/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

Legs Ain't Broke Yet Nigga Edition

Some worldbuilding resources:

On designing cultures:
frathwiki.com/Dr._Zahir's_Ethnographical_Questionnaire

Random generators:
donjon.bin.sh/

Mapmaking tutorials:
cartographersguild.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48

Free mapmaking toolset:
www.inkarnate.com

Random Magic Resources/Possible Inspiration:
darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/magic/antiscience.html
buddhas-online.com/mudras.html
sacred-texts.com/index.htm

Conlanging:
zompist.com/resources/

Random (but useful) Links:
futurewarstories.blogspot.ca/
projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/
military-sf.com/
fantasynamegenerators.com/
donjon.bin.sh/
eyewitnesstohistory.com/index.html
kennethjorgensen.com/worldbuilding/resources
reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/books/europe#wiki_middle_ages
reddit.com/r/worldbuilding

>A human from Earth and a human from Faerun are both magically transported to your world.
>Which one is the more startled?
>If the BBEG of your last campaign appeared in your new setting, what would be his first reaction?
>A Galactic Superbeing appears, demanding your setting's mightiest warriors challenge and defeat him in a WWF-style wrestling championship, or else he will destroy the world.
>Who's the ultimate Face?
>Who's the ultimate Heel?

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=1RtMMupdOC4
dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=7174
www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/demog.htm
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

>A human from Earth and a human from Faerun are both magically transported to your world.

>Which one is the more startled?
Most likely the human from Faerun. There's no magic, and there are only humans.

>If the BBEG of your last campaign appeared in your new setting, what would be his first reaction?
Mine's not for a campaign, so no BBEG.

>A Galactic Superbeing appears, demanding your setting's mightiest warriors challenge and defeat him in a WWF-style wrestling championship, or else he will destroy the world.
>Who's the ultimate Face?
'The Drake', darling of the duelling ring, in his distinctive helmet modelled after a legendary sea serpent, with his axe and shortsword he will defeat this monster for all the drake-a-maniacs, brother!

>Who's the ultimate Heel?
Probably the Albani First shield, defender of the Albani Emperor, though he's a bit 'shades-of grey'.

just build my shit up senpai

What the hell is around Dedi? Is it swamp? Is this enpire thing actually an archipelago? Some fucked up river sistem? If it's rivers, I don't think it makes any sense.

So I'm going back to design my space opera stuff.

When humanity discovered FTL travel, they colonized local cluster and started syphoning its resources, but it still wasn't enough. They started an ambitious project of creating a stargate-esque thingy and establish connection with a promising distant star cluster. They colonized it too and everything seemed to go smoothly until one day local garrisones were recalled back to Earth and soon Earth went completely silent. Thier Stargate-thingy no longer works and receiving end doesn't have functional to launch ships without stargate on the other end.

First colonies around terminus system were well-off and not as exploited and so they formed Loyalist Core, which is a totalitarian star nation formed under quasi-religious belief that Earth one day will come back and reward them.

The rest are ragtag bunch of underdeveloped planets trying to make a living and keep Loyalists out.

I'm not sure how much aliens should I include. I have different ideas about alien elements, but I feel they don't fit in this particular setting.

Those are clearly roads, user.

But why are they so blue?

the stuff around dedi and segri are a mixture of swamps and confluences

mostly just swamp though

Wouldn't it be salt swamp? Pretty unpleasant place to settle.

I expect they'd have a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, since farming crops wouldn't be easy.

They could farm seaweed and rock samphire.

Smaller sea monsters like to use the Hortus Junctions for a breeding ground because the larger ones can't fit in the shallow/narrow waterways

Dedi tribals worship and tame them, Segri tribals are trying to genocide them, both eat them, Empire only wants to study them

promptbump

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one

>How is it made?

>What effect does it have?

>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?

>Is it illegal?

>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?

Please tell me that the Fur Sea is an actual sea of fur.

>>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
It does, though I didn't figure out a name
>>How is it made?
It's a big national secret, but probably out of some plants dried. Horse manure may or may not be involved at some point
>>What effect does it have?
It makes people relaxed, happy and seeing things
>>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
Somewhat. Not as hard as some.
>>Is it illegal?
No.
>>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
Vice of the elite. It's coming from mysterious foreign land. It is viewed negatively by some, but no worse then alcohol. Addicts are disliked the same way drunkards are

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
Rizza
>How is it made?
It's a single flower of 100 petals which grows in a specific forest. The petals may be ingested raw, or brewed into a tea. One petal relaxes you, and each one after that enhances the effects. If you manage to take all 100 petals you will lose your mind.
>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
Highly, highly addictive. Not many people are able to stop themselves before going crazy.
>Is it illegal?
Nope.
>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
Those lost to the flower are obviously scum, but those that can get satisfaction from the flower without losing control are seen as people with crazy self control and wisdom

Help me with my awful sense of scale. How much legislators would be good for a large medieval city.

Let's go with 100,000 population, which puts in slightly below Constantinople in the similar time period.

