/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General Deus Vult Edition

>city that deliberately has no information about it
>naming it
Don't name it. Whatever your players refer to it as will be what it's called.

>Are religions important in your world?
About as important and dynamic as they are in the real world

>Can you describe one of them?
The dominant religion in the campaign area is the Angelusian (Still working on that name) faith that eschews the worship of terrestrial gods in favor of a omnipresent God and his servants the angels. They have a large focus on salvation, forgiveness, and Justice. Generally speaking it's a benevolent religion for the most part, but Angels expect the very best from their worshipers, and not shy to show displeasure

>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
Well the crusades that have happened were largely successful, and the winners get to decide if it was good or not so...

This is a very basic and abstract list, but I'm trying to pin down everything I would need to run a decent campaign in a homebrew world. So far, I have land, cultures, climates, cities and histories, a calender system, planes slsection, and pantheon. Am I missing any critical systems? Or is there any that would benefit a campaign?

Whats the most historically significant person that still alive in your setting?

>Are religions important in your world?
Religions are always important in my worlds, because I like things realistic on some level no matter how fantastical the rest.

>Can you describe one of them?
Pic related is a sea-dominated world a lot like !Reverse!Darksun. So it's basically a less camp Pirates of Dark Water setting. At the moment, the major uniting faith is broadly based off Bronze Age Greek myth with Egypt and Mesopotamia thrown in, mostly Sea Gods. Might also do Mesoamerican. Lots of mystery cults, hero worship, worship of elementary forces, etc. But it's all technically part of the same pantheon.

>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Locally. There's almost no coordination between islands and between temples to different gods, so priests are VERY rarely sent around to convert others. Priests are easily made, and usually just locals without any other prospects. It takes very little training to get the basics, but your level in the Temple determines what rituals and rites you know. Mystery cults and the like are a lot more strict on their entry requirements, and some are full blown Paladin-style Orders you need a lot of prerequisites to get in.

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Normal people are normal people. You give your sacrifices and do the appropriate rites, and the gods don't hurl the land into the sea. Or worse, let the Dark Water spread...

1/?

>frathwiki.com/Dr._Zahir's_Ethnographical_Questionnaire

How does one go about filling this out without writing "I want to kill myself" every few lines?

The church of Goode it the main human religion with churches in most established human towns. It worships the general alignment of good and lumps all known lawful good gods as avatar of the greater good god who is transcendent and cannot be communed with.

The church grew out of the destruction of the Corrupted empire by the forces of Elves and paladin knights who entering the burning city of Kalesh,found a dungeon where the good priests were being kept as food for the devils who now ruled the corrupt empire.

There is no structure to the church of Goode,every church has its cleric(s) and perhaps a few lay-staff,the priesthood is a cleric who decides/is inspired to stop adventuring and build a church.

Some of these churches are built above/around holy artefacts,though most holy sites are the preserve of Druids and their elemental gods.

>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
There are evengelical elements to certain cults and more philosophical mini-faiths, but such is actually pretty rare. No need to advertise if you're the only game in town.

>Does it have holy sites?
A few. Usually places where the Gods entered/left the world as some point, or places where a leyline of mana exists and the priests got to it before some damn wizard.

>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
Real Life? No.

In setting? Fucking rad, but there hasn't been one in a loooong time. Again, only game in town. Recently ships have been reaching out further and further, finding mysterious new lands. And mysterious new faiths. It may soon be time for another Theomachy.

>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
Marriage is for property rights and political alliances. Homosexuality isn't against the rules, per say. Mostly no one cares so long as you're on top and your eccentricity isn't fucking up local politics. Can't have a King with no heirs, after all. The Gods couldn't work up a shit about who fucks who when half of them turn into trees and fuck krakens.

>Should all heathens be killed?
It hasn't come up in so long. What defines a heathen? A Dark Water worshiper? Oh yes. Kill that sonofabitch dead. Someone who worships the God of Salt as opposed to the Goddess of Snakes and Hammers? I got shit to do today, like fishing.

>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
"Balah", which roughly means "God-is-with-us". It can only be screamed at the top of one's lungs while charging into battle, and is no where near as popular as "Noi-Jeh-Tat", which loosely means "Fuck me in the ass".

Pic probably unrelated. Can't seem to find a lot of tropical adventurer pics these days.

>Are religions important in your world?
Not particularly, they went to war with their former gods a few hundred years ago so that largely destroyed the foundation of worship, its mostly cults now.
>Can you describe one of them?
They're essentially traitors to the human race, when spirits attack settlements they help and offer human sacrifices to their old gods in a hope they'll be roused from their """slumber"""
They wear masks in the model of spirits permanently to separate themselves from other humans.
>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Its headed by twins who were born during an eclipse picked up by the previous nutcase believing them to be some divine sign that his worship was garnering attention, reporting directly to the twins are several "priests" who are essentially bandit chiefs in charge of their own band of cultists.
>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Rabid dogs who have forsaken their masters.
>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
Bring humanity to bended knee before the gods, kill those who refuse.
>Does it have holy sites?
The deathsites of their gods.
>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
I mean they don't have enough me to really crusade but they'd cream themselves to do it.
>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
Don't really give a shit.
>Should all heathens be killed?
Y E S. P U R G E.
>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
Isn't really one
who the fuck let me world build this half assedly?

>not even just wrong pic
>worst pic in folder
Well noi-jeh-tat. Have some knights to make up for that, OP.

Dark water, good taste in nostalgia.

Thank you. Always love the great big sea adventures, even if my players don't.

Running a pirate campaign myself, though more akin to Barbossa in Pirates of the Carribean. Fun times though its an experiment in how to run a CE campaign, more than a serious attempt at the genre.

