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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7353328" data-attributes="member: 85870">This is a good question. But it does tie in somewhat for the need to define just what the difference is between "worldbuilding" and "secret backstory." Where is the line drawn between them? I think you can do many kinds of worldbuilding that don't directly veer into secret backstory. A possible useful delineation might be a twist on the old adage, "Never put something in front of the players that you don't actually intend them to interact with." In most cases this is in reference to NPCs, meaning, "Never put an NPC in physical proximity to the PCs unless you're fully willing for that NPC to be attacked and killed."But there's a hint there of the line to draw between worldbuilding and secret backstory---As a GM, no entity state or state of being within the fiction should ever be assumed when there's the potential for the party to interact with it.It sounds pretty bold to put it like that, but in my head it rings true. In other words, do worldbuilding to your heart's content. Create backstories for nations and cultures, create new locations and MacGuffins, create NPCs and treasures to find. Just don't hard code anything that the PCs may actually interact with. Worldbuilding ends the second it intersects with the PCs, even if indirectly."But, but, I already decided that the Marquis De Flambon is sending his guards out to hunt the PCs, no matter what!""But, but, I already decided that the holy grail is in the castle Aaaaugh, and only the old man from Scene 24 knows where it is!""But, but, I already decided that the trap in Hallway 88 in the dungeon is impossible to disarm, no matter how high the thief rolls!""But, but, I already decided that Globulus the Demon Blood Gnome can't be killed when he encounters the party at the marketplace, because it will ruin my plot!"By contrast, when I'm GM-ing, my thoughts usually run along these lines---"So I previously wrote down that Event X / End State Y is a possibility here. But is that still the case? Would it make more sense, based on what the PCs have declared and accomplished, for something else to happen? Or is it okay for it to happen anyway, but the reasons for it to happen have changed? Does Event X / End State Y take away from the accomplishments of the PCs? Does it negate some aspect of play or element of the fiction that's already been established? If yes, is that fair to the players? If no, does it still make sense in context here? Or would it make more sense for another, different set of scene frames to open up, based on what's happening in-game and what my players seem to be driving toward?"Those are the kinds of thoughts I want my GM to be thinking when I'm a player.The absolute last thing I want my GM to be thinking is, "Well, that's the way I wrote it up and decided it would happen, so . . . yep, that's exactly what's going to happen."</blockquote>

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