Worldbuilder's Anvil

Today's Topic – Types of Fantasy worlds to create Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com We talk about all sorts of things on the show, Zombies created by ants or defined the type of world builder you are?  However, I have never really defined what types of worldbuilding projects you might create. We look at the types of realism, either naturalistic, mosaic, or fantastic. We do not determine realism based on the level of magic that many people would.  We look at the how the worlds develop. In addition to the Level of Realism, we look at the Scale of Purpose. Are you trying to create the world that you are going to keep reusing or a world meant to tell one story?  The less you plan the world, the less detail you will need to create. Michael returns from his great orc war of I-84 and joins me as we finally look at the types of fictional worlds you create. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, sh

Today's Topic – Patterns for Fantasy Worldbuilding Evolution Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com If you listen to this show; you will have heard me talk about evolving creatures, races, cultures, or technology. After listening back to my older episodes, I decided to take a break from what I was planning to do and talk about what do I mean when I talk about evolution in fantasy worldbuilding. However, before you listen I want to tell you what I do not mean.  I do not create all the life on my planet from the first single cell that divides itself.  Sure, it would be much more realistic. However, I am not conceited enough to think I am smart enough to do this.  I also prefer storytelling.  So, join Kristin and me as we look at how to create the illusion of evolution to create a more naturalistic world for my true passion, framework worldbuilding. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes

Today's Topic – Part One Specific Questions to ask yourself when creating a new fantasy worldbuilding project Questions are at the heart of any world building.  Back in episode 7 started the conversation how I start creating a naturalistic framework fantasy world.  I start with what I like to call the Basics Breakdown.  I do this to create an inventory of ideas that I what to make sure are considered when I create my world. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com Once I have identified the list of idea, I am free to start exploring the ideas.  Now, I never lock myself into needing to use the ideas.  However, I can refer to them to see if they can inspire me along the way. In this episode, Michael and I will revisit the Basics Breakdown and ask specific questions and then talk about the answers I would give to the questions about my fantasy world, Gardul. We cover the areas of Rules for a fantasy universe, figure out what is unique about th

Today's Topic – Part One Specific Questions to ask yourself when creating a new fantasy worldbuilding project Questions are at the heart of any world building.  Back in episode 7 started the conversation how I start creating a naturalistic framework fantasy world.  I start with what I like to call the Basics Breakdown.  I do this to create an inventory of ideas that I what to make sure are considered when I create my world. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com Once I have identified the list of idea, I am free to start exploring the ideas.  Now, I never lock myself into needing to use the ideas.  However, I can refer to them to see if they can inspire me along the way. In this episode, Michael and I will revisit the Basics Breakdown and ask specific questions and then talk about the answers I would give to the questions about my fantasy world, Gardul. We cover the areas of Rules for a fantasy universe, figure out what is unique about th

Today's Topic – Session Two of Enter the Wine Steward The beta testing of my world continues.  If you do not have a background in Roleplaying games, you might not have thought about testing your world this way.  However, it is nothing new. Many of the worlds I read about came from Dungeons and Dragons. According to the wiki, over sixty authors and covering eleven fantasy worlds.  Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com And these are not just authors famous to role-players, R.A Salvatore, Douglas Niles, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman have made the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance worlds that are known to people how have never played Dungeons and Dragons.   Gaming will not make better at writing. However, you will be a better storyteller Now, I believe there are only two things that will make you better at writing, and that is reading and writing.  However, running a story based RPG will make you a much better storyteller.  Your players w

  Today's Topic – My success in NaNoWriMo starts with Time Management Most of my life, I have waste and an incredible amount of time on because of the excuse. I do not have enough time.  Heck, if you would have asked me a month ago. I would have told you that I have about 2 extra hours a week. Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunesFor complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com It is funny what you can learn about yourself in fifteen minutes.  For example, I really have about nineteen extra hours a week. It might not be the amount of hours that I want to dedicate to podcasting and writing.  However, It is lots more time than I thought. It really makes my part-time business a part-time job. Join Kristin and I as we look at Time budgets.  And after you listen to the episode, please join the newsletter and get a free excel Time Budget sheet at Gardul.com/NL Podcast Show Flow Most important tool What time feels like Time Budget Master Schedule, Calendar, and Next Actions The Worldbuild

 Today's Topic – If you work full time, there are things you can start doing now to lead to success in NaNoWriMo 2016 I can be a planner.  However, there are times I fall behind.  Like This month, I have been hitting conventions. I have been to Podcast Movement 2016 and Launch Out St Louis.  I am behind so this intro will be shorter than I want. In life you have to be flexible and adjust, However, with proper planning and plotting we can avoid situations like this Join us as we discuss a plan for people who work and have lives to complete the annual 50,000 words in a month challenge called NaNoWriMo For complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunes Podcast Show Flow Subject Outline Schedule Meals and other real world stuff Writing for Bulk Learn your worldbuilding needs The Worldbuilding Task for the Day Figure out what you need The Real World task for the day Start sucking up to your spouse now Michael's Resources Use Gardul.com/Amazon when shopp

