How do you make a campaign world come to life?

[InVinoVeritas]

Focus on flow.

Every aspect of the world should show evidence of that world. One of the things I love about Ravenloft is that the world, with its Dark Powers and Darklords and Domains and all, IS a character in and of itself. So, when you look at a street name, or walk into a store, what you see and smell should make sense within that world. People should be left with the impression, of course it's called Markovstrasse. Of course I'm smelling cherries and sweat.

Be familiar, but be surprising. In one world I made, I had introduced a number of extra PC races to fill in gaps, like goblins, which got Wisdom bonuses and druid favored classes. Someone then said that he couldn't wrap his head around wise goblins, so I went back to the drawing board, and came out with all new races. No dwarves and elves, but there were beings made of stone and beautiful flower-folk. Goblins became The Wizened, a race that was like a cross between Gollum and hags. Everyone got it, and it opened up the game in new ways--"Dark Elves" started sprouting mushrooms and thorns. The stone man was the most "human," while the High Man was the designated "dwarf." It shattered conventions without shattering suspension of disbelief.

Pay most (all?) attention to the here and now. What is right in front of the PCs is much more important than history or anthropology of kingdoms thousands of miles away. Keep your focus small, and on themes of the world. We only need to look at a picture or two to know what Deadlands is about. Do we know who's in charge? What the distance from Tombstone to Dodge City is? No. Is it important? No. So don't think about it.

When you hit a wall, remember that flow. Let's say the PCs do something surprising, and check out something you haven't fleshed out. If you have down the feel of the world, you'll just know what's there. You won't need to prepare for it. You can retcon the unknown history to make the here and now consistent later.

 

[Whisper72]

If you want to make the world come alive more on paper (i.e. not just how you DM it during play), then adding information on less dry subjects then history and lists of gods is essential:
- how is society organised, not only on a 'nation state' level, but also family relations etc.
- stuff on economy. Not just lists of trade goods, but where is the best steel made, who produces the loveliest wines, which Houses control trade, how do trade goods get around, what is the role of merchants and mercenaries in trade? etc. etc.
- legends, rumors, legendary places, heroes, hints of artifacts
- stuff on culture (what do ppl wear, what types of houses do they live in, what public buildings are common, festivals, education etc.
- what is the role of adventurers in society. Are they accepted? Pariahs? Just plain weird and eccentric?
- add specific things for the campaign world: special trees (think the Vallenwood trees in Dragonlance), special ores/mineral resources (think the crystals in Eberron), special places that require special rules (think the Mournland of Eberron) within the setting etc.
- make mention in the write up of famous writers, bards, poets, historians, generals, wizards, saints, conquerors etc.
- describe unusual structures from ages long gone or wonders more recently made by brilliant architects etc.
- include proverbs and sayings

And so on... add details about more mundane stuff, stuff that adventurers can see, interact with or have to deal with during their adventures.

 

[Bluenose]

Google for Heroquest Voices, and have a look at that. It's just the sort of thing I'd like to give my players for every setting, to give them an idea of what the people are like. Which is, in my opinion, the best way to make a world seem alive.

Other than that, pictures. What does an ordinary settlement look like, how do people dress normally, that sort of thing. The first impression you get when you step out of a carriage/step off a ship when you arrive somewhere.

 

[kitsune9]

The way I would do a campaign introduction through small bites of information.

The larger the region, the more generalized view to the more smaller the detail, the more specifics I would give.

Also, I try not to offer no more than a couple of pages of campaign stuff for the players and I would only introduce details that are truly relevant to the campaign that will start now, otherwise, the players will read and then forget after the first or second adventure.

Now the format that I have used is in the form of letters and a chronicle of certain recent events. Here's an example letter that I have written at the beginning of the campaign for the players to read.

My Lord Aranwe,

I wish to report that our village is in serious need of knights and healers of the land. There are more reports of undead and other horrors spilling over from the old Tokite border into our farmlands, and some families from the remote areas are missing. Some of the farmland seems to be blighted too as plants that are supposed to be ready for harvesttide grow into twisted blackened husks with cysts all over. Lastly, many charters and explorers are using our village as a meeting point and waystation to delve the ruined lands of Tokis and even Kalamar. Unfortunately, many of these charters are lawless, rowdy, and more than a handful for us. Our Constable and his small garrison is severely outmanned in trying to keep the peace with them alone, not including the vile merchants that are setting up shop catering to their decadent tastes of slaves, dragon dens, and other depravities. Such things we are forced to tolerate despite that we have sworn to uphold your good and just laws against such practices. Sooner or later, these charters will tire of risking their lives in Tokis and decide to pillage us. Already some farmers are complaining of being extorted of their food and livestock by some of the charters that are planning long overland trips. If we don’t obtain enough resources soon, our village may fall as soon as I write this. We implore you to send help. Already the villagers are worried that they will not be able to meet the tax collection this Harvesttide Festival, but I assured them that you will be lenient given our current state of affairs. I humbly ask that you consider so.

Your ever faithful servant,

Council Elder Hyannith Freeman of Maltopido

 

[prosfilaes]

Italics aren't terribly easy to read over large stretches. Maybe not what you were looking for, but the first thing that came to mind.

