NaNo 2022 Prepping

NaNo plans for story about non-player characters in a video game trying to save the game.

These are my plans and ideas for my 2022 NaNoWriMo project. For more information about National Novel Writing Month, go to {www.nanowrimo.org} This portion of the plans are directed by

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World Weavers' Workshop  (13+) 30 exercises to help you outline the setting for your novel #2274535 by Tileira

Exercise 1: Outlining ▶︎

Write out the headline notes and inspirations for your setting.

You don't need to get into details yet, but make a note of any specific ideas you already have.

This should include:
Your inspirations.
An idea of naming conventions.
An idea of gender roles.
An idea of era or technology level.
Any other significant factors you already have in mind.

There are no wrong answers. There are no ideal answers.
Just put down on the page a rough description of what you think you're going to do.

Assignment 1 ▶︎

Inspiration is World of Warcraft. This will be a bit of a medieval time with some steampunk. Watch "Free Guy" and "Wreck it Ralph" for ideas to do and stay away from.
Male names all begin with a vowel and females with a consonant. Many names mean things and aren't name we are familiar with.
Gender roles are fairly standard, but there are some woman warriors and there's the guy who wants to give being a brothel owner/maid a try.
Not sure of the era but this will have some steampunk and medieval times, but with fantasy animals, magic, etc. as well
The game came about because of the pandemic, but now that it's over, the membership has tanked, so they are going to end the game. In the beginning, there's not a lot of support for saving the game and when they do start trying, they don't do well in the beginning. They get a lot of tips from listening to people in the tavern. The NPCs (non-player characters) became sentient because one of the programmers was bored and was playing around with some new code. They end up bringing him on board when the company decides it wants to shut things down sooner rather than later when they discover the game has a life of its own.

Exercise 2: Local Geography ▶︎

Outline the physical environment and how it might influence the people who live in the region.

This should include:
Climate and weather, including seasons.
The topography (the natural and artificial physical features of an area). e.g. forests, water sources, soil and stone types, etc.
What's on the borders of you 'world'? Is it a city that gives way to rural land? A country bordering on another? A school district?
Are there any key landmarks within the region that might develop significance? Like a hill with a fort, or a lighthouse on the coast, or a sprawling cave system?
What restrictions does the area put on the people living there? What advantages does it offer that would have enticed people to settle there originally?

Assignment 2 ▶︎

The climate and weather don't really change much in the beginning, but that's something they bring in later with the help of the coder? It's fair weather for most of the game. But then become more varied, rain, snow, heat, but nothing too ridiculous, except maybe when there's a character/member playing that he doesn't like or they don't like.
Each area will be different. The tavern is mostly wooden as are most of the structures in that area. Maybe it's called Havenwood. Other places are made from stones, gems, caves, etc. There are also mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, etc. and also things like volcanos and rivers of lava to Frogger across on skulls. But the seas will be the borders. Different areas are better or worse for different things--farming, logging, fishing, mining, etc.
The border of the whole word is an ocean that no one can cross or maybe even enter. Between cities are farms and forests and mountains and such--different things in different directions.
There are many things that will be significant for different quests. Maybe you have to enter the forest to befriend a forest nymph or go to the mountains to ask the guru which ore is best for you to mine and where to find it.
There is a body of water or springs near the cities. People settled for different reasons, depending on the area of the game. One area has great gem or gold mining while another is great farmland and the main city, Havenwood, has good wood and a nearby forest, but also is on trade routes and there are a lot of quests there. As for restrictions, there is an ocean bordering the whole world, but also NPCs have trouble (or can't?) leave their town...or maybe even their area of town or their building. Maybe this changes as they become more sentient and more willing to risk things to save the game? Maybe the barrier is all in their head?

Exercise 3: Hometown ▶︎

Now that you know the unique advantages and difficulties of the area, you can start to think about what your people do there.

Work on the main industries and the key facilities your 'world' (city, village, high school, etc) offers the people living in it.

