2023 New Year's Resolutions and WorldEmber 2022 Tradition Shortlist

I'm coming down to the wire here, but I'm finally hopping onto the New Year's Eve Resolution and World Ember Reading Challenge. I pushed myself pretty hard and haven't written anything new since the New Year started. Now, entering the fourth week of 2023, I think I'm ready to start thinking about my world building and writing goals for the year.

Tradition Category Shortlist

For now though, let's start with the shortlist of winners for the World Ember 2022 Tradition Category! I read through all of the 65 entries and here are my 10 favorites! The winner will be one of these!

"Raunchy Brawl" by E. Christopher "ECCBooks" Clark

I literally asked for this article in one of Chris' streams and he has delivered for me in all of his hilarious and raunchy style. This elimination style wrestling match starts out as a "war" but ends up completely differently! From this article, I learned that if you ask for something, sometimes you get it! Thanks again Chris!

"Floatball - The Greatest Game" by Darkseid

An entertaining read where Darkseid has converted soccer over to a steampunk setting with a clever use of magnets and some fun rules. I've been having trouble adapting sports into my worldbuilding and this is a good example of how to do it right!

"Irathian Funeral Pyres" by PanthersEye

A detailed account of how funeral pyres are assembled and used by members of the Church of Irath. I'm especially impressed by the map with hovering information boxes that Pantherseye has created about a third of the way down the page! A very clever use of CSS there!

"Sefadel - Regalty Martial Arts" by Chrispy_0

A beautiful article about different elementally flavored martial arts. Lots of cool details for each element, including weapons used and an example master of each art. This is another example of a sport/competition article that I can use in for my own worldbuilding. I'm also enjoying the layout and flow of the article.

"Universities and Higher Education System " by AmélieIS

A fun and short (surprisingly!) article by AmélieIS. It lays out the options for a high school graduate in a succinct, yet still informative fashion. I especially enjoy the sarcastic voice that Amelie uses in this particular world. I want to emulate the quick bursts of information laid out in an easy to digest manner.

"Dwarven Punishments" by drunkenpanda951

A vicious article about how cruel some dwarves can be! Lots of clever little ways to punish lawbreakers. I especially like how much DrunkenPanda has put himself into a "dwarven" mindset here. He comes up with in-world penalties that match the thinking of his world's dwarves.

"Lootbox Eve" by DaniAdventures

I love Dani's roguish take on a Winter Solstice "gift-giving" ritual. On the Festival of the Winter Moons in Luridity, a lootbox free-for-all takes place in real and virtual spaces. People rush around stealing gifts from each other in an effort to land the best loot. I especially enjoyed that it takes place in both "virtual" and "meat" space! Lots of cool concepts to get inspiration from here!

"Yulefest in the Frontier Lands" by RPGDinosaurBob

RPGDinosaurBob delivers one of the more interesting and detailed "Winter Solstice Gift Giving" articles in the plethora of them that came the "Tradition" category this year. As always, Bob has thought very deeply about the rituals in his world from the point of view of its inhabitants. He reverse engineers Yule traditions from our world to fit the fantasy world that he's building.

"Patronage" by Qurilion

As always, Q delivers a spooky and well thought out article on how "warlock pacts" work in his world of Shedim. Q's snarky and creepy authorial voice reigns supreme. I aspire to bring my readers into my world with the same attention to detail and dark humor as Qurilion. I'm always amazed by his asides and attention to detail. This one is well worth a read.

"Gauntlet" by TJ Trewin

TJ delivers a tour-de-force powerhouse of an article. He has gifted us with a full-fledged, well-thought-out card/board game that you can play and enjoy immediately. He has provided illustrations for all of his cards presented in a readable and intentional layout. I'm floored by the thoughtfulness and attention to detail that he put into this article.

New Year's Resolutions

We are now well into the first month of 2023 and I'm thinking about what I want to do with this year. I was in the Sage Seminar on Zines this past weekend and I have a strong urge to get something of mine into print in some way, shape, or form. But I also want to make sure that I don't take on more than I can chew! So, with my mind on balance, here are my resolutions for the year.

Spend My Time and Energy Wisely

I have the VERY bad habit of taking on more than I can handle. I definitely take pride in helping others and being there for people, sometimes to my own detriment. I resolve to only take on projects and challenges that I have the time and energy for. I do want to join all the challenges and get all the badges, but I have to remind myself that participation trophies are good too!

Also, I need to stop jumping on every cool Kickstarter and buying every worldbuilding tool that pops up in front of me!

Finish the Job

I have a ton of articles detailing bits and pieces of regions, or organizations, or concepts. I want to put together a "complete" version of one thing and avoid being so scatterbrained this year! Dimi challenged me to write about the military formations in the Zone, and it was very satisfying to make a complete set of content. I want to do more like this and perhaps put it into a zine that I could publish and/or do a Kickstarter with!

Pause to Look around

I definitely have a ton of books and resources that I've bought the past few years that I need to go through and use. I have stacks of unread books and guides on my bookshelf. I need to read through them and take what's useful for me from them. I have dozens of TTRPG, world building, and campaign resources to go through. I have books, novels, comics, and omnibuses to read thorugh for inspiration.

I've been so focused on putting out cool worldbuilding, I should really recharge my imagination with the cool media I already have!

Challenge from Dr. Anvil to Kitoypoy. by WorldAnvil

My Challenge Responses

• Eldritch Army
• Hex Crystal Battalion
• Legions of Light
• Kirinal Garrison
• Magister's Command
• Thayan Armada
• Tridenser Host
• Winter's Horde