lunarside-library

[lunarside-library]

the thing is, right, medieval europe is fun and cool and has dog saints and saints who used to be gods and weird fads and social change and fashion - and brutality, yes, in ways that are not generally reflected in fantasy medieval europe (a bad harvest will really fuck you up) - and people who believe truly and charlatans and scammers and tenderness and people and i don't want a fantasy medieval europe that's less interesting than real medieval europe

[lunarside-library]

[lunarside-library]

amber skiees related question- whats the most important part of worldbuilding in a big sandbox way for you? do you typically start with the details and expand or start with the big picture and zoom in.

I start with whatever seems coolest, then I build a world around making those elements fit seamlessly into the tone I'm going for.

For me, a story starts as a collection of Cool Moments in my head.

Like, one of the earliest scenes I ever wrote for Amber Skies was actually the training bit with student learning to incorporate lithium into her biology.

I remember seeing a documentary about how the presidential nuclear bunker is actually a colossal box on springs. I imagined like, a far-future civilization that developed an entire ecosystem in that crawl-space beneath the earth and the bunker. And I had this image in my mind of a mutant being taught to change her body, learning from some weird tall grey woman, in this ancient swamp framed by springs the size of skyscrapers.

That raises a lot of questions! What exactly is it theyre doing? How come they can both do it? Where exactly are they? What's above them? What's below them? How'd they get here? You answer enough of those questions and soon you have a novel!

[lunarside-library]

Hi, I'm always very impressed by your world building skills, even in shorter stories! Do you have any advice for aspiring writers on how to build their fantasy world?

So i drafted a response to this in between working just far too much and then my computer crashed and i lost it. Then i was even busier so i never got around to writing it again but i am making some time this weekend, so worldbuilding post - take 2

My main, high level worldbuilding tips are:

Rule of Cool: worldbuild things you think are fun and interesting. not only is that the best way to get ideas you like and are motivated to write about, but other people will also think they're interesting too. have fun with it.

Iceberg theory: know more about the world than ever makes it into the story. people can sense when worldbuilding is shallow, so even if they never see the true depths of the world they can often sense it's there. plus if u know the whole picture, everything the readers do see will seem more coherent

Integration: i heavily integrate the world i'm building into the story i'm telling--so dig into the plot and characters and make sure that the world and the story serve each other well. your world is there to contribute to the story so make sure its fulfilling that purpose

For more specifics about how i personally world build and for some examples from my stories of the above guidelines, see below.

So firstly, i love worldbuilding. i just think its a ton of fun and could easily spend hours just thinking about worlds in my head. (i mean what else is there to do when ur commuting to work, amiright?) i think that does make it easier for me to take the time to do it right and makes the world come through more vividly in my writing. it can get annoying or tedious or be more challenging at times, but since i like it/find world building interesting, i'm more willing to put in the time and effort to whip it into shape and i get less frustrated with that part of the process in general.

i'm also always thinking about world building to some degree in the back of my mind. picking up interesting information, facts, snatches of cool ideas or images or whatever. then i throw all that in like a junk drawer in my brain so when i sit down to more officially write or flesh out a world, i already have spare parts at my finger tips to use or drawn on.

Reading and consuming other art and worlds also makes it easier to make your own, just lik reading is a key part of writing practice. i don't just mean fiction, but just anything about the actual world makes it much easier to make up your own--that can manifest as awe at the fireflies that actually exist or spite that dragons dont. Whether that's random youtube video essays about the history of musicals or drinks or fashion to books and articles and documentaries or just my friend's niche interests (or their regular jobs). i'm always taking worldbuilding notes in the back of my mind.

For a more writing specific example, i read this short guide '50 Ways to Kill a Mermaid' (its locked for AO3 so u hav to sign in to read it) and it was super fun and cool to read that info from a writer who had studied marine biology. then when i was fleshing out Don't Shoot the Messenger a year later, the problem of Satrasi being a sea demon in a fresh water pool and bloating came to my mind because i'd stored that tidbit from the article away for later use.

My personal method for worldbuilding and plot outlining is sort a brainstorming/Q&A i have with myself (i hope this makes sense when i'm done writing this all out lol).

