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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TwinBahamut" data-source="post: 4165960" data-attributes="member: 32536">I think we mostly have a disagreement regarding the definition of "worldbuilding", but other than that I seem to be having a little trouble following you...For the most part, I was arguing against the idea (that I thought you were arguing), that a game should be hard-coded to work with a particular setting. For example, the D&D core rulebooks could be written so that they assume every player is going to play in the Forgotten Realms, and every bit of flavor and all of the rules are built towards that one goal, to the point that playing the game in any setting other than the Realms becomes difficult. I would hate a tabletop RPG so thoroughly linked to one setting. At the same time, perfectly generic leaves you with the problem that you were complaining about earlier. It is much better to leave the default setting of a game incomplete, a composite of places and ideas that don't form a coherent structure in of itself, but can be quickly turned by a creative DM into a coherent whole across the span of a campaign.Maybe I should use a more specific example. In the Eberron setting book, there is a minor reference to there being a mysterious prisoner in Dreadhold. No other information regarding this individual is given in the book. I consider this kind of dangling, incomplete plot hook to be ideal for DMs. It is enough of an idea to get a DM's imagination working, but it is flexible enough that a DM can really do anything with it. Is this prisoner the true Kaius III? Is he actually a long-lost son of King Boranel, imprisoned against his father's wishes? Is he actually the mad wizard who knows the truth behind the Day of Mourning, kept silent by those who don't want the world to know the truth? Depending on the kind of campaign the DM is running, any of these answers could be good ones. Yet, if some designer went and wrote a book that said "the prisoner mentioned in the ECS is actually the real Kaius III", it limits some of the flexibility open to DMs. In fact, if the designers did that, then any adventure involving the real Kaius III has to involve Dreadhold, and almost any adventure involving Dreadhold has to involve Kaius III, an unnecessary limitation. In any case, the idea is that even in setting books, things should be created so that they inspire DMs to create plots and adventures without limiting the kinds of plots and adventures open to DMs.I am not sure I am making my point correctly...Hussar, can I ask for some clarification? What it is specifically do you have against worldbuilding. Given that we may very well have different definitions of the word, can you explain what it is you don't like doing, what about being a DM and crafting campaigns and adventures that you do like, and why you think "worldbuilding" is even necessary if you don't like it?</blockquote>

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