I like to work like this: I give the basic information to the players. One single page of 8.5 x 11 with all the info they certainly know. I tell them everything that is outstanding. How many moons, color of the sky, name of the main constellations if they are relevant. Any info about the basic religion, main genesis myth everything relevant for the first adventure and their basic character creation. This page is info that even a farmer knows.

Then I let them create their characters and ask me all the questions they want. I keep note of my answers in a form of a Q&A by email (or my own private website for my group).

This method works for both Homebrew settings and really odd settings.

I make sure the first adventures are introductory to the tone of the setting and the campaign so they know what's going on. I once started a campaign by a paladin executing a child in public for stealing food from the Temple. I wanted the players to understand that in my setting, alignments are more complicated than they look.

My biggest piece of advice would be: Don't take all the job on your shoulders. This is obviously optional, but if you create the broad strokes for a game setting and you say something like: Elves are the dominant race in a world of floating islands, humans are haunted for their skins and orcs are invading the world from the moon with their army of jetpack wearing soldiers. That's all good. But leave it like that. When questions arise about the world, turn the question back to the players and use their answer. Build the world with them. When you know something and you're sure about your answer and how to portray the world, just do it. But in doubt, turn the question to the players. Their character will certainly know better.

You're trying to railroad the game when the players are telling you very loudly where they want the campaign to go instead. Take them there.

If the NPCs are boring you, that's a different problem. Be sure you're making NPCs that engage you and not just your players. You have to enjoy the game too.

To run an interesting socially-focused game, you might need to learn how to use a few tools.

• Challenging situations made from social connections can be made using PC-NPC-PC triangles—but don't intentionally make life-or-death situations out of them unless you want a bloodbath; save life-and-death for external threats to the social group.

• In a game with a big stable of NPCs in a complex set of social relationships, maps of the land become far less important than maps of the social situation, and you can use relationship maps (like this one) to keep track of how everyone is connected and feels about each other.

And if, in the end, you don't want at all to play a game that is heavily focused on personal relationships and social interactions, sit down and talk with your players about what kind of game you can all enjoy. Putting a collar around their neck and dragging them toward the plot won't be fun for them or (as you've been learning) for you either.