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
Dream Drops.
>How is it made?
It's an Illusion spell suspended in an herbal concoction. Basically, alchemy.
>What effect does it have?
Depending on the strength of the spell, sensory hallucinations can include smell, sound, sight, taste, and temperature. Too strong of a dose can drive you insane.
>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
None of the ingredients are inherently addictive, but some people might grow accustomed to the effects.
>Is it illegal?
Not really, just frowned upon. The herbs are often grown in an Alchemist's private greenhouse, and some will sell it to upper-class people to earn additional income.
>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
Vice of the elite. It's called "Dream Drops" because they often put a couple droplets into their evening meal.

I want to have a Fairy Court, but don't feel like using the typical Seelie/Unseelie. Any advice?

bump

Base the courts around seasons?

Environmental biomes?

Opposite elements (Light vs Dark, Warm vs Cold, etc.)?

So I'm making a soft science fiction setting and I want some methods of FTL.

youtube.com/watch?v=1RtMMupdOC4
Can't find higher quality.

A device that reduces the ship's mass, allowing conventional engines to get it up to speed.

All the classic:
Warp: changing property of space around ship so distance ahead of it is shorter
Hyperspace: Leaving conventional space to place where distances or shorter or relativity is lenient
Wormhole: Generating a connection between two distant points of space

There's also improbability drive but it was a parody and I don't remember the exact nature.

Haven't been working perhaps as hard as I should be on it since I've found it difficult to get myself to draw these past few weeks.

But I did up this little doodle to help myself visualize how magic works within the setting I've been working on.

Tell me more about Hedge mages.

>Tell me more about Hedge mages.

Sure thing, user.

-A Hedge Mage is typically someone whom only picks up bits and pieces of Arcane Magic trickled down through any available sources: usually tutors or discarded out dated Arcane Texts. Their primary defining trait is their lack of an academic background.

-Hedge Mages often lack the fundamental knowledge necessary to customize and craft their own Arcane Sorceries; very often simply casting spells via memorization & mimicry. Typically Hedge Mages come from a very "rural" or impoverished background, so their repertoire of spells usually emphasizes utility and function over martial use.

-Natural sources of magic come more fluidly to Hedge Mages due to their humility and more improvised "whatever-works" nature. Usually fixating on one specific locally abundant element; If a "wizard" is throwing fire, rocks, water or air at you- they are almost assuredly a Hedge Mage.

-Much of what Hedge Mages learn themselves of Magic (including some of their very own truly unique and rare spells) is almost exclusively spread through word of mouth. There do exist a few "Hedge Mage Texts" in circulation, but they are extremely questionable and often banned or destroyed by academics.

I never see people asking these questions.
>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
>Is there a concept of honor in war?
>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one

I'm including opium, marijuana and various other real naturally occurring narcotic/hallucinogenic things.

For custom ones I'm considering mental and physical performance enhancing drug. I'm also considering a designer narcotic made by Sha'hara to undermine its enemies.

No names yet.

>How is it made?

Not sure yet for the enhancer and no plans yet on fleshing it out. I'm going to make it a product from another continent populated by non-hominids, setup for trade/slavery stories/plots.

For the Sha'haran narcotic it's a setup for an opium-wars type of conflict. A highly secret alchemical mix made by a state owned company.

>What effect does it have?

Th enhancer is intended to be a mild stimulant to its makers but when used by hominids it is a mental and physical enhancer, it is similar to adrenaline: mind becomes faster, more focused, senses are sharper. Physically the user feels less pain, able to push the body further, reaction is faster. The user burns more energy, incurs more stress damage and doesn't feel it until the effects wear off and they crash from exhaustion. It steadily becomes more addictive as it builds up in the body. Continuous use increases resistance requiring more of the drug and can lead to death by exhaustion.

The Sha'haran narcotic is designed to give pleasure. It's sole purpose is to be as addictive as possible so that they can get addicts to pay exorbitant amounts for it.

>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?

Yes for both. The enhancer is relatively benign unless intentionally abused. The narcotic is meant to be really addictive to the point of withdrawal pains leading to death at later stages.

>Is it illegal?

No.

>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?

They're not really "rolled-out" yet. The enhancer will be a future introduced item while the narcotic is still being developed.

>>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
Axe for lower tier soldiers, sword for anyone worth a damn. In certain regions who had to deal with horseback nomad raids, polearms eclipse axes
>>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
Ridiculous contraption which is a staff with two tridents on both side. It can cut, in can pierce and if you see a guy with it, you might as well go home because clearly someone who didn't impale himself on this thing is the greatest fighter ever
>>Is there a concept of honor in war?
Depends. Some nations are more pragmatic. Some nations are aspiring to knightly ideals, but usually don't rise to them. One nation is particularly focused on honorable fights particularly among themselves
>>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.
Generally, wars for genocide aren't practised. Certain people would like to exterminate their neighbours, but they don't have means. Most real wars can be considered civil and war crimes are discouraged among them. Forest dwelling clans in particular expected to raid each other sometimes and not expected to hold grudges when raided, but deviating from code of conduct - such as raping or excessive pillaging would bring terrible retribution upon the guilty from all nearby clans. Big wars happen if investigation into war crimes is inconclusive. On the other hand, nomads from the East see little wrong in all sort of rape pillage and burn antics.

