Worldbuilding: The Nerdarchy United Live Chat Evolution
An inside look at worldbuilding and Ulthe-Gana
Over the years geeks and nerds have flocked to the Heralds of Nerdarchy for answers and clarity. New to the call of the people are Nate the Nerdarch and co-host Kienata as they take the Nerdarchists into the realm of worldbuilding. Nerdarchy built and conceived a campaign called Chimes of Discordia based in their world of Ulthe-Gana which many of their characters have journeyed in over the years. Now with fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons gaining further momentum Nate the Nerdarch and Kienata have taken the masses with them as the world evolves and develops. The new Nerdarchy Duo hope to inspire people and let them explore what Nerdarchy has built through three new streaming shows with live chat participation.
Worldbuilding with live chat
Nate the Nerdarch and co-host Kienata have started a new format from the Nerdarchy norm. Taking the world of Ulthe-Gana, they have started three new shows. Before we look at the shows, I would like to say that all content created is with the intent to be run in a D&D 5E setting. It is also the intent of the host to inspire people to think on a broader scale for your homebrew worldbuilding needs.
Sunday is the kickoff day for the series of shows. Sunday night, having no static name at the moment is what I deem design night. So far we have looked and started developing two areas. Kredgefur’s Belt, and the Chaos Wastes. When I say we, I do want to point out I have nothing directly to do with the show. However, as a live chat Kienata and Nate the Nerdarch do an amazing job of pulling the audience into the show and building everything as a group. The fact that I’m an avid worldbuilder and pester them the whole time has nothing to do with it.
Thursday has been declared Monster Mashups. These odd, and sometimes cringe worthy shows look at the creation of building, reskinning, and repurposing monsters. I want to explain my use of the term “cringe worthy” here and its perspective. Everything we build is generally from the diabolical view of the Dungeon Master. The duo take usually one base monster, for example the displacer beast from episode 1, and mix it with another creature, for example an abominable yeti. The audience and Nerdarchy team then start to discuss and manipulate the creature until you get what was proclaimed a blizzard beast. Once the channel started discussing how it works and attacks, when you look at it from a player view the perspective changes. It’s almost always Kienata who realizes the nightmare everyone has created. It’s his “cringe” as the visual sets in that the live chat finally thinks “I think it’s good to go guys.”
Friday’s show, though still without official title, has developed almost into a philosophy and theorycraft show for your D&D world. It’s very much like a Nerdarchy version of the BBC nature documentaries but placed over a D&Ds landscape. In both sessions so far Kienata and Nate the Nerdarch have guided us through a look and philosophy of magic and psionics. The chats mostly discuss how they affect your D&D world, as well as cause and effect of being a spellcaster and how your setting handles magic.
All of these things play heavily into a worldbuilding thought process. I know having been a DM for many years now they have even brought things to my attention that I would never have initially looked at. The development of lore, placement of natural wonders, commerce, seasons, and ebb and flow of magic and time are all vital to development. By watching these shows I would bet by the end of the first week when you’re discussing it you will no longer be able to say “they built” but it will shift to “we built.”
The Nerdarchy way and why they do it
After speaking with Kienata and Nate the Nerdarch, their level of excitement is very apparent. Kienata refers to himself as the co-host more than co-creator. Opting to take side seat he claims he’s there to push Nate’s mind more and make him explore the broad landscape they are creating. Kienata enjoys being in the trenches of the chaos and bringing the ideas from chat and presenting them to Nate the Nerdarch. As a designer himself, Kienata brings many things to the show as he assists in the worldbuilding by helping refine both Nate’s and the live chats ideas.
Having spoke with Nate the Nerdarch on similar matters we looked into the why of the matter. When asked where the concept of the shows came from Nate had this to say on the matter:
“I had always wanted to do this style of video so when our daily video format shifted to a two person conversation (Nerdarchists Dave and Ted) I saw an opportunity to make it happen. I put together about a dozen show ideas that work well with the 2-hour live chat format. I wanted to put together something that was helpful to the community while it was live while staying useful in the long run. I discussed them with the Nerdarchy crew and I felt that these three were some of the ones I was the most excited about doing that could be done at this time. Unfortunately, some of the shows I really wanted to work on are not feasible at this time due to a lack of hardware and resources.”
With this in mind, it looks as if there is potential for significantly more content. Ulthe-Gana, according to Nate the Nerdarch, is roughly four times the size of our own Earth. This leaves limitless potential for what could be a huge D&D setting. At the end of the day, the stretch goal is to create a large Neardarchy library. A resource for Nerdarchists and geekdom to come together and gain inspiration and build something that could hone skills and become something everyone had a part of. I did ask, out of curiosity if there is a chance this could become publication. Nate the Nerdarch has neither confirmed or denied it, and the most likely outcome will be Patreon rewards.
All of these videos can be found on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. Nate the Nerdarch and Kienata plan to continue streaming Sundays, Thursdays, and Fridays at roughly 9-11 p.m. EST on Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube. As a fellow worldbuilder, DM, and D&D enthusiast I cannot stress how much insight these shows can provide. If you’re a fan of chaos, Du&D, Nerdarchy or just love seeing a look of confusion glaze over someone, it’s definitely worth the watch.
From the Nerditor’s desk
If you enjoy deep dives into worldbuilding and adventure creation, check out the Tome of Adventure Design from Frog God Games.
Useful for a multitude of game systems, this book contains tried-and-true random tables to spark your imagination, help Game Masters prepare and gives creative resources to make your adventures come alive. It also comes with a clever on-brand acronym totally free!If you enjoy deep dives into worldbuilding and adventure creation, check out the Tome of Adventure Design from Frog God Games.
And how about those acronym skills, huh?
Nerdarchy has an exclusive promo code for the Frog God Games store, available twice per user. STAY-NERDY-30 gives you a 30 percent discount on anything in the store.
What worldbuilding resources do you use? Do you have a method to your homebrew madness? Let us know in the comments below.
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November 21, 2022 at 8:45 pm