I have a group of friends and we all meet up once a week to play. I would really like to DM a campaign. My only issue with this is I have zero faith in my writing skills as well as creativity. Every time I try to build a world for my story I lose faith and just trash the idea. Are there any veteran DMs that could have any tips on getting past having zero faith in yourself when it comes to world building and DMing? My biggest fear is people finding it boring.
Firstly, have you thought of DMing from pre-built material? You appear to be jumping straight from DMing to writing your own campaign, which is not necessary. In fact, it will probably help you in the process in a number of ways, by showing you how to build around a story to make a campaign, what things your players like/don't like, and generally building your confidence in the process. If you're losing faith, I'm guessing it's because you lack confidence that your ideas will stick. A pre-built campaign might help you to see that certain ideas might actually work, giving you confidence to try your own. Also, as many veteran DMs will attest, no plot survives contact with the players. Many have been the times when X will be prepared, when everything but X seems to transpire instead. As much as any of us would entirely love it if the story panned out exactly as we wanted, most of the time, it doesn't. Point being, story and world-building are not key to being a DM, so instead build up other DM skills first - table management, improvisation, etc. - , and then have a go trying to build a world.
Start small and don't waste time thinking about an entire world concept with cosmology, pantheons or a general theme. The most important thing when you DM is the adventures you have prepared for the players. They (the players) are mostly interested in their own characters and how they develop. I've had just one player during years and years of being a DM who said that "I demand highly detailed descriptions of the environment" and he was nearly laughed out of the room for being so pretentious.
Every time I start a campaign I begin by just writing down a few notes about a village, town or something similar and its surrounding areas. A thousand words, tops. Last time I decided that it would be a northern region with a cold climate, quite barbarous and dangerous. Then I drew a map of this small area with Inkarnate.
Then when you write the adventure, remember that all you need really is the antagonists/monsters and the friendly/neutral NPC plus something that is the goal of the adventure; something for the players to focus on. If you have what it takes to be a DM you will be able to improvise everything else on the spot -- even layouts, maps, etc. Nowadays my adventures only consist of stat blocks, mainly. Nothing else is written down.
I like that idea. I’ll get to just working on a small town with a few NPCs at first and just see where it goes from there. Thanks a lot for the advice.
Steal boldly from any story you've ever found interesting. If you're not publishing or selling it, it's fair game :) Plus, things will invariably sidetrack and you'll (collectively) make your own story anyway.
DMsven's advice hits the nail on the head, I think. The adventure is what matters most, not the lore of the world. That stuff can develop organically as you play the game.
For some added advice, below is an excerpt from a guide on how to play a game called Dungeon World--a sort of D&D spin-off TTRPG. Despite that it's for a different game, I always consider what this guide says about world building when I run my 5E Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. I adjusted some of the wording in the excerpt because it uses some game terminology that doesn't exist in 5E D&D (there's a link at the bottom if you wish to read the entire thing). Anyway, I hope that you find it helpful.
Worldbuilding: Ask Questions, Leave Blanks
...two of the main principles for Dungeon World are (1)Draw Maps, Leave Blanks and (2)Ask Questions and Use Answers. And we also know that we're not supposed to determine all the adventure's or campaign's outcomes in advance either (play to find out what happens, remember?). We define the [location/circumstances] the PCs start at, maybe draw one or two nearby points of interest, but leave the rest undefined until it comes up naturally in play. That doesn't mean, though, that you should never get your campaign map ready before the game.
Many GMs are more comfortable with setting everything up beforehand, laying out an entire world with cities, dungeons, ancient ruins, and other assorted fantasy bric-a-brac placed, defined and populated before the players have even started thinking about what kind of characters they want to play. That GMing style can work in Dungeon World too, but does require a bit of change: when you place a "point of interest", don't define it beyond the basics. Don't map it out, don't populate it with monsters. Instead, ask one to three interesting questions about it, and leave the answers blank.
What constitutes an "interesting question"? Well, for starters, it should be a leading question. Something that hints at a larger truth, something hidden, or a secret agenda. Ideally, you want questions that snowball into more questions, filling out the world as you go. Let's say you put a ruined temple in the middle of the forest. A simple question about it would be "what god is the temple dedicated to?", but that's not very leading. The answer doesn't naturally lead to more questions because it's very basic; the answer could be "Grix, god of storms" but that doesn't really spark any new questions. We want questions that can lead to more questions. So let's expand it. An easy way to expand our sample question is to specify something interesting about the temple and/or the god: "What forgotten god is the temple dedicated to?" is a good one; now not only can we eventually define the god, it leads naturally to other questions, like "Why was the god forgotten?"
