Role-Playing World Building: Situation World Hooks

What about situation world hooks to pique the interest of your players? Even the most mundane seeming situation can be turned into something new with one small twist. Some famous books not only did that in the beginning, but also changed the situation during and thus changed the whole world that was being written and read. It gave the books a fresh new appeal.

You could have a class dominance situation where one type of the character has an unusual role in the world. Something like the thieves guilds could rule the major towns or magicians are so rare they are revered almost above the gods of your world. Or you could have a world that centers around the politics, intrigues, and rivalries of court and different kingdoms. Even those that have the same kind of court system could be enemies or disagree on whom to be friendly with. Here you could find various court systems throughout history and weave them into your kingdoms, even mixing different cultures court systems. Your world could revolve around chivalry and all that goes with it. Knights, nobility, and other facets would be the ruling class. This is similar to actual medieval history but again on twist can change it. The nobles might not be able to just pass it down to the sons but the daughters or knights might have to study under a squire of another knight before being able to actually become one.

Your deities could be very active in your world and make sure certain things do happen like they wish. It might take away some fun for those PC’s who want to defy the deity or don’t think they actually are making any decisions in your world. However it can also spawn some great adventures, such as how to bring the deity down so he or she is not more powerful than the rest of them. You could draw your players in with a dying world. Circumstances have brought the world to this terrible state and the PC’s must find a way to stop it and save mankind. Doing so will create a new situation for you to play so if your players get bored with this one you can easily change it when they save the world.

There could be a specific enemy that inhabits your world. They may not be one that wants to rule it, but others are frightened by them due to how they look, act, or plain ignorance. Along the same concept, you could have a world where civilization stops at a certain point and anything after that is enemy territory where monsters rule the land. All kinds of heroes might flock to this spot to make themselves known by getting rid of the monsters further into the region, which would make the monsters want to keep their own land.

There could be vast areas that have not been discovered yet in your world. Here exploration would be the primary goal of many. This does not have to be a young world either. It could just be that a great mountain pass has kept everyone out or those that have made it over have never returned. Or the world could just be new. Magic and monsters are not plentiful and the PC’s may uncover many things about the world to make them famous.

Magic could be in your world but not as you normally think. There could be spots it does not work right or at all. Or it could be that everyone has magical abilities and only those who really dedicate their lives to it excel with anything other than simple spells. On the same note, psionics could be dominate in the world. Here the mental powers of one could make them a god to those who do not have the ability.

Religion or technology could rule in the world. Here the PC’s might need to find a way to bring down the ruling class or change something so everyone can benefit from what those in power have discovered first. Slavery could even be a factor where one culture is using another to do their work. War could break out all the time from those close and far away who do not like slavery or want it to continue. And warfare itself could be what rules your world. War has been going on for so long that no one knows what started it. Some cultures could switch sides on a whim and your players must find a way to stop it before it destroys the world or a certain culture.

Any of these situations overlap easily. This is probably one area where history can provide all kinds of hints of what you can play with and mix. You can always start with one and change it later if you don’t like where it is going. Who says that the thieves can’t have a battle within their own ranks and suddenly war breaks out everywhere?