

A focus on the world as it is now, rather than pages of timelines and lengthy histories. The current period is what the PCs will be dealing with, and that is the information I want the most of. Detailed historical events should be limited to those that provide support for the way things are now, or those that can be useful in creating an adventure (and these two things usually go together).

Something that sets the setting apart. I don't want just another pseudo-medieval setting. Unique races and classes/professions are good if they are integrated with the setting.

Magic that is integrated into the setting. The effects of the existence of magic should be felt in the politics and economy of the setting.

The setting should have enough variety to keep things interesting, without going overboard. The broader the scope, the less room there is to focus on the information that I want to have to run an adventure in the setting. I would prefer a chapter on each of four kingdoms with a paragraph to a page on major duchies and cities, to a chapter on each of four continents with a paragraph to a page on each kingdom.

Organizations, including an idea of their interests and level of influence, and sample members at various power levels. Too many campaign settings focus on the big picture and name the heads of powerful organizations, without enough details on the rank and file that the PCs are likely to meet most often.

Plot seeds for particular areas. Not completely generic, but specific to the areas or organizations of the setting, and sufficiently broad that it can fit a variety of PCs.

 

[JeffB]

Another vote for mostly fluff-

In general like how the 4E FRCS is done- it's not gobs of backstory and NPC did this, NPC did that, and emphasis on metaplots, etc that have plagued alot of campaign settings in the past regardless of edition or company who produced them. . I need "whats going on NOW", not "here's a detailed socio-political history of the last 30K years" or "what kind of underwear the royalty of Cormyr wear", or " Here's a complete description of an entire NPC adventuring company and their explots". I'm running a game, not writing a novel to tie into the setting. I also really liked the separation of DM and player content with the FRCS and the Eberron CS. I don't need to know all the subraces and feats, and powers they can choose from. I need and want adventure/encounter material. It's not perfect, but I like the FRCS overall.

I got to browse through the DSCS ( and the monster book) the other day, and it looks to be similar, but I would prefer that separation of DM & player material. Don't waste *MY* fun toys space with THEIR fun toy space Give the players a $20 softcover with crunch and throw the monsters into the campaign setting book.

I'm looking forward to the Nentir Vale Gaz- I'm hoping to see something along the lines of the OGB Forgotten Realms set, the original GH folio, or even the LGG, but again without too much backstory (LGG was bad for this). I need-Here's a brief description of the general areas, some adventuring sites and plot hooks associated with them, and a brief history and current state of the world chapter. Something like "Hammerfast" (the product) detailing the major adventuring areas and towns of the vale compiled into one volume.

Those may not be the best selling formats for WOTC, but I'm speaking purely from the "what do YOU want to see in a campaign setting book" aspect.