Worldbuilding Thread - Old School Maps Edition
Some worldbuilding resources:
On designing cultures:
http://www.frathwiki.com/Dr._Zahir%27s_Ethnographical_Questionnaire
Random generators:
http://donjon.bin.sh/
Mapmaking tutorials:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48
Free mapmaking toolset:
www.inkarnate.com
Random Magic Resources/Possible Inspiration:
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/magic/antiscience.html
http://www.buddhas-online.com/mudras.html
http://sacred-texts.com/index.htm
Conlanging:
http://www.zompist.com/resources/
Random (but useful) Links:
http://futurewarstories.blogspot.ca/
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/
http://military-sf.com/
http://fantasynamegenerators.com/
http://donjon.bin.sh/
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/index.html
http://kennethjorgensen.com/worldbuilding/resources
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/books/europe#wiki_middle_ages
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding
Questions:
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Yes.
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Yes.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Yes.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Yes.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Yes.
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Yes.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Yes.
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Nope
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Depends on the nation
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Depends on the nation
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Depends on the religion
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
I have no fucking idea
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Depends on the man
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Depends on the nation
>>45994657
>tfw when your world doesn't have thrikeen with nonhuman physiology that allows them to have the kinkiest sex positions
Oh come on, I asked about Homophobia in-setting like 4 threads ago and left it there.
When writing about a nation, is there any particular song you always find yourself listening to for getting into the mood?
For example, I've always found myself listening to this while writing about a particular kingdom in my setting, one that's got it's fair share of problems but is, of all the kingdoms in the setting, the only one I'd truly call "good."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1yD3_EL90Y
>>45994941
DnB music keeps me focused when I worldbuild. I change the type of DnB depending on the theme of what I'm working on.
Related, what I've been jamming out to today on repeat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWpFVDb1I4
>>45994941
Every nation or region that I fluff up always has a 'feeling' tied to it, and I usually tether myself to these feelings by listening to music.
I like what you've got for that particular civilization though. I'm gonna guess they're not in their golden age anymore but are in the midst of attempting a rebuild, given the tone?
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Not really. There's a large variety, due to how much some of the races differ in size. Some races also have tails, so there's that.
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
It's not explicitly illegal, but it's not regarded favorably in most nations. Anyone caught doing so might be shunned by society.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Saving virginity for marriage is common. Promiscuous women are destined for a life of prostitution.
Couples usually pair for life, and will only re-marry if their spouse dies.
Polygamy is common in the world's central Empire, due to it being a meritocracy. Powerful Adventurers tend to have several wives.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Anywhere in private. It's not too specific.
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Depends on the race. Obviously, magic items that grow or shrink the woman's assets are common based on taste.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Function > form, for the most part. Both men and women in my Theocracy wear headscarves, though.
>>45994941
When I'm writing about lost civilizations and ruins and untamed areas in a fantasy or pre-history world I go for the Ico or SotC soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jrC2W4PRUc
When I'm doing cyberpunk and modern noir settings I go for Bohren and der Club of Gore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bm9F3GFnik
>>45994376
>>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
are you familiar with the "Amazon"? if I were to go full magical realm, I would makeit the customary position among matriarchial societies and describe in great detail how it is used to establish the dominance of a woman over her man. but I'm not gonna, so it's just something that exists and some people do when they have sex.
>>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
depends on where in the world. among the Valis, it is very much legal and in some cases even preferred, e.g. two wealthy guildmistresses would marry to ensure their status stays intact and no outsiders are let into the extended family. they either adopt children (from the guild's recruits) or openly have relations with someone on the side which result in children. either way, they are still legally part of both women's families. another form of institutionalized homosexuality is the practice of matronage, which is a romantically (and often sexually) loaded master-student relationsship that serves as an introduction of the student into the life of a high-ranking member of society. basically, the more noble you are, the gayer you ~have~ to be, but as long as you continue to raise and provide for children, you can do whatever the shit you want (so yeah, be polygamous. its not illegal).unless you're a man who wants a monogamous marriage with another man, because that'd make you legally unavailable to sire children with a woman. and that ain't right.
>>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
no
>>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
oddly enough, in-house bathtubs. most people can't afford those though, and the publich bathhouses are hilariously unsexy places.
(cont.)
>>45992112
>tfw postin at end times
So far I have 6 Major nations.
>The Empire of Gedask
A human dominated empire in the middle of the northern continent. Made by rebellion of slaves against their elven overlords. Their culture is based on strength, honor and the righteous superiority of humanity.
>The Fa'surre Theocracy
A desert realm ruled by dark elves to the west where they are treated as god-like beings for the knowledge and powers they wield and teach. A peaceful land ruled by the God-Priest and the oldest civilization on the continent.
>The High Elfin Kingdom of Luwasati
Isolationist realm of elves convinced of their racial superiority. Bitterly defends its lands from incursions by Gedask and encroachment by Sha'hara. Their territory has been reduced to their northern homelands.
>Empire of Sha'hara Soranel:
The newest nation. Made from refugees and slaves fleeing the expansion of Gedask and its wars with Luwasati. Located east of the Storm Break mountains, its thousand year old Empress shapes and molds her people towards a future only she truly understands.
>The Federation of Commonwealths
A very loose alliance of independent city-states south of Gedask and Sha'hara. The primary trade gateway for the Alwara.
>The Alwara
The "Tribal Lands". Actually a coalition of beastmen tribes ruled by a central council. Every 5 years each tribe sends a warband to fight in a grand melee, the winners of which earn their tribes a seat and vote on the council. The original homeland of the orcs, elves and humans.
>tfw no nations game or interesting world building thread on /tg/
>>45995081
>I'm gonna guess they're not in their golden age anymore but are in the midst of attempting a rebuild, given the tone?
Pretty much, they're meant to be the nation the party wants to see win, even though their current position in a two-front war is pretty much unwinnable.
They're losing the war, and the world will mourn their passing.
>>45995291
>World Building threads
>Interesting
>>45994941
I like listening to Tchaikovsky while Worldbuilding; his style is complex, but not distracting, which lends itself well to constructing things on an epic scale. If I'm ever stuck, I just sit back and listen for a bit and things pick right back up again. His symphonies in particular service this purpose quite well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dop_dPIgeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeErhHHmf7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oKHPBVOb5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMViOrqBzPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JBT0HC98I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDqCIcsUtPI
>>45995025
This is great really makes me want to write paragraphs of lore. Do you mind if I ask for a few more anon?
Nations are the least interesting thing in worldbuilding to me.
I dig cosmology much more, let's hear about your cosmologies.
>>45995332
>>45995291
to be fair, this one made me laugh so hard i cried.
>>45992164
>>45995332
There was a pretty alright thread earlier, I'll try to find it later
>>45995191
>>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
long hair (like pic related or longer) and being fit enough to work but fat enough not to starve, which goes for both. if you can't take care of your hair, you're probably sick anyway and in no shape to look after another adult, let alone children. this is also why sailors on their first voyage, fresh navy recruits, and criminals get their head shaved - to humiliate them by making them undesirable. it builds character. the reverse goes for beards, a long beard is seen as uncivilized. most Valis get their facial hair permanently removed with a needle and twine during puberty (they don't have that much to begin with anyway).also men need to have a firm butt to get sum fuk because without that you can't make babby. they literally think that flat/saggy butts make you less fertile. the ugliest dude would be a hungry skeleton tier bald motherfucker with no ass and a hipster beard
>>45995353
The gods each inhabit their own nations in the heavens, and periodically go to war with one another. Those who worship particular gods in the mundane world are reborn in the afterlife as servants of those gods, used to fuel their eternal war among the cosmos.
>>45995315
If they're the only decent nation, the world probably won't.
>>45995704
They'll be mourned when the Elves now have a highway right into the heart of the continent, bringing with them frigid cold and darkness.
>>45995778
Man, fuck elves.
Anyone think it would be possible for their to be as many different "breeds" of humans in the same way we have different breeds of dogs? In my setting the elves have, in their eyes, Domesticated humans, who they view in the same way we would view monkeys. For over 4000 years they have bred humans to do different things, from farming to house servants, musicians and hunting companions, guards to decorative pets. How drastic do you think the human form could be altered over thousands of years of selective breeding? And to avoid magical realm, in this setting none of the races interbreed, so no human breeds created just for elves to have sex with. Elf on human sex still happens, but is pretty much viewed the same way beastiality is viewed IRL and anyone caught doing it is a sick fuck
>>45996017
Especially considering they'reinspired mostly by the Aen Elle from Witcher 3.
Elven persecution in the South is largely due to the atrocities the Northern Elves are infamous for. They keep the Dwarves as a slave caste manufacturing their metal weapons in forges deep below the Earth.
>>45996045
Elves are a breed of human
>>45996137
So? That doesn't really stop them from dominating humanity and using them as livestock. Or hunting them and using them in zoos like we do with monkeys.
>>45996045
I dig this.
You could probably get some crazy shapes and colours. Dogs have probably been bred for a bit longer, but I'm sure you could at least get halfling-likes, dwarf-likes and like 8ft tall giants. Whether they would actually be robust and not prone to dying from diseases and issues related to their proportions would be another thing.
>>45995346
Thanks, but I don't really know select songs, I just listen to mix after mix on YouTube. Occasionally I stumble upon a really good song in the mix and remember it. Have one from my middle school years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyQMGjX68DU
I prefer them to have no voice track of any kind, though. It can get really distracting after about ten repeats or so.
>>45996206
>How drastic do you think the human form could be altered over thousands of years of selective breeding?
I was giving elves as an example. Dwarves, halflings etc would also be within believable variation for human breeds. In fact they are so similar it throws into question why elves would not be a breed of human in a setting that emphasizes molding humans into various different shapes. You should probably think up a different master race than elves to suit this purpose. Perhaps dragons, or some manner of beast men.
I didn't get sleep so I updated my worldmap slightly. Green woods represent proper deep woods. Red arrows the direction of plate movement and red lines the plates approx position. Criticism and opinions are appreciated.
>>45996137
In my settings I tend to base my races off warhammer, where each race is distinct and no interbreeding is possible.
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Probably, haven't thought about it. But considering all the different shapes people come in, there probably are some wacky ones - out of necessity.
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
No. In east it depends on caste of partners. In west it varies, actually only illegal in very few places. Not necessarily accepted, however. While some have some traditional homosexual relationships, some new movements have arisen, especially after recent war.
Human communities in particular have had some regulations against it, a ( ineffective ) attempt to bolster population.
People don't usually bother homos of other species, since it doesn't hinder them in the least.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Virginity doesn't have as much weight. Polygamy is actually a big thing in east, due to the rather extravagant caste-system of the lizards.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Heavily depends on the religion.
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Depends really heavily. For humans, it is rather comparable to desirable traits of early 20th century.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Depends on region, depends on species.
Has anyone here ever run a setting where there are multiple species comprising the population of a realm and who are all more or less equally integrated? Like, instead of having the "Elven Lands" or the "Dwarf Kingdoms," elves and dwarves live alongside humans in their day-to-day lives. Another example would be Mass Effect and its many aliens.
