A Setting to Serve the Game

At some point I suspect we've all sat down to read an RPG and gone through the following process:

• This setting looks neat, I'd love to run a game in it.
• Okay, there's quite a lot of setting here, time to dig deeper.
• Right, that's all cool, but I have no idea how I'd actually run a game in there.

This is something I try to avoid whenever I'm working on a setting for a game. I've spoken about it before as the idea that Setting should Serve the Game.

Basically, the game is more important than the setting, so if something needs to change it should be the setting. This isn't some universal dogma, just how I like things to be with games I'm playing. I believe that the world comes to life at the game table, not on the GMs desk.

So from the very start Into the Odd did this. The game existed before the setting, so I knew that I needed a world where:

• Adventurers could go out and look for treasure as independent groups.
• Weird obstacles could guard the treasure.
• Some treasure would have weird powers.

With Into the Odd we got a world with a single city that's barely held under any sort of authority, a perilous underground that doesn't follow the rules and a wilderness that doesn't make sense, and the implication that Arcana are discarded alien devices. A world born out of the game's adventurous requirements.

Electric Bastionland expanded on this with the Debtholders, Failed Careers and Machines all being new elements that both flavour the setting but were ultimately born from game requirements.

As with all my advice, this all sounds very absolute. Am I saying that your game setting should have NOTHING that doesn't directly relate to the game? Well sure, if it works, but I don't begrudge people that like a bit of side-salad on their plate. If it gets the reader inspired then it's good by me, but too much side-salad and I suddenly realise I can't see the pasta anymore.

This is particularly relevant as I hash out a loose setting for GRIMLITE, a world I'm tentatively naming Husk28, a forgotten moon of a broken planet. Tinkering around with it got me thinking about one of the most successful tabletop RPG settings of all time.

WARHAMMER 40,000

Something about this setting just works. It got its flesh-hooks into me when I was 10 years old and despite walking away multiple times something keeps dragging me back. Sure, miniatures are appealing, and there's some incredible artwork that brings the setting to life, but I think it's worth dissecting the setting to see why it works. Does it support my theory that the best settings serve the game, or does it cry Heresy at my false sermon?

This is cheating a bit, as this is clearly a setting primarily written for miniature wargaming, rather than RPGs, but the same principles apply. Many jokes have been made about the tagline "In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future there is Only War" but it really spotlights that this is a world that exists for the benefit of your table. 

I'll take any excuse to talk about the two original Realms of Chaos books. These were giant, messy volumes filled with Chaos stuff. The core of it really was a procedure for creating a Champion in the service of one of the four Chaos Gods. You'd also get some random followers ranging from humble Skaven and Orcs to Sorcerers, Manticores, and Giant Snails. It definitely had that early-GW feel of "let's make a game where we can use all our weird miniatures at once", yet the setting makes it work. You aren't just a grab-bag of unrelated miniatures, you're a warped and disparate warband following a twisted god of corruption. Why is your Knightly Champion being followed by a Giang Frog and a Minotaur? Chaos! That's why!

Of course the random element sort of spits in the face of this idea. If I roll a Treeman as my latest follower I guess I'd better go and buy the miniature or get creative with some twigs. I suspect many players would fudge the randomness slightly to make their own miniatures fit here, but the kitbasher in me sort of likes the challenge of going full-random.

So the Realms of Chaos work as a setting for narrative wargames. There's a reason for your warband to exist the way it does, and there's a reason why you're always fighting everybody all the time on bizarre battlefields. I'm cheating here, because while these books do serve 40k they feel primarily written with an eye on Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

Warhammer 40k has Chaos, sure, but amongst other elements it also has the Imperium. This is both its biggest asset and flaw.

Chaos works because you've got four factions with a very strong identity and clear reasons to oppose each other, but plenty of room for variety within them. A Khorne warband made up of Dark Elves and elite Chaos Warriors is going to feel very different to one made up of a horde of Beastmen and Snotlings. Yeah, you can get Khornate Snotlings in Realms of Chaos. 

At first the Imperium looks like it has all the same hallmarks. It's big and incomprehensible. It's fractured into the Mechanicus, Militarum, Inquisition, Arbites, Astartes and the faux-latin list could go on all day. Even these fractures have sub-fractures, most classically in Space Marine Chapters that breaks the Astartes down into handily colour-coded factions each with their own gimmick and agenda.

But it's not quite the same. At a glance you'd think this perfectly serves a game where you need to be able to explain any two players fighting a pitched battle against each other. 