Unlike Whisper72, I find lists of gods to be interesting, done well. But history will just drop me right off to sleep; Dwarves of Golarion got rated low by me because I hated the ongoing discussion of ancient battles at places I didn't care about. Unless my character is very well-educated in a pseudo-medieval society, most of it won't be known to him and is thus probably unnecessary for me. (My character has plenty of points in Knowledge (Religion), so that's fine. )

 

[Steelwill]

The people and places, consistency and recurrence.

The people and places need to come to life with emotion and personality, the facts are good, but feeling and quirks give life.

Stay Consistent; if NPCs, setting specific rules/natural laws, and locales change each time the party interact with them, then they won't seem real.

Recurrence; If the party repeatedly interact with NPC's and locales, familiarity and perhaps even a bond will emerge, which will invest the players.

My 2 cents.

 

[Dungeoneer]

For Dark Sun, I made a powerpoint.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Unless you're writting up the campaign for publication, save yourself a ton of hassel and focus on the types of characters the players make and reveal the setting to them throug their characters choices.

Fighters: What are the popular types of weapons. Are there any unique ones. Are there famous warriors, demi-gods of swords, lords of battles, etc...

Wizards: Where do they learn. Is it college based or mentor-student based. Are they hated, feared, or respected?

Clerics: Do the gods touch all the clerics with those divine abilities or only some? Which gods do people call on when the crops fail? Which ones to make it rain? Epitaths and vows, etc...

Thief: Who runs the local guild? What's the largest gem ever yanked? Whose got the darkest deepest prison?

Making the campaign specific to the characters has the benefit of providing the details of the campaign as it relates to the players.

If you're just doing gneric campaign building on the other hand...

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Here's a quick thought for everyone:

In Stormonu's world, as presented so far, what would you like to play?

To be honest, I don't know for myself.

Stormonu, tell us more about your world: what's the daily life like? Who is doing what? What sort of hooks do you want to dangle before players to make PCs?

 

[Stormonu]

Here's a quick thought for everyone:

In Stormonu's world, as presented so far, what would you like to play?

To be honest, I don't know for myself.

Stormonu, tell us more about your world: what's the daily life like? Who is doing what? What sort of hooks do you want to dangle before players to make PCs?

Just to let everyone know, this is a campaign world I'm working on for (hopefully) publication - it's still in the very early stages, mostly a font of ideas. The whole thing originated when I was sitting down to learn game programming; my brother was egging me on for what sort of game I was going to make. I knew it was going to be some sort of CRPG, and after some thought, I decided I would go whole hog. The main character was going to be an Undead Pirate Ninja Samurai who rode a dinosaur and had a transforming pirate ship "robot". And as over the top as it sounds, I could see it working.

How? The main empire lands, Eth'Aurthurum are scrub-like desert land. Outside the cities, the land is infested with dinosaurs, some of which are captured and turned into beasts of burden. Most people dwell in fortified cities and overland travel is not to be taken lightly - if at all. The hardy warriors who protect the city were to be samurai. Each of the twelve major cities was ruled by ninja clan "nobles" who employed these samurai.

Outside the bounds of the empire, was a loosely-aligned brotherhood of revolutionists - under the kingdom name of Axatheium. They rage against the oppression of the empire of Eth'Aurthurum by raiding its cities and trade, hence as pirates and corsairs.

Another problem the empire has is the undead. Normally, when someone dies, if they've "done their duty" in life they "take a rest" for a bit and then are reborn into a new life. Undead form those who aren't ready to pass on, either with a task still too important to complete or too afraid of the punishment for slacking in their duty and too strong-willed to move on.

The "robot" pirate ship stuff, unfortunately, didn't make it into the campaign world, but I'm still looking for some way to pull it off. Perhaps as a pre-Devastation achievement, maybe as some wonder in a kingdom beyond the empire.

Of course, this was the spark; there's been other things that likewise have moved in:

- Eth'Aurthurum became more Arabic, instead of Asian. The Asian elements moved to a little-known island continent called Misrador; ruled by humans with rabbit/hare humanoids (Anhiyawen) as the peasantry.
- I put in a continent of dragons and elementals in the far north that allowed me to add Tyres Haul (dragonmen) and the Hellchilde (humans with elemental, dragon or other supernatural blood - they resemble albino humans, but when roused take on a supernatural appearance, say like a tiefling).
- There are no gods. There are powerful fey-spirits (such as the likes of Titania and Oberon), elemental spirits, a kraken and a superlich. Humanity has a sort of living god-emperor (but no one knows where he's gone to). The main thing it is possible that high-end PCs could destroy them. That also means there aren't clerics per se - there are prophets, soothsayers, demagogues, druids, heralds and avengers who claim to speak for these "powers", but no true clerics.
- The primary game races have become Anhiyawen (animal people), Draemani (half-elves), Dwarf (living stone spirits), Elf (trees made into warriors by the fey), Gnome (half elf/half dwarf), Hellchilde (variant tiefling), Hillenfay (halfling - fey spirits made flesh), Humans, Orkan (Humans twisted by Norcast blood magic), Mageborn (naturally sorcerous humans), Titanborn (elemental spirits made flesh), and Tyres Haul (winged dragonborn). Despite the many races, I've twisted the back story so that humans are the superior (and dominate) species and the other races are inferior in one way or another.

I hope I'm not rambling too much. I'm bursting at the seams to get this all down in a manner as interesting as I can see it becoming in my mind. I'm just flustered in which direction to start taking it and fleshing it out.

The "big damn picture" campaign map (warning, large pic):
[sblock]

[/sblock]