A deck of worldbuilding prompts for creating imagined lands, local lore, and story-driven maps for creative writing and tabletop RPGs.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
See the Lore Master's Deck in action
11 months ago
– Tue, Jun 06, 2023 at 01:53:14 PM
Hi backers!
I’ve received some questions about the Lore Master’s Deck, which launches on BackerKit Crowdfunding on June 20, so I thought I’d take a moment to share a practice prompt I drew this morning using the alpha deck!
In 15 minutes I ended up with a web of lore starting with a circle of desert leopard druids seeking to reclaim their lost oasis as they prepare to confront their former allies: a cloister of cultists seeking to release a colossal burrowing scorpion-beetle on the world.
Here’s a sped-up teaser of me drawing the prompt:
Now let’s break down how this prompt came together, starting with an introduction to the deck and its 8 card types.
Lore Master’s Deck is a new standalone deck of creative prompts for developing webs of lore. It has 8 types of double-sided cards: Factions, Figures, Events, Locations, Objects, Materials, Creatures, and Wildcards.
The front of each card has 4 primary cues to choose from. Primary cues establish the basics of what kind of lore element you’re dealing with and form the fore of each prompt in your web. For example, for our first, we pulled a Faction card with 4 primary cues to choose from: CIRCLE, COMMAND, ENTOURAGE, and SYNDICATE.
I went with CIRCLE, rotating the card so the active primary cue faces me. For my first draw, I often like to go with the most open-ended prompt so I can slowly narrow in on how I want to interpret it.
Next, I draw more Faction cards, using the backside of the cards to apply secondary cues to my prompt. Secondary cues are things like traits, agendas, backgrounds, and properties that describe primary cues.
Some secondary cues have an icon depicting a card type. These are link cues are that connect your primary card to another element in your web of lore. When this happens, you immediately draw a card of the indicated type and tuck one of its primary cue under the link cue.
I drew four cards and picked four secondary cues to flesh out my circle. I ended up picking 3 link cues, so I drew and tucked 3 primary cues.
I ended up with my faction as a circle that’s trying to connect with nature, perhaps a circle of druids. They have an entry ritual involving a leopard, close ties to a cloister Faction, and they’re trying to reclaim a lost oasis. I’m already really enjoying the vibes of this group.
From here, I can expand my web of lore using any of the link cues. I decided to expand on the OASIS Location cue to learn more about it.
When you expand a link cue out like this, you pull out the matching primary cue and rotate it so the cue you want active is facing you. Then, you pull a Wildcard and choose of the cues on either side of the card to describe your newly expanded primary cue. Wildcards provided short, simple descriptions for fleshing out your new prompt, and can be tucked so the arrows printed on them show you how each card in your web connects.
Once you have the Wildcard, you draw cards of the primary card's type until every side of the primary card has a secondary cue tucked under it. As with our original see prompt, we can fill out any link cues with additional card draws.
I ended up with a timeless oasis, hidden by rocky outcroppings, decorated with a mosaic of clay bricks, and protecting a “celebrity” cactus. Two of these cues were link cues offering opportunities for further expansion.
A circle of leopard druids hunting for an oasis untouched by time with some kind of mystical cactus? Now we’re cooking.
From there I continued to expand whichever link cues tickled my fancy. After 15 minutes, here’s what I had.
A circle of leopard druids trying to reclaim their lost oasis.
A hidden oasis lost to time with a clay brick mosaic and mystical cactus.
An allied cloister of nepotistic cultists linked to a conspiracy of ruin and seeking to unleash a monstrous arachnid on the world.
A colossal tunneling scorpion-beetle that the cloister wants to lure from its deep burrow to enact clicking, buzzing ruin upon the world.
An industrialized heavy clay that can hold and transport water like a sponge. (This was the clay used in the oasis’ mosaic!)
A gritty polearm-shaped cactus with an unusual hide of spikes that inject electro-chemicals transmitting memories of those who have found or tended to the oasis.
A species of horned, trainable desert leopards deployed during a clash initiated by the druid circle.
A special material of ethereal, volcanic horn capable of piercing protective visors. (I didn’t expand the link to the VISOR Object cue because I’d already decided the visor is a piece of protective equipment worn by the druid circle’s enemies.
