Collaborative
worldbuilding
How to develop a place, a character or a mystery with other writers and builders, and how that works in Icesus, where approved areas open to players.
You sign in with your game character and can build once your area plan is approved. First steps.
Shared canonOne history, geography and tone
Area plansDiscussed in #creator first
Wizard reviewBefore an area opens to players
Start with one idea
You may already have a memorable inn, a troublesome faction or a road with a story. A shared world gives you a place to develop it with other people.
Start by showing a small piece of the idea. Explain who it is for, what someone can do there and what help you would welcome. That makes it easier for another contributor to respond and build on it.
What collaborative worldbuilding is
Collaborative worldbuilding means developing a setting together. The group agrees on its history and tone, and on how additions become part of the world.
In Icesus, those additions can become rooms, people and encounters that players use. Your work has neighbours, so an area needs to connect to the geography and stories around it.
Ways to collaborate
| Format | What you make together | What to agree on |
|---|---|---|
| Tabletop group | A setting and the adventures your group plays | Who can add facts and how those facts affect the campaign. |
| Shared wiki or writing project | Places, histories, characters and reference material | Canon, editing rights and review conventions. |
| Forum or play-by-post roleplay | An unfolding story in a shared setting | Turn-taking, character boundaries and continuity. |
| A multiplayer text world | Places and encounters that people can play through | Setting fit, game behaviour, testing and release review. |
Writing for players who act
A player may examine the sign you mentioned, ask the keeper about a rumour or try a side road first. Each of those needs a response written for it.
Design those responses together. Ask someone else to walk through the area without your explanation, then note where they hesitate, what they try and what catches their interest. Use that feedback to revise the next draft.
Skills that carry over from the table
A sense of pacing
Give players somewhere to arrive, something to investigate and time to recover. Let a changing mood prepare them for the next encounter.
Plan an area →People with motives
An inhabitant’s immediate concern gives a conversation direction. Connect that concern to the place and the people around it.
Shape the inhabitants →Consequences worth following
Think beyond completing a task. Decide what the player learns, what changes and how the area behaves on a later visit.
Design a quest →
Working in a shared canon
Learn what is already there. Read nearby areas and the relevant lore. Discuss the connections before introducing a new faction, history or landmark.
Share the plan early. Set the intended audience, scope and responsibilities. Ask reviewers which assumptions need checking.
Work through feedback. Separate a personal preference from a problem with clarity, continuity or play. Revise, test and explain the change.
Agree before release. A draft becoming shared canon is a decision. In Icesus, completed areas go through wizard review before publication.
Icesus Creator
Icesus Creator is a browser tool for planning areas, connecting rooms and editing what lives in them. Descriptions and controls sit alongside the game source, so you can inspect and refine the result.
Icesus supplies the existing game systems; you supply the place, its writing and its design. Build access follows plan approval, and the finished work needs playtesting and review.
Contributing an area as a player is separate from becoming a wizard. If you want to develop settlements through gameplay, explore provinces too.
First steps
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Play to level 25
Start playing and reach player level 25. You also need clear written English.
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Discuss an idea in #creator
Join Discord and find #creator. Discuss a small area, then submit an area plan in Creator for review.
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Build and submit
Use your workspace to write and playtest. Submit the finished area for wizard review and work through the feedback.
You can join #creator now.
You do not need a finished proposal to introduce yourself.
Questions
What is collaborative worldbuilding?
Several people develop one shared setting, with an agreed history, tone and way to review changes. In Icesus, approved content becomes places and encounters in a multiplayer text world.
How is it different from writing my own campaign setting?
You share authorship and work within an existing setting. In return, you can draw on other contributors’ ideas and build for people beyond your own table. The result still needs testing and review.
Do I need to know how to code?
Not to start. You can begin with writing and Creator’s visual controls. Areas are LPC source underneath, and custom behaviour may need code: learn from existing examples and ask for help as the design grows.
Can I bring my existing campaign setting?
Bring ideas and craft, then adapt them to Icesus. A character, mystery or local conflict may fit after revision. A whole setting with different geography or gods usually needs more substantial changes.
Where else can I do this?
Shared-world writing projects, wikis, forum roleplay and tabletop groups all support collaboration. Choose by whether you want to write reference material, tell stories together or build places people can play through.
How do I begin contributing to Icesus?
Reach player level 25, then discuss an area plan in #creator on Discord. Players contribute areas through Creator, and wizards review them; becoming a wizard is a separate path.
Related pages
Get started
Tell us in #creator about a place you would like to make, and we can work out together where it fits.