You may wish to build your own world. It’s a challenging and rewarding task, but it can also be a time-consuming one. Once you have decided to create your own world, you face a number of choices. Do you make it like the real world, drawing from history and real-world knowledge, or do you create something completely different? Do you draw from your favorite fictional setting or create it all on your own? Do the laws of physics work as we know them, or is the world flat with a dome of stars overhead? Do you use the standard races, classes, and equipment in the Player’s Handbook, or do you create new ones? The questions alone are daunting, but for those who love world-building, they are also exciting.
So where do you start? There are two approaches to creating a campaign world.
Inside Out: Start with a small area and build outward. Don’t even worry about what the whole world looks like, or even the kingdom. Concentrate first on a single village or town, preferably with a dungeon or other adventure site nearby. Expand slowly and only as needed. When the PCs are ready to leave the initial area (which might not be for ten or more playing sessions, depending on your first adventures), expand outward in all directions so you’re ready no matter which way they go. Eventually, you will have an entire kingdom developed, with the whole derived from what follows from the initial starting point. Proceed to other neighboring lands, determining the political situation in each one. Keep accurate notes as you play, for you may develop rumors of hostilities with a neighboring kingdom before you ever develop the kingdom itself!
The advantage to this method is that you don’t need to do a lot of work to get started. Whip up a small area—probably with a small community—design an adventure, and go. This method also ensures that you won’t develop areas of the campaign that are never visited by the PCs and that you can develop things (and change your mind) as you go.
Outside In: Start with the big picture—draw a map of an entire continent or a portion thereof. Alternatively, you could start with a grand design for how a number of kingdoms and nations interact or the outline of a vast empire. You could even start with a cosmology, deciding how the deities interact with the world, where the world is positioned in relation with other worlds, and what the world as a whole looks like. Only after you have this level of concept design worked out should you focus on a particular area.
When you begin more detailed work, start with large-scale basics and work down to small-scale details. For example, after you have constructed your continent map, pick a single kingdom and create the ruler or rulers and the general conditions. From there, focus on some substate or region within the kingdom, develop who and what lives there (and why), and pepper the region with a few hooks and secrets for later development. Finally, once you get down to the small scale—a single community, a particular patch of forest or valley, or wherever you choose to start the campaign—develop the area in great detail. The specifics of the small area should reflect and tie back to the basics you have set up for the larger areas.
This method ensures that once you have started the campaign, you’re already well on your way to having a complete setting. When things are moving along quickly in the campaign, you can focus on the characters and individual adventures, because the world is mostly done. This method also allows you to use foreshadowing of larger events, faraway places, and grander adventures early on in the campaign.
Campaigns need worlds. Worlds have geography. This means that when creating your world, you need to place the mountains, the oceans, the rivers, the towns, the secret fortresses, the haunted forests, the enchanted places, and all the other locales and features.
If you want a realistic world, use encyclopedias and atlases to learn more about topography, climate, and geography (natural and political). You only need the basics to create a fantasy world, unless you or your players are sticklers for accuracy. Research and learn as much as you need to create a world that will please your players. In general, however, if you know a little about how terrain affects climate, how different types of terrain interact (mountains usually follow coastlines, for example), and how both climate and terrain determine where people usually live, that should be enough.
When you’re done, you can create the map or maps you need for your campaign.
There are three different climate types and eight different terrain types that you need to be concerned with in the D&D game, although you could create additional types for your own world. These climate and terrain types are those referenced in monster descriptions in the Monster Manual and in the wilderness encounter lists found in Chapter 3: Adventures.
You should assign each region of your world a climate/terrain type to designate what sort of landscape it has, what seasons and weather conditions prevail there, and what creatures inhabit the area.
Some of these types are incompatible. For example, without some sort of magical event, you won’t find a tropical rain forest (a warm climate zone) next to an arctic plain (a cold climate zone). Some terrain types are much more habitable to the common races from which PCs are derived than others, although all have monsters, animals, and intelligent creatures native to them.
Cold: This climate type describes arctic and subarctic areas. Any area that has winter conditions for a larger portion of the year than any other seasonal variation is cold.
Temperate: This climate type describes areas that have alternating warm and cold seasons of approximately equal length.
Warm: This climate type describes tropical and subtropical areas. Any area that has summer conditions for a larger portion of the year than any other seasonal variation is warm.
Aquatic: This terrain type is composed of fresh or salt water.
Desert: This terrain type describes any dry area with sparse vegetation.
Plains: Any fairly flat area that is not a desert, marsh, or forest is considered plains.
Forest: Any area covered with trees is forest terrain.
Hills: Any area with rugged but not mountainous terrain is hills terrain.
Mountains: Rugged terrain that is higher in elevation than hills is considered mountains.
Marsh: Low, flat, waterlogged areas are marsh terrain.
Underground: Subterranean areas are designated as underground terrain.
Once you have determined the lay of the land, you can develop what lives where.
