The World Maker - Prototype

After finishing the latest version of Neon Black I wanted to make something small and simple. Another game jam on itch.io caught my eye, so I'm making a game about building a fictional world.

At first I was thinking of designing a game that would give random details about a world, like how it was created, what sort of landmasses it has. Players would move through phases creating factions and a timeline of events. You'd make a world full of details and potential for stories.

But then I took a step back. I considered other role playing games I was thinking of emulating, specifically Dungeon World. In Dungeon World the GM doesn't make a world, doesn't do any prep for the first session. Instead you let the players make their characters, and once they are finished the GM asks them questions about their characters. 

"Where did you come from? Are all elves like you? How did you learn magic? Is that sort of thing common in this world?"

By investigating the characters and why the players made their choices, you create a world full of things that the players and character care about. It's nearly impossible to make a campaign setting that isn't bristling with potential stories when you go through this process. So instead I wanted to try to emulate that.

World Maker is a game where a single player (such as a budding GM) uses a deck of cards to create a kind of artificial first session. You generate characters with their own unique details and history, and then make a world in response to those characters. This teaches people to make a world that compliments player's choices rather than creating your own and trying to get everyone else interested in it. 

So, it's part single player rpg and part training tool for new GMs to make campaign settings.

The prototype version of the game is attached to this post, and the full version will be uploaded to my itch account within the week. As usual, $5 and up patrons will get a copy for free.