Goodman games has a guide to the fae that is excellent.

>What is the most common weapon in your setting?

The most common personal weapons are relatively advanced, muskets and pistols are often used with pikes and swords, but the true queen of war is the airship. Most battles are fought between small flotillas of 2 to 6 airships, even though in major wars between the great powers the numbers can rise to the hundreds, armed with weapons such as naval artillery, rockets and primitive AA guns, for example. As the world shape my setting is an endless sky filled with floating islands, this makes sense.

>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?

In spite of not being really that uncommon, airplanes are considered the most elite weapon of war. They are not really advanced, you could compare them to early WWI fighter planes. The pilots of these craft are often go through many years of training to master the art of dogfighting. That's why airplane piots have a reputation similar to US marines in our world. Experience is key to survive in vehicles that fragile.

>Is there a concept of honor in war?

There are some unwritten "rules of war" that are followed by most combatants, with the honorable exception of airship pirates, like not shooting down escaping survivors from a destroyed ship or giving a fair treatment to prisioners.Also, the recnent advancements in technology have made some people concerned about the cruelty of weapons such as posion gas or cluster bombs.

>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.

War crimes are punished very harshly by the Concilium, a UN-analogue in my setting, being crimes at the same level of piracy or treason. The Rebel Navy, a splinter faction from the Concilium that has grown during the last centuries to be a credible threat to the Concilium's hegemony, also condemns them. However, airship pirates and petty armadas often prefere to ignore them.

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
"demon red"
>How is it made?
it's created by a fairly specific combination of naturally occurring chemicals and "alchemical" components that on their own would amount to a slurry of worthless goop. it's the influence of fell powers that make this into something that works like it does.
>What effect does it have?
it gives you a sense of fearlessness, dulls pain, increases reaction time, provides heavy dissociation and gives you a sense of "contentment" and "peace." addicts are known to develop strange personality defects (which are actually the same fell powers that help to create the drug possessing their body) and become "insane" after only a few weeks of use.
>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
the trick with demon red is that it never leaves the body of the addict that ingests it. it begins to crystallize in a raw, unprocessed form on the bones, an incredibly painful process that renders most incapacitated after a few weeks of heavy use. it's highly addictive, withdrawal is usually fatal, and even if it's not, you're likely to be cut up by "chopper" gangs looking to get the demon red that's forming horrifying crystal growths poking out through your flesh. hiding that you're an addict is really difficult.
>Is it illegal?
highly illegal.
>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
scourge of the masses. any population with demon red addicts is in trouble not just because it's cheap to process and make from scratch, the poor are murdered for the bit of demon red that might be clinging to their bones. combined with the fact that it lets real, actual demons take control of your body briefly during late stages of addiction, and it becomes a truly massive problem.

Pretty. And gives you/players plenty of options.
I'm curious as to why necromancy is part of nature. I'd have thought reanimating dead bodies would have just as much in common with demons and the afterlife as it does the physical world, possibly even more.

>What is the most common weapon in your setting?

Spear. Varies in design and technique but all cultures have them.

>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?

Mauler armor. It is basically a set of spiked and bladed plates worn by land dragons as part of their normal armor. It's meant to allow the wearer to spearhead an assault, break formations and generally do mayhem just by being there. The blades and spikes are arranged such that it is hard to make contact with the wearer and not be injured. Because of this wearers can expect almost no physical assistance if they are injured in the middle of battle or incapacitated. It takes years of training to wear the armor effectively and coupled with its hazards it is rarely used.

>Is there a concept of honor in war?

Different cultures, different views. The Alwara beastmen see war as an honorable pursuit. It is the final option to reach a resolution after negotiation has failed. Warriors train to their mental and physical peak for the chance participate.

>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.

It's the world's ancient times. It's somewhat common. Again: different cultures, different views. The Luwasati Elves have not launched a war in 300 years. However, they have sent numerous raiding parties to capture slaves in their border regions. Most Luwasati will not soil himself to lay with a lower being but there are those that do and most half Luwasati are born from these forced unions. Luwasati society completely rejects these halfbreeds and they are lucky to be made overseer slaves if they are permitted to live at all. A Luwasati man who consorts with slave races as such is considered disdainful if not impure and heretical and is often left at the outskirts of society.

>>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
Military issue Musket, I imagine.
>>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
The sword. Officer's sabres, specifically. The mark of the upper class and a deadly close combat tool.
>>Is there a concept of honor in war?
Shit yeah, all sorts of naval codes.
>>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.
Barbaric. Still happen, mind.

