Gygax 75 - Week 1: The Concept
The Pitch
- Weak kingdoms. The world is composed of weak kingdoms scattered far from each other. Ruling power resides in the hands of local or regional lords, who have their own alliances and feuds.
- Vast wilderness. Cities and villages are clustered within the domains of regional lords and are far from one another. Wilderness areas are ruled by monsters and other threats. Ruins and dungeons abound throughout the world, remnants of ancient civilizations.
- Demi-humans (e.g., elves, dwarves) are common. Humans are the ruling class and the nobility. Demi-humans either existed here before the humans and remained after the fall of their kingdoms, or are newcomers attracted by opportunities for fame, glory, and gold. There are still demi-human villages and cities, but they have very limited power.
- Magic is wild, mysterious, but tameable. And so are great magical beasts.
- Darkness and wonder. The world holds looming threats and shadows, but is not without whimsy.
Next:
Gather your sources of inspiration. List them and provide a sentence or two explaining what each source brings to the setting. Cull your list so that it has no more than 7 entries. (This can be tough, but I think it’s important to focus the ideas so you aren’t getting dragged in too many directions at first.) Make sure the sources are referenced by your pitch points in some way. Sources are for you; you don’t have to share them with players and players shouldn’t have to be familiar them. In fact, Gygax would tell you not to share them as they might spoil some of the surprises for players or players might expect you to use parts of them you don’t intend to use.
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