Have considered it in a few different ways.
>gravity is unidirectional and unapplicable to islands, it's possible to just fall forever
>gravity is much stronger, and attached to microplanets that orbit each other in clusters
>there is no sun, the air generates light and heat on a daily cycle
>the sun is a small, fast-moving body
>the sun appears to rise and set relative to the observer every day
>could be bodies of water, islands floating in them, lake and ocean orbs
>humans flap around with arm-mounted wings
>or everyone has wings
>or flying cars
>or everyone has Cessnas
>police work mostly done with jetbikes
>police headquarters is in a 747 orbiting a microplanet
>tiny homesteads on literal dirtballs

Oh and your setting seems cool, btw.

Setting is a !not!40k post apocalyptic hive city on Earth. The PCs never learn what is outside the city walls, not until they reach the topmost spires. The city is very rigidly divided into levels, with all goods flowing upwards and only currency and occasional violence flowing downwards. People own businesses and hire labourers on the level below, but are forbidden to go to the upper level. Each level has its own currency. The currency of the level below will have some value on the current level, but only because it can be used to pay labourers below, and so to the majority on the level who don't interact with those below, it is utterly worthless. Social mobility is purely economic: if you can somehow amass enough currency and goodwill to buy/rent an apartment on the level above, that's totally fine, and so long as you're able to prove that you own property on the level you stand on or one above, the police won't beat you up and throw you down an elevator shaft. Although, given that you'll go from being one of the richest and most powerful on your level to one of the poorest and least influential on the level above, many choose not to ascend.

Because all goods flow upwards, There is a vast technological gap between each level, the absolute bottom level being tribal, the level above being steampunk-industrial, then interwar-period, then present-day cyberpunk, then handheld railguns and holograms, and finally crystal spires and togas (or WALL-E style decadence, or a mix, haven't decided yet).

(1/?)

Thank you!

Despite all goods legally going upwards, black markets and criminal organisations stretch various distances vertically across the cities and compete for dominance in bloody turf wars. This allows for some items of advanced technology to filter down to the lower levels, but it gets more difficult and exponentially more expensive the further down the tech has to go.

The first level would mine under watchful up-leveler eyes for ores, coal, salvage, plastics, anything that can be processed really, to sell upwards for worshipped technology like blackpowder firearms and basic medicine, and grow fungus for sustenance, all amongst the sewage of the levels above. Cthulhu-style death cults, raft-cities atop sewage seas, worship of old technology unearthed in the ruins of the old city atop which this one was heaped. Occasional incursions by punitive "police" squads, corporate slavers, or even kitted out rich kids who consider the tribal bottom-levelers animals and prey, on top of roving cannibal bands, tribal wars, and murderous chiefs. A man with an automatic weapon would be as a god, provided he could see his foes in the eternal dark, and the greatest chiefs are often former scavengers who chanced upon an ancient AK rusting alongside a box of ammunition.

Next level up you have a pollution-filled Victorian hellhole. The police are really just street thugs owned by factory-owners from the level above and will beat you up for looking at them funny. Food is livestock fed on insects, or just insects themselves, plus mushrooms bought from below. Huge families crammed into tiny apartments, people unable to afford rent being cast down into the tribal darkness, child labour, people working ridiculous hours, dying from exhaustion in the factories they slave away in. Slave labour alongside wage slavery, it's impossible to see very far in front of you through the smog, and extremely short lifespans. The richest are those who own mines on the level below.

(2/?)

In the Victorian hellhole, the line between police and criminal is extremely blurred, and often as not you're paying protection money to the same people you're renting your apartment from, buying black market drugs from, working for, and trusting to uphold justice. The poorest of this level believe that the gates of hell literally lie on the level below, and that heaven literally lies above. Their religion is slightly animist/fetishist, believing like the AdMech in 40k that advanced technology has a spirit, and that these spirits need to be appeased. This religion was possibly created as a ploy by the level above to transform the horrifying factories into places of worship and keep the labourers in their place. TV-screens and the like are rare and Orwellian: used to broadcast messages of subservience.

Up one you have basically depression-era America, with prohibition-era criminal activity. The police here are less criminal but still highly corrupt. The industry is less basic than the level below, more manufacturing than raw materials processing, and consequently the level is a bit less polluted. There are frequent running battles in the corridors between rival gangs and even between gangs and the police. Most people own a firearm of some kind. The police are known to use rolling barriers with gunports to seal off gang-controlled corridors and indiscriminantly gun down anyone inside. Again, the richest are those who own processing plants on the level below, but no one is rich enough to own a major business on their own level, at best it's a small retail outlet. Most work in the factories. There is some informal public education. Religion is mostly a Christian holdover with some elements of the religion of the level below: hell is literally in the basement, heaven is literally in the upper spires, and particularly advanced technology is imbued with the holy spirit. Chris[sic] was killed by the evil regime that ruled before the current one.

(3/?)

>Are religions important in your world?

Yes. Gods are manifested through belief. A god only truly dies if they are slain by one of their own or if people simply stop believing in them. While there are several pantheons, all of them are true, at least to an extent.

>Can you describe one of them?
Human religion in the western part of the world mostly revolves around the former Virinian pantheon (an adapted version of the Forgotten Realms pantheon with a few added gods because I'm lazy), chief among them is Pelor, god of the Sun and humanity itself.

>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Priests start out as novices, eventually going into the point of becoming Begging Brothers and Sisters. Some stay in such a way while others pursue higher chances, everything from running a chantry in a local town to shooting for the position of Pontifus Maximus itself.

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Varies heavily by kingdom. Some places like Lierady believe that a peasant's place is that of a peasant, and that they and their line are not pure enough and never will be pure enough to pursue a higher station. In Virini, a man's station is tied to his record of civil service, and local religion reflects that highly, where even the lowest plebeian may gain the favor of a God if he plays his cards right.

>Does the religion have orders which spread it?

Multiple knight and clerical orders exist that spread the influence of various gods. One example is the Order of the Golden Rose, an order dedicated to Erathis, goddess of civilization. It is dedicated to the destruction of all minions of Baphomet.

>Does it have holy sites?

Multiple.

>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
Usually happen during demonic incursions.

>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
It's alright.
>Should all heathens be killed?
There is no mercy for the followers of darker powers.

