An alternative to Inktober for artists, cartographers, worldbuilders and tabletop roleplaying enthusiasts.

34 days. 31 characters. Six maps. One village with a rather unfortunate secret.

October is almost upon us, and The Kobold Guild is inviting you to take part in Worldtober 2026, our month-long TTRPG art and worldbuilding challenge!

If you love the idea of Inktober but fancy creating something you can actually use in your tabletop campaigns, this one's for you.

Rather than producing a collection of unrelated illustrations, we're spending October building an entire gothic Victorian village. We'll be designing characters, illustrating monsters, creating virtual tabletop tokens, developing stat blocks and mapping locations that connect to form a complete adventure setting. And because we apparently enjoy making life difficult for ourselves, we're starting three days early!

This year's theme is The Secrets of Susley, a gothic horror adventure set in a seemingly ordinary Victorian village nestled beside the ancient Wico Woods.

Throughout the challenge, we'll explore its peculiar buildings, meet its increasingly suspicious residents and uncover the terrible secrets lurking beneath its cobbled streets.

Whether you're an illustrator, a Game Master, a writer or simply someone who enjoys creating wonderfully strange things, you're welcome to join us.

Grab your sketchbook, drawing tablet or favourite collection of dice. We're going worldbuilding!

Welcome to Susley

Nestled just south of the ancient Wico Woods, Susley (pronounced soos-ly) is a picturesque Victorian village known for its charming cobbled streets, traditional architecture and unusually close-knit community. Visitors can expect a warm welcome at the Blackthorn Inn, excellent medical care from the local apothecary and the reassuring sound of St Bartholomew's church bells ringing across the valley. Overlooking it all, is the grand Blackwood Manor, home to the distinguished family that has presided over Susley for generations. It's a perfectly respectable place to live.

Admittedly, the church bells occasionally ring thirteen times, the apothecary has developed some rather unconventional treatments, and nobody can quite explain why certain villagers haven't aged in decades. But every village has its little quirks.

As October progresses, we'll explore Susley's most interesting locations, meet its residents and gradually uncover the truth about the village and the ancient woodland looming over it.
The question is, will you survive long enough to discover its secrets?

How the challenge works

This year's challenge combines three creative disciplines: character illustration, token creation and fantasy cartography. We'll also be adding a little tabletop game design into the mix because apparently drawing 31 characters wasn't quite enough.

Each day throughout October, we'll introduce a new character inspired by a gothic Victorian archetype. Your challenge is to illustrate that character, create a matching virtual tabletop (VTT) token and develop a stat block that brings them to life.

Every week, we'll also tackle a new location map, giving our growing collection of characters somewhere to live, work and occasionally commit unspeakable atrocities.

You don't have to be an experienced artist or professional cartographer to participate. This challenge is about developing your skills, experimenting with new ideas and creating something that can be used beyond October.

There are no restrictions on artistic style. Whether you prefer traditional pen and ink, digital painting, watercolours or simple sketches, the choice is yours. As an artist-led studio, The Kobold Guild encourages human-made artwork and the creative process behind it.

You can follow the prompts exactly or give them your own interpretation. Perhaps your innkeeper is secretly a vampire, your gravedigger is a surprisingly friendly necromancer, or your apothecary is three kobolds in a very convincing trench coat. We're certainly not judging.

The daily stat blocks can be designed for Dungeons & Dragons or adapted to your preferred tabletop roleplaying system. You can even write system-neutral NPC profiles if game mechanics aren't your thing.

Most importantly, don't feel pressured to complete every prompt. Join us whenever you can, create what interests you and enjoy the process.

The Three-Day Warm Up: 28–30 September

Before we start introducing Susley's residents, we need to give them somewhere to live.
Our challenge officially begins on 28 September with three bonus prompts dedicated to creating the village itself. This is your opportunity to establish the geography, architecture and atmosphere of Susley before October begins.

