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Author Topic: What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?  (Read 2323 times)

BOZ

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2006, 10:41:39 AM »
Quote from: Lisa Nadazdy
I think dragons should be damn near unstoppable.  My thinking is that dragons should be something out of Tolkein or the like, in that it should dominate an area for a hundred square miles, and everybody knows where it is and it should scare the piss out of them.  Thus, it should be a serious challenge, and it should be planned out.  Dragons shouldn't be a random encounter; they should be a major event.


I reckon i like the way you talk, mmm hmm.

there shouls still be some room for younger dragons being weaker, but the older ones should always be a serious challenge.  i mean, DR/magic as standard for dragons?  a lowly sword +1 overcomes a great red wyrm's DR?
don't quote me on that.  :)

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Cyberzombie

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2006, 12:59:50 PM »
Quote from: Cyclotron
I'd suggest that the racial stereotypes themselves are an essential part of a typical published D&D setting.


I was thinking more of the cheesy stereotypes a lot of people bring to their characters.  I've seen the stereotypes done well -- one of my former players, Dunar Lightfoot, plays great dwarven warriors.    Before LotR came out, he was basically doing Gimli.  But he's an exception -- I've seen way more people who suck at roleplaying any demihuman race.

That said, it is essential to D&D, which is just weird if you read the books that were *most* influential to the game.
 

Cyberzombie

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #17 on: April 16, 2006, 01:03:59 PM »
Quote from: Ottomsoh the Elderly
A pseudo-medieval and pseudo-European society


This, I think, is the thing that causes me the most brain damage.  It wasn't so bad in a setting like 1e AD&D, where you could assume that the players were part of a very rare breed.  In 3e, you trip over NPCs with class levels, so the whole pseudo-medieval thing just doesn't work any more.

Quote from: Ottomsoh the Elderly
An impressive level of cosmopolitism, even if still mostly human-centric


And when you add *this* into the mix, my brain really starts hurting.  Pseudo-medieval and cosmopolitan?  Ack!


As essential as these elements are to most generic D&D worlds, they offend my logical tendancies.  :)
 

Cyberzombie

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #18 on: April 16, 2006, 01:06:13 PM »
Quote from: BOZ
I reckon i like the way you talk, mmm hmm.

there shouls still be some room for younger dragons being weaker, but the older ones should always be a serious challenge.  i mean, DR/magic as standard for dragons?  a lowly sword +1 overcomes a great red wyrm's DR?
That's a game mechanics thing that could be fairly easily fixed.  Thinking upon all this, I think what I'd like is to have powerful DRAGONS that the PCs might fight at high levels if they're really feeling lucky.  But I'd also like to have more smaller dragons -- wyverns and such -- at all levels, just to keep the feeling of a world with dragons as a major player in it.
 

Yamo

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #19 on: April 18, 2006, 03:24:42 PM »
Sci-fi around the edges.

Every classic 70s era D&D setting had this. Tekumel, Wilderlands, Blackmoor, Greyhawk.

A real D&D setting that embraces the sword & sorcery stylings of Vance and Burroughs has stuff like crashed spaceships filled with robots and laser guns and "magical" races that are actually from Alpha Centauri.
In order to qualify as a roleplaying game, a game design must feature:

1. A traditional player/GM relationship.
2. No set story or plot.
3. No live action aspect.
4. No win conditions.

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Sigmund

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2006, 12:13:39 AM »
Quote from: Yamo
Sci-fi around the edges.

Every classic 70s era D&D setting had this. Tekumel, Wilderlands, Blackmoor, Greyhawk.

A real D&D setting that embraces the sword & sorcery stylings of Vance and Burroughs has stuff like crashed spaceships filled with robots and laser guns and "magical" races that are actually from Alpha Centauri.


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Nicephorus

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What are the essential parts of a D&D setting?
« Reply #21 on: April 24, 2006, 01:57:23 PM »
Of stuff not mentioned:

BIG stuff in the past:  Legendary mages of extreme power, associated with one or more physical locations, fights amongst gods altering the landscape, races that were totally wiped out by war, that sort of thing.

Each race or group needs to have their thing, something they do a little better than everyone else, that helps define them.

Historical and current change is the result largely of powerful or dynamic individuals rather than changes in attitude or behavior amongst the general population.