Ultramarines vs Tyranids? Great. Rematch of the century. 

Ultramarines vs Mechanicus? Sure, I guess. Their agendas could clash in a way that sparks a battle.

Ultramarines vs Imperial Fists? Erm. I guess one of these Chapters is sheltering an enemy of the Imperium? Maybe Tzeentch has tricked one of us into attacking the other. No, not my side, your side.

Ultramarines vs Ultramarines? Suppose one of us has to be the Alpha Legion in disguise? Wait, we both have Roboute Guilliman soooo....

It gets worse with some of the other factions. Eldar are an ancient, dying race where every life is precious. So why are they mowing themselves down again?

I mean it's not going to stop two players fighting each other, but it lessens the narrative appeal. You can make it work if you're creative, but it doesn't have that masterful directness of Realms of Chaos. Anything goes over there, so two followers of Slaanesh could easily be pitched against each other just as easily as they'd go and raid the civilised lands. 

I wrote WARPHAMMER 99k as a joke, but it sort of demonstrates a very clumsy approach to making the 40k setting better serve the game. It catapults the 40k universe back into the Realms of Chaos, but it  loses a lot in the process. Personally I feel like it's an issue of scale. 40k wants to be this epic thing. Wars of millions are fought every day above hive planet with billions of people, all but a speck compared to the trillions of Daemons that pour into the galaxy from the Eye of Terror, yet all this is nothing compared to...

And so on.

But the fact is, most people are going to engage with the setting through battles between armies measured in dozens rather than even hundreds, maybe even less than that if they're playing Kill Team. Sure, the individual life is meaningless in this cruel galaxy, but I also spent hours painting this little Exarch and I think she's actually pretty cool. 

So I like that the Imperium is unfathomably massive and stagnant, but what's lost if we apply a thunder hammer to it until the cracks are a bit clearer.

Completely fracture the Astartes. At least enough that it's easy to explain why your Salamanders are fighting my Blood Angels every week.

This is a lot easier if you remove the idea that the marines are the heroes of the story. There's an entire rant on that topic stashed away inside me but I'll bury it down for another day.

Put more narrative focus on the individuals. Allow everybody to be a bit of a renegade. Allegiance is primarily to your army's leader, rather than the faction as a whole. Now there's more appeal in considering why two Wolf Lords would bring their Companies to war against each other. 

What's that? There's already an edition of Warhammer 40k that solves all of these issues?

Rogue Trader was weird. Sort of the 40k parallel to the Realms of Chaos books. Giant mess of creative ideas, blurring the line between wargame and RPG, with heavy focus on "let's use every weird mini we have". 

And the Rogue Traders themselves are essentially the Renegades I was describing above. They fly around deep space seeking money by whatever means. They have Imperial authority but can also basically do what they want. Hire an Eldar bodyguard? Sure. Get some Ork crew? Great. Blow up a rival Rogue Trader? Absolutely.

Most meaningfully, it's easy to imagine two rival Rogue Traders calling on support from different Marine chapters. Now that Salamanders vs Blood Angels battle is on.

Modern 40k is clearly having to walk a line between serving its tabletop games alongside a range of novels, video-games, and presumably the big-budget TV series and movies are only a matter of time away. 

If you're writing a setting to be used purely at the table then you've got the luxury of focus. Take a step back and look at the actual needs of your game. You'll thank me when you sit down with a bunch of new players and your world emerges through play rather than an exposition dump.

Gaps in the Odd World

There's no world map for Into the Odd. No timeline. No list of NPCs that rule over Bastion, or legendary explorers of the past.

The cities outside of Bastion aren't named. You just know that they're inferior in some way. The Golden Lands are unmapped, and the Polar Ocean swallows most explorers that go into it.

The History of Bastion isn't documented, and I don't tell you about each of the ethnic groups that exist there. I tell you it's cosmopolitan, but nothing else regarding its culture.

I don't really mention anything about colonialism, slavery, or inequality based on race, gender, sexuality, class, or religion. I don't mention anything about the foreign cultures that may exist in the Golden Lands.

This is deliberate.

By the very nature of their role, the Referee makes rule judgements. No, that boulder is too heavy for one person to move. Sure, you can try and leap over that stream but it'll require a save. As important as consistency is, Into the Odd will feel different depending on who your Referee is.

And so will the world.

I tell you there's a high council ruling Bastion, but you decide how much impact they have on the city. Perhaps they aren't important to your game, or perhaps they're key NPCs that the group are trying to win the favour of, or maybe overthrow. Perhaps it's really a single ruler hidden away.

