D&D General What Kind Of Setting Does Your Group Use?

[TheAlkaizer]

I only do homebrew. And worldbuilding is half the fun for me.

What I generally do is a first high-level pass of worldbuilding, then I ask my players what they're interested in playing. As an example, if one says he'd like to play an elf paladin, then we explore the space I had in mind for elves and paladins in what I built. They can either build within these boundaries or willingly go outside of them. For example, I might say "Elves mostly live in this area in an insular society. All paladins are devoted to Corellian and the elven Pantheon." If the player wishes, he might say "I'd like to be different and have been pushed out of society for worshipping Pelor or something", and then on the second pass I'll develop and work around that to give it a bit of meat. I do this with all my PCs, it keeps the worldbuilding in my hands, but gives them latitude to place their characters firmly in the world.

 

[Vael]

Mostly 1. I have campaigned in homebrew settings, but none of my current campaigns are. I am running a FR campaign, and am in a Dragonlance and an Eberron campaign.

 

[akr71]

We play in the Forgotten Realms, but I don't pay much attention to lore and history. Its there for me to mine if I need it, but I happily ignore it and substitute my own nonsense wherever I see fit.

 

[DammitVictor]

I usually run Spelljammer, which is a published setting, but I throw out the "official" Spheres and replace them with a single expansive Sphere that the players help design.

 

[jgsugden]

I have a homebrew world. It is roughy 12 times the size of Earth, with an Underdark surface (like a Dyson Sphere). I created the core framework, but in a world that massive, I have a place for anything the players want to see in it.

When a player has an idea, I find a place for it. It may be about his character backstory, or it might just be a fun idea they spout up as a backstory for an item.

For example, I had a player ask if his PC could use a bat'leth (like from Star Trek). This was in the 90s. I said sure and came up with game statistics. Then I asked what it was like, what type of people used it as a weapon, how his PC came to know how to use it, etc... He came up with a backstory. I placed his idea, with some slightly modifications and fleshing out, in my world. Since then, that people became a popular homebrew race in my world, a prominent monastery was created, and hundreds of other changes to how my world works was introduced (including a network of Dwarven Tunnels that span most of the world that serve like subterranean trains), etc... To this day, I world collaberatively with that player to flesh out ideas related to that area of the world (even though we have not actually played D&D together in a decade for more than a few one shots)... and it all grew out of his love of Star Trek. The single most dramatic event that shook my entire campaign world would not have taken place had that Star Trek fan love not been a seed.

 

[Guest 85555]

We usually do the first two

 

[steeldragons]

This isn't really a "single answer" question. In our group, there are three regular rotating DMs. Two more who are capable of DMing is needs be. Well, back when we had a regular game.

Depending on who is DMing, we are in different campaigns, different characters, alternating every few sessions depending on people's preparedness and the DM's/group's desires (for a suitable plot point to take a break, busy "real life stuff" on the horizon that will interfere with preparations/play, "change the channel" for a week or two, or not, and so on).

So, we have two DM homebrew worlds, the Pathfinder default setting of Golarion, there have also been daliances with Greyhawk and two other (non-system dependent) homebrewed worlds. SO, the BULK is self-created stuff.

But, as I said, it is not a "single answer" question/survey.

 

[cmad1977]

The correct answer is...
Sometimes 1,
Sometimes 2,
And sometimes 3.
But usually a blend of all 3.

 

[Mallus]

I voted 3, but it's more of a point somewhere between 2 and 3.

Currently we're playing a retroclone of OD&D in the DMs homebrew that's quasi-Iceland. None of the players were collaborators on the setting. But through play we've been steadily adding a variety of things. Like Dwarven dynamite -- invented by Aelfred Nobelbeard -- and, umm, Judaism.

Our prior campaign settings were both collaborations between the DM & one of the players, which became broader collaborations once play began. We were big fans of letting races & cultures be largely defined by the players. The DM would give a brief description, and then let the player run with it.

 

[ChaosOS]

Eberron all day every day if I'm running D&D. But I'm playing in a homebrew game, and of course lots of other settings for other TTRPGs.