Questions tagged [world-building]
For questions about world-building, the process of creating a complete, coherent and convincing world to use as a setting for RPG adventures.
159 questions
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How to bring a campaign together? [duplicate]
I have recently started preparing a 5e campaign and I'm having a very difficult time figuring out how to bring all the players together to form a group. It's just a really daunting task trying to ...
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How to use a player's backstory without ignoring the other players?
I have a player with a really good backstory. It includes a character who could honestly be one of, if not the main, BBEG of our campaign. I’m scared that if I use their backstory, I might end up ...
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What lifestyle expenses are associated with the Yawning Portal?
The party has just begun Dungeon of the Mad Mage. After their first trip down the well, they have sensibly taken Durnan up on his offer of rooms in the Yawning Portal where they can stay in between ...
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What are some different predators I can add for my world building? [closed]
I'm currently building a fantasy world to use in a future campaign, and I need some ideas and descriptions of different apex predators, both rare and common, to add to my world.
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Gracefully roleplaying the end of the world without implying mass extinction [closed]
I am currently running a campaign that I have set in a world that is fading slowly. The idea is that, while the players cannot stop the end of the world (it's kinda similar to the heat death of the ...
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Could a famous object on the floor of the ocean have gone undiscovered for centuries?
In my setting, five meteors fell on the planet. Each meteor contained a very powerful magical gem.
Four of those fell on land, and the gems were retrieved rather quickly. The last one fell in an ...
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Canonical Competitive Sports in Pathfinder
I've been looking around the online resources to find some sort of list of competitive sports that may be played by citizens in the Age of Lost Omens.
A full, digital list would be great. Bonus points ...
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In a world without a Shadowfell or Feywild, which player options would be changed/removed?
I am in process of building a world for upcoming campaign. As I already know some things in D&D rely on the fact that the Shadowfell and the Feywild are present.
But what would be the consequences ...
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Do wizards not cast spells in their free time? [closed]
So the common consensus seems to be that spell slots and the restrictions that come with them are an in-universe truth that characters are aware of, to varying degrees. But that implies a few strange ...
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Environmental storytelling : a centuries-old isolated child [closed]
This question might be better suited for World Building SE, but because of how specific it is, and how it is meant to be shown through gameplay, I thought that it would be more on topic here.
An ...
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How can I balance deadly world with things happening?
My world setting is based on the movie “A quiet place”. Background is fantasy based on Pathfinder for Savage Worlds.
The main plot is as follows: some time ago the Raan appeared, creatures (alien like)...
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How to change crucial worldbuilding aspects midgame? [closed]
In my roleplaying game, I've realized I need to change a certain crucial aspect of the world: one of the laws of magic, because it would essentially cause anyone who became powerful enough to ...
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How to manage both high-strategy and combat encounters? [closed]
New poster here, so any help is appreciated.
As a DM, I have 2 main groups of players in my game; the ones who like very, very high strategy (as in commanding armies on the battlefield), and the ones ...
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How can I tell my players that necromancers are not bad guys? [closed]
I'm running a homebrew campaign where a group of necromancers made a town into their own base of research.
World Context:
The town was abandoned many years ago and the country had no more any form of ...
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What are the rules for mixing races?
As a DM I want to build an immersive and memorable, but also logically coherent world. I have a question about races.
What are the rules for mixing races?
For example, is it possible to be half elf ...
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Can characters travel between permanent teleportation circles? [duplicate]
The Teleportation Circle spell (PHB pg. 282) states that in order for the spellcaster to "target" a remote teleportation circle he or she must know that remote circle's unique sigil sequence....
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How could you maximize food production with magic items and spells over a long period of time?
As a player over a period of in-game years, what magic items and spells would allow me to create as much food as possible for a large town (~1000 people) assuming most of them are farmers/could help, ...
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Can only Wizards become Liches?
I am in the process of world building for a new game. My ultimate antagonist is going to be a lich, but the bit of research I have done so far all refers to liches having to be wizards, due to the ...
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Sustainable farming of humanoid brains for illithid?
I'm worldbuilding an illithid empire.
The Lords of Madness book states the dietary needs of an illithid.
A mind flayer must have a minimum of one fresh brain per month. Any less than that and it ...
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Is there need for messengers in DnD 5e, if spell Sending exists?
In my campaign (DnD 5e) I would like to send players on a quest to save a kidnapped person. The person has high value information. He/she was ambushed and taken prisoner.
My question is: is there a ...
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Feasible engine for a world like Earthsea? [closed]
I am building a world emphasising on balance and chaos (where pretty much two sides of one coin), kind of like Earthsea.
As a consequence, the magic in D&D doesn't work quite well with it. (...
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How do I get a new player to stop rewriting my game to match his favorite fiction?
I have a D&D 5e game that I've been running for a year that is on pause because some players don't want to play online or go outside (stupid plague ruining my tabletop). So I offered my son and ...
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Mechanics of a town where magic doesn't work
I'm planning a campaign and I want to have a village where magic doesn't work. You can't cast spells, magical items lose their ability, things like that.
I am fairly new to the lore and mechanics of ...
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How can I drop hints that a seemingly innocuous gnome village is secretly evil?
In the D&D 4e game I run, I am planning on soon having my players go to the Feywild on an adventure. Something I'd like to try to pull off during this is to have a subversion of expectations. ...
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How can I write a historical timeline for my campaign's magical world?
I'm writing a campaign and I'm a big fan of history and I want to write a history of my campaign's world.
The problem is, I have no idea how to do this.
