Comments on: The Setting Less Traveled

By: The Swordhand

The Swordhand — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:52:20 +0000

I like to use The traditional middle-ages european as the enemy in campaigns. I stick to stuff like the new world or the crusades. That gives the players something new for them an the way the players then understand their enemies is really cool. Crusades is my very favorite setting of all I would think.

By: The Gouge

The Gouge — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:55:10 +0000

I was recently inspired by an art history class that I was taking that had just wrapped up a unit on Mayan artwork, so I used it as a setting. The players were a little freaked out by the unfamiliar aspect of jungles and all the dangerous stuff that lives in them… Like disease and lots of poisonous beasties. It was pretty fun, we are wrapping that up and I’ working on one set in a culture similar to ancient Greece or Rome. That is going to be fun. I’ll get to really throw in alot of interaction with Deities, which I don’t use that much.

By: Bryce

Bryce — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:26:19 +0000

I take the lazy DMs path and base all my settings on great scifi movies. My players are currently exploring Los Angeles in Blade Runner, complete with enchanted gnome contraptions that are nearly indistinguishable from humans. The overall setting is that of The Chronicles of Riddick. I just watch the movie once, then replay it over and over as I type away. The great thing about movies is that they also provide factions and characters. I can’t use any screenshots or the layers will instantly lose the sense of exploration, but good scifi movies always spawn fan art.

Real world settings are great, but I need movies to get my creative juices flowing.

By: Steve-o

Steve-o — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:39:56 +0000

I use mostly the European flavor that is common to most games. But in the past I have used Native American, Norse, Roman, Greek, and Celtic influences in creating a campaign world. I still usually work those cultures into any campaign anyway no matter which one I choose as the main influence upon the world.

I don’t know enough about other mythologies and histories to try them out, though I am thinking of developing an Egyptian and possible African area to explore in the campaign I am running now.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:08:16 +0000

I’m a mythology buff, so some time ago I decided to embark on a world-building project that would incorporate all of these ideas. The world consists of three continents and ten countries, each country representing the culture behind one set of mythologies: Norse, Mesoamerican, Celtic, Russian, Middle Eastern, Anglo-Saxon (i.e., Arthurian), Native American, Japanese, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman. It’s great, because each campaign can occur in a different part of the world and thus have a different flavor — parties are interesting because they often contain members from all over — and I can rely on existing information as much as make up my own cultural backgrounds.