DM's Corner: World-Building Workshop.

[SirNitram]

While this has similarities to the 'Let's Make A..' threads in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, this thread is more dedicated to the how-to of making a memorable, or at least workable, world for your RPGs. While named the DM's Corner, that's my preference of title; this thread at least, and probably more under the type, will not be specific to D&D. My stuff often will be, but feel free to contribute, and critique.

I'm kicking this off now, not in a day or two, because I found an excellent trinket for worldbuilding and decided to put it up. I like it. Your Mileage May Vary.

41 Questions About Your World.

COSMOLOGY

* Is this a new world? Is it a remade world? Is it a futuristic/past version of another campaign world?
* The world is young? Old?
* What is this world’s place in the cosmos? Is it wholly in the prime material? Is it in a demi-plane? Is it a plane of its own?
* Are there other non-natives in the world? Is it only non-natives?
* Is planar travel possible? Is it common?

RELIGION

* Are the gods uninvolved? Dead? Evil? Good? Psychotic?
* What and when was the creation?
* What was the previous age?
* Is good or evil in charge? Neither?
* What keeps the balance between good and evil, or what is it keeping good or evil in charge?

SCIENCE

* Is there anything unique about the physical earth? Plants? Air? Sky? Sun? moon? Stars? Water? Weather?
* What does the typical human/elf/Eladrin/Halfling/gnome/dwarf/orc/goblin/tiefling look like in this world?
* What is the technological level? Is there gunpowder? Is there steel? Adamantite or other special metals?
* What are the animals like?

HISTORY

* Is the world a future/past version of an existing campaign setting?
* How did the world get to this age, or this place in time?
* Were there major historical events that have shaped the world?
* Are there important racial histories?

MAGIC

* Does magic function as written in the core books? As another system? As purely elemental? As purely arcane? As purely sorcery?
* How about psionics?
* How about other power sources?

SOCIOLOGY

* What is day-to-day life like in this world? For PCs? For good NPCs? For evil ones? For the rich/highest social or poor/lowest social?
* What is civilization like? Is there any?
* Are there cities? How common are cities? Is most of the world rural or is it urban?
* What are the familial units like? Do they vary from race to race?
* What is the form of government? Hierarchical? Anarchy? Oligarchy? Aristocracy? Theocracy?
* Are there political factions?
* What liberties do adventurers/commoners/aristocrats have?
* Are men/women/old/young the “favoredâ€

[frigidmagi]

Further Anthropological considerations:

Anthropology being the study of man and his cultures, in this case we'll call it the study of humanoids and their cultures. Now you can go as deep or as shallow in answering these questions as you like but you should at least consider them.

1: Who gets along and how well do they get along? Are any of the races buddy-buddy? Do they live together, separately? How do they view each other? How does each race view itself?

2: How is kin traced? Who is considered related to who? This isn't nearly as silly a question as you think it is when you realize that within humanity alone something like 4 major kin tracing systems have been found. To give an example in one of these systems your father's brother's kids are related to you, your father's sister kids aren't. In a minor system out in the south Pacific, your father and his kin aren't related to you at all as another example. As you can imagine this has all sorts of ramifications in inhertance laws, alliances, politics and even who gets invited to Thanksgiving.

3: Who gets married to who? Who are you allowed to marry? Is cousin marriage disallowed or preferred? Are you not allowed to marry people from the same village (happens in India) or the same profession? Are there certain races where relations with each other are strictly forbidden?

4:What the hell do you eat? Think about this, way to many people skimp over where exactly the food comes from.

[Cynical Cat]

I build backwards. Start with what I want the final product to be and then build a background that leads to it. Now since my personal background is a that of a historian who is the son of an archeologist means I build back pretty far and comprehensively.

frigid, read The Malazan Books of the Fallen.