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<blockquote data-quote="prabe" data-source="post: 8001962" data-attributes="member: 7016699">I've snipped to pull out what I'm responding to; I hope I haven't mangled the meaning.The longer lives of some fantasy races (elves practically experience historical deep time, even without the current canon that they reincarnate) were a thing I took into account when I decided how long ago the setting-defining events (the Severance, and the Fiend Wars) were. The perspective I worked out is that the end of the Fiend Wars was long enough ago that for elves it's about like World War I; for dwarves and similar it's like the American Civil War; for humans it's like the Norman invasion of England. Now, the existence of longer-lived races means that's probably not entirely right, even for humans--even if it's twenty-five generations ago for you, that dwarf whose clan lost three elders four generations ago will still tell stories--but I find it helpful to keep in mind.I didn't work out all the events--that way lies madness--but there are things all around that tie back to that and to events prior. I didn't try to work out everything all at once, or even before the first campaign started; there are regions I know exist but haven't even worked out their names or shapes; there are regions that have names and even some ideas about the cultures but nothing more. Worlds are big, and you don't need to have more ready--especially at the start--than you need to convey the all-dimensional size of the setting. To an extent you can get away with never prepping much past the limits of what the characters experience.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="prabe, post: 8001962, member: 7016699"] I've snipped to pull out what I'm responding to; I hope I haven't mangled the meaning. The longer lives of some fantasy races (elves practically experience historical deep time, even without the current canon that they reincarnate) were a thing I took into account when I decided how long ago the setting-defining events (the Severance, and the Fiend Wars) were. The perspective I worked out is that the end of the Fiend Wars was long enough ago that for elves it's about like World War I; for dwarves and similar it's like the American Civil War; for humans it's like the Norman invasion of England. Now, the existence of longer-lived races means that's probably not entirely right, even for humans--even if it's twenty-five generations ago for you, that dwarf whose clan lost three elders four generations ago will still tell stories--but I find it helpful to keep in mind. I didn't work out all the events--that way lies madness--but there are things all around that tie back to that and to events prior. I didn't try to work out everything all at once, or even before the first campaign started; there are regions I know exist but haven't even worked out their names or shapes; there are regions that have names and even some ideas about the cultures but nothing more. Worlds are big, and you don't need to have more ready--especially at the start--than you need to convey the all-dimensional size of the setting. To an extent you can get away with never prepping much past the limits of what the characters experience. [/QUOTE]

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