Somewhere between March and May, I’ll be stepping into the GM seat for a long campaign set in a new homebrew world I’ve been developing called The Winged Archipelago. I’ve been turning this one over in my head for a very long time, and as the campaign I’m currently a player in wraps up, I’m excited to finally bring it to the table. It also means our current GM can take a well-deserved break and get back to playing for a change.
Where It Came From
I’ve always loved the idea of the World Turtle, that image of a planet resting on the back of a great cosmic creature as it drifts through the void. There’s something mythic and grounding about it. But I always thought it seemed kind of lonely. I’d find myself wondering how they would find each other to mate, where they would lay their eggs, what a newly hatched world turtle might look like with its infant continents still forming.
Then it occurred to me that other sea creatures might work even better for this concept. Creatures that are more social, that travel together, that would allow for a far more diverse and expansive ecosystem. And that’s where the idea took shape: a great cosmic squadron of world-bearing manta rays, gliding together through a sea of constellations and nebulae. Massive, earth-sized living islands, sailing through the stars in formation. That image became the foundation for everything I’m building.
What Makes It Different
I don’t want to give too much away about the setting itself, but I do want to talk about what’s guiding the design.
First, I’m not interested in doing a traditional medieval European fantasy. That style doesn’t fit a world where civilizations exist on the backs of living creatures that grow, age, and eventually die. A setting like this needs to embrace change rather than cling to the preservation of ancient things. It’s about growth, advancement, discovery. People evolving alongside a world that is itself alive and in motion. The drive to see what’s around the corner, not to guard what came before. These are people who must master trade and travel, plan for continuity and migration, and learn to utilize every aspect of their natural world for both survival and advancement. So this will be a setting where metal is rare and incredibly valuable, where magic exists but those with real power are few and often feared, except within certain religious orders.
The other major influence is my fascination with ancient cultures and what human beings were able to accomplish with limited resources and uncooperative geography. Our ancestors didn’t just survive. They created, explored, and built the foundations of everything we know today. I’m drawn to cultures that were the first to achieve something, or who developed in complete isolation from more familiar origins. There’s a specific meeting of two ancient cultures that will serve as the basis for the primary civilization in this setting, one that reflects that spirit of ingenuity in engineering, agriculture, exploration, and social life. I hope I can do this representation justice and that my love and respect for these cultures shows through, even as I create something new from their inspiration, drawing on language and accomplishments from both.
What’s Next
My goal is to eventually develop this into a full published setting, possibly split into a GM guide and a player guide so that groups can keep some of the lore and deeper workings secret if they choose. This is a big project, one that will likely stretch into 2027 or even 2028. But I’ve been building notes, scenes, lore, and mechanics for a while now, and it genuinely excites me.
In the meantime, I’ll be running the campaign and posting serial actual play recaps here on the site, so folks can get a feel for what the world is like in motion. More to come as things take shape.
Thanks again for reading and I hope you come back next year for more!
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