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Happy
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CloseThere's so many possibilities for interesting RPG settings, yet we often see very similar medieval fantasy settings in RPGs that are a bit different just by different lores and historical settings. (In Rpg maker the main cause might be the available resources.)
So, I was wondering what sort of RPG settings do you find the most interesting? You can go as far as describe any sort of setting you can imagine, but you can refer to the popular fantasy settings as well (ie. steampunk, scifi, etc.)
For myself: settings that I have liked and are first to come to my mind are the tropical settings in games like Breath of Fire IV (though it was a lot of sand in general?) and Final Fantasy X, for example. Sunny beaches, water, etc. Culture that has some influences of eastern cultures.
I don't really have much in-depth thoughts to start this topic off with, but we'll see where it goes. I'm just mostly curious about what sort of settings people favor.
So, I was wondering what sort of RPG settings do you find the most interesting? You can go as far as describe any sort of setting you can imagine, but you can refer to the popular fantasy settings as well (ie. steampunk, scifi, etc.)
For myself: settings that I have liked and are first to come to my mind are the tropical settings in games like Breath of Fire IV (though it was a lot of sand in general?) and Final Fantasy X, for example. Sunny beaches, water, etc. Culture that has some influences of eastern cultures.
I don't really have much in-depth thoughts to start this topic off with, but we'll see where it goes. I'm just mostly curious about what sort of settings people favor.
author=Dudesoft
My next RPG will take place entirely inside a tavern. How's that for setting?
I really hope you're not kidding because that sounds fantastic.
Stew
0
I'm going to have to admit that I am horribly boring when it comes to my preferred setting. I was raised on Euro-centric medieval style fantasies and while I've seen about a bajillion different variations on a European castle by this point, I still tend to drift toward that setting when given the choice.
For instance (and mind you, this isn't an RPG) my first Total War game was Shogun 2. It's an excellent game and mechanically superior to a lot of the earlier iterations in many ways, but when Steam was having a sale on Medieval II: Total War I picked that up and haven't turned back.
Concurrently, my least favorite Final Fantasy's are the ones that moved away from that medieval-ish setting. The world of X was gorgeous, but bored me. Again, mostly cause I'm boring, lol.
For instance (and mind you, this isn't an RPG) my first Total War game was Shogun 2. It's an excellent game and mechanically superior to a lot of the earlier iterations in many ways, but when Steam was having a sale on Medieval II: Total War I picked that up and haven't turned back.
Concurrently, my least favorite Final Fantasy's are the ones that moved away from that medieval-ish setting. The world of X was gorgeous, but bored me. Again, mostly cause I'm boring, lol.
Dyhalto
7536
One of my projects that's pining for the fjords takes place in a modern (or slightly more 80s-90s) Japanese highschool + town + delinquents and all that good stuff.
Won't be able to start on it for awhile though :\
Won't be able to start on it for awhile though :\
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Current project is set in 1991 in a fictional country in eastern Europe. With demons.
This wasn't a random choice, nor was it something I chose purely for aesthetic purposes. I knew I wanted either a 20th century or steampunk setting, so that I could have a mad scientist type villain with crazy gadgets. Originally I was going to go with steampunk, because I didn't want all the characters to use guns, and I felt like bladed weapons and weird weapons made more sense in steampunk than in modern day, and because I wanted an evil government (which didn't seem seriously reasonable in the real world).
What made me choose a modern setting, and 1991 eastern Europe in particular, was that I realized that setting the game in a small former Soviet nation let me use all sorts of evil empire tropes in a realistic modern day setting. When I visited rural Romania as a kid in the mid 90s, the squalor there was mind-blowing, and everyone talked to us constantly about the atrocities committed by the government both before and after the fall of the USSR (since a lot of the same cruel people stayed in power for years after the fall, especially on the regional level). Protestors being run down by tanks, public mass executions after mock trials, that sort of thing. I'd never seen that combined with typical fantasy evil empire tropes before, but doing so made perfect sense to me. The only problem was the weapons, so I started coming up with non-firearm modern weapons for people - a combat knife, a chainsaw, explosives, martial arts, an ancient magical sword stolen from a museum, a ghostbusters plasma pack.
This wasn't a random choice, nor was it something I chose purely for aesthetic purposes. I knew I wanted either a 20th century or steampunk setting, so that I could have a mad scientist type villain with crazy gadgets. Originally I was going to go with steampunk, because I didn't want all the characters to use guns, and I felt like bladed weapons and weird weapons made more sense in steampunk than in modern day, and because I wanted an evil government (which didn't seem seriously reasonable in the real world).
