Summer Camp 2022
Last year was the first time I participated in my first ever summercamp. Summer Camp 2021 was my first ever WorldAnvil event and it was quite the experience. After WorldEmber 2021, I had a few stressful months that did not allow for a lot of worldbuilding other than my usual content, so I'm really excited to use Summer Camp as an opportunity to be inspired and back into that world build flow! As for tier... For this year, I'd love to get to that diamond again!
Tons of options here. The deserts of Naz'thul or Kordaasi still require development. The jungles of Azuno are great to write about as they have become more important in the campaign I am running in this world. Aquatic expanses such as the Cobalt Divide or even the smaller Boreal Sea might be fun if prompts are about bodies of water or related to such things. Leadership (Silver). The Kingdom of Wolfsbrunn still has plenty of titles and roles that need defining or writing about. The leadership structure of the people of Naldorec also needs further development. In the expanse of Azuno the leadership structure of the Empire of the Jade Eye and the city of Javesz might also be interesting topics to touch on. Smaller organizations also need leadership, such as the leadership structure and hierarchy of the Grey Cartel or maybe even specific people within the Amaranthine Archivists. Discovery (Gold). Discovery is an interesting one to write about but I have a hard time imagining prompts for this theme. I think some technologies or magic spells might be fun to write about here. Famous inventors and explorers as characters could be a great way of giving this theme more input. The lost civilization that used the Astran language might also be a great topic, but I'm not sure If i'd like to make this story public for everyone (and the players in my own campaign) to see! There's still plenty to be discovered in my world, and I'm sure through connecting it with the other themes that I will be able to write about this theme as well. Monstrous (Diamond). No worries about this one. Creatures, organizations, religions, there's plenty of evil things to write about in my world. I really enjoy evil with a backstory that gives the evil at least some motivation other than 'am evil, do evil', so I'd love to see if I can put some of that within my writing for these prompts! I'd enjoy illustrating these monstrous entities so this is definitely a focus theme for me!
A species that survives in an unlikely place.
Α material only harvestable from nature
A lost or discovered artifact of significance or power.
Species. For this species article I wrote about the Sea Giant. An water breathing folk that live beneath the waves. Inspired by the various giants found in Dungeons and Dragons, I wanted to have another type of giant that could inhabit and thrive in the depths of the oceans. As I'd love to delve deeper into creatures and creature design I read the following articles.
Bob by WantedHero (Jaime Buckley).
Beluvian Jackrabbit by TJTrewin
Trash Dragons by DapperCapricorn (Ezra Aldrich)
1. Bob by WantedHero. This article jumped out on the page because of the odd name, who calls a species Bob!? I've always written my articles very much like wikipedia or a Dungeons and Dragons book page, the very storylike and unique way WantedHero writes this article is super inspirational. I'd love to create some document articles with excerpts of experiences in my world similar to this recounting. In this species article I already learned so much about the type of world and stories WantedHero has created. Very cool!
2. Beluvian Jackrabbit by TJ. I loved how TJ made a rabbit so culturally significant! I've connected creatures to cuisine, companionship and areas in general, but the use of depictions of an animal in art and objects made in a specific region has never occurred to me in my own worldbuilding but is so lovely and smart! The detail TJ goes into in terms of the cooking of the rabbit brings a thought back into my brain of creating and writing recipes from my world that can be cooked in real life... (like Javeszian Sticky Lemon Bars) Perhaps I can create more some day!
3. Trash Dragons by DapperCapricorn is short and super sweet. In just a few paragraphs it paints a picture of a species that honestly, I wish I'd come up with myself. It reminded me to create more worldbuilding that teeters between functional and fantastical. Dragons are of course a great way of accomplishing this, little trash gremlin worker dragons? Sign me up!
