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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7415962" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Okay. But what if a DM selects such a monster for inclusion in their game world? Presumably when "stocking" a dungeon or similar. Isn't that DM deciding to include a world element? I would say so. Sure, it may be a minor element, but so much of this discussion seems to rely on scope, so I think that's relevant. It depends. If this is what is in the Monster Manual or whatever source is being used, then there certainly seems to be a world that is being implied. For example, the world of Toril or Oerth, etc. Now, any given DM can choose to use those elements or not, which is really just a case of the DM building a world of his own. I think the connections that are offered in the material....that hobgoblins hate elves and the like....are really key to what I am talking about. Those bits that establish or attempt to establish a larger world. Taken as written, the inclusion of hobgoblins implies the inclusion of elves....and if you then look at the information about elves, then several other elements become implied, as well. Now, a GM can alter these to suit his or his players' tastes, and he is therefore building the world in which they will play. Well, it possibly commits you to more than that, depending on circumstances. It could commit you to the presence of monsters if none have been established prior. Or perhaps to the presence of aberrations, which have their own possible implications from a worldbuilding aspect. Again, these may or may not apply, but this is certainly possible, and I would imagine that we can easily select a monster that would serve as a better example in this regard. Ultimately, these bits of lore are the tools of worldbuilding, I'd say. I think I made a comment just a bit upthread about them being the bricks that the DM uses to build the world.</blockquote>

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