Campaign Setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign Setting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Quepp
07-06-07, 07:40 PM Hello, I am a new DM and I am about to prepare a campaign for my two friends. I am trying to decide what setting I should use, Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or to just create the world myself. What is the difference between the Forgotten Realms and Eberron? Would it be unnecessarily burdensome to create the world myself?

Also, what sort of questions should I ask my players before I get to work so that I can create a campaign that they would enjoy?

Finally, what is the most cost efficient way to aquire D&D books? Ebay? I thought the three core books would be enough for me but, there are so many more and they all look so interesting.

Thank you all very much for any help! :D
Mr_Crepsley
07-06-07, 07:48 PM I am not knowledgeable In Forgotten Relms or Eberon, so I cant answer the first question.

For the second, find out what races and classes they want to play, so you can tailor the adventure so that everyone gets a time to shine and use their unique skills.

Thirdly, I would try a used book store, if there is one near you.
Insanit
07-06-07, 08:00 PM Creating your own setting is not a burden, and saves you $50.

Start small. Have some small kingdom with Moutains to the north, ocean to the south, forest to the west and A large river that acts as a border to a nabering kingdom. Have some towns, some small farming comunities a port city and the Royal capital. A crude drawing on lined paper will sufice :P.

Oh and give it a name, you could do this in 3-9 minutes. You don't need to make up the details untill you need to, just write them down when you do.

I recomend you start with something like that and If there is something else you'd like to have you can add it to what will become your world.

Good luck :D
1red13
07-06-07, 09:08 PM I've played predominantly Forgotten Realms & home brew worlds. I've liked forgotten realms because i learned a lot of d&d with it as the campaign setting. Creating your own world can be sizeable task depending on how in depth you get, but it can be a learning experience as well. If you are just starting out you might want to start small to make it a manageable task.
Board_Rider
07-06-07, 10:32 PM I say run a published campaign simply because many of the questions are answered and a lot of the fluff is written for you.

Forgotten Realms = High fantasy
Eberron = Pulp fantasy with magic equaling tech.

I wasn't a big fan of Eberron but it has grown on me and it is 3.5 out of the box. The FRCS is 3.0 although that is no big deal.
Andrew
07-06-07, 11:22 PM A lot of the question comes down to if you would like something approaching 'shared ownership' of the setting with your players or not. Some games run great where the world is a mystery, and the players know only what their characters have found out. Some games, such as Star Wars, run great when many people at the table are familiar with the setting and are able to actively draw upon the publicly-known details of the world to throw in flavor and trivia.

As for FR versus Eberron, the Realms has a longer history in fiction and is close to what many people might imagine when they think of a D&D setting. Eberron, in my opinion, fits better with the 3.5 edition of the game, and is a more concise body of common source material to draw on with better internal consistency.
ppirilla
07-06-07, 11:32 PM If this is your first session, I suggest you don't worry about a campaign setting at all. Grab a published adventure or two designed for low-level play and have at it.

As the first reply suggested, create a town or two as needed and center the action around them.

One thing to concider, though, is that most adventures are designed around the idea of a four person party. With only two players, it might be a good idea to give them a cohort of some sort (probably a cleric walking bandage box, as most players tend to run away from that role) that they can boss around.

As for buying books, don't worry about getting too many until you're familiar with core. When you do decide to get more, I suggest looking at used books from Amazon. that's where I got most of my collection.
Tseramed
07-07-07, 12:58 AM I started DMing in a homebrewed world I made a while back. While it was mostly fun, it was a hard task as you have to make virtually everything as one would expect and sometime it's just not fun anymore because your players keep going where you don't intend them to. I started small with a kingdom in the south and one to the north and developped those kingdoms with towns etc. Pretty soon I had a metropolis and about 10 towns fully fleshed out. The politics and major players where next and the governements etc. All in all, I say that it is a good experience and is highly rewarding if you get together a good setting that your players will like.

If you are just starting. a town / village or two mountains to the north and a known dungeon your PCs can explore is a good start as people pointed out. You don't have to do much more than that. Just make sure there are interesting NPCs and a good fleshy feeling to your little world. Just draw a little crude map on a piece of paper and build around this. Name your places and try to have a theme going. Let's say the town is called Ravensburg ( :p wow...). Well that town might be called so because of all the ravens flying around that keep screaming at night. Meabe the local in is called the Wailing Black Bird and people see those ravens as a good sign. When they fly away and don't see much around they know trouble is near and they are kind of a "lucky charm"... Giving character to a town will trigger the memory of your players and they will remember the place as "Ravensburg, the town that loves ravens" not as a small town whom they don't know squat.

