DnD Worldbuilding Changed My Life!

There is no doubt that some are born with this innate gift of creativity. It seems that without any effort at all, they are able to create art that inspires, motivates, and forces thought. However, is this gift just granted to a few lucky individuals, or is it possible for anyone to be creative.

I’ve had this question for a while. I’ve always wanted to know if anyone, including me, could tap into this creativity. Normally the people who claim everyone is creative are the most creative people and therefore, I never took it too seriously. What brought a desire for me to investigate my own creativity was a game called: Dungeons & Dragons.

I am late to the party as usual. I never played growing up but I spotted it in a podcast I frequently watch. The game grabbed me the moment I saw these people creating a fantasy world right in front of my eyes. I had to try for myself! The unfortunate reality set in once I realized I had no friends who played and therefore, didn’t know how to get started. I sat on this idea for a while. I waited and waited and eventually gave up on the idea of tapping into my creativity and building my own fantasy world.

But then, as all interests do. I caught the bug again. I decided that instead of waiting for a group to play, I would just start the process of building world in the hopes that one day, I would have the chance to show my creation to a group of friends. I still remember the day I started my universe. I made a cup of coffee, put on the lo-fi fantasy music, and then preceded to stare at my computer screen for what felt like hours without a single idea. I couldn’t come up with anything. Not a plot, a city, a monster, or even a single NPC. I felt like my fear that creativity was a gift only for the few was coming into reality. And then the name: Kal’Dorel (the name of the planet that my world takes place on.)

From this moment, the ideas started pouring in I started to create continents like the swampy plains of Vora, and the floating islands that make up Nimblyca, and the hunters paradise, Batanikoa. It was one idea after another. I’m not claiming that every one of these ideas was genius or really thatany of them were. But they sparked a creative passion and joy within me that I didn’t know I had. I continued to create and as I did I got more and more invested in the creation. I often find myself, in moments of free time, working on the world of Kal’Dorel. It has become one of my absolute pleasures.

Why do I say all this? well what I learned through this process isn’t that I had creativity I didn’t know I had. More so, I learned that we are capable of doing things we never thought possible as long as we are willing to sit and stare at a blank screen for hours. New skills take time and they don’t foster overnight. Sometimes they take many hours, days, and weeks of staring at what feels like nothing, until it finally becomes something. My challenge to you, start creating something. I guarantee you will fall in love with the creation as long as you are willing to push through the early stages of creating! Let me know your thoughts when it comes to worldbuilding and its role on our creativity in the comments below.