Creator's Roundtable 2: Worldbuilding

Hi there and welcome to the 2nd edition of the Cooperative Content Conversations!!

We are joined today by 4 GMs to talk world-building! This task can seem impossible and the imposter syndrome is real. Our GMs will share their tools and tactics for world-building with you as well as their #1 tip to help you get started. First up with a better intro than me…Farwoode!

Essential Tools For World-Building

Gamemasters of TTRPGs and novel writers have one big thing in common: They craft worlds. Fantasy worlds, steampunk worlds, post-apocalyptic worlds! The list is never-ending. Every seasoned gamemaster seems to have notes upon notes of their homebrew settings that span years, but what if you’ve never built a world before?

It can be a daunting task. You have non-player characters to build up and PC history to track. Oh, but maybe you should start with the map? What about cultures and landscapes? Oh no, what kind of flora and fauna will the world have?!

If you’ve been riddled with these thoughts, I’m here to tell you about some tools that can make your world-building significantly easier. It doesn’t matter what system you’re using; the best thing you can do is set aside the worry for now and get to fleshing out your world one part at a time.

My number one world-building tip is this: just get started! But to do that, you need to figure out where you’re putting your notes. I’ve compiled the tools and programs I use to build my world as a gamemaster of thirteen years to help give you some ideas of how to organize that. With these tools, I’ve run multiple year-long campaigns and managed to keep all of the details together (mostly!), and I hope you will too. So let’s get to world-building.

Obsidian

This is the big one for me. Though the rest of the tools on this list are invaluable, I wouldn’t give up Obsidian for anything. I moved to this seemingly-simple note taking program after OneNote decided it would start having issues, and I found that Obsidian is deceptively powerful for campaign building and note-taking. The community is super helpful, and there are amazing plug-ins for game masters and academics alike, but even the base program has so much potential as a world-building app.

How I Use Obsidian

While I take physical notes during the game, it’s the in-between planning sessions and after-session notes where Obsidian shines. Did I mention a random NPC my party immediately became so attached to that they want to know his entire family lineage? Well, at least I’ll have his info somewhere.

Obsidian works off of plain text files stored in a ‘Vault.’ The vault is just a folder on your computer so you can back up your world-building notes periodically on a Cloud. I use Google Drive for mine, and it is as easy as a click-and-drop. As you’re writing, you can bracket important terms like [[Places]], [[NPC Names]], and more. The brackets allow you to click and create a new note that links to the previous note, where you can fill in the info about that place.

There are other notable features that help world-building. A graph view that connects different notes that mention each other is included, letting you plot out NPC relationships, character relationships, and even details such as factions in a detailed view. Has it been a while since you ran the session, and you aren’t sure if the two groups are connected? Just check out the graph view.

Obsidian is a fantastic tool for writing, world-building, and running different TTRPGs. It’s probably why I use it not just for world-building and novel writing but also for the insane amount of day-to-day planning I have to do.

Procreate

Look, I’ve tried out Inkarnate for fantasy maps. I got a little lost. However, I have an old iPad from 2019 and Procreate. If you, too, are like me and have an iPad lurking around, Procreate is a nice program to use for fantasy maps.

“Why, Farwoode?” you might be asking me. After all, as world-builders, we have a wealth of options that already come pre-stocked. That said, I have enough monthly subscriptions, and I’m picky about making my map as I world-build. So, I downloaded a few free fantasy map brush packs and got to work. With a swish of my pen, I can chart out the forests, the continents, and the towns without dragging my mouse across the screen a bajillion times, as I struggle with when I use other map programs.

Brandon Sanderson

I’m not joking. I know that might seem weird in an article about world-building, but when I’m down in the dumps and don’t know where to get started, there is an invaluable tool I use to spark inspiration and get started. I listen to Brandon Sanderson’s BYU 2020 creative writing class lectures.

In this lecture, Sanderson talks about his process for crafting and planning his novels. In the very first lecture, he says, “simply learning to communicate better [by writing], learning to take the stories in your head and put them on the page in a way that people will find engaging and will connect to emotionally, this is just good for you.”

You don’t need to aspire to be a master world-builder. Just the act of creating a story and a world is good for you. What else is good for you? Watching those lectures from Sanderson on how to craft compelling stories.

The Number One Tool For World-Building

You.

You’re probably groaning out loud right now, but you build the world. Read books that engage you, study their worlds, and figure out why you love them. Take notes and annotate your books for inspiration. I carry a fountain pen and notebook just to write down any random thoughts that hit me when I’m out and about. I’ve built worlds off of little things and taken inspiration for characters and places just by finding something I like in a book.

