Hussar
Legend
Just a point about X1 Isle of Dread.
One of the major elements of X1 is actually traveling to the island. That's a big part of the adventure. So, of course, you're going to need to detail out getting to the island, which means you need some sort of map (whether it's an actual map or just a timeline of events) in order to get from A to B. That's just basic setting building.
But, in Tomb of Horrors, for example, the adventure STARTS at the three caves. There's no details about the surrounding area because that's not part of the adventure. Why am I pissing about with getting there? That's precisely my point about world building being unnecessary. The adventure isn't getting to the Tomb of Horrors, it's going INTO the Tomb of Horrors. So, all the stuff outside the Tomb is largely irrelevant and unnecessary.
It's "Tour Des Realms" gaming. We're showing off the wonderful scenery of the game world because... well... why? The Tomb is where the adventure is. Spending time designing the area around the tomb and then spending time traveling to the Tomb is just a waste of everyone's time. HERE is the adventure. That stuff over there is pretty much unimportant at least in the context of the adventure.
Why are you wasting your and your player's time poncing about getting to the Tomb? Get INTO the adventure. Why wait? What's gained by having a couple of random encounters and a description of mountains? Skip the boring stuff and get on with the show.
One of the major elements of X1 is actually traveling to the island. That's a big part of the adventure. So, of course, you're going to need to detail out getting to the island, which means you need some sort of map (whether it's an actual map or just a timeline of events) in order to get from A to B. That's just basic setting building.
But, in Tomb of Horrors, for example, the adventure STARTS at the three caves. There's no details about the surrounding area because that's not part of the adventure. Why am I pissing about with getting there? That's precisely my point about world building being unnecessary. The adventure isn't getting to the Tomb of Horrors, it's going INTO the Tomb of Horrors. So, all the stuff outside the Tomb is largely irrelevant and unnecessary.
It's "Tour Des Realms" gaming. We're showing off the wonderful scenery of the game world because... well... why? The Tomb is where the adventure is. Spending time designing the area around the tomb and then spending time traveling to the Tomb is just a waste of everyone's time. HERE is the adventure. That stuff over there is pretty much unimportant at least in the context of the adventure.
Why are you wasting your and your player's time poncing about getting to the Tomb? Get INTO the adventure. Why wait? What's gained by having a couple of random encounters and a description of mountains? Skip the boring stuff and get on with the show.