Craigp

Craigp, 1 hour ago

For example, if you make an ancient villain dragon that runs the kingdom of Plurpelurple, your setting is now

a world

where a dragon runs a country.

This instantly changes every dynamic. It changes how everyone lives, it changes what other countries are concerned about and who runs them, it changes how nobility and succession work, it changes what backgrounds, classes, and abilities are frowned on or smiled on by which groups...

Craigp, 1 hour ago

But more importantly, this is a world where a king can be an ancient dragon.

This creates a vibe that sets it apart from The Standard Book Settings, and allows you to easily spin up a whole bevy of related themes.

For example, how does wealth work? How do people feel about wealth?

How does ethnocentrism work? How do people feel about nonhumanoid sentient creatures?

You can decide in any direction you like, all anchored in "dragon king".

Craigp, 1 hour ago

Now, technically the dragon king doesn't have to be a villain to have this effect on the setting... but villains are extremely useful because they bring the setting to the players.

If there's a dragon king, uh... over there, nice to meet you, I guess... hey dragon king, sure we'll kill a necromancer bothering your people, sure-

The aspects of the setting that the dragon king drives fall into the background. The players have no reason to care about or be affected by them.

Craigp, 1 hour ago

Coming up with a cool setting is a fun exercise, but in a tabletop game, a huge part of that is making the players care.

And the number one way to make the players care is to give them something to engage with.

In a D&D-style game, that means... yup. Enemies. Both in terms of what they can do and in terms of how the setting responds to what they can do.

Enemies are how your setting communicates and attaches to the players.

And villains are the biggest enemies.

Craigp, 1 hour ago

To be frank, anyone capable of being an ongoing threat to a band of murder hobos is definitely government-grade. At least town-sheriff grade, even for level ones.

Dropping in villains that seem to have no particular authority is very weird, because anything that can threaten five rampaging monster slayers is by definition more dangerous and more notable than them.