World-building in an NFT project
I have been fairly active in writing lore for Nuclear Nerds, which is a post-apocalyptic NFT storytelling project.
As a holder in the project, you have the ability to write “lore” for your nerds. Earlier, I had written about starting a collaborative storytelling community for the “Shield Maidens”:
https://medium.com/@D_E_Adams/participatory-nfts-and-the-shield-maidens-898e5264349
In that article, I had posed the question, “can we make a more common trait within an NFT set into a rare by increasing the demand of that trait?”.
I believe we already have an answer for that.
There are 309 “skull machete and route 66” nerds, yet the floor price for them is almost 3X the floor price for the collection. There are some maidens that still get sold at floor price, but they go fast and are likely sold by holders that aren’t aware of what is being done with the trait.
I believe we are only seeing the beginning of this. I have heard “Lore > Floor” used by NFT communities. What if “Lore is Floor”? What if lore writing had a direct impact on the floor of a particular NFT, regardless of rarity? I believe that not only will the floor price be much higher for this trait, but we’ll see the first sale of a named shield maiden with lore and a background (in other words, the NFT will be associated with a “character”)…and the sale price will be eye-opening for many.
And it will all be due to STORY.
We have a community that has been actively writing lore around the concept. However, in order for those stories to have depth and longevity, we’ll need to do some world-building.
World-building
Let’s use the Star Wars universe and fan fiction as a starting comparison.
We were given races, characters, locations, politics, and a magic system (the force). Fan fiction is then written into that world. We know about the Boonta Eve Classic on Tatooine, a world of sand. We know about the unforgiving cold of Hoth with its’ wampa caves and tauntauns. We know of the jedi temple on Coruscant.
World-building is fuel for stories. The politics, the dangers, characters, settlements and sceneries, factions and groups…they all contribute to the framework for storytelling.
We’ll be doing the same, only for the Nuclear Nerds universe. As a storytelling community within Nuclear Nerds, the Shield Maidens will be focused on “world-building” as our next step. We aim to establishing a frame-work for stories and characters to be written into.
This isn’t just world-building for the Shield-Maidens. Any trait can write lore with the world we’re constructing. Join us!
Some Examples
We’ll be sound-boarding ideas for locations, groups, settlements, and characters in the Nuclear Nerds discord. We’ll start to organize and populate them with descriptions, images, characters and motivations.
Here are some examples:
The Undiscovered Country
Type: location and group
The Undiscovered Country is a traveling troupe of Shakespearean actors.
Who would Fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
The name of the troupe is nod to the line from Hamlet’s soliloquy, and a hint at where they can be found. The “undiscovered country” refers to death. Near each location where they perform, they occupy a mortuary, where they both sleep and perform their plays.
They typically stay for a couple months at each location before moving on. During that time, they rely on the nearby settlement to provide food, fudweiser, and comradery. They accept items in exchange for their performances.
The caravan (which actually travels in wagons, one of which is graffittied with “Yorick Lives!” on the side) travels between known friendly settlements, often accompanied by armed guards from the previous settlement (to insure the beloved troupe makes it safely to their next performance).
Characters
The troupe is lead by “Poor Yorick”, a nerd and former theater major turned post-apocalyptic entertainer.
As a lore-writer, how would you write into this?
Maybe you are one of “armed guards” protecting the caravan as it travels from one location to another? Perhaps they are traveling from where they peformed for the Shield Maidens to a place called “New Phoenix”? Trips in the Wasteland can be eventful…
One Man’s Trash
Type: location
Description:
“One Man’s Trash” is a roadside junk shop just off of route 66. Blocking the front was a tall, locked galvanized chain link fence, decorated with barbed wire. The sunset silhouetted the wall of stacked, crushed cars, which made up the rest of the perimeter. The wall of cars cast the building in a foreboding shadow.
This wasn’t wasteland fortification and precaution — this roadside monstrosity had existed prior to the nukes.
The proprietor had been a cantankerous old man named Rotten (that was his last name, and it had suited him). At one time, he had owned some acreage, a house, and his junk “business”.
Rotten’s wife had done the right thing and left him. In a particularly ugly divorce, Rotten had to give up the house and acreage. Rotten got to keep the business.
To spite his wife, he had ordered crushed cars to be stacked like awkward metal lego-blocks around the perimeter of his business.
“One Man’s Trash” truly had more trash than treasure, but nowhere else could you find such a collection of junk (old armor and blades, half-used spray paint, rusted tools, you name it)…it was the scavenger’s dream in the apocalypse.
Character
Old Man Rotten
His disheveled grey hair had taken on a greasy, matted look. His face sported stubble, except for places where white and pink scars ran across his jawline. So, clearly Rotten hadn’t had an easy time after the nukes. The scars looked like they were from claws…or nails.
Rotten is difficult and cantankerous, but a survivor (the fact that he was a hoarder and doomsday prepper just made him prepared for the inevitable apocalypse).
As a lore-writer, how would you write into this?
Your character could be looking for something in particular…much like the Shield Maidens were…
https://www.nuclearnerds.io/story/1245/
Avalon
Type: A Marauder Settlement and Group
Avalon is a marauder settlement in the basement of Medieval Times in Arizona. They are run by the “Lady of the Lake”, known as “lol”.
They are best known for the “Blunderdome Games”. The other marauder settlements keep and train their best prisoners for competition in this deadly event (Think American Gladiator or American Ninja Warrior merged with Mad Max and the Nuclear Nerds Wastelands)
As a lore-writer, how would you write into this?
Perhaps your character was trained for the Blunderdome Games (maybe even a previous winner?!), and escaped. Perhaps you are looking for someone that was captured by Avalon?
Join Us!
Join us in the Nuclear Nerds discord, in the Shield Maiden channel (under the “Lore” section). Even if you don’t hold a shield maiden, join us! All traits are welcome!
