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

[glass]

4) A mix of all the above. Specifically, a homebrew version of a published fantasy world initially modified by the DM but one that the PCs can modify during play.

When you say "the PCs can modify" during play, do you mean that, for example, if they kill someone they stay dead? Or something more meta?

Anyway, I had to vote 1. I have my own world, but I only get to use it occasionally - we mostly do Paizo APs, which are of course set in Golarion. These days, I am a firm believer in running published adventures in the system and setting for which they are designed.

_
glass.

 

[overgeeked]

When you say "the PCs can modify" during play, do you mean that, for example, if they kill someone they stay dead? Or something more meta?

Anyway, I had to vote 1. I have my own world, but I only get to use it occasionally - we mostly do Paizo APs, which are of course set in Golarion. These days, I am a firm believer in running published adventures in the system and setting for which they are designed.

_
glass.

No, not meta. Mostly in game. They kill someone they’ll probably stay dead. Resurrection exists for everyone, not just the PCs. Build a castle it will stay there unless someone else destroys it. Etc.

Well...maybe meta, too. If my players were dying for a particular kind of adventure and something similar didn’t exist in the world I would modify it so there was. Not throw out everything I did to suit their whim, but find a way to include something as close to what they’re after without undermining the fantasy world. If that makes sense.

 

[el-remmen]

I ran a homebrew (Aquerra) exclusively from 1989 to 2009 converting from 2E to 3E in 2000. I was not the only DM running games in it, but it was my creation with input from other DMs and players (in the form of character backgrounds and the like).

Now I am running in a related homebrew riffing on Ghosts of Saltmarsh but building out from that town, using information from parts of the homebrew that were never engaged with in various campaigns. The players collaborate in the sense that they provide a lot of raw material with the character origins and the like that I may or may not use to build drama and stakes in the game.

I voted #2, btw.

 

[bedir than]

I wish there was a more complex poll as I feel like each option is somewhat applicable in every situation.

 

[zarionofarabel]

I wish there was a more complex poll as I feel like each option is somewhat applicable in every situation.

I'm curious as to what options you would use in a similar poll.

 

[aco175]

I use the FR frame and modify as needed. I voted 1, but #2 creeps in some. Especially with 5e since there is not a lot of established lore for 5e. I have a lot of 2e stuff that I just use and modify and a lot came from the box sets.

 

[The Green Hermit]

I use the FR frame and modify as needed. I voted 1, but #2 creeps in some. Especially with 5e since there is not a lot of established lore for 5e. I have a lot of 2e stuff that I just use and modify and a lot came from the box sets.

Yep. My kids know nothing about the Forgotten Realms, so I can mix all the timeframes together and nobody will know!

 

[DEFCON 1]

Every campaign I run uses one of the established settings and usually an adventure book/path tied to it (or at least several modules strung together for it.) I don't have my own world because I much more enjoy jumping from world to world and working with each of their special sauces. Fallcrest was different from Realms was different from Ravenloft was different from Eberron. And that's the way I enjoy it.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Exclusively DM-created.

Player characters change the world through play. Players don't get to touch it with meta anything.

 

[Ath'kethin]

I can't see the categories as mutually exclusive. Like many, #3 came closes to what I do.

Setting wise, I mishmash Primeval Thule, Hyperboria (from Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperboria), Xoth, Mystara, and Lankhmar. To this I add whatever influences are on my mind at a moment and I've run all kids of modules within that setup. My players have added guilds, relationships, professional organizations, mythology, and significant buildings over the years.

I also mix in Al-Qadim a bit, mostly to go develop the sourcebooks and modules we publish for the setting, and it goes similarly - I add stuff from wherever and my players have a lasting impact on the setting.