ITT: Lore Dump

I feel like you can really judge the quality of a lore writer based on the amount of care that goes into those minor characters.

too many writers just jerk off about their overdesigned self insert characters or have DBZ power level pissing matches instead of displaying more variety in the setting with smaller characters. i think thats why so many people love stories like game of thrones too, because even tho martin isnt the best writer, he puts in lots of love and care into those tiny inconsequential character's stories.

In my setting, people like this are sentenced to hard labour in the lore mines, spanning miles below the lands.

I think you put it better than me. Everyone has a story, even if it isn't the main focus.

Anyhow to contribute to the thread, my game's setting is based on a moon orbiting a gas giant within its ring system. The moon is so close to the gas giant that in a 26 hour day, the gas giant eclipses the moon completely for one hour, sheathing the whole moon's sky in the swirling purples, violets, and blues of the gas giant's atmosphere. During this time, all life on the moon becomes much more aggressive and alive until the eclipse ends.

Backstories are also useless. What you do in play is all that matters. That's the reason why lore is useless. Unless it directly impacts and appears in game, it's useless. Worse than useless, really, considering it tends to lead to people concentrating on their bullshit made up histories instead of what actually matters: tone , theme, and gameplay.

when the outsiders (elder gods) began to intrude into the realm, the greatest of the angels rallied a host to drive them back. however the creator forbid them to go as he was the only one who can stop them without risk of corruption. the leader, in his pride, ignored this command and led the host against them anyway. the battle twisted them and when they returned the creator cast them out for their disobedience. thus the first devils came into being and resolve to overthrow the creator and destroy his creations

>Tone
>Theme
These things are set with lore.
And for most rpg's, roleplay is the primary form of game play, and how are you supposed to roleplay in a setting you know nothing about.
Go back to /v/ you fucking soft headed, slack jawed, knuckle-dragger.

No, things like the color of the emperor's socks and the tax plan of all the countries you'll never go to are set by lore. It's 90% extraneous and a waste of time

Nice moving the goalposts you Pathfinder playin', Nurgle impersonatin', Monstergirl lovin', Plastic addicted, Spoony worshipin', Bernie supportin' Manchild

Two words

Amazon Catgirls

>Spoony worshipin'

That’s cold man

No
Setting, where the game takes place, that's lore
Tone, what genre of game is it, that's lore
Theme, what's the story about, that's lore.
What your talking about is lore also, but your taking it to an extreme to try and prove your shitty ill-thought out 'opinion'.

In my fictional setting, the Jews own almost everybody and everything. Anything they don’t own, they manipulate into doing their bidding. Anybody they can’t manipulate, they universally conspire in secret to use every resource available to keep their enemies as a permanent underclass with no real power.

I see you're a fan of high fantasy.

I love shit like this.

I've been kicking around ideas for a magic space opera setting with a friend.

The main premise is that it's an alternate history universe with the point of divergence being the moon landing. During the mission, one of the guys went to explore the dark side of the moon. That's where he found a space dragon. Turns out there's dragons in space. Anyway, this guy becomes the first mage. Space dragons pass on the potential for magic to humans. No "you have to be special" shit, ANYONE can become a mage, they just have to succeed in a deliberately undertaken, very dangerous process (haven't figured out what it will be yet) that allows you to wield magic, and will probably kill you if you fail. So it's not like everyone on the planet suddenly gets magic.

But that's all besides the point. It can be vague, because that's ancient history by the current day, centuries, maybe even a thousand years after that. Thanks to magic, humans have made incredible discoveries in scientific fields, including mastering space travel. Note that technology and magic are separate, but magic basically kicked off a technological revolution. You don't need to be a mage to learn the new science stuff.

Anyway, the entire solar system has been colonized by humans with a combination of high magic and technology. People have lived on other planets for centuries, and the principle setting isn't just our solar system, but the entire Milky Way galaxy, which is barely explored.

That's the gist, anyway. Here are small ideas I've had about it.

>technology is a big part of things, varies wildly in aesthetics. modern spaceships made in 3000 whatever look way different and operate differently (maybe not entirely BETTER) than ones made in, say, 1998
>magic is space themed and separated into schools (Solar, Flux, Void, Ether, Dust)
>magic academy is on the moon, where The Guy found the dragon
>not sure about aliens
>all the very rich people live on exclusive estates on Mercury and Venus

2000/2000

Grimwyrd, and some other pieces
Kendelyzer.wordpress.com

That's certainly a bold opinion user. Now, would someone who *isn't* fundamentally wrong about everything they have ever thought, said, or done like to chime in? Anyone at all?

