I was thinking about this on and off for weeks/months. I finally decided to put up a poll to help get my answer. So if you could spare a quick moment for my question I would really appreciate it so I can finally put this thought rattling around my head to sleep!
Who here has run a Campaign using a setting book published by WOTC?
I have not, but not because I might have any issue with running a campaign based on one of these books. I simply have not bothered to purchase any of them.
I may not have used these books for their intended purpose of being a campaign guide for games set in those settings, but I have borrowed from them fairly liberally for use in other games and campaigns I have run.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I may not have used these books for their intended purpose of being a campaign guide for games set in those settings, but I have borrowed from them fairly liberally for use in other games and campaigns I have run.
I think that's fair, most of the books could be slapped into an existing campaign as another continent or something. Seems legit to me.
Admittedly, when I was positing the question it was born out of the idea of picking up one of those settings guides and building the campaign within that world. Specifically I was trying to retrofit the Princes of the Apocalypse campaign to be a larger story set across the Sword Coast in a more sandbox style so I grabbed my old copy of Sword Coast Adventurer's guide to get a better handle of the overall world.
Then my brain got this question stuck in it and its been popping up in my mind at least once a week ever since.
For the most part, I read them for inspiration and to take elements I like and include them in my homebrew world.
Presently I am using Strixhaven extensively as some of my friends are big Harry Potter fans, and I am using Strixhaven as their introduction to D&D. This is the only one I voted for, since it is the only one I have extensively used as a core element of the campaign itself, but that does not mean I do not own and flip through the others from time to time.
I have run several of the published adventures ... DoIP, Cos, OOTA, GSM, TftYP, CM ... but I haven't used or purchased any of the source books because I usually don't need the additional details, I can just create whatever is needed to support published modules and if I am running my own game, I'll just generally use my own world or significantly modify some other material.
For example, I'm currently running a homebrew campaign using content from GSM, TftYP, CM and maybe RC plus stuff I've added in between set in a world that is drawn from some of the Greyhawk maps/politics but little else.
The only source books I might consider picking up would be Eberron or Strixhaven and only if I wanted to run a specific campaign utilizing details for each of those settings.(Eberron is quite cool with a bit of a neo-steampunk vibe and some interesting lore while Strixhaven is the ever popular magic school meme).
My previous 2 campaigns have been on the Sword's Coast, but I don't own the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Storm King's Thunder already has a description of every town and faction in it, well except when it goes "There's a village here, right in the middle of nowhere, some real cool stuff happens here, you should buy Princes of the Apocalypse to learn all about it"
My previous 2 campaigns have been on the Sword's Coast, but I don't own the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Storm King's Thunder already has a description of every town and faction in it, well except when it goes "There's a village here, right in the middle of nowhere, some real cool stuff happens here, you should buy Princes of the Apocalypse to learn all about it"
That is quite true, The chapter of Storm Kings is like they literally stuffed an entire Setting guide into the middle of the book.
Yes, but to be honest the setting books are more of an obstacle than they are an aid as a DM I fear.
I think it's fair to say that no GM or DM can have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the setting so if you're in the middle of a session and a question gets asked by a player, it's so much quicker, simpler and easier to improvise. More than that, developing the world is a huge part of how DMs participate in the collaborative storytelling element of the game. And collaborative storytelling paired with a fairly good tactical combat system is what I come to D&D for.
The weakness of that approach however is providing players with the starter knowledge of your world that they need. So, I generally provide a list of deities, a brief history of the area, a slightly better detailed history of the starting settlement, and some sort of map of the continent or world they inhabit (written or drawn). The rest is discovered in play and as I plan sessions and the campaign. Some is generated by me, others generated by the characters. That's a huge chunk of the enjoyment of playing a TTRPG for me.
That's before we even enter into just how overpriced the settings books are for what they are. They're a cool read and great to spark the brain cells but I genuinely don't think they serve any significantly useful purpose.
I voted for Van Richten's because that's what I pull a lot of my borrowed material from, but like others on this thread, I mostly use campaign settings as inspiration rather than as a foundation or guidelines for anything I create. I am too much of a homebrewer at heart not to write my own canon.
Homebrewed campaign settings are all I've ever used and I don't think I could bring myself to ever change that. I have purposefully avoided using any official or well-established campaign worlds or locations in the games I DM. Aside from general fantasy tropes, I want outside knowledge to be just about useless at my table. My players love exploring a world they know nothing about, and I love not getting contradicted by a book I've never read, so we all win.
I favor my own content... the aspiring writer in me...
But...
I tried to run one of my games in Horde of the Dragon Queen ... and I won't spoil it, for anyone who has played - but you should really be playing stealthy in this game, and pretending to be something you're not, especially when there's something about a moving... location. Well, the party was killing cultists in this... moving location... and I was like, "Logically, someone's going to be like: Why hasn't Bob the Cultist come to dinner the last few nights? Anyone seen him?
But that was their MO - kill cultists, search them for clues.
So I ended up causing them to be discovered, rush to the person/being controlling it - and convincing them it was a bad idea. The cultists get involved and the moving location crashes. The party escapes. And I just started making up my own stuff again, from that point on.
