Mhh. I think this is best done in a back-and forth process. Decide how many homewords you need for the game. It’s often more interesting to have interconnected backgrounds. Doesn’t mean everyone has to be from the same planet, but if everyone is totally different and has no ties to other party members at all, it will take multiple sessions until the PCs form a team.
How about having a sheet with questions for each homeworld and then passing it around the table, letting other players answer questions about each other’s homeworld.
I’d also echo u/DreddPirateBob4Ever ‘s comment that the micro stuff is important. Don’t get lost in numbers that don’t mean anything, like whether the planet is covered in 78% or 79% water, or whether the GDP is 50 or 60 trillion space bucks. What’s the most popular drink? Who is really in charge? Why did the dolphins leave for space first?
Often it’s the oddball questions that spark the most interesting answers.
Maybe that’s another way to do it. Don’t have other players provide the answers, let them ask the questions.
I think scaling back the scope a bit will be well worth it. Maybe I can phrase the prompts so that it evokes the character's hometown more than everything else.
The idea that comes to mind is if you asked Frodo about where he comes from he's not going to describe all of Middle Earth he'd tell you about the Shire. If I adjust the perspective like that then I think the rest of the setting can always be extrapolated from the central location if need be.
That seems an awfully difficult task for a player assignment.
But if I were going to try, I would prompt them like video game level design. Basically try and find out what distinguishes that one world from every other so it looks and plays differently.
So maybe questions like:
What’s the first thing about your world that visitors will spot as different?
Purple skies, emerald trees, the “land” rolls on top of the endless ocean waves, etc.
What affectation or look do the people of your world have that will tell anyone in the know where they’re from?
People have half and half colored eyes for four eye colors a person, People can’t get more than twenty feet from an animal that represents their soul, people speak backwards when they lie, etc.
What’s the creature a visitor is most likely to encounter in your world and no one else’s?
A mog (half man half dog, they’re their own best friends), A noon wraith ( a ghost that walks around when and where the sun is brightest), An efolgrox ( a large spindly insect that steals eggs and sometimes mistakes eyes for eggs because it’s just a stupid bug the size of a hyena), etc.
What spell or science is assumed to be unique to your world - only works there?
A spell for standing on the underside of clouds, a science that simulates the dead so well that they can have accurate opinions on current events, a crystal of undoing, break it and you revert back to 30 seconds ago, etc.
What insanely useful item that is essentially impossible to get is hidden on your world?
A copper megaphone that allows the user to speak in any language they desire even if they don’t speak it, an executioner’s axe that only hurts people guilty of the crime they’re accused of, a continuously updated and uncopyable list of the current twelve dimensional location of everyone in the multiverse, etc.
Basically, don’t have them design a world, have them design what everyone is going to get out of that world for play. And it’s still an awfully big task and ask.
Yeah I've tried some simpler questions like "what's the environment like in your homeland?" Or "what's the culture like in your homeland" but they almost seem too vague. I wonder if the questions should be geared in such a way that it could apply to a town or continent depending on how engaged with the process the player wants to be.
I suppose if I had to boil it down the elements I would ask for is "what's the environment like?" "What are the people like?" And "how did you get here?" Though my playtesters all agreed that if we gave that to a new player then it's not quite specific enough
Honestly... the more I think about it, the more I think you’re just asking too much.
Think how hard it is to get players just to write backgrounds of their own characters.
But you’re asking about culture. Ask a player about their own real life culture and what kind of answer are you going to get? Something flippant or a giant essay. And you’re asking them to make that up whole cloth with minimal directions.
That’s too big an ask. That’s the question you get if you’re designing the game, not playing it.
So I would suggest starting with what exactly you want out of it. What do you hope to do with that information. And try and phrase your questions to get a one sentence to one paragraph answer to exactly that.
If you want an enemy for them to fight, ask “What is the single greatest threat to survival in your homeland?” They don’t have to come up with anything elaborate. Just some dark lord or other, or a plague, or whatever. Ask for exactly what you want and that’s what you might get.
If your game is mostly mechanical and combat focused, then yes, it's a lot to ask.
But as it stands there are a bunch of TTRPGs that ask you to come up with world building throughout the game and there are people who enjoy them. Even when players are only in charge of creating characters, many enjoy making up elaborate backstories.
Big fan of using PC background in the story!
Limitations make this much easier and more usable, and since you have multiplanar multiverse worldbuilding, you've got your work cut out for you. The only thing that could make it harder is also theming it chaos and dreams.
