this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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In a homebrew world how much lore is minimum to have as a player before you feel you can play in it? (ttrpg.network)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Edit sorry I was way to vague and bad explained question. But great explanation everyone.

If you start playing as a player in a homebrew world that I built. How little information would you feel needed to be able read before you can build a character in it?

I have been planing to start looking for players soon but I struggling as I don't want to give them a whole novel of mostly boring lore dump but sending them like two sentients feels just silly.

Not to mention would you as a player like reference to other mediums so you could quickly know what to expect or would you rather have a in game view of it?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'd say I need to know enough to play a character that grew up in that world. Which means I need to understand the things that a person who grew up in the world would know. That includes things like:

  • The biome and general weather conditions of the region I grew up in.
  • Any particularly notable features of my region and its society.
  • The local laws, structure of government, how much respect or obedience I must pay to my betters.
  • General history of the last 25-45 years that affected my region of the world (increase timespan by 50 to 100 years if I am an elf or other long-lived race). This need only be the highlights and things that directly affected my people, not all minutiae.
  • What gods are worshipped, and how are they worshipped. For example, does an average farmer pray exclusively to the god of farming, or do they pray to whichever God is appropriate for the situation they're praying about?
  • Who are the most famous people in the world and why are they famous?
  • Who are the most powerful known people in my region and how powerful are they?
  • What kind of creatures are considered common annoyances, and what kinds are considered serious threats, to villages, towns, and cities respectively?
  • Demographics of my region - what percentage of the population is demihuman, what percentage is of the monstrous humanoid races, etc.
  • What races are considered normal in my region, and which are tolerated, which are reviled, which are kill-on-sight: basically, who are the people of my region racist against?

However, there are things people commonly write in homebrew world documents that I do not need to know. These include:

  • Creation of the world and its gods.
  • History of godly struggles.
  • History of kingdoms and empires that existed more than a couple elven lifetimes ago.
  • Geography of regions not immediately adjacent to my home region.
  • Lineage of Queens and nobles, etc.
  • Cosmology of the planes.

Some of these may be needed for specific characters, but most characters don't need this information because they would not know it.