Building a world

[dm4hire]

Nice, thanks.

 

[Zelligars Apprentice]

Thank you. These are all now in MY bookmarks folder.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Two 2e books come to mind: the Campaign Sourcebook and Catacombs Guide and Creative Campaigning.

Although, honestly, to create a world, no real system or book is necessary. The most important factor is an eye for linkages and causation, and a desire to learn more about the real world around us. Wikipedia is an excellent source for real-world cultures, especially since you don't necessarily need an understanding of them in more depth than an article.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The old stand by in my sig...DM ADVICE

 

[Jhaelen]

I like the well-structured approach taken in Aria Worlds. It provides many forms to make sure you're not forgetting any important aspects.

If you can get hold of a copy it should be quite useful.

 

[Khairn]

There are some great gaming articles by Dru Pagliassotti that might also help. They can be found at The Harrow.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

There's a lot of resources out there (as the previous posts have revealed), but the key thing I'd recommend (if your group hasn't done this already), is to sit down & talk about your ideas for the game.

Essentially, before rolling any dice, try brainstorming some ideas for the setting. Perhaps begin by mentioning elements you like from other games you've played, or from genre-related fiction (books, movies, etc.).

These ideas can help shape your future campaign setting, because the environment in which a culture evolves has a great impact on how that culture evolves (style of dress, habits, beliefs, technology, etc).

And, as nice as it is to have the entire setting developed off the bat, there is something to be said for having other areas generally undefined until necessary—it allows room for improvisation or modification.

There are a few (general) questions that you may want to answer before goign full-tilt with the process, as well, so you can establish a baseline of How Things Work in this new setting:

• The power of the Divine: Is there one monolithic pantheon of deities that preside over everything, or are there multiple pantheons based on race/region/etc.? If it's the latter, how do they interact?
• Arcane matters: How is Arcane magic viewed? Is it accepted? Embraced? Rejected? Persecuted? Rinse & repeat this idea for other non-mundane methods of power (primal, psionic, technology, etc.).
• What's the Story?: What's the big things you want to have/achieve in the setting? Is it a grim, dark world dragging itself from the brink of oblivion? Is the world entering a Renaissance of sorts, achieving new heights of invention & knowledge? etc.
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Who're the good guys? Bad guys? Not-so-nice guys? Why are they that way? Is there a hard & fast clear-cut definition of good & evil, or does it all depend on a certain point of view?

These things can help guide how you put things on the map, as well as form the map itself. If you have an idea of a desert-dwelling magic-hating culture at war with a seafaring magic-using nation, then you had best account for that dynamic on your world map.

Just something to consider (if you haven't already).

 

[dm4hire]

Yeah, I already brought a lot of this up to my group. I combed through some of the reviews and what you mention was often referred to. So far we are looking at a possible post-apocolyptic, shattered earth, Tolkein-esque setting, but haven't actually sat down to create it so that might all change.

 

[dm4hire]

Here's a list of 100 events I thought up while at work that could be used in Dawn of World or using the cards I mentioned.

1. Cataclysmic cold
2. Cataclysmic earthquake
3. Cataclysmic famine
4. Cataclysmic flooding
5. Cataclysmic heat
6. Cataclysmic super volcano
7. Cataclysmic technological
8. Cataclysmic war
9. Cataclysmic other
10. Civilization collapses
11. Civilization expands
12. Devastating regional earthquake
13. Famine devastates country
14. Famine devastates region
15. Famine devastates city
16. Famine devastates unpopulated region
17. Fire destroys city
18. Flood destroys city
19. Flood devastates region
20. Flood devastates country
21. Heat devastates city
22. Heat devastates region
23. Heat devastates country
24. Heat devastates unpopulated region
25. Hurricane destroys city
26. Hurricane destroys region
27. Ice age
28. Landslide destroys city
29. Landslide destroys unpopulated area
30. Thunderstorms devastate city
31. Thunderstorms devastate region
32. Thunderstorms devastate country
33. Thunderstorms devastate unpopulated area
34. Tornado destroys city
35. Tornado destroys unpopulated area
36. Tsunami destroys city
37. Tsunami destroys region
38. Tsunami destroys country
39. Tsunami destroys unpopulated area
40. Volcano destroys city
41. Volcano destroys region
42. Volcano destroys unpopulated area
43. War devastates city
44. War devastates region
45. War devastates country
46. Wildfire destroys forest
47. Wildfire destroys major agricultural area
48. Wildfire destroys unpopulated area
49. Winter storm devastates city
50. Winter storm devastates region
51. Winter storm devastates unpopulated area
52. Natural wonder forms
53. Natural wonder destroyed by nature
54. Natural wonder destroyed by civilization
55. Created wonder
56. Created wonder destroyed
57. Religious persecution
58. Trade established between two cities
59. Trade established between two regions
60. Trade established between two countries
61. Trade established off world
62. Religion formed
63. Distant star goes out
64. Distant star forms
65. Constellation discovered
66. Comet passes
67. Meteor shower
68. Solar eclipse
69. Lunar eclipse
70. Comet/meteor impacts city
71. Comet/meteor impacts region
72. Comet/meteor impacts country
73. Comet/meteor impacts unpopulated area
74. Language created
75. Music created
76. Art created
77. Iconic hero born/dies
78. Iconic non-hero born/dies
79. Monster(s) terrorize city
80. Monster(s) terrorize region
81. Monster(s) terrorize country
82. Monster(s) terrorize unpopulated area
83. City founded
84. Civilization founded
85. Country founded
86. Military order created
87. Science order created
88. Magic order created
89. Technological level advanced
90. Technological level decreased
91. Country expands
92. Country shrinks
93. City grows
94. City shrinks
95. Disease devastates city
96. Disease devastates region
97. Disease devastates country
98. Disease pandemic
99. Exploration by civilization
100. Other event

Feel free to add some more if you see any major things I missed. I know there's a lot out there.

 

[AllisterH]

No love for the 2e World Builder's Guidebook?

I loved the way the book was structured so that you could start either from a macro top down approach or reverse it and scale up from a micro level...