Worldbuilding Thread
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:
>What are you currently working on in your world?
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
>Why are you building your world?
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Hard Mode and Dante Must Die Mode questions available upon request.
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Developing the combat system as much as I can. I'm trying to balance freeform roleplay and a battle system that doesn't let fights turn into petty pissing contests that die with no resolution. At least, as much as you can, since there will always be Those Players.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
I don't know if I'd say any of it is particularly original. They're quadrupeds instead of bipeds? That's more unique/unusual than original, though. Then again, your mileage may vary.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
The artwork, because I have to pay for it. It's worth it, but money is not easy to acquire.
>Why are you building your world?
I want a ton of people, particularly middle schoolers to young adults, to roleplay on this site and discover, or rediscover, their love for writing, artwork, and creativity. That's so sappy and cheesy-sounding, now that I type it all out.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Nothing in particular. Answer questions from curious anons. My question, I suppose, is if a freeform quadruped roleplay that had a fully established world, species, and a simple battle mechanic system to minimize conflict would appeal to a lot of people, but also to you in particular. Why and why not, stuff like that.
What are some good explanations for the existence of magic in an anotherwise mundane world? E.g. the Conjunction of Spheres in The Witcher. I don't wanna reuse the trope of having alternate universes cross or something similar though. Also, the setting is godless
>>46365475
Magic runes being able to tap into an otherwise unknown force.
Having the only magic users require a staff or wand covered with runes, or something.
>>46365475
Maybe it's just always existed and nobody noticed it because they lack the equipment, like how 1700s scientists couldn't have known about cosmic background radiation
>>46365278
Is everything sapient quadruped in this world? I'm interested in how quadrupeds would work from a world building perspective. Not sure how much players would care if the only hook is everything walks on four legs. Most people seem to be keen to new systems though especially if you have some part that makes it your own.
>>46365577
There are three unique sentient species that definitely have full sentience and an intermediate degree of dexterity. Due to lore reasons, a lot of wolves, big cats, bears, and birds of prey have sentience as well. The lore allows for easy expansion of having a different species of animal have sentience, if the player so desires it. The lore also allows for the player to bring in their own sentient quadruped species.
So, while NPCs will probably be non-sentient, any creature roleplayed will have sentience, and any creature is allowed to be roleplayed, as long as they're quadruped and not absurdly OP somehow.
>>46365767
How do you justify intelligent quadrupeds?
Are they Centaurs or something? Do they actually have opposable thumbs?
>>46365533
I think I'll probably go with this one. It could be something that was always known to a certain extent, but never truly understood until later.
>>46365804
They are not centaurs. They are creatures. They have no real humanoid features, other than their high level of intelligence. As for thumbs, I'm unsure. They definitely have more finger-like appendages rather than paws or claws, but I'm to the nitty-gritty details of character design quite yet, so I can't give a definite answer one way or the other.
As for justification, there's a degree of ambiguity to it. It happened a very long time ago, with no real collective memory of it. The dominant accepted legend, however, is that the Earth split open, and brought forth eternal darkness, and new creatures emerged from this darkness, harboring sentience. They banished the darkness and brought forth light, and were chosen to spread the gift of sentience to all lesser creatures and teach them virtue and morality.
Is that what happened? Maybe, maybe not. There are widely different stories on the origins of creatures, and another player's own unique species could easily have a different creation myth as well. That being said, there are clues hidden in the world of what might have led this world, which is very similar yet very different from Earth, to come to be.
I suppose my justification is that it's a semi-fantastical world that has sentient creatures, I ain't gotta explain shit. But there's definitely more to it than that, and it is up to the players to come to their own conclusions.
Plus, through roleplay, the userbase might develop what really happened together and tell a story of their own, which is far cooler than anything I could have come up with.
Tell me of the little strange quirks of your settings.
Elves don't have beds, as they don't sleep. Their floors and walls and carpeted, draped, and cushioned, but there are no beds to be found. Elves meditate for rest. This is distinctly odd for foreign peoples visiting an elven home or settlement.
My setting has three kinds of magic.
The kind that people in the setting actually call magic - the kind where you wave your hands around and then something lights on fire. Or a druid chants and the fields grow. Or a witch sends an infertile couple on a quest that will end in them having a child.
The kind of magic that spirits do. Every region has different spirits, which represent how the world works, and the natural world in that region mirrors what happens to its spirits. For example, there's a spirit that lives in a castle on a mountain, and he controls the seasons for as far around as the mountain can be seen. Every year he's born, gathers enough courage to overthrow his father (spring), becomes a confident ruler (summer), has a son, and slowly becomes paranoid that his son will kill him (winter). If someone locked him up before he killed his father, that region would be stuck in winter. In some other parts of the world, the seasons are controlled by the relative angle of the earth and the sun, if you can believe that.
The kind of magic that nobody notices. Some people develop minor, subtle magical abilities. Like someone might always land on their feet, or always find a spare weapon shortly after breaking theirs. The "always land on his feet" guy might actually break the laws of physics to pull it off, but it will happen as subtly as possible, and nobody in this setting has a concept of the laws of physics, so nobody in-setting thinks to call it magic.
> Question time
Do I need names for the different types? I'd rather only call the first type magic, to mirror what people in the setting think of it, but I worry that might be confusing to anyone who isn't me. Especially the third kind.
>>46366355
I don't think you need to distinguish between the first and third. It sort of reminds me of how the force worked in star wars d20. you obviously had the space-magic force that shot lightning and stuff, then you could gain force points or something. in a way, it was basically using the force to influence the outcome of one of your rolls. it sort of explains how a little kid can be the best pilot in the galaxy and how a single smuggler and his oversized rug are able to avoid basically being murdered all the time,except in the force awakens but maybe he rolled low or something.
the second is different though. i guess you can call it primal magic? or natural magic? not sure. you could just group this all under magic and then just give the other two no name.
>>46366738
Could just call the second one spirit magic, so that's less an issue.
The force analogy is really handy for explaining this, thank you.
What kind of side effects would you give someone who has "Positive Energy sickness"? Someone acquires this condition from exposure to too much healing magic. I'm thinking long term effects are cancer, but what would be some interesting short term effects?
>>46367656
Definitely makes them feel nauseous, as if they have heartburn.
Maybe also give them a headache, with colors, sounds, and sensations being amplified.
>>46367656
Something like a rash, where moss just keeps trying to grow on you.
Glowing skin. Worse: glowing eyes (actually hard to see out of).
Excessive hair and nail growth.
Gas.
Excess dead skin. Like on the bottom of your foot but everywhere.
>what aspect of your world would you call the least original?
>>46367735
>>46367803
I kinda like the nausea, headache, amplified sensations, excessive hair and nail growth, and rash. I think I'll use that plus maybe malnutrition. All this sudden extra growth in the body requires nutrients, so it makes some level of sense.
>>46367956
I like to think the nausea is due to the healing magic creating too much acid in their stomach. It would make sense if nutrients are wasted/destroyed in doing so, causing malnutrition.
>>46365577
MLP *rolls cover save*
>>46367878
Well in my one world I use the staple fantasy races.
In my other I crib heavily off classical mythology and lovecraft.
>>46366118
A Biomorpher, the creature that once was human, returned to its homeworld with an army of intelligent and disciplined bugmen to conquer evils of the world. After the cruel but efficient society was built he was gone to bring magic power to the world. When he did bring, shit happened.
>spontaneous casting on overpopulated world
>magic storms because of bad attunement to the planet
> Biomorph screaming in pain from what he did
Post-apocalypse: human doesn't stay the same, and changes into other races. Dorfs come out from underground vaults and bunkers, elves got attuned to weird new nature, orcs survived in hellish wilderness, and sea octopuses just got cleverer and now are building stuff underwater.
>>46368129
That's no minor quirk at all.
Would a fantasy setting where the 'world' is split up into a massive cluster of town/city sized sections of the surface floating in an endless sky and connected by paired portals work?
>>46368259
>connected by paired portals
I would hope there are airships or personal mounts, like gryphons.
You'll either have to handwave their technological and societal development or think through how the people evolved. They'd probably be able to fly.
>>46368278
While the idea's pretty fresh, and still being formed, it was more 'there-was-a-terrible-catastrophe-and-this-was-the-result' than what you're thinking. Though I'm thinking that the portals were pre-existing, and part of the reason why the chunks with them survived, and the rest didn't
>>46368301
So you're going with Warcraft "Outland"-style? That's a lot easier on the creation process.
>>46368328
I don't know what Outland is. But yeah, the plan was that it was originally a more standard setting, except with the portals, which I'm thinking the explanation for would be some ancient wizard who conquered most of the world and wanted to move his armies around more easily.
Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you know of how to get a working license key for the pro version of dungeonographer and possibly hexographer? I've got cityographer pro, but I've been searching for the other two and haven't found a solution, I'd buy it but I can't afford it currently.