If so, how did you handle the differences in physiology, culture, and mentality? What events in the past led to this unification? Are there still undercurrents of racial tension in your society? How does the average Joe of each species live their life?
>>45995353
>>45996835
Points of Light assumes this by default. The last human empire made efforts to unify all (peaceful) races the world, explaining this integration and the widespread usage of a common language.
>>45995343
my fucking niggah.
I'm also rather partial to Prokofiev myself too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnxya4ZspRI
>>45994376
>>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Probably, but I'm not going to bother thinking about it.
>>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Very heavily depends on the kingdom and what your social strata is. Some it's fine, others you have to be on top for it to be acceptable, most take a dim view of it and make it illegal in some way or another, and in some it's a outright death sentence.
>>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Again, varies a lot.
>>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
No
>>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Not sure.
>>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Again, varies a lot depending on culture and species. What's attractive to an Orc isn't what's attractive to an Elf isn't what's attractive to a Kobold, and cultural expectations make even in-species expectations volatile.
>>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
For most societies, clothing is strictly practical for the lower classes, and the upper classes go for chasteness. Only the most hedonistic societies do otherwise.
>>45996997
Man, I actually miss points of light. I'd take that over forgotten realms any day.
>>45995353
Rather standard in a way; emptiness splits into two opposing spources of creation. Gods emerge from one, and in fear of the other, create material as barrier, splitting the saturation between into Sheol and Gan. Chaos and eventually life spread from the other origin, eventually finding its way on material world.
Despite the gods' attempts to scorch it off, life perservered, and eventually two creations will collapse into nothing.
Knowledge of true cosmology is extremely obscure, and was only touched briefly at the peak of human civilization.
There are beings out of cosmology, elusive and powerful, only contacted by lucky and the very, very, very few. Since they exist outside of saturation, their existence is orders higher than the gods.
>>45996835
The Witcher does this. There's friction between the races, but there are areas where they are mostly integrated.
>>45995353
Simple but serves my needs.
>>45996835
I did work out some details on one such realm:
>Goliath do most of the building. As a result things tend to have tall ceilings to accommodate them.
>Warforged are replacing goliath in their fields, leading to tension and possible unionization. They were made by joint human-dwarf efforts to fight a war against undead, but now they just want a reason to not be disassembled by angry dwarves.
>The dwarves have a religious issue with the existence of warforged - by their belief they have no souls since they were not divinely created, and thus don't qualify as people. They want to decommission warforged because they believe questionable magic was used to imbue them with free will.
>Humans have their own religion that has no issue with warforged personhood, and they rather like having tireless robot workers who can live off pennies so they oppose decommissioning them.
>>45994941
I dunno about you guys, but this is good to pump me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIDTxtyUDfY
This too, kinda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7daQP680Fb0
>>45998113
Reminds me of Berserk's cosmology.
What version looks better? "Full Color" or "Half Color"?
This is Full Color. Half Color is the next.
>>45998886
Fuck, I got the naming wrong. That one is supposed to be Half Color, this one is Full Color.
I'm sleepy as fuck yet I can't sleep, apologies.
>>45998886
>>45998919
Or was I right?
Ah dammit, just please choose which one looks better. I'll go to sleep after this.
>>45998936
half colour looks better, full colour is easier to read
Updated my map with some new mountains.
Could anyone let me know if there's anything wildly implausible or inaccurate? I'm not going too in-depth in terms of plate tectonics and stuff, just want to make sure there's nothing egregiously bad.
>>45998993
I like your map, anon. And I like your names.
>>45994376
>>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Probably, especially because one of the races has enormous variance in size across ages. There's another with similarly huge variance in general morphology.
>>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Vampires are all male, so they obviously do it. Humans look down on it, but there aren't any punishments. You're just seen as a weirdo. Having sex with Goblins is illegal in human society though.
>>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
With humans, virginity before marriage is a big deal, especially when it comes to prestige marriages. Rich humans generally have two wives. One they married for love, and one they married for business/prestige. "Elves", the aforementioned race that has size differences, has no concept of marriage. Neither do the Fae, the aforementioned race with morphological differences. Dwarves are polygamous, but there aren't a huge number of them left. Vampires sometimes keep harems of human women, but just as often just kidnap women when they want to bang/breed.
>>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
The "elves" have holy prostitutes similar to those found in ancient Mesopotamia, and the Fae see copulating as one of the most important spiritual acts one cane perform but they lack the same level of religious organization. To become a priest of the human religion, you have to have to be married to one of the other priestesses.
>>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
For humans? I honestly couldn't say. For elves, the aforementioned temples of the holy prostitutes. For dwarves? Tents, because they're all refugees since they got kicked out of their homeland by warforged.
>>45998993
Dude, do you take map commissions? I'm dead serious.
>>45998919
Still sleepy, but I can't stop now. Can't sleep, but I somehow can still make progress.
What legendary weapons do you have in your setting?
>>45998993
I'm with >>45999522 here, I would legitimately drop money on getting you to do a map of my setting.
>>45995353
Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to properly naming things yet, but the basics are here.
The creator godstar formed first, from the primordial mists. In his loneliness, he made his first children from the remains of the mist, the outer four godplanets. Unfortunately, his first children were too different, and squabbled among themselves. Using the remaining mists of creation, he then formed the four inner godplanets in an attempt to stabilize this family. For a time it worked, and his children no longer fought themselves. Then one eon his son Life discovered little souls crawling along his crust. Most of the gods were intrigued by the mortals that had formed, as the only beings they had known before where themsleves. However, Hate grew jealous of Life and the attention he garnered, and plotted to destroy the mortals. He flung a great meteor empowered with foul magics at Life, killing many mortals and putting his brother into an endless sleep. Outraged, the other children of the Creator called for his removal, and the Creator reluctantly agreed. Hate became the Exile, and was moved past the first void. Fearing that the Exile might gather more twisted magic from external planes of power, the Creator created the great seal, cutting him and his children off from the wider universe.
The sun and the 8 planets are all gods, with each having some divine dominion. Their existence is absolute, and is not dependent upon the whims of mortals. There are also lesser gods, formed from the thoughts, trials, and beliefs of mortals. They are sustained by worship, and many have come and gone as civilization has changed. Two (and only two) lesser gods have managed to achieve a strange intermediate godhood. They have managed to bind themselves to a moon by ritual (the god of the ocean) or the favor of the greater gods (the goddess of magic). They are safe from death, but mortal worship determines the extent of their powers.
>>45999697
I think it's pretty much finished.
>>45999997
With fancy effects
>>45999997
Here anon, made a couple of edits that I think are a bit more accurate
>>46000764
KekThe joke totally didn't fly over my head
>>46000792The guy's name is George Costanza
>>46000649
>Eastern Ocean in the West.
>Western Ocean in the East.
Is there some in-world reason for this? I'm curious.
>Setting is a pseudo-renaissance
>Majority of the world is divided into multiple kingdoms, though ruled by one empire, the Royale Empire.
>To the north are the Frills, a race of light-blue-skinned tribal savages.
>>45999243
>>45999522
>>45999898
Hey thanks guys, appreciate the love. I'll consider doing map commissions at some point, but at the moment I can't really commit to anything. But I've been in just about every /wbg/ thread for the past few months so if I ever do I'll mention it here.
Heres a question for you /wbg/
What sort of strange locations are in your setting?
One I wrote up based off of the legend of the Lost Ship of the Desert, was a shit at the top of the highest mountain in the world.
No one knows how it got there, and it isn't a spell jammer of any sort.
Due to the extreme conditions of the mountain, an exploration of the mountain is not possible
>>46001177
Good luck on finding your groove. Keep us updated if you ever do open up commissions, however. You make the good shit.
Is there an -ology that studies the borders of nations? My Google Fu has so far revealed nothing.
>>46001404
Cartography?
Does anyone have a recommendation for architectural drawing programs?
I'm not talking explicitly for a D&D campaign, just a program that will help me create a floor plan for one of my setting's key locations.
If anyone's doing Polynesian stuff in their world, I recommend checking out The Dead Lands. As far as story goes it's a pretty standard action movie, but the all the costuming and setting details are really well done.
>>45994376
>>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Unique by way of species/race, yes.
>>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Homosexuality is not a legal distinction and accepted as a normal occurrence. It is however a social expectation that one breeds children no matter their preference.
>>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Virginity and monogamy are treated as commodities for political and commercial alliances, mostly by the affluent. Polygamy is a normal occurrence in all levels of society. Extra marital relations is legal when all concerned partners are informed and consenting, otherwise it is open to prosecution.
>>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
I've been toying with the idea of a nascent goddess using sex to found a cult then religion. It was supposed to use sex as a means of baptizing an initiate. Dunno if I'll ever actually add it.
>>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Parks, bushes
>>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Health and fitness is a strongly attractive for both.
Desirable female traits are wide hips, ample breasts, even ears(length, level), straight tusks, fertility and long, thick hair.
Desirable male traits are stamina, wide chest and broad back, big calves, a fit physique, battle scars and financial success.
>>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Normal dress is minimal and functional. Skimpy and suggestive clothing are for special occasions. Licensed prostitutes are required to don a special symbol in a visible area of clothing when on-the-job to indicate their profession, availability and licensure.
>>45996045
>Anyone think it would be possible for their to be as many different "breeds" of humans in the same way we have different breeds of dogs
Sure.
I have an idea I've been tinkering with, a gods vs. humans setting where humans are constantly trying to resist/are at war with tyrannical and hedonistic gods that love to fuck around in the mortal realm.
For some reason I want a mechanic where some gods that are weakened in the war take a human host to incubate in until they are strong enough to be reborn fully (and eventually rip apart their human host). However, I can't think of a reason, lore or otherwise practical logic, why they would take a human host over any other rebirth mechanic.
>>46001985
Google SketchUp. I've used it to sketch out architectural styles and it's satisfied me.
>>46002735
That's easy. They need their souls. Humans have souls. The souls are the true incubator, that life force they feed on, and not only are these hosts ripped apart physically, but spiritually, too.
>>45999697
>>45999997
>>46000764
>>46000649
>>46000649
>>46000649
Western ocean is on the right (indicated as east by your own rose of winds) and vice versa for the eastern ocean. You look sleepy indeed!
Bumping this thread with my shitty, shitty map.
>>46004425
That is a pretty nice map of a local area. Good for adventuring party doing stuff. You could due to maps small scale add more points of interest into it?
>>46004425
what did you use to make it?
Lets bump the thread with my progress. Boringly I started to name major kingdoms with their own language, for example Royaume de Plaine is not!french cossacks. Beware the shitty translations
Tell me about your creation myths, /wbg/
>>46007463
All I've hammered out for the creation myth is a weird combination of Dark Souls and Greek mythology.
There was an egg, I know that much.
>>46008932
Egg is a good start.
Let's talk about warfare, /wbg/!
Who has the largest military in your setting? Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base? Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
Whats the most pointless thing you've ever written up in Worldbuilding?
I once spent a night lying in bed writing up abortion/adoption laws.
