World-building and homebrew setting thread

Whether you've decided to make a universe or just a kingdom, whether it's for a campaign you know you'll never get to run or that novel we all know you're writing. Discuss problems, give and get feedback, find new ideas, make maps, and humble-brag about how great yours is.

Some questions you can use to introduce your setting:
>Why are you making it?
>What makes it special?
>Of what are you proud?
>What still needs work?
>What are your inspirations?
>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
>Are there gods? How important is religion?
>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
>What races are there? How do they interact?

>What makes it special?
For one, I'm trying to avoid the medieval-Europe-but-magic thing. The part of the world where most of the action takes place is in the tropics, right below the equator. At the same time, I'm playing with a lot of the standbys of the genre and trying to put some new spins on them.
>Of what are you proud?
The principal setting is around a large gulf, flanked to the north and south by mountains. As a result, there's an intense annual monsoon cycle. When the northern nation is in its rainy season, the southern is in its dry season and vice-versa. This also facilitates their trade relationship--one does most of their exporting during one half of the year and their importing the other half.
>What still needs work?
There are a couple regions where I'm lacking inspiration. The forest region, in particular. For most of the regions I'm using various combinations of existing cultures and locales for inspiration, mixed with some original ideas--for example, the swamp location is based in part on Pa-hay-okee, the jungles of Cambodia (including the castles and the rail system), and the Chinese gardens at the Huntington Library. For the forest region, all I've got is the Amazon.
>What are your inspirations?
As mentioned above, various locations. Another thing that's been super helpful to me is Crash Course World History's second season. The videos about how cultures tend to form and take shape and how resources factor into things have given me a lot of ideas for what-could-bes, etc.

>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
Magic is fairly common; it's a talent many people possess to some degree, but mastering it takes an enormous amount of training. It's the difference between Keller Williams and knowing how to play "Wonderwall".

For the most part, technology is near modern levels. However, there's no fossil fuels or other large, reliable sources of hydrocarbons, so internal combustion engines are unavailable. Hence why sailing ships and riding animals are the most common forms of long-distance transportation. There are batteries and low-yield wind- or water-powered electrical generators. Electric cars don't exist, but theoretically someone could make on with existing technology.

There are also computers, though they don't work like real-world computers (which is good, because I know almost nothing about real-world comptuers). They're little self-contained things carved from a particular kind of rock that can store and share information and run simple processes.
>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Not exactly. People tend to imbue quasi-divinity on anything they view as important, and over time the quasi- can start to disappear. If a particular road was a lifeline to a small village during a time of difficulty, that road might be considered their "god". The act of preparing for war might call for "priests" to invigorate the people. The act of leaving a field fallow would be considered a religious rite. There are a few groups that believe in out-and-out gods but they're not super common in this part of the world.

I hope someone else posts. I don't want to feel like this thread is just for me. Politely sage-ing until then.

I'm working on a setting for a game, and need some thoughts. Its a post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy setting where a few decades into the future, humanity discovers what is basically "magic", which leads to a golden age of progress. Eventually, the over-use of magic causes reality to rip itself apart, and the earth is invaded by Hell through these rips.

I've got 5 factions laid out, and need advice on the last one. So far I have:
>The Knights Templar - The main military left to defend humanity. The best trained with the best equipment.
>The Cabalist - The radical foil to the Templars, where Templars are reluctant to continue to use magic, Cabalists seek to fight fire with fire.
>Cults of the Damaned - The dregs of humanity, Hell-worshipping cults and warlords looking to take advantage of the chaos.
>Infernal Legion - The demons. A wide selection of creatures and beasts.
>The Morlocs - When reality ripped, not everyone in the disaster zones were killed. Some were mutated and driven insane by the magical energy. The few that have kept an semblance of a rational mind has learned to herd these creatures into mobs that obey their orders.

The last faction I can't decide between either the remnants of Japan and China using giant mechs; or an angelic host that oppose the Infernal Legion, whose presence inspire the religious tones in the other factions but see humanity as nothing more than a resource for their own war.

It mainly depends on how serious you want this world to be. If it's more light-hearted, go for the mechs. If it's supposed to be dark and serious, then probably the angels.

Why are they mutually exclusive, though?

BUMP before it 404s, great thread

Just numbers. Its for a wargame, and there's only so many you can focus on at a time. I'll bring in the other, eventually.

