Make a D&D RPG Setting

Talking about what you need to do to make a good campaign setting, for your group or to publish.
#dnd #ttrpg #osr
NEW! Social Encounters: Along the Silk Road, my new expanded reaction roll rules for social RP! DTRPG Silver Bestseller!
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
NEW! Sword & Caravan Silk Road and Crusades setting book!
GOLD Bestseller!
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
The Old School Companion 2: Medieval Authentic Adventures! ELECTRUM Bestseller! In Print & PDF on Drivethru: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
The Invisible College: Occult Modern Conspiracy OSR
In Print (hardcover or softcover) & PDF on Amazon & Drivethru (Electrum Bestseller) : www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Amazon Print: www.amazon.com/RPGPundit/dp/B...
World Of The Last Sun! ELECTRUM Bestseller! www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Buy Cults of Chaos! GOLD Bestseller: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Star Adventurer is now a GOLD Bestseller!! Just $9.99 in print! www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Check Out the RPGPundit Presents PDF Series: www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/p...
Get the Medieval-authentic Old School Companion! Gold Bestseller! www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Get Arrows of Indra on PDF (Electrum bestseller): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Or in Print: studio2publishing.com/product...
Buy Lion & Dragon! PLATINUM Bestseller: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Dark Albion: www.lulu.com/shop/dominique-cr...
www.amazon.com/Dark-Albion-Ro...
DTRPG (gold + silver Bestseller): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Support me on Patreon For More Videos and Livestreams: / rpgpundit
Support Inappropriate Characters on Patreon!: / inappropriatecharacters
Join me on Mewe: mewe.com/i/kasimirurbanski
Join me on Minds: www.minds.com/RPGPundit
For more Free-Speech RPG discussion visit www.therpgsite.com forums
backup in case I get banned: www.bitchute.com/channel/rpgp...
Also on Odysee: odysee.com/@RPGPundit

[@FMD-FullMetalDragon]

These videos where you talk about actual game and world design are my favorites that you do.

[@RPGPundit]

Well, if you want more of them, help them get a higher viewcount: spread the word, share the video!

[@RogueAgent007]

Your work will be valued for years to come because you stayed authentic and kept modern junk out. As a customer and user of your products, thank you.

[@RPGPundit]

Thank you! I appreciate that a lot.

[@Scutifer_Mike]

Honestly the chronology of the future is some of the best DM advice I have heard in a long time. I’m getting started now.

[@RPGPundit]

Thanks! Spread the word, share the video!

[@bopaintsminis]

I am using Dark Albion to heavily influence my own sci-fi campaign. Great stuff. I'll be using the Cults of Chaos a whole lot too.

[@RPGPundit]

Thank you very much! Spread the word, share the video!

[@willinnewhaven3285]

This reminds me of talking to contacts in Hawaii when I was calling from Connecticut before I retired. They always rubbed it in when we were buried in sn*w and always apologized, Insincerely.

[@InternetHydra]

I'M TRYING I'M TRYING I DIDN'T KNOW TAKING IT OUT OF MY BRAIN SO MUCH RESEMBLED HARD WORK * weeps *

[@RPGPundit]

It's a challenge, to be sure. But just start writing somewhere. Get the rough matter out there, and then you can refine it.

[@crapphone7744]

Ideas to coherent text..ARGH! Must.Write.It.Down. HARD!!!

[@blackbarnz]

Focusing on game material first is a great advice. More than once I've made the mistake of writing binders full of details with maps, suns & moons cycles, constellations, histories, pantheons, outer planes, calendars, religions, holidays, PC race migratory expansion routes, trade routes, weather patterns, transient planes, list of lineages, regional customs & tech levels, landmarks, artifacts, numerous factions, positions in those factions, relations between those factions, NPC relationships with other NPCs, reskinning monster names & languages. etc etc etc, but never wrote out an adventure or notes of adventure....Never thought of writing out predestined future before that's a very interesting idea. I've played in canonical games & historical games were the future was known. Also I've read games that use Fate & Destiny points, which are situation specific Action points. Players write a "fate", a vague goal (setting based, non-mechanic) that they want for their character. Such as- Bring about a prophecy, serve a great cause, achieve a specific prestigious title, Destroy the empire etc. Each PC's "fate' must be distinctive from one another, there can be some overlap but they can't be exactly the same. Each PC's "fate" must be distinctive enough so that the hooks, relevant details appeal specifically to that PC as well the boons, & repercussions for the character acting on it. A player may only use a Fate Point in situations that are in align or critical to their character fulfilling their "fate". Fate Points are gained in the same manner as Action Points, for heroic deeds or upon a character's remarkable achievements, & they have the same effects as Action Points. GM's write a "destiny" for each PC at the start of the campaign, that's somehow in conflict with the player's 'fate'. Every time a PC uses a Fate Point, the GM gets a Destiny Point which can be used against their PC, but in only in situations that relevant to 'destiny' written by GM at the start of the game. That's the gist of it at least. RPGs like Stars Wars, SpyCraft, & Legends of Excalibur (setting 3.5) use a version of "Fate& Destiny"

