[gentrigger]

Songs we Sing- Demotape is out now! This is the playtest for the Songs we Sing TTRPG using the PBTA engine. A game about urban decay, deities, and playing object head robots! Get it now on Itch.io!

[worldbuildingjune]

Yo folks! This has been a thing I've been working on for a while that's been at the heart of my world building interest and hopefully you dig it too!

[worldbuildingjune]

Regarding World Building June 2021

Hey there Builders! Its been a rough year, but things are definitely looking up!

For me in particular I’ve seen a lot of growth and success in my own personal work and career over the last year and as I come up on this June it’s hard to find time to do WBJ this year. Having a lot going on isn’t a bad thing, but I do feel bad about not being able to give this project the love it needs. I know from experience with years where I have a lot of life stuff going on that I drop the ball on WBJ regardless and it’ll definitely happen again this year so I think its for the best that I not get people’s hopes up.

Is this the end of WBJ? Probably not. I think I just need a year off honestly, and I’ll try and keep WBJ 2022 in mind. I feel I’ve become more and more equipped over the years to actually handle world building guidance, so when I come back it’ll be the best year yet! Till then: The prompt lists of previous years like 2020′s prompt list, remain. You can always use those to run through WBJ this year. Support each other! Find projects to invest in! Keep the spirit alive! etc.

What am I even working on? A tabletop roleplaying game system set in the fantasy/urban decay world of Songs we Sing, which I’ve been working on for a lot of these past WBJ’s. I’m finally getting some real headway with it, and wanting to get it out to the public this year is part of why I want to take as much time as I can to finish it. If you’re interested, you can find updates on my MAIN TWITTER. I’m also an illustrator for a tactical board game about combining robots called AEGIS, particularly to set up for its big season 2! I’ve always wanted to illustrate art for cards in a game so its been a real childhood dream come true. Also I do trillions of commissions, particularly of the robotic and fantasy variety.

Thanks for your time! Let me know if you have any questions! And until next time:

Keep building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Prompts update

Hey there builders. While my further writing about each day’s prompt may be helpful I just haven’t had a chance to keep up with writing them between starting to work from home for my day job again, needing to do illustration work for clients, and working on my own writing and world building. I’d hate to not put love and care into these posts and a lot of them are self-explanatory, thus the move a few years back from a single word prompt “Geography” to more extensively worded prompts “What’s the geography like in your world?” So in the end the explanations are probably less necessary.

In light of all this I’m going to postpone them and maybe think of other ways to keep engaging with you all otherwise to keep the world building fires burning.

Thanks for the patience!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 6: How does gender and sexuality work in your world?

Yo yo builders, here with another prompt explanation.

Day 6 asks to think about how gender plays into your world as well as aspects of attraction. With human cultures, this could dig into how different genders are treated in your world, if they have different roles, or if there’s a sense of singularity. It can also ask you to think about different representations of gender that don’t conform with traditional European ideals. Many ways of expressing gender were stomped out by imperialism after all. Thinking about how a society views and accepts these identities can lead to having a deeper and more rich population.

Separate but relevant to gender is also thinking about how attraction works in the cultures you’re exploring. The first obvious question is how the societies you’re writing about view same-sex romance. This can also ask deeper questions about family in your world. Does this culture value nuclear families or are family groups more broadly defined where multiple generations live in a household or close by one another? Is there even a traditional sense of marriage in your cultures? Additionally these things can be asked about different species of aliens or fantasy folk who might have much more complex, interesting, or bizarre answers to these questions such as a singular sex that makes up a species, or having 5 different sexes along with a complex network of gender representation piled on top of all that.

Now get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 5: What sorts of civilizations and architecture fill your world?

As civilization fills out your world, an important focus to begin thinking about how people live in your world is to think about the cities and buildings they build.

Sprawling private estates vs. cramped vertical dwellings create different feels to these cities and imply different lifestyles and both can exist in a city but in different areas as mentioned in the tips about creating cities in the geography prompt.