The Monster Manual gives a climate/terrain type for each kind of creature. With that information to work with, decide which creatures live where within each region of your world. If you have room on your map to mark such information, do so. It will help you keep track of things later on, both when determining random encounters and when developing adventure plots. For example, if you know that the PCs are on their way to the village of Thorris, you can see that living in the marsh nearby are hags, harpies, and a black dragon that the travelers might encounter. You can also use this information to create an adventure involving Thorris and the black dragon in which the dragon coerces the trolls to attack the people living there.
Considering the ecology issues of the marsh helps you explain the creatures’ existences. What do the hags eat? What about the harpies? They must compete for resources, so do they avoid each other, or do they fight? The world is a predator-heavy one, based on the creatures described in the Monster Manual. Designing your world’s ecology means coming up with a way to make sense of how it all works together. Perhaps there’s bountiful prey in most areas that an overall abundance of vibrant, energy-rich plant life might help explain. Perhaps the predators prey upon each other. You don’t have to design a complete food chain, but giving thought to some ecology issues will help you answer player questions later—and that will help make your world seem real to them.
Once the geography is determined, you can populate your world. This step is more important than monster placement and general ecology, not only because the PCs will spend more time in civilized areas, but also because the players have real-world experiences to measure their game experiences against when they’re among other people.
People, in general, live in the most convenient places possible. They try to place their communities near sources of water and food, in comfortable climates, and close to sources of transportation (seas, rivers, flat land to build roads on, and so on). Of course, exceptions exist, such as a town in the desert, an isolated community in the mountains, and a secret city in the middle of a forest or at the top of a mesa. But there is also always a reason for those exceptions: The city at the top of the mesa is placed there for defense, and the isolated community in the mountains exists because the people there want to cut themselves off from the rest of the world.
The Random Town Generation table shows a breakdown of different community sizes. Small communities are much more common than larger ones. In general, the number of people living in small towns and larger communities should be about 1⁄10 to 1⁄15 the number living in villages, hamlets, thorps, or outside a community at all. You might create a metropolis at the civilized center of the world with 100,000 people, but such a community should be the exception, not the rule. The more closely a city’s location conforms to the ideal parameters (near food and water, in a comfortable climate, close to sources of transportation), the larger it can become. A secret city on top of a mesa might exist, but it’s unlikely to be a metropolis. People living in cities need food, so if no nearby sources of food (farms, plenty of wild animals, herds of livestock) are present, the community needs efficient transportation sources to ship food in. It needs some other renewable resource as well, such as nearby forests to harvest for timber or minerals to mine, to produce something to exchange for the imported food.
Small, agricultural-based communities are likely to surround a larger city and help to supply the city population with food. In such cases, the larger community is probably a source of defense (a walled town, a castle, a community fielding a large number of deployable troops) that inhabitants of surrounding communities can seek refuge in or rely on to defend them in times of need.
Sometimes, a number of nearby small communities clump together with no large community at the center. These small villages and hamlets form a support network, and the local lord often boasts a centrally located castle or fortress used as a defensible place to which the villagers can flee when threatened.
On a larger scale, the borders of kingdoms and countries usually coincide with physical, geographical barriers. Countries that draw boundaries through plains, farms, and undulating hills usually fight a lot of battles over such borders and have to redraw the borders frequently until they coincide with natural barriers. Therefore, mountain ranges, rivers, or abrupt landscape changes should usually mark the borders between lands in your world.
When the PCs come into a town and you need to generate facts about that town quickly, you can use the following material. To randomly determine the size of a community, roll on the table below.
| d% | Town Size | Population1 | GP Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01–10 | Thorp | 20–80 | 40 gp |
| 11–30 | Hamlet | 81–400 | 100 gp |
| 31–50 | Village | 401–900 | 200 gp |
| 51–70 | Small town | 901–2,000 | 800 gp |
| 71–85 | Large town | 2,001–5,000 | 3,000 gp |
| 86–95 | Small city | 5,001–12,000 | 15,000 gp |
| 96–99 | Large city | 12,001–25,000 | 40,000 gp |
| 100 | Metropolis | 25,001 or more | 100,000 gp |
|
Every community has a gold piece limit based on its size and population. The gold piece limit (see the Random Town Generation table) is an indicator of the price of the most expensive item available in that community. Nothing that costs more than a community’s gp limit is available for purchase in that community. Anything having a price under that limit is most likely available, whether it be mundane or magical. While exceptions are certainly possible (a boomtown near a newly discovered mine, a farming community impoverished after a prolonged drought), these exceptions are temporary; all communities will conform to the norm over time.
To determine the amount of ready cash in a community, or the total value of any given item of equipment for sale at any given time, multiply half the gp limit by 1⁄10 of the community’s population. For example, suppose a band of adventurers brings a bagful of loot (one hundred gems, each worth 50 gp) into a hamlet of 90 people. Half the hamlet’s gp limit times 1⁄10 its population equals 450 (100 ÷ 2 = 50; 90 ÷ 10 = 9; 50 × 9 = 450). Therefore, the PCs can only convert nine of their recently acquired gems to coins on the spot before exhausting the local cash reserves. The coins will not be all bright, shiny gold pieces. They should include a large number of battered and well-worn silver pieces and copper pieces as well, especially in a small or poor community.
