Shiny, Bearer of the Pokystick
2010-02-13, 02:44 AM
I'm looking for some broad-based advice regarding a problem I've been tangling with in regards to a project of mine. The issue, in short, is the best way to deliver setting material to players in a way that fulfills several goals, as follows:
Maintain player interest
Integrate setting material into overall mechanics
Provide material for both players and GMs
Deliver an intuitive in-universe 'feel' of the culture or area described
As a caveat, the following comments are not meant as a criticism of any particular system or book.
In my experience, the majority of setting materials at some point fail to fulfill goal one- their verbosity and dedication to describing each of the sub-districts of the area's capital city tend to mean that information is used and absorbed piecemeal by all but the most dedicated reader. Historical timelines, relatively dry recitations of quirks in governance- these are things I want to avoid. Three or more pages, with sidebar, is positively novel-length by the standards of most players. In addition, this material is likely to be of more interest to GMs, who may then adopt it at the expense of their own creations, to my mind, a flaw.
The second goal is, if anything, even trickier; much of the time, if mechanics for regional benefits are provided, these mechanics are the only things a player will read. A few short, pithy adjectives might manage to have meaningful mechanical counterparts, but most aspects of culture have little place even in less combat-focused systems.
However; it should not be assumed that culture requires mechanics- it doesn't. But things players should know are best served if they are also things they want to know- in other words, setting material needs to send either a signal of cost- as in Houses of The Blooded, where 'bad form' will cost a player dearly- or a reward signal, as in D&D, where origins can grant bonus feats etc.; this is what I refer to as integration, the granting of importance to setting material even to those for whom it is not inherently fascinating.
The goal of providing information for both players and DMs is better served by most existing material- almost every region entry in any system contains a note on adventures or plots within. I have little to say on the subject.
The last goal, an intuitive feel for a culture, is the hardest to quantify as a particular technique; the obvious solution of in-universe material could very well be a trap, wherein too much is implied and not enough is stated. On the other hand, too much distance does not allow players to get at the background assumptions and early influences of their characters.
As to my solutions; at present, region entries for my project consist of the following:
Two pieces of in-universe short fiction, each less than a page; one descriptive of the culture, one from a member thereof.
A section of 'Quirks', serving both as guidelines for how characters from a place or culture behave and look, and also, mechanically, as 'habits' in Burning Wheel.
A section of Hooks, as is usual- adventure sites, instigating persons, or instigating events typical to the setting.
Ladies and gents, I await your input with interest.
Maintain player interest
Integrate setting material into overall mechanics
Provide material for both players and GMs
Deliver an intuitive in-universe 'feel' of the culture or area described
As a caveat, the following comments are not meant as a criticism of any particular system or book.
In my experience, the majority of setting materials at some point fail to fulfill goal one- their verbosity and dedication to describing each of the sub-districts of the area's capital city tend to mean that information is used and absorbed piecemeal by all but the most dedicated reader. Historical timelines, relatively dry recitations of quirks in governance- these are things I want to avoid. Three or more pages, with sidebar, is positively novel-length by the standards of most players. In addition, this material is likely to be of more interest to GMs, who may then adopt it at the expense of their own creations, to my mind, a flaw.
The second goal is, if anything, even trickier; much of the time, if mechanics for regional benefits are provided, these mechanics are the only things a player will read. A few short, pithy adjectives might manage to have meaningful mechanical counterparts, but most aspects of culture have little place even in less combat-focused systems.
However; it should not be assumed that culture requires mechanics- it doesn't. But things players should know are best served if they are also things they want to know- in other words, setting material needs to send either a signal of cost- as in Houses of The Blooded, where 'bad form' will cost a player dearly- or a reward signal, as in D&D, where origins can grant bonus feats etc.; this is what I refer to as integration, the granting of importance to setting material even to those for whom it is not inherently fascinating.
The goal of providing information for both players and DMs is better served by most existing material- almost every region entry in any system contains a note on adventures or plots within. I have little to say on the subject.
The last goal, an intuitive feel for a culture, is the hardest to quantify as a particular technique; the obvious solution of in-universe material could very well be a trap, wherein too much is implied and not enough is stated. On the other hand, too much distance does not allow players to get at the background assumptions and early influences of their characters.
As to my solutions; at present, region entries for my project consist of the following:
Two pieces of in-universe short fiction, each less than a page; one descriptive of the culture, one from a member thereof.
A section of 'Quirks', serving both as guidelines for how characters from a place or culture behave and look, and also, mechanically, as 'habits' in Burning Wheel.
A section of Hooks, as is usual- adventure sites, instigating persons, or instigating events typical to the setting.
Ladies and gents, I await your input with interest.