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
In my setting there is a nation that is shares similarities to the Greek/Roman Empire. Throughout their history they have function built and expanded their nation off the back of their military power and conquest, though they are open to more peace methods of expanding their borders.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
While it largely depends on the era in my setting, the mentioned nation above typically has one of the largest standing human armies, though it is only third before the dwarves and orcs manpower.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
Depending on a nation or race, some nations will rely on guild/organizations to act as an alternative military force or as peacekeepers. Other groups such as the elven races in my setting will determine warfare or conflict between one another with either small scale conflicts between their elite forces, or 1v1 duels to determine a victor with minimal bloodshed.
>>46009413
GDP and GDP per capita of every nation.
Total land area, total water area, total everything.
A totally new Solar System, from scratch.
Custom vehicles and such.
A weird government similar to a confederacy, but with each provincial government being almost completely manned by business conglomerates.
>>46009282
Sci-fi setting, sort of space opera.
The largest is the Empireno real name because I'm an uncreative fuckwhich has the single largest navy of any other nation. Because of the sheer amount of territory they have to patrol, the navy primarily focuses on cruisers, especially battlecruisers, to enforce Imperial rule. Capital ships are either put in reserve or mothballed until a large conflict happens, or the Empire pushes for conquest again.
In contrast, the United Coloniesagain I'm an uncreative fuckdoesn't have the economy or political unity to field large amounts of large ships. Therefore, they focus on modifying smaller ships - frigates, corvettes, destroyers - to fulfill a wide variety of roles and field enough firepower to raise hell.
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
That would be Kingdom of Westfield by number of standing military in that region, but Kingdom of Crownlands is close if they are given short time to call the troops.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
Kingdom of Crownlands has the most population thanks to their good farmlands. But if Reino de la Tierra de Este or Free Cities of Nofto Bay could get their shit together they would be strongest.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
All Southern Kingdoms practice the traditional warfare, but in several areas light cavalry has risen to rival knights thanks to good horses. Dwarven warfare is slow, but steady and they prefer to smash the enemies open with heavy use of crossbows, scorpions and other heavy weapons before smashing them in melee. Elven armies rely heavily on their pike squares to withstand the initial charge until their archers and professional troops can crack the enemy open. Other oddities are Göta heavy cavalry and Cosaques who both rely on mounted force.
What are the cool, unique weapons you guys have in your games?
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
That'd probably be the Republic of Ehreist. They've just come out of their first instance of total war with the United Kingdom of Orelle, having technically "won," but only barely. Think the Western Front of WWI, but on an even larger scale and lasting a couple years longer--no one came out of the conflict looking pretty. They've since had to conscript large numbers of troops from both their homeland as well as their colonies to maintain order in their newly-conquered territory, and to maintain the appearance of strength toward any of the other continental powers in the wake of their costly victory.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
While there's no equivalent to Russia or China (in the sense of unitary nations with huge populations) in this world of mine, there are some regions which, if they were to overcome their internal strife, would definitely be major contenders for that title.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
For this, we turn to Ehreist again, and the tactics which won them the war. They were the first to figure out the methodology for engaging in large-scale insertions of troops behind enemy lines. By utilizing a fleet of airships, they dropped a brigade's worth of dragon-borne infantry onto key locations along a section of the Orellian front, and in combination with a last-ditch general attack, this was enough to break the stalemate. These tactics have been championed by their propaganda, and Ehreistian airships in particular have become a symbol of their military might, even as post-war aviation is starting to make them increasingly obsolete.
>>46009282
>Largest military
That's a toss-up, depending on what you consider the "largest." In terms of active military personnel, this would go to the Kingdom of Sandomir, which is active simply because they're in the middle of suffering a massive invasion (known as the "Cold War") which really isn't going so well for them. If we're talking about professional soldiers available at a moment's notice, it would have to be the Drachenstaat, which actively sells their Dragonborn to the highest bidders throughout the continent as Landsknechts.
>Highest manpower
Surprisingly enough, I'd have to put this on the Kingdom of Chalon, rather than the Drachenstaat. While the Empire arguably has a higher population than the Kingdom, the Chalesian military is largely human-based and, besides their knights and mages, largely comprised of easily-trainable (and thus, replacable) humans. The Drachenstaat is wary of organizing a large human-based military, so beyond militias or the occasional brigade they'd see their humans as a non-expendable resource.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others?
Honestly? None really come to mind. The Kingdom of Gevalia is pioneering the swiss pike and Sandomir is developing the medium-armored non-noble cavalry (the hussar) but, beyond that, warfare is practiced as it has been for centuries. I suppose the Drachenstaat occasionally brings out a dragon, but dragons are high-nobility and thus rarely risk their lives if they can help it.
>>46006049
It's actually deceptively large scale, looking at an area roughly the size of Banff national park. As for the question, if I understand it correct... Yes? You phrased it a little oddly.
>>46006138
>what did you use to make it?
That'd be Inkarnate, it's in the OP.
>>45994376
I need gimp brushes for map making purposes. Give them to me /tg/lards.
>>46007463
The titans so created the world. The entire planet was forged by their hands, and then they made the sun by capturing the demons of the cosmos and putting them in there, using their energy to create the heat and light that would sustain their creation.
They then created the divine bureaucracy. They created and uplifted nature spirits, great creatures and Gods over their years of ruling the world- this bureaucracy is responsible for keeping hold of the afterlife and making sure the world doesn't break down too much over time.
Finally these titans uplifted various animals into intelligent races. The bunny folks were first, but they were determined to be too weak and peaceful. The Hogs were next, but they were considered too tough and violent. Finally they uplifted the monkey men and found a balance.
But once the titans left the planet itself, a volcanic God of great emotion, changed some of the monkey men into 'ash people', infused with creative and destructive powers just like a volcano. This is where humans come from.
>>46012079
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Deviantart+map+making+brushes
>>46007463Long ago in a distant land...
>>46012337
in the grim darkness of the far future there is onlymemes
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
The only nations to have an organized "military" are those with Paladin Orders, aka the Empire and the Dwarven Kingdom.
The only actual war in my setting's history had everyone versus the BBEG.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
The Beastmen races reach maturity by ~6-8, and they're naturally stronger than some other races. The only real problem is their difficulty with magic.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
The Empire actually has a Magic Academy, and have trained Wizards to act as magical artillery in the past.
>>46011327
>utilizing a fleet of airships, they dropped a brigade's worth of dragon-borne infantry
So dragons are the analogue of helicopters? And airships act as flying carriers?
Wouldn't the existence of dragon-carried infantry made aircav doctrine come into existence way early?
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
There are several tribes, city-states and cultures divided into different kingdoms that would form the largest armies if they would unite for some reason. Right now it would be the alliance of not!greek city-states, united by not!Alexander, who is backed up by not!Athene. They conquered shit because not!Archimedes invented steam-powered cannons and primitive rifles firing with compressed air from the flanks of the hoplits.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
It's always humans and orks. The human city-states can muster a lot of militia, which can be good soldiers. When it comes to proffessional soldiers it's either the a bit roman like but more seafaring Sikheler, humans in a republic, ruled by a council of nobles, citizens and priests trying to interpret the confusing messages of the oracle. Or the Sargonites, orks that are not so orky because their tech, military tactics and discipline are pretty good. They also incorporate ogres as some kind of Jannissars into their army.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
Several cultures that live as tribes in the steppes use mainly horses, some even almost horse archers (some humans, elves and orcs). The not!greeks are all about hoplits, but now with more shooting now because of the mentioned inventions. Some have mixed armies, like the mentioned Sikheler who are very adaptive and use hoplits of the not!Greeks, heavy-armored riders like the northern human barbarians and medium armored horse archers like the southern elves.
>>46007463
In the beginning, there was a guy painting stars into existence. Then he found a qt celestial space rock, and stole her from her nebula boyfriend. Nebula boyfriend was super mad about this, but couldn't stop them from settling down together and making a bouncing baby planet.
Then the moon called up her neighbours, a pair of sisters that loved throwing comets at stuff, and they breathed life onto the baby planet, carving his face with the water from the comets they threw at him.
As life grew, nebula boyfriend had trouble moving on, and decided to twist himself into the evil lurking into the hearts of the sentient life on the planet in an effort to spite his spurned ex and her new husband.
Then some shit went down and a phoenix and his spooky goose brother took over.
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Well there is a McDonalds of brothels in the world so i would say yes
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
The world is ending in 300 or so years in a world where the average age of a person is 100+ so nobody gives a fuck who you fuck
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
No
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
No
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
The McDonalds of brothels owned by a rich family of lizard people
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
In a world where a quarter of the population is 2,5 meter tall bear people whose sex you couldn't tell until they said it.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Everybody dresses as they want, nobody is going to tell a 3+ meter tall troll that they can't wear a loin cloth.
>>45994376
As settings go, how good is a mega-dyson sphere with multiple stars inside orbiting the centre?
>>46014421
Make sure you know what you're talking about anon. If you do, it could be an interesting setting for stranger sci-fi plots.
>>46007463
From the Primordial Sea came Tiamat, Mother of Chaos. From her beget the first gods, who in their squabbles angered Tiamat, who merely sought to rest. She birthed all sorts of terrible monsters to fight them, Dragons, Giants, Hydra, Sphinx, Living Storms, Scorpion-men, Merfolk, Centaurs, and Manticores.
The Giants betrayed Tiamat and sided with the gods, making weapons that could kill their mother and protect against her power, while others served in the god's armies. They did this in exchange for dominion over the new world.
Tiamat was eventually slain, her armies scattered. The greatest of the giants struck the final blow, but the poison killed him, so the Giants fashioned his body into the new world, his bones the mountain, his blood the rivers, and his breath the winds. Tiamat was sliced in twain, half sealed below to be the Underworld, the other half above to make the Heavens for the gods.
Once the work of the giants was done, and the world was built, the gods turned upon the giants for control of the world. The Giants were brought low by their own weapons, and slain or bound into servitude. Those who perished fell into the Underworld where the remains of Tiamat had congealed into a terrible Abyss. From the dead came the Demon Princes, and they beget all manner of demon.
The world now won for the gods, though in a broken state, they worked miracles and wonders, and warred upon one another, their actions bringing all manner of creature into being. Now once they walked the world they have gone silent, few remaining in the world itself.
>>46007463
In the beginning (of this particular universe) there were the fundamental forces of the universe, Destruction, Creation and Control, all seeking perfection. Creation created worlds and creatures, but when he deemed them imperfect he left them and went on to create new ones. Destruction deemed that only perfection had the right to exists and thus destroyed any imperfect worlds and races. This went on for what felt like an eternity, all the while Control just sat there, trying to find perfection through mediation. Finally Control trapped both Creation and Destruction and said: "Even if things are not perfect, they deserve to exist. Even if they are to never become perfect they deserve to be seen to the end and not abandoned". Destruction and Creation agreed and together the three formed the final fundamental force, Balance. Balance then created the universe and split itself into every god in existence, sparking the War of Domains where gods claimed and lost domains to and from each other, all shaping the universe as they claimed their domains.
Let's talk Magitech, /wbg/.
What D&D spells would go together well to power an Airship's flight mechanism?
Presumably a bound Air Elemental would be helpful, how would that affect the ship? Would the Elemental be the one powering the ship's flight, or is it just a conduit for an Overland Flight spell?
What about a self-sustaining Steam Engine using Heat Metal and Create Water?
