Build setting

Veeky Forums

What do you feel is the first step in World Building?

pretty much where I'm at

Just run some games instead of creating settings endlessly, you twats.

Picking what source material to plunder from and butcher.

First have an idea of the story you want to tell in mind. Great fantasy stories have the worlds tailored to them, not the other way around.

this, or in the case of traditional games, decide on the themes/gameplay you want to convey then build the setting around that.

Replace
>Delete everything and start again
with
>Delete parts I don't like and keep writing
Force yourself if you need to.

Buy a hammer

Maybe I'm stupid, but how do you even create a setting without a story or theme in mind?

look at literally any worldbuilding thread on /tg. It's akin to pretend masturbation.

I've had one constant setting for a long time now. If I don't like something I'll change it. You need to change the cycle from trashing to refining whatever you don't like.

These other guys have great ideas, but sometimes I actually start with a map. I'm in a realistic mood I'll start with tectonic plates, make landmasses, mountains, mark trade winds, determine rivers, determine climate, and run from there. If I'm not in a realistic mood, I'll idly draw things and get ideas from what I see. It could be things like "This island cluster really looks too much like a perfect pentagon. I know, it used to be some artificially created island full of worshipers of the dark gods before they were destroyed and their island shattered" or "This mountain range is only broken in one place with a large pass. What if there was a marche kingdom there which shields a larger one from savage hordes but is now struggling as their masters grow complacent in their safety?" It's not the greatest way to do things, but sometimes I get good ideas and then move them to other settings where they would be more useful.

Stick to two numbnuts. Maybe three if your urges are more specific. Just switch between them. I've got some weird bullshit modern fantasy, a more conventional late medieval fantasy, and a science fiction setting. I switch between them whenever the mood strikes me and two of them are going pretty well.

with pure undiluted autism

I know the feeling, OP. You need to use your worlds in a real campaign to get a sense of investment in them. Use just a small region at first, then expand it later.

Because there's usually no point.

Put all the settings in a pile and roll for what elements to keep. You're never going to love anything that came straight from your own brain.

I start with the most major nations usually, or a map. I can't do stories for shit unless there's a setting to base it around, they're not really my strong point.

I see your problem. Just stop making settings.

Stop deleting everything. Just leave it saved in a folder in a unique name. Every once in a while look through your root folder; you may find inspiration for something new or what you're currently working on, or even decide to continue.

One of my biggest regrets is getting annoyed with a specific setting and deleting it; I ended up spending two weeks trying to recreate it from scratch because even if I never do anything with it I liked all the individual ideas and have used it for reference more times than I can count. Not only did I waste a massive amount of time trying to remake it, I'm pretty sure there's a few things I forgot in the meantime.

Play your setting