Summercamp 2025 Pledge and Prep Work
Another year has come and gone, and once more, it's time for WorldAnvil Summercamp! And for me, this means an opportunity to get a new project jump-started. The Perseus Arm is a new campaign setting intended for the Traveller role-playing game (in any of its many iterations). This means new star systems to map out... new worlds to detail... new species (including intelligent playable races), new challenges... pretty much new everything!
My Summercamp goal is the same as it's been for the past five years: to achieve the Diamond Badge! To that end, here is my Pledge:
Very few worlds are truly "earth-like". Water availability, atmospheric pressures and composition, even local gravity all vary widely. Each new world colonists encountered would have challenges that began with ensuring sustainable water and breathable air. Some worlds may be barren, but capable of sustaining imported crops and livestock. Others will already have flora and possibly even fauna native to them. Are these edible? Poisonous? Hostile?
I've already come quite a long way. I've learned to ask myself why certain things (ruins, tribes of orcs, sprawling cities, etc.) would - or would not - be in various places. I've learned to think about bigger pictures. The Perseus Arm will be an interesting challenge in that each world's basic conditions will have to dictate how that world was developed, but there is such a wide possible variety in those conditions from world to world, that literally anything is possible.
There is one thing from that first attempt at worldbuilding that I do need to keep in mind, though. The ultimate objective is to create a setting for adventure that players will enjoy. If the players aren't having fun, it doesn't matter how well thought out the setting is.
One thing I learned after a few passes through the "Discover Worlds" rabbithole in WorldAnvil is that there really aren't that many folks doing stuff for Traveller, and not many doing the scifi RPG / space opera RPG in any form. But there are a couple - or at least have been a couple over the years.
Another WorldAnvil collection that caught my eye was Space Opera. This is a fairly extensive site that I'll be looking at in more detail over the next few weeks and months - the initial vibes I get from it are encouraging.
My Summercamp goal is the same as it's been for the past five years: to achieve the Diamond Badge! To that end, here is my Pledge:
Week 1 Homework
Assignment 1
The first revealed Summercamp theme is Nourishment. Given the challenge of developing a slew of new star systems and planets populated by colonists who left Earth far behind, I could not think of a more appropriate first theme to guide me. There are mechanics for devising statistical basics for newly created worlds in a Traveller setting, but these need serious fleshing out to turn a string of numbers into a believable world that would make for interesting and challenging adventures.Very few worlds are truly "earth-like". Water availability, atmospheric pressures and composition, even local gravity all vary widely. Each new world colonists encountered would have challenges that began with ensuring sustainable water and breathable air. Some worlds may be barren, but capable of sustaining imported crops and livestock. Others will already have flora and possibly even fauna native to them. Are these edible? Poisonous? Hostile?
Assignment 2
See above!Assignment 3
As Perseus Arm is a whole new campaign world, there aren't any old articles to review and update. What I can do - and have done - is to review older articles from my Cartyrion world with an eye to improving style and content delivery.Week 2 Homework
Assignment 1
The second Summercamp theme revealed is Roots. Again, given my hope to use Summercamp to create new worlds, I couldn't have asked for a better theme. The "main players" in the setting are descendents of colonists from Earth, but the Earth they left was not too different from the one we know in reality. Varying ethnicities, religions, and economic backgrounds mean that the original colonists brought with them much cultural history, some may have been forgotten, but some has evolved as new challenges were faced, and some has survived intact. As colonists tended to band together based on cultures, different colonies developed in vastly different directions.Assignment 2
The Perseus Arm is new, hence it's homepage is still quite new. I've tried to lay it out using the many things I've learned from Sage Seminars and reviewing other successful homepages, and I hope I'm already on the right track. It's still "bare bones" now, but as content is developed, the homepage will evolve.Assignment 3
My first worldbuilding experience was in 1977. I was chosen to be the "dungeon master" for a group wishing to play this interesting new game called Dungeons and Dragons. The "world" I created was a 9-level dungeon packed with as many critters as i could fit from the Monster Manual. It made absolutely no sense at all from a "functional biome" standpoint, but it provided many sessions worth of fun game play.I've already come quite a long way. I've learned to ask myself why certain things (ruins, tribes of orcs, sprawling cities, etc.) would - or would not - be in various places. I've learned to think about bigger pictures. The Perseus Arm will be an interesting challenge in that each world's basic conditions will have to dictate how that world was developed, but there is such a wide possible variety in those conditions from world to world, that literally anything is possible.
There is one thing from that first attempt at worldbuilding that I do need to keep in mind, though. The ultimate objective is to create a setting for adventure that players will enjoy. If the players aren't having fun, it doesn't matter how well thought out the setting is.
Week 3 Homework
Assignment 1
The third revealed theme for prompts is Metamorphosis. The colonists of the Perseus Arm brought with them the cultures, practices, preferences and beliefs of their original homes, but centuries spent dealing with the challenges of whole new planets and systems will no doubt have led to some of these being forgotten and others undergoing evolution. No doubt whole new cultures will have arisen, or tried to arise, over time as well; sometimes meeting with fierce opposition. Every new world in the Perseus Arm will provide an opportunity for a unique path for these changes, and Summercamp prompts should provide the opportunity to explore some of these.Assignment 2
The Perseus Arm is a project based in science fiction, not the magical fantasy genre that my most recent worldbuilding project of Cartyrion. when it comes to seeking inspiration from others, this gives me an opportunity to redirect my attention to a whole new set of worldbuilders in the WorldAnvil community.One thing I learned after a few passes through the "Discover Worlds" rabbithole in WorldAnvil is that there really aren't that many folks doing stuff for Traveller, and not many doing the scifi RPG / space opera RPG in any form. But there are a couple - or at least have been a couple over the years.
Assignment 3
A quick surf through worlds identifying themselves as Science Fiction revealed a few things that deserved looking into. First up was The Third Imperium of Mankind, which appears to be a Traveller Campaign management site based in the very well-established "Charted Space" domain of the game. I'll be looking into this for inspiration for adventure hooks that my own campaign setting will require,Another WorldAnvil collection that caught my eye was Space Opera. This is a fairly extensive site that I'll be looking at in more detail over the next few weeks and months - the initial vibes I get from it are encouraging.
Woo! Excited to see a new World by Bob develop.
It should be fun! Lots of possibilities for summercamp with a whole new "world" to explore!
Laurels & Loot is a new, lightweight TTRPG rules system that hearkens back to the early days.