Some Referees will see a post-industrial setting and gleefully hook on a tonne of issues from our own history. Slaves are being shipped in from Golden Land colonies, the working classes are dying in smoky factories, and a new dominant cult has begun to impose tighter laws on women's freedom. That's your take on the world.

But if you don't add that stuff, it isn't there.

Bastion is designed to feel familiar, and act as a home for all of Humanity. This is the Hub of Mankind, not London or Paris. Whatever sort of person you are, you'd find a home in Bastion.

And outside of Bastion, there's a place for anything you can imagine. If it's below ground, stick it in the Underground. If it's something lurking nearby, stick it in Deep County. If it's a distant thing, put it in the Golden Lands. If it's too weird for that, stick it out in the Polar Ocean.

Just like the rules, the setting is really just a framework for you to be creative. You won't find all the answers, but I've given you everything you need to go out and discover them.

Conflict in Arkbound

Like a story, a game setting needs conflict. This is especially true if you're going to be playing a game in that setting. So what conflicts exist in Arkbound?

Humanity vs Extinction
Survival is a key theme of Arkbound. The Arks might not provide much of a life to those on the Slum Decks but what's the alternative? The homeworlds were wiped out and re-settling them is thought to be suicidal. As the last survivors many people feel a responsibility to keep the human race alive. Will mankind find a better home and what are people willing to do to cling onto survival?

Officers vs Arkbound
The Officers have the authority, weapons and armour, cushy living quarters and, of course, freedom. The Arkbound have the strength of numbers, fighting spirit and a toughness that comes from living in such harsh conditions. The two come to blows regularly but both are dependent on each other. Spin-offs from this are the obvious Officer vs Officer and Arkbound vs Arkbound conflicts.

Humans vs Artificials
The only other survivors of the Tempest were the robots and AIs that remain on the homeworlds. Some are eager to help any humans that return to salvage goods but after fifty years without man some Artificials consider themselves the de facto rulers of their homeworld. Back in space, genetic modification has left some very much non-human lifeforms roaming the universe.

Arks vs Independents
Some humans have managed to avoid becoming bound to an Ark, whether through surviving on an orbital colony or drifting in a smaller craft. Most Arks will strive to take what they can from independents, whether it's salvage, weapons or skilled individuals. Ark vs Ark and Independent vs Independent are less common conflicts but could be interesting.

Xenofringe Free Preview

THE XENOFRINGE is the loose border that divides the established systems of CORE SPACE from the unknown contents of DARKSPACE. Life on the Fringe is a hazardous affair, where the frontiers of civilization meet vast, mysterious space.

As I mentioned in my last post I've been working on a generic sci-fi RPG loosely based on the core of The Adventurer's Tale. Although it's still in a very work-in-progress state I'm happy to put it out there as a preview.

Presenting Xenofringe.

There are a few parts of the game I'm very happy with and it's a slightly more crunchy affair than I'm used to. Although it's rough around the edges the core is playable, so let me know if you give it a try.

Stone Age to Space Age

In stark contrast to my work on a Stone Age game earlier this week I've spent the last few days taking another shot at an idea I've never quite been able to make work. A Rules-Lite Science Fiction RPG.

Until now, that is.

I feel like I've made some real progress with a game I haven't got a name for yet. For now it has the project name Futureworlds, and I hope to post more about it when it's further refined.

So here's an imagedump of sci-fi settings that have been on my mind while writing the game.









The contrast of serious and more comedic strands of sci-fi in there is quite deliberate and something I'll go into more detail on at another point.

Stone Age Adventures.

Last night I made a light-hearted comment to someone that my next game project should involve dinosaurs. That got me thinking. I knew I was doomed to take this joke-project seriously. We've all seen the anachronistic images of primitive humans fighting dinosaurs, but could this idea have meat for an actual game? I'm familiar with Og and GURPS Ice-Age but neither is quite what I'm seeing in my head. Before I get too caught up in mechanics I want to nail down my overal concept.

The Stone-Age, particularly the Paleolithic, ends over 10,000 years before the medieval era that inspires more fantasy settings begins. This has impact on everything from technology and society through to even more core concepts such as language and religion. To avoid things being too mind-shattering I'm using a wonderful term wikipedia taught me today as a benchmark. Behavioral Modernity. The short of this is that my societies will follow the nine tweaked guidelines below when considering how primitive they are.

