Summer Camp 2025

My official WA supported challenge page is here.   My plan is to get Diamond at least, which I believe is 32 prompts. I have a half a mind to do all 40 but that's probably overkill, and there is usually a couple prompts I just can't get interested in.   In the long run, quality is more important than quantity (at least in theory).   I ended up writing 33 prompts.    

Week 1 Prompts

   

A myth about a legendary food or drink

    I wanted to write this prompt, but I didn't have any fresh ideas.   The First Sandwich and "The Mermaid and the Dragon" would be qualify but I wrote those ages ago. It's going to tough to live up those past articles.    

A substance known for its unique smell

      This was a spinoff idea from my article on bread trenchers. I feel like this article can use a little bit more polishing, it's a little dry in my opinion. I added a flavor POV quote but I feel like it could use a bit more.    

A profession related to spirituality or philosophy

      I put a lot effort into this, it's my favorite article of this Summer Camp. This will likely be of long-term use because it involves such core elements of my setting.    

A charity dedicated to helping those in need

    A charity in spirit if not a charity in form.      

A ritual related to agriculture

  I'm reasonably satisfied with this. I think this illustrates Korus and Swynfaredia well, two major parts of my setting.      

A species that feeds through a symbiotic relationship

    I wanted to write this prompt but drew blank on it.    

A condition you can get from eating specific foods

    Usually I write about Cannibal Sickness around Summer Camp and Worldember time, but maybe this year, just for funsies, I'll write about something slightly less horrifying. This isn't most exciting article I've ever written, but at least it's not about cannibalism.      

A delicious staple found on every dinner table

  I watch a lot of history based Youtube channels for background noise, and bread has come up a bit recently. Bread trenchers were ubiquitous in real world medieval Europe. Bread trenchers were the inspiration for my articles on The First Sandwich and Moon bread but I hadn't ordinary bread trenchers until now.        

A city many people want to visit

  This article is NOT part of Scarterra. I intended Westhammer setting to be a casual group collaboration on another forum I am active in. My name is on it, but that just so Westhammer can benefit from my Sage level account.   Interest sort of petered in Westhammer. Maybe writing about a prominent city will rekindle interest in it. Maybe it won't. I got the bones set for this city, but I think hook or three to make it cooler.      

A place people aren't supposed to go

    The Kingdom of Swynfaredia is the main villain for my current major campaign. But I plan for the Kingdom of Uskala to the main villain for my next campaign. So they can use a terrifying penal colony to send people to.      

Week 2 Prompts

    At first glance, the week 2 prompts look fairly difficult. A lot of this is stuff I've already written a lot, so it's a struggle to find new territory that is still interesting.    

An organization rooted in controversial principles

    I already covered the what of the Barony of Eternity but not the how of the Barony of the Eternity.     After I posted the article, my editor/friend gave me an impromptu Hero Forge portrait of the Baron of Eternity, so I added a POV quote from the Baron into the article.    

A myth surrounding the birth of an important person in your world

  This is probably my second favorite article of this Summer Camp. I didn't think this article was very special but I got some positive feedback on it before I even finished polishing it and posted it to my recent articles. So I put some extra polish on this and added another POV quote.      

A character known for their numerous progeny

    At my friend's advice, I have greatly expanded the old stub article on Fremiss the Vibrant which was previously little more than a place holder for the House Fremiss related articles. Now we know more Fremiss as a person...or a dragon. This was surprisingly well received. I guess people like dragons.      

A foundational document for a country, religion, or other organization

  I guess I already wrote about Swynfaredian founding document so I opted to write about the Colassian Confederacy, which turned out because I was able to incorporate six POV narrators into this which should help make this more interesting to read than a giant encyclopedia style article. Including a new POV character never used before, Amisra of the City of Light. I plan to use more. I have a couple academic POV characters, but not a female and not a villainous one.      

A garment traditionally associated with a culture

  It's hard to beat Gnomes and Phrygian Hatsor satyr footwear, but I already wrote those. I'm reasonably happy with what I came up with. A short and simple article compared to my usual wordiness.      

The place of origin of a people in your world

    I didn't have anything for this one, and I pretty much knew from the start I wouldn't write this prompt.    

An ancient tongue from which many common idioms spring

    I have three idioms that have migrated from Draconic to Common. This is probably my third favorite article. I like coming up with conslang.      

