Join us for a hands-on worldbuilding exercise as we create a necromantic magic system—inspired by Tamsyn Muir’s novel Gideon the Ninth—by answering these six questions:

1. Does the necromantic magic deal with the body or the spirit?
2. What can necromancy do?
3. How do necromancers learn to use and improve their powers?
4. What are the costs of performing necromancy?
5. What are the benefits of necromancy?
6. How are necromancers viewed by society?

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• Support us and get bonus episodes by joining our Patreon
• Next month’s novel: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
• Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi

Join us for a chat about the worldbuilding in the adult science fantasy novel Gideon the Ninth by Tamysn Muir. We discuss having a large cast of characters, necromancy, five-act structure, and more.

• Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord | TikTok | Bookshop
• Support us and get bonus episodes by joining our Patreon
• Next month’s novel: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
• Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi

5.18 Building a Bonded Creature

Join us for a hands-on worldbuilding exercise as we create a bonded creature, inspired by Moniquill Blackgoose’s novel To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, by answering these ten questions:

1. What is the creature?
2. Is the creature sentient or more animalistic?
3. Why does the creature bond with human(oid)s?
4. How does the creature bone with human(oid)s?
5. How do the creature and humans benefit each other?
6. How do bonded pairs communicate?
7. Is the bond permanent, or can it be severed?
8. How rare is it to bond with a creature?
9. Do the creature and the human(oid) need some sort of training to work together? If so, how is this training obtained?
10. How are bonded pairs viewed in society?

• Visit the Tavern: Website | Discord | TikTok | Bookshop
• Support us and get bonus episodes by joining our Patreon
• Next month’s novel: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
• Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi