May 01, 2025

Build Cities That Breathe: Mastering “Show, Don’t Tell” in Worldbuilding

35 minutes

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Your world deserves to feel alive. In this episode of How to Be a Better DM, Justin dives deep into the art of “show, don’t tell” — not for your villains this time, but for your cities and settlements. Discover how to make your game world feel like a living, breathing place through cultural cues, architecture, layout, and behavior. You’ll learn actionable techniques to bring immersive environments to life and create settlements that feel like characters in your campaign. Plus, a secret about “show, don’t tell” that no one talks about!

Special thanks to:

Benj Weyland for Graphic Design (https://www.instagram.com/benjweydesign/)

TJ Max, Juka, and TechSenpai for being amazing moderators

Foxy Beard, Kyle Wilson, Nick Ammann and Professor Nobody for being our patrons.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Level Up Guide

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By Justin Lewis

4.7

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