Players-World Building

Involving able, ready, and committed players in world building, as recommended by Ginny Di, can make your fantasy worlds more engaging and immersive.

World building can become a daunting task from creating cultures, key figures, landmarks, governments, economies, and history. It can seem fruitless when players ignore this build and do not engage in it. Including ready and able players before, during, or after sessions, however, can change this trend. In fact, this inclusion can take game play to an even more immersive level. It will mean players care more for the world that their players find themselves in. It will result in players retaining more. With additional minds tasked, the world will have increased variety and perspectives. In the end, the creative spin will prompt even further world building.

Ginny Di, cosplayer and world builder extraordinaire, recommends including players as a solution in her video Do THIS and players will fall in love with your D&D world. Using these recommendations (and others that I have added), as a world builder and follow-up game master, you can gain confidence in your work and experience its success.

Before setting up players-worldbuilding, you should make sure you and your players are ready willing and able.

Firstly, you must make sure you are open to the idea of letting go. As a game master, this step can be tough as player-worldbuilding means relinquishing some control and placing trust in someone with a fantasy world which you own. Yet, once started, this relinquishing can actually be an enablement and perhaps a future worldbuilding relationship. When so doing, set the scope but leave it open for some creativity. Players will have plenty of room, but must respect the premises and shape of the world before them. Make sure you communicate up front your appreciation for their worldbuilding and your love for this world. Explain you will help where possible and veto where needed.

Secondly, you and your world should be prepared at a macro level. Players should build what fits with this fantasy world upon which you have laboured with love. WorldAnvil or documents in Google Drive are great places to generate and share the larger parts of your world. Improv is a key feature in storytelling. Yet, as Ginny Di mentions, improv works best when it has a strong place from which to start. Having a world map is a strong foundation. Key historical eras frame the present with a past. Current political, social, and economic issues make for character and adventure springboards. Landmarks make the world a living place. Cultures, languages, and relations make for intrigue. The arcane and the divine should have holds in your world with their own objectives. In the end, sprinkle some truth and beauty into your world which your players and their characters can appreciate.

Thirdly, include players according to their interest, readiness and capability in regards to worldbuilding. At your table, you might have aficionados, players that have done worldbuilding and done it well. You will have some keeners, players who would love and are ready to give it a try with you. Most definitely, you have some beginners, players who are not ready, and the occasional nay-sayer, simply not wanting to join the world forge. Consequently, assess your group of players. You will want to do this before you begin, say in a session zero, during game play, and perhaps after. For the beginners, provide them with little worldbuilding tasks that fit the game, where dice rolling can help them make choices. See the Dungeon Master's Guide Worldbuilding chapter for tables. For the keeners, provide them with a segue, where they develop some element related to their character within the context of the world. For the aficionados, create separate sessions outside of gameplay where they can build and play out some of their creations. The recommendations that follow fit each of these player-worldbuilding tiers so you have some choices.

As a side note, as a world builder, I make the distinction between campaign and game. I make this distinction because Dragons and Dungeons is actually collaborative storytelling with characters and game master intertwined. In this manner, the campaign is the story arc. The game is the actual story where the details are added to and flesh out this arc. This setup means that every time a new instance of the campaign is played out as a game a unique and compelling story is told and captured. This multiverse can be then used for various stories and for worldbuilding expansion.

Certainly, if you are a confident worldbuilder and want to give player-worldbuilding a try with some keeners and aficionados, you may want to invite people that fit those categories to your table. These players may have likely played at your table before. They may even have characters operating in your world. Regardless, they are people with whom you would trust to do something true and beautiful. This environment makes for open and flourishing creativity. That said, however, player-worldbuilding should not be exclusive. Player-worldbuilding opportunities should be included in all games, even for the beginners, to allow players to develop this skill and grow. Even nay-sayers should at least be given the chance to change their mind.

Note that intermediate (for keeners) player-worldbuilding will work for adventures (3 or more episodes) and campaigns (10 or more episodes) but will be distractions in one-shots. Advanced (for aficionados) player-worldbuilding will work best for lengthier campaigns (15 or more episodes). For one-shots, basic (for beginners) player-worldbuilding will add some spice.