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
Eden root. Name still pending, I'm making this up on the spot.
>What effect does it have?
At low doses, it heightens sensation and acts as a mild aphrodisiac. At higher doses, it can cause intense (and usually not good) hallucinations.
>How is it made?
"Eden root" is a misnomer; it's distilled from the leaves of a relatively common tree. Chewing the leaves directly is enough to get the effects, and it's often hailed as safer than the distilled version since it's much harder to overdose, but chewing leaves is not pleasant.
>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
It's as addictive as TV or gambling or anything else that gives easy pleasure. There's not exactly withdrawal, but frequent users often complain of numbed sensation when they haven't taken it, so they may become dependent on it. Normal sensation usually returns after a few months to a few years, depending on how long and how frequently the drug was used.
>Is it illegal?
In some places, but typically you're not gonna get arrested for it unless you piss off a police officer. And people tend to look the other way as the trees that produce it are planted in every park "for shade".

However, protecting one's "territory" on such a tree can lead to illegal activity, since suppliers want to keep people from just plucking their product for free, often harshly.
>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
It's used by both the common people and the wealthy, but it's typically viewed as a "city drug"; rural communities view themselves as less likely to use it. In truth, however, their rates of usage are almost as high. It's just that since the population is more dispersed, there are, mathematically, more users in the city than in any given small town.

Probably about 100-200. Any more and they couldn't spare the workforce (if they're giving up 1 in 500 people to a job that produces little in terms of usable product), any fewer and they probably wouldn't be able to fairly represent their constituency (if the fastest technology for conveying information is the spoken word).

However, if there's a reasonably-sized aristocracy, they'd probably have their own share of representatives, as well. The 1% could have as many as 50-100 representatives of their own, since they don't need to worry about work.

It produces a space where anything is probable, so it just so happens that your spaceship spontaneously appeared at the place you wanted it to go, as I recall.

Sounds like a neat setting.

What do people think of this setup for magic?

Two broad catagories of magic, not really formal distinctions
High Magic- Magic which requires intense training, and often draws on trancendental powers. Generally the magic of professionals and the true magicians.
Low Magic- Common man's magic. Cantrips, charms, folk divination. That sort of thing. Generally the sort of thing that anyone with a bit of talent and willpower could pick up with fairly little study.
Four broad catagories of magicians
Hermeticists/Ritualists/Wizards- Use specialized rituals and study to engender confluences of the material plane and higher/lower realms. Spellcasting requires large amounts of time and energy, but can accomplish nearly anything given the proper knowledge and ritual components. However, they're useless without preptime and often are the squishy, brainy type

Sorcerers are the decendants of ancient warlock-kings, in both blood and tradition. They are very well trained in their magical arts via rote memory and rigorous, drilled training in their guild monestaries. Sorcs are more often the "practical" mages, the engineers to the ritualists pure scientist. They know how to make their magic function, even if they don't understand how or why, and they're very, very good at what they do. However, their lack of academic training and emphasis on rote repitition means that they're bad at improvising. To make up for this, many Sorcerers augment their skills with mundane (often martial) training.

Theurgists/Shamans/Warlocks/Priests- Magicians focused on summoning spirits, and learning their innate powers. The oldest form of magic, Theurgy at it's base focuses on making pacts of service with spirits of various types, along with a smattering of low magic spells relating to dealing with spirits. They can either gain the patronage of spirits and gain the benefits of being in that spirit's court, or form a bond close enough to allow for the spirit to invest some of their power and abilities. The first path is the ancestor of the Priest, the latter of the Warlock. While the latter path can grant greater power much faster, it runs the risk of warping it's practitioner into something monstrous.

Witch/Hedge mage- Magicians of lesser paths, and often not formally trained. Dabbles in a little of everything, magical and not.
Ritualists have huge archives of pre-existing spells at their disposal (provided that they're in good standing with the academic community), and often aren't unwilling to spend lots of time tweaking and researching new spells and methods to better suit their needs The hermetic magic of the Ritualist relies on drawing energy from the higher and lower realms, so to learn or cast a new spell, the ritualist must first ensure that the plane is in the correct conjunction, set up a sympathetic connection between him and the plane, and then actually correctly draw the energy. Multiple planes can be drawn from at once, filtered through different ritual methods, so a lot of experimentation and recombination is encouraged. It's easier to discover a new ritual component than it is to discover a new plane, but both are still very possible.

Sorcerers have it a bit easier. They focus exclusively on the how as opposed to the why when it comes to magic, and most of the useful applications of their internal power have already been mapped out, simplified, and trained to rote precision by elder generations.They simply go off to one of the guild monasteries, train for a few weeks/months, and boom: new spell. That often means that it's much easier for a sorcerer to learn a new spell than a ritualist, but much, much harder for them to change it because they don't actually understand the mechanics of what they do.
Warlocks and theurgists have it the easiest and hardest. They learn their "spells" directly through investiture by summoned spirits and demons they've bonded with. For instance, a theurgist who keeps a fire elemental on call and summons it often enough to develop a rapport with it may eventually manage to "convince" it to impart him with some portion of its power. It wouldn't really be the same as a traditional spell, however, as once he's imbued with it the manipulation and conjuring of fire comes as naturally to him as it does to the elemental. He needs to be careful, though, as bonding with spirits can warp a man's soul, and doing this too many times with too many spirits can turn them into something inhuman. That's why shamans (and later priests and clerics) chose to primarily, or sometimes only, bond with a powerful patron spirit. They sacrifice an equal partnership and a breadth of powers for a deeper, more stable relationship with their bonded spirit.