I'm interested. Can you elaborate on the geography of the main setting? I didn't quite get it. Is the gulf to the east of the continent? The west?

>>Why are you making it?
Always refining my cyberpunk setting (although soon I'll no longer have an excuse to delay querrying)
>>What makes it special?
It's in the trifecta of hell as I think of it, in the middle between philosophical cyberpunk, hard military sci-fi, and supernatural zombie apocalypse
>>Of what are you proud?
Well, I actually did most of the logistical math and the setting does in fact work. While people may gripe about having not!zombies, I have an answer for every question you can come up with about how the main city works
>>What still needs work?
I dunno, I think I just need to write the sequel
>>What are your inspirations?
Ghost in the Shell, BLAME!, Neuromancer, Air Gear, the Bible, .Hack, Veeky Forums
>>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Fairly shit. Living wage with forced industrial labor, only reprieve is escaping into full immersion VR matrix style and handing over all your shekels to the lucky bastards able to get community traction with their homemade sims. Most of your food is a combination of algae, yeast, insects, and grain. Air pollution puts a constant threat of developing lung cancer and losing your life savings to get it treated. Nepotism in the mega-corps means that if you don't make the military draft (a mega-corp unto itself really) you'll never amount to anything and you'll know this at the old age of 17.
>>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
Magic is unknown by definition. The only way humans are tapping into it is they have an immortal trapped underground that they've been doing medical experiments on. They advanced decades in BCIs thanks to that poor bastard (who if he gets out will kill and kill and can't be stopped). Technology is omnipresent though, cyberpunk setting.
>>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Yes, but no one worships due to a lose of faith following the zombie apocalypse

1I wanted to make a setting that incorporates a lot of kinda cliche things about dnd mostly
2 I'm dividing "magic" into 4 subcategories, theres Warp which is inspired by 40k, Magic, force which is basically the star wars force except in my world it is specifically anti magical force that can be summoned by sentient beings, which can either increase their strength or reduce other physical forces slightly, from electricity to gravity, then finally Qi, which is the overriding god magic, the idea is they all kinda counter balance each other and there are basically weather patterns that make one slightly more or less dominant than usual
3 not much
4 Lots about the history, I'm trying to weave a bunch of "stolen" stuff together and I'm not sure how i.e. ancient african vampires and whether elves are immune to vampirism
5 Most of the typical stuff like Tolkien and planescape
6 pretty good cause high fantasy magic improvements, but these will be rarer in some parts cause of bad magical climates that prevent certain types of magic most of the time
7 technology will be early renaissance, the world will have a written history over 10k years in some places esp. Elven, but magic has made tech mostly unnecessary, though i do want to go into detail about different boxes with various magic crafts worked on them that can copy scrolls or perhaps even magic vending machines assembled by low paid intern wizards
8 yes there are gods, but I'm thinking of some of them being dead or mostly de-powered, and perhaps all of them have been cut off from direct access to the plane
9 I'm thinking of having a huge world, and having migration because of strange weather(huge planet with weird orbit and super slow spin on its axis) sort of like game of thrones, and that cultures sometimes work together to fight regular and magical weather anomalies
10 I wanna have most of the popularish dnd races, various elves, though drow will be the most genetically different n wood elves wont be savage

>Why are you making it?
Partly because I'm a compulsive worldbuilder, partly because I want to run/play in a Science-Fantasy setting goddamnit, and also partly because I feel like I owe it to the anons who helped work on it before the general died.

>What makes it special?
Science-Fantasy setting. A formerly human-only low magic setting suddenly had one wizard figure out that connecting magic runes using metal wires made them more powerful. Using this Arcane-Circuitry, he created a magical revolution. And a century later someone miniaturized it, leading to a space race and finally a Sword and Planetary Romance Space Opera.

>Of what are you proud?
The Encephalon. A Plane of Information (read: Fantasy Internet), where digital beings dwell. These are also called Encephalon, and can manifest in realspace using W.E.T. Suits and D.I.V.E. Suits (there's also a nautical theme). Basically immortal information-beings, Encephalon have the ability to swap out class levels if they die (at the cost of sanity/corruption).

>What still needs work?
Had to rework a couple of major points. Really, everything needs another few passes before I'm happy.

>What are your inspirations?
John Carter, Buck Rodgers, Buzz Lightyear, Planescape Torment, 1632: Ring of Fire, Treasure Planet, Star Wars, Star Trek, Jules Vern, Robert E Howard. Probably a few I'm missing.

