In Defense of Fantasy Kitchen Sink Settings

In this video, I will rant about my questionable tastes in settings.

[GrimGoblinLives]

"It's popular to dunk on Golarion" Well that explains why Pathfinder fanbase can be...intense.

[vde]

I'm not an especially experienced role player/GM, but while I imagine that a more grounded and holistic setting can be better for deep drama/political intrigue/empire building type stuff, if you're just running around adventuring (as most people do) a kitchen sink world seems generally better.

[Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

The problem with kitchen sink, is that its hard to make the completion of a campaign by the players have a true impact on the broader world. Because every bit of the world is so bloody diverse, it's hard for the GM to visualize what sort of butterfly effect might take place, without it just being "cosmic wizardry saved the universe yet again" without going into too much detail.

Then players wonder why the wizard didn't just solve the problem to begin with. The GM has to explain that the wizard is a nihilist. :P

[Gwythaintny]

I run a Dungeon Fantasy kitchen sink world as a pbp. There are three nearby human nations with their own cultures along with small enclaves from groups further afield; there is all manner of non human folks about with thrir own origins and cultures; a lot has been shaped by 11 years of players.

[Rynewulf]

'This fantasy world is unrealistically diverse!'
Points to the real life 200+ countries, many with more than one culture present.
Man sweaty nerds can be so dumb sometimes

[GrahamFryeJr]

My GURPS game is set in Golarion, mostly. I just visit and draw inspiration from the parts that interest me and don't worry about the rest. I find that a handy side of kitchen sinks.

[yuri_art_]

I guess I just discovered that my setting is "kitchen sink".
Or better yet, the real world is kitchen sink 🤣

[FaoladhTV]

I agree. The argument that the Forgotten Realms is bad because of too many "races" or whatever is one that doesn't work for me. Heck, I prefer the World of Greyhawk, which is also full of "races", though a somewhat different set of them, but the "kitchen-sinkiness", as it were, of one or the other has nothing to do with it. (I just prefer how much closer Oerth is to the hobby's wargaming roots.)

[liquidcitrus]

"I still have many years of life ahead of me."

My man don't death flag yourself like that.

[Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

So video presenter's point is that setting doesn't limit the GM's ability to improvise? Okay, but I still want to say that India and China are separated by the Himalayan mountains, with neither civilization being particularly marine oriented, and that's why they're so different from one another.

Even so, buddhism still made it to china from india, so a setting that's "realistic" ought to include some similarities between different ends of the cultural spectrum, so to speak. Knights and samurai are another example, even though the japanese and europeans never interacted until the 1500s (though this has to do more with shared human species political and martial psychology). My point is that there's consistency within the world, that enables this diversity without it being "diverse for the sake of it".

[Joshuazx]

Kitchen Sinks have pros, but I do not like them.