Witches and hedge mages aren't really counted among true magicians, but they're far more common. They tend to be dabblers in all of the above methods, along with natural lore, weaving small charms and enchantments, folk divination, and the like. Their spells can be anything from a contract with a low spirit, knowing how to create a sympathetic link to the through the use of small trinkets and ritualized behavior (though they don't often actually know what they're doing. They know if you tie a willow branch in a threefold knot, hide it under your bed, and then march clockwise around the house you'll have good health. They don't know they're calling on a higher plane, or even that such things exist), or even simply knowing what to do with certain plants or minerals, or how to cast a horoscope. Really anything magical or useful, a hedgemage will try, or more often learn from an older, wiser member of their trade

My idea was that top X of land and ship owners would have a seat. I guess if "1%" is far smaller then 1%, I could have class representation I want.

Going with some for landowners and some for the elected might be easier though.

>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
Depends on the species. Most soldiers are equipped with spears and knives.
>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
The bladed throwing disc is razor sharp weapon that weighs about 25kg and is wielded by the Prince of Iltar and his Companions. It can cut an armored horse in half when thrown properly.
>Is there a concept of honor in war?
Some have it, while other species have an everything goes mentality.
>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.
The species that were hardest hit by the Catastrophe kidnap men and women of compatible species for procreatonal purposes. Some do it for fun, while the more noble species are disguisted by it.

Alright, I got back to working on my settings map again. Nowhere near finished, but thats mostly because placing hundreds of trees and hills individually takes forever.

Hers the map with regions and names. A lot of them are kind of generic or placeholder while I think of better ones.

Here is a version without.

The setting of the current map takes place about 800 years after the last time my players saw it. Its slowly being invaded by eldritch horrors for some unknown-to-them purpose.

There was about 50 years of activity after that last game, followed by around 700 years of the creatures lying 'dormant' after they wiped out the majority of the region.

>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
Spears and/or clubs, due to the ease of making them and using them.
>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
Well-made Swords of any type. Only the wealthy or extremely fortunate can afford to buy and be trained with them.
>Is there a concept of honor in war?
In some cultures, yes, but in many there is not.
>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in ancient times.
It still is ancient times, so these things are still quite common. Some of the more 'civilized' cultures look down upon such things as barbaric and repulsive.

You should add some color. Looks really bland. Or is it supposed to be all desert/wasteland?

Trees/grass haven't been added yet.

Its supposed to look like it was drawn on parchment as well.

Are there any programs that helps you build areas like this so you can print them?

>I'm curious as to why necromancy is part of nature.

Good you should mention that; I have a difficult time pegging where Necromancy fits.

-Necromancy at it's root is a kind of corrupted or selfish druidism: it takes the aspects of rot, decay, fungi and death (which are all good and natural things) but uses them for selfish and personal reasons and Alienates themselves and their power from the system.

-Necromancers use their powers for selfish purposes: killing people they dislike, raising the dead they miss, raising bodies to fight for them, labor under them or even love them.

-The common goal of Necromancy is to circumvent the entire natural cycle and in doing so become "flawlessly immortal". "Conditional Immortality" is a mistake and what happens with Vampires- blood n' so forth.

-Divine Necromancy or "Death Priests" naturally exists and they're bestowed their powers straight from Death herself and her divine miracles, but SHE focuses around killing immortals, putting undead to rest, communing with the dead, giving people closure as well as peaceful deaths.

I know it's a common question, but how would you make a setting that uses BOTH revolvers and similar gunpowder weapons (even blackpowder revolvers), and melee weapons? Both of them should be viable.

One of the options is to make bullets/weapons so expensive that it's almost impossible to get for some reason.

Also how would you think a society that has the technology to do this but guards the technology really well would do it? Maybe even some kind of nomads that keep the tech to produce bullets/firearms to themselves

Wastes of Insanity I get. What does "Sea of Daggers" mean? Why would someone describe a large body of water as daggery?

Maybe the daggers are the waves?

Maybe it's very windy in that area, and thus the waves in that area are larger?

Maybe "Daggermaw" is what they call the world's Sharks. The Sea of Daggers has a lot of sharks.

Don't you think that some games (be it wargames, board games or even RPGs) would benefit from having a really constrained setting in which most of the story is extremely detailed, but the rest of the world is just sketched?

I mean, I love worldbuilding as much as the next guy, but sometimes I feel like you have to leave a bit of mistery. And also, focusing on one part specifically makes sense. Thematically it gives you an advantage, if you play your cards right. It adds a lot of mystery to the other parts of your world, and allows players to really get the feel of the game.

For example, instead of writing the whole world, you just write about some important event in an important time, and have the players be major actors during that specific events. Or something like gladiatoral games.

