Episode 84: Make or Break Worldbuilding Deep Dive: The MNG

Worldbuilding for Masochists

The Magical Nude Gate is a what we call a tentpole idea: a concept that touches on so many other elements of a world that it can't be just a throwaway shiny idea. It has to be well-integrated. Culture, economy, language, religion, politics -- the MNG has implications so wide-reaching and fundamental that they cannot be ignored.

So what is the MNG? A network of magical portals connecting our world -- but the catch is, it only allows living creatures through, so you come out on the other side naked as the day you were born! In this episode, we finally pin down some of the Big Questions about the MNG. What counts as a "living creature"? How did the MNG come to be? Is it stagnant or mutable? Are there gate-rich and gate-poor areas? Are all connections multidirectional? We discuss all this and more as we set the parameters for this major concept of our co-built world!

Additionally, your hosts will be at WorldCon in Chicago, September 1-5th! Find Marshall, Rowenna, and Cass both together and separately. Ask us questions, come to our TableTalks, come to our live recording, buy us a drink, or come look over our shoulders as we sketch out our MNG map!

Transcript for Episode 84 (in-progress)