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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7400467" data-attributes="member: 29398">The impression I got from reading your ealier post was that you only needed one; and because of that there'd be no point building a whole world around it.Hollywood oftentimes doesn't even try to be realistic.  Further, Hollywood is always constrained by a length-of-show time limit that simply doesn't apply in RPGs.That said, I don't mind Hollywood-style meetings in the game provided they're not too ridiculous.  But if I know character A is at place X on a given date and character B is at place Y on that same date I know they're not going to meet.More importantly, I need to know what effects or fallout the actions of one party might have on another; which sometimes mean I need to keep careful track of when things happen.An example from my current game: two independent parties, members of whom knew each other, running side-along both in real time (I was running two groups a week) and game time.  Each was in a series of adventures that would, if followed up on, eventually take them to the same ruined city but on completely different missions and for completely different reasons; and there was a possibility they would meet.  Even without that, the actions of whichever one got there first would likely affect the other based on a) what they had stirred up, and b) what they had done or left behind.As it turned out, had the two parties been there simultaneously one would probably have been wiped out by the actions of the other: the mission goal of one was in part to explore a hill with an Acropolis on top of it, or so they thought; but when they got there the Acropolis and the top of the hill was gone, sheared off by the other party a month earlier in their blundering attempts to control a "flying castle" (actually a huge extraterrestrial vessel with half a hill hanging off of it!) they had got going.  Fortunately what the other party sought was never in the Acropolis to begin with... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Missing someone by an hour is as good as a year, yes; but I want to know if they missed by an hour or hit by an hour.  Even more relevant when the various parties have a common base of operations and have means of fast travel meaning people can potentially pop in at any time - I want to know who's "home" when.Still better than no world-building. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />If a game world is to be presented "neutrally" then ideally it is designed without reference to any players at all...particularly if you either don't even know who your players will  be yet (my usual situation) or are designing something to be used by multiple groups who may or may not be your own (i.e. this is something you're thinking of publishing).And ideally the world should be neutral.  By that I mean that Mt. Torgrath will still loom over the city's east flank regardless of who plays in the game; Borten the Barkeep will still be a surly old grouch whether the PCs are all Thieves or all Wizards or all Elves or whatever; Queen Terriann will still be in her 6th year on the throne having succeeded King Gorund on his death due to old age, no matter what night of the week the sessions get played; and no matter who or what you or your PC are if you send said PC into the Docklands alleys without a few levels under its belt it's very likely going to lose its belt pouch...and possibly its life.Where I don't worry much about PC backstory until it's clear said PCs will stick around a while...which at low levels is by no means assured....and by the time that's happened oftentimes quite a bit of backstory has come out organically through run-of-play stuff.It means the game world has some consistency and - for lack of a better word - "solidity" to it, somewhat like reality; rather than feeling like something from a dream that morphs itself to suit whatever the dream might be.Lanefan</blockquote>

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