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<blockquote data-quote="weem" data-source="post: 5096110" data-attributes="member: 9470"><p>I have been using the bottom-up approach for the exact reasons you are mentioning - I'm too busy and don't have time to create everything BEFORE we play. It is the first time I have done it this way, and it's been amazing.</p><p></p><p>Just to give you a brief run-down of what I did. It's simpified, but really it wasn't a whole lot more complex than this...</p><p></p><p>1. I started with a theme - basically, a world where humans were brought to be saved from the destruction of the old world. A world that did not have humans before their arrival. I wanted to explore what that meant, not just from the human point of view, but from others already there.</p><p></p><p>2. I drew out the basic outline of a continent, then drew circles in various areas marking down "elves", "dwarves", "desert", "mountains" etc - super basic stuff.</p><p></p><p>3. I decided on a location where the humans first arrived.</p><p></p><p>4. I decided that 1,00 years have passed since the time of their arrival, and i circled out areas they had spread to.</p><p></p><p>5. I dotted down some towns (no names)</p><p></p><p>6. I selected one, called in Malinev and decided, this is where the game begins.</p><p></p><p>7. Planned the campaign theme (lists of people showing up within nefarious organizations... they are gathering these people... the pc's are on some of these lists) - I decided game 1 would have them coming together because of such a list... an NPC will have gathered them and a few others to show them a list with their names on it... "why are we on this list"</p><p></p><p>8. Go.</p><p></p><p></p><p>From there, we played. The players knew going in this was a bottom-up approach to setting creation. They asked me questions, and I answered them taking notes so I knew to include them in the details later... sometimes I didn't have a full answer, but we move on, etc.</p><p></p><p>As I said, it has been awesome for us. The players chose their characters race/class etc and as they played them THEY were giving ME insights to the races etc. I would see how they were playing out and incorporate things into the setting based on it.</p><p></p><p>For example, a player playing a Dwarf wanted to be all about the spirits of the land etc, and the idea was really cool - so as we were talking about it, I was taking notes, "yea, that's cool... so there are two kind of mindsets then when it comes to Dwarves... those who are pretty spiritual, and about the old ways, and others who care about the here and now... profit margins, etc - they have forgotten the old ways".</p><p></p><p>Anyway, it's a great way to almost cooperatively build a setting and you don't have to spend a year(s) building it first... you develop it as you go. It's very flexible this way and leaves a lot of room to adjust and develop cool things in the moment without preset ideas blocking the way.</p><p></p><p></p><p>---edit---</p><p></p><p>Here is the map by the way (done in photoshop)... the details you see (city names, etc) are their either because the players have been there, or they have been mentioned before...</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.lastlands.com/upload/lastlands_color_map.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.lastlands.com/upload/lastlands_color_map.jpg</a></p><p></p><p>...the rest, hasn't come up yet (except via vague descriptions sometimes).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="weem, post: 5096110, member: 9470"] I have been using the bottom-up approach for the exact reasons you are mentioning - I'm too busy and don't have time to create everything BEFORE we play. It is the first time I have done it this way, and it's been amazing. Just to give you a brief run-down of what I did. It's simpified, but really it wasn't a whole lot more complex than this... 1. I started with a theme - basically, a world where humans were brought to be saved from the destruction of the old world. A world that did not have humans before their arrival. I wanted to explore what that meant, not just from the human point of view, but from others already there. 2. I drew out the basic outline of a continent, then drew circles in various areas marking down "elves", "dwarves", "desert", "mountains" etc - super basic stuff. 3. I decided on a location where the humans first arrived. 4. I decided that 1,00 years have passed since the time of their arrival, and i circled out areas they had spread to. 5. I dotted down some towns (no names) 6. I selected one, called in Malinev and decided, this is where the game begins. 7. Planned the campaign theme (lists of people showing up within nefarious organizations... they are gathering these people... the pc's are on some of these lists) - I decided game 1 would have them coming together because of such a list... an NPC will have gathered them and a few others to show them a list with their names on it... "why are we on this list" 8. Go. From there, we played. The players knew going in this was a bottom-up approach to setting creation. They asked me questions, and I answered them taking notes so I knew to include them in the details later... sometimes I didn't have a full answer, but we move on, etc. As I said, it has been awesome for us. The players chose their characters race/class etc and as they played them THEY were giving ME insights to the races etc. I would see how they were playing out and incorporate things into the setting based on it. For example, a player playing a Dwarf wanted to be all about the spirits of the land etc, and the idea was really cool - so as we were talking about it, I was taking notes, "yea, that's cool... so there are two kind of mindsets then when it comes to Dwarves... those who are pretty spiritual, and about the old ways, and others who care about the here and now... profit margins, etc - they have forgotten the old ways". Anyway, it's a great way to almost cooperatively build a setting and you don't have to spend a year(s) building it first... you develop it as you go. It's very flexible this way and leaves a lot of room to adjust and develop cool things in the moment without preset ideas blocking the way. ---edit--- Here is the map by the way (done in photoshop)... the details you see (city names, etc) are their either because the players have been there, or they have been mentioned before... [url]http://www.lastlands.com/upload/lastlands_color_map.jpg[/url] ...the rest, hasn't come up yet (except via vague descriptions sometimes). [/QUOTE]
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