World Building Resources

[Dathalas]

I'm just starting to build my own campaign idea around the Points of Light concept. The "Simulationsist Question on PoL" thread has some great info in it, but I want more!

Are there any great world building resources out there? I'm looking for info on stuff like how communities form, what resources a community needs to survive, what resources a community needs to thrive, where to place rivers and mountains that make sense, what kinds of government different communities might use, and anything else that leads to building a good consistent campaign setting.

I'd prefer resources that give easy-to-understand rules of thumb, rather than an in-depth scientific approach. You know, stuff I can actually use when I'm designing my setting.

So what resources would you recommend and why? If they're out-of-print, do you know where I can find a PDF or used copy of them?

Thanks for your help!

Dath

 

[TerraDave]

Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe

Wikipedia

Google Maps and Google Images

 

[Ktulu]

Magical Mideval is a really nice read. It can do a lot for helping you flesh out the larger areas. I should probably get mine out and start the ol' think-tank up again.

Ktulu

 

[Gundark]

Anyone have a link to the Dragon magazine articles on world building? I don't have them at work. They were written before 3e, but are a great resource on things to consider.

 

[Saishu_Heiki]

They were the Dungencraft articles, and were a great resource.

http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/dnd/dungeoncraft/

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

I'm just starting to build my own campaign idea around the Points of Light concept. The "Simulationsist Question on PoL" thread has some great info in it, but I want more!

Are there any great world building resources out there? I'm looking for info on stuff like how communities form, what resources a community needs to survive, what resources a community needs to thrive, where to place rivers and mountains that make sense, what kinds of government different communities might use, and anything else that leads to building a good consistent campaign setting.

I'd prefer resources that give easy-to-understand rules of thumb, rather than an in-depth scientific approach. You know, stuff I can actually use when I'm designing my setting.

So what resources would you recommend and why? If they're out-of-print, do you know where I can find a PDF or used copy of them?

Thanks for your help!

Dath

JOIN...US...

http://www.thecbg.org/news.php

 

[Lackhand]

Third for Magical Medieval Society. Dem fine book.

Threads on EN World.

 

[Dathalas]

TerraDave, Ktulu, and Lackhand: Thanks for recommending A Magical Medieval Society. What do you like what about it? What's in it that would help me?

Gundark: Thanks for recommending the Dungeoncraft articles. I'd forgot about those.

Saishu_Heiki: Thanks for the link to the Dungeoncraft articles. I only read one or two, but really enjoyed them and never got a chance to read the entire series. Now I can.

Moniker: Thanks for the invitation, but I'm not really wanting to join another community. I'm looking for resources I can read and use to build my campaign setting by myself in private.

Anyone else know some good world building resources?

What about The World Builder's Guidebook that TSR released back in the 2e days? Anyone have it or used it? Is it any good?

And what about the The Savage Worlds Fantasy World Builder Toolkit? Does it have good info on world building in general or is it more focused on creating Savage Worlds crunch?

Dath

 

[Tewligan]

What about The World Builder's Guidebook that TSR released back in the 2e days? Anyone have it or used it? Is it any good?

I've got it, AND I'll be using it in the near future! I bought it some time ago, and now that my new campaign is starting up in about 2 hours from now, it's going to get some use in the weeks ahead as I scramble to develop the rest of the world before the PC's get to it. I like it a lot from reading it - a lot of tools for making a believable world, and plenty of inspirational bits and pieces and examples to pick and choose from. If you can find it at a reasonable price, I highly recommend it.

Oh, I should mention that when it was originally released it came with a pad of worksheets that was missing when I bought my used copy. However, improbably enough, I found the pad for sale by itself in another store in another part of the country several months after I bought the book. However, even if you don't get the sheets, it's still a useful book.

 

[HeinorNY]

Domesday book link. Very good to have some notion of medieval demographics.

http://www.rpglibrary.org/utils/meddemog/

Good maps and tutorials.

http://forum.cartographersguild.com/