If those same adventurers hope to buy longswords (price 15 gp each) for their mercenary hirelings, they’ll discover that the hamlet can offer only 30 such swords for sale, because the same 450 gp limit applies whether you’re buying or selling in a given community.
Sometimes all the DM needs to know about a community is who holds the real power. To determine this fact randomly, use the table below, modifying the d20 roll according to the size of the community. As indicated in the list of modifiers, any community the size of a small city or larger has more than one power center. The types of power centers—conventional, monstrous, nonstandard, and magical—are defined below.
| Community Size | Modifier to d20 roll |
|---|---|
| Thorp | –1 |
| Hamlet | +0 |
| Village | +1 |
| Small town | +2 |
| Large town | +3 |
| Small city | +4 (roll twice) |
| Large city | +5 (roll three times) |
| Metropolis | +6 (roll four times) |
| d20 | Power Center Type |
|---|---|
| 13 or less | Conventional1 |
| 14-18 | Nonstandard |
| 19 or more | Magical |
Conventional: The community has a traditional form of government—a mayor, a town council, a noble ruling over the surrounding area under a greater liege, a noble ruling the community as a city-state. Choose whichever form of government seems most appropriate to the area.
Monstrous: Consider the impact on a community of a dragon that occasionally makes nonnegotiable demands and insists on being consulted in major decisions, or a nearby ogre tribe that must be paid a monthly tribute, or a mind flayer secretly controlling the minds of many of the townsfolk. A monstrous power center represents any influence (beyond just a simple nearby danger) held by a monstrous being or beings not native to the community.
Nonstandard: While the community may have a mayor or a town council, the real power lies in other hands. It may center on a guild—a formal organization of merchants, craftsmen, professionals, thieves, assassins, or warriors who collectively wield great influence. An aristocracy, in the form of one or more rich individuals with no political office, may exert influence through wealth. A prestigious aristocracy, such as a group of accomplished adventurers, may exert influence through their reputation and experience. Wise elders may exert influence over those who respect their age, reputation, and perceived wisdom.
Magical: This type of power center can take the form of a temple full of priests or a single sorcerer cloistered in a tower. A wizard or cleric might be the actual, official ruler of the town, or she may just be someone with a great deal of influence.
The alignment of the ruler or rulers of a community need not conform to the alignment of all or even the majority of the residents, although this is usually the case. In any case, the alignment of the power center strongly shapes the residents’ daily lives. Due to their generally organized and organizing nature, most power centers are lawful.
To randomly determine the alignment of a power center, roll d% and refer to the table below. How a power center of a given alignment acts, or how it is perceived by the community, is discussed following the table.
| d% | Alignment | d% | Alignment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-35 | Lawful good | 64 | Chaotic neutral | |
| 36-39 | Neutral good | 65-90 | Lawful evil | |
| 40-41 | Chaotic good | 91-98 | Neutral evil | |
| 42-61 | Lawful neutral | 99-100 | Chaotic evil | |
| 62-63 | True neutral |
Lawful Good: A community with a lawful good power center usually has a codified set of laws, and most people willingly obey those laws.
Neutral Good: A neutral good power center rarely influences the residents of the community other than to help them when they are in need.
Chaotic Good: This sort of power center influences the community by helping the needy and opposing restrictions on freedom.
Lawful Neutral: A community with a lawful neutral power center has a codified set of laws that are followed to the letter. Those in power usually insist that visitors (as well as residents) obey all local rules and regulations.
True Neutral: This sort of power center rarely influences the community. Those in power prefer to pursue their private goals.
Chaotic Neutral: This sort of power center is unpredictable, influencing the community in different ways at different times.
Lawful Evil: A community with a lawful evil power center usually has a codified set of laws, which most people obey out of fear of harsh punishment.
Neutral Evil: The residents of a community with a neutral evil power center are usually oppressed and subjugated, facing a dire future.
Chaotic Evil: The residents of a community with a chaotic evil power center live in abject fear because of the unpredictable and horrific situations continually placed upon them.
If a community has more than one power center, and two or more of the power centers have opposing alignments (either good vs. evil or law vs. chaos), they conflict in some way. Such conflict is not always open, and sometimes the conflicting power centers grudgingly get along.
For example, a small city contains a powerful chaotic good wizards’ guild but is ruled by a lawful good aristocrat. The wizards are sometimes exasperated by the strict laws imposed by the aristocrat ruler and occasionally break or circumvent them when it serves their (well-intentioned) purposes. Most of the time, though, a representative from the guild takes their concerns and disagreements to the aristocrat, who attempts to equitably resolve any problems.
