Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding

✍ Scribed by Wolfgang Baur, Scott Hungerford, Jeff Grubb, Michael A. Stackpole, Chris Pramas, Keith Baker, Steven Winter, Jonathan Roberts, Janna Silverstein (editor)

• Publisher: Open Design LLC
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 116
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The Essential Elements for Building a World

Roleplaying games and fantasy fiction are filled with rich and fascinating worlds: the Forgotten Realms, Glorantha, Narnia, R'lyeh, Middle-Earth, Barsoom, and so many more. It took startling leaps of imagination as well as careful thought and planning to create places like these: places that readers and players want to come back to again and again.

Now, eleven of adventure gaming's top designers come together to share their insights into building worlds that gamers will never forget. Learn the secrets of designing a pantheon, creating a setting that provokes conflict, determining which historical details are necessary, and so much more.

Take that creative leap, and create dazzling worlds of your own!

Essays by Wolfgang Baur, Keith Baker, Monte Cook, Jeff Grubb, Scott Hungerford, David "Zeb" Cook, Chris Pramas, Jonathan Roberts, Michael A. Stackpole, Steve Winter, with an introduction by Ken Scholes.

NOMINATED FOR TWO ENNIE AWARDS: Best Writing and Best RPG-Related Book

Praise for Prior Kobold Design Guides

"Highly recommended for gaming nerds everywhere."

--CityBookReview.com

"If you're an aspiring pro this book is a must. If you're a rules hacker like me, this stuff is solid gold."

--Berin Kinsman, UncleBear Media

"A fantastic collection ... A solid 5 star rating."

--Joshua Guillion, AdventureAWeek.com

"An amazing collection ... from some of the best designers and writers creating role-playing game material today."

--Brian Fitzpatrick, BlogCritics.org

✦ Table of Contents

The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding
Table of Contents
Introduction
What is Setting Design?
Different Kinds of Worldbuilding
Inside Out and Outside In
How Real is Your World?
Bringing History To Life
Apocalypso: Gaming after the Fall
Here Be Dragons
How to Design a City-State,Tribe, or Nation
They Do What Now?
How to Make a High Magic World
Worlds and Technology
Why No Monotheism?
Designing a Pantheon
It’s a Mystery!
How to Design a Guild, College, or Secret Society
How to Write a World Bible
Playing in Someone Else's Backyard
The Limits of Design
Contributor Bios