Play 20 Questions With Your World

I love Jeff’s blog post here about how to flesh out your world by asking yourself a few simple questions.

It reminds me of the tip about ensuring there’s a gameplay layer to your world building because we have players, not a passive audience.

If you haven’t clicked over to Jeff’s post, here are some example questions to give you an idea of what I’m talking about:

  • Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed, or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
  • What is the deal with my cleric’s religion?
  • Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
  • Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
  • Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join or fight?

I love it! I’m changing my name now to Johnny Law. Or, more accurately, Johnny Chaos.

I think it’s a wonderful exercise to brainstorm questions that connect characters and your game system to the surface layer of your world, pun intended.

Here are d12 tips for doing that:

  1. Get Some Class. Create at least one intriguing question per class to guarantee meaningful hooks for every character.
  2. POV. Pose questions through the characters’ eyes, and phrase them the way players naturally would at the table.
  3. BBEG. Craft questions that get to the villain’s influence on gameplay.
  4. Short vs. Long Term. Blend quick-hit adventure hooks with deeper plot-revealing questions.
  5. Curiosity Loops. Include enticing, unanswered mysteries to trigger exploration.
  6. Practical PC Needs. Add questions that serve your campaign style and game system, such as how and where characters can spend their loot.
  7. Explore Setting Themes. Add questions that help you explore and manifest the core feeling and themes of your sandbox.
  8. Gather Information. If your players tend to ask a lot of questions when given hooks or quests, add questions that reveal fonts of lore.
  9. Expose Factions. Use a couple of your 20 Questions to explore dominant organizations, powerful NPCs, and influential groups.
  10. Tech & Magic. Reveal aspects of your magic system or setting technologies.
  11. Scope. Use broad questions when you want to encourage elaboration, and narrow questions when you want specifics.
  12. Add the Mundane. Think about everyday life in your setting and add questions to address downtime and inspire roleplay with common folk.

Jeff ‘s “20 Quick Questions” brilliantly anchors our world building in active, player-centric concerns, not passive lore.

By crafting specific, punchy, and thought-provoking questions around characters, factions and villains, and practical gameplay, you ensure your campaign setting is actually accessible to players, the characters, your system, and your plot.

Invest five minutes brainstorming your own pointed questions today. Your players will thank you when curiosity, exploration, and Johnny Chaos collide spectacularly at your game table.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
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