I don't know, sometimes I feel like we worldbuild too much, when sometimes what's needed is less worldbuilding and more mystery and focus on specific parts of the setting.

My world building philosophy had always been to get as detailed as possible about as much of the setting as I can, but that does not mean I necessarily give out ago of that info early on, or ever. And there's a big difference between between writer knowledge, character knowledge, and player/reader knowledge. Characters "know" what a person in their circumstance would know. Players/readers have to figure out how much of what they are told is true or just hearsay or local prejudice/belief.
As the writer/gm, I'd day is your duty to know what the real truth is, even if you're the only one who'll ever know.
Rule 2, however, is to always be willing to make changes on the fly if need be. Don't marry any of your ideas without a prenup.

I'm inclined to agree. Like, I took California History in 3rd grade and US History in 4th grade; if there's enough content to fill two years of coursework just in broad strokes for an area with a not-particularly-deep history, it's probably not feasible to concoct a suitably deep history for every country on a fictional planet. And especially if you're running a campaign it's better to start small and build outwards instead of expecting everything to fit into the grooves you've carved.

But you'll notice for a bulk of the maps--in this particular thread, at least--it's zoomed in just on a particular region.

So, my problem is not so much lack of ideas but the opposite. I have a lack of focus. I start to make a setting, but then get bored of it quickly and move on to another. I get frustrated when they begin to feel samey, but at the same time I keep recycling bits because "I never got to use this one". I spend hours trying to find a way to piece together a map that I like with all the different places I thought of, then give up when it looks horrible.

So, how do I commit to fleshing out one thing at a time?

I built one of the cities from the world. It's called Penlac. Just a quaint place that used to be the center of a large duchy. Once the neighboring Empire showed up, Penlac peacefully entered into it without a fight.

The Emperor returned the mercy and spared the city of any 'cleansing' or tax. The people living there after the Empire took over are mostly immigrants from the neighboring cities looking to capitalize on growing food and cutting wood for the large population of miners further west.

They pay top dollar for the comforts of home. Aside from the immigrants, the 'natives' are fishermen and wrestlers. They work by day and play by night. It caught on with the immigrants swiftly.

Oddly enough, the city never even entered my players' vicinity. They elected to just keep on going. But the city found a spot in my designer's heart.

>yes, it did take 9000 hours in MS paint

>piece together a map that I like with all the different places I thought of
>give up when it looks horrible.
So you made Westeros?

But seriously, that's a difficult question to answer. I say start with something universal, the gods and magic, then choose a single nation and work on that. If you feel yourself wanting to move on to something else, take a break to jack off or something and then come back to keep working on that one nation.

Yes and lots. Magic Salts.

Its a natural if magical product nature produces. Its mine able.

Depending on the salt type it will greatly boost ones affinity to it. For example if you eat fire salt your fire affinity will go up allowing you to better resist fire effects and enhancing fire related abilities. In other words is a power trip.

Very addictive if eaten purely. Withdrawal effects is the opposite of its positive effect. If you take too much however it can destroy your body or mind whether its from the withdrawal or even from too much of the positive effect. This is however only true if you do not already have an affinity to it. So a fire mage can overdose on it and not worry about dying by combustion or going insane from the withdrawal.

Grey area. Some places its illegal, some its a controlled substance, and others its perfectly legal.

Its seen as an expensive habit wildly popular among the specialists. Negatively wise its seen as a vice for those with poor self control or those who are obsessed with more power.

Funnily enough it can be safely consumed when not taken pure. Its in fact common to do so while one is training in the associated type of salt. For instance a fire mage apprentice will often mix fire salts within their meals. The reason for this is a gradual build of the effect permanently enhancing one's affinity to it. However It takes a LONG time for it to build up enough to have an effect and mixing it with its opposites have devastating consequences. In other words if you eating a fire salt whatever you do do NOT eat a water salt. Ever.

As it will react inside your body doing terrible terrible things to you. This makes it so some assassins will actually attempt to mix an opposing salt into their victim's meals or drink hoping that the reaction within the body will be enough to kill them

This depends on the ratio of what is taken and what is already stored inside the body. ratio can range anywhere from slight sickness to death

>What is the most common weapon in your setting?
Pikes, followed by swords and maces, and then by crossbows, though those are being edged out by the latest Handgonnes.

>What is the most elite/rare non-magical weapon in your setting?
Katanas. In that they don't strictly speaking exist.

>Is there a concept of honor in war?
Depends on who you're killing at the moment. If they're peasants or equivalent social rank, no one cares if you run them down with horses. If they're noble, no one will care either unless it is politically advantageous to do so.

>What is the view on what are now considered war crimes(wartime rape, genocide etc.) but were quite common in aincient times.
Still considered crimes. Only trouble is prosecuting a lot of them is difficult, especially if the perpetrator is a sovereign or something. Rape is scorned by commanders (seriously don't piss off the local peasants, we need them!), and genocide is usually the absolute last resort in wartime (often used as a threat more often than as a tool).

>Worldbuilding using a tesseract as a base model for the cosmology of the setting
I have no idea what I'm doing.