Eberron doesn't go into enough detail for my liking.
>>46014646
I was thinking more along the lines of "magical dyson sphere-like thing, only with a near infinite radius". Should have made that clearer, sorry
>>46009282
High fantasy 1900's tech level magitech setting
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
The necromancer empire because their emperor not only could he alone wipe armies, but he can also sustain an army of undead all alone.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
Still the necromancers because there will almost always be more dead things than live things.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
Everybody does because they are all nothing like each other and their technologies differ vastly from each other. Trolls utilize "Big heavy things" strategies i.e. artillery, heavily armed shock troopers and so forth. Lizardmen use fast moving vehicles and naval combat with rideable torpedos and ATV's and they like digging their heels and drop ACME Pre-Built Fortress packets that only require you to add water (or sustain a large amount of magical energy while the thing builds itself). Bears utilize their massive all-terrain tank battalions and mobile missile platforms and close quarters combat with a side of commando forces who specialize in not coming back and carrying bombs as large as themselves. Humans love aerial combat in their airships and prefer magi-tech bow and arrow troops in a world of guns. Then we have necromancers who just cackle at the notion of having an established military when their leader could, and did, turn nations into wastelands.
Hey worldbuilders.
I've always wanted to try my hand at making a sci-fi setting, but they just don't grab my interest like fantasy. In fact I find it a lot harder to feel the differences between Sci-Fi settings then other ones, and its harder to make something 'stand out'.
Does anybody else agree?
>>46016143
Depends completely on the sci-fi level. I could see myself enjoying writing about details of realistic spacecrafts and the "submarine" warfare in space, but wouldn't bother with technical details of high level sci-fi. It just works goddammit.
Another problem is to think alien races that are plausible or just go with humans who have gotten used to different situations.
>>46012920
>So dragons are the analogue of helicopters? And airships act as flying carriers?
In a sense. I've tried to keep this world somewhat based in reality, and thus the dragons of this world are beholden to the laws of gravity and aerodynamics. I looked at estimates on the flight capabilities of pterosaurs and determined that the dragons would lack the lift ability to take off with 180+ pounds of human on their back, much less the weight of weapons and ammunition. But, if you can get them in the air by another method and let them glide from that height, well, now you have everything you need to Eben-Emael the shit out of fortified positions, and to allow for continued disruption of enemy infrastructure.
>Wouldn't the existence of dragon-carried infantry made aircav doctrine come into existence way early?
As I said, actually getting a dragon in the air while carrying a human is physically impossible, but this hasn't stopped the concept from being the dream of many a military commander throughout the centuries (an Ehreistian legend holds that one of their kings soared on the back of a dragon). That said, dragons in this world are also sentient, so air cavalry tactics have indeed existed for a long while. However, like with the cavalry of this world, the invention of the rifle and bayonet and especially the machine gun pretty much spelled the doom of such practices. In the recent war, dragons were mostly relegated to support roles, carrying messages and conducting aerial reconnaissance. When Ehreistian tacticians figured out how to make the concept work, it wasn't just novel; it was revolutionary.
>>46007379
>>45996481
First off love your map, something about the coastlines especially down in the bottom left.
Secondly what's the scale of this map? I started making a map last night using your tetonics one as a reference but it felt very small.
>>46019505
Hey, it is good to hear that somebody liked my map.
The coastline in bottom left was formed by ice age pushing the dirt and soil away before that plate connected with rest of them.
The area in isthmus that is bordered by rivers in north, mountains in east, hills in south and sea by west is about size of a England. I accidentally fucked the scale so in some parts it is somewhat stretched.
Have a new map with shitty realm and city names. Red blobs are cities of some importance, underscore is capitals of realms and yellow blobs are Dwarven holds.
>>46012220
Nig nog did you just make black people come from literal monkeysNeato anon, neato
How do waterfalls like Niagara Falls form? Where would you expect to find them, geologically speaking?
>>46020254
Heyo!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls#Geology
>>46020254
>Where would you expect to find them, geologically speaking?
Places where a layer of soft rock lay over a layer of hard rock with running water thrown into the mix. Generally, limestone is the soft rock and granite is the hard rock (something like 80% of waterfalls, caves and similar formations are made by limestone deposits.)
>>46020254
Ice Age mate!
"The features that became Niagara Falls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000 years ago. The same forces also created the North American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by a continental ice sheet that drove through the area, deepening some river channels to form lakes, and damming others with debris.[10] Scientists argue that there is an old valley, buried by glacial drift, at the approximate location of the present Welland Canal."
Does your setting feature genetic, chemical or otherwise unnatural engineering to produce specialized humanoids? If yes, what are they being designed for?
>Hard Mode: It's in a Fantasy setting
>Nightmare Mode: It's Medieval/Renaissance
>Dante Must Die Mode:No explicit magic
>>46020399
Yes and no. The technology isn't exactly understood and is by now entrenched in spirituality, but an isolated society in my sci-fi setting clones everyone pre-birth and the embryonic clone undergoes intensive gene therapy that turns it into a unqiue "suit" for the original.
Because there's no breathable atmosphere outside of sealed environments, hazard suits are especially important regardless of culture. These clonesuits link into the host's body and produce breathable air from the alien atmosphere.
Over time, a predestined caste system developed as people's suits were engineered for specific tasks.
The concept isn't fully developed as I've been focusing on other things, but you asked.
>>46019683
Those names look better than the ones my friends and I came up with for our Dawn of Worlds game.
Looking at your map more I think I've worked out my scale issue. My coastlines lack detail which makes it seem more "zoomed in" as it were.
How long have you been working on this map for?
>>46020622
Being uncreative hack, I just abused translator and google maps to find good names. "Polish" region has "polish" village names etc.
>>46020655
Shit, I justgo into Crusader Kings 2 and start stealing names that sound cool.
>>46020700
Literally just look into obscure village names from google earth. No need to even start the game and every paradoxfag knows all provinces by heart.
>>46020762
>Literally just look into obscure village names from google earth. No need to even start the game and every paradoxfag knows all provinces by heart.
I don't even go that far, I click provinces and read the little capital names or the names of the province's church or town.
>>46009282
1910-1940s tech-wise. The nations of west are mostly small countries with small armies enforcing their own borders. It is a rather low-pop world, and especially after a previous kerfuffle, people are not really pointing their guns at each other. Most don't have much reason to expand, since there is quite bit of unexplored world, so colonization would be a hoot, but logistical problems are bit daunting to some. Despite aircrafts, there is sea, and lots of it.
For whatever dirty work, mercenaries are rather popular.
It is actually sort of gentle time, in a way.
The lizards of east have biggest army, mostly low-caste conscripts. It is more about enforcing the empire's rule and kicking around whatever small tribes and rebels that arise.
>>46020399
Not really, but there's space for such if such need comes up.
>>46020700
>>46020762
>>46020784
Now that we've started playing in that world, I've started doing the translator thing. I have place called "brown wastes" in korean. I should give the CK II thing a try though.
installing crusader kings 2
>>46020851
>>46020864
The trick with Crusader Kings 2 is to boot up the 1066 start, open up the console (type ~), type "observe" and let the game run for a good 100-200 years, maybe keeping an eye on things if you're really that interested.
Not only do you get all sorts of crazy inspiration for kingdoms or region situations, but it gives you an endless list of potential NPCs already built with traits, ambitions, goals, noble titles and title claims. For added brownie points, try to match the NPC with the equivalent nation in your campaign.
Who would have known the king of Not!Poland was an extremely competent businessman with a knack for conversation, honesty, and hates being touched?
>>46020864
After the first few hours of confusion say good bye to your free time.
>>46020399
Not precisely, but it's a setting where life exists as part of a cycle of reincarnation, and sometimes the process fucks up and people fail to reincarnate properly. People like this are "half-undead," and fail to physically develop into adulthood, but have a supernatural degree of dexterity and an incredible talent for deception. The Ecclesiarchy takes advantage of this by taking these babies away from their parents at birth and hushing up their existence. Of course, they can't cover them up completely, but as far as anyone's convinced, they're just a rumor, akin to cryptids, and that's good enough for the Church.
The Church raises these children in secrecy, training them to be spies, assassins, bodyguards, and inquisitors in order to take full advantage of their ability to go unnoticed. They're elite operatives in the truest sense. Since they're healed by negative energy, they're highly sought-after by the orders of the Saints Marthanes and Zoilus, who together have an unsavoury reputation, respectively tainted by necromancy and torture. As a result, these children, known as Innocents, generally live to be Lawful Evil.And that's my setting's take on halflings.
How useful is Crusader Kings 2 against Europea Universalis and Hearts of Iron?
>>46021659
Europa Universalis is a geopolitical simulator and Hearts of Iron is a warfare simulator, both are very good at what they do but honestly the only one that's halfway useful is Europa Universalis, and even then that's just to get an idea of neat kingdom interactions or regional situations.
Which is more or less what Crusader Kings 2 does, only in greater detail and in a time period closely associated with most fantasy settings. Unlike EU or HoI, Crusader Kings 2 simulates everyone from a lowly courtier to a mighty emperor, all of them with personality traits and personal ambitions that can be easily turned into fleshed NPCs.
Crusader Kings 2 is easily better than EU IV or HoI when you're looking for something to give you inspiration.
>>46021659
Hearts of Iron
>Lebensraum simulator
Europe Universalis
>Blob hard, blob often
Crusader Kings
>intriguing simulation of feudal politics at its finest
So I just started playing Crusader Kings and I'm trying to wrap my head around the feudal system and peerage and nobility in the real world.
So a county is a region of a country ruled by a count. But a county can also be within a duchy. And holdings within a county, such as a city or a bishopric or something can be ruled b a baron. Do barons answer to counts? What is the point of ruling a county if everything within it besides the capital is ruled by a barons? Do the barons pay the count a portion of taxes? And do the counts answer to the dukes?
>>46022384
>what is the point
taxes and free labor.
>>46022427
So the barons do answer to the count?
>>46022487
Knight -> Baron -> Count -> Duke -> King -> Emperor -> God
>>46022384
>So a county is a region of a country ruled by a count. But a county can also be within a duchy. And holdings within a county, such as a city or a bishopric or something can be ruled b a baron. Do barons answer to counts? What is the point of ruling a county if everything within it besides the capital is ruled by a barons? Do the barons pay the count a portion of taxes? And do the counts answer to the dukes?
If a baron has a problem, they go to their count. If a count has a problem, they go to their duke. If a duke has a problem, they go to the king. It's generally a good idea as a king to have dukes rather than counts, since a king typically rules over a *lot* of territory.
It's ultimately a division of attention. A count might take the angry ranting of Mayor Johnson of Icelington serious because that's a good portion of his territory, but a king should not be concerned with such matters unless they're in his direct personal demesne (land directly ruled by the king, often the best bits of the kingdom and contiguous.)
The tricky part is having dukes that don't try to gobble up too many counties (dukes can wage war against other dukes, just like counts can wage war against counts, unless the kingdom has laws that make inter-kingdom war forbidden) since a powerful duke can start whispering in any willing ears, "why am I not king?"