28 September: The Village of Susley

Start by designing the overall layout of your village. Consider the surrounding countryside, winding roads, nearby waterways and the imposing presence of Wico Woods.
Where are the wealthier residents likely to live? Which buildings occupy the village centre? Are there narrow alleyways, abandoned properties or suspiciously secluded paths leading into the forest?

29 September: A Village Most Peculiar

It's time to turn your initial sketch into a proper village map. Add the cobbled streets, market square, houses, shops, graveyard and other landmarks that make Susley feel like a real settlement.

Think about how the village's history has influenced its development. Perhaps the oldest buildings sit along an ancient road, or the village square was constructed around something the residents would rather forget.

30 September: Welcome to Susley

Finish your village map and prepare it for its grand reveal. Add decorative elements, location markers, a compass and perhaps a rather ominous village crest. For those creating maps for tabletop games, consider producing two versions: a player-friendly map and a GM map containing hidden locations, secret passages and other information your players shouldn't discover just yet.

By the end of September, we'll have the foundation of our setting. Now we just need to populate it.

The October Illustration Challenges

Each week introduces a new location within Susley, accompanied by seven character prompts. These characters might be ordinary residents, supernatural creatures, potential allies or the very monsters responsible for the village's troubles.

Every character should have a portrait, a matching token and a stat block or NPC profile. We've included suggested challenge ratings for those working with D&D, although you're welcome to adjust these to suit your own adventures.

The weekly maps are designed to connect with the characters, creating a setting that becomes increasingly detailed as the month progresses.

Week One: The Blackthorn Inn (1-7 October)

Every good adventure needs somewhere to begin, and what better place than the local inn?

The Blackthorn Inn stands at the entrance to Susley, offering weary travellers a warm fire, reasonably priced accommodation and the finest rabbit stew in the county. Its proprietor is a delightful gentleman who prides himself on remembering every guest. 

This week's challenge focuses on the people who work at the inn, the visitors passing through and the rather unfortunate thing residing in Room Seven.

Weekly Map: The Blackthorn Inn

Design a two-storey Victorian coaching inn featuring a tavern, dining room, kitchen, guest bedrooms, stables and cellar. Don't forget to include a few concealed passages and the mysterious seventh bedroom.

As you develop your characters, consider their relationships with one another. What does the chambermaid know about Room Seven? Why does the widow return every evening? And exactly what is the innkeeper hiding beneath that cheerful smile?

Week Two: St Bartholomew's Church (8-14 October)

Our second week takes us to St Bartholomew's Church, where the village's spiritual needs are attended to by a devoted vicar and a collection of increasingly questionable individuals.

The church has stood upon its hill for centuries, overlooking generations of villagers who have lived and died beneath its shadow. Its graveyard is unusually extensive for such a small settlement, and the church bells have a peculiar habit of ringing without assistance.

This week, we'll be exploring religious horror, local folklore, mourning traditions and the increasingly blurred boundary between the living and the dead.

Weekly Map: St Bartholomew's Church

Create a gothic church complete with a graveyard, vestry, bell tower and underground crypt. Include a sealed passage leading towards Wico Woods.

Think about the relationship between the church and the village. Is the vicar genuinely devoted to protecting his congregation, or does he know more about the village's history than he's willing to admit?

Week Three: The Apothecary (15-21 October)

Halfway through October, we'll visit Susley's apothecary, where medical science, botanical experimentation and questionable ethics exist in a rather uncomfortable partnership.

The apothecary is renowned for producing remarkable medicines, although some patients have reported unusual side effects. There are rumours of experimental treatments, strange botanical specimens and a physician whose understanding of human anatomy is perhaps a little too enthusiastic.

This week's prompts explore Victorian medicine, body horror, poisonous plants and the consequences of pursuing scientific discovery without considering whether you should.

Weekly Map: The Apothecary

Design a Victorian apothecary featuring a public shop, laboratory, botanical greenhouse, cellar and operating theatre. For those feeling particularly ambitious, include a concealed specimen-storage chamber.

