I recently made a setting for the Labyrinth Lord RPG available on Lulu.  The goal of this was to make a setting that was very simple and concise.  Something the GM could easily digest, remember, and use to place and inspire his adventures without overburdening him with tons of details and "useless" information and fluff.  A sort of Thunder Rift (the old Basic D&D setting from TSR) on a larger scale was my main inspiration.  Response has been very good so far, and I think I accomplished my main goal.

My plan was to leave the setting as is and release several short adventures* (one or two session) that take place in small adventure areas (like the one provided in the setting book).  These could be played individually or strung into a sort of mini campaign supplemented by the GMs own adventures.  Needless to say, this would leave the majority of the barony open for the GMs personal adventures.

However, there is a lot of information that I didn't include in the setting book because I thought it would take away more than add.  For instance, there is an "origin of the world" type history that explains a lot of the mythology of the world, and an extensive timeline history.  These are things I left out because I thought they took away from the setting.  The origin is kind of cool (IMHO), but it might take away some of the "mystery" of the mythology and religion to know the actual truth of the setting (of course, now I probably have people wondering about it).  The full timeline is the type of thing I abhor in a setting book, and why I left it out...still, some may find it interesting.

With this in mind I thought it might be a good idea to release a sort of "magazine" type publication rather than adventures.  This would have spatterings of setting information (all considered optional supplementation to the setting book) and including the adventures themselves as the main feature.

Right now I'm torn between wanting to print this information in the magazine type format, or to just keep it simple and release the adventures only (less work anyway .  Part of me is afraid that more information might ruin the charm of the setting.  I want GMs to make it their own, not sit around and wait for me to detail areas or give them answers that they would have more fun developing and personalizing on their own.

Anyway, any opinions or advice from people would be appreciated as I'm bouncing these ideas around in my head.  If you actually have the setting it will be particularly helpful to know what you would like to see in future publications (if anything at all).

Thanks in advance.

* just for the record, these are already in the works

(Also posted at RPGnet...)

Quote... With this in mind I thought it might be a good idea to release a sort of "magazine" type publication rather than adventures.  This would have spatterings of setting information (all considered optional supplementation to the setting book) and including the adventures themselves as the main feature.
...

I wouldn't do this.  While it's fine to include some additional setting material if it's directly relevant to the adventure (the old Basic and AD&D modules did this all the time), there is nothing more frustrating than getting drips and drabs of additional setting information after you've started to run a campaign using that setting.  This is the main reason why I never use published settings that keep coming out with new books.  (Settings that are OOP, like Mystara, or settings that are 'complete', like the Wilderlands, are far more appealing to me for precisely this reason.)

If you want to make more of your setting available to people, write up a single 'expansion' supplement, entirely distinct from the adventures, and let those interested get it.

Anyhow, that's my advice, for what it's worth.

Quote from: Akrasia(Also posted at RPGnet...)



I wouldn't do this.  While it's fine to include some additional setting material if it's directly relevant to the adventure (the old Basic and AD&D modules did this all the time), there is nothing more frustrating than getting drips and drabs of additional setting information after you've started to run a campaign using that setting.  This is the main reason why I never use published settings that keep coming out with new books.  (Settings that are OOP, like Mystara, or settings that are 'complete', like the Wilderlands, are far more appealing to me for precisely this reason.)

If you want to make more of your setting available to people, write up a single 'expansion' supplement, entirely distinct from the adventures, and let those interested get it.

Anyhow, that's my advice, for what it's worth.

Yeah, it only took a few posts over on RPGnet for me to rethink the idea.

I'll stick with the fun loving adventures and keep the overly detailed stuff for the 300 page settings.  There are plenty of those out there, and very few that try to keep it simple and managable.

Who knows, I may have a cult following some day for sticking with my ideal.:respect:

I haven't read the original setting, o smelly gnome, but I've seen the enthusiastic resposnse.

My feeling is that you should just release more adventures for the Phoenix Barony. If the adventures seem to sustain interest in the setting, you might then consider doing something to expand the setting (and thereby release your background information.)

My suggestion is this: if possible, develop a single-book mini-campaign/setting update. In other words, tie your new setting-info into a small-campaign arc that can be released as a stand-alone product (say, a 64-page pdf.) Of course, that may not work if your secret explanation of the setting is something merely mythological or scientific, and not something the PCs can interact with.

Oh, and I agree with Akrasia: do not release setting info gradually. That stinks of profit-motive and metaplot.

Quote from: FASERIPI haven't read the original setting, o smelly gnome, but I've seen the enthusiastic resposnse.

My feeling is that you should just release more adventures for the Phoenix Barony. If the adventures seem to sustain interest in the setting, you might then consider doing something to expand the setting (and thereby release your background information.)

My suggestion is this: if possible, develop a single-book mini-campaign/setting update. In other words, tie your new setting-info into a small-campaign arc that can be released as a stand-alone product (say, a 64-page pdf.) Of course, that may not work if your secret explanation of the setting is something merely mythological or scientific, and not something the PCs can interact with.

Oh, and I agree with Akrasia: do not release setting info gradually. That stinks of profit-motive and metaplot.

Yes, I'm going to stick with my original plan, just releasing adventures.

The current planned adventures will expand the Humble adventure area map provided in the core setting book.  These will be level progressive from 1 (lost daughter in the book) to level 5.  After that I will move to a different area (hopefully .

Quote from: grubmanYes, I'm going to stick with my original plan, just releasing advnetures.

You bastard! You tease fans with the sinister secret of the Phoenix Barony, and then never release it?

Not that I'm a fan yet. I'll be making my first Lulu purchase in a few minutes. A buckfitty is hard to beat.

Quote from: FASERIPYou bastard! You tease fans with the sinister secret of the Phoenix Barony, and then never release it?

It'll be revealed some day.  It would make an awsome "high level" campaign.

Hi grubman,

You might also consider releasing the timeline, etc. as a free download (assuming it's already written).  That way, those who want it can download it for more flavor while others can ignore it.  I'm not a big fan of doing anything for free, but this way, you can always compile the better bits and pieces with the core setting in a second edition down the road.  

Pete