Kashell
First Post
Have some ideas but don't known where to start? You'll need a few things for this. A D&D 3.5 DM's Manuel, pens, pencils, paper, DICE and a notebook. All very important items.
STEP ONE: First your items. Buy yourself a very nice notebook. It can be a simple 3 ring binder, but make sure it's the kind where the rings won't seperate and break easily. I would definatly recommend getting a completely plastic notebook rather than one made with semi-cardboard.
Get yourself your favorite type of pen. I tend to buy a prestigous looking pen...it makes me more...DM like.
Pencils are pencils. Make sure you have lots of them, because they tend to get lost easily between the middle of sessions when players don't have their own, or you leave it in between the seats of your car or something. Be prepared.
Make sure you have one of every type of die. You'll need them.
And finally your DM's guide. You might want to bring that out right now, in fact.
STEP TWO: Draw your world out. It's very important to have a map of your world. You can do this with graph paper, or do it with a plain sheet of white paper. I would recommend putting it in a plastic cover and putting it in your DM's notebook, so you can pass it around during the session when needed (and so that if drinks spill your map isn't ruined). Put good time into making your map. Draw it out with a pencil first, then go heavy over the lines with a pen.
Think of things such as:
What geography does my world have? (mountains, swamps, plains, cold terrain...)
Do I want islands on my world?
Should it be one landmass or several?
Once you've drawn out your map, spend your time coming up with clever names for your major cities in the world. I usually recommend 3-5 major cities. You don't have to stat them out yet, just make sure they all have names.
STEP THREE Detail, detail, detail. I would recommend starting your way with where the PC's are now, and draw your world from there. That way, if you get bogged down with other activities, you have something to play your world with, even if it's not done yet.
First things first. Players should start out in a major city(or near one), so you're going to stat out one of your major cities that you've already named.
This is where your DM's guide is essential. Turn to page 137-141 "Generating Towns". This will give you a good idea of how you can create your towns.
Though I wouldn't recommend drawing a map for your small towns, drawing a map with the buildings numbered can help speed up play in large towns. Have each place of interest numbered, so the PC's can say, "Hey, we go to place #20" instead of, "Ok, so...what's all in this town?" Though a town map of the large cities is helpful, it isn't totally nessisary like the world map is.
Get yourself a clean sheet of paper. It's time to use that pencil.
You're about to stat out your city. You can do this with a word processor if you'd like. Just as long as this ends up in your notebook.
Make sure you stat out each buisness in the city. It's important to know what each place sells, and it's important to know the traits for each of the NPC's of these respective buisnesses. If you don't have any ideas in mind (because creating 30+ NPC's can be difficult) turn to page 128 of your DM's guide. Looks are important and will help your PC's identify your NPC's better.
Make sure you know what each NPC sells. You can create your own tables for each type of item if you wish, or simply say, "He sells clothing." and go from there.
Lastly, make sure you know your NPC's diplomacy check right off hand. It's assumed that your players are going to try to bring down the price of everything they can.
Economics often means that the PC's can't find what they want. You may want to make your own custom chart of availability of an item (d%). Remember, the harder it is to find an item, the rarer it is.
STEP FOUR: Your story line.
You've put down some good hours into making your world by now, I'm sure. Now you've got to write a simple chain of events of the story line. Start from the unknown beginning (ok, evil god makes artifact, it's sent to material plane --> PC's stumble upon person possessed by artifact --> evil person leads an army against the PC's hometown...) Can be a simply defined story line. You don't have to get intricate, in fact, I recommend you keep it simple and flexible just make sure you have an idea where your story is leading.
STEP FIVE: Improvise, improvise, improvise!
From here on out, you're on your own. You've got the basics, but now you need to fill up your empty world. This is an arduous task of filling a never ending basket...you could litterally work on your world for near forever, improving this, and that. I recommend the approach of stay-one-step-ahead-of-the-players. If you think your players are going to head up into the mountains of the infinite abyss, make sure you get an idea of what monsters live there, what people live there, and how they act.
STEP SIX: Steal from the best!
Seen something cool that you like? Use it. Do you like the story of Drizzt? Use it! Don't be afraid to take bits and pieces from other people and mold it into your own creation. Just don't make it so obvious that the PC's recognize what you're doing. Going overboard here can be bad, as well.
-------------------------
Just as world building could go on forever, I could sit here and tell you everything you need to know about it...but the best way to build a world is to sit down and DO IT .
