Same, kinda.
I have a lot of things I know and I put in my world, threads I leave around. I have some "big plot" stuff, like what happened with this country, what happened with this person, what happened with this god, etc. Those might never be really explored or fully explained but I need to know those and facts about the world so I can answer questions, improv and bounce back when players do something unexpected.
Having a pretty clear foundation is very useful, a general theme, vibe, a way the world tends to work, a way the magic/fantastic/divine tends to work, etc.
And that world is constantly built upon and expanded with and by the players, they'll ask questions where I go "Huh... I'm not sure", and we're figuring it out together!
I mostly leave tools/props laying around with some character ideas, maybe have a first episode planned out, then see what shiny object the party chases...
... until I make that shiny object the important thing all along.
They get to feel like they figured things out, I get less work. Everyone's happy.
The world building, location crafting and society / char creation is something GMs do most for themselves in my opinion and then can see what the players pull and enhance it a bit with the tool box you created prior. Of course results may vary.
Same, kinda. I have a lot of things I know and I put in my world, threads I leave around. I have some "big plot" stuff, like what happened with this country, what happened with this person, what happened with this god, etc. Those might never be really explored or fully explained but I need to know those and facts about the world so I can answer questions, improv and bounce back when players do something unexpected.
Having a pretty clear foundation is very useful, a general theme, vibe, a way the world tends to work, a way the magic/fantastic/divine tends to work, etc. And that world is constantly built upon and expanded with and by the players, they'll ask questions where I go "Huh... I'm not sure", and we're figuring it out together!
We have the same tactic.
I mostly leave tools/props laying around with some character ideas, maybe have a first episode planned out, then see what shiny object the party chases...
... until I make that shiny object the important thing all along.
They get to feel like they figured things out, I get less work. Everyone's happy.
The world building, location crafting and society / char creation is something GMs do most for themselves in my opinion and then can see what the players pull and enhance it a bit with the tool box you created prior. Of course results may vary.