How much do you want to see in a proposed campaign setting?

[PhoenixPhyre]

Imagine you've been approached about joining a new campaign in a custom setting and the GM sends you a link to a wiki-type website for the setting.

What do you want to see? Are there any things that you absolutely need to see? Anything you'd rather not see? Basically--how much detail is too much detail? How much is too little?

I ask this because I'm in the process of creating a setting. I have reams of notes (well, megabytes anyway). How much should be available to the players? Is there such a thing as adding too much detail?

Thanks for any feedback!

For those interested in a non-hypothetical situation, the stuff I have online so far is linked in my signature. The topic should be independent of the exact situation and system, hence posting here rather than in world-building or in a system specific forum.

[Yora]

As a player I need to know what the character races and character classes are. It's also really helpful to get a few words on the basic social system of the land in which the campaign takes place and on the major power groups that control things.

What players really don't need at all is information about cities their characters have never been to before, rulers who are not known to the common people, and especially any history, unless the PCs are some kind of soldiers joining a war that has already been going for some time. But even then they only need to know who the opposing sides are and what the people are being told the war is about by their leaders.

[Geddy2112]

The bare minimum I need to see is what is relevant to character creation-what races/classes/mechanics work for my character, a general premise of the setting:high fantasy, steampunk victorian era, Star Trek Enterprise crew in deep space 9, what have you. For religious and magic classes, it is good to have some basics about religion and magic. This should cover 1-2 pages.

This gives me the limits of what I can/should build, both to fit the mechanics and tone of the setting. The rest is good to know, but not needed. Good to have if players ask for a specific concept, but otherwise it can be revealed through setting interaction or filed under the general premise of the setting. Have it available if they want, but don't make anything past the couple core pages required reading.

[Satinavian]

I like to know a lot. I do not only want to know my build options, i want to know about the cultures i can come from. And when i have a vague idea about what i want to play, i want to know details from there. Cities, political situation, history ... all this stuff is welcome for roleplaying purposes.

[VoxRationis]

What is the geography of the main setting (are we in a forest? A tropical archipelago?)? Do you have a map I could see? What is the social structure of the cultures in the setting? What classes and races are allowed? Is there any equipment that is prohibited? Any equipment not from the books that is available? What is the culture like in a broad sense? What place does education and erudition have in society (if you tell me we're "feudal nobles," we could be nearly illiterate thugs who hack at each other with swords or we could be genteel patrons of the arts and sciences, and possibly artists and scientists ourselves)? How does magic work in the setting and how does it fit into society? How old is the social structure as it stands today? What is the religion like? How many gods are available? Are there any forbidden deities? Is the religion participatory for the common man, or do we mostly just show up for the annual bull sacrifice and then go home and forget the gods for the rest of the year? How urbanized is society? How dense is the population and are there spots of wilderness within the borders of civilization? How strong is the state? Where are the monsters and how do they interact with civilization? What are some cultural details (aesthetics of architecture, clothing, minor practices) to flesh out my character with? How culturally diverse is the setting? To what degree do cultures conflict?

[ComaVision]

I don't have a minimum, as I'm pretty used to being invited to games without getting any information at all.

Ideally, I'd like to know the setting, major races, and major factions. I like to make characters that are either part of a faction or hope to join a particular faction.

[Jama7301]

Ideally, I'd like to know the setting, major races, and major factions.

Seconded. Additionally, I'd like to know the tone or genre/subgenre ahead of time, but that's not a deal breaker.

Once I've got the rough outline and committed to the game, then you can start feeding me a little more world information, so I can figure out where I fit into the world.

[Kami2awa]

What I really want are mysteries, things that "no one knows" in the setting into which the GM can insert their own ideas. I also want adventure hooks and seeds. I have read some settings where the setting is great but I can't think what adventurers can actually do!

[BWR]

What players really don't need at all is information about cities their characters have never been to before, rulers who are not known to the common people, and especially any history, unless the PCs are some kind of soldiers joining a war that has already been going for some time. But even then they only need to know who the opposing sides are and what the people are being told the war is about by their leaders.

I have to strongly disagree with you here. This is what makes most settings interesting and makes me give a **** about it. My characters may not know everything but the more detail I have about a setting, especially the history, the more I feel connected to it and invested in it. The more I know about the geography, culture and flavor of the lands, the more I enjoy the setting and I am more inclined to enjoy the game from the get go. Unless the GM is making a special point about some aspects being unknown, being given only 'race, class and enemies to kill' is about the most boring and pointless set-up for a campaign setting I can imagine.

