CREATING SETTINGS
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. ~ Archimedes
A Guide begins by building the story world, or setting, around the Adventurers.
An Adventurer's understanding of their world should touch on what any person living within the setting would know as “common knowledge” and from a basic education within these core parts of the setting.
Each Adventurer could only have a subset of the common information of the setting based on their particular background.
Setting Genres
These broad setting genres start to refine the key decisions and creations needed for the Setting:
Fantasy
- Mythology
- High Fantasy - ruling in a kingdom of intrigues
- Sword and Sorcery
- Dark Fantasy
- Fairy tales
- Folklore
Historical
- Medieval - trade in the badlands between warring empires and monsters at the edge of the world
- Western - cattle drives, gambling, silver and gold strikes in the badlands
Horror
- Blood and Gore
- It's The End of the World As We Know It
- Making It Through The Night
- Things from the Other Side
- The Unknown Terrors
Modern - a city in the badlands between rival countries.
- Pulp Hero
- Superheroes
- Anime
- Espionage
- Conspiracy
Futuristic
- Now-Plus
- Cyberpunk
- Post Holocaust
- The Final Frontier
- Imperial Empires
Science Fiction
- Alien Invasion
- Military
- Science Fantasy
- Space Opera - on the frontier between warring aliens - the basis of the Salvage Space setting.
The Adventurers' Story
Guides could offer one or more of four (4) common types of story to Adventurers within the Setting.
What is the the campaign story or series of adventures centered around?
Family
The story centers around the rise, fall, and interactions between dynastic or generational families or between the members within a family.
Jobs or Professions
Many professions lend themselves to an ongoing series of stories: Politicians or Diplomats, Private Detectives, Media Reporters, Bounty Hunters, Medical Teams, Corporate Teams, Legal or Law Enforcement Teams
Criminals
Not every story centers around the heroes.
The setting can examine the “darker underside” of a traditional heroic setting through the stories of criminal families or enterprises and trusted professions whose members betray those trusts.
The Adventurers could be agents and operatives working in foreign lands, who are considered “the enemy” if exposed or caught.
Supernatural
Finally, a setting can focus on paranormal or supernatural activity exploiting the contrast between the extraordinary things happening in an ordinary world.
Key Elements
With genre and story type decided, a Guide begins creating a role-play setting with these key elements:
Technology Level: What technology exists?
◢ Technology Levels
Magic Level: How common are supernatural events and abilities?
◢ Magic Levels
Time: When is the story set?
◢ Creating Timelines
◢ Creating Calendars
◢ Creating Histories
Place: Where is the story set?
◢ Creating Locations
◢ Creating Star Maps
◢ Creating Star System Maps
◢ Creating Night Sky Maps
◢ Creating Planet Maps
◢ Creating Planet Networks
◢ Creating Wilderness Maps
◢ Creating City Maps
◢ Creating City Networks
◢ Creating Floorplan Maps
◢ Creating Floorplan Networks
◢ Creating Battle Maps
People: What are the cultures present in the setting?
◢ Creating Factions
◢ Creating Governments
◢ Creating Organizations
◢ Creating Laws
◢ Creating Politics
◢ Creating Corporations
◢ Creating Religions
◢ Creating Customs
◢ Creating Languages