In this epsiode, Seth and James break down why factions are great, what uses they serve in a story and how to craft high quality factions in a short space of time. You can add them into your world like a rich teaspoon of paprika to stew adding depth and context to the setting, coloring characters with a richer tapestry of motivations and means, allies and rivals. We think you'll get a lot out of this!

Key Takeaways:

• Factions are essential for worldbuilding: they create depth, conflict, and a sense of realism in both stories and games.
• Assigning characters to factions provides instant context and motivation, making even minor NPCs feel more three-dimensional.
• Factions act as narrative placeholders and boundaries, allowing creators to improvise and expand their worlds organically.
• The goals and ideologies of factions drive story momentum and create natural opportunities for conflict and alliance.
• Not all members of a faction are the same—individuals can have unique agendas, which adds complexity and surprise to the narrative.
• Using familiar tropes or archetypes for factions helps audiences quickly understand the world, but subverting those tropes can make stories more interesting.
• Factions can be based on anything: political groups, families, animal packs, or even organizations with unconventional goals.
• Conflict between factions doesn’t need to be central to the plot; even background factional tension adds richness and immersion.
• Practical tip: For game masters and writers, keeping a simple list of factions and their goals makes improvisation easier and stories more cohesive.
• Allies and enemies within and between factions create dynamic, unresolved conflicts that keep worlds and stories engaging.
• Real-world writing example: Introducing a faction allowed the author to swap out a character for a more interesting one without rewriting the entire story.
• Factions are vectors—they give direction and purpose to groups, making worldbuilding more flexible and stories more compelling.

Links

• The Worldbuilder's Journal - With a specialized faction page based on this episode's key takeaways.
• The WorldCraft Club Discord - this is the 'club' part of the club. Come hang out with us all and talk worldbuilding, share dumb memes, and so much more.
• Seth Writes Books - Check out Seth's work here!

Key Takeaways

• Both aesthetic (like spaceships and lasers) and thematic (social change, technological friction) elements are crucial in defining a genre. Authors should consider how these elements shape and impact their story.
• Genre definitions are useful but should not be restrictive. Authors should use genre tags flexibly to guide their creativity and storytelling, rather than feeling constrained by them. Remember, at the end of the day your genre helps readers choose your story. Let the critics worry about the nitty gritty.

Links and Sundry

• Dave's books! - Read them, now!
• Dave's Insta
• The WorldCraft Club's LinkTree where you'll find everything you need for life.

1. Genre vs. Tropes: Genre serves as a marketing tool and a communication shorthand for readers, but it can be restrictive for writers. Instead, focusing on tropes allows for more creative freedom and can help maintain audience engagement across various genres.

2. Creative Freedom: Writers often feel typecast into specific genres by their audience's expectations. Transitioning to a trope-based approach can alleviate this constraint, enabling authors to explore different genres while maintaining core thematic elements.

3. Career Sustainability: For established authors, adhering to favorite tropes rather than fixed genres supports artistic expression and prevents creative stagnation, ultimately benefiting both the author's well-being and the longevity of their career.

Links and Sundry

• The only link you'll ever need - this is our linktree and has access to everything we have including the hallowed Worldbuilder's Journal and our Discord (weekly hangouts!)
• Here's a subscriber link to our YouTube Channel with tons of videos for your viewing pleasure.
• This specific episode on YouTube!

Key takeaways for writers:

• Keep your systems few and directly relevant to the story where possible. Limiting change agents.
• Keep your systems simple if you must include them. All systems can easily grow out of your control and the simpler the better.
• For all systems its wise to include a character or significant story where possible to keep the reader's interest (and your own!).

Links and Sundry

• The only link you'll ever need - this is our linktree and has access to everything we have including the hallowed Worldbuilder's Journal and our Discord (weekly hangouts!)
• Here's a subscriber link to our YouTube Channel with tons of videos for your viewing pleasure.

In this episode of The WorldCraft Club, James and Dave delve into the origins of worldbuilding, tracing it back to ancient myths and fairy tales. They discuss how early storytelling, through tales of trolls, fairies, and elves, laid the groundwork for what would become known as worldbuilding, notably evolving with Tolkien's work. The episode explores the distinction between allegory and modern worldbuilding, examines Tolkien's impact, and considers the importance of wonder and mystery in storytelling. The conversation touches on different perceptions of creatures like trolls and elves across various stories and how worldbuilding today often seeks a balance between realism and the fantastical, inspired by the awe and imagination of ancient tales.

Links

• Dave's Books - Join Talon squad on an epic adventure across a galaxy full of danger and excitement!
• The Only Link You'll Ever Need - The WorldCraft Club LinkTree with links to our Discord, YouTube and of course the Worldbuilder's Journal.

They discuss the creative process behind the making of the 'Zodak the Last Shielder' audiobook, highlighting the collaborative effort required to bring the fantasy world to life through nuanced voice acting. Max and Eli share their journey from ideation to publishing, emphasizing the challenges and rewards of creating an audiobook. Dallin explains the artistry involved in narrating, from adopting multiple accents to add depth to the characters, to working closely with the authors to ensure their vision is faithfully translated into spoken word. The podcast underscores the value of collaboration in storytelling, inviting listeners to consider how different perspectives and expertise can enrich their own creative projects. The episode wraps up with where to find 'Zodak the Last Shielder' and an encouragement for storytellers to embrace collaborative feedback through friends, family, and collaborators.

