Hello everybody. Right now, I am working on a D&D campaign. Here is my big question. How should I proceed with worldbuilding? I have the general backstory prepared and a few kingdoms planned out, but overall I am not certain where I should go next.
Man, I would read the DMG if you have it. Specifically the first section, about worldbuilding. If not, start with the village/place where the adventure takes place. Then do 5 miles around, then 15, then 25 then 50. I might skip on 15. But you can develop the area.
I prefer to make the world first, and then make some bare bone stuff, lore etc that is NEEDED, not WANTED. Then do the thing I said earlier. I would then look at the worldbuilding series James haeck did, it's very useful as a DM.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
If you need help with the adventure and some worldbuilding, here's my blog. It hasn't been updated in a while, as I've been doing my own campaign, and some writing. But I know I've got some new ideas that will be online soon. Please comment and give me some ideas!
Hope this helps.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I did it with my players in a session zero, came in with a blank sheet of paper and a handful of questions to ask them and just went from there.
honestly it was one of my favourite sessions to run. Working out how things might fit in the world.
then once I had some blue prints rather than just say “this works x way” I thought about how we communicate the lore of the world we actually live in, it’s with news report and biographies and documents often in hindsight so I set about creating documents talking about the world. Will post a couple below as examples
The gods once walked among us, we know this to be true. However even a god was not immune to the corruption in the hearts of mortals. As they shared their gifts of knowledge, power, technology and art we shared back our faults, our sins. Avarice, jealousy, hate - the gods would take on all our failings and be forever changed. This change lead to war.
While the wars of mortals can shape a land, so the wars of gods shaped the world. We were once one continent, but a weapon that can be welded against a god is offered little resistance by soil and rock. So the islands of the world came to be. As the gods fell to each other in bloody combat, their bodies became dormant and the mountains were formed, the blood spilled became the rivers of lava beneath them. As other gods wept at the chaos they saw, their tears filled the oceans around us, forever binding that sadness and chaos to the tides themselves. As these oceans separated the already broken land, Mirea, Entundria, Camordia and Tashynk were born that day, the great 4 continents of Urathil.
No war can last forever, even a war of gods. As they elevated themselves for battle so they removed themselves from the lives of mortals. No longer surrounded by our corruption they would heal our darkness as an infant might a fever. They looked upon the consequences of their actions, shamed at the destruction of the land, hurt at the bloodshed of their kin.
And so the gods stepped back from our world, no longer able to lead from within it, they would help guide from beyond it. Help shape the mortal realm for the better, and when we outgrow our sins and corruptions then once more will the gods walk amongst us.
Long may they walk again. - The Book of Ungren the Pious - The Tome of Ioun
The history books would have you believe that the Erudin Ascendency came to power with few ripples, but like any great change in the history of Utheril it was earned through war. This was not a war of magic it was a war of machines. The Warforged became the clenched fist of the Erudin, their ascendant army.
However the warforged were not built for a time of peace, and without a need to fight they began to evolve beyond that fist. When the ascendency learnt of this a meeting of the 11 houses of Mirea was called. They were afraid of the warforged, afraid of what they could become when left unchecked, afraid of the magic they harnessed being beyond the control of the Ascendency. Where people can be kept in check with fear how do you keep in check something that cannot feel afraid.
So it was decided that the task would fall to House Tarlick, who had long since perfected their dominance over the Raven Queens domain. Tarlick a house of ancient power took to the task with ease and the Erasure of the Warforged was quick and effortless. Hundreds of thousands were wiped out within day’s. The council having seen the potential for uprising in one powerful tool of the ascendency were quick to see another, coupled with the shame and guilt of the Erasure itself. So Tarlicks reward for fulfilling the task with ruthless efficiency was their own eradication. From the ascendency, from history and from the map of Mirea itself.
Forgotten to the centuries along with the genocide they carried out. The transgressors of the first sin of the Erudin Ascendency and the victims of its second, although sadly not its last.
- The Confession of Lord Obin Ester, 1st order High Magus of House Ester.
The Ascendency cannot claim the invention, but do take the credit for the popularity, of the noble pursuit of the Danse Marage. Dueling goes back further than we have books or art to tell us but it was the noble houses need to settle its disputes that berthed this art form so interwoven into our great empires history.
A conclave of houses with individual goals and disputes at the centre of government with no one house raised higher than the other is a, pardon the pun, noble idea. However lacking a single voice to mediate and make a final decision can leave a lot to be desired. There is no official record of who suggested it but dueling quickly became this final reckoning, with the use of magic within the duels strictly forbidden.
It was Barrington Maya who first found the loophole that you could duel by proxy, and soon it was almost unheard of for a noble to not have between 4-12 personal duellists within their house. And so as culture often does the sport of the nobles trickled down to the ordinary folk of Mirea and it became the institution it is today. And while the traditions have changed and evolved with the times, the rules of the sport remain largely unchanged from the first noble duel (which as it happens was to settle an argument about the path of the J’eridian Aquaduct).