In addition to leading questions, you also want a few open-ended ones that can easily be spun off into new adventures should the need arise; new threats, major battles, villains taking advantage of a bad situation for their own ends. Continuing with the temple example, let's say you have the idea that there are some ancient seals in the temple, and something will happen if they break or fade away; that's a pretty good adventure hook right there, right? Here's the thing, though: stop there. Don't plot out what will happen if/when the seals are broken. Play to find out what happens. So keep the idea, but just phrase it as a question. "What will happen when the seals in the temple are broken?" and stop. That's a question with a lot of potential; are the seals holding back something evil or something good? If it's not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when", what event will cause the seals to break? Now you've still got your plot hook, and now it's open-ended. And that open-endedness is what allows you to work it into the game easier than with something that's hard-coded in. Your players won’t be following your pre-written plot; they’ll be making their own.
It's better to have [events] that are triggered by the players, or at least things that they have a chance to stop. If you had decided early on that the seals will break five weeks after the campaign starts or when the two moons align, then it's possible that the event can happen when the PCs are in the middle of something else, or the PCs might never even find the temple or try to break the seals in the first place and you've wasted a lot of time and effort to map out a series of events that don’t interest your players at all. We'll talk more about this in a bit, but what you need to remember about situations where things go off the rails is this: let it happen, and adjust your [campaign] accordingly...
When you leave the questions open, not only can you tailor the answers to your players, you can also tailor them to the tone of the campaign, which may not be the tone you started with. The reason you ask questions and leave blanks in Dungeon World is so you can learn what the game world is like as you go along; that doesn't mean you can't at least have a rough idea of what will be found before you get there, just that you’re leaving the details open. So don’t pre-write a story line. Instead, fill your world with interesting questions for your players to answer as the game is played.
I find that reading is the best resource. I mentioned somewhere else, but I really found that Asian cultivation novels have really expanded my creativity and the minor concepts I've introduced from those have gone over well with my players. They can be a bit repetitive after a while, but there is a ton on unique and fun things to find in them. I read translated ones from the website "Novel Updates". Also check out fantasy novels like Chalice by Robin McKinley(unique magic and politics) , the Stormlight Archives(y Brandon Sanderson(unique magic and politics), The Glasswrights series by Mindy L Klasky( Highly unique political and religious world, intense schemes), Beka Cooper, Terrier by Tamora Peirce ( Unique magic and culture, fantastic schemes), or Airman, by Eoin Colfer ( Intense struggle, innovation, and scheming). You can also go to writing generator sites for random inspiration, and I would recommend doing occasional 15 minute writing sprint exercise to help creativity and improvisation. In short, I recommend a very similar process for improving creativity when writing. I find DMing is another branch of writing in my mind, and all the things I've used to help my writing have helped my plot construction for DMing as well. I have found that there are much more extensive resources for a writer than a DM at the moment, so make sure you don't ignore them! Try websites like the following, or look up ways to beat writer's block!
Also definitely start with the published stuff and tweak it to your liking. You don't have to follow it to closely just use what you like. Have you ever seen a movie and thought well that one part was stupid, I would have ________. well now's your chance. Start with the official campaigns and use the parts you want. Also mine The DMs guild for stuff. I'm constantly adding/stealing from other campaigns and stories to add cool elements and encounters. The DMs guild has a good search engine for finding specifics.
Don't forget theres no wrong way to do it and you never have to stick to your plan a 100%. Time after time some of the most memorable moments at a table are created by the party saying something random and or funny and me just rolling with it. Or for example I was running the Sunless Citadel campaign and there was a magic door in it that the party couldn't unlock and it didn't seem like they were going to figure out what they needed to do (according to the way it was written in the campaign) But the party's cleric came up with an idea that was way outside the box where she cut her hand and put her blood on the door and prayed to her god. I thought, wow you're really trying to come up with something cool that you think is going to work so I said that did it!
