/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

Beautiful stuff m80. Would be better if the picture itself was larger tho

FUCK trying to make a goddamn undead people who isn't gonna get nerfed or be overpowered compared to the other groups. Seriously holy shit i never fucking realized just how difficult it is. No wonder all the writers cop out on it.

Used to be a pet peeve of mine but fucking hell now i understand. I take it back I TAKE IT ALL BACK. Still a bit butthurt of the lack of quality undead groups though but i can understand now.

I am just gonna have to learn to nerf em or leave out certain key things regarding them. Which sucks because one of my biggest worldbuilding goals was to give the undead the justice they fucking deserve...

I give up on that goal though.

Unless the party goes out of their way to get good maps or one of this is a cartographer(or into it). Don't bother.

Good maps should be worth a lot of money and be considered a restricted resource. Kingdoms don't exactly want their enemies to have good maps of them for obvious reasons.

Wide rivers generally form when there is a low gradient, and slower moving river naturally tend to grow wider rather than fast moving river which get deeper. They also generally deposit the sediment eroded from the banks on bars or flood plains.

Sometimes they can even be formed by tectonic movement, so you can have a very broad, slow moving bedrock based river moving through a mountain range where the ground has split and shifted to form a channel.

Find it a bit too similar to The World of Ice and Fire, but it's well done. Did you just use MSPaint?

I'm trying to build an alternate economic system for one of my races. The race, instead of valuing money (gold, whatever) would instead value renown/respect/influence.

Those with high renown would have nice houses and stronger control/influence over the government. Those with low would have smaller homes and no influence.

You would gain influence/renown by contributing to the society. This would be anything from being generous (especially to those of higher rank), to producing goods or crafts, to creating master works from art to useful items, to safeguarding the lands (quests, adventures), to just being wise. Sort of a meritocracy with a strong focus on public service.

I see the system system as having levels that define benefits (which is where I am having trouble defining) and functionally using a sort of XP system to go up. You could gain this XP by the above acts or lose it by screwing up. I've also considered the idea of 'spending' it for a burst of influence. Say a councilman who puts it all on the line to sway the rest of the council to go to war.

I'm stuck on ways to define each level, or even how many levels.

Any suggestions out there? Any example systems that might exist?

I'm not sure this is something that could be easily quantified as an "economic system" per se.

You're basically looking at the idealized vision of the kind of society that totalitarianism can create if it's run efficiently and without malice. It's more of the absence of economics than anything.

I used paint.net, and yeah it was using asoiaf as a baseline, I didn't want to use asoiaf directly as I'd have to develop areas of the world that GRRM left vague myself so it'd just be a fanfiction that gets the theme wrong.

The setting isn't as similar as the map, there's less war and much less politics, less cruel rulers, less magic, and its told through the eyes of pirates, explorers, and merchants who don't care about the affairs of nobles. Also, asoiaf essentially takes place during the apocalypse with powerful tightly-knit shitstorms brewing, making it hard to insert anything.

possibly. I don't really see it that way, or maybe really don't care that much over the specifics of the label. Either way, you know.

They do have and understand that other races value 'money', it just does not matter within their own society. Since they are isolationist, it usually doesn't have any impact.

Part of the idea is that each member of the community is actually able to fully support themselves, food production (gather, hunting, etc) and shelter. So you can add some minor elements of 'post scarcity' in there as well.

Regardless, I'm trying to think of 'perks' that might come with each level of influence/renown.

This would be for a fantasy setting and the race is a version of 'wood elves'.

who would measure that? Audit it?

Good guy points. Merit credits.
You get 50 every time you hold the door open for someone.

Just me, the DM. It won't work exactly like an economic system, in that user above is correct. But rather a replacement of sorts. It is just something that is.

The players would likely be aware of 'levels' and 'spending xp'. But of course the people in the setting would not.

To them, it would be more of a sliding scale (levels just are used for game mechanics). As someone is more valuable to the society, does more for the society, that person gains more from the society.

But, no, there isn't a national bank of renown printing deficit influence to keep the nation afloat.

Something like that. But the focus would be on creating something great for the society and saving the kingdom.

I'm not looking to be concerned about what NPC's do or to measure exactly how they get where they are. But rather how the players move up in the world by saving the day - but without a focus on getting every copper coin they can.

Sort of a level of wealth system that is won through actions and merit to the community.

>Kingdom Hearts/10

Nah, but seriously, it's not bad. Kind of monochrome, but I assume that's a deliberate choice given the names we're working with, here.