[@RPGPundit]

Careful though, Chronologies shouldn't necessarily be "predestined". In some campaigns, PC actions might alter some of the history. Though I do tend to make history hard to radically alter, only radical PC actions might cause important changes.

[@NoNamesLeft0102]

Steps to a better, more fulfilling life 1.) Meatball 2.) Repeat 1

[@RPGPundit]

Spread the Meatball, share the video!

[@Bedrockbrendan]

Strongly agree on the points about making the world gameable and future timelines (I've experimented with randomizing these which has also worked out for me). Whenever you are making anything it is always a good question to ask yourself how this might actually get used in play.

[@XetaStation]

Ecstatic to say I just received my copy of Lion & Dragon. Can’t wait to read through it!

[@RPGPundit]

Thank you, I think you'll really enjoy it!

[@LeeroyPorkins]

Meatballs & Mazes

[@RPGPundit]

Spread the meatball, share the video!

[@jnlsnfamily8747]

Meatball withdrawal!

[@RPGPundit]

Keep watching!

[@vidgrip8622]

Good video. I'm glad that you begin by stressing the importance of genre. I have struggled to explain settings to players who had no sense of genre. Many players have never read fantasy literature and have only the experience of a few movies and the kitchen sink "setting" implied by a player handbook.

[@RPGPundit]

Spread the word, share the video!

[@Taranchule]

I basically agree with everything in this video. Verisimilitude, or at least creating the illusion thereof, is king when it comes settings. That said, my main homebrew setting would never sell as a product as it's intentionally a generic fantasy world that I could tweak to my own tastes.

[@RPGPundit]

Spread the word, share the video!

[@scottwalker6947]

MB is such a majestic kitty.

[@RPGPundit]

Spread the Meatball, share the video!

[@austinreed7343]

I definitely took your ideas on elves to heart, for one.

[@RPGPundit]

Awesome!

[@nooctip]

Never count out Meatball. D&d as superheros. Look up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superknight! Yes it's Superknight who disguised as mild mannered scribe Clarious Kentaran, when monsters, madmen, or maurauders threaten the city of Metroplania. dons his magic platemail, ganutlets of giant strength, cloack of flying, and gen of heat beam. To continue the never ending struggle for truth, justice, and the Kingdom of Goodlandia way. Why is there sticky stuff in the street? There. It's that masked menace Spiderman. Oh I don;t know with his boots of springing, gauntlets of ogre power, gloves of spider climb, and wand of webs he certainly looks creepy. But no matter how many town cryiers or minsterals Jarus Janus Jasoraus hires to decrie him , I still remember last month how he swung down on his grappling hook to save my cousen from a runaway cart.

[@lldrax2]

A pipe! What do you put in it? I used a pipe years ago. Small town so not a lot of tobacco options. I don't remember who made it, but the flavor was called burley & black. Edit: One of these days I'll learn to watch a video to the end before commenting. Thanks for the answer!

[@RPGPundit]

Yes, I famously end all my videos by mentioning what pipe and tobacco I'm smoking.

[@lldrax2]

And I've somehow never noticed. I need to pay better attention.

[@Rajaat99]

Great information. Thank you.

[@elextrano7597]

I made one based on early ww1 era using pathfinder. Empires are tested or broken in civil wars, Nations are born or fail. Mysteries are being revealed, magic works as intended... But where it comes from?. Hablo tambien español

[@osiris8251]

I honestly think this will be one of your most popular videos which will get your channel more exposure since most D&D players have searched for worldbuilding videos at some point. Thank you for making this video, I think that you have offered everything I was hoping to get out of a video of this kind. You have really helped me out as I am a small time publisher on drivethru myself, and I have been having the hardest time finding anything which talks about how to make something for publication. Do you have any tactics you would like to share about how to grow in the game design scene? Also how do I make quick content like your rpgpundit presents series?

[@RPGPundit]

Well, thank you, though as a rule "advice" videos tend to do less well than rants, though sometimes better than reviews. In any case, if you want to encourage me to make more of these types of videos, share this video to increase the viewcount! As to advice about how to grow in the scene: I've made a couple of videos like this in the past. As far as how to make quick content: be disciplined about writing a lot!