>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Varies wildly. Core worlders probably have it as good as RL First World citizens (that is, fat and happy, but probably unfulfilled). Colonists and Outworlders have it harder. It's the Wild West as envisioned by Martian Jules Vern and drawn by Moebius.

1/2

>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
One and the same. Rayguns work on the same principles as spells, though each has their uses. Bullets are enscribed with magical runes, as is armor. Melee weapons make a comeback in a world of lasers and ballistics. Space ships are Nautilus class subs with solar sails and rockets. Space Vampires battle Space Wizards and Space Rangers on worlds of shadow. Hell, reality itself takes a backseat the further away you get from a sun.

>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Maybe? There are certainly Angels. Or there were. They refuse to answer one way or another, and seem to be in perpetual mourning for an unnamed past sin they committed. The Sun(s) is usually cited as a Deity, if not One Deity. Clerics claim to hear the Song of the Spheres, but whether that's true or just Space Madness is impossible to say.

>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
I have about a dozen races at the moment. Looking to keep things interesting and avoid One-Civ-Per-Race Syndrome. Humans have three nations back on their homeworld; Not!USA, Not!Tsarist-Russia, and Not!China. They hate eachother, and each is a crazy authoritarian hellhole in their own right, but against space "Man Stands United". Working on a couple of breakaway colonies and sects (Space Nazis, Space Samurai, Space Cowboys, etc), as well as a number of East-India-Trade-style Companies for each race. A lot of caution and wariness between governments in the Luminous Space (regions near stars, inner planets), and outright distrust and hostility with the Umbral Expanse (the clawing blackness between stars, outer planets in general).

2/3

>What races are there? How do they interact?
Too fucking many. A simple list:

Humans
Digital People
Space Deerfolk Not!Vulcans
Space Vampires
Space Liches
Space Mind-Flayer Spider People
Sun People
Space Aasimar
Mothfolk
Crustaceans
Bug-Goblins
Space Ghost Demons
Space Devils
Space Monkeys
Space Asgardians
Space Lizardfolk
Space Robots (wait...)
Space Treefolk
Some sort of Single-Gender Race because goddamnit I want my green alien space babes!

And that's it so far. Brave New Worlds lives on! This is my Luminous Space Setting.

I'm thinking of going back and working on this one some more. it feels like stuff is missing.
>Why are you making it?
because I binge-played Bloodborne interspersed with Binge-reading the works of HP Lovecraft. then I had a dream that felt like an acid trip. so I started writing...

>What makes it special?
not sure, a couple of the people looking at it thought it warranted trying it.

>Of what are you proud?
it's apparent reception, and maybe the fact that it's NOT steampunk, and doesn't rip too terribly hard off of any specific source material(all equal ripping here).

>What still needs work?
it needs a setting map, more NPCs, more encounters, more monsters, some politics work, and some good setting names(someone suggested the primary country be called "Kos" before, but that was a while ago)

>What are your inspirations?
Bloodborne, Demons Souls, Lovecraft, a little bit of VanHellsing, the odd bit of "Old Country" folklore

>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Victorian era standard give-or-take, life is more dangerous because monsters actually DO exist, beast-men, strigoi, Giant Spiders, etc.

>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
technology is more advanced in a couple of areas, but I EMPHATICALLY wanted to stay away from steampunk things. Magic exists, after a fashion, but it drives you mad if used badly, too often or without various foci or precautions.

>Are there gods? How important is religion?
real tangible entities who decided to be gods because they happened to be long-lived(see the meta-plot)

>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
I wanted to emulate near immediate pre-WW1 Europe, but I know nothing about that or how putting a Germany sized No-Mans-Land in the middle of that would effect things I left the politics off...

>What races are there? How do they interact?
there's the "ancient race" non-playable antagonist species
and humans, all you really need.

I know I need to format the damn thing better.

GUYS, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING, HOW DO I ORDER THIS DOCUMENT FOR EASE OF READING/USE

CABLE OF CONTENTS COMES ONCE I HAVE ORDER.

also anyone got a good cover-page image I could slap on this thing?

these images were what I had in mind for "Signs of Hunters Past"

these came from the old rune language of American hobos.

OH, I've been waiting for a thread like this.

Listen, here is my deal. I started a Worldbuilding thread that fell apart very quickly due largely to me not delivering. Would it be ok to repost the thread with extra content a while from now? Like a week and a bit.

