This is topic I have some questions about world building for all the pen & paper RPGers at Hatrack in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
I want to start world building as a way to give my imagination the excercise it needs. I want to design worlds that can be used as campaign settings for rpg's or as settings for stories.
My first question is what resources are available? Are there books on the subject? how about software for world builders?
Next I'd like to ask all you world builders where you start? Do you start with the geography, cultures, races, or what? Where's the best place to start?
Last question. Does wanting to do this mean I'm crazy?
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Last world I created I started with just an idea... The kingdom's "immortal" king was dying. For 5000 years he had held the kingdom together and if he dies there is concern that the kingdom will shatter into war. Not to mention the fact that he is an incredibly good and wise king.
From there I thought about who would want him dead and why. I designed a huge desert to the north that was once a beautiful forest till it was cursed by a poisonous goddess.
I drew a map. The desert looked big and empty so I put a town in the middle of it. Then I concidered how it could survive in a desert of cursed undead that ooze poison.
I worked in the gods. Mostly I used Forgotten Realms gods. Just reading their descriptions are a font of ideas. If you want to make your own gods, it might help to draw them up early. What god a town worships will have a huge infulence on it's culture and will give you module ideas.
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
There are a wide variety of worldbuilding resources online, detailing the kinds of things you need to define about your "world"--both the cultures and the physical milieu. I have also seen a smaller number of books that have helpful systems for building star systems or cultures--GURPS Space is one that I have. (Most such systems are random, but I find that random tables, if interpreted loosely when odd results appear, can lead to results you might never think of on your own.)
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Thanks for the advice given so far.
Pixie, your account of starting with an idea gave me an idea for my first world building adventure. Thank you.
edited to add: Mabus, where is the best place to buy GURPS books?
[ June 03, 2004, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: Derrell ]
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Like Pix said, you just need an initial idea. I started with "what would a world where all religions were false be like?" ...then I started working within the loose framework of ancient Babylon, and presto. World.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Well, I've got the idea. Now I just need to figure out how to create the worlds, cultures, etc., to go with it.
edited to add that I got the idea while reading Pixie's story about the dying king. No, I didn't steal her idea. She just inspired me. Again, thank you.
[ June 03, 2004, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: Derrell ]
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
Derrell,
Chapters 5 & 6 of the DMG get into all kinds of great world building tips. Stats on how to build a town, what kind of people would live there, what you could buy based on size.
Manual of the Planes is great for fleshing out your cosmology. Love it or hate it, religion has been a huge influence on human society since the beginning. Some of the earliest known art was carved fertility goddess idols. A big chunk of my humanities book was religious art. It seems to have the best staying power.
Gary Gygax has a book out on world building. I remember seeing it at the book store, but I haven't read it yet. If you get it, let me know how it is. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I would recommend scooping out your eyeballs with red-hot spoons and serving them to your cat before you take any world-building advice from Gary Gygax.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
quote:I would recommend scooping out your eyeballs with red-hot spoons and serving them to your cat before you take any world-building advice from Gary Gygax
I just came up with a quest idea!
Posted by fil (Member # 5079) on :
Derrel, cool questions. Are you planning on using this world? Are you going to game with it? Do you have a particular group of gamers in mind or is it strictly as a creative exercise?
I like the starting with one simple idea and building from there.
What about talking about something from the ground and working your way up? Start with some world event and how it shaped a continent. How would humanity (assuming basic humanity as the core playable species in the world...if about intellient single celled organisms, I don't know) look culturally if they lived on a series of small islands instead of a large continent?
Or go with some cataclysmic event and how it would shape a world. I am not a huge Pern fan, but what a great seed for a story? If every so often something terrible happens, how would society look? In Pern, Thread fell from the sky and they created dragons to fight it and had all these protocols on how the greenery must be kept away from living spaces, etc. What happens when the threat goes away and all these creatures and practices are still there?
What about a world that rotated in such a way that as it went around the sun, one side faced the sun always and the other side was dark.
And so on. Each structural limitation would then allow stories to flow from that which would then begat cities, people, cultures, religions, etc.
Another good way is to role-play with people and let the world develop itself! I have a guy doing that now. He has a basic structure and a seed for various cultures and such. It is set in a Roman empire-like setting with a central empire and a bunch of cultures that it has conquered. From there, we play. He has an initial storyline that we follow, but we are developing pieces of the world from the moment we create characters. WE decide where they are from, what the country looks like, what gods they worship, etc. Different people will run different parts of the game and in that way will create more. It is a fun, social way to create a world.
Good luck! I would love to hear what you are thinking about or coming up with!
Ciao,
fil
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
GURPS books can most easily be found from their website at Steve Jackson Games. At least in my area, where gaming stores are hard to locate.
Another useful website is here. Lots of world-building links...not all of them are still working, unfortunately.
[ June 04, 2004, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: Mabus ]
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
fil, I am planning on doing at least one campaign in this setting once I get the details ironed out. What I plan on doing is asking for a volunteer to help me run a campaign by email as so many here have done.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
As I have done with the other campaigns, I will offer you what resources sakeriver has if you like. These include (for now): a pseudo-mailing list and online character sheets. Hopefully in the near future I will also have my character generation tool complete, but no promises there.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Cool. Thanks saxon. I don't know when it'l be ready for prime time. I may try to get some of Hatrack's DM's to take it for a test drive when I get it ready.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
I have another question or two. I was thinking of setting this campaign in space.
Would that add too much compexity since this is my first time building a campaign?
Are there any experienced DMs who would be willing to help me run my first e-mail campaign?
Anyone who would be interested can e-mail me and I'll fill you in on my idea and probably ask for input. I'd share my idea in this thread, but Hatrack is where I'll get my pool of players from and I don't want to give anything away just yet, especially since I'm still working on it.
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