Can there be TOO much world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can there be TOO much world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Majick
09-28-07, 07:58 AM I have recently written up my new game world. I've posted my various rules that i am going to use and done all the back-reading on everything i feel i need to, to be confident at what i am doing.

Problem is, i keep getting the sneaking suspicion that i might me making too much in this world of mine. I mean, i've mapped the entire planet, named every metropolis, large city and small city, put in geographical information; mountains, forrests, lakes, marshes etc. and next comes climate and weather patterns. I've already developed several powerful organisations, planar threats, villains, heroes and am trying to make at least 500 years of believable back history before the PC's turned up...

...but we haven't started playing yet... :rolleye2:

Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this?
†Aeolus†
09-28-07, 09:06 AM Well, it's certainly not like you will tell you're players all of this, isn't it?
It's good to have those information for yourself, but tell the players only what their characters might know.

You could use this (obviously well planned) world for other campaigns, while you're at it.
mortalgod666
09-28-07, 09:31 AM Beautiful.Simply amazing.I congratulate you on overdoing it.Seriously though....you did do more then you needed to but like the above poster stated you could always use it for multiple campaigns.
Taeldrin Laesrash
09-28-07, 09:36 AM Just as long as the history doesn't get in the way of the player's action, you'll be fine. In fact, you'll be really well off with all the plot hooks and future campaign material.
heffroncm
09-28-07, 09:47 AM It sounds a lot less you've written up a world for one campaign,a nd a lot more like you've created your own campaign setting for the running of many, many campaigns.
_Jayne_Cobb_
09-28-07, 10:09 AM I have recently written up my new game world. I've posted my various rules that i am going to use and done all the back-reading on everything i feel i need to, to be confident at what i am doing.

Problem is, i keep getting the sneaking suspicion that i might me making too much in this world of mine. I mean, i've mapped the entire planet, named every metropolis, large city and small city, put in geographical information; mountains, forrests, lakes, marshes etc. and next comes climate and weather patterns. I've already developed several powerful organisations, planar threats, villains, heroes and am trying to make at least 500 years of believable back history before the PC's turned up...

...but we haven't started playing yet... :rolleye2:

Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this?

Yes, there can be too much.

You have created a large and complex framework, my advice now is to stop where you are and move down a level or two. Start building up the details and layer so complexity for the much smaller region in which the players will actually be adventuring. Don't feel you need to create the entire world in exacting detail before putting it into play.
Cifer
09-28-07, 10:12 AM Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this?
As long as most of this information is more "This is what the PCs could learn someday" than "This is what the players have to know at the beginning", it's perfect. Make sure your players know you have detailed information, so they don't hesitate to ask something.

So all in all, as long as the regions the PCs will actually play in are detailed enough and not under-detailed in favor of regions that may be visited in maybe half a year, I see no problem.
RobbyPants
09-28-07, 11:00 AM I agree with the bulk of the posters in that you're creating a wonderful resource for yourself. Just don't try to force it all down your player's throats at the beginning.

Having it all worked out (assuming you can keep it all straight) is nice in that you should be very consistant in the long run. I've notice a consitant setting goes a long way to getting the players immersed in your world. If the name of the mayor of Anytown changes everytime a player asks, then they aren't going to take the campaign world very seriously. So I say use this powerful tool you've given yourself to keep your world believale.

...Just don't overload the players with information before they've even rolled up their PCs. ;)
Muspelheim
09-28-07, 11:13 AM As long as you can manage to keep an overview of what's going on, it's not too much.

However, the players can easily get to experience massive information overload - so be gentle on them, and provide info in snippets which are relevant to what they are currently doing.

The strength in having a massive setting worked out is that you can always accomodate players who wishes 'to know more' or move in certain directions you hadn't entirely expected. You just have to remember that an interesting setting does not equal the DM reading out exceedingly long passages about the history of X, the customary rituals of Y and the eating habits of Z without good reason. The trick is to integrate the information so it doesn't seem like you are just reading aloud from an antropological report without good reason. Unless your players really enjoy stuff like that, of course.