Here's a lore tidbit for you. Mimetic Genes are a thing in my setting. That means; some creatures are so magical that it's part of their genes. Elves, Centaurs, Trolls, Merpeople, and Griffons to name a few all have this.
An group of Elves that live in a Jungle will change over time to look like the jungle, they will develop darker green hair that dreads to look like vines, where as elves that live underground will develop gray skin and hair with a rough rocky texture.
Centaurs magical nature makes them take on the traits of equines around them. While there are Centaurs that look like horses, there are some that look like Zebras, some that resemble donkeys, some even that are like even toed ungulates. They are all the same species, they are just magical.

There is a heirarchy to reality. Azathoth dreamed the universe into existence. Its earliest dreams coalesced into the Great Old Ones who shackled their creator to keep it asleep indefinitely. They set about defining all physical law. Their dreams became the Outer Gods who embody metaphysical paradoxes. The *NIGHTMARES* of the Great Old Ones are the primal Demon Lords. These beings are darkness, poison, and entropy made manifest and seek to undo the shackles and wake azathoth, poisoning it in the process so that it will remember them when it wakes.The Outer Gods made war on the Great Old Ones, and won, imprisoning them. They loosened the shackles, establishing loopholes in natural law that account for all metaphysics and most types of 'magic'. The dreams of the Outer Gods became the Fae, the Wild Ones, and the various entities which wander the universe as formless energy. Nothing can be said about them other than that no single saying or rule applies to all of them. During the war, the Great Old Ones created a physical servant race to aid them. These were the first living beings made of flesh. They are known today as 'dragons'. The dragons betrayed their creators and declared neutrality, hiding themselves away across the worlds and planes. They set about creating more beings in their likenesses, but none could ever match the full power of a true dragon. From their failed experiments and the detritus of their eternally growing and regrowing bodies evolved all other organic life. From the dreams of sapient mortals arose the Mortal Gods. Countless in number, each is a metaphysical anthropomorphic projection of a mortal concept (like 'Love' or 'Freedom' or 'Community' or 'Hate', things which would not exist without mortal minds to conceive them and give them weight. Each mortal community or culture has its own ever-evolving pantheon, none of which matter much to any but the mortals of their given communities.

Why don't people ever respond to one another in /wbg/? All I ever see is people posting their lore and than in response someone posts their own lore. It's not even a circlejerk it's just everyone masturbating in the same room

Be the change you want to see, user. Pick any dump, any single one of them, and humor them.

>t. Max Landis

That's all world building is.

So they aren't subspecies or anything, they just have chameleon DNA?

Must suck for biologists.

>you didn't discover a new offshoot of gnomes, Geoffrey. Take that little asshole into the jungle and he'll grow leaf hair instead of a mushroom.

What kind of setting is this for, exactly?

worldbuilding has to be the most reddit millennial term i've ever heard. What happened to just calling it writing?

I like that quote, I might use it

Nigga, I haven't seen any hits on my WordPress yet, fuckin get on it yoself

I know, right? It's almost as bad as BBEG (ugh). What happened to just calling them villains?

This kendelyzer.wordpress.com/ is you?

Fine I'll fucking read this shit.

I have a campaign blog for.my players, though it's got nothing too exceptional in it: worldofkhraz.wordpress.com

>you'll never be sent to the lore mines reading page after page of forgotten histories trapped beneath the earth

Alright, read this stuff, or some of it.

>magic elves
gaaaaayyyyy

The format of the infodumps on the races was well done, I would say. Very engaging, art was nice. I skimmed it with skepticism at first but grew more interested as I read, and went back to read more closely. Unfortunately I have to admit that I'm not the most informed reader, as I tend to favor urban and science fantasy over traditional sword and sorcery stuff, like DnD. Literally never read anything on it. Haven't even seen the LotR movies all the way through. But I did bookmark the AP stuff, the session write ups, and I plan to read it once I've slept, and I liked the stuff about elves and dwarves. Only nitpick is the name "the Darkness". Totally undercuts everything interesting about it with a generic af name. It's funny to me that all your players are from Veeky Forums, because I also met my online group here and it's been a blast so far.

According to the OED, the term “World Building” was first used in the Edinburgh Review in 1820.

Hilariously enough, my players got his with a switcheroo. I alluded to the cosmic big bad several times, and it took them regarding some logs to realize the difference between
>The darkness calls to me!
And
>The Darkness demands your death!

