world building

I avoid this topic if possible. I do not like to make an entire world with lore and history for my players to learn (I’m just not that into it). However, I do create worlds with my players through their backstories and current adventures. I essentially lay down the tracks as my players drive the story.

Like all GMs, I will start with a town, a few NPCs, and a plot hook. The players take it from there. They interact with people and places to discover things. I will often throw in items of intrigue, or a random mysterious person for them to think about. In a good session, the players will be discussing what it all means openly (and I will use it later) to drive the world forward.

Sometimes I come to the table with a campaign setting. These provide me with maps, cities, people, and even some lore or history to build from. However, I am forever a homebrewer that lets the players push the story and will find myself not quite in line with the prewritten world. I do find I will often use maps and names within my story, but only loosely base them on what was designed for this setting (you know, the one that my story was supposed to be in).

Then there are worlds like what my group is running in now. The history is extensive, the major players and governmental structures are in place, rules and expectations are set. I find myself trying to put together game nights in fear of upsetting what has already been established. Sometimes I have to remind myself that my players are there to have fun being someone else for a time. They want to build their own story within the world, and that means breaking the lore at times.

Like I’ve said before (and I’ll keep reminding everyone), as long as we are having fun…I don’t care if I am following the pre-written campaign setting. Throw the book out the window if it begins to bog things down, or makes it too rigid for character development. I will bend, or even break, the rules to allow my players epic moments. My advice to all GMs is to put players first, everything else will fall into place for a good session.