You’re already full of worlds and ideas; you just need to get them down. In the end, it’s not really about the tools you use (though those can be helpful). It’s about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and starting on just one part. Start on an NPC and build out from there, a faction, or one nation in the middle of a continent.

After all, your world is there, just waiting for you to discover it. Best of luck, gamemasters.

Well there we have some tools that can help keep you organized, but what about putting the pieces together? Let's see what Nick has for us.

Building A World Piecemeal

I often like to create worlds from the viewpoint of an average person first.

What an average person knows and understands about the world helps me determine what aspects are relevant and what needs to be emphasized by consequence.Their tech level quality of life, role in society, and more are all small questions that help form the foundation of the world you create. Asking questions that any average person would be able to answer off the street. Things that the player characters should already know if they’ve lived in this world you’ve created.

Keeping things simple first is paramount in this step. The average person in a fantasy setting may likely know that magic exists, but not how to use it, just as the average person in the real world likely does not completely comprehend rocket science. The gaps that you fill in are created by the questions an average person may have, but cannot end there.

A mere farmer, for example, can pose some important questions to your world that you may or may not have considered yet. Where do they get their food? Do they own the land they tend to? Is there some sort of farmer’s market or union in the setting? Does basic farming include magic or some sort of enchanted items in the process? How a regular person in your world differs from a real, living person can often lead to lines of thinking that can help your world grow organically.

Once you have exhausted this line of world-building from a singular character, I recommend doing it multiple times for more, from roughly the same area with slight deviations – different occupations, beliefs, relationships, et cetera. While many answers may be similar among the average person, it is in these differences that have opportunities for the world to be grown organically, within the bounds of what is relevant for the story you wish to tell.

At a certain point, you will have exhausted the questions that an average person can ask. After this, I like to move onto characters of certain importance to the world. NPCs that can accompany characters on short journeys, quest-givers that point the PCs in a certain direction, to name a few. Characters of some relevance, but likely not enough that they will be revisited after their part in the story is finished.

These characters will likely ask the questions that will form the bulk of your world-building, as well as give necessary exposition to the PCs for questions that the average person cannot answer. What they know and understand is essential for fleshing out aspects of the world that the PCs cannot know themselves. Their goals, strengths, motivations, affiliations, secrets – all of these things can serve as important questions to answer – for both you, the creator, and the PCs.

And then there are the characters which serve as important figures within the world and the narrative. People that will likely come up more than once for the PCs, from antagonists to heroic mentor figures. If you’ve been creating the world organically so far, then these characters will likely only have a few important questions to ask about the world. They may have important thematic or narrative questions they pose that the PCs have to struggle with, but in terms of world-building, the questions they pose can be remarkably sparse depending on the character.

Of course, knowing the volatility of PCs, it is often that an NPC gains a higher degree of importance than you expected. The threads of world-building that each character spin may seem overwhelming if you take it all at once. My advice is to stick with what is relevant to both the narrative you wish to tell in this world, as well as with how much is actually important within the bounds of the story. You may create a banker character, and he may feud with his brother, but unless that piece of information is relevant to either the narrative within the world, or is important to the PCs journey forward, such facts are often extraneous and are only good for flavor.

Taking a look at the world from the inside can make it feel real. The questions the average person knows the answers to, now that feels real and relatable. Now what happens when you need to move beyond that? Don gives us his ideas for lore and history.

The Lands Before…

The Spark that Illuminates Worlds.

By Don Armstrong (Damn-It-Don!) of DGG

If a new GM asked me for the most crucial aspect of world-building, and why, I would likely start with lore. This may seem like a broad answer, but lore encompasses the narrative, history, and culture of your world. It forms the foundation for all other elements and shapes the players' understanding and immersion in the game world. Without a strong lore, the world may feel shallow and uninteresting. Therefore, investing time and effort in creating a rich and detailed lore is vital for a successful TTRPG.

Your World is your story.

The world you build is the story you want to show your players.

As a GM, the primary reason for building your own world is to add unique and compelling stories that cannot be found in pre-made settings. While many GMs begin with existing settings, even using a published setting requires some level of world-building. Settings provide a basic framework, but as a GM, you can add your own elements of culture, politics, and intrigue to make the setting your own. It's like taking a skeleton and adding flesh and blood to it.

The world you present to your players is the living, breathing narrative of the stories you want to tell and share with them. The question of where to begin when building a world can feel overwhelming. My suggestion is to start with the first thing that comes to mind when you think about running a game for your friends. What does the setting look like? What are the sounds and smells? Who are the characters and what are they doing? Answering these questions will help you identify what part of the world to focus on first. This approach will prevent burnout and help you shape the game from the start and create adventure hooks as you continue to build your world. Remember that world-building is an ongoing process and it's not necessary to have a complete world before starting to play.