Hell, most of the weight to the characterization of IT comes from the way IT talks.

Dwarves - Frenchmen. Fur trappers, traders, wine and cheese lovers, notorious libidos.
Humans - Cowboys. Fat, angry, gun-toting, loves beef and hunting.
Ogres- Good friends of the Humans. Like Patrick to Humanity's Spongebob. They share a love of very low tech trains with the Dwarves. Live a vaguely feudal Japanese system with mild Japanese flavoring. Primarily sumo wrestling and their leader being a Shogun.
Kobolds - Snickering sidekicks to the Dwarves in some cases and political rivals in others depending on the nation. Effectively Swiss, masters of coin and mercenary work.
Dracomen - Germans-Imperial Chinese attributes i.e. dicks. Believe themselves to be sons of dragons but they're literally just bigger Kobolds who try to deny their history.
Lupus - American Indian wolf-men. Constant adversary of the Humans and Ogres. Guerrilla warfare specialists and tribal nomads.
Ari - Elves who favor arctic environments or rugged steppes. Those from the arctic are primarily magicians and deep sea fishermen, those from the steppes are excellent archers and horsemen. Largest empire in the world, traders of goods and materials, rapists.
Sabir - Bear men in constant conflict with the Kold-Ari. Deeply religious and deeply drunk.
Anubanaki - Faux Ancient Egyptian wolf men. Built the colony that eventually devolved and shattered into the Lupus tribal nations, leaving behind pyramids as the sole reminders.

I am building a cyberpunk-themed touhou alt-setting in which the world has gone to shit through natural disaster followed up up by nuclear warfare resulting from desperate, starving countries getting angry.

Youkai appeared in Japan and gathered up the country's remaining humans and got them to build a huge city in the mountains for protection from the US and China.

Youkai turned the city into a youkai-owned conglomerate empire to live the good life, while humans are reduced to second-class used as work monkeys and cattle for F.E.A.R., a compound in human blood youkai need to live.

""""""""""QuOtATioN MarKs ARE cooL"""""""""""

Fucking faggot.

>directly referencing Japan in any shape, form, or fashion
Don't do it. You can't escape the weeb stigma. Literally just relabel anything you draw from Japan. Don't call them youkai. Don't call anyone a Shogun. Don't do it.

I'm sure you can come up with more buzzwords and boogeymen than that. Try harder.

It’s a shame this is the case. There’s some pretty interesting stuff to lift from Japan. But I suppose most of that (e.g., neo-Confucianism) can just be blamed on China instead.

There's some stuff I plan on drawing from Japan (or what I've seen in videos about Japan), but it's mostly little stuff.

Like people using buckets to do open-flame barbecues.

...

youtube.com/channel/UCEcMWs6GudljuLw0-Umf97A

There it is. Lore

To go on a bit more about how planets are terraformed, I'm thinking something like they're magically layered with alternate versions of them selves, basically made up of aspects selectively taken from different realities. Like a breathable atmosphere, drinkable water, the perfect temperature (layered from a reality where they're the appropriate distance from the sun), etc. To make them livable, basically.

What I'm really caught up on is other races. Whether magical or just aliens. I plan on ghosts and spirits being things, because magic, but I'm not sure about other things. Space vampires? Space elves? Maybe humans who have modified themselves magically, somehow?

Isn't that basically [Beach Boys]?

Yep

I don't really understand what you're trying to accomplish, but here's your (You), I guess.

You want specifics?
youtube.com/watch?v=xSY6on-M9Vw
Heres a specific video

"The only thing I know is Lovecraft and FR, and those I only learnt about from Veeky Forums threads and memes."

youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTNHjCovU
Opps, wrong video
Thats the part 2. Heres part one

>B-b-but muh reddit and muh millenials, and other buzzwords and terms I don't know the meaning of

Holy shit.

>thinking I'm going to watch retarded ass looking videos just to understand your sick burn or whatever the fuck it is you're trying to get across
Not today, kiddo.

These are weird psuedoscience videos that actually make for good fantasy lore
>So bud, wanna tone down that paranoia?

>These are weird psuedoscience videos that actually make for good fantasy lore
Should have lead with that.

Still not watching them though.

>Hey bud
>you wanna
>tone down that paranoia

On the topic of that, you guys should check out Fomenko's New Chronology. Makes for a dope-ass alternate history conspiracy theory setting.

