When worldbuilding, what are some good ideas for large scale threats?
How do you justify the existence of hostile bandits/marauders all over the place?
How do you justify the existence of hostile tribes that the civilized nations haven't simply ganged up on and wiped out?
How do you justify the existence of slaver networks?
How to raiders communicate/not wipe each other out?
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Raiders raid the infidels that are the wrong ethnic group or religion as you.
Bandits are a sign of weak leadership or war.
Slavers exist where slaves are valuable, some nations such as the Barbary Corsairs made their money off white slaves sold in the Ottoman Empire.
>Large scale threats
why not a wave of encroaching nature? Plants that grow so fast that you have to hack and burn them back every evening or they grow into your crops and destroy city walls?
>Raiders raid the infidels that are the wrong ethnic group or religion as you.
I like it, but whats their base? who supports them?
>Bandits are a sign of weak leadership or war.
Or economic distress?
>Slavers exist where slaves are valuable, some nations such as the Barbary Corsairs made their money off white slaves sold in the Ottoman Empire.
Can't argue this one, but if there is an army of slavers wouldn't they be subject to attack?
>why not a wave of encroaching nature? Plants that grow so fast that you have to hack and burn them back every evening or they grow into your crops and destroy city walls?
I'm sensing deforestation happening in this world
>How do you justify the existence of hostile tribes that the civilized nations haven't simply ganged up on and wiped out?
Often it's not practical and just easier to pay them off. When Darius I of Persia campaigned against the Scythians he just ended up chasing them around for months in the hostile arid steppe because they had no cities or permanent settlements for him to conquer, all the while losing more and more men to fatigue and disease.
Or they have more pressing matters at home, I cant remember the name of the battle but after a French king defeated some vikings instead of annihilating them he paid them to go raid his neighbor he was at war with.
>hostile bandits/marauders
Typically crushing economic desperation combined with a low amount of official authority in the area, caused by probably a crippling war or disease. Maybe they're paid by a neighboring nation to cause problems. They could be foreigners who just do this where they see other nations as weak (think vikings)
>hostile tribes
It's probably not worth it. You have to figure that if they haven't gotten with the whole advanced civilization game, they probably don't have the best resources to do so. There just isn't a good reason unless the civilized nations are in need of lebensraum.
>slavers
Supply and demand. Somebody wants slaves and will pay, somebody is going to get them.
>raider communication
The same way anybody else does. They probably skirmish but there's probably a bigger threat (like law enforcement)
>How do you justify the existence of hostile bandits/marauders all over the place?
>How do raiders not wipe each other out?
>How do you justify the existence of hostile tribes when there are strong civilizations?
>he says, posting a viking
Literally just study how the Germans fucked over/raided the Roman Empire constantly. Or the Viking Age in general. We have historical precedent for this.
>Who supports the raiders that raid the infidels that are the wrong ethnic group or religion as you?
Perhaps it's the home or "main" civilization the setting revolves around? Like the Vikings or barbarian tribes, they could be used as mercenaries by other civs. Or they could be hired by a neutral or far flung nation that's trying to get on the good side of the "main" civ.
>If there is an army of slavers wouldn't they be subject to attack?
Possibly--it depends on who they enslave and who they sell their slaves to. In early medieval times, the Varangians used the river systems in Russia to go from the Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas. They were dealing with the Christian and Islamic worlds, and they captured slaves for them and themselves. They'd enslave a European and sell them in in the Middle East, and vice versa.
As a side note, the Varangians were the shit. Medieval mafia men who used rivers as their trade network.
>How do you justify the existence of hostile tribes that the civilized nations haven't simply ganged up on and wiped out?
Because the civilized nations are still fighting each other. Probably making the hostile tribes even more hostile towards their enemies.
>We have historical precedent for this.
This
History is an excellent inspiration for fantasy because it shows what worked/didn't work in the past and you can extrapolate from that
>History is an excellent inspiration for fantasy because it shows what worked/didn't work in the past and you can extrapolate from that
>mfw everything I didn't steal whole-cloth from history feels woefully underdeveloped and almost cartoonishly simple.
Then become a better writer
>what are some good ideas for large scale threats?
Some things I've used that have worked out well: Malevolent deities/demons/demigods, eldritch monsters trying to enter the mortal plane, evil orders of magi, massive invading armies threatening to disrupt civilization, and slumbering monstrosities returning to destroy humanity. I'd go for something overwhelming, something too big and enigmatic for the players to fully comprehend the ramifications of.
>How do you justify the existence of hostile bandits/marauders all over the place?