One Hand, One Blade, First Blood, No Magic.
Elegant rules for the Ascendency’s most elegant past time. Any blade that can be wielded one handed is legal, and the match ends as soon as first blood is drawn. I have seen brutality elevated to poetry in fighting pits and dueling grounds across Mirea, I have seen skill beat savagery and tasted both victory and defeat.
The Danse Marage made me who I am, it is more than combat, it is more than sport, it is a way of life. May we never see each-other across the dueling ground.
Sashelas was a young god when the Empyrean War waged on the battleground of Urathil, but a proud god who took up arms to fight. On the day of the celestial exodus, when the gods left us, they tried to leave, but fell. They landed in the chaotic tides of the newly formed seas, they sank and fell far below the surface in the unending waters. Neither dead nor living they sank, their wounds closed and healed by the chaotic tides. They pondered their fate as they drifted ever deeper, lost in an empty void of darkness and water. They would be the last the suffer this fate.
Sashelas stopped fighting the chaotic nature of the oceans and allowed themselves to be taken by them. The waters consumed the god and spread his body across the sea’s where in death it became the beds of the oceans themselves. But they were not truly dead, and their life energy birthed new creatures in the sea, serpents, elves and more uncharted.
Urathil was not done with Sashelas though, their being became something new, something different. Where previously there had been the domain of life and a domain of death, there was now Sashelas domain, known as The Deep. A chaotic sea you must travel if you wish to claim Deaths reward, while Sashelas captains a ship across these waters personally to ferry those souls across, not all are patient enough to await the gods return from Deaths shores. They attempt to cross themselves, and while few have made the journey, most do not and are lost to the Deep, returned to the domain of life, neither dead nor alive.
It is a time of celebration. The Quincentennial festivities have begun and throughout Mirea we are united in our reverence for the 500 years of peace prosperity and protection the Ascendency has provided us all.
Throughout the year ceremonies and events will be happening all across the ascendency to mark the occasion. Culminating in our capital Eridea with the Duskbreaker Solstice Festival and Ascendant Blade duelling tournament. We hope many from all parts of Mirea will join us in Eridea for these and many more events.
Long may they walk with us again.
The High Chamber of the Erudin Ascendency
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Hello everybody. Right now, I am working on a D&D campaign. Here is my big question. How should I proceed with worldbuilding? I have the general backstory prepared and a few kingdoms planned out, but overall I am not certain where I should go next.
This looks like it will be very useful. Thanks!
Man, I would read the DMG if you have it. Specifically the first section, about worldbuilding. If not, start with the village/place where the adventure takes place. Then do 5 miles around, then 15, then 25 then 50. I might skip on 15. But you can develop the area.
I prefer to make the world first, and then make some bare bone stuff, lore etc that is NEEDED, not WANTED. Then do the thing I said earlier. I would then look at the worldbuilding series James haeck did, it's very useful as a DM.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
https://wildemountwanderer.wixsite.com/wildemount
If you need help with the adventure and some worldbuilding, here's my blog. It hasn't been updated in a while, as I've been doing my own campaign, and some writing. But I know I've got some new ideas that will be online soon. Please comment and give me some ideas!
Hope this helps.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
I did it with my players in a session zero, came in with a blank sheet of paper and a handful of questions to ask them and just went from there.
honestly it was one of my favourite sessions to run. Working out how things might fit in the world.
then once I had some blue prints rather than just say “this works x way” I thought about how we communicate the lore of the world we actually live in, it’s with news report and biographies and documents often in hindsight so I set about creating documents talking about the world. Will post a couple below as examples
Urathil
The gods once walked among us, we know this to be true. However even a god was not immune to the corruption in the hearts of mortals. As they shared their gifts of knowledge, power, technology and art we shared back our faults, our sins. Avarice, jealousy, hate - the gods would take on all our failings and be forever changed. This change lead to war.
While the wars of mortals can shape a land, so the wars of gods shaped the world. We were once one continent, but a weapon that can be welded against a god is offered little resistance by soil and rock. So the islands of the world came to be. As the gods fell to each other in bloody combat, their bodies became dormant and the mountains were formed, the blood spilled became the rivers of lava beneath them. As other gods wept at the chaos they saw, their tears filled the oceans around us, forever binding that sadness and chaos to the tides themselves. As these oceans separated the already broken land, Mirea, Entundria, Camordia and Tashynk were born that day, the great 4 continents of Urathil.
No war can last forever, even a war of gods. As they elevated themselves for battle so they removed themselves from the lives of mortals. No longer surrounded by our corruption they would heal our darkness as an infant might a fever. They looked upon the consequences of their actions, shamed at the destruction of the land, hurt at the bloodshed of their kin.
And so the gods stepped back from our world, no longer able to lead from within it, they would help guide from beyond it. Help shape the mortal realm for the better, and when we outgrow our sins and corruptions then once more will the gods walk amongst us.