An historic clash between the druids and an enemy faction precipitated by fear and broken promises, which led to the coronation of a new leader. Given the fear and broken promises, I’m wondering if this clash could represent a falling out between the leopard druids and the arachnid cloister?
More potential links to expand and threads to explore!
Especially cool is the fact that if I ever need to remember how these links fit together, I can just find my original seed prompt (CIRCLE) and follow the Wildcard arrows outward to map the connections.
Now that I have a shiny new alpha copy in hand from my local print shop, I'm really excited to start showing you more of the deck!
If you'd like to follow along, please visit our pre-launch page and click "Sign Up" with your email.
If you'd like to make sure your BackerKit account is set up so you can pledge on Day 1, you can go to https://www.backerkit.com/c/users/start and complete the checklist on the page to make sure everything is set up for when the project goes live. If you do not have an account, you can follow that same link and click "Sign Up here" or continue with Google or Facebook.
Thanks so much, and please feel free to drop any questions you may have about the deck in the comments below!
Store now open + Kickstarter discount + our next project + your questions answered!
12 months ago
– Wed, May 03, 2023 at 03:38:10 PM
Hi backers!
I wanted to pop back in to share some exciting updates and answer some post-campaign questions I've been receiving!
Here's what's on the docket today:
Missed getting an add-on during the Kickstarter?Our store is open + we made a discount code for backers!
Don't have your reward shipment yet? We'll explain our troubleshooting checklist!
Want to know what's next from The Story Engine? Sneak a peek at our next project: Lore Master's Deck!
Want more sample micro-settings? I'm creating a post-apocalyptic setting for the Dead Air: Seasons RPG!
Did you miss getting an expansion you really want? Are you looking for the story prompt deck to add to your worldbuilding? Are you looking for boxes to store and sort your collection?
All decks, expansions, boosters, and storage boxes are now available in our online store! As a way of thanking you for all your support and enthusiasm throughout the campaign, we've also created a discount code for 10% off,which will work until 11:59pm PST on Sunday, May 7.
Enter THANKYOUBACKERS at checkout for 10% off.
A few notes to keep in mind:
We made sure the Kickstarter prices for all products were the best available. Campaign prices were in Canadian dollars, and after conversion should always be lower than the USD website prices.
The micro-setting postcards and early bird cards are Kickstarter exclusives. They aren't available in the store.
We still have customs-friendly shipping to the UK, EU, USA, and Canada. We still ship to most countries worldwide, but we no longer have local shipping to Australia, New Zealand, or Asia.
Sleeves have sold out in the US/Canada. They are also running low in the UK/EU. We will likely restock, but it could take a few months.
We are starting to register interest in wholesale orders for stores. If you or a store you support would like to be contacted with wholesale details, get in touch via our contact form!
Don't have your reward shipment yet?
If you backed for a physical reward tier and completed your reward survey, you should have received your rewards by now. Here's a checklist of things to check to find out if there's been an issue with your pledge:
Check to make sure you completed your reward survey on BackerKit. If you aren't sure, you can recover your reward survey using this form: https://deckofworlds.backerkit.com/
Check the address you provided in your survey is correct.
Check if you selected a PDF tier or a physical tier. PDF tiers do not include physical copies.
Get in touch via our contact form. If you've already ruled out all of the above, please get in touch via our contact form for help. Please include your Kickstarter email address somewhere in your message.
Lore Master's Deck is a creative jumpstarter for writers, GMs, Dungeon Masters, and worldbuilders who want to fill their stories with rich, interconnected lore.
In development for launch in June, Lore Master's Deck uses 8 interlinking card types to generate customizable prompts for factions, notable figures and deities, world events, locations and strongholds, objects and artifacts, species, materials, and value systems. The system is powered by your creativity, providing a simple, fluid framework for you to generate lore ideas and connections by creating clusters of related cues.
If you like what you see, please sign up for the launch notification! We will be launching our next project on BackerKit instead of Kickstarter. Signing up for the launch notification is the best way to stay up to date!
