Foundation

Scope (write a sentence on each):

What is your motivation for building this world?

I want to create an engaging world to indulge my passion for fantasy in a novel series.

What are you hoping to get out of it?

I hope to get many books worth of stories out of this world and capture the interest of lots of readers through the stories.

What is the Hook or Unique Selling Point of your world? What makes it unique or different?

My world combines pantheon-based magic, a melting pot of races, epic fantasy, and magi-tech that creates lots of exploration, intrigue, and relational complexity.

Theme

What’s the Genre of your World?

My world is Epic, Coming-of-Age, Fantasy with some magi-tech thrown in.

How does the world feel (player experience)?

The world feels exciting, dangerous, full of adventure, dark at times, and it's a big world with plenty of people and places to explore.

What is the Scale of the world in this story?

The scale is the kingdom of Octiragrin and it's capital, Tirfalon. Other countries/regions have interaction with Octiragrin, but it is the main focus.

What is the tone of your world

World is mysterious, full of dark intrigue. Think Valdamar and The Belgariad.

What is the mood of your world

The mood of this world is Noble Bright with some darker elements at times. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but nothing is impossible.

Anvil Advice
Examples of Mood

Grim Dark ... Noble Bright

Grim ... Noble	Dark ... Bright
Grimmest	Darkest
Grim	Dark
Bleak	Gray
Neutral	Neutral
Noble	Bright

What is the character agency level like?

The point of these stories is for the characters to change their world. So, character agency is very high. The changes may be good or bad, but it will be meaningful to the region or maybe even the whole world.

Anvil Advice
Character agency describes how much power the PCs have to change the world, and how long-lasting that change might be. In a Noble campaign (think Starwars) one person can change the whole universe, and effect lasting change. In a Grim campaign (think 40K) one person can have only a very limited impact on the fate of the world, and that change often doesn't last long.

What are the recurring themes which reinforce the genre, tone and feel of your world? (Give three examples)

1. Friendship / cooperation
2. Defense of the country and its government from inside and outside forces
3. Recurring theme of things seeming fine on the surface, but being corrupt beneath

Anvil Advice
These three things should cover the overarching campaign, but do not need to feature in every single session. They are a great way to help underpin that this is the same genre, tone, narrative and campaign, despite the different flavour of adventures within it.

Meta:

Religous Influence: the gods and goddesses are a big influence on the activities and behaviours of the inhabitants of Octisafell.
Race Relations: there are many races on Octisafell. The relationships among them are very complex and ever-changing.
Technology: Most of Octisafell is at a medieval/renaissance level, but some races such as the gnomes are more advanced. Their tech is what they are known for.
Government Presence: In Octiragrin, there is a monarchy and a ruling council. They govern jointly. Other countries have different systems. Sometimes these governments clash and may try to subvert or overthrow others.
Military Influence: Octiragrin has a standing military. It has to defend its borders sometimes.

Anvil Advice
Choose three to five focal points of your world from the list below to focus your worldbuilding on:

• Government Presence
• Rule Of Law
• Social Services
• Economic Strength
• Wealth Distribution
• Agriculture And Trade
• Race Relations
• Class Relations
• Gender Relations
• Sexual Orientation Relations
• Military Influence
• Religious Influence
• Technological Influence
• Arts And Culture Influence

Drama:

1. As the seven embark on their education, they are drawn into a world of politics and intrigue where they must expose and foil plots to subvert the government.
2. A neighboring nation tries by several means to infiltrate / overthrow the governmant.
3. Some of the nonhuman races on Octisafell are on the brink of war. The seven must help define treaties to stop war and bring peace to the world.
4. The gods / goddesses show the seven in different ways that Luxaz is trying t destroy the peace and safety of the people and nations of Octisafell.
5. The Black Sorcerer, Melafinner is behind most, if not all, of the strife and discontent in the world. He is guided by Luxaz to influence the people and governments toward black magic and chaos.

Anvil Advice
Add 5 points of drama to your world - you can use one or two of them for your main plot line, but the rest are just there to create the impression of a larger world in motion.

World Meta
Links of the Anvil by Satrium