FireLance said:
Okay, this sparked off a minor insight (at least for me). I think the key issue here is: who's the star of the adventure? If the PCs are the stars, whichever campaign world they happen to be adventuring in is largely irrelevant, and the details can be changed without significantly affecting the flow of the adventure. Does it matter if the paladin serves Torm, Hieroneous, or Dol Arrah? Does it matter whether the adventurers are based in Sharn, Waterdeep, Greyhawk or Tyr? If the PCs are the stars, the answer is no.
If the world is the star, or one of the stars (it's not all or nothing - there can be varying degrees of importance), then the setting elements matter and are important. That's not just another epic-level wizard; he's Mordenkainen. That's no ordinary scimitar-wielding drow ranger; he's Drizzt Do'Urden. That's not just another magic-blasted wasteland; it's the Mournlands. Players can enjoy this kind of world, too. An established, detailed and well-known campaign setting (whether published or homebrewed) offers the advantages of familiarity to the players. It also helps break down the barrier between character knowledge and player knowledge, which in turn helps the player to immerse himself into his character's role and view the world from his perspective.
A secondary thought along these lines is that setting plays roles of varying importance in books, movies and other stories as well. For example, the story of Romeo and Juliet does not suffer (much) whether it's set in medieval Verona, modern-day Verona Beach, or whether the conflict is between two noble families or two rival street gangs. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine a story like The Mummy or The Mummy Returns that does not involve Egyptian elements in some manner because of the strong association that mummies have with Egypt.
That's exactly what I'm talking about, the world being one of the stars... not one of the leads, but an important background character. I think that an Elven Fighter/Wizard from the Forgotten Realms should be different than an Elven Fighter/Wizard from Greyhawk, and that the world they live and adventure in should be reflected in the characters.
A band of adventurers in the Forgotten Realms should reflect the feel of the Realms, have more of a high fantasy, slightly whimsical, epic flair, perhaps seeking to rid the world of evil or restore the lost glory of ancient kingdoms, and have a grand name like the Company of the Crescent Blade (to use a name from my last Reams campaign) complete with a charter from Cormyr; while a party of adventurers in Greyhawk should have a different feel: more of a treasure seeker, mercenary attitude... professional adventurers with a hard edge, looting tombs and subduing dragons to sell in the market in the City of Greyhawk. A classic old school D&D "kick in the door and kick some ass" attitude.
I think that the world or setting the PCs are in should have a heavy influence on the characters, the cultures that characters come from should be reflected in the PCs personality. Setting as a secondary star in a game is an excellent way to put it. The PCs should be the focus, but I think the setting should be almost as significant.
I usually run my homebrew setting, but the same idea applies there, too. I have lots of background setting material, and I make sure everyone knows the attitude and feel of my world. When I DM I let everyone know from the beginning that my world has a certain feel and characters that don't fit won't be allowed, but I also let everyone know that we can play in any other setting they want if they want to play things that wouldn't fit in my setting. I enforce the flavor of my setting, but I don't force people to play in it if they don't want to.
But so far, for everyone I game with, when I run a game they know it will be in my world, and they expect it, and I only run when they ask me to, so they know and accept what they're getting into. It's the same way with all of them, too: everyone in my gaming group DMs and has their own setting, complete with it's own flavor and attitude. A group from my setting of Alterra would seem out of place in my friends homebrew setting of Camathria, and a party from either of those worlds would seem out of place in the Realms, just because of character attitudes, personalities and expectations. For us, every world comes with it's own set of expectations, and that's the way we like it. Every setting has it's own personality, and stripping that away robs the game of a lot of it's flavor for us.