10 page campaign setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

10 page campaign setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Garandene_Lyrandar
02-17-08, 02:48 AM I currently have an idea for a campaign setting formed in my mind, how do I put this down on paper for my players in 10 pages or less?
Krusk
02-17-08, 03:08 AM Write down all your ideas onto a notepad in short concise sentance fragments.

Do a short page giving vauge examples or major loctaions. For example

Main city, very large, 50K+ people, everyone comes from all around to do trade. Ruled by a council of 11 voted upon officials. LN-LG alignment. Think Roman for architecture style. Colliseum is included.

Do the same for any major races and any classes that might need it.

Now put that into paragraph form, and keep it as bried as possible using things like "Think roman for architecture style" as often as you can. Saves space over "they have a colliseum, pillars, ect" and actually listing everything out. Most players can put the pieces together, probably even better than you could describe it to them.
Seeker95
02-17-08, 08:42 AM How many pages does it currently take you to write it?
Artifact
02-18-08, 12:08 AM Here's something that works for me, and its similar to the concise, vague examples which Krusk mentions. I "port" many ideas and situations directly into my homebrew as needed, referrencing different sources. Why re-invent the wheel if you don't have to (I think Seeker says this sometimes ;)).

If you've got some ideas, find a source where they are explained/detailed, and referrence that source. So, for example, if you want to develop a dark ages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ages) setting, check out wikipedia for some articles, and then referrence those articles.
This ports the ideas into your setting, and keeps your "page count" low. You can tell your players to "look here!" ;)

For example: I recently bought the Elder Evils supplement. I want to develop an uber BBEG like those desribed within for use in my homebrew setting. Rather than start from scratch, I ported an elder evil known as "Father Llymic" into the setting, using the same physical description, stats, and even encounter areas. This leaves me free to concetrate on developing a unique story for the elder evil (which I call Erebus, Lord of Darkness). I can quickly get next week's "apocalyptic" game up and running.[Yes, its finally over!]

The only drawback: You typically need a supply of "supplements" to draw from (gaming or otherwise). I often referrence my RPG collection, but if something isn't available (which is often), I'll google stuff off the internet, use wikipedia (my friend), encyclopedia sets, textbooks, and even shamelessly rip ideas from these very boards ;).

Hope this helps.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Garandene_Lyrandar 02-17-08, 02:48 AM	I currently have an idea for a campaign setting formed in my mind, how do I put this down on paper for my players in 10 pages or less?
Krusk 02-17-08, 03:08 AM	Write down all your ideas onto a notepad in short concise sentance fragments. Do a short page giving vauge examples or major loctaions. For example Main city, very large, 50K+ people, everyone comes from all around to do trade. Ruled by a council of 11 voted upon officials. LN-LG alignment. Think Roman for architecture style. Colliseum is included. Do the same for any major races and any classes that might need it. Now put that into paragraph form, and keep it as bried as possible using things like "Think roman for architecture style" as often as you can. Saves space over "they have a colliseum, pillars, ect" and actually listing everything out. Most players can put the pieces together, probably even better than you could describe it to them.
Seeker95 02-17-08, 08:42 AM	How many pages does it currently take you to write it?
Artifact 02-18-08, 12:08 AM	Here's something that works for me, and its similar to the concise, vague examples which Krusk mentions. I "port" many ideas and situations directly into my homebrew as needed, referrencing different sources. Why re-invent the wheel if you don't have to (I think Seeker says this sometimes ;)). If you've got some ideas, find a source where they are explained/detailed, and referrence that source. So, for example, if you want to develop a dark ages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ages) setting, check out wikipedia for some articles, and then referrence those articles. This ports the ideas into your setting, and keeps your "page count" low. You can tell your players to "look here!" ;) For example: I recently bought the Elder Evils supplement. I want to develop an uber BBEG like those desribed within for use in my homebrew setting. Rather than start from scratch, I ported an elder evil known as "Father Llymic" into the setting, using the same physical description, stats, and even encounter areas. This leaves me free to concetrate on developing a unique story for the elder evil (which I call Erebus, Lord of Darkness). I can quickly get next week's "apocalyptic" game up and running.[Yes, its finally over!] The only drawback: You typically need a supply of "supplements" to draw from (gaming or otherwise). I often referrence my RPG collection, but if something isn't available (which is often), I'll google stuff off the internet, use wikipedia (my friend), encyclopedia sets, textbooks, and even shamelessly rip ideas from these very boards ;). Hope this helps.