One thing I like to do when building a world is just superimpose the fantasy setting over the real world where you live. All areas, even different neighborhoods or even housing complexes have their own unique landmarks, personality, nearby resources, and even fantasy sounding names. For example near where I live there is Avondale, Fall City, Firwood, Kingsgate, and Fryelands. All you have to do is increase the scale, and lower the population. Parks become wilderness areas, and any river, or hills (now mountains) become boarders to kingdoms. And maps are easy, use Bing or google earth on satellite view, run it through an art filter and draw in your own roads and borders. This is also fun for players as they realize what you've been doing. You may mention an in-game area with a distinct layout of boulders where the PCs fight and epic battle, and then the next weekend you have them over for a BBQ at a local park and they realize that this is where their PCs had their epic battle. Fun for all. 😎
I've been running games for 40+ years and I *STILL* prefer using pre-built stuff. The existing worlds (Toril, Eberron, etc) are so rich in content and lore and so easy to run, I love playing in them, and making my own world is exhausting and time consuming. Pick an existing module and run it. Read through it first, sort of play it out in your head, and make notes to things you want to change. Your next module you'll have more ideas, and each time you run you'll build on it. Eventually you'll chafe at the limitations and make your own thing, but you'll do it having built experience in the existing worlds.
No need to jump into the deep end :)
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Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I have a slightly different problem in this same general area, I have an environment & several characters conceptualized, but I'm struggling with what is the conflict, what is it that will drive the story?
If you have the environment, there is something in that environment that beings might covet. The inhabitants of said environment can often be a resource when someone/something wants power or dominion. And then, in the case of the Great Old Ones, they might want chaos and destruction for the sake of chaos and destruction. Natural disasters can also be a reason for a call to action and environmental issues (volcano, earthquake, asteroid impact...) can be solved with a volatile magic device and someone stupid brave enough to handle it. You might look to the DMG - World Shaking Events for some Inspiration.
You might also look to your player group to find what they might find interesting to act against. After all, the intended audience will have to enjoy the conflict in order to engage in an attempt to stop it.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
If you have the environment, there is something in that environment that beings might covet. The inhabitants of said environment can often be a resource when someone/something wants power or dominion. And then, in the case of the Great Old Ones, they might want chaos and destruction for the sake of chaos and destruction. Natural disasters can also be a reason for a call to action and environmental issues (volcano, earthquake, asteroid impact...) can be solved with a volatile magic device and someone stupid brave enough to handle it. You might look to the DMG - World Shaking Events for some Inspiration. You might also look to your player group to find what they might find interesting to act against. After all, the intended audience will have to enjoy the conflict in order to engage in an attempt to stop it.
I have a group of friends and we all meet up once a week to play. I would really like to DM a campaign. My only issue with this is I have zero faith in my writing skills as well as creativity. Every time I try to build a world for my story I lose faith and just trash the idea. Are there any veteran DMs that could have any tips on getting past having zero faith in yourself when it comes to world building and DMing? My biggest fear is people finding it boring.
Don't create a world, simply create a village, put some people in it, come up with an adventure idea (goblins attacking is a typical one). Have your players create characters and let that give additional inspiration, where does the Elf come from, How is a Tiefling seen in the world. Don't worry about long back stories or history for those characters, tell your players only 3-4 bullet points for these first sessions. If you have a cleric determine what kind and then maybe pick a couple of deities to let them pick from to worship, dont worry about any other god in the world yet.
Then just start playing, the world will fill out as you go and, even if the campaign runs 4 years to level 20, it is ok if there are still huge areas of blank all over your world. That is how I world build now.
Whatever route you decide to go down, just do it. You may be surprised at how well you do. Or you won't. Rest assured that the NEXT time you GM you will be better. And the next time better yet. Being the GM is just like starting any new Job/Sport/Class. You will get better with practice. Some of us have been sitting behind the GM screen for decades. We look to improve too. The great thing about this hobby is there is no shortage of things to learn.
Read the rules. Know the rules.
The players will be looking for you for judgment on that happens in the game. If you know how things are supposed to work it will give you confidence. Confidence in what you know will give you the ability to be a little creative. You can build on that confidence and creativity.
And if you think you suck but your players are having fun. Then you don't suck.
I was in the same place as you, trying to create a whole story and world. But then I followed some advices out there to "start small" and "leave gaps". So I've created a small town and a few events, but I haven't put any meaning to them at first. Every game session I'm thinking about the story accordingly to the players actions and I'm giving meaning to everything and attaching each event to another. It's working pretty well so far.
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I have a group of friends and we all meet up once a week to play. I would really like to DM a campaign. My only issue with this is I have zero faith in my writing skills as well as creativity. Every time I try to build a world for my story I lose faith and just trash the idea. Are there any veteran DMs that could have any tips on getting past having zero faith in yourself when it comes to world building and DMing? My biggest fear is people finding it boring.