Long may they walk again.
- The Book of Ungren the Pious - The Tome of Ioun
Ascendant Sin
The history books would have you believe that the Erudin Ascendency came to power with few ripples, but like any great change in the history of Utheril it was earned through war. This was not a war of magic it was a war of machines. The Warforged became the clenched fist of the Erudin, their ascendant army.
However the warforged were not built for a time of peace, and without a need to fight they began to evolve beyond that fist. When the ascendency learnt of this a meeting of the 11 houses of Mirea was called. They were afraid of the warforged, afraid of what they could become when left unchecked, afraid of the magic they harnessed being beyond the control of the Ascendency. Where people can be kept in check with fear how do you keep in check something that cannot feel afraid.
So it was decided that the task would fall to House Tarlick, who had long since perfected their dominance over the Raven Queens domain. Tarlick a house of ancient power took to the task with ease and the Erasure of the Warforged was quick and effortless. Hundreds of thousands were wiped out within day’s. The council having seen the potential for uprising in one powerful tool of the ascendency were quick to see another, coupled with the shame and guilt of the Erasure itself. So Tarlicks reward for fulfilling the task with ruthless efficiency was their own eradication. From the ascendency, from history and from the map of Mirea itself.
Forgotten to the centuries along with the genocide they carried out. The transgressors of the first sin of the Erudin Ascendency and the victims of its second, although sadly not its last.
- The Confession of Lord Obin Ester, 1st order High Magus of House Ester.
The Danse Marage
The Ascendency cannot claim the invention, but do take the credit for the popularity, of the noble pursuit of the Danse Marage. Dueling goes back further than we have books or art to tell us but it was the noble houses need to settle its disputes that berthed this art form so interwoven into our great empires history.
A conclave of houses with individual goals and disputes at the centre of government with no one house raised higher than the other is a, pardon the pun, noble idea. However lacking a single voice to mediate and make a final decision can leave a lot to be desired. There is no official record of who suggested it but dueling quickly became this final reckoning, with the use of magic within the duels strictly forbidden.
It was Barrington Maya who first found the loophole that you could duel by proxy, and soon it was almost unheard of for a noble to not have between 4-12 personal duellists within their house. And so as culture often does the sport of the nobles trickled down to the ordinary folk of Mirea and it became the institution it is today. And while the traditions have changed and evolved with the times, the rules of the sport remain largely unchanged from the first noble duel (which as it happens was to settle an argument about the path of the J’eridian Aquaduct).
One Hand, One Blade, First Blood, No Magic.
Elegant rules for the Ascendency’s most elegant past time. Any blade that can be wielded one handed is legal, and the match ends as soon as first blood is drawn. I have seen brutality elevated to poetry in fighting pits and dueling grounds across Mirea, I have seen skill beat savagery and tasted both victory and defeat.
The Danse Marage made me who I am, it is more than combat, it is more than sport, it is a way of life. May we never see each-other across the dueling ground.
- Treznor - 3 Time Ascendant Blade winner
The First Fallen
Sashelas was a young god when the Empyrean War waged on the battleground of Urathil, but a proud god who took up arms to fight. On the day of the celestial exodus, when the gods left us, they tried to leave, but fell. They landed in the chaotic tides of the newly formed seas, they sank and fell far below the surface in the unending waters. Neither dead nor living they sank, their wounds closed and healed by the chaotic tides. They pondered their fate as they drifted ever deeper, lost in an empty void of darkness and water. They would be the last the suffer this fate.
Sashelas stopped fighting the chaotic nature of the oceans and allowed themselves to be taken by them. The waters consumed the god and spread his body across the sea’s where in death it became the beds of the oceans themselves. But they were not truly dead, and their life energy birthed new creatures in the sea, serpents, elves and more uncharted.
Urathil was not done with Sashelas though, their being became something new, something different. Where previously there had been the domain of life and a domain of death, there was now Sashelas domain, known as The Deep. A chaotic sea you must travel if you wish to claim Deaths reward, while Sashelas captains a ship across these waters personally to ferry those souls across, not all are patient enough to await the gods return from Deaths shores. They attempt to cross themselves, and while few have made the journey, most do not and are lost to the Deep, returned to the domain of life, neither dead nor alive.
The Book of Ungren the Pious - The Tome of Ioun
Dearest citizen of the Erudin Ascendency,
It is a time of celebration. The Quincentennial festivities have begun and throughout Mirea we are united in our reverence for the 500 years of peace prosperity and protection the Ascendency has provided us all.
Throughout the year ceremonies and events will be happening all across the ascendency to mark the occasion. Culminating in our capital Eridea with the Duskbreaker Solstice Festival and Ascendant Blade duelling tournament. We hope many from all parts of Mirea will join us in Eridea for these and many more events.
Long may they walk with us again.
The High Chamber of the Erudin Ascendency