Spears for melee and slings or crossbows if they got the money for ranged.
Dueling weapons and/or masterworked pieces.
To a degree. Its generally avoid killing officers and nobles for instance because you can ransom them.
Its historic. Rape, pillage, and plundering soldiers is the norm. Genocidal and holy wars are a regular thing.

I generally don't go into detail about it modern standard war crime matters besides 'yes that shit happens and no I am not offering details.' Not about to go into gristly detail about the mass rapes and pillaging that goes on when a city falls or when some people are trying to genocide another while being cruel as can be about it because old hatreds.

Magic.

Magical armors(or armors made by supernatural materials) can be quite resistant to gunpowder weapons(among others) however such armors tend to be rather pricey. This usually results in magi guns usage or switching to some other weapon.

What is Japan? For historic reasons for the above instead of magical look into how tricky good gunpowder was to make for the longest time and the fact that guns and platemail coexisted for a time because the gun tech wasn't quite good enough yet.

I love this and now want to make a class based on it.

Open question: Where do you normally start with when building a new world from scratch? Like, with a blank canvas, do you tend to start with just making a map of a nation and places, then fill the rest, or do you start with the mythology and creation story?

I'm starting a new world from scratch for the first time and I've got something of a basic creation myth and am slowly piecing things together bit by bit in my off time at work. However I haven't really started on any of the lands or major landmarks. I'm just curious as to where others on here start.

Bounce back and forth between regions by developing the bonds between them. What's the relationship between the desert folks and the forest folk? Who trades with whom? What bits of culture are shared and which are completely different and why?

Your setting uses magic right? And that magic uses energy?

Well, what do people call that energy? Where does it come from?
Are there things that conduct it or block it? How readily available are those things, and what do people use those things for usually?
Can that energy take physical form? What kind of properties does it have in physical form? What happens if some retard mixes it with gunpowder, or tattoo ink, or puts it in a metal alloy, or mixes it with alcohol and drinks it?

The Magewrights in my setting are somewhat similar. They're basically Wizard College dropouts who simply aren't smart enough to learn Arcane properly.
They focus on learning and memorizing simple utility spells, and usually end up making simple, extremely common trinkets like a Magic Light.

I think it makes sense to leave some mystery, but you always need to have a concept of what's going on outside the focus so whenever it stumbles upon the focus, it would be part of consistent picture.

Start with present. You know what you want your world to be so any worldbuilding would be teleological.

>Decide what you want to be happening
>Decided what nations would accomodate the story best
>Draw a map around them
>Insert fitting backstory
>Clean it up until it makes sense

If you start with myths, what are you going to do if your myths fail to live up to what you want your world to be?

I did something like this: >Started with "What is", defined the nations and the peoples therein
>Moved on to technology, how the nations are ruled, and ironed out the various races
>Then did "How it became this", and defined the creation myth, past ages of the world, and how the races evolved over time

I think in my head I simply started with the myth as a way to kind of establish what people believe in the world and how it explains the existence of magic, because to me I find that one of the more interesting aspects of a world, but I definitely see what you and mean.

Thank you for your input, I'll keep this in mind!

Massive storms with tall waves, sharp reefs along the coast, and horrible sea monsters. Its a sea only the stupid or fearless brave.

That's not the 'official' name of the sea, just the ones the locals use. The world-name is the Abyssian Sea. Its the planets largest ocean, and its quite dangerous to sail making the majority of travel landlocked, and travel between continents almost unheard of.

This is a super rough draft of the world map. I decided to postpone working on it for a while, since the photoshop techniques used to make it are... frustrating.

Sometimes toponyms pass from language to language being adapting into paronyms without making sense.

For once I'd like fantasy geography have some stupid name, like for example, this
Long ago people here called sea Dagga in their language. Eventually they got taken over by different culture, who took on calling sea this and forgot why so it eventually became Dagger. Or something like this.

>yes, it did take 9000 hours in MS paint
literally what?

it's a meme you melt
in fact it's one of the oldest still in regular use

I know it's probably a pretty basic question, but how do you guys go about naming things? Coming up with decent sounding names is always the hardest part of world building for me

How do I sell my speshul snowflake setting as something the players actually want to play?

I struggled to remember it all but basically inspired by a dream, I wanted to run a mythic age campaign where the players are part of an exodus from the promised land, which has basically become too full, and they return back to the old lands across the ocean, where giants, elves and dwarves as well as savage human tribes who got left behind live. The PCs would basically become mythic heroes for a medieval future should I ever return to the setting.

I want it basically like a Dark Ages Britain transplant back to probably the bronze age, but I'm hoping that the players find enough flexibility to not feel constrained by the setting. The inclusion of Dwarves should ensure high level armours should I want it, or maybe they have to wage a war against the giants to capture one of their mountain holds and sick magic forge, I dunno.

To make it more inviting I should perhaps make them generation 2 or 3, so that settlements and infrastructure is established but they can carve out some land and glory for themselves, probably by genociding the fuck out of the wild men, Rohirrim style.