( Ok, I am not inspired tonight :p sorry for the cheesyness...)

On the other hand, if you go into premade Campaign Settings you should expect to have to put more money ( Again, used books are your friend), but, it saves you the trouble of creating a world. Be warned though, the campaign setting does give you nice plot hooks and small adventures, but you will still have to craft some of those adventure by yourself... There is still work to be done, but a bit less.

I currently DM in the forgotten realms as it is my favorite setting. The feeling is High Fantasy and what you would expect from classic D&D. There is a lot of history in this world and this is what keeps the setting going. Also, with the lenght of Toril, there is a setting for everyone within the setting itself. Mulhorand is similar to more Egyptian / bronze age type of adventure. Halruaa is more magical with Airships and whatnot. Cormyr and the Dalelands have more of a European feeling to them and the North is savage and untamed. Calimshan has this Arabic feeling to it with Calimport and it's corruption etc. The world is a living thing and everything fits together perfectly. Though don't worry, you can (must) set your game in a place and keep it there for a while. You don't have to be overwhelmed by the grandeur. The warmth and feeling is all in the book and you just have to dut it off a little.

I'm sorry though, I can't really talk about Eberron. I never DMed or played in that setting. However, I do think it is an interessing setting ( while low level), and it is really good for a young setting. I think it has more the Final Fantasy / Anime vibe to it, although I could be wrong. There is more technology and is more intrigue driven than other settings. Even though you can put intrigue in any setting...

Alright, sorry for the long diatribe...

