World Discussion....what do you need in a world?

[Psion]

Something different than the last world I played - I mean really, a few major settings out there aren't that much different than Greyhawk to me.

Maps, nations, organizations, NPCs, etc. - the usual stuff

One or more driving conflicts - the reason spelljammer died an early death IMO.

Adventuring models - reasons to do things

Plot hooks - not adventures, mind you. I often find full blown adventures too cumbersome and restrictive. But give me a framework to work with.

 

[halomachine]

wow....so far I've gotten some really good responses that are helping out a lot...thanks guys. I'm just trying my hand at world building, not necessarily for dnd or d20 but just to do it. I'll probably do an online comic and artwork for the world....maybe run it as a campaign setting (possibly with a homebrew OGL ruleset). Thanks again...and keep em coming

 

[Nellisir]

I homebrew everything, so the first thing I look for in published settings are "out-of-the-way" areas where I can set things up. The Wilderlands campaign setting seems really cool for that reason -- lots of isolated settlements, lots of "empty" land.

Interesting hooks are good too -- I like the legendary feel of Dawnforge alot. Targetted rules changes to create a specific effect in a campaign setting are fine, if the setting needs them (Dawnforge and Midnight are both good examples of this).

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Terwox]

NPCs, motivation, and a system of collective dreaming that's better than the freeform stuff I came up with.
Forget geography and history, because I really don't bother with it much.
Just give me some ideas to make some particular NPCs come alive and I'm happy, and give me a weird sense of magic and things being just happily weird and interesting and I'll be a happy camper.
All that stuff is subjective, though, and I think that's why I'll probably just end up sticking with homebrew stuff... or looking at planescape sometime, I suppose.
Not big on maps, powerful NPCs, etc. It's neat if there's a little bit of magic that fits the world specifically, but more attack spells just tacked on is... well, tacky. har har.

 

[Wombat]

Let's see...

Not just a list of places. I need a reason for why I want to adventure in this world. This does not mean there is a conspiracy in every single city and dragons in every heartland, but a vision for the world, a wider concern that gives some impetus for adventurers actually existing in the first place.

I want many nations and I want the feeling that they interact with each other, rather than merely having borders, that cultures bleed over and blend. And, if there is an insistence on having alignment, that there is no such thing as a Chaotic government. Perhaps even such things as **gasp** economics and diplomacy **close gasp**.

It would be nice if there was not a single Elf Nation, Dwarf Nation, etc., but rather a couple of each that are not just differentiated by Good Elves vs. Evil Elves, Good Dwarves vs. Evil Dwarves.

There would need to be a list of gods that are 1) not worshipped over the entire world and 2) are more than simply an alignment, a set of Domains, and a symbol. I would like to see variations in the worship of any given god, and maybe some examples of how they are worshipped.

There should be Place of Mystery that are not defined, like the old "Blank Lands" of Glorantha -- places that will never be officially defined. This leaves room for individual GMs to develop the world on their own. I would also like to see a number of legends, several of which contradict each other, some of which would be historical, some of which are just plain weird.

That's a good start. There would be a lot more, but this is a good place to begin.