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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7401910" data-attributes="member: 22779">Irony.&nbsp; Delicious.&nbsp; <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&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Look, the basic problem with this conversation is that no one can actually agree on what world building actualy is.&nbsp; Is every single element of setting world building?&nbsp; For some in this thread, I think that they think so.&nbsp; As soon as you add anything to the setting, that's world buildling.&nbsp; Now, me, I disagree.&nbsp; Setting building and world building are not the same thing.&nbsp; Everyone has to do setting building.&nbsp; It's impossible (or at least really, really difficult) to run a game with zero setting.&nbsp; Godot:&nbsp; The Waiting is not really a good RPG.&nbsp; Or, I dunno, at least one I don't want to play.However, world building, to me, goes beyond setting building.&nbsp; It's the stuff that come after what you actually need to run the game.&nbsp; Which means, for many home-brewers, they probably don't do it all that much.&nbsp; Not that many of us really has the time or energy to detail out a setting to the degree of, say, Forgotten Realms.&nbsp; For most DM's, again, and this is just my opinion, not a statement of fact, we write our campaigns, play our campaigns and a lot of the extra stuff is either yoinked from some book or movie or something and that's about that.&nbsp; Take a map of the game world.&nbsp; Is that world building?&nbsp; Personally, I don't really think so.&nbsp; You need a map for play most of the time.&nbsp; You need something to show the players in order to frame the campaign and a setting map is a great way to do that.&nbsp; Now, if your game only ever takes place within the confines of a single location (be that a city or something like Isle of Dread or a World's Largest Dungeon), then, well, the rest of thw world can go hang.&nbsp; It's not going to be used.&nbsp; To me, that's the dividing line.&nbsp; And it primarily applies to published works, much more than what people do in their home games.&nbsp; Endless pages of elven tea ceremonies with virtually nothing of practical value.&nbsp; Heck, I'm running Primeval Thule right now.&nbsp; It's a published setting, so, there's a fair bit of world building in there.&nbsp; The guide details in pretty broad terms, several nation states and city states.&nbsp; Funny thing is, in the Kickstarter that&nbsp; I backed, the setting came with five or six modules.Now, I've used all of the modules (or nearly all, I think there's one or two in the main book I haven't used) and the world building stuff?&nbsp; Yeah, that's been largely left on the cutting room floor. Not important and not needed.&nbsp; The players couldn't even be bothered reading it and even when I do try to bring it into the game, they largely forget it immediately because it's just not that important.&nbsp; The truly funny thing is, Primeval Thule, on the PT map, labels dozens of dungeons.&nbsp; Lots and lots of them.&nbsp; Some of them, about half, get a one paragraph write up in the setting guide.&nbsp; I would have gotten much more value from this setting if they had reversed things.&nbsp; A paragraph detailing different nation states and pages of material detailing those dungeons.&nbsp; Worldbuilding is where practicality ends and self-indulgence begins.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7401910, member: 22779"] Irony. Delicious. :) Look, the basic problem with this conversation is that no one can actually agree on what world building actualy [I]is[/I]. Is every single element of setting world building? For some in this thread, I think that they think so. As soon as you add anything to the setting, that's world buildling. Now, me, I disagree. Setting building and world building are not the same thing. Everyone has to do setting building. It's impossible (or at least really, really difficult) to run a game with zero setting. Godot: The Waiting is not really a good RPG. Or, I dunno, at least one I don't want to play. However, world building, to me, goes beyond setting building. It's the stuff that come after what you actually need to run the game. Which means, for many home-brewers, they probably don't do it all that much. Not that many of us really has the time or energy to detail out a setting to the degree of, say, Forgotten Realms. For most DM's, again, and this is just my opinion, not a statement of fact, we write our campaigns, play our campaigns and a lot of the extra stuff is either yoinked from some book or movie or something and that's about that. Take a map of the game world. Is that world building? Personally, I don't really think so. You need a map for play most of the time. You need something to show the players in order to frame the campaign and a setting map is a great way to do that. Now, if your game only ever takes place within the confines of a single location (be that a city or something like Isle of Dread or a World's Largest Dungeon), then, well, the rest of thw world can go hang. It's not going to be used. To me, that's the dividing line. And it primarily applies to published works, much more than what people do in their home games. Endless pages of elven tea ceremonies with virtually nothing of practical value. Heck, I'm running Primeval Thule right now. It's a published setting, so, there's a fair bit of world building in there. The guide details in pretty broad terms, several nation states and city states. Funny thing is, in the Kickstarter that I backed, the setting came with five or six modules. Now, I've used all of the modules (or nearly all, I think there's one or two in the main book I haven't used) and the world building stuff? Yeah, that's been largely left on the cutting room floor. Not important and not needed. The players couldn't even be bothered reading it and even when I do try to bring it into the game, they largely forget it immediately because it's just not that important. The truly funny thing is, Primeval Thule, on the PT map, labels dozens of dungeons. Lots and lots of them. Some of them, about half, get a one paragraph write up in the setting guide. I would have gotten much more value from this setting if they had reversed things. A paragraph detailing different nation states and pages of material detailing those dungeons. Worldbuilding is where practicality ends and self-indulgence begins. [/QUOTE]

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