Being a Better Writer: Garbage · 11:24pm Feb 4th, 2019
Welcome back readers to another Monday entry of Being a Better Writer! I’ve just got one bit of news to talk about, and then we can cut right to the chase and talk about garbage.
That news? Life, The Universe, and Everything is NEXT WEEK! That is right! LTUE is literally around the corner of the weekend, this February 14th-16th. Will you be there? I sure will be, and I can’t wait! Hope to see you there!
Now, back to the the topic at hand. I’ll wager a number of you are pretty curious about what I’m referring to with a title like that. Garbage books? Garbage story? Garbage plots? Garbage tropes?
Nope. None of the above. Instead, I want to talk about something else. Worldbuilding garbage. That’s right, today is a worldbuilding post, that lovely topic of sitting down to draft and create worlds. But again, when I say worldbuilding garbage, a number of you may be thinking in less concrete terms than I actually am.
No, today I’m being absolutely straight. No metaphor or comparison here. I’m talking about actual garbage. Refuse, trash, debris, etc etc etc.
What does your world do with it?
"What about garbage" is an excellent question, but what about dragons?
I jest.
The garbage question is a good sort to ask.
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That kid has excellent taste.
Tangentially related, but this is one of the concerns my character has in the Pathfinder: Kingmaker campaign has to deal with. While the setting is currently at the medieval level, where most items are either reused or just outright burned, plans to accelerate development will result in a boosted population, thus needing to control how human waste is managed. Pretty much was the chamberpot into the street scenario before I intervened, and with the help (and investment into) a rising NPC Steampunk Inventor, worked to innovate indoor plumbing, then adapted widescale magic to retrofit a sewer system into the city. Had to convince my fellow companions that this was a worthwhile effort to spend precious BP ($) on and then another set of rolls to convince the citizens I wasn't trying to kill the city with the shifting and shaking resulting from me using my Hymnal of Ainulindale (custom Lyre of Building spec'd for Singing instead of Perform: Strings) to do the work of a hundred people for three days in about half an hour. Also had to spend several days informing the people in public information sessions on how to use the things. Also had planned on the sewers leading out to a zone for composting.
Then I cheated around this issue in the latest session when our party was attending a fighting tournament (as well as avoiding having to deal with politicking and fraternizing with our noble sponsors) by spending a decent chunk of gold and selling snow cones and ice cream in paper cups created via the spell [Minor Creation], which has a set duration before vanishing back into the ether.
~Magic is broken~
One of my favorite stories growing up (and still is) is Dinotopia. So many delicious details in the paintings. Page 36 iirc actually had a blurb about dinosaurs and waste management in the towns and cities
A similar set of recommendations aimed at Fantasy RPG settings:
Mu's Unbelievably Long
and Disjointed Ramblings
About RPG Design