Key Takeaways -

• Inviting others into your project can deepen your worldbuilding by interrogating it with new expertise and insights. Share you're work with collaborators and friends in a variety of ways from short stories to live readings to illuminate your setting.

Links -

• Zodak the Last Shielder - Available now on Amazon and other places fine books are sold.
• Dallin's ACX Profile - So you can check him out for your next project.

WorldCraft Club -

• Come create with us at our Discord!
• See everything else the Club has to offer.

Adaptations are BIG right now! Live action interpretations of childhood shows (like Avatar the Last Airbender, or anime like One Piece) or books being turned into movies or comics, there is so much IP out there to be adapted. Today Seth and I talk through why a lot of these adaptations receive harsh criticism, how creatives should frame their work for adaptation, and why adaptations are even made to begin with!

Check out the only link you'll ever need < our link tree

Key Takeaways

• Ma (Space) - Leave room for your creation to breath. You don't always have to fill the air with more content if what you've already created is rich with meaning. What this can mean is that you shouldn't be afraid to linger on a scene or a worldbuilding concept that's already where it needs to be. Know what you're making and let your audience enjoy it without every detail being explored.
• Kinetic Spectacle - Feel free to create something that is straight from the heart. Your unique style. Your goal is not necessarily a realism but rather expression.
• Economy - You only have so many words you can fit on a page, only have so much attention from your audience that you can spend. Remember this and keep your content important or good, don't be afraid to throw out material you're not sure about. Kill your darlings.

Links and Sundry:

• Kanada School Video - a brief overview of the Kanada School, it's inspiring.
• Prince of Egypt Pencil Test - see what the animators were thinking.

Studio YGKrow's Stuff

• YGKrow's Website - Check out YGKrow's swanky website, don't forget to drop into their merch store to check out their latest designs.
• Kythera 0 - Their latest animation (at least until cucumber fairy comes out)
• Ned and Fred Don't Lose Your Head - I'm pretty sure this is the one Raz nearly died to make. We refer to it a lot in the podcast and I thought you might wanna check it out too, it's super fun. Also, this has some of my favorite voice acting ever.

WorldCraft Club

• The only link you’ll ever need - this will take you to our link tree which has access to our discord and other great stuff for you to check out.

Key Takeaways:

• Don’t fear a good trope. Fish out of Water, as discussed here, can operate as a great way to convey your setting that focuses on character development and growth rather than rote exposition.
• Make use of your characters to refine your setting by reverse engineering it. Remember that similarities can say as much as differences.

Links and Sundry:

• Expansive Universes - This is a link to the last time that Ross and I talked

Ross’s Stuff

• Ross’s Site - Here you can join his newsletter and get the inside scoop on new books and short stories.
• Ross’s new book - Get Birthright now!

WorldCraft Club

• The only link you’ll ever need: https://linktr.ee/worldcraftclub - this will take you to our link tree which has access to our discord and other great stuff for you to check out.

Key Takeaways:

• A weed is something that distracts the audience or yourself from the story you’re trying to tell.
• Weeds are best identified by checking them against your core concept in the setting.
• Practice is the only real way to grow but you can supercharge that with a great a community that will give you instant meaningful feedback. Try ‘building in public’ to cultivate this kind of community.

Links and Sundry:

• Gardening Episode - Spotify link to where we talked about Gardening in more depth.

Seth’s Stuff

• All Seth’s stuff can be found here - go ahead and check out his whole catalogue!

WorldCraft Club

• The only link you’ll ever need: https://linktr.ee/worldcraftclub - this will take you to our link tree which has access to our discord and other great stuff for you to check out.

Join Steel Stash and James as they finish up with the OPE of ASCOPE looking at Organizations, People, and Events in the fictional city of Nightside. This tool is incredibly flexible and can aid in the creation of a lot of interconnected content but it needs to be handled with some care and some knowledge of where you're going. This means that you, as the creator, will have to have a strong North Star that you're guiding your world creation with. It's where the core concept that Seth and I frequently reference comes in. Take time and think about what you're trying to make before diving in.

Key Takeaways

• Area is absolutely critical for this process. First define the exact area that you're working in so your scope doesn't creep too much. A little list of 'look into this later' might be worth creating so you don't lose great ideas while you're focusing.
• This tool makes for great worldbuilding compost. It's a great way to create new content that can help your setting to grow in a clear direction.
• ASCOPE/PMESII is very flexible and can be applied nearly any way that you want. Don't be afraid to play with the content a bit and determine how you're going to develop your settings.
• I'm linking a google doc I created to help you along the way: ASCOPE/PMESII Tables.

Links and Sundry

• The Dove Crap Town - this has become a favorite point of reference for folks in our community when we're talking about how worldbuilding from a single concept can expand into fascinating depth and make for great stories.

Where to Find the Stash

Oh man, he's everywhere!