>>46368359
Floating islands that are the remains of a now-destroyed planet.The reason it broke was because a certain Warlock opened 'too many' portals to other worlds.
>>46368376
My justification for having the whole 'destroyed world' thing is that the world required a certain amount of magical energy to hold itself together, and it ran out for long enough to disintegrate. More specifically:
>There are two kinds of magic user in this setting: those who draw on nearby sources of magical energy, and those who have their own regenerating sources inside their bodies.
>People who can do the first kind make up over 90% of the world's population, while people who can do the second kind make up only 1% and are generally weaker mages, because they can't use other sources
>Because magic users are so common, almost the entire society centres around the use of magic. This puts increasing strain on the world, and finally, during an extremely large battle at the end of a long and bloody war, the world's magic resources are finally exhausted, causing it to break apart. Only areas around particularly strong and unusable sources of magic were able to survive intact. With no sources available, most of the remaining civilisations collapse into chaos with days.
How would a nation best utilize Scrying?
This is under the assumption that sensitive areas, like the royal bed chamber, block attempts through lead lining or using another spell. Likewise, notable people would have an item that protects themselves from scrying.
So far, I could see small-scale surveillance networks over important waterways or defensive areas, as a "first response" option against magical beasts.
>>46369066
How does the NSA use their own scrying? Do that. Flavor to preference.
>>46369113
You wouldn't be able to pay a Wizard enough to spy on literally everyone 24/7.
In my setting, only the top ~5% of spellcasters would get their hands on Scrying in the first place. Most would probably just use it to be a peeping tom.
>>46365079
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Fleshing out the character outlines/plot for a potential novel.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
I don't know if I could call it "original" because it takes influence from a lot of other sources, but I think the folk religion of one of my regions is pretty interesting. It's a syncretistic religion influenced by Yoruba mythology (and its New World variants, Condomble, Voudo, etc.), Hinduism, and Chinese folk religion.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Definitely fleshing out the religion and magic systems. I love writing history so it's not really a big deal; it's the less reality-bound events that I have trouble describing.
>Why are you building your world?
Why not? I like to create. I've loved fantasy and wanted to write a novel for a long time.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
The magic. I'm having trouble in limiting it. In my setting, I want magic to be this all-powerful, mystical, mysterious force, not something readily usable, but I don't know how and where to put limits on it.
>>46365079
>>What are you currently working on in your world?
Finishing the first outline of the corporatocratic empire so I can move on to the others.
>>What aspect of your world is the most original?
Dunno. The magic of the setting is from a subatomic particle that can be manipulated by coherent minds I guess. Transmutation involves fission/fusion that's why they haven't mastered it and always get rad sickness and catastrophic explosions.
>>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Economics.
>>Why are you building your world?
My dick demands it.
>>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
I really don't know yet. Likely some economic stuff in the future.
Hard and Dante Must Die modes plox.
>>46371336
>Hard Mode
Who is the Most Interesting NPC in your world?
>Dante Must Die
What drink does he prefer?
>>46365475
>What are some good explanations for the existence of magic in an anotherwise mundane world?
I think it may be a fundamental mistake to think you should explain it in the first place. Just go with the tone. Magic, in real world, was never really "explained" - it was just a natural part of it. Magic does not have to follow pseudo-scientific principles and provide those annoying bullshit magic-techno-babble crap most fantasy is littered with. Make your magic just how the world is, natural part of human beliefs, result of their search for sense through the world, part of their mythology.
>>46365475
*tips fedora*
What is the equivalent of a Canada goose in your setting and why haven't they been wiped out for being intensely annoying?
>>46373081
>Who is the Most Interesting NPC in your world?
Not yet a game setting but the most interestingor completeNPC is Amica Schdaif. Possibly the richest citizen in the Sha'haran empire she is the 20-something-th generation descendant of Lord Buruus se Calvain, architect of the Sha'haran banking and economic system. Predominantly human with elven ancestry she owns several holdings and companies directly and stock in more within the empire and beyond. This requires the extensive use of private security forces and various agents to guard and advance her interests. It is also rumored that she is subtly petitioning the empress to restore the aristocracy and is actively campaigning to be appointed to the board of directors of the Imperial Reserve.
>What drink does he prefer?
She has a weakness for Alwaran Spring Plum wine. A lightly alcoholic fermentation that few else can stomach.
>>46373081
while trying to answer this, I have come to the realization that none of my NPCs/secondary characters are interesting ;-;
Can salvaging something finite a possible way to make a living? For ship crews, salvagers and mercenaries to defend them both?
Would love some input on the setting i've created.
>>46373081
>Who is the Most Interesting NPC in your world?
Santé Hunchback, Stormguard Admiral of Ven Val, your regular old "chief of the city guard" archetype, an old warrior who has put on some fat and skipped more hours of exercise than meals, but will still knock you the fuck out. picture Chief Wiggum, except competent. she rose to her position from poverty (on account of being good at tracking criminals and being loyal to the Council) and likes to live a secluded life, being very shy in public and prone to dropping her spaghetti. will point you to your quests with an awkward smile and will stop at nothing to keep her city safenot even at silently having all of its admirals and Council members murdered and framing a national hero, so she herself can legally appoint herself dictator and re-ignite the war her former mentor (the last dictator) couldn't start properly because the aformentioned national hero managed to rally revolutionary forces and dethrone/kill her. then she's gonna put her mentor's daughter/her lover on the throne and reinstate monarchy. this plan has been 20 years in the making.it's a tiring job, but someone's gotta do it.
>What drink does she prefer?
sweet melon wine with peppermint, preferrably with a well stuffed pipe
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
I'd say the combination of heavily central-asia inspired landscapes and cultures with some indo-greek influences, combined with a very anachronistic elements including fairly common use of gunpowder and aspects that combine sci-fi and fantasy tones would be somewhat unusual, if I did not nick it COMPLETELY from Shuna's Journey from Miyazaki.
I guess my favorite somewhat unusual element are the "Clot's" (sometimes referred to as "Enclaves"): a weird type of driftwood like phenomena, "clot's" of entangled roots, wood, and vegetation that get occasionally washed up on the shores or appear stuck in the shallows. Some of them contain entire masses of strange, deformed mangrove like trees. The smaller ones are mere few meters large, but the rarer large, bird nest-like ones can span up to several kilometers in diameter, and host entire gardens of bizarre vegetation and fauna inside. Most of them are dead, and decay at an unusually high rate, but every now and then, some of the strange flora inside still lives - for months and in some cases even year, even growing out and slowly consuming the surrounding land like a cross between an oasis and a cancer.
They are believed to appear mostly after major catastrophes: storms, earthquakes, and sometimes during plagues or terrible battles. They are associated with Celestials, the settings most enigmatic creatures, which both feared and revered, so people usually don't dare to venture close to them.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Until recently, map-making without a doubt.
>Why are you building your world?
For fun, really.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Currently nothing, really.
>>46374938
>Until recently, map-making
Does that mean you've finished your map?Care to share?
I actually just finished some world lore, and an adventure for my thesis. It still has a ways to go before it's ready for my players/publishing, but its good enough for what my profs want.
>>46375439
What kind of class are you taking that asks for worldbuilding?
>>46375488
>He doesn't only play in games run by a DM from an accredited university.
The days of high school degrees being enough to get into the DMing industry are over man.
Joking aside I am also curious on what class would ask for lore and adventuring.
>>46375488
Im in a film and media program, and my thesis is on collective storytelling. When I talked with my prof about devising a campaign, he suggested that I flush out the world.
>>46375608
So I have the lore and shit of the world flushed out and the culture of the natives pretty much done. My next steps are to flush out the two colonizing nations, and really flushing out the geography of the "New world" with settlements and such.
>>46375648
It's kinda funny because I built the world around an adventure I wrote way back in high school when I first started GMing. So I wrote the follow up adventure as well, and ill be working on parts 3 and 4 after I graduate. Maybe get a Drivetru rpg account and try self publishing.
>>46375333
>Does that mean you've finished your map?
Not even close to it, but I had made major breakthroughs. The problem is, currently it's one giant mess of .svg files, layers, vectors, drafts, iterations and nothing has been yet blended in or finished up in Gimp. Most of the heavy work is invisible, and includes things like vectorization of the map so I could scale it easily and create potentially infinitely more detailed versions that can be then easily "stitched" together.
I only have my very old experiments and mock-ups to show, ones I posted around here many times already.
>>46375608
>>46375648
>>46375686
My guy, you know you can put all that in a single post.
>>46375762
REALLY?! What a world we live in.
>>46375648
I blame you for this.
Are the edits I made to this map subtle enough that most wont recognize where I stole it from?
