There is no simple way to populate a world with interesting characters. By looking at where they come from first, and investing a little time in the history and culture behind the characters, I have noticed a huge payoff when the time comes to develop how your spotlight characters will react and develop during gameplay. Having a solid foundation will enable everyone working with the characters, the world, the economy, and how the characters will ultimately interact with the story to have a creative nudge in a unified direction.
I like to think of mythology as recipe for cultural soup, once you figure out your ingredients you can tweak the recipe to your taste with ease. Mythology provides creative hints, subtle enough to not stifle your team’s creativity but pronounced enough to get everyone running in a focused direction. To further the usefulness of a mythology, you can start to develop the culture that was created from it, one document supporting the other, supporting a variety of departments in their early phases of development.
In my experience, investing in the history and culture of the characters you are developing will help your project flow in a unified direction from the start and strengthen the players overall experience. Knowing how your characters will respond to player actions based on their cultural makeup will enforce a rich and less chaotic game world for the players’ enjoyment.