• The Black Dragon Dungeon Company Website
• His itch.io
• His Tumblr and TikTok
• Drive Through RPG
• Rose Nexus - SPAAAAAACE ROOOOOMANS
• Lonely TTRPG Podcast and here on YouTube
• His email

Where to Find Us!

• The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

Key Takeaways:

• Write what you want! It’s not your job to be all things to all men but to be something to the folks who read your work. Keep the main thing the main thing.
• Our conception of worldbuilding has come a long way from 1941, audience expectations are different.

Seth’s Stuff

All Seth’s stuff can be found here - go ahead and check out his whole catalogue!

Links and Sundry

• The only link you’ll ever need: Our LinkTree - this will take you to our link tree which has access to our discord and other great stuff for you to check out.
• Nightfall - this is the novel we’re referring to in the show.
• Asimov - Just incase you haven’t read a lot of him or weren’t sure who we were talking about.

Steel Stash joins the pod for this two part episode discussing this powerful worldbuilding acronym. It's a tool that was developed by the military to assess an area of operation but serves world builders by helping to clearly and concisely get the key details about an area nailed down. Join us as we explore the utility of this initialism and level up your worldbuilding.

Key Takeaways

• This tool is ultimately a prompting tool. Use what you need and reject what you don't. There's no need to fill out every component.
• When determining where to begin with PMESII don't get too wrapped up on going in order. Stop and consider what the most important facet of the area you're developing is before you dive in.
• ASCOPE/PMESII could be a really powerful way to not just build your own unique setting but to modify and tinker with a module and make it your own.
• I'm linking a google doc I created to help you along the way: ASCOPE/PMESII Tables.

Where to Find the Stash

Oh man, he's everywhere!

• The Black Dragon Dungeon Company Website
• His itch.io
• His Tumblr and TikTok
• Drive Through RPG
• Rose Nexus - SPAAAAAACE ROOOOOMANS
• Lonely TTRPG Podcast and here on YouTube
• His email

Where to Find Us!

• The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

Key Takeaways:

• The gaps between elements of your setting is where the story is.
• A setting doesn't truly exist outside of interpretation. To some extent that means that you're not building a setting in a 'God's Eye' method but rather allowing the space for a visitant's interpretation in that setting.

Links:

• Back the Lore Master's Deck!
• Get Seth's Latest Book!
• Join the Club!

How to Reach Peter -

• Twitter
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Free Demos! 

• Our LinkTree, this has the link to the  Discord on it along with just about everything else. Definitely check it out!

Key Takeaways:

• Convey your setting with confidence - this is a WorldCraft Club bingo entry for sure. Andor throws you into the middle of the setting and doesn't stick around to explain much of the 'whys and wherefores' of it. You're just there in the moment. Ferrix was a great example of this. The culture of Ferrix plays an important role in the story but little of it is explained or developed for the audience. We're just placed there.
• Let your setting communicate your story's themes - several characters are developed by the settings they inhabit, from Mon Mothma's ritzy apartment to Luthen's brutal concrete antiquities store these elements say something about the characters that inhabit them and the ideas the story is trying to communicate.
• If you major on the majors a lot of peripheral sins can be forgiven - the gang weren't without some criticisms for the series, particularly the lack of alien life found on the prison planet but these doubts were quickly forgotten because of the setting's bold committment to its themes and narrative. The result was that the fans of the show quickly found a way to make the lagging details fit and participated in the growth of the setting.

Links and Sundry:

• The only link you'll ever need - our LinkTree! The one stop shop to find the Worldbuilder's Journal (our disc bound notebook to lead you through the process of immersive worldbuilding), an invite to our Discord Server (where you can join in on discussions like these), and a slack handful of links to our various social media outlets.

Key Takeaways:

1. Worldbuilding vs. Story - There’s an ongoing question in creative spaces about the value of worldbuilding and there are markets emerging where having an exciting world is a big part of the value of the property. This is where the rub is with traditionally published authors like Stephen King and something we’d do well to think about in our own creative endeavors.
2. Humility is worldbuilding currency - Participation is about your visitants creating their own head canon for the setting. It requires humility as a worldbuilder to let control of your creation go, at least a little bit, in order to see it flourish in the hands of your audience. This is how you know you’ve completed your path as a worldbuilding and, with the right mindset, can be thrilling to watch.
3. Your world is ultimately a collection of unfinished, unresolved conflicts - Leaving these elements open ended is not only realistic (as life seldom resolves) but is incredibly enticing. “I wonder what happened to that guy?” “Did those two nations ever find peace?”

Links and Sundry:

• The Infamous Stephen King Tweet - What are your thoughts on this? Go ahead and buzz us using our LinkTree below.

Where to find Seth’s stuff:

• Seth’s nifty website - Find out the latest about Seth’s comings and goings on this site as well as catching up on his latest books.
• Seth’s Newsletter - To make sure you always know what he’s up to.