>upside-down Papal Crest with a cruciform sword superimposed on top
deus_vult/10

Would crusade to reclaim Jerusalem with.

>>Pick a nation/region/people in your world
The March of Minos, a small island nation inhabited entirely by the Cretien Minotaurs. They're a tributary state of Nova Roma, supplying them soldiers and supplies in the form of powered armor.
>>What's the national dish?
Historically people, but recently the populace have taken to a little more herbivorous diet, spiced with a rat kebab here or there.
>>What spices do they use, if any?
Typically some kind of Chili or Curry powder if they can afford it.
>>What's considered cheap food?
Uncooked rat meat
>>What's considered a delicacy?
A banquet hall filled with prime cuts of lamb and the freshest of vegetables.
>>What is a holiday food only?
Mountain goats. They aren't particularly healthy to eat, but they are hunted and roasted as part of the traditional Minoan rite.
>>What foreign food do they find just the worst?
Anything beef related for somewhat obvious reasons.

How do you explain the phenomenon that is the Adventuring Party in your setting?
Are wandering bands of obscenely powerful murderhobos common or rare?
In either case, what do the people in authority think about them?

If you have anything else adventurer-related you wish to share, please do.
This is something rather important to consider when designing a world for an RPG -- rather than, say, a novel -- yet we rarely discuss how to incorporate adventuring and adventurers into our settings.

I always thought of them as people thinking to get rich quick during a gold rush, but replace gold with obscene magical loot, rivers and valleys with tight dungeons, and prospectors with 'specialists' i.e. adventurers.

Choose a major city or a nation.

>How developed is the infrastructure? (roads, walls, housing, public spaces, etc)

>Who pays for the upkeep? Where do they get their funds?

>Explain the requirements, if any, necessary to own property in the city/nation. (ie, land)

>Who has a say in government? Why?

>What are the benefits to living in this city/nation?

>How do the authorities treat/manage the destitute? (beggars, orphans/street urchins)

>What is the most popular tourist attraction?

>those little stick guys in the bottom left

But anyway, I once explained adventurers as being a sort of natural occurrence in the overall schema of the world. The basic idea was that one's individuality, their presence in the universe--on a spiritual level--was defined by their deeds. EXP was therefore an actual, physically measurable thing in the world, and was thus a highly-sought-after resource which could make or unmake entire realms. This in turn led to bands of adventurers seeking to test their mettle against the world to see if they could become stronger. The main GMPC I used to present the campaign to the players was a king who had obviously completed many a quest in his time, and was a not-so-subtle dig at the exponential growth of a PC and its end results.

Destiny, wealth, wanderlust and becoming renowned!

Uncommon but everyone has encountered some at least once in their life no matter how backwater.

Hate/love relationship. Both because of how useful they can be but also how much trouble. Those in power view adventurers as a double edged sword.

Adventurers are organized loosely according to local powers(little more then a place of rest and work usually), guilds, and the dynasties.

All guilds are backed by at least one Adventuring Dynasty if they aren't backed by some other power. Its widely acknowledged that the best guilds are all endorsed by the dynasties much to the frustration of the other backers(usually kingdoms, merchant groups, and the like).

'Adventuring' dynasties arose and are the closest to authority figures you'll find among the adventurers outside of guilds.

The adventuring dynasties are also the unofficial backer of ALL adventurers guildless or otherwise and those in authority fucking HATE them. Both because they damn hard to deal with and also because of the VERY real threat of even their backing. Officially they back their assorted guilds but as anyone can tell you this isn't true remotely true...

The dynasties naturally have their bit of infighting, rivalries, and alliances. The usual politics but one thing that others have learned the hardway is their willingness to set aside their differences for other adventurers. Particularly independent ones who don't 'have' an official backing.

As any assassin organization can tell you those fuckers WILL find you should you fuck with even the beginners...they take it extremely seriously despite it being 'unofficial'.

This is a VERY ancient tradition one that is very VERY highly regarded by the adventuring dynasties to such a level that even most hated rivals will put aside their difference for it.

This reason is a matter of simple history and goodwill.

Once upon a time even the most powerful and ancient of adventuring dynasties had to start somewhere.

Even the greatest of adventurers had to start somewhere...

So out of respect of this and to generate goodwill the adventuring dynasties made an unofficial agreement among themselves, a promise to all other adventurers no matter their origins and clear threat to ALL other powers.

That even the newest most unknown adventurers STILL has the 'unofficial' backing of the adventuring dynasties!

This over the ages has caused even GODS to tremble in fear of that 'unofficial' backing.

