Campaign setting
Fictional worlds for tabletop role-playing and wargame campaigns.
A campaign setting is the fictional world in which tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaigns take place. Most such settings are imaginary worlds, though some are based on historical or contemporary real-world locations. They are typically designed for a specific game or genre, and many are available for purchase or created by game masters as homebrew settings.
Quick Facts
- Field
- Tabletop role-playing games and wargames
Facts from the source article.
Types of setting
Some games and settings are exclusive to each other, such as Warhammer. Other games, like Dungeons & Dragons or generic systems such as GURPS or Fudge, support multiple settings. Stand-alone settings can be used with various game systems; some originate in fiction, like Star Wars or Middle-earth, while others, like Hârn, are designed specifically for gaming. Games scholar Nikolai Butler distinguished homebrewed and official campaign settings. According to games journalist David M. Ewalt, established settings offer professionally designed material, whereas homebrew settings allow greater freedom and personal investment from the game master.
Early history of genres (1970s-1990s)
The earliest role-playing settings from the early 1970s, including World of Greyhawk and Blackmoor, drew on fantasy literature by authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Common fantasy elements in these settings include magic, supernatural creatures like dragons and elves, and technology similar to medieval Europe. Over time, fantasy role-playing developed sub-genres such as dark fantasy, high fantasy, and science fantasy. Ars Magica popularized fantasy set within real-world history, and later games brought fantasy into the present day with urban fantasy or into the future with cyberpunk.
Science fiction settings, typically set in the future, feature futuristic technology, alien life, and space travel, with psionic abilities often replacing magic. The first science fiction role-playing settings appeared with Metamorphosis Alpha in 1976 and Traveller in 1977, the latter introducing the Third Imperium setting with multiple worlds and alien races. Gamma World in 1978 replaced traditional fantasy elements with post-apocalyptic pseudo-science.
The success of Star Wars led to many science fiction settings in the 1980s, often detailing military or trading operations. Historical games set in Earth's past include Pendragon (Arthurian), Sengoku (Japanese warring states), Recon (Vietnam War), and Tibet (historical Tibet).
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