The Campaign Builder's Guild

Sorry.

So, should we try and come up with a universal block that people can fill out with answers as they see fit, or should we let the design of the box itself be up to the author as well?

I think that Blue Falcon's KISS principle is good, keep the basics simple - a short and sweet block that wouldn't be out of place in a list or summary table.

At the same time, people should be encouraged to expand on this a bit with things like tone, theme, core ethos, list of races, whatever else seems relevant - all as part of the same introductory post. So the top level post on a setting would start with a basic summary, then go on to a more free-form section that provides a high-level intro to the unique aspects of the setting.

This is the sort of thing that could be easily templated for wiki-based settings as well.

urgg.
Like squishing the words, 'Collected works of Shakespear, drama, comedy, tragedy, history, and a few Sonnetts' on the back of a matchbook.
I appreciate the sorganized entiment, but it will be (to paraphrase an earlier thread) a scorching day on Satan's skating rink before I use one.

Well, Vreeg, it's not meant to replace your campaign setting...
Simply meant to help gather more interested readers :)
Of course, you do have plenty already, but still... new ones then  :-p
And nobody says you have to limit the "answers" (for lack of a better word) to a few predetermined choices. Just write whatever suits your setting.

It seems a little fantasy-centric. It's missing an entry for "tech" and "races". And religion, while important, may be too much to include in the template in some cases. I'd hate to have to stat out (say) Earth.

EDIT: And stat-blocks for certain individual elements, like nations and things, would be nice too. *shrugs*

True. And a tech entry could be useful for fantasy as well. I agree, like i also said before that a religion entry seems a bit too much, and not really of that much use, unless we changed it to state a simple sentence or two on how religion and faith works in the setting. And stat-blocks for other elements would indeed be nice, though perhaps not as "mandatory" as a setting block. But we could still try to come up with a common template for them for the CBG for those who want to use them.

I don't think we even necessarily need a default template. What we might need is to give authors a better idea of what is important in a summary (either as a template or as a few short paragraphs) that will hook your readers. I think that from my perspective there are some things you need to have... i.e.

Name, Ruleset, Theme, and Power Levels.

Other than that I think it is pretty much up to the creator to put in what they think is necessary. Those things though laid out clearly can help someone decide if they want to read more on your setting. It helps them get a feel of what it is about.

Personally,i'd like a bit more info than that. But of course, none of this is meant to be forced upon anybody. But still, i think we should make a template-template with the things people want to know, and then the authors can cut off and change as much as they want

Well I never said that is all they want, those are only the basics that they pretty much all need. Beyond those though it is mostly dependant on the writer.

Well, we can always establish some guide lines :-P

Yay for arbitrary rules!  :yumm:

(I really don't mind either way, but I doubt I'll do much in the way of "enforcing" people to use a box... we can just set it up as "recommended")

Nah, no rules, just a community standard.

Which you'll be shunned if you violate.

LordVreeg, the Shunned.  I'm liking the sound of that.
Vreeg is, afterall, the original Iconoclast of Celtricia...