So start off with all the basic stuff the setting is dependant upon (for instance, the theme, the climate, how common magic is, basic political structure etc.) and then just work to reinforce those impressions for a while and perhaps insert small 'teasers' about more exotic/esoteric things, and as the players get to know the basics by heart, move on and introduce new concepts, places, religions, NPCs and so on.

Basically, the trick is to feed them just enough information to not be overwhelmed.
trapspringer
09-28-07, 11:20 AM So... you came here to brag?

You know it isn't going to hurt the game because it's never going to come up. You'll just use what you need and ignore the rest.

There can be "too much world" in the sense that it would be bad to ignore other aspects of your life out of some sense of obligation to plan more than you'll use, but I imagine you did what you did because it was fun, and frankly there are worse ways to kill time. So good job, I'd recommend that you keep your elaborately charted campaign map and run the next few campaigns in that world. Might as well get some mileage out of it, huh?

Like _Jayne_Cobb_ said, flesh out the parts you'll be using so you can actually, ya know, use them.

On that subject, there is a question peripheral to yours that has a very different answer. That question is "Can there be too much plot?" The answer is yes. Planning to far ahead limits your flexibility and forces you to force your players down narrow tracks of a-or-b choices that leave the game feeling very linear. As you flesh out your world, keep it vague. Outline some points of interest in each city and maybe a few plot hooks. Have some mugger scenarios on hand for the bigger cities, and some smaller roving bandit deals for the 'burbs and country. Keep it flexible 'till you establish some player goals in game.
Majick
09-28-07, 11:47 AM Thank you to all the people with constructive ideas on my topic. I have taken this into account. I'll try and limit being too overbearing with backstory and history, and try not to fall into the trap of wanting them to find everything about everything ^_^

Also, as for bragging, not really, no. I don't feel like i've done more than any DM should that wants to run a long lasting campaign. Not that you HAVE too, but i feel like it's a good way to go.

