World Building

Referee as Creator
On page 5, of Vol. I the White Box sets the stage for the referee to begin the task of creating a fantastic world of imagination in the guise of the game milieu.

PREPARATION FOR THE CAMPAIGN:
The referee bears the entire burden here, but if care and thought are used, the
reward will more than repay him. First, the referee must draw out a minimum of
half a dozen maps of the levels of his “underworld,” people them with monsters of
various horrid aspect, distribute treasures accordingly, and note the location of the
latter two on keys, each corresponding to the appropriate level.

Advice is given in Vol. III regarding construction of dungeon levels, dungeon traps, puzzles and other challenges and the distribution of dungeon monsters and treasures.  Reading this material today I find it fairly comprehensive and I wonder at why it seemed so puzzling to my college freshman eyes when I first encountered White Box. I ask myself if many of the concepts that seemed so novel and mysterious in 1977 have become part of general knowledge or whether they would remain enigmatic to a fresh gamer reading them for the first time today? How much has the hobby changed our culture in 40 years?
According to gamer legend, Mr. Gygax believed this creation process would be something each referee would desire to do for themselves and that such creative activity would constitute a significant portion of the "fun" to be had with his new game. We all tend to assume others enjoy what we do and I am pretty sure he and Mr. Arneson derived a great deal of pleasure from imagining their respective dungeons and campaign worlds and sharing their creations through play. I get it.
White Box is much more than a dungeon crawler, however well it supports that style of play. Taking the role of an imaginary game persona in a fantastic setting has so much more potential than the dungeon offers. It doesn't take long to start to wonder what lies outside the caverns and tunnels? What does my PC do when not delving? Where do I spend found treasure? A referee might well jump at the opportunity these questions provide and get down to the business of creating even more fantastic settings to share with players. Turning now to Vol. III, page 14:

THE WILDERNESS:
The so-called Wilderness really consists of unexplored land, cities and castles, not
to mention the area immediately surrounding the castle (ruined or otherwise) which
housed the dungeons. The referee must do several things in order to conduct wilderness
adventure games. First, he must have a ground level map of his dungeons,
a map of the terrain immediately surrounding this, and finally a map of the town
or village closest to the dungeons (where adventurers will be most likely to base
themselves).

Maps are then followed by a detailed description of the locations depicted and an entire imaginary world starts taking shape. I imagine the authors envisioned each referee creating their own unique setting, drawing freely upon all their own experiences for inspiration. It is no wonder Mr. Gygax was so excited about sharing this new type of game/hobby with others. Many of the imaginary worlds so created make good reading entertainment as well as provide a setting for game play. Each imaginary world presents its author with the opportunity to express their preferences and favorite themes, bringing something of their own to share with others in the spirit of cooperative enjoyment. For those of us who have always enjoyed maps, the bits of unexplored territory beckon to our imagination. Here be dragons!