A war that resulted in the creation of something new

    I'm not a big fan of the "Conflict" template. It's always a stretch for me to write this one.    

A symbolic building

    This was inspired by a true story. I worked at a camp that was hit by a nasty forest fire that wiped out every structure in a large area...except for one outhouse which was the subject of many jokes.      

A diaspora spread around the world

    The moon bats haven't exactly spready around the world, but they have ambitions to spread around the world.      

Week 3 prompts

    Per usual, the week 3 prompts do not disappoint.    

A settlement that has been rebuilt several times

    After mulling over ideas some ideas on war, I opted to go for volcanoes instead. My first Week 3 prompt written.      

An ever-changing location that requires its inhabitants to adapt

    I chose to piggyback this off of the Werapui Village Cluster and split split one big article into two smaller ones (plus a third article for a legendary landmark).      

A subculture that appeared due to social changes

    I think I have a good concept and enough supporting details to give readers a good idea of the group without creating a dreaded text wall.      

A transformation caused by a celestial body

  This is a little bit of a stretch on the prompt, but this case, a lack of transformation is conspicuous because the night sky is otherwise always changing. This article doesn't cover anything purely new but it does clarify some things I vaguely alluded to earlier.      

A formation known for its adaptability

  This is a different kind of adaptability.      

A technology invented to prevent or delay a transformation

    I am not yet sure how to fit this is into future RPG stories or prose pieces, but I am patting myself on the back for a unique interpretation of the prompt. And I had fun have my POV characters get in a minor argument.      

A ritual that's changed meaning throughout the years

  This isn't exactly a ritual, but it is a tradition, which fits under the ritual prompt. And it's a fairly unique aspect of Scarterra's lore.      

A species that undergoes a metamorphosis

    I wanted to do this prompt, but I didn't have any interesting ideas for it.    

An animal celebrity

  My first instinct was to run with a heroic dog. I ended up going with a locally beloved heroic dog. Outside of one village, few know of him or care. Admittedly, this article has the faint odor of "last minute Summer Camp entry" on it.      

A job many people aspire to but few achieve

    An intriguing prompt, but I couldn't think of anything good for this.    

Week 4 Prompts

    These are good and well thought out prompts, but most of the do not easily apply to Scarterra.    

A recently created title or honor

    This title technically doesn't exist, but a large number of people want it to exist would would then make it "recently created".      

A building that hasn't been finished yet

  My friend and editor wisely suggested the core premise of this article.      

A visionary that changed the course of history

    I expanded on the stub article of Fremiss the Vibrant for a different Summer Camp and that was very well-received so I opted t write about one of Fremiss' three peers. I'm reasonably satisfied with this.    

A new condition unknown in olden times

    I've had "psionics in Scarterra" in my proverbial Maybe File for years. This is a tentative test launch. And so far it's gotten reception from my core gaming audience, so after Summer Camp I can start working on the "crunch" aspect of this "fluff" article. It might help me flesh out Infernallist powers too.      

A cutting edge technology expected to change the future

    With the technological stagnation in Scarterra, "cutting edge" is a bit of a misnomer, but glass making counts as much as anything. And glass has cutting edges...badumshish      

An idealist manifesto published by a movement, political party, or other organization

    I was going to write this anyway eventually, but the Summer Camp prompt prompted me to write this sooner rather than later.      

An organization seen as the next superpower

  These guys certainly see themselves as the next superpower. Few others share this belief.   I have long been pondering adding snakemen to Scarterra/Scarnoctis. The bigger Scarterra gets, the harder it is to add new major setting elements. This represents a "soft launch" of Scarterran snakemen. Some or all of it may be rewritten later. Below is my long-term lore plan for the snakemen. This article definitely could use some polishing.        

A vehicle hailed as the transport of tomorrow

    This is more of a sci-fi prompt than a fantasy prompt. Not my cup of tea.    

A resource with an alternative or secret application

  I had an inspiration on this. I had already made personal reagents a thing in my main RPG campaign. Personal reagents reward creative roleplaying and open up a potential for fetch quests. I just hadn't written about this formally.    

A tool used by a nomadic culture

  Admittedly, this is my least favorite article I've written for Summer Camp this year, but it might have some small impact on adventuring. I watch a lot of medieval history videos on Youtube. Medieval people didn't use tents the way we do very often, for good reason. But I think a world with a class of people who are adventurers would develop something similar to modern camping tents.