>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
Sol praecepit in aeternum

This regime is of course, objectively good and benevolent and spreads the word of Chris: humility, co-operation, subservience, and veneration of what lies above. There are various death-cults and heresies on all the levels described so far, by the way, and the religion is by no mean homogeneous. In addition to all the foods found on the levels below, the people on this level have some rudimentary UV-light hydroponics. Tech as advanced as smartphones is extremely rare but present thanks to the black market.

Up one again and we get the cyberpunk 90s world inside the Matrix except IRL. A decent mix of manufacturing and high tech industry, computer technology is common. The black market is an extremely widespread factor of everyday life, and crime is more organised, more corporate, and the big organisations are only loosely connected to the street gangs. Quality of life is not ungodly awful but surveillance is absolutely everywhere and you are expected to pray to the mayor as an intermediary to God and Chris. The idea that hell is the bottom level is more widespread. Religion is enforced and heretics are summarily executed if found guilty or accused by someone with enough clout. The big crime families have a similar relationship with religion to the Mafia with Catholicism, making offerings at the shrines but going against the tenets of civic duty via their criminal activity. There is a highly corrupt Stasi-Spanish Inquisition hybrid intermeshed with both the police and the criminal organisations but ultimately under the control of the clergy from the level above - plainsclothes officers building huge webs of informants, people disappearing never to be heard of again, and the most feared thing of all being a Mayoral Servant's badge. All this while rich assholes from the level above hire private armies to duke it out in the streets and sabotage rival corporate operations. By far the most cyberpunk level.

(4/?)

>Are religions important in your world?
Yes. In the north, unified, multiracial religions are starting to heal the divide between the various races and lead to the creation of kingdoms where multiple species work together peacefully. In the east, religion is the main reason for the crusades of the elves and merfolk. The Scaleclad (Dragonborn, Lizardfolk and Kobolds) of the southern continent on the other hand, are now divided by religion, as the various kingdoms each believe themselves to be the one that the dragon god favours and the other states are heretics and apostates.

>Can you describe one of them?
The Scaleclad's religion is an ancient one, with even the most ancient dragons remembering growing up with it. Worship is given to Regor, the protector, who dwells within the Spirit World, a mixture of the Feywild and The Beastlands. Originally, the the only species of the Scaleclad in existence were the Dragonborn, not even Dragons existed. The Dragonborn ended up under attack from a bunch of evil and highly magical race, who the Dragonborn accredit with the creation of all soft-skinned races, and Regor contacted them from the Spirit Realm, teaching them how to defeat their foes. Their foes, however, discovered even more powerful types of magic and fought back even harder, so hard Regor organised a ritual to create a species to help the Dragonborn- the Dragons. The first two times, the ritual failed, creating Lizardfolk (Dragonborn whose spirits are more animalistic) and Urds (Winged heroic Kobolds). The third time, Dragons were created and helped all the Scaleclad kick evil ass. Some of the Dragons, however, ended up corrupted and first tried to create their own race, the Demiurds (more typical Kobolds) and conducted a profane ritual that put Regor into a divine slumber he has yet to recover from.

1/?

Up one and we have the start of the future. These are among the richest people in the city (their quality of life is upper-middle class by our standards), and those that don't own businesses on the level below own services on this level or have high-paying jobs in research, engineering, asset management, or even as well-treated and well respected servants on the level above. This is the level that most of us living middle-class lives in first world countries would recognise best. All the technology we have, and then some, is available here. The only manufacturing done on this level is super high tech and mostly automated. The police are reasonable, mostly non-corrupt, and generally fair, with plenty of high-tech crowd control options that they prefer to use over actual harmful weapons. Crime is almost exclusively off the streets and generally regarded with mild disdain at worst, as it's limited to smuggling tech downwards, providing drugs, and embezzling money. The worst possible expression of crime on this level is corporate assassination and the like, but the level is overall rather peaceful, considering that many of its denizens wage private wars against one another on the level below. Most are agnostic/atheist and this is pretty much tolerated as long as outwards appearances are met. The Clergy of Chris has most of its administrative offices on this level, and this is where you'll find its most devout believers, despite the apathy of most of the level.

(5/?)

The Dragons, Dragonborn, Lizardfolk, Urds and Demiurds killed the traitor dragons, before splintering into various factions, each fearing the other was planning to try and claim Regor's divinity too.
Besides Regor, other minor gods are worshipped like the Lizardfolk god of nature and the Urd god of Heroism and Self-sacrifice.

>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Varies slightly from kingdom to kingdom. If there is a Dragon available, they usually serve as the head priest of each temple. Any Scaleclad can become a priest, but Demiurds and Lizardfolk are restricted in how far up they can get due to their altered souls, which is alright as Lizardfolks are the only ones allowed to be druids, communing with the very spirit of nature. Becoming a priest usually means a comfortable lifestyle in the temples, but only Dragonborn and Demiurds care for such things. Usually, a typical temple in an average city will have as many as two hundred normal priests, along with things like fifty or so Lizardfolk druids and an order of Urd Avengers. Above them is the head priests, proper clerics of Regor and the other gods, numbering about ten and then usually the head priest and his vizer.

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
The closest they have to normal people are the Dragonborn. Lizardfolk are both respected and pitied, for they are too much like a simple beast. Urds are all expected to be paragons of the creed, being made by Regor himself, while Demiurds are looked down upon for their traitorous origins. All the soft skinned races, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, are monsters created by insane wizards to serve them. They can be reasoned with, but not trusted or respected. Dragonborn are treated well by the priests, as long as they pay respects to the temple every third day and remember the creed of Regor.

2/?

>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
No. The other races are mutants who don't need to know it, and it is dominate across the southern continent. Turning away from it will usually end in your very public death.

>Does it have holy sites?
A whole bunch- the place where Regor first made contact with the Dragonborn refugees, the birthplaces of Urds and Lizardfolk, the tomb of the first dragon, etc. Cities are usually built on these places, and kingdoms like to claim to have as many as possible.