Another example: A large city contains a powerful lawful evil fighter, a lawful good temple, and a chaotic evil aristocrat. The selfish aristocrat is concerned only with his own gain and his debauched desires. The fighter gathers a small legion of warriors, hoping to oust the aristocrat and take control of the city herself. Meanwhile, the clerics of the powerful temple help the citizenry as well as they can, never directly confronting the aristocrat but aiding and abetting those who suffer at his hands.
It’s often important to know who makes up the community’s authority structure. The authority structure does not necessarily indicate who’s in charge, but instead who keeps order and enforces the authority that exists.
Constable/Captain of the Guard/Sheriff: This position generally devolves upon the highest-level warrior in a community, or one of the highest-level fighters. To randomly determine the class and level of a community’s constable, roll d% and refer to the following table.
| d% | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| 01-60 | Highest-level warrior |
| 61-80 | Second highest-level fighter |
| 81-100 | Highest-level fighter |
Use the tables in the next section to determine the constable’s level.
Guards/Soldiers: For every 100 people in the community (round down), the community has one full-time guard or soldier.
In addition, for every 20 people in the community, an able-bodied member of the local militia or a conscript soldier can be brought into service within just a few hours.
For detailed city play, knowing exactly who lives in the community becomes important. The following guidelines allow you to determine the levels of the most powerful locals and then extrapolate from that to determine the rest of the classed characters living there.
Highest-Level NPC in the Community for Each Class: Use the following tables to determine the highest-level character in a given class for a given community. Determine the appropriate community modifier by consulting the first table below; then refer to the second table, roll the dice indicated for the class, and apply the modifier to get a result.
A result of 0 or lower for character level means that no characters of that kind can be found in the community. The maximum level for any class is 20th.
Use the following method for determining the levels of all the characters in a community of any given class.
For PC classes, if the highest-level character indicated is 2nd level or higher, assume the community has twice that number of characters of half that level. If those characters are higher than 1st level, assume that for each such character, the community has two of half that level. Continue until the number of 1st-level characters is generated. For example, if the highest-level fighter is 5th level, then the community also has two 3rd-level fighters and four 1st-level fighters.
Do the same for NPC classes, but leave out the final stage that would generate the number of 1st-level individuals. Instead, take the remaining population after all other characters are generated and divide it up so that 91% are commoners, 5% are warriors, 3% are experts, and the remaining 1% is equally divided between aristocrats and adepts (0.5% each). All these characters are 1st level.
Using these guidelines and the tables in the previous section, the breakdown by class and level for the population of a typical hamlet of two hundred people looks like this:
| Community Size | Community Modifier | |
|---|---|---|
| Thorp | –31 | |
| Hamlet | –21 | |
| Village | –1 | |
| Small town | +0 | |
| Large town | +3 | |
| Small city | +6 (roll twice)2 | |
| Large city | +9 (roll three times)2 | |
| Metropolis | +12 (roll four times)2 | |
| ||
| Class | Character Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Adept | 1d6 + community modifier | |
| Aristocrat | 1d4 + community modifier | |
| Barbarian1 | 1d4 + community modifier | |
| Bard | 1d6 + community modifier | |
| Cleric | 1d6 + community modifier | |
| Commoner | 4d4 + community modifier | |
| Druid | 1d6 + community modifier | |
| Expert | 3d4 + community modifier | |
| Fighter | 1d8 + community modifier | |
| Monk1 | 1d4 + community modifier | |
| Paladin | 1d3 + community modifier | |
| Ranger | 1d3 + community modifier | |
| Rogue | 1d8 + community modifier | |
| Sorcerer | 1d4 + community modifier | |
| Warrior | 2d4 + community modifier | |
| Wizard | 1d4 + community modifier | |
| ||
In addition to the residents you generate using the system described above, you might decide that a community has some sort of special resident, such as the single, out-of-place 15th-level sorcerer who lives just outside a thorp of fifty people, or the secret assassins’ guild brimming with high-level characters hidden in a small town. Residents such as these that you create “on the fly” do not count against the highest-level characters who are actually part of the community.
The racial mix of a community depends on whether the community is isolated (little traffic and interaction with other races and places), mixed (moderate traffic and interaction with other races and places), or integrated (lots of interaction with other races and places).
| Isolated | Mixed | Integrated | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96% human | 79% human | 37% human | |
| 2% halfling | 9% halfling | 20% halfling | |
| 1% elf | 5% elf | 18% elf | |
| 1% other races | 3% dwarf | 10% dwarf | |
| 2% gnome | 7% gnome | ||
| 1% half-elf | 5% half-elf | ||
| 1% half-orc | 3% half-orc |
If the area’s dominant race is other than human, place that race in the top spot, put humans in the #2 rank, and push each other race down one rank. For example, in a dwarven town, the population is 96% dwarf, 2% human, 1% halfling, and 1% other races. (All dwarven communities are isolated.) You may also change the figures slightly to reflect various racial preferences. For example, a mixed elven village is 79% elf, 9% human, 5% halfling, 3% dwarf, 2% gnome and 2% half-elf (with no half-orcs). You might decide to switch the percentages of gnomes and dwarves for an elven community.