I am aware that I should bullet point wars ...
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What makes a convincing mafia? [closed]
I am currently in the process of creating my own world, in a Victorian Era/Industrial Revolution/Steam Age setting. It's not overly steampunk but light elements of it are acceptable, as well as some ...
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Cities and Players, what to prepare? [closed]
So this is going to be a very open-ended question about city design(/description) and what players tend to ask about their surroundings. In my experience, players tend to be extremely curious about ...
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Is it ok to tell players how their character feels in this situation?
I know it's generally considered poor form to tell a player how their character feels. I should show, not tell. Show them the orphans and widows, not tell them they feel bad for murdering those guys,...
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As a new DM, should my focus when creating a campaign be on developing locations or NPCs?
A group of friends and I have decided to play D&D. Since I was the one gathering everyone and the one with the most previous knowledge, I became the DM for the group. I had never actually played ...
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What could prevent players from leaving an island? [closed]
I am currently building a campaign for DnD.
The main plot plays out on an island the heroes are stranded after their ship goes off course and sinks.
They discover that this island is ruled by ...
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What events, tests, and troubles could a party trying to establish a nation expect to face [closed]
My players have decided to establish a new nation which consists of Phandalin, Triboar, Red Larch, and all lands in between (per their own highly unofficial declaration). I'm trying to come up with ...
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Best practices in portraying racism and its effects in a game [closed]
This question and its fantastic answers help answer NPC interactions with PCs. However, the question doesn't really touch on a immersion level involving NPCs. I don't anticipate my players playing a ...
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Fixing/Improving My Model of Reciprocal Economies [closed]
I’m unsatisfied with how things like reciprocal economies are usually handled in RPGs. I've come up with a homebrew mechanic of my own, but it's also far from perfect and I’m trying to improve it.
In ...
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What are the ramifications of creating a homebrew world without an Astral Plane?
I'm currently working on a homebrew world for a campaign of mine, which is currently on hold indefinitely, so there's no time pressure.
Overall design intent:
I don't want my world to be a clone of ...
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How can I deliver in-universe written lore to players without it being dry exposition?
I DM for a D&D (5e) group in a custom campaign setting which I worldbuild as we go. One of my players is very much interested in the history and lore of the world and often tries to find out bits ...
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Can a kingdom be destabilized by an influx of enemy gold? [closed]
A few years ago I read a role-playing game supplement that described a cold war between kingdom Good and kingdom Bad. Both kingdoms used metal coins with silver as the most common followed by gold. ...
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How do I make it difficult to dispel a teleportation circle?
Based on the question How hard is to dispel spell that was made permanent by casting it every day for a year with different spell slots?, it follows that a simple casting of dispel magic could ruin a ...
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How to handle anti-magic fortifications? [closed]
Suppose players get to refurbish, repair or straight up build their own fortress. Since it is supposed to be a safe place, a sanctuary, how do I let them protect themselves against magical threats?
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Are all Eladrin CR 10?
With the release of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes we get more information about the Eladrin and race options. The Eladrin listed are CR 10.
For someone who knows very little about Feywild lore, are ...
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How can I handle the concept of evil temples in the larger world? [closed]
In an evil region or country, what is the motivation for people to follow evil gods? I get the whole worshiping-out-of-fear thing and the idea of appeasement, but are there any other models of society ...
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Simulating a "Living" world [closed]
One of the classic things a GM wants to do is have his game world react convincingly to the actions of his players, as it adds a sense of consequence and verisimilitude to the world.
If, for example, ...
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What do lizardfolk villages look like?
I'm working on a D&D 5e campaign's setting that includes a lizardfolk village in a relatively central location, in or near a deep jungle city ruled by dragonborn. Based on previous D&D ...
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How can player characters get by with daily necessities during a delve into Hell?
Recently, one of my players (a barbarian) had to make a pact with Lady Fierna of the 4th to avoid losing one of his friends. He agreed to offer his soul to the disposal of Lady Fierna after he dies in ...
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How can I involve a PC's backstory in a campaign that's set exclusively in a distant or foreign location?
I like my players to have a firm idea of their characters' backstories, and I like the idea of being able to draw on these (NPCs from the past showing up unexpectedly, etc.). However, in our next ...
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Political house ready cash (cityscape)
Basically, we are trying to find out how much "ready cash" in the political house entry in Cityscape refers to. I have a guess, but I want to be sure.
Is it the "normal amount owned by a 6th-level ...
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What is a "House" in politics? [closed]
I'm making the politics of my world and I've seen the word “House” being use in politics (like the House of Representatives) and in other fantasy media (Harry Potter and its four houses).
I wanted to ...
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Does supplemental Crucian information exist, and if so, where is it?
As part of a new campaign, the table has decided to challenge itself by having a world populated with somewhat more non-traditional races. To that end, I am trying to find and use races which have ...
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What is the general education level of people in the Forgotten Realms?
Do people in the Forgotten Realms have any standardized education? Do children go to school? How much education would people have in general?
I can't say I know or understand how schooling in our ...
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What mundane process or spell effect is required to artificially create or modify gemstones?
In real life, we have the technology to grow crystals through several methods such that anything from alexandrite to zirconia, including diamonds and emeralds that are of higher quality than their ...
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Is there any rule preventing the ghost of a slain creature from existing while its animated skeleton exists?
I'm aware I can just GM fiat it if I like, but I'm curious to know if in the rules-as-written there exists language that prevents Tom's ghost from existing at the same time as Tom's animated skeleton ...
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