Along with the places where people live is also the places where they work and gather, with maybe the more grand and recognizable buildings being dedicated to points of pride for the state or people in your civilization.

Also when figuring out architecture, things like building materials available, logistics of building, and weather will be important factors to think ahead on. If you aren’t sure how to think about these factors, maybe find a real life equivalent of the climate and geography of a location and see how they’ve overcome the unique challenges of their area.

now get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 4: What’s it’s history? (How did it come to be?)

Sup builders! Day 4 is about thinking about the past of your world!

Many worlds begin with an origin story. This origin story could be the literal beginning of the world, as it was carved out by deities, came about due to an ancient cataclysm, or some other fantastic and dramatic event.

You might also rather begin at the beginning of a relevant age, such as describing the beginning of the space age that has been spanning thousands of years and has its own rich history of experiences. Maybe the focus of your story is more interested in a single kingdom and how it came to be. Select your scope and dig in!

If your world’s story takes place at a specific time frame, you could also include some important slices of history. There’s ancient history, more contemporary history that maybe happened during the current generation yet still has its effects ripple through current events. Then of course some big events that happened a handful of years ago, and something that’s fresh enough to still be in the papers in your world. Thinking about this timeline can create strings of causality for various parts of your world. Wars leave lasting scars, changes in leadership may have a honeymoon period followed by growing pains as society shifts and changes from the status quo, these create compelling backdrops to stories.

Now get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 3: Who lives in your world?

Yo yo builders! Day 3 is about describing who lives in your world. Depending on the world you’re building this can mean different things. For a fantasy or sci fi setting that wishes to include other sentient peoples, it’d be a good idea to dig into them while asking/answering questions like “How do these different peoples mesh together? How are they different and what familiarity do they have between one another?”

If talking about humans in your setting, knowing their cultural and racial backgrounds can help in the same way to understand the dynamics that are deeply seeded into your world.

Now get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 2: What's the Geography of your world?

Welcome to the second day builders! Today’s topic is about establishing or talking about the geography of your world.

Geography can play an important part in the stories you tell in your world. Distance and terrain can form barriers between people, rivers and roads can create a lane of trade, proximity can create associations. It’s not uncommon for the guilded castles of the rich heights to be divided from the tight-knit disenfranchised poor. Geography can also have a huge impact upon trade and economy, where the temperature, amount of fertile land, water, and other factors can decide what’s the most viable way to survive and thrive.

A lot of these concerns are things that will come up later during your world building so it’s good to be thoughtful about them when laying down a map.

There’s also valid reasons to not include a map, when maybe the physical layout of your world isn’t as important as it is to know where you are in it and getting lost in that place. Using the senses to paint a picture can help establish someone in a location. Contrasting the smell of grass on the wind in the open plains with the thick stale air of a dusty crypt can make someone feel a world away from each location.

Stay safe and get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 1: Tell us about your world

Welcome to World Building June! A little late in the day posting this but my house was an oven up till just a few minutes ago.

The first prompt is regarding the general idea of your world. This can be an elevator pitch, a thesis, an idea, essentially laying out the heart and soul of what you want your world to be about.

An obvious way to go about this prompt is to define the genres that your world fits into. A sci-fi horror? A fantasy adventure romcom? A Tokusatsu cosmic horror? Maybe the genre your world takes place in can’t be defined so neatly and you need to define the themes that pump through its blood such as hope, despair, justice, oppression, resistance, etc.

Giving your world a name can also help. Sometimes the obvious route is to just name your setting after the actual name of the planet or continent it takes place on, but sometimes a setting takes place after the main story that it tells. If you’re not sure at this point though, a codename always works.

Also just talking generally about your world a bit, maybe talking about an exciting conflict, or some ideas you want to explore with it can help folks get an idea of what you’re working with.

