Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 BuddhaKai Feb 25, 2015 1:13:12	After you have come up with preliminary ideas and setting specific rules for your own setting, how do you go about putting it all together?  I'm looking to keep a 3 ring binder set aside for my setting and DM needs for the table, but I'm at a loss of what kind of information needs to go into that binder.   I have a setting outline, by that I mean some specific rules and ideas that make up the setting, but I don't know what else I should have in my DM binder.  I understand I need a map and write ups for both the starting region, capital city, towns/villages and strongholds, but am I missing anything?   Let me know what you'd put into a DM/setting binder.  I've been playing D&D for 12 years now and running games for about 9 years and this is my first time building a setting of my own.  It's taken 5 years of ideas and redraws of world maps, but I want to get this thing finished.   Anyone have some input?  This is proving to be hella agonizing to deal with, and I've thought about just ripping from something already established (something based on Zelda/Skyrim/Dragon Age) or just use a premade setting like Eberron or Forgotten Realms (ugh, gross).   I need help from my fellow DMs...and with our powers combined...something will happen.
#2 DM_Craig Feb 25, 2015 5:13:05	Include any and all information you feel is important to the campaign. That's the easy, not really an answer answer. ;)   Personally I would include some of the following (as sections): -Storyline -Maps -Settlement Information (try to come up with at least some basic info for each settlement: who lives there, how big is it, what's the government system, who are some key npcs, etc.) -adventure hook ideas (why are the PCs doing what they're doing?) -main villains/enemies challenges etc.) -quest-important npcs     If you're creating your own gods, etc., then make sure you have a section dedicated to them as well.   Ask your players to be patient with you and allow your binder to be flexible. You might find that you want/need to include something that comes up during play.
#3 DwarfLordSeven Feb 25, 2015 9:56:42	I created a Wiki for my campaign.   There are different pages for Notable Characters, descriptions of the places in the world they have visited, and information about some global history, cosmology, religion, and other background info.  Then I update it as they meet new characters and go to new places.   I don't know if any of the players ever look at it, but it's fun for me to make.
#4 BuddhaKai Feb 25, 2015 14:29:29	This actually helps, thanks.  I may be closer to finished than I thought.   An other bits of information or does that pretty much cover the basics?
#5 Timpookie Feb 26, 2015 0:51:03	I hand out all relevant maps when necessary.   I make a rough storyline on OneNote. I rather like the tier thing from 4e, so I'll use that as an example for how I set things up:   I first decide what I want each tier to contain in general.   I then work on roughly what I want for the Heroic tier   Then I start drawing up specifics in my mind of what level the party should be at for each quest for the first half of the heroic tier.   I then design the first adventure and plant seeds in that leading to the next few adventures.   I then plan how I want the Heroic tier to end and the Paragon tier to begin, how I want the Paragon tier to end and the Epic to begin, and how I want to wrap up the campaign.   I do this purposefully so that I can plant seeds for these epic battles whenever I want.   I then go on to set up history, modern politics and religious deity stuff. I tend to steal from the 4e default setting as a base to work from out of laziness, though I frequently improvise things as I go.   I then do important recurring NPCs, mainly villainous but also some of the people that give you quests, and find places where it seems natural to fit them in. If nothing seems right to me, I save the NPC idea for when it does fit perfectly into my campaign or for another campaign.   Then I'm done, as far as I know.   I store everything in OneNote so that I have it whenever I need it.
#6 DM_Craig Feb 26, 2015 7:12:50	Timpookie wrote:
#7 Timpookie Feb 27, 2015 1:31:53	DM_Craig wrote:
#8 RalofTyr Mar 06, 2015 13:44:06	When playing D&D, it was basically all the same so I just used graph-paper, dice and a pencil.  Maybe it would be in a folder (before the days of computers).