Yeah, any content is welcome in these threads

i'm still in rough draft form but here goes

there exists an unknowable number of layers of reality that vibrate at different frequencys. each layer like the surface of a pond, ripples in on cast pail shadows on other layers but only cataclysmally large gravitational events are powerful enough to affect even the adjacent layers. the material plane is the topmost layer. descending layers grow more dissimilar the farther apart they are. these contain the known realms and "planes" in the cosmos. the deeper on goes the more empty these layers become as their black holes devour more and more of their universe. the bottom most layer is known only as oblivion and it is the oldest bleakest layer. the big bang occurred when this layer totally collapse into a reality encompassing black hole. with nothing else to devour it collapsed and burst this cavitation was felt through all planes and caused unspeakable upheaval, warping the very laws of reality. these layers settled and cooled from the bottom up, living out similar but vastly different lifespans. in the upper layers stars planets and galaxies formed with ease. the lower one goes the bleaker and more empty the become, their energy sapped by oblivion. the material plane, the topmost layer is the youngest, most active and full of free energy in the form of EM radiation from stars. this is ultimately what draws all beings to seek the material plane and fight over it whether they realize it or not. some seek to destroy it, others to protect and guide the beings that live there and everything in between. the deadra lords (ripped right out of TSE) caused this collapse and cavitation, themselves being beings that trancended all known laws of science and magic were the only things to survive. the only true gods of this multiverse and they regard the other planes with envious eyes. it is unknown or whether it was a natural occurrence they guided or whether they can replicate this feat again.

are we allowed to share our magical realms here? Because my worldbuild shit is totally a magical realm but I am trying my hardest to make a decent dramatic story out of it.

> Why are you making it?
Because sky pirates are awesome and I wanted to replicate the feel of Sunless Sea in a Pathfinder game.

>What makes it special?
The Soaring Isles, an archipelago roughly the size of Europe, float thousands of feet in the air above the smog-choked Surface. There are thousands of islands which were all isolated until magical airships were developed, housing hundreds of cultures.

>Of what are you proud?
The diversity of cultures and crazy shit going on. There are ten main countries (essentially city-states on islands) and many minor, less advanced civilisations.

>What still needs work?
Fleshing out the cultures beyond the basic concepts (one place is full of pirates, one is full of obscure temples that control every aspect of life, etc).

>What are your inspirations?
As mentioned previously, the Sunless Sea/Fallen London universe is a big influence. Also, pirate-based fiction in general, 40K, the Cosmere books and Dark Souls.

>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Depends on where you live. The Free Cities generally do okay; the average commoner has a decent life thanks to the proliferation of magic. The Iron Dominion is basically a slightly less shitty Imperium, with an emphasis on Mechanicus stuff (they have the most advanced tech in the Isles and refuse to share).

Arylith, the pirate haven, is pretty awful because pirates are terrible people and many of them are branded by the voracious Raven Queen and compelled to servitude.

>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
They intertwine a lot, particularly in the Iron Dominion, which has all kinds of steampunk magitech and guns. Magic is essential to everyday life for many people; the isles float in the air due to deposits of a mineral called thaumite which is forged into metal exoskeletons and linked to a bound air elemental to power airships.

>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Lots of gods, basically the usual Pathfinder ones plus some more obscure and crazy ones. In this setting they're essentially all ascended humans rather than unknowable beings. There are also the Editors, who 'correct' reality by altering the base-code of the universe with strange sigils known as the Errata.

>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
As mentioned previously, there are the Free Cities, which are the city-states that emerged after people started flying around to different islands and making contact with other people

>What races are there? How do they interact?
Everything Pathfinder has to offer, especially the weirder ones like tengu, ratfolk, grippli and kitsune. Most of the tension between people comes from cultural differences (since the islands were isolated for so long) rather than species.

>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
As mentioned previously, there are the Free Cities, which are the city-states that emerged after people started flying around to different islands and making contact with other countries (which inevitably led to a big war). There's the Iron Dominion, the ever-expanding domain of absolute law, and the pirate haven of Arylith. They're currently in an uneasy peace, but nobody likes the pirates and the Iron Dominion is hungry for more territory. Strance, the greatest Free City, avoids being conquered purely by its central location and control over trade in the whole Soaring Isles.