Material. This prompt I completed with a seaweed: Steel Wrack. I enjoy coming up with a material and have that material inspire (magic) items and objects. I selected and read the following material articles.Dunewater by Theiket (Andrew)
Sama - Thought Metal by Qurillion
Glassicles by Janet (Janet Forbes)
1. Dunewater by Theiket is a solid example of succinct but very rich writing. I love the build-up and twist in this article. I'm a big fan of things that appear good natured or beneficial but turn out to be detrimental or hazardous. What can I say, I run Dungeons and Dragons and I love myself some good dramatic tabletop roleplaying moments!
2. Sama - Thought Metal by Qurillion is such a wonderfully extensive material article! I love the unique aspect of literally bending the metal to your will. The best part of this article is the inclusion of an event in the world, it is significantly different from just applying the material in objects like I often do. Instead, Qurillion makes it something that is grounded in the history and probably culture of their world. It makes me wonder how I too could find more different connections within my articles than the ones I usually go for.
3. Glassicles by Janet is a nice example of visual and cultural worldbuilding. It reminded me of a desert in my own world: Kordaasi and the magical storm 'Tormardienta' that ravages that part of Esca. Minerals, crystals or glass created by a storm are such a powerful visual and fantastical concept. Up until now, the materials I wrote about are more or less created naturally. A material that is created by or in extreme circumstances (magical or not) is definitely on my to do list now!
Artifact. At this point in time I've created over 500 magic items for Dungeons and Dragons, so I'm kind of familiar with the mechanical writing for it. The lore aspect is often left out of my articles and put into other articles or implied in the design so that other people can more easily implement in into their own settings. For this prompt however, I chose to make a legendary artifact of a deity in my world: Kalaera - Tamer of Clouds. I've selected the following item articles to see how other people create and describe their items.The Bone of Contemplation by Laurabones
Titanias Mirror by Tillerz
The Water God's Gifts by AmélieIS (Amélie I. S. Debruyne)
1. The Bone of Contemplation by LauraBones is such a cool twist on 'an artifact of great significance'. I went completely god-tier item with this prompt, but Laura approached it with a fun lighthearted article. I especially like how this item article includes a great questhook for a roleplaying game. It has inspired me to think beyond the 'epic' fantasy, and have more fun with it!
2. Titanias Mirror by Tillerz is an article that intrigues me so much! The story and images make me so curious, what is through the mirror? Who took it, and why!? It reminded me that you can still write about something in detail without giving away the mystery surrounding it.
3. The Water God's Gifts by AmélieIS combines divinity with so many more aspects of the world. The way these gifts can still range in terms of function is also something that is inspirational to me as a magic item creator. Perhaps random tables or random generated magic items could be something to look into... In any case, it also made me (re)consider and think about how much influence the divines have had, have and will have in my own world.
The Scope
This year I'm going to see where the prompts lead me and what I'm inspired by. I'm not going to let myself be constrained by a certain area in my world like I did last year with the region of Wolfsbrunn. What I will try to do is see if I can set the prompts/articles in the same areas so that it all kind of connects to eachother thematically and geographically. Below are the themes for each tier this year and my initial thoughts on them. Expanse (Copper).Tons of options here. The deserts of Naz'thul or Kordaasi still require development. The jungles of Azuno are great to write about as they have become more important in the campaign I am running in this world. Aquatic expanses such as the Cobalt Divide or even the smaller Boreal Sea might be fun if prompts are about bodies of water or related to such things. Leadership (Silver). The Kingdom of Wolfsbrunn still has plenty of titles and roles that need defining or writing about. The leadership structure of the people of Naldorec also needs further development. In the expanse of Azuno the leadership structure of the Empire of the Jade Eye and the city of Javesz might also be interesting topics to touch on. Smaller organizations also need leadership, such as the leadership structure and hierarchy of the Grey Cartel or maybe even specific people within the Amaranthine Archivists. Discovery (Gold). Discovery is an interesting one to write about but I have a hard time imagining prompts for this theme. I think some technologies or magic spells might be fun to write about here. Famous inventors and explorers as characters could be a great way of giving this theme more input. The lost civilization that used the Astran language might also be a great topic, but I'm not sure If i'd like to make this story public for everyone (and the players in my own campaign) to see! There's still plenty to be discovered in my world, and I'm sure through connecting it with the other themes that I will be able to write about this theme as well. Monstrous (Diamond). No worries about this one. Creatures, organizations, religions, there's plenty of evil things to write about in my world. I really enjoy evil with a backstory that gives the evil at least some motivation other than 'am evil, do evil', so I'd love to see if I can put some of that within my writing for these prompts! I'd enjoy illustrating these monstrous entities so this is definitely a focus theme for me!
