Experiences How much worldbuilding is enough for 1x1?

[Onmyoji]

A lot of people like worldbuilding, and like playing original characters in original settings.

The question is directed at 1x1 roleplayers, because for groups having comprehensible worldbuilding is important. The more people there are, the less questions they need to have about what they're doing in rp.

But with 1x1 it's just the two of you. So when you create a new world for your rp, how far do you plan before you actually start the rp? How much do you add after you start? Has it happened that you spent so much time on worldbuilding that the rp never started because you got too distracted or the world became too complex? Or do you just give a basic outline and start the rp, adding details through the rp itself or additional discussions with rp partner? Or do you use both approaches, depending on rp?

Share your stories

 

[rae2nerdy]

So I'm on the high extreme in this regard. I am literally taking a break from roleplaying just so I can get all my various world building projects in a single easy to navigate place. So in this way I do a lot of my world building prior to a roleplay even starting. I will have the basic foundation written up :

Things like how does society work? What is the magic/powers system? What government organizations are need to know? What kind of magical creatures exist? What are the laws? etc.

And I'm constantly adding in more information as it comes up in specific plots. For instance I did a roleplay about magical creature animal control and came away with ideas for like five different articles about : Experimental Breeding, How to create Chimeras, A chimeric species, A protected species that is heavily monitored in the pet trade, a species that one of the characters transformed into. Like it's kind of bananas.

Now that being the case most of my partners are only given broad overviews when they first express interest and will be given additional information as it is relevant to the plot itself. I honestly just write up most of the stuff for my own benefit as it helps me flesh out my posts and keep track of ideas I have for the world.

 

[cry baby]

To be honest, too much world building is a total turn off and bore for me. Especially if it's entirely someone else's world. I like creating a world together but when you're world building more than actually role-playing, I'm pretty much done. Not to mention it's stressful to follow someone's pre- established world and expectations. No room for freedom.

 

[Merlot]

Personally, I find excessive world building prior to actual roleplaying to be quite the bore.
Unless it’s for a crucial narrative point, the pre-established plot can be just an outline for the act of playing a role.

It could also be a structure to follow and roleplaying within its confines for an immersive effect.

I like the former; go with the flow let the creativity go wild and see what beautiful world two heads with different ideas can make!
(Of course there needs to be some form of order and process - don’t want to end up with a pile of incoherent and illogical mess)

 

[Idea]

As a planner by nature and a worldbuilding passionate, I definitely fall on the high end of the spectrum. Depending on my partner's interests, I can plan and worldbuild for weeks on end. Still, it often takes me about a week or two to go over everything even with slower replying partners, as I recognize that most partners are nowhere near as enthusiastic about it as I am.

Generally, I'll do enough worldbuilding to attempt to cover these three topics:
1. What are the absolute universal rules or facts of the world and general trends, regarding the magic system, civilizations, cultures, species etc....

2. How do those apply in the character's specific case, who those characters are within the context of the setting

3. How the plot relates to and affects the setting


After I have those basis covered, I feel like there is enough worldbuilding to properly work a story through it without breaking it. Naturally, of course, there are exceptions: If I'm doing a realistic or fandom RP (or something in between like an anime-inspired RP) I will usually not need to worldbuild more than generally knowing the context the characters are in. If I'm using the world of Euphorium then that world is pretty much entirely my creation and I have already worldbuilt it so extensively that it's hard to get a partner into it unless I'm like, GMing or something. Lastly, if I'm worldbuilding with someone who is just as enthusiastic as I am about it, well, then it will last until we agree it's enough or just can't feasibly fit more ideas in.

Oh, and of course, if I can tell my partner is too bored by the worldbuilding, depending on what stage I'm at I may either call off the RP or attempt to wrap things up with more details open than my usual comfort zone.

It has indeed happened that some partners quit after me after a long time worldbuilding, but both of those times the partner straight up ghosted me, so I'm sure if I would call the worldbuilding the cause of the problem.

Now, I feel like it also makes sense to kind of discuss what I refer to when I say I worldbuild. Generally speaking, worldbuilding for me is a four phase process:

I&P Phase: During the "Inspiration and Preferences" phase, me and my partner are basically just spitballing. The idea is first to get the the central ideas we want for the world, things we absolutely want to have in it, then add in our preferences for technical details such as magic system preferences on the magic source and the like. Pretty much anything that isn't self-contraditory goes in here.

Unity Phase: At this phase, I attempt to worldbuild the "bridges" that connect the ideas that we came up during the previous phase. I take what we want and prefer and then try to form consistent ways of making the world interesting and allowing for all those ideas from before to make sense together, by the world's internal logic.

Consequential Phase: Lastly, I take the internal logic created in the previous phase and see where else it leads me. What events, cultures, and so on result from the very rules now established? To me, consistency is the key to good solid worldbuidling. Consistency in internal logic and in consequences, so this is usually one of the most interesting phases of worldbuilding for me, and the best one to show off later.

Exception Phase: Contrary to the name, you're not actually creating exceptions to the rules here. Rather you are focusing on exceptional elements within the world, namely the plot, characters etc...and their placement in the setting.

On any given conversation, me and my partner can jump back and forth between the phases as we discuss all the elements of the worldbuilding.

Still, all of this was just the planning part. So, when do I interrupt the worldbuild entirely? The answer is never. Even if I no longer have cooperation on the worldbuilding, I am still a detailed planning roleplayer with a passion for worldbuilding, so naturally I will worldbuild through the plot and through my character and the various situations they find themselves in.