Currently working on a Goth fantasy setting. Technology wise it's gonna be roughly transitional towards blackpowder weaponry although knights in full plate are still to be found with dwindling numbers. Currently consists of a human empire lead by the Kaiser, and a humanoid race living in the deserts / jungles of the southeast.

Picture related. Started a folder which contains about 30 pages of lore. Still working on stuff when I'm bored or get an idea.

>furry drama

uhhh... yeah I guess. But don't be surprised when some people call you a That Guy or something

I'm drafting a setting that's renaissance fantasy (as opposed to medieval fantasy, that is) with some ASOIAF-influenced political intrigue and a way of portraying magic that has less to do with traditional "learnable" magic and more to do with eastern philosophy and seeing magic as an artistic endeavor (I'm afraid there's also a Fairy Tail influence somewhere in there, sorry). If this thread is still up when I finish it I'll post it here, but so far I'm pretty proud of it.

Also thanks for the .pdf with a very useful layout for describing settings, I'll use them (:

>>Why are you making it?
Because I was bored.
>>What makes it special?
Mythological transhumanism obtained via extreamly unlikely alternate history.
>>Of what are you proud?
It seems pretty cool for a war game setting.
>>What still needs work?
Everything, it's based on a loose amalgamation of ideas from my mid teens.
>>What are your inspirations?
Alternate history and post-apocalyptic literature, also Evola.
>>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Extreamly shit, half the planet is currently suffering from nuclear winter and the two biggest powers have been stuck in endless war for Millenia. That's not getting into the bandits, mutants, alien infiltrators, climate change, and everything else that's fucked the Earth up.
>>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
"Magic" is the manipulation of matter via genetically engineered psionic prowess. It's very rare and hard to control, and most magic users are exclusively military personnel. Technology is odd in that gunpowder never caught on, so the average soldier possesses a strange mix of melee and ranged energy weapons and is much more heavily armored.
>>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Religion is manifested in the worship of traditional gods, which the clergy expects the populace to worship in some form. Relgion is ultimately a private matter however, and a million and one cults exists that are adhered to.
>>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
Nova Roma, a restoration of the Roman Empire that's essentially a constitutional monarchy, though one in which the Emperor has most of the say regardless. Politically, things haven't really "progressed" all that much in a thousand years. There are a couple small exceptions however these are usually marginalized and pose no substantial threat. That said, alliances and war are the tools of the day, with two major blocs currently poised against one another.

Continued...

>>What races are there? How do they interact?
Only humans technically, but genetic engineering and mutation had caused more "races" to appear, usually derived from said cultures respecitive mythology. For example, Saytrs make up an extensive portion of the Nova Roman army and are usually treated almost as equals. People respond to each variant differently, either with curiosity or utter dread depending on how monsterous they are. That said, these "races" are still humans in thought and feeling.

>with a very useful layout for describing settings, I'll use them
...you're welcome???

the order of data-points could do with some rearrangement...

>>Why are you making it?
Sci fi setting for sci fi games
>>What makes it special?
AI isn't bad, there are no Earth-class planets (every planet is terraformed), and there are no aliens
>>Of what are you proud?
How FTL travel works and how plasma weaponry is explained, as well as just the military stuff in general
>>What still needs work?
More cultural stuff and political details on some of the smaller nations
>>What are your inspirations?
A play on a lot of sci fi tropes (trying to avoid lots of races like in Star Wars or Star Trek) as well as direct inspiration from stuff like Enders Game and other hard sci fi books that I've read
>>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Depends on where you live. In the more well-off nations you could keep most of your limbs (poorer people have to get a shitton of augs to survive on not fully terraformed worlds) and you would most likely either work for the government or some corporation. If you're lucky you would work at some table job but at worst you might have to be a wageslave or a soldier in the miltiary.
>>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
No magic obviously but technology plays a huge role. Depends on the nation but most places have AIs as full citizens (they are sentient beings) and use augs to enhance their lives.
>>Are there gods? How important is religion?
No gods and religion isn't that important.
>>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
There are 8 nations. To keep it simple, there is Space America, Space Rome, Space Northern Europe, Space Slavs/Russians, Space Japan/China, Space Byzantines, Space Spain, and a Space Commonwealth of independent systems. Space Rome, Space Japan/China, and the Space Commonwealth are the newest to the galaxy.
>>What races are there? How do they interact?
Only humans.

>Why are you making it?
For reasons.

