The second rule of world building in 2021

SESSION 0 esatblish the PHYSICS of the world session 0 , make them avalibil to your players and stick to them! If they are ofended by your world/game. Then its not the game for them.
help them find a game they will apriciate.
Like hello kitty

The first rule of world building 2021

START SMALL

Worldbuilding from the outside in # 5

Documenting a great idea that failed misribily due to ego and stupidity and the bane of D&D 5e.
We had now reached the final phase of the great failed experiment Each player was now going to make a 1st level character to adventure in this world we had created. We were limited to only the races we had created in the previous phase-yet somehow there were races that none of us had put in? We were limited to the classes we created, or so we thought?
So
The races were. Halfling, Human, Alternate Human, Dwarf, Drow, ½ elf, Tabaxi, Gnome and ½ orc. The classes were Monk, Ranger, Paladin, Rogue and Warlock. The characters were a Monk, Two rangers, 2 warlocks and 2 rogues.
At Phase 0 we all agreed we wanted a pretty straight forward game of looking for lost treasure and we all agreed that it was going to be pretty action/combat heavy and to all work together to make characters that could survive in a world with no wizards and no clerics.
Of course after this agreement, which was written down and posted as LAW on the group FB page, only two of us actually followed it!
and as for the actual game, nope it was all about Old Ones and Vampires and Dungeon traps that made no sens and somehow only the MPDG who was boinking the Gm got all the magic and all the special powers. And the GM's brother the monk picked fights with every NPC and most of the PC's and was the worst possibility Murder Hobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The game lasted three session before we lost our first player due to frustration and ego conflict with the Murder Hobo. The game lasted two more sessions before the GM moved to another state and proceeded to LOSE HIS FUCKING MIND
that was about it, the rest of sue who actually gave a damn told the Gm to shape the game up or we were out and he folded the game rather then listen, then proceeded to ban us all from his FB while he want off on his crazy tin foil hat insanity
so what went wrong and would this idea actually worked. I am sad because this game cost me two friends and further cemented my idea that 5e players just do not get it.

Worldbuilding from the outside in #4

Documenting a failed RPG experiment
Phase 4. We lost two players but gained three players at this point, sadly the MANICIC PIXY IM BOINGING THE GM GIRL was still around and one of the new players was the Game Master Murder Hobo brother who spent 90% of his time drunk and picking fights with every PC and NPC we met.
We were now in the kingdom building phase, we were each given a kingdom to build and control with my charterer Aslan the Lich King suddenly becoming an NPC despite the fact I wanted to run his Kingdom! yes once again nothing we as players said mattered!
SO I took the dwarfs and imho did some bad ass dwarf kick assery including burning down an entire dwarf city when the GM tried to infect it with zombie plague. I gave my dwarfs a viking death rather then have them turn into zombies! The reminder of the dwarfs I sent on a great march against the Dark elf's to eliminate them! Something the GM and his MPDG did not like!
The Kingdoms were. Dwarfs (me) Dark elf's (MPDG) The sea faring Humans (new player) the dragon worshiping Humans(GM's brother) and the 1/2 Orcs (new player). While this could have been a lot of fun, again it was a very short phase only lasting 5 games. The GM's brother kept starting wars he could not fight and the GM kept tossing Dark elf's at us so we eventually all had to unite under one flag and take out the dark elf's.
Somehow the Dwarfs and Halflings united to create the Gnome race and the Dark elf's were all but destroyed leaving behind 1/2 elf's and a few normal elf's?
There were no actual character sheets for the main NPC's as this was all kingdom building and very little actual role playing, it was more like a 5 week game of Axis and Allies When we had to do one on one fights our Kings were all 8th level.
Bane
8th level Dwarf ranger. Symbol. A axe.
Tristan
8th level human paladin. Symbol the tri force shield from Zelda.
Anduin
1st level monk/7th level 1/2 ork Ranger. Symbol. A griffion. Carlos
8th level human monk
Jenna

8th level dark elf warlock.