Of all the agreements and promises the adventuring dynasties have made over the ages that is by far their most highly regarded and dreaded arrangement. A LOT of powers and people have payed the price thinking they could somehow get away with it.

They never do and sometimes others get dragged into the mess as well. Its reached the level that most assassin organizations will tell you to go fuck yourself if you want them to kill some adventurers no matter how minor.

If you had to ask why then they would simply put at the graveyard of assassin groups who too thought they could manage it. Oddly enough killing a guild adventurer is a HELL of a lot cheaper then a unaligned one. Even dynasty members often have a cheaper rate.

They're basically organized Monster Hunters.
They're called Adventurers cause they're allowed to cross national borders armed to the teeth.

Where do you guys usually start with worldbuilding? I'm lost.

I usually start with a basic map and a rough idea for the type of setting I want (high fantasy, low magic, etc). The map will help inform the societies developing in each area -- what they eat, wear, and such.

I'm going to be building a pretty standard mid-level magic setting. I'm trying to put a unique little twist on pretty common fantasy tropes. Not TOO unique, but unique enough where it wouldn't be 100% bland (my players have been asking for something a little basic for their first campaign). Any thoughts on pretty common tropes I can include and put a twist on? I'm definitely going to use the bog-standard fantasy races.

If the players are on a quest to preserve or save a "shining city" sort of kingdom, make it so that, while initially appearing to be upright and just, the kingdom is really a hotbed of political subterfuge and is maintained more through force rather than moral righteousness.

The thieves/assassins guild is genuinely a proto-mafia. Its members are bloodthirsty sociopaths who primarily collect on protection money for funds.

Make dorfs into Ancient Greeks. They live in the mountains, build great cities of stone, aren't too big on cavalry, and fight in packed formations. Just change the hammer/axe thing with a phalanx. Also, have each city be very independently minded. They share a language and culture with the other dorfs, but fuck those guys we have the best city. Their magic focuses on enchanting wargear.

Have elves be distant cousins of the dwarfs. Make 'em short, but wiry where dorfs are stocky. Their bows are weak, but they are accurate archers and can fire quickly. Their magic is illusion-based for "high elves" and druid-esque for wood elves.

Pig orcs are best orcs. They're not too bright, rather belligerent, love to indulge in earthly pleasures, but their culture is more mercenary than "scourge of darkness" in nature. People don't like them because they're rather unpleasant to be around and end up fighting in most wars, but they're not evil.

Goblins are also cousins to the dwarfs/elfs. Mix the usual goblin and dark elf tropes into one race. They have the greed of dwarfs and the malicious streak of the wood elfs. They're assholes, but can be reasoned with. Their magic is curse and direct-damage based.

It always starts with an idea, and it's usually by asking questions of that idea that more details emerge, which snowballs into something bigger and (usually) better.

>How do you explain the phenomenon that is the Adventuring Party in your setting?

In the first faction I designed they are an offshoot of the original military system. The early form of the state was a coalition/union of refugees and surviving mercenary remnants in a bakufu shogunate-like situation. As they grew and prospered the Adventuring Party came about as mercenary bands for hire/independents. As they grew in number they were then incorporated into the standard military structure as auxiliaries and can serve with professional military when called upon which is usually in an autonomous capacity.

Most of the time adventuring parties act like normal mercenary units or go pursue their own interests.

>Are wandering bands of obscenely powerful murderhobos common or rare?

Pretty common but not obscenely powerful.

>In either case, what do the people in authority think about them?

Sha'hara heavily regulates them and uses them actively in the military, they usually serve as hired guards, gofers and "mediators". There are official "Guild" offices in major cities that keep track of their activities and roster.

Gedask tolerates them for their usefulness and sees them as disposable forces. They are seen as bands of ruffians most of the time and always under suspicion especially if they are not Gedan locals.

The Federation of Commonwealths has the most traditional RPG adventurer setting with several internal factions looking to hire hands for various work.

