Genesis Handbook 101

This post, we're going to take a step back and venture into a different kind of gaming: pen and paper RPGs.

Having moderate experience both running and participating in campaigns, as well as some token experience in writing short stories, I came up with a set of rules I follow almost religiously when coming up with a setting. I'm not saying that following these rules is going to turn you into the next Tolkien or Martin, and these are not in any way going to turn every campaign amazing by themselves. But it can be a pretty damn good start, if you ask me.

Keep in mind, these guidelines are written with a fantasy setting in mind, but can just as easily be employed for other settings. Also, if you're a budding game designer, these can also be of some use. Cough, cough.

1. The most important choice you'll make about this.

No, it's not "Is it going to be classic or horror or high or low fantasy" or anything like that, mainly because I personally detest compartmentalization of that type. It's a simple question: Is it a world in which a story takes place, or is it a story that has a rich world to support it? If you want examples, it's the difference between Skyrim and Dragon Age. Is your intention to drop your players into a world for them to explore and hopefully one of your story hooks leads to an adventure? Or to, roughly speaking, railroad them through an experience that employs drama, twists and turns and every trick in the book for that involving and cinematic feel? 

My own personal opinion, is that the best solution, as always, is somewhere in the middle. A detailed world that can be explored to your players hearts' content, but also has an involving story and interesting characters. The choice between pursuing the main story/quest and exploring should always be a tough one.

2. - Essay time

No matter what your answer to the first bit is, you need to sit your ass down and answer these 35 questions before coming up with your story. These questions may seem trivial, pedantic or downright too much work, but coming up with answers will flesh out the world better than you can imagine, provided you stay consistent in answering or justify your answers in an interesting and/or adequate way. You can answer them in any order, so long as you answer them all and remain consistent to the emerging concept in answering them.

1) Is there magic in your world?
2) How rare or commonplace is it?
3) Is there bias for or against it?
4) How many kinds of magic exist in your world (ie, arcane, divine etc)
5) Where does magic come from?
6) How easy or difficult it is to control or master, and why?
7) Are there any major or minor organizations concerning magic?
8) Are there notable universal or local laws about it?
9) Does everyone accept those laws?
10) How long has magic existed?
11) Are the artifacts of power in the world? Where did they come from? (HINT: Even if the answer is "no one knows", you should come up with an idea, even if the players never get a whiff of it, as it helps maintain consistency). Give examples.
12) How old is your world?
13) How was it created?
14) How do its peoples believe it was created?
15) What's religion like in the world?
16) Is there a god/gods? Name and details.
17) Is the divine (god or gods) active or passive observers?
18) Are there notable events concerning religion in your world's history?
19) How do people worship?
20) If you have polytheism in your world, what are the relationships between the gods, and how do they reflect on their followers? 
21) Are there temples or shrines of note in your world?
22) Which is the most widespread religion and why?
23) What's your world's geography and climate like, and how has it affected its peoples?
24) How many distinct nations/kingdoms/regions/cities exist? Give details.
25)  Are there notable organizations that operate on a local (ie, guilds, gangs etc) level? Give details.
26)  What's the political system and history of these communities?
27) What's their take on crime and general legislation? Explain.
28) What are the races of your setting?
29) Do they differ from their stereotypes? How?
30) What is their populace like? (This includes monster races, for example dragons)
31) Give habitat, religion and cultural details for those races.
32) Legends of your world?
33) Which ones are true, partly true or false?
34) What's your world's history? This includes major events such as wars, the rise and fall of nations, empires et al. You do not have to provide a detailed millenia-spanning history, but a rough yet moderately detailed outline is mandatory.
35) Is history common knowledge, hard to access lore or plain forgotten?

3. The story

After the second stage, you may be tempted to make a story that showcases all the nooks and crannies of your world. DON'T. The world is there to be explored at your players' discretion, not to be force fed to them, and the point of the last stage was to prepare you for the unexpected, not for you to show off.

Now, this step is the bread and butter of your campaign. No matter how interesting your world is, if the story, stories or characters aren't good enough then it will most likely flop before you get to show your hard work off. Try to come up with interesting hooks. Discuss they players' characters prior to starting; this will give you invaluable insight on how to involve their characters on a personal level, offering them unique stakes. A deeply personal story could easily turn into an epic campaign if the switch is masterful and gradual. Do try to involve twists and turns, although you need to be careful not to overdo it. At this point, fill in the gaps in your world with what will suit the story at hand. Play on your players perceptions, and do try to include at least one moment for everyone to shine. Do not allow one of the players, even if he or she eventually becomes the "leader" of the group, to call all the shots. Try to include personal threads in the story even at latter stages, and make sure that things happen to everyone in the group regardless of their importance to the main plot. Make sure you use the same level of detail for your NPCs as you did for your world. 


Follow these steps, and you're off to a good start! Good luck!

Korn out.