[Raven Bloodmoon]

I know this topic is old, but it is potentially a really good resource for anyone who reaches a roadblock developing their capaign world. So let's keep this one alive and fill it with as much information as we can. Below are a list of sites I have found that pertain to different aspects of world building.

A good questionare. No reason not to be able to complete it.
http://www.sfwa.org/...ldbuilding1.htm

For those who want to truly create a world unto itself, forming a rudimentry language does wonders for the feel. Here is an excellent site on constructing languages, and it's not nearly as hard as one might think:
http://www.langmaker.com/

Another excellent site on constructed languages that includes a section on orthography.
http://www.zompist.com/kit.html

Here is site with a lot of useful links.
http://members.tripo...rldbuilding.htm

A bit on ecosystems. You will be surprised the turns your world takes and the creatures that end up populating it if you build it properly.
http://hollylisle.co...ecosystems.html

Here is an article on mapmaking for worldbuilders.
http://hollylisle.co...s-workshop.html

For those out there interested in making a more scientifically sound world, here is a site of star tables. Sometimes it can be interesting to make your world orbit a star other than a G2, but make sure you create an appropriate ecosystem.
http://www.aeiveos.c...tarClasses.html

If anyone else has any resources, please post them as well.

[Valigon]

I agree with Raven we need to keep this post alive, fill it as much as posible. maybe even make it a sticky. anyway here is a resource i found. its not that great but it does
help start with world building.... really well done, i wish the guy would finish it.

http://www.astrofant...reate_world.htm

hope that helps at least one person. then my job is done.

[ladyofdragons]

consider it stickied

[Axel]

This site has a great deal of information regarding cultures and mythology. It's useless for godless religions or for exploring any aspect of religion without gods, though. Mainly because the author was too limited to recognize the importance of religions with no gods. His info on religious forms is also pretty limited for anything outside clerical religions. A Western document, no mistake.
http://www.rpgmud.co...opoets/tmm.html

[RedSlayer]

WOOOO MY FIRST PINNED TOPIC!!!

[pessimist]

Hmmm I just found this site and I think it's great, provided my players never discover it!

I have gone through two worlds in the last 10 years or so of gaming. The second was much more thought out and evolved than the first, and I am starting to design a new world as I have a lot of ideas I'd like to play around with that don't fit into the one I have. But the comment about a well designed world being able to support many campaigns simultaneously (or otherwise) is very true. You can even reuse a local setting in a campaign world with the same group of players, but shift time by 200 years in one direction or another. It's interesting for players to deal with the far reaching consequences of thier previous actions, or else set in motion the events that lead to some quest they've already played through with other characters.

When it comes to world building... I like to lay out a medium sized continent, and flesh out (not completely, but in good detail) a fairly large region of it, say 300 mi square. then I plop the new group roughly in the middle of it. The detail I go into at that point is: Major cities, general political structure, noteworthy sites, wildlife, etc... I try to keep that much area defined all around them between sessions.

If the group tends to be unpredictable, and I don't have time to flesh out every place they could potentially go during the next session, then I'll create a shops, or even an entire section of a city, and when the players decide they want to go to some new place I haven't filled in yet, I make that be it. They never know the difference, and from that point on in my world, that's the way some area is.

Naturally you fill things in as you get ideas and time between sessions. Once the world begins to fill in, it's much easier to keep it rolling and alive.

Another thing I try to do is keep a few small scale side-quests in my DM binder that are completely disconnected from any campaign the group is on. If I need to stall or if the players wander off somewhere that I'm really not prepared to handle them, I just pull one and roll with it.

Finally a trick I've used twice, although you really can't pull it on the same group twice, is to just teleport them halfway across the continent at a very inconvenient time. They then, generally, want to get home, and make a concerted effort over the next few sessions to move back to the area they were last in. It works particularly well if you force them to leave valuable items behind. It's a dirty trick but buys you time to flesh things out in the area they were in, while forcing them through some area you prepared that they hadn't wandered into yet.

[Antouron]

I try to start small, like with the first quest and build outward. While I start my campaign though I think about the logistics of everything. As the players get farther I get farther. It's a nice system and I like it.

