Worldbuilding

Tropes exist because they work. The chosen one works. The ancient evil works. The reluctant hero works. They work because they tap into story structures that have resonated with human beings across cultures for thousands of years. But at the tabletop, players have encountered these structures so many times that they can see the scaffolding….

The difference between a fantasy region players want to explore and one they treat as a fast-travel map is almost never about size. It’s about texture — the feeling that the place has been lived in, that things happened here before the players arrived, and that things will keep happening whether they engage or not….