The name of something isn't really that important, it's just a handle on which you can hang their details in your imagination. "Arynn the Innkeep" doesn't really tell you anything, but it's a start! And I think when you come up with their name, you instantly begin imagining them in your mind. You may never write down everything you know about them, but seeing their name written down will jog your memory. And, of course, you can write out all the details in your epic, 500-page campaign document! This is only meant to be the beginning!
I m thinking of dropping a bunch of these with a pf2book on my secundary ( a sort of prep of 5 years between primary and college). My question...will you make some for bigger things like nations? Or continents? Or maybe only video of thoes
An excellent video for digging into this category: Web DM's video on Deep Time. Fascinating imagination-jogger for thinking about what happened long before the collected cultural memories of your entire world.
There are mysteries about my world that even I don't know. I have a forest called the Azurewood. All the plants have a blue tinge on them. Plants taken out of it lose the tinge though and any taken in gain it, but they have no magical aura around them. No idea why it happens.
There are plenty of resources. If you'd like, I can share a list of resources from a site called The Cartographer's Guild that I still use to walk myself through making a map , and I can recommend Artifexian here on youtube for worldbuilding if you don't mind a resource who gets into some of the noodley bits.
As someone who has several "wall sized maps" of places... It's a process. It starts with the questions. You fill in some place-holder names for things like towns, mountains/ranges, valleys and hollows, deserts or swamps as necessary/useful/applicable... add some village or town, and work out just enough to run a one-shot or so... As you explore the "spacial sense" of the place, you can do your visual layouts, what is exactly east and west or north or south of whatever else... Whether exactly in-game, with Players running their PC's around to ask questions you hadn't thought of answering yet, or "pre-game" in your planning, you'll flesh out the inner intricate details of each place, from the town wherever you start the game(s) to the surrounding regions, kingdoms and fiefdoms, whole empires if that's your thing. As you build your visual maps, you just need to keep track of the key, all that iconography that makes the forest symbols for woods and forests or jungles, and how you differentiate (quick is preferable usually) between them, and what exactly constitutes a certain mountain being named, rather than a whole range of them... AND as you sketch out little bits and pieces to your smaller "one-shot" adventure maps and places... When and as applicable, you can make the notes on the wall-sized hanger... where exactly in the world your group is adventuring "this time"... Between adventures tends to be (in my experience anyway) the best timing for repeated sessions of scratching out cities and guides into the "grand scheme" or wall sized map. It's worth pointing out that starting out, it's going to seem really really empty, should you just build and hang this wall-sized monstrosity right out of the gate... It's okay to do it that way (obviously) as there's really no particular "right" or "wrong" way to approach it. You may also decide to just figure out about where and how big you think you want the thing, first... and while you're deciding on precise materials and media to use for it, you can scratch out some of the smaller scaled references, compiling together the "to-do" or "to be added" list of stuff for when you DO have a wall-hanger actually together... just so it looks like an ongoing thing, instead of "kinda sparse" or "pretty empty"... BUT if you do start with it sparse or empty, try to relax. It's okay to have all that space, the potential. It gets trying sometimes to fill it in, knowing you're closing figurative doors on some things, and turning potential into "what simply is" as it is. It's a process... cyclic, scaled... repeated. AND one day, not as distant as you might think right now, you, too, will have that wall-sized map of a competent interesting world... YOUR world. ;o)
I had a "map on the wall" sized campaign a couple of decades ago that started as a single sheet of ten-to-an-inch graph paper with a town on the coast, some mountains, some woods and a river. My recent campaign is on a world build in Fractal Terrain and ported over to Profantasy's Campaign Cartographer. And I started filling in that one with a city on a the coast with a river, some mountains, and some forests.
I literally teared up when you said "In 3 years, someone might see a map of your world and get stars in their eyes". That was such a powerful quote man, straight up bardic inspiration at the very least
I was just chatting with a coworker who mentioned an interest in starting to DM, told him to get the straight dope from Uncle Matt. The timing on this specific video could not have been more perfect.
A short video, but a video should only be as long as it needs to be and keeping this short and punchy and useful will help make it popular and widely watched.
