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<blockquote data-quote="Emerikol" data-source="post: 8236959" data-attributes="member: 6698278">One issue I have with calling everything a living world is that if nothing happens without the PCs being present then it's not a living world as I define it.&nbsp;&nbsp; A living world is one that changes and continues whatever the PCs do even if they just fall into a sleep for ten years.&nbsp;&nbsp; When they wake up the world will be different.&nbsp;&nbsp; It's the fact that NPCs have agendas that may or may not cross paths with the PCs anyway.&nbsp;&nbsp; Here is an example.&nbsp; I might have noted that a young girl is in love with a young boy in the village.&nbsp; I might have noted that her father is domineering and mean spirited and won't let them see each other.&nbsp;&nbsp; They try to see each other anyway.&nbsp; So that might be the starting situation in this village.&nbsp;&nbsp; The PCs could discover this information but they may never discover it if they don't look that way.&nbsp;&nbsp; I still have on my calendar the fact that the father beats the boy several weeks later and perhaps a week later both of them run away.&nbsp; In the meantime I have some notes where they might meet.Is it possible the PCs could get involved?&nbsp; Maybe.&nbsp; Maybe it is just local color.&nbsp; Maybe for a few days after they run away it's local gossip in some places.&nbsp;&nbsp; Could the PCs agree to find the girl and bring her back for a fee?&nbsp; Could they aid the getaway?&nbsp; They could do all sorts of things.&nbsp; Most of the time they will not interact with these events at all.&nbsp;&nbsp; They are still events.&nbsp;&nbsp; So when I say the world is a living breathing world, that is what I mean.&nbsp;&nbsp; Things happen outside the purview of the characters.Let's liken this to writing.&nbsp; Writers want you to feel like their world is real.&nbsp; Writers though generally don't spend a lot of time writing about things unrelated to the main characters.&nbsp; They do occasionally but this sort of example I gave likely doesn't get on a page unless the main character(s) absolutely will interact.&nbsp; But there are other things a writer does, providing all sorts of little details, that something happened in the background.&nbsp; So the gossip about the girl running away very much might make it into a story.&nbsp; When writing you generally just show the effects of off camera action but off camera action is important to deeping the story and creating verisimilitude.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Emerikol, post: 8236959, member: 6698278"] One issue I have with calling everything a living world is that if nothing happens without the PCs being present then it's not a living world as I define it. A living world is one that changes and continues whatever the PCs do even if they just fall into a sleep for ten years. When they wake up the world will be different. It's the fact that NPCs have agendas that may or may not cross paths with the PCs anyway. Here is an example. I might have noted that a young girl is in love with a young boy in the village. I might have noted that her father is domineering and mean spirited and won't let them see each other. They try to see each other anyway. So that might be the starting situation in this village. The PCs could discover this information but they may never discover it if they don't look that way. I still have on my calendar the fact that the father beats the boy several weeks later and perhaps a week later both of them run away. In the meantime I have some notes where they might meet. Is it possible the PCs could get involved? Maybe. Maybe it is just local color. Maybe for a few days after they run away it's local gossip in some places. Could the PCs agree to find the girl and bring her back for a fee? Could they aid the getaway? They could do all sorts of things. Most of the time they will not interact with these events at all. They are still events. So when I say the world is a living breathing world, that is what I mean. Things happen outside the purview of the characters. Let's liken this to writing. Writers want you to feel like their world is real. Writers though generally don't spend a lot of time writing about things unrelated to the main characters. They do occasionally but this sort of example I gave likely doesn't get on a page unless the main character(s) absolutely will interact. But there are other things a writer does, providing all sorts of little details, that something happened in the background. So the gossip about the girl running away very much might make it into a story. When writing you generally just show the effects of off camera action but off camera action is important to deeping the story and creating verisimilitude. [/QUOTE]

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