Quick n' Dirty World building? Is that a thing?

[Prince Zahn]

I hope I don't get lynched for this...

Hi! I'm Relation to a parallel thread, my goal is to build a functional setting in a short amount of time, that I will be able to get at least one cool adventure out of without putting in too much unnecessary effort. I don't need perfection, but I could use some tips for building a setting in a hurry. Perhaps a list of essential questions to ask myself so that my world can function, or some other tips that could make my life easier so I could meet the deadline, even if it's just (productive) advice on making random rolling tables.

For context, it is a 5e survival campaign, taking place in an Arctic region. The deities the players choose is irrelevant, as in this Arctic region, there's only animistic Spirits (sun, wind, frost, mountains(?) etc.) if you don't pay your respect to the local spirits, they won't grant you spells.


Can anybody help me get organized, or provide a few pointers on quick n' dirty world building (if that is even a thing?)

Thank you in advance!

[Flickerdart]

Well, you have a premise, and that's good. Cold, barren region with animism.

Step 1: Find a place like that on Earth and steal its attributes
Our planet's cultures all evolved in response to their environments. So finding a culture that fits your setting's premise saves a lot of time when answering questions like "what would people wear" or "what would their society look like." It would help if you read Guns, Germs, and Steel to understand how environmental factors shape societies.

Step 2: Tweak and explain
If you want to change an aspect of the society, you have to be able to explain why it's different. Say you're using the Chukchi people as a base, but you want them to have castles? Castles are for agrarian feudal societies, not herders and hunters. Maybe these castles are actually temples that please the spirits of stone?

Step 3: Spawn more overlords
Now you have a society that exists in a place. Decide who is influential in this society, and give him, her, it, or them names, relationships, and goals. For example, let's have our society be a group of despotic chiefdoms, with three tribes around the area. The chief of the first tribe, Fred, is a young man who recently inherited the post - he barely has any respect from his underlings, and desires to prove himself to his tribe as a leader. The chief of the second tribe, Susan, is an old woman who has ruled her people with an iron grip for years. Her ultimate goal is accumulating wealth for herself. The chief of the third tribe, Trevor, is a wise and benevolent leader loved by his people, and only wants what is best for his tribe.

Step 4: Send in the extras
What's a king without people to rule? Create some stat blocks that can vaguely approximate the roles that exist in your society. It's much easier to pull NPCs out of thin air later if you have an idea of their capabilities. For the small hunter-herder tribes of our arctic, create a shaman, a chief, a hunter, and a craftsman. Then come up with a bank of names you can use when the PCs say "we go to see the local shaman to bless our journey" and you didn't have anything prepared.

Step 5: Where is the conflict?
A good setting lives and breathes even when the PCs aren't doing anything. This is usually expressed as conflict. Check to see if the desires of your rulers above are mutually exclusive - maybe Fred seeks to defeat Trevor to show his people that he's stronger than the most-respected chief around, or Susan's tribe is under assault by the spirits and she needs to raid other tribes for captives to sacrifice.

Step 6: Upwards mobility
What are the goals of the PCs? if they can come up with their own, that's great. But what's a generic adventurer got to do around here? It helps to create a social class to place the PCs into. In Faerun, "adventurer" is a job. In this setting, there's not enough surplus to support such a social class - but there are plenty of hunters. And hunters have a clear mission - track and slay tasty beasties. While the society may lack gold, descriptions of lavish trophies decorating Fred's yurt should motivate the PCs to get their own dire bear skins and mammoth tusks.

And now you're all set! A world filled with stuff, and a clear vector for the PCs to interact with that stuff.

[Knaight]

How improvisational are you? If you're more improvisational you can cobble a setting together and just keep building it ahead of the players, particularly if you're not focused on deep immersion role-playing and complex plots. It also helps to have a small scale, at least at any given time.