As a player, I've been through Phandalen a number of times, and usually had a good experience. Been in two sessions of Out of the Abyss - one to the end, which was fun. (Though a very dark module...) The other OotA game ended, because of how dark the module was, most of the players were struggling with enjoying it.
I am currently a player in Storm King's Thunder, which has been interesting. But really, it's the players I enjoy the company with.
I have not DMed in any official worlds yet, but I know several DMs who have bought SCAG and EGtW and have run long campaigns based in those worlds and they seemed to really enjoy having the books to draw ideas from.
I have Strixhaven and I am not sure if that one is really a great source book, it seems more like a campaign. It has a bunch of good monsters, but only has a couple backgrounds, a small amount of spells, a boring race, and a wimpy amount of magic items. I guess you could draw some ideas from it and make your own story based in the setting, but to me the story ideas that it gives you are kind of bland and there aren't a lot of good player options.
I've never actually used any official settings because I usually start a campaign from a random idea. What if it was modern but you had to travel back in time to do things in ye olde realms? What if the big bad ancient red greatwyrm was a teeny tiny dragon obsessed with protecting its hoard of exactly one coin? What if the gods were more like Greco-Roman gods that were waaay more petty and their music could destroy the world if they believed that this version had failed them again? Like, there's no official settings for that!
All of my worlds are homebrew. But that being said, I do use the sourcebooks to help give me ideas for moods. I use Van Richton's to help me build horror and create my own domains of dread as I specialise is psychological horror. I played the Curse of Strahd campaign, Lost Mines, and a 5e conversion of When Black Roses Bloom all as a player, but I could tell that (especially the Black Roses game) the DMs stuck strictly to the rails of the pre-written content. There were hilarious moments in those games, yes, but it felt rather restricted too. Homebrew is way more work on my end, but I feel like it keeps me really free to let the players funk around and find out in real time.
I favor my own content... the aspiring writer in me...
But...
I tried to run one of my games in Horde of the Dragon Queen ... and I won't spoil it, for anyone who has played - but you should really be playing stealthy in this game, and pretending to be something you're not, especially when there's something about a moving... location. Well, the party was killing cultists in this... moving location... and I was like, "Logically, someone's going to be like: Why hasn't Bob the Cultist come to dinner the last few nights? Anyone seen him?
But that was their MO - kill cultists, search them for clues.
So I ended up causing them to be discovered, rush to the person/being controlling it - and convincing them it was a bad idea. The cultists get involved and the moving location crashes. The party escapes. And I just started making up my own stuff again, from that point on.
As a player, I've been through Phandalen a number of times, and usually had a good experience. Been in two sessions of Out of the Abyss - one to the end, which was fun. (Though a very dark module...) The other OotA game ended, because of how dark the module was, most of the players were struggling with enjoying it.
I am currently a player in Storm King's Thunder, which has been interesting. But really, it's the players I enjoy the company with.
The moving location part of that campaign I found epically bad. I homebrewed the heck out of it
I was thinking about this on and off for weeks/months. I finally decided to put up a poll to help get my answer. So if you could spare a quick moment for my question I would really appreciate it so I can finally put this thought rattling around my head to sleep!
Who here has run a Campaign using a setting book published by WOTC?
I have not, but not because I might have any issue with running a campaign based on one of these books. I simply have not bothered to purchase any of them.
I may not have used these books for their intended purpose of being a campaign guide for games set in those settings, but I have borrowed from them fairly liberally for use in other games and campaigns I have run.
I think that's fair, most of the books could be slapped into an existing campaign as another continent or something. Seems legit to me.
Admittedly, when I was positing the question it was born out of the idea of picking up one of those settings guides and building the campaign within that world. Specifically I was trying to retrofit the Princes of the Apocalypse campaign to be a larger story set across the Sword Coast in a more sandbox style so I grabbed my old copy of Sword Coast Adventurer's guide to get a better handle of the overall world.
Then my brain got this question stuck in it and its been popping up in my mind at least once a week ever since.
For the most part, I read them for inspiration and to take elements I like and include them in my homebrew world.
Presently I am using Strixhaven extensively as some of my friends are big Harry Potter fans, and I am using Strixhaven as their introduction to D&D. This is the only one I voted for, since it is the only one I have extensively used as a core element of the campaign itself, but that does not mean I do not own and flip through the others from time to time.
I have run several of the published adventures ... DoIP, Cos, OOTA, GSM, TftYP, CM ... but I haven't used or purchased any of the source books because I usually don't need the additional details, I can just create whatever is needed to support published modules and if I am running my own game, I'll just generally use my own world or significantly modify some other material.
For example, I'm currently running a homebrew campaign using content from GSM, TftYP, CM and maybe RC plus stuff I've added in between set in a world that is drawn from some of the Greyhawk maps/politics but little else.
The only source books I might consider picking up would be Eberron or Strixhaven and only if I wanted to run a specific campaign utilizing details for each of those settings.(Eberron is quite cool with a bit of a neo-steampunk vibe and some interesting lore while Strixhaven is the ever popular magic school meme).
