So I built my world a few months ago and since have run a campaign in that world. But now that my party is level 6 I am realising that I am not happy with what i created. Obviously I could do the cliche 'paralel universe' trick and destroy the world to create a new one. I do not want to kill of characters because the party has put a lot of work into their stories.
Change: You could simply change the focus of the Campaign to a different location ( plane travel, different continent across the sea ).
Fix: figure out what it is that you don't like, figure out if you can simply change it - sit down with your Players and talk about making those changes. If everyone agrees, simply ret-con the world into a new shape.
Endure: Just ... keep going with the world, and see if you can't find its charm?
What is the problem with the world, that you don't like?
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But if I may ask, what is it that you don't like about the world? Did you, for instance, put too much magic into it early and now you wish it were more "low magic?" Did you make it medieval/feudal but now you want more of a Viking aesthetic? Did you litter it with a bunch of strange races but now you want it to be mostly human? What about the world do you dislike?
One option you have now that they are getting into the higher levels is the planes of existence. You could take them out of the material world and into other planes, which could be totally different form how the DMG describes them if you want (assuming you haven't already established that they are like what the DMG says) and have them adventure in places like Hell or the Elysian Fields.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If what you don’t like are things that characters in your world would be able to change, then you could maybe have some villains change it as part of the campaign, or you could have some villains behind the things you don’t like and make it the central focus of the next adventure. Then the PCs can fix it for you, and it would appear as if you planned it the whole time.
World building woes. Why do you not like what you have done? I have had the same felling with my world but it was simply me wanting to create another. My point is that there most likely is nothing wrong with what you have created. With myself I decided to just roll with it. Hell I have several cities, towns and even other locations mapped and detailed out in some cases. Why toss it all of the hard work. I have considered changing some things with the world when this campaign is over. Like have some major event reface several areas. Now my world is basically a single continent giving me options of expanding and bringing up other far off places. This is something that you could do as well. Who knows, there could be uncharted locations or even something far under the surface. The underdark for example.
I have had the same felling with my world but it was simply me wanting to create another.
Now this happens to me all the time. I'm doing Roman Empire right now. Which is awesome by the way. But... I have this idea for a Chinese-themed world. And a Norse-based Viking world. And... and... and... It's hard not to get excited about different world ideas and then you want to try them all.
Fortunately Rome is cool enough to keep me focused... most of the time.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I don't tend to build actual historical analogues, much preferring completely fictional worlds out of whole cloth ( the last one was centered in a city built on top of an inter-planar rupture which allowed political unity and trade between each of the 6 alternate reality versions of the city existing in 6 different timelines where each timeline had a different Player race as the dominant species ) but I have more world ideas than Campaigns, for sure.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Be sure to involve your players in the decision. Maybe they're ready for a change too; maybe they'll feel cheated if you switch without warning. You never know until you ask. Since this is a homebrew campaign and it's already level 6, you could even wrap it up over the next few sessions and then move on, or swap to a new continent as suggested.
I don't tend to build actual historical analogues, much preferring completely fictional worlds out of whole cloth
I usually do something in between. Real-world inspired but largely original. This is the first time I have done something as close to reality as I am doing... even using the geography of the real world (obviously, with D&D twists).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I made my world hastily, with little thought for intercontinental travel and geopolitics. I would much prefer to have taken my time and not mentioned the whole world to begin with. introduced other nations slowly.
The party would never give up their characters, not for a long time. most of them have hardly scratched the surface of their story arcs and some of them are developing as characters. itll be easier when we can go back to playing in person.
I don't tend to build actual historical analogues, much preferring completely fictional worlds out of whole cloth
I usually do something in between. Real-world inspired but largely original. This is the first time I have done something as close to reality as I am doing... even using the geography of the real world (obviously, with D&D twists).
I have a germanic empire styled nation, a japanese/oriental, feudal land, a norse land and a russian landmass
I made my world hastily, with little thought for intercontinental travel and geopolitics. I would much prefer to have taken my time and not mentioned the whole world to begin with. introduced other nations slowly.
What if it turns out that the reports of other nations were either flawed or wrong or outright lies. Then if/when the players go there, they can find a newer version you prefer. Travel times can be changed: The merchant’s guild wanted everyone to think it was further away so they could jack up prices, or a previously unknown mountain pas is discovered that cuts weeks off the journey. Or an existing pass is struck by an avalanche, adding weeks to the journey. Ocean currents shift, prevailing winds change. An earthquake swallows a landmass whole, a volcano spits up a new one. As for the geopolitics, everything they heard was actually just propaganda. Those other two countries aren’t actually at war, just the king here needed people to think that to help retain his hold on power. There’s no horde of invading goblins in the Eastern hills, it actually full of rich veins of iron ore and the blacksmiths want to keep the supply down, or the Duke doesn’t want his peasants armed.