Lore is like onions.

Just like ogres, lore is built on layers of events.

When creating the lore of my worlds, I approach it as an ongoing and ever-evolving journey. I focus on making my worlds very ancient, with advanced civilizations that have long since fallen and left little trace. My players will encounter bits and pieces of ancient stories, myths, and legends, such as tales of titans, gods, or ancient evils. These elements are revealed gradually as they explore the world I have created. This is the key to creating compelling lore - by leaving small hints and clues, you can gauge the players' interests and build upon them. By intersecting the players' interests with your own lore, you can create the most engaging and memorable stories for your game.

Lore, the history and narrative of a world, is the foundation of all elements of world-building. It shapes the way towns and cities are constructed, determines the religions and belief systems that have developed, and dictates where different species and cultures have settled. All of these elements are connected and directly influenced by the core narrative elements that the GM wants to present to the players. The lore creates the context and background for everything that happens in the world and it is essential for building a rich and immersive game setting.

In my opinion, the lore and history of a world or worlds are the backbones of world-building. A well-crafted world is built on the foundation of ancient civilizations with mysterious powers and technologies. This rich history and lore shape how all characters and societies interact with the world, no matter the genre of the setting. It drives their behaviors, beliefs, and actions, making the world come alive and feel real to the players. Without strong lore and history, the world may feel shallow and uninteresting, and the players' experiences may lack depth and immersion.

Now that we have looked small picture with the average person's knowledge of the world and gone big picture with the lore and history of the world, I believe Gethin has some ideas for keeping your world interesting to the party, even when they surprise you and do something you didn’t expect, which is about every other session?

Adventure Hooks for World-Building

The best tip I have found for world-building for a TTRPG is remembering you’re writing this world for a TTRPG. What does this mean? It means it’s important to leave mysteries and intrigue in the world, things need to be a little broken, to allow heroes to rise. The best way to do this is to seed the world with adventure hooks.

The Premise

When I’m making a new setting what I’m most worried about is the world feeling flat or thin once my players begin playing in it. That they’ll feel bored in the towns they go to because each one feels the same as the last. Well that’s where including Adventure Hooks in your world-building comes in.

So how does it work? It’s fairly simple, any time you build a settlement, sketch out a wild region, or establish a new faction, sketch out a few one line ideas for an adventure. These shouldn’t be fully fledged ideas, containing only a few details to serve as inspiration for you later on.

These hooks can range in scale and significance based on the region, settlement, or faction. With a small roadside town, there might be a known highwayman in the area who accosts people for their money and goods. While a sprawling city might have three hooks: criminals trying to break into a church treasury, rival tavern keepers trying to undermine each other, or maybe a high society rumor that the lord of the docks is blackmailing the guard captain. What’s important is sowing the seeds of adventure in your world.

Establishing an Identity

By filling your world with these story ideas, it means that your towns and cities begin to take on a semblance of life. They’ll no longer feel flat because if your players ever come to interact with it, there will be something going on, the world will feel lived in.

It can really help get the concept of a city, or a wild region, out of your head, and into the minds of players, because they are looking for something tangible to interact with. Players engage more when there is something to actively do, more than they will listening to a 200 word description.

A good tip with these hooks is to apply them to the most common interaction type in a given area. Settlement hooks should focus on the people that live there, and their lives, because in a town your players will talk to NPCs. Out in the wilds, focus on the monsters or the plantlife, as this is where players will take on those hulking monsters in combat, or foraging for rare herbs to take back to the witch they met on the road.

It’s not about writing a three session adventure for every location, it’s about establishing the look and feel of the place so when your players get there, you know what is going on already.

Early Prep Time

The other wonderful element of this tip, is it can really pull you out of the fire midgame. When your players inevitably end up going in a direction you weren’t prepared for, you already have a mini adventure to keep them occupied for a session.

It’s like doing session prep months in advance, so you can’t be caught unawares by your player’s random decision to head to this backwater fishing town for no good reason.

Your future self will thank you for this.

Giving it to Players

The last piece I wanted to mention is that it can be useful before even your first session. When players are making their characters they will - hopefully - try to ground them in your world.

When they settle on an area their character originates from, you could let them in on the plot hooks. If there’s an idea that interests them, you can work with them to connect it to their character from the outset, creating an instantaneous character-world connection. If nothing else it’ll help them understand the everyday life of that place and how it could shape their character.

By doing this it will give you the tools as a GM to put enticing ideas in front of your players, and player’s want to be drawn into an adventure, even a minor one.