- Some permanent buildings, some temporary.
- Purpose-made stone and bone tools.
- Fishing, group hunting and fruit gathering.
- Long-distance exchange or barter among groups.
- Use of pigment and jewellery for decoration and self-ornamentation.
- Figurative art.
- Game playing and music.
- Burial of dead and basic ritual.
- Some animal domestication.

However, notably I want to keep the tech level below:
- Bows and arrows.
- Pottery.
- Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.


I'm imagining the key points of a typical story will feel quite different to fantasy, too. I'm imagining:

- No magic or real focus on earning treasure.
- Significantly tighter focus on a small group and small societies. No wars or huge cities.
- Character advancement through new knowledge and tools rather than strength and skill.
- More focus on survival and acquiring materials and tools.
- Large cultural differences and a sizeable language barrier.

There's been recent talk on the RPGBN concerning historical settings and while I'm not trying to simulate paleolithic life exactly I'm imagining this project as much more of an alternate history than fantasy. The original idea was primitive man fighting dinosaurs, but I think I can do one better than that. I love creating new animals and plants so why not set down my primitive people in a fictional region and fill it with my own creations?

The new creatures and plants will have a grounding in reality, the brilliant Morae River blog being a perfect example of what I'm picturing. A valley would be a good focal point for a region containing a range of societies and creatures but instead I'm thinking a lake. Something about all sorts of life teeming around the coasts of a lake feels right to me. Journeying away from its supply of fish and clean water may be a dangerous undertaking, and perfect subject matter for an RPG. I love the idea of the group of neanderthal-like men climbing over a ridge to come face to face with a creature they've never encountered before.

And so a good starting name for this project has come to me. Stone Lake. Stay tuned for further info.

Thoughts on the Otherworld

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Otherworlds as a focus for a setting. They let you keep the familiar reality of a low-fantasy world, but have your characters encounter magical, high-fantasy elements when need be. I'm hoping that both sides of the coin will benefit from the contrast of the other. But the idea of jumping into new realities is hardly a new one in fantasy. From Planescape to the more accessible 4e Cosmology D&D, the elephant-in-the-room for any fantasy RPG, has covered quite a bit of ground itself.

For my Adventurer's Setting I want something a little less defined. Something more Fairytale than Epic. I'm definitely thinking more akin to Wonderland, Oz, Neverland and Narnia than the Great Wheel. Places where adventures happen and rules of nature are broken, as well as a source for magic to leak into the natural world in small doses.

However, my experience of these sources is a little limited, as may be clear. My examples are exclusively from sources I remember from my childhood. What reminded me of this concept recently was reading about the Celtic Otherworld, and I'm familiar with many of the analogs in other culture's mythology. What I'm calling out for is recommendations for other sources of inspiration for fantastic places existing outside of our world.

Any suggestions for me?

The Adventurer's Setting Musings

I've been working on a starter module for The Adventurer's Tale in the form of a small sandbox with a few minidungeons for adventurers to brave. The idea of the game was always to encourage GMs to make their own settings or adapt the game to existing ones. However, I can only resist the lure for so long. I'm going to have a short paragraph of setting info at the top of this starter module.

For this I want to start with some key points that people familiar with fantasy settings will want to know. The idea is to stay generic, but do generic as well as I can. Let's do this off the top of my head.

- The World is a mundane place. Magic is uncommon, most people have boring jobs and the novelty of local monster attacks has long since worn off on the average human. Most people have little reason to know about things that aren't happening in their immediate surroundings.

- The Otherworlds are far from mundane. These hidden, unnatural places exist outside of the natural world and range from the the glittering domain of the forest queen, elusive elf cities, weird underworlds filled with wonder and even Hell itself. Crossing points to Otherworlds are difficult to find and could take any form, but the Adventurers will find a way. These places are where the rules are broken and occasional "leaks" from Otherworlds are the source of most of the Fantasy in the otherwise natural world.

- Elves are elusive, immortal and always thinking of the big picture. Dwarfs are focused, obsessive and enjoy routine. Orcs are ugly, amoral and easily led by smarter creatures. Humans are everywhere.

- Wizards can display supernatural abilities but are rare enough that many people go their lives without witnessing it first hand. Wizards rarely gather together in numbers of more than two, a master and his apprentice. Stories of magic are told, but often assumed to be exaggeration. Likewise, stories of Otherworlds are often thought of as children's bedtime stories.

- Adventurers seek to protect their loved ones, gain riches and fame and explore the legendary Otherworlds. They will be given ample opportunity for all three.