Worldcreation, how far do you go?

[lxion]

Just a question. I created a world for a campaign a couple of years ago and now I wonder how deep do you go in worldcreation? And what kind of problems/benefits to you get from not following a "scripted" adventure?

I found that it's not that hard to create a world, but some details are a bit harder. Like creating one religion won't be enough, history that has to go way back etc. I messed up that campaign a bit, by offering too much plothooks. Any stories, problems,... you guys have to share?

[DMThac0]

The best advice I can give you, as someone who's running a campaign based in a world I created, is to not plan too far ahead.

Start with your home town, give it life, some people, shops, homes, whatever is necessary to allow your players to get involved with the world. Create a few small quests in the same town, get them used to combat, social encounters, game mechanics, etc. Then make one big plot/story arc. This doesn't have to be the BBEG or anything, just something that is major and gives the players the feeling of impacting the world as a whole.

Build a couple small towns/cities/villages, whatever in different directions from the home town. Give them a name, and a brief description "Hamlet run by a benevolent mayor who is unaware of the bandits extorting local business."

Then let the players loose. Get their backstories and build things into the world that reflect their backstories. They don't have to encounter those things immediately, but at least one of those backstory pieces should show up after they leave home, or just before they do.

After that, build what you need, when you need it.

[mephnick]

I created my entire setting in very broad strokes, then filled it in as players went to different areas. Like I have 8 or 9 major civilizations with a capital city and a couple important NPCs but I'd say only 3 have been fleshed out completely including minor NPCs, towns, storylines and dungeons. Those were all created between sessions as worked outward from where the characters start. The next campaign is going to start in a different kingdom, so I'll go do some work on that before it starts and flesh it out more throughout the weeks we play. The players know what it's called, who rules it and what it's general theme is, but other than that I haven't touched it in 2 years.

[lxion]

The best advice I can give you, as someone who's running a campaign based in a world I created, is to not plan too far ahead.

Start with your home town, give it life, some people, shops, homes, whatever is necessary to allow your players to get involved with the world. Create a few small quests in the same town, get them used to combat, social encounters, game mechanics, etc. Then make one big plot/story arc. This doesn't have to be the BBEG or anything, just something that is major and gives the players the feeling of impacting the world as a whole.


That's what I did for my current campaign. I have a name for my country and a overarching story. We had one session, mostly new players, and I focussed on the starter town, indeed got them connected with people and let them do some small quests. I already made a map of the province, with little villages and other towns and a small function they have. I noticed the difference and they really enjoyed exploring the town, making friends and of course, looking to woo some girls (the gnome warlock ended up with a transexual half-orc barmaid).

[DMThac0]

My first session ended up with my fiancee's rogue getting punched in the nose by a ship captain after breaking into his ship. She'd never been on a ship before and got a little over zealous. The rest of the group got jobs around town, then the whole group was invited into a guild. After that they found themselves as the "fixer uppers" of the towns miscellaneous problems. This lead them to the farming community where they heard a strange story about bushes stealing chickens. This lead them, unknowingly, into the first large story arc and their first villain. They hate him and can't wait to find him.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I'd echo some of the things said here, and add a few.

Don't fill in all the answers. Leave them vague. Because often players have much better ideas about the whys and whats, and it leaves room for future adventures.

Especially if you have multiple groups in the same world, let them see the changes the other groups make. I run seasonal groups at a school, and each group makes changes (curated from their adventures) to the world. Sometimes it's just adding a few NPCs or discovering a new area; other times it's altering the course of the world by forging an alliance between nations. Or creating an international group from people that should, by all rights, hate each other. My kids love running into NPCs that were once characters. Not necessarily high level ones, either. It's that idea "I can change the world too!"

[lxion]

Indeed, that's what I intend to do now.

