OK, so you've decided to take the plunge and create your own world for your players to roleplay in. This can be extremely rewarding, but also extremely difficult. The purpose of this article is to provide some of the common themes to creation stories across the real world and in roleplaying games.

Where to start?

The D&D 3rd Edition DM's Guide describes the 'inside-out' and the 'outside-in' methods of world building. Essentially this means that you either start with the local area and expand the detail out from there, or you start with the whole globe and fill in the details down to the level you desire. Both of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages. But me, I say start at the beginning, or rather, 'In The Beginning'. Once the creation story is written, you can use any method you like to detail the locations and history of your world.

Why start with creation?

The creation story provides a background - a canvas on which to paint your setting. All world cultures have a creation story. It seems to be an innate part of human nature to wonder where we came from. This would understandably also be true in a fantasy world. The main difference between a real-world creation story and a fantasy-world creation story is that in a fantasy world, the creation story can be completely true. This means that each and every culture in your world knows the story as a fact of history, rather than the real-world situation of many different cultures and many different stories.

If the creation was many thousands of years in the past, then cultures will have retained records that have been altered or interpreted in many ways in the intervening years. This provides some diversity in the stories of different cultures. At the other end of the spectrum, the creation of the world can be more recent, perhaps within the last few centuries. Every culture would then still have an accurate record and they would disagree with each other less.

You should start with the story of what 'actually' happened. Then you can write interpretations of those events from the point of view of the inhabitants of the world. Elves will look at the events in one way, dwarves in another. The original story of what 'actually' happened may not feature in any of the interpretations in a recognisable form. Rather there will be many 'holy books' all of which have common themes, but all of which differ from each other in significant ways.

About the Creation Story:

A creation story explains the origin of deities, the world itself, and the world's inhabitants - usually in that order. Monotheism appears to be unfashionable in fantasy settings, so this discussion will focus on a world with multiple gods.

Deities:

Even in a polytheistic culture, there is usually one or two Supreme Beings who bring all else into existence. In the Judeo-Christian religion this is done by fiat - God speaks and it is so. In other religions such as the Egyptian, a 'father' and a 'mother' god procreate and bring forth all of the other gods. Each of the lesser gods then has jurisdiction over the world while the parent gods stay aloof. In some mythos, there are several generations of beings before the actual gods appear. These 'supreme beings' are usually not worshipped as gods, but they are respected as innate parts of the world.

The World:

For some reason in most polytheistic religions it is often the lesser gods - the offspring of the Supreme Being(s) who actually do all the hard work of creating the world. This can be by many methods. Many cultures have a 'diver' story, where some being or other brings up the land from the bottom of a primeval sea. In other cultures, the Supreme Being(s) create Order from primeval Chaos. This could be a useful idea to snag for D&D with its Lawful-Chaotic alignment axis.

The Inhabitants:

It's a lonely job, being a god. This is usually the reason given for the gods' creation of people on the world. In a fantasy setting, a different god can each create a race in his/her/its own image. Most traditions include a 'fall from grace' as the source of evil and strife in the world - in other words, everything started pure and peaceful, and evil was discovered at some time after the creation. Again in D&D this can give a concrete foundation for the Good - Evil alignment axis. A good way to introduce this is to use an evil deity - Morgoth in Tolkein's Silmarillion being a good example. There was no darkness or evil until Morgoth brought it to the world.

Cataclysm:

This handy device provides plot hooks galore for the GM to exploit. Creation accounts often include a cataclysm of some kind or another. Many real world stories involve a great flood - first seen in the story of Gilgamesh and adopted in the Bible as Noah's Flood. However, the Judeo-Christian tradition does not have exclusive rights to the flood story, as it appears in many different cultures from all over the world.

Many fantasy settings (such as Greyhawk) include a magical cataclysm of some kind, which can serve a similar purpose. Science Fiction settings can make this a nuclear disaster, or a product of environmental degradation. Regardless, it is a common theme that people brought the disaster on themselves through hubris or intent. It could even be that evil deity trying to destroy the Creation, but failing (perhaps due to a godly battle).

In some settings, the Cataclysm serves as a creation story in itself, when civilisation is destroyed and the survivors have to build it up again. This is the theme used in the post-apocalyptic settings such as Gamma World, but can also be included in a fantasy setting. In this kind of world there is little information left about what the pre-Cataclysmic times were like. This situation is full to the brim with potential plot hooks - from artifacts to ancient ruins to mysterious survivors.

Conclusion

A creation story can greatly enhance the setting you provide for your players. It provides a background for the location, the religion and the culture of your world. It can provide a unifying theme running through your world that makes it all the more believable to your players. You can seed your creation story with all kinds of plot hooks - epic scale and otherwise.

If you are creating an entire world for your players, it makes sense for that world to have an origin, and it can be fun and satisfying to incorporate this into your campaigns.