Perhaps the apothecary's treatments are connected to Wico Woods. Perhaps the physician has discovered something extraordinary beneath the village. Or perhaps the entire establishment is simply one enormous violation of medical ethics.

Week Four: Blackwood Manor (22-28 October)

As Halloween approaches, we'll turn our attention to Blackwood Manor, the ancestral home of Susley's most influential family. Perched upon a hill overlooking the village, the manor is a magnificent example of Victorian architecture, with grand entertaining rooms, extensive gardens and enough family secrets to fill an entire library.

The Blackwoods are notoriously private, although their annual masquerade remains the most anticipated event on Susley's social calendar. Their family portraits are particularly impressive, especially considering how little the subjects appear to have aged.

This week is dedicated to gothic romance, aristocratic decadence, family curses and the sort of inheritance disputes that occasionally require an exorcist.

Weekly map: Blackwood Manor

Create an elaborate Victorian manor featuring a ballroom, library, drawing room, servants' quarters, bedrooms and overgrown formal gardens. Naturally, no respectable gothic manor would be complete without a concealed family mausoleum.

Consider the history of the Blackwood family as you design your characters. What bargains have they made to preserve their wealth? Why do certain portraits appear to change? And who exactly is the bride waiting for?

The Halloween Finale: Wico Woods (29-31 October)

For our final three days, we're leaving the relative safety of Susley's cobbled streets and venturing into the ancient woodland that borders the village. Wico Woods predates Susley itself. Its trees are impossibly old, its pathways have an unfortunate tendency to move, and those who enter after sunset frequently find themselves wandering for considerably longer than anticipated.

Our final three prompts introduce the inhabitants of the woods and the ancient entity responsible for Susley's darkest secrets.

Final map: The Heart of Wico Woods

Create a forest encounter map featuring an enormous hollow oak, a ruined stone altar, underground chambers and an overgrown pathway connecting the woodland to St Bartholomew's Church.
This is where everything comes together. The strange occurrences, missing villagers, ancient bargains and supernatural inhabitants all lead back to the heart of the forest.

What happens when the village's oldest secret finally awakens?

That's entirely up to you.

Bringing your characters to life

Illustrating a character is only half the fun. We want our residents of Susley to have personalities, motivations and abilities that make them useful for tabletop adventures.

For each daily prompt, try to create at least one of the following:

1. Character illustration

Create a portrait that communicates your character's personality, profession and role within the village. Consider their clothing, expression, posture and any unusual details that might hint at their secrets.

2. Character token

Turn your illustration into a VTT token suitable for online tabletop games. You can create a traditional circular portrait token or experiment with full-body tokens, decorative frames and other designs.

3. Stat block or NPC profile

Give your character the abilities they need to exist beyond the illustration. Include their personality, motivations, relevant statistics and at least one distinctive ability.

If you're creating D&D-compatible content, we've provided suggested challenge ratings to help you get started. These are creative guidelines rather than finished or balanced stat blocks, so feel free to make adjustments.

Share your creations!

We'd love to see your interpretation of Susley and its inhabitants. Throughout October, we'll be sharing our own illustrations, maps, tokens and stat blocks on The Kobold Guild's Instagram and blog.

You're welcome to follow along with every prompt, concentrate on your favourite characters or simply use the challenge as inspiration for your own gothic setting.

Tag @thekoboldguild on Instagram and use #SecretsOfSusley2026 so we can discover your creations.If you fall behind, don't worry. This isn't a competition, and there's certainly no requirement to sacrifice your sleep schedule to the Hollow King. By the end of October, we'll have assembled our creations into a complete gothic village setting, ready for exploration, adventure and all manner of terrible decisions.

So sharpen your pencils, charge your drawing tablets and prepare your dice. Susley is waiting

.Just remember: if you hear the church bells ring thirteen times, don't answer the door.

Happy Inktober, you magnificent kobolds!