>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
The Urds are always going on raids north to prove themselves, and sometimes a small army of them will be sent to hunt a rogue dragon, but aren't really seen as worth the effort, as each kingdom is more focused on bringing down their neighbours.

>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
Lizardfolk rarely feel anything stronger than affection and mate only to reproduce, while Urds, Demiurds and Dragons are capable of shifting gender, with Urds seeing reproduction as a holy duty to their low numbers and origins. They all usually just mate, then the female goes lays the egg an takes care of it until it reaches adolescence (the time this takes ranges from seven years for Urds and Demiurds to fifty for Dragons) before pissing off. Sometimes, romantic love does blossom but this really just means you share a living space. Marriage doesn't exist.

>Should all heathens be killed?
yes, but they need to unite first.

>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
Usually they all try and roar like a dragon, except for Lizardfolk who are more into ambushes.

This is my first setting that I've actually put work into. I'm hoping to get some advice and feedback. All the stuff here seems cool.

The penultimate level contains the city's nobility, and some of the most advanced technology we can conceive of. Here, currency has almost no meaning whatsoever, and most goods and services are provided free of charge. However, it is impossible to ascend to this level by normal economic means, as money is of no importance here. The only way up is to be granted land by one of the families, usually through marriage, but this is an extremely rare event. Only the eldest male and the eldest female of any union may remain on this level past childhood, the rest of any couple's offspring must strike out for themselves on the level below (unless they are promised to the eldest of another family); although they will generally have a huge advantage thanks to their family's clout. Physical work for these people is entirely unheard of, any physical task that requires a human is done by a servant from the level below, while any other manual task is done by a robot. Those on this level invest their time as they see fit, whether in scientific research, managing businesses below, civil service, or whoring is up to them. All top-level civic administrators come from this level. The police are akin to the image of the old cheery British constable in a tall hat, profoundly polite and respectful. There is almost literally no crime on this level, as almost anything a noble could want to do is legal by definition, but if you somehow manage to fuck up, say by being discovered as someone from several levels below who somehow managed to sneak up, the cheery constable pushes a button and in seconds you're being swarmed by power-armoured dudes wielding rail-rifles and personal shields, being shot by pop-out stun turrets embedded all through every floor, being trapped between forcefields spaced every few metres through every corridor, and just generally getting your shit fucked up. Just about no one here believes that religion twaddle, not even the high priests.

(6/?)

It's mostly from this level that you find thrill-seekers buying exoskeletons and heavy weaponry and taking a tour down to the lowest levels to hunt barely-human game.

And on the final level you have the offices and homes of the High Lords of the City: The Justice, head of police and inquisition, the Works, head of transport, utilities, and repairs, the Sustenance, head of food, energy, and expeditions outside, the Spirit, overseer and head of the City's religion, and, towering above them all, the tallest spire of the tallest tower in the City, the Mayor. These are hereditary offices held by the most powerful noble families, and competition is often fierce between lesser families for marriages into these families, almost as fierce as the competition between Great Houses for influence in each others' spheres. The Mayor sits above the competition, above the corruption, above the splendour, above the squalor, above the filth, above the disease, above the City - kilometers above the ground, a mountain of man. Secreted in his great Office, he rules the last heap of humanity. No one outside of the Great Houses knows quite what or who he is, but they're not telling. Here are the absolute most powerful of all. Their word is quite literally law. And it is only the mayor's word that may overturn them.

(7/7)

So TL;DR: A hyper-stratified mega-city whose official, christian-inspired religion (almost justifiably) considers actual locations within the city to be heaven and hell, and has various levels of tech worship and death-cultism.

>Are religions important in your world?
Extremely important on the lower levels, less important once you get to the last three.
>Can you describe one of them?
Distorted Christianity designed to serve the purposes of the level above in all cases, with some tech worship thrown in.
>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Pope-equivalent on top level, then high administrators, then clergy and inquisitors, then clergy, then semi-formal clergy only partly sanctioned by the upper clergy, then utterly informal clergy working on private initiative.
>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Depends, on all levels below third from final, religion is often hysterical.
>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
Yes, the Mayoral Servants, a Stasi/Spanish Inquisition combo, as well as the various unofficial orders of clergy on the lower levels.
>Does it have holy sites?
Yes, the mayor's office and the tower of the Spirit, but it is obscenely rare for a pilgrim to be allowed anywhere near the base of the final level, let alone be allowed up one of the towers
>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
If you consider a mob armed with flamethrowers "purging" a vast network of corridors filled with civilians to be the best thing ever, then sure. Typically, full crusades are informal, a network of priests whipping several crowds into a frenzy simultaneously, and then distributing weapons and pointing them in the direction of the heretics. This is more common the lower you go. Sustained campaigns are rare but can happen.

>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
Marriage is permanent, homosexuality is a grave sin.
>Should all heathens be killed?
That's a very solid and definitive yes.
>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
As it should, so it shall!

>/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

Oh, shit, it's been a while since I've seen one up.

I drew this here picture illustrating the local cosmology of my setting's world; we've got ourselves:
The Nadia (The Blue Water Moon, yes it's a blatant reference), along with the elemental planes of Food, Water, Air, Earth, Fire, and Machine.

So far how I've fluffed it is every habitable planet has elemental planes; they're formed when mana produced by a planet seeps out through the atmosphere and ends up creating "parallel ethereal elemental-based pocket dimensions" while using their home planet as a base or mold. Elemental planes are ethereal and don't physically exist, so they overlap and layer ontop of their designated planet which acts as a kind of sun for them.

Elemental planes might not physically exist, but they can be physically accessed through portals (either natural or man-made) and through them normal plants and animals can come to colonize them.
Psychic creatures such as Flumphs, Baku, Xorns, and Push-me-pull-yous can freely plane-shift and enter or exit these neighboring dimensions as they see fit.

