Worlds Building 101 Part 3 - History of the World Part 2
So far we have maps, places, countries, and a creation story for a world that is uniquely yours. So let's polish it up further. These countries need histories of their own. Let us talk of wars, peace, famines, dictators, benevolent rulers, and horrifying tyrants.
What is the relationship between your world’s nations? Are there trade pacts, marriages between political rivals, non-aggression agreements, or is there a state of war that has existed for as long as recorded time? Do your nations have a state religion or are they open to all faiths? Does religion play a large role in your nation’s leadership structure? Maybe religion is the reason your nations go to war. There are many possibilities that you can pick from when it comes to a nation’s identity.
Are your civilized nations at peace with one another, but constantly at war with the intelligent and non-intelligent monsters of your world. Do lich lords rule the dark places beneath your nations? Maybe illithids and dopplegangers topple governments or pull the strings on weak regents. You can craft any number of ways for good and evil to interact in your world. Political intrigue can play a role in your world and game. Good kings and queens will need heroes to push back the darkness. While tyrants and dictators will need villains to spread misery and destruction.
Does your world have criminal organizations? Thieves and assassins guilds can provide work for adventurers. Large cities will have hidden criminal elements usually overlooked by the law, or even the crown itself may be bought and paid for by the cartels. You could even have rival organizations vying for control of cites, lands, or whole nations. What better for a group of heroes to face off against, or maybe your heroes will be hired as spies for a guild. So many possibilities.
Perhaps your world has knightly orders. They don’t need to be religious, but they can be. Maybe there is an order of druids and rangers sworn to protect the wilderness. Imagine the wonder of a world where there is a grand citadel filled with the wisest of wizards and sorcerers. Build a world with organizations that can help or hinder your heroes. Imagine members of your party becoming members of such esteemed groups.
The rulers of your nations are motivated by the same things that real people crave. Power, fame, greed, lust, love, hate, and wrath drive the peoples of your world. Does an unstable princess fall in love with your party’s paladin? Does a powerful queen feel threatened by your party’s wealth and prestige? It is easy for your players to run afoul of those who wear the crown. Perhaps your players save a sovereign from a dark fate. Will that regent become a benefactor of your party? Only you can determine if this is to be true.
As you can see there is so much that can be added to your world to make it real. The more detail you add the more it is likely that your players will feel that they are a part of your world. Make sure that players can change the course of history, and that their backstories feature, in a small part, to the history of their locations. They are a part of the past, present, and future of your world. The history of your world is their history too.
