D&D General Do players REALLY care about the game world?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In fairness, no one cares about the lore of a world to begin with. No one read the Similarian until after they fell in love with The Lord of the Rings.

This is ENWorld. Someone is going to say they read the Silmarillion first and were passionate about it and that's what led them to what they view at JRRT's lesser works after that.

 

[jayoungr]

In fairness, no one cares about the lore of a world to begin with. No one read the Similarian until after they fell in love with The Lord of the Rings.

I know what you're getting at, but there are people who read setting books for pleasure. The thing is, those people are mostly GMs.

 

[Eventhorrizon]

This is ENWorld. Someone is going to say they read the Silmarillion first and were passionate about it and that's what led them to what they view at JRRT's lesser works after that.

Some people are liars.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Some people are liars.

Oh, man, don't antagonize the pedants.

 

[turnip_farmer]

A lot of the worldbuilding we DMs do is just self-gratification. mapsturbation, if you will.

Never let your players know that weather conditions in your campaign are based on a detailed simulation you created, taking into account the topography and latitude. Trust me, they'll just stop inviting you to any events outside game night. Pretend you're making it up as you go along.

 

[Eventhorrizon]

I know what you're getting at, but there are people who read setting books for pleasure. The thing is, those people are mostly GMs.

Honestly, Ive read the Similarian, I cant recommend it. It is not that good. Tolkien didnt even want to release it for years. It actually has very little to do with Lord of the rings, its mostly a very long a drawn out history of the origin of the phile of light Frodo got from Gladriel, and the white tree of Gondor. Gondor itself is barely touched apon but if you want to know the family lineage of the TREE the book has you covered. Most of the things you would be curious about are covered in the appendixes not in the similarian. I think the Similarian has some good content but its pretty impenetrable and allot of it is not really worth reading. You can definitely tell that Tolkien wrote the LOTR so that any one could enjoy it and he wrote the Similarian for himself.

 

[Charlaquin]

Never let your players know that weather conditions in your campaign are based on a detailed simulation you created, taking into account the topography and latitude. Trust me, they'll just stop inviting you to any events outside game night. Pretend you're making it up as you go along.

Mapsturbation is perfectly normal and healthy, but should only be done privately or with a consenting partner. Never go Louis CK on your players.

 

[Wolfram stout]

In fairness, no one cares about the lore of a world to begin with. No one read the Similarian until after they fell in love with The Lord of the Rings. Your players wont be invested until they have a reason to get invested. I would incorporate your in game history and world quirks directly into the adventure.

Wait, he wrote more stories set in the world of Similarian? I will have to check those out. Just kidding of course.

This is a really good point, and I have not thought of it that way. Not only did I not read the Similarian until after falling in love with LOTR but it was probably 30 years after (and 2 attempts to get through it). And while I enjoyed a lot of the individual stories and elements, reading it straight through was a slog.

I need to consider that the next time I start a new campaign.

 

[Eventhorrizon]

Mapsturbation is perfectly normal and healthy, but should only be done privately or with a consenting partner. Never go Louis CK on your players.

Im pretty sure if you do it too much you will go blind. Both Metaphorically and literally.

 

[Charlaquin]

Im pretty sure if you do it too much you will go blind. Both Metaphorically and literally.

Nah, that’s propaganda from evangelical improvisationists.