Setting details: How much is too much?

Sykoholic · Post by **Sykoholic** » Mon Jan 27, 2003 10:15 am

I'm currently working on a city sourcebook, adapting a real-world city to a ficticious setting and I've run into a bit of a snag. I'm working on the city's geography and I'm not sure what I should include. There are the obvious locations and landmarks that the city is known for but I'm unsure if these will be enough. I'd like to give as much detail about the city as possible yet at the same time, I don't want to totally swamp the supposed reader with mind-numbing amounts of trivial information. How much is too much and where does one draw the line?

paladin2019 · Post by **paladin2019** » Mon Jan 27, 2003 10:33 am

Is this for publication or for your own campaign?

Sykoholic · Post by **Sykoholic** » Mon Jan 27, 2003 11:09 am

It's for my own personal enjoyment though I may make it into an ebook when/if completed.

paladin2019 · Post by **paladin2019** » Mon Jan 27, 2003 7:17 pm

In that case, enough is what you need to run the city smoothly. I know I have considerable notes for locations I run frequently. I've also found that I can leave a lot unwritten to begin with as my players will invariably bring details and people to life for me. Sal the deli-guy, the backroom of the local strip joint/meet spot, the 6th Street Clinic, all these things owe their existence in large part to the players. I find that a bare bones approach to location building and copious notes from the players' activities is the easiest method.

Now, if you don't have anyone to play in your game or this isn't your style of GMing, I'd say you need to take all of this into account. I don't think you can get too big in this situation.

Sykoholic · Post by **Sykoholic** » Wed Jan 29, 2003 7:09 am

paladin2019 wrote:..... if you don't have anyone to play in your game or this isn't your style of GMing, I'd say you need to take all of this into account. I don't think you can get too big in this situation.

That's pretty much the problem. I'm not really writing this for my game par se. Rather, I'm writing it as though other people were going to use it for their games. That being the case, should I just include the major real-world locations and as you say..... leave alot unwritten and let the players bring the people and details to life? Or should I fill in the details myself so that they remain consistent with the established story?