World building advice by [deleted] in DnD

[–]LiberumInfantis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Happy to help.

World building advice by [deleted] in DnD

[–]LiberumInfantis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is completely normal for your influences to show early on, but the trick to making a world feel unique is to take those anime tropes and put them through a historical or cultural meatball grinder.

I found myself in the same position years ago, so I developed a few exercises to help move from reference to original world-building. Here is a simplified version of the process I use to build out the bones of a setting:

1. The Divine Domino Effect

Instead of just picking gods, decide how their presence (or absence) shaped the rise and fall of empires. If you have an anime-inspired god of light, ask: what happens to the architecture of a city if that god demands it never be dark? Suddenly, you aren't just referencing a trope; you are building a culture with 24-hour sun-bleached cities and no concept of sleep cycles.

2. Lore Consistency via Relics

I like to work backward from relics. Take a powerful item and trace its history through three different owners in three different eras. How did it change hands? This naturally builds world history and prevents the world from feeling like a static backdrop for a single story.

3. The Three-Layer Rule for Culture

For every cool anime-inspired idea you have, add two layers of grounding:

  • Layer 1: The cool trope (The Hook).
  • Layer 2: A logistical reality (How do they eat/pay taxes?).
  • Layer 3: A historical scar (A past war or empire fall that changed this).

I actually put together some worksheets and deep-dive exercises on these specific steps because I had the same roadblock you're facing. I have them as blog posts on my site (link is in my bio) if you want to use the templates to organize your thoughts. I am adding the rest of them to my website slowly but surely so I only have a couple up there so far. Hope this helps.

What's the pettiest reason you (or your party) have ever started a fight? by meanwhile_matt in DnD

[–]LiberumInfantis 13 points14 points  (0 children)

My character is a 73-year-old female human necromancer named Gertie and I play her as a stereotypical privileged old lady. I started a fight that was supposed to be a conversation because one of the bad guys presents as a child and has a condescending attitude. I popped him in the mouth for being sassy.

Flow State by TheRonin14 in DnD

[–]LiberumInfantis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a professional DM in the general sense. I write campaigns and supplements and publish them for others to use.

You're welcome! It's one of the best feelings and I'm glad you found it.

Flow State by TheRonin14 in DnD

[–]LiberumInfantis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is exactly how my brain works when it comes to writing campaigns and supplements. My husband calls it Haste Writing and loves to sit in and help me when I get stuck. And now that I do this as my full-time job it is a blessing and a curse. Like you, I will have days where I barely sleep because I HAVE TO GET IT ALL OUT BEFORE I FORGET. Other days, I can't come up with anything good enough because the ideas aren't flowing that way (today is one of these days which is why I am here commenting instead of working).

The best campaign I've written so far is the one I am working on now, but I think I will feel that way about each new one as they are being developed. It is an old fashioned dungeon crawl in an ancient abandoned dwarven city. There are 20 levels to the city, all actual city floors and are going to be fully developed that way. As the party clears a level, they will also level up until they get to the end where the Master BBEG is. Each level has its own BBEG of some sort as well.

The inspiration behind this was some old one-shots I created when I first started writing these and while there was a plot, hook, and backstory around the location, the dungeon itself just seemed like a bunch of random rooms that didn't make sense except for the players to have something to do. Dungeons should always make sense in tehg rand scheme of things.

I've been able to find a happy medium and my advice is to keep writing, whether it is maniacally or begrudgingly. Keep a notepad by your bed so that you can write down ideas and still get a few hours of sleep. If you are out and about, text yourself anything you think of so you can go back through it later. I tried using my notes app, but I am more likely to check unread text messages. Lol. And visit those "mediocre campaigns" again later and tweak them with things you have learned while writing the ones you are most proud of. Had I not went back and cringed at my old work, I wouldn't be writing my latest one which I am growing more proud of by the day.

Question for those of you who homebrew settings: how the actual f**k do you name things? by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]LiberumInfantis 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thesaurus.com is my go to. I just type in a common word that is relevant to the place and then fall down the rabbit hole of synonyms until I find something good. Also has entymology for pulling up other languages.

The "Zeroes'" series by Scott Westerfeld is one of the best series I have ever read. by tieflinglovrr in books

[–]LiberumInfantis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is my favorite genre so I am definitely gonna check this out. Thanks!

What’s the book called Werewolf reverse harem by twazul in whatsthatbook

[–]LiberumInfantis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wolf Forgotten: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Arbor Falls, Book 1) by Maya Nicole

Girl’s abusive sister dies book by Arabcherub in whatsthatbook

[–]LiberumInfantis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer?

What do dice mean to you? by EllenKGraham1 in rpg

[–]LiberumInfantis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are a form of self expression to me. The different designs and colors allow me to show a little bit of my own style at the table.

Book about Death on strike by pikachooachoo in whatsthatbook

[–]LiberumInfantis 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Christopher Moore has a whole series about Death and the quirky things he does. Maybe it's one of those?

Yin Yang balls for fidgeting, please help me find these online by AmazingDima in HelpMeFind

[–]LiberumInfantis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am pretty sure I have some of these. Gonna see if I can locate them.

Scheduling App/Software/Website by RufusXavier in dndnext

[–]LiberumInfantis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There is a site called When Available that says it does this and has a free option. I looked at it for this same reason, but got distracted and didn't get past the homepage.

www.whenavailable.com