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Why Worldbuilding is Bad
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<blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 7397036" data-attributes="member: 6786839"><p>Insofar as we participate in this thread with the Cuthbertian goal of more fun at our respective tables, then actual play examples are the richest source of useful material. Insofar as we participate in this thread with Tritherionist goals, the point was raised in post #1, answered conclusively in post #2, then refined in post #4. What are *you* doing here?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes, as with the mismatch in the sketch "Who's On First", or John Cleese at the cheese shop. The player thinks that the setting *outside the dungeon* might (or even should) have useful, interesting aspects. Perhaps even as many as the Starting Village of a typical JRPG, before the Initiating Event happens. On another hand, the DM thinks of the setting outside the dungeon as the blank-to-the-horizon non-scenery of Neo's initial return to the Matrix, except maybe there's a vending machine which contains only the items listed in the PHB, at the listed prices, in unlimited quantities. The DM looks at the PC, and sees a set of stats. Whether this LEVEL 1 CLERIC comes from pseudo-ancient-China, carries the same weight as whether the protagonist of ZORK comes from pseudo-ancient-China.</p><p></p><p>I provided three variations, with three alternate DMs, to explore some territory. But to get more Cuthbertian...</p><p></p><p>Last year, a DM decided to break out "White Plume Mountain" and run it in 5E. He asked each player to write two 5th-level characters. It was not useful for those characters to have any back story beyond their skill proficiencies, or any goals in life other than "see if we can find the three artifact weapons here, on the bizarre assumption that the person who said that they're here was actually telling the truth". The world outside the module was blank all the way to the horizon, without even a vending machine, and we understood that from square one. We arrived directly at the entrance to White Plume Mountain, do not pass GO, do not collect 200 random tavern rumors.</p><p></p><p>The same DM also runs other stories, in his homegrown setting, with lots of explorable elements, with named NPCs. He ran a session in which the PCs were the spearhead of an invasion of a city ruled by demons and demon-worshippers, and the port of that city was a major slave trade hub. My PC, a druid with the Outsider background, stayed in the city afterwards. What my character did, in the following year, to influence the city after the immediate power vacuum of the regime change, was then part of the background of the next adventure played out at the table. I had fun with it, and so did the DM. The druid's pet project, so to speak: Awaken a whale, and hire her as a tug. She would pull galleys into and out of the harbor, and the druid would provide healthcare for the whale and her calves. (I dunno the infant mortality rate for grey whales, but THIS whale got better odds.) Relevance to dungeoneering: zero. Just a fun side conversation between me and the DM, with perhaps a bonus if my character ever wanted a favor from the port authority or from merchant sailors who stopped at the port.</p><p></p><p>Is this example, of a DM who can run a story in either extreme of style, useful? To what goals?</p><p></p><p>Is it time for a spin-off thread, Why Discussion Of Worldbuilding Is Bad?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Riley37, post: 7397036, member: 6786839"] Insofar as we participate in this thread with the Cuthbertian goal of more fun at our respective tables, then actual play examples are the richest source of useful material. Insofar as we participate in this thread with Tritherionist goals, the point was raised in post #1, answered conclusively in post #2, then refined in post #4. What are *you* doing here? Yes, as with the mismatch in the sketch "Who's On First", or John Cleese at the cheese shop. The player thinks that the setting *outside the dungeon* might (or even should) have useful, interesting aspects. Perhaps even as many as the Starting Village of a typical JRPG, before the Initiating Event happens. On another hand, the DM thinks of the setting outside the dungeon as the blank-to-the-horizon non-scenery of Neo's initial return to the Matrix, except maybe there's a vending machine which contains only the items listed in the PHB, at the listed prices, in unlimited quantities. The DM looks at the PC, and sees a set of stats. Whether this LEVEL 1 CLERIC comes from pseudo-ancient-China, carries the same weight as whether the protagonist of ZORK comes from pseudo-ancient-China. I provided three variations, with three alternate DMs, to explore some territory. But to get more Cuthbertian... Last year, a DM decided to break out "White Plume Mountain" and run it in 5E. He asked each player to write two 5th-level characters. It was not useful for those characters to have any back story beyond their skill proficiencies, or any goals in life other than "see if we can find the three artifact weapons here, on the bizarre assumption that the person who said that they're here was actually telling the truth". The world outside the module was blank all the way to the horizon, without even a vending machine, and we understood that from square one. We arrived directly at the entrance to White Plume Mountain, do not pass GO, do not collect 200 random tavern rumors. The same DM also runs other stories, in his homegrown setting, with lots of explorable elements, with named NPCs. He ran a session in which the PCs were the spearhead of an invasion of a city ruled by demons and demon-worshippers, and the port of that city was a major slave trade hub. My PC, a druid with the Outsider background, stayed in the city afterwards. What my character did, in the following year, to influence the city after the immediate power vacuum of the regime change, was then part of the background of the next adventure played out at the table. I had fun with it, and so did the DM. The druid's pet project, so to speak: Awaken a whale, and hire her as a tug. She would pull galleys into and out of the harbor, and the druid would provide healthcare for the whale and her calves. (I dunno the infant mortality rate for grey whales, but THIS whale got better odds.) Relevance to dungeoneering: zero. Just a fun side conversation between me and the DM, with perhaps a bonus if my character ever wanted a favor from the port authority or from merchant sailors who stopped at the port. Is this example, of a DM who can run a story in either extreme of style, useful? To what goals? Is it time for a spin-off thread, Why Discussion Of Worldbuilding Is Bad? [/QUOTE]
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