[Quertus]

Well, if you've got a cool, unique setting, I'm going to look forward to exploring it. I'm going to want to run someone "not from around here", who can be surprised by the local color. So... probably a "what anyone would notice in the first few days", plus specific questions based on my individual character: local laws, how obvious wizards / foreign religions are treated, local food, architecture, whatever. I'm going to very studiously not read your campaign notes, and hope to learn it in character.

If I tried to make a character that was from your setting... honestly, I've never been in such a position where the GM or myself was satisfied with my resulting character.

But... If I were to try... I'd want to know about the local economy, holidays, dress code, foods, entertainment, law enforcement, military, threats. What goes through the average citizen's mind in the course of the average week? How do their friends and neighbors view the government, religion(s), magic, etc? What do they worry about? Putting food on the table? Raiding orcs? Angering the gods? Currying favor from some local nobility?

Suppose I grew up as a traveling slaver. What towns & trade routes would I know, and what towns would I avoid? What races would I have encountered? What would I be accustomed to seeing on the road? What would actually threaten a group of our size?

Suppose instead I was "randomly" hatched from a dragon's egg, despite being human(oid). What view of the world might the dragon(s) who raised me have imparted? Would my "parents" have investigated why their child was different? What would they have told me?

Suppose I'm some near-immortal fey, who has decided to subtly influence the outcome of world events. Suppose my goal is to create friction between the humans and the ogres, so that the ogres will enlist the orcs, thereby organizing the orcs, and making them focus on the humans instead of trespassing in our woods...

Etc etc.

[Beleriphon]

I have an example of I what I'd want at a minimum:

My Personal Setting

Feel free to explore the info I have. Its enough to get my players the info they need, I intend on expanding it at some point, but its functional enough that I update it every so often as info changes when the players interact with it or when I realize that what I had there isn't interesting any more and nobody ever noticed.

[thedanster7000]

I'd like to see any unusual or important rules, the setting's races/classes/etc.
I'd like a bit of background knowledge about the world, a travel brochure, if you will.
I'd like to know anything important about the world that my character would know/that would affect my character building process.

[Thinker]

I have to strongly disagree with you here. This is what makes most settings interesting and makes me give a **** about it. My characters may not know everything but the more detail I have about a setting, especially the history, the more I feel connected to it and invested in it. The more I know about the geography, culture and flavor of the lands, the more I enjoy the setting and I am more inclined to enjoy the game from the get go. Unless the GM is making a special point about some aspects being unknown, being given only 'race, class and enemies to kill' is about the most boring and pointless set-up for a campaign setting I can imagine.

I don't really care about the history of the setting. A few high-level bullet points about the main locale of the setting might be nice, but I'm not going to miss it if it isn't there. All I really need to know aside from the system is what my character is supposed to be doing in the setting - adventuring, investigating, monster hunting, package delivery, etc. The less I have to read about a setting the better.

[Jama7301]

Something more systems related than setting, but can be just as important: Any existing houserules in effect, and how closely will the game follow RAW.

[PhoenixPhyre]

OP here--

It's interesting to see the diversity of opinions. Some want lots, some want only a little, some explicitly don't want tons. Some want it as viewed by an outsider, some as by an insider. Fascinating.

I have been inspired to write a "player's guide" containing the basics of classes and races (as well as major house-rules).

Thanks everybody!

[chaoschronicler]

OP here--

It's interesting to see the diversity of opinions. Some want lots, some want only a little, some explicitly don't want tons. Some want it as viewed by an outsider, some as by an insider. Fascinating.

I have been inspired to write a "player's guide" containing the basics of classes and races (as well as major house-rules).

Thanks everybody!

I agree with this. I'm newish to GMing and I'm fretting on what info do my players need for my campaign.

[FreddyNoNose]

Imagine you've been approached about joining a new campaign in a custom setting and the GM sends you a link to a wiki-type website for the setting.

What do you want to see? Are there any things that you absolutely need to see? Anything you'd rather not see? Basically--how much detail is too much detail? How much is too little?

I ask this because I'm in the process of creating a setting. I have reams of notes (well, megabytes anyway). How much should be available to the players? Is there such a thing as adding too much detail?

Thanks for any feedback!

For those interested in a non-hypothetical situation, the stuff I have online so far is linked in my signature. The topic should be independent of the exact situation and system, hence posting here rather than in world-building or in a system specific forum.

My preference as a player is a minimal bit of information. This assumes we have talked about it before hand to know if there is a style match. For example, if you are running a game with little to no adventure and mostly a "social interaction" type of game, I wouldn't be playing it.

I need to know what classes/races or not are involved. What kind of setting fantasy scifi etc.

I don't want/need back story on the local NPC prince.

