Word of the Day - Milieu

 

"Milieu" is best known as a popular "High Gygaxian" term that most people take to mean "campaign setting," or world. It's more than that, however. Dictionary.com lists the meaning as, "surroundings, especially of a social or cultural nature." It basically means one's social environment, or everything that goes into one's culture. 

So there you have it. When Gary talks about a "milieu," it's a lot more than just lists of countries and kingdoms with population figures and government types. It's the languages those people speak, the way the interact with their gods and the universe, their customs and beliefs, and what every single blade of grass means to them when they roll out of bed every morning. Consider that next time you set out to build a world!