Things to consider:
Food and water.
Sanitation.
What is produced there? Do they export anything?
What isn't produced and has to be imported?
Is the 'world' affluent, or are they in economic decline?
If your 'world' is a facility like a school campus or a lunar base, what is its purpose?

Assignment 3 ▶︎

Food and water is fairly basic. They draw water from a well or the river. You sometimes see water bearers. The food is cooked, but is mostly simple like stews, meats, some veggies, and bread. There is also some freshwater fish, but not really as an industry. Spices are not common, but are sought after.
Sanitation isn't really discussed or considered for the most part. Because they are a video game, they haven't had to worry about bodily functions, for the most part. Even the woman who runs the brothel is grateful there aren't bodily fluids when she's changing sheets.
What is produced depends on which city you are in. In Havenwood the main thing they make is lumber and they are a trade city people go through to lots of other cities. There are some farms on the cleared forest land, but no real mining or anything else besides perhaps some pottery. They mainly export lumber and furniture. Not a lot of furniture is sold and often people buy the lumber to take home and make things or to give to a friend to make things, but they can buy furniture locally.
Anything metal or stone has to be imported such a mill stones, metal for knives, though the blacksmith can make the knives. However, the higher quality knives come from outside Havenwood, where the metal was smelted. They also import spices and cloth. Though they grow some cotton and linen and they have some looms, the good fabric comes from elsewhere.
The affluency of the world depends on the location. Havenwood isn't as affluent as the stone or metal or gem cities, but it's more affluent than the farmers who surround it.
The official purpose of the world is to be a video game for people to play during the pandemic. However, with the pandemic pretty much over, people aren't really enjoying this game that was put together fairly quickly and without as much thought as normal. It's quirky and boring and subscriptions are dwindling. In the world, they are just living their lives with each family and business and town doing what they need to do to survive, whatever that means in a game world.

Exercise 4: Market ▶︎

Trade is a necessity in any society. It would be impractical, if not impossible, for a single household to provide for all its needs from production to consumption. A market is a place for people to trade for what they need, either through barter or using currency, although there are a lot of different kinds of markets too.

Think about a market or exchange that might exist in your setting -- this might also include websites or forms of e-trading.

Things to consider:
What kind of market is it? Who is selling what?
Where does the market take place? Why in that place?
When is the market held? Is it often or regularly or more like a seasonal fair?
What or who else can be encountered at the market? Thieves? Police? Tourists? Stray dogs?

Assignment 4 ▶︎

The market consists of a variety of people--local farmers sell animals, veggies, and some fruit. They will slaughter the animal for you as well. But they might agree to slaughter it, then give you the meat from a lessor animal. There are also traveling traders who come once a month to sell everything from silk fabric to silver cups and hoes and ointments and shoes. Sometimes local businesses will also join the market to sell things such as leftover stew or mismatched plates.
The market takes place in all over town and business people who want to sell open their stores and bring out tables to set up. Farmers bring things in on carts and sell them from wherever they stop. Traveling traders often have a usual spot they've chosen, but sometimes there will be a quarrel about the location. The town isn't particularly organized so there's not exactly a central spot, but also, it's not a large town, so if you don't stop to chat or buy anything, you can see everything in about an hour browsing time.
While some people will bring in a wagon load of things to sell every day, the main markets are on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They from not long after sunup until dusk or until the tradesman has sold everything.
There are sometimes pickpockets in the market and always someone trying to cheat you. There is the constable, but he's very busy, a bit older and pudgy, and really more of a figure head. There's generally no serious issues because the game only allows people to do so much. Though theft does become more of a problem when people become sentient. There are stray cats fed to keep the rats down. You will find questers in the market as well.

Exercise 5: Venn Diagram ▶︎

As an expansion to the exercises so far, work on identifying the main social groups you expect to touch on in your story.

Things to consider:
How do these groups intersect? What brings them into contact with each other?
How do these groups interact? Where? Why? How?
How do these groups (generally) perceive the others?
What are the power dynamics between the groups?