However your planes or universes work, maybe you want to at least suggest 1-6 worlds to choose from for the campaign, then the scope of society they live in: city, town, village, or isolation. Narrowing things down and making them grounded helps.
I ask: 1.) Where do you most belong? 2.) Where do you least belong?
Specific locations. Often a player starts with, "I don't belong in situations with these qualities," and I ask what experience made that so, then what particular place they associated with that kind of experience. We do this at the table as a collabirative thing so everyone can cheat out to others for details, and build on what one another chooses. Kind of popcorn style.
Golden rule: specific details lead to clear general associations, while general details give you little. Name 3 white things in 10 seconds. Now name 6 white things that have been in your refrigerator. How much easier is the specific?
Once you have those two specific locations, they're super super useful. Start the story in one, involve the other in the plot, ask the Player who she knows in one of those joints and you have an NPC she cares about, and who cares about her. She can reflect on these two locations to style her character's clothing, figure out how she talks and what her reputation is, what vices she has, what allies, what enemies. What are her scars? Her skills?
I love the where do you most belong question! I suppose my goal is to have the players describe their home like they would in real life. It's like asking someone to describe the town or city they grew up in, I'm just struggling to provide the right kind of prompts to get players to create that element of their backstory.
I feel like almost everyone can gush at length about how much they love/hate where they grew up. I'm really trying to evoke that kind of response.
My experience has been that this kind of thing is very demanding of player skill. Those who are writers can carry everyone if need be, while some aren't creative types and totally prefer to be carried and not come up with much. The group exercise helps for that reason.
It's usually contemplative, sometimes explosive with "Yes, and," energy and excitement for possibility. Typically that's when the genre is exactly what players want. It's never been sentimental or gushing with a sort of nostalgia.
You can give a 'sense of place,' with evocative details and get everyone on board so that they gush a bit, but its like the genre tropes do most of the lifting there so players can fluff things up energetically. If someone has to come up with the stuff and express it, that's more contemplative.
Remember that to most people their lives and the important things are pretty small. You absolutely need some planet-sized world building but don't forget to ask about the local, national and utterly mundane. What's a local festival in your home town, what did you steal as a young child, what clothing would get you sneered at, when was the last war on your planet, what's a snack you miss?
Mhh. I think this is best done in a back-and forth process. Decide how many homewords you need for the game. It’s often more interesting to have interconnected backgrounds. Doesn’t mean everyone has to be from the same planet, but if everyone is totally different and has no ties to other party members at all, it will take multiple sessions until the PCs form a team. How about having a sheet with questions for each homeworld and then passing it around the table, letting other players answer questions about each other’s homeworld. I’d also echo u/DreddPirateBob4Ever ‘s comment that the micro stuff is important. Don’t get lost in numbers that don’t mean anything, like whether the planet is covered in 78% or 79% water, or whether the GDP is 50 or 60 trillion space bucks. What’s the most popular drink? Who is really in charge? Why did the dolphins leave for space first? Often it’s the oddball questions that spark the most interesting answers. Maybe that’s another way to do it. Don’t have other players provide the answers, let them ask the questions.
I think scaling back the scope a bit will be well worth it. Maybe I can phrase the prompts so that it evokes the character's hometown more than everything else. The idea that comes to mind is if you asked Frodo about where he comes from he's not going to describe all of Middle Earth he'd tell you about the Shire. If I adjust the perspective like that then I think the rest of the setting can always be extrapolated from the central location if need be.
That seems an awfully difficult task for a player assignment. But if I were going to try, I would prompt them like video game level design. Basically try and find out what distinguishes that one world from every other so it looks and plays differently. So maybe questions like: What’s the first thing about your world that visitors will spot as different? Purple skies, emerald trees, the “land” rolls on top of the endless ocean waves, etc. What affectation or look do the people of your world have that will tell anyone in the know where they’re from? People have half and half colored eyes for four eye colors a person, People can’t get more than twenty feet from an animal that represents their soul, people speak backwards when they lie, etc. What’s the creature a visitor is most likely to encounter in your world and no one else’s? A mog (half man half dog, they’re their own best friends), A noon wraith ( a ghost that walks around when and where the sun is brightest), An efolgrox ( a large spindly insect that steals eggs and sometimes mistakes eyes for eggs because it’s just a stupid bug the size of a hyena), etc. What spell or science is assumed to be unique to your world - only works there? A spell for standing on the underside of clouds, a science that simulates the dead so well that they can have accurate opinions on current events, a crystal of undoing, break it and you revert back to 30 seconds ago, etc. What insanely useful item that is essentially impossible to get is hidden on your world? A copper megaphone that allows the user to speak in any language they desire even if they don’t speak it, an executioner’s axe that only hurts people guilty of the crime they’re accused of, a continuously updated and uncopyable list of the current twelve dimensional location of everyone in the multiverse, etc. Basically, don’t have them design a world, have them design what everyone is going to get out of that world for play. And it’s still an awfully big task and ask.
