Once upon a time - The role of History in worldbuilding

"Once Upon A Time..." - the role of history in world-building.
Written by Bill Garrett

Much has been written about NPC motivations and goals - the idea that a non-player character in a game will be more believable once his motives are understood, or at least visible. This same advice applies to the larger setting as well. The difficulties and rewards of clearly mapping out a history of your world at various stages of its development are outlined below.

Authors of new game-worlds have the advantage in that existing precedent does not exist. They are free to draft whatever history suits their fancy and inclinations. If the ancient empire existed five thousand years ago, that's when it existed. If the Blood Elves inhabited the coastline of Kas for fifty years prior to the founding of the Human Empire, that too can become established canon for the world.

World-builders may choose to begin writing at the beginning of the world and work their way forward, exploring the consequences and results of the actions their historical forces take along the way. This sort of approach, if done with reasonable regard to human (or demihuman) nature and the realities of life (albeit with magic and fantastic elements), can lend the maximum verisimilitude to the game-world. It introduces an extra burden on the designer, though, in that the many possible consequences of each choice can lead the designer away from a finished product that maximizes enjoyment of the setting.

Working from the other end often produces more desirable results, in terms of setting satisfaction - decide on the "current conditions" the game-world should present, then establish the causes of those conditions. For example, "the kingdom is in ruins and overrun by monsters" is certainly an era more conducive to adventure than "the kingdom is peaceful and happy". But players with long-term goals revolving around the restoration of that kingdom, for example, will naturally be curious as to how it arrived in its present state (so they can deal with the problem, if it still exists). Beyond that, an appreciation of the glory of a kingdom and an idea of its prior accomplishments will certainly provide players with more interest in participating in that kingdom's story. Thus, the kingdom's fall is preceded by the kingdom's time of flourishing. But what came before that? Many "ancient artifacts" become much more fascinating elements in a game when granted a clear history. Being able to tell players "the sword you now hold was passed through seventy-seven different noble families", and having anecdotes prepared for a selection of those families, will invest a much more palpable sense of the item's history and meaning in the players' minds than a bland summary such as "the sword is very old".

A compromise - establishing a current state of the world, then working both forward and backward - can be time-consuming, and may introduce inconsistencies unless done carefully. However, it can also produce very satisfying results.

Another approach to crafting a world's history comes when a Game Master realizes that his current setting lacks depth of detail. In this case he must supply details, taking into consideration past events. While many Game Masters have exceptionally good memories, even they are prone to overlook or forget details that their players can (and will) call to their attention down the road. For this reason, a retroactive creation of history in a running game is best done with the full cooperation of the player base. The disadvantage to this approach is that it can ruin the "mystery of history" - without new things to learn about, the world's past will become less interesting to players who participated in its creation.

This is not to imply that the world's entire past must spring forth from the very moment a GM realizes the need for some detail expansion. However, a GM who intends to begin a campaign (or who is running a campaign with minimal established history) is advised to keep extensive and detailed notes about what elements he introduces into the game. The more documentation available to him, the more consistent his history-writing efforts will become.

Often, history can serve to provide plot hooks in the current game. For example, if it is discovered that fifty years ago the King's Chancellor sent a mission to the Dragon's Nest without explanation, and thereafter became very secretive and was later implicated in some horribly evil deed, learning this fact will make the players immediately suspicious of their assignment to go to the Dragon's Nest, courtesy of the current Chancellor. Likewise, "you find a +1 greatsword in the treasure horde" is passe'; "you find the hero Hendrik's magical greatsword in the treasure horde" not only adds a level of detail to the item, but may provide an interesting side-story - why did Hendrik's weapon end up here? Perhaps they return it to his family, or to the King or some other important figure with legitimate claim on it. They're out one magical greatsword, certainly - but to some players, the reputation and other roleplaying rewards of such an act may outweigh the value of a simple magic weapon. More asset-minded players may find their characters rewarded by family or King for the weapon's return, if the Game Master wants to offer material compensation.

In short, the values of history are twofold: the addition of believability and the introduction of new story and plot elements. For game-world authors, a believable and consistent history is almost mandatory; for Game Masters, a timeline and map of past events can involve players more fully into the ongoing world. In either case, a clear idea of prior events gives a clearer sense of where the world is moving to (or can move to, based on the players' actions). It imparts a sort of "inertia" to the game, allowing a GM to propel events forward with a clear idea of why and how they are doing so. By looking into a world's past, one gains the ability to see the game's future.