Age of Exploration Campaign Setting: Would You Play/Buy This?

[Fax Celestis]

So the basic premise is as follows:

Some cataclysm or another (mage wars, aliens, actual cataclysms (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173921), etc.) has caused the world to isolate itself into smaller, disparate communities. There is no "core setting" the way there is in, say, Ebberon. Instead, each community is described in detail via a pamphlet sized booklet, .pdf, or whatever.

There is no world map. This is important. Each territory is given a map, and the DM is free to arrange the territories he uses as he sees fit. Different regions can be selected as the starting region, and the rest can be arranged around it as desired: this way, regardless of previous play, the feeling of exploration and discovery can be maintained.

What I'm trying to avoid with this is what I found to be one of Eberron's failings: Xen'drik is supposed to be a primordial, uncharted continent, but the core book details its expanse right off the bat. Further, it is always in the same place, which means that if there's something there that the players want, they'll make a beeline for it immediately. On the other hand, in this setting I'm pitching, the players won't know where Region X is, so they'll have to go find it. There's even the possibility that it won't exist.

I'm afraid I'm not making much sense, but I'll try to clarify if people have questions. My main question is, is this interesting enough to develop?

[Coidzor]

Seems interesting. I was flirting with an idea sort of like this a few years back, off and on.

[Hazzardevil]

If anyone does this, I would be interested.

[flumphy]

Honestly? The only appeal of published campaign settings for me is that they do absolutely all the mapping and other detailing for me. They are also consistent, meaning I don't have to explain the setting at the start of the campaign. If I have the time and energy to cram a bunch of existing ideas together as I please and to throw a bunch of explanation at players, I use my own ideas.

Besides, since geography and cultural proximity shapes society so much, I don't think I could make myself accept such a modular world.

I guess this is sort of a nice middle ground for DMs that would strongly prefer to use their own stuff but really don't have the time?

[Inferno]

Sounds pretty interesting. I like the idea, maybe if it came with a few pre-made continents with geographic features only. The DM places all towns, caves, roads and other campaign specific info. Also there'd likely need to be more town/city options than would see use in the average game to keep players from seeking out metropolis X (regardless of it's new location) because it's got a great magic-mart (or whatever).

In defense of Eberron's Xen'drik though, while it is mapped out for you it is supposed to be played as having a curse on the land that causes travel to be messed up: compasses are inconsistent, distance traveled in any given time varies, maps are poorly drawn or unavailable. A DM can make travel through Xen'drik as nightmarish as they feel is appropriate to their campaign.

[hiryuu]

In defense of Eberron's Xen'drik though, while it is mapped out for you it is supposed to be played as having a curse on the land that causes travel to be messed up: compasses are inconsistent, distance traveled in any given time varies, maps are poorly drawn or unavailable. A DM can make travel through Xen'drik as nightmarish as they feel is appropriate to their campaign.

And can module in and out. They left in an excuse for GMs to say "Xen'drik does not work that way" by using the Traveler's Curse.


This is actually a big failing (and it's not the setting's fault, it's both an artifact of the way people play the game and of the way you have to design the game for the GM's use) of any setting that tries to be an exploration setting: Even if the setting is made of modular cultures far from contacting each other and you swap them around, players are going to "read the book," and know what to expect. The only way to do this is build the chunk of the world in a meta-vaccuum and then throw players at it. You can certainly put out a book saying what's over there, but it all has to be lies (this is sort of what Xen'drik is in Eberron; again, with the Traveler's Curse, it means that any "fact" about even its history that you read is totally suspect), and it only works once, since once players have been through it, they'll no longer have the mystery of the first time. This is why most D&D games tend to keep moving, the game actually is and always has been about discovery, uncovering ancient secrets and treasure, and being filled with the awe of finding new things.

[Kol Korran]

as has been mentioned- geography and proximity influence societies a great deal, so it might become quite a stretch to believe how things have come to be. (drow living right next to high elves) but it might make for interesting ideas.

the greater problem i see however is that explorations isn't about the same old things in a different order, but about new things. if in the previous campaign the city of the Efreet was in the desert of blue sands to the nor the east, and in this campiagn we have gone south and suddenly we encounter blue sands... well, you see where this is going. you're shuffling the same cards, not introducing new ones.

the DM might change things to keep things a surprise, but then- why should s/he buy the pieces anyway? sure, you can put out more and more and more new regions, but that gets tedious to the publisher, and expensive to the buyer.

as to the "But it's always the same!" comment, even about Xen'dric: the continent is bloody enormous! exploring it would take the better hald of many campaigns i think. the given locations are but a drop in an ocean. you can always send the explorers in a new location, or have the previous location with changes of time/ people/ creatures/ magic/ bla bla bla... i haven't yet come into trouble of real exploration yet. (though truth be told, i haven't played outright exploration and mapping territory such as in King Maker)

those are my thoughts at least...

[Fax Celestis]

as has been mentioned- geography and proximity influence societies a great deal, so it might become quite a stretch to believe how things have come to be. (drow living right next to high elves) but it might make for interesting ideas.

For the sake of argument, let's pretend that cultural isolation is rather high. In that most cultures are almost completely segregated from others, due to whatever caused them to split up in the first place. Nuclear winter, wandering cataclysms, magical aftereffects, etc.

[NineThePuma]

Would Play.

Am poor.

Would not buy.