Firstly, have you thought of DMing from pre-built material? You appear to be jumping straight from DMing to writing your own campaign, which is not necessary. In fact, it will probably help you in the process in a number of ways, by showing you how to build around a story to make a campaign, what things your players like/don't like, and generally building your confidence in the process. If you're losing faith, I'm guessing it's because you lack confidence that your ideas will stick. A pre-built campaign might help you to see that certain ideas might actually work, giving you confidence to try your own. Also, as many veteran DMs will attest, no plot survives contact with the players. Many have been the times when X will be prepared, when everything but X seems to transpire instead. As much as any of us would entirely love it if the story panned out exactly as we wanted, most of the time, it doesn't. Point being, story and world-building are not key to being a DM, so instead build up other DM skills first - table management, improvisation, etc. - , and then have a go trying to build a world.
Start small and don't waste time thinking about an entire world concept with cosmology, pantheons or a general theme. The most important thing when you DM is the adventures you have prepared for the players. They (the players) are mostly interested in their own characters and how they develop. I've had just one player during years and years of being a DM who said that "I demand highly detailed descriptions of the environment" and he was nearly laughed out of the room for being so pretentious.
Every time I start a campaign I begin by just writing down a few notes about a village, town or something similar and its surrounding areas. A thousand words, tops. Last time I decided that it would be a northern region with a cold climate, quite barbarous and dangerous. Then I drew a map of this small area with Inkarnate.
Then when you write the adventure, remember that all you need really is the antagonists/monsters and the friendly/neutral NPC plus something that is the goal of the adventure; something for the players to focus on. If you have what it takes to be a DM you will be able to improvise everything else on the spot -- even layouts, maps, etc. Nowadays my adventures only consist of stat blocks, mainly. Nothing else is written down.
Thanks. This does seem to be very helpful advice. I’ll look further into pre built campaigns soon.
I like that idea. I’ll get to just working on a small town with a few NPCs at first and just see where it goes from there. Thanks a lot for the advice.
Steal boldly from any story you've ever found interesting. If you're not publishing or selling it, it's fair game :) Plus, things will invariably sidetrack and you'll (collectively) make your own story anyway.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
DMsven's advice hits the nail on the head, I think. The adventure is what matters most, not the lore of the world. That stuff can develop organically as you play the game.
For some added advice, below is an excerpt from a guide on how to play a game called Dungeon World--a sort of D&D spin-off TTRPG. Despite that it's for a different game, I always consider what this guide says about world building when I run my 5E Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. I adjusted some of the wording in the excerpt because it uses some game terminology that doesn't exist in 5E D&D (there's a link at the bottom if you wish to read the entire thing). Anyway, I hope that you find it helpful.
Worldbuilding: Ask Questions, Leave Blanks
...two of the main principles for Dungeon World are (1)Draw Maps, Leave Blanks and (2)Ask Questions and Use Answers. And we also know that we're not supposed to determine all the adventure's or campaign's outcomes in advance either (play to find out what happens, remember?). We define the [location/circumstances] the PCs start at, maybe draw one or two nearby points of interest, but leave the rest undefined until it comes up naturally in play. That doesn't mean, though, that you should never get your campaign map ready before the game.
Many GMs are more comfortable with setting everything up beforehand, laying out an entire world with cities, dungeons, ancient ruins, and other assorted fantasy bric-a-brac placed, defined and populated before the players have even started thinking about what kind of characters they want to play. That GMing style can work in Dungeon World too, but does require a bit of change: when you place a "point of interest", don't define it beyond the basics. Don't map it out, don't populate it with monsters. Instead, ask one to three interesting questions about it, and leave the answers blank.
What constitutes an "interesting question"? Well, for starters, it should be a leading question. Something that hints at a larger truth, something hidden, or a secret agenda. Ideally, you want questions that snowball into more questions, filling out the world as you go. Let's say you put a ruined temple in the middle of the forest. A simple question about it would be "what god is the temple dedicated to?", but that's not very leading. The answer doesn't naturally lead to more questions because it's very basic; the answer could be "Grix, god of storms" but that doesn't really spark any new questions. We want questions that can lead to more questions. So let's expand it. An easy way to expand our sample question is to specify something interesting about the temple and/or the god: "What forgotten god is the temple dedicated to?" is a good one; now not only can we eventually define the god, it leads naturally to other questions, like "Why was the god forgotten?"