Id reverse engineer it. Figure out the change you want to make, then come up with a reason it happened. And depending on your world, in D&D, it can be something like two gods have a fight, and the spillover reshapes the globe. It’s maybe a little cheesy, but it can certainly work, and give your players lots of adventure hooks as people try to figure out the new way things work.
I made my world hastily, with little thought for intercontinental travel and geopolitics. I would much prefer to have taken my time and not mentioned the whole world to begin with. introduced other nations slowly.
I find it hard to imagine that this would be impossible to fix to the point of trashing it... but if you are that unhappy with it, well... you need to talk with your players and see what you can do (since they like their characters but you don't like your world, which for the DM is your character).
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
This is an super extreme solution, but you could try a Time Travel Fix®:
Have characters get hired to do work by a Fey creature.
Requires they go into the Feywild or Shadowfell on an adventure.
They are in there for a few days to weeks completing the adventure.
When they exit they are 200+ years in the future.
...
Profit. Have the fey open an interest bearing account for the PCs giving them a decent amount of money to make up for any difficulties.
Any technology advancement could be ignored because they did not invest as much effort in tech as they have magic.
Wars, disease, exploration, natural disaster, political upheaval could all have affected cultures or borders in the world.
Heck, you could have a comet strike the planet 1 day after the players leave and they were purposefully sent forward in time to avoid it.
Having the players not be there gives you free reign to fix changes and still can be worked into a campaign plot.
You could do something fancy where the previous adventure they did something superbly heroic and saved the world. After that they because folk heroes and have statues various places with bards telling stories of their deeds with greatly amplified heroics.
The introduction of another plane would only work if they Fey realms or other planes are being used. If you have anything related to Fey in your world, you could have the travel be on purpose with someone messing with the party. There is information in the DMG on time effects when travelling to other planes. This is on page 50 of the print book. Remember a Time Travel Fix® solves all plot problems no matter how bad they are. This post sponsored by the Disney+ (All right not really, but they did this in Endgame has to be good for you!)
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I got the idea by misreading Xalthu "Travel times..." post as "Time Travel..." for a couple of seconds. I figured since we did not know specifics the geopolitical aspects could change any way they needed to over a long period of time. Since there were already a means in the setting for this, it was easy to use that.
I built a world based on Europe's dark ages complete with a crumbling empire (Like Rome). They had fun, but they missed the stereo typical medieval fantasy. I scrapped the political systems that were in place, re-defined the political system with a more feudal feel to it, and I am running it now. The only thing missing in mine are the cannons and guns. So far, they like it and are in agreement with the "no guns" rule.
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So I built my world a few months ago and since have run a campaign in that world. But now that my party is level 6 I am realising that I am not happy with what i created. Obviously I could do the cliche 'paralel universe' trick and destroy the world to create a new one. I do not want to kill of characters because the party has put a lot of work into their stories.
Any help for this situation would be amazing.
Change, Fix, or Endure seem to be the options.
Change: You could simply change the focus of the Campaign to a different location ( plane travel, different continent across the sea ).
Fix: figure out what it is that you don't like, figure out if you can simply change it - sit down with your Players and talk about making those changes. If everyone agrees, simply ret-con the world into a new shape.
Endure: Just ... keep going with the world, and see if you can't find its charm?
What is the problem with the world, that you don't like?
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Vedexent as usual has good suggestions.
But if I may ask, what is it that you don't like about the world? Did you, for instance, put too much magic into it early and now you wish it were more "low magic?" Did you make it medieval/feudal but now you want more of a Viking aesthetic? Did you litter it with a bunch of strange races but now you want it to be mostly human? What about the world do you dislike?
One option you have now that they are getting into the higher levels is the planes of existence. You could take them out of the material world and into other planes, which could be totally different form how the DMG describes them if you want (assuming you haven't already established that they are like what the DMG says) and have them adventure in places like Hell or the Elysian Fields.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If what you don’t like are things that characters in your world would be able to change, then you could maybe have some villains change it as part of the campaign, or you could have some villains behind the things you don’t like and make it the central focus of the next adventure. Then the PCs can fix it for you, and it would appear as if you planned it the whole time.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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World building woes. Why do you not like what you have done? I have had the same felling with my world but it was simply me wanting to create another. My point is that there most likely is nothing wrong with what you have created. With myself I decided to just roll with it. Hell I have several cities, towns and even other locations mapped and detailed out in some cases. Why toss it all of the hard work. I have considered changing some things with the world when this campaign is over. Like have some major event reface several areas. Now my world is basically a single continent giving me options of expanding and bringing up other far off places. This is something that you could do as well. Who knows, there could be uncharted locations or even something far under the surface. The underdark for example.
