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<blockquote data-quote="Emerikol" data-source="post: 8255701" data-attributes="member: 6698278">A living world is a world that changes without PC stimuli.&nbsp;&nbsp; It will of course also change due to PC stimuli but that alone doesn't make it a living world.Think of a dead body.&nbsp; if I pick up the corpse arm and move it, the corpse is still dead.&nbsp; If the arm starts moving all by itself then it's not dead.&nbsp;&nbsp; (Maybe in D&amp;D it's undead but that's not what I mean here ;-)).How it changes without PC stimuli can vary of course but I would absolutely dismiss the idea that it can be done as just in time response to PC action.&nbsp;&nbsp; That is a PC stimuli.&nbsp;&nbsp; A living world will over time have events that occur and are never seen by the PCs and never reacted to by the PCs.&nbsp; &nbsp; I achieve that affect within the sandbox by using a calendar.&nbsp;&nbsp; I map the movements and actions of my NPCs based upon those NPCs personalities and agendas.&nbsp; When the party interacts with an NPC in some significant way, I change the calendar for that NPC.&nbsp;&nbsp; If the party interacts with the entire sandbox in some significant way, like burning down the entire village, then of course I have a lot of calendar changes to make.&nbsp; Many of those might just be marking NPCs as dead who lived in the village.So the key is that events happen that do not always affect the PCs.&nbsp; That is a living world.&nbsp; If you try to make it look like the world was changing but it really wasn't, then I'd say that is similar to what a novelist does to simulate a living world in his writing but it would not be a living world.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Emerikol, post: 8255701, member: 6698278"] A living world is a world that changes without PC stimuli. It will of course also change due to PC stimuli but that alone doesn't make it a living world. Think of a dead body. if I pick up the corpse arm and move it, the corpse is still dead. If the arm starts moving all by itself then it's not dead. (Maybe in D&D it's undead but that's not what I mean here ;-)). How it changes without PC stimuli can vary of course but I would absolutely dismiss the idea that it can be done as just in time response to PC action. That is a PC stimuli. A living world will over time have events that occur and are never seen by the PCs and never reacted to by the PCs. I achieve that affect within the sandbox by using a calendar. I map the movements and actions of my NPCs based upon those NPCs personalities and agendas. When the party interacts with an NPC in some significant way, I change the calendar for that NPC. If the party interacts with the entire sandbox in some significant way, like burning down the entire village, then of course I have a lot of calendar changes to make. Many of those might just be marking NPCs as dead who lived in the village. So the key is that events happen that do not always affect the PCs. That is a living world. If you try to make it look like the world was changing but it really wasn't, then I'd say that is similar to what a novelist does to simulate a living world in his writing but it would not be a living world. [/QUOTE]

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