Quantity and Quality
I'm not going to go for really long articles, it is not my style and never will be. I'd much rather link to another article to build a network of information instead of infodump in a really long page. Keep it simple, keep it short! This year I'd love to do more illustrations for the prompts that are within my area of artistic expertise. In short: creatures and items should have mechanics and art.Timeline
My summer vacation starts halfway through the month, and I have a big deadline the 12th of July that already requires some writing. I expect that the first few weeks might not be productive for summercamp, that just means I have to kick it into gear in the later weeks. Leading up to those weeks I might do a little brainstorm and jot down ideas for the prompts to get a good jumping off point when I start writing. Perhaps I'll do some streams if that fits in my schedule...Reading Challenge
As part of WorldAnvil Summer Camp 2022, I've chosen to participate in the Reading Challenge as well. I've chosen the prompts that I thought were a lot of fun to complete myself. The species because I love unique creatures. The material because I found out that material can influence objects, architecture, fashion and so much more in a culture, and of course the artifact because my main occupation is creating magic items!2. Beluvian Jackrabbit by TJ. I loved how TJ made a rabbit so culturally significant! I've connected creatures to cuisine, companionship and areas in general, but the use of depictions of an animal in art and objects made in a specific region has never occurred to me in my own worldbuilding but is so lovely and smart! The detail TJ goes into in terms of the cooking of the rabbit brings a thought back into my brain of creating and writing recipes from my world that can be cooked in real life... (like Javeszian Sticky Lemon Bars) Perhaps I can create more some day!
3. Trash Dragons by DapperCapricorn is short and super sweet. In just a few paragraphs it paints a picture of a species that honestly, I wish I'd come up with myself. It reminded me to create more worldbuilding that teeters between functional and fantastical. Dragons are of course a great way of accomplishing this, little trash gremlin worker dragons? Sign me up!
Material. This prompt I completed with a seaweed: Steel Wrack. I enjoy coming up with a material and have that material inspire (magic) items and objects. I selected and read the following material articles.
2. Sama - Thought Metal by Qurillion is such a wonderfully extensive material article! I love the unique aspect of literally bending the metal to your will. The best part of this article is the inclusion of an event in the world, it is significantly different from just applying the material in objects like I often do. Instead, Qurillion makes it something that is grounded in the history and probably culture of their world. It makes me wonder how I too could find more different connections within my articles than the ones I usually go for.
3. Glassicles by Janet is a nice example of visual and cultural worldbuilding. It reminded me of a desert in my own world: Kordaasi and the magical storm 'Tormardienta' that ravages that part of Esca. Minerals, crystals or glass created by a storm are such a powerful visual and fantastical concept. Up until now, the materials I wrote about are more or less created naturally. A material that is created by or in extreme circumstances (magical or not) is definitely on my to do list now!
Artifact. At this point in time I've created over 500 magic items for Dungeons and Dragons, so I'm kind of familiar with the mechanical writing for it. The lore aspect is often left out of my articles and put into other articles or implied in the design so that other people can more easily implement in into their own settings. For this prompt however, I chose to make a legendary artifact of a deity in my world: Kalaera - Tamer of Clouds. I've selected the following item articles to see how other people create and describe their items.
3. The Water God's Gifts by AmélieIS combines divinity with so many more aspects of the world. The way these gifts can still range in terms of function is also something that is inspirational to me as a magic item creator. Perhaps random tables or random generated magic items could be something to look into... In any case, it also made me (re)consider and think about how much influence the divines have had, have and will have in my own world.
Good luck with Summer Camp this year! looking forward to seeing what you create! :)