>>46022384
Crusader King is honestly a terrible way to understand the feudal system. It's way too linear and clear cut in its divisions and hierarchy
fun game though
>>46022793
>Crusader King is honestly a terrible way to understand the feudal system. It's way too linear and clear cut in its divisions and hierarchy
While this is very true, I feel compelled to add that Crusader Kings 2 presents the most comprehensive look on feudalism your Average Joe Worldmaker would bother putting into their setting.
How exactly do rainshadows work? I know they cause deserts, but do they always? In what situations do they not?
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
I'm sure there are, haven't really thought about it personally.
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Depends on the time period, location, and culture. Only commonality is that the concepts of "being gay" as opposed to just doing gay stuff or "gay marriage" as an equivalent to straight marriage weren't really things anywhere until the equivalent of around 2020, even in places where homosexuality wasn't heavily stigmatized.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Depends on the time period, location, and culture.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Most religions don't advocate universal celibacy if that's what you're asking.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Haven't really thought about it, but honestly I couldn't even answer this question for my own time period, location, and culture.
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Depends on the time period, location, culture, and species.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Again, it depends.
I think these kinds of questions are poor thread openers. There can't be many settings which only have one culture/set of social standards and practices. If yours does that's fine, these questions are just hard to answer about the typical setting.
>>46024139
you know that you have the option of breaking them down by country/region/whatever right? i don't think the questions are literally meant to be "HOW DOES X WORK FOR LIKE THE ENTIRE WORLD FOR ALL TIME MAN".
unless "depends on the time/location/culture" is code for "i don't know", it's a pretty dumb reason to not answer the question because they don't come out and say that you can have multiple answers for different nations/time periods/etc. you come out and say IT DEPENDS LOL for >>46009282 and >>46020399 as well, or for literally any other questions that are asked.
What approach do you guys take in creating a world? Do you make a map first? Do you start with culture first?
>>46024676
pick genre, then make map while thinking of areas of visuals i want my players to be able to encounter, while making notes and jotting down ideas.
>>46024676
I start with mythology and metaphysics. Then I move on to races and cultures. Honestly, maps are the hardest part for me. I'm not a very spatial thinker.
>>45999697
>gulf of constanza
>>46025169
someone beat you to it senpai
>>45995353
>>Annihilation/The Universe
Basically everything that "exists" is here. "Annihilation" is an alchemical concept, essentially one thing or collection of things loosing their form and acquiring a new one. It's creation is recorded in the Voidbound Tome, the Alchemist's Old Testament, and I'll post an excerpt in the next post.
>Materium
Physical world, stars and planets and galaxies, what we would know as the Universe, although it may contain some fantastical things.
>Aetherium
Realm created by the collective subconscious of all living things, home of the many number of gods and other spirit beings. A god can be manifested by the collective feeling of a group, but once born they exist as mostly independent beings that can be spoken to and dealt with, or fought and killed or enslaved if you wish. Some creatures here have no discernible origin, and many believe they come from the dreams of other worlds or even other universes.
>Hell
Demons and Angels used to live in the middle strata of the Atherium, but their long conflict broke into open war. The Angels got the upper hand, and the Demons decided to leave the Atherium and dig out a metaphysical space for themselves, using a great amount of Killing Power from the Materium. They're still digging, and will usually demand a sacrifice from any mortal asking for a boon. With no outside influence, beings manifest in Hell from the minds of the Demons themselves, and great effort is exerted to control these creations and use them for ulterior ends.
>Feywyld
Not much is known about this realm. The Fey themselves are known to be descended from proto-elves who wandered in and were trapped.
>>The Void
Surrounds the Universe, and defines anything that is not a part of it. With immense power, sections of Annihilation can be amputated and kept within the Void, where they can be made calm. Many ancient places reside this way, and if you can figure out how to reach them you can learn many things.
>>45995353
Here have an image with reallllly shoddley added numbers that I tossed on fast just so I could respond.
The earth sphere encompesses the world and keeps the chaos outside
The glass sphere keeps the celestial ocean contained
The celestial cube is the home of the gods
The lunar and solar disks act like the moon and the sun. Diffraction and stuff distorts the light so day's last as long as they seem to normally.
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
That's not a focus. How can a position alone be kinky?
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Nobody bans it. Well, maybe the gnolls, but it's not something people care about much. There's not much conception of it as an identity thing.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
The main faith is monogamous, the Sun is big on that stuff. There's some variation in customs, but monogamy is pretty much a given. Gnolls don't marry and pagans can do what they want; often their kings and leaders have many wives and concubines but nobody else does.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
The Sun is big on marriage, fertility, and traditional relationships. Sun priestesses have their breasts exposed as a symbol or fertility and in some sects they can serve as divine prostitutes. The Moon is exploitative and rapey but doesn't have specific rituals associated with sex.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
Why would this be universal for even a subset of the world?
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
Grey elves like light skin, black elves like dark skin, both elves like slender limbs and sharply pointed ears. Humans tend to like more full-figured women, and human women like strong men. Lizard females like their men brightly colored, and the men are indiscriminate. Gnoll women pick the best warriors, and the men don't get a say but also tend to like strength. Dwarves value social connections, and the Faestir value courtship and fashion. Goblins are motivated, in this as in all things, by wealth.
>>46025980
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
The elves favor chaste dress and lots of covering clothing, like Egyptians of high status, though the black elves often go for more practical garb. Lizards, goblins, and gnolls often go bare and have little concept of modesty, though goblins like jewelry and the gnolls have many items of religious, military, or other rank and class, and all three will wear armor if they have access to it and combat is reasonably possible. Faestir dress very conservatively, dwarves depend heavily on the individual mountainhome, and humans depend on nation and on religion, more or less mirroring the real world.
>>46007463
Earth (a god) laid down in the sea, and the other gods made shit on his belly. Humans, elves, and dwarves believe some form of that. Faestir believe that dragons did it. Pagans believe all sorts of hogwash.
>>46009282
There's a gnoll empire in the north, they rekt elven shit not too long ago. Humans could probably get a bigger army going if they could just work together, though. Nobody but grey elves and the new gnolls really have much of a standing army, goblins and gnolls and human barbarians tend to more or less live in warbands anyway, and dwarves and humans have levie systems. The Faestir have nobility that are supposed to fight but they're more like adventurers than a proper army, there's just too few of them.
Humans mostly are generic middle age armies, although there are esteemed knights with special elven-bred mounts such as unicorns and griffons. Grey elves drill with spear and shield, roman style, but professional soldiers also each have their own style that they train at on their own time; this is a matter of honor. Faestir and dwarves mostly just hole up as tight as they can. Goblins harry the coasts and employ blockades and, if all else fails just fuck off and return later, they don't tend to care much about territorial holdings and few other things are worth the expense of a protracted engagement. Imperial gnolls use spear and shield as the elves do, but are more vicious and less disciplined. They also like siege weapons. The human and gnoll barbarians generally lack order and fight as individuals or as small bands. Black elves are mostly a naval power but love shield walls.
>>46014874
>Let's talk Magitech, /wbg/.
Okay
>What D&D spells
Nevermind.
>>46021659
For worldbuilding it's vastly moreso. It has actual characters, internal politics, and lineages.
>>46022384
The hierarchy is
Emperor
King
Duke
Count
Baron
You can have vassals of any level lower than yourself, and those vassals pay taxes and/or levies, depending on your laws. You can only rule a certain amount of holdings, dependent on your stewardship, before you get some serious inefficiency issues, so having vassals is necessary, but it's still generally advantageous to limit them as much as possible. That said, of course they're happier with you if you give them more rights and less obligations.
This is basically a simplified version of real life feudalism, so understand it before you do real feudal societies.
>>46025980
Oh, I forgot the virginity bit. The grey elves are expected to at least pretend to be virginal until wed. For faestir, it depends on the level in society, the upper echelons are expected to remain virginal until marriage but the middle class is significantly more promiscuous, and slaves are bred freely, one that's already born child would even be more valuable since it's a sign that she could most probably do it again. Dwarves treat marriage as a social contract between clans, so male-female sex before marriage is prohibited aside from a few anomalous mountainhomes, but some fortresses can get downright Greek with the same-sex stuff.
Most other races don't give a fuck, but aside from goblins and gnolls, if someone gets pregnant and the two parents don't get married, it's a stain against the honor of both of them.
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
Largest total standing + possible conscripts would be the Empire of Gedask. Their problem is being a central empire they have to distribute troops to cover the entire border especially the north and east. This makes troop concentration relatively small and aggressive expansion difficult. The most capable units and commanders are often stationed at the northern and eastern borders.
>Who has the largest manpower (aka, pool of potential soldiers) base?
Still Gedask by a large margin, though the quality suffers greatly for levies and conscripts compared to Sha'hara to the east.
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
Both Gedask and Luwasati often use slave armies of varying quality as disposable shock troops.
The Empire of Sha'hara practices a form of combined arms that relies heavily on mobility and speed for their standard army. This often takes the form of light infantry, fast cavalry, artillery and land dragons with mages and flying dragons covering the air. Sha'hara also has a secondary auxiliary army system that is composed of small independent companies. It is a semi-professional force that originated from the old mercenary bands they had before. These forces are used for smaller missions or achieving objectives that require more specialized units and harassing enemy forces and assets. They may also be contracted by smaller states or individuals for mercenary work.
>>46024676
I start with the stories I want to tell. Gives me a good idea of the scope I want and overall setting I want. This means I usually have a rough idea of cosmology and culture before I get to map drawing. Once the maps start coming out, I start refining things like culture, politics and economics, if its necessary
How do you handle history in your setting? How important is it in your games?
Personally, I took a somewhat odd approach. First, I mapped out the entire history of the setting, from the stage of creation myths to the end of the universeand beyond, but only the "important" stuff, the kind of stuff you'd probably discuss in a general World History course. But individual events that don't alter the general history, those types of things are a bit more vaguely defined.
Because of this, I can set campaigns in a variety of time periods and locations within the "setting". And even if the players' actions do end up being of the scale that they might alter the established course of events, I simply state one of the following:
>the events of that particular campaign are a folktale or legend, probably based on truth but altered with each telling
>the events of that campaign are how shit actually went down, and the "established" history has been distorted, lost, or purposely fabricated and changed for some reason or another
>>46022384
Before the advent of more efficient communication networks, one person can only effectively rule so much, so a ruling power might appoint someone to administrate or rule over an area for them. In the Roman world, these governors had the ability to advance within the system, and therefore had incentive to play by the rules of the Senate/Emperor. The Praetors weren't vassals of Rome, they were agents, employees. Not to say that they couldn't defy Rome, even a cursory look at history will tell you they could and did, but in the height of Rome's power they were working under a system. This changed after the period of barbarian invasions that finally eliminated any meaningful vestiges of Roman power. Much of the old Western Empire continued to function after Odoacer conquered Italy, but eventually it did come to an end.
