D&D General Wildly Diverse "Circus Troupe" Adventuring Parties

[Necropolitan]

Players who don't want to deal with a setting's lore shouldn't play in that setting.

 

[Fenris-77]

Players who don't want to deal with a setting's lore shouldn't play in that setting.

Yeah, I agree, but there are limits too. I don't want to have to read a couple hundred pages of lore and anceint history in order to play game either. It's always a balancing act IMO, and setting that do a great job of showing rather telling are often more accessible, IMO.

 

[Necropolitan]

Yeah, I agree, but there are limits too. I don't want to have to read a couple hundred pages of lore and anceint history in order to play game either. It's always a balancing act IMO, and setting that do a great job of showing rather telling are often more accessible, IMO.

I had a potential player tell me that it was unreasonable to expect them to know the difference between Demons and Devils in a campaign set in the Nine Hells.

 

[Fenris-77]

I had a potential player tell me that it was unreasonable to expect them to know the difference between Demons and Devils in a campaign set in the Nine Hells.

Great googly moogly.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Yeah, I agree, but there are limits too. I don't want to have to read a couple hundred pages of lore and anceint history in order to play game either. It's always a balancing act IMO, and setting that do a great job of showing rather telling are often more accessible, IMO.

I always try to hand out a basic setting primer with all most necessary information to strike that balance, I try to never cross over 10 pages of length with it, tho it is hard with system that is new for everyone, where I feel the need to also include basic explanation of rules.

 

[Fenris-77]

I always try to hand out a basic setting primer with all most necessary information to strike that balance, I try to never cross over 10 pages of length with it, tho it is hard with system that is new for everyone, where I feel the need to also include basic explanation of rules.

This is a real thing. How much do you expect you players to read? Answers from varuious games are all over the place.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

This is a real thing. How much do you expect you players to read? Answers from varuious games are all over the place.

Speaking for myself here, checking my most recent campaign Lore Primer it was 7 pages long, 2337 words. My expectation is that most players will read precisely Zero words, while others will skim sections, and the rare oddball may actually read the whole thing. Why bother writing it? Because it was fun to write.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

This is a real thing. How much do you expect you players to read? Answers from varuious games are all over the place.

my ideal is 7 pages, often with some cool image on first page

 

[humble minion]

This is a real thing. How much do you expect you players to read? Answers from varuious games are all over the place.

For my current Dragonlance game, I expected them to read the setting introduction at the start of Shadows of the Dragon Queen, which is about 15-20 pages (of a WotC book, so relatively low text density, lots of art, etc).

I also provided a MUCH more comprehensive setting guide (mostly a copy-paste job of the gazetteer section from the old 3e War of the Lance supplement, edited to remove spoilers and with a section added on power groups and organisations) for the players who wanted to get deeper into the world lore. I think three out of seven players chose to look in this one.