This is the first prompt mostly because it establishes a foundation for your work. It is both so you can show others your world and so you can look back at it whenever you feel lost about what your world is about. If you don’t know what decision to make when building up a certain section, maybe look at the genre or themes and ask yourself “What element supports the genre/theme most effectively?” Or even “What subverts the expectations of this genre so I can surprise people?” If you create a strong vision here, then you will never be lost.

Now get building!

[worldbuildingjune]

One more day till the start of WBJ!

Warm up those word processors, journals, and tablets! We’re on the cusp of the first WBJ of the new decade! Be strong and remember to take a day off if you feel like the pressure is getting to you. The real winners are those who come out of June with work on their world that they wouldn’t have done otherwise.

[worldbuildingjune]

2020 World Building June Prompt List

When building your world it’s easy to run yourself into a corner and not be sure what to flesh out next. For that purpose we’ve provided a list of prompts to get the noodle going! Remember you’re not obligated to fulfill every prompt or stick to the prompts. Building is building, but if you’re able to answer all these questions then there’s a good chance that you’ll at the very least have a solid foundation to build further.

1. Tell us about your world. 2. What's the Geography of your world? 3. Who lives in your world? 4. What's its history? (How did it come to be?) 5. What sorts of civilizations and architecture fill your world? 6. How does gender & sexuality work in your world? 7. How does the economy work in your world? 8. Who rules in your world? 9. What religion and cosmology exists in your world? 10. What traditions are observed in your world? 11. What's language like in your world? 12. What fauna inhabit your world? 13. What flora covers your world? 14. What do people eat in your world? 15. What technology is used in your world? 16. What magic exists in your world? 17. What's medicine and healthcare like in your world? 18. What is clothing and fashion like in your world? 19. How are wars fought in your world? 20. What sorts of weapons & armor are used in your world? 21. What do people do for work in your world? 22. What do people do for fun in your world? 23. What's the sky like in your world? 24. What places are still unexplored in your world? 25. What do people carry with them on a daily basis in your world? 26. What sorts of art exist in your world? 27. How do people get around in your world? 28. Who's important in your world? 29. How do people communicate with each other in your world? 30. What is the cycle of life and death in your world?

[worldbuildingjune]

World Building June 2020

Hey there everyone! I know I know I’m a bit late announcing this year’s World Building June! But considering our world is falling apart, I had a lot of fish to fry. BUT! This just means that we have all the better motivation to world build this year! Considering the outside world is more or less shut down. You’ve heard it a thousand times, but I hope you’re all safe and that you’re taking care of yourselves.

Since I’m awakening last minute, I don’t have too many bonus plans for this year’s WBJ but it’s a new decade and maybe it’s a good chance to take things back to basics! What is World Building June? World building June, or WBJ for short is a month where we focus in on building those worlds that have been banging around in our head! This means putting the world to paper though. This can be done in many ways! Writing in a journal, creating art, making tumblr posts, starting a wiki, making audio logs to be found by an adventurer in the nuclear post-apocalypse to provide exposition, whatever works! As long as you can reference back to your work later and keep building upon it. What sorts of worlds are we building? Any worlds really. Fantasy, sci fi, alternate history, AUs. They can also be for all sorts of purposes like tabletop games, novels, games, comics, fanfiction, etc. This is more of a month to celebrate the concept of crafting worlds in general and sometimes what can help someone develop an caste of elves who live in sand dunes can help you find the missing link your greaser vampire biker gang.

How exactly do we participate? There’s no real right or wrong way to do this. You can work on it by yourself and talk with folks also working by themselves to throw ideas at each other. You can post on tumblr using the #WBJ tag. You can join our Discord and discuss world building ideas with others. As long as you’re building then I’m happy. I’ll also be posting prompts to help kickstart world building ideas, or to help you get unstuck when you’re stuck on what to do next. If you have further questions, shoot us an ask, but till then HAPPY BUILDING!

[worldbuildingjune]

Welcome to World Building June 2019!

It’s June 1st!