How to reach us:

• The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

Key takeaways:

• You have a limited reservoir of wonder and excitement for your setting and short stories help fan this affection into flame rather than quenching it.
• In completing short stories you actually finish projects. Finishing means you have something complete to share and get feedback on, you get the psychic satisfaction of completing a task, and you’re forced to practice skills that can only be practiced with a completed work (satisfying character arcs, understanding the reader experience)
• Short stories can crystalize your ideas by causing you to interrogate your worldbuilding both adding to it as well as pruning elements that are unneeded, they can also help you determine types of stories that suit your setting and your goals as a storyteller and worldbuilder.
• Writing about what you love or what you hate can be incredibly powerful as you have a deep well of passion to draw from. Don’t be afraid to major on that major.

Where you can find Daniel

• He wrote a blog on his medium about this topic that you can check out.
• Here’s his Facebook page.

Come hang out with the WorldCraft Club

• Our Linktree has got everything you need to reach out to use including our Discord server, our Instagram, Facebook, and web store where you can buy the incredible Worldbuilder’s Journal to supercharge your worldbuilding.

Key Takeaways

• Don’t get caught up in your identity as a plotter or pantser but embrace the  idea that you’re more likely on the garden spectrum. You may have an organized and well trimmed garden or you may have a wild one, but most worldbuilders will find themselves with a little pantsing in their plans or a planning in their pants.
• It’s not a bad thing to find that your world surprises you, in fact we’d argue that it’s a very good thing. Your characters and setting have begun to take on a life of their own.

Where to find Seth’s stuff.

• Seth’s nifty website - Find out the latest about Seth’s comings and goings on this site as well as catching up on his latest books.
• Seth’s Newsletter - To make sure you always know what he’s up to.

How to reach us:

• The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

Key Takeaways

• Know your audience, Greg’s familiarity with his audience helped him know what artifacts to place in his setting that would draw his visitants in. He uses the example of an Arena. You have players who you know are excited about fighting, put an item in the setting that will draw some fun out of them.
• Kill your darlings. You’re going to have great ideas, characters you fleshed out completely, plot hooks or points that were precious and exciting to you that you’ll just have to lay on one side for the sake of creating an experience for your visitants. Another way I think I’d modify this old axiom is this: ‘Adapt your darlings’. Like in the example of the mayor having the key the vault, he might not have it but the girl at the bar who the players are interested in might. It allows you to retain your plot point while funneling your setting through the interests of your visitants.
• Your world is founded in its conflicts. Every conflict that exists in your setting provides an opportunity to engross your audience. In this instance the audience are creating some of those conflicts but having the humility to reframe those challenges as a chance to make your world even deeper will yield serious dividends.

Greg's Links

• Worldbuilding.io - Check out Greg's ite. It's a great clearing house for worldbuilding advice and a suite of tools to help with lots of different elements of your worldbuilding journey to get you ready for your next game.
• Greg on Twitter - Get your daily dose of worldbuilding wisdom here.
• Greg on Instagram - Or here.
• Greg's LinkTree - This contains links to Greg's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and a host of other goodies that you can find.

WorldCraft Club

• The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

Major Takeaways:

• Confidence in your setting and trust of your audience is key. Be bold about what you're making and resist the desire to breakdown and explain every element of your setting.
• The topics Edgerunners explored are timeless and run deep in the human soul: Identity, choice, love, death, and freindship. While the setting is contemporary and topical the world's deeper themes are what keep the setting perrenial.

Links:

• The David Martinez - Marcos referenced this when he went on his riff about the origins of the ‘Cyber’ in ‘Cyberpunk’
• Manga Shakespeare illustrated by Sonya Leon - Rach referenced this as being a great basis for a cyberpunk dueling corps romance. It’s a terrible idea. An amazing terrible idea.
• WorldCraft Club Link Tree - Get access to the Worldbuilder’s Journal, our nova Discord Community, social media channels and much much more through this link.

Key Takeaways

• Don’t be afraid to start with something not blank
• But then explore and color that setting with questions

Explore Ardalencor

• Andrew's Instagram
• In Times of War: A Tale of Ardalencor on Amazon
• Ardalencor Website - Read the opening chapters for free!

Links and Sundry

• George RR Martin - Gardener
• Wim Hoff - The Ice Man - This man is... nuts.

WorldCraft Club 

• LinkTree - This contains all the things, our Discord, The Worldbuilder’s Journal, Email, you name it.

Happy Halloween everyone! For this spooky episode of the WorldCraft Club Podcast we dive into how we can create horror in our fictional settings by twisting familiar stories. Ramp up your spooky worldbuilding and give us a listen.

Key Takeaways

• Horror is found in the gaps - A lot like wonder, horror is really based in what is not known more than what is. Leverage this by resisting the urge to lavish details where they may not be needed. Let your visitant's mind wander into grisly possibilities.
• Twisting tropes is powerful - Fear is often based in seeing something that should be familiar but finding that it's altered in some unsettling way. This is true for familiar stories and tropes
• Worldbuilding is critical for horror to land - The atmosphere of dread is almost as important as the dreadful elements of the story itself. It's the setting that tells a reader the situation is unusual or that something is amiss before even your protagonist has become fully aware.

Links and Sundry

• Zack Goings interview - More on horror from our interview with the excellent Zack Goings.
• Uncanny Valley - You know when something doesn't look quite right? You're in the uncanny valley. Nearly human... but not quite.
• Review of The Conjuring - If you love movies and don't mind missing a few weeks of sleep I highly recommend this movie. Check out this review from Ryan Hollinger, my go to source on horror filmography.
• Bug Man Men in Black Scene - This scene still freaks me out to this day.