World Building from the outside in. #3

So The idea for this phase was any class we played would be a class avalibil to play in the next phase. If we did not have a player charcetr with for example aty least one level of ROGUE then there would be no Rogue player characters from that point on.
Wich is a weird idea to be sure but in 5E with it's many calses it was a disater! Add tot hat the GM had many clases he did not want in his game like Bards and Sortceres and Wizards so even if someon tried to play a bard they could not.
Buy the end of this disater the only player clases avalible were Monk, Paladin, ranger, Rogue and Warlock?!
yes no fighters, no clerics and no bards.?!?
The Age of Legensd turned out to be the age of Scrambiling and to make matters worse. The GM let us only play one race
HALFLINGS!? Why? We never knew but the age of legends wad the age of Halflings for some reason ending with the great halfling khan becoming a vampire?
THE LEGENDS
Calamity Jade the great khan
Halfling Rogue 2/Warlock 8-fey patron.
Symbol. A Pumpkin
Favorite Weapon. A short sword
Favorite Animal. A dragonfly.
Favorite race. Fairy.
Holiday. Halloween
Jade was one of many among the great Halfling hordes, loyal to the great khan and clever with a blade. During her right of adulthood something strange happened to jade,exactly what it is not known as Jade only speaks of it in sing/song riddles She claims she met the Queen of Wind and Woe who made jade her daughter and gifted her with many strange powers in exchange for Jade undertaking a quest for her. In servise to the queen of Wind and Woe Jade did many a strange thing including assassinating the Khan, stealing the egg's from the nest of a dire dragonfly and replacing all the food in a giants cave with Pumpkins.
Calamity Jade took the role of Great Khan and led the Halfling hordes but she was slain by the first vampire Jean!
There are those that say Jade still rides across they sky on hot October nights singing her song of the great mother and bringing pumpkins to all the good boys and girls.

Jean Win The First vampire
Ranger 9-archer.
Symbol. A Five pointed star.
Favorite Weapon Bow.
Favorite Animal. Horse,Bat.
Favorite Race. vampire.
Holiday. Winter
Jean Win the first Vampire. Other then a strange fascination with the elfin dish of Eggplant Paramasan (yes this stupid person was still playing) the halfling ranger Jean Win did not seem any more or less then a typical member of the horde, and perhaps she would have remained that way had she not met the mysterious Emperor and given in to the Dark Side? It is unknown who or what this emperor was though many believe it was the Lich King Aslan but under his banner Jean win sought out the darkhold and read it from page one to very last page- despite the fact she could not read-and was transformed in to the very first vampire! Of course a halfling vampire is not much of a threat when it is stymied by such things as large gaps, stairs, door knobs.
She was alst seen serving Aslan.
The whole Eggplant Paramasan thing was getting stupid and most of us were complaining about this whole Seinfeld thing, but since the Gm was boinking her she pretty much got what ever she wanted.

We lost dax's player about this point and another player droped out of the game so we ended this phase sooner then expected.Buy the end of this disater the only player clases avalible were Monk, Paladin, ranger, Rogue and Warlock?!

World Building from Outside in # 2

Exploration of a failed game.
As previously discussed the idea behind this disaster was the players had total control of world building from the god/creation phase all the way down to individual player character adventuring in the world phase.
Each phase was dedicated to what would and would not be allowed in the game, the first phase was all about building the world and placing the Clay of Creation , but as i also said in fact nothing we did mattered as the game master already had things planed that we had no control over.
For example during the god phase one of the players wanted to basically be MAUI from MOANA and create islands and people but the second he tried suddenly evil chaos dragons existed in the world! Why? because the GM wanted humans to appear somewhere else as and as such MAUI could not place them on his islands
The same thing happened when my God tried to make Dwarfs, suddenly they were evil dark elves? Why? because the GM wanted Drow!
So
while the idea is good the actual play was horrible .
The phase were Gods(World creation). Demi Gods (race creation) Legends (Class creation)Heroes (Civilization building) and finally the PC age of adventure.
in the first phase we had Three gods as we only had Three players and that Phase only lasted one session as it was already apparent we actually had no say.

