Wolfe Tracks: World Anvil Worldbuilding Awards 2025!

Where I toss out my best, and worry like a wart!

Feb 15, 2025

Just a small interruption to my regularly scheduled fiction and worldbuilding! If you’re here for the stories, or for whatever worldbuilding I’ve come up with… fear not! There is worldbuilding coming tomorrow, and another chapter of Death Whispers of the Etherwave next Friday, Feb 21st!

But if you’re curious what I’m waxing on and waxing off about here… read on!

Writing, like fiction, is hard. There’s no other way to put it. Pacing, emotion, tone, flow, “do the character’s have the right voice?”, etc etc. A million things to worry about. Under that likes the bedrock, that foundation, we all love to call ‘Worldbuilding’.

Did you know there’s a competition for worldbuilding? Yep, sure is.

Over at World Anvil, they host this fantastic event called Worldbuilding Awards. Designers and writers bring out the best of their best to put on to show. There’s even an award!

But overall, despite the nerves (and oh do I get them) over writing and worldbuilding, this is a fun competition. You show off your work, but you get to see others, and maybe pick up a thing or two. Learning a bit here and there of how deep to go with worldbuilding, or not depending on the situation.

As I put in a chat thread, and you might have guessed, yep, I entered the World Anvil Worldbuilding Awards 2025 content. Some of these have shown up here in Substack, a couple? Hm, well, no.

I wasn’t sure who saw the chat thread in Substack (those are sometimes hard to notice!), so I figure I’d make a post. Let’s break it down!

Worldbuilding Awards are done by categories. I absolutely didn’t enter them all, but I did enter many. If you’re curious as to the full list of entries, no problem! Just jump on over the World Anvil Blog here!

But, here is what I entered, click the link under each to take a look!

Best Worldbuilding Article

Jump over to read : Soot Wraith

The soot wraith. A creature born screaming out of an inferno. A hot alloy of vengeful spirit melted into a primal elemental of fire that burst to unlife like a murderous, undead phoenix.

This one is Hoist the Colors and has shown up here already!

Most Beautiful World

Jump over to view : Curses By Darklight

This is a new setting which will have it’s own section here on Substack sooner, rather than later. A story I’m calling “Inkwell of Shadows” is based in this story setting. It’s a new genre (for me), being a mix of a little Romance, Southern Gothic, Mystery, and Cozy Urban Fantasy. Might be good? Might be not so good. But it never hurts to try, right?

Heart & Minds Award

Jump over to read : Marquee Brotherhood

Specialists who work a grim trade. If you ever need their help, this is the guild you talk to. If you can afford their price.

Ah, another one from Hoist the Colors. Honestly, this is one of my favorite recent pieces of worldbuilding. In some ways, its ‘worldbuilding inside worldbuilding’ since I have multiple ‘mini cultures/gulds’ inside one larger organization that ties them together.

Rise of Nations Award

Jump over to read : Caribbean

It’s the crossroads of the world. Those islands are rich with history and hope for a fresh start. But behind all that lurks monsters of our own making…

Yep, the setting of Hoist the Colors. Seems innocent enough, right? At least until you get to the details.

Wondrous Nature Award

Jump over to read : Manta Leech

Beasts born of Otherworld that slipped through to live among the other deadly dangers of Earth. They are the manta leech, which should never be dismissed or taken lightly.

Another critter from Hoist the Colors. Less supernatural (really!) than the Soot Wraith, but a nasty thing to stumble over at night!

Strength & Honor Award

Jump over to read : Betrayer War

The Betrayer War, a bloody conflict that ended the Third Age and ushered in the Fourth, stands as a stark testament to the enduring spirit of the Free Peoples.

Then there’s this one. This is from a setting anyone reading my stories here on Substack might not know. This is from a setting called Summerdark. A little more ‘Epic Fantasy’ than Windtracer, with still a dose of ‘Cozy’ in there. Magic and mystery come in a more herbalist form, so it tends to be more subtle. Stories from here so have their own flavor, that’s for sure.

Might be something I publish here on Substack, if people are a little interested…?

Pillars of Progress Award

Jump over to read : Palatreum

An ancient device from a civilized time. Built by the mysterious Choni Techaugers, it allowed communication or viewing across stellar distances.

This one is for the gamers out there! Yes, I’m an avid role playing gamer who runs and plays as well as writes RPG game mechanics. This is from a setting that is a Star Wars Alternate Universe (at least alternate from the Star Wars movies and cartoons we’ve all seen) using the West End Games Star Wars d6 mechanics. It’s rip-roaring fun in so many ways, and a challenge for me to craft good game adventures and worldbuilding for my players. Here it’s a device I whipped up for my players in one adventure fairly recently.

So, that’s it. I’m pretty proud of my entries. Hopefully, they’ll do well! No matter if they don’t, I enjoyed making each and every one of them. Those for Hoist the Colors will absolutely get used, too at some point in Legends of the Privateers!

In any case, hope you all enjoyed a little view into the worldbuilding side of my writing! Any comments? Questions? Hey, just toss them down below!

Also, again, look out for some Windtracer Tales worldbuilding on Sunday, Feb 16th, and more Death Whispers of the Etherwave on Feb 21st!

For more about Hoist the Colors, Windtracer Tales, or any of the other fiction I write, please consider subscribing as I would really appreciate the support, sometimes I post behind the scenes on writing, worldbuilding and more. If you’re wanting a deeper look at Hoist the Colors, take the plunge here at the link: Hoist the Colors.