Summer Camp 2024 Prep

Week 1 Summer Camp Prep
I think my world could have lots of changes in allegiance and changes in governments or who holds power. There will be fundamental change in how the PCs understand the world. There will change in how the characters are viewed, perhaps from reviled to heroic (an antagonist will be working to undermine their fame at first, but the party rises above it). I expect there to also be changes in wilderness, as they explore more others begin to build cities and ‘tame’ the wilderness. I want to enforce changes in assumptions about the world, things they think seem correct or good, may in turn be only surface goodness. I've included some basic categories, but I am prepared to add more categories as I create more content. I've also finished adding information to my meta and primer. These are my starting ideas and I hope to keep them mostly intact as I build a world.
Week 2 Summer Camp Prep
In my world, there would be some literal refuges based on race. Dwarves, goblinoids, and rock gnomes would take refuge in the underground. Their personal refuge might be a specific cave or just a small alcove. Elves and forest gnomes might have a refuge in the forest, whether in a specific tree or a specific season (for example fall, when the leaves turn colors). As for refuge based on my themes, one place would have to be somewhere the party can go that is free from corruption. A place where they can completely trust the person housing them. Somewhere outside or free from the influence of the BBEG and its minions (i.e. free from devilish or demonic influence). I envision the PCs having an organization/parton they can count on to always support them and protect them when they’re around. Perhaps an adventuring guild or a Crime syndicate (free from devilish influence) if a little less lawful, maybe a religious order, or a University. Whatever the case, their refuge will need to be wholly supportive and protective of them while at the organization’s headquarters.
For accountability, I am planning on chatting with my brother and potentially the rest of my RPG group. I don’t want to give away too much information, since he will probably be playing the campaign eventually. However, chatting with him and asking him to check in with me on progress would do a lot for me to keep pushing forward. I’ve joined the discord server and if there is something I’m struggling with or particularly proud of, I’ll post it to the Summer Camp 2024 server.

I’ve read and copied the information for paragraph layouts, I’ll use these as a guide when creating content for Summer Camp and beyond. I don’t currently have a paid subscription (but I’d consider it if this summer camp goes well), so no major styling changes and no CSS upgrades.
Week 3 Summer Camp Prep
There is only one or two major religions, but there are many variations. I’m using the basic pantheon from the Eberron campaign setting, with some minor changes and adjustments to individual gods. There will be some individuals or communities in my world that have a deeply held belief in one or two of the gods over the others. This could range from religious fanatics, paladins, and cults, to simple seafaring communities or villages with local customs/history. Of course there is also superstition surrounding the pantheon of gods, especially the evil gods. Several holidays or ‘bad luck days’ on the calendar are associated with specific evil gods and/or emotions (i.e. fury, malice, etc.). Otherwise, I think general population beliefs would coincide with the idea the world is dangerous and largely unexplored. Ruins frequent the landscape, so there may be many that have a belief that historical societies understood the land better than we do today. Tying in with that, there are many beliefs of lost magic or lost knowledge that, if unlocked, could usher in a golden age of progress like times past. Otherwise, since most people don’t travel far, local customs, superstitions, and myths hold more truth. (Although perhaps many local urban legends crop up throughout the world in seemingly unrelated places…)
I have many ideas for short adventures and campaign arcs written in my notes app on my phone. I have transferred them to a document on my computer. I’ve added a list of books that I’ve liked and read in the past to the world meta. Here are a few recent and past inspirations:

• One Dark Window/Two Twisted Crowns- Rachel Gillig
• In the Shadow of Lightning- Brian McClellan
• The Color of Magic- Terry Pratchett
• The Belgariad- David Eddings

I don’t typically use art for inspiration, but if I have an opportunity in the next year I’ll attempt to go to a major art museum in the nearest major city. I have lots of images I can use for characters and monsters from Dungeon in a Box/Skinny Minis. I have a world map already created. This will be the basis of figuring out all my locations. All my inspirations were added within the last month and i consider them all to be fairly representative of the current state of my project.
Week 4 Summer Camp Prep
So the idea behind the entire world is that the current world state is mostly in decay; there used to be many great (sprawling) civilizations, but now little remains and most of civilization is sequestered in or near major cities. A major theme of the campaign is figuring out what caused this decay of empires. I know there will be one major country that is essentially a corrupt theocracy. Decay of morals and government responsibility is in full swing. Physical examples of decay will include two major swamp systems and some underground mycological-farms (fungus farms). One of the swamps will have the decay represent negative emotions and actions (it’ll be the site of an ancient curse), but the other and the underground fungus farms will actually show decay as beneficial. The half-orcs in the other swamp will regard decay as a natural part of the life cycle and cultivate its benefits. The fungi grown will be the major food sources for the underground, where plant life is lacking because of lack of sunlight. I think there will be a balance in the world, some decay is negative, some is positive. The idea is to reflect the theme of things not appearing as they seem and not everything/everyone is completely good or completely evil.
I’ve taken some time to declutter my desk and remove other distractions from my work room. I will stock up on my favorite chai tea. Since I don’t have a paid subscription there is a limited amount of changes I can make. I did, however, add a world introduction/description.