>>How developed is the infrastructure? (roads, walls, housing, public spaces, etc)
As developed as it gets. Although there's also slums that aren't developed at all.
>>Who pays for the upkeep? Where do they get their funds?
There are prominent wealthy families that effectively control entire districts and spend their income on maintaining them to make them more attractive. Others are maintained on tax money
>>Explain the requirements, if any, necessary to own property in the city/nation. (ie, land)
None. Although authorities would usually try and stonewall any foreigner who might want to buy enough land to get voting rights
>>Who has a say in government? Why?
Top 100 real estate owners form legislature and appoint executive branch. The measuring process isn't competely accurate though
>>What are the benefits to living in this city/nation?
Since it's located in crossroad of the worlds, it's most wealthy and literate place. If nothing else there's always demand for mercenaries and sailors
>>How do the authorities treat/manage the destitute? (beggars, orphans/street urchins)
Since authorities are usually paid for by the wealthy in some districts or composed of middle class in others they rarely interact with the poor. Those live in different districts and usually kept away from repectable folks
>>What is the most popular tourist attraction?
The garden around city assembly/prince's palace. Back in a day city required every inbound traveller to bring a rock with them and people say that in its paved roads there's no two stones brought from the same place, although it's not completely accurate. As a place where peace agreement giving birth to the nation was made, it's decorated by many swords sticking in the ground. Swords are not real this day though.

I'm hoping for a second opinion on races of my pseudo-science fantasy at the emerging age of gunpowder and lasers made from collected stardust. Also the previous home of the gods showed up as a nearby planet in the sky.

>reincarnating, agender dragon people - dwindling first race of the world, spirits just staying as spirits because life sucks less that way
>elves cursed by their goddess - bear the mark of the doomstar, either be a ghost-type, ground-type, or water-type, each turning into its own disgusting monstrosity if they give into the doomstar
>psychic dorfs - four clans ranging from classic dorf to native tribal dorf each with varying degrees of telepathy
>men - the usual, but you also got a kingdom run by a vampiress who claims she's related to the thought-lost royal bloodline with a country of undead at her side, and then there's a bunch of hermit sages in a southern bayou
>weirdo halflings - not sure yet
>oathless orc kind and related - said 'fuck it' after getting screwed over by their leadership and gods since forever so now they're all anarchist minstrels who don't even trust their own kind out of fear of repeating their history
>goat people, weird pupils and all - rode ships made of earth from the godplanet, decided this new place is nice because the geography isn't constantly shifting every other day since the deities bailed on it. continue a farming gerontocracy near other settlements but far enough you can't get all up in their biz
>sorta robots - guardian god asked dorf god for cool guardians to guard stuff on mortal planet (and totally not because he had a feud with death god over wanting to date elf god). about, like, a dozen exist/operate, none particularly powerful and all different in shape and size
>cutebolds - pic related
>realmborn - need more snowflake? be born under the alignment of the god planet or the death planet.

am i magical realm enuff
Or should I add another race to round it off to a nice 11 for PCs.

>Trying to design/write up the overall look of an otherworldly faction
>Faction is supposed to be the army/hold guard of a god who lurks in the void
>In this the void is an infinite black void, that's the space between different universes
>Things usually die near instantly if they get there and aren't in a safe area, or "of the void"
>Hate "edgy" motifs/themes
>All I can think of is bone/death themed things for the general theme of the faction

Why not oceanic/Lovecraftian themes? The void's the space between universes right? Why not make it a thematic metaphor for an ocean between continents, full of slimy things and unforgiving nature?

>assume that's a deliberate choice

It is!

>Are you a bad enough dude to lay siege to the Empress's Spire with an army of immortal desu vults?

>desu vult

fugg :DD

>Or should I add another race to round it off to a nice 11 for PCs.

no. ditch half of the races you already have.

I'm now moving onto developing mysterious orient kind of country. Since it's very xenophobic and very oversea it's mostly beyond the scope of narrative currently, but still. I need to establish its inner working.

So far I figured that society would be much more centralized and cast-based. Each person born into certain cast in which they perform their duties and advance through ranks within the cast through service and and proving merit in unified exams. It becomes conceivable that farmer would outrank merchant or knight. This all exists to confuse feudal world. What kind of other traits could I add to improve this mix?

How is each caste lead? How much say do castes have in politics? Are all castes equal in prestige, or are some castes seen as superior or inferior? Do castes fight between themselves or do they cooperate?

...

History and Social Structure of Arda
pastebin.com/dQG26tEU

This is a bit long, so I made a paste instead of posting in-thread. I'd appreciate feedback and ideas for how to improve what I've got so far.
What works, what doesn't -- that sort of thing.

>Pick a nation/region/people in your world

Sha'haran Empire

>What's the national dish?
There is no national dish though a common daily staple is perpetual stew. This stew is prepared in various ways but share similarities such as using cheap, local meats spiced with local herbs and chilis

>What spices do they use, if any?
Common herbs are oregano, marjoram and lemon leaves. Common spices are chilis(from the south of the Empire) and bitter radish.

