Tome of World Building Session 1 - Genre and Theme
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No Pressure
The usual method recommended to RPG world builders is to only build what's usable when starting out. This is a bottom-up approach starting with an adventure location and a relatively nearby settlement with NPCs, goods, and services. Keep the world lore local and manageable then expand from there as needed.
This has worked in the past for my campaigns. These local-first worlds leave me with an itch to expand but it keeps focus on the practical and helps avoid bottomless rabbit holes.
After getting the Tome of World Building I wanted to go all in from the top-down. Not committing the end result to an upcoming campaign removes the pressure of delaying the start of a game. Instead, I'll add the pressure of blogging the process!
Genre and Themes
I came at this with a rough idea of what I wanted: a sci-fantasy/sword & planet setting consisting, instead of an Earth-like planet, of an asteroid field peppered with a larger planetoids and no concern for the specifics of atmosphere and gravity. Thematically a cross between Thundarr, Metal Hurlant, Flash Gordon's Mongo. Chainsaw swords, cyber-wizards, and ships sailing the space between worlds. Practically at the table, a swords & lasers "nautical" game, with each self-contained location reachable by vehicle or flying mount.
Looking at the Tome's genre descriptions, I chose "Heavy Metal". Seemed appropriate. Based on suggestions from the book, this will include themes like:
- Anti-hero PCs. This is almost a given, anyway, but never leave things black and white.
- SciFi elements mixed with fantasy. Spaceship wizard towers, laser-wielding cybertigers, alien fiends, and unique biomes.
- Strange and varied cultures. If I fudge table rolls, lean towards big, weird differences between these nations.
- Many unexplained and unknowable mysteries about the nature of reality. Conveniently, this can include being able to breath in space.
- The "world wider" and "villains more evil". An endless number of asteroids and rocks for cultures, warlords, monsters, fortresses, and dungeons. Big bads will be despicably evil.
- Prophesies are important to the setting and likely to happen. This is something outside my usual wheelhouse since I associate fantasy prophesies with overdone The One trope.
- Everything is strange and bigger than life. This includes descriptions of the surroundings, larger cities, gargantuan fortresses, and the like.
- A lot of wilderness and points of light. Each civilization's locations being somewhat self-contained lends itself to this kind of setting. I just need to leave room for a good amount of unexplored planetoids and asteroids to provide an untamed wilderness between each city.
Go Low or Go High?
The question of High Magic or Low Magic comes up next. I would answer "Low" if asked my preference here but what sounds like a gonzo setting just needs to be one of High Magic to complement the hand-wavy SciFi.
Next
Next time, we're really starting from the top with the setting's cosmology. Typically, this is the first drawn out rabbit hole I might go down.