Interesting user, but what kind of tone and themes are you hoping to aim for with your setting? Maybe if you pin that aspect down you can choose what kind of races you want o populate your setting with.

What kind of sissy GK dies from fall damage?

underrated

Maybe it's just because I'm bad at worldbuilding, but I feel like if I came up with something in 10 minutes for a campaign or game and made that the world it would be just as good if not better then something I could spend months working on.

Here's a quick primer for a generic-ish DnD setting I wrote for my players. Though they started out not caring, a few sessions later, they're eager to learn more and explore more of the world. I am a happy DM.

The world is old - this cannot be denied. Ancient ruins from previous civilizations litter the earth, remnants of a time long past. Their architects are collectively referred to as Precursors, their buried halls guarding marvels of science, engineering, and magic unknown to the modern age.

Though every attempt is made to recover what was lost and piece together the tales of times before, progress is slow - the world is a hostile, unforgiving place. Civilization exists as pockets of order, hemmed in by wilderness, monsters, their own warring, and furious, unstoppable godstorms - unpredictable, nature-defying storms that savage the earth.

Their origin and source of energy unknown, they wreak havoc upon climates, ecosystems, and civilizations at random, appearing instantaneously and without warning, lasting anywhere from mere moments to entire centuries. They might upend a decade’s worth of rain, loose boulders down to the earth, or spill forth rivers of lava from the sky. The only constant among all recorded godstorms is that they do not move from their point of origin.

(1/2)

(2/2)

Despite this, a new age is upon the world. A handful of races have carved out an existence amidst the chaos, building cultures and societies despite the endless difficulties. Many seek to avoid the fate of the Precursors, and hold their history close, hoping to learn from the past and safeguard their future.

Exploration, colonization, and discovery play heavy roles in the modern age, each expedition an attempt to secure a foothold on Aar Veldur. Some succeed, most fail. Some uncover treasures and lost knowledge, while others find only horror and death.

One uncovered the Shore of Giants, a mysterious and deadly land to the northwest. There, the air itself is laden with magic, and the laws of reality begin to break. A thick mist shrouds the rolling green hills beyond its beaches, and on rare occasions, giants can be seen striding across the land. No expedition that ventures more than a handful of leagues inland ever returns.

Currently, Aar Veldur lives in a time of uncertainty. Godstorms have increased in frequency and intensity, magical anomalies have been reported across the world, and monstrous creatures roam the earth. The races of the world hold their breath, for they know something is coming, but they do not yet know its nature...

And that's basically the gist of it. If anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask questions.

Just a couple of questions

>Who finances and organises the expeditions? Are they sponsored by the local kingdoms, powerful merchants, or are they self-financed by the adventurers?

>How does each pocket of civilization interact with each other? Is the world divided in city states and petty kingdom, or are there continet spanning empires? How does trade work?

Short version:

Former planar hub world that's been through a bunch of apocalypses and has become a big weird melting pot of cultures, magical traditions, species, architecture, what have you. There's enough shit flying around -world ending artifacts, ancient sleeping evils, you name it- that "adventurer" is a job description with pretty much permanent employment, since there are a lot of jobs too nasty for regular mooks but too sensitive for militaries. Of course in a practical sense adventurers are less heroes and more specialized hired thugs, but that's not good advertising.

The plane itself is bizarrely huge, to the point that there are no maps that manage to establish any sort of edge or wraparound, and that the world's many, many moons pass in strange orbits such that you might not see a given moon again for years.

Also the primary church has its Rome underwater and it's run by merfolk. Pilgrimages are an interesting affair for air-breathers.

How did the merfolk manage to control the spiritual capital of the world, assuming that most races are land-dwelling?

>Who finances and organises the expeditions?

Whoever has something to gain. Kings and lords often hire mercenaries to burn away the wilds to prepare the area for colonization or delve into Precursor ruins to see if they're safe enough for settlement - safe real estate is a precious commodity, and each solid foothold is a costly, risky, yet potentially immense boon to their power and authority.

Merchants also hire woodsmen and other various outlanders to forge safer overland trade routes, or establish small trading posts in the southern archipelago as bastions of safety in turbulent, monster-infested waters.

Adventurers do self-finance, because Precursor ruins can hold wondrous treasures despite the dangers within. Infamously, the town of Tombhope is built around swindling the overeager and foolish out of every gold piece they possess before the disappear into the depths of the nearby Precursor catacombs, never to return.

