Credits
This book was made with the Homebrewery, created by Stolksdorf (Scott Tolksdorf).
Thanks to AeronDrake for creating the Homebrewery Formatting Guide.
- Cover Illustrator: Carl Frederic Aagaard
- Interior Illustrators:
On the Cover
The Deer Park by Carl Frederic Aagaard
Disclaimer: This book is a community project. The identities of the creators are hidden by the Internet. That means that this book may have been created by a 300 pound dude who lives in his momma's basement in suburban Detroit. And his name is Chuck.
Contents
Introduction
THE GUIDE TO THE REALMS IS A community project that shows how to create a custom setting for D&D. Anything edition specific is 5e, but any fantasy RPG world-builder, or really any fantasy worldbuilder at all, can probably use this book. It is and always will be free for everyone. You can find it on D&D Realms, a subreddit for D&D worldbuilding.
Adding to the book is pretty simple. First of all, choose what you're going to write. Look through the Contents, and find something that hasn't been written yet. You can write a full chapter, a page, or just a sidebar. Go to this post, and comment what you want to write. (If you don't have a Reddit account, create one, or email me at flopatcat@gmail.com). Make sure it isn't being done already.
Be sure you know what you're doing. Don't just choose something cool, choose something you know about.
If you know how to use the Homebrewery, then create whatever you're making in a Homebrewery document. If not, make it in Google Docs. When you finish, send a Homebrewery edit link/Docs link to me.
I'll edit it a bit, and add it to the book.
Getting Started
Making a Map
Naming
Gods and Godly Things
Every fantasy world has gods, such as Aslan of Narnia, the Valar of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and God, in our world. D&D worlds have gods too. Some famous ones are Lolth and Tiamat, from the Forgotten Realms setting.
Creating gods may seem like a boring job. Come up with a name, what they're the god of, and sometimes, a symbol. However, the gods seem much more interesting if, instead of creating tons of simple, boring deities, you create gods that affect the world, and the people who worship them. You can create religions, cults, and temples. You can create stories and legends of these deities. What really goes on in the heavens? Is there a war between the gods? Does that affect the world? These are all questions that this section will answer for you.
But it's not only about gods. The cosmology of the multiverse, the creatures and places created by the deities of your world, and god-like beings are also described in this chapter.
Deities in your world
The gods in your world can be many or few. Good or evil. They can be whatever you want. But if you don't know how to create them, they're nothing at all.
Creating Deities
Creating gods can be simple. But that's only if you do it the simple way. There are many things to think of when you create gods.
How are they born? Are gods made in the great forges of heaven? Are they made of the souls of the dead? Are they not gods, but only mortals who have somehow obtained this god-like power? Whatever it is, they have to come from somewhere.
Also, what do they represent? Do gods only portray ideas? Or are there gods of material things, like fire, or trees?
Relations between the gods
How are the gods viewed by people?
Cults and other small religions
The Multiverse
Cosmology
You don't need to change anything
The multiverse is explained perfectly well in the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide. You don't need to change anything about it. Unless you have some great plan for everything, cosmology won't come up in most D&D campaigns, and if it does, it doesn't need to be changed. Still, making your own thing is fun, so if you do want to change it, this part of the book is for you.