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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8950394" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>That's why you shouldn't establish <em>too much</em> information. You can't--even in principle--establish everything. Establish only what is needful, what is <em>useful</em>, and keep loose and flexible with the rest.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Only if you try to fill in every inch of the map. You might be surprised how liberating it is to, as they say, "<em><strong>draw maps, leave blanks.</strong></em>"</p><p></p><p></p><p>Why not? I'm genuinely curious. I do this all the time, both because Dungeon World tells me to, and because I enjoy doing it. Sure, a lot of the setup came from working with the players, but (for example) the good-guy thieves' guild organization, the Silver Thread, only came into existence because the Bard said that's the group he ran with back before his family got their big break.</p><p></p><p>As long as the expectation isn't <em>incredibly over-dramatic</em>, it's almost always possible to get it in. Yes, the player should have realistic expectations, but "realistic expectations" is a very weak requirement in most cases.</p><p></p><p>To give examples, relevant to your own stuff:</p><p></p><p>When the party Ranger "found God," we collaborated to develop the religious group he had joined. This region reveres different "facets" or "aspects" of an infinite being they call the One (or, sometimes, refer to by Their "prime" aspect, the Great Architect, the aspect representing the One's creation and sustaining of the universe.) Several such facets have been named: the aforementioned Great Architect, the Unknown Knower, the Stalwart Soldier, the Soothing Flame, etc. But none of those suited, so we collaborated, and developed the <em>Resolute Seeker</em>. Where the Stalwart Soldier is the aspect representing defense of home and hearth and tenacity in the face of life's troubles, the Resolute Seeker is a hunter in the dark and the shining light that guides the lost home. Developing this was super fun, and while I have yet to make direct use of the Resolute Seeker's devotees, I'm sure I'll find a good reason sooner or later. That's an example of inventing a (sub)religion.</p><p></p><p>I invented the city of Al-Maralus when the party wanted to head north to check out stuff about the jungles beyond the Tarrakhuna. They've made several acquaintances who are from there, and I've decided (in a very soft touch kind of thing) that people from the Al-Maralus area have more Moroccan-styled names, while people from the Al-Rakkah area (where the PCs are from) have more Arabic-styled names. A subtle difference, but meant to indicate things like cultural cross-pollination and the like.</p><p></p><p>Or, when the Bard went and studied with the Safiqi priesthood in order to learn how to cleanse poisons just as he could already cleanse mental enchantments. He studied the lives of the saints, and took inspiration from a saint who happened to be one of his ancestors, St. Shanadar, an itinerant healer and theologian. That's a hero, albeit a long-dead one, invented from whole cloth by a player.</p><p></p><p>These things aren't actually <em>that</em> hard!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8950394, member: 6790260"] That's why you shouldn't establish [I]too much[/I] information. You can't--even in principle--establish everything. Establish only what is needful, what is [I]useful[/I], and keep loose and flexible with the rest. Only if you try to fill in every inch of the map. You might be surprised how liberating it is to, as they say, "[I][B]draw maps, leave blanks.[/B][/I]" Why not? I'm genuinely curious. I do this all the time, both because Dungeon World tells me to, and because I enjoy doing it. Sure, a lot of the setup came from working with the players, but (for example) the good-guy thieves' guild organization, the Silver Thread, only came into existence because the Bard said that's the group he ran with back before his family got their big break. As long as the expectation isn't [I]incredibly over-dramatic[/I], it's almost always possible to get it in. Yes, the player should have realistic expectations, but "realistic expectations" is a very weak requirement in most cases. To give examples, relevant to your own stuff: When the party Ranger "found God," we collaborated to develop the religious group he had joined. This region reveres different "facets" or "aspects" of an infinite being they call the One (or, sometimes, refer to by Their "prime" aspect, the Great Architect, the aspect representing the One's creation and sustaining of the universe.) Several such facets have been named: the aforementioned Great Architect, the Unknown Knower, the Stalwart Soldier, the Soothing Flame, etc. But none of those suited, so we collaborated, and developed the [I]Resolute Seeker[/I]. Where the Stalwart Soldier is the aspect representing defense of home and hearth and tenacity in the face of life's troubles, the Resolute Seeker is a hunter in the dark and the shining light that guides the lost home. Developing this was super fun, and while I have yet to make direct use of the Resolute Seeker's devotees, I'm sure I'll find a good reason sooner or later. That's an example of inventing a (sub)religion. I invented the city of Al-Maralus when the party wanted to head north to check out stuff about the jungles beyond the Tarrakhuna. They've made several acquaintances who are from there, and I've decided (in a very soft touch kind of thing) that people from the Al-Maralus area have more Moroccan-styled names, while people from the Al-Rakkah area (where the PCs are from) have more Arabic-styled names. A subtle difference, but meant to indicate things like cultural cross-pollination and the like. Or, when the Bard went and studied with the Safiqi priesthood in order to learn how to cleanse poisons just as he could already cleanse mental enchantments. He studied the lives of the saints, and took inspiration from a saint who happened to be one of his ancestors, St. Shanadar, an itinerant healer and theologian. That's a hero, albeit a long-dead one, invented from whole cloth by a player. These things aren't actually [I]that[/I] hard! [/QUOTE]
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