They don't have to be all over the place, but their presence could indicate economic problems, weak rule of law, or an ongoing and destructive war in the area.
>How do you justify the existence of hostile tribes that the civilized nations haven't simply ganged up on and wiped out?
Look at real life tribals who sparred with the civilized peoples, like the Norse or the mainland Saxons. They lived in remote and harsh regions that the civilized nations had no stake in, or at least not initially. Both were eventually tamed and stopped being hostile tribes of course. Look to history for these kinds of things.
>How do you justify the existence of slaver networks?
Slavery was widely practiced prior to the industrial revolution, in some places more than others.
>How do you justify the existence of hostile bandits/marauders all over the place?
The numbers game on this often bothers me. It's typical to see an area in a setting with only a few small towns and settlements, maybe a couple smallish cities, but hundreds of thousands of bandits whose sole purpose is the rob rape and plunder the twenty dudes walking between towns. There are bandits under every step. Behind every twig. Waiting at the bottom of every barrel to jump out and give your PCs fodder experience. Even if they managed to steal 100% of every product and foodstuff the law-abiding peasants produced they wouldn't have enough to support a fraction of their numbers. And apparently it's been this way for years, maybe forever. Killing a thousand bandits only leaves a few fortresses for a thousand stronger bandits.
>Slavery was widely practiced prior to the industrial revolution, in some places more than others.
And in some places they continue to be a thriving industry, China, India, Africa, and many middle eastern regions
>only a few small towns and settlements, maybe a couple smallish cities, but hundreds of thousands of bandits whose sole purpose is the rob rape and plunder the twenty dudes walking between towns.
Yeah, this tends to kill immersion. But this is usually limited to vidya games where you can't generate a town several miles across including farmland with a population of thousands
In RPG settings you can have a few towns with thousands of people living in them, and in the woods a hundred or so bandits that are mostly thugs, poachers and never do wells who want to just hit a caravan every now and again
> large scale threats?
There are the obvious cataclysmic events, volcanoes, meteors, etc. As well as large creatures, dragons, giants, etc. Then there are things like packs of wild wolves that could ransack a town...
>hostile bandits/marauders all over the place?
If people are stupid enough to walk to other cities in my world, they deserve to be attacked. Cheap/subsidized transportation is widely available. Some of the larger cities maintain a small road network for access to small towns, and there are regular patrols, as well as private mercenaries that can be hired for extra security.
> hostile tribes that the civilized nations haven't simply ganged up on and wiped out?
Most of the land is wild. You get much farther than a day's walk from a major city, and you are all but in a lawless land. If someone important stupidly gets their selves in trouble, then there I a reaction, otherwise, the tribes are tolerated as long as they keep to their selves.
>How do you justify the existence of slaver networks?
I don't. Slavery is illegal. The only place where it is any what tolerated is in the mercantile Marine (think of the practice of shanghaiing), which still is technically illegal.
The planet is becoming to hot.
A volcano blew up and its now getting to cold to live.
Magic is finite, and getting close to spent.
An above-plane is falling on the planet.
A below-plane is joining the planet.
Defilement magic.
Vecna.
The end of time is coming. It is inevitable.
The end of time is coming. It is not inevitable.
The sun is getting close to death.
Extremely Gigantic # of undead rise & act during winter exclusively.
Desertification is being caused by a villain.
Fated apocalypse events happening to early. The apocalypse is inevitable after.
Fated apocalypse events happening to early. The apocalypse is not inevitable after.
Sci-fi aliens came. They weren't friendly to anyone.
Sci-fi aliens came. They were friendly. To your enemies.
Elder things are terraforming the planet. It will be unlivable soon.
Elder things are terraforming the planet. It won't be unlivable soon.
A world-wide curse is now in effect, all earthquakes release demons.
The seas have been receding for aeons, there soon wont be enough water to sustain the population, which will go extinct.
The seas have been receding for aeons, there soon wont be enough water to sustain the population, which will drop by more than half.
Werewolfism is now incurable & permanent transformation is the result..
Gugs found their way out of the mazes of doom and have declared war unending on all surface civilizations.
Meddling planeswalkers.
Meddling planeswalkers from black mana places.
A super-artifact was misused, the netherworld is now a physically present location in this plane.
Star vampires are being assholes.
A small # of xenomorphs is present for some reason.
Bertram the savage (barbarian, level 12, male human) fund the golden axe and misused it.
This is the most important part of this, op.
>it's your game. What you say happened in history is what happened. So don't feel the need to avoid drawing on sources that wouldn't be considered fantasy.