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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 3480295" data-attributes="member: 3424">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.</blockquote>

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