I've mentioned this before but the prompt that inspired Dale was: "You’re pretty sure your boyfriend was replaced by an eldritch being that can barely emulate being human. Weirdly, you enjoy a better relationship with them than your actual boyfriend."

So when that idea grabbed me, i started brainstorming about the world and asking myself questions. Why is the reader with the boyfriend if they don't really like them? What would make someone stay in a relationship like that? Do i want to make this a dark story? And i did not, i wanted it to be fun, so the arranged marriage angle came to mind. And if that's the premise then when is the story? is this our 'past' or another world entirely? diff world means more freedom so i automatically leaned in that direction.

Can the reader tell the 'boyfriend' has been replaced? Are demons a thing people know about? does the reader know that's an option? which is more fun? if the reader is worried about Dale getting caught, that's more room for hijinks so then yes, demons are known, but not common otherwise too many people would notice.

So my plot and worldbuilding are evolving in tandem and informing each other, based on the type of story i want to tell and how the characters i have in mind will react etc.

i run through a lot of ideas and turn them over in my head--trying out diff pieces to see if they fit--and am always willing to drop an idea or save it for another story if i don't think its working for the current one

For iceberg theory, i mentioned above for Dale would be the religions in that world. When i decided to introduce a priest like character (for discovery danger) i knew i needed to focus more on the religions than i previously had noted. the majority of what i came up with isn't int he story, but i think the fact that i know it helps me write when did end up in there, helped make it consistent, and means i can more easily work in allusions to it without having to work so hard those singular times.

For example, i'd decided to call the demon realm "the Depths" early on, which to me already invokes deep water and darkness, so i followed that through to sort height and air and light as being perceived more positively. fire and light are important symbols in this world and they primarily burn their dead--to bury someone below ground would be seen as almost condemning them and someone drowning is also seen as like, not good for their soul because what if it is 'pulled down' rather than 'ascending'. some of this was alluded to in the chapter, but most of it is not. this also helped me come up with the various "by the light" "dawn's ire" and other similar little 'religious' phrases and exclamations different characters use at times.

Meanwhile, in Sacrifice, the people living their are relatively non-religious--thats why they both don't pray to any other deities and it takes 5 years of problems to even bother trying an old god. it's not sacrilege because they're desperate people trying a long shot, not violating or abandoning a different belief. because i wanted the reader's main problem with it all to just be that they didn't think it work.

And why is she a translator? because i wanted to use the idea from that one post that goes around about how ridiculous it is in movies when their translated prophecies rhyme in english. why are they arguing about the translation? because its a dead language so no one really speaks it, that means the people who came up with it were here a century ago or longer. why aren't they here anymore? nomadic so they left and ended up staying away because of a natural disaster elsewhere. why is this town here now? a particular export/resource in this area became valuable enough for people to try to live here. the fact that its a lumber town due to some rare wood native to the area doesn't come up in the story, but i know it and i think that i know that about the town helps it feel more real, makes it easier for me to reach for new details when i need them

and going back to anything can be inspiration, let's talk about the doorlock in the very beginning of Finally Woken. its literally just a magical keypad/number pad but with different colored tiles instead of numbers because i wanted the reader to be able to get in, but i felt it didnt make sense for them to hav a physical key. and i thought it would look cool in Heshi's door and it went well with the fact that he's a glassblower . also, why is Heshi a glassblower? because i frickin' lov blown glass - i just think its so cool and pretty. that helped lead into the sort of artisan economy feel that world has.

Each of these stories has an outline and notes doc at a minimum. the notes doc is where i throw lik pics, inspiration posts, random worldbuilding ideas etc. only much shorter stories or stories that are heavily based in 'modern' world don't hav extensive random notes.

my Dale folder has subfolders for characters and the setting, as well as random worldbuilding files such as "demon summoning/magic" "spiritual belief and org" "fashion - feminine" and so on. Even excluding the plot outline and chapter notes (and not counting pics) i've got like, over 4k of random notes saved. dale is the one i hav the most of that for, but all my fics have some little section with stuff like that jotted down

in the end, i think the best way to sum up all that is with my three original rules of: put stuff u think is cool in your world, known more than you tell to help everything fit together and seem deep, and build your world around your plot and characters because they should all be working together to tell the story you want to tell.

honestly, i could ramble about worldbuilding all day so if anyone has any questions or wants more examples, just let me know ^^

[lunarside-library]

I can write a decent hook when the occasion calls

[lunarside-library]

just so yall know

art block is your brain telling you to do studies.

draw a still life. practice some poses. sketch some naked people. do a color study. try out a different technique on a basic shape.

art block doesnt stop you from drawing, it stops you from making your drawings look the way you want them to. and thats because you need to push your skills to the next level so you can preform at that standard

think of it as level grinding for your next work.

