RPGaDay2020 Prompt 16 – Dramatic

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Prompt: Dramatic

Since I'm in the midst of creating this campaign world, Dramatic immediately leads me to one of the steps in my process that I've just started- creating Drama in the world. Drama- meaning to me, meaningful excitement. Not a plot. I've made that mistake before, plotting out too much, and wasting a lot of time on things that the players are not interested in. But dramatic hooks that I can play as the players decide that they want to follow them, and find out what they entail with the players.

In my Drama document, I answered these questions in order to detail the dramatic hooks.

  1. What are the major current affairs in the world (good and bad) Detailing the city-state, I created a general outline of the relations with their neighbors- allies, frenemies, and outright hostilities. Also I gave a general overview of a couple of threads- an unexplored landmass that was recently discovered, a natural disaster that ravaged the southern farms, and forces stretched thin because the government is more concerned with the new area, rather than the plight of the outlying villages, as the food stores in the capital are not affected. Internally, a dissident group has been making waves, and rumors in the streets are that it is a group that was suppressed last year. The government denies this through the news sheets. There are developments of some new and exciting diversion for the rich, and there is supposed to be a large launch party with a celebrity chef serving up new culinary delights.
  2. What are the threats the inhabitants of your world face For threats, I went a bit more into the specifics of what a war means, and the general paranoia brought on by the cold war. There are natural threats everywhere other than the capital, and the safety of your home is based on what city you live in, and what sort of protections you can afford. But living in larger cities brings the threat of the government itself and its more draconian measures.
  3. What are the everyday struggles of the people in your world The struggles vary by where a person lives. In the Capital, the struggle is to survive against the draconian and sometimes mercurial rule of law. The lower castes have it worse, as they also struggle for sustenance and basic necessities. The larger hamlets have the same problem, but it varies depending on the ruler of the Satrapy. Villages don't have as much of a problem with the draconian law other than by the intermittent roving patrols that are supposed to protect them, but practically bleed them for the protection. That freedom is tempered by the constant dangers of the wildlife and the storms that wreak havoc to anyone unprotected out in them.

I'll have to go back and edit later, but I think that by focusing on the possibilities rather than the specifics of the plot, I can more ably react to what the players want to do once their characters are in the world.