As this is the very first post of this blog, I feel as if some sort of introduction is necessary. Mainly, what is this blog about?
As the title suggests, it's about creating worlds. More specifically, about creating worlds for games, books, or just for the heck of it. But there's more than that. It'll be pretty much any ideas that I might have regarding roleplaying games (RPGs), things that inspire me, or random tidbits of junk that are cluttering up my creativity.
If you don't know what RPGs are, I'm not going to go into great explanations here, as there are plenty of them on the net. This text at WikiPedia is a good example.
I started playing RPGs about 9 years ago and started designing my own games about a year afterwards. I've gone from mesmerized beginner to someone who's thinking about making RPG design his job. I don't claim that I know all there is to know about RPGs (or even somewhat close to that), but I do think that I have a solid understanding of them, and since this hobby is so multi-faceted, there are new thoughts and ideas popping up everywhere, from designers and players alike.
But then, why the focus on setting and worlds? I've looked at various other blogs and articles about RPGs, and while skimming through them, I thought to myself: "It's the setting." When Magic the Gathering's Ravnica sets came out, I was immediately intrigued by the setting. And even now, I like Magic more for its background than for the rules or cards.
I know that Magic is a trading card game, not an RPG, but the mentality and pattern are the same.
I know that there are many disputes and no clear definitions on what constitutes the "setting" part of RPGs (or indeed if such as thing as "setting" is a definitive part on its own), but that's beside the point. This blog is mainly for posting ideas that relate to backgrounds, but also RPGs in general. And that's really all there is to it.
I also think that setting is something that's often neglected. When talking about designing RPGs, people often first go into what different statistics mean, how to integrate skills, different goals the rules should accomplish, designing patterns, flags, stakes (not quite sure what those are), player empowerment, character traits, XP and character development, combat, and so much more that is, more often than not, rules-only. There's precious little information (at least from what I've seen) on background, world-building, setting, and the like. Plus, it's my personal fascination.
That pretty much sums up what this blog will be about. Until my next post,
Qi
As the title suggests, it's about creating worlds. More specifically, about creating worlds for games, books, or just for the heck of it. But there's more than that. It'll be pretty much any ideas that I might have regarding roleplaying games (RPGs), things that inspire me, or random tidbits of junk that are cluttering up my creativity.
If you don't know what RPGs are, I'm not going to go into great explanations here, as there are plenty of them on the net. This text at WikiPedia is a good example.
I started playing RPGs about 9 years ago and started designing my own games about a year afterwards. I've gone from mesmerized beginner to someone who's thinking about making RPG design his job. I don't claim that I know all there is to know about RPGs (or even somewhat close to that), but I do think that I have a solid understanding of them, and since this hobby is so multi-faceted, there are new thoughts and ideas popping up everywhere, from designers and players alike.
But then, why the focus on setting and worlds? I've looked at various other blogs and articles about RPGs, and while skimming through them, I thought to myself: "It's the setting." When Magic the Gathering's Ravnica sets came out, I was immediately intrigued by the setting. And even now, I like Magic more for its background than for the rules or cards.
I know that Magic is a trading card game, not an RPG, but the mentality and pattern are the same.
I know that there are many disputes and no clear definitions on what constitutes the "setting" part of RPGs (or indeed if such as thing as "setting" is a definitive part on its own), but that's beside the point. This blog is mainly for posting ideas that relate to backgrounds, but also RPGs in general. And that's really all there is to it.
I also think that setting is something that's often neglected. When talking about designing RPGs, people often first go into what different statistics mean, how to integrate skills, different goals the rules should accomplish, designing patterns, flags, stakes (not quite sure what those are), player empowerment, character traits, XP and character development, combat, and so much more that is, more often than not, rules-only. There's precious little information (at least from what I've seen) on background, world-building, setting, and the like. Plus, it's my personal fascination.
That pretty much sums up what this blog will be about. Until my next post,
Qi
Hi, Qi!
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