Crafting a Homebrew Campaign... by making the players do the work

About a year ago, I managed to get a spot as Dungeon Master (DM) at a friendly local game store (FLGS).  The Players Handbook and Basic Rules for D&D 5th Edition were available and the store owner needed a dependable, experienced DM to step in and teach the game.  I didn't want to use a published campaign setting, even though I noticed early on that 5th edition was compatible with everything ever published for D&D.  In the interest of full disclosure, I've been converting D&D and AD&D since the mid 1980's.  It really is one of my favorite things about role-playing games (RPGs); that is mixing and matching bits and bobs between game systems and genres.

Just as I started to plot how I was going to pull together a group of strangers and get them to build a brand-new campaign world, I discovered A Spark In Fate Core from Genesis of Legend Publishing.  I streamlined the process outlined in the booklet and while my brand-new players started creating characters together, I presented them with a challenge... "We're going to build our own D&D campaign," I said.  "Think of TV series, movie, story, book, song, poem, or piece of art that you really love - THIS is your SOURCE.  Then think of a particular trope or bit of that SOURCE that you'd like to add to the campaign setting... THIS is your ASPECT. Once character creation is done, we'll mix the ASPECTs together and frame the campaign based on your respective contributions."

Remember that the most important thing about playing RPGs is that you should have fun playing RPGs.  If you aren't having fun, then you're doing a chore.  Chores and fun don't really mix together (IMHO).   

So as the character creation phase neared completion, I started checking with my players and writing notes about their  SOURCES and ASPECTS.  One player chose Star Trek: TNG as his SOURCE and the Maqui as his ASPECT.  Before the campaign began in earnest, we had a civil war going on.  I was excited about this turn of fate.  Another player chose The Marvel Comics assassin Deadpool as his SOURCE, and together we laid the foundation of an assassins guild.  Now on the DM's side of the screen, I was busy adding a secret to each ASPECT, something cool and dramatic and surprising that would be revealed during the campaign.  We ended up with a D&D campaign of airships, a secretive Elvish resistance front, a federation of 1,000 tiny islands controlled by the military arm of a a religious sect, headed up by the Dragonborn.  We played for twelve weeks and had a grand time.  I diligently stayed away from the idea of "no" during the campaign.  Instead, I ventured into undiscovered territory... "Yes, and then," became my mantra.  And when one PC folded 1,000 paper umbrellas, and hoped for a wish, I gave that character his heart's desire.  That's when the campaign really came off the rails, so to speak.  

All told we had grand time.  The average turn out for the game was ten players.

A Spark in Fate Core  is free to download.  It is designed for use with Fate Core from Evil Hat Productions, but as I explained, it worked out well when we used it to craft our D&D campaign setting.