Published setting use and importance of

[Kalzazz]

The discussion about WEG lack of a real setting to go with there new books got me wondering, as other than Earthdawn (about half the time Ive run it), Ive never actually used published settings, either winging it or adapting the setting from somewhere else. I think they are fun to read, but not as fun to use

So, how important do you think published settings are and do you use them when you DM?

[Arbor_Productions]

The quick answer, since I am due in a meeting . . . .

When releasing an in-house system, having published setting support is absolutely vital to success. Look at the number of M&M players that use Freedom City. Or Savage Fans that use one of those settings? Or . . . heck . . . pick a system.

A system by itself is nothing that is going to make sales. How that system applies to, and can be used within, various genres of RPG settings is what is going to sell it today.

Through Freedom City, Green Ronin showed, quickly, how well M&M handles super-heroes.

Champions did the same for HERO.

Deadlands, Rippers, Necessary Evil, et cetera showed the various genres Savage Worlds can be used in.

A publisher can never expect, or rely on, gamers to pick it up and see all the possibilities on their own. Some will, yes, but many won't. And that could be for a myriad of reasons, the main one being the general age demographic of role-players nowadays and the fact that life is too hectic and busy beyond the gaming table. So, it is important to give them the option of that support to make overall sales.

D6 would never have become so popular if not for Star Wars and the other settings attached to it throughout the 1980's and 1990's.

Regards,

[SDF_II]

So, how important do you think published settings are and do you use them when you DM?

Depends on the game that I'm going to run. For TORG, it is easier to have the material written as it is very complex. 7 realms? 7 Ultimate villians? Yea, the politics are stuff I don't really want to involve time into. Same things for SZ (Shatterzone), unfortunatly SZ didn't have the material I really needed. Thus for that game I made up ALOT. I never had time to put it down, and alot was created on the fly.

Published settings help IMHO for one main reason. Everyone is on the same page. Players and GM can understand the same things about the land. The history, individuals, languages, topography, races, etc...Since you can integrate a more complete campaign, module, etc from existing material for the GM, the players also have knowledge they need to get a more fulfilling experince.

This is obviously above the game system itself.

SDF II

[Grimace]

I think established, published settings also help set a precedent that GMs can use to build other ideas upon. When I ran Star Wars I may not have used every single thing they included in the sourcebooks or adventures, but having that stuff gave me ideas for things to create, and I had something to base those new creations on.

If you have a setting that material is being made for, people can take it or leave it, but one thing that it very well could do is promote offshoot ideas that GMs can run with. They may not use the world, they may not use the villians, but they very well could use some of the ideas, or equipment, or creatures or whatever that they DO like. If there's enough that they like about a setting, they'll continue to purchase books related to that setting. Even if they later expand to run things in another setting, that's fine, at least they ran with the idea that you presented and gave ideas to them from. That's why published settings are important.

[Liteft]

To me having a established, published (even if it's not by and RPG company) setting is vital. I just don't have the time or the energy to set up a good game if I have to invent a world to go with it.

I'm more than willing to pull the setting from a novel or a movie, that my group is familiar with....... but having a shiny set of books from a publisher that I like is even better.

[skeloric]

It isn't just setting or just system.

Its the two working together.
I've seen great systems attached to crap settings and succeed ((NEW) World of Darkness -- specifically Mage the Awakening (They keep saying its a success but I have a hard time believing that)) and I've seen great settings attached to crap systems succeed as well (Pretty much anything Palladium puts out, I bought close to 30 books before I finally lost my battle with the loathing for the system (its probably the most fan rewritten/house ruled system out there)).
The two should work together and complement each other to gain the best success, but they don't really need both to be great to gain it -- as many products out there can show.

How does that old line go?
"Come for the meal, stay for the pie." (in the way that the restaurant used it in their ad campaign umpteen years ago, not the new Urban dictionary meaning)
That is sort of the setting/system equation for me.
Its like getting a car.
You typically look at the exterior and interior both in making a car purchase decision -- so also is setting/system.

[Havard]

I am generally a setting guy. The fact that D6, TORG and MasterBook has me interested enough to sign up for yet another forum says alot about the systems used by those games. (Sure, TORG also has a great setting and SZ aint too bad either...)

Havard

[Kansas Jim]

Back in my younger days, when I had a lot more free time and energy to spare, I gobbled up RPG systems. Settings weren't as important to me because I had all kinds of ideas of my own that I wanted to explore. But once real life caught up with me and took away most of my free time and energy, having an established setting to work with became a lot more important. So anymore I will rarely pick up a new RPG unless it comes with enough useful setting material that I don't have to build it myself.

But at the same time, system still matters a lot. I've got a lot of RPGs on my bookshelves with awesome settings, but I can't stand their game mechanics so they're never going to get played because I don't have the time to convert them over to a system that I do like.

[Havard]

But at the same time, system still matters a lot. I've got a lot of RPGs on my bookshelves with awesome settings, but I can't stand their game mechanics so they're never going to get played because I don't have the time to convert them over to a system that I do like.

That's a very good point. There are some Swedish RPG companies which produce several games with very cool setting concepts, fantastic color illustrations and great layout. However, the same companies are very "simulation" oriented. There's always a whole lot of complex rules including very detailed hit locations with HP to calculate for each location and things like that, which aren't my cup of tea.

Havard

[asmkm22]

Very few people are willing to buy a set a rules, when the rules are as complex as most table-top rpg's. As long as the rule set isn't inherently difficult, I think the actual success will depend entirely on the quality of it's setting.

The only exception to this would be 3E+ Dungeons and Dragons (D20). People play that because it's D&D, not because it has a great setting (it does have several, however). I'm pretty sure D&D got to this point exclusively through it's rapid release of boxed settings during the 90's. Some where pretty niche-driven (SpellJammer, Dark Sun, and Ravenloft), and some where simply well-supported through novels or game material (Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance).

Most other systems really have to struggle for even one popular setting, to gain significant user base. With so much of the industry still being driven by word of mouth comfort zones, it's far easier to gain someones' interest by describing a quick 'hook' that highlights how cool a setting is, than describing the elegant or simplistic way dice are rolled and tallied (unless all your friends are statisticians).

Right now, I see very few game settings in the industry that really catch my eye. Most of D&D's stuff has become so bland and generic, especially with the some of their riskier properties all but forgotten (Dark Sun, I'm looking in your direction).

Hellas looks to have a huge amount of potential, especially considering it reminds me of Exalted in many ways, minus the crappy rules. I think Hellas could do more for the industry than Septimus ever could.

I would love for someone to license Robert E Knights "Vampire Earth" setting. Those books seem written with RPG's in mind anyway, so it's time something happened with it.

Lastly, I still think "The Wheel of Time" is almost ready for an RPG treatment that doesn't suck. The D20 system really wasn't capable of handling the game at all, and thankfully that license is expired (to my knowledge). With the last book still supposedly on track for release next year by Brandon Sanderson, a new campaign set in the aftermath of the series could be a lot of fun.

Sorry for such a long-winded post, but these reasons and more are why I think any modern rules set will live or die by the settings associated with it.

[Arbor_Productions]

I would love for someone to license Robert E Knights "Vampire Earth" setting. Those books seem written with RPG's in mind anyway, so it's time something happened with it.

I assume you mean E. E. Knight.

Eric Knight did a Savage Worlds setting book for Vampire Earth. Found at the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/content/129286

[asmkm22]

I assume you mean E. E. Knight.

Eric Knight did a Savage Worlds setting book for Vampire Earth. Found at the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/content/129286

My mistake :)

It's nice to see the setting got published. Not so nice to see it done on Save Worlds (not a big fan).