This week, the New Worlds Patreon takes a look at the virtues particularly called out and valorized by a given society — and the pitfalls that can come with making too much of them. Comment over there!

The New Worlds Patreon continues its look at the parts of our world we almost never think about, just like fish don’t think about the water we swim in: everything from ask vs. guess to interpersonal distance to emotional display. Comment over there!

The Topic Builders of the New Worlds Patreon have voted, and so for November, we will be looking at some of the more abstract, ideological aspects of worldbuilding. First up: individualism and communalism. Comment over there!

The New Worlds Patreon is always ready to do a favor for a friend . . . so long as it gets one in return. To close out October, we’re looking at political patronage: comment over there!

This week the New Worlds Patreon is not talking about feudalism, because that’s an imprecise term for a confluence of concepts that’s falling out of use among historians anyway. It is, however, talking about part of what people usually think of when they hear the word “feudal,” which is the vassal relationship that structured a good deal of the upper class in medieval European society — comment over there!

Last week the New Worlds Patreon looked at citizens and subjects; this time around, it’s people who aren’t in those groups, but possibly want to join them. Comment over there!

My faithful Topic Builders in the New Worlds Patreon have voted, and October will be a month for discussing political roles! The first one up is the similar, but subtly different, roles of “citizen” and “subject.” Comment over there!

It’s a fifth Friday, which means the New Worlds Patreon pivots to a “theory essay”! We’re (semi-unexpectedly) continuing the “principles that can underlie magic” strand from the last one of these; comment over there.

To conclude our look at warfare (for now; it’s coming back in future months, never fear), the New Worlds Patreon takes a brief look at the most iconic type of armed clash, if not the most common sort: the direct engagement of armies in the field. Comment over there!

How sieges get fought is only one side of the story; the other side is what it’s like to endure one. This week the New Worlds Patreon takes a look at that aspect — comment over there!

Yes, the New Worlds Patreon is quoting The Princess Bride this week. (This is very on-brand for me.) We’re talking about siege warfare — comment over there!

Once again my loyal Topic Builders of the New Worlds Patreon have voted: for September, we’re turning back toward war! Specifically, the idea of there being different kinds of battles that aim to accomplish different purposes, with raiding first up on the list. Comment over there!

The New Worlds Patreon discussion of slavery wound up spreading across two months rather than the original plan of one, but it concludes at last with institutions that bear some resemblance to aspects of slavery. Comment over there!

The New Worlds Patreon can’t end its discussion of slavery with slavery itself; there’s also the question of what happens to people after they get out of such bondage. Comment over there!

Having discussed runaway slaves and rebellions last week, the New Worlds Patreon now turns its attention to the legal side of getting out of slavery . . . or ending it entirely. Comment over there!

I originally thought the New Worlds Patreon would get through the topic of slavery in one month. Since I was very wrong about that, for August we’re returning to that subject, starting with runaway and rebellious slaves. Comment over there!

For its sixth year, the New Worlds Patreon is devoting its theory essays to the question of how to design a magic system — starting with calling into question that entire notion of a “system” to begin with. This time around, we look at some of the underlying principles that govern real-world ideas of magic; comment over there!

The New Worlds Patreon has discussed calendars before, but there was one aspect we missed: the cultural significance we attach to them. Comment over there!

Ours is a highly precise world — so much so that we tend to forget that units of measurement aren’t some naturally-existing thing, and that it takes a lot of work to keep them accurate. The New Worlds Patreon takes a look at weights and measures; comment over there!

Be honest: how much do you rely on your phone to do math for you these days? We’ve long had assistive devices to help us perform mathematical operations, and this week the New Worlds Patreon takes a look at some pre-electronic ones. Comment over there!