Although treasure is what’s important to PCs, you should have a fair grasp of the economic system that surrounds the treasure they earn, as well as the prices charged for services, equipment, and magic items. Economics in your campaign doesn’t have to be convoluted or tedious, but it should at least be internally consistent. If the price of a broadsword in Thorris is 20 gp, it shouldn’t suddenly shoot up to 200 gp without some explanation, such as the flow of metal or ore being cut off, the only smiths in 100 miles all being killed in a terrible accident, or something equally bizarre.
The economic system in the D&D game is based on the silver piece (sp). A common laborer earns 1 sp a day. That’s just enough to allow his family to survive, assuming that this income is supplemented with food his family grows to eat, homemade clothing, and a reliance on self-sufficiency for most tasks (personal grooming, health, animal tending, and so on).
In your campaign, however, the PCs will deal primarily with gold pieces. The gold piece (gp) is a larger, more substantial unit of currency. The main reason why PCs typically receive and spend gold pieces is that, as adventurers, they take much larger risks than common folk and earn much larger rewards if they survive.
Many of the people with whom adventurers interact also deal primarily in gold. Weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, and spellcasters all make more money (sometimes far more money) than common people. Spellcasters willing to make magic items or cast spells for hire can make a lot of money, although expenditures of personal power (experience points) are often involved, and the demand for such expensive items is unsteady at best and can be depended on only in large cities. Nobles with whom the PCs might interact also deal mostly in gold, since they purchase whole ships and buildings and finance caravans and even armies using such currency.
Some economies have other forms of currency, such as trade bars or letters of credit representing various amounts of gold that are backed by powerful governments, guilds, or other organizations to insure their worth. Some economies even use coins of different metals: electrum, iron, or even tin. In some lands, it’s even permissible to cut a gold coin in half to make a separate unit of currency out of a half gold piece.
Taxes paid to the queen, the emperor, or the local baroness might consume as much as one-fifth of a character’s wealth (although these expenses can vary considerably from land to land). Representatives of the government usually collect taxes yearly, biannually, or quarterly. Of course, as travelers, adventurers might avoid most collection periods (and so you can ignore taxes for the PCs if you want). Those who own land or a residence may find themselves assessed and taxed, however.
Tithes are paid to the church by those who are faithful participants in a religion. Tithes often amount to as much as one-tenth of a character’s adventuring earnings, but collection is voluntary except in strict, oppressive religions that have their own tithe collectors. Such onerous religious taxation requires the support of the government.
Characters who find their saddlebags full of ancient coin or foreign money probably need to exchange their wealth for the local currency before they can spend any of it. In a setting in which dozens of small nations and kingdoms are crowded close together, the moneychanger is the person at the hub of the economic system. Typically, a moneychanger charges a fee of one-tenth of the starting sum in order to convert currency. For example, if a character has a pouch full of 100 platinum pieces (pp) that she needs to convert to gold pieces, the moneychanger charges 10 pp for the conversion. The character receives 900 gp, and the moneychanger keeps the rest.
The law of supply and demand can drastically affect the value of any currency. If characters start flashing around a lot of gold and pumping it into the local economy, merchants may quickly raise prices.
This isn’t a matter of gouging the rich—it’s just the way a small economy works. A tavernkeeper who makes 100 gp from boarding a group of successful adventurers spends his newfound wealth just as the heroes did, and in a small town, everyone starts spending more in a short time. More spending means higher consumption, so goods and services become harder to come by, and prices increase.
Supply and demand can also affect the campaign in ways that don’t have anything directly to do with gold. For instance, if the local lord commandeered most of the region’s horses for his knights, then when the PCs decide to purchase half a dozen fine steeds, they find there aren’t any to be had at a reasonable price. They have to settle for second-rate nags or spend much more than they had planned to in order to convince someone to part with a horse.
Intrigue between kingdoms, city-states at war, and political maneuvering are all fun aspects of many campaigns. For your own campaign, you at least need to determine who is in charge where. If there’s any chance that rulers, nobility, and politics in general will become more involved than that, use the following material as a starting point. As always, research into real-world political systems and structures (particularly historical examples) can enrich your fictional setting. At the same time, don’t be afraid to make up something wholly new and completely nonhistorical.
The number of possible political systems is nearly limitless. Feel free to use more than one type for different lands. Such mixing and matching accentuates the differences in place and culture.
Note that any of the political systems listed below might be matriarchies (ruled only by women) or patriarchies (ruled only by men), but most make no such distinctions.
Monarchy: Monarchy is rule by a single leader. The monarch wields supreme power, sometimes even by divine right. Monarchs belong to royal bloodlines, and successors to the throne are almost always drawn from blood relatives. Rarely, a monarch rules with power granted by a mandate of the populace, usually established through representatives chosen by noble houses. The monarchy is likely to be the most common political system in your campaign.