>What's considered cheap food?
Cheap food is what is locally availabe from Social Welfare.

These are typically dried meats from old work animals that have been slaughtered at the end of their useful life. The meat is often tough, gamey and requires a lot of preparation to be made edible.

Black Meat is a dense cake made of mixed blood from different slaughtered animals and bitter radish that is dried and available from Social Welfare. A homemade version exists which is softer and made fresh with choice ingredients added.

They also make a form of hard tack from old wheat.

>What's considered a delicacy?

The interior of the empire considers fresh seafood as a delicacy due to the cost and difficulty of transporting it inland. Live seafood would need to be transported by air by dragon.

>What is a holiday food only?

Meseijwe is a meat bun made and served only on holidays due to its laborious preparation and cost. It was originally a festive food of the Ruwa elf culture that has survived to this day with more spices. The filling is fatty ham cured with salt and honey before cold smoking then stewed in sweet fruits and wrapped in a dough pouch. It is then steamed then fried in bacon fat and served hot.

>What foreign food do they find just the worst?

As a culture with roots in deprivation it does not make sense for them to hate certain foods as a group.

I don't understand why you would bother creating a setting if you're just after a standard fantasy world with elves, dwarves and goblins.

Why not just use Faerun or Greyhawk?

>>Pick a nation/region/people in your world
I'm going to go another way today. I'm usually answer for Eastern nations, let's go with western wildlands
>>What's the national dish?
Large birds roasted whole on a fire
>>What spices do they use, if any?
Only some local herbs. Only way they get any foreign spices is in raiding eastern nations and they wouldn't know what to do with them
>>What's considered cheap food?
Fish for those living by the rivers or lakes. Chicken for those who live away from them. Eadible pinecones for completely impoverished
>>What's considered a delicacy?
Foreign stuff. Particularly cheese. Pork since they find it difficult to raise larger animals except for their large birds that look like cassowaries
>>What is a holiday food only?
Beef, since there are better use for cows
>>What foreign food do they find just the worst?
Everything too spicy since they aren't used to it. Molluscs since they think they look disgusting. But generally, their life is hard enough to learn to eat what they can get.

What about a mechanical influence? Since only 'living things' die between the void.

I was thinking of adding a class into a medieval pathfinder game that could build high tech items because of genetic engineers that programmed how to build things into the genecode so in case they wound up being stranded on a planet with no knowledge, they could still build things with the genetic memory built in. Would this work has a backstory for said class?

Does your setting feature ancient astronauts? If yes, you probably need more about them, or it would still seem out of place.

My setting is more suited to skirmish gameplay ala Warhammer/Mordheim, but there was to be an explination, it would be that a band of mercenaries can be contracted to pacify a region and bring it into a certain empires domain. How they do this is entirely up to them, and betraying their clients for their own wishes is probably not going to go well for them.

The thing is that these colonists are from a long time ago, they wind up getting mixed into the local human population, with some of them leaving off-world, the gene code is heavily fragmented after some 5000 years of interbreeding. Communities who have said individuals are kind of mixed blessing, both dangerous and good.

kek

Republic of Perceland

>How developed is the infrastructure? (roads, walls, housing, public spaces, etc)
It varies, Perceland is about 30,000 square kilometers in area, around the size of Belgium, shaped somewhat like a reversed large capital J (so the hook swings south, then curves up to northeast), and the infrastructure starts at fair to decent and grows better and better as you travel up the main "spine" of the nation to the north. The nation has extensive old growth forests in the south and modest limestone caves to the north, so building materials are generally of a high quality regardless of area, but the south is generally more "rural", with the development considerations that entails. Three major port cities, including the world's second largest, exist along the inner loop, so infrastructure improvements tend to spread out from there.

>Who pays for the upkeep? Where do they get their funds?

Perceland is definitely a trade-oriented nation, originally founded by an amalgamation of merchant houses and minor nobles who built the major cities along oceanic shipping and fishing trade routes, growing vastly wealthy from the abundance and quality of the fish and timber in an age where obtaining both was difficult. The country has never run a trade deficit in its 270 years of existence, even when half the world was at war (Perceland and its merchant navy remaining neutral and non-targeted by mutual agreement).

>Explain the requirements, if any, necessary to own property in the city/nation. (ie, land)

There's not much land that isn't either owned by companies which are developing/harvesting it, residential housing, roads, or the like, but there are several small islands which people sometimes lease, rent or even rarely buy outright, usually in an attempt to set up beachfront properties or hotels.

>Who has a say in government? Why?