Basically if I have to sit down and read a book to play it is too much. Also, I want to develop my character organically while playing. Having to do a major character history write up before we play is putting the cart before the horse for me.

[BWR]

I don't really care about the history of the setting. A few high-level bullet points about the main locale of the setting might be nice, but I'm not going to miss it if it isn't there. All I really need to know aside from the system is what my character is supposed to be doing in the setting - adventuring, investigating, monster hunting, package delivery, etc. The less I have to read about a setting the better.

And that's the difference between a setting and a backdrop, to coin a distinction. I like settings and find backdrops lacking.

[Thinker]

And that's the difference between a setting and a backdrop, to coin a distinction. I like settings and find backdrops lacking.

I can buy that. It's different for me as a GM (and I am GM far more often than I am a player). I want to have a better idea about the setting if I'm running a game in it. I expect to answer questions (which, if I haven't answered with my own notes, the new answer becomes a part of the setting) and need to create a coherent fiction.

[Stealth Marmot]

To be honest I don't require too much to start, just need to know things like what mechanics are allowed, what races/classes etc, and is the world based on Earth or a different world?

It's amazing how the first line of Star Wars can tell you all you really need to know with a few words.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

This means that you are in the same Universe as Earth, but a different galaxy, and probably not even a close one like Andromeda. This says that physics exist as we know it, and the rules of science, biology, chemistry still apply.

It also tells you that these humans and creatures are not your descendants, and PROBABLY not your ancestors. This importantly wipes out the possibility of human history as we know it having an effect on this world, so no known religions and philosophies will be seen.

It's funny how less than a dozen words can tell you so much.

[BWR]

To be honest I don't require too much to start, just need to know things like what mechanics are allowed, what races/classes etc, and is the world based on Earth or a different world?

It's amazing how the first line of Star Wars can tell you all you really need to know with a few words.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

This means that you are in the same Universe as Earth, but a different galaxy, and probably not even a close one like Andromeda. This says that physics exist as we know it, and the rules of science, biology, chemistry still apply.

It also tells you that these humans and creatures are not your descendants, and PROBABLY not your ancestors. This importantly wipes out the possibility of human history as we know it having an effect on this world, so no known religions and philosophies will be seen.

It's funny how less than a dozen words can tell you so much.

Except it doesn't tell you a lot. Physics works demonstrably different, what with FTL and explicit magic (possibly sound in space, if we don't buy the 'computers project for your convenience' hypothesis), it tells you nothing about the cultures of the galaxy, or how and why the BBEE came to be, it tells you nothing about almost anything. You know there are goodies fighting baddies and have labels to put on them. Goodies have the Thingamajig that is the Baddies' only weakness and an intrepid hero needs to use it and win. That's pretty much it.

This is just right for an adventure movie of the sort SW is. It paints in broad strokes a backdrop, gives some hints of something bigger, shows you some gorgeous scenery to interest you and tells a very specific, very limited (if grandiose) story without bogging down in minutiae.
Then people wanted to know more and tons of stuff was added, explained, given history and more detail, especially once the RPG came along.

[Beleriphon]

On details I like to as GM, and like to have as a player, include basic info about how each race/species/alien culture works in setting. Along with some basic info about the locals. My setting for example has info about the Duke, the watch captain, the local high priest and how the city government works in general. I like adding bits of colour to NPC info; for example the duke got the job because the last one was eaten by a wyvern, which is considered common knowledge.

[nrg89]

This is a game so the information you give should clue the players in on what they do in this world.

When you pitch your players a pirate themed campaign setting and they don't actually do any ship combat, they'll probably feel cheated. Players don't want to play characters who read history books or go to lectures, they'd go to an actual lecture or pick up a book of their own.

If you don't have any horses in the majority of your world (like I do) your players would like to know that because that limits what they can do. They will not really care about the names of the 12 people are in the council of mages though because that doesn't affect what they can do, however that a council exists is good information because they're a major source of adventure.

I'm not saying the players actively dislike excessive fluff, but show rather than tell the details. Don't start listing every influential person in the world, instead let one of them introduce himself as a member of the council and give a quest to the PCs. Your world takes time to build and the hardest thing a DM has to do is finding the right pace to unveil her world. You want to sing about your world from the highest mountain but in the end, you're there to play a game. That's what your players signed up for, and when it comes to the right pacing, the answer will be different for every group so it's better to be safe than sorry.

So, give the players information about how they would travel (is this just a vast piece of land or an archipelago?), what major factions are interacting with each other (and which ones would most likely give the players quests), what classes are available (since they might solve problems in different ways) and what technology the players will regularly interact with.