tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post5841680893392036568..comments2023-05-27T11:14:02.426-04:00Comments on Some Space to Think: A Good SettingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-70218899739336129842010-10-05T15:13:27.695-04:002010-10-05T15:13:27.695-04:00So what is the unit of settng?
I'd suggest it...So what is the unit of settng?<br /><br />I'd suggest it's a "set," in the sense that Prime Time Adventures (and theater, and film...) uses the word. It's the bit that the players actually interact with in play.<br /><br />Sure, the planet Alell may well be as big and diverse as Earth. But if your star travelers never go much beyond Alell Down spaceport, then the planet is the spaceport, for the purposes of the game.<br /><br />DFRPG gets to this through Locations and Faces, abstracting larger areas into a discrete location and an NPC.<br /><br />This is scalable. If the scale of the game is globe (or galaxy) trotting, then the set is on the level of the nation, as represented by a port town or the manor of a friendly lord or what have you. If it's more ground-level, then the set is a particular place or town.<br /><br />Which makes at least one aspect of the question answerable: "Is the setting good?" translates to "does it suggest or provide sets for my scale of play?"Uncle Darkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15153259977898899885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-36881902322324465202010-10-05T15:02:18.923-04:002010-10-05T15:02:18.923-04:00Castlemourn's basic premise is that some great...Castlemourn's basic premise is that some great apocalyptic war was conducted hundreds of years ago, and at its end the "castles fell" - empires crumbled and so on. To make things even more interesting, nobody can remember the war, or anything that came before it. Generations later, folks adventure to secure artifacts from before the Fall, add to their knowledge base, and resolve various theological and cosmological concerns.<br /><br />The setting is largely coastal, with huge mountain ranges to the north, east, and west, plus a central plateau running down the middle and dividing campaign era into two. All heavy metals and ore are found either in that range or off-coast on a series of islands, some of which are claimed by wizards, others filled with monsters.<br /><br />I like that the NPCs of the setting are Lankhmar-like freaks or minor nobles and guild leaders; the PCs are supposed to be their peers, the Questors who will figure everything out. But while Ed leaves hundreds of little weird clues and strange things around, he doesn't answer anything. The war, the Fall, the truth about the Sleeping Gods, all of that stuff - up to the players and GM.<br /><br />It has sandbox and intrigue and weirdness written all over it. The elves are xenophobic bastards; the dwarves believe all reality is a dream and so they're philosopher-stoics. Gnomes and halflings usually hang out together, blurring all sorts of lines. And there's a race of orc/goblin/troll-like people who are convinced they're the master race because they're stronger than everybody else.<br /><br />It really is a diamond in the rough.Cam_Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16162534181760938499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-1070211439182989502010-10-05T13:06:41.331-04:002010-10-05T13:06:41.331-04:00Another factor to consider is the players' lev...Another factor to consider is the players' level of desire to interact with the setting. Many will gleefully mesh their backstories and character goals with the setting but an equal number will just see it as an old school Hollywood style 2D backdrop and not care.<br /><br />I guess another element of a good setting is making the players care about it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00775201716326164509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-69310433962068990182010-10-05T12:42:39.054-04:002010-10-05T12:42:39.054-04:00Does Castlemourn have a pitch? Ed Greenwood's ...Does Castlemourn have a pitch? Ed Greenwood's name on it suggests creativity and quality, but it also only invokes the Forgotten Realms, so some part of my brain just assumes that it's basically Forgotten Realms II: Forgottener Realms!<br /><br />And that, I'm certain, is entirely unfair, but in the absence of some other way to think of it, that's always going to creep into my impression. So, if it didn't have Ed's name on it, how would you describe it?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-24478910721858804902010-10-05T12:23:45.668-04:002010-10-05T12:23:45.668-04:00One of the reasons I really want to do more with E...One of the reasons I really want to do more with Ed Greenwood's Castlemourn is that it's absolutely packed with story hooks and cool stuff. I briefly ran a 4E campaign in it with no trouble at all, and Clark and I worked on a Cortex version for Free RPG Day one year. I think it's definitely understated.Cam_Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16162534181760938499noreply@blogger.com