The Setting as a character in the story

Making locations memorable is a challenge in RPG games. Often times the adventure takes place in what is largely an ignored theatrical backdrop. Most players space out during the overwritten descriptions of port towns and forbidden castles we as storytellers work so hard on, just barely paying attention in the off chance our descriptions hold campaign relevant information or clues. indeed in most situations the setting is as important as the stage scenery is to a play.

I found that often in my games this occurred for two reasons:

1. The flowery backstory of the town had no influence whatsoever on the experiences the players.

2. There is a lot of assumption that occurs both on the part of players and storytellers as to what different settings are supposed to be like.


To address these issues I came up with an anthropological approach to location building.

First, I thought of the history of the place, comparing it to similar locations from real life and creating location features based on that. (of course this does not apply to deserted castles and the like)

For example, If a city was on a river I would change the way the gods were worshiped and viewed to reflect a fisherman's way of life. If a town was on the border with a hostile nation I would make REAL xenophobia something the party had to contend with.

in short think of the location like a character in the story, think of how what has occurred in that location influences its traits. If the landscape itself comes alive with its history and is unique because of it, the players will interact with it and remember it

Also places do not just sprout up and then stay stagnant, they change, they have bad years and good years, bad leaders and good leaders.

think about these things and come up with the evolution of an important location that you will probably never tell your players outright. just create the history so you know how it is different from other places. When all is said and done making interactional features of the city unique is what will make it memorable.

Secondly, If there are assumptions at play, challenge them. I am not recommending making your locations completely unpredictable or without similarity to others. However, if every town functions much the same as the last, no amount of flowery description will make the players remember it much past the session.

instead of a Governor have a council of elders.

if the town is on a border between two cultures blend the styles of dress and the laws.

Change the festivals, change the laws. What if a town of farmers allows no one to carry weapons inside it for fear of losing their freedom. what if a abandoned castle full of monsters and treasure has a small squatter community living outside of it. Another way to do this is change the religious affiliations, a dark god for some may be a primal protector for others. all of these things plus many more could be implemented but in order for them to have an effect they must be more than backstory, they must influence the party. Make sure if the town is hostile to X country if you have a knight of that country in the party that he meets with realistic animosity and lack of hospitality. if the party is in a far flung fantastic city, make sure exotic events are common to their experience.

a common oversight is that many storytellers let the party walk around fully equipped all the time. having to take off weapons and armor to meet with leaders and questgivers not only makes the experiences more realistic but forces the party to think on their feet if problems should arise.



A perfect example: In a game I played in the party had taken refuge in a small elf village deep in the jungle that believed the ending of life was a solemn and grave matter. Like the blue kitty people in Avatar they cherished life and would only kill for food. All crimes were either punished by community service or exile. When asked how we had gotten there our paladin described in heroic detail the swathe of destruction we had carved through the "monsters" of the forest to get away from the other humans we had been fighting as part of a war campaign. The DM made the revelation of that knowledge change the way the elves treated us. They knew we were outsiders but now they knew we were murderers and while they were cordial and allowed us to resupply, their children ran away from us and they were quick to send us on our way. The DM could have expedited the process and let our party pass through the town without really interacting with it, But by doing that he made it memorable and taught us a lesson about how our heroism could be perceived as villainy by others.

too often what kills locations is the generic nature of the interactions regardless of the descriptions.