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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaro" data-source="post: 3513132" data-attributes="member: 48965">The problem I see with both rounser and Hussar's arguments is that anything "useful" is considered "setting" while anything "not useful" is worldbuilding.  To me this is a totally subjective argument and dependant upon both playstyle and oppinion.  In the above example, elven tea ceremonies was sited as "useless", yet if a PC wanted information from an elven noble and conducted the tea ceremony right I would give him a bonus to his Diplomacy roll...does that make it useful?  The elven migrations example leaves a trail in the world upon which many artifacts and items of "old magic" could be found...is that  useful?  Even if the PC's don't approach these things right away they still provide hooks and seeds.  Perhaps the problem with some people and worldbuilding is that they don't have the imagination to turn almost anything into a potential adventure, luckily I don't have that problem.  I honestly think adventure design is a hell of alot easier than constructing a logical and coherent world.  Draw dungeon, create hook(s) and populate with appropriate monsters and treasures.  If all I did was make an adventure up every couple of weeks I think my prep time would drastically decrease(especially using pre-made NPC's and monsters), of course my overall game would suffer as well( my players do not enjoy the hack n' slash, kill em and take their stuff playstyle as a regular thing.).  I don't see the point of creating numerous adventures so that the PC's can pick one and explore it...when I can get the same results + a vibrant and "living" setting by worldbuilding.  Do I spend more time detailing the areas closest to the PC's? Yes, but the overall macro-framework is there so that it all flows together smoothly and there is less chance of hiccups, inconsistencies etc. later on. I think one gigantic use of worldbuilding is in helping to generate ideas for adventures, and if it does so while keeping a consistent and coherent context...well then so much the better.</blockquote>

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