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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 7153215" data-attributes="member: 71699">I've been heavily influenced by Tolkien's thinking on fantasy worlds. He saw them as real places, not subject to his whim as an author but somehow with a life of their own. He describes feeling more like an historian, uncovering new facts about Middle Earth. I love that approach!So when I picture all the many cities, towns and villages of whatever world I am working on at the moment I love to find ways that they can become external to me. Places that I explore along with my players. I believe good DMs do &quot;make it up as they go along&quot;, but for me that works best in tension against constraints and dice rolls. There are always as many towns, as many trees, as many mountains as I need at any given moment. But the mountains don't sit on top of the trees, the trees are not roots upside down in the ocean, the towns have people in them that fulfilling &quot;real-life&quot; roles such as blacksmiths, bakers, clerics and sages.Do we need any bakers, in any town of the Sword Coast? No, of course not. None of our NPCs really eat. No one will die if there is no food. It's all made up. However, I like to imagine a reasonable proportion of people actually are bakers. It breathes life into the world. Sets it apart from me. Makes it a wonderful place to explore.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 7153215, member: 71699"] I've been heavily influenced by Tolkien's thinking on fantasy worlds. He saw them as real places, not subject to his whim as an author but somehow with a life of their own. He describes feeling more like an historian, uncovering new facts about Middle Earth. I love that approach! So when I picture all the many cities, towns and villages of whatever world I am working on at the moment I love to find ways that they can become external to me. Places that I explore along with my players. I believe good DMs do "[I]make it up as they go along[/I]", but for me that works best in tension against constraints and dice rolls. There are always as many towns, as many trees, as many mountains as I need at any given moment. But the mountains don't sit on top of the trees, the trees are not roots upside down in the ocean, the towns have people in them that fulfilling "real-life" roles such as blacksmiths, bakers, clerics and sages. Do we need any bakers, in any town of the Sword Coast? No, of course not. None of our NPCs really eat. No one will die if there is no food. It's all made up. However, I like to imagine a reasonable proportion of people actually are bakers. It breathes life into the world. Sets it apart from me. Makes it a wonderful place to explore. [/QUOTE]

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