Oh and I forgot to mention, in this setting the players are bottom-levelers who one day randomly decide that the mayor must die. The idea was originally for a videogame, and, if I have my way, it still will be, but for now it makes a fun setting. Super duper hard to actually finish it, but there's a lot of fun and horror to be had along the way.

Bamp

Once I get a comprehensive plot and world together I'm going to start a campaign, though it'll be my first time DM'ing, so I could use some feedback on what I've got so far.
I really like fleshed out worldbuilding in fantasy settings, especially around race relations and political and cultural structure. Been replaying Morrowind recently and love the way it handles this. So if any of my ideas sound like they're similar to TES lore, you're absolutly correct I've stolen a lot of elements, but I'm trying to be creative as well. My players will not know the connection and that's all that matters right?
Sidenote, all names from here on out are WIP

So basically the region the players find themselves in lies far to the east and is dominated by 2 major powers, the kingdom of Men (Arquen) and the kingdom of Elves (J'iiluvizur), and a third lesser power, a confederation of Dwarven clans and polities.

The races of these kingdoms are culturally and in some places physically unique from their western counterparts. So for instance if one of the players rolls an Elf, they will be easily recognised as a foreigner even in the kingdom of Elves.

Arquen and J'illuvizur are engaged in a tense cold war, supposedly due acts of aggression by the opposite sides (at least that's all that Joe Shmuck knows about it). The real cause will form the main plot of the campaign once the PC's have distinguished themselves enough to be noticed by the nobles.

The Men of Arquen follow their patron deity the Hoondeen, the God of Making Way. His doctrines decree that to make progess is holy. Expansion of territory, the advancement of tech and engineering, the building of colossal public works are all viewed as acts of praise towards the Hoondeen. The people's faith in the Hoondeen's teachings endows the government a mandate (even a moral obligation) for militarism, expansion and prejudice. Faith and patriotism are interchangeable, to believe in the Hoondeen is to believe in the state of Arquen. Cont.

A priesthood serves both the spiritual needs of the people and also as civil servants, often being skilled architects and engineers. Paladins lead Crusades, mostly against nomadic tribes of Gnomes and barbarian Orcs, both seen as equally uncivilised scum.

The Elves of J'illuvizur who call themselves the Iilka are almost as disdainful of foreigners. Culturally they are less about the reverance of nature and more about their mastery of the natural realm through a racial affinity for magic. Their dwellings, towers and urban centres are made from living fauna, sang into shape, while unnaturally tame beasts of all kind allow themselves to be harvested for wool, fur, meat and milk.

The Iilka are religously centered around an urban capital within a mountain forest. Atop the summit there supposedly lives their living goddess, Keela Lis, the Lady of Move Like This, Mother of Mercy, Grace and the Seven Sways (Cryptic and non-sensical titles get me ROCK hard). She teaches the path to ascension arises from the striving for beauty, restraint of emotions and graceful movement and speech. Temple hierarchy and the ruling class are indistinguishable.
A Bishop holds lands and armies, ruling politically and spiritually.

One thing I wanted to add to the Iilka was an idea I remember reading here somewhere, that these particular elves as a coming of age ritual, fashion themselves a mask that reflects aspects of their personality, their family, their trade, etc. These are then worn at all times, the expection being between close family and intimate lovers.
Useless fluff really, but I like the imagery.

Cont.
The funnest part of creating a world of conflict and prejudice is coming up with derogatory slang. Humans are easy to write for, they can call elves Knife-ears, Dwarfs are short-arses, Gnomes can be Nobbies. What would be some good slang names for humans though?
Nub-ears? Hairless Apes?

Anyway, the players will be allowed to do whatever they want, I ain't gonna be overbearing. They can join a faction or remain neutral, but they will have some part to play in the climax of these events.

Is this interesting? Or is it too much? When I recall what it was like to first begin as a player I remember having tons of fun even though the DM's world was as generic as it got. Is the depth really necessary for player enjoyment? Pacing is another issue, since I dont want to bury them in tons of exposition right off the bat and risk losing their interest.

Deus Vult is very important to my setting, which is why I have a question /wbg/

Why would the Not!Catholic Church tell people to bury their dead instead of cremation in a setting where zombies and necromancers and shit exist? It's something I have been struggling with for a bit.

Everyone is cremated or buried above ground in my world, due to the god of undead living underground and infecting any corpses(which conveniently keeps dungeons stocked with undead)

The first man Not!Adam was made from earth wasn't he? I guess it would be important for the bodies of the devout to be returned to the earth from whence they came. To do otherwise would be to shit on their lifelong faith maybe.

You could use it as a quest idea too, maybe your PC's have to convince the hierarchy to change their doctrines so as to stem the recruitment for undead armies

Why not look at what the actual catholic church had to say on the subject?

ccaw.org/about_cremation.html

canonlawmadeeasy.com/2014/11/20/what-does-the-church-really-say-about-cremation/

cdom.org/atimo_s/news/HistoryofCremationandtheCatholicChurch.pdf

christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/cremation-question.html

Seems like the answer is threefold:
1) Tradition of intact burial from the jews, including converts making a symbolic break from pagan traditions by adopting the methods of their new religion.
2) Belief in the reunification of the body with the soul, perhaps the hope of the dead being returned by act of divine grace
3) Deliberate preservation of the body as a relic, particularly if the body is regarded as a sacred vessel during life

Bump (respond to my masterfully crafted world you fucks)

Nice art. Are you working on a childrens fantasy novel or something like that? It's kinda cute in that way.

Which one is yours?

I am mostly joking, but it's the hive city one.

>Inkarnate has new assets
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I like it. If it's a cold war though, there should be an ongoing proxy war in the petty kingdoms between the humans and the elves (or several). How magical will this realm be? The way you've phrased it implies that the gods might not be real, but on the other hand, you could be saying that a literal god literally lives in the elves' capital.

Sounds a bit like snowpiercer, I kinda like it

Crusades
The northern wastes are the spawning ground of monsters so twisted and horrifying, that an order of knights has sworn to protect the civilised lands by patroling the trade route that borders the wasteland.

