The Kernel of a Game: Setting I (Focus Area)

Each campaign setting is far larger than you can use in one game feasibly. In this step, you want to pick an area to focus on: not to say that your campaign will be restricted to that area, but the majority of the campaign and story will focus on this setting in some way. The players should come to know this area through the campaign: they will become familiar with its' inhabitants and foibles, forge friendships and make enemies, and feel like it is their home.

This focus area can be of varying sizes, each of which introduces different concerns and possibilities. In order from largest to smallest, these are the categories of focus areas:

Geographical Region: This region is either a disparate geographical region or country. However, for narrative usage, its' boundaries are not actually based upon geography: it will be far richer narratively if you instead define it as a sociocultural entity. Why? The usage of this area is sociocultural and narrative, not geographic --- we'll get into this further in future installments. The upside of the geographical region is that it gives you a lot of space to work within: you can sacrifice entire towns and cities for narrative purposes, and include that cool wizard's tower you've had in your head for a month or so. The downside is that the large space tends to weaken the bonds your players have to the area --- you'll want to supplement this with a very strong home base, as we'll describe next installment. Use geographical regions for D&D games; Vampire is near antithetical to them. Examples: The Silver Marches (Forgotten Realms), Aundair (Eberron), the American Midwest or Ohio (The World of Darkness).

City: This region is a large community, with more than one easily-identifiable district (ie: the west side and the east side of the tracks, or the Bohemian District and Uptown). The city has a lot to do with the geographical area, and both can be used similarily. The difference is mainly one of scale: you're dealing with local governments and resources, as opposed to national governments and entire mobilized countries. This is especially apparent for World of Darkness games, which usually have no level of government above the municipal level (and as such, a geographical region involves working with multiple city governments). The downside to this level is that it's sometimes difficult to incorporate ideas: you may have an excellent idea for an adventure using a shadow government, but there may be no way to include it in your local polity. Use this category for World of Darkness, Vampire, and Mage games. Each of Eberron and the Forgotten Realms have one city that can also be used for a city-based campaign, listed below. Examples: Waterdeep (Forgotten Realms), Sharn (Eberron), Chicago (World of Darkness).

Community: A community is either a town or single district of a city. It should have no major divisions within it. Use a community when the basic region is to be homogeneous: it should be thematically coherent, without deviations, and should also be extremely sociologically coherent. The best reason to use a community is when the characters are all part of one group arrayed against another in the city or geographic reason, for example: holy crusaders against undead, one gang in an inner-city conflict, or one covenant or order against (an)other(s). Examples Blingdenstone (Forgotten Realms), Stormreach (Eberron), Haight-Ashbury (World of Darkness).

Select whichever one of these most appeals to you based upon your interest in the campaign setting, and which matches your campaign concept the best. Don't worry about player safety in it yet: that's the function of the next step, the home base.