New Years Resolutions 2024

This year I used my hobby of world building to help get into a habit of writing that helped me finish my dissertation this year, and make a new sandbox for my ttrpg players to play in. I would sit down to write, and I told myself that I could either write for world building or I could work on my dissertation. This eventually helped me carve out the time to write, but it gave my brain the space to decide what it wanted to do. Elturia, The Known World is the by product of everything that I did in 2023, and I am excited to be running my first 5e game in the world hopefully starting next month!

This past year has made me want to be more active in the World Anvil community while continuing my work on Elturia. I was excited to dive into other articles for the New Years Resolutions challenge to see how other anvilites approach different categories. I tried to choose a wide array of articles, but I had a special interest in settlements, locations, and organizations.

Reading List

Boria on the Delta by Callyxtus

I enjoyed the greek theme of this settlement. The history included was straight forward and to the point. I also liked their use of drop down menus for races. Something that I really appreciated about the article was the map that was included. Callyxtus provided descriptions of the locations directly in the map. I have been basing my articles off of settlements as they are described in 5e books, so I described the specific locations in the article proper. However, the benefit of something like world anvil is that it allows you to save visual article space while still providing that description in a more interactive map. I will definitely be doing this for future settlements when I include the map!

The Pit by TheDumbOwl

I really appreciated the tone of this article, and made me want to explore the location. TheDumbOwl did an excellent job of writing the article from a certain perspective, but then there was fading text at the end of the article that subverted the tone of the overal article. Making the location even more enticing! This article makes me want to attempt writing different articles from the perspective of different characters, such as letters or something.

The Dead End Inn by Revyera

The Dead End Inn was super interesting as a location that moved, its chance of appearing increasing by how desperate the individual or group was to find it. There were also two very interesting characters that made the article very intriging. The article left a lot of questions, and provides an air of mystery.

Runic Magic by Catoblepon

The idea behind this magic system was super interesting, and I appreciated the grammatical aspect of the magic system. Since the runes could be powered by different energies to get different effects, it makes me wonder how this would work in an ttrpg setting. I also appreciated the layout of the article, the placement of the pictures made the article much easier to read.

Aelirion by Cow2face

The article was short and to the point, and I loved the idea of a crossbow that created enough friction that it would shoot fire arrows, so cool!! I also liked how it showed the way that two groups could work together to create something better.

Healing Potion by CrazyEddie

I love the unique take on something as common as a healing potion. Making it species specific adds a layer of complexity and flavor that was really interesting. I would want to try to implement something similar this to games to see how players react to it.

Âdocôdix - Cultural connections By BlueFairy74

I love seeing goblins with a deeper connection to nature, and the way their society is described is super interesting. I always appreciate when settings take the traditional 'monster race' and subvert the trope. This article inspires me to think about ways that my world can subvert tropes, and provide more details to ancestries that feel thematic.

Macran by Elspeth87

The layout of the article is super cool, and I appreciated the variations of different practices in the side bars. This level of detail made the group feel a lot more 'alive.' I also really like it when article's start with an opening quote. That usually helps me feel more immersed in the setting. This article definitely makes me want to consider ways that different groups of people can have slightly different variations on traditions.

Arcane Deterioration by notahumanhand

The idea of an arcane disease born of going past ones limits, along with the strong symptoms, was definitely terrifying to consider. The fact that it could be spread at a certain stage was also interesting. This makes me want to consider how I can create some unique diseases for Elturia.

Resolutions for 2024

I run my own business as a music private lesson teacher teaching almost 60 private students a week and try to be active in the larger classical music community, so my time can be limited. My primary purpose for world building is for creating an interesting place that my players can play in. With that in mind I only have a few simple resolutions this year:
At minimum I would like to:

Write three articles a month of any length (session recaps not included), focused on world building. Game design such as classes, subclasses, spells, etc. Will only count once per month.

Read at least 2 featured articles a month on the discord for inspiration

Other goals for the year: -Participate in more of challenges like summer camp and world ember. Participating in world ember really helped me focus on my world and how different things could be connected/fleshed out. I just need to be mindful of my tendency for burnout.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I am ready to pick up my hammer and world build this year!!!