Magical scholars and historians also regularly finance expeditions. One of my favorite NPCs is one of them - the destitute researcher Professor "Crooked-Eye" Corbyn, who spent the last of his grant money hiring the party in a desperate bid to recover an artifact and avoid a forced return to lecturing by his College's board.

(1/?)

>How does each pocket of civilization interact with each other?

Trade, primarily. Heavily-armed caravans and merchant convoys are the primary source of news and goods, though some religious organizations and sects wander the globe. Individuals with magical talent are often scooped up by lords to enhance trade, communication, and martial flexibility.

>Is the world divided in city states and petty kingdom, or are there continent spanning empires?

Both actually, though there is only Empire at the moment - the Dwarven Empire in the East. After Ahzâd the Great unified the tribes, Emperor Bhezur the Drowner built a massive underground tunnel that connected the Eastern edge of the continent to a mountainous peninsula across a narrow stretch of sea. After carving out massive trade-fortresses into the peninsula, however, their progress has slowed.

Aside from the Empire, most human realms consist of scattered Kingdoms, City-Sates, or petty islander kingdoms, each claiming vastly more territory than they actually control, each hemmed in by the wilds that surround them. Their only true domain are their vassal villages, towns, and cities and the few miles that stretch beyond them. Thankfully, agriculture and sailing are human specialties, allowing them to slowly but surely expand their spheres of influence.

The Elvish Kingdoms are... interesting. Highly feudal yet decentralized, five Kings rule in the North, all sharing the common city of Kornikrðing. Great lovers of sagas, myth, and romance, they wage petty glory-wars against each other, seeking neither territory nor wealth. Though they are more in-tune with nature than the rest of the races, they still prefer river valleys and remote mountainous settlements, and even the most fool-hardy elf doesn't venture into the deep woods. (Basically 'we wuz vikangz n' sheit').

(2/2)

The setting is fairly standard fantasy. The big secret is that a really big guy fell from the sky and started eating people. He is currently sleeping, and his body has been buried under ground.

His presence contaminates the world though, poisoning people and turning them herculean supermen. By calling on him in his dreams, you accomplish magic.

When the big guy wakes up again he's going to eat everyone.

>How stable are the human statelets? Are the ruling dynasties centuries-old or are there continously forming and dissolving polities?

>As you've stated before, most of the interactions between settlements are trade-based. What commercial relationships are established between the Elven Kingdoms, the Dwarven Empire and the Human Realms? Do merchants trade exotic goods unique to each race?

>Speaking about trade, how is trade organised? Are there great VOC-style companies that hold monopolies over certain goods, Italian-style merchant families or smaller independent traders? Are all races equally involved in trade, or are there isolationist races or races that are hegemonic in trade?

>How stable are the human statelets?

Some are more stable than others. Though nearly every human realm is dynastic in some form or another (humans have a penchant for establishing aristocracies) City-States lean towards the chaotic end of the spectrum, as their smaller territories yet swollen populations often leads to cutthroat meritocratic dynastic cycles. The more established Kingdoms have entrenched dynasties, and zealously guard their inherited lands.

>What commercial relationships are established between the Elven Kingdoms, the Dwarven Empire and the Human Realms?

The Dwarves and the Humans are considered the 'oldest' of the current races, as they have been recording their history the longest. The Dwarven Trading Fortresses see the highest volume of trade in the world, from all over the continents. Humans have been their longest trading partners, though the western Elvish Kingdoms trade musical instruments, art, fish, timber, and high-carbon steel in exchange for glass, artisan weapons, stone, and gems. Recently, the Shrouded Cities have emerged as a new market - tiefling colonies forged from the survivors of an ancient human expedition, built into sprawling Precursor complexes deep in the southern jungles. A centuries-long godstorm that hid them away from the world has recently faded, allowing them to re-enter the world.

>Speaking about trade, how is trade organised?

Loosely. Companies, guilds, and associated monopolies are mostly regional, because despite the high volume of trade, security is difficult to establish, and expensive venture investments rarely reach the investor's hopes.

Humans and Dwarves trade the most, and they often exchange anything they don't need. Elves are not skilled traders and prefer other professions, but coastal towns indulge when need or greed persuades them. Tieflings sell exotic skins and spices, the funds often used to purchase food and other necessities to sustain themselves in their hellish homes.

>What has led the Elvish Kingdom to all share Kornikrðing? How is daily life there?

>Could you expand a bit on tieflings? Where do they come from, what's their culture like?

>What has led the Elvish Kingdom to all share Kornikrðing?

