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<blockquote data-quote="JackSmithIV" data-source="post: 4563395" data-attributes="member: 74901">Frankly, I believe that all great settings would be nothing if they're not thematically strong. A lot of people talk about settings having great flavor, but a lot of this is apt use of a strong theme that runs throughout the game world. Game worlds are almost entirely defined by them, even non-D&amp;D worlds:Eberron: A post-war world with pulp fantasy action, swashbuckling adventure, noir mystery, and magical technology.Ravenloft: A dark dominion of terror, reminiscent of all classic horror motifs.Warhammer Fantasy's Old-World: A dark, epic land full of greed, corruption, death, and war.You could go on forever, but you get the point. No where in there do I talk about people, places, pantheons, geography... any of that. Even the campaign-seed they give you in the DMG (often referred to as Points of Light) is a theme to which you can add whatever you like.You wanna create a great world? Ask yourself a few questions like this:How do characters feel in your world, just by living in it?What's adventuring like in your world?What is a &quot;hero&quot; like in your world, and how do people think of heroes?What are the common people like?What are the rulers like?How do you attain power in your world?Answering questions like that will get you much closer to desgning a world than &quot;What are the names of the kingdoms&quot; or &quot;Where are the oceans&quot;, because they inspire your imagination, and from there, design will come naturally and easy.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JackSmithIV, post: 4563395, member: 74901"] Frankly, I believe that all great settings would be nothing if they're not [B]thematically[/B] strong. A lot of people talk about settings having great flavor, but a [I]lot [/I]of this is apt use of a strong theme that runs throughout the game world. Game worlds are almost entirely defined by them, even non-D&D worlds: Eberron: A post-war world with pulp fantasy action, swashbuckling adventure, noir mystery, and magical technology. Ravenloft: A dark dominion of terror, reminiscent of all classic horror motifs. Warhammer Fantasy's Old-World: A dark, epic land full of greed, corruption, death, and war. You could go on forever, but you get the point. No where in there do I talk about people, places, pantheons, geography... any of that. Even the campaign-seed they give you in the DMG (often referred to as Points of Light) is a theme to which you can add whatever you like. You wanna create a great world? Ask yourself a few questions like this: How do characters feel in your world, just by living in it? What's adventuring like in your world? What is a "hero" like in your world, and how do people think of heroes? What are the common people like? What are the rulers like? How do you attain power in your world? Answering questions like that will get you much closer to desgning a world than "What are the names of the kingdoms" or "Where are the oceans", because they[I] inspire your imagination[/I], and from there, design will come naturally and easy. [/QUOTE]

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