Assignment 5 ▶︎

The 2 basic main groups are the NPCs (non-player characters) of the video game as well as the people in the real world who pay a subscription to play. Later, the creator of the AI code will come in, but his handiwork appears early on, thus why they become sentient. And at some point the gaming company will discover things aren't going as planned and try to shut things down before discovering that they are making money. Within the game, the players will be questers who go around asking for quests and doing things as well as generally interacting such as buying a beer, learning a trade or magic, and even getting a room to spend with another player in the brothel. They interact with the traders, tavern owner and some customers, brothel owner, as well as people outside of the town like the farmers, pickpockets, and wild animals, monsters, and bad people they have to kill for quests. The interaction between groups is initially brought on only by the need for quests, but then the towns people start interacting to make things more interesting and to spice up the game.
The questers interact with each other generally politely, but they do talk trash and such sometimes. When they interact with the NPCs, there is a difference between the questers. Some are nicer than others. And they don't really think of the NPCs as people and treat them as such at times. The questers interact with the NPCs to get and fulfill quests or to entertain themselves. For example, they can start a bar fight and break things. The guy who created the AI code is inside the game playing when he accidentally overhears the NPCs and discovers they've come to life, so to speak. He's excited and sympathizes with them about wanting to save the game, but doesn't see a chance for it until he finds out subscriptions are on the rise, but the company still wants to shut it down because it's already in the works and not making enough to make a difference and then wants to shut it down because it's gone rogue. All interactions take place in the game or are reported in the game if they happen outside the game.
Everyone sees the NPCs as not real, even the guy who created the AI code, until he realizes they've become sentient. The coder feels the company had a good chance with the game, but they just slapped it together too quickly during the pandemic and now it has a reputation for being boring and glitchy, so it's too late to save the game. The NPCs see the questers as a PITA, but also as their only hope or survival. At first, they are unsure about interacting with the coder because they're afraid he'll take away the code that made them sentient. There is a comedic scene when he first discovers they are sentient from overhearing them talk and then they argue in front of him about whether to interact with him or just pretend to be NPCs. They ultimately decide to be NPCs, but he knows they are faking because he just heard them arguing because they don't know how these things work because they are new to being sentient. Also, some folks don't like their lot, especially those constantly being kidnapped and maybe ask to not be sentient at the end or to have that character's story changed and bad guys aren't sentient because they cause too much trouble. The gamers don't look too favorably on the game designers or company because they feel like they didn't do a good job and just wanted money during COVID because they could create the game without interacting in person, then sell it to people trapped at home. The game was already in development, but was rushed because of COVID--partly to not have it languishing for years and partly to make money.
There are a lot of different power dynamics. The coder has the ability to allow the NPCs to be sentient or not, but the gaming company has power over him as his boss. The gaming company has the ability to delete the whole game and fire the coder. They can also have someone go in and remove the code he put in, but they aren't likely to bother because of the expense. The NPCs have the power to think for themselves now and to change the quests and change the game to make it better. The gamers have the power to allow the world to continue by continuing to pay or to allow the world to be destroyed by not playing and letting the gaming company delete it. They also have power over the NPCs who generally need to stay in character.

Exercise 6: Key Tensions ▶︎

I often use the phrase 'politics is people'. People have different values, different priorities, different struggles and different fears, and ultimately they can't all have what they want. Somewhere along the line, conflicting interests mean someone has to be denied in order to satisfy someone else.

Think about what the main problems facing your society/faction might be.

Is it access to a natural resource? Is it a threat to their place in a wider society? Is it their physical safety? Is it something they want for success or a better life? You might have some ideas from exercise 1.

Things to consider:
What might pose a threat or risk to the group?
How could that risk be eliminated or minimised?
What -- or who -- might stand in the way and why?
What does the group, or individuals in the group, want in order to prosper?
What -- or who -- might stand in the way and why?

Assignment 6 ▶︎

Exercise 7: Review Day ▶︎

Go back over your notes from the past week. Do any further research, add to your notes, and make any adjustments or corrections.

If you have any other ideas that you want to get down at this point, submit those too.

Assignment 7 ▶︎