Creating your own world.

[DMJay]

Whats to it? Do I create towns, people, etc first.? Basically I'm looking for a good starting point. A place to put my foot in the door. I own PH1, DM1/2 all of which are 3.5. I have access to MM 1-4 and many more 3.X books.

Any books, online sites, ideas/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HoboGod]

The DMG, chapter 5, is where you start. After you've read that chapter, the book to read is Cityscape. Also take note of chapter 3 of DMG II, particularly the section on medieval society.

 

[Ogrehatescomputers]

I agree with hobo. Also when I create my own world the first things I do are decide my pantheon. And what type of government rules the land. A council? A monarchy? I've even had a mageochracy. Then do a ruff layout of the main continent. Then a better map of where the players are.

Also don't be afraid to just say your on greyhawk or something and just in some unheard or of or undiscovered country. Then you need only create the country.

Think about the types of things that you want to happen in your world. From that a lot of your terrain may appear. Dwarves need mountains and elves need forrests and such.

Sometimes starting with a small town in a small country makes for a more personal game. Your characters will feel worse if gregor the smith was murdered in a raid if they know him and have dealt with him many times. As odd as itay sound. I start big. Gods, continents, countries, government, then a few cities, after that you work in the towns and details. Start big work to small. But most of all, have fun doing it.

 

[Starman]

There are two broad methods to world creation.

Bottom-up
Create a small city/region for your players to adventure in. Hint at things outside that, but maintain your focus on the small area your players are in. As they grow in power and begin to want to expand, you can start adding on to what you have already done.

Top-down
Think big. How was the world created? Who are the gods and how do they relate? What is the history of the world? How many continents are there? Then you begin to drill down to smaller areas fitting everything into the larger framework you have created.

Top-down is certainly more work, but it can give you a more coherent framework for your world if that's important for you. Bottom-up means you are just focusing on what your players need for the game at the moment which means it's a bit less work. Both have advantages and drawbacks. I would recommend some of Expeditious Retreat's books (A Magical Medieval Society, Silk Road, Ecology and Culture) for either method.

 

[slwoyach]

The very first thing I start with is laying out races and cultures, along with history. I then decide what deities these cultures need and how they interact with each other. Then they need to be placed on a map, which may lead to changes to your earlier steps as you begin to see how the physical and political boundaries line up. From that point I just have a very vague sense of the world, but enough to inform my players of the general feel of the world. I then place more specific features as the campaign progresses and through interaction with player wishes and backgrounds.

As an example I'll use the world I'm currently working on: Mythros.

The core concept of the world is that it's a time long ago when humans first rose to dominance. There is only one civilized land and from it sprung all future cultures, they are the progenitors. Every human city is a mix of Greek and some other culture; there are pure Greeks, Greeks-Norse, Greeks-Egyptians, etc. Each nonhuman race reacts differently to the rise of man. Elves react violently and are resentful, humans and elves have constant hostile flare-ups. Dwarves are on the other side of the spectrum, stoicly accepting their fate.

So how would the religion of this world look? I decided to go with the primary faith being worship of the one true god to give a unity to all the human cultures. This god is the same god that will eventually be rediscovered by the Abrahamic faiths. This god is served by lesser divinities that take the place of lesser deities in other campaigns. Zeus, Odin, Ra, and many other divinities that will someday be worshipped as the lords of their own pantheons are among these servants; as is Satan and others who will eventually fall from grace.

Then I thought about the geography of this land. I decided to place elves in the far west, occupying the last of their forest refuges. Dwarves occupy the northern mountains. Most of the other lands are various human cultures all living far closer together on a relatively small land (a very large island really) that is fated to be swallowed by the ocean, scattering it's human inhabitants to the far corners of the world (humans are the only race to master seamanship). I see no need to change any of my earlier assumptions due to this.

I now have a very vague land, but enough flavor to allow players to understand the world around them. If a player wants specific events or locations to be part of their character's background I'll make every effort to include it. I will slowly add details as the players explore the world around them. Eventually it will evolve into a detailed and vibrant world.

 

[DMJay]

Thanks guys! Everything is good to hear so far.

 

[Khazan]

You might bounce on over to this thread

http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/284160-orea-world-its-people.html

and have a look at how the author has organized his campaign world's development. I found it to be really interesting stuff.

 

[HoboGod]

Gah, everyone and their pantheon-focused world building. I'm I the only atheist in the room that thinks a series of gods isn't what every player wants to hear about?

Build your world around you and your players. You'll never build anything interesting without passion in what you're building. The first important details to make are the ones that revolve around your interests. Immediately afterwards, ask yourself, "Will my players like this?". If you know your players never give two craps about political intrigue, don't bother creating a complex sex scandal that has made the Duke of Farnsham a local villain despite his selfless actions in the court. It will end in grave disappointment as all of your players ask if there are any dragons to slay instead of trying to clear his good name.

 

[Ogrehatescomputers]

My main reason for the Pantheon first is just that. If your world will have almost no contact or in fact no Gods and religion then it gives you your stepping stone. No devine magic now? or is everything still there its just considered arcane magic. it changes a lot things. From the grand scale of the "universe" to the smallest town. The lives of clerics and druids and paladins drastically change. Druids worship nature in general. It is their God if there is no Obad-hai or whoever. so there is still then some form of religion. Thats why i make (or dont make it) first. I build a very VERY VAUGE large scale world. Then a very vague continent. Then a vague contry. Then a detailed city etc. And i really only do that so if a player asks me whats the name of the country to the left its where im from. then i know. and i know vaguely enough to tell him oh its a place ruled by a king who is kinda crazy and blah blah blah. Plus sometimes yuo never know what your crazy players will do. one minute everyones fine. the next minute they killed the queen and have to flee the country. (yes it happened-and we never let him forget it) as far as the politcal intrigue and such. general my games try to be more "adventure" and less "law and order cormyr"
I usually spend the vast amount of world building time one that town my players are in.

 

[HoboGod]

That's not the point, though. Just because one never develops on the pantheon of a world, it doesn't mean a pantheon does not exist (or does exist for that matter). Just because one never develops political intrigue, it doesn't mean that political intrigue does not exist (or exist). A world builder cannot create a full simulation of the world she creates. The best simulation a world builder can hope to create is a sandbox where those who enter this world see ONLY what the world builder has created, nothing more, nothing less. With this kind of unlimited power, the builder can decide if air exists, but that's no place to start. The builder starts where she choses to start and she alone must chose where she starts. How does air function in worlds that don't specify? How do Gods function in worlds that don't specify? It's a total mystery and not for anyone but that world's creator to decide.

There's a paradox of God. If God created everything that exists, who created God? The answer in D&D is simple and not a paradox at all: God was created by a relatively insignificant being of the more legitimate existence.