[@osiris8251]

@@RPGPundit That surprises me, I didn't know. I have searched desperately for publisher advice, but have yet to find it, so I suppose that is why my perspective is different, but what I meant is that if you make videos with specific things in the title like "worldbuilding" that would get more exposure, I found your video after searching for reviews on ravenloft and I found your take on the new one despite looking for the old setting. In regards to views I share your stuff as often as I can. Thank you for the advice, but I am now just wondering how to make countries and cultures in a fantasy setting. Also I have had a hard time making pantheons in D&D and I have not found any good resources. Anyway thanks for the help, It was everything I was hoping for and more.

[@chrismedders6201]

Idea!: MEATBALL FANCLUB! Make a Meatball T-shirt and merch! I bet it would sell!

[@RPGPundit]

Meatball would demand too big a cut of the profits.

[@MogofWar]

@@RPGPundit But is there realy such a thing as too big of a cut for meatball?

[@chrismedders6201]

@@RPGPundit well Meatball is the star of your show, not you. Get off your high horse 💩

[@derrabbit7289]

Fam got me the Handbooks for Christmas, looking forward to using them and adapting them to my homebrew world, Apocolytia. Sister loved the Invisible College!

[@RPGPundit]

That's great!

[@Sutorenja]

a friend and I are making a setting and adventure book with wild frontiers, dank dungeons, greedy dragons and an evil lich. Set on an island colonized by a fantasy Kalmar union and hanseatic league. Maybe I will send you a review pdf one day

[@darkwielder2088]

What do you think is the most important things to focus on in a Sword & Sorcery setting? In your opinion. Like rules, etc to focus on like combat or world exploration.

[@RPGPundit]

S&S requires a lot of significant NPCs (individuals or groups). That, and locations.

[@jonnyf6664]

my settings are more ripoffs but i had a idea

[@lldrax2]

Hey, I like ripping things off too! Steal shamlessly is my motto, but then again, that's just for personal, non published adventures. Here's an idea you can rip off. If you have trouble coming up with random names on the spot, you'd be surprised at how often saying a regular everyday mundane modern name sounds like a fantasy name when said backwards, for example, Tom becomes Mot, the changeling rogue. You can also change the spelling a bit for that fantasy spin. My name would be Se'Larc the elven archer, Mary would become Iram the Nacimera sorceress. Works for groups, cultures, and countries too Notice Nacimera is the reverse of American, though it sounds better with the "s" sound for the "c" in reverse. Just make sure you don't accidentally reference a distraction. For example, I had an NPC warrior for one small part of a campaign that I reversed Roy to Yor. I didn't hear the end of Yor Hunter From The Future references that while campaign ran.

[@lldrax2]

Hmm, the party must find the lost Senoj Temple in the heart of the Anadac Mountains...

[@jonnyf6664]

@@lldrax2 just take a couple things stick it to gether and there is a setting then add your own stuff then from there you you just see what the pcs do from there then adapt i normally have a table i never use

[@jonnyf6664]

@@lldrax2 or you just take some monssters from other ips stick them in maybe rename them

[@scoobysnack]

Just reading through your Dark Albion setting, what a work of art, it's a beautiful setting, really looking forward to exploiting the shit out of it.

[@RPGPundit]

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! You may want to check out Cults of Chaos (system neutral evil cult generator), Lion & Dragon, and the Old School Companions.

[@28mmRPG]

You missed out on -45c up here in Northern Alberta.

[@RPGPundit]

Oh no! Anyway...

[@kudaj90]

There was no "wokist agenda" moment. I must say I am stunned.

[@ianisles2537]

Yeah. Good stuff. Gene Wolfe is my favorite fantasy writer.

[@steelmongoose4956]

I’m designing a game world the size of a coffee shop. Everyone is pretty much the same, and no one disagrees on anything enough for fights to break out. Game classes are defined by sexual proclivity and skin color, but none of the classes has any unique abilities. The game is played by describing how small a group a character belongs to until something totally random happens and the characters talk about how the random event triggers them. I’m already up to 200 pages.

[@northoftherockies]

I really enjoyed the adventure you wrote for it, where the peasants (employees) revolt against the rulers (owners) of the game world (coffee shop) and demand that they redistribute the kingdom (company).

[@KootFloris]

Sounds like a sitcom setting. :)

[@steelmongoose4956]

@@northoftherockies Well, that blue hair dye isn’t going to pay for itself. The people needed that wealth to be spread around.