A thing that I found annoying, was creating a religion. That might have been me, because i was overthinking it. Creating some gods and saying who does what isn't hard. But then I started to think whether that was real or not. Was the world created by deities, or was that just a story to explain it? Are the gods real beings they could meet? It got me confused, so i opted to just use the D&D lore for this campaign. That makes it easier for religious PCs (paladins or clerics) as well, I think.

[DMThac0]

Indeed, that's what I intend to do now.

A thing that I found annoying, was creating a religion. That might have been me, because i was overthinking it. Creating some gods and saying who does what isn't hard. But then I started to think whether that was real or not. Was the world created by deities, or was that just a story to explain it? Are the gods real beings they could meet? It got me confused, so i opted to just use the D&D lore for this campaign. That makes it easier for religious PCs (paladins or clerics) as well, I think.

In my world, I created the pantheon as a blank sheet, but allowed my players to choose from any of the D&D dieties. From their choices I picked the ones that opposed them. No black without white type of mentality.

I was then forced, by my inquisitive players, to figure out some lore that dated back to the creation of my world. I ended up having a pantheon that worked sort of like Mt. Olympus, where all the gods convened when not doing their duties. The gods were also part of why dragons exist in my world...never upset the gods...

[PhoenixPhyre]

My setting is in its 2nd major iteration.

I ran the first as a very generic Points of Light 4e setting, borrowing heavily from everywhere. Basically a map and some hazy mechanics. Total polyglot setting, kitchen sink included.

At the end of that year, I knew I was going to transition to 5e, and that the very different mechanics needed a major change in the setting to make sense. So I let the players (through their characters) decide how the world would end and what would survive. They blew it up, an event now called the Cataclysm, by forcing a major artifact (a piece of the original creator god) to self-destruct. In the process, all the old gods* sacrificed themselves to keep the world from going kaput and 70+% of the world's population died. Magic stopped working, etc. Bad times. Another group ended up saving a chunk of the population and founding a new nation from the survivors. 205 (because round numbers) years passed since then

The three who blew up the world ended up being tapped by the very few surviving gods to be new gods (well, really more astral middle managers) under a "you broke it, now you get to fix it" policy.

So going into it, I knew that things had changed. I ended up coming up with the rest of it, including the whole back story and religious depictions as play progressed in future years (we just ended year 2 with the new setting).

I heartily endorse the "start vague and let players fill in the blanks." For gods, just having names and basic responsibilities is enough to get started--the rest will grow as you go. Just write down what you decide and build on that.

[ZorroGames]

The unanswered question my first 5e characterbhad was, “Who, or What, made the Gods?”

If I ever go crazy (crazier?) and make (again) my own world I need to answer that question to set the theme/tone.

Eternal design dilemma is top down or bottom up or both approach.

[Finlam]

Just a question. I created a world for a campaign a couple of years ago and now I wonder how deep do you go in worldcreation? And what kind of problems/benefits to you get from not following a "scripted" adventure?
...
Any stories, problems,... you guys have to share?

For ~7 years I DMed almost exclusively and I would create a new world for each campaign. Eventually I got pretty good at creating new worlds that are immersive and easy to build upon and play in. I can now create a game world (plothooks,factions,NPCs,gods,myths,locations) in about 30 mins.

I did a write-up of the methods I use here (http://purplelizardman.com/finlam/gms-easy-creation-kit-g-e-c-k-world-creation-kit-make-vivid-worlds-quickly/), but if I could distill it down into one single line it would be this:

Focus on the parts of the world that the players will see; everything else comes after.


I'll end my advice here, as I know from experience that this is a subject I can talk about at length. Just remember that creating worlds is an exercise in imagination, but also in time management.

[strangebloke]

Well, there's what I try to do, and what I actually do, which are different because no session plan survives contact with the enemy.

What I Make Ahead of Time:

Detailed Map, containing
-countries
-major cities
-known sites of interest (druid sacred lands, for instance)
-demographics (Mostly Orcs, Mostly Humans, Etc.)

