[Twilight Time] World-Building Considerations

[Heather Grove]

October 15, 2006: World-Building Considerations
Volume 7, Issue 3


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Good morning!

Now we're down to less than a month between this issue and the last. 
Talk about miracles. :) I've been reviewing a ton of writers' books, 
and those often give me ideas for GMs writing campaigns and designing 
campaign worlds. Not to mention that D&D first ed campaign I'm in is a 
total blast. I have several other ideas sitting on a back burner for 
future issues already.

This may sound rather odd, but this particular article owes its 
inspiration to a section in Alison Kent's "The Complete Idiot's Guide 
to Writing Erotic Romance" (I get some interesting books for review at 
times...). Because genre romance books have taken off recently, she 
includes a fair amount of information about genre concerns such as 
world-building, much of which is wholly applicable to creating a 
campaign world as well. If you're interested in her (quite fascinating 
and useful) book, here's the information you'll need to find it:
	Alison Kent
	"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance"
	Alpha Books
	ISBN 1-59257-546-3

A review will be going up in the reviews blog soon; I just need to 
finish reading the book. And now, on to the article itself!

Best wishes,
Heather

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=========================

World-Building Considerations for Roleplaying Games

by Heather Grove & Jeffrey Howard


There are enough world-building concerns for campaign worlds that whole 
books of material can and have been written on the subject. Of our own 
articles on the matter, one of our old favorites is our series of 
articles on creating a world that will specifically fit the needs of a 
roleplaying game; you can find it here:

http://www.burningvoid.com/rpg/rpwworlds.php

In this issue we'll just go into a few basic things you'll need to 
remember to take into account, based on Alison Kent's listing in "The 
Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance".


Mythology

Mythology, folklore and legends often get overlooked or given short 
shrift in home-brewed worlds. What do the common folk whisper about 
around the campfires in your world? What magical beasties are said to 
exist just beyond the reach of humanity? What are the creation myths of 
your people?

Now go a step beyond this. What variations of these myths exist? In our 
own world, although there are many similarities between the myths of 
various cultures there are also many differences (flood myths tend to 
be common across cultures, for example, but the specifics of those 
flood myths vary). What are those similarities and differences in your 
world? How do they affect the everyday lives of your people?

One thing I've noticed is that non-human races in games populated with 
humans often find their mythologies lumped together as though all the 
members of a given race believe in the same thing (which I imagine is 
possible, but will not universally be true). For example, take a look 
in the D&D 3.5 Player's Handbook. It lists a handful of deities, but 
among them you'll find a god for the Elves, a god for the Dwarves, and 
so on. In most cases it would make more sense for each of these races 
to have their own pantheons and mythologies, just as the different 
countries and civilizations in our world have their own pantheons and 
mythologies.


Politics, Religion, and Morality

In D&D morality is largely pre-defined by alignment, but that shouldn't 
stop you from defining your societies' morality on your own. Morality 
is a complex thing, particularly when inextricably intertwined with 
religion and politics--just look at today's arguments on such issues as 
war, the death penalty, divorce, adultery, and so on. Morality should 
affect the actions of all of your NPCs (non-player characters), not to 
mention, if they're good roleplayers, the actions of your PCs (player 
characters) (and at the very least, the ways in which the NPCs react to 
the party members).

If you want to stick strictly to the alignment definition of 
"morality", this still leaves room for you to create societal codes of 
morality that lie somewhere along the various alignment axes. If you 
don't care about sticking to the alignment definitions, or play a game 
that doesn't involve alignment, you have a great deal more freedom to 
play with just about any sort of simple or complex moral code and 
interplay between politics, religion, and morality that you'd like. 
Some areas to think about when considering morality and its related 
areas:

* Marriage, sex, and having/raising children
* Assault and murder
* Theft and burglary
* "Softer" topics such as freedom of speech and/or religion, the right 
to bear arms, and other such concerns
* Slavery
* Devotion, honor, "cheating" of various types

There are certainly more. What ideas can you come up with that you 
might want to address? How conservative or liberal are your races, 
kingdoms, and societies? What specific unusual mores might they have 
come up with due to past events? For example, the issue of slavery in 
the United States has a huge history behind it involving laws, 
demonstrations, riots, and even a civil war--what similar interesting 
things can you work into your world?


Traditions and Customs

What are the holidays on  your world, and what do people do on those 
holidays? What traditions do the people follow? What are the customs of 
courtship, marriage, death and mourning, birth, coming of age, leaving 
home, and so on? This is one of the areas in which you can lend an 
incredible wealth of color and personality to a world with just a few 
details. Again, remember to vary the customs (a little or a lot) from 
region to region, country to country, and race to race.

Some customs and rituals might be familiar and well-understood--for 
example, Christian marriage vows are fairly easy to understand and make 
sense of. Other rituals and customs might be so old and shrouded in 
mystery that no one remembers their purpose--the May Day May Pole 
tradition, for example, is one that confuses many people:

http://ask.yahoo.com/20000504.html


Law

As Ms. Kent notes in her book, it's easy to see our fascination with 
law and order--just turn the television on any night of the week. In a 
roleplaying game, the rule of law is particularly important. Many plots 
and adventures tend to revolve around such things as (depending on the 
nature of your particular characters and game):

* Carrying out missions for the legal authorities
* Rebelling against the legal authorities
* Running afoul of criminals trying to get away with their crimes
* Running afoul of despots and tyrants who rule with an iron fist
* Attempting to escape the notice of the legal authorities

And so on. Even if your plots don't involve the rule of law quite so 
directly, it's likely to be felt around the edges. The legal system and 
those who enforce it can also be used to shape the course of your game 
if you're careful about it. They can be used to define the limits of 
"acceptable" behavior on the PCs' part, to force them to make hard 
choices in some cases, to throw complications into plots, and to 
provide consequences when the occasional difficult player attempts to 
run amuck.


Science and Nature

The ecology and level of scientific progress of your world lend an 
incredible amount of flavor and authenticity to your world--or, used 
poorly, they can break the willing suspension of disbelief. The 
presence of magic in a fantasy campaign can often explain otherwise 
inexplicable situations, which is handy to a GM, while science fiction 
demands a firm grasp on the laws by which your universe operate. Either 
way, however, your world should operate by the laws of logic. Things 
that happen should make sense from what has come before. If the players 
catch you at a mistake in the science or ecology, do one of two things: 
gracefully correct the mistake, or come up with an interesting plot 
that explains the apparent incongruity (the latter is often more 
satisfying and fun, but if you have any doubt as to your ability to do 
this smoothly, then the former option might be better).


Education

Education is another detail that often seems to get left out of 
world-building. Who attends school in your world? What does it cost 
them? What do they get out of it? For how long do they go and what do 
they learn there? How does it affect their lives from then on? What are 
some of the major educational institutions of your world? How will all 
of this likely affect your stalwart adventurers?


You can create things like this from scratch, or take your inspiration 
from just about anywhere. Maybe your educational system is taken from a 
fantasy novel you read once, while your system of law comes from the 
reading you did for an anthropology course you took years ago. One 
interesting way to get material is to take basic ideas from the real 
world, mix them up a bit, and see where they take you. Whatever you do, 
make sure you examine the consequences of the material you've 
established. When taking major steps in your world, try setting a timer 
for ten minutes and free-writing about those steps, allowing your 
thoughts about them to pour out onto paper unchecked. This can be a 
great way to brainstorm about where those ideas might logically (or 
illogically) lead. This often points out flaws in your ideas, gives you 
new material to work with, and even provides fuel for some unusual 
developments and surprises you can work into your world.


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