Worldbuilding Workshop Wednesdays

Creating your character

This isn’t a traditional campaign where you’ll be making adventurers—instead, your character is the world you build. Each participant will create and develop their own setting step by step over the course of 12 weeks. During our first session, we’ll establish your world’s mission statement and big-picture themes. From there, each week you’ll “level up” your world by adding geography, cultures, myths, factions, monsters, and more through guided exercises. By the end of the course, you’ll have a complete world bible that’s ready to run as a TTRPG setting. No rulebooks are required—this course is system-agnostic, though it draws inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons and other roleplaying games. All you need is a notebook or digital doc for your creations, plus the willingness to explore your imagination.

Preparing for the session

All you need to bring is your creativity and a willingness to explore strange new ideas! Before our first session, please: Join the course Discord server here: https://discord.gg/xCJaPHaKhu Have a way to take notes—many participants enjoy using Obsidian (a free, powerful knowledge management app), but a physical notebook, Google Docs, or Notion work just as well. (Optional) If you like, bring a favorite RPG rulebook, setting book, or novel for inspiration, though no specific system materials are required. Make sure you have a working mic and a quiet space for discussion. This course is system-agnostic, so you don’t need to prep a character sheet or roll stats. Your prep is mental: come ready to brainstorm, share, and build!

What Pacts & Polyhedrals - Asmo brings to the table

As your guide, I’ll provide a structured, professional-quality curriculum that makes worldbuilding both approachable and inspiring. Each week you’ll receive clear lecture notes, creative exercises, and optional handouts/templates (like worldbuilding worksheets, faction builders, and timeline guides) to support your process. My teaching style is collaborative and supportive. I’ll prompt you with questions, brainstorm alongside you, and give constructive feedback that helps refine your ideas while keeping your world playable at the table. I balance the “rule of cool” with practical design, showing you how to keep your worlds imaginative but also usable in a TTRPG setting. Expect sessions to feel like equal parts writer’s workshop and game design lab: lively discussion, guided creation, and lots of shared ideas. I won’t be doing character voices or running combat—because here, the spotlight is on your imagination. By the end of the 12 weeks, you’ll walk away with a fully developed world bible you can proudly use, pitch, or expand upon.

Homebrew rules

Instead of mechanical house rules, this course uses creative worldbuilding methods—a mix of traditional design tools and inventive prompts to spark fresh ideas: Card-Driven Prompts – We’ll sometimes draw from decks like Magic: The Gathering or custom oracle cards to generate unexpected factions, conflicts, or landscapes. Visual Inspiration – Players are encouraged to create Pinterest boards, moodboards, or image collections to help solidify the look and feel of their worlds. Collaborative Brainstorming – Sessions often include short “jam rounds” where we rapidly share ideas, remix them, and refine the best ones. Reverse Engineering – Instead of always starting with maps or histories, we’ll sometimes design artifacts, monsters, or myths first, then build the world around them. Cross-Media Sparks – Drawing inspiration from music, film, or literature is fair game; we’ll use whatever tools bring the world to life. These methods sit alongside traditional structure (geography, culture, history, factions) so that by the end, you’ll have a world that is both imaginative and practical for the table.

How Pacts & Polyhedrals - Asmo creates a safe table

This is an all-ages worldbuilding course, so we’ll be keeping the tone creative, imaginative, and accessible to everyone. We won’t be covering extreme, graphic, or adult themes. Instead, the focus is on collaboration, encouragement, and exploration. I’ll make sure the environment is welcoming and inclusive—questions are always encouraged, feedback is always constructive, and no idea will ever be mocked or dismissed. The goal is to create a supportive space where participants feel safe to share and experiment as they bring their worlds to life.