The great merchant houses, which nearly anyone may apply for and be apprenticed to, each send three representatives to the government every two years for debating national matters and passing laws. Currently there are 23 long-standing and 8 "new money" houses which send representatives to the government, which qualify by having at least 1% of the population among their number.

>What are the benefits to living in this city/nation?

There's virtually no poverty except by comparison to other, more prosperous Houses, and Perceland is considered too economically and agriculturally important to nearly everyone in the world to be attacked. The climate is alternating warm and cool, with a heavy rainy season but no typhoons or floods, and medicine is advanced enough that the seasonal bug infestations don't really bring plagues anymore.

>How do the authorities treat/manage the destitute? (beggars, orphans/street urchins)

As mentioned, few truly become destitute. If a man's house burns down, say, his House (or the Commons branch of the government, if he has yet to apply for one or is a Standalone) will provide him a roof to sleep under and a job of some sort. There are never enough hands at the docks, nor in the forests or mines, and since half the minor noble houses that founded the nation came from conditions of near-serfdom themselves, slavery and mistreatment of employees is harshly prohibited. If a man does not work, the city provides basic common housing and nutritious, if plain, fare at the enclaves of the Standalone. It should be noted that social pressure prevents most vagrancy, as a person who actually chooses not to work is seen as extremely undesirable. Also of note is that it's quite difficult to go broke as an artist in Perceland, since the neighboring Momoks to the south are absolutely crazy for the woodwork and sculpture out of Perceland, and even a mediocre artist can earn a nice dormitory or even his own private dwelling in one of the artistic Houses with ease.

>What is the most popular tourist attraction?

The biggest draw by far for tourism is Srinnishum, the decennial festival celebrating the ocean and its bounty. For seven weeks, all other work grinds to a halt as millions of people flood the streets, coasts, beaches and islands and seemingly thousands of ships, rafts, dugouts and encampments appear all along the nation's inner ring to celebrate. Competitions are held, tens of thousands unite in offerings and prayers for successful harvests of fish, plant life and even mining and timbering. It is still held by the more religious Houses that the goddess of the merfolk herself, Srinni, presided over the first Srinnishum, and the coveted position of chief marshal of the fair (and judge for the Great Coastal Race) is still called Srinniharna in her honor.

Do you come up with random pieces of lore like books and legends that don't have direct connection to your plot?

I'm making a system inspired by Monster Hunter, currently trying to come up with a good list of abilities players can learn by wearing armor from different monsters. I've got stuff like echolocation, bioluminescense, camoflage, voice mimicry, stuff like that. If you were a player in such a game, what sort of abilities would you like to see?

>oceanic/Lovecraftian
By that we're talking like, real deep sea horror stuff right? I've already got a species that's ocean themed so if I go that route I wanna make it stand out a bit more.
Like SMT? The weird sort of "divine machine" type of look they usually have going?

super jump / negate fall damage
gliding
able to eat kills for healing
super diving / underwater breathing
short super-fast sprint
headbutt / ram attack

cracked.com/article/241_5-animals-that-can-do-amazing-things-...-with-their-penises

Robo-Metatron is pretty boss.

burrowing
defensive spikes (Hedgehog)
natural projectile attack (Porcupine)
sonic attack
something blood drinking
poison attacks / poison immunity (various types of poison)
blinding attack / smoke cloud
grappling / hooks / super climb
super punch - short ranger high power unarmed attack, perhaps with buildup
frenzy (power ramps up with kill count)
acid attack / acid immunity
ditto heat / cold
heavy lifting (carry stuff multiple times your weight)
able to chop / chuck wood bare handed
electricity stuff (supercharge by lightning strike?)
flame spitting
pheromone powers turning lesser creatures into your minions / bait / meat shields

Not really sure if this is the right place, but I've got some sort of monster ecology I've written, and I'd like to see what people think

pastebin.com/DJUDd5y8

Do you ever intentionally leave blank spots in your setting?
I have a lot of trade cities in the southern part of my region and I'm thinking of leaving what's "off the edge of the map" blank so that if a player wants to play something crazy that doesn't fit with the cultures of the setting, I can say that he's a foreigner from the south and implement whatever their ideas are into it.

Great ideas user, already working on putting some in. I'm thinking of having attacks and spell effects be a different ballgame, looking for more stuff like pheromones and frenzy specifically, like passive abilities or utility stuff.

My setting is literally being devoured by the Void. There used to be a kingdom here. It's gone now.

bump

adventurers are usually travelers or mercenaries, except in the latter they don't belong to a specific company. they are swords for hire, to fight for the people they want to work for. they are freelancers and are unpredictable. hense why people are scared of them.