Phase Two
Demi Gods and the Races
Phase two begins with the birth of the Demi God's.
Muse gives the world to Tarkus,Fraya and Cole but in it's infinite wisdome it saves some of the song of creation to give to their Childrin. Unto these Demi Gods Muse says go Forth and multiple.
VALL
God of Battle,Honer. Judge of the Dead.
Symbol. A hammer.
Favored Race .Halflings.
Favored Class. Barbarains.
Favored weapon Hammer.
Favored animal. Horse.
There are those who believe Vall is the first child of Fraya and Tarkus, and other who believe that Vall is another aspect of Tarkus. No matter which story they follow all the agree that Vall sits in his Halls (Val's Hall's) and sends forth his Horse's,to carry(Vall Carry) the dead back to his Halls to be Judged.
Vall favors the Halfling race above all and has given them the gift to survive anywhere and overcome the many threats that will befall them. Great Halfling hordes ride across the world on their horses seeking honer and glory for their great Khan Vall.
During this phase of the game we decided to make the Halflings this worlds equivalent of the Mongol Hordes. The idea of these tinny barbarians riding in the thousands and descending on civilization like a plague of locusts was both funny and terrifying!

Abseynthia (Tylopia)
Dark goddess of the elf's Goddess of pleasure and debauchery.
Symbol. A Blindfold.
Favored race. Elf's
Favored Class. Rogues.
Favored weapon. Whip.
Favored animal. Spider.
Tarkus gave birth to the Dwarfs. Col tricked them and led them into the deep but it was Abseynthia who was waiting for the dwarfs and who corrupted them in to the dark one's. It was Abseynthia who drugged the Dark one's with food and wine and eggplant Parmesan (yes this was in game?) and when she grew bored of her games. It was Abseynthia who led the dark one's back into the light to create the first dark elf's
It was Abseynthia who lost Dax/Muir and it was Abseynthia who in her hubris created her own worst enemy Aslan.
The whole eggplan paramasan thing was pretty much the begining of the end of this game.

Aslan(orcus)
Arch Mage and Lich King. God of magic.
Symbol. A red eye.
Favord race. Elfs & Tabaxi.
Favor class. Wizirds.
Favord wepaon. Dagger.
Favord animal. Cat.
Aslan was the first dark elf to seek the light of day and knowlidge. Aslan was the first dark elf to breakj free of the power of >Abseynthia. While the other Elfs were frivilous planting egg plant and drinking wine, it was Aslan who saught out the secert of Writing and who craeted the first spell.
When >Abseynthia lost Muri, it was Aslan who went to find him and discoverd the Tabaxi hidding in ther jungel.
When the dark terror of Orcus came upon the elfs, Aslan bound the demon gof to him and with that became the first Lich. Since then the Arch Mage has stood against the elf's who are still loyal to Abysnthia, the Barbaric Halflings and any one else who he believes is a threat to controlled world he seeks to create

Dax(Muri)
The lost one. God of Justice and Hope.
Symbol. A shield.
Favord race.Humans
Favord Class. paladins.
Favord weapon. Sword & Shield
Favord animal.Dog.
Dax was a simple farmer kind and just who grew to have mastery over many plants and animals, Abseynthia in her chaotic jealousy saw Dax as a threat to her Eggplant and sought to seduce hum. When she could not corrupt the simple farmer she instead tricked him in to following her in to the wilds.
Dax was never seen again but since that time those who have lost all hope have felt his presence and his whispered guidance has turned the tide more then once against the dark..

So as i said the idea of phase two was that the Demi gods appered and gave birth to many of the races that would live in this world, if by the end of this phase we had not craeted a race then chances are that arce would not be avalibile to play later on. We all started as dark elfs and whiel we had ideas things went downhill quicily when the whoel eggplant thing started. Worse was for some reason the MANIC PIXY DREEM GIRL player who was Boinking the GM took a disliking to the player of Dax and her stupid actions led him to not return.
The second phase ended with Aslan becoming the Arch Lich/Mage King and declaring war on the MANIC PIXY DREEM GIRLS dark elf's.
At this point the rest of us knew the game was pretty much doomed.

