what makes a good setting?

Unfortunately the answer to your question is a subjective one.
A more useful question would be to ask, "what do YOU like in a setting".

Internal consistency.

Everything else is personal preference.

>>53572372
The guy GMing it.

>>53572372
Contains enough elements which relate to the game's main conflict in order to make an interesting situation

>>53572513
>>53572533
true

>>53572372
Consistent themes, interesting conflicts.

>>53572372
internal consistency
an externally recognisable purpose/design

It needs to have shades of grey that make almost everybody at least partly relatable.

>>53572372
everything everyone has said is definitely right but something i want to add is you need an old dead empire of some description. Haveing such a plot element is reason for the creation of magic items the reason for lost gold and ancient trapped dungeons so on

>>53572372
Memes

>>53574349
forgot to mention this also applies to sci-fi, star wars had the Jedi order where Lord of the Rings had the ancient elven and dwarven city's

I'd also like to add a degree of ambiguity to the workings of the setting to give the DM and players some wiggle room for roleplaying.

For example, is Gthnr the Undying really undying? Is he simply a title handed down from archmage to archmage? Did he ever exist in the first place? That sort of ambiguity and mystery allows the GM and players to decide who or what Gthnr is (or was), rather than having to deal with a set-in-stone Gthnr that behaves according to whatever the writers have in mind. Granted, you should have some definitive institutions and features to give a framework for the game, but beyond that the players and GM should be able to fill in the blanks according to their preferences.

>>53572856
How many shades of grey? I've heard 50 is a good number.

>>53574770
Top comment material.

There's gotta be stuff to do.

>>53572372
violence, sex and covfefe

>>53572372
Opportunity for adventure hooks. There needs to be monsters to be fought, undiscovered lands to explore, political intrigue to be had, and treasure to line one's pockets with. The world needs to be filled with people, factions, and nations all trying to achieve something. There are dungeons and ruins and forests replete with great danger and even greater rewards. Dark forces must loom somewhere, biding their time to wreak havoc upon innocent people. The world does not stand still when the players rest, old adventure hooks are resolved without the PCs and new ones become available as circumstances change.

The best settings are the ones where there's always something interesting or important to do.

>>53572372
>pic
"MAGIC SUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS"

honestly from what I have seen and played, lore is where it's at.

make your own, and try to integrate the player's ideas and background stories as seamlessly as possible.

>>53574475
New DM here. I really like this advice, thanks.

>>53575804
WHAT THE HELL MAGINA.

SERIOUSLY?

>>53575804
>>53576471

I bet you fags don't even know Kael and if you do it's from WoW.

And that's terrible.

>>53577385
>implying I didn't play WC3 in its entirety
>implying the joke isn't that Kael's model is used for Invoker in the original DotA
I laugh in the face of danger! HAHAHAHA!

>>53577570
Hwat hwat hwat?

Woopheehee hahaha.

Don't run, we are your friends.

>>53572513
What if my universe is consistently inconsistent?

1) Consistent internal logic. The history of the setting should be an unbroken line of cause and effect, or action and reaction. If it's a human empire but there's dwarven ruins, explain where the dwarves went. Of course, you don't have to explain this all up-front—perhaps the sudden discovery of the dwarven ruins are a mystery to the players and NPCs alike—but have some kind of answer prepared.

2) Personal potential. What can a player do in your world? If they want to be X, what avenues are available for them to do so? If it's a class-based game, sit down and think about the possible backgrounds and place in society for every single class. The more variety, the better. This will prevent players from feeling pigeonholed and being "just another outlander barbarian" in your world. Give them inherent options.

3) Open possibility space. This is why big worlds are better—more to do, more to imagine, more to invent and present to your players. If it's possible for your players to really "see it all" and "do it all," it's not a good world. Make sure your world has baked-in elements of volatility that can manifest when this risk rears its head. Maybe a revolution is brewing? Maybe the plot of a cult is finally coming to fruition? Plan for a future in this world where everything could change.

All other things are subjective, but these three tenets are big, I think.

File: when his voice is pure sex.png (598KB, 722x525px) Image search: [Google]

598KB, 722x525px

>>53578062
INDUBITABILY.

>>53578187
That in itself is a form of consistency