Also, given what could be called a glut of existing fantasy and science fiction worlds that exist in literature, film, television, and games, from Middle Earth to Faerun to World of Warcraft, is it even possible to create a new and distinctive setting at this point?
And finally, if that's the case, what is the argument for creating your own world these days, instead of just using one that already exists (and saving yourself a lot of work that other people have already done).
I ask these questions in earnest, since I find that I do want to do that work; the idea of creating my own fantasy world just sounds like fun to me. But I know that, consciously or unconsciously, I will be borrowing from and influenced by all those sources (which in turn borrow heavily from their predecessors), and I wonder if it is all worth it, or will even result in something that my players will find fun, engaging, and at all different from every other fantasy world out there.
Originality really comes from taking ideas and making them your own by putting a twist on them or incorporating them in different ways. Steal bits from existing sources (RPGs in book, computer or console form, books, movies, anime, you name it) and weave them into your campaign.
With 4e the Devs made a great point/suggestion that your whoel world doesn't have to be fleshed out from the start in total. Start small, add as you go. You can certainly have ideas of what lies farther away. Ultimately, much of the originality of your world will come with how your players help shape it through their actions in your campaigns and all the crap you have to come up with last second because 1) you didn't prepare for that evenings session, or 2) your players went way off the reservation and you had to improvise.
Heck, check out the Everything is Canon II thread in this forum. If you look hard enough, you'll find a lot of stuff that you've seen before. (Flat earth? Discworld. A mist shroud that's dispelled by a horn? That's from an old Commodore 64 game I used to have that I can't even remember the name of any more...)
as to why I almost exclusively run homebrew settings (in addition to satisfying my creative urges) -- it is the only way that I can be absolutely sure that no player knows more about the setting than I do.
Without fail, every single time that I use published setting material, there is some player that will inevitably make it a point to let me know that I've got something about the setting wrong -- either I don't have the geo-political climate just right, or I'm not invoking some obvious bit of history, or I mis-played an NPC, or I've missed some landmark, or I'm not allowing a setting element to be brought in to the plot, or a thousand different other things. Nevermind that I give the disclaimer that I'm running it my way -- nope, that guy always has to ruin it.
So, "easy" fix -- make my own world. Take that, party-poopers!
But no single element is unique in and of itself. I find inspiration from a hundred different sources (be it history, literature, movies, etc.), and simply weave it in a way as to make it my own. Will elements remind the players of something that has come before? Of course -- otherwise, how else are they supposed to identify with the world; how else are they supposed to get a clear picture of what is going on in the setting?
And here's a secret -- you don't have to tell them where it comes from (I never do, unless I'm need to explain something very specific, and I really need an appropriate analogy to explain it). As a matter of fact, it's okay if they don't get the specific reference, because chances are that where you got it from probably showed-up somewhere else -- my players are always telling me that I must have lifted some element or another from Feist; but I have actually never read a single word of his writings (given their opinion of Feist, I just take it as a compliment and roll with it). Also keep in mind that all fantasy worlds are built in pretty much the same manner (i.e., taking different aspects from different sources, shaking it up to make it their own).
as a quick, non-specific example -- take the cultural customs from one historical culture, put it with the political structure from another, and then then surround it in a geo-political climate from your favorite fantasy novel. Sprinkle in some tidbit on how the gods interact, and *poof*, there you go (it's a bit simplistic, but you get the point). Also, the more obscure the source of your elements, the more likely that it will seem wholly your own. And if you get obscure enough, then you can just transplant everything wholesale, and they will never know the difference.
As was said before -- develope only as much as you need. In the world I'm currently running in, I needed to figure out the geo-political climate for the whole hemisphere, as well as the last 1200 years of history for the whole main continent -- but only because an event from 1000 years ago became a central theme for the campaign that involved the rise and fall of an empire.
On the flip-side -- I've run entire campaigns without even drawing a map (or even knowing what anything looked like). That depends on how site-oriented the adventures will be.
I am now rambling at this point (I'm 26 hours with no sleep) -- so I'll just leave it at that.
Just let me know it that made any sense.
Besides my crazy DM view, I think a lot of people will agree that if your players are having fun in your world then absolutely nothing else matters. Princesses (and Princes!) need to be rescued, dragons needing to be slayed, good wizards that mentor the youth, and young adventurers pulling swords from stones. These are all kosher as long as they are done with style.
if your players are having fun in your world then absolutely nothing else matters.
This, above all else.
I steal from everywhere, everyone, and everywhen. RW history is chock full of adventure hooks. Back in 2e I did a one-on-one that replicated the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere as Halfling adventurer Devon Barefeet rode like mad to alert a series of villages and towns of the approach of my BBEG's army. I borrowed plots that could have easily been written about escaping from East Germany and applied them to the PCs escaping from a suddenly closed off city-state. In yet another, the party found itself thrust into a side "trek" that involved a city ion a state of riot over a gross injustice done to a commoner by a rigged court. While they agreed with the outrage, they didn't agree with the rioting and looting and had their hands full trying to do the right thing and protect innocent people and their assetts. (Rodney King, anyone?)
