Building a Playable World

            This week, I managed to get my nose to the grindstone working on a big project I started back in June. This is a campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons.

            Back when I was in the planning stages for the D&D marathon for Cystic Fibrosis, I was talking with the Dungeon Master of the weekly game I play in and the idea was floated that I could eventually start running a second game at the board game cafe. I liked the idea, but at the same time I prefer to be a player rather than a DM. At the same time, I knew that there was a waiting list and it would be great for the gaming community.

            So, naturally, I began thinking about the possibilities for games I could run. What did I want to see in a game? What would be fun for me to run, and fun for players to play? And that’s when a seed took root in my mind.

            One of the things that makes D&D such a great game is its versatility. You can do absolutely anything with it. Even in the most complex video game, there is a limit to the decisions a player can make – they can be given a great amount of freedom, and still be chained down by the limited options. In D&D, there are no limitations – yet the games frequently take on the same shape of “Here is your quest”, go to the dungeon, get the reward. There’s often plotlines and political situations woven in, but it doesn’t take advantage of D&D’s true ability to do anything. I feel that this is largely due to the players, having been trained by video games and society’s expectations, don’t necessarily understand how much freedom they have – and they don’t necessarily understand the depth of the world they’ve been thrown into.

            And so, I came up with an idea for a world that will (hopefully) open the players’ minds to all they can do: a world where the players are colonizing a “new world”. So, rather than being thrown into a world where there are kingdoms and empires and complex political structures that they know nothing about, the players will be put into a world that is as strange to the non-player-characters around them as it is to them. This puts the players at the centre of everything as a new society is established, and it gives them the freedom to do absolutely whatever they want. Do they want to help establish a settlement? Do they want to go off and explore the new world? The world is entirely open for them to choose what to do.

            Now, obviously, from a DM’s perspective, a world like that is a bit challenging to run. There needs to be plots to keep the players engaged, and in a world so free and open, it is hard to know what to prepare for the game. So, I started writing up the campaign setting – which is, essentially, a description of the world, everything in it, and guidelines for making the world easier for the DM to run. It is an immense task, but hey – I’m part of the Alliance of Worldbuilders; building worlds is what we do.

            So far, it is coming along well. I’ve outlined the world, its history, and the basics for how the game functions. The functions need a lot of work, but I’ll get them done eventually.

            This week, however, I was focusing on a very fun task: monsters. Even though this world lacks civilization (and, largely, because of that), this world is crawling with monsters. So, I combed through D&D’s monster manual and cherry picked monsters to have established societies in this world. Then I created those societies and figured out what politics they had, both within themselves and with all the others.

            It was so much fun and, let me tell you, I can’t wait until I’ve completed this setting and I get to see it in action. Who knows? I may even decide it’s good enough to publish through the Dungeon Masters’ Guild.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

A... Welcoming Village

Of Dice and Glen is a story being written following D&D 5th Edition rules and using Minecraft as the battle mat (and to set the scene). Each of the two writers control their own characters and share the job of Dungeon Master (controlling the environment, story, monsters and background characters). As a result, neither of us has any clue of what's going on or where this is going. So, let's have fun!

This story is split between episodes being posted on the second Monday of every month. You can find the first episode here and the previous episode here.


Of Dice and Glen Episode 12: A... Welcoming Village

Their journey to the edge of the woods took two more days, and from there it was another day to the nearest village. When they arrived, with the noon sun rising above their heads, they paused, staring at the small community with trepidation.

"It's really... Big," Luna stated, eyes scanning the protrusions of stone with just a shade shy of disgust. "Think maybe I could stay here and get a part-time job as a gargoyle?"

The Teifling sneaked a glance over her shoulder at the dragonborn hopefully.

Shaddar was digging around in the bag of holding, searching for the note with the skull signature they were here to ask about.

“Ah, but you would miss the fun if there are any goblins about,” Shaddar said with a chuckle. “Besides, you won’t get those boots I promised you if you stay out here. Ah! Here it is. What… is it stuck to something? What is…”

Out of the bag, he pulled the note which was stuck with dried berry juice to the empty-yet-sloshing ceramic jug. He glared suspiciously at the tiefling.

“Why is there berry juice on the very important note?”

