World-Building with Board Games
In one of my previous blog posts I tackled the concept of using creation myths in your homebrew world. Today we’re going to talk about a unique way you and your players could work together to help build the world. I was recently inspired by one of my friends and fellow streamers to write this blog post, as he is planning to use the game Dialect: A Game About Language and How it Dies to create a language and a story for his own game.
One of my favorite games [which I have often considered using to start off a campaign] is Icarus: A Storytelling Game About How Great Civilizations Fall. The game takes place at the zenith of a civilization. In their hubris, the people decide to pool their resources to build a massive tower, Icarus, as a monument to their accomplishments. . .but the fates have aligned to bring their utopian civilization crashing down. In the game, each player takes on the role of one of the pillars of society but each has an ulterior motive that drives their action. Each turn the players must deal with different threats to the city from without and within. They must do all this while dedicating time and resources to building Icarus which is represented by a tower of dice on the table. When the tower falls, the civilization comes crumbling down and the game ends. And it always ends this way. But what a cool way to start off a campaign, in the ashes of the civilization you and your friends helped build and destroy in a single evening. Imagine how the players would feel walking through the rubble of the world they helped build. I think this would be a really cool way to kick off a campaign and would lead into so much world-building and buy-in from the players.
Another cool game that my friend and mentor is making recent use of is The Quiet Year. In this game, the players are a part of a community living on the collapse of civilization. Players attempt to build something good before the end of the year when the Frost Shepherds, harbingers of either salvation or destruction, will arrive. Each decision faces dwindling time, resources, and increased anxiety as the year draws to a close. I think this would be a really cool way to start a campaign. Perhaps these Frost Shepherds are the player characters themselves. Or perhaps the players arrive too late and must piece together the final moments of this community's desperate struggle for survival.
Another board game you could use to help build up some of the mythology is Before There Were Stars. In this game, players build a mythology using constellation cards and dice. The game cleverly aids the players in developing their own origin myths which could be used as the basis of their campaigns. The game even provides the players with prompts which they can use to craft their myths. The game encourages all the players to cooperate and work together to tell an interesting story. This could be a great way to start off a campaign with a tale of legend or to foreshadow a coming hero's journey.
I think there is a lot of merit in starting off your world-building/ RPG campaign with a fun board game like those I’ve listed. It puts less pressure on the Game Master to have to come up with an entire world from the ground up, encourages the players to be creative and take a part in the fun world-building process and at the same time it encourages the players to buy into a world in which they helped create. Consider starting off your next campaign with a game!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