Time to start building! Whether you’re continuing from a world you’ve been working on last year, or you’ve got a fresh new world, or if this is your first year, I wish you all luck to work on that world as feverishly as possible!

Remember, even if you can’t work on your world every day of June, getting some work done every other day is still far more progress than what you’d have just sitting on  your hands, so never feel discouraged, even if life/brain stuff tries to get in the way!

Also remember you can join other builders at our DISCORD!

[worldbuildingjune]

World Building June Prompts 2019

The prompts from this year are same as last (mostly due to May being heck) but remember the prompts are always optional, and if you’ve already thoroughly covered a topic of your world or if it isn’t relevant feel free to replace it, or work on another prompt, which you feel could use some extra love and attention!

1. Tell us about your world, what's it about? 2. What's the Geography of your world? 3. Who lives in your world? 4. What's its history? (How did it come to be?) 5. What sorts of civilizations and architecture fill your world? 6. How does gender & sexuality work in your world? 7. How does the economy work in your world? What sorts of currencies do they use? 8. How is your world run? Who's in power? 9. What are the religions and cosmology of your world? 10. What holidays & traditions are observed in your world? 11. What's language like in your world? 12. What creatures inhabit your world? 13. What plants cover your world? 14. What do people eat in your world? 15. What technology is used in your world? 16. What magic exists in your world? 17. What's medicine and healthcare like in your world? 18. What are the fashion norms in your world? 19. How are wars fought in your world? 20. What sorts of weapons & armor are used in your world? 21. What do people do for fun in your world? 22. What do people do for work in your world? 23. What's the sky like in your world? 24. What places are still unexplored in your world? 25. What do people carry with them on a daily basis in your world? 26. What sorts of art exist in your world? 27. How do people get around in your world? 28. Who's important in your world? 29. How do people communicate with each other in your world? 30. What's the weather like in your world?

[worldbuildingjune]

World Building June 2019

Hello there, have a world building project that you’ve been putting off for a while? Have a world that you’ve been building in your head but haven’t gotten around to committing to paper? Keep intending to throw a wild pen and paper adventure for your friends but you’ve been planning it for a year with nothing to show for it?

Then World Building June is here to help! Like other monthly challenges, this is a call to action to work every day for a month to see where a little consistency can take you to get the ball rolling on whichever project you’ve been meaning to work on. This can be for any project btw, either for a novel, a game, a comic, a tabletop role playing game, a rock opera epic, world building for the sake of world building, all walks of life are welcome to use this month to work hard!

What are the rules?

The rules aren’t too intimidating, just build every day for the month of June. What do you build? Any progress forward counts, whether you’re writing info dumps for yourself, creating concept art, or are designing flags and maps, as long as you’re putting ideas to paper, then you’re doing the building!

For those who require some structure to know where to start or what they could work on, we’ll be updating our world building prompt list with the big questions, which will help shape your world. These prompts are not necessary to answer, but provide a great resource to light a fire under your butt to tackle question after question.

How do you participate with others?

You can tag your work as #worldbuildingjune on tumblr or twitter or join our public discord HERE to ask other builders for help, see new worlds, and meet new friends.

Clear your calendars, stretch your wrists, and GET BUILDING!

[worldbuildingjune]

Day 30: What’s the weather like in your world?

Finally, we’re here... ending the month with a cheesy ice-breaker.

Like the Sky prompt, it’s fun to consider what things would be like on a planet where it’s always cloudy, or constantly raining, or drastically windy. Consider doing a bit of research on uncommon weather phenomena on our planet, too - or just making very rare phenomena a common thing on your world, like... fire tornados, I don’t know.

Thank you for joining us for another June, we’ll see you all again next year!

[worldbuildingjune]

Will these prompts be up after june??? I haven't had time this month to do em, but July is gonna be a little less busy.

Oh yeah totally. I keep prompts up from previous years too, so if people want to keep sharing them and using them then they’re free to!