Monarchs often have advisors and a court of nobles who work with them to administer the land. This arrangement creates a class system of nobles and nonnobles. Common people in such a land often do not have many of the rights and privileges of the nobility.
Tribal or Clan Structure: A tribe or clan usually has a single leader who wields great—almost absolute—power like the monarch in a monarchy. Although rulership is often drawn from a single bloodline, rulers are chosen based on their fitness to govern. They are also continually judged on this criterion and replaced if found wanting. Usually a council of elders exists to choose and judge the leader. In fact, the council is often convened only for this purpose. Sometimes the council also advises the chief or leader.
Tribes exist as a social structure by grouping together otherwise disparate family units and uniting them for strength and the advantages of working together. Clans are similar in function but carry the added distinction of being extended family units. In both cases, the group usually interacts with other tribes and clans, and often has particular laws and customs about how certain clans within a tribe must interact or how the tribe must interact with other tribes.
Feudalism: Feudalism is a complicated class-based system with successive layers of lieges and lackeys. It often exists under a monarchy. Serfs (peasants) work for a landed lord, who in turn owes fealty to a higher lord, who in turn owes fealty to an even higher lord, and so on, until the line reaches the supreme liege lord, who is usually a monarch.
The common people in a feudal state are always lowly and without rights. They are virtually owned by their immediate liege. Lords are generally free to abuse their power and exploit those under them as they see fit.
Republic: A republic is a system of government headed by politicians representing the people. The representatives of a republic rule as a single body, usually some sort of council or senate, which votes on issues and policies. Sometimes the representatives are appointed, and sometimes they are elected. The welfare of the people depends solely on the level of corruption among the representatives. In a mainly good-aligned republic, conditions can be quite pleasant. An evil republic is as terrible a place to live as a land under the grip of a tyrant.
In an advanced republic, the people directly elect the representatives. This type of republic is often called a democracy. In such lands, the right to vote becomes a class-based privilege. Citizenship might be a status that can be bought or earned, it might be granted automatically to those born in the location governed by the republic, or it might only transfer via bloodline. Because having the entire populace vote on representatives is cumbersome, this political system usually works only in small areas, such as a city-state.
Magocracy: In a magocracy, those who wield arcane magic have a large amount of political power. The ruler is usually the most powerful wizard or sorcerer in the land, although sometimes the ruler is merely a member of a royal bloodline who must be an arcane spellcaster. Thus, such a system could be a monarchy, and the viable heir to the throne would be the oldest member of the bloodline capable of casting spells. In a true magocracy in which the ruler is the most powerful spellcaster, the monarch may be challenged at certain specific times each year by contenders who believe themselves to be more powerful than she is.
In a magocracy, arcane spellcasters usually have the most rights and freedoms, and nonspellcasters are looked down upon. Divine spellcasters sometimes are outlawed, but usually they are treated as secondary to arcane spellcasters (although still higher in station than those who cast no spells). Such societies are often magic-rich. They are likely to have colleges that teach the intricacies of spellcasting, and magic-using units in their military organizations. They may use magic for even mundane tasks. Very rarely, a magocracy treats magic in the opposite way, as a closely guarded secret. Nonnoble arcane spellcasters would then be forbidden.
Theocracy: A theocracy is a political system in which clerics (or druids) rule. The ruler is the direct representative of the deity or deities that the theocracy is based upon. Most theocracies are similar to monarchies, but once a ruler is chosen, he normally remains in the position for life. The people cannot question the word of a deity or his representative.
Some theocracies see their leaders as ascending to divinity or semidivinity in and of themselves. Past (and sometimes present) rulers are worshiped as deities. Such rulers wield absolute power, and their bloodline carries the divine right to rule, so their successors are chosen from their descendants. A ruler doesn’t need to be a cleric in such a case (although he often is), since he is not a divine representative but a deity. In such a theocracy, it’s possible that even an infant can be chosen as a ruler if he has divine blood.
Others: It’s not too difficult to imagine a political system based on rule by other classes, by the oldest, the strongest, or the wealthiest. For your world, use whatever criteria you wish to determine the political structure of a group. Most of the time, however, the stranger the criterion, the smaller the group. For example, a kingdom where the ruler is determined by a test of skill, intelligence, and stamina might be expansive, but a land where the ruler is the most talented bard would probably be small. Being able to play the lute well is impressive, but it doesn’t necessarily ensure fitness to rule.
Human societies run the gamut of different political structures. Other races seem to favor one or a few over the others.
Dwarves: Dwarves usually form monarchies, although a few theocracies dedicated to dwarven gods are possible. Dwarves are extremely lawful and rigid in their politics, fearing lawlessness and anarchy. They value order and security over personal freedom, and thus are inclined to judge political matters on what’s best for the greatest number concerned. Dwarven societies usually have a strict and exacting code of laws.
Elves: Elves are likely to live within monarchies as well. Of all races, however, elves are the most likely to adopt a magocracy. Elves prize individual freedom and fear tyrants. Elf rulers judge each situation and case individually rather than according to a strict, codified set of laws.