The knights have sworn an oath of loyally,piety and poverty and live in barracks at the orders two forts along the trade route.

as an aside I just finished writing my thesis about these guys

>using Inkarnate at all

Thanks dude!
The gods are about as real as any god in a DnD setting, what's more important to me is the faith and actions of the people and making them feel as real as possible. Whether or not the elven goddess is still alive by the time the PC's arrive is a WIP, but she definitely was alive at one point. I like the idea of the players being granted an audience only to find a dead husk entwined with roots and flowers à la Bloodraven.

However it might also be important to keep her alive since the actual source of the conflict revolves around the locating and securing of the mythical artifact that gave the goddess her powers in the first place. A shamelessly ripped off heart of Lorkhan gig basically, but one that only appears every millenia or so in an unknown location.

As for the cold war aspect, the men only know about the artifact from spies embedded within the elven kingdom. The humans being a relatively newer and smaller power feel inferior and under threat of extermination. While they have a strong military, their magic users simply can't compete with elven mastery of the Arcane. This means the humans are desperately trying to locate the artifact before full-blown war breaks out. Other objectives, which the PC's can undertake if they side with the men include bolstering their armies defence against magicks by stealing secret Dwarven technology, and suppressing revolts by minority populations, such as the Gnomes.

Cont.
The Elves on the other hand have been watching the incredibly rapid rise and expansion of the human kingdom with great anxiety, since the humans are already on the verge of out-breeding them, and they see their ancient empire under severe threat. Already having a living God on their side, they are more willing to kick off hosilities, however they are hamstrung in this effort by cultural and religious customs prohibiting them from being seen to be the aggressors. They can give PC's quests to orchestrate false flag attacks, and incite insurrections within the human kingdom.

The Dwarven confederation is fiercely determined to stay neutral for the sake of their people and economy. They rely heavily on the open trade with both powers, and in some places their territory acts as a buffer zone between the two. At some point in the campaign the Dwarves will start freaking out when they discover the sought after artifact in their territory and their worst fears of being caught in the crossfire start to become true. For reasons which need to be worked on they are not inclined to use the artifact. Maybe their loremasters understand the true history of it, maybe it's some kind of poison chalice. The players can help them defend their neutrality, seek and destory spies, and maybe even work to destroy the artifact.

Or if they want they can just go their own way and use the artifact for their own agenda. Maybe become the defenders of the oppressed minorites. Maybe become their own living gods and tyrants. It's up to them.

bump to buy time to post my own unwanted ideas...

Hey I remember you !
Can you tell us more about your setting ?

Yeah very cute artstyle.

I keep doing coincidental things that end up fitting together.

Example.
>Goblins use undead as a means to fight their Elven overlords
>Separate from that, make them bat-like due to art found online inspiring me to
>Didn't realize that I made vampire bat Goblins

Spontaneous internal cohesion like that makes me think that my setting -actually- exists in some alternate reality.

>Hey I remember you !
>Can you tell us more about your setting ?

Making a general statement about the entire setting is difficult since I've been fluffing an entire planet, but I'll make an attempt:

Brun is a hot, dried out, young world where the Gods have died; their bodies long since rotted away and over saturated the planet in their powerful, fertile, magics- turning it into a single super continent world of humongous monsters, fantastical creatures, and a host for a plethora of sapient species competing for survival and resources.
Brun is a world of hunters and frontier men & women.

I've just been attempting to make my own "great american(Canadian) fantasy setting" doing what every other creators done before me: steal shit from sources you like, rework them, and see what sticks.

>Are you working on a childrens fantasy novel or something like that?

I wouldn't say children, but if I did have to name a demographic I'd go with a target audience of mid teens to young adults.
There isn't a lot of heavy violence, but I tend to lean towards a maturity level somewhere between an 80's sword and sorcery anime and a french cartoon.

Thanks man, yeah Snowpiercer did inspire it heavily, but I wanted something grander scale with more options. Any thoughts on the religion? I honestly hadn't given it much thought until this thread, so it's a bit rough around the edges.

>Hoondeen, the God of Making Way
Come on, at least change it a bit more from Hoonding.

Sounds cool! So in this setting, humanity is basically the USSR in terms of military technology and capabilities? Also, how authoritarian are these kingdoms going to be within their own borders?

Okay, I posted this earlier.

Time to creation story dump! Don't worry, there's a point.

There are two worlds. One of shadow, and one of light. We live in the world of shadows, upon which a single light shines, but does not illuminate. The realm of light lies in eternal gloom, but is composed of only truth, and so is illuminating. Our world, the Prime Material Realm, is a shadow play dancing upon a cave wall, projected by the Flame Eternal. The Otherworld, the realm of spirits and gods, is all the rest, just outside of our view by virtue of the chains which bind us to the mortal realm.

Therefore, how do we change the world to suit our whims? Magic. And how would we use this?

It is said that in the beginning there was nothing but Chaos and Void. Then, a Call rang out. A singular note of awesome power and purity. A single Primordial Shout, “BE” was heard across reality, and all suddenly was. Law came into the world, and all things began to shape themselves according to their nature. Here the First Gods, the Primordials were formed. They set order to the cosmos, separating night and day, spirit and flesh, sky and stone.

Sky and Earth are Holy, it is known. As are Fire and Water, for they bridge the physical and immaterial. More, for Fire burns at the heart of reality, the purest shape of the Word.

The Primordials were one with reality, and could not be separated from it. They could not “see” it. And so they spoke the heavenly words, sang the songs of the world, and created a singular focus for all the universe.

Some believe the Primordials did this in the form of a chorus, shaping all things as according to their will and their song.

The world was created, and the Primordials sang the First Gods into existence, naming them Titans. Through them, the Primordial Gods would know their creation, and themselves.

1/2

The Titans shaped the world past its genesis. They set the mountains where they willed, and the seas where they willed, and they filled all the empty spaces with wondrous things. One amongst them, Manaeus, grew discontent with this. He wished for a more permanent world, unbound to the whims of capricious beings.