My previous 2 campaigns have been on the Sword's Coast, but I don't own the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Storm King's Thunder already has a description of every town and faction in it, well except when it goes "There's a village here, right in the middle of nowhere, some real cool stuff happens here, you should buy Princes of the Apocalypse to learn all about it"
That is quite true, The chapter of Storm Kings is like they literally stuffed an entire Setting guide into the middle of the book.
Yes, but to be honest the setting books are more of an obstacle than they are an aid as a DM I fear.
I think it's fair to say that no GM or DM can have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the setting so if you're in the middle of a session and a question gets asked by a player, it's so much quicker, simpler and easier to improvise. More than that, developing the world is a huge part of how DMs participate in the collaborative storytelling element of the game. And collaborative storytelling paired with a fairly good tactical combat system is what I come to D&D for.
The weakness of that approach however is providing players with the starter knowledge of your world that they need. So, I generally provide a list of deities, a brief history of the area, a slightly better detailed history of the starting settlement, and some sort of map of the continent or world they inhabit (written or drawn). The rest is discovered in play and as I plan sessions and the campaign. Some is generated by me, others generated by the characters. That's a huge chunk of the enjoyment of playing a TTRPG for me.
That's before we even enter into just how overpriced the settings books are for what they are. They're a cool read and great to spark the brain cells but I genuinely don't think they serve any significantly useful purpose.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
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have to clarify - i've used them for the players and some additional guidance.
But for running the campaign itself it's hard as the players also have access to it - as they need it for some character creation.
I voted for Van Richten's because that's what I pull a lot of my borrowed material from, but like others on this thread, I mostly use campaign settings as inspiration rather than as a foundation or guidelines for anything I create. I am too much of a homebrewer at heart not to write my own canon.
Homebrewed campaign settings are all I've ever used and I don't think I could bring myself to ever change that. I have purposefully avoided using any official or well-established campaign worlds or locations in the games I DM. Aside from general fantasy tropes, I want outside knowledge to be just about useless at my table. My players love exploring a world they know nothing about, and I love not getting contradicted by a book I've never read, so we all win.
I favor my own content... the aspiring writer in me...
But...
I tried to run one of my games in Horde of the Dragon Queen ... and I won't spoil it, for anyone who has played - but you should really be playing stealthy in this game, and pretending to be something you're not, especially when there's something about a moving... location. Well, the party was killing cultists in this... moving location... and I was like, "Logically, someone's going to be like: Why hasn't Bob the Cultist come to dinner the last few nights? Anyone seen him?
But that was their MO - kill cultists, search them for clues.
So I ended up causing them to be discovered, rush to the person/being controlling it - and convincing them it was a bad idea. The cultists get involved and the moving location crashes. The party escapes. And I just started making up my own stuff again, from that point on.
As a player, I've been through Phandalen a number of times, and usually had a good experience. Been in two sessions of Out of the Abyss - one to the end, which was fun. (Though a very dark module...) The other OotA game ended, because of how dark the module was, most of the players were struggling with enjoying it.
I am currently a player in Storm King's Thunder, which has been interesting. But really, it's the players I enjoy the company with.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
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I have not DMed in any official worlds yet, but I know several DMs who have bought SCAG and EGtW and have run long campaigns based in those worlds and they seemed to really enjoy having the books to draw ideas from.
I have Strixhaven and I am not sure if that one is really a great source book, it seems more like a campaign. It has a bunch of good monsters, but only has a couple backgrounds, a small amount of spells, a boring race, and a wimpy amount of magic items. I guess you could draw some ideas from it and make your own story based in the setting, but to me the story ideas that it gives you are kind of bland and there aren't a lot of good player options.
I've never actually used any official settings because I usually start a campaign from a random idea. What if it was modern but you had to travel back in time to do things in ye olde realms? What if the big bad ancient red greatwyrm was a teeny tiny dragon obsessed with protecting its hoard of exactly one coin? What if the gods were more like Greco-Roman gods that were waaay more petty and their music could destroy the world if they believed that this version had failed them again? Like, there's no official settings for that!
All of my worlds are homebrew. But that being said, I do use the sourcebooks to help give me ideas for moods. I use Van Richton's to help me build horror and create my own domains of dread as I specialise is psychological horror. I played the Curse of Strahd campaign, Lost Mines, and a 5e conversion of When Black Roses Bloom all as a player, but I could tell that (especially the Black Roses game) the DMs stuck strictly to the rails of the pre-written content. There were hilarious moments in those games, yes, but it felt rather restricted too. Homebrew is way more work on my end, but I feel like it keeps me really free to let the players funk around and find out in real time.
The moving location part of that campaign I found epically bad. I homebrewed the heck out of it
And to answer the topic. I use my old world, steal from books a bit and since I hate drawing maps I generally use the one from the Sword Coast.
i used the EBERRON campaign setting book as well as the FORGOTTEN REALMS set in the Sword Coast
I cherry pick things I like and incorporate those things I to my homebrew camapign wold. Of late, I used Sword Coast Adventures and Eberron.
Just wanted to pop back in and say a quick Thank you for everyone that participated. It really helped to answer my question.