After this, the order had changed. The Pax Romana was over, and life was much more dangerous. The remains of the landed elite would fortify their estates and eventually create what we would know as a castle. The citizenry of the area would then ask this lord for protection from the barbarians, and in exchange they would submit to fealty. Thus we have peasants, and ruling them what CK2 calls a Baron. But these Barons could only do so much, there were big threats out there. So another, more powerful Baron might come along, and the first Baron, needing protection and not wanting to be conquered by this guy either, offers to rule in his name and pay a portion of his income to the greater lord, again in exchange for protection. The greater lord could just conquer the place, but conquest is hard, and this makes him much more powerful without expending any resources. This greater lord is what CK2 calls a Count. It continues up the chain from there.
Thing is, the Count may rule over his barons, but their relationship is basically contractual. Just as his barons have a duty to him, so does he have obligations to his barons. Cont.
How has /tg/ done wars between gods of different nations, or ones of the same nation?
I have a whole thing planned to pull out sometime where the PC's nation's gods all split up into two sides due to petty reasons similar to Greek and Roman gods. Tensions rise more and more until another nation's gods take the chance of chaos to send troops and their power to conquer the PC's nation. The few local gods that haven't taken to sides of the quarrel, in particular including the god of protection and god of war, set out to repel the invasion.
So how would god's troops vs god's troops combat go? Each god has a certain number of appointed special followers imbued with power and gods don't take a physical manifestation, so I'm imagining something akin to large troop warfare with lightning bolts and other godly powers being flung around while the appointed champions head particular movements in the battle and be like Hercules or something.
>>46022384
>>46027285
If his barons don't receive adequate protection, or no longer feel the count is someone they want to represent, they may seek independence, or find another count willing to better protect them. In CK2, counts, dukes, and kings can all rebel against their overlords, but barons can't. This is more an issue with how the game is structured (the base land amount is a county, with baronies having income and levies but not actually located in a place distinct from the county, etc.), but it does hint at the problem CK2 has with representing actual feudalism: it's a video game made for an audience very general when compared to it's advertised subject matter.
Very few people who play recent paradox games actually play them for the history. Just look at any discussion about Eu4 and you'll see the "it's not a historical game it's a grand strat set in a point in history". Arguing that aside, these games aren't designed to portray anything accurately, and it shows. "Feudalism" isn't a codified system so much as a general term describing, in general, how things were organized politically in Europe over a certain time period. The actual laws in place governing things like inheritance or taxation or how a fief was organized or what specific duties vassals had to their overlords varied by culture, by region, by time, and often by individual realms. English Feudalism != Parisian Feudalism != anything else.
tl;dr CK2 is good for understanding most of the very core basics of what feudal vassalage is about, and is probably about as specific as most players will care about. But many here would explode if you made a not!France that was actually just not!England or not!LowCountries but everyone spoke French.
>>46027325
Why even use armies if the gods can hurl lightning and shit? Are their divine powers on a cooldown or something?
>>46027467
Actually I didn't think of it that way, but I'm gonna guess that's sort of how it works. No god is an all powerful deity, but is more akin to the gods of Black and White though somewhat toned down. If it's a god or an army, then the defending god can defend somewhat easily because it's one source, but when you start bringing a lot of shit into it it strains the defender's ability by only being in one place at a time.
Though for the assaulting foreign gods, the use of troops is simply justified by having a domain of strong influence over their nation and not the enemy's, but their champions are like batteries or powerhouses due to being imbued with godly energy. To compare to Black and White again it'd be like having a roaming circle of influence, but it doesn't allow particularly devastating spells.
Or I could just have it where all the godly powers are by the champions alone since they are being the channel of divine might. Would probably work easier, too.
>>46027285
>>46027452
>>46026329
>>46022767
Thanks a lot guys, I think I have a better grasp on it now.
So if you had a situation where one person say became count of three different counties through marriage or inheritance, could that person be established a new duchy of comprised of those counties, and then set up other people as the counts of those territories as his vassals?
Could an overlord transfer vassalage to someone else as a gift? Like say a count had a baron as a vassal, could he 'give' that baron to another count or something?
>>46028080
Yes, but remember these terms like "count" "duke" "baron" have no set universal definition. And there are other terms like Earl or Marquee, plus non-european ones like Emir or Sultan or Satrap, not technically feudal titles but still described in feudal terms. Just remember that most of these terms are English constructs and don't necessarily apply or translate to other forms of feudalism.
I did actually like that ASoIaF just called all landed nobles "Lord", unless they were at the top or claimed to be, in which case they were "King".
>>46014939
>"magical dyson sphere-like thing, only with a near infinite radius"
Isn't that a Universe?
>>46028080
The hierarchy of nobility wasn't really codified in any country until the renaissance and early modern period. There were some traditions (the Duke of Burgundy was traditional consider the greatest peer after the King in France), but even then these rules were not only loose, but also had no real correlation with a noble's strength, wealth or prestige (which were the real basis of his standing). Pic related is high medieval France, and you can clearly see how large and powerful the Count of Toulouse was relative to some French Dukes.
The exchange of feudal right rights or land happened quite often, usually through sale. Sometimes, the sale would come with the a right to buy back the land at a certain point
One thing to remember when considering various noble titles (baron, duke, count etc) is that they all have a very complicated history, and vary culture to culture. The division between a duchy and a county was frequently quite arbitrary. The important thing to remember with feudalism is the basic exchange of feudal dues:
A King would provide land to a vassal (the tenant-in-chief) in exchange for the provision of feudal dues (usually military, but other times financial or other services) in a process called enfeoffment. The tenant-in-chief would then sub-enfeoff to their own collection of vassals. It was a process designed to alleviate the dual issues of the Kings requirement for troops and his inability to effectively govern vast territories. Tenant-in-chiefs were usually powerful magnates and the fief they received was usually a barony/county/duchy etc, although the King would often give out smaller fief's directly to smaller nobles.
When you want to name the nobles of your world, titles are somewhat meaningless. As long as you've got a single powerful magnate at the top (a King or Prince) and you follow the structure of feudalism (King->Chief Tenants/Vassals->sub vassals) you can basically name them whatever
>>46027011
That's how I do it too. I've been pondering running campaigns at various points in history, but just dismissing player's actions if they deviate too much from history seems...unfair
>>46029464
>just dismissing player's actions if they deviate too much from history seems...unfair
The key, which I wasn't able to mention due to character limit, is that you don't erase it. You just have it not be the "official" story. With smaller variations you can just have their actions be the mythologized versions of real events, which definitely occurs IRL (see most hero-kings of Greek myth). But for larger deviations, you actually get an opportunity for more worldbuilding:
Imagine the players kill this tyrannical king in the low middle ages equivalent, and one of them takes his throne and basically inherits the kingdom. But in the "official" history, that king was assassinated and succeeded by his son, the legitimate heir. Now imagine the same party is playing a campaign in the early 2000's equivalent, and they notice some guy talking about this conspiracy to increase a dynasty's legitimacy by claiming descent from the older dynasty it usurped the kingdom from, and then having others tell that guy to take off his tinfoil hat. The existing history hasn't changed, but you've added the possibility of some plot succeeding and successfully covered up, all through player action. If that's not player agency I don't know what is.
The key to writing a really good history is including ambiguity, and there is literally no better way to do that than trusting players to act in the way the real people of your world would.
Plus, why even bother writing setting details for the past if you don't even have the possibility of running games in it? I'll admit I don't really DM nearly as many games in my main setting compared to how much work I've put into it, but I can use literally every piece of information I've come up with as immediate setting information, and that's got to be worth somethingI hope.
Do you have different names for units of measurement in your world?
>>46027011
The history I make is basicaly treated as background information. I prefer that player's actions actually affect history to encourage better participation and make them more invested in the setting.
>>46030440
Never bothered unless its part of a communicating-with-natives thing. It's hard enough making exchange rates for different currencies.
Hey guys, if there is anyone free, we could really use some experienced world makers here. >>46003595 We're... having issues.
Boompa
r8 my unfinished continent for acustom Minecraft map for a RP server
Colour code: https://github.com/MCTCP/TerrainControl/wiki/Creating-a-world-from-an-image
Any glaring mistakes or stuff that ought to be fixed (other than the shitty attempt at an alluvial fan there), in terms of climate or logic or anything?
Should I make the interior area (almost) all desert?
>>46032156
this is the dumbest thing i've ever seen.
>>45994376
How would /wbg/ handle standardization of a species that has access to a high level of genetic manipulation? Would it just be a matter of fads like clothing? Stigma against those who choose to deviate from the genetic baseline? Limitations of the science itself? I'm at a loss.
Tried to make one, can't decide which factions or city states would be in this...
>>46034842
ummm...
>>46034872
>>46034842
What would happen to a planet after its sun suddenly vanishes w/o leaving even a black hole? I mean, in that 1 chance out of billions that the planet will be inhabitated again.
Anyone ever tried to build the whole world from scratch around the characters players made??
>>46034942
It will get dark. And cold.
>>46034942
Its surface will cool down pretty quickly as it loses the constant radiation of energy on it. What else happens depends on what the Sun was radiating at it, for instance Earth's magnetic field is distorted because of solar wind so our field would become relatively uniform if the Sun disappeared.
Without the gravitational pull of its Sun it will become influenced by something else like whatever the Sun was orbiting. Assuming it maintains the acceleration it already received from the Sun's gravity though it will slingshot in some direction.
Whether it settles into a new orbit before it slingshots outside of influence of whatever the Sun was orbiting will be down to physics but I'd ballpark most of the time it will just become a wandering body in the vast abyss of space for a bit.
>>46034753
Sorry, I don't think I made this clear enough. I guess the question I'm trying to ask is: What would stop a species with access to a high level of genetic manipulation science from quickly devolving into a large number of separate sub-species?
>>46034973
No, but my next game i'm going to apply a more bottom-up approach to my worldbuilding, basically just build enough for like the first adventure. Then build the world up from the characters and their actions.
>>46002335
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
What? No? Why would I waste time thinking up this stuff?
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
It depends on what nation you are in.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
See above.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Sort of, not really.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
I don't know. Why would I waste time thinking of this?
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
It depends on the men. And the culture.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Allowed but not exactly encouraged.
>>46035098
Just as I thought,thanks. So,if I were to put Insectoids as alternate course of evolution, where should I go find some ideas for the setting? I've seen a couple of threads pop up sometimes.
>>46035532
Consider that all photosynthetic plants would die, removing a major player in nearly every ecosystem's food chain. Perhaps a race of insectoids which derive their energy from consuming minerals? I would check out suptg and search for bug quests, or research bacteria which survive in extreme environments IRL.
>>46035532
The most important thing for life is that you have eliminated input energy into the system that is the planet. You can have energy derived from thermal heat though that is kept deep in the planet. That energy will takes a loooong time to cool down.
You can look into having an insectoid species rising upon from life around geothermal vents in the ocean,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Biological_theories
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/hydrothermal-vent-creatures
I'm sure with a little work this would also be possible above water with volcanos/magma vents providing the base thermal energy and chemicals.
>>46035341
>>45994376
After some six hours in Gimp, I have finished the barebones of a city map upon a crappy parchment. Thoughts?
>>46039512
>Airship docks are next to the slums
Remind me never to visit your city.
>>46039512
Is there some prominent terrain feature or other suitable reason for your castle to abut the outermost wall? Because if not, no designer is going to do that on purpose. The whole point of double encirclement (wall around the city, wall around the stronghold) is to make the enemy have to breach TWO serious defensive lines before getting at your keep. Also,two 9s and no 8.