I've watched your videos for two years and I just want to express my deepest gratitude to you. Your videos have been more than helpful to pull me out of my comfort zone and to actually run DnD. I couldn't find your email so I believe this is my best shot. Take this from an amateur and humble guy who tries his hardest to be a dm. From the bottom of my heart, "THANK YOU". Now I enjoy DnD with a few people who love the experience. Like you said.... Nobody would know that it would be your first time DMing... And everyone on the table would enjoy the experience if you just be open. Again... my deepest gratitude.
You got me started as a DM when you were still trying to get to 5000 subs. It has been one hell of a ride. So from my group and me. Thank you. You are truly a river to your people.
The ones I've picked up on: 1. Why do humans have so many gods while elves and dwarves have just one? 2. Why can humans sense the presence of magical items and undead?
The donjon site sent me here. My Random Campaign tells me very few people know that cats can teleport over short distances. This is solid knowledge and more people should know.
I love that Matt made a reference to The Chain stream by saying "Why do humans have so many gods?". In the stream Nails asks that question of his fellow chain members and poses the possibility "Do you think Ajax knows?". Love it.
most likely in Matt's world it is different but in vanilla D&D there are multiple theories: There is a theory that humans were created by the spirit of the planet as a natural occurrence or from a dead god energy, similarly to elves that were created by accident from Corellon blood. Some speculate that humans were created by prime gods as the first angels in their image. Because the angels of the new gods in their pure form look very similar to humans and Aasimar are almost exclusively born to human parents, although there are rare exceptions. Humanity, unlike most other races, did not emerge as a whole but rather in several places at once, thereby resulting in its diversity.
@@justininexile3445 What if the dwarves and elves worship their gods because they were created by them. Then the humans have so many gods because their belief creates new gods.
While pressure washing my driveway today I listened this video and thought, "ya know, I should retrieve some of that ancient(43 yr old) knowledge and create the world I started when I was 15. Matt, I believe you inspired me today. I may just "gate" my players clean out of Forgotten Realms and drop em smack dab into "Khor". I can still remember the continent I drew with the long mtn range dividing it. The rivers that flowed from those mtns down to the western & eastern seas. The forests that dotted both sides of the divided continent. And the ancient ruined shrines to long-forgotten gods. Yes, there will be a reawakening of those gods.. Khor will become a world .... again..
This is likely the most useful advice I think Matt has given. As a DM of 6yrs, this is so helpful since I'm retiring my old world and creating a new one. 11/10 would recommend.
@@keeneyedcommander That sounds so cool! I still haven't been able to find a group that is as passionate and into d&d as I am. Every game I've either ran or been in has been an unexpected and unfortunate one shot lol
It all starts with a village. Pretty soon you'll be spending your afternoon establishing the complex lore of the bardic colleges being literal colleges that have intricate relationships with the kingdoms they reside in. Then you'll take a short break because Matt uploaded a new video.
This is great "Ur-Colville" content, aimed at new DMs but still very useful for old ones. And adding a little bit of homework to get our creative juices flowing was inspired. You've still got it, Matt!
Well it's been 3 years since this video and I thank you. I was overwhelmed trying to start making a world. Your pdf is exactly what I needed to kick my world into gear.
I had the opposite problem, I already had a lot written down but didn't know where to start the players. PDF is massively useful. Three cheers for the MCDM!!
I good way to give the basics of a town/city is to remember: *S*ocial: Taverns, theaters, and the like. Allows your players to interact and experience your world. *P*olitical; Who's the local baron, or lawmaster? They are an important NPC for the players, especially new heroes. *E*conomic: Why does this town exist? There has to be an economic touchstone, towns do not exist without them. It also allows you tomake reasonable decisions about professions and shops within the town. *R*eligious: A chapel, or possibly even a local superstition. Atheism is just as reasonable, not necessarily as exciting however. *M*ilitary: Is there town guards? Perhaps it's occupied by an army. This helps you understand how to react through NPCs to threats to the town(Maybe even the Players!). Funny, and useful. Doesn't get much better than that. 🙂
Ive been running DnD for three years now, starting with homebrew and very strong opinions on how things should work, then realising ive never played or ran the tropes and went to modules in forgotten realms, as standard as it gets. Its tims to start that homebrew journey again and itll start with this video's message. Thank you for everything Matt and know that not only beginners use your help. We all appreciate it! :D
I’m not new to world building but a buddy is planning an adventure, a world, for the first time ever. This PDF is perfect for filling him in without spoiling any surprises for myself while playing. Thanks a million
Hey Matt! I got my hard copy of S&F today and I have to say it looks amazing! I love the feel of it in my hands when I slowly flip through the soft, colorful pages, as my eyes pause time and again at all the stunning artwork. It brought back memories of when I saved up my allowance for weeks to buy the AD&D Player's Handbook circa 1979. Well done everyone at MCDM. Bravo!