Come hang out with us!

• WorldCraft Club LinkTree - This is our LinkTree, here you can find the Worldbuilder's Journal, access to our fantastic Discord community as well as other ways to get in touch.

Key Takeaways

• Factions are incredibly powerful tools to leverage in character development and a sign of a well constructed world. Take time on understanding your factions goals and motivations, assign them to your characters and you'll unlock a layer of nuance as you develop them further.
• Take your time in your setting. Arcane, possibly due to its genre, zipped through some areas of the setting I'd like to have lingered on for longer. Don't be afraid to slow down the pace to let your visitants imbibe your setting to the fullest.
• Express the uniqueness of your setting. Arcane has some distinctive features that separate it from genre but I think the show could've done more to step outside of its genre's boundaries and create a world where an audience can find themselves exploring the setting.
• Make your world four dimensional. Arcane excels at expressing the passage of time. It's world develops to accommodate time leaps that feel grounded and realistic without becoming distracting. Don't let your world stagnate, allow the natural progression to occur as time moves on.

Links and Sundry

• Schnee - this YouTuber does excellent analysis on Arcane and is criminally undersubscribed for his quality. Please take a moment to consider his work.
• Arcane and Microexpressions - Arcane broke the mold on animation and allowed deeply nuanced expressions to shine through on their characters.
• Steelstash - on our Discord Server introduced some really neat ideas here. He's part of the Black Dragon Dungeon Company and these guys are worth your time and make fantastic products. Check them out.

Come Hang Out With Us!

•  LinkTree - This is our LinkTree, here you can find our podcast, our discord server, and a bunch of other social links.

Key Takeaways

• Keep focused on your first love - remember what it is that drew you into creating this setting in the first place and continue developing from there.
• Don't fear the trope (at least initially) - a trope is just a story we tell a lot. Part of the reason that we tell those stories over and over is that they're compelling and they're known. Beginning with a trope can be an effective way of creating comfort in your visitants to give them something to key into while the universe expands around them.

Links and Sundry

• So this is a tardigrade.
• Oh, and this is an axolotl.
• The God's Eye Nebula

Find Ross' Stuff

• Ross' Facebook Group - He does some sweet giveaways here!
• Ross' Instagram
• Book One of Legacy Earth - only 99c!
• PreOrder Page for Book 7 (official release date is October 13) - order yours today!
• Ross' Website - to stay up to date with all his new releases

Come hang out with us!

• LinkTree - This is our LinkTree, here you can find our podcast and a bunch of other social links.

Also, listen up because we have some big announcements in this episode.

Don’t Forget to Check out The Worldbuilder’s Journal

Key Concepts

• Meaning centered worldbuilding is more efficient and engaging vs detail centered worldbuilding
• Though detail centered worldbuilding is a ton of fun, it’s just not as efficient and tends to yield diminishing returns for your final work
• You’ll never get your world totally right and someone will always be able to find fault, you might as well embrace your passion and focus on what helps you write
• The most powerful settings made by some of your favorite authors intuitively focused on themes and that’s why their work was so effective

Links and Sundry

• Cow Hoof Doctors – Yeah, this is real thing. You should check it out. It’s mesmerizing.
• Concerning Hobbits – I still don’t buy that this economy could be this advanced
• Here’s a guy that disagrees about the Hobbit economy – I don’t find his arguments too persuasive but it’s well presented. Check it out
• Quantum Finish – Because Futurama is hilarious
• The Night Hawks – This is James’ favorite painting. You should check it out.

Get in Touch

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Key Takeaways

• Collaboration might need some guard rails to be effective (final decision makers or voting on content)
• Scope and boundaries are critical. A good understanding of the limitations of the world you’re creating can help you quickly determine what fits and what doesn’t.

Jog’s Stuff

• Jog’s Website – Check out Jog’s dungeon tiles and some beautiful maps he’s made for order on his site.
• Jog’s Patreon – This is where the magic happens. Get exclusive access to parts of Jog’s discord, 4k maps and much more!
• Jog’s Instagram – Follow along to see the amazing content he produces on a daily basis.
• Jog’s Facebook Page – Same deal as the instagram page.

Come Hang Out With Us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Key Takeaways

• Villains and heroes frequently bend this to make characters appear powerful, unique and interesting.
• The Rule of Cool is really useful for creating memorable and powerful moments in your story.
• Figure out what you want to do with this rule bending. Is it worth the cost?
• There can be partial explanations for the rule that can satisfy the boundaries of your world, have you considered them? 