By the way, we're still working on The Story Engine: Workshop Deck, which we mentioned in a previous update last summer. We've just decided to change the release/development order to focus on Lore Master's Deck next.
Want more sample micro-settings?
I'm thrilled to be creating a micro-setting scenario for the tabletop RPG Dead Air: Seasons, which is now taking late pledges on BackerKit!
What's more, I'm custom-building a combination of prompts from Deck of Worlds, The Story Engine Deck, the horror expansions, the sci-fi expansions, and the post-apocalyptic booster to build something extra special.
It's a beautiful and compellingly crafted RPG, and I hope you'll take a look!
I always enjoy recording and editing these! If you have any expansions you'd like to see a demo of, or if you'd like to hear me talk about any specific storytelling or worldbuilding topics, let me know down below or in the video comments!
That's all for now!
As always, you can reach out via Kickstarter DM or our contact form with questions or concerns. I always love to see what deck users are cooking up, so please feel free to tag @storyenginedeck on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with your creations!
All shipments estimated to finish by next week!
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Jan 14, 2023 at 03:33:32 PM
Hello again backers!
I thought I'd follow up with a fulfillment check-in!
First the highlights:
All US rewards (including deferred ones) are currently estimated to be complete by next Friday!
All other shipments to all other regions should now be complete!
I went on a snowy photo expedition to get glamour shots of Deck of Worlds and the Worlds of Frost & Fable: Arctic Expansion! Results below!
Worlds of Frost & Fable: Arctic Expansion sitting on a shelf of ice over seawater.
Okay, let's get into the details!
Shipping Progress
With a handful of exceptions, all US rewards (including those going to backers who kindly volunteered to defer shipment to January) are estimated to complete by the end of next week. You should receive a shipping notification between now and then.
Note that for some parcels, there may be a lag between the shipping notification being sent and the parcel entering the postal system. Bridge Fulfillment has been bulk-printing shipping labels to pack in batches, which triggers the tracking email to send before the block of parcels is packed and ready for pickup. Sorry for the wait, and for any confusion around parcels that haven't started moving yet!
At this point, the only backers who may not have received their shipments (or shipment info) should be:
The US backers mentioned above (deferred backers and a small handful of non-deferred backers)
Backers who completed surveys late (these are being processed now)
Backers whose addresses failed to lock
Backers who did not complete their surveys
Backers with a balance owing
Backers I'm already in communication with about a shipment issue
If you fall into any of these categories and need help resolving an issue with your pledge, feel free to reach out by Kickstarter DM!
If you do not fall into any of these categories, you should have received tracking and/or your parcel by now, and there may be a problem! See the regional subsections in the previous update for details on how your shipping/tracking notification was delivered. If you can't find your notification, please get in touch via Kickstarter DM and I'll check on your pledge to make sure we find a way to get you your rewards.
Winter Photoshoot for the Deck
And lastly, I thought I'd leave you with the results of a snowy product photography expedition I went on this week!
I recently moved to New Brunswick on the east coast of Canada, and I've been going for daily dog walks on a beach on the Northumberland Strait watching wind, tide, freeze, and thaw shape the shore in beautiful ways.
Once the sea ice started forming, I knew it would make for the perfect backdrop to shoot the Arctic Expansion. I decided to get some glamour shots!
Image of the Deck of Worlds sitting on a plane of ice with the ice reflecting the image of the deck.
Did I accidentally drop my personal copy of Deck of Worlds in sub-zero seawater in the process? YES! But I did get some beautiful shots for my trouble? Also yes! (And my briefly dunked deck actually survived pretty well! The pic above is AFTER the dunking of 5 minutes of trying to dry it off under my coat.)
Worlds of Frost & Fable: Arctic Expansion sitting on a block of crystalline ice in front of a brilliant blue sky.
Thanks for your patience, and I hope you're all staying warm!
As always, I'm available via Kickstarter DM for questions, concerns, and issues with your package! I always love to hear about the settings you're creating and see pictures of your creative work! Please tag @storyenginedeck on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with your creations—we'd love to know what you're dreaming up with your decks!
Fulfillment progress update + thank yous
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 12:34:20 AM
Hi backers!