[@MemphiStig]

The most useful part is the glossary, which contains over 10,000 words you aren't allowed to use under any circumstances because somebody will react like you just said something actually offensive, and they'll have to cancel *your* basic human rights. (Oh, sorry, I said "human.") #fockHasbro

[@steelmongoose4956]

@@MemphiStig I’m still waiting for Harvard to determine whether verbs are patriarchal or white supremacy. The list may end up being 95 percent of the book.

[@Rutibex]

An excellent video, lots of great advise for DMs creating a living world! One thing I would change with your approch though, the idea that the DM must fully understand the world they are running. You said the World of the Last Sun is a mysterious setting for the players, but it is fully understood by the DM. I think this is a mistake. I run a similar campaign world called Maxxia. which may or may-not exist 5 billion years in the future. The world has thousands of layers of ruins from past civilizations, ancient dead alien empires, magical kingdoms, AI takeovers, ancient cthulhu beings etc. Its very Dying Earth. D&D Magic-Users exist, but are they mystical wizard casting spells or are they invoking some ancient forgotten technology? As DM, even I don't know, I don't answer this kind of question.

[@RPGPundit]

I'm not saying that DMs need to understand every last feature of the setting; I'm saying they have to understand the RULES of the setting, both of the genre, and of the laws of nature in the setting itself. If you know that, then you can ad-lib within those rules, rather than making "OMG so Random" stuff.

[@Rutibex]

@@RPGPundit Yeah I will agree with you there about the rules of genre. Even if the DM doesn't understand how the ancient magic works they should understand that looney toons and sword and sorcery don't mix well as genres lol

[@sgtscot658]

Where do you live thats so nice this time of the year? I want to move there lol

[@RPGPundit]

South America.

[@jaredbledsoe-sams1361]

Good video,, on the off-chance, got any advice for a high/science fantasy setting? Goal is a more "40k/brutal" take on dnd, and yes, I've unfortunately seen Dungeons the Dragoning...just no.

[@RPGPundit]

I don't think the advice would be much different than what I said here: Figure out the rules and the culture of your setting, and make sure you stick to those.

[@jaredbledsoe-sams1361]

@@RPGPundit oh, ok. Thank you for the response.

[@kyrnsword72]

We need an American branch company of a game system that makes it easeist easiest to design a setting D100 Dungeon. I love these Books of D100 Dungeon A Solo Adventuring Game like GM's guide The Lost Tome Extraordinary like Players handbook The Dragons Return like Monster manuel

[@aeonise]

I've considered trying to expand some of my game settings from collected notes into actual setting books, but my problem has been the coupling of system and setting. Settings always seem to have some elements that are necessarily tailored to a specific game system (typically monsters, items, and NPC statblocks, but also certain design decisions like D&D 5e's assumption of magic item scarcity), but I don't really have a system I like well enough to use. Do you have any advice on writing system-agnostic settings? 8:10 This reminds me of something I read once regarding worldbuilding for a story (paraphrasing from memory): "The world's past is only interesting in how it touches the story's present. If it did not leave clear marks to which the audience's attention is drawn, an event did not even happen."

[@RPGPundit]

Well what do you mean by "system agnostic"? All three of the books I highlighted in the video are system-agnostic in that you can run the settings in any OSR game.

[@aeonise]

@@RPGPundit I wouldn't consider that system-agnostic. Since the OSR ecosystem is largely inter-compatible, I look at OSR as itself a system with individual games being various permutations of it. Similar to how many old WhiteWolf games are permutations of their Storyteller system and can interact with each other. I'm thinking more in terms of a resource that would be equally useful to people playing any given game. The downside of course being that it would be less useful to players of a specific game than a book tailored to that game. It could be that just nobody would be very interested in something like that.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

I suggest playing 50 or so different game systems to see which set of mechanics will fit how you see the world. If your entire gaming experience consists of 4 different games with D&D on the outside you have crippled yourself in this regard.

[@aeonise]

@@kevinsullivan3448 "If your entire gaming experience consists of 4 different games with D&D on the outside you have crippled yourself in this regard." It's hard to take suggestions made alongside condescending and ignorant assumptions.

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Wait,,, we're playing in a setting of present day Seattle/Portland? Right... I'm playing as a Paladin/Assassin then.😑

[@derekburge5294]

What I don't get with these modern setting books is the complete lack of tension and drama. Kingdoms are at peace generally, peoples coexist, and religious differences boil down to "well, you do you, I guess."

[@RPGPundit]

Not in my settings!

[@derekburge5294]

@@RPGPundit It's almost like you make settings for people to play in! What a revolutionary concept!