GMs -- Don't we all want to roll our own?

[sgtcallistan]

Originally Posted by balzacq

Hm. Perhaps that's because at this point for me, "world creation" is something that's mostly going on continuously in the back of my head*. What I guess most would consider world creation -- making maps, detailing nations, etc. -- either gets done bit by bit during downtimes or takes the form of improvised elaborated versions of cocktail-napkin notes (presently kept in a wiki on my webhost), so it's not very time-consuming. Actual game prep is usually an hour or two at most of making notes for the upcoming session, done the afternoon or night before the game.
snip

There it is. That's what happens when I write game scenarios (except without the wiki).

I find the threads that go on about how much work is needed to have a functioning world, or how to rigidly stat a Jedi mind-trick for a rules lawyer, or how to convert the monster manual, to be irrelavent.

Let the idea bubble; let events, TV, music etc. spark ideas.
Write down simple aide memoires only: who, what, when, where, why.
Mix McGuffins and unalterable world events. Relax.
Prep is to re-load this stuff jus before a game.

-and then be prepared to wing it all anyway, and to change everything.