To those who have reached out about receiving your decks, thanks for all your enthusiasm, feedback, photos, and social media posts! After carrying this project alone in my head for so long, it has been the highlight of my year to see you taking up these cards to create your own settings, stories, and campaigns! It's humbling to hand over something that means this much to me and see so many of you pick it up and make it your own. This is the reason I get up in the morning excited to create. Seeing it come to fruition means everything to me! If you'd like to share your creations or unboxing photos, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
For all those who are still waiting to receive your rewards, thank you for your ongoing patience. I know a lot of the recent updates have come with disappointing delays for backers, and this current update is no exception: we were not able to hit our 100% holidayshipping goal for US backers. I can only thank you for hanging in there, tell you that I share your disappointment, and wait with you as our partners continue to move heaven and earth to keep a huge number of parcels moving every day.
Let me get into the shipping updates, and then share my big list of thank yous to all the people who contributed to the success of this campaign at its various stages!
Special note for EU backers: Your parcels should NOT have any customs/duty charges due. If your delivery comes with a customs/duty notice, please read carefully. Most of these notices are not actually an invoice you need to pay. Instead, the notice is usually a request for you to provide an invoice to confirm the customs value of the shipment. If you receive such a notice, please DM me immediately here on Kickstarter for instructions on how to clear your shipment without having to pay.
Fulfillment Updates
Australia/New Zealand/Canada/Asia: all shipments are complete! Some Asian parcels are still in transit from their hubs. Some Asian/Aus/NZ backers who did not receive early bird cards in their main shipment may still be waiting on their bonus cards via lettermail.
UK/EU/rest of world: shipments are 83% complete and are on track to reach 100% by the weekend! Huge thank you to Spiral Galaxy for navigating the postal strike situation and keeping parcels moving. For EU backers, please see my special note above re: customs/duty notices. You should NOT have to pay any duty on your shipments.
Non-deferred US/Mexico/Brazil: shipments are 75% complete and will continue shipping into the holidays, and if necessary, into the New Year. Bridge has been shipping hundreds of parcels every week, but between a spreadsheet error on my side that split some rewards into two shipments, and needing to adjust timeline estimates as we adapted to the size and complexity of collector tiers, we won't be able to hit the shipping goal originally discussed with Bridge. I can assure you that Bridge has been constantly communicative, attentive to details, and extraordinarily focused on keeping shipments moving. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to keep to the estimates I shared with you, but I'm keeping in perspective that Bridge's timely intercession took us from a prospective 0% US completion in 2022 last month to a situation where the majority of backers can get their parcels. For those left with late shipments, I know it's far from a perfect situation. Thanks for your patience.
Deferred US/Mexico/Brazil: if you volunteered to defer your shipment to January, we will still be keeping to this timeline, but we may be finishing off the last parcels from the December batch as we start into your block of shipments.
Below are some photos from the Bridge Fulfillment warehouse of shipments in progress!
Bridge's pick-and-pack bins set up for quick fulfillment.
Look at that thick stack of shipments!
Thank Yous
There are so very many people to thank for their contributions to delivering this project! You'll find most of them in the guidebook credits, but with so many thank you messages coming in through comments and DMs, I wanted to highlight the amazing team who deserve to share in your excitement.
(Quick aside: whenever I write thank yous, I worry I'll forget someone and invalidate the whole purpose of an appreciation post! But I'd rather blunder forward and say the thank yous I can get right than let my fear of incomplete gratitude hold me back from making the post. If I forget to mention your contribution, please put it down to my momentary forgetfulness in this moment of holiday chaos and not my lack of appreciation for your work!)
Thanks to the core logistics and production team who have helped ferry this project to the shores of completion! In particular: Miroki Tong, logistics/operations/strategy genius and frequent role-shifting problem-solver/bacon-saver; Zach Schuster, tireless graphic designer, creative contributor, and so many other roles; Janessa Schuster, who can do magic things with spreadsheets that save us hours of time and planning. I've lived most of my life working as a solo writer/designer/developer.
Thanks to our amazing contacts at the printer: Amo Wong, who continuously strove to make our physical production efficient, beautiful, and exacting in detail; and Dave Snyder, who was always full of helpful advice for keeping production on track!