>What makes it special?
Nothing

>Of what are you proud?
I can probably port most fantasy settings and still remain internally consistent. Maybe.

>What still needs work?
Everything. On the short list I need to flesh out the nazi elves, meso/egyptian elves and beastmen civilizations more.

>What are your inspirations?
Random things.

>What is life like for the average person in this setting?

Average meaning like a Gedan peasant. Life's pretty good in the east unless your town is being razed by a Sha'haran army or Luwasati slaver raiders from the north. The western lords tax the shit out of you but at least it's peaceful, unless there's a war out north or east then you're conscripted and will likely be enslaved by elves or killed by orcs.

>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?

Almost the same thing and pretty common unless suppressed.

>Are there gods? How important is religion?
No gods yet. Religion has different social and cultural importance with the different cultures/societies. The Xuande dark elves based their society and culture on a pacific religion while the Luwasati high elves up north believe they are their Goddess's chosen to rule all other races. The Gedan empire has a multitude of gods and cults while Sha'hara to the east has effectively suppressed almost all religion after a failed rebellion by a powerful sect. The Alwara Beastmen in the south mostly have cultural beliefs and customs and no particular formal religion. The Federation of Commonwealths have a near ridiculous number of "religions" catering to almost any spiritual need.

>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?

Alwara - Tribal Federation. Pretty isolated, they mostly do trade with the Commonwealth.

Luwasati - Monarchy. Isolationist that tends to send out slave raiding forces from time to time. Some merchants trade with other nations as far south as the Commonwealth city-states.

*ran out of r-

>>Why are you making it?
Because I thought the initial idea I had was neat and kind of unique, and wanted to expand on it.
>>What makes it special?
It's dark fantasy, but tries to break away from some of the more common themes of the genre.
>>Of what are you proud?
The above. As well, my system of xp/health/mana and how it ties into the IC world.
>>What still needs work?
Oof, a lot. Mostly system/character creation stuff and how it ties into the world itself. As well, most locations and creatures are still in the vague concept stage.
>>What are your inspirations?
Dark Souls, colourful cartoons like AT and SU.
>>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Generally pretty meagre, but those who stay in settlements tend to be alright for the most part. The majority of Under is dark and filled with all sorts of nasty critters and folk, making travelling difficult and dangerous.
>>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
Magical and technological advance are pretty rare, as most people are too preoccupied with surviving to have time to tinker. Magic isn't particularly understood,beyond what it does and how to use it.
>>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Religion is pretty common, however there's no real concrete evidence of God or gods. Doesn't mean they don't exist though!
>>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
There are few "nations" and even then they tend to be a loose association of towns and hamlets. Governments tend to be local and with minimal power.
>>What races are there? How do they interact?
There are three common Friendly races: autos, skeletons, and goblins. They all tend to get along fairly well, however all manner of less amenable folk can be found poking about in the dark.

Exercise and potential usage.

It goes from hard fantasy to soft sci fi as time goes on. Admittedly it takes awhile but that is mostly due to tech needing to catch up but moving around is still possible with just magic.

A lot. Proved to be much bigger then i was anticipating. Even with just limiting myself to one world as it slowly advances.

Mythology mostly.

Depends on the time. Being around when say the forces of light are getting especially riled up is VERY different experience then being born doing one of the more peaceful eras.

Magic dominates early on due to brain drain which results in slower tech development. Eventually however a critical mass is reached when tech is able to catch up leading to an interesting if very bloody chain of events. or you happen to be born on a world where magic is unusually weak or something which can some changes.

Plenty of gods and competition is fierce for worshipers also boredom. Religion is quite important as even empires fear the possibility of getting caught up in a holy war between faiths.

Monarchies and feudalism dominate thanks to bloodlines which can harbor actual power. Which REALLY fucked over their political development compared to earths. The other two top dogs is obviously theocracy given the the power of faith and some peculiar type of magic governments they may have put together. Anything beyond that is extremely rare. Depends the differing theocracies tend to hate each other or buddy up if they are from the same pantheon or something. Politics between kingdoms vary and the mage governments tend to stick to themselves mostly as well as stay small given their peculiar interests.

Many kinds of races who all have a mixture of good and bad blood going on. Humans aren't by any means the dominate species. There is no real way to put the interactions simply. So there is the usual trade, alliances, racism, peace, and war going on.

If you want more detail then you need to get specific race wise.