And so Manaeus went to work, using tool, craft, and song to bring about his own creation. The other Gods grew angry at this, for the creature was very much in their likeness, but without all their gifts and lore, and so seemed a mockery of their divine grandeur. They took Manaeus to a great tree at the heart of the world, and there they nailed him to the tree, and pinned him in place with a great spear in his side.

To improve Manaeus’ lifeless creations, the Titans gave them a choice in Words. They were offered the Sacred Word of Fire, or Water, to do with as they chose. The People split into two nations, one choosing Fire, and the other Water.

Water was enduring and eternal, yet stagnant without a force to move it, and it made Immortals of those who chose it.

Fire was beautiful and powerful, but only if kindled, and it would always die away. Short, mortal lives were had by those who chose this word, but their lives would be lived with such passion, such creation!

They who had chosen water joined the Titans, for a time. But it became clear they did not share the whims and desires of their lords, and so they chose for themselves a new name and a new purpose. They were the New Gods, and they would overthrow the Titans and rule the cosmos in their place.

2/2, gonna talk about this next post.

Missed a bit because I am derp.

The Titanomachy, as the thousand-year war was known, shook the world to its foundations. The New Gods were far more numerous in number (and in form for the power to change one’s shape was known to them), but the Titans were far greater in power. It was only when the Gods beseeched their lower brothers and sisters for aide, those whose ancestors had chosen Fire, that the war was won. And in its ending, the Covenant was formed. The New Gods would reign in heaven and receive their just offerings, and in return they would safeguard the world for Men and would set the world into its current, final shape.

But Fire is a dangerous thing. The words of votive offerings and prayers were spoken with a passion. The Fire within them changed the Gods themselves. The People of Fire had worked a wild and mighty magic upon the Gods, and they did not realize it. The Gods took the shape believed of them, and their roles became set in the cosmos.

For Words are power.

NEXT post I'll talk more.

Alright, so that dump was partly to keep the bump going, partly so I could just talk and walk through some ideas.

So this world is called Castian, and word magic and perceptions are a pretty strong theme. It sort of works as an explanation for the usual "God needs prayer badly" thing. If the universe is based on words, then the meaning of those words is a power in its own right. And if you can change the meaning of words, you can change reality. So Gods made Man, and now are beholden to man's perception of them.

I had to say that, to see if it made sense. This is all gonna be a bit rambly. Trouble is, I wrote this a while ago, and I like it, but I also wanted to make the magic in-setting feel more like an amalgamation of Darksun and Pirates of Darkwater. Namely, Psionics + Nature Magic. Both setting are a product of that weird 80's and early 90's need for Psychic magic to replace Magic magic, and I like the alien vibe going on there.

In fact, I like alien vibes. While humans are a staple, I already planned on there being mostly hybrid and strange animal life in the world. Like, Giant Crab-Spiders. Basically Trapdoor Tarantulas that are armored like crabs and like to eat ships they catch in their webs, which hide just off the coast. Or Whale-cattle, which are basically Cows + Manatees. And Dragons. Lithe snake-like ones in the desert (as well as some horny-toad style ones), and HUGE whale/kraken style dragons waiting in the Deep ocean to swallow whole trade fleets.

To the point: Non-human races. There was never anything specific about this in Darkwater, but Darksun had some neat takes on stuff. I have the idea for refluffing Elves are a more fishlike race of people. Sea-Bedouins. Always on the periphery of civilization, yet vital to sea trade. Possibly descended from ancient empires of old. Maybe make them Cthulhu like? Squid-heads? Keep them vaguely human but add a few "Atlantean" qualities ala certain Aquaman adaptations? More creepy? Thoughts?

Inspired by Tolkien ?

Vaguely, yes. But then most of us are, whether we cop to it or not. Though I don't think the "gods" in LotR are altered by their followers' belief.

Any thoughts on the race thing?

Have Elves chosen the Word of Water if they are water-themed ?

Mainly the world being created by a chorus and the division between immortals (elves in tolkien) and mortals who have something special and precious instead of immortality.

No. All mortals are descended from Fire. Elves/Not!Elves since I aim to make them weird, are also Fire...but perhaps they are descended from people who tried to become Water, if that makes sense? If I go with the Fallen Empire trope, I could play up a sort of Sorcerer-King ancestry or Wizards who meddled with their biology and tried to become long-lived or even immortal.

Since they're busy traveling the seas and not running an immortal empire, I guess they failed. I guess having them yearn to "be Water" would be interesting though, like the classic Mythos cults who worship Deep Ones from the sea.

>Three-dimensional world with no center and no axis to run from

Enjoy being confused.

Fair enough, although Not!Elves (seriously I need to come up with a name and some more alien features) aren't part of the immortal thing.

I really don't mind if there's a Tolkien connection. Is that a problem for most people?

>Religions!
>>Are religions important in your world?
Relatively.

>>Can you describe one of them?
Oki. The Red Faith is a pseudocultural religion which comes from desert nomads, and places a strong emphasis on hospitality, respect, and strength.

>>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
It has no real structure, and is decentralized. There are two kinds of 'priests;' those that stay in their temples, and those that do not. Those that don't are just wandering, zealous adventurers.

>>How does religion see normal people and their station?
As the ground from which heroes are grown.

>>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
Not directly. Instead, every faithful knight is expected to do his part if he ventures outside the lands of the religion.

>>Does it have holy sites?
Nah, although there are two important sites, one where the first example of a holy book is said to be stored, and the other is symbolic, a frontierland where religious people go to start a new life, and force the jungle & savages further south. Totally not Africa.

>>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
Totally uncool, unless it's against those Not!-Teuton fucking shits. The Red Faith is openly hostile to that religion, and that religion is openly hostile to the red faith. Thankfully, they're on each side of the continent, and don't mix much.

>>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
Marriage is considered honourable if monogamy is actually practised. Otherwise, it's just hypocritical, and a sin.

