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Message: <blockquote data-quote="feartheminotaur" data-source="post: 6833022" data-attributes="member: 6801354">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: <a href="http://www.giantitp.com/Gaming.html" target="_blank">http://www.giantitp.com/Gaming.html</a></blockquote>

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