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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SavageRobby" data-source="post: 3783262" data-attributes="member: 51573">There is a difference between verisimilitude and reality. Verisimilitude is only having the appearance of reality. This is an important distinction for me.I tend to think of my game worlds as a play or movie. I want the set in the background to be realistic or evocative enough to pass a casual glance, and to add to the experience. But don't go poking too closely at it - because the background is just that: background. It isn't the focal point of the movie/play. So for the games I run, I want them real enough. Real enough to cause enough suspension of disbelief to enable the fun to begin. That makes my job a lot easier, especially as I'm not an expert on politics, ecology, geology, geography, architecture, or any of a million other world building details. And with that thin veneer applied over most aspects of the setting, I then only have to understand major design decisions/ramifications of the setting. Things like:* Who are the big players?* What is the role of magic, both locally and globally?* Is there a currency system, and how unified is it?Note that on something like the currency system, I don't have to know the history of its development, and all the ramifications of economic systems that are based on currency vs trade, etc al. I just need to have an idea about the basics: who coins the money, what are the denominations, and how is counterfeiting discouraged?I don't worry so much about things like, "how do the big players get fed" - thats the realistic view. But my players do encounter farmlands while they're traveling, especially in proximity to cities and villages - thats the appearance of reality. Crime and punishment is the same way. Having the players walk by the stocks and seeing a criminal getting pelted with rotten veggies, or passing by the crossroads and seeing skeletons in the hanging cages (a la Willow) is just as good, and maybe better, than having a full crime and punishment system detailed. This approach is again taking a cue from plays & movies: I just need to flash the occasional world-building clues to my players to make it feel immersive.</blockquote>

Verification