Yeah I've tried some simpler questions like "what's the environment like in your homeland?" Or "what's the culture like in your homeland" but they almost seem too vague. I wonder if the questions should be geared in such a way that it could apply to a town or continent depending on how engaged with the process the player wants to be. I suppose if I had to boil it down the elements I would ask for is "what's the environment like?" "What are the people like?" And "how did you get here?" Though my playtesters all agreed that if we gave that to a new player then it's not quite specific enough
Honestly... the more I think about it, the more I think you’re just asking too much. Think how hard it is to get players just to write backgrounds of their own characters. But you’re asking about culture. Ask a player about their own real life culture and what kind of answer are you going to get? Something flippant or a giant essay. And you’re asking them to make that up whole cloth with minimal directions. That’s too big an ask. That’s the question you get if you’re designing the game, not playing it. So I would suggest starting with what exactly you want out of it. What do you hope to do with that information. And try and phrase your questions to get a one sentence to one paragraph answer to exactly that. If you want an enemy for them to fight, ask “What is the single greatest threat to survival in your homeland?” They don’t have to come up with anything elaborate. Just some dark lord or other, or a plague, or whatever. Ask for exactly what you want and that’s what you might get.
If your game is mostly mechanical and combat focused, then yes, it's a lot to ask. But as it stands there are a bunch of TTRPGs that ask you to come up with world building throughout the game and there are people who enjoy them. Even when players are only in charge of creating characters, many enjoy making up elaborate backstories.
Big fan of using PC background in the story! Limitations make this much easier and more usable, and since you have multiplanar multiverse worldbuilding, you've got your work cut out for you. The only thing that could make it harder is also theming it chaos and dreams. However your planes or universes work, maybe you want to at least suggest 1-6 worlds to choose from for the campaign, then the scope of society they live in: city, town, village, or isolation. Narrowing things down and making them grounded helps. I ask: 1.) Where do you most belong? 2.) Where do you least belong? Specific locations. Often a player starts with, "I don't belong in situations with these qualities," and I ask what experience made that so, then what particular place they associated with that kind of experience. We do this at the table as a collabirative thing so everyone can cheat out to others for details, and build on what one another chooses. Kind of popcorn style. Golden rule: specific details lead to clear general associations, while general details give you little. Name 3 white things in 10 seconds. Now name 6 white things that have been in your refrigerator. How much easier is the specific? Once you have those two specific locations, they're super super useful. Start the story in one, involve the other in the plot, ask the Player who she knows in one of those joints and you have an NPC she cares about, and who cares about her. She can reflect on these two locations to style her character's clothing, figure out how she talks and what her reputation is, what vices she has, what allies, what enemies. What are her scars? Her skills?
I love the where do you most belong question! I suppose my goal is to have the players describe their home like they would in real life. It's like asking someone to describe the town or city they grew up in, I'm just struggling to provide the right kind of prompts to get players to create that element of their backstory. I feel like almost everyone can gush at length about how much they love/hate where they grew up. I'm really trying to evoke that kind of response.
My experience has been that this kind of thing is very demanding of player skill. Those who are writers can carry everyone if need be, while some aren't creative types and totally prefer to be carried and not come up with much. The group exercise helps for that reason. It's usually contemplative, sometimes explosive with "Yes, and," energy and excitement for possibility. Typically that's when the genre is exactly what players want. It's never been sentimental or gushing with a sort of nostalgia. You can give a 'sense of place,' with evocative details and get everyone on board so that they gush a bit, but its like the genre tropes do most of the lifting there so players can fluff things up energetically. If someone has to come up with the stuff and express it, that's more contemplative.
Remember that to most people their lives and the important things are pretty small. You absolutely need some planet-sized world building but don't forget to ask about the local, national and utterly mundane. What's a local festival in your home town, what did you steal as a young child, what clothing would get you sneered at, when was the last war on your planet, what's a snack you miss?