Now this happens to me all the time. I'm doing Roman Empire right now. Which is awesome by the way. But... I have this idea for a Chinese-themed world. And a Norse-based Viking world. And... and... and... It's hard not to get excited about different world ideas and then you want to try them all.
Fortunately Rome is cool enough to keep me focused... most of the time.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Roman history is pretty cool :)
I don't tend to build actual historical analogues, much preferring completely fictional worlds out of whole cloth ( the last one was centered in a city built on top of an inter-planar rupture which allowed political unity and trade between each of the 6 alternate reality versions of the city existing in 6 different timelines where each timeline had a different Player race as the dominant species ) but I have more world ideas than Campaigns, for sure.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Be sure to involve your players in the decision. Maybe they're ready for a change too; maybe they'll feel cheated if you switch without warning. You never know until you ask. Since this is a homebrew campaign and it's already level 6, you could even wrap it up over the next few sessions and then move on, or swap to a new continent as suggested.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I usually do something in between. Real-world inspired but largely original. This is the first time I have done something as close to reality as I am doing... even using the geography of the real world (obviously, with D&D twists).
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I made my world hastily, with little thought for intercontinental travel and geopolitics. I would much prefer to have taken my time and not mentioned the whole world to begin with. introduced other nations slowly.
The party would never give up their characters, not for a long time. most of them have hardly scratched the surface of their story arcs and some of them are developing as characters. itll be easier when we can go back to playing in person.
I have a germanic empire styled nation, a japanese/oriental, feudal land, a norse land and a russian landmass
What if it turns out that the reports of other nations were either flawed or wrong or outright lies. Then if/when the players go there, they can find a newer version you prefer.
Travel times can be changed: The merchant’s guild wanted everyone to think it was further away so they could jack up prices, or a previously unknown mountain pas is discovered that cuts weeks off the journey. Or an existing pass is struck by an avalanche, adding weeks to the journey. Ocean currents shift, prevailing winds change. An earthquake swallows a landmass whole, a volcano spits up a new one.
As for the geopolitics, everything they heard was actually just propaganda. Those other two countries aren’t actually at war, just the king here needed people to think that to help retain his hold on power. There’s no horde of invading goblins in the Eastern hills, it actually full of rich veins of iron ore and the blacksmiths want to keep the supply down, or the Duke doesn’t want his peasants armed.
Id reverse engineer it. Figure out the change you want to make, then come up with a reason it happened. And depending on your world, in D&D, it can be something like two gods have a fight, and the spillover reshapes the globe. It’s maybe a little cheesy, but it can certainly work, and give your players lots of adventure hooks as people try to figure out the new way things work.
I find it hard to imagine that this would be impossible to fix to the point of trashing it... but if you are that unhappy with it, well... you need to talk with your players and see what you can do (since they like their characters but you don't like your world, which for the DM is your character).
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Doesn't Matt Colville have something to say about this?
This is an super extreme solution, but you could try a Time Travel Fix®:
The introduction of another plane would only work if they Fey realms or other planes are being used. If you have anything related to Fey in your world, you could have the travel be on purpose with someone messing with the party. There is information in the DMG on time effects when travelling to other planes. This is on page 50 of the print book. Remember a Time Travel Fix® solves all plot problems no matter how bad they are. This post sponsored by the Disney+ (All right not really, but they did this in Endgame has to be good for you!)
Added in two steps and fixed a type.
Time travel forward is a very cool idea :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
He does in fact:
Ep 23
Ep 24
Ep 61
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I got the idea by misreading Xalthu "Travel times..." post as "Time Travel..." for a couple of seconds. I figured since we did not know specifics the geopolitical aspects could change any way they needed to over a long period of time. Since there were already a means in the setting for this, it was easy to use that.
I built a world based on Europe's dark ages complete with a crumbling empire (Like Rome). They had fun, but they missed the stereo typical medieval fantasy. I scrapped the political systems that were in place, re-defined the political system with a more feudal feel to it, and I am running it now. The only thing missing in mine are the cannons and guns. So far, they like it and are in agreement with the "no guns" rule.