D&D 5E What do I need to build a world?

[Lanliss]

I want to build my own world, as so many who play D&D do. My question is, what are the bare basics for the world to be playable?

So far I plan on not having Dragonborn or Arracockra, but the rest of the races will be around.

I have a pantheon, though they pretty much have a 'Mount Olympus' type plane where they all live, as I don't think I will be playing with Planes too much.

I have a couple of ideas for landmarks, though I know those will not come up for a little while.

So, all of this being considered, what do you think I should work out before I try running a quest in this world? I might be able to do so now, but I wouldn't mind having some experienced people check my work. Am I missing anything specific that you would include in your world building process?

 

[ThirdWizard]

Detail the starting town or city. What is the government? What temples are there? Who are the interesting NPCs that they'll run into? What organizations are in the area and what are their goals?

What is the area like? What is the climate like? What is the season? What lives in the wilderness surrounding the starting town? Are there nearby settlements, and if the PCs go there will you be ready for it?

Do intelligent creatures live in the wilderness? What do they want? Are they enemies or friends of the town? What kind of danger do they pose to interlopers?

What is there for an adventurer to do? What needs to be accomplished? What dangers are present, and what dangers are rising?

Back to the town. Who are the PCs' rivals? Who are their enemies? Who are their allies? What do all these groups want with the surrounding lands, neighbors, friends, and foes? How do they get along with each other?

 

[Lanliss]

Detail the starting town or city. What is the government? What temples are there? Who are the interesting NPCs that they'll run into? What organizations are in the area and what are their goals?

What is the area like? What is the climate like? What is the season? What lives in the wilderness surrounding the starting town? Are there nearby settlements, and if the PCs go there will you be ready for it?

Do intelligent creatures live in the wilderness? What do they want? Are they enemies or friends of the town? What kind of danger do they pose to interlopers?

What is there for an adventurer to do? What needs to be accomplished? What dangers are present, and what dangers are rising?

Back to the town. Who are the PCs' rivals? Who are their enemies? Who are their allies? What do all these groups want with the surrounding lands, neighbors, friends, and foes? How do they get along with each other?

My pantheon lacks a nature god (sorry nature clerics) so anywhere not surrounded by 100% man-made land is going to have some animal problems. I think they will be starting from a coastal town. I am gonna need to flesh out the NPCs for sure, thanks for reminding me. Settlements will be few and far between, again because of the chaos in nature. Might be a little while before the players get a quest to go to another settlement. Am gonna have to get player buy-in on all being connected to the same town, as the "I traveled here from up north" will not really work in my world.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Coastal towns are great. You can use islands, shipwrecks, shallow seas, creatures of the deep, as well as sailing adventures. Weather becomes more important. If a storm is coming, it affects sea travel and the ships in the docks. I've had some great times coming up with shifty sea captains and corrupt dock officials in the past. Sea or weather gods will be important to the area. There can be people from all over if it's a trade town, or it can be a quiet little fishing village depending on how you want to play it out. There is so much room for possibility!

 

[feartheminotaur]

My take on creating a world: Do it one bit a time. Make a general 'state of the world' outline, but don't detail it. If you try to detail too much too soon, you'll find parts that don't fit or 'feel' inauthentic.

A couple of suggestions:

You have to decide how open ended it is - that is, how much of the world do the Characters know about? The more they know the more you have to have built up front.

Example: Characters might meet in an inn in England and discuss the mysterious Orient in vague, almost mythical, terms without really knowing anything about it, but at the same time be able to tell you the names of every dog in the village. In that case you don't have to detail the Ming Dynasty down to the last eunuch, you just have to come up with 'the Orient', a few rumors, and some canine sounding names.

Then, decide on where the players start. You have to make their corner of the world feel lived in and fleshed out. Do they start in the Kingdom of Place Name? OK. Make a basic, wikipedia style outline of Place Name. History, geography, economy, notable people... the kind of thing anyone would know - who their neighbors are, what the weather is like, etc. Then make a map and put all that stuff there. Now you have a 'world' for them to play in.

Example: You don't need to detail South America down to the regal insignia of a fallen monarchy in an obscure country if they'll be playing in Ireland for the first bit. You build Ireland, from the myth of King Brian to the Koppen climate designation, and while they're dealing with a land plagued by your version of Viking raiders and harvests ruined by evil mages or whatnot, you can start making the next Place or Person they might know about and want to travel to or meet.

Then you do the same for the next place they could go.

From a semi-professional stand point Rich Burlew had a great series of articles here: http://www.giantitp.com/Gaming.html

 

[NotActuallyTim]

Typically, since most characters cannot fly, you need a place for them to walk around on.

When you say 'world' do you mean a continent like Forgotten Realms, a region like Blackmoor, or a planet like all of Toril? Or a demiplane, like the Domains of Dread?

Coming up with some general answers about the nature of your world can help pin down a lot of the details. Where did it come from? Whats the cosmic landscape look like? What are the central conflicts of the world?

Could you draw it with a pencil if you had to?

 

[Lanliss]

Typically, since most characters cannot fly, you need a place for them to walk around on.

When you say 'world' do you mean a continent like Forgotten Realms, a region like Blackmoor, or a planet like all of Toril? Or a demiplane, like the Domains of Dread?

Coming up with some general answers about the nature of your world can help pin down a lot of the details. Where did it come from? Whats the cosmic landscape look like? What are the central conflicts of the world?

Could you draw it with a pencil if you had to?

I am thinking a whole planet will work out well. A country feels too small for some of my ideas, while a demiplane cuts against my plans of not playing with the planes. I could draw a couple of landmarks I have in mind, but they are both islands, one small and one maybe the size of a country.

The primary conflict will be against nature and chaos, because of a war among gods that is happening. I am thinking of having small pockets of civilization in a world of chaos.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

Neat!

When you say chaos, what do you mean?

 

[77IM]

I found this pretty helpful, for staying focussed on details that the players actually care about:

twenty quick questions for your campaign setting

 

[Lanliss]

Neat!

When you say chaos, what do you mean?

I just mean the general nature issues, but with a lot less order. It is no longer a guarantee that rabbits eat plants, and snakes eat rabbits. Maybe snakes will eat wood, and rabbits will hunt eagles. Just about everything is going to be a lot more dangerous than normal, because you can no longer say for sure that "that plant is safe to eat, and that snake is not venomous". Druids will be a lot more important here, and probably more like guides than distant forest wardens.