Links and Sundry

• Rule of Cool Tropedia – This resource is incredible, you should definitely dive into stuff here for ideas.
• Fast and Furious – The franchise that went from ‘cool, cars racing’ to ‘wtf’ in about a decade.
• Matt Mercer on Rule of Cool – As you might expect he has some really good insights on its usage in TTRPG.
• Nathan Drake is Lucky – This is one of the best interpretations of rulesets I’ve ever heard and it’s definitely my head canon for most games that involve HP these days.
• Voldemort Flying – Like, he’s not supposed to. It was supposed to be impossible but he can do it. Why? Cause he’s super cool and scary, that’s why.
• Super Carlin Brothers – Why broomsticks never run out of gas.
• Scott’s First Fight in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – I still remember the awe I experienced watching this mad cap fight for the first time in theaters.
• Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle – the scene that ruined it for Marcos.
• Jumping the Shark – This is it. It’s disputed as to whether or not this really was where Happy Days went downhill but it’s worth noting the phenomenon and seeking to avoid it where possible.

Come Hang Out With Us

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Key Takeaways

• Decide what role you want your culture to play.
• Location, location, location, where does your culture come from? This is a great first step when you’re asking questions about your culture.
• Culture is a by-product of progress which is rooted in necessity.
• Comedians are an excellent source of cultural commentary.
• Contrast is your friend, highlight differences with your visitants culture.
• Consider the impacts on neighboring cultures.

Links and Sundry

• Synthesis – Massive spoilers ahead for Mass Effect. This is one of the three possible ending for the Mass Effect Trilogy. Where the endless conflict between organic and synthetic life is fixed by a complete blending of the two.
• Shark Laser Cavalry Charge – This is the best thing ever.
• Is Aquaman Good Worldbuilding? – Your question is invalid. There is Jason Mamoa. Seriously though, this thread is a really interesting discussion point for worldbuilding. All credit to -violetskies on our Discord for highlighting this.
• When you get slapped for thinking – Satire is such a great source. This clip won’t really help you at all. But should probably watch it anyway.

Come join our culture. Like, why not?

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Key Takeaways

• Tropes set expectations in your world and can be a short hand for exposition.
• Good tropes are molded to your world but bad tropes seem to come out of nowhere or carry baggage that you don’t want.
• Repeating information (the inn keeper is a jovial fellow) sets expectations which operate like internal tropes that you can then use to attenuate your visitants to important information (when the inn keeper is gruff and dismissive they know something has changed).

Links and Whatnot

• UltraViolet Trailer – This movie looks terrible. I mean, I don’t really know why Marcos and Seth even mentioned it. This trailer is… it’s bad.
• You can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball – Probably the best scene in Dodgeball, or really any movie.
• Carrot’s Character Profile – Seth’s pretty much right about this. If you read Pratchett you’ll be a better writer for it.
• TV Tropes – Here’s a handy list of tropes!
• One Punch Man – This show is very silly. You should probably watch it.

Resistance is futile. Join our horde:

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

RJ’s Stuff

• RJD20 Blog – This is RJ’s blog and it’s exceptional. The worldbuilding content here is specific to TTRPGs but anyone can gain something from its worldbuilding content.
• RJ on Twitter – @RJD20 writes.
• Villain Backgrounds Volume 1 – Available currently for only $1
• Facebook Group – This is RJ’s Facebook group and is a great place to join in on the fun and talk to RJ.

Links and Sundry

• GURPS Supplements – do yourself a favor and give these a read. They’re honestly phenomenal and worth every penny no matter what your worldbuilding aims or medium is.

WorldCraft Club Episode Connector

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for exclusive episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding. This is really where the magic happens.
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Links and Sundry

• Shaun of the Dead Doesn’t Know There’s Zombies – This provides world context for the story and highlights the sense of alienation that are present in so many zombie movies (even the funny ones).
• John Wick – The boogey man scene – This is straight exposition but it’s done with such dramatic flare that you’ve gotta love it sometimes its the difference between labeling details and making those details significant through the telling. Warning swears abound!
• The Way That Matrix Scene Played Out – This, my friends, is a lore dump.
• The Way That Matrix Scene Should’ve Played Out – I think we can all agree the architect was miscast in the original. ‘Ere go open you’re yapper one more time!’
• The Wise Mentor Trope – Rip Torn as Patches O’Houlihan was really the best example of a wise mentor trope. We know exactly what role he’s supposed to serve and he does it with a wrench in hand.
• One of Terry Pratchett’s Infamous Footnotes – The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can’t have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles — kingons, or possibly queons — that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon. His ambitious plans to use his discovery to send messages, involving the careful torturing of a small king in order to modulate the signal, were never fully expanded because, at that point, the bar closed.

Don’t get friend zoned, come find us here:

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Peter’s Links

• The Deck of Worlds Kickstarter – This is THE Kickstarter for you get on the ground floor of if you want to get your brain motor running on creating settings. It’s a fantastic tool.
• The Story Engine – The precursor to the Deck of Worlds, it’s a modular writing
• Peter’s Website – Find out more about the man, the myth, the legend here.
• Peter’s Comic – Rock, Paper, Cynic is a comic that Peter’s been doing for a long dang time and it’s worth some of your eye time.

Hang out with us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated sometimes.

Hang out with us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Links and Whatnot

• Operation Cinder – for those of you not in the know this is basically the pinnacle of mustache twirling evil that only Sith do.
• Basically Every Episode of the Mandalorian – We can’t do our mission because we’re out of… milk.

