Fictional World Generator

[Mr. Analog]

Need a map for a world? Now you can create one with the click of a button:

http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/world/

[Darren Dirt]

Worlds are boring (and too big to really care about the details)

But an INN generator, now that's cool ...

http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/inn/

Description, Innkeeper, Menu, Patrons, and "rumors" = I can imagine some of the random details coming into play in a story...



PS: notice the subtitle for this website?

donjon
Be excellent to each other

RADICAL!

[Thorin]

All the generators on there are pretty cool.  At some point, all the randomness needs to be knitted together for a story to occur, though.

[Mr. Analog]

My preferred method of world building for RP worlds is to both create a macro world AND a micro world (for starting out at least)

I mean there are technical details I have to sort out first for the campaign setting, as in what will the first campaign actually be but after that it's all about world building. How big is the area the players start in, does it belong to a nation, are there other nations on the continent, how big is the continent, is it fully explored, which nations are allies, enemies, etc, etc

I find going through that process gives me a flavour, something I can work into the micro details as hooks for players to interact with and give me potential story ideas. Also when a player zags instead of zigs I have some prepared flavour that is generally in context with what they were doing even if I'm making it up on the fly.

The party encounters a fork in the road, one way is a direct line to that MacGuffin they've been chasing, but what if they go the other way? Turns out I thought of that at least vaguely and we can go that way if they want.

That way anywhere they go spatially in the world has something to see / do and I think it gives the players a sense that they are part of a living world