Broad History, containing
-Origin of Species (Creation Story)
-Major Watershed Events (dragon + giant war, war between the gods, Human rebellion against Draconic Rule.)
-Origin of Countries (How old is this country, where do their people come from, etc. etc.)
-Regional Relationships. (Archorans hate Dragons, Rudlanders love them)
-Major Historical and Current Figures.

What I Make at the Start of a Campaign:
-The major dramatic question of each chapter, and how they relate.
-Major Antagonists. (Not statted, just need to figure out their aesthetic and where they live.)

What I make at the Start of a Chapter:
-Regional Politics, neutral parties that the PCs can interact with, and potentially make friends or enemies out of.
-List of monster types the antagonist has at his beck and call.
-Short plot synopsis of what happens without PC intervention. This includes time pressure.

What I make at the Start of a Session:
-encounters, dungeons, ability check challenges, social encounters.
-Plot out major decision points, and the probable NPC response to likely choices the PCs make.

[lxion]

The unanswered question my first 5e characterbhad was, “Who, or What, made the Gods?”

If I ever go crazy (crazier?) and make (again) my own world I need to answer that question to set the theme/tone.

Eternal design dilemma is top down or bottom up or both approach.

I didn't get these questions, but the one plotsolver you have is: magic :smallsmile:. Indeed a step higher than Gods (assuming they are real, living beings) I usually go to a higher power, most of the time two, for balance. The force of chaos and the force of order, creation and destruction, life and death... They have no alignment and are not embodiments, but they just are and things come into existence through them. But the deeper you go in to these things, the more complicated it'll get for you and truthfully, that's not what I want to focus on anymore. If you'd have a party of 20+, then that might become something more interesting :smallsmile:

[ZorroGames]

I didn't get these questions, but the one plotsolver you have is: magic :smallsmile:. Indeed a step higher than Gods (assuming they are real, living beings) I usually go to a higher power, most of the time two, for balance. The force of chaos and the force of order, creation and destruction, life and death... They have no alignment and are not embodiments, but they just are and things come into existence through them. But the deeper you go in to these things, the more complicated it'll get for you and truthfully, that's not what I want to focus on anymore. If you'd have a party of 20+, then that might become something more interesting :smallsmile:

Closest was in 0D&D was just before we moved to Midwest was a party for a few games with over 15 players (3 generations in one family) that was all middle levels with a few low levels) that was absolute insane fun to run. Plus a party of 4 on another monthly game.

[ZorroGames]

I didn't get these questions, but the one plotsolver you have is: magic :smallsmile:. Indeed a step higher than Gods (assuming they are real, living beings) I usually go to a higher power, most of the time two, for balance. The force of chaos and the force of order, creation and destruction, life and death... They have no alignment and are not embodiments, but they just are and things come into existence through them. But the deeper you go in to these things, the more complicated it'll get for you and truthfully, that's not what I want to focus on anymore. If you'd have a party of 20+, then that might become something more interesting :smallsmile:

Actually quite close to my answer as a DM would be the idea that a Cleric/Paladin/etc., could be called by a Highest Power (beyond a proclaimed deity) representing an overarching philosophy or principle like those that could affect actions and choices less directly but more inflexibility in correcting bad choices.

[ZorroGames]

I didn't get these questions, but the one plotsolver you have is: magic :smallsmile:. Indeed a step higher than Gods (assuming they are real, living beings) I usually go to a higher power, most of the time two, for balance. The force of chaos and the force of order, creation and destruction, life and death... They have no alignment and are not embodiments, but they just are and things come into existence through them. But the deeper you go in to these things, the more complicated it'll get for you and truthfully, that's not what I want to focus on anymore. If you'd have a party of 20+, then that might become something more interesting :smallsmile:

This was what my first 5e character (Monk, Mountain Dwarf) had with his Sage - Astronomer background - as an ‘unanswered question’ in his beginning kit.

He still has not answered it and never may.