How much information?

[mayapuppies]

Hello all,

 

I'm starting the overview write-up for the continent that the game will be taking place on and I'm trying to decide how much information I put in to describe the continent without getting into detail about the history and the various nations/peoples that exist on it. I'm saving those details for separate sections of the "book".

 

So what I was wondering is how much information would you folks want to see in this regards?

 

Am I being vague again?

[Talon]

Re: How much information?

 

My rule of thumb: provide a) only information that the "average" person on the continent would know; enough information that a player can make an informed choice about creating a PC from that area.

 

Overall, I would shoot for no more than 2 pages total, most players won't want to read more than that as a general summary. (YMMV, if your group wants more, you are a lucky GM!)

[Eosin]

Re: How much information?

 

I'd just do local information that would be known around your hometown. Things like general info on your nation, the surrounding nations, and anybody considered to be a big threat. You continent is huge - enough so that it rivals Eurasia so consider that when disemenating information (along with tech levels or ability to travel instantly). In my mind, the DM needs to have the extraneous stuff roughed in to plan things right or ad lib but the players should only be exposed to their immediate locality. It is less overwhelming and allows them to develop a sense of belonging.

 

The two pager recommendation is a good one.

 

There are some recent articles in Dungeon Magazine by Monte Cook that address this topic if you have access to them. I am not a fan of his design style/creations but his pointers and general advice on running games seems pretty spot on.

[Talon]

Re: How much information?

 

I'd just do local information that would be known around your hometown. Things like general info on your nation' date=' the surrounding nations, and anybody considered to be a big threat. You continent is huge - enough so that it rivals Eurasia so consider that when disemenating information (along with tech levels or ability to travel instantly).[/quote']

 

I forgot to mention -- with an area this big, you need to worry about context. Do the players have the freedom of coming from anywhere on the map, or are they assumed to originate from a smaller sub-area of the map?

 

Ideally, you need both a "omniscient overview" for players before they pick a region, and then region-specific descriptions of all the other regions, complete with inaccuracies and cultural biases. (The horsemen of the north might know nothing about the peoples south of the sea/strait/bay, while the merchants of the bay probably know quite a lot about everyone along the coasts.)

 

(I semi-dodged this in my current game by requiring all PCs to start in a single, small part of the world where the nations were all culturally and economically linked, so one overview sufficed for everyone.)

[mayapuppies]

Re: How much information?

 

Hmm, it didn't dawn on me that Aleron was that large! I'm so used to developing RTS's that I tend to ignore scale a bit...

 

Generally my "creative" writing side stops at about a page and lately at just a paragraph before I get tired of writing. So what I'm thinking of doing is just writing a brief paragraph about each of the nations and then when the players choose which nation the herald from I'll develop a bit more and just zoom in from there.

 

Thanks folks.

[prestidigitator]

Re: How much information?

 

I like to see basic descriptions of:

• Major cities and territories (rough geographic size and population, major trades, etc.).
  
• Well-known trade routes.
  
• Common myths and legends about regions ("It is said that the ghost of a great king haunts the Tithlen Marshes, where his once prosperous kingdom was struck down by the wrath of now-forgotten gods....").
  
• Significant geographic features ("The Black Mountains are formiddable enough to force trade to occur only through two passes, both frequented by bandits. Skilled mountaineers turn back more often than not without finding a way through, though a few locals of Ysamma claim to know treacherous hidden passes....").
  
• Commonly known and/or defining historical events ("Beratine was once a part of the Empire of Wath. Three hundred years ago it managed to win its independence. The turning point was a great battle fought on the Plains of Yir. There the town of Freehale now stands....").

That kind of thing. Vagueness is fine, but inspiring hints about the nature and history of the land and peoples are invaluable.