What is slavery like in your setting?

Is it seen as evil, or a fact of life?

Who can be a slave? Who can own one?

How is the value of slaves determined?

Can slaves be freed? If so, how?

What kind of life does the average slave live?

...

At the very, very beginning? I usually start with a character, then work backwards to figure out the city or country where he or she lives based on his or her occupation, then start thinking about that city's neighbors and political situation. And as I make changes to each location, I also make tweaks to other locations to reflect it (e.g. A exports a lot of ore to B, so B trades their cash crops and some exotic spices to A).

Never set in stone, always write in pencil.

extra arms
improved sight/hearing/smell
shooting glue
spinning webs
flexibility
regeneration
magnetic navigation

Anyone here?

nope

I like this picture. This is a good picture.

...

>What is slavery like in your setting?
In Gedask it is the removal of freedom and self determination. The person is the same as cattle.

>Is it seen as evil, or a fact of life?
It is normal and a just punishment.

>Who can be a slave? Who can own one?
Most slaves today are descendants of the enslaved Ruwan elves during the the Gedan rebellion about 1200 years ago. It is hereditary even with halfbreeds.

Most Ruwan elves were enslaved through conquest. A Gedan or foreigner may become a slave as a form of punishment for a crime or when taken as a prisoner in war. A slave bought outside the territory is also considered a slave in the empire.

All slaves are tattooed on both cheeks and the back of their hands with the slave mark to make identification easier.

Any human Gedan citizen may own a slave of any race. Gedan free elves and free orcs are not allowed to own human slaves.

>How is the value of slaves determined?

The appraisal is rather subjective with basic objective standards. Objective standards are typical symmetry, normal signs of health and age. Subjective standards are appearance, perceived stamina and useful lifespan.

>Can slaves be freed? If so, how?

It is possible for a slave to earn its freedom/manumission by service to its owner or as a punishment meted to its owner by a higher authority. A counter mark is added to the slave mark tattoos indicating their new status as freed slaves and they are given official papers reflecting that status. It is very rarely done though.

>What kind of life does the average slave live?

In Gedask it is a mixed bag of possibilities after 1200 years and varies by region, city and household. In the west of the empire slavery is like a cultural ritual. In the south slavery is much more lax and more similar to serfdom. In the north Slavery is particularly harsh. The east treats slavery like indefinite indentured servitude. In all instances slaves are legally completely at the mercy of their owners.

>What is slavery like in your setting?
Two nations practice it. Others outlawed it long ago
>Is it seen as evil, or a fact of life?
Depends. One practice relatively mild form of slavery that is thought of as a dick move, and another is brutal is made them hated by everyone
>Who can be a slave? Who can own one?
Nation one: People captured in war raids are forced to be menial labour
Nation two: Strict division by ethnic lines. Native population enslaved, descendants of invasion own them
>How is the value of slaves determined?
Nation one: Not really determined, slave trade are non-existent. You want your own slaves? Capture them yourself
Nation two: Free market. Slaves with good skills and phisical traits are valuable, slaves without are not
>Can slaves be freed? If so, how?
Nation one: Slaves are regularly released during major festivities
Nation two: Never. Anyone of their ethnicity must be enslaved. Only chance for them is to be smuggled oversea, but who would try to do it?
>What kind of life does the average slave live?
Nation one: While not officially protected by any law, people live in close-knit communities. Impudent slaves can be disciplined, but being caught mistreating slaves for no reason is bad for your reputation. They are warrior culture that think abusing those who can defend themselves is a sign of weakness and cowardice
Nation two: Very bad. Mistreatment of slaves is not just allowed, but is practically obligatory. Fear and constant dehumanizing is thought to be only thing that controls it. Perhaps further complicated by small genetic pool most slavers are particularly sadistic and unhinged. Think wacky Caligula antics.

Bump

>Slavery
Outlawed
>Evil or fact of life
Evil
>Who?
No one and no one
>Value
There is none
>Freed
There are none
>Life
They are free

BORING

My primary civilization isn't very advanced in terms of technology, so would it be unreasonable to have them know how to manufacture cotton paper? Or, to be more accurate, flax-based paper? Flax is already one of their major crops and I'm planning on have them produce linens, but there is a bit of a leap from making linen shirts to pulping rags into paper. On the other hand, the process itself is fairly simple: cut up linen rags, pulp them in water, strain the pulp in a mold, press and dry the sheet. It's a simple process, but figuring out how to do it is the hard part.

