META ARTICLE: Shireon

Agile Worldbuilding

One Sentence/Paragraph to build them all!

Scope

Motivation
What is your motivation for building this world?

Shireon has lived in my head since some time in the late 90's in some form or another. My motivation is to make a coherent world where my characters can live - a place for their stories to unfold. The project is mostly for my own enjoyment - if other people like it, it's a bonus, not what the world is about.

Outcome
What are you hoping to get out of it?

I'm doing this to not forget the details of my world. I didn't write anything down for almost 20 years, so I don't really want to think about how much lore I've lost already. Secondly, my characters deserve a world to live in.

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

You tell me. I'm horrible at explaining why others should care about my world. Or my stories, for that sake.

Theme

Genre
What’s the Genre of your World?

Medium-to-high fantasy, I think?

Player Experience
How does the world feel (player experience)?

If you ask my story characters, most of them will give you a completely different answer.

Tone
What is the tone of your world?

Shireon is a NobleBright/GrimDark mush of tones, and can fit all of the tones somewhere.

Character Agency
What is the character agency level like?

That depends on the specific plot. Some are small and rather insignificant. Others are literally world changing, or at least pretty close.

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.

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

• Problems one can run into by being a werewolf.
• The conflicts between the factions of the world, both small and international size
• How much is the world affected by the presence of the Elders and what will happen when they're not there anymore?

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

I'm not too much of a fan of "limiting" my creative process with too many borders, especially not in a world that's more for my own enjoyment. For this project I'm not especially worried about any Worldbuilding Disease or similar really becoming a problem.

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

Technology Influence

Arts And Culture Influence

Drama

Yes.

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.