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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8138553" data-attributes="member: 59082">Most of us here are DMs, so can probably all relate to the basic fact that world-building stretches far beyond what players every will encounter (or care to know). Some players really want to dive into the lore, but most just show up to roll some dice. But, my point is that D&D involves a whole "side game" which includes everything the DM does that doesn't show up in a given session. Namely, world-building. Some DMs get away with creating set-pieces and/or a co-created campaign settings, but a lot of us care about such things--like who the villain races are, where and how they interact with people (to use your words).This isn't to say that such deep world-building is only for the DM's gratification, for certainly a more internally coherent world can only benefit the player experience. But that I resonate with what you are saying--that the conversation tends to focus on player experience. Not only is the DM putting more work in, but often engages in campaign and setting design as its own "co-hobby." For some of us, even, it is just as--if not even more--enjoyable than the actual play experience. The "meta-game," if you will.When I'm designing a new setting, or updating an old one, one of the things I put some time into is deciding which races and creatures exist, in what numbers, where, and how they interact. I'm reminded of a chart from the 1E DMG (I think) that had all races on both the X and Y axis, and how friendly they were with each other. It was a bit simplistic, but something like that can be useful. Then, before session zero, I email out a short PDF about the setting (I find that a two-sided page is all players can generally be expected to read, and even then I go over it in session zero). It may include ways in which my setting differs from the standard tropes and assumptions of D&D, as well as what races are allowed, etc.</blockquote>

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