Micro-Settings (A New Way to Make Settings)

[Xathan]

This is a thread about setting design, just a thought that's been bouncing around in my head for a long time since I first started posting here.

A Micro-Setting is something we see all the time, typically at the end of a newly made rulebook. A Micro-Setting is exactly what it's name implies - a complete setting that is much smaller than some of the wonderfully huge projects we've seen. Typically between 3 to 10 pages long, a Micro Setting should contain a wealth of information in compact form - instead of discussing a nation over the course of 3 pages, it gets maybe 2 paragraphs, an overview of the nation and a brief discussion of the sterotypes of people found here - with the same for races. Maybe, if it's for a particular system, you include any special mechanics needed. But that's it - a brief overview of history, a brief discussion on the world as it stands at the time of the campaign, and some relevant information so a DM can take his players there and have fun with it. Brief, informative, and to the point is the name of the game with a Micro-Setting.

By no means is a Micro Setting incomplete - it's just designed to give DMs or GMs or STs or whatever you want to call them enough information to run a campaign in a cohesive world without giving them hundreds of pages to read through to understand. In addition, it gives the players the ability to read the entire setting without spoiling anything for themselves or the DM - a Micro-Setting should contain only what a well-informed citizen of that world would know, "well informed" in this case meaning someone who reads the newspapers or equivalents on a regular basis.

The idea of a Micro-Setting is that, when you post it, you're posting something that's first draft complete - may need some more to fill in the gaps, perhaps a few things unclear that need to be expounded upon, maybe even adding a couple new elements. The reason for the label is so people know what they're getting into - when reviewing a Micro-Setting, you're going to get hit with a bunch of information, but you're also not going to have to dig through threads and posts for more details.

Finally, there's an advantage for people like me, who have tons of ideas and have trouble focusing on a single, large setting. That's not to say I won't expand on a Micro-Setting later, but I would happily revive some of my old, dead settings as Micro-Settings, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has more projects than they have time to flesh out.

So I guess what I'm asking here is what people think of the idea behind posting micro-settings, if they'd be interested in doing so themselves, and if they'd have any interest in reading them when they're posted here. Post your thoughts and let's see where this goes.

[Xathan]

Also, I just quickly posted an example of what I mean by a Micro-Setting, found HERE

[Ninja D!]

That's more ore less how I sttarted Trigalactiic Imperium.

[Xathan]

It's funny how many great settings can arise from a Micro-Setting, whether you expand on it or not. (BTW, I've either not seen or don't remember Trigalactic Imperium, could I have a link?) I'm guessing that when you first made it, the overall setting was complete in your head and then later expanded upon?