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What part of setting design consumes you most?

Started by SilvercatMoonpaw, February 12, 2009, 07:50:46 PM

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SilvercatMoonpaw

February 12, 2009, 07:50:46 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Blake
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.
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Matt Larkin (author)

#1
February 12, 2009, 08:20:21 PM
Probably history.
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Ninja D!

#2
February 12, 2009, 09:49:12 PM
I think it is different for me, depending on the setting. It seems that it is most often cultures or religion.

LordVreeg

#3
February 12, 2009, 10:04:27 PM
plot/history.
VerkonenVreeg, The Nice.Celtricia, World of Factions

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Biohazard

#4
February 12, 2009, 10:31:36 PM
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.

Pair o' Dice Lost

#5
February 12, 2009, 11:09:53 PM
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.
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beejazz

#6
February 13, 2009, 12:09:00 AM
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.
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Loch Belthadd

#7
February 13, 2009, 06:29:40 AM
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.
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#8
February 13, 2009, 06:34:42 AM
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.    
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Llum

#9
February 13, 2009, 10:41:38 PM
Places and Factions for me, hands down.

Snargash Moonclaw

#10
February 13, 2009, 11:28:24 PM
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.
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Ravenspath

#11
February 14, 2009, 07:08:31 AM
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.
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Jürgen Hubert

#13
February 14, 2009, 02:50:10 PM
Filling in the blanks.

And unfortunately, the more detailed the setting, the more blanks exist.
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LordVreeg

#14
February 14, 2009, 04:41:45 PM
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.
VerkonenVreeg, The Nice.Celtricia, World of Factions

Steel Island Online gaming thread
The Collegium Arcana Online Game
Old, evil, twisted, damaged, and afflicted.  Orbis non sufficit.Thread Murderer Extraordinaire, and supposedly pragmatic...\"That is my interpretation. That the same rules designed to reduce the role of the GM and to empower the player also destroyed the autonomy to create a consistent setting. And more importantly, these rules reduce the Roleplaying component of what is supposed to be a \'Fantasy Roleplaying game\' to something else\"-Vreeg
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