Things to Consider When Creating Campaign Settings

Setting the scene for your campaign is step one...

The campaign setting is a key choice that will shape the style and storyline of your tabletop campaign. Some game masters spend an exceptional amount of time crafting a detailed world with its own lore, geography, and ecology. Others choose to select from a number of settings designed by writers and game makers. Either way is fine, but remember that the setting is just a starting point. If you have more fun creating the world than having the players interact with it and change it, then you would probably enjoy another form of writing, like short stories. But if you design your fictional world as a stage for your players to step onto, then you are truly thinking like a game-runner.

When either creating your own setting or adapting someone else's one thing to consider is that your players don't necessarily care about the same details that you might. While you might be very eager to expound on the coin exchange rates between kingdoms or the history of bad blood between the local goblin tribes, you needn't take offense if your players don't share your enthusiasm. Remember that whatever information you add to the setting is for the benefit of their player, and if they don't explore that particular avenue that's all right. The interests of your audience still supersede that of the DM, so keep enjoying the creative process while you present the players with only the material that they actively seek out and show interest in.

Don't get married to your ideas about the setting strictly based on pre-written notes. The players might present a golden opportunity to make a key change that you had not previously considered. As long as it doesn't contradict the facts that you have established about your setting, it can be altered organically to serve a better story. Players would much rather let you diverge from your notes if it means a better playing experience. A DM shouldn't blame their own notes or rules or rolls for a bad session. There are always ways to fix those issues that can still result in at least a fairly fun game. A bad game comes from difficult dynamics between participants or an inability to make make adjustments on the fly. Recognize issues and fix them, even when it comes to the most fundamental aspects of your game setting.

Remember not to include a lot of elements in the setting that will overshadow your PCs. NPCs of higher levels than your players only serve to make them seem insignificant and can become frustrating. Remember that this is your players' story, not your own. Plan accordingly. You might even design parts of your own setting after character creation, using your players' character concepts as a springboard for your own ideas. Making the setting more collaborative in this manner is a great way to ensure your players will be invested in the story you present.

Having a lot of detail in your setting is one way to keep things interesting, especially for exploration

Above all, make sure your setting is one that excites and interests you. Your players might ask you unexpected questions and you may have to make up some answers on the spot. Being invested in your own work means that you will want to engage in conversations about it, and at it's core that is exactly what a game session is. A conversation with your players that you will both enjoy if you share a strong interest in the subject.

Finally, having a lot of notes about the setting might take a bit of extra prep time, but it pays big dividends. If you know a lot of details about your game setting, it gives you more to draw from. It gives you more opportunity to adapt and change. It gives you more answers for your players. It gives you a stronger grasp on the nature of the world in which the characters exist. And it can be a lot of fun to invent and share as well!

In a future entry we will delve deeper into this, with advice for adapting existing campaign settings. But for right now, I hope you enjoyed these musings on world-building for your play group. Happy ventures!