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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9140105" data-attributes="member: 467">NOTE: This is a + thread, which means that we won't be discussing the actual merits of GM Worldbuilding. There are other threads where that is happening. Argue in one of those, please.In a certain style of RPG campaign play, the world is established in pretty concrete terms and the players explore, discover and change that world through their characters experiences and actions. This was probably the dominant for of play for most of the history of traditional RPGs (although books like The Elusive Shift show us that even during the earliest days there was a wide variety of playstyles).Sometimes, the world is defined in supplements and adventures, created by a publishing company. Sometimes the world is adapted from other media, from Middle Earth to Earth 1 to A Galaxy Far, Far Away. And sometimes, perhaps most often, the world is the creation of the GM, custom built for play. There are, of course, combinations of these elements, with the GM taking ownership over existing worlds and changing them to suit, to publishing companies producing licensed worlds of existing properties, to fan creations informed by uncounted contributors, and more.While we can debate the relative value of each of these different techniques in this thread, I am more interested in a specific aspect of world building for RPGs: playability.Playability includes a few things. First and foremost in my mind is does the world provide opportunities for "adventure" (whatever that means in the context of the game the world is meant for). Do the player characters have stuff to do in the world? Second and only slightly less important is does the world mesh with and support the game's mechanical elements? Sometimes a world blatantly clashes with the game it is meant for (looking at you, MERP) and that can either be a disaster or create an unintended new thing. Finally, does the world inspire the GM? This is more for published worlds. Does reading the setting book send the GM's mind racing with possibilities? For me, the original Eberron Campaign Setting is the ideal expression of this aspect.What do you think about world building toward gameplay? What are the techniques a world builder can use to build toward gameplay, and what should be avoided? What happens when a world builder finds they are building more for their own pleasure or for bespoke stories than for gameplay? How can they salvage their world? What TTRPG worlds really speak to you from a "built for gameplay" perspective, and which are interesting worlds but fail in the gameplay department?</blockquote>

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