What made me choose a modern setting, and 1991 eastern Europe in particular, was that I realized that setting the game in a small former Soviet nation let me use all sorts of evil empire tropes in a realistic modern day setting. When I visited rural Romania as a kid in the mid 90s, the squalor there was mind-blowing, and everyone talked to us constantly about the atrocities committed by the government both before and after the fall of the USSR (since a lot of the same cruel people stayed in power for years after the fall, especially on the regional level). Protestors being run down by tanks, public mass executions after mock trials, that sort of thing. I'd never seen that combined with typical fantasy evil empire tropes before, but doing so made perfect sense to me. The only problem was the weapons, so I started coming up with non-firearm modern weapons for people - a combat knife, a chainsaw, explosives, martial arts, an ancient magical sword stolen from a museum, a ghostbusters plasma pack.
ChuJooRi
1035
I like pretty much any type of setting, as long as it's done in an original way and has a good story. I wish there were more serious RPGs with modern or futuristic settings though, and not some semi futuristic setting that then becomes medieval like in Star Ocean.
I also like it when games have multiple settings. Like in Live A Live. The Science Fiction chapter in that game was the best part for me.
As far as my own games go, I don't really have a preferred setting that I want to use for my games. I like to have variety so I would probably go for a different setting between games. The game I'm currently working on is set in a post apocalyptic near future.
I also like it when games have multiple settings. Like in Live A Live. The Science Fiction chapter in that game was the best part for me.
As far as my own games go, I don't really have a preferred setting that I want to use for my games. I like to have variety so I would probably go for a different setting between games. The game I'm currently working on is set in a post apocalyptic near future.
Shinan
4314
One of the settings I like a lot is... large settings. Giant spaceships, giant cities, giant boats. Of course these things have to be small stories in giant spaces basically.
But for example the giant hive cities of Necromunda fascinate me greatly. Or the floating city in The Scar. Combine these things with some kind of neglect and that's pretty cool too. Exploring a vast abandoned place has a charm to it that, honestly, few games manage to capture but in my mind it's just so awesome.
Bioshock is another good setting. It's basically a "normal" place in a strange location. I imagine what an open-world "living" Rapture would have been like. But it also has the ingredients I like in abandonment and it is fairly large.
I suppose now that I think about it's not so much "large" but fantastical. But then I also like mundanity in my fantastical places. I'm fascinated by small stories in large areas (like I said). The story of a small area of a giant hive city. Just because a location is large doesn't mean you have to be in all of it. In fact it becomes even larger when you can only see it and not actually get to it.
Of course... I don't know. I can like almost any setting. It's all about the... graphics in the end. The graphics convey the setting. You could say I like... "gritty" and "realistic" settings. Even though stuff is fantastical I like it to feel plausible and "used". Like in Star Wars (the originals) where all the stuff was dirtied up and looked pretty used. So I'll be excited when a setting looks cool as well as sounds cool. If it only sounds cool but looks like anime rtp or if only looks cool but sounds like Forgotten Realms.
And I also like WW2. (but it was "gritty" wasn't it)
But for example the giant hive cities of Necromunda fascinate me greatly. Or the floating city in The Scar. Combine these things with some kind of neglect and that's pretty cool too. Exploring a vast abandoned place has a charm to it that, honestly, few games manage to capture but in my mind it's just so awesome.
Bioshock is another good setting. It's basically a "normal" place in a strange location. I imagine what an open-world "living" Rapture would have been like. But it also has the ingredients I like in abandonment and it is fairly large.
I suppose now that I think about it's not so much "large" but fantastical. But then I also like mundanity in my fantastical places. I'm fascinated by small stories in large areas (like I said). The story of a small area of a giant hive city. Just because a location is large doesn't mean you have to be in all of it. In fact it becomes even larger when you can only see it and not actually get to it.
Of course... I don't know. I can like almost any setting. It's all about the... graphics in the end. The graphics convey the setting. You could say I like... "gritty" and "realistic" settings. Even though stuff is fantastical I like it to feel plausible and "used". Like in Star Wars (the originals) where all the stuff was dirtied up and looked pretty used. So I'll be excited when a setting looks cool as well as sounds cool. If it only sounds cool but looks like anime rtp or if only looks cool but sounds like Forgotten Realms.
And I also like WW2. (but it was "gritty" wasn't it)
Killer Wolf
1235
I enjoy a good cyberpunk setting. Being a child of the 80's, I was raised on that image of the future, and I still like the opportunity to play around in it whenever possible.
Also, I find that when I try to place a project in a real setting, I end up spending inordinate amounts of time on research.