Thanks to the writers who created the cues that make the deck's prompts so varied, interesting, and inspiring: Akira Keith, Athar Fikry, A.Z. Louise, Brendon Alekseii, Cae Hawksmoor, J.D. Harlock, Juliet Kemp, Michael Barker, Pedro Galicia, Sarah Loch, Shiv MacFarlane, and Zach Schuster. Your creativity was continuously inspiring throughout the project, and will be the starting point for so many writers and creators developing settings we never dreamed were possible when we started this project.
Thanks to the writers and artists who created the beautiful set of postcard microsettings! Authors: Alina Pete, Brent Lambert, Carrie Cuinn, CL Clark, Elizabeth Aoki, Jordan Shiveley, and Victor Manibo. Artists: Angel Muro, Aysha, Beth Sparks, Frances P., Grace P. Fong ("Fictograph"), Kuutti Terävä, Lauren Ring, Mel Uran, Megan McCurdy, Sabaa Bismil, Thaleia Demeter, Tiago Sousa, and Zach Schuster. Your incredible work inspired my imagination and helped me understand what a brilliant creative mind can achieve with the deck.
Thank you to the sensitivity and curriculum review team: A.Z. Louise, Sonya Ballantyne, Yasmine Fahmy, and Kendra Harrison. Your intellectual and emotional labour reviewing the cards, educating me on the broader cultural implications of their meaning, and working with me on creative solutions to make the deck a more inclusive, expansive, and empathy-driven resource was invaluable. I cannot recommend the process of sensitivity review highly enough to all designers out there.
Thank you to the proofreaders: Eric Weiss, Janessa Schuster, Leigh Teetzel, and Tyson Pink. Your review was exhaustive, your communication was always clear and timely, and you perspicacity helped make the cues as clear, consistent, and error-free as possible on the tightest of deadlines.
To all the folks above: I want to say a special thank you for your patience with me as a human. Leading a team and giving creative direction has always been my weakest skill as a creator. I completed the original Story Engine Deck almost entirely as a solo project, and solo work has always been my comfort zone. The collaborative scope of this project stretched me in so many ways, and contributors were always patient as I learned, often through trial and error, the skills required for an adequate creative director. I'm still far short of where I'd like to be on that front, but I know the lessons I've learned and skills I've developed so far were only possible through your patience, talent, and communication. Thanks for accepting me as a work in progress and giving me an opportunity to learn!
Thank you to our fulfillment partners! Spiral Galaxy Games, Aetherworks, VFI, and especially Bridge Fulfillment (our eleventh-hour rescuers) have moved heaven and earth to get parcels out! Gaelen and Eric, who came on board to help me pack and ship Canadian orders, worked some very long days and adapted to a lot of logistics hiccups to get all our parcels packed in just 3 days. Thank you to my parents received 3 giant pallets of decks and let me temporarily take over their house as a shipping warehouse. I'm so grateful to all the people who have helped get these decks in as many hands as possible by the holidays.
And thank you to all of you backers! Two years ago, The Story Engine: Deck of Worlds was just one guy's idea for a worldbuilding resource. Of all the possible worlds, I get to live in the one where your support, enthusiasm, trust, feedback, patience, and funding snowballed that idea into a resource that will help so many creators dream up new worlds, create new settings, and tell new stories. We're currently approaching the end of this project, but the beginning of so many of your own creative projects to come. I hope you'll tell me about the exciting things you make with these cards. I love reading the comments and receiving your DMs, and I'm always appreciative of being tagged on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I love hearing about what you're up to, and your posts help with word of mouth, which has always been the biggest boon to our growth.
And a special thanks to the backers who are being patient right now with postal delays. It's one thing to extend general goodwill to the idea that Kickstarters are imperfect operations that often fulfill late. It's another thing to be in the small group of people personally inconvenienced and sitting without rewards over the holidays while others celebrate receiving their things. I get to do what I do because you put your trust in me and were willing to take a risk on crowdfunding some non-traditional. I appreciate that trust, and I'll always do what I can to make my projects worthy of it.
Wishing you all the best in the new year! I'll continue to update you as the final pieces of fulfillment wrap up and keep you in the loop about what's next for the Story Engine team!