Once you have decided on a level of player-worldbuilding and have assembled your table, conduct a session zero. This session can be a full session outside of game play or a short session that leads into gameplay based on the extent of player-worldbuilding you intend.

During this session zero, start by explaining player-worldbuilding as an element. Outline the level and its features. State the basic rules, such as no meta-gaming, openness to others, and the worldbuilder's right to veto. Note that players can contribute according to their own interest, ability, and commitment. They will never be put on the spot. As the worldbuilder, you will ensure that player-worldbuilding will not feel like added homework. Close by expressing your gratitude for their collaboration. Expound upon the benefits of player-worldbuilding. As stated by Ginny Di, flavour will always win over function. Player-worldbuilding will not be overdone and overtake gameplay - which is what each player and you came to do.

Next, in your session zero introduce the world framework. Maps and media work well. Pinterest pins can spark imagination. Treat this overview like the exposition of the story. Be sure to keep it short. At best, as advised by Ginny, have the characters work through an opening event where they are introduced to the world. The tavern, the local prison, or the magic shop, although done before, can serve wonders. Show the world wherever possible as opposed to telling the world. This fantasy world, like any story, should be revealed and unfolded as it is explored and developed.

Once session zero is complete, a good place to start, as Ginny Di outlines, for all levels of player-worldbuilding is with the creation of characters. Whether players pick up pre-generated or self-created characters, players will and must have the chance to create backstories. These backstories are connections to your shared fantasy world. Each back story will have a place of origin and an adventure hook. Each player will have some person or persons who have provided them support or stood against them. Each player will come from various economic conditions or political standings. Here is where as a world builder, you provide some prompts from the world that you have framed out which serve as a springboard for player worldbuilding. For example, for the aficionados, find a place on a map and allow the player to create a hometown for their character, as suggested by Ginny Di. Let your player assemble a community, establish economies, describe a climate, outline attractions, warn of dangers, and spin some folklore. Ask them to provide photos or drawings. Solicit descriptions. For the keeners, have them follow a basic template or outline. For beginners, have them dice roll to generate the essentials. Where possible, take what the player produces and include it into the world fold. If possible, have players with similar interests, abilities, and commitments work on the same hometown.

The next opportunities for further player-worldbuilding are character downtime activities. This downtime is where characters level up, taking up training with a master. This downtime is where some characters may establish a home, building a castle or a farm. Similarly, a character may network, building allies and securing membership in organizations. A character may setup shop or establish a guild. For beginners, these downtime events can be handled with choices and dice rolls. For keeners, a segue may be created where players conduct their own downtime and present it to the worldbuilder. For the aficionados, this downtime might be its own session played out with the game master and other players. Whatever level of player-worldbuilding, this strategy will strengthen both character development, storytelling, and player investment. This strategy will require substantial prep but will garner great rewards.

Perhaps the strongest contribution players can make to worldbuilding will be through the creation of non-player characters. Each character has family and friends. Their background will often necessitate membership in an organization. Employers and mentors will appear. Allies and enemies will likely have been made. These potential non-player characters will have important relationships with the player's character. These relationships are the ingredients for potential conflict or support essential for dynamic and meaningful storytelling. Beginners in player-worldbuilding should be given the chance to create a basic non-player character out of an ally or enemy with dice rolls and tables. Keeners should be given the time to create a more complete non-player character that will be important in game play. Aficianados should be allowed to create a non-player character with an organization and an intersecting backstory. For all players regardless of level, the worldbuilder must ensure that this non-player character surfaces as part of game play, supporting or interfering with the character's, and by extension, the adventure party's mission. This strategy involves openness and trust on the behalf of the worldbuilder. Consequently, this strategy can reap the largest amount of rewards in immersive game play and engagement in worldbuilding.

Despite its challenges, player-worldbuilding can work well. As a worldbuilder, you will need to develop this skill over time. With these recommendations and the many more you will uncover or discover, you will be able to do so with confidence. Include these strategies in your games. Ask for input and feedback from your players. Stumble. Pick yourself up. Succeed. And succeed again. Then, sit back and watch your world - one that is shared. Admire your work  and the work of others. Watch the players invest and the characters live in your fully-built fantasy world.

~ Photo credit: Lit hub. https://lithub.com/in-defense-of-worldbuilding/