Worldbuilding 101 – Start Small

By J.W.Grace

Worldbuilding for role-playing games is a daunting task.  As the game master, you have a group of people relying on you to bring an entire world, and more, to life; a world where they can be immersed and make an impact through a series of adventures.  Every good story must have a setting. The worldbuilding you do is what both establishes that setting and provides the variety of locations and the cast of people that your players will encounter.  It also gives them guidance for creating their own characters who will seamlessly fit within the world. 

Here is my biggest piece of advice when you take on this monumental project:  Start Small.

You are the creator of the universe, towering over one insignificant globe, parting the seas, raising the land, scattering life across the world.  However, you don’t have to tackle it all at once.  Your players are going to be starting their story somewhere in the world so focus on that spot and ask yourself a number of questions.

1. What sort of people live there?  Are they predominantly humans or some other species?  Are they an eclectic mix of folks?  Are they wealthy or living in squalor?  Are they exceptionally educated or skilled?  Do they accept strangers or treat them with suspicion or fear?  This will establish several key elements of your world, including how well the party will blend in and be accepted.  It can also showcase some of the options available for character creation or advancement. That goblin artificer may be willing to share their secrets with the right person.
2. What is the climate of the area and what natural resources are present?  This will lead to some important decisions like what the general populace will be like: miners, loggers, farmers, etc.  The residents of a settlement and what they do for a living are going to be drastically different if they are in a desert climate as opposed to a coastal region or on the edge of a deep, dark forest.  These decisions can also influence the demeanor of the populace.
3. What sort of businesses are there?  The players may need places to stay, so are there inns or boarding houses or kindly farmers willing to loan out space in the barn?  Is there a general store or any specialty shops like crafters or alchemists?  These places not only provide resources and ways for the party to spend money; the people in these locations can be fleshed out and act as quest-givers or sources of information.  
4. What kind of currency is used to buy goods?  This may seem like a basic question, but it leads to several other important considerations.  If coin is used, where was the coin minted?  Is the currency shared with a larger region like a country/nation/empire?  Is this currency shared with other countries?  What is on the coin and what significance does it have?  All of these questions lead you to think beyond the starting settlement and into the larger world.
5. Is there an established trade route with other locations? Is there a criminal element in the area?   Does this settlement have enemies or rivals?  These questions lead to on-going plot hooks for future adventures beyond the starting location like taking goods from one place to another through a bandit-infested forest or defending the settlement from a marauding band of vicious emu-riding gnomes.

Many of the examples I’ve provided may seem more applicable to fantasy settings but other genres work as well.  The settlement could be a fortified trade post in a post-apocalyptic wasteland or a run-down space station on the edge of a treacherous asteroid field.  The answers to the questions above will look different but the questions themselves will guide the development of your setting and the stories you want to tell.  

In conclusion, it’s important to realize that worldbuilding never really ends.  You’re always going to be adding to the world based on what happens in the adventures you run and the places and people that are encountered.  The more prepared you are before your adventures start, the more detailed a picture you will be able to paint for your players and the easier it will be to add on to the world as it grows.  

Get out there and build those worlds!

About the Author:

Jim “Argentwind” Grace has been playing and running TTRPG’s for almost 40 years in dozens of systems from AGE to Hero and every edition of D&D along the way.  He is the Tavern Owner of the Tumbled Tankard Discord server and a primary content contributor for the Tumbled Tankard YouTube channel.