Perpetually Under Construction

I spent some of the past weekend playing around a bit more with Hexographer in order to finish off the last few sections of the initial starting area for the Dwimmermount campaign. The area is (obviously) based on the Outdoor Survival map, with some tweaks here and there. It represents most of the ideas I had when I started the campaign, though, in all honesty, very little of what you see on the map are more than names.

Throughout the course of the campaign (still sadly on hiatus owing to scheduling issues), the PCs didn't venture farther into the world than south of Yethlyreom (labeled "Temple of the Moon" on the map) or farther north than the southernmost edge of the Evensong Woods. Most of the action in the game took place in either Dwimmermount proper, nearby Muntburg, or Adamas, with a few visits to Yethlyreom. So, the farther you get from those areas, the less detail you're likely to see on the map.

 I'd be reluctant to say the above was an "accurate" map of my campaign setting, mostly because it's pretty sketchy even after 2+ years of regular play. It's probably truer to say that it's a snapshot of what I, as the referee, know about the world outside of Dwimmermount right now. In actual play, though, some of what I think I know might change, whether by being expanded upon, modified, or outright contradicted. Until something on this map has definitively appeared in play, it's all just conjecture as far as I'm concerned.

As a younger man, I could never have tolerated such an approach to campaign setting design. I needed to know, now, what was beyond that mountain range or across that sea -- and not because I actually worried that the PCs might somehow wind up there in the next session and I didn't want to be caught flatfooted. No, I saw setting design as an end in itself and so I'd spend hours upon hours trying to flesh out every last nook and cranny of these worlds I'd created. Increasingly, I don't see the point in that kind of exercise, but then I'm also neither 14 with infinite time on my hands nor do I see myself as a Tolkien-in-the-making.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, I don't think there's anything wrong with alternate approaches to world design; they're simply not for me. Of all the lessons I've learned since coming back to old school gaming, it's keeping the focus on actual play that has had the greatest impact on me. If I'm not likely to need something for the next session or two, I generally don't bother with it. Plus, I get a thrill out of seeing what pours of my subconscious when I have to invent something right then and there in order to keep playing. It's not to everyone's taste, but I love it.