In addition to leading questions, you also want a few open-ended ones that can easily be spun off into new adventures should the need arise; new threats, major battles, villains taking advantage of a bad situation for their own ends. Continuing with the temple example, let's say you have the idea that there are some ancient seals in the temple, and something will happen if they break or fade away; that's a pretty good adventure hook right there, right? Here's the thing, though: stop there. Don't plot out what will happen if/when the seals are broken. Play to find out what happens.
So keep the idea, but just phrase it as a question. "What will happen when the seals in the temple are broken?" and stop. That's a question with a lot of potential; are the seals holding back something evil or something good? If it's not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when", what event will cause the seals to break? Now you've still got your plot hook, and now it's open-ended. And that open-endedness is what allows you to work it into the game easier than with something that's hard-coded in. Your players won’t be following your pre-written plot; they’ll be making their own.
It's better to have [events] that are triggered by the players, or at least things that they have a chance to stop. If you had decided early on that the seals will break five weeks after the campaign starts or when the two moons align, then it's possible that the event can happen when the PCs are in the middle of something else, or the PCs might never even find the temple or try to break the seals in the first place and you've wasted a lot of time and effort to map out a series of events that don’t interest your players at all. We'll talk more about this in a bit, but what you need to remember about situations where things go off the rails is this: let it happen, and adjust your [campaign] accordingly...
When you leave the questions open, not only can you tailor the answers to your players, you can also tailor them to the tone of the campaign, which may not be the tone you started with. The reason you ask questions and leave blanks in Dungeon World is so you can learn what the game world is like as you go along; that doesn't mean you can't at least have a rough idea of what will be found before you get there, just that you’re leaving the details open. So don’t pre-write a story line. Instead, fill your world with interesting questions for your players to answer as the game is played.
From: Dungeon World Guide, p. 34-35.
This is the Video that convinced me I could be a DM. I enjoy it very much.
https://youtu.be/zTD2RZz6mlo
Hi. I am quite new to D&D but I have done world building with computer games, especially on Starcraft2.
I think "Start small" is one of the best advices for any new world builder.
Wikipedia has good descriptions for quest types: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_(gaming)
For inspiration and basic quest ideas you can check my current project: http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/By3s5Uqqf
My current projects, One click download PDFs:
- Clam Island campaign questbook: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/By3s5Uqqf (Levels 1-4)
- Frostglade Tundra campaign questbook: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SyZ_4eEyKE (Levels 1-4)
- Goldfish Archipelago campaign questbook: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/-3HajWXM (Sequel to Clam Island, Levels 5-8)
Colville is the best place to send anyone that is new.
I find that reading is the best resource. I mentioned somewhere else, but I really found that Asian cultivation novels have really expanded my creativity and the minor concepts I've introduced from those have gone over well with my players. They can be a bit repetitive after a while, but there is a ton on unique and fun things to find in them. I read translated ones from the website "Novel Updates". Also check out fantasy novels like Chalice by Robin McKinley(unique magic and politics) , the Stormlight Archives(y Brandon Sanderson(unique magic and politics), The Glasswrights series by Mindy L Klasky( Highly unique political and religious world, intense schemes), Beka Cooper, Terrier by Tamora Peirce ( Unique magic and culture, fantastic schemes), or Airman, by Eoin Colfer ( Intense struggle, innovation, and scheming). You can also go to writing generator sites for random inspiration, and I would recommend doing occasional 15 minute writing sprint exercise to help creativity and improvisation. In short, I recommend a very similar process for improving creativity when writing. I find DMing is another branch of writing in my mind, and all the things I've used to help my writing have helped my plot construction for DMing as well. I have found that there are much more extensive resources for a writer than a DM at the moment, so make sure you don't ignore them! Try websites like the following, or look up ways to beat writer's block!
https://www.seventhsanctum.com/index.php
http://writingexercises.co.uk/plotgenerator.php
Hope this helps!
-thechimericalcookie
Yep I second this video series. Matt is great!
Also definitely start with the published stuff and tweak it to your liking. You don't have to follow it to closely just use what you like. Have you ever seen a movie and thought well that one part was stupid, I would have ________. well now's your chance. Start with the official campaigns and use the parts you want. Also mine The DMs guild for stuff. I'm constantly adding/stealing from other campaigns and stories to add cool elements and encounters. The DMs guild has a good search engine for finding specifics.