Come Hang Out With Us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

The Jedi are a staple in everyone’s worldbuilding imagination, most everyone wanted to be one at one time or another. Seth and I are gonna tell you why they’re terrible and not just cause they indoctrinate kids in their hokey religion or have a weird attachment to political power. The problems lie a little deeper, their philosophy presents the type of problems that generate Sith faster than Sith do.

Links and Sundry

• Kreia’s Conundrums – Or was it conundra? Either way I highly recommend journeying down this rabbit hole. It will not disappoint.
• Other Force Traditions – This was another interesting journey for me. There’s actually a lot of non-sith non-jedi force traditions out there.

Come hang out with us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Links and Sundry

• A Phenomenal Guide to Great Food Words – Well, dang. This sucker is a useful link. Take some time to read this, you won’t regret it if you want to include solid food descriptions in your settings.

Wanna Hang Out?

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Links and Sundry

• The Ship of Theseus from Malcom Gladwell – This is actually a great episode of a podcast that has little to do with worldbuilding but a lot to do with the Ship of Theseus… and golf.
• Here’s that aspect ratio thing Marcos was talking about – It’s trippy. Like, really trippy. It speaks to the loving level of detail in this show.

Wanna Hang Out?

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Links and Sundry

• Film Courage: Houston Howard on Story Worlds – this is the video we based this discussion on.
• Intro to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – okay there wasn’t a reason for this it’s just a great jingle. For some reason there’s also, like, a 10-hour version of this that someone put together.
• The trailer from Jupiter Ascending – I defy you to not want to watch this.

Wanna Hang Out?

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Check out Seth’s Books!

• Nova Terra: Earthshaper (Book 6) on Amazon US
• Nova Terra: Earthshaper (Book 6) on Amazon UK
• The Whole Nova Terra Series
• Nova Terra: Kingbreaker (Book 3) on Audible
• Get in on the ground floor at Seth’s Patreon

Come talk to us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

But where do we find this awesome kickstarter?

• The Lights of Winthrop Manor – Jump in and help these guys while you can. Even if it’s only a few dollars to help keep their project at the top of the algorithm would be helpful. This is a great way to support independent creators who you like but also to bolster the community and let folks know that this kind of work is loved by so many.
• STONEworks Gaming can be found on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, their website and, of course, they’ve got a Patreon where you can lend them support.

Reach out!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Links and Sundry

• Have I talked about the Expanse enough? You should watch it. Did I say that? I think I said that. Why aren’t you watching now? Well, if you want convinced check out our YouTube playlist. It’s small as of this writing but it’ll grow. James’ love of this show is boundless. We are also taking recommendations for curated lists and such so if you sniff anything rad and worldbuildy on YouTube hit us up.

Reach Out to Us!

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Go Find These Guys!

• DinoBeasts Website!
• John Coats – Colors and Story
• James Coats – Art and Linework
• DinoBeasts Facebook Page

Come Talk to Us

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Reach Out!

We’re super stoked to talk to you, it’s not called a club for nothing. Drop us a line at any of the below:

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Note the Notables

• Can Doomguy really hold 10 guns while effectively running around and shooting demons? Yes. If he’s a body builder.
• James wrote a thing about this.

Contact Us

Seth is the only one of us that bites, and we’ve already had him tested so there’s almost no risk in reaching out:

• Join the Club – We love our Patrons and they make this world(crafting club) go round, join us for early episodes, memes and a say in the direction of the pod
• Facebook Page – Our community here is rapidly growing and super fun, it’s also a great way to find out more about what we’re up to
• Discord – Well, color yourself invited to our Discord channel where you can jaw with us about worldbuilding or help us with a collaborative project
• The Website – Oh yeah! We’ve got one of these too, check it out if you want to keep track of the blog where numerous authors talk all things worldbuilding. It’s updated weeklyish.

Contact -

• Join the Club! Become a Patron to get exclusive content, early episodes and a vote in the direction of the pod.
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• Twitter
• Instagram

Contact -

• Join the Club! Become a Patron to get exclusive content, early episodes and a vote in the direction of the pod.
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• Twitter
• Instagram

Contact -

• Join the Club! Become a Patron to get exclusive content, early episodes and a vote in the direction of the pod.
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• Twitter
• Instagram

Contact -

• Join the Club! Become a Patron to get exclusive content, early episodes and a vote in the direction of the pod.
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• Twitter
• Instagram

Big Shoutout to These Great Creators -

We were definitely inspired by some of these guys and we wanted to make sure they got a shoutout in our episode description.

• Fantasy Maps and Worldbuilding On Facebook
• Hello Future Me on soft magic
• Brandon Sanderson's 3 Laws

Contact -

• Join the Club! Become a Patron to get exclusive content, early episodes and a vote in the direction of the pod.
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• Twitter
• Instagram

Note: Not gonna lie, this episode is Warhammer 40k heavy, you’re in for a treat.