World Building from the outside in #1

What i learned from a failed game. A while back we started an experimental RPG. We were going share in the creation of the world, every step of the world from it's most grand cosmic design down to the individual politics of nations and the adventures of it's heroes the game was divided into sections, each section lasting anywhere from one game to 1/2 a year's worth's The first session of the game we played the God's and created the world and it's races. This sound like an amazing fun idea Sadly although the creator of this game said we the players would;d have total control this was not in fact true. Even from the first session it was obvious that any control we had on the creation of the world was just lip service- he already had things he wanted to happen and nothing we did really changed the outcome. Like the eggplant loving beholders that talked like Jerry Seinfeld -we all hated that and none of us remembered that as part of the world creation. Still the idea is interesting and reminds me a lot of the MICROSCOPE RPG (http://www.lamemage.com/microscope/)
So this is my attempt at that experiment
Starting with the God and working inwards to create/revisit my home brew game world.
PHASE 1. The First Phase begins with the birth of the God's. TARKUS Sky father and FRAYA earth mother. The great MUSE created the worlds and for a while it was happy, but then it grew lonely and bored and wanted to bring life and light to it's creation. So it reached out in to the vast infinite of possibility and created the Mother and Father. Some say it was the Mother who came first and created the father to be her companion. Others say the Father was first and created the mother to bare his childrin. It is this interpretation that has birthed and destroyed many a civilization and the argument may never be satisfied but it is agreed these two were the first to spring from Muse.
TARKUS. Sky God and All father. Bringer of Light. Paragon of Civilization and order.
Symbol. A Lightning bolt.

Favored race. Dwarfs.
Favored weapon Sword.
Favored animal. Wolf.
Favored class. warriors.
Worshipers refer to them selves as the sons and daughters of Tarkus.​They believe that after MUSE created Tarkus, Tarkus created his mate Fraya to bare his children and tend his hearth. While the followers of Fraya believe the opposite the two religions have never come to blows, unlike the followers of Tarkus and Val who have had many a crusade against each other over their beliefs(See Vall). Tarkus is one of the few gods who is known to directly interact with humans and has many a scion who has become a figure of legend. A very large mercenary organization has appeared from time to time with the name The Sons of Tarkus but have no actual affiliation with the God.

FRAYA Earth mother and life giver.Icon of Healing,Nature and child birth.
Symbol. A Crucible.
Favored race. Elf's.
Favored animal. A Swan.
Favored Class. Spellcasters.
Favored weapon. A bow.
Worshipers refer to themselevs as the Childrin of Fraya and the temepels are referd to as Crucibils of Fraya. The followers of the goddes believ she was the first creation of MUSE and then she created her mate Tarkus out of water and air to keep her company and protect her. Despite there difrenec in views the two religions have never come to blows. Large groevs of trees or running rivers tend to be the center of worship though a few Swan Tempels have appeared in larger citys.

Cole
Sea lord and Storm god.Bringer of Death and Chaos.Trickster and Shapeshifter.
Symbol. A Scythe.
Favored Race. Orc's.
Favored animal. Snake.
Favored Class. Rogues.
There may be confusion as to weather TARKUS or FRAYA were the first of MUS'S creation there is no such argument involving COLE. It is believed that COLE pulled himself out of the song of creation as the first trick he would play!
COLE would enjoy nothing more then pulling islands populated with life out of the oceans and then plaguing those same creations with storms and dragons as tests to see if they would survive. His Mischief is legendary, when FRAYA created the fruit of the vine, COLE stole her secrets and created Ale. When Tarkus first crafted the Dwarfs to tend his forge, COLE led many of them deep into the earth to become the Dark One's.
Eventually Fraya and Tarkus grew so frustrated with their brother they trapped him at the bottom of the ocean but even then Cole was able to one up his siblings but pouring his own blood in to the mud and giving birth to the many Monsters that would plague the world.

The first age ended with the imprisonment of COLE.