STEP ONE: First your items. Buy yourself a very nice notebook. It can be a simple 3 ring binder, but make sure it's the kind where the rings won't seperate and break easily. I would definatly recommend getting a completely plastic notebook rather than one made with semi-cardboard.
Get yourself your favorite type of pen. I tend to buy a prestigous looking pen...it makes me more...DM like.
Pencils are pencils. Make sure you have lots of them, because they tend to get lost easily between the middle of sessions when players don't have their own, or you leave it in between the seats of your car or something. Be prepared.
Make sure you have one of every type of die. You'll need them.
And finally your DM's guide. You might want to bring that out right now, in fact.
STEP TWO: Draw your world out. It's very important to have a map of your world. You can do this with graph paper, or do it with a plain sheet of white paper. I would recommend putting it in a plastic cover and putting it in your DM's notebook, so you can pass it around during the session when needed (and so that if drinks spill your map isn't ruined). Put good time into making your map. Draw it out with a pencil first, then go heavy over the lines with a pen.
Think of things such as:
What geography does my world have? (mountains, swamps, plains, cold terrain...)
Do I want islands on my world?
Should it be one landmass or several?
Once you've drawn out your map, spend your time coming up with clever names for your major cities in the world. I usually recommend 3-5 major cities. You don't have to stat them out yet, just make sure they all have names.
STEP THREE Detail, detail, detail. I would recommend starting your way with where the PC's are now, and draw your world from there. That way, if you get bogged down with other activities, you have something to play your world with, even if it's not done yet.
First things first. Players should start out in a major city(or near one), so you're going to stat out one of your major cities that you've already named.
This is where your DM's guide is essential. Turn to page 137-141 "Generating Towns". This will give you a good idea of how you can create your towns.
Though I wouldn't recommend drawing a map for your small towns, drawing a map with the buildings numbered can help speed up play in large towns. Have each place of interest numbered, so the PC's can say, "Hey, we go to place #20" instead of, "Ok, so...what's all in this town?" Though a town map of the large cities is helpful, it isn't totally nessisary like the world map is.
Get yourself a clean sheet of paper. It's time to use that pencil.
You're about to stat out your city. You can do this with a word processor if you'd like. Just as long as this ends up in your notebook.
Make sure you stat out each buisness in the city. It's important to know what each place sells, and it's important to know the traits for each of the NPC's of these respective buisnesses. If you don't have any ideas in mind (because creating 30+ NPC's can be difficult) turn to page 128 of your DM's guide. Looks are important and will help your PC's identify your NPC's better.
Make sure you know what each NPC sells. You can create your own tables for each type of item if you wish, or simply say, "He sells clothing." and go from there.
Lastly, make sure you know your NPC's diplomacy check right off hand. It's assumed that your players are going to try to bring down the price of everything they can.
Economics often means that the PC's can't find what they want. You may want to make your own custom chart of availability of an item (d%). Remember, the harder it is to find an item, the rarer it is.
STEP FOUR: Your story line.
You've put down some good hours into making your world by now, I'm sure. Now you've got to write a simple chain of events of the story line. Start from the unknown beginning (ok, evil god makes artifact, it's sent to material plane --> PC's stumble upon person possessed by artifact --> evil person leads an army against the PC's hometown...) Can be a simply defined story line. You don't have to get intricate, in fact, I recommend you keep it simple and flexible just make sure you have an idea where your story is leading.
STEP FIVE: Improvise, improvise, improvise!
From here on out, you're on your own. You've got the basics, but now you need to fill up your empty world. This is an arduous task of filling a never ending basket...you could litterally work on your world for near forever, improving this, and that. I recommend the approach of stay-one-step-ahead-of-the-players. If you think your players are going to head up into the mountains of the infinite abyss, make sure you get an idea of what monsters live there, what people live there, and how they act.
STEP SIX: Steal from the best!
Seen something cool that you like? Use it. Do you like the story of Drizzt? Use it! Don't be afraid to take bits and pieces from other people and mold it into your own creation. Just don't make it so obvious that the PC's recognize what you're doing. Going overboard here can be bad, as well.
-------------------------
Just as world building could go on forever, I could sit here and tell you everything you need to know about it...but the best way to build a world is to sit down and DO IT .
And also, usually, I drop off so many plot hooks during play that I only have to worry about the players' FIRST adventure - they choose their own goals after that.
