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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6855808" data-attributes="member: 4937">As a novice DM, you should never start out with a project as big as building a world.  At this point in time, you probably have no clear idea what features of a world would suit your story telling skills.I would begin by finding a suitable introductory adventure to get started with.  Read through the adventure and think about how you might incorporate the ideas presented in it, into your own larger world.  What details are missing that you feel should be there?   What things are adjacent to this adventure setting just off the edge of the map?  What things could you add to the setting that would personalize it, not only for your taste, but the taste and interests of your players.Fleshing out someone else's borrowed ideas with your own is a consummate DMing skill.Good DMs have many many skills:a) Creating and characterizing interesting NPCsb) Creating tactical challenges and utilizing monsters in a skillful manner to make the most of those challenges.c) Drawing interesting mapsd) Creating immersive and evocative environments.e) Building coherent and meaningful worlds in which to explore ideas, themes, and storiesf) Creating interesting plots filled with mystery, twists, and powerful reveals.g) Piecing together investigations and stories with layers of organic clues that keep drawing the players alongh) Acting as repositories of every manner of trivia and basic knowledge about just about everything, because believe me, no matter how obscure, your players will ask about it. i) Resolving table conflict, maintaining neutrality, and being the sort of referee that the players trust.j) Staying organized, knowing the rules, and remembering all the details of the situation, so as to be able to adjudicate player actions quickly, accurately, and fairly.No DM is equally good at all that, and much of that requires practice to get good at.  At this point, unless you've got a burning white hot flame inside you to get some ideas down on paper, I'd not start by doing a lot of world building.</blockquote>

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