When it comes to D&D being prepared is great. But there is such a thing as being far over prepared. I find sometimes creators get so into making their world and details and factions, that they lose focus of the activity, to have fun. And to some people, writing twenty pages on the history of the nation of Dragoth is fun, but that’s not what D&D is all about.
Everyone creates in their own way. If this works for you, go for it. But to me, I don’t see their point of having a vast in depth history of something in the world if it NEVER comes up, or comes up in passing… once. Most players are looking to have some fun, roll some dice, and hear a cool story; not sift through a history book on your world.
Nothing Exists Until Someone Says it Does
This is kind of an interesting concept that I never thought about until I started writing D&D Adventures. Then I started noticing, many books and TV use this idea too. In season 1, a character never mentions their father… Then all the sudden in season 2, poof! There they are in every episode!
Rather than fleshing out an entire world, start small. Make a town in limbo. As the PCs expand outward, add to the world. Take it one arc or even session at a time. Players want to be part of your world and help you build it. If you’ve already spent 40 hours making your world, they aren’t helping to create it, they are just part of something you did. The fun of D&D is that a bard could use vicious mockery to make an offhand comment about a goblin’s mom… and somehow two sessions later they’re at the bottom of the ocean fighting sharks searching for mama goblin’s earring. No one cares about a 25 page history lesson of the region; 99.9% of that work will never come up. Players want to be a part of a fun adventure and help build it too.
Don’t Say No, Say yes and…
The number one rule of improv is never to disagree with the other members. This disagreement breaks the belief of the story for the audience. The only exception to this rule would be if it negatively affects another player… except you of course. Who cares if the GM’s story is “derailed.” It’s not your story, it’s the players’. The players don’t know that the story is “derailed”. The players also don’t know if the story is put back on the rails. The quest giver dies? Make a new one. They are going the wrong direction through the desert? Save them… or not and let them open a new adventure. Taking the point from the last section, nothing is “set” until someone says it is.
Use the players to mold their world; use their backstories, their actions, and their comments. Use hooks that will directly affect their characters so you’re not chasing them to go on your adventures. Rather than putting together concrete world options, make them variable. There’s no difference to you, as GM, if Riverton (your created town) or Hillside (one of the PC’s hometown) is under attack. To the player, the difference is huge.
When you design a world, which contains smaller adventures, try to make them general so you have the flexibility to modify the small details.
Example: Retrieve an item.
Make the item something that belongs to an NPC that is related to one of the PCs. There is no hoping the PCs take the quest. They are directly tied in so they will. From here, use the players to weave a web of involvement. The world will unfold as the players move forward and will be engaged.
Keep on rollin’
Bond
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