Gnomes: Gnomes favor small monarchies, although gnome democracies, gnome republics, and gnome clans exist as well. Like halflings, gnomes have less need for a strong government and enjoy personal freedom. Gnome kings and queens usually have only a small impact on the daily life of their subjects, and they usually do not carry as elevated a status above the common gnome as a human regent might over her human subjects.
Halflings: Since they are usually nomadic and most often live in small groups, halflings prefer a sort of tribal or clan system. Rulership is often bestowed upon the eldest member of a group, although most halflings rule with a light touch. True halfling leadership is based around the family unit, with parents giving direction to children. Halflings, more than any other race, seem to naturally work well with each other. They have little need for a strong ruling hand or a codified set of laws to maintain order and peace.
Orcs and Other Chaotic Evil Cultures: Orcs are usually too wild and corrupt to value a strict system of government other than rule by the strong. Orc leaders rule by intimidation and threats and thus usually command only a small populace. (Orc nations are rare.) If an orc leader fails to rule, it is because he was weak. Most chaotic evil cultures tend to have small populations unless many individuals are cowed by a single powerful master.
Goblins and Other Lawful Evil Cultures: Goblins live in tribal communities that bear the trappings of monarchy. The truth, however, is that their government is rulership by the strong. If a goblin ruler can be killed, his killer usually takes his place. Lawful evil humanoids often use a similar system, although kobolds often establish magocracies, and more sophisticated cultures frequently develop codified laws and rules of succession. Such complex societies are rife with backstabbing and betrayals, though, exemplifying the very definition of Byzantine politics.
Sometimes high-level characters build their own castles and establish their own territories. This usually occurs either on land granted to them by a ruler or in an area of relatively unclaimed wilderness that they have cleared. A just or generous character is likely to draw people toward her stronghold or cleared area. Before she knows it, she’s a ruler.
How the character governs is completely up to her. However, the NPCs involved will react appropriately to character actions and decrees. In exchange for protection, plots of land, and fair rulership, a character can expect to collect taxes or tithes from those she rules. Neglect, mistreatment, or overtaxation of the populace can lead to a revolt, which might take the form of an appeal to another more powerful lord to depose or conquer the character, hired assassins making attempts against the character’s life, or an outright uprising in which the peasants wield their pitchforks against their ruler.
In reality, however, such events are rare. More often than not, people live with the ruler that they have—for good or ill—for a long time. Those under a poor or unjust ruler will suffer for months or years before they feel compelled to act.
You don’t have to develop a legal code for each country you invent. Assume common-sense laws are in place. Murder, assault, theft, and treason are illegal and are punishable by imprisonment or death. As long as the laws make sense and the authorities are fairly consistent in enforcing them (or it’s clear why they’re not consistent), the players won’t think twice about the law. Develop a few unusual laws as points of interest, such as these examples.
Some places might have laws that directly affect adventurers. These laws might specify which weapons can be owned or carried by nonnobles or prohibit the use of some weapons even by nobles, restricting their use to the royal guard. These laws might restrict or prohibit magic use. They might limit the number of well-armed people who can gather publicly without a permit or sanction. All these laws would be put in place if the ruler or rulers of the area were concerned about powerful people roaming around uncontrolled—a legitimate worry to those in power. No king, duke, or mayor is going to want independent adventurers to be more powerful than his own guards, lackeys, or troops (and thus himself ) unless he trusts them absolutely or has some way to control them.
Most societies are, to one degree or another, class-based. Use these easy definitions for the typical society.
Upper Class: Nobles, the wealthiest of merchants, and the most important leaders (guildmasters, for example) make up the upper class. Lawmakers, administrators, and other officials are drawn from this class. Having noble blood or being a member of a wealthy merchant family allows entrance into the class by birth, while attaining wealth or significant position can raise one to this status.
By virtue of their wealth, adventurers are likely to rise to the upper class quickly. However, they may be rejected by other members of the upper class based on how society around them views sword-wielding, spell-slinging, self-governing mercenaries. Other members of the upper class might look upon adventurers as heroes, but they are just as likely to look upon them as dangerous threats to public safety (as well as their personal safety) and to the existing sociopolitical structure.
Middle Class: Merchants, master artisans, educated professionals, and most significant guild members make up the middle class. Lesser officials such as tax collectors and town clerks are sometimes drawn from the middle class. This status is normally based on one’s occupation and education. Its primary determinant for membership is not birth, but wealth.
Lower Class: Tradesfolk, journeymen, laborers, subsistence farmers, impoverished freeholders, personal servants, and virtually everyone else are members of the lower class. Members of the lower class tend to be poorer and less educated than middle-class people. While sometimes a council of elders or some similar body exists to watch over the interests of and argue for the lower class, most of the time no officials or lawmakers come from these ranks. Slaves: Some cultures (usually evil ones) practice slavery. Slaves are lower in station than even members of the lower class. Though they need not be uneducated or even unskilled, most slaves are laborers or servants.