[lunarside-library]

so in D&D the gelatinous cube is an explicit in-setting ecological representation of the fact that "dungeons with ten-foot-wide corridors" are a common enough feature that there are creatures adapted or designed specifically for them. but dragons aren't adapted for that design at all, nor are a lot of the other big guys; they either need separate exits or to use magic or shapeshift into a human form to go throguh the tunnels

but this is a problem that has been solved in real-life! the problem of "large animal that needs to get into a fairly consistently-sized tunnel that's significantly smaller" is solved by snakes, and, crucially, by mustelids, animals that are very long relative to their size. so I think D&D needs more of that. there should be giant ten-foot-wide dungeon weasels and stuff.

[lunarside-library]

Crooked Carmen Crittercounter is a lonely hag in the ancient forest, whose lair is a small treehouse that stands in the middle of a clearing. It appears much bigger on the inside than the outside.

She is the last survivor of her coven after the druids drove them away. Carmen believes she is responsible for the druids' corruption, and takes great joy in this.

The grove of the forsaken is a hidden, gloomy cave somewhere in the ancient forest. A corrupted order of druids would leave the corpses of traitors and interlopers here to be consumed by the bioluminescent mushroomfolk.

#mini worldbuilding

[lunarside-library]

The grove of the forsaken is a hidden, gloomy cave somewhere in the ancient forest. A corrupted order of druids would leave the corpses of traitors and interlopers here to be consumed by the bioluminescent mushroomfolk.

#mini-worldbuilding

[lunarside-library]

I’m releasing a TTRPG supplement

Kind of says it all, really. Brought to life by the illustrations of the talented Kate Lucas (https://skeejeedoodles.carrd.co/), the supplement is on sale now at: https://hyrune.itch.io/the-goblin-market Hey folks. My name is David, I’m a queer games designer and writer from Ireland. In the autumn of last year, I was made redundant from my job of eleven years, and taking a look back over that time I realised I’d lost time. I’d lost so much creative spark that previously drove me, and in a fit of frenzied, caffeine-fuelled panic inspiration, I got to work making something. I’ve been playing tabletop RPGs for many years, both as a GM and as a player. As a GM, I’ve occasionally struggled when players go off the beaten track - you haven’t lived until you’ve stared blankly around the table, trying to think of a name for a random NPC you didn’t anticipate at all, having your eyes land on a coffee cup and proudly declaring their name is “Uhhhh… Muggsley.” If you’ve ever been in a position where your players are shopping, and you’ve had to quickly drum up a string of shopkeepers and vendors on-the-fly, this book might just help you. The Goblin Market is a system agnostic collection of over fifty merchants, monsters and even stranger things which can be dropped into your campaign to add weirdness and magic for your players: retired river gods, escaped nightmares, tea merchants, vengeful dragons seeking to raise an army to defeat tyrannical princesses, off-duty demons, magical roboticists, mystery cults, accidentally immortal witches, and more besides. Each entry details a merchant and the items they both buy and sell, but also contains a number of plot hooks (over 140, last time I checked) so you can give your players sidequests to investigate. Each vendor can be dropped into your game on their own, but also exists in a setting of their own - a setting where each market stallholder invokes and involves other entries and merchants as rivals, romantic interests, family members and possible eldritch accomplices from the days before the Moon was born. It’s a living, breathing place, and I’ve loved writing it so, so much.

[lunarside-library]

People who object to trans people being in fantasy are wild. As though some silly-hatted alchemist wouldn't simply invent Almazar's Gender Fluid in an afternoon and distribute it to every dungeon chest in the land. It's Common on the loot table and half the goblins drop it. You can brew it yourself with three mushrooms and eight snail shells. It sells for 1 copper at the merchant because the supply is so abundant. You fool. You melon. You absolute buffoon. The limits of what you are willing to imagine are an epitaph you wrote for your own freedom.