Can anybody point me to examples of quadrupedal and armed species that are an actual civilization and have achieved modern levels of technology? No biomechanics or organic technology, I mean actual technology like assault rifles and cars and planes.
Trying to figure out how vehicles are supposed to work with a species shaped like pic.
>>46378514
Quadrupeds can support more weight, but need more food. I could see a quadrupedal glutton with a minigun being fitting.
>>46378514
I remember this artist did a series on these little guys that I thought was really interesting. Don't have the link but should be easy to reverse image search.
page 10 bump.
>>46376803
Anyone who knows what Kerguelen is will recognize it immediately. Most people don't even know the islands exist, though, so you'd probably be better off with more subtle edits or even none at all. As it stands, the inversion and blur is pretty awful to look at.
>>46378894
The artist's name is Abiogenisis. Don't trust Google, Wayne Barlowe is a great artist but he's not the right one.
>>46381178
Yeah, I searched it after posting and noticed it got attributed to Barlowe, which was dumb because the initials in the signature are AR. Was gonna make a post about it but figured people would figure it out. The artist is actually Alex Ries as the sig suggests.
question and request
>do you like to listen to music while worldbuilding
if so
>how do you find decent tracks and what types of music tend to go with which settings
>>46378514
No examples, but I can certainly provide some questions which might foment some insights for you. The trick is to start by breaking everything down to its basic parts. A vehicle is a complex thing of many components; start with the simple things--seat, wheels, and controls.
First off, how do these creatures sit? What do their chairs look like? What's a comfortable position for them to recline in? Do they have a cushion for their bellies or do they use a sort of hammock-like thing? Do they leave their legs hanging free or tuck them under their bodies?
Next, what is their relationship with the wheel? How did they invent it? Is there anything in their history or native environment which would make them develop different-looking wheels from humans? Do they even use wheels or do they use a different simple machine to aid in transport?
Once you've answered both of those, now think about how these guys would command their machines. Depending on how they sit, they're going to have a certain amount of appendages free to manipulate the controls. Depending on how their vehicles move, that's going to affect what the controls actually need to do. Combine the two concepts; think of a simple frame with enough locomotion devices to easily move (don't worry about an engine--that can be put anywhere). Now, seat your creature on top of the frame and think about how he's going to steer this contraption. Does he have a steering wheel like a human car does? does he stick his appendages into some holes in the dashboard and pull some strings? Does he have a series of levers he can manipulate to make the machine do a bunch of stuff in quick succession?
>>46380910
is Artesia any good? it seemed Magical Realm-y when I took a brief look at it, but the armors look sexy.
>>46381614
I'm not a big expert on Artesia - I haven't read the RPG book with all the world info, but I've scanned through it, and I have read the comics.
There's a degree of magical realmyness, mostly at the beginning of the comics, but it becomes less so as it goes on.
The armor and clothing is definitely the high-point visually speaking.
My main criticism or complaint is that a lot of the worldbuilding feels... perfunctory. It seems like he includes a lot of things in the world just because he feels like those things 'should' be in a well-rounded world, but a lot of it doesn't feel very inspired. And it also seems like he tries to give the world a certain density so that it feels or seems complex, but a lot of that density doesn't add much, imo. I'm personally more interested in worlds that are narrower and feel more like a reflection of what the author finds interesting, rather than worlds that are well-rounded for the sake of being well-rounded. But I dunno, other people may have a different take on the worldbuilding.
I definitely recommend reading the comics though. Writing-wise they are not the best thing I've ever read but I enjoy having them around, and have read them 2 or 3 times, so clearly there is something there.
>>46381798
I could use your opinion on a matter in a little bit, since when I am ever able to finish this world I'm taking baby-steps on rounding out the world is a big on my to do list, and it'd be good to get a contrary opinion.
Will post it in a lil bit.
>>46381798
>but it becomes less so as it goes on.
So the whole le strong empowered warrior wymyn thing goes away?
>>46381798
I really liked the worldbuilding and art. I dig the mythology and the aesthetic and find the magical realm appropriate.
It still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because the author abandoned it for shitty novels.
>>46381975
No, she is still a witch/priestess and a warrior woman. I don't see how that's magical realm.
>>46381798
fair enough. gonna check if they have them at my library, they have all kinds of shit like that.so many weird ass Euro comics.
>>46381993
Women weren't warriors and I don't think the author is pushing that whole feminist agenda thing, so it's bound to be his fetish.
>>46382030
>Women weren't warriors
In general and in reality no, but there are and were outliers and exceptions. It would be absurd not to think so.
This comic isn't based in reality either, so women warriors can be a thing if they want them to be.
That's all i'm going to say on this matter, because too often this discussion descends into trolling bullshit and I don't care for that.
>>46381929
Sure, I'd be happy too. I'll put my tripcode back on.
>>46381975
The 'strong woman leader' trope is a thing throughout, but she is a witch queen with actual magic so it makes sense. That kind of thing doesn't bother me but if it's a turn off for you I don't recommend Artesia.
What I meant about the magical realmyness is a bit hard to explain. In the early comics she fights partly naked and things like that. there is still lots of sex and stuff in the later parts, but it just feels like the storytelling goes from slightly immature -> slightly more mature as it progresses.
>>46381978
Don't get me wrong, I love Artesia as whole. My comment about the perfunctoryness of the worldbuilding is mostly about what I was reading in the RPG/world book. In the comics, the world works well as a backdrop for the story. And actually, I think perfunctory is the wrong word... what I mean is more that it's just dry, not that it's lazy. It's just never really dug it's hooks into me in a way that makes me want to spend time in that world outside of the comics, in the way that other, less well-rounded worlds have.
But yeah, I think the art is amazing. And there are elements of the world that I think are super cool, like the cosmology. I'm planning to use my world in a future webcomic so Artesia is a major reference point for me, and I think it's better than most stuff out there.
>>46381614
>>46381798
Honestly, still the best realistic medieval ttrpg sim I've ever played. It's such a bitch to run though that I don't like punishing my GM with it.
>>46382433
That's why I run D&D even though it doesn't fit anything I want and my players have terrible notions continually reinforced in it
It's a destructive cycle
>>46382433
You mean titty rpg, right
>>46382542
Sure buddy. Whatever you say.
Just posting some Artesia pages.
>>46381978
>shitty novels
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. Are the novels at all worth reading if you're invested in the comics? I heard about them coming out but haven't looked into them further.
>>46382433
That's cool. I've never played a game with it, but I'm glad it's actually a decent system.
Is there any way to get more 'jagged' edges in Inkarnate? I kind of want to get a proper cartographer's map aesthetic going, but everything feels too rounded.
>>46382688
Would suggest painting big and then using small erasers to get the shape you want.
>>46382594
>Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. Are the novels at all worth reading if you're invested in the comics? I heard about them coming out but haven't looked into them further.
As far as I know, no. One of main cast is Artesia's brother but that's about it.
I made my first Map.
Tell me opnions, suggestions and otehr nice things.
So what I need is praise. Lot of praise.
Ok
Seriously
My question is: how do I make an Evil Map? I tried making evil cities blakc but I guess it doesn't transmit the feeling well enough.
Got rid of weird dot in the middle of the ocean. RIP atlantis.
Am having to fight the size-queenism of wanting bigger and bigger. Also tried to remember that unless the scale is much larger I'm not sure about continents who sit pretty by themselves (A'la Azeroth) and something interconnected makes more sense. I'm not sure of the scale myself either. Tried to keep in mind that deserts form on the Doldrums/Horse latitudes but also windward/leeward.
I am fairly sure I will need to redo the map from scratch once I start placing nations/peoples and realizing it doesn't fit where I want them to. Also would need to add in rivers and forests.
Also competing with my habit of wanting to put cultural analogues near to eachother in a historical context but trying to remember I'm not simply re-making earth.
Think I want a bigger desert to be a'la North African-Arabian-Syrian desert corridor. Maybe flip map and switch climates, but I also need a large Eurasian style steppe
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Trying to develop the races and their lore.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
Not very. I combined couple of races with overlapping themes so I have less to write. Also background setting is my half-remembered reconstruction of Points of Light.also laundry list of hentai tropes
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Everything I guess since I'm starting out. But working out the plausible geography and weather and culture would be the hardest part.
>Why are you building your world?text porn game
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Critique on lore, story, and characterization.
>>46383219
Let's get this started.
>>46382030
This is really normal stuff and you should re-evaluate your world view a little if you have to look this hard for something sinister about it.
>>46383073
All of your map features are drawn with sideview cartoon perspective except for your water, which you drew with a top down cartography thing.
It would look much better if you did something else with the water. My first guess would be to just do one line around it, and fill it with little wave decals.
Also because you're using decals, you can just toss some bleached buffalo skulls or whatever in the area near your evil cities. Like, only do that specific one once, but stuff like that.