This is brilliant. It breaks the Herculean task of world building down to something simple and manageable by giving a meaningful place to start that will yield immediately actionable results, and prompts creativity with clear questions that address some of the most fundamental aspects of fleshing out your world to be playable. Brilliant. Thank you, Matt, I hope people use this beautiful Campaign sheet for years to come.
MATT! Love the shirt, and I enjoy you giving into the community the way you do. You can be my DM dad. I always enjoyed your videos, your ideas, and your personal experiences. Thank you for the resources, and thank you for your time.
I've looked at this and without even thinking hard I realized that it is one of the best ways to make a town in the middle of the game that I have ever seen. Thank you once again Matt!!
Just wanted to let you know that that sheet you hoped people use years from now just got shared with all of my students that I'm helping write their own campaigns. Your content is always an inspiration. Cheers
Matt, I don't know if you fully grasp how brilliant and engaging your content is. You change the scope of what happens on a small scale, which in turn affects a small world, which in turn affects some DMs, which in turn affects a group of people, which in turn affects entire gaming sessions for hundreds, if not thousands of people. You sir have made a night at my own game table something memorable and magical. I applaud you and yours, sir, and would love to see more Running the Game content, it is the influence on a Gygaxian scale that we all need in our lives. Rock on, sir, rock on.
The handout is beautiful and looks fantastically useful. Looks to be handy for prepping a "here's what your character probably knows about this world and local area" handout for you players, too. Thank you!
This is my first video being there when it was new, I just recently finished binge-watching the "Running the Game" playlist. "Doobly-doo" is burned into my mind. I hear it randomly throughout the day.
Looking forward to using the sheet. I have lots of idea, and jotted some down, but this will help me organize them in one spot. AND I love the idea that the characters get this information, so they are not "dumb" to the world around them, and the DM has to explain everything to them during a session. They should already know the basic, who, what and where.
You put my babys in frot of a carrion crawler BEFORE they met the topaz dragon?! Jesus Christ!!! My heart skipped a beat, when I recognized that the anecdote you were telling was about Dale and the others. I was about to cry again. "I will always remember you."
You know I gotta say, as an experienced GM, most of the advice in these videos is stuff I've thought of or heard before. But I always watch to the end with rapt attention because the way Matt scripts and orates he can make anything sound like a sage story with a beginning middle and end.
I recently began a one-PC game with my nine year old daughter, who is becoming a real encyclopedia of D&D lore, and ran into a block about "what next." This video and resource is awesome! Makes me sad that I ran into this channel now and not years ago! Thanks for the resource. Thanks for the tales!
Wish this video was a day sooner since I'm running a game for a couple of new players later today set in a pirate town and (whilst I think it's quite fleshed out) this has got me coming up with a bunch if new ideas. Guess I can always add more before the next session that just wasn't explored in the first.
Something that can’t be understated is the fun of filling out a sheet like this with your players on the first session. Letting your players contribute to the world you’re going to play in is super fun and really cements their interest in your world. Maybe its less “your world” and more “our world” now but that’s a great thing too. If you’re looking for similar world building sheets I highly recommend the ones from Ryuutama! You can get world and town creator sheets online for free. Very universally applicable.
Excellent advice, practical advice and compellingly presented, and a reminder of the basics that is useful for even those who have their big map on the wall or in their head. Thanks Matt.
Matt this video is one week too late... last week I started making making my very first home brewed game and you are totally right about how fun it is to make!!! thanks for the awesome content you put up. you and all those that work at MCDM are amazing keep it up!
This was such a great tool to focus my creativity with. I had just finished making a big map last week hexographer and started annotating it and this was perfect. Within an hour I had so much information written down and the start of a very promising campaign document.
