When designing settings is there a category that you focus too much time and effort on? Is the the most fascinating to you? That maybe you'd rather do than keep working on the rest of the setting?
(Note: by "categories" I'm talking about things like races/species, geography, history, politics, magic, everyday life, etc.)
In my case it's races/species. I can't get enough of coming up with a new type of sentient organism. The vast majority of the time it's all I do. Somehow everything else in a setting just doesn't matter compared to what people look like and what they can do.
Probably history.
I think it is different for me, depending on the setting. It seems that it is most often cultures or religion.
plot/history.
Factions. Unique locales. Monsters/Enemies in general. Right now I'm working on non-humanoid alien races for my setting, and the existence of demons as beings from parallel universes that have more or fewer dimensions than our own.
Definitely not big on religions - they've taken the backseat for me for a long time, and continue to do so more and more the more I develop the religions in my worlds.
I think my time gets split evenly between magic, planes, and races. I always like to make new and different magic systems, I try out weird and new worlds, and I try to ensure that races aren't just humans with funny ears, so I always find myself spending waaay too much time on those aspects of a setting.
Metaphysics and setting-specific wonkiness. The what and why and how of magic, gods, and all things otherworldly. Everything else more or less gets made as needed through play with me. I should probably work more on culture, politics, and history beforehand though. They can become relevant more often than one would expect, and the on-the fly answers aren't as good.
Quote from: beejazzThe on-the fly answers aren't as good.
Usually yes, but sometimes it is fun to play an on-the-fly campaign.
Most of the time I spend for my campaign is on fluff. I suck at fluff, so I end up spending huge amounts of time working on it.
I'm in the same camp as Beejazz. Metaphysics and the reasoning behind the otherworldly takes up much of my focus, and i think it is justified since the unnatural is often what separates the world from our own. I tend to take a more "scientific" approach though, and avoid active gods. Nations and religions are usually just built around some random idea i had and then i expand on it. So i start by building a framework and then i fill it up with objects. At least, that's the theory.
Places and Factions for me, hands down.
I'd have to say cultures: everything I work on seems to either provide the basis for and help define them or arises from and expresses some facet of them.
History, magic/metaphysics. I want it all to have a 'fit' that works. And when it doesn't quite work I feel 'stuck' until I can get past the bit that doesn't seem to work.
Monsters and architecture/city-layouts.
Filling in the blanks.
And unfortunately, the more detailed the setting, the more blanks exist.
Quote from: Jürgen HubertFilling in the blanks.
And unfortunately, the more detailed the setting, the more blanks exist.
and the more you play it, the more blanks that they shine their attention-spotlights on.
Definitely the crunch: Races and Classes. Aside from that, Religion is a big one for me, because mythology is becoming my area of literary expertise (and I believe that cultures are built on their religion/s).
Cultures, ethnic groups, back ground, societies, deities, the megaverse, characters, structure and races
from
EE
did I mention adding setting specific spells? this EATS my time whole, I tell you...
Quote from: EvilElitestCultures, ethnic groups, back ground, societies, deities, the megaverse, characters, structure and races
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EE
So everything except history, then? Or was that covered by background?
I've always found myself overly involved in the politics of the world. All of my worlds end up looking like a 1700s Earth, with too many nations, too much politicking, and a full history of their political development. I'm the type of designer that likes to make up new types of government and try them out, and that shows a lot in my worlds.
Politics aside, I find crunch to be something easy to just whip out and do, so I crunch often.
Jharviss, can I get your help with the political side of my setting soon? I'm currently working on my world's budding Theocratic Republic, and I think it's political system will be very interesting (imagine if the U.S.'s legislative and executive branch was entirely the senate and the judicial branch was a powerful church). I'll have a thread up soon.
Xev, that sounds cool. Just saying.
Something about theocracy, in any form, I find very compelling. Or perhaps it's only the twisted appeal of those things we fear ;)
I often find politics tricky to keep interesting. I suppose on the micro level, as GM, I did it fairly well. On a national level, I often felt things came out too bland.
Yeah, I totally want political intrigue to be a possible campaign motivator in my setting. The country's only 60 years old, so there are some elderly people who still remember the dark ages. There's a big "hush-hush" war going on with the people of the northern highlands, and tense dealings with the Triton peoples who are finally coming out of their isolationism.
Ooo, a very alien culture coming out from isolationism? That could be the basis for a campaign in itself.
Big fan of racial cultures here.
Races and/or cultures for me too, and the way they've interacted and developed over the history. I'm also a fan of weird but (semi-) believable technologies.
Once I make a map, I have a very bad habit of staring at it for hours, slowly adjusting political borders, imagining how life has changed down through the ages... I can watch my world grow from creation to post-modern times and beyond... It fascinates me so, and is partly the reason I don't post my settings as much as I should. Why post what you have experienced when the next world is calling for you?
And no, I'm not weird! :poke:
Quote from: Elemental_ElfWhy post what you have experienced when the next world is calling for you?
And no, I'm not weird! :poke:
OF COURSE YOU AREN'T! :mad: 'Cause I'm the same way. x. :D
I think that currently, religion has grabbed me the most. I seem to be spending more time on the religion of Natu, particularly in how it explains the current government and can stir up social conflict.
For me, it's magic- I logically explain every step, from the effects all the way through the structure of the universe to the initial cause of everything. You can call it a magical grand unified field. Rarely, if ever, do I let the most minute element of magic in a setting go unexplained.
Of course, I usually do that instead of developing characters, and my players rarely if ever understand even a fraction of the entire magic system.
I'm a conworlder at heart, though, so for me building the world is sometimes more important than having people play in it- although I do like to have something to do with it.