Most important parts of a campaign setting (IYO)

[BobVosh]

In your opinion, what are the most important things you look for in a campaign setting? Changes to spells, classes, fluff, gotta have your magi-punk, or what?

I'm still building a setting, but first time to do so. So this is fishing for things I really need to flesh out, and what interests most people. (no, not even close to being posted anywhere, but if you give me an idea that I end up using I will send you the link when I finally get around to posting it to the home brew section)

[Yora]

The most important things are interesting cultures and societies. Everything else just results from that.

[Darrin]

Players getting interested in and involved with the story.

If I've got that, then I know it doesn't matter if (or rather when) I come up short somewhere else.

[slaydemons]

Ninja'd before I even clicked the thread XD

I am doing a setting and I am more interested in how each race are different and their unique culture is in the setting (in mine there are no elves that are druids yet)

[Yora]

Players getting interested in and involved with the story.

Isn't that basically saying that the setting isn't important at all?

[DemonRoach]

A working back setting. Exact details aren't required (The Kingdom of Quarn has 3 427 flag stones in its primary avenue, which are roughly hexagonal in shape. The Older, more proportionate stones were laid by Hsweni slaves in the fourth soalr cycle of the seventh great and bountiful Slaad Empire, the later one etc. etc. etc.), just a reasonable group of functioning societies whose interactions make sense.

[ILM]

functioning societies whose interactions make sense.

whose interactions make sense.

make sense.
I cannot overstate this, but I tried!

[Inferno]

airships, and/or things that fly/float
nothing amuses players more than stuff that flies, ie: "i want to rule the floating ____"
insert: castle, island, kingdom, boat, lake. oh yeah, a floating lake always wanted an aventi kingdom in a flying lake hovering around some artifact that allows it to exist.

[BobVosh]

The Older, more proportionate stones were laid by Hsweni slaves in the fourth soalr cycle of the seventh great and bountiful Slaad Empire

Dr. Who reference?


I cannot overstate this, but I tried!

What, logic in MY D&D?


airships, and/or things that fly/float
nothing amuses players more than stuff that flies, ie: "i want to rule the floating ____"
insert: castle, island, kingdom, boat, lake. oh yeah, a floating lake always wanted an aventi kingdom in a flying lake hovering around some artifact that allows it to exist.

Wouldn't a flying lake be shaped like a sphere, therefore having issues with people who see it inventing drown (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2007/04/26/episode-838-no-air-down-there/)blitzball. From FFX.


Hmm, so interlapping city/country politics/interactions of various sorts seem to be winning this. Good, as that was something I wanted to map out more thoroughly then I saw in most campaign settings.

[Inferno]

Wouldn't a flying lake be shaped like a sphere, therefore having issues with people who see it inventing drown (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2007/04/26/episode-838-no-air-down-there/)blitzball. From FFX.

i imagined something much larger than the blitzball arena idea, but yeah: a giant orb of water, with a city at its core probably built onto the artifact that maintains the sphere-lake to avoid its floating (sinking?) out the bottom of the lake and plummeting to the ground

[Lord.Sorasen]

airships, and/or things that fly/float
nothing amuses players more than stuff that flies, ie: "i want to rule the floating ____"
insert: castle, island, kingdom, boat, lake. oh yeah, a floating lake always wanted an aventi kingdom in a flying lake hovering around some artifact that allows it to exist.

I found the artifact.

http://www.trollscientist.com/image/120-floating-swimming-pool-troll-physics.png


I forgot to answer the question! For me, campaign settings are best made by the people. Whether there is steam-power or high magic or low magic or talking animals is all negotiable to me.

I sort of feel like, and many will disagree with me, that a good story-teller can get an audience involved in any basic idea. What this really comes down to is that a good setting to me has good characters. In D&D, it gets more specific. I'm the sort of guy who likes my team to be the stars of the show, so I want there to be a cast of incredible NPCs who evoke powerful emotions without taking away the spotlight (for too long. Sometimes even an NPC gets his/her day). I want the campaign to have much room for person (human is the word I want but it can't be used accurately in a world with kobolds) interaction.