This video right here is literally the best advice on creating any world i have seen so far. Great Job! Especially the question about things noone knows so far, this is really cool and useful concept!
This pdf I'd going to be super useful for giving my players a lot of local information that they should know but I always forget to bring it out of my head for them. Thanks Matt!
I haven’t started Dming yet but building a world took me a loong time because I decided to draw a map as soon as I got the idea for the campaign. But it’s really fun and now i cant stop thinking about new stuff which is why i didnt start dming yet
The best part about that sheet is the fact that you can use it as a player handout. I probably won't use it to world build, I've built a system in OneNote that I like for my giant world that has sprung up over the years. But each campaign is in a new part of the world (or has been so far) and that will be super useful to hand to them to keep with their character sheets.
Can I just say thank you to both Matt Mercer, and you, for inspiring me to get out of the player's chair and get into the DM's sweet rolly chair with a running start and impressed friends
I have been watching your videos for about a year and a half now, just making my way though Running the Game. When I started I was overwhelmed and full of lore... no stories. This video and its content is implied in most of the videos and it is what I have synthesized from them. As you went through your questions I found myself having flashbacks to other videos of yours and smiling as I realized... I have these answers now. I have a local area with NPCs and intrigue and set-up that means I can incorporate tidbits of the lore I had in the beginning in order to enrich the stories I have now. Thank you Matt for everything.
Matt, you are a saint. I've been playing D&D a long time, and over the last few years, this series has helped me improve more as a DM than my entire decade long career combined, this video especially included. Thanks for all you do.
This could be the most useful video I've seen in a long time. Your early Running the Game videos gave me the courage to run the game in a world I've had in my head for close to 20 years, but when I started prepping I realized I knew a LOT of high-level stuff (who's in charge of the kingdom, what's weird, what makes this place unique, etc) and I knew a couple things about the starting town but I wasn't comfortable putting players in it. I couldn't figure out how to organize everything I needed to know in a reasonable manner, nor how much I needed to know. This is SO helpful. This is the video that, I think, is going to be *the* reason my world is going to get players in it and I can't thank you enough.
this is gonna be SUPER HELPFUL! I was able to easily make worlds as a teen but for some reason now its super difficult. Everything you've put out is super helpful! Thanks!
If there's one thing that I have learned, it's that you only have to create enough of a world for each session. What happens in each session will inspire you to create the next.
One thing to add is the possibility of letting the players help creating your scenario, some of the questions you pointed could be answered by the players, stuff like the name of the town, or who rules it, and so on. There are many advantages to this collaborative approach: > Less work for the DM: if the DM has less stuff to do, I'm pretty sure they will do it better. > The DM will waste less time explaining stuff to the players: since they helped him create the local area, they already know stuff right from the get-go > Players are automatically invested: it happens to all DMs: they create worlds that are interesting and cool, but the players are not very interested in them. By using the collaborative approach, the DM makes sure that players begin the campaign invested on the setting, since they helped building it.
Product placement is everything. Good job on the T-shirt. Now get those minis from the kickstarter and... well everything else that you guys make for us and put in in on that shelf inthe background. I want to see everything MCDM when I look at the videos!!!
Truly a river to your people, and can I just say I'm loving the ride! Might not sleep tonight cuz I'm too hyped to get S&F. Also, once Friday rolls around I'm picking up a shirt. Represent!!!
Great sheet, and very useful video. Even for an experienced DM (who is running his first 1-1 campaign with his newbie wife) the videos are always inspiring and reminds you of things you should do. My wife is playing a wizard apprentice in a Chantry (because she loves Harry Potter), and will soon begin to expand her horizon to the local town, where I will use the Dominant, Minority etc. system, which is a great way to think about a population. The advice of not giving her a map, I intend to use. Looking forward to seeing how she reacts to that :) When it comes to secrets, I think it is also important that people and academics argue over the 'truth' of things, like: where does magic come from? who created the world? Having 'one truth' is boring.
Love this! I’m a huge fan of worldbuilding and often, I cooperate with a better storyteller and we make a world to host in. Keep up this amazing and inspiring content! I am new to D&D (not new to making lore and such. It’s always been a thing I do) and found your channel as the first opening into a wider world of the Dungeons and Dragons community outside my small party of friends. Thank you.
