Small Worldism: A Method for Campaign Setting Inspiration

One of the best ways to come up with a campaign setting is to get down to ground level and imagine the miniature landscape in one's immediate vicinity scaled up to 100 or 1000 times its actual size. Let's call this method, 'Small Worldism'.

Earlier this week I visited Iwaisaki, an cape of unusual rock formations off the coast near my wife's hometown. In an earlier life, she and I spent hours swimming in its stunningly clear waters, occasionally stepping back onto dry land to lazily drink beer and sunbathe. Now, with two young kids in tow, we mostly spent our time there chasing them around making sure they didn't slip or hurt themselves. But I did manage to take some low level photos to illustrate what I mean. 

First, then, the overview. What we see here is clearly a vast lagoon, perhaps dozens of miles across, and surrounded by mighty rocky cliffs. At the base of these cliffs are many sea caves within which can be found entire city-states - their inhabitants trade and war with each other with armadas of vessels that continually traverse its vast expanse. (There also, naturally, here and there lurk pirates, too.) Higher up these cliffs lurk monsters, dragons, harpies, and the like. In the depths of the lagoon are crab-men, sahuagin, aquatic elves, tritons - the whole marine shebang. And on top of the cliffs are huge expanses of arid, barren badlands populated by savage tribes, outcasts and outlaws, and dotted with - natch - lost civilisations and ruins. 

Here, up close, are the sea cliffs - can't you just imagine tiny sailing ships swarming around the water beneath these towering, mile-high monoliths? Can't you just imagine dragons, manticores, hydras, harpies,  lairing in caves and cracks in their huge and variegated faces? Can't you imagine tribes of troglodytes or spider-goblins lurking there too? 

In case further evidence was needed, just take a look at some of the caves on offer and imagine what might be found inside if they were a dozen, or a hundred, yards wide:

Beyond the cliffs themselves is a huge arid wasteland of great ravines and ridges, populated by aforementioned savages - not to mention basilisk lizards, giant antlions, probably also dinosaurs, paranoid isolationist cults, liches, mummies, and formians:

Up close you can see what the terrain would be like - riven with huge crevasses and ravines, constantly subject to landslides and collapses, and terribly dangerous to traverse:

Throw in some other risks and interesting flavour ideas and you have the icing on the cake. Maybe the region is swept periodically by tidal waves and storms which cause all the inhabitants to search for shelter for weeks on end. Maybe everybody is dependent on rainwater to survive, since the entire area lacks rivers or other sources of freshwater. Maybe the depths of the lagoon harbour not just aquatic humanoids but also kraken, or leviathans, or undersea gods. Maybe there is a huge whirlpool at the centre. Maybe to make their boats the people of the sea caves are dependent on a precarious trade in wood with whoever inhabits the forested region inland... 

And so the thoughts go on. I daresay you could have as much fun in your back garden, though undoubtedly wild or rural areas are going to provide the most inspirational ammunition.