(upbeat music) - Hello friends, and
welcome back to part two of my list of ten worldbuilding
mistakes that DMs make! If you haven't seen part one, they don't really need
to be watched in order, but I would suggest that you
eventually check out both. Creating an entire world for a D&D game is a daunting process, and I think it's inevitable
that you'll make some mistakes while trying to get everything together! So I hope you don't see
the things on this list as anything to be embarrassed about. Instead, I hope they'll
give you some new insights so you can approach your worldbuilding in a way that's easier for you and more fun for your players. Now let's jump right back into
it with mistake number six. (whoosh) Another common mistake, and something that's actually touched on in the DMG's section
about Campaign Events, is designing a world that's
very stable and unchanging. This is the king, here are his lands. This is the area where
the giants live, beware. These ships have a regular trade route that goes to these ports
in these countries. But instability generates change,
change generates conflict, and conflict makes for good storytelling. What if the king vanished
on a diplomatic trip? Everyone is looking for him,
and tensions have become high with the country he was visiting
as many suspect foul play. What if the giants are migrating,
bringing waves of attacks? What if ships have started
disappearing on this route and there are rumors
of a giant sea serpent? You can certainly choose to
create a flat, stable world and then superimpose adventure onto it. You can have a firm,
long-standing monarchy and a group of giants
that live in one spot and a naval trade route
that works as intended, and also have exciting
quests in your world. But consider that building some
instability into your world will naturally lead to adventure. When you create these
points of instability, you don't even have to
use the resultant conflict as your main plot. But if these kinds of changes are actually happening in your world, it creates depth and makes
everything feel more real. Plus, it can create a sense of urgency when your players
understand that this world isn't an unchanging sandbox
that they can play in at will, but a living world that
will change around them. If they choose to ignore
the giant migration, maybe they'll come back to this town later and find it destroyed and vacant. If they ignore the rumors
of the missing ships, they might find it more and more difficult to locate certain items,
like healing potions, as trade shipments go missing. (whoosh) Most of us aren't playing D&D in order to recreate real life. That's kind of the opposite
of what fantasy means! And while everyone has
different levels of interest in the realism of their fantasy worlds, if you prioritize realism over what's fun or what's interesting, you
are gonna have a problem. I think we can all agree that
we would rather play a game that's unrealistic but enjoyable over the alternative of a
game that's very realistic, but no fun to play. For example, in my homebrew game, I spaced a lot of my cities
really far apart from each other because I thought that
was the most realistic way for them to have developed. But the result of this spacing was that I functionally
trapped my players in one spot by making travel
time-consuming and difficult. And when my players did want to move, it was immensely boring, because
they couldn't get anywhere without being on the
road for days at a time, and at the time I had no
idea how to handle that. This especially sucked because I had some big plans
for these other cities, and wanted my players to go there! But I had accidentally
disincentivized them to travel by building my world this way. Now, some people love
having long-distance travel in their games, and that's fine! But for me and my players, this wasn't an intentional
choice we were making, this was just me prioritizing
what I thought was realistic over the kind of game we
actually wanted to play. A lot of D&D rules-as-written
violate realism in favor of something that
makes gameplay easier, less complicated, or more
fun, like fall damage, or the types of horrific injuries that can be cured with
a good night's sleep. Internal consistency is
generally more important than realism: Your rivers don't have to
follow the laws of physics, your world's biomes don't
need to hold up to examination by an ecologist. Unless of course, that's fun for you! If a question comes up
that hinges on realism, your answer will set a precedent, so be prepared for the
precedent you want to set. You are completely allowed
to let your players know that you're not trying
to recreate real life, and that your ruling stands
in your fantasy world regardless of how things
work in the real world. - (spooky voice) Ginny! - Oh no, is this a Christmas Carol parody? I have to be up at 7:00. - Oh good, so you know I'm from the past. Remember last year? When you waited too long to
get gifts for your D&D party, and then just brought
cookies, like a total chump? - That's not gonna happen this year! It's only... Oh God, it's December. - Kobold Press can save
you from your past. They make tons of supplements
for fifth edition, everything from spells to subclasses, campaign settings to monsters! - Ginny! I am the- - No, she's got it, move on. - Oh, okay. I'm from the present! Kobold Press's pocket editions
make the perfect gifts: "Deep Magic", a collection of new spells and subclasses for every
spellcasting class. Or over 1000 new monsters and foes between "Tome of Beasts I and
II" and the "Creature Codex". All these in convenient,
portable softcover. Get 15% off your entire order with the code ginnydecember15off. - And get a free PDF of "Prepared 2: A Dozen One-Shot Adventures
for 5th Edition". - Sure, sure. It's like 3:00 a.m., can we get the third ghost
out here and wrap this up? - Ginn- - No, stop.
