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Old 09-15-2021, 09:45 AM   #2
ericthered
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Default Re: New GM needing help with almost everything with space campaign

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tungsten93 View Post
What is your step by step process if you have create a new universe?

I don't go step by step, per se. I pick an "interesting" center point, make a list of questions based on that, and evaluate how important they are/ how easy they are to answer, and then start answering the questions in that order.



When I'm building a setting to play with later, the center point might be a magic system, a proposed scenario, or a randomly generated set of communities. When I'm working on an setting with regularly scheduled games, the center point is the players, and their current location and activities.



Quote:

How do you have stuff make sense in your world, without going down the rabbit hole?
There is a few things you can do:


One is to use default settings and reference societies. In a fantasy setting, medieval Europe is often used as the default. Its not the most entertaining or creative default, but it lets you build something without completely imagining a society from scratch. Space opera often uses mid 20th century america as its default society. Fictional societies can fill this role as well: cyberpunk societies are common, or you can say "Things work like star-trek, except for where I say". Having a good idea of Genres and Genre expectations helps here.



Another thing you can do is to choose the rabbits digging the holes carefully. Ignore some of them and chase ones you think will either have short tunnels or produce interesting setting material. You only have so much time: use it wisely, and your goal is enjoyment, not perfect simulation.



Quote:
I feel like I have to have a completely working economy before I can decide on reasoning why certain stuff is where it is, though. I feel like I'm going deeper and deeper and I'm now at a point where for every single planet I'm deciding what resources there and who is mining them, where they are going, why they are going there, who's controlling them, how much tax is being paid on them and on and on and on. I feel like I'm going down the rabbit hole pretty quickly right now. I feel like I should've done this entire project together with someone who's way more experienced than me.

Ok, so why does the economy matter? I ask this in full seriousness. Why does this game need to know what the trade routes are? When does it add to the game play, and what can you abstract to make simple? Trade routes in space can be a powerful game tool, but we need to know what we're trying to achieve rather than stumbling around.



Thoughts on resources that matter: Unique resources matter. Manufactured goods vs agricultural goods vs mineral wealth matters. Carrots vs. Taro root could matter, but if you should either abstract that by biome, by culture, or some other "Tag" that keeps things simple.



I'm also curious how many planets you have, and how many factions.
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