Ciao

Malaky Tseramed.
Quepp
07-07-07, 09:56 PM Thank you, all this feedback is very helpful! I think I'm going to try and make my own world, at least in the beginning because I still need to buy some more dice and a decent DM screen to help me out before I start shelling out more money for another book or a premade adventure. Any other tips or suggestions are more than welcome though!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Quepp 07-06-07, 07:40 PM	Hello, I am a new DM and I am about to prepare a campaign for my two friends. I am trying to decide what setting I should use, Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or to just create the world myself. What is the difference between the Forgotten Realms and Eberron? Would it be unnecessarily burdensome to create the world myself? Also, what sort of questions should I ask my players before I get to work so that I can create a campaign that they would enjoy? Finally, what is the most cost efficient way to aquire D&D books? Ebay? I thought the three core books would be enough for me but, there are so many more and they all look so interesting. Thank you all very much for any help! :D
Mr_Crepsley 07-06-07, 07:48 PM	I am not knowledgeable In Forgotten Relms or Eberon, so I cant answer the first question. For the second, find out what races and classes they want to play, so you can tailor the adventure so that everyone gets a time to shine and use their unique skills. Thirdly, I would try a used book store, if there is one near you.
Insanit 07-06-07, 08:00 PM	Creating your own setting is not a burden, and saves you $50. Start small. Have some small kingdom with Moutains to the north, ocean to the south, forest to the west and A large river that acts as a border to a nabering kingdom. Have some towns, some small farming comunities a port city and the Royal capital. A crude drawing on lined paper will sufice :P. Oh and give it a name, you could do this in 3-9 minutes. You don't need to make up the details untill you need to, just write them down when you do. I recomend you start with something like that and If there is something else you'd like to have you can add it to what will become your world. Good luck :D
1red13 07-06-07, 09:08 PM	I've played predominantly Forgotten Realms & home brew worlds. I've liked forgotten realms because i learned a lot of d&d with it as the campaign setting. Creating your own world can be sizeable task depending on how in depth you get, but it can be a learning experience as well. If you are just starting out you might want to start small to make it a manageable task.
Board_Rider 07-06-07, 10:32 PM	I say run a published campaign simply because many of the questions are answered and a lot of the fluff is written for you. Forgotten Realms = High fantasy Eberron = Pulp fantasy with magic equaling tech. I wasn't a big fan of Eberron but it has grown on me and it is 3.5 out of the box. The FRCS is 3.0 although that is no big deal.
Andrew 07-06-07, 11:22 PM	A lot of the question comes down to if you would like something approaching 'shared ownership' of the setting with your players or not. Some games run great where the world is a mystery, and the players know only what their characters have found out. Some games, such as Star Wars, run great when many people at the table are familiar with the setting and are able to actively draw upon the publicly-known details of the world to throw in flavor and trivia. As for FR versus Eberron, the Realms has a longer history in fiction and is close to what many people might imagine when they think of a D&D setting. Eberron, in my opinion, fits better with the 3.5 edition of the game, and is a more concise body of common source material to draw on with better internal consistency.
ppirilla 07-06-07, 11:32 PM	If this is your first session, I suggest you don't worry about a campaign setting at all. Grab a published adventure or two designed for low-level play and have at it. As the first reply suggested, create a town or two as needed and center the action around them. One thing to concider, though, is that most adventures are designed around the idea of a four person party. With only two players, it might be a good idea to give them a cohort of some sort (probably a cleric walking bandage box, as most players tend to run away from that role) that they can boss around. As for buying books, don't worry about getting too many until you're familiar with core. When you do decide to get more, I suggest looking at used books from Amazon. that's where I got most of my collection.
Tseramed 07-07-07, 12:58 AM	I started DMing in a homebrewed world I made a while back. While it was mostly fun, it was a hard task as you have to make virtually everything as one would expect and sometime it's just not fun anymore because your players keep going where you don't intend them to. I started small with a kingdom in the south and one to the north and developped those kingdoms with towns etc. Pretty soon I had a metropolis and about 10 towns fully fleshed out. The politics and major players where next and the governements etc. All in all, I say that it is a good experience and is highly rewarding if you get together a good setting that your players will like. If you are just starting. a town / village or two mountains to the north and a known dungeon your PCs can explore is a good start as people pointed out. You don't have to do much more than that. Just make sure there are interesting NPCs and a good fleshy feeling to your little world. Just draw a little crude map on a piece of paper and build around this. Name your places and try to have a theme going. Let's say the town is called Ravensburg ( :p wow...). Well that town might be called so because of all the ravens flying around that keep screaming at night. Meabe the local in is called the Wailing Black Bird and people see those ravens as a good sign. When they fly away and don't see much around they know trouble is near and they are kind of a "lucky charm"... Giving character to a town will trigger the memory of your players and they will remember the place as "Ravensburg, the town that loves ravens" not as a small town whom they don't know squat. ( Ok, I am not inspired tonight :p sorry for the cheesyness...) On the other hand, if you go into premade Campaign Settings you should expect to have to put more money ( Again, used books are your friend), but, it saves you the trouble of creating a world. Be warned though, the campaign setting does give you nice plot hooks and small adventures, but you will still have to craft some of those adventure by yourself... There is still work to be done, but a bit less. I currently DM in the forgotten realms as it is my favorite setting. The feeling is High Fantasy and what you would expect from classic D&D. There is a lot of history in this world and this is what keeps the setting going. Also, with the lenght of Toril, there is a setting for everyone within the setting itself. Mulhorand is similar to more Egyptian / bronze age type of adventure. Halruaa is more magical with Airships and whatnot. Cormyr and the Dalelands have more of a European feeling to them and the North is savage and untamed. Calimshan has this Arabic feeling to it with Calimport and it's corruption etc. The world is a living thing and everything fits together perfectly. Though don't worry, you can (must) set your game in a place and keep it there for a while. You don't have to be overwhelmed by the grandeur. The warmth and feeling is all in the book and you just have to dut it off a little. I'm sorry though, I can't really talk about Eberron. I never DMed or played in that setting. However, I do think it is an interessing setting ( while low level), and it is really good for a young setting. I think it has more the Final Fantasy / Anime vibe to it, although I could be wrong. There is more technology and is more intrigue driven than other settings. Even though you can put intrigue in any setting... Alright, sorry for the long diatribe... Ciao Malaky Tseramed.
Quepp 07-07-07, 09:56 PM	Thank you, all this feedback is very helpful! I think I'm going to try and make my own world, at least in the beginning because I still need to buy some more dice and a decent DM screen to help me out before I start shelling out more money for another book or a premade adventure. Any other tips or suggestions are more than welcome though!