Today's Topic – What if 2% of your population just disappeared? Before, I start yapping about worldbuilding. I need to take a moment to thank you for the listening to the show. We hit 40,000 downloads on the podcast in July of 2016 just before this showed aired. It might not be the biggest show in the world.  However, it grew much larger and faster than I could ever dream.   So, Thank you, dear listener. Michael and I really love the show. However, knowing there are so many of you out there keeps pushing us to do a better job at creating the show. We are a small indie studio, so we know it wasn’t us but you the listener that gives this show more success than we can believe. For complete Fantasy Worldbuilding, show notes go to Gardul.com Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunes Worldbuilding is driven by questions So the question we would like to explore today is, “What would happen if 2% of the world’s population vanished?” I really have to think the HBO series the Leftovers for the question.  I starte

Today's Topic – Finding the Balance needed in your fantasy story As a Worldbuilder and a storyteller, there are many things to worry about. Does our story rock? Have we represented out fantasy world correctly? Did I sell more books than people I know?  This is a short list.  I am sure you can come up with a myriad of others as well.  However, One of the less obvious questions; did we strike a balance? Visit the gardul.com for the show notes Please Subscribe, Rate and Review us on iTunes What the heck is balance? Balance can mean many things. Should one of our races dominated the other? If not what is holding them back?  Much of originality, it is one of the most abstract questions in worldbuilding.  We have to remember that balancing is an art, not a science. Our goal should not be to set the balance dial to the middle.  We have to consider many different things and balance the story to where we need it to maximize the entertainment of the reader. What are we trying to balance? Does the plot not have the pro

Today's Topic – The Originality Trap And How To Avoid It! I have spent countless hours working on being original.  It was truly a concern.  I worried about my clothes, my music, my art, and my fantasy world.  I wanted everything to be original.    However, I like most people failed at the task. I read books people did not read. I played games that others made fun of.  I wore all black, just like most of my friends. I listened to metal, unlike all of the other people. I wish I could have learned the truth earlier. I was not original; I was just not mainstream.  However, I could not have been original.  At least not by my definition, I was merely an arrogant jerk who like to think less of people who I thought brought into the system. The End of originality And was I not only not original. I was an idiot. It took me well over twenty years to figure it out. I started to figure it out in 1999 when Stardust came out from Neal Gaiman.  Many of my players teased me when Neal had a city called Highwall.  How dare he!

Today's Topic – Seven basic Fantasy Worldbuilding questions that would have made my life easier. Worldbuilding is the art of creating a fictional setting. I achieve this by asking lots of questions.  I first asked questions about the overview of the setting.  I then grab important details and ask more questions. I will repeat this process until I have what I need to start storytelling.  I only end the process when I am done telling stories in a given world. I am not the only person to look at Worldbuilding this way.  There is an article about Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Wrede on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America website.   Or go check out the 20 World Building Questions for Authors to Ask Themselves post by JS Morin or The Ultimate Guide to World-Building: How To Write Fantasy, Sci-Fi And Real-Life Worlds post on writersedit.com. There are also countless other great articles with great questions you should ask yourself when you are worldbuilding. However, I wish I asked my

  Today's Topic – Our First story session of Enter the Steward. Okay back in episode 124, Michael and I talked about live-playing a story to talk about the city of Qïmi. The point of the story was to explain how to use role-playing games to test out new fantasy worlds.  If you are a Game Master or a Dungeon Master you are thinking, “Duh”  You might be thinking that the point of new fantasy worlds is for playing in games. However, the idea is really for people who create worlds for other reasons. Maybe you are an author or game maker, well then this is an option to explore elements of your world and have fun doing it. What is DeScriptors? DeSpriptors is a quick play RPG that was created by Matthew Bannock. The basic idea is that your DeScriptor is a noun or two that describes your character.  You also start off with four adjectives.  These can be bid to overcome your challenges. Michael and I choose this system since it is story driven, not math and dice driven.  However, If you like games like GURPS and Dunge

Today's Topic – Kaizen boards can be used for an entire host of organizational needs Have you ever wasted months trying to organize a path to get something done? And after spending hundreds of hours did not even set started on what you were planning. I have this problem with the large task and any task that I subconsciously fear.  I plan and study, but forget to act on the task.  I started a more constant way of planning that I learned about at work it is a Kaizen board. Check out the episode to learn specifically how I have adopted it for my naturalistic framework world-building.  I will show you how to create a Podcast Show Flow Kaizen boards are a simple progress tracking device. Michael learns an old word Parts of the Kaizen Master State List Kaizen board for your Kaizen boards for any task The Worldbuilding Task for the Day Create and use a kaizen board and see if it works for you The Real World task for the day Think of a book you don’t want to read. Do not read it, go and get a book you want to read

Today's Topic – Learn to developer the world like a character   Much like we can define the type of Worldbuilder we are.  It is important to know how we want to develop our world. We can use evolution, stagnant, and microevolution. We are not talking the myths, but how to develop your world. For these purposes, true evolution is not a great path. It would take way to build 13 billion years of history.  A However, if you join us today to learn about microevolution and three hacks to get us to a naturalist end without the time cost. Podcast Show Flow Evolution Weakness increases chance of change Impossible to scale Most Naturalistic Very Time consuming Hack is to start right before your storytelling begins Stagnant The exist because I am No Scale needed You get what you want Can seem disconnected Think before you build Microevolution Pockets of evolution when needed Look at the inputs to determine the output More Scale Approximates a naturalistic setting Leave gaps that can be filled in poorly Hack use