Also, I should probably go for a system that better suits the setting. Any suggestions?

Hello Anons,

i'm currently working on a low-magic setting during the (first ?) bronze age.

But i'm currently asking myself if i should turn it post-apocalyptic/post dark age, since it is a popular thing these days and seems to hold some qualities that a game, where civilization is young, doesn't have.

What are the merits of a Pristine young wold ? where civilization is young and nature unexplored ? what are the upsides from the gaming point of view ?

What are the the upsides of a post-apocalyptic setting ?
What does it add to settings ?

>Does your setting have drugs? Name one
Orkish blood magic
>How is it made?
The orcs, having no intrest in learning the finer arcane arts, have over time developed a crude type of alchemy that allowed them to create elixirs with fantastic properties. The main ingredient of course is blood. The stronger the blood (i.e. blood of a tiger vs blood of a rabbit) the more potent the efffect. This has lead to a drug called "gumbo", a strong hallucinagenic.
>What effect does it have?
The effects vary wildly. Most believe they can see into the future or the past, others believe they take an out-of-body trip to a higher or lower plane. Some have even claimed to have spoken directly to one of the gods.
>Is it addictive? Is there withdrawal?
Yes and yes. After developing a habit (which is quite easy), stopping the routine at any point could give the body seizures, which kill the meek and leave the stong incapacitated for weeks.
>Is it illegal?
Everywhere but orkish lands. Except for the seediest and greenest of them, the other nation's merchants do not buy the stuff. It is prominently stocked by dishonest merchants that peddle it as a 'potion that lets you tell the future better than any soothsayer in the land', but those educated in the art pass it off as bullshit.
>Is it seen as a scourge of the masses or a vice of the elite? Is it viewed negatively at all?
Negatively in the other lands, but they drink it like fine wine in orkish territory.

Old world means more ancient ruins to explore, ancient artefacts to collect and ancient evils to awaken. This is all very convinient storytelling because you don't really need to focus on figuring stuff out - ancient prophecy tells you what to do and you get yourself a quest.

Pristine world means venturing into unknown, but venturing into unknown doesn't have a proper goal and win condition. It's a bit hard to feel satisfied when everything you have is effectively a random encounter.

It sounds cool. I'd say you should read up on the Norman conquest of Ireland a bit. I myself wouldn't mind being first generation, and think that may actually work better.

For system, maybe Runequest. It's fairly gritty, and works well for Ancient and Medieval settings.

Remember, in the early Bronze Age the world was a mystery, a small land of light surrounded by eternal darkness. the heroes were those who fought back the darkness to bring light to people. Of course, that darkness holds other peoples, some hostile and others just ignorant of your superior culture. Remember, ethnocentrism is the rule of the day.

Ideally, the heroes would be aristocrats going out to fight against monsters and barbarians to spread their culture.

Just dumping this here:
dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=7174

Incredibly easy to use, just put in some words of a language you'd like to simulate, and it writes you an entire language in a matter of seconds. Originally made for Dwarf Fortress, but the output is just in a .txt so easily usable. Make sure you either read the readme or DFFD description.

Pic related is some made up words meant to sound Germanic, input + output

Cheers for the ideas.

Is this supposed to take a long time?

here is something I found, oddly enough after all my thinking I came to very similar numbers as this dude.

www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/demog.htm

this was meant for
but you still might like it

man, am I too tired to be on an image board?

Nope, it usually is done within a few seconds, but a lot of input can change it exponentially. Make sure that the first time you input something it's the name for the language, and the second time your words. You could've accidentally put in your words first and are now looking at another input screen again. Made that same mistake a few times.

No, I did everything right, input name, input words and now it just stopped.

Those are some good points.

i think it catches the style of the setting better when i stick with the pristine world.
leaving the players in suspense about what they will find when they arrive sounds good.
And also if the rumors about whatever happening are true, or just the wild imagination of some drunken farmers gone wild.

How does user deal with ideology getting in the way of your worldbuilding? I'm a materialist and lean closest towards in hard determinism.
Maybe I'm just autistic, but when I think of fantastical elements I want my worlds to have I then think of how that would effect development of civilization and life as a whole ( I hate lazy shit where you just slap modern humans and magic together and nothing deeper changes ), then I realize that it would change enough that humans probably wouldn't even exist as we understand it in the first place until I start applying really convoluted rules to the setting to allows human life to develop more or less normally until suddenly magic.
I guess I could just go with low magic settings but that's kind of boring.

The same thing happens to me in a different way.

I start to think everything realistically, and most of the civilizations end up resembling some civilizations in real life. Also, most end up being pretty similar, since, after all, all human civilizations were similar in so many aspects. Therefore the setting loses a bit of originality while gaining a bit in 'reality' or plausibility, but I don't think that's really good.

Just drop the hard determinism meme and also add a creation myth (but real to the setting) to your fantasy.

I always advocate Warrior, Rogue, & Mage as a good open-ended fantasy system. It's pretty bare-bones and available for free online.

Well, everything's available for free online. I mean intentionally.