I'll start with humanity as example.

Obviously there are different cultures among each race so there is no cookie cutter among them really. No one really knows when the humans first showed up but the dwarves started liking the humans simply because they creeped out the elves something fierce(hello uncanny valley and other points Veeky Forums made about it) which they found hilarious. The humans are rather recent in becoming civilized but still have many tribals among them. The humans for their part swiftly spread out throughout the world in places where they could survive. With their civilized brethren choosing the safer areas and the tribals less so, but there are even places where humans can't survive. Like the land of the giants.

Oddly enough humans actually have a very good if distant relationship with the giants and have the some of the best relations with them out of all the races. As for why this is according to the giants this goes back when humans first appeared in a place where they shouldn't have been. According to them one day a human appeared in a titan prison. The titan because they are the mightiest of the giants mistook the inquisitive humans to being of their shorter giantkin(as to them everyone is short and there isn't much of a difference between them all). Like all their giantkin the titans grew fond of the humans like the rest of their shorter brethren. However one day the titans realize that the humans were having a real hard time surviving so the titans made a request asking if any of their kin would be willing to leave with the humans. Most giants refused but a few agreed to escort the humans out and help them survive in a much safer area. Despite the fact that such places would be very hard on the giants who go.

There is some proof this actually DID happen in some form anyway. As around the time the humans showed up oddly enough the previously rare giants came up right behind them.

I've been working on a section of map for my game.
Any advice, feedback, etc?
Would you want to adventure in this area?

Do you guys use any software for your worlds? I'd like to get into building an expansive setting for my players, but keeping it all together is gonna be hard I think.

Do you use any mapping software? How about any note or organizational software?

I'd like some explanation of this map, I like the location names.

The spider looking things represent palm trees, the 6 sides asterisks are cypress, the 5 sided ones are pine trees, the bushy looking things are evergreen trees, the lines with grass coming out of them represent swamp. Where there's concentric lines, those are usually submerged marshes. The grass looking lines are grass undercover while the bush things that are "empty" on the bottom represent bush cover. The squares with triangles on top are buildings and represent inhabited areas with villages and whatnot. The double lines represent roads and the dotted lines are trails. The prickly looking things are oak trees and the lines with lines coming out of them are 100ft elevation lines with the tic mark lines pointing uphill. The areas with horizontal lines are submerged marshes but represent salt water.

It's a bit complicated but I tried to hew fairly close to established topography symbols and I figure if I use them consistently then players will get used to it.

>why are you making it?
Fun

>what makes it special?
African settings are rare

Well researched ones are non existent

>what are your inspirations?
African myths/folklore, history, Heart of Darkness, King Solomon's mines, She, Things Fall Apart, Tarzan, etc

>what is life like for the average person in your setting?
Depends

Magic is widespread and used almost as if technology

Most live as farmers, fishermen, hunters, herdsmen, and merchants

There's various perils like slavers, cannibals, dark sorcerers, witches and other monsters

But immense wealth to be found as well

>are there gods? How important is religion?
One God who doesn't intervene except in utterly miraculous moments

Reverence for the dead and nature spirits is widespread


Petty independent semi democratic republican villages peppered between powerful and rich kingdoms/empires

>what races are there?
It's a human centric setting

The major divergent tribal groupings are the closest to races

My main issue is telling a fucking story

Got all the metaphysics, politics, magic, cultures, monsters, religion, and geography worked out

But not a damn clue what to do with it

Anyone have have a link to the past thread

>Why are you making it?
Because I can and I have an itch.
>What makes it special?
It's mine! Also, I don't like many other settings due to stuff.
>Of what are you proud?
Of evanescent sence of wonder I get working it.
>What still needs work?
Everything.
>What are your inspirations?
History, literature, gaming - in that order.
>What is life like for the average person in this setting?
Pretty bad, it's medieval.
>What are the roles of magic and technology in this setting?
Magic is mainly based on illusion, long-term terraforming and smart application of "dnd cantrips". Only supernaturals can throw weak fireballs around, but they are rare.
>Are there gods? How important is religion?
Religion is important as it keeps spirits at bay. And fuels crusades.
>What kinds of nations or governments are there? How do they interact?
The main setting is an empire weakened by border conflicts that slowly turns from !SPQR to !HRE as guilds, cities, churches and feodals gain power.
>What races are there? How do they interact?
Mostly humans.