Curious to know how other GMs go about designing and filling out their campaigns with different material like items, NPCs, locations, etc. I’ve traditionally gone very deep and sometimes even granular (much to my own detriment because I bite off more than I can chew sometimes), and try to build out enough material to establish the setting and make everyone feel “unique” to the campaign setting.
What do you find works best for you? How deep do you like to go when building out the setting and materials? Are there any specific elements you focus more on as opposed to others?
My preference is to take an established setting and run a game in that. The most prep I did for one of my games was my Dresden Files games set in our home town. I looked into local legends and planned a bunch of character details and motivations.
In general I try to do as little as possible and improvise most things. Usually I’ll have some NPCs or factions with some motivations and plans. Maybe a few thoughts about where the players are heading next.