The Worldbuilders Podcast is a bi-weekly podcast where your hosts - Kerry, Josh, and Monica - explore settings in genre fiction by crafting them here and now for you, our listeners. Every season, we’ll explore and build a new world right here on air - and then, at the end, we’ll debut a creative work set in that world. This will usually be a piece of short fiction, but sometimes we might be doing something different.

In this episode we introduce a world known as Xanthuru, which has been one of Josh's long-term projects. He has already created a world that we get to explore and learn about with the audience. We wanted to get our toes wet in the pool of worldbuilding with something that was already created so we can get a feel for how each of us sees worldbuilding.

What types of people live on Xanthuru? This episode talks about subverting your expectations of what kinds of fantasy races are possible to have on your worlds. You don't always have to go with the "Fantasy standard" elves and dwarves.

For Xanthuru, we begin the discussion with the Earthshells, a mysterious and ancient race who are difficult to find, and even harder to hold a conversation with. We also talk about the Ohnyrek, who are the rebellious middle children of Xanthuru. They're a proud, strong race with a soft spot for storytelling.

Settle in and learn about how the people and the planet shaped each other on this unique world.

In this episode of the Worldbuilder's Podcast, we explore how to come up with good names for fantasy races, and explore why Aloe Vera could be good for worldbuilding. Join us as we explore another of the fantasy races developed by Josh to subvert expectations of fantasy races in Alteiryn.

Have you ever wondered what arm lizards and great apes have in common? And how can the races present in your world affect the development of cities and industries? In this episode of the Worldbuilders Podcast we discuss the philosophisticated Seelvah, the archipelago they originate from, and their outlook on life. We also delve into how the different races and cultures we've explored so far interact with each other, and how you can use cause-and-effect to write organic relationships between the peoples in your world.

Do you want to find out where to stop history and begin the real story? or maybe you wonder constantly how much backstory you should include in the prose that your audience actually reads? 

This episode of the Worldbuilders Podcast dives deep into Alteiryn's history and exactly how the Enlightenment started and how it ended. 

What gets passed on to future generations when all of the world's knowledge is locked into one place? We explore the cause and effect method of world building in this episode, and chat about how you can bring some of that into your own stories. 

How is magic comparable to water? What is hard magic vs soft magic? And what’s more effective: a bucket or arm-pinwheels? Join us as we continue our deep dive into the world of Xanthuru, this time exploring the magic system and getting the Ley of the land.

How can a concept for a single character expand into an entire civilization? Should you yeet your friends to get around quickly? This episode of The Worldbuilders Podcast explores the Torunn culture and history. We chat about how Kerry tried to make them different than your standard fantasy race, but also make them unique in a unique world.

Join us to answer questions about how to introduce new concepts to an already established world. but more importantly... Do you think cities can become sentient?

In this episode we explore another player created race with a special guest! We ask a few simple questions like: how important is contrast when developing a culture? We also explore how ad-libbing can enhance your story telling, you just have to remember to write down what you created so you don't forget those brilliant ideas you have.

We also explore the really important questions about how clean bears keep their houses, and the importance of remembering whether to use salt or sugar when cooking with lightning.