One example would be the Pulp Era Adventure RPG I wanted to do a few years back. It began with a battle to take a castle during World War I and then flitted around the globe, several years later, through Morroco and several other Indiana Jones-ish locales.
The plot concerned Ley lines. I researched a Ley map for the world, and picked locations along convergences for the story, then I read about those locations, looked at pictures, studied the history of them. I tried to find any local folklore that would tie in with my plot or give me puzzle ideas.
I have something like 128 meg of research, be it articles, pictures, saved web sites, on my hard drive for the game.
I had to stop and ask myself, did I want to write a term paper or an rpg?
I'm not saying a well thought out setting is a bad thing for a game, quite the opposite, but in my case it was extremely distracting from what I originally set out to do.
Also, I find that when I try to place a project in a real setting, I end up spending inordinate amounts of time on research.
One example would be the Pulp Era Adventure RPG I wanted to do a few years back. It began with a battle to take a castle during World War I and then flitted around the globe, several years later, through Morroco and several other Indiana Jones-ish locales.
The plot concerned Ley lines. I researched a Ley map for the world, and picked locations along convergences for the story, then I read about those locations, looked at pictures, studied the history of them. I tried to find any local folklore that would tie in with my plot or give me puzzle ideas.
I have something like 128 meg of research, be it articles, pictures, saved web sites, on my hard drive for the game.
I had to stop and ask myself, did I want to write a term paper or an rpg?
I'm not saying a well thought out setting is a bad thing for a game, quite the opposite, but in my case it was extremely distracting from what I originally set out to do.
I should make a game based on Kalevala (Finnish epic poetry)
But it wouldn't look really serious, and you would see Väinämöinen doing a heavy metal guitar solo.
(Not that it wouldn't be awesome to see something like that)
But it wouldn't look really serious, and you would see Väinämöinen doing a heavy metal guitar solo.
(Not that it wouldn't be awesome to see something like that)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Killer Wolf, you're more dedicated than me. Even though I'm setting my game in a real world setting that I'm honestly less familiar with than the average person, my standard method of "research" is to make it however I think is probably about right, and then post it on RMN and see if anyone tells me it's wrong. (So far this has successfully gotten me to make my streets narrower, and unsuccessfully tried to get me to remove the picket fence from around the main character's house)
I often look up pictures of the types of areas my dungeons are set in so I can make the maps look decent and get ideas for map doodads, but a google image search for "naval base" is usually about as far as that kind of research goes.
I often look up pictures of the types of areas my dungeons are set in so I can make the maps look decent and get ideas for map doodads, but a google image search for "naval base" is usually about as far as that kind of research goes.
I like modern games, or sci-fi games, even when the reason it's sci-fi doesn't make sense.
My game right now is in a computer generated medieval world. COMPUTER-GENERACEPTION...
Well, after that randomness, I also like to say that after this, I want to bring my idea of the whole world map being a ring of land to come true.
Fuck the players my minions! Kill them...after flying out of that ring.
My game right now is in a computer generated medieval world. COMPUTER-GENERACEPTION...
Well, after that randomness, I also like to say that after this, I want to bring my idea of the whole world map being a ring of land to come true.
author=Happy
what sort of RPG settings do you find the most interesting? You can go as far as describe any sort of setting you can imagine, but you can refer to the popular fantasy settings as well (ie. steampunk, scifi, etc.)
I like modern settings most. Or horror, or 1700s - 1980s settings.
...Or culturally accurate settings that are interesting. Like Latin America, Poland, India, ancient China, ancient Egypt, England, etc. :)
I don't really play RPGs much though. And tbh... i think that's partly because a lot seem to be fantasy-oriented + time-consuming...
i've only played 2 fantasy titles: Lost Kingdoms 1+2 and Kingdom Hearts 1+2 lol...
author=Darkflamewolf
@Great Red Spirit: Where is this game? I absolutely must play it! :P
Tengai Makou IV The Apocalypse. HG101 has an article on it but unfortnuately it's never been translated into English.
My favorite setting is modern + fantasy elements. Like... it looks exactly like our real world, but there's something else. It can be vampires, wizards, monsters, whatever. Just make sure it's actually modern, like... there are cellphones, elevators, TV, etc. Some settings feel very medieval despite using Theodore modern graphics.
I don't know what my game's setting is. There are guns, which are being favored over bows and crossbows currently, there is some modern technology, power plants use weird unstable crystals to produce electricity, the buildings are between medieval and modern, average townspeople dress in clothes common in 60-90s.
My conclusion.
My conclusion.
