Campaign World [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign World [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
WizardlyFriend
07-19-05, 01:04 AM I was just wondering the depth some of you fellow DMs go to when designing your own world for you PCs to play in. i was thinking of having more depth to my world. currently i have the wordl we play in limited to a country that the PCs can travel accross in a months time from one end to another. additionally i have not altered any of the core races or deities. i was wondeirng how much people have designed. im currently in the stage of making my world have more to it, more maps, more places, original deities, etc.
TheChilliGod
07-19-05, 01:53 AM For my world, I put in a general history, (y'know, a world-shaping cataclysm yon 20000 years past, current continent recovering from international war, dwarves shut off physically and socially from the rest of the world etc.) as well as the major features of all 9 countries in the main continent, a few hints on other continents, a custom calendar, a custom NPC species, and so far maps to the main continent, a zoom-in on the country the party is in and the two settlements the party has visited thus far. I even went far enough as to give stats for about 30 NPC's living in the first village of the campaign, until I realized such preparation was unnecessary because the party isn't fighting them. However I just used all of the deities one could find in the Complete Divine, (including the extra Greyhawk ones) adding one or two when I couldn't find one for some aspect.
In the playing area, the traveling distance between the very bottom and the very top is about 1600 miles, a 100-day walking journey for my party. Not counting the other continents.

As far as I can tell from other DM's I get in touch with, if you can fix up a whole map of the playing area as well as include a decent history in a homebrew campaign setting, while keeping it under control long enough for the players to get settled, that's respectable for a first-timer DM. (I'm not implying that you are, but my sources were for me. I'm assuming doing this would be more expected of an experienced DM)
Gedrin
07-19-05, 02:04 AM Since that's usually my first suggestion, I'll offer some advice that I wish I'd known to take.

I would give some serious thought to the macro view of your world at this point. Broad brush strokes. You've already got a place to play, a single kingdom. Think about the general political and territorial state of the world. Trade is important. Who holds what sorts of power. Which lands are stable, which are not. What places are likely to rise or fall while you are using the world. Alliances, points of conflict, current events and the history that lead up to them. I know that sounds like a lot, but you don't need specifics at this point, just some notes, and general outline of what's what.

Also, consider what the myths and legends of the land are. Who is the greatest X ever known? Are there legendary artifacts? These sorts of things can add a great deal of flavor, and go miles when you're trying to decide what exactly is etched on the 175gp vase the players are looting.
Oulak
07-19-05, 02:14 AM I'm working on a homebrew world right now and the method I'm using right now is both starting real big, and starting real small.

For the starting point, I've only designed the small city that the PC's start in, and the lands within about 5 miles including 1 fully developed adventure sight and a few more that will immediately be mentioned, but not designed until I get there. I'll start out with only a handfull of NPS - the bartender, the weaponshop owner, the adventure contact, another NPC party that might turn into local rivals or allies, and this sort of thing. In this way I am starting small and working out.

At the same time I've also got the picture for the cosmology (see Brand New Cosmology [homebrew]) and I'm working on developing that. Even though the PC's won't be doing any plane jumping for awhile it's a good idea to know the hows and the whys of the way things work. This is different from the norm and an uneccesary step if you're just using the generic "The Great Wheel" cosmology, but it is something to think about. Dragon magazine had an ongoing article, i think it was called RealmCraft that went through the process of designing completely unique worlds, and I would highly recommend checking these out.

I hope that helps a bit.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WizardlyFriend 07-19-05, 01:04 AM	I was just wondering the depth some of you fellow DMs go to when designing your own world for you PCs to play in. i was thinking of having more depth to my world. currently i have the wordl we play in limited to a country that the PCs can travel accross in a months time from one end to another. additionally i have not altered any of the core races or deities. i was wondeirng how much people have designed. im currently in the stage of making my world have more to it, more maps, more places, original deities, etc.
TheChilliGod 07-19-05, 01:53 AM	For my world, I put in a general history, (y'know, a world-shaping cataclysm yon 20000 years past, current continent recovering from international war, dwarves shut off physically and socially from the rest of the world etc.) as well as the major features of all 9 countries in the main continent, a few hints on other continents, a custom calendar, a custom NPC species, and so far maps to the main continent, a zoom-in on the country the party is in and the two settlements the party has visited thus far. I even went far enough as to give stats for about 30 NPC's living in the first village of the campaign, until I realized such preparation was unnecessary because the party isn't fighting them. However I just used all of the deities one could find in the Complete Divine, (including the extra Greyhawk ones) adding one or two when I couldn't find one for some aspect. In the playing area, the traveling distance between the very bottom and the very top is about 1600 miles, a 100-day walking journey for my party. Not counting the other continents. As far as I can tell from other DM's I get in touch with, if you can fix up a whole map of the playing area as well as include a decent history in a homebrew campaign setting, while keeping it under control long enough for the players to get settled, that's respectable for a first-timer DM. (I'm not implying that you are, but my sources were for me. I'm assuming doing this would be more expected of an experienced DM)
Gedrin 07-19-05, 02:04 AM	Since that's usually my first suggestion, I'll offer some advice that I wish I'd known to take. I would give some serious thought to the macro view of your world at this point. Broad brush strokes. You've already got a place to play, a single kingdom. Think about the general political and territorial state of the world. Trade is important. Who holds what sorts of power. Which lands are stable, which are not. What places are likely to rise or fall while you are using the world. Alliances, points of conflict, current events and the history that lead up to them. I know that sounds like a lot, but you don't need specifics at this point, just some notes, and general outline of what's what. Also, consider what the myths and legends of the land are. Who is the greatest X ever known? Are there legendary artifacts? These sorts of things can add a great deal of flavor, and go miles when you're trying to decide what exactly is etched on the 175gp vase the players are looting.
Oulak 07-19-05, 02:14 AM	I'm working on a homebrew world right now and the method I'm using right now is both starting real big, and starting real small. For the starting point, I've only designed the small city that the PC's start in, and the lands within about 5 miles including 1 fully developed adventure sight and a few more that will immediately be mentioned, but not designed until I get there. I'll start out with only a handfull of NPS - the bartender, the weaponshop owner, the adventure contact, another NPC party that might turn into local rivals or allies, and this sort of thing. In this way I am starting small and working out. At the same time I've also got the picture for the cosmology (see Brand New Cosmology [homebrew]) and I'm working on developing that. Even though the PC's won't be doing any plane jumping for awhile it's a good idea to know the hows and the whys of the way things work. This is different from the norm and an uneccesary step if you're just using the generic "The Great Wheel" cosmology, but it is something to think about. Dragon magazine had an ongoing article, i think it was called RealmCraft that went through the process of designing completely unique worlds, and I would highly recommend checking these out. I hope that helps a bit.