Hi--a question about worldbuilding

[John McMullen]

So, uh, hi. My name's John, and I role-play and write and stuff. (Mostly more stuff than anything else since the kids came along, but sooner or later they'll leave, right?)

Anyway, many moons ago I read an article--I think by Cory Doctorow--discussing worldbuilding in SF; I think it was called "The Backless Maiden." That was the first place I saw this point made: World-building isn't just about getting all the details right. It's about creating a place that sparks stories for you.

So when you're doing world-building for stories or campaigns, what are the features that trigger stories in your mind?

[K Man]

It's about creating a place that sparks stories for you.

Frankly, I couldn't agree more... this is a great point.

Features that trigger stories in my mind are numerous, so I'll try to coherently place them here;

First is geography with mystery. I love strange places. There's a bay where a certain floating algae glows brightly at night lighting the sky like fire - why? There's an entire continent where Giants have gone crazy, becoming raging cannibals and foresaking their once cyclopean nation - why? There's an underground system of caverns where the water seems to not only heal the living, but in the right doses, brings the dead to life - why?

I love places that have the obscure or strange happening, but there's no real explanation - it's left to the DM. I dig the new Eberron setting, solely for that reason. There's so much 'theory' and not too much truth that it can be molded to my liking.

Next would have to be personalities. There's a child-like king that shows the strength of ten men and more tactical knowledge than any of his predecessors. There's a villain so narcissistic that he cloned himself 8 times, only to have the experiment go haywire and is now seeking the copies of himself and answering for their deeds. There's a race of creatures that recently came from the jungle, skin green and seem to die without sunlight or water - much like a plant.

Without interesting people, the world just loses some flavor for me. I need villain I can remember or enjoy and heroes that seriously stand above everyone else. It also help to have memorable names. (Who doesn't know Mordenkainen? Bigby? etc)

Last is history. There was a battle that left only three men alive in a certain kindgom, leaving them to re-populate with the remaining woman by themselves. Now the kingdom is full of degenerates and mutants - inbreeders. There was a war raging for centurie between two races, only to suddenly stop one day without warning or apparent cause - why?

I think historic things are important, but not necissarily 'neat' to have. It's already happened, so you can't do anything about it so why have it so detailed? If you detail the neat geography and personalities, then the history will practically write itself.

That's my two cents.

[VemuKhaham]

I think historic things are important, but not necissarily 'neat' to have. It's already happened, so you can't do anything about it so why have it so detailed? If you detail the neat geography and personalities, then the history will practically write itself.

I completely disagree there Kman. In fact, if I want to create a world that sparks up ideas (indeed the one thing it's all about) I approach things the exact opposite way.

When I create a world, I write a history. As I write that history, I update my map as I go allong. As I write my history ever further, I include chapters in between about things of note during that history, like information on cities that were founded, people that did things during that time, etc. And then, I continue writing the history, basically till I drop dead. Simply because history makes a world.

If at any time I want to play a campaign in that world, then I can do so, but I have the option to choose not only the place where most will occur, but also the time it will take place in my world's history. Then, as you scroll through that history, all those stories that you have written of wars, politics, apocalypses, famous heroes arising at times, new lands discovered, technological advances made that had great influence, etc., will spark up many ideas.

So, figurally speaking, during the process of getting the sparks going, creating a world through history basically adds a new dimension to that process. And as you say as you write up personalities and places the history comes to you automatically, I say as you write a history the world gets created automatically. Both are valid ways, just like the inside-out or outside-in ways quite commonly known from the DMG.

That's the way I do it. I recommend it to anyone who likes to write history, cause though the writing is a lot of work and you will have to like it to do it and go on, it is an easy way to be sure everything in the world is there for a reason and you know that reason, plus it sparks ideas.

And those were my two cents.

[Medesha]

Oddly enough, I create my worlds in a way totally different from both Kman and Vemu. I try and develop a "concept" for my world first - particularly for the fantastic elements of the world.

To paraphrase Orson Scott Card, "All magic must have a price". Otherwise, why wouldn't everyone use it? And magic has to come from somewhere; nothing comes from nothing. So I usually start by figuring out the price of magic first, and that usually segues into creating the gods.

For example, I recently had to create a new setting for a book I'm writing with a friend. I tossed around a few ideas for what magic could cost before hitting on insanity. The more spells you cast, the more insane you get, which lowers your inhibitions and makes you more likely to cast more spells, etc. etc.

I liked the idea. It was interesting in a Lovecraftian sort of way. Most powerful rulers are insane megalomaniacs because, in this world, power literally corrupts.

That spawned a neat idea for the genesis of "elves" on this world, something more than the standard fantasy elf. Elves are often portrayed as being innately magical; in this world, that means they're highly unstable as well. Long ago, I decided, the humans had driven all extraordinarily talented magic-users out of their cities. The outcasts went to live in the woods and gradually developed strong mental control and mild xenophobia. Their bodies adapted to living in the wilderness and now people tend to think of them as another race entirely, though in reality they are still human.

So history built naturally out of that, and it also spawned some ideas for gods, but I have to keep some secrets here.

[K Man]

Upon reading the other two responses here, I have to agree with them both. I've Medesha's work and it's brilliant, and I've seen Vemu play characters that have a more intricate background than most novels.

And both seem sound and I could see myself designing a world their way.

I guess, in summation, world-building can be approached many ways.

I'm curious though, why bring this up? Did you have an idea you want support on? Or to begin a collaborative world-building experience?

[John McMullen]

No, I'm feeling burned-out, essentially, and I'm curious about what jump-starts other people.

(Maybe burned-out is the wrong term; dry well might be better.)

I've had, as I said, a few years off from writing fiction--can't fit it in with kids, eating, sleeping, breathing--and I hate myself for not doing it. Not writing, I mean. But I try and write something and...blah.

So I'm poking around at other people.