When I need to conceive of something, I pick two Principles from The Secret Histories and combine them.
But:
>I've got considerably time before we actually play and I'm trying to get everything ready beforehand.
>My idea with the castle was to make it huge but leave some or most of it unusable at first so that they can continue to improve it.
you are massively overcomplicating things, long before you actually play. This is the worst thing a GM can do because it will exhaust you.
Just make it an empty tower. That's literally all you need to do.
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>>95864128
now for my VERY specific process:
>creating original dungeons, NPCs, monsters, etc
For themes and influences, I pick two principles from the Cultist Simulator franchise and combine them. Combining 2+ different themes makes your content come to life.
Consider:
>the ship is crewed by pirates (tried-and-true, but boring to write)
vs
>the ship is crewed by pretentious artist pirates (new and weird; ideas will flow more easily)
now for my VERY specific process:
>creating original dungeons, NPCs, monsters, etc
For themes and influences, I pick two principles from the Cultist Simulator franchise and combine them. Combining 2+ different themes makes your content come to life.
Consider:
>the ship is crewed by pirates (tried-and-true, but boring to write)
vs
>the ship is crewed by pretentious artist pirates (new and weird; ideas will flow more easily)