World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast Season 1 Out Now!

Need Worldbuilding advice and worldbuilding chat in podcast form? Check out Season 1 of the World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast! Our guests include Worldbuilding Professors, bestselling authors and award-winning Game Masters!

You can find the full playlist of our podcast on Spotify, Podbean, Libsyn, and Apple Podcasts!

Episode 1: Social Dynamics in Worldbuilding with Guy Sclanders

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

In this first ever episode of the World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast, Janet, Dimitris and special guest Guy Sclanders unpack the problems of worldbuilding social dynamics in this round table discussion – from the smallest family unit to the wider cultures and societies of your worldbuilding project. Bringing together their research, cultural knowledge and expertise to inspire your worldbuilding. 

Our guest this episode is the incredible Guy Sclanders, originally from South Africa. Guy is an award winning table top RPG Game Master and, if he sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the face of the popular Youtube channel How to be a great GM. Learn more about Guy and buy his books on his awesome website! 

 

Episode 2: Politics in Worldbuilding with Professor Lin Foxhall

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

Get inspired by Archaeologist and Ancient Historian Professor Lin Foxhall and Janet from World Anvil! We explore how geography and culture can affect politics, as well as how Empires rise and fall – and more!

Our guest today is the Prof Lin Foxhall, MBE (Hon.) – Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology and Dean of the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool. Previously she was Professor of Greek Archaeology and History at the University of Leicester, and Head of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, where she was one of the leaders of the team that discovered the body of Richard III. 

She has also held posts at St Hilda’s College, Oxford and University College London, and Visiting Professorships in Germany, Denmark and the USA.

If you’ve enjoyed listening to Lin, follow her on Twitter @LinFoxhall!

Episode 3: Writing Social Dynamics with Sarah R. Painter

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

We chat with Amazon bestselling author Sarah R Painter about writing, life and social dynamics in her book! Get inspired for your worldbuilding and writing!

Our guest today is the amazing author Sarah Painter. Before she began writing novels, Sarah Painter worked as a freelance magazine journalist, blogger and editor, and somehow managed to raise some kids on top of all that!
Her debut novel, The Language of Spells, became a Kindle bestseller and was followed by The Secrets of Ghosts, The Garden of Magic and In The Light of What We See. Learn more on her website! Sarah also has an incredible podcast about writing called The Worried Writer – which is where I first came in contact with her. You can check out the full blog or find the podcast ““The Worried Writer” on iTunes.

Find her work on her website. and read more about her work here!

 

Episode 4: Worldbuilding Magic & Technology with Dr. Trent Hergenrader

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

This week we’re talking Magic and technology with Dr Trent Hergenrader, a genuine, real-life PROFESSOR OF WORLDBUILDING! We talk about magic and technology, specifically how they might interact in a worldbuilding setting, and different ways you can do this. We examine old tropes and paradigms, and look at great examples of the two combined!

The amazing Professor Trent Hergenrader teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York
Trent Hergenrader is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. He teaches worldbuilding modules and this semester he’s using World Anvil to teach his class!

His fiction writing has appeared in such places as Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, and Best Horror of the Year #1. He is co-editor of Creative Writing in the Digital Age (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Creative Writing Innovations (Bloomsbury, 2017). His book “Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers” was published in October last year by Bloomsbury and was an instant success.

Check out the Collaborative Worldbuidling Website and for the Collaborative Worldbuilding book and go here for his Collaborative Worldbuilding cards.

You can also hit up Trent on Twitter at @thergenrade and @collabworldbldg, and go to his website for all his complete professional profile and activities!

 

Episode 5: Writing Magic & Technology with Brian McClellan

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

Writing Magic and Technology can be tough, but award-winning epic fantasy author Brian McClellan has some incredible advice! Find more about Brian on his website or catch up with him on Twitter. And of course, go buy his books! You can get signed copies of the Powder Mage trilogy right here:

Brian is also a Dungeons and Dragons player over at TypeCastRPG! Check our their Twitch channel for live shows, or get caught up right here on their YT channel!

Episode 6: Making magic with Eran Aviram

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

Eran Aviram, writer behind the hit webcomic series Crystal Heart and Tabletop gaming expert, talks with Janet from World Anvil about building a consistent world and avoiding worldbuilding plotholes! We especially enjoyed his take on magic systems which make sense and his approach to villains! Check out “Venture Forth”, Eran’s storytelling card game in which you play the entire campaign in a couple of hours. You might also enjoy his articles series “Three Suggestions”  which delivers thought-provoking content and suggestions of variant rules for Fifth Edition or Dungeon World .

You can follow Eran on Twitter or read his blog about Magic Systems here!

 

Episode 7: Solving Creative Problems with Christopher Dravus

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

How do you deal with writer’s block and creative burnout? How do you juggle projects and stay productive? Janet from World Anvil sits down for an in-depth interview with all-round creative genius Chris Dravus! 

Chris Dravus is a game master, writer, creator, game developer and all-round creative genius! He’s the Chief Creative Director and co-owner of the boardgame company Ironrise Games. They’ve already published their first game, Ironrise, which is a steampunk action-adventure game that focuses on the story that unfolds between heroes villains. They’re now working on a second game, which is a quick, fun, euro-style card game about little animal alchemists trying to make potions for their demanding customers, called Potionarium. 

Chris also collaborates with Guy Sclanders, the face of the hit Youtube Channel How to be a Great Game Master. They’re currently focusing on an adventure module and how different GMs might use the same tools.

Check out Ironrise here: https://www.ironrise.com 

Check out Chris’s world here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/tairos-thechosenone

Follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram.

 

Episode 8: Productivity & Self-Publishing with Jaime Buckley

Part 1 on Spotify & Part 2 on Spotify

Part 1 on Podbean & Part 2 on Podbean

Part 1 on Apple Podcasts & Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

How can you be more productive? How do you get inspired and stay inspired? And what about Self-Publishing – how do you get things ready? Janet from World Anvil sits down for an in-depth interview with Amazon best-selling Writer & Illustrator Jaime Buckley, and creator of the Wanted Hero franchise!

Jaime Buckley, father of 13, has been a professional illustrator for over 30 yrs, and is also a game creator, podcaster, author of 25 books, 13 comics and 2 graphic novels! His goal is to create heroes for children, and in 2005 he launched “Wanted Hero”, a fantasy world for children filled with magic, wonder and, of course, a big bundle of humour. The first book of the series has held a top 20 slot on Amazon for 3 years and counting!

Wanted Hero Website: https://wantedhero.com/

World of Wanted hero: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/wantedhero

Or catch up with Jaime on social media, on Twitter:, Facebook, and Instagram.

The host of the World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast

The host of World Anvil’s Worldbuilding Podcast is Janet Forbes (pen-name J.D. Blythe), a published fantasy author, professional Dungeons and Dragons Streamer, and also the co-founder of World Anvil, the ULTIMATE worldbuilding platform for writers and tabletop gamers! As a game master, TTRPG player, author and student of history, she has a broad perspective on different worldbuilding approaches!

Follow her on Twitter to keep up with her latest content, advice, and publications. You can find her first novelette published here.

Season 2 of the World Anvil Worldbuilding Podcast?

Season 2 is already being released, and the first episode (technically episode 9!) is already available here! Look out for the next eight episodes rolling out over the next two months!

Are there guests you’d like us to interview, or topics you’d like us to cover? Let me know in the comments!