[gurney9999]

I came at world building from another direction. I was starting work on my first great fantasy novel (yeah right... it was scrapped probably 15 years ago) and began formulating my world around three main concepts:

* A world where the gods can choose to live as mortals in order to affect the events of the world. The choice becomes more difficult because these avatars have no memory of their divine nature while they live as mortals, so how they hope to affect the world and how they actually affect the world can be two very different things.

* A magic system that can be best described as a "river of magic" that flows from the Creator god. This "river" flows over the Land like invisible tendrils of fog that can be used for magical purposes. Clerics have the ability to 'wade' in the river, infusing themselves with the divine magic of the Creator god and his Children. Magic users have the ability to "dip" from the river and use this energy to affect the elements in the world. Monks (who tend to exhibit some sort of psionic abilities in this world) have the ability to divert the currents of the river to allow them certain abilities (truth-reading, telekenesis, etc.). Item crafters are very important in this world, as only a few have the ability to even sense this "river of magic"; item crafters have the ability to trap this magical energy within certain items that can be used by those that have no magical abilities. Of course the religious factions feel that only their use of magic is acceptable, which has caused magic-use to be a very dangerous activity for anyone else.

* A world where the old races (elves and dwarves) have retreated from humankind not because of the expansion of the human races, but to perform a specific act that protects this world from a threat that has existed since the ancient days when the eleven Children of the Creator god used the world as their personal battleground (hence the reason they can now only enter the world as mortals that have no knowledge of their divine nature).

I then created a general world map, and worked with the idea of three human nations that have warred on and off for centuries. Over the last few hundred years however a monastic order has risen that serves as counselors to any ruler that can use them. This order acts as a checks and balances against certain political factions and certain religious factions that are all seeking more power.

Starting with a map is a great idea for the beginning world-builder (or an experienced one). Working with visuals helps me develop everything else (political boundaries, weather and how it affects those that live there, resource management, how factions interact with those around them, overall story arcs, etc.). The same is true for city and 'dungeon' maps. I usually have a general idea in my head, sketch out a map and then use the drawings to flesh out my story.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Here is an interesting link. It's called The 30 Days of Worldbuilding. I'm I think I might try tackling it over the next couple months (as time is growing more and more scarce). Besides, it never hurts to have an extra world floating around incase you need it.

[Dthclaw]

Sweet!

Awesome find thar, Raven. Might have to (read: will) use that for world creation (and maybe to iron out a few kinks in my own campaign).

[Raven Bloodmoon]

That's what this thread it for. By the way, this is a site linked from the one I just posted, but it is certainly worthy of it's own post. It will help greatly with terrain generation as it is one Physical Geography. It also includes lots of yummy info on weather patterns and atmospheric conditions as well.

[Valmoth Galvador]

For my world I was told to create a fantasy world in year 8 to write a story, now 6 years on I found the story and the world map I had made and expanded exponentially on it. I've written multiple fantasy stories so I tried to include as much core information as I could and thenfilled in the blanks. I've enjoyed every minute of it and my players have been playing in 'Aliastia' now for about a year!

[Jimp]

*dig dig dig up graves*
Just thought I'd post some questions I asked myself when begining to think about my own custom world. They're simple and handy questions to ask yourself when creating a custom world.
What kind of world do I want?
What do I want the people of the world to be like?
How does magic effect the world?
How much magic is in the world?
Does magic vary from region to region?
Is magic readily accessible?
How has the world evolved?
How has the world developed politically, economically, technologically, socially, and artistically?
What kind of state are the societies of the world in?
How is the cosmos arranged?
How do the people of the Material Plane interact with extraplanar deinzens?
DO they interact?
How are the planes related?
Taken from my blog.

[Dthclaw]

Well, they are good questions to ask... and only a few of them are readily thought of.

[ILikeFood]

This is great! I'm so glad you guys got this! I'm so fed up with the difficulty of this. I started with a map, but I've so far not done much with my world. The map is basic and "cartoonish" but I plan on stylizing it later.