>>46383219
>Someone else is worldbuilding for a text porn game.
I should have figured. Lay some lore, story, or characterization on us for critique.
>>46383073
Very nice overall, especially for a first time. Those forest edges are waaay too clean is the first thing that pops into mind. The icons for the settlements are nice in terms of variety, usually people will only have like three unique icons for all of their settlements.
just noticed I had posted this in the wrong thread, so here we go. more orc lore, this time on the topic of hunting:
orcs are extreme omnivores whose stomach can take on basically anything short of genuine poison or strong acids. they evolved from wild boars and thus have a natural affinity for beets and mushrooms, which they cultivated early on. they're not hunters by nature, but like the prehistoric entelodon hog, they're predators "by chance": animals that have no reliable way of escaping them (like rats or snails) are part of their regular diet, and they will lash out violently against animals that bother them, usually killing them and then eating them. that includes humans, even among highly socially stratified orc cultures that are considered up to par with or even above human societies in terms of civilization. orcs have also adopted human hunting techniques (like trapping) fairly soon after first contact, but have felt no need to hunt for big game in any way, an exception being the forcefully subjugated and "humanized" orc clans of the Old Capital.
>>46365079
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Pondering the history of it, specifically the sorts of mythic events which every culture references in its oldest tales, and whose truth is difficult to verify.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
The photosynthetic dragons, probably. Or maybe the thread-golems, but those come in later.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Filling out the world map. It seems like it keeps getting bigger and bigger. What's proving most difficult is simply finding a point to say "enough's enough."
>Why are you building your world?
I've a narrative to tell here, but I need a greater sense of everything surrounding the characters, to know exactly where they're coming from, in order to write it.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Well, one issue I've been having since the beginning is how the presence of the aforementioned dragons changes social development. Specifically, how humans would interact with flight-capable dinosaurs who are also intelligent (other than driving them to extinction, of course). I know how it works for at least one nation, whose dragon population is pretty well-integrated with its human one (owing to certain edicts set and enforced by its old dynasty), but when thinking of elsewhere in the world, the dragons seem to disappear. I run into similar problems with imagining the history of species relations leading up to the setting's current timeframe--how everybody went from being cavemen and cavedragons to being men and dragons in a 1920s-esque world is a big gap to fill.
>>46383219
>>46383535
I don't plan to ever make a porn setting so I have no place to put this idea. Feel free to take it if you want it.
In the real world, there's an orchid that tricks bees into polinating it by looking like a sexy lady bee.
In pornoverse, there's a tree that grows sexy plant-ladies who try to get humans to fuck them (their vag is full of pollen). If you fuck two of them without wiping your dick off, you'll pollinate the second one and she'll go become a tree. So they're really into threesomes (thanks, evolution). But they're sentient and some of them want to live longer, so they get around it by having their threesomes with literally any other species.
>>46383868
>Slime/ooze that subsists on protein
>usually captures small animals and drains their blood
>a few are sentient and can maintain humanoid forms
>this is where I put a lewd statement
>>46383868
I have a bank of such ideas I will put it in anon thank you. Off the top of my head justifying a creature who invests all the energy resources of sentience in what is only a pollination lure is hard to pull off but certainly not impossible.
>>46383350
>>46383535
http://pastebin.com/VAZSihXY
Here are the notes on what I have.
>>46383868
>>46383904
>>46384033
Thanks for the ideas
Hey i get bored and make maps on paint and i always get to this point and don't know how to proceed with the general geography mountains rivers and so on any help/suggestions/criticisms would be helpful.
looking to turn it into a early bronze age world.
Thanks.
>>46386421
Make clusters of ^s for mountains. They tend to be in chains. Long chains tend to be parallel to coast lines (but it could be a coast a long ways away). Short chains tend to be circles centered somewhere just off the coast (so some of the circle is missing, because it's underwater), particularly complicated looking coasts.
Draw blue lines for rivers. Rivers flow downhill. That means away from nearby mountains and towards nearby seas. Because all rivers in an area are going to the same place, they tend to group up into bigger rivers as they go. So it can look like a tree, with its trunk touching the sea and the branches in the mountains. But actually showing every little tributary river as it flows up into a mountain is usually not necessary.
>>46385072
Sorry got caught up in my own thing. You got a good framework there anon. I especially like integrating gameplay mechanics into the lore by making the PC's reviving a lore aspect.
From a story perspective what you have now is a good start if a bit cliche in feel but given you only have barebones now that's understandable. From a personal perspective these are things I would hope would be considered/expanded on in the finished product,
- How did Lud work prior to the separation, how did society function, did the outside world have an influence on Lud that meant changes occurred when that influence left? History from this period might be scarce depending on how long ago the separation was and so on but it being absent altogether would be kind of weird and fake feeling.
- Including beast morphs via the in-lore reason of biological soldiers is great. Props to you on that, games of this... inclination almost require such races.
- Ok so the overarching plot seems to be a evil(?) deities/powers want to take power and the PC is one of the obstacles in their path thing and you have potential deities on your side but they're weak in some way in order to make things interesting. Not bad by any means as long as you give enough depth to these divinities, make learning about your divine roots interesting, and make becoming basically God interesting (Personally I feel if you're going to make someone God you need to give them all kinds of choice which can make it difficult from a workload perspective but ultimately rewarding and fun from a story point).
>>46387065
Thanks for your help.
Should I add back Dwarves as a race?
I feel like they kind of occupy similar niches because they have overlapping physical features and racial quirks albeit in different directions.
ex. height, good crafters, lives in mountains
>>46387456
*similar niches as Goblins
Not really worldbuilding, but it is developing a character, sort of, so I might as well try here.
This character is incredibly charismatic. She isn't necessarily evil, and there are a lot of followers that like her. Regal yet firey. If I had to describe her using other characters, it is a decent mix of Hannibal's sophistication and detachment with a generic fire anime antagonist... or protagonist. Maybe even toss in a bit of the Queen of the Damned, if you'd like. Formidable, charismatic, reserved, but incredibly dangerous if crossed.
Anyway. My issue is that I can't find a good song to use as inspiration to build off her character. I'm looking for a mix between Polite Dance Song by The Bird and the Bee and symphonic metal. Something regal and powerful, but self-aware and... maybe even a bit seductive. Slower paced.
Essentially, if you have songs or bands that sound like they might help, or be a good jumping off point, please feel free to share them.
To make this related to not just me, what songs make you think of your characters, or certain aspects of your world? Share them with the class and explain how/why they help you in worldbuilding.
>>46383481
>water
Ok, I just copied it from a middle-earth map, will try your suggestion.
>decals
Oh so this is what they are called. Yeah gonna dd skulls and stuff around.
>>46383535
Yeah I need to re do the woods.
THanks guys.
What do humans get out of worshiping gods?
>>46389224
A false sense of security *tips fedora*
>>46389224
Spells and boons, of course, same reason anyone else does
>>46389224
Gods sponsor and enable human missions to steal pieces of rival gods for them and let them keep the scraps of their spoils. Only the most accomplished and powerful of heroes can steal from the basic forms of the gods themselves, and those heroes are almost without exceptions demigods and lesser aspects of their patron deities. Mortals have to make due with defiling temples, sacrificing worshippers and for very courageous and powerful ones attacking the divine aspects and lesser syncretisms.
>>46382433
>It's such a bitch to run though that I don't like punishing my GM with it.
Character generation and arcana/exp system needs quick rules. Are bindings as bad in play as they look?
>>46389224
Their world not getting absorbed into the bleak void of none existence as theirs is the only remaining world with proper sentient life worthy of ascending upon their extinction along with the remaining sentient races of their world.
>>46389224
Access to afterlife
The human fishing village is starving because of events.
The Elven forest village won't share any food with the humans.
Why?
>>46391768
because elves are assholes.
I'm seeing this board white and blue.
what the fuck happened?
>>46391985
Check the date.
It's an April Fool's joke where they tried to make 4chan look like it was designed by Google I guess? (At least that's what I guess they want it to look like given the big blue plus for adding posts). Probably in reference to Moot going to Google. Also notice how everyone isn't anon, they have random stupid usernames.
>>46391768
Maybe the Elves are worried about the approaching winter/storm/something and whether the food they have stored will be enough for even themselves. Not willing to risk themselves for humans.
My party is going to be present for what is effectively the beginning of the Apocalypse. Or at least, the beginning of a new, decidedly less fortunate chapter of history.
Should I have them accidentally cause it (via actions I'm 99% sure they will take), or just have it happen by chance?
I can't decide which I prefer.
>>46391768
>The human fishing village is starving because of events.
>The Elven forest village is starving because of those same events.
Any reason why it can't be that simple?
>>46391768
Because they're isolationist assholes. The entire reason they are living in their mountainous forests is so that they can easily avoid people.
