Tag: Worldbuilding Wednesday

Worldbuilding Wednesday 6/8/22: Narnian Magic (Narnia XXXI)

I haven’t heard much about campaign settings based in Narnia, as opposed to those set in Middle-Earth. Something about Narnia resists this, either the religosity,  or the set-in-stone nature of the plot. But if someone did, here is some magic that might be used there.   Narnian Magic for an RPG Cry of Bacchus: Allows …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 6/1/22: People of Calormen (Narnia XXX)

I’m going to start off this third Summer of Narnia with this Pauline Baynes illustration from The Horse and His Boy that I just found. I assume it wasn’t included in the American edition of the books, because I don’t remember it from my childhood. It shows the moment when the Narnian entourage, headed by …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 5/4/22: Canadian Provinces

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and Nunavat are some of the most colorful names in North America, with origins in the languages of the Native peoples of Canada. They, along with the names of certain cities (Saskatoon, Athabasca) are easy for those in the U.S. to make fun of and for years served as comedy shorthand to …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 4/13/22: Undead Magic

Undead are some of the most terrifying creatures in the AD&D universe. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be much magic that deals with them. So here’s a few randomgenned spells created on the fly.   Undead Magic Hair of the Skeleton: Strands of hair still existing on the skull of an otherwise defleshed skeleton can …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/30/22: Shunned Locations (Lovecraft IV)

Miskatonik University may be the most beloved of Lovecraft’s imaginary locations. This Ivy League college, known for its library of occult books and daring expeditions, lies near a river of the same name which runs through imaginary Arkham, Massachusetts, *  which Lovecraft based on Salem. He even drew his own map of the city to …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/2/22: Battle of the Gargantuas (Syfy monster movies)

In the 2000s and 2010s, that purveyor of quality entertainment, the SyFy channel, released over 200 original made-for-TV movies, which, given the network’s name, could only peripherally be called science fiction. Most were what was once called B-movies, variations on disasters, monsters both mythic and human-created, and horror… and often all three, with the addition …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/23/22: Chimerae

  Pretty much anyone with a passing knowledge of Greek mythology or fantasy gaming knows what a chimera is, right? Part lion, part goat, and part snake, embodied in this Etruscan bronze statuette. It’s a goofy-looking beast in its original form. It has a lion body (note, however, the body looks more canine than leonine), …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 1/26/22: Highfalutin Magic Rings

I’m talking about the ones featured in The Lord of the Rings: sophisticated, powerful, conventional (in appearance) tools of mass destruction, masquerading as fine jewelry any 20th century European might want to wear. Foremost among them was Sauron’s One Ring, of course, of unadorned gold, with a mysterious script running around the inside as demonstrated …

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