"I've had enough of goblin smell for this whole season," Luna snarled, crouching as she turned from him. Nose to the ground, she crawled on hands and feet, long tail in the air, sniffing in the dust. Suddenly, she sat up, nose wrinkled. "Don't like this smell either."

"Berry juice?" She asked, head cocking to one side, like a dog wondering politely if perhaps someone was mistaken about the chewed couch, that clearly any wandering vagrant could have broken into the house and chewed the arm off. "Berry juice... BERRY JUICE!!!"

Diving for the bag in his hands, she began tearing through it, pulling out everything she could find.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU SCALEY COBALT DROPPING!"

Afraid Luna would tumble into the extradimensional bag, Shaddar pulled it away as fast as he could.

“I’m right here, you nasty imp, how could I be in the bag too? Look at the mess you’re making!”

"Not YOU!" Luna screeched at her friend, tail thumping the ground in fury. "That gods cursed flying menace to sanity! The one we thought we left back in the forest. It must be curled up in that magic sack of yours!"

“Ohhh,” Shaddar said, pulling the bag further away. “I understand. You would never eat berries or rummage around in the bag of holding. It couldn’t have been you, it must have been the tiny dragon prankster. I completely understand. Come on, imp, help me clean up this mess so we can get into town.”

He got to work tossing the odds and ends Luna had scattered back into the bag.

"It's been nothing but you and me since we left that... That thing," she pointed out, one hand on her hip. "Do you really think I could have picked berries, gotten into the bag, eaten the berries, and put the bag back without you noticing?" Her tail tip shivered in the grass near her feet.

"We've both done our fair share of foraging," Shaddar pointed out. "The bag has been out of my sight many times and we both have possessions in it. It doesn't matter, though," he said, peeling the note from the jug. "The note and signature are still legible. No harm done."

He turned his attention back to the jug and, frowning, gave it a shake. Liquid seemed to splash around inside, but he knew it was empty.

"I'd forgotten about this. Did you ever figure out what it was?"

This slight would not go unanswered. Turning from her companion she glanced about for any spark of life nearby. A fat pigeon burbled on a branch close by and she strode over to converse with it.

"The cold-blooded can be so hard-headed," she informed the disinterested bird. "But I can be too. You just watch, I won't talk to him until he admits it wasn't me who stained the note and apologizes."

Jaw set, eyes steely, Luna crossed her arms across her chest and glared, silently, at a point just over the dragonborn's left shoulder.

Shaddar rolled his eyes and flicked his tongue. This teifling was like a dog with a bone.

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with it," he said as convincingly as he could.

Nodding her approval, she marched back to Shaddar and stared closely at the jug.

"That's a jug," she said, finally.

"Yes," Shaddar said, giving it a shake. "And it's magical. It sounds like something is in it even though it's empty. Isn't it one of the magical items you examined when I was... unconscious?"

"Ye-no..." Luna amended, hanging her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Shaddar."

The moods of the tiefling were as changeable as a cloud.

"Nothing to worry about," the white dragonborn said, tossing the jug back in the bag. "We'll have time to figure it out later. For now, let's go find out about this letter."

"A?" Luna enquired, looking up, once more cheerful. "B? Ceeeeeeeee?"

With a grin and a spring in her step she jumped up from her slouching pose to gamble about Shaddar as they started off toward the city. Then, suddenly, she remembered where they were going and whom they would meet.

"Hey!" she cried, glancing about them frantically. "Isn't that a faerie dragon over in that bush?"

To emphasize this distraction, she scurried over to the nearest bush, on all fours. So desperate was she to divert Shaddar's attention that her escapade was instantly obvious as a ruse.

Seeing through the desperate ploy Shaddar shook his head and continued on, turning his head to call over his shoulder.

"Oh, my, I guess I'll get all the sweets and boots to myself."

“Boots?!”

The horned head flicked up from her wild dragon chase and pelted after her friend.

“That was our deal,” Shaddar said. “Boots to make up for being around the horrible ‘civilized’ people.”

"Yes, yes, I remember," Luna said, her tone making it clear this deal had been much more appealing when she wasn't faced with her end of it.

Sighing, she looked up at Shaddar with a final, pleading glance, then, with resignation, pulled one foot from the dirt, lifted it, and planted it in front of herself.

"There."