Thanks to everyone for the support! Woo! World of Tyrael here we come!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Majick 09-28-07, 07:58 AM	I have recently written up my new game world. I've posted my various rules that i am going to use and done all the back-reading on everything i feel i need to, to be confident at what i am doing. Problem is, i keep getting the sneaking suspicion that i might me making too much in this world of mine. I mean, i've mapped the entire planet, named every metropolis, large city and small city, put in geographical information; mountains, forrests, lakes, marshes etc. and next comes climate and weather patterns. I've already developed several powerful organisations, planar threats, villains, heroes and am trying to make at least 500 years of believable back history before the PC's turned up... ...but we haven't started playing yet... :rolleye2: Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this?
†Aeolus† 09-28-07, 09:06 AM	Well, it's certainly not like you will tell you're players all of this, isn't it? It's good to have those information for yourself, but tell the players only what their characters might know. You could use this (obviously well planned) world for other campaigns, while you're at it.
mortalgod666 09-28-07, 09:31 AM	Beautiful.Simply amazing.I congratulate you on overdoing it.Seriously though....you did do more then you needed to but like the above poster stated you could always use it for multiple campaigns.
Taeldrin Laesrash 09-28-07, 09:36 AM	Just as long as the history doesn't get in the way of the player's action, you'll be fine. In fact, you'll be really well off with all the plot hooks and future campaign material.
heffroncm 09-28-07, 09:47 AM	It sounds a lot less you've written up a world for one campaign,a nd a lot more like you've created your own campaign setting for the running of many, many campaigns.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 09-28-07, 10:09 AM	I have recently written up my new game world. I've posted my various rules that i am going to use and done all the back-reading on everything i feel i need to, to be confident at what i am doing. Problem is, i keep getting the sneaking suspicion that i might me making too much in this world of mine. I mean, i've mapped the entire planet, named every metropolis, large city and small city, put in geographical information; mountains, forrests, lakes, marshes etc. and next comes climate and weather patterns. I've already developed several powerful organisations, planar threats, villains, heroes and am trying to make at least 500 years of believable back history before the PC's turned up... ...but we haven't started playing yet... :rolleye2: Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this? Yes, there can be too much. You have created a large and complex framework, my advice now is to stop where you are and move down a level or two. Start building up the details and layer so complexity for the much smaller region in which the players will actually be adventuring. Don't feel you need to create the entire world in exacting detail before putting it into play.
Cifer 09-28-07, 10:12 AM	Is this too much? Do you think i should ease off a bit, i guess, for the sake of the players who might feel overwhelmed by all this? As long as most of this information is more "This is what the PCs could learn someday" than "This is what the players have to know at the beginning", it's perfect. Make sure your players know you have detailed information, so they don't hesitate to ask something. So all in all, as long as the regions the PCs will actually play in are detailed enough and not under-detailed in favor of regions that may be visited in maybe half a year, I see no problem.
RobbyPants 09-28-07, 11:00 AM	I agree with the bulk of the posters in that you're creating a wonderful resource for yourself. Just don't try to force it all down your player's throats at the beginning. Having it all worked out (assuming you can keep it all straight) is nice in that you should be very consistant in the long run. I've notice a consitant setting goes a long way to getting the players immersed in your world. If the name of the mayor of Anytown changes everytime a player asks, then they aren't going to take the campaign world very seriously. So I say use this powerful tool you've given yourself to keep your world believale. ...Just don't overload the players with information before they've even rolled up their PCs. ;)
Muspelheim 09-28-07, 11:13 AM	As long as you can manage to keep an overview of what's going on, it's not too much. However, the players can easily get to experience massive information overload - so be gentle on them, and provide info in snippets which are relevant to what they are currently doing. The strength in having a massive setting worked out is that you can always accomodate players who wishes 'to know more' or move in certain directions you hadn't entirely expected. You just have to remember that an interesting setting does not equal the DM reading out exceedingly long passages about the history of X, the customary rituals of Y and the eating habits of Z without good reason. The trick is to integrate the information so it doesn't seem like you are just reading aloud from an antropological report without good reason. Unless your players really enjoy stuff like that, of course. So start off with all the basic stuff the setting is dependant upon (for instance, the theme, the climate, how common magic is, basic political structure etc.) and then just work to reinforce those impressions for a while and perhaps insert small 'teasers' about more exotic/esoteric things, and as the players get to know the basics by heart, move on and introduce new concepts, places, religions, NPCs and so on. Basically, the trick is to feed them just enough information to not be overwhelmed.
trapspringer 09-28-07, 11:20 AM	So... you came here to brag? You know it isn't going to hurt the game because it's never going to come up. You'll just use what you need and ignore the rest. There can be "too much world" in the sense that it would be bad to ignore other aspects of your life out of some sense of obligation to plan more than you'll use, but I imagine you did what you did because it was fun, and frankly there are worse ways to kill time. So good job, I'd recommend that you keep your elaborately charted campaign map and run the next few campaigns in that world. Might as well get some mileage out of it, huh? Like _Jayne_Cobb_ said, flesh out the parts you'll be using so you can actually, ya know, use them. On that subject, there is a question peripheral to yours that has a very different answer. That question is "Can there be too much plot?" The answer is yes. Planning to far ahead limits your flexibility and forces you to force your players down narrow tracks of a-or-b choices that leave the game feeling very linear. As you flesh out your world, keep it vague. Outline some points of interest in each city and maybe a few plot hooks. Have some mugger scenarios on hand for the bigger cities, and some smaller roving bandit deals for the 'burbs and country. Keep it flexible 'till you establish some player goals in game.
Majick 09-28-07, 11:47 AM	Thank you to all the people with constructive ideas on my topic. I have taken this into account. I'll try and limit being too overbearing with backstory and history, and try not to fall into the trap of wanting them to find everything about everything ^_^ Also, as for bragging, not really, no. I don't feel like i've done more than any DM should that wants to run a long lasting campaign. Not that you HAVE too, but i feel like it's a good way to go. Thanks to everyone for the support! Woo! World of Tyrael here we come!