How to organize a setting into a manuscript that other GMs can read and use?

[Yora]

I am very happy with the current state of my own setting and now want to turn it into a free pdf that anyone can download and use. But my own notes are extremely simple and brief with all the real information only existing in my head. Somehow it all needs to be put into writing that other people can read and make sense of, and which is useful for running a campaign.

There's a lot of big campaign setting books out there and I'm never really fully happy with them. I think a setting book should not just be an encyclopedia to look things up, but primarily be a guide to introduce people to the world. It should also be snappy and provide the information that matters to run a campaign without burrying the important bits within lots of pages of largely inconsequential details.

What would you want to get out of a good compact campaign setting book and how would you approach organizing it?

[TheYell]

I would use outline format like an encyclopedia. it helps you remember similar details for a variety of similar cases.

it is hard to know what is insignificant detail for a reference work. For instance I play with a monk paladin hybrid. To explain that i invented a style of kung fu that came north six generations ago and changed patron deities three generations ago. i liked Greek names so I had the founder originate in a Greek analog then emigrate to learn martial arts then emigrate to a city devoted to celestial beings. Now when they wrote the books I am sure they didnt plan on being a waystation for my character's great grandfather but thanks to them i have a backstory tied to a map and several different sources.

if you really want it brief but organized i would model your outline on something like Lonely Planet. When to go, how to shop, who runs it, how to behave, what to see before you leave.

[Mechalich]

The olden days TSR boxed sets tended to come with a split format: a short introductory book for the players to read that introduced the world (or more often portion of the world) under discussion and the relevant player-related rules, and then either a long book or a set of books for the GM that contained the encyclopedia of information needed and campaign advice. It's not a perfect model by any means, but that might be the sort of thing you want to look into. Some repetition occurs as a result, of course, but that might be worth it.

[2D8HP]

if you really want it brief but organized i would model your outline on something like Lonely Planet. When to go, how to shop, who runs it, how to behave, what to see before you leave.

I second this.
Make it like a Tourist Guidebooks (Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Rick Steve's, Rough Guides etc.) instead of a history book.
Get some from the Library that are of places you're already familiar with (like were you grew up), so you familiarize yourself with the genre (where to stay, eat, what to see etc.).

A comic parody of "generic genre fantasy",

A Tough Guide to Fantasyland

used just that conceit.

BTW:
Really looking forward to it.

Your posts and blog have whet my appetite!

[Yora]

I've come to think that the best way to organize information probably depends mostly on what information you have. My setting is somewhat unusually structured in that it has no countries but a lot of tribes without defined borders. So I came up with this scheme:

General

• Introduction what the setting is about.
• Overview of the landscapes that make up the setting.
• The common organization of clans.
• How settlements are commonly build and supported.
• Common weapons and armor.

Peoples

• General description of the four races.
• Description of Culture 1.
• Important settlements of Culture 1.
• ...
• ...
• Description of Culture 16.
• Important settlements of Culture 16.

Magic and Spirits

• Magic
• Shamans
• Witches
• Sorcerers
• Blood Magic
• Spiritworld
• Nature Gods
• Spirit Race 1.
• ...
• Spirit Race 6.

Ruins, Caves, and Dungeons

• Rules for travel and exploration.
• Ancient Builders 1.
• ...
• Ancient Builders 6.
• Landscape and creatures of Region 1.
• Locations in Region 1.
• ...
• Landscape and creatures of Region 12.
• Locations in Region 12.

Creatures

• Humanoids
• Beasts
• Spirits
• Demons
• Undead

What do you think of that? It's unconventional, but when there are no country borders and adventure sites are meant to be separate for just GMs, I think it might be quite practical.

[Thinker]

Are there unique rules for your setting? Are there any specific systems your setting is designed to work with or won't work well with (that you are aware of)? What about current or potential threats for various important factions? What are the current goals for various important factions (whether clan, family within a clan, priesthood, etc.)?

[Yora]

Good question, I had to think about this for a while.

I think the setting as designed does not really have any traditional organizations. The four largest factions already happen to be the four smallest cultures. Any other factions are really limited to one major site, either a settlement or a dungeon. As such they would be covered in either the people or the dungeons section.

Mechanically there is rather little going on. I think I might do a short appendix at the end for "Adapting the setting to Labyrinth Lord and LotFP".

The one exception is the handling of magic items. There's usually no magic weapons, armor, and rings but instead powerful artifacts with effects outside of standard game rules. There would have to be a good number of examples to showcase the idea to GMs.I think I would put that right behind the section of the "Ancient Builders", which will include explanations how to design a ruin that follows the conventions of these past cultures.

[nrg89]

If you have a map, could you have a tiny map in a corner somewhere when you're talking about a region and roughly show where it is? I have a terrible memory of pictures I just saw so when I read "to the east of X and north of Y" I often have no idea of where I am.

And the earlier I get that information in a book when I'm reading up on a new region, the better.
"The people here wear bear pelts because of the cold."
Ooookay, so this is some place far up north I guess?
"The mountainous regions cannot be traversed with a cart."
Wait, so it could just be that this region is on a high plateau like the Himalayas? Or is it both, like the Scandinavian fjälls, and it's like super cold?

With a mini-map I know where I am from the get go so I can go "wow, that must be some tall mountains to get that cold in this region".

[Yora]

Yeah, that's always an annoyance with a lot of setting books. It's even worse with dungeon maps for adventures.

[TheYell]

Sounds like a workable system for relating your world. Please link to it when you're done!

[teslas]

+500 to the above suggestion to "just make it like a Lonely Planet guide".

Have a short introduction, very, very light on proper nouns, and then a longer expository section if needed, then just dive in to the descriptions of places as they are now. You can have a glossary in the back for historical notes.

Think about it, if you're a DM wanting to run a campaign in a world, do you want to read a 300 page book, or just the first 8 pages and then be able to drop your players into a place they can flip over to and start using immediately?

[raygun goth]

Think about it, if you're a DM wanting to run a campaign in a world, do you want to read a 300 page book, or just the first 8 pages and then be able to drop your players into a place they can flip over to and start using immediately?

I like to do the "ten things you need to know" bit from Eberron's playbook.

[sktarq]

Also recommend things like
"How you know you are in a settlement of culture X" type sections. From a visitors point of view
"How you know you are dealing with a member of culture X" also counts.

And be highly audio/visual in your description in such things (replace "highest rank" with "one with most ornamented/most red/tallest hat" or the like)