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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7322110" data-attributes="member: 42582">I'm talking about the GM writing up the setting. Most RPGs posit some sort of setting - an imaginary place in which the PCs live, and where their adventures occur. That's the &quot;world&quot;. [MENTION=23935]Nagol[/MENTION]'s post gives examples - maps and other details of places; descriptions of personages; etc.Because it's a fictional world, it has to be authored/written. When the GM does that in advance, that's &quot;worldbuilding&quot;. Or, if you prefer, &quot;setting design&quot;. But I see &quot;worldbuilding&quot; used more often, so I chose that word.I'm pretty sure I know what that setting design is for in classic Gygaxian dungeoneering - it creates the maze/puzzle that the players have to &quot;solve&quot; (by mapping it; by cleverly raiding it; by looting it; all without having their PCs die, and rather accruing XP and hence being able to tackle harder dungeon levels). But in the OP I posit that this style of play is comparatively rare these days; so what is setting design for now?OK, but that seems a mere quibble. I think you've worked out what I have in mind, and I'm curious as to what the point of that is.So, what's all this for? Eg why not just have a list of names on a sheet of paper, rather than a kingdom map? Why write down all those room keys in advance? Why specify the gods and altars in advance?More generally, what is the benefit, for RPGing, of the GM working out in advance of play what elements the PCs will run into and (directly or indirectly) interact with?I don't know the answer to these questions. It strikes me as possible that Gygax carried over a technique that made sense when desiging the dungeon for play (map and key) onto a different context (the village as an element of backstory and more &quot;abstract&quot; setting) without noticing that it didn't necessarily make sense in that latter context.Or maybe he wanted to be prepared for a group of players ready to loot the village, because he thought they would bring their play expectations about dungeoneering into the new context of the village.But in any event, that would be one example of what I have called &quot;world building&quot;: the GM (by choosing to use this module) has established a whole lot of stuff about the setting in advance of play - the village layout, inhabitants, their dispositions and possessions, etc. Why do this? (Assuming that it's not just meant to be another dungeon.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7322110, member: 42582"] I'm talking about the GM writing up the setting. Most RPGs posit some sort of setting - an imaginary place in which the PCs live, and where their adventures occur. That's the "world". [MENTION=23935]Nagol[/MENTION]'s post gives examples - maps and other details of places; descriptions of personages; etc. Because it's a fictional world, it has to be authored/written. When the GM does that in advance, that's "worldbuilding". Or, if you prefer, "setting design". But I see "worldbuilding" used more often, so I chose that word. I'm pretty sure I know what that setting design is for in classic Gygaxian dungeoneering - it creates the maze/puzzle that the players have to "solve" (by mapping it; by cleverly raiding it; by looting it; all without having their PCs die, and rather accruing XP and hence being able to tackle harder dungeon levels). But in the OP I posit that this style of play is comparatively rare these days; so what is setting design for [I]now[/I]? OK, but that seems a mere quibble. I think you've worked out what I have in mind, and I'm curious as to what the point of [I]that[/I] is. So, what's all this for? Eg why not just have a list of names on a sheet of paper, rather than a kingdom map? Why write down all those room keys in advance? Why specify the gods and altars in advance? More generally, what is the benefit, for RPGing, of the GM working out in advance of play what elements the PCs will run into and (directly or indirectly) interact with? I don't know the answer to these questions. It strikes me as possible that Gygax carried over a technique that made sense when desiging the dungeon for play (map and key) onto a different context (the village as an element of backstory and more "abstract" setting) without noticing that it didn't necessarily make sense in that latter context. Or maybe he wanted to be prepared for a group of players ready to loot the village, because he thought [I]they[/I] would bring their play expectations about dungeoneering into the new context of the village. But in any event, that would be one example of what I have called "world building": the GM (by choosing to use this module) has established a whole lot of stuff about the setting in advance of play - the village layout, inhabitants, their dispositions and possessions, etc. Why do this? (Assuming that it's not just meant to be another dungeon.) [/QUOTE]

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