Today's Topic – Showing the setup for using gaming to beta test a fantasy world   Okay, we just want an excuse to play a game.  You got me. However, I truly believe that we can both have fun and work.  So, we hacked a plan.  One that would allow us to test out a new episode type and fulfill Michael’s desire to play in another one of my stories. The major goal is to entertain you. If it does not work, please let us know.  In addition to entertainment, we want to show how you could use role-playing games to test out Worldbuilding elements and to help improve your storytelling techniques. It is really like coauthoring a story.  Michael will be in charge of his character.  I will be in charge of everything else.  Now, it is important to note that one storyteller to one player is not an optimal number to start out with.  A good number of players is three to five for a new RPG GM or DM.  It allows you to treat players like a multi-cat household.  They can help keep each other entertained while you figure out what y

Today's Topic – Make your geek official. 3 easy steps to start a small business and a path to marketing yourself Hey, let’s start off serious.  How many authors have you read that you had never heard of before you bought their book?  I have a few. Many coffee table books.  And I have bought a few and had a few given to me gifts. I am much pickier with Games.  If I do not know it, I will not buy it.  I am stuck in my ways.  Now, I have several friends who have large game collections.  I will try out most games with them before I buy any. Know, Since I have started the Worldbuilder’s Anvil. I have had the chance to talk to many people who have great talents in writing, game design and other parts of geekery. There is an amazing amount of talent. Great storytellers and talented individuals all around.  Many of them spend most of their waking hours working and then again on their passion of choice.  Most end up doing very little with it.  They share their passion with a few lucky people they know.  Another lot o

Today's Topic – Preventing your fantasy world from blowing up I am not going to talk about preventing errors in stories or fatal world building flaws that will lose you, readers.  I am talking building a story towards a world apocalypse, but then adverting it. It is a popular story type.  It creates a lot of the same tension as destroying the world.  However, you are not left with a post-apocalyptic world.  Now you might have guessed from episode 86, 87, and 88.  Michael and I love fictional worlds blowing up and consuming post-apocalyptic fiction. You might have even cried a bit if you performed the Worldbuilder task for those episodes and destroyed your world, to that we say, “Thanks!” However, in today's episode.  We will be talking about why it might be a useful story to create.  People do seem to love them.  They are thrilling.  And it might be possible to make them without turning the story into a horrible disaster trope. However, as a show, we would like to encourage you to consider really just blowin

Today's Topic – Humor in your fantasy world An Orc walks into a bar.  He reaches over the bar and grabs a keg of ale and starts to walk out.  The bartender says, “Hey are you going to pay for that?” The orc says, “By my Axe.” The bartender responds, “Maybe after you pay for the Ale.”  Now that you know for sure that I do not write humor.  We can get started. Humor is often thought of as the driver of comedies.  It is important. However, that is not what we are talking about today. We are talking about today. We are talking about using humor to add tension in a story. Now, we have all had a moment where we are watching a movie or reading a book and the drama or tension overwhelms us.  We become numb to it.  Join Michael and Jeffery as they look at ways to incorporate humor into your story to avoid falling into that trap. Enjoy the episode and comment below to tell us what we missed. Podcast Show Flow Humor is not just for comedy Humor relieves stress and tension, in stories and in life Stories with no humor

Today's Topic - Creations Myths are the key to understanding your fantasy cultures Creation myths are a great place to start when developing a new Fantasy Culture.  *Stops listens for a drum roll. However, only seeing a group of crickets he quickly moves on* Yes, it is a bad joke.  However, there’s truth in them thar words. Yes, truth. We often try and understand the cultures in our fantasy worlds. However, how often to we look at the myths of the cultures.  We often on think them up when they are needed.  However, If you are building a naturalist fantasy world.  It really is in your best interest to create a basic outline for the important myths.  This will tell you what the early culture found important, and once you know that building religion. In today’s episode, we are looking at the themes for ten earth cultures and a quick bonus myth from the dragon culture on Gardul. Join us for some inspiration and practice at creating creation myths for your fantasy cultures. Enjoy the episode and comment below to t

Today's Topic - How I use Role-playing games to test out my world and practice my storytelling techniques I love gaming. I have been running campaigns and stories since I was a preteen. They inspire my imagination. They make me dream.  However, as I have been getting older, I have stopped playing them as much.  I am two busy.  I do not have the time to waste on having fun? Luckily, I overthink things.  I know the rewards that I have earned from telling stories through tabletop role-playing games.  It makes me a creative thinker.  I am always sought out at work for creative problem solving.  I never get stuck writing a story because I create a character that I cannot motivate to continue down the plot line. I have also had the benefit of improving and testing my world over years.  I have learned what works and what does not work for me.  It has made both my storytelling and my world building become more effective over time. Join Michael and me as we talk about the benefits of tabletop RPGs for authors of all