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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Caliban" data-source="post: 7323812" data-attributes="member: 284">World building has almost nothing to do with "puzzle solving play".  That's adventure/dungeon design.  Worldbuilding is simply that - building the world that the PC's adventure in.   The gods, the cultures, the races, geopolitical relations, secret organizations vying for power, forgotten tombs and mad liches, etc, etc.  A world plus problems for PC's to solve and monsters to fight. Or it can just be a small village the PC's start in and a few threats for them to deal with, with the rest of the world being created as the PC's level up and explore.  Or the world building can be rather limited as the DM uses a pre-written campaign (taking advantage of someone else's world building efforts) and inserts their own adventure scenarios into it. Any of these approaches work for worldbuilding - it's mainly up to the DM and their personal preference.   Some of us really like creating worlds and societies (usually with an interesting premise or twist) and working out how everything fits together.  Some of us just want to create a dungeon and have some interesting combats. I can't speak for @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6777696" target="_blank">redrick</a>, but in my experience most of the "collaborative worldbuilding with players" comes from their backstories when they create their characters, before the campaign starts.   I give them the basics of the campaign world, they give me their character background (if they feel like making one), and I fit that into the world (or rarely - if they make something that really doesn't fit - I tell them to go back to the drawing board).  My current campaign - a new player decided he wanted to have a character with a Native American themed background, with his tribe living in a forest.   I picked an area of the continent that I didn't have any specific plans for, and that is now "Verdania, Land of the Forest People" with a history that goes back a thousand years.  Or will when I finish writing it.   Another player gave me a background where his character befriended a goddess (despite being told the gods had been distant and remote for centuries) and became her favored follower, gained a unique mithral sword with stats better than the PHB version and defeated a dragon.  All before his 3rd level character started play.   I explained that his character was prone to hallucinations and had recently escaped from a local madhouse before joining the party.   My campaign has a region or bit of history that was specifically created because of the background of each of the player characters (except for the delusional one).   If the campaign runs long enough, each of those regions will have a plot line that directly ties into the character's background.   So far I've had plots directly tied two of the PC's and dropped hints of things to come for the others.   Plus the usual monster fights and side quests, and an overall campaign storyline.None of that world building is strictly necessary or even needed.  But it's something I enjoy doing - it's the main reason I run my own game.  And so far, my players appreciate it - having a sense of connection to the world outside the dungeon gives them a sense of investment in their characters beyond just upping a few numbers on their character sheet and getting a new piece of loot (although loot is definitely appreciated).</blockquote>

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