I do like some of the latest created world settings Like Adventurers Guide to Cthonia: Feudal Lords Campaign by Alea Publishing or indeed Scarrport is pretty origional.
The Feudal Lords campaign gives you some very good background for the setting and for characters. It's worth a look but it only gives you a single area.
Scarrport is only the city and it immediate environs but some very good background stuff for the setting although it does introduce six guns which I will probably downgrade to flintlocks and make the setting more of a pirates of the carrabeane(spelt wrong I know!!).
great tree (in a campaign it could be the ubiquitous World Tree) that was actually a God from elsewhere that was summoned to keep some big nasty imprisoned below the earth under its roots where it lays dormant waiting for a chance to reawaken and destroy the world.
This is a great example of what i was thinking. You take what you see or read and turn it around. Instead of the world tree attracting a monster to chew on its roots (classical version), the monster created a need to summon a tree to hold it in place. When you intake a story try to take its elements and place it in a different scenario. For example you can watch a movie, decide on a setting totally different and write down (or just think if you have better memory abilities than me) how the story could play out there.
I watched [movie about a cute garbage compressor] and imagined that he/it was undead instead. That lead to a couple of pages about a city where the rich bought new organs when their old ones failed and being undead was a way to settle debt. Zombies was the rebellious undead that fled from their contracts. The final idea/concept was untraceable to the source because it was placed in such a different place and also sparked a couple of new ideas.
I think one of the coolest things in a book I recently read (Chronicles of the Black Company) that I want to steal for a home campaign...
The whole Black Company series and setting is an excellent example of the great things that can be found if you're willing to borrow liberally. Green Ronin actually did a d20 setting for the Black Company. Morally conflicted mercenaries and evil demi-gods are pretty awesome.
cheers,
Meshon
in all honesty, i think that originality is a little overrated sometimes in a setting. maybe my tastes in these things are a bit pedestrian--certainly possible--but when i see some of the more whimsical settings people describe, i'm often left thinking "jeez, that just doesn't sound like it's for me".
Cliches can be fun. Stolen ideas and pre-made adventures can be fun. Most players don't care that much about originality unless you are being repetitive.
2.) Being "creative enough" is super easy. You borrow an idea and change one thing. Or just merge two ideas.
For example - you could run Kobold Hall out of the DMG, reskin it to goblins and an ogre and most players wouldn't recognize it. Change the maps a little and it is suddenly impossible to recognize.
For those who have created their own campaign world, or played in a home brew world, how important is originality? How much value comes from a setting that is distinctly different from other worlds created by game companies, or in popular culture?
Also, given what could be called a glut of existing fantasy and science fiction worlds that exist in literature, film, television, and games, from Middle Earth to Faerun to World of Warcraft, is it even possible to create a new and distinctive setting at this point?
And finally, if that's the case, what is the argument for creating your own world these days, instead of just using one that already exists (and saving yourself a lot of work that other people have already done).
I ask these questions in earnest, since I find that I do want to do that work; the idea of creating my own fantasy world just sounds like fun to me. But I know that, consciously or unconsciously, I will be borrowing from and influenced by all those sources (which in turn borrow heavily from their predecessors), and I wonder if it is all worth it, or will even result in something that my players will find fun, engaging, and at all different from every other fantasy world out there.
I would certainly agree that fun overrides the originality aspect as long as everyone is enjoying themselves.
1st part. Originality is important to me in that the experience itself or an aspect be memorable. If my players don't remember the actual world I created for them, but one comes up and says "Man that barbaric dwarf tribe was awesome, I'll remember that encounter." Then to me it was worth the time effort and thought into making the world that had them.
2nd part. Yes and no. I say that in this respect, a person can make an extremly original world that coincidently had simliar aspects to another without realizing it. I admit it might hard to believe that the shamanistic trolls that excel at magic in one persons game did not come from WoW, it is possible. Just with how much material is out there I do think that is harder to be original, but still very possible. Conicidence aside of course
.3rd part. I (as a long time DM) still very much perfer working on homebrew the Campaign Settings(CS). Reason being, CS have an extremly long history and continuity. Not that my own homebrew doesn't, but I do not have to worry about my player saying, "Well actually Elminister was never X." For me it's a matter of, working with my creations rather then someone elses. I will not handle Elminister, Drizzt or Raistlin accordingly and will not be able to give the best effect for the game when my PC's meet them. Also, you sometimes deal with (DM perspective) the player that knows everything about that setting and that makes it difficult to surprise them with encounters and what not.
My 2 cents.