The village was a cluster of thatched cottages on a hill with a few larger buildings mixed in. A low stone wall surrounded the homes, though it wouldn’t be good for much other than keeping animals out. The surrounding land had several farms spreading out along a river that wound around the base of the hill.

As they approached the gap where the road ran through the wall, Shaddar hailed a human crossing the road from one building to another.

"Excuse me," the white dragonborn said. "Where might we find the local guards or whoever maintains law and order around here?"

The man's eyes flew wide as he observed the pair closing in on him, shifting from one to the other but lingering longer on the wild tiefling.

"J-just down the road," he stammered. "The building with the red bricks, y-you can't miss it."

"Are you ok...?" Luna enquired, staring at the human with deep concern. He looked as though he might lose control of his bowels at any moment. She tilted her head to observe him closer, the sunlight glinting on her sharp little horns.

Arms flailing, the man turned and fled back to the building he'd come from.

"People," Shaddar said, shaking his head. "C'mon, let's go."

"But..." The tiefling said, moving slowly after the dragonborn. "He looks so scared! Maybe if I gave him a hug...?"

“We don’t have time,” Shaddar said, not wanting to explain. “Let’s get to that red brick building and see if anyone there is smarter than he is.”

"Yes!" Luna said, leaping around to walk abreast with the dragonborn. "Maybe I can hug one of them!" She suddenly found herself simply wanting a hug, not just to comfort the clearly terrified human.

The tiefling cast Shaddar a sidelong glance, then, without warning other than her sneaky look, she stepped sideways and flung her arms around his thick torso. She squeezed with all her might, closed her eyes, and rested her small, horned head on his shoulder.

"Mmm..." She sighed, contentedly.

Thinking Luna had figured out that the human was afraid of her and needed comfort, Shaddar patted her on the head awkwardly. Mammals were so strange.

“Come on,” he said gently prying her off. “We have a forest to save.”

"You aren't a very good hugger," Luna commented, examining him critically as she slid away from his armour and fell into step beside him. "But that's ok because I make up for that."

Her long, dirty tail made sweeping impressions in the dust as she finally walked into the town of her own free will. The idea still didn't appeal to her, but she knew anymore whining might just push Shaddar over the edge so she had decided to make the best of it.

Most of the villagers were off working, but there were a few flitting around the town. Most were humans and halflings, with the odd dwarf or half-elf thrown into the mix. When they saw the travellers, they all drew away into tight clusters, watching warily and muttering.

Looking around, Luna tried to make out which building in the small village was most likely to contain boots.

"So is that it?" She said, eager to get to the reward part of the errand and mostly forgetting about the errand part.

The building was one of the bigger ones in the village and it seemed to be the only one built with red bricks. It was also the only one with a slate roof, rather than thatch, and the windows were nothing more than glaring slits. It looked like a miniature fortress.

“Red bricks, he said we couldn’t miss it,” Shaddar said, his tongue flicking nervously. He didn’t like how many people were around and he liked how they were looking at them even less. “This must be it.”

Discover what happens next in Episode 13: Unhelpful Help

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

World Building

            One of the most important parts of writing is world building. It doesn't matter where a book or story is set; the writer needs to know the world inside and out.

            Some world building is easier – for example, a book set in the real world tends to need very little creation, although it does require more research. Other times, world building can be challenging – like a book set in a fantastical city in another world where the various people and establishments are critical to the plot.

            What I chose to do is, in hind sight, nearly impossible (at least for one person) and exceptionally challenging. I decided to build an entire fantasy world, the same size as ours (or, at least, close enough).

            Why is this task so difficult? Try to picture our entire world. Can you name all the countries and their capitals? What are the diplomatic statuses between each country? Where are the trade routes and what do the countries trade?

            Those are the easy questions. There are a whole lot of other details to come up with as well, like plants and animals unique to the world or ones that appear in other books and mythology that have their own twist in this world. Famous historical figures and locations. Religions, cultures, societies, politics, regional moral standards. The list goes on and on.

            Luckily it can be cheated, at least to a certain degree. Do I really need to know about unicorns if they don’t appear in the book I'm working on? No, I can leave that until I actually need it. But the more that is developed in the world, the easier it is to add flavour.

