Writing Setting Blurbs

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've long pondered writing an effective setting blurb for Urbis - a short text that makes other people interested in the setting (and possibly buy it...).

Here is what I came up with so far:

Once upon a time

the orcs rampaged across the plains,
the elves lived in their forests,
the peasants dwelled in tiny huts,
and the wizards brooded in their towers.

Now

the halflings run the laundries,
the gnomes control the banks,
the workers cram into tiny apartments,
and the enchanters create the wonders of the new age.


Urbis - A World of Cities


What do you think of this?

 

[RangerWickett]

It doesn't make me want to play in that setting. It sounds too mundane. The 'wonders of the new age' is kinda interesting, but I certainly don't want to play in or run a game where one of the main attractions is Jewish stereotype gnome bankers and Asian stereotype halfling launderers.

Taking fantasy staples and putting them into a city is making the game more like the real world, which makes it less compelling. Tell us what it is about your setting that is exciting and heroic, or what is intellectually and emotionally compelling.

 

[Armadillo]

It doesn't set up any conflict.

For their setting search, WotC asked some interesting questions, including:
- Who are the player characters?
- What do they do?

Your blurb needs to at least suggest an answer to these questions.

As an example, here's the equivalent of the back of the book text for the Dragon Age CRPG:

Over the past 400 years, the world has slowly decayed and civil war has erupted. It is up to you, one of the last remaining, legendary warriors known as the Grey Wardens to reunite the shattered lands as you attempt to fend off impending doom caused by the reemergence of an unearthly force that has risen to bring about Armageddon. Choose your past, shape your present, and determine your future as you embark on a heroic journey in a world where sacrifices must be made to emerge victorious. How will you decide to save mankind?

It sets up a conflict (Over the past 400 years, the world has slowly decayed and civil war has erupted.), clarifies who the characters will be (one of the last remaining, legendary warriors known as the Grey Wardens), and describes what the characters will do (reunite the shattered lands as you attempt to fend off impending doom caused by the reemergence of an unearthly force that has risen to bring about Armageddon).

 

[Scribe Ineti]

The blurb for the setting really needs to pop with key details. Why is this setting better than any other? Why must I Gm this setting/encourage my GM to run this setting? What makes this setting unique from every other setting out there? What do the PCs DO in this setting?

The stuff in the OP is decent background info, but not something I'd put in a promotional blurb. Anything to do with laundry is not going to sell books.

Look at the promo material for Eberron, Forgotten Realms, and other settings out there. Hit us over the head with the cool stuff in your setting.

 

[I'm A Banana]

What are the elves and the orcs and the wizards and the peasants now?

And how does URBIS emphasize the wonders of the modern age in my game?

What adventures do I go on? What characters do I play?

Those are my main questions after reading the blurb.

 

[Herobizkit]

Reading the blurb, it does make me 'wonder' what the 'wonders of the new age' are and how they account for the the way the races of the world now interact with one another. If anything, it does give me the impression of a world similar to a Shadowrun-style setting with heavy emphasis on the 'fantasy'... is that the impression you want to give, though?

 

[Aberzanzorax]

The problem I have with most setting blurbs is that 90% of them seem to say "this is a fantasy roleplaying game!!!!"

Example is Arcanis. I didn't feel that I knew why it was worth playing until I actually read through the book. It DOES have its own unique flavor.

Here is the blurb for their core book "Codex Arcanis":

The Shattered Empires Await!​

Turmoil grips the lands of Onara. It is the end of an era and the dawn of a new age. It is an age of struggle against the end of existence; an age, which shall witness the rise of history's greatest champions. Will the world of Arcanis pass into Oblivion or will her heroes raise her up to new heights?

Mortals stumble in the darkness; Heroes light the way.

Be that Hero and Leave Your Mark Upon the Shattered Empires. ​

​

This is a really cool setting that I can't say enough good things about. But what does this blurb really tell us?

Ok, it's about a place that has "shattered" empires. That, and things are changing. But so what? What is actually happening? Is it grim and gritty as a result? What is play like?

This description I have chosen could also describe several other settings, and that is a problem. It doesn't tell me how this is unique, or even really whet my whistle. It's not even that it's badly written, it just doesn't give me the info I need to know. If I hadn't told you who the blurb was for, and you had played Arcanis, I still don't know if you'd recognize it. What about Eberron? The 5 nations and such, couldn't this same description fit there?



So, reading your blurb, I get that it has something to do with cities. That could have been accomplished with "Urbanis: fantasy city roleplaying."

What else makes Urbanis unique? I need to know:

1. Its flavor. What is the "feel" of the setting?

2. Its mechanical differences. Are there no more elves? Are there elemental powered factories?

3. Its genre. Ok, fantasy-ish. Is it high magic or low? Is it post apocalyptic, peak of an era of civilization, gritty, heroic, etc?

4. Why I should look into it further. What can I as a DM or Player do here that I can't do elsewhere? What is the fun that this has?


Maybe start with a very long description...describing it to us all...and then whittle it down to its core components?

 

[Aberzanzorax]

So I checked out your page. How about this for a rough draft:

You hate them.
The wealthy have power, joy and near immortality.
You toil in the grime of the mills and barely have enough to eat.
They have everything and you have nothing.
But one day all that will change.

You hate them.
The poor are the cancer of this city.
They are disease ridden beggars constantly causing unrest.
They want to take a piece of everything you've worked so hard to achieve.
But one day that will change.

Play a freedom fighter, an uncaring businessman, or a bedraggled millworker bent on revenge. Will you change the city, or will the city change you?

Urbanis: roleplaying in the burgeoning industrial urban age.

 

[Paka]

Nexus Towers, vampiric architecture, take life from the poor and this life is used to defend the cities's walls. Protected by these towers, cities have grown, devouring the steppes, the forests and deserts of the world.

I read a bit about Praxus and just couldn't find any damned conflict.

To my mind, gaming settings need conflict, something for the players to sink their teeth into as they create their characters, something to spur them towards adventure.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

I have to take the opposite position to the majority on this one:

I like what you've got. It feels more like there's an actual difference to Urbis, both vs. normal fantasy and vs. the standard method of focusing on conflict. I don't encounter many settings that feel like you could play a game of normal people in them, but your blurb makes this seem like a possible use for Urbis.