Creating a Homebrew World
Many Game Masters create their own homebrew worlds. And while I’ve had many ideas over the years, none of them have ever made it to a table… until I made my own.
The problem with making homebrew worlds is that there is an overwhelming amount of work. So much so that it’s easy to get bogged down and for it to never make it out of the Game Master’s head or notes and into the player’s hands.
So, when I was approached to run a game for some players, I had a half-baked world idea and gave it to them as one of the options to choose from - Faerun, Exandria, or my idea - Ephris.
To my elation and horror, they chose my idea. Suddenly, I had a deadline and people waiting expectantly. The race was on.
PLAYERS HELP YOU BUILD THE WORLD
Getting players to help you with world-building is often one of the pieces of advice I see get thrown around. And while it certainly can be an awesome session 0 where you all help build the world (or at least the start of it), this kind of activity might not be your players’ cup of tea.
You can use their backstories, their throw-away lines, their input during sessions to help flesh out the world. They kind of co-create it as they discover it.
But the biggest motivator for me is a deadline.
When I ran the first session, I had loose ideas about the region they were in - there were two cities and a brand new railway connecting the two. One of the cities was more of a trade centre, the other was more religious.
But by the time game day rolled around, I hadn’t done nearly as much prep as I’d wanted, so my solution?
Stick ‘em on the train. Literally, railroad them. Then I had them stop in a small village.
TAKE THEMES FROM SESSION 0 AND BUILD YOUR WORLD AROUND THEM
One of the things I like to find out from my players is what kind of themes they want or genre of the game even, and let this guide the world-building.
In this example, during Session 0 when we were discussing what kind of campaign the players wanted, they really wanted political intrigue, corruption, and mystery. Bringing down the establishment was high on their list of wants.
But what I didn’t expect, and this came out during gameplay, was how much they’d resonate with the theme of environmental destruction as well. And because of that, the impact that the current systems of power are having on the environment, not just the people is becoming more prominent in the campaign. (A good 50% of the players were like “Hell yeah, let’s join the eco-terrorists”).
IN SUMMARY:
The take-home message is, if you’re anything like me, sitting down and planning out a whole world in detail is just not viable. You won’t finish it (if you even start it).
So my three tips are:
Start before you’re ready
Get other people invested to hold you accountable
And let your players’ input affect the world.
Happy world-building!