Homebrewed World Guides?

[Doc_Klueless]

Ok. The thread on Lizardfolk got me to thinking that maybe I should take all of my miriad of notes on my homebrew and compile them into a hand Worldbook for myself and my players to be able to reference. This would include many of the little posts I've added over the years, things like Religion, Geography, History, Races etc, much like, say, the Living Greyhawk or FRCS.

I remember doing this about 6 years ago when I ran an extended GURPS Fantasy-genre campaign. I had maps, written languages with associated fonts, races, religion, lost of history and country politics/interactions outlined, etc. I also remember that my players seldom glanced at it, so the construction of the new Worldbook would be simply a labor of love that probably wouldn't see much use.

Has anyone else constructed such a "book?" Did it get much use? Was it worth your time? What are you wearing right now... er... ehem. What did you use to make it? Any comments at all?

 

[Psion]

It's way outdated, but I compiled a "primer" for my players describing major figures, nations, and events.

Imagine my surprise when I found out some of them actually read it...

 

[Insight]

In our game, we have a 'living document' with a worldbook type feel to it. I based the sections on what was in the Greyhawk Gazetteer, just to make sure I covered most of the bases. A lot of it is still blank unfortuntely, but that's more a product of me not having enough time to update it than anything else.

One cool thing we do is rotate DMs using the same game world, so the Gazetteer definitely gets some use. How much people read it between game sessions, etc., I have no idea. I doubt it sees much use beyond people planning for their adventures.

 

[Greatwyrm]

I've got one that I update every couple of months for my campaign. I expect my players to read parts of it that apply to them, but not necessarily the whole thing. If they want to miss out on a feat, spell, or PrC that might be cool for them, that's their choice.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I haven't touched it for a while, and some of the game mechanics are outdated or need fixing, but my homebrew is posted to my website at the following URL: http://www.darrindrader.com/Files.htm

 

[TerraDave]

Like DM Magic (and many others), there is a website for the campaign. On that site is a pdf of the Player Guide.

In the run up to a new campaing, it apparently has been consulted quite a bit,at least as far as charecter options go. In terms of other world info, it might get looked at, you never know, but won't get read cover to cover.

Another guy and I both work on this world, and the biggest use is for us--I consult it all the time for things that have slipped my mind.

 

[eris404]

Yeah, Kid Charlemagne did several things for his revamped world. He gave us a brief (no more than 4-5 pages) Player's Guide in Word format; it was mostly for character generation and acts a basic introduction to the world (brief overview of religions, governments, ethnicities/countries, important organizations). He also maintains a message board which he uses to post articles and maps and answer our questions in depth. He also had a web site for the old (2E) version of his world, but I'm not sure if he's going to update that or not. To be honest, I hope he does and compiles/archives all the great material he's put on forums for posterity.

Something else that he's done that I like a lot: he had a player in another group illustrate some places and things important in the campaign world. He did a really great job of it and it really made the places come alive.

Because I really, really enjoy world building, I'm going to make a fairly detailed document, but slim it down to a few pages for the players, if and when I get to run it. I realize that not everyone is going to be as into the minutiae as I am, and besides, I want to give the players some room to create as well. I want it to be a living document.

 

[Amaroq]

I've been working it into my material for the 'first session', actually - a foundation of sorts for the players to better understand their characters. It makes for a slower exposition, but a better grounding I think.