Part Two of Steel Stash on using ASCOPE/PMESII as a worldbuilding tool!

Join Steel Stash and James as they finish up with the OPE of ASCOPE looking at Organizations, People, and Events in the fictional city of Nightside. This tool is incredibly flexible and can aid in the creation of a lot of interconnected content but it needs to be handled with some care and some knowledge of where you're going. This means that you, as the creator, will have to have a strong North Star that you're guiding your world creation with. It's where the core concept that Seth and I frequently reference comes in. Take time and think about what you're trying to make before diving in.

Key Takeaways

Links and Sundry

Where to Find the Stash

Oh man, he's everywhere!

Where to Find Us!

There’s no doubt that Isaac Asimov was a master. His work is unparalleled science fiction that formed the basis of the genre as we know it. But the 1940s were a different time and when he wrote Nightfall he had some ideas about worldbuilding that might throw some of us for a loop. “Just imagine it yourself” he seems to say in a letter to the reader ahead of his 1941 short story Nightfall. Seth and James discuss where the of worldbuilding in Asimov’s work and how it can influence what you’re making.

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Seth’s Stuff

All Seth’s stuff can be found here - go ahead and check out his whole catalogue!

Links and Sundry

Pop quiz! What page of the monster manual has an ASCOPE/PMESII?

Steel Stash joins the pod for this two part episode discussing this powerful worldbuilding acronym. It's a tool that was developed by the military to assess an area of operation but serves world builders by helping to clearly and concisely get the key details about an area nailed down. Join us as we explore the utility of this initialism and level up your worldbuilding.

Key Takeaways

Where to Find the Stash

Oh man, he's everywhere!

Where to Find Us!

How do you write compelling and rich lore? Peter Chiykowski has a new tool to help with that. With a focus on building out connections and relationships to establish a lore web with the Lore Master's Deck. During this episode Peter and Seth discuss the nature of lore and its place in your worldbuilding as well as techniques that can help reframe the practice of creating that lore.

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Links:

How to Reach Peter -

April Fools! Normally you get insightful worldbuilding commentary. Today you get the server hosting a roundtable about a children’s TV show, Bluey. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a panel of adults thinking way too hard about a kid’s show.

Andor hit different. As far as Star Wars stories go this show fell on the 'grittier' side of things. Much like Rogue One, where we first met Cassian Andor. It also told a story which was more focused on the million small stories that took place around the major Skywalker narrative present in the main trilogy based movies. While the show made a splash on our discord server leading to several gushing reviews, the response was not altogether positive with some members of the community wondering where Star Wars was headed in the future. Per usual - spoilers abound.

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Links and Sundry:

Do you ever stop to ask yourself why? At the WorldCraft Club that’s a yearly tradition. In order to perfect the craft of building exceptional worlds we hold the practice of pausing to reflect. We consider the definitions of our terms and look at how our understanding has changed. In this episode Seth and James discuss the meaning of Worldbuilding and, more importantly, what good worldbuilding is.

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Links and Sundry:

Where to find Seth’s stuff:

How to reach us:

Sometimes the process of worldbuilding can drag and steal your sense of excitement about a setting you’ve been crafting. The antidote? A good story, preferably a short one, set in your world that you can finish and share. Daniel McCormack talks with us about this powerful, instructive process that will make your worldbuilding richer, clearer and more fun than you dared to imagine.

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Where you can find Daniel

Come hang out with the WorldCraft Club

Plotter or pantser? Do you take the time to write extensive outlines or do you find that you tend to create on the fly? It’s never really been a true dichotomy but rather a spectrum. The analogy of a garden or the process of cultivation with its pruning, grafting, and tilling earth seems apt. Seth and James talk about the process of gardening your worlds to life.

Key Takeaways

Where to find Seth’s stuff.

How to reach us:

Being GM is not easy. The worlds we create are supposed to ensnare our visitants and draw them in but when our audience have a mind of their own and desire to bring about meaningful change in our settings that can lead to some tricky situations. Greg from Worldbuilding.io joins us today to help us navigate the process of creating a setting that feels grounded but allows for dynamic change when encountering new ideas. Whether you’re into TTRPGs (Tabletop Roleplaying Games) or not, I think this medium has tons to teach us about crafting worlds that feel immersive and yet have vast story potential.

Key Takeaways

Greg's Links

WorldCraft Club