- It's fine. - I see a Ginny who placed
her order from Kobold Press this very week, and received all her gifts
in time for the holidays! (Ginny clapping sarcastically) - Great job, nice performance. I'll order in the morning. - Order now. The links are in the description. - We'll leave when you get
your confirmation email. (whoosh) - This is probably unsurprising
to anyone who knows that I'm basically a
self-employed one-woman-show, but, I'm a pretty type-A person. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do something absolutely perfectly, and if I mess it up, it's very easy to interpret
that as an overall failure. So when I say this, I say it
with love and understanding. But, you're gonna mess stuff up. You're gonna have inconsistencies. You're gonna change
your mind about things. You're gonna accidentally
write something in that spirals totally out of control. And that is okay! If you set the expectation for yourself that you're gonna write a
perfectly cohesive, realistic, functional world and then
present it to your players, fully formed, and it will work flawlessly for an entire campaign, you
are going to be disappointed. One of the kindest and most useful things you can do for yourself
when building a world is to allow yourself the
space to make those mistakes, and the space to fix them. Remember, this is a game
that we're playing for fun. We're not contractually obligated to stick with whatever decisions we make in the fictional dungeon game. Don't be afraid of making
changes, admitting to mistakes, retconning, and talking
honestly with your players about how things are going. There's a huge difference between a world making sense in your head, and a world making sense when you spread it out on the gaming table and let a bunch of people
stick their fingers in it. The easiest way to end up
with a world that works and is fun for everyone
is to remain flexible, have realistic expectations,
and stay open to change if it'll improve the game for everyone. (whoosh) After my whole section about how starting small is a mistake, this one is gonna feel
even more egregious. But this was a mistake that I made in my first homebrew campaign: I had all these big,
complex, interesting plans for the larger scale plot, but completely failed to make sure that getting there was also interesting. It's very exciting to imagine your players slowly working their way
through their adventures, getting to know one another
and growing in power, to finally, climactically
battle a great foe and triumph. But, not to be a downer, but a lot of D&D games
never make it to the end. And even if they do, it's
important to remember that most of your players' experiences will be in the moment-to-moment. They'll be in specific shops or towns or talking to specific NPCs. If you focus exclusively
on the big picture, the actual boots-on-the-ground
gameplay will suffer for it. So yes, figure out what major factors are influencing your world! And by all means, think about
the big bad's dastardly plan. But don't forget to also imagine yourself walking around the town where your players will be
learning about this intrigue and picking up those bread crumbs that will eventually lead them there. Who lives here, what do they do all day, and what's happening here that's going to be fun and interesting for your players to engage with? This is the kind of
foundational information that can be easy to forget
if you're too zoomed out. (whoosh) Listen, I love a good lore dump, but even I don't want to
have to read ten pages of single-spaced fantasy history in order to start playing a game. These characters are supposed
to live in this world, and if players have to
memorize pages and pages of information in order to understand it, you're going to end up with some players who just don't understand it. Not everyone has the attention
span or the learning style to take in information that way. Even when you're reading a book, it's a hallmark of a great writer when the exposition about the world can be delivered as part of the story, instead of as a heavy-handed
information-dense prologue. In D&D, we have so many opportunities to deliver worldbuilding
in a more organic way. Ideally, your players
will learn about the world as they navigate it, by
observing how this information actually impacts their character
and the world around them. Instead of spending fifteen minutes describing the entire ecosystem of an area when players enter it,
let them learn the details as they perform nature
or perception checks, or hunt for food or tracks. Let NPCs mention the
details of the weather or the local flora and fauna. That way, players are
learning the information as it becomes relevant
or as they ask for it. I'm not by any means saying
don't describe your world, a little narrative when
players enter a new space or meet a new person
can be very immersive! But these descriptions
will have more punch and more sticking power
if you don't overdo it. You can and should know
details about your world that are not handed to your
players on a silver platter. Ask yourself what
information is need-to-know, and what information
will make them curious and want to learn more. They'll learn it and internalize it better if they're receiving it
in pieces and in context. (whoosh) This last one isn't going
to be for everybody. Some DMs want complete
control over their world. But I want to mention an option that I think is underutilized, and that is giving your players some power over the worldbuilding. This could take a lot of different forms. One of the most common ways that DMs allow players to
participate in worldbuilding is with their characters' hometowns. In one of my home games, the
DM provided a general outline of how an underground
kingdom was laid out, but I was basically given complete control over the specific town
my character was from. I ended up writing a whole little agricultural
hamlet for her. It made me feel very connected
to the character's hometown in a way that I haven't
felt with other characters. Plus, when asked questions
about this place in character, I feel equipped to answer
them confidently and in-depth. It's way easier to roleplay Penelope's
familiarity with her home when I myself know it inside out. Letting players take
part in the worldbuilding can help them feel more connected
to and more knowledgeable about the world around them. Plus, getting more
creative brains involved can give your world depth and variety that might be harder to achieve alone. If you haven't tried this before, consider laying out
your large-scale stuff, but letting players do
some select detailing in areas that are relevant
to their characters. If you're worried about
your players' creations fitting with your themes, you can always retain veto
power over their inventions, or even work together with them
during the creation process. Ultimately, you are the
one who gets to decide what ends up on the final world map. Building an entire world
is nothing to sneeze at, and by no means can I give you
all the information you need about how to worldbuild
in two YouTube videos! But hopefully this will help
you avoid common pitfalls and refine your own worldbuilding. If you want to dive a little deeper into the worldbuilding rabbit hole, you definitely need to watch
my Domestic D&D video next. If you want to establish local traditions like festivals and ceremonies, or just learn more about how
business and land ownership and homesteading can work in your world, this one is a fantastic resource. And if you have specific
worldbuilding questions, feel free to hit me with
them in the comments!