>>46039825
I figured as Airship docks are newest addition to the place and a huge undertaking to build, a lot of workers would pour in over time and build up shanty town nearby.
>>46039947
Yeah, that's suppose to be higher ground. It still needs work. I have to figure out how to make those hill lines properly. As for the wall shapes, they're kinda wonky on account of me doing this to test how it'd go. I think I'll go for a simple rectangle shape for the next city.
>>46039993
>I think I'll go for a simple rectangle shape for the next city.
What you've got going is fine. Most planned cities and civic spaces are hub-and-spoke, and unplanned tend toward irregular ovals interrupted by geographic features. If anything, rectangular gridded cities look the LEAST natural, when occurring outside of wide open spaces with prevalent easy transit.
>>46039993
Did you use a guide similar to this?
>>46040273
Nah, I just used bits and pieces of Torsten's guides, notably for roads (Which I wasn't able to replicate as well as I'd have liked in GIMP) and city design, though it's quite similar to what's written in that tutorial. Rest I figured out as I went along, playing with settings and such.
Thanks for that tutorial though, I'll save it and give it a look in the morning.
Added some basic cliffsides. With that, I'm hittin' the sack.
>>46027011
I'm a historian, so I have like 40 .txt files about the setting's history, about 1 of which is directly relevant for the story I'm writing. but all of them are vital. it doesn't make sense, but that's how it is.
>>46041107
Nice cleanup. They'd likely do something to restrict access to the westernmost draw -- a wall, pickets, trenches, reinforcing that west bastion tower into a proper fort. If they've seen long periods of peace, this might grow quite lax or fall out altogether.
What kind of people would live in this map I quickly put together?
>>46009282
>Who has the largest military in your setting?
in total, the Ahigbeni empire would have the greatest manpower (at ~100K including soldiers, commanders, auxiliaries and various others), but its forces are distributed about evenly between the Colonies and the border to the North, with small forces used for internal peacekeeping. so you'd never face all of them in a war unless you somehow managed to lay siege to their capital. the largest military by percentage of total population would be the Navy of Valis (~40K, although whalers and regular Navy sailors are counted among those) since 30% and up of the population are in the Navy (or indirectly work for it).
>Are there any nations that practice warfare differently than others, such as employing the Swiss Pike or Tercio over a traditional force of knights and men-at-arms?
the Valis rely exclusively on Viking style raids coupled with bombardments from cannonships for their land-based warfare, so they're not the greatest at conquering in-land locations. they never had the need to develop long supply chains or gear/training that's made to endure long marches on foot, so they literally can't fight properly without their ships to retreat to. usually they just raid and bombard a place they set their eyes on multiple times until it's in ruins and then rebuild once they claimed it, then proceed to fortify that shit and build some more ships and cannons. any of their colonial holdings that aren't some kind of port or tiny island is the product of them selling their service to another conqueror who was lacking a powerful navy and willing to make a deal.
>>46039512
also, remember that cities rarely ever stay confined by city walls. They tend to grow outside as the population steadily rises
>>46033612
Sand beaches shouldn't form every place the ocean touches land. Places where the primary geology is something soft like sandstone, or the surrounding ocean is lush with coral and/or "grazing" fish that will gnaw algae off the rock (and particles of rock with it), or where eroded particles are deposited from inland, may produce large sandy beaches. If the waves are too strong, or the area is particularly stormy, the sand will never collect and will wash out to sea or somewhere calmer along the coast – instead you will have beaches of gravel, rocks, or abrupt stone outcrops/cliffs. On the other hand, if the waves are too weak you could end up with long dunes, marshes, or mudflats stretching out from the coast. Where strong waves have resulted in a sheer stone outcropping jutting into the ocean, a fine sandy beach might exist behind it, protected from the waves. Point is, you won't have a contiguous stretch of sandy beach encircling an entire continent, the same way you wouldn't expect to find a continent with only smooth lowlands touching the sea.
Speaking of which, you only have smooth lowlands touching the sea. As far as I can tell, only a couple small areas meet the ocean with any topography. It's also strange how most of your rivers are in grasslands, it seems that in most cases they should be more verdant than the surrounding terrain. Grassland, prairie, steppe, etc. usually form in the more arid transition zones, where trees can't establish themselves, while you'll find forests out-compete grasses anywhere well-watered where the soil isn't poison.
It looks like colder climates stretch farther south in the E than in the W, so the temperate->arctic shift in the W seems kind of abrupt. Maybe on the left a warm current comes from W/S and travels N, while on the right a cold air current comes from the N and travels E/S (or maybe the N strait of the inland sea freezes in the winter, creating a lake effect on the surrounding land?)..
>>46034932
Found a flag for you.
>>46028616
>you can clearly see how large and powerful the Count of Toulouse was relative to some French Dukes.
How large yes, but how powerful? Not really. It doesn't show you nearly how rural the land of toulouse is.
>>46041959
Depends on the scale, climate, topology, etc.
But, traditionally, some geography like that would be pretty mountainous. Any cities would be isolated and pretty self-sufficient. Trade would be huge, and naval power would be extremely important. Think Greece or Malaysia.
>>46035341
If you're not going to answer a question, why post on it?
>>46042875
It also looks like you've skipped the equator, going from boreal to temperate and right back to boreal again. If your map is intended to be continent-scale, this could be a problem. The swamp surrounded by grassland on that eastern peninsula also seems a little strange. The channel between the topmost ice island and the frozen E peninsula also bugs me, it kind of looks like an artificial canal. There are also too many abrupt, yet flat, tiny protrusions into the sea for my taste.
I like the dry basin / endorheic marsh in the center of the map, with the Tibet-ish highlands above it (am I interpreting that right?), and the N-S aligned inland sea opening up into the arctic isn't something I've seen before. I particularly like the mountain/taiga crescent in the NE and the swamp basin in the S.
It would be nice to see some tropics, or more arid land, but really that depends on the scale and/or your own preference. Even if the map stretches from the N pole to the S pole, it doesn't necessarily need a jungle or desert – maybe it's a cold world, maybe the weather patterns allow it to be skipped.
Otherwise it's a nicely nuanced map. If you're planning to make the interior mostly desert, maybe consider transferring some of the plains inland – the white bulge to the south might be jungle, turning into forest, into plains, into desert, kind of like a China->Mongolia->Tarim Silk Road scenario.
Make sure to post/share theminecraftmap when you're done, looks like it would be fun to play on.
How does your setting deal with death?
Are bodies cremated or buried immediately, due to the risk of them rising as Undead?
Are funerals somber events, or celebrations of the person's life?
Is immortality achievable? Can someone gain eternal youth or immortality through magical means? Does your setting feature Vampires or Lich?Do skeletons have a place in society?
>>45994376
>Are there any kinky sex positions unique to your world?
Not!India has their freaky kama sutra thing.
>Is homosexuality legal? Is it accepted? If not, what are the punishments for it?
Elves do whatever the fuck they want because fucking elves. Humans don't approve of it and ostracize those either suspected to be or confirmed to be homosexual. The dwarves' edicts from the beginning of time have forbidden the union of those of the same sex, and punish these transgressors with branding and banishment from dwarven territory.
>Is virginity/monogamy a big deal? What about bigamy/polygamy?
Virginity is a very big deal for women, whether or not they're commoners or nobles. Presence of a maidenhead shows purity, didn't sleep around, etc. Monogamy is the status quo for a large majority of every race. Bigamy/polygamy is considered to be a sign of barbarism.
>Does sex play any special parts in religion?
Mainstream religion (Church of Light, The Four Goddesses, etc) has rules and edicts regarding sex, while the Old Faith is more...primal and wild in regards to doing the horizontal mambo.
>Where is the most popular place to have sex, besides a bed?
For the common man, the brothel. The nobles like their starry skies and evergreen forests. For the apprentices studying under Archmage Painel, the back shelves of her magic library is their go-to for the most thrilling of lays, much to her annoyance.
>What are the most desirable traits for women (skinny, wide hips, certain skin color, etc)? For men?
It's generally acknowledged on the continent that the ideal woman is moderate in her proportions, albeit slightly favoring larger breasts. Most women desire men with a build emphasizing muscles.
>Is skimpy/suggestive clothing allowed or encouraged? Or is a more chaste dress the norm?
Skimpy clothing is only worn by religious/ritualistic dancers, nobles getting freaky in the bedroom, or harlots in back-alley brothels. Chaste and conservative clothing are the norm.
>>46041959
>>46043219
If it's not on a trade route, or particularly close to a major civilization, they're likely to remain quite backward and disorganized. Expect a multitude of petty chiefdoms on the coast, with the interior sparsely inhabited by weaker tribes. There would probably be only a couple, likely related, major languages, but with a great diversity of dialects. Likewise, their cultures would probably be quite similar, but again with a great diversity of traditions.
Of course, it really does depend greatly on things beside the coastal outline. Compare the history and people of the Aegean with that of Panama, or with Japan.
Maritime trade/conflict will be huge either way, and they probably won't be unified until relatively late in their history, or by means of an external power.
>>46043450
>Are bodies cremated or buried immediately, due to the risk of them rising as Undead? Are funerals somber events, or celebrations of the person's life?
In the Great Family, people are cremated, for religious reasons rather than any risk of them rising from the dead. Cremation ash is very sacred in their religion. Most people are burned in white fire; heretics, traitors, and religious dissidents are burned in purple flame. If you engaged in prostitution, selling religious acts for money, or if you were just a special kind of toxic to the country, your corpse gets thrown into the nearest body of water, and forgotten about.
Funerals are joyous gatherings. Any time a beloved religious or political entity dies, expect a giant festival with loads of drinking, dancing, and sex. In fact, baby booms in the country nearly always happen after the death of a major figure. There is also a ritual where songstresses may take items off your body (including body parts), which serves to increase their connection to the other side.
>Is immortality achievable? Can someone gain eternal youth or immortality through magical means? Does your setting feature Vampires or Lich?
In a traditional sense, no. Reincarnation is a strong concept in the religion (unless your body is thrown to the water, as mentioned before), so no one's soul will ever truly die, according to them.
>Do skeletons have a place in society?
Normal skeletons, possibly. There are some songstresses that are pretty much walking boneyards. Reanimated skeletons don't exist, so no in that regard.
>>46043450
>Are bodies cremated or buried immediately, due to the risk of them rising as Undead?
Provided the person didn't die in a graveyard or a battlefield, there's usually no rush in cremating them. Churches usually consecrate their burial grounds to prevent Undead from rising. If someone dies in an area already full of Undead, they'll probably immediately rise as a Zombie.
>Are funerals somber events, or celebrations of the person's life?
They're celebratory if the person was poor, but well-loved. Most rich or influential people are either immortal or can afford resurrection, so death due to old age causes their "actual" funerals to be somber.
>Is immortality achievable? Can someone gain eternal youth or immortality through magical means? Does your setting feature Vampires or Lich?
Certainly achievable through magic, though expensive. Whenever a Wizard becomes powerful enough to create items that grant eternal youth, they suddenly get nobles from every nation brown-nosing.
Vampires are easy to make, but don't turn others into Vampires though biting.
