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Tanuki Tales
2017-05-05, 07:42 PM
When you all go about creating a brand new world to set your games in, how do you all go about it and where do you start? Do you do small scope and then build outwards, or large scope and go downwards?

Afgncaap5
2017-05-05, 07:45 PM
When you all go about creating a brand new world to set your games in, how do you all go about it and where do you start? Do you do small scope and then build outwards, or large scope and go downwards?

Usually, I don't make the whole world. I tend to make areas. Like, the Town of New Brexton was sort of based off of the Steampunk novel Boneshaker, and was more or less just a gigantic city where the inhabitants had become undead creatures. Sadly, people still needed to find these four or five asteroids that the city had, each of which granting knowledge of, and power within, certain kinds of magic (life, secrets, fire, time, and the "lost stone of power unknown" that was known to have once existed but no real records existed about it.)

Koo Rehtorb
2017-05-05, 07:53 PM
I start with asking for player input.

Anonymouswizard
2017-05-05, 09:16 PM
I start by coming up with the main idea for the setting (steampunk with focus on the steam, fantasy with a focus on magitech, cyberpunk, Redwall with good rats, discount Lensman, whatever strikes me), and then generally what kind of campaign I want to run.

After all that I might detail the starting area and have loose notes about other places in the game. So I might go into who the major factions in the campaign city are, or what the structure of the space station is, or of there really are dragons in the forest of doom.

However, nothing is set in stone and can be shifted by the players, even if it suits the genre sightly. If a player or two want noble characters native to the city, there's suddenly native noble houses even if there weren't before. If a player wants to play a mage in what was a low fantasy setting there's now a wizard's school or underground network of occultists. If a player in a science fiction game wants to be a priest who receives spells from their good a veto is used, but I'm more than willing to hack in psionics, megacorps, cybernetics, or any aliens needed for a player.

However I also ideally use the character's backstories to flesh out 'places and faces' if at all possible, as well as letting players suggest them. Sure, I can come up with the major as an independent character, but if a player have me a backstory where they're betrayed by a screening politician then I can use that character and have done plot hooks ready to go.

Piedmon_Sama
2017-05-05, 11:59 PM
let me put it as briefly as possible.... "ass backwards"

Well, okay, so usually the first thing I come up with is generally what the high concept for the campaign will be. By that I mean something like, "mystery solving," "classic dungeoncrawl," "wilderness exploration" etc. (usually something more complex than that actually---like a classic dungeoncrawl that turns into an investigation game or something faffy and high-fallutin' like that). Then I pitch the game to my friends. If they would buy into the tag line (never guaranteed) I have them roll up characters. Usually the world grows from the characters; so for example if someone wants to play an ogre samurai from a kingdom of ogre samurai, the campaign world will grow around the idea of a kingdom of ogre samurai.

My current Pathfinder campaign is something of a departure from that. That's because it's probably best described as a big slapping together of long-dormant, usually nonspecific ideas I've had for D&D settings before (like the Giants being an ancient antediluvian empire or replacing the usual pantheon of gods with a bunch of once-mortal saints).

Thrudd
2017-05-06, 12:47 AM
Start with what game you mean for the setting to be played in. Determine what elements of the game you definitely want to include, what elements definitely need to be included for the game to work as intended, and what elements are malleable. If it's a completely open, generic game system that can do anything, well then you can go to town and be as creative as you want with the setting. However, even generic systems have some elements that might influence the tone of the setting if not its exact contents.

If you're using a system like D&D, with built-in setting assumptions, you need to decide how the game's assumptions will be integrated into your world - the classes, the magic system, the concept of "adventurers", treasure and levels, etc. Ideally it will be a setting that seamlessly explains and utilizes the game elements so that good player decisions are identical to good in-character decisions.

raygun goth
2017-05-06, 01:30 AM
I start on both ends. One small for my players, and one extreme out for me. I prefer to know how the physics work, because that makes societies, architecture, and so on grow organically.

Yora
2017-05-06, 01:42 AM
First thing is to decide what kind of world you want. What I find very useful is to then make a list of existing worlds with a similar style that I can search through for ideas and elements I want to have in my setting as well. It also really helps to know what kind of campaign you want to run, because this helps you knowing what elements you need to concentrate on. A pirate campaign needs very different things detailed than a dwarf campaign.