Maybe if the humans were willing to trade for food. Still unlikely, as the Elves would be wondering why humans of all beings don't have enough food, and why they would expect the Elves to have a large enough surplus to supply. Most likely its a trap, better kill them all
>>46392027
>Maybe the Elves are worried about the approaching winter/storm/something and whether the food they have stored will be enough for even themselves. Not willing to risk themselves for humans.
I think I'll go with this, considering the source of the humans' problems is about to graduate into full fledged disaster territory.
"Our prophets have foreseen dire times ahead, we have nothing to spare."
>>46391768
An imperial merchant had just secured the rights to their entire export while his partner is negotiating a deal with the fishing village.
>want to make mid fantasy world in vein of WHFB and Conan
Im just tearing shit from history and emulating it.
Want me to drop anything?
They're all downloaded from wikipedia.
>>46395140
>WHFB and Conan
Aren't they distinctly different eras though? WHFB is about 1500s, while Conan is more like Iron or Bronze Age
>>46395186
sure, but I mean more thematically.
also, the world history is going to range from ancient era to 1600s or so. Planning on napoleonic era too, but I gotta read up more on that stuff.
Also, here's the general map.
And yes, it's supposed to look similar to real world.
>>46395276
Check /tg/ wargaming thread for dem osprey books.
>>46383481
that's literally how Tolkien did it, and how it's burned into the collective conciouse of how it should be done.
>>46396360
True but I think he has a point. I looks odd confronted with the mountains.
>>46365079
>how things got to the way it is now. The realm of the spirits and the mortals got sundered in a huge cataclysmic event and I'm working on how it happened
>dunno if you want to consider it original but my setting's basically Mouse Guard meets Glorantha in a way
>it's actually trying to figure out how the creation myths for each culture in my setting works along with the true creation myth. I have to make them different in an entirely unique, complex and interesting way to make it more diverse.
>it's a part of my pet project that i wanted to visualise this world since about four years ago. that and i find worldbuilding an increasingly entertaining process the more i learn about it
>well, i have a few things from the creation myth i need to know if i could give a more unique twist to it. The universe starts off with one Creator who made the Primal Spirits to help him build the world into creation. these Primal Spirits pretty much split small parts of their soul to create lesser spirits and these made even lesser ones etc. These could still ascend to become a Primal Spirit if they could gain enough power for it. Squabblings among them causes the utter turmoil which brought the world they help create to ruin, and the mortals suffer because of it.The Creator then ordered his most loyal subject to split the world into two, severing the connection of the spirit realm and the mortal realm. This marks the sundering of the world and the spirits who survived the cataclysm would rise up to mend the world and rebuild it once again. The connection to the spirit realm was restored but not completely, so to avoid spirits to repeat armageddon once again and protecting the mortals from themselves. That's pretty much the basic info for "true" creation myth so far
>>46383089
Would you mind carefully explaining how you made such a nice looking map particularly the mountains, forests, and coast colors.
>>46398897
Looks like he followed this guide.
>>46399065
Thanks Jorge, you the man.
>>46398897
What Jorge Coleman of Coleman enterprises said.
It's a really solid map tutorial and I enjoy following it.
What I am working with right now. I like the map enough that I am sticking with it this time. There's something to be said for maps that lead off 'somewhere' like my map above did, but considering the Greeks had a vague notion of Africa and Asia ending 'somewhere' it makes me less a fan of that.
On the flipside it means you have to plan out ahead unless there is a new world situation or another continent referred to and some sailing distance away but enough to be it's own sphere.
Scope wise I'm aiming for a size equivalent to the Europe/West Asia/Africa down to the Sahel/Savannah.
If I fucked up on mountain or island placement from a blatant geological standpoint plz respond. I tried to abide by what I posted >>46395746 and the lessons on mountain/island placement. Mainly that Mountain chains usually occur near a coast or what was once a coast, the whole subduction of oceanic plate or the push up of two tectonic plates a'la Himalayas.
Not done mountain placement yet. Need to add some highlands to the north, more to the island region in the east.
Is it viable for a lake to be in the middle of a long dormant volcano or mountain like on the west island?
>>4639921
Very impressive, I will begin the process of converting my current map into that style.
>>46399215
I also wouldn't mind any /tg/ climatologists to chime in for potential climates. Initially, thinking in the Earth context of continent(s) stretching almost from pole to pole I used a very cheap and crude equator/tropics marking (50% mark of the map was equator, then every 20% was a 'zone'. 0-20 and 80-100% were 'polar/temperate", 20-40 and 60-80 were "temperate/hot" and 40-60 was "hot"). I didn't like how much it forced me to have tropics unless I weighted more land north or south and the historical nonentity of transequatorial interaction between civilizations pre modern times (Exceptions permitting) so this region is free-floating in latitude. That being said it will probably inhabit a climate similar to Eurasia and not be equatorial.
-What is the abridged "for dummies" reason for the Monsoons - I know the temperature difference between land and sea, but is it so big in Asia because of the massive land of Asia? Would it apply in this world or will that depend on latitudes?
-Any areas on that map jump out as a certain climate? A desert, rainforest, ect.
>>46395276
>Planning on napoleonic era
Well, color me interested.
What is the circle situated in the Sea with rays coming out of it? Lot of old maps have multiple.
>>46400078
a compass.
>>46400101
then explain this.
>>46400117
Ley lines.
Why do you think so many wizards build their towers on tiny, remote islands?
>>46369801
>The magic. I'm having trouble in limiting it. In my setting, I want magic to be this all-powerful, mystical, mysterious force, not something readily usable, but I don't know how and where to put limits on it.
That sounds like a lame excuse to pull something out of your ass when you need to. I like the way Brandon Sanderson handles magic in his books. Also, his worldbuilding is pretty top-notch all around.
I downloaded a D&D monster manual the other day and I'm really enjoying flicking through it and reading the little flavour texts on he different creatures.
Is there an equivalent .pdf on say fantasy/sci fi locations or weapons or civilisations?
So, I wanted to make a setting inspired in Asia around the 4th-6th centuries. Of course, a religion based on Buddhism is practically a must, but I don't know where to start.
Any suggestions?
Happy April Fools, everyone!
Also, what is your opinion on settings where both magic and science exist, especially in an industrial era/post industrial revolution setting? Any dos and don'ts?
Should magic mix with technology? Would it be helpful with computer science, like creating a demonic virus, coding spells or designing a super search engine?
What are the limits of magic? Can it cure cancer? What problems would arise from using magic too much or for too long?
>>46401125
Depends entirely on what you're writing. Best way is to define the exact rules and mechanics of magic.
The Laundry series has magic just be incredibly advanced math, which can be done by computers. Hence, you can literally have fireball.exe
Dresden Files has magic break modern technology by its presence, which limits the character to stuff that works up to the 1950s. This keep a divide between the magical and the mundane, which is sort of an overall theme in the series
>>46400751
It's not lame to want magic to be mysterious. It's also not lame to want to codify the laws of it and make into a science like Sanderson does. They are two fundamentally different goals and require different approaches.
>>46369801
It's hard to know what limits to put on without knowing more about the world. But here's some ways it's been done off the top of my head:
- Magic users are demigods in human and there are only a small number of them.
- Magic is a gift only certain people get. Some people are born with it and some aren't.
- Magic requires traumatic experiences in order to activate.
- People with magic have a finite 'amount' of it they can use, or a very slowly regenerating amount. If they do a big spell they are spent and can't do anymore, either for ever or for a long time. Smaller spells require longer periods of rest.
- Magic requires sacrifice, which can either be represented by something's physical/material value, or it's 'meaning' value to the magic user. The sacrifice doesn't necessarily have to be done at the same time as the spell, but it can be used as credit for a later spell.
- Magic requires divine favour, so only those that propagate and proselytize the worship of a deity are granted the ability to use their magic. The larger their following, the greater their magic. If they do something against their religion or against their deity, they lose favour and lose their power.
I'm thinking of making my campaign have three general sections.
A bit of backstory:
In the beginning, there was no magic. The world used to be divided among many small kingdoms and despotic regimes that claimed to be necessary to keep the peace, yet committed horrific acts of brutality and violence to the people living there as well as waging many wars of conquest to satisfy the whims of the kings and politicians. After centuries of conflict, a man of immense arcane power arrived and single-handedly deposed the rulers of a collection of states, before freeing the people and offering them the opportunity to remove the despots who had tortured their world for so long. The populace threw themselves behind the effort, and the freed states formed a new republic, united against the world.
The remaining leaders saw the threat to their positions of power and turned their attentions to wiping the fledgeling republic from the face of the earth. However, the people of these nations were rising up as champions of considerable arcane ability appeared to lead them. As nations fell and were reborn, the world began to see advances in knowledge and living standards as never seen before. For the first time, humans would be expected to live into their 70s instead of being conscripted or dieing of disease. These advances were potentiated by knowledge shared by the god-like figure who originally deposed the despots, who governed lightly with a council of nine archmages as a cabinet.