>>Should all heathens be killed?
Yes

>>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
"The world is better without you"

I did say it was a shameless rip-off. Plus I just love the name "the Hoonding"
Cheers! I guess I was more basing it off of ~16th century eastern european countries and their conflicts with the Ottomans. The human kingdom's populace are going to uber patriotic and xeno-phobic so the government wouldn't have to be too heavy handed except when dealing with non-humans. Dwarves are welcomed, Elves may be tolerated, but gnomes and half-orcs would be very oppressed.

Honestly not sure what way the Elves would govern. I want to make them very strict with the laws of faith, but I'm not sure it fits with the faith I described for them, beauty and grace and all that. Maybe they just view other religions as a threat? Similar to how the Japenese saw Chrisitanity when it first arrived? They're more welcoming of other races, but look down on all as inferior cultures. With war looming the movement of humans through Elf territory will be severly limited, and those that do get in will probably be escorted at all times, or spied on.

Umm... We live in one? When you think about it.

The least confusing model is simply to have a unidirectionnal gravity with floating islands.
So it's not really less confusing than being underwater.
Especially if there is still normal stars and sun then travel between islands is just sea travel complicated by the third dimenson, but you can still use stars and the sun, and moon to know where you are on the Y axis.

No, obviously no.

Okay cool, cuz I am an incredibly needy and low-self-esteemed person.

Alright, fuck it. Basically drunk-tired stream of consciousness it is then.

>The Anora
The Anora are a race of sapient amphibians that eerily resemble humans. They are humanlike, though with totally black eyes and a narrow, swimmer's build. They have angular features, including long, dexterous ears, and most possess several small rows of sharp teeth, which lend them an unnerving quality hard for some to get over.

Anorans are exceptional swimmers, owing partly to their ability to breathe underwater and small, nearly invisible fins that dot their body, but allow for superior mobility in an aquatic environment. Their strange biology allows them to survive many of the world's deadlier poisons with little trouble, and they can even secrete low-level hallucinogens through their skin. Their mental processes are said to be quite alien when compared to humans', but other than a strong resistance to mind control no one can say for certain how alien they really are.

Anorans are also exceptional archers. This largely stems from powerful muscles needed to swim, and very good eyes meant to catch very tiny details in hazardous reefs. They live in Fleets which travel the whole world (or at least the parts that are known), serving as traders and mail-carriers, and occasionally as hired muscle. While some members of this race settle down in watery lands humans tend to avoid, most are born sailors and will die at sea if only because of their constant travels. The Fleets are boon and bane for human cities. While they often bring trade, they always bring crime, and living on boats means any Anoran criminals can easily escape to freedom while the human guards spend hours and days trying to pin down the Fleet and box them in (such a rarity that it is almost never attempted at this point).

No sea-character pics, sad.

>Describe the places of worship of one religion of your setting

Hive city dude here, the temples are heavily Christian inspired, but the lower level ones will have arbitrary bits of technology placed in alcoves, while the higher level ones house more powerful and less-understood artifacts.

They could have a literal fashion police, or something akin to the Academies of post-Renaissance Europe dictating what was tasteful in art, or a combination of both.

Temples in the Red Faith are, in their essence, centered around a central set of walls. There's a rough shape around it, another layer of walls, a main hall. Except for one thing, it can look like anything from there and on. What is for certain however, is that there will be a shelter, a long hall of empty beds, where the poor are given shelter. The walls are generally carved with stories and depictions of glory, and in larger temples, there are rooms where priests live. They will read your blood to find out things from the future. It is customary, for those about to marry, to visit a temple, and get their palms cut together. The mix of their blood will tell of their future relationship.

What are some things to acknowledge in a world which is *exiting* medieval stasis? This stasis was of pretty modest length, they stayed medieval for a few centuries extra before the scientific and cultural revolutions began.

One main point of this aspect is that one of the oldest empires has spent centuries under stable rule and they've brought their medieval style to perfection, arguably pushing themselves beyond "medieval", having entire regiments of soldiers in full plate, as well as cities with massive walls and incredible stone buildings that our Earth never reached. They've been sitting around long enough to wall their villages and construct stone metropolises. This leads to aesthetic inconsistencies, with this super-medieval empire living alongside nations with much more modern aesthetics. However, just because they dominated for centuries previous does not mean they can continue to dominate. Lower empires were quicker to incorporate rifles and cannons to their armies, and before long they were evenly matched, the great armor and training of their knights became irrelevant. During the first major gunpowder war, civil war and internal revolt eviscerated the greater empire from within before the enemy could penetrate their borders, leaving behind massive stone ruins where criminals and monsters thrive. Within these ruins, many small factions are competing with mismatched medieval armor, melee weapons, and firearms, while in other empires things are pretty normal.

Also, this stasis was more cultural than technological. Technology was still advancing, but it was primarily in architecture, living standards, medicine, and metallurgy, rather than in "inventions". People were too attached to their castles, swords, and armor to comprehend the idea of them being temporary, and it was extremely difficult to accept their departure. Swordplay sticks around culturally as a hobby/formality for a long time.

How can I make spirit dominant religious system in my setting more interesting than, "Well the gods left so people just worship powerful forces around them and if you leave that particular area the spirit can no longer possibly aid you" ?

steal whatever the japs do

I should've clarified, without putting in anything my weeb friends can call me out on when we play.

Go read up on animistic/shamanistic religions that aren't shintoism then.

I've been thinking about what people would wear in my scifi world/universe but I'm not making much headway. I don't know much about fashion.

In the Star Wars movies the clothes are pretty different from the IRL fashion but not so exotic/weird that it takes you out of the movie .

tl; dr: how do I design clothes?

Start with what is practical, then modify it with what is sexually attractive, up to the very limits of what is considered appropriate in public, with a healthy sprinkling of shit that makes you look rich.

I finally got around to make a map. Maybe it's too obviously Siam, but I just hope my players won't notice it too soon.
Anyway, I need to add more rivers and get around making political a map and a more stylised map.