Some DMs create cities in their campaigns that function just like medieval historical towns. They are populated by people who aren’t accustomed to (or who don’t believe in) magic, who don’t know anything about magical or mythical monsters, and who have never seen a magic item.
This sort of creative work is a mistake. It will cause your players serious strain in their belief in the reality of your world for them to see that they wield spells and magic items, and the lands and dungeons surrounding the city are filled with magic and monsters, but yet in the middle of the city everything looks and acts like Europe during the Middle Ages.
The presence of magic in your game world forces you to deviate from a truly historical setting. When you create anything for your world, the idea that magic could possibly alter it should be in the back of your mind. Would the king simply surround his castle with a wall when levitate and fly spells are common? How do the guards of the treasury make sure that someone doesn’t just teleport in or slip through the walls while ethereal?
Unless you are going to run a divergent game of some sort, magic is prevalent enough in the world that it will always be taken into account by smart individuals. A merchant wouldn’t be flabbergasted by the idea that someone might try to steal from her while invisible. A swindler would be aware that someone might be able to detect his thoughts or his lies.
Magic shouldn’t be something that common people are unaware of. Spellcasters may be fairly rare in the big picture, but they’re common enough that people know that when Uncle Rufus falls off the back of the wagon, they could take him to the temple to have the priests heal the wound (although the average peasant probably couldn’t afford the price). Only the most isolated farmer might not see magic or the results of magic regularly.
Here are a few points to consider when fitting magic into your world.
Magic items all have prices. The assumption is that, while they tend to be rare, magic items can be bought and sold as any other commodity can be. The prices given are far beyond the reach of almost everyone, but the very rich, including mid- to high-level PCs, can buy and sell these items or even have spellcasters make them to order. In very large cities, some shops might specialize in magic items if their clientele is very wealthy or includes a large number of adventurer (and such shops would have lots of magical protections to ward away thieves). Magic items might even be available in normal markets and shops occasionally. For example, a weaponsmith might have a few magic weapons for sale along with her normal wares.
Just because magic works and most people are aware of it doesn’t mean they know exactly how it works or when it’s in effect. Superstitions (ritual activity that doesn’t produce actual results) are still likely to be common. To add some flavor to your world and provide details that convey both the quirks and underlying fears and concerns of a society, invent some superstitions (or adapt some from the real world). Consider the following ideas to get you started.
In some civilized areas, the use of magic might be restricted or prohibited. A license might be required, or perhaps official permission from the local ruler would enable a spellcaster to use his powers, but without such permission, magic use is forbidden. In such a place, magic items and in-place magical effects are rare, but protections against magic might not be.
Some localities might prohibit specific spells. It could be a crime to cast any spells used to steal or swindle, such as those that bestow invisibility or produce illusions. Enchantments (particularly charm spells, compulsion effects, suggestion spells, and domination effects) tend to be readily forbidden, since they rob their subjects of free will. Destructive spells are likewise prohibited, for obvious reason. A local ruler could have a phobia about a specific effect or spell (such as polymorph effects if she were afraid of being impersonated) and enact a law restricting that type of magic.
No force affects society more strongly than religion. You need to match the religions in your world with the societies you present. How does the priesthood interact with the populace? What do most people think of the religion, the deity, or the clerics? Most of the time, in addition to serving a deity, a religion is geared toward filling some niche in society: recordkeeping, officiating at ceremonies, judging disputes, tending the poor or sick, defending the community, educating the young, keeping knowledge, preserving customs, and so on.
Sometimes a religious hierarchy is not unified. You can create interesting political intrigues by placing different factions of clerics of the same deity in opposition based on doctrine or approach (or even alignment). Different orders within the priesthood might be distinguished by different choices of domains. A deity that offers access to the Good, Knowledge, Law, and War domains might have clerics of law and war (the justifiers) opposing those of good and knowledge (the prophets).
You can create your own deities and religions. You’re free to set them up however you please. Deities can exist as individuals or as a unified pantheon that interacts all the time.
Each deity should have a portfolio, which describes a sphere or spheres of influence. Elements of a portfolio can be concepts such as peace or death, events such as war or famine, elements such as fire or water, activities such as travel or entertainment, types of people or professions such as wizards or smiths, as well as races, alignments, places, or outlooks. Deities with similar portfolios may work together or may be in conflict, depending on their alignments and respective power.
The domains that a cleric of a deity can choose from should always be based on the deity’s portfolio. In general, it’s appropriate to assign no more than four domains to any deity. However, some deities might need more that four domains to represent the breadth of their dominion, while others might need just two or three, if they are very focused.
Polytheism is the assumption in the baseline Dungeons & Dragons setting. You could create a monotheistic world, but a strong, singular religion probably wields great political and sociological power (such as what occurred in Europe during the Dark Ages), which is a change with serious implications that might ripple throughout your entire campaign setting.