And then, suddenly, he vanished.
>>46402457
The world was plunged into mourning, and thoughts as to succession were considered. As the council of nine deliberated, research continued into various darker and more sinister magic. Ultimately, the council were no longer held back by their leader, and inadvertently caused a channelling of arcane power they could not control. The capital city were The Revolution had begun was obliterated, and a cloud of magical fallout covered the whole planet.
Monsters, abominations and other horrors begun to appear as society on the continent broke down. The magic-dependant society could no longer use their facilities as magic objects developed random, hazardous effects. Evacuations were staged, and the outer islands - where independent, non-despotic states had survived - took on refugees, as their island resources were stretched to breaking point. Countless millions died during the cataclysm, and years of progress were lost.
Life endured on the islands, the sea, and in the sky; but the world would never be the same again.The individual who overthrew the kings of old was actually an illithid archmages - by posing as a benevolent leader, he was able to sway the world to follow him as he enabled them to live longer lives, full of access to magical feedback, and thus producing brains full of memories and magical essence. The apocalypse was caused when the archmage returned to the illithid mothership in orbit to finalise plans for the ultimate harvest, leaving his lieutenants to perform the ritual. They failed, and the ritual that would have rendered the world catatonic failed, with disastrous consequences. Now the illithid high command plots a new ritual, one that will see the end of the world as we know it.
>>46402495
The three stages of the campaign would be as follows:
1) acting as mercenaries, STALKERS or independent agents in a sandbox world, so they might be hired to travel to the mainland by airship and retrieve a valuable artefact - all illegal, or course. They could act to overthrow the last despotic regimes on the planet. They could do a whole host of things.
2) the bridge between this and the final act. The party somehow (?) are lead to believe that something about the historical story is wrong, and they gather information and personnel that enable them to investigate and uncover the truth.
3) the campaign now goes full Spelljammer as the party has uncovered the truth, and muststop the illithid ship before it reaches the planet and finishes the ritual. They visit various bodies in the solar system before launching one final assault on the mothership.
So, are there any areas that you would change, and why? I'm wondering if there's anything I have overlooked whilst typing this out on my phone.
>tfw you can use today's random names to name NPCs
Rolling for the leader of the setting's most powerful Empire
>>46401269
While you don't have to make it incredibly scientific like Sanderson does, he raises a few good points, chiefly that if you don't codify the laws of your magic in some way, its difficult for the audience/players to not see it as a series of asspulls. This can work well when magic isn't being used by the protagonist/players, but can fall quite flat when our central characters are directly involved with using it. So if you want to keep your magic mystic, feel free to do so, but make sure you know the limits on when it can and can't be used
http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/
>>46403902
>tfw you can use today's random names to name NPCs
It would have been neat if /tg/ had generic fantasy names rather than the normal selection. Guess it doesn't matter too much since it's gone tomorrow
>>46404595
Sanderson doesn't even understand how to write humans that don't come across as uncanny valley /r9k/ abominations or dialogues that don't physically hurt to read, why should anyone take advice from him? Because lots of people with bad taste exist and buy his books? reddit's the other way, now fuck off.
>>46404595
this shit is why every new fantasy thing has to have at least 10 pages/10minutes of "explaining the magic system". nobody fucking cares. it's magic. people are okay with magic being magic. it should never be used so excessively that you have to establish Da Rulez for it in the first place.also Branderson is a hack.
>>46404874
>should never be used so excessively
And what if magic is something that literally anybody in the world, including the common person, could do on a whim? You need rules to establish what people can and cannot do.
>>46404940
You need to learn a fucking lot of math.
Only nerds learn math, therefore only wizards will be good at math.Sorcerers are weirdos that have perfectly symmetrical bodies that do the math for them.
>>46404595
Did you miss the entire part of the conversation where we were discussing how and what kinds of limits to add to the magic? How dense are you?
>>46400117
>>46400078
Those are windroses. They aid in navigation by the sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhumbline_network
Hey guys, I have a question just out of plain curiosity
>Are there anthropomorphical/sentient animals in your setting? How do you explain them? Players can use a character of those types?
>>46409194
I have some anthroporphical races in my setting (Toads, marine turtles, gorillas, catfolk -leonin, panteras and sphinx- and elephants), they developed from those base animals in ancient times, they believe that they become what they are now thanks to the gods each of they society adore, except gorillas and elephant who have a concept similar to evolution. Still, the majority of them respect or even worship those animal species as ancestors or avatars of their gods.
Apart for that, some forest (the biggest ones) are know for producing what people call woodfolks that are anthropomorphic animal but normaly with faces that resemble more those of the original species (less human eyes, for example). They dont belong to a culture or society and go out of the forest normally to have a hard time outside.
I even have a character who is a bat based woodfolk that cut his own wings to be able to enter on armor because having one adapted to him was imposibly expensive and he wanted to become an adventurer.
>>46409252
(And he is still satisfied with his decision)
>>46409194
>Are there anthropomorphical/sentient animals in your setting? How do you explain them? Players can use a character of those types?
The Beastmen races are "Humanoid" beasts, and were created as "Greater Beasts" during the world's creation. A majority of the other races evolved from Beastmen.
As for "sentient" animals, relatively intelligent animals that communicate through vocalizations can have their "words" be made understandable by other intelligent life, due to the Tongues effect being in-place globally.
Generally, the animal's vocalizations must have a linguistic basis for it to be translated, so simple bird calls, howls, or growls won't be translated. Dolphins or Ravens are two examples of animals intelligent enough to communicate with the "Greater Beasts", though Dolphins aren't in the setting.
>>46409252
Same guy, also normal animals tend to be a little more inteligent than the ones in this world, but not that much.
Some more intelligent species have a special language and only the individuals that understand them know how intelligent they can be. Also some species´ kings (like the king of the birds of the south) are more intelligent than a lot of the individuals of the traditional species.
>>46409194
orcs, lycanthropes, dwarves and dryads are beastman races created through magical genetic engineering
>>46404940
Then your setting is, pardon my French, shit. Gimmicky shit. Also you don't understand what 'magic' means if you think everyone should be using it like calculators or horticulture.
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Finishing place names and thinking about how fluff in whole.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
Probably really nothing. More or less everything is X meets Y, not!serbian elven and not!kievanrus dwarven etc.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Writing everything down
>Why are you building your world?
Boredom and good imagination
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Magic in whole. Currently magic is something like background radiation that seeps from ground. Everybody can learn it, but learning basics takes lifetime. You have to be magically attuned to use magic and even then it is not shabby or flashy.
Common way to use magic would be runesmithing. Runes can store magical energy for later use, basically a battery and runes can either enchant performance or have some fancy effect for example one rune can enchant conductors ability to catch magic energies for further use or another rune on sword makes it weep poison when activated. Runes are "easy" way to magic, but still require training to use. Holy Knight might spend decade to learn how his Sword of Burning works the best or siege engineer few years to learn the proper ritual to activate the runes that make sure that the trebuchet doesn't misfire.
City of Magi, which is the biggest collection of all things magical, is located in place where there is a lot of energy leakage and due to that they have build large blocks of stones that work as batteries which they use to fuel their high end magic.
What is the best, most beautiful map you have ever seen?
And why it is picrelated?
>>46365079
>What are you currently working on in your world?
editing first draft of The Novel that's gonna make me rich and famous and bring all the boys to the yard>implying
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
not really anything in particular, most of them have some kind of parallel somewhere else. but I don't think too many settings have "what if Iroquois & Tlingit got access to firearms way early and also had a naval empire" as the base for one of their factions. it's strange how few settings use Native American stuff beyond generic Mystical Not!Indian Tribes of [Orcs/Beastmen]
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
pic related. making ethnogenesis(?) that I'm personally satisfied with wasn't easy.
>Why are you building your world?
about 50% for the fun of it (and to flex those historian muscles) and 50% to have a setting to write stories in.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
I'd post excerpts from the stories, but it's all inKraut runesso I doubt there'd be much feedback.also my ego doesn't allow critique :^)
>>46412607
But anon, that's not pic related...
I want to build a more primal fantasy world, like starting the transition from stone age to copper/bronze, though maybe with other fantasy materials or stuff that's been popularized in fantasy like obsidian weapons/tools.
That or maybe a fantasy world that dealt with the actual apocalypse some thousands of years ago and every humanoid species was driven to the brink of extinction, so tech had to revert to being far more primitive with the emphasis on just pure survival.
>>46365079
QUICK /tg/, I need airship sky-shanties, sailing songs, and war chants!
>>46413638
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB37CvARO24
>What are you currently working on in your world?