Assorted Links -

• Smarter Every Day - Nuclear Sub Exploration
• Lyman Stone on Westeros Demographics

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• WCC Twitter

Assorted Links and References

• The Argonath - LOTR
• Michael DC Drout Lecture - How To Read Tolkien

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• WCC Twitter

Seriously, he had a point. The amount of space in, well, Space is just mind boggling. In science fiction we need a way to get from point a to point b and we need to break light speed to do that. But we can’t. So what do we do? We either bend physics to go through it like in Mass Effect or we go around (or under) it like in Star Wars or Warhammer 40k. This technological leap is massive, though and we will find that we have our work cut out for us examining its implications. That’s why brought the big guns, Ed Horton joins Seth and James to talk about all things FTL in this exciting episode of The WorldCraft Club Podcast.

Where you can find Ed's stuff -

• Ed's Book

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• WCC Twitter

Where you can find Matthew's stuff -

• Matthew's Website
• Light of the Outsider on Amazon
• Mailing List (Get his first novel free!)
• Facebook
• Twitter

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group (The Collaborators are building worlds!)
• WCC Twitter

Welcome to the Club! Join us on the Worldcraft Club podcast as we dive in to your favorite movies, games, books, and stories to explore the design of their worlds and creative process. We talk about the process of Worldbuilding, the idea of writing and creating a believable space for your story to exist in. Whether designing a new culture to interact with your characters, or placing a setting that ties in closely with your narrative, your hosts Seth, James, and Jonathan are here to discuss the biggest story trends and how their settings bring the narrative to life. Inspire your imagination, learn some tricks to writing, and join the club for your next creative venture.

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

Welcome to the Club! Join us on the Worldcraft Club podcast as we dive in to your favorite movies, games, books, and stories to explore the design of their worlds and creative process. We talk about the process of Worldbuilding, the idea of writing and creating a believable space for your story to exist in. Whether designing a new culture to interact with your characters, or placing a setting that ties in closely with your narrative, your hosts are here to discuss the biggest story trends and how their settings bring the narrative to life. Inspire your imagination, learn some tricks to writing, and join the club for your next creative venture!

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

Today Marcos and Seth are questioned by James about the worlds they've been making. Seth dives into his digital world of Nova Terra and talks about its origins in the world of programming and testing extreme variables. His world was constructed as the result of a thought experiment, 'how would an AI creating a video game compensate for an extreme outlier?' and from the there the world grew. He talks about the various challenges and benefits of building a world in the GameLit genre. Marcos dives into 'Beyond the Aether' a dungeon punk D&D setting he's now run a few campaigns in. His main vision appears to come from a fever dream he had where paladins with rainbow warhammers astride jet powered dragons rule the skies. In short his world was built from a visual theme that caught his attention and he figured 'why not?' and crafted his psychedelic world from that kernel. Both worlds have their own very unique flavors but, perhaps most importantly, they have different origins. The fairycake (core idea) used to build each of these worlds is vastly different and lead to some fascinating insights into the craft of worldbuilding. So, join us now to have your brain tantalized by some fantastic worldbuilding.

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

Welcome to the Club! Join us on the WorldCraft Club podcast as we dive in to your favorite movies, games, books, and stories to explore the design of their worlds and creative process. We talk about the process of Worldbuilding, the idea of writing and creating a believable space for your story to exist in. Whether designing a new culture to interact with your characters, or placing a setting that ties in closely with your narrative, the WorldCraft Club Team is here to discuss the biggest story trends and how their settings bring the narrative to life. Inspire your imagination and join the club for your next creative venture!

Dave Schmidt's Stuff -

• Check out Dave's Comic!
• And his Instagram

Episode Links -

• Gravity and Inertia in Space - This is a solid video explaining combat in space generally but the beginning does great work explaining how space combat would effect human occupants. Gravity kills. Also, the Expanse is great... watch it. Not kidding.
• Why doesn't Dune have 'Thinking Machines'? - Quinn's ideas does yeoman's work explaining Dune lore. If you're going to limit your tech with cultural taboos this is how you do it.
• Foundation Series - Quinn's Ideas work on Foundation. Great primer if you want to get into some great science fiction that features human interactions with science beyond their comprehension.
• Flash Crowd by Larry Niven is a book about matter transmission that we referenced in the show.

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

All Things Jog Brogzin -

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Patreon
• Instagram

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

What if it's better to leave some parts of your world unwritten? It's entirely possible that your audience will do a better job at building your world than you will. Seth, James and Jon talk about the deep mysteries in your world and why sometimes they should stay just out of your audience's reach.

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog

Okay folks, time to put our money where our mouth is and make something. Seth and James are joined by Dave Schmidt, webcomic artist, friend of the show, second time visitor and all around great guy to build a world off a few pieces of rich fairy cake. This results in a pretty zany pairing of totally unrelated ideas to make a unique universe to write our stories in. Quick Worlds are a regular feature on our patreon page but we decided to share this one with you, dear listener, to inspire your creativity.

How do Quick Worlds work?

It works like this, each host brings and idea, has to be short and sweet, they get a minute or two to explain it, we then discuss the implications of the world, establish boundaries and play around with different genres the world could find itself in. For this episode James brings an idea about two codependent species evolving together on a planet and Dave mandates that all combat is musical result is pandemonium.

Where's Dave at?

• Read Dave's Comic
• Check out Dave's Instagram

Contact -

• Join the Club!
• Facebook Group
• WCC Twitter
• Worldcraft Club Blog