>It's a simple process, but figuring out how to do it is the hard part.

Not really. If the rags are worthless there's bound to be someone trying different things to make money out of it. Could also be accidental like rags/refuse material getting stuck in looms and pounded then dumped on the floor, mopped aside left to dry and then somebody notices they have paper on the floor.

That actually sounds rather reasonable.
My thanks.

Bumping for help here.

Honestly, what you've got there seems pretty damn solid. One thing I'd question, though, is the interplay between the cities and the tribes. Seems like it'd be difficult to maintain the relationship you've described for long; generally marauders either die out or are killed off once agriculture arrives on the scene, especially as well-developed as this society seems. Perhaps I just don't have a picture for how much land area we're dealing with, but it seems like any remaining hunter/gatherers would be pretty quickly forced out of the area by those with a stable food supply rather than having such a close relationship with them.

Most of it is actually a blank spot because no one has ever survived going that far. Most that they know about what it the 'blank space' is through the giants whose civilizations are able to penetrate far deeper then any other group, but even their maps have limitations and places where not even the mighty giants dare not tread.

Fact of life. lot of groups make do with slaving while others are neutral or even hate it.

Sometime this provides a clause for war.

Anyone who gets caught by slavers can become a slave. If your lucky(and valuable enough) someone will ransom you. If not your fucked unless you get even luckier by being bought by someone who frees you.

Depends on where your at. Some places for instance require a slaveowners license while in others only the nobles or certain castes can do so.

Slaves value is determined by race, ability, and age.

Depends if they are lucky enough to not get hit with a slaver magic. If they are particularly unlucky the effect is so powerful and permanent not even the slave owner can free them but merely transfer their ownership. With mundane means its pretty simple(though good healing magic will probably be needed to remove slaver brands). If its magical so long as its not too strong it can either be dispelled or released by the slaveowner. Some slaver magics are said to even enslave the soul and or carry on into the afterlife. Mind slaving is pretty common if the slave's intelligence isn't important otherwise with the possible side effects its generally avoided if you actually want the slave to keep their mind.

Your average slave's life is a miserable lot as most slaves aren't particularly valuable. Valuable slaves are well taken care of. Typically your average slave can look forward to a short life of hard labor and if they gets lucky gets nommed by some threat or dies to disease.

No, not like this. But I do have everything outside major landmarks "Procedurally generated".

>Honestly, what you've got there seems pretty damn solid
Danke. I have to admit I'm rather proud of how it's turning out.

The tribe/city thing is certainly a concern, but I'm confident I can tweak the area/population scale to make it work a little better.
If I'm being honest, the tribes aren't really hunter-gatherers anymore. I'd imagine they end up relying more and more on the cities for food and other supplies. Eventually they'd end up less "independent partners" and more "the people who live at the further extent of the city's territory." In a way, they're largely groups of self-perpetuating, permanent armies; they're a purely warrior-caste positioned in between the nobility and citizens, but don't realize it. This would be doubly true after the nobles continually intermarried with tribal leaders for several generations.

I'll play around with it to try and make it work.

Thanks for the help, user.

After playing Morrowind all weekend I felt that I should cobble together some ancient legends and cautionary tales for my setting. Since I have nobody to share it with currently, I will post it here

>Last king of Ilem was in despair. He lost all his land in the northern hills and all its riches.
>He was driven to the Wildlands, hiding among forest clans who were still loyal to him, in the treacherous woods
>Though he wronged her before, he still went to seek advice from the Forest Witch, hoping that her hatred for Fradothi is greater then her hatred for him
>"Even though you wronged me", said Witch, "I will still help you. I will teach you how to cast a spell that will make you like a wolf three times over"
>King didn't know what did witch meant and he had chosen to ignore her strange words, forgetting that witches say what they say, not what others hear
>He cast his spell, on himself and his sons and it gave them strange bestial powers
>They rallied their men and brought many defeats on their enemies hunting them down and striking from dark
>The king became like a wolf - fearsome and relentless predator
>But as his enemies were defeated, King's bloodlust didn't wane. And soon his own men started to turn up dead, torn apart and gnawed on. King had became like a wolf for a second time - a savage beast that kills whatever he can without remorse.
>As King's deeds became known, his own people risen against him. There wasn't a household that didn't curse his name.
>Men and women, young and old all rallied together to stop him. And as fearsome he was, he could not hide from his own people in their own land
>And thus he became like a wolf third time over - a pest hunted down and slain without remorse