The only Lich are those that naturally arise. None of them have phylactery, and they die when they are killed.
Do skeletons have a place in society?The only sailors on the open ocean are crewed by sentient skeletons, since the sea monsters ignore them. As such, the Skeletons have a trade monopoly within the southern sea.
>>46044514
Meant to say *the only ships on the open ocean*
>>46044560
Hah, an actual, literal, skeleton crew. I like it.
>>46034312
Why?
>>46044706
I really like the Nemoran Skeletons as a people.
They got slaughtered by a magic plague, then had their city-state get turned into the "Good Guy's" main stronghold on that continent. Good Guys beat the BBEG, and the Nemorans all get their bodies back, albeit with significantly less flesh.
What do they do then? They decorate their bones with silver and gold, and perfect the art of sailingby walking back to shore every time they crash a ship
So, I'm working on a setting that takes place on a resort, luxury planet abandoned during war, stranding the people that were there. The objective is to justify the entire civilization regressing to midieval technology levels aside from the "wizards" that tend the old technology religiously
>Planet is young, so there is no wealth of fossil fuels to tap into
>Fossil fuels reduced from plants are in too high a demand as fertilizer to be put anywhere else
>The planet is also starved of rare elements
>High technology is completely reliant on exotic elements that are simply missing
>When the war started, everyone with cash and a ship bailed, taking most of the good stuff with them
>Which is all to say that there are no guns and all AI's have degraded to insanity over time
>That said, the planet is beautiful with plentiful food and tropical climate with little disease
>It'd be rather idyllic if humanity wasn't constantly fighting the xenos groundside in a conflict so old people have forgotten why
What do you all think I should tweak to further refine the setting and justify people running around with swords, fighting ancient defense drones that can't identify them as human any longer?
So for Crusader Kings, what's a generally good strategy to pursue?
I find myself waiting around for a long time until a message pops up.
Also, how do you figure out how many troops or levies a neighbouring kingdom has?
>>46047958
There's no goal, so what's a good strategy depends on what you're trying to do.
>how do you figure out how many troops or levies a neighbouring kingdom has?
Kingdoms don't have troops, characters do. It'll be listed right there along with the gold he has, to the right of his stats.
Trying to build a huge mountain range, around 300-500 miles, but I need to know, how many barbarian/ wild sorcerer tribes should inhabit the area? They can be big and not all of them have to fight, I just need to know, how much is too much?
>>46048226
Trying to give it a conan~esque feel to the area, so there will be monsters and thieves as well, but as far as organized bands go, I like to keep it simple, sprinkling just enough diversity where it might be needed
Anyone know what those cloth headband thing knights sometimes wear around their helmet is called? I thought it might be a battlefield version of a knight's coronet but that doesn't seem to pull up any results. A garland? I'm sure I've heard them called something before.
I know this is a LotR miniature but I've seen them in historical pics as well. Do they have name?
Does your setting have an afterlife?
I'm drawing a blank on how to give mine one, apart from just having souls return to the "collective conscious" awaiting resurrection or reincarnation.
Drawing for my world. >>45998993
They are kinda like not!Rohan but they are located somewhat near the not!Arabia, so they have some influence from there in their armor and fashion.yes the long caps are based on link's cap
Do you know any methods for procedurally generating vector maps?
>>46049444
Nice trips
I know some people call it "orle"
>>46049773
addition
Definition of orle
plural
1 heraldry
a : a number of small charges arranged so as to form a border within the edge of the field <an orle of martlets
b : a border within and parallel to but not touching the edge of the field
c : the wreath or chaplet surmounting or encircling the helmet of a knight and bearing the crest
>>46049824
2. Armor
A thick roll of cloth or leather on a helmet forming a base for an ornamental crest.
My attempt at adding color to the cliffs came out cartoony, though I guess you can call this something of a success. I'll have to look more into brushes and stuff.
>>46049773
>>46049824
>>46049837
Ah yeah that's it, thanks.
>>46049584
breddy gud
>>46043450
>How does your setting deal with death?
For Luwasati elves it is tragic. The dragons and other beastmen subspecies see death more of an inevitability but a longer life is always striven for. The Xuande elves have come to treat it as a means of making way for future generations and the names of persons of renown are given to a specially chosen newborn in the hopes that the spirit of the deceased binds with it and inspires it to even greater things.
>Are bodies cremated or buried immediately, due to the risk of them rising as Undead?
Sha'hara has a tradition of cremating the dead as soon as possible. This is due to a time of hardship and famine in their history where the dead were fed to dragonsand sometimes the livingso they may remain strong and be able to carry on the relentless fighting.
The Alwara beastmen have a tradition of preserving the skulls of great persons. They are used as wards and talismans against what the person fought against in life and are displayed proudly.
>Are funerals somber events, or celebrations of the person's life?
Tragic deaths are mourned in grief, especially by elves. Death after a long and happy life is often celebrated the same as a birth with up to 3 days of feasting.
>Is immortality achievable? Can someone gain eternal youth or immortality through magical means? Does your setting feature Vampires or Lich?
The Empress of Sha'hara is thought have eternal youth, though it is unsure if she is actually immortal. She came into her current state a thousand years ago by magical means which is shrouded in secrecy and she refuses to discuss the subject.
Vampires and Liches do exist though their difference is that a Vampire has flesh while a Lich does not. Both must consume magical energy from the living to survive.>Do skeletons have a place in society?Only as magical constructs.
>>46046377
It's possible that a vacation planet degenerates into anarchy because of lack of outside support. If you take modern societies most modern cities and towns are interdependent and the sudden isolation of one would cause it to fall into ruin or degrade to pre-industrial levels over time especially if violence in involved.
You might want to clarify how dependent the planet was on outside support for food, fuel and finished goods and high technology. The lack of institutions for higher learning and a diverse local industry would also doom it to regression once supplies are suddenly cut.
It's mostly the same situation for Asimov's Foundation series and the Battletech Inner Sphere where modern industry was destroyed and planets were bombed back into the stone age.
>>46043450
>How does your setting deal with death?
People of the west bury the dead believing it binds the soul to the earth and thereby increases the good (primal) magic available to work with. If any westerner happens to die away from home, the body is burned and the ashes scattered to the wind, which will hopefully guide their soul back home. The whole practice was started by the elves and everyone else adopted it as the elves blended into the general population.
Traditional halflings strip the flesh but split bones among family members. They believe the soul will linger and aid their loved ones in times of need. Having bones everywhere however creeps out the other races, so the practice has been largely discontinued. You may still find a couple halflings with a finger bone necklace or two though.
Dwarves believe their physical forms to be hand crafted by their creator and magically mummify/petrify their dead. They don't believe the body and soul remain connected after death, so they do this only to respect the work of their creator god, as what great craftsmen would not want their work to stand the test of time?
Some humans also preserve their dead, but for the exact opposite reason: they want to live forever and believe souls linger in with the flesh. They use more mundane methods though and so end up with typical mummies.Some use not so traditional methods and end up with liches.
People of the north burn all their dead immediately, as it is not uncommon for a soul that dies there to get trapped and rise again as an undead, thanks to the actions of one very ambitious necromancer who thought he could cure death. Without a body the souls are still trapped anyway, but linger as ghosts instead of flesh eating zombies or some shit. Not many people still live there for obvious reasons.
(Cont.)
>>46051550
Orcs burn the bodies of great champions, but sink everyone else into the sea. They believe the sea to be the mother of life, and by sending the dead back to her, their souls will be reincarnated. Champions are burned because the rising smoke is thought to send them to the sky father/god of war so they can fight alongside him. They occasionally eat the dead as a sign of great disrespect to hated enemies.
Goblins also practice cannibalism and have developed a hierarchy of who gets to eat who, with the family deciding who gets to share in the meal. In the event the goblin was sick or has no immediate family still living, the body is burned as they are viewed as "cursed"
Dragons and dragonborn/kobolds believe their souls reincarnate, going from kobold to dragonborn to dragon and finally to divine. They don't care much for what happens to the physical remains, though they will use the bones for making weapons and tools as dragonbone is really fucking good.
>Are bodies cremated or buried immediately, due to the risk of them rising as Undead?
Only in the north and among those with northern ancestry
>Are funerals somber events, or celebrations of the person's life?
Halflings celebrate everything. Loved ones continue to celebrate the deceased's birthday well beyond their death. More things that creep out the other races.
Goblins celebrate funerals as it's technically a time for feasting.
>Is immortality achievable? Can someone gain eternal youth or immortality through magical means? Does your setting feature Vampires or Lich?
Even magical immortality isn't truly forever. The eldest vampire will need more and more blood to keep alive until they just can't drink enough to stave off the rot. Liches will perish once their phylactery turns to dust, and making one is a one time deal
>Do skeletons have a place in society?...................................................No.
Shit that took longer than I thought it would.
>>46047958
>So for Crusader Kings, what's a generally good strategy to pursue?
That depends entirely on who you're playing, and when. Crusader Kings 2 does not have an in-game goal.
That being said, the most popular goal is to become king (if a duke/petty king) or become emperor (if in the Byzantines/HRE or playing a king). From there? Depends on your playstyle - personally, I enjoy conquering the old borders of the Eastern Roman Empire as the Byzantines, and then eventually reforming the Roman Empire (an actual decision added to the game with milestones and goals).
>Also, how do you figure out how many troops or levies a neighboring kingdom has?
Find the highest ranking figure in the neighboring land (just keep clicking the superiors until there ain't no more) and find the number pic related is pointing to.
Speaking of, I started as Greater Poland in 867, pagans are very interesting characters to play because their subjugation war CB means it's *very* easy to form kingdoms within years of starting a campaign, however most start as tribal, which means gavelkind succession (very bad!)
>>46051883
>>46048169
Very interesting, thanks guys. That helps a lot.
>>46051550
>>46051814
good worldbuilding/10
Speaking of mummifying bodies, I wish more settings did ancestor worship via preserved bodies.
>>46049584
cool stuff. got anymore?
>>46052289
Just finished this one. Based on Berbers.
>>46052223
btw, best place to start is as the irish duke (there should only be one) in the 1066 start. It's a great, fairly peaceful area to learn the game, and you won't usual face any real challenge from the big kingdoms until much later
make sure its the 1066 not 867 start. If its 867 you'll get raped by vikings
>>46052398
Hey, it's not *that* bad, after the initial decade of the Great Heathen Army making a mess of things, Jorvik and the Isles typically collapse since they're the wrong religion or got shitty land.
>>46052336
neat. Where about do these lads chill on >>45998993
also, what do you use to draw?
>>46052451
In the area marked Zorai. I use photoshop cs6 and an intuos 4 tablet, since I do graphic design and illustration for other projects (I've done some freelance for a couple tabletop games companies before as well).
>>46052623
oh wait, i meant cs5.
Where else can I go for critique of my ideas? I don't usually get a single (you) here, which is fine, but I'd like to know why it's so bad at least.Plus you guys are really taken with maps and CK2 which aren't really my cup of tea.
>>46052833
Depends on what the idea is about, geography, religion, culture, cosomology, mythology, warfare, technology, etc.
Go ahead and post it or summarize it.