            Recently I decided that it was high time (after four and a half years and books of writing in this world) that it was high time I named the months and days of the week in my world. It seems like a relatively unimportant task, but now that it’s done I can actually set my characters’ birth dates in stone. Plus, whenever I feel like naming the day or the month in which the story is occurring, I'm ready to do so. I may even go back and add them into the books I've written, adding a new depth to the realism of my world.

            Of course, that whole process opened up a whole new can of worms for me, because now I'm working on the moon cycles. It sounds easy enough – and it was. For the first moon. However, following in my footsteps of craziness, I decided that the moon has a couple moons of its own. Now I'm working on coming up with the rotation patterns of those moons, trying to find a pattern that will allow me to have an easy reference for when I'm writing.

            It’s a good thing that I found a program for making my own encyclopaedia. I have the right mind for storing all this information, but having it all written down and organised in one place has made my writing infinitely easier.

            Nevertheless, let this be a lesson to you. If you want to build a world, start off small or you might find yourself drowning in the oceans of your own creativity.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Easy Way

            My goodness, is it ever hard to come up with something to write about this week. My brain seems to think that, since I cheated on my blog last week, why not this week? Of course, the answer is that, if I did that, soon I wouldn't have any new blogs.

            It makes me think back to video games I used cheats to play when I was younger. The first one that comes to mind is Age of Empires. For those of you not familiar with it, Age of Empires is a medieval RTS (Real Time Strategy) game. That means it’s a game where the player controls an army and moves it around the map, fighting your opponents armies in real time (as opposed to turn based, like RISK or Civilization). At the same time, resources are gathered and spent on buildings, research and troops.

            Not long after I started playing the game, I was introduced to cheats. These were commands I could type to do things such as give me special units, kill all my enemies or give me free resources. The only ones I used very often were the resources ones – it saved a lot of time waiting for them to be gathered and let me build things much faster. It also made it impossible for the computers I was fighting to beat me.

            I actually thought I was good at this game.

            At some point in time, I decided I should play the game without cheats and discovered I couldn't. Without those free resources coming in, I just couldn't keep on top of my army well enough to beat anything harder than the “easy” computer. In the end, I always had to return to typing “powpowpow” about twenty times and destroying my enemies with my army of bazooka wielding, tricycle riding babies.

            The same sort of thing happened with Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III, also known as Skyrim’s grandpa). That game was hard when you started playing it. Before you raised your character to a decent level, worms could kill you. Luckily I once again was given cheats, which made it so I could actually play the game. Unfortunately, once again, without those cheats I can’t play it at all.

            Cheating makes everything so easy and our brains are wired to do everything the easiest way possible. Once we know there’s an easier way, it’s hard to go back to the harder way. But there’s something we don’t realise about cheating until it’s too late – and that is that enjoyment doesn't come simply from winning; it comes from overcoming a challenge. Those games I mentioned? I don’t play them any more because they aren't fun if I cheat and my brain gets mad at me if I don’t take the easy route and cheat.

            Just so it’s clear that this doesn't just apply to video games, in elementary school I was the biggest cheater ever in the game 7 Up – and I was never caught even once. In this game, all the kids hid their heads in their arms on their desk while seven kids that were “it” went around and each secretly tagged someone. Then the seven kids went stood at the front of the class while the seven tagged kids guessed who had tagged them. If they guessed correctly, they switched with the person who was “it”.

            Cheaters in this game were easy to spot and call out because they had to lift their heads to see who tagged them. Then there was me. I figured out that if I positioned myself just right, I could see the floor and, consequently, could flawlessly pinpoint my tagger by the shoes they were wearing.

            After cheating made this game boring, too, I was able to use this skill to always choose the wrong person so I didn't have to leave my desk and participate more.

            Games are meant to be challenging and so is life. There’s only one thing that cheating and taking short cuts achieves and that is getting something done. But just getting something done isn't enough, because if it isn't done properly it becomes empty. Cheating in games makes them boring. Cramming for a test so you can pass leaves your head as empty as when you started. Stealing things makes them worthless. Taking the challenge out of life makes it feel dull and meaningless.

            So, get out there and challenge yourself. Do things and do them right, because in the end it’ll feel more rewarding and you’ll find you've accomplished far more. I know I did and I ended up with a pretty good blog post.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.