Currently about to start a new campaign with a new group, decided to start from scratch on the world so I’m rewatching the videos like these. I made my spreadsheet of the town and am filling out the pdf now! Thank you, Matt, you’ve been an inspiration to me for years!
I've got my book, and while I've already read the pdf it's so nice to have the physical copy. Can't wait to show my players and see what kind of stronghold they will make.
Not just following a formula and actively thinking about what will help people DM is one of the reasons I love this channel. Also the audio and visual is looking/sounding great :)
When I used this guide, I created the Shadowfloor Forest. It was named so for it was so thick that the floor is always bathed in shadows from the forest's canopy. It is cut in two by the Pathway, the main road. One section of the forest is ruled over by the Iron Crunchers, a tribe of orcs that utilize Rust Monsters as steeds and attack dogs, and goblin and hobgoblin mercenary allies. The other is ruled over by the Redskins, a tribe of red-skinned goblins with pet carrion crawlers and hippogriffs which they utilize as, similarly, steeds and attack dogs. They constantly fight over the region, but although the gobins are weaker, their use of traps, fortifications, and hippogriffs allows them to be on roughly equal footing with the orcs in terms of battles. I share this to let Matt know that his sheet is amazing - it inspired me to make what might not be perfectly unique, but is certainly an interesting and complex game world. When used in conjunction with your advice in The West Marches, Running the Game, I can make a somewhat interesting game to run. Thank you so much, Matt Colville. Sincerely, a random DM.
This might be one of my favourite videos of yours. I love the pacing, I love how you manage to teach without making me feel stupid and I also love the natural progression of this one. Also I love that shirt and I best get one soon alongside my physical book 😏😏 Love ya Mr Colville 👌🏿
Just thought I'd drop a comment saying that nearly 2 years later I am using this form to start my first homebrew world. I've been running D&D for a while but never took the dive to create anything myself, until now
Matthew I would like you to know that I'm using this sheet to start my own world! I'm also going to make my dwarves tiny Klingons, but the twist is that when they killed their gods (just like the Klingons did) their society split in two, a more aggressive warmongering kingdom with red hair, and a calm honor-bound warrior caste society with black hair. Thank you so much, you continue to be a source of inspiration for me.
I love the sheet, I downloaded it for reference because my D&D world is slowly being explored by my players and they ask many questions about the various towns and areas. It's a great way to keep track of all the details.
I've been developing my the local area of my campaign over the past year on and off and it's good to know that I've been going in the right direction for the most part. I've been answering my questions slowly and also giving a theme to my starting town and continent has been helping me create it to suit the stories that may play out there. The NPCs and villains work with the theme and it makes the setting more meaningful to the plot, like it could only happen because of all of these things have been brought together. I've also taken a page out of the worldbuilding streams on Twitch by bouncing around from topic to topic, following where my inspiration takes me, but this video's handout is great timing for me to keep this focused on what the players will encounter and what secrets can be used in the near future to keep the momentum of sessions going smoothly. THANKS MCDM!
Obligatory comment for logistics and numbers, but in the way of a comment with substance: You and your company have kept me afloat across the year and a half I've been worldbuilding and prepping to be a DM. Keep up the good work, my dude!
Thanks for this video Matt! I've been DMing for just about a year now, and thanks you your PDF I'm already starting my next campaign. Every video you make is an inspiration. On my way to buying your shirt, book, and becoming a patron! Thanks for all you guys do.
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I’ve needed for the last 6 months but didn’t know how to start. I’ve been looking over everything I could get my hands on for most of that time but everything seemed to overwhelming. Finding this playlist (specifically this video) has helped me more than anything. I just had my first session and it went great so far. I can’t wait to build out the world more. You rock Matt, keep up the great work!
This video really got my creative thinking going for my ongoing adventure. I thought I had alread laid the groundwork but your ground is way more solid than mine, I gotta pack it tighter!
You cant imagine how much your videos help me with my campaign. Sometimes I get to a halt, because I dont know how to tackle a certain problem. But rest assured Matti C comes up with a video explaining exactly what I didnt understand. Thank you for that.
My GM brought me here, I have trouble asking myself these kinds of questions and having a sheet of them I can also edit with things relevant to the area in the world is most helpful, thank you Mr. Colville for this amazing video and sheet.