[BobVosh]

i imagined something much larger than the blitzball arena idea, but yeah: a giant orb of water, with a city at its core probably built onto the artifact that maintains the sphere-lake to avoid its floating (sinking?) out the bottom of the lake and plummeting to the ground

The visual is always something amazing, but I have trouble thinking of a why. I never understood why since it seems like something you can't do under threat yet can only be a defensive move to make any sense. That places your city under risk should anything even mildly tamper with it. Also water is going to be very rare, so this city would be almost instantly the richest in the world although you have no way to know that :D

Hmm maybe an aquatic race's version of an airship...


I sort of feel like, and many will disagree with me, that a good story-teller can get an audience involved in any basic idea. What this really comes down to is that a good setting to me has good characters. In D&D, it gets more specific. I'm the sort of guy who likes my team to be the stars of the show, so I want there to be a cast of incredible NPCs who evoke powerful emotions without taking away the spotlight (for too long. Sometimes even an NPC gets his/her day). I want the campaign to have much room for person (human is the word I want but it can't be used accurately in a world with kobolds) interaction.

Can you give an example, as I have found NPCs to be more the important parts of a module/story arc than the whole setting. Otherwise you have issues of "why doesn't the council of magi, Elminster, Mordenkainen, etc fix this?" I would prefer the example to be from Greyhawk, Ebberron, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms, or Dragonlance as they are the ones that I am fairly familiar with. Also no I'm not trying to pick your statement apart I just can't really think of an example of a campaign settings strong intractability NPCs, just the ones that are powerful world builders basically.

[deuxhero]

Being a Toliken rip off or not.


If a fantasy setting isn't fantastic, you are doing it wrong.

[Tvtyrant]

Being a Toliken rip off or not.


If a fantasy setting isn't fantastic, you are doing it wrong.

Or right; there are people who play E6 for the fluff as well as the balance.

I would say the #1 thing about a campaign setting is its ability to differentiate itself from others. Eberron did this by adding tons of ARs to the game, Forgotten Realms did fallen empires, Spelljammer did space, Planescape did Sigil and portals, DragonLance did dragons, etc. A campaign setting set in temperate forests is going to struggle these days because they are all set in them. Al-Qadim was interesting just by being Middle East inspired instead of Europe.

[Ravens_cry]

The players should have a place in it, not just spectators as Awesome NPC™ does Awesome Things™ in Awesome World™.
Other wise I mostly second what others have said how new cultures and takes on different races can help make or break a setting.

[smashbro]

Honestly, the first and foremost thing players enjoy in campaigns are interesting NPC's that are somehow important. They could be important to just their small quest, or kings and queens of the lands. Making people fit into a world seamlessly, like other people already said. The NPC's shouldn't overshadow the players, but make them feel like they are influencing the world by meeting them.


If you're making a world, there are a few things that should be important to think about (I've already started a campaign and realized this afterward, so maybe next time). It should all fit into a world that the players will feel comfortable in, as if it's a real world, yet at the same time, be memorable to them for being a bit weird.

First, give the world some kind of quirk. Is there a random desert in the middle of the country? Is it all smaller tribes who are fighting? Is there inexplicably very few elves left? Make it memorable somehow, and make it a storyline.

When is this world? Beginning of society? Middle of an empire? After the end?

Kinda like the characters, make sure the names fit. My campaign is more of a fun one, so I named the country La'mao. Which is just lmao with an extra letter. If you want it serious, then go in that direction. http://dicelog.com/yafnag is very helpful.

Classes and spells should come as needed, and only if they would fit. If you're in an underwater world, don't let them learn spells that cause a sandstorm. But if landdwellers are at war with them, then that could help them.



Sorry if this is all stuff you heard before, but new to it myself. If I think of anything else, I'll mention.

[Otacon17]

I like settings to be varied. I want there to be a lot to choose from. A good example would be the Golarion setting from Pathfinder; you've got your basic fantasy locales (temperate forests and such, as Tvtyrant said), and those can be fun, but you've also got places like Osirian (Egypt-inspired), Ustalav (very horror-themed), The Mana Wastes (kind of an Old West meets steampunk thing), and Numeria (with futuristic technology like lasers and such). That way, you can do pretty much any kind of campaign you want, or even mix and match elements of several different kinds of campaigns by having PCs travel around to those different places. I also support the "various interesting NPCs" and "many different societies and cultures" ideas that have already been mentioned.

Basically, variety. Lots and lots of variety.

[Aemoh87]

A pulse. And cracks that can be filled in if needed.