Don't forget theres no wrong way to do it and you never have to stick to your plan a 100%. Time after time some of the most memorable moments at a table are created by the party saying something random and or funny and me just rolling with it. Or for example I was running the Sunless Citadel campaign and there was a magic door in it that the party couldn't unlock and it didn't seem like they were going to figure out what they needed to do (according to the way it was written in the campaign) But the party's cleric came up with an idea that was way outside the box where she cut her hand and put her blood on the door and prayed to her god. I thought, wow you're really trying to come up with something cool that you think is going to work so I said that did it!
Just jump in and have fun.
MM
One thing I like to do when building a world is just superimpose the fantasy setting over the real world where you live. All areas, even different neighborhoods or even housing complexes have their own unique landmarks, personality, nearby resources, and even fantasy sounding names. For example near where I live there is Avondale, Fall City, Firwood, Kingsgate, and Fryelands. All you have to do is increase the scale, and lower the population. Parks become wilderness areas, and any river, or hills (now mountains) become boarders to kingdoms. And maps are easy, use Bing or google earth on satellite view, run it through an art filter and draw in your own roads and borders. This is also fun for players as they realize what you've been doing. You may mention an in-game area with a distinct layout of boulders where the PCs fight and epic battle, and then the next weekend you have them over for a BBQ at a local park and they realize that this is where their PCs had their epic battle. Fun for all. 😎
I've been running games for 40+ years and I *STILL* prefer using pre-built stuff. The existing worlds (Toril, Eberron, etc) are so rich in content and lore and so easy to run, I love playing in them, and making my own world is exhausting and time consuming. Pick an existing module and run it. Read through it first, sort of play it out in your head, and make notes to things you want to change. Your next module you'll have more ideas, and each time you run you'll build on it. Eventually you'll chafe at the limitations and make your own thing, but you'll do it having built experience in the existing worlds.
No need to jump into the deep end :)
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I have a slightly different problem in this same general area, I have an environment & several characters conceptualized, but I'm struggling with what is the conflict, what is it that will drive the story?
"Blessed Be" - P.M.H.
If you have the environment, there is something in that environment that beings might covet. The inhabitants of said environment can often be a resource when someone/something wants power or dominion. And then, in the case of the Great Old Ones, they might want chaos and destruction for the sake of chaos and destruction. Natural disasters can also be a reason for a call to action and environmental issues (volcano, earthquake, asteroid impact...) can be solved with a volatile magic device and someone
stupidbrave enough to handle it. You might look to the DMG - World Shaking Events for some Inspiration.You might also look to your player group to find what they might find interesting to act against. After all, the intended audience will have to enjoy the conflict in order to engage in an attempt to stop it.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Looking into it now, thx 😁
"Blessed Be" - P.M.H.
Don't create a world, simply create a village, put some people in it, come up with an adventure idea (goblins attacking is a typical one). Have your players create characters and let that give additional inspiration, where does the Elf come from, How is a Tiefling seen in the world. Don't worry about long back stories or history for those characters, tell your players only 3-4 bullet points for these first sessions. If you have a cleric determine what kind and then maybe pick a couple of deities to let them pick from to worship, dont worry about any other god in the world yet.
Then just start playing, the world will fill out as you go and, even if the campaign runs 4 years to level 20, it is ok if there are still huge areas of blank all over your world. That is how I world build now.
I second Scarlok_Stormcall.
Just start.
Whatever route you decide to go down, just do it. You may be surprised at how well you do. Or you won't. Rest assured that the NEXT time you GM you will be better. And the next time better yet. Being the GM is just like starting any new Job/Sport/Class. You will get better with practice. Some of us have been sitting behind the GM screen for decades. We look to improve too. The great thing about this hobby is there is no shortage of things to learn.
Read the rules. Know the rules.
The players will be looking for you for judgment on that happens in the game. If you know how things are supposed to work it will give you confidence. Confidence in what you know will give you the ability to be a little creative. You can build on that confidence and creativity.
And if you think you suck but your players are having fun. Then you don't suck.
Have fun. It's a game after all.
I was in the same place as you, trying to create a whole story and world. But then I followed some advices out there to "start small" and "leave gaps". So I've created a small town and a few events, but I haven't put any meaning to them at first. Every game session I'm thinking about the story accordingly to the players actions and I'm giving meaning to everything and attaching each event to another. It's working pretty well so far.