Shipping progress update + holiday card
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Dec 14, 2022 at 05:51:54 AM
Hello backers!
Shipping is underway and/or complete in all regions, and it's time for an update on progress!
The headlines are:
Australia/New Zealand/Canada/Asia shipments are complete (though some are still in transit)!
Non-deferred US/Mexico/Brazil shipments started on time and are 55% complete. We are still expecting all non-deferred rewards to be in the mail by the holidays.
UK/EU/rest of world shipments started late due to issues with the Royal Mail strike and are 35% complete. The UK post is in a state of disruption and while packing is going well and we can likely get everything in the mail, delivery times are uncertain and some parcels may not arrive in time for the holidays.
Full details for each region are below.
For the deferred US backers, and for anyone whose parcels don't arrive on time due to postal delays or other carrier issues, we've provided a holiday card that can be given as a placeholder for the incoming deck.
For Asia, some rewards are still en route to their local in-country hubs to be shipped with the local post. It is my first time working with VFI and it is my understanding that they email you a tracking number once your rewards are in the local post.
For Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, note that many of you will have your early bird cards arrive separately via lettermail from Canada.
US/Mexico/Brazil Fulfillment
Our new partner Bridge got straight to work on shipping on November 28. They have now sent 1325 shipments of the ~2400 we're aiming to send by the holidays. They assure me we're still on track for hitting 100% of the non-deferred shipments. They've been a fabulous partner to work with so far and I'm grateful they've come on board the project with such dedication.
You should receive a tracking notification email from ShipHero (Bridge's warehouse/shipping platform) when your rewards ship. Keep an eye out for this in your inbox, alternate email tabs, spam, etc.
We did discover a data entry error on my side that has a small number of backers receiving certain items (usually sleeves) in split shipments from their main rewards. For unshipped rewards, we've re-merged the split shipments. For shipped or half-shipped rewards, we've double-checked the data and can assure you that you will receive both halves of your shipment.
With the non-deferred parcels being our primary goal, we currently aren't forecasting any progress on deferred shipments before the holidays. Again, I can't tell you how grateful I am to all those who volunteered for January delivery to help us triage our queue. Thanks for stepping up!
UK/EU/Rest of World Fulfillment
Unfortunately, as most folks in the UK will know, Royal Mail is on strike and the postal system is experiencing severe disruptions. This has affected the speed at which Spiral can pack and label parcels since Royal Mail's system does not allow them to upload shipments outside of non-strike days. It has also retroactively changed Royal Mail's recommended holiday shipping times and added uncertainty to the standard expected delivery times.
Spiral Galaxy's project queue got backed up by the strike and they did have to push back our start date to last week. However, they have been making up for lost time with 35% of parcels shipped in a very short period. They are regularly hitting Royal Mail's maximum for daily parcel pickups and making every effort to ship as many orders as possible.
At this point in time, with expected parcel transit times and further impacts of the strike being up in the air, it is hard to tell how many parcels will arrive in advance of the holidays. No one knows exactly what the full impact of the strike will be.
Backers should have received a pre-ship address-check notification around the end of November. Some backers have told me that they didn't get theirs, and I've confirmed with Spiral that these backers are indeed in their system to be shipped and all is well with their rewards.
Spiral does email a ship notification to backers with tracking when their parcels go out.
I can assure you that during my last campaign, Spiral was fulfilling as new Brexit regulations were coming down, port delays were at an unprecedented high, France was snap-shutting its borders due to new COVID strains, and postal import/export requirements were changing day by day. Despite the pileup of challenges, they still managed to problem-solve and contingency-plan with me every day, and pulled some long hours and short-order miracles to make shipments go out on time. They have my trust as a partner that they'll do what they can to keep as close as possible to our original timelines.
That's All For Now
As always, I'm available via Kickstarter DM for questions, concerns, and issues with your package, and I try to keep up with the comments as much as possible.
I'm keeping in regular touch with our shipping hubs while trying to be mindful of not using their limited resources on excessive check-ins and requests. I will update you as shipping continues!
I love to see pictures and posts when people's rewards arrive! Please tag @storyenginedeck on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram when your goodies roll in!