Writing out information for the witch hunting organization and the city they base themselves out of. I think I'm gonna write my world from the inside out and focus on smaller details first then expand outwards.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
Not anything really. I haven't made enough to really expand on any original ideas I've had. If I had to choose something, it would be the fact that the witch hunters are the bastardization of the old king's personal guard. They were turned into witch hunters by the new king after he started fearing of a conspiracy by magic users to usurp him. The witch hunters still work as a personal guard still, but they're more offensive than defensive.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
In the past, thinking of the big, over-encompassing details of a setting is the most difficult since I always run into writer's block. There's that and names.
>Why are you building your world?
I'm homebrewing a low-fantasy system and I wanted an original setting that would compliment it. I'm drawing a lot of inspiration from the Witcher and, to a lesser extent, Dark Souls since I've been playing so much DS2 recently. I also just like writing stuff for enjoyment and it's a good way to calm down after getting frustrated at DS2.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
What would be a good appearance for the personal guard/witch hunters? Right now I'm basically having their uniform be dark grey and red so they just look like Nazis and I'm trying to get away from that a bit because it seem's too cliche.
>>46413638
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M38niSUEWtY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w34fSnJNP-4
rate my map, /tg/.it's still very bare-bones but at least I managed to find a nice wave texture
>>46414214
Why are you playing the shit Souls game when there's 2 good ones already out and 1 more coming out soon? Even its lore is beyond stupid.
>>46412607
Motherfucker, do you even Strangereal?
>>46415292
>Islamic European Union
Are you from the future?
>>46414214
How about a butlers uniform base design merged with old leather fencing doublet/jacket.
>>46415142
because i've already played the shit out of DS1 and got bored of it and i dont have a console for demon souls. and i preordered 3 already.
>>46415326
>European
Uh, it's "Europan," thank you. Way to spurn an entire continent and its complex multicultural history. Dick.
>>46415443
>muh multicultural
There you go again with the SJW rhetorics...
>>46415354
i think that might work. i'm still a bit worried about the color scheme though. i'm thinking of adding gold to the color scheme to distinguish them a bit
>>46415481
>SJW rhetorics...
Found the Belkan.
>>46415495
Well, whatever colors you pick, they ought to be the colors of the king and therefore the country. Are they?
Hell, designing a flag or some other standard might help inform these guys' apparel.
>>46415112
Wave texture seems overplayed to me, but it's a nice map of color-coded politics. Like the more 30s feel it has
>>46415112
Change the font to something more easily readable, can't easily read the smaller text
>>46415558
Anyone else think the map of Strangereal is perfect for a fantasy setting?
What are some other games that have great and difficult to identity setting maps?
>>46416835
Honestly, I think that Strangereal is a bit elaborate for a fantasy game. My rule of thumb is that players only get a map of the continent they start on, and even then its mostly just to mark the relation of cities, mountains, rivers ,and seas.
Other maps may exist, but detailed maps of the known world were not the sort of thing people just HAVE in a pre-industrial setting.
>>46416683
that's actually not a bad idea, will do
>>46416835
>>46417420
It's kind of fun to ponder the alt-history of Strangereal prior to the games. I mean, we see huge superpowers like Osea and Yuktobania are made up of a shit-ton of territories--what was it like living on their respective continents before they confederated? What was it like when Aurelius II actually sat the throne? What of the Belkan knightly orders?
These questions are usually followed by, "Did the developers even bother answering such questions?"
>>46418551
The entire point of Strangereal is that it's just about our world, but it's fictional so they can make allowances for superweapons, flying aircraft carriers and frequent wars
So it'd be like the real world, except for when Ulysses hit
>get a chance to essentially rewrite my game setting carte blanche from the players accidentally the whole thing
>finally manage to think up of something clever after shitloads of consideration
It's weird. When someone actually just THROWS you a huge time changer, you really start to get delicate and thoughtful, over just having it be the setting default.
>>46400013
yeah, Im just not sure how giants would fit in it. Like, the giants arent real tall( three meters in height), but what role would they serve? Shock troops? How would normal sized people combat them?
Also, since my elves are middle eastern, Im going to have Ottoman Elves during napoleonic era. Including the Jannisaries.
>>46421189
>How would normal sized people combat them?
>>46421219
>>46421189
Addendum, canister shot and cutting the legs to bring them down
>>46421189
>how would normal sized people combat them
hack into their ankles with polearms. trip them with rope. shoot them with cannons because they're 10ft tall and ez targets.
>>46418640
>it's just about our world, but it's fictional
So, it's not our world, then. I'm not sure what your point is.
>it'd be like the real world, except for when Ulysses hit
Except not, since again, it's an entirely different world. Sure, certain technology exists in both theirs and our world, and there are parallels to be drawn between the fictitious nations and real ones, but the history and geography behind everything are entirely different, and that's what's fun to speculate on.
Does anyone have any good resources/random generators for family trees? I've been working on royal families, but would love something that'd let me make a few quick ones for less important houses. Domesday has been pretty good, but I'd love if I could get something with an actual tree layout.
>>46421189
Well, how smart are these giants? Assuming they're just as intelligent as normal humans (unlike, say, Ogryn), they'd basically be able to do everything normal infantry do, but better. Cavalry would basically be a non-issue for a square formation of giants with proportional muskets and bayonets. If they possess superhuman strength in addition, then that opens the possibility for all sorts of tactics involving mobile artillery, with giants carrying cannons quickly to wherever they're needed on the field. And hey, if you can kit them out in armor, they'd be pretty intimidating.
Thing with using them as shock troops, though, is that they'd probably be relatively easy to stop. It's hard to advance a group of giants across a field and not draw fire from all directions: being a bigger guy just means you're more vulnerable to artillery and massed musket fire. Against green troops, yes, they'd probably be quite effective, but expecting them to break some guys who know how to volley fire would be difficult.
>>46422146
Yeah, they're smart as the average human. They're a mix between celts and vikings during the ancient era and become more Scottish-like during the medieval-esque age.
Those are all really fascinating points. Imma copy them down. Especially the point about being able to carry artillery and being a big obvious target. That is surprisingly inherently balanced.
>>46365079
>What are you currently working on in your world?
On an elvish civil war.
>What aspect of your world is the most original?
I don't know.. I've never seen that somebody uses 18th century warfare as a base.
>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
The Sarolinger-Reich.. It's literally a Holy Roman Empire whith far more principalities and without an 'Ewiger Landfriede' of course.
>Why are you building your world?
I began because I'm GMing but the most of the world isn't really necessary but it makes a lot of fun to build the world so I do it as a hobby.
>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
I literally don't know who I can implement Gnomes in my world, since one of my players want to play one because his character died. Suggestions please
>>46399065
Its a bit out of date... Getting some of the steps fucked up because of it...
>>46415112
I have no experience in maps but will comment anyway. I like the wave structure. The motherstorm looks bad to me and resembles a mickey mouse. A zone of the map is empty why would someone make a map half of which is empty sea?
>>46423111I still have landmasses to add to itand thanks for pointing out the micky mouse thing, I can't unsee it now.
>>46422460
Also keep in mind the logistics of fielding giants. They're going to consume food and water at a much higher rate than your average infantry, and without the ability to graze like horses can (unless your giants have some weird biological processes at play). Thus an army with giants in its ranks is going to have to strategize more heavily around resource points while on the march, and will be more vulnerable to scorched earth tactics.
>>46415112
Text and land glow is too ugly, probably too feathered. Sea texture is flashy and dumb. A solid colour or more subtle texture would look much better.
>>46415292
boring. No geogrpahic ifnormation on that map
>>46412781
All the info this map conveys is: there is the city then a swamp and then forest.
And the city is too big for my tastes.
>>46415481
>saying germany, england, france, spain, poland are not the same culture is SJW rhetoric
Holy shit, kill yourself.
>>46412781
I love that map as a drawing but to be fair there's like six things on it.
>>46423442
>>46423514
If your jokes are indistinguishable from stupid , run-of-the-mill shitposts, maybe they are stupid shitposts.
>>46423598
You know, the number one thing the internet needs is a new font for sarcasm. A font that can be universally applied.
Something like italics, but the letters look more condescending.
Then we wouldn't be in these situations.
>>46423598
>>46422460
>giant vikings invading your village
>>46422460
>Giant vikings
Please tell me this guy is in your world
>>46425405
This one picture is literally his entire personality
>>46373545
Because you don't just fuck with a Canada goose
Is it considered poor form to just use fucking Pangea as your world map?
Cause it fits my world perfectly.
>>46428956
If you change it up a little in coastlines, remove/change mountain locations and such (would you even have a lot of our current mountains or steppes or whatever in Pangea?) then nobody will notice.
>>46415292
Didn't know there was Islam in Strangereal. Christianity too?
>In 250 million years Migrants won't have to cross the Mediterranean to ficki ficki.