When it comes to start on actually putting the ideas together I first begin with making all the stuff that is not a map: What races are in the world, what is the technology and society like, what kind of magic is there, how are gods part of things, what are the prominent monsters and so on. When I have that, I start to think what countries and cities I want to have and after that try to roughly arrange them on world map, but without any details yet about history or politics.

Once I know what the world will be like I can begin with a single small area that is worked out in detail because that's where the players will be playing. For far away places where the players won't be visiting for the forseeable future I really don't need any specific and detailed further information.

Hopeless
2017-05-06, 03:28 AM
Have you listened to the Ideology of Madness podcast?
They went through quite a few episodes discussing their savage world game settings so far Knights of Reignsborough and Star Trek Aegean.
It's worth listening to for ideas!

For me pick two of your favourite TV, movie or book series and establish a setting about that before you discuss it with your players I did something similar with Traveller and boy did they surprise me!

Mechalich
2017-05-06, 04:28 AM
The first step is to decide what kind of story you want your game to tell. Neither all systems nor all worlds are suited to all types of stories. You should probably consult with your players at this point if you intend to focus on a storytelling aspect outside of traditional gameplay tropes.

The second step is to decide which system will function both to properly tell those stories and will result in a world capable of telling them. System choice absolutely informs worldbuilding, since in order to maintain verisimilitude your world's outputs need to reasonably match the inputs your system inputs (critically the most important D&D campaign settings, especially the Forgotten Realms, do not do this).

The third step is to determine major mechanical elements. This may be largely determined by system, if you're using something detailed like D&D, but it may involve generating a lot more material yourself if you're building with FATE or similar systems. This is where things like the magic system, playable species or cultures, the role of deities if they exist, and so on get produced.

The fourth step is to outline your setting. You need to determine where the boundaries of the playspace happen to be, since that will determine what areas you need to actually build and what you can ignore. This depends immensely on what you're trying to do. If you're playing Vampire the Masquerade, you only really need to detail a single metro area since it's presumed the characters won't leave the city. If you're running a low-magic fantasy using FATE or GURPS you probably want a region the size of a country or empire, you can assume characters won't travel beyond those borders. If you're running a high magic fantasy, you may need a whole continent or a whole planet to deal with teleportation and other rapid travel capabilities. Once you get into science fantasy or science fiction scale becomes immense. A Star Wars game might unfold across a whole chunk of the galaxy that includes thousands of planets.

Once you have all that, then you can start detailing areas, locations, history, events, and all the rest that will be used in play. Note that while the four steps I outlined seem like a lot, if you're using a pre-canned system they can happen very fast. Example: I'm running a modern supernatural game about intrigue and social power struggles using VtM, Camarilla-only, in Atlanta, GA.

redwizard007
2017-05-06, 10:06 AM
I have an alternative style with world building that I feel, gives a more organic feel to the world. It also lends it's self to legend and history building. Admittedly, it is probably over kill for many campaign settings, but is filled with the parts I enjoy most and allows me to hand wave some filler that I don't feel like delving into.

I start with a regional map, say something the size of Western Europe or China. I fill in the geography, climate and terrain. Then I populate the map, not with cities, but with general notes on intelligent races locations. This is my "just after creation" map.

Next I'll work in a cataclysm of some sort. An ice age is my favorite, but massive tectonic adjustments, an asteroid impact, gods war, spell plague, or contact with the Far Realm are all solid options. How does this change the geography? How does that change the climate? How does all of this affect the intelligent races? New map.

Finally, we have a recovery period. Geography may change again (glaciers reced, sea level rises again.) Races and cultures have adjusted to their new environments, or have migrated. New alliances and conflicts develop. Technology and/or magic begin to flourish. New map.

Potentially, I could continue past this point with additional maps as wide ranging changes took place, but these would more likely be social or economical changes. A plague or series of wars. A return of absent gods, or another cataclysm. In truth three ages is usually about right for me.

I leave much of the details vague in past ages and in transition between the ages. This allows me to add fluff to fit character backstory, drop historical tidbits, and pepper regions, adventures, or NPCs, with links to the past.

Milo v3
2017-05-08, 08:38 PM
I start with the Concept/Theme. Eg. Reincarnation for my current setting.
Pick a system I'm familiar with.
Read through system to figure out what sort of cosmology I want and what major creatures and features will be in the world.
Create a list of "this feature needs x to happen first" for every major setting element, then put list in sequential order.
Fill in the blanks.
Pick three focus area for each major region to go into detail with.