World Building, Exploration & Discovery

A Cooperative Game of Imagining
White Box is a game of world building, exploration and discovery. In Vol.1, Men & Magic, under the heading Preparation For The Campaign: Mr. Gygax and Mr. Arneson write that the referee must prepare a number of maps of the levels of the "underworld" and populate them with monsters and treasure. World creation! The dungeon is in reality (can I use that word in this context?) a small self contained world. Vol. 3, The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures explains further how the referee should go about constructing the dungeon and the wilderness or unexplored land, cities and castles.
The dungeon is a unique setting or "world" with very tight constraints. The dungeon tunnels and walls restrict PC movement and therefore make the referee's job easier by placing limits on the exploration area. As the party of adventurers travel through the dungeon they discover the various denizens, traps and mysteries placed there by the referee, hopefully defeating challenges and acquiring treasure as their reward. Wandering monsters (randomly determined from a table prepared by the referee) offer some element of surprise even for the referee. Of course the players will do their best to surprise the referee as well by adopting a course of action completely unanticipated.
Once the game spills out of the dungeon, the real challenge of creating an entire world or setting for exploration begins. How extensive the design work is and whether it is entirely the creation of the referee alone or a shared endeavor, the process of creating the game world can vary greatly depending on referee preference. I have developed a setting I call Dreadmoor, which is the name I use for the city, the setting and the set of ideas I have regarding my preferred milieu. Dreadmoor is a concept, heavily based on Sword & Sorcery reading and has evolved through decades of play with input from my players. Dreadmoor is never complete and always evolving. Parts of it have started as vague generalities and grown to become quite specific and well defined. Parts have been borrowed from published play aids, while other parts are original fancy or contain bits of borrowed ideas from various sources. Parts where no one has ventured to date remain rumor and speculation. I imagine many game worlds are similarly created.
Vol. 3 of the LBBs suggests "off-hand" adventures of the wilderness type be refereed using the boardgame Outdoor Survival (published by Avalon Hill). For wilderness exploration a map is recommended, whether using Outdoor Survival's map, one borrowed from another publication, or one expressly created for the campaign by the referee. Many referees enjoy making maps, designing imaginary worlds with fantastic cultures, pantheons, and so forth. According to gamer legend, Mr. Gygax is supposed to have originally thought every referee would want to design their personal world themselves and was therefore somewhat surprised when folks like Judges Guild were able to sell ready-made cities and world maps. Obviously the market exists and today the referee can choose from a multitude of well designed, ready made published worlds all packaged for easy use.
The LBBs assume that at some point the players will want to leave a more permanent mark on the imaginary game world by building their own castle, temple or stronghold. At that point, if not before, the job of world building becomes a shared endeavor as players work with the referee to accomplish this task. Land upon which to build must be secured, which can involve adventure, expenditure of accumulated wealth, homage to a liege or a combination of those achievements. Vol. 3 gives construction costs and rules for staffing the PC's new "home". With roots in wargaming there is an emphasis on raising troops and entering the local political arena as a military power.
At its core this hobby is one for people with active minds. Imagination is a necessity for both the referee and player parts of the game. The sharing of what is imagined makes the game much richer and more enjoyable than daydreaming alone. Discovering an imaginary world together can be great fun. At the end of Vol. 3, under the heading Afterword:, the authors write, "...decide how you would like it to be, and then make it just that way!"