God help the cephalopod-Germans when squidmerkel invites millions of migrant hyenas.
How do you handle continent/city names that are done in 'fantasy language'? They always seem to come out as sounding exceptionally dumb to me, but I use them because there's nothing better.
>>46429604
I really like using foreign languages for my city and country names. German, Gaelic, and Hungarian are my favorite to use personally.
>>46429604
What are you doing, just making up names on the spot or do you have a construction language?
>>46429863
constructed*
>>46429604
Call them "Old Town" or "Leader's Nameia" and assume the names are just translated from the fantasy language into English.
>>46429604
well if your basing a country on a real life counter part, than you can always just make up a word (or use an existing word) and add the appropriate suffix like -ville, -burg or -polis etc for naming towns and cities
Most names just come from literally descriptions of the area. Tokyo and Nanjing mean Eastern and Southern Capital respectively. Halifax's etymology has it as "area of coarse grass in the nook of land" and so. GRRM does something similar for his Westeros names, and it honestly works out pretty well
Found this on /v/.
>Admit it,how many of these cliches are in your setting?
>>46430256
Thankfully noneyet.
Makes me feel good and know what to be aware of.
>>46430256
That is my setting anon.
The game is about a world that realized it was a shitty annual-expansion type MMO. All of the people know they're NPCs who exist for the satisfaction of kids with mommy's credit card. Despair reigns supreme for all for what happiness can there be in such a hollow existance.
The players are a group of low level bosses who decided they didn't want to live that way and are now on a quest to break the game hard enough that the dev-team has to release a proper update to give the NPC population a break from the monotony.
They can only do this because of a loophole in the programing of the game that means if a non-player game element from outside of the environment for each main guest and raid boss kills said boss, they don't respawn. So now they're killing all of the big bosses to save their world from drudgery and annoying teenagers who stand around playing with the camera to look up female npc skirts.What they don't know yet is that they will have to die too before the Big Patch can be released.
>>46430395
Are player characters in the setting? How do they interact with the self-aware NPCs/PCs?
>>46430256
Vikingheim.
Also dwarf cities built into mountains.
And technically several of the geographic regions, though that's not really meaningful considering big tundras or deserts or particularly stormy regions aren't so much cliches as actual things that happen sometimes.
>>46430427
It follows Toy Story rules. NPCs have to obey their programming in front of humans, but can move around on their own when nobodies looking.
It's a small time game with no servers outside of North America so they players have periods of no people around when most of the action takes place.
However, the world never deviates from its programming, so its always the same thing day after day and the NPCs have nothing to do even when nobody's playing.
Cops don't grow because they're just flat images going through a "gentle wind" loop. Animals just move in the same pattern chewing at the same patch of ground.
In the "Northern Shire" equivalent, there's an NPC named Farmer Nathers. Every hour or so a group of goblins attacks his cows as part of a recurring quest. He knows the goblins by name and they're friendly, but neither of them can stop fighting he other because that's how the game was written.
And generally, Gamer Characters (I call them that to differentiate from the actual Player Characters) are total dicks. Much like in real MMOs. They don't care about the little people because they're just part of the setting. They just want their loot and to offload their useless junk on the town chef. WHY are they giving him all of their junk minerals and monster gut covered treasure? Because his shop is the closest to the field they collect it from. Nevermind that the general store is not even twenty feet further. Gotta be "efficient" in their farming and grinding.
Seriously. Fuck GCs.
>>46425405
I have got get around to reading Vinland Saga.
Who knew Japs could be such fans of early European medieval history?
>>46430561
I...I kinda love this.
>>46430889
Thanks. My players are surprisingly invested in it considering I made it to be a passive aggressive shit.
>>46430395
So, how long have you been playing STO?
>>46430950
I've never touched it.
Why, am I ripping it off?
>>46430974
>Why, am I ripping it off?
Nah. You'll need to add massively bad glitches and bugs for that to happen.
>>46431077
That's a good idea. I haven't thrown bugs at them yet.
Alright /wbq/ question time.
>how does small folk/peasants/citizens life in your setting. Are they oppressed down by their liege lords or are they democratic free citizens with magical guffins working the fields?
>>46430256
got that maelstrom, brah.
>>46431632
Bump with reason.
Elven peasants and citizens usually life quite normal life doing their jobs. With long age of 300 years they have long time to perfect their trade. Citizens are to participate in refreshing training once a month to train in formations. These citizen militias are backbone of Elven armies.
>>46392121
Well, if the PCs are likely to investigate and resolve the crisis, then yes, there is a reason it can't be that simple.
So my game is set on a re-terraformed Earth after a giant asteroid impact. Do you think it would be plausible in the 10,000 years while the Earth was being made livable again, the terraforming nanomachines would have been able to replenish natural resources like oil, coal, natual gas and such to give humanity a totally fresh canvas to work with?
Or would it be better for stuff like that to have been synthesized and stockpiled by the pre-impact civilizations in massive underground bunkers and such?
>>46433879
It sounds like you're trying to justify giving humanity a "fresh canvas to work with". Don't bother, honestly. Just do it, because anything "thought out" will feel fake and really contrived -- for example, "yeah we terraformed Earth and then decided to put natural resources back where they were because we felt like it.
So, for example: have a fantasy world where humanity has recently been made. Or set it on the fringe of a massive intergalactic empire, far, far from "civilisation". Or anything (I don't know what you're going for).
On the other side -- bunkers full of necessary resources is an excellent spanner to throw in the Earth works. Fortresses built around nuclear shelters, adventurers running into ancient ruins ruled by crazed automata -- or whatever. It's a good spin.
>>46431632
Out in the West, dependings heavily on where they live.
>Bainiter
Pretty good, justrural farmsteaders living their divinely-focused lives, faithful to the King of Life. A hard, fulfilling life focused on family, faith, and work. Good relations with the larger elven tribes nearby leads to relative safety, as well.
>Free Territories
A rough life up in the frozen woods, the average citizen here either is an active adventurer, a failed one, or someone seeking to profit off of them. Knife fights in the bars, savages raiding your towns, and steel being the only thing a man can truly trust.
>Urban Sonaugh
Better than back East, but not by much. Living in squalor in heavily-polluted slums as they handle labor that isn't important enough to be given to the increasing supply of warforged in the industrial market. Food is cheap but of questionable quality and origin, homes are cramped tenements, and crime and gangs are rampant in the lower city.
>Rural Sonaugh
A relatively dangerous life, given the warlike savages livng around you. The Territorial Authority provides a measure of protection, but they're usually a day's ride away. Communities tend to be tightly-bound and depend upon one another for protection, suspicious of outsiders. Still, you are able to live on your own land, free to make your own life with fresh air, fresh food, and able to tell yourself you're not just a cog in a vast, malignant machine.
>Natives (Elves, Orcs, Goblins)
Fucking spear-chuckin', arrow-shootin' savages that eventually age into eldritch Fey gods. Native American lives, from the Iroquois to the Sioux.
>>46433999
Well, there was already going to be old buried ruins protected by drones and such anyway, so I guess that would probably work better.
The setting itself is going to be essentially modern, or rather near-future thanks to reverse engineered pre-impact tech.
>>46434013
Guess I'll answer questions while I'm at it.
>>What are you currently working on in your world?
Nothing, drowning in schoolwork in my senior year of college. Most recently, though, I've been detailing the various cities of Sonaugh.
>>What aspect of your world is the most original?
Not particular original, but I rarely see Wild Western Fantasy. Gun-toting paladins riding about as wandering preacher-sheriffs, warforged guards protecting trains from goblinoid train-robbers.
>>What part of your worldbuilding would you consider the most difficult or time consuming?
Keeping myself from focusing on Back East, given that it will never occupy spotlight on the table. It exists solely for background, and I sometimes struggle to not push too much in the Old World. As is, I think I have plenty of cultures back home, and I definitely underestimate the amount of races I have back over there.
>>Why are you building your world?
I saw the Holy Gun and Spellslinger back when my group was playing Pathfinder. From there, it's gone from Pathfinder to 4E and now to 5E.
>>What part of your world would you like critique or help on?
Advancing the timeline. Where the setting is now, I have a comfortable grip on things, yet I 'know' of the rest of the West and the uncharted regions. Do I just fluff these as they are right now, or should I consider multiple stages to advance Carskan exploration of the West in order to get to the People of the Bear and the People of the Coatl?
Happy for any other questions. And the wiki page, that hasn't been updated in quite some time, including the homebrew to help turn 5E into a Western Fantasy.
>http://westernwastes.wikidot.com/
>>46430773
>Who knew Japs could be fans of European medieval history?
Anyone who's played Dark Souls.
>>46430256
I've got something like the World's Scar, in that there's a giant bay carved out of one side of a continent due to a meteor impact. It's not really a big deal, through.
