World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast

Welcome to a special Bonus Season! Enjoy these sessions from this year's Worldbuilding Con!

No genre is more closely associated with Worldbuilding than fantasy. Unfortunately, this can create a temptation to “play the hits,” following established tropes at the cost of innovation. In this session, we’ll discuss how to subvert audience expectations and deliver a fantasy world that’s both satisfying and surprising. Join Janet and Worldbuilding Con guests Gail Carriger and Amanda Hamon as they discuss fantasy worldbuilding:

• What is a trope?
• What is your favorite or most hated fantasy trope?
• What are the benefits of subverting or inverting a trope?
• What are the drawbacks of subverting or inverting a trope?
• How can we identify and handle problematic tropes?
• How can you deliver a surprising yet satisfying fantasy world?
• When does a trope become a cliche?
• Final advice

🎙️Speakers:

Gail Carriger has multiple NYT bestsellers and millions of books in print in dozens of different languages. She writes book hugs - comedies of manners mixed with urban fantasy (and sexy queer joy as GL Carriger). She is best known for the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, octopuses, and tea.

Amanda Hamon is a Senior Designer leading the production of Dungeons & Dragons books for Wizards of the Coast. An award-winning tabletop game designer, developer, writer, and editor, her work has appeared in dozens of releases from numerous publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, and Kobold Press, and across many game systems, including D&D, Pathfinder, and Starfinder. The most recent title Amanda led is Wizards of the Coast’s Keys from the Golden Vault, an anthology of D&D heist adventures that released in February. She is the former Editorial Director for Kobold Press as well as the former managing developer and a co-creator of the Starfinder RPG by Paizo. She has appeared at dozens of events and on streams as a Game Master and player, and her weirdness knows no parallel. Amanda is absolutely not three opossums in a trench coat, though you can find her making screeching noises on Twitter at @amandahamon.

Hard and soft worldbuilding describe the approach or method you use when worldbuilding. If you've heard of the terms pantsing and plotting when talking about writing, it's a similar concept! Hard worldbuilding is more methodical, it has a defined process you follow, almost like a blueprint. Soft worldbuilding, on the other hand, is more organic and fully relies on improvisation and figuring it out as you go. We interviewed Andy Law, from Rookery Publications, to learn more about this.

Part 2! Creating an entire RPG system is a very rewarding experience, as you're able to create a game exactly how you want it! But it's also a big endeavour, which is easy to get overwhelmed by. So Janet interviewed Celeste Conowitch and Jack Caesar, two incredible RPG game designers, to get their thoughts on the matter!

Creating an entire RPG system is a very rewarding experience, as you're able to create a game exactly how you want it! But it's also a big endeavour, which is easy to get overwhelmed by. So Janet interviewed Celeste Conowitch and Jack Caesar, two incredible RPG game designers, to get their thoughts on the matter!

Part 2! Hard and soft worldbuilding describe the approach or method you use when worldbuilding. If you've heard of the terms pantsing and plotting when talking about writing, it's a similar concept! Hard worldbuilding is more methodical, it has a defined process you follow, almost like a blueprint. Soft worldbuilding, on the other hand, is more organic and fully relies on improvisation and figuring it out as you go. We interviewed Andy Law, from Rookery Publications, to learn more about this!