Sept 20th, 2020
This article will be a continuation from Part 1, where we dealt with the Inside Out Method. This article will reverse some of the concepts from Part 1 and add some larger ideas. The emphasis will continue to be more focused on campaign building than world building, though some of the concepts will remain similar.
By the time you are ready to work through this style of campaign creation, you likely have already run a campaign or two. Is it a necessity; no, it would just help. You'll see, let's get started.
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The Outside In Method
This is a slightly more advanced method of campaign creation; mostly due to the volume of work needed. Personally, this is my favourite way to get it done. No need to wait for your players, no need to worry about time, just work on it until you are ready and then have your session zero.
Part 1 - The World Map
The crux of this method is knowing what lies beyond every hill, mountain, and ocean. You need to know, or convince your players you know, as much detail as possible. The player who asks, "what's beyond that mountain range?" does not need to be answered immediately, but they do need to know there is something beyond that point.
This is another one of those steps that is both frustrating and rewarding. It is easy to put squiggles on a paper and call it a coastline; much harder to carve a world from paper and ink. While I plan to do some in depth videos on how to draw functional maps (functional, not artistic) let's get some standards out of the way right now:
Rivers run from high ground to the ocean. They may stop in lakes, join on their way to the sea and bring civilization along their banks. They do not, ever, run from ocean to ocean, that's not a river, more like a fjord or a channel or strait.
Mountains like to be in groups. The lonely mountain is possible but somewhat anomalous in geographic terms, mountains tend to form along tectonic plates; places where the land itself is being shoved around a lot.
Forests like to grow where seeds fall, and seeds often fall where the wind stops. So, hills with trees around them are pretty normal, then over time those trees expand and take over large swaths of land.
With those three bits of information, you can up your mapping game quite easily. There are many people on YouTube or hundreds of articles online that can help you. Try googling 'how do I draw a map' ad see what you get if you are interested.
Part 2 - Smaller, More Localized Maps
This second part is mostly an addendum to part one, the maps you draw during this step should allow for scale and detail. Simply pointing to a dot and saying "that's the capital city" is much less interesting than saying "along tha banks of The Yeoman River sits the city of Broadgate. The river docks run the length of the city from Baker Street to Hangman's End."
I tend to lump my maps into five categories:
1- World - this is the whole shebang, every corner of your world.
2- Continent - a large land mass, or several slightly smaller land masses, usually spread over only a portion of your world.
3- Region - this would be akin to the Midwestern U.S, or sub-Saharan Africa. A small portion of a continent usually with several kingdoms within it.
4- Kingdom - several cities and localities all within a single ruler's domain.
5- Local - often a lone valley or small town and its surroundings.
Other map types like dungeon maps and encounter maps are handled a little differently but would necessarily be the sixth and seventh types of map. These maps can cover dockside taprooms to ruined castles and everything in between.
The one drawback here is a much-increased need for organization. If you don't know which maps go together, you are going to have a rough time using them.
Still, in this method, you simply cannot have too many maps. Each one is hours of work but if used properly will not only drag your players deep into your story but will also be a method for them to plan strategies and glean extra information. All-around, a fantastic addition to any campaign.
Part 3 - Political Boundaries
This step is going to be the most difficult in terms of creation. Everything you do here becomes a brick in the wall that becomes your story. An evil king in one kingdom and a good-aligned democratic city-state nearby is inevitably going to cause tension. That tension can take your story a dozen different direction depending on how you set it up.
Locating your centres of power is crucial in this step. Know where your Elves are, where the Dwarves are and any of the likely multiple Human kingdoms. Know where the lone wizard tower is, the lost valley of druids or the cabal of sorcerers bent on political change.
Players can frequently ignore all of this, much to my consternation over the years, but that is no reason not to do it. Even if the players or their characters have no respect for the order of things, the order of things does not like rogue elements, not in fantasy worlds any more than in our real one.
If the players die during the rescue attempt of a group of villagers, the local lord or duke may send a detachment of soldiers to solve the problem. But the players succeeding can still result in those same soldiers being sent out, only now they are looking for the characters themselves to determine if they are a threat.
My point here being all civilizations have laws. They can be silly, immutable, and tyrannical or they can be little more than suggestions the wider populace adheres to on their own. Morals and Ethics both play their parts in these political boundaries as well.
A short list of power centre information could be helpful here:
1- Ruler or Leader's name - just a note about who is in charge and any other important figures who might cross paths with the party.
2- Location - none of this matters if you don't connect it to those maps we talked about.
3- An idea of the economy of the area - industries, agriculture, local security, and currency can all be important things to note here.
4- Unique customs or laws - this does NOT mean tell your players about them, that ruins the fun. But have these weird rules drawn up before you start.
You can easily go overboard here and get bogged down in creating neat stuff but forget entirely about the campaign. Make sure to be specific but not too long winded here, you can always come back later and add more detail.
Part 4 - The Starting Kingdom
This step takes everything from the previous sections and focuses it down onto everything your players would know at the start of the campaign. Maybe not everything, but the common things in the area they start in.
Once you have the wider world ready, it does get a bit easier to pick and choose what your players know. A lot of the previous article could easily fit in this section as well; the adventure location, the starting location, and the players themselves will all start here.
Since I covered all that stuff already, let's jump ahead to the last step.
Part 5 - Points of Interest
Here is the best part, making it all interesting and flow together like a cohesive world. This step is where you put all the dragons and ruins and all that sort of thing. Secret societies and hidden cities, forest paths that cross dimensions or the underground fight club beneath the capital city.
You can add all sorts of things here that can be hooks for the players as side quests or they can be steppingstones along the long-term path of your campaign. You do not have to be too thorough with your notes until what you created becomes a part of the story, but never underestimate the natural curiosity of your players. We are all humans after all, curiosity is kind of one of our things.
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The final article in this series will expand on a few concepts we have already touched on. It will also be slightly more abstract in how it functions, so be prepared for a little weirdness.
Eric
The links for today are all relating to geography and cartography:
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