[lunarside-library]

Wizard: Oh, I like your Goblin detecting sword! That's funny.

Goblin who thought they just had a cool glowing sword: ... My what now?

[lunarside-library]

important corollary to “you can always pirate dungeons and dragons its always morally correct” is  “it is even more morally correct to legally acquire and play a tabletop role playing game that is not dungeons and dragons”

[lunarside-library]

i think reframing 'writing a campaign' or 'writing a plot' as writing beats has dramatically changed the quality of my dming. for me personally, i work best when i have a world with pieces that would be moving (regardless of whether the players would be there but obviously, you put the players in the crosshairs to effect change) and plan each 2-4 sessions as its own small story and i've developed a method that really works for me that i use for oneshots, mini campaigns, and in arcs for longer games.

[ID: a screenshot of a bullet point list with template headers: Location, Framing Plot (subheaders Social, Exploration, and Combat), Key NPCS, World Plot Progression, Player Hooks (subheaders repeating Player to be replaced with a PC's name)]

to further explain:

Location(s) — where the sessions will likely take place, so I have a manageable list of places to develop further in terms of worldbuilding.

Framing Plot — What is happening, what is the inciting the incident and what are the things the players cannot control. Then the subheaders are the three tiers of play. I think it's important to have an idea to tap into all of them or lean heavier into what your party is interested in but consider all of them for fun and exciting Mechanical gameplay as well as story and roleplay.

Key NPCS — Who are the NPCS that are going to be important to the framing and to the players. This is usually just a handful.

World Plot Progression — How does / how will the events of this scenario push forward what your players are working towards?

Player Hooks — Specific thoughts for how to connect the framing plot to each player character and make each player feel invested and like their choices matter.

and that's what I do to plot out my games. It's never "this is how things will resolve" it is, "this is what the situation is and this is how i want to connect my players to it and see what they do"

[lunarside-library]

This is the original phonology for proto-Q that I had worked out. It's very much a first draft intended for tweaking later, which I am planning on doing soon.

I'm thinking of starting a new protolanging project (a conlanging project where you create a proto-language and then make an entire family derived from it).

I just have to decide on what kind of features I want the proto-lang and daughters to have 😁

#proto-q #lunarside protolanging project #conlangs #conlanging

[lunarside-library]

I have been doing quite a bit of work on this language, now called Qhu'si Misnga [χuʔsi misŋa] or Proto-Qhu'si for short. Most of which has been working on a swadesh list, so I can get a feel for the phonology:

I quite like it, though I do feel like it's missing something, and when I tried to create some preliminary sound changes to see what a daughter lang could look like, I wasn't all that satisfied with it.

So I have been looking through the index of phonetics articles on Wikipedia, to see if there were any interesting features I haven't heard of before that I could incorporate into the phonology and use this conlang as a means of learning about.

There's some interesting contrats mentioned that I might want to incorporate in to Proto-Q, like a central vs lateral consonant contrast, or an apical vs laminal contrast.

I for sure want to do something with checked vs free vowels, as that contrast is present in my native language and I often end up reproducing it unintentionally anyways.

I'm thinking of starting a new protolanging project (a conlanging project where you create a proto-language and then make an entire family derived from it).

I just have to decide on what kind of features I want the proto-lang and daughters to have 😁

[lunarside-library]

I've worked out the basics of the phonology for what I'm temporarily calling Proto-BM (just until I find a nice name for it), and have also created the first example sentences:

(The accusative in this language currently doubles as a kind of genitive marker - as seen in example 2 - I'm still tweaking things and seeing if I like it and if it's unambiguous enough using context for me to keep it.)

My approach to these languages is very much an iterative one, I'll make some rough first drafts and then slowly tweak things over time so the language gains its own identity and I become more familiar with it.

I'm thinking of starting a new protolanging project (a conlanging project where you create a proto-language and then make an entire family derived from it).

I just have to decide on what kind of features I want the proto-lang and daughters to have 😁