As the largest and most populous of the elvish cities, Kornikrðing is built beside the Spring of Four Rivers, an eruption of geysers and water sources that form the boundaries for the Kingdoms. It is a deeply spiritual place, as well as one of mythic significance, a place of monumental decisions and events that have colored elvish sagas. Centuries of positive feedback loops (pilgrims bring money which brings trade, which brings settlers, etc) have built it into a large agricultural center as well as a cultural one. Greenhouses line the packed-earth streets, while music and sagas echo in uproarious drinking halls. It has long stood as a neutral ground and meeting place. The Kings share it because it lies in the intersection of each Kingdom, and laying claim to it would be political suicide, an invitation for bloody and savage reprisal.

(1/2)

I was thinking something kind of frontiers-y, if that makes sense. One of the things I said to my friend was "Manifest Destiny, but in space", which adds to the significance of the obscenely wealthy moving to Mercury and Venus being a kind of upperscale planet in itself. Instead of expanding out, these people went in. Mercury and Venus are the only two planets closer to the sun than Earth, and are therefore separated from everyone else by Earth, which is still the seat of human governance. Speaking of Mercury and Venus, another idea I had was machine moons, space bases that artificially mimic the effects of moons for planets that don't have them.

Basically, I wanted to go for themes of exploration and undertaking journeys as kind of an undercurrent to WHY humans are spacefaring in setting. Basic adventuring space opera stuff, but not just with exploring unknown, desolate planets with no civilization. Basically not like No Man's Sky. I also plan for a bunch of different game styles to be accommodated, or able to be accommodated. There's political tension regarding colonized planets, space crime is always fun, and you can play at being heroes for the people who fall through the cracks in planet and galactic scale governments. I didn't really have some kind of 2deep theme in mind.

If I were to pin down a main theme in all of this, it would be a kind of drive to pursue adventure, or freedom. If you're willing to risk your life, you can become a mage and go to moon school (or some other program cooked up by people who want you). If you're willing to learn, you can become a technician or inventor for the things people depend on in the setting, and get a valued place on a crew. If you're willing to save up your cash and go the distance, you can buy a secondhand Ford StarMaster, learn how to fly it and get all the licenses, and then you can go... wherever you want. Do whatever you want.

I mean, other races makes sense, but I'm not sure how I should do it.

>Could you expand a bit on tieflings?

Sure! Tieflings are the result of what was once thought to be a failed colonization attempt. A millennia ago during the first major period of growth for the human realms, its most adventurous and far-reaching members finally found a barrier to their expansion - a monstrous, vicious godstorm that halted their progress eastward. After decades of waiting for it to disperse, a massive expedition comprised of humanity's most restless explorers and desperate settlers decided to punch through it regardless. They lost half their number in the storm, only to emerge on the other side and find a hellish and unforgiving jungle. Struck with famine and disease, their salvation came in the form of the first Shrouded City, a sprawling yet withered Precursor city hidden away in the mouth of a nearby delta (think Aztec pyramids and such). There, they found a small colony of demons that had been banished from their plane, and a deal was struck between them. From this mysterious pact, the Expedition's survivors and their descendents became tieflings, touched with infernal blood. Now better suited for life in the jungle (and boasting minor magical feats), they were able to secure a real foothold in their new home. They eventually discovered two other similar cities, and settled them as soon as they were able. Tieflings proudly carry the legacy of "the most daring" (some would say stupid and suicidal) human explorers, as well as their extra-planar origins. Life is still a struggle in the jungles, however, only recently lessened by the godstorm eventually lifting a century ago, allowing trade to flow. Reintegration into the world was not smooth, and many human scholars are still divided as to the true nature of their distant cousins.

you, I like you
Tomorrow a shit though

So you're going for a good ole space opera setting, huh? Allow me to ask some other questions about your setting.

>On the topic of machine moons, what purpose do they serve? Who builds them and what do they gain?

>How much power does Venus and Mercury have over the rest of the Universe? Are they just resorts to the Mega-wealthy or a center of power from which the most powerful control the universe?

>Who controls the earth? Is there a One World Government, or are there still nation-states?

>On Tombhope, does their economy exclusively rely in adventurers, or do they have another forms of revenue? How does Tombhope interact with their neighbours?

>How much is it known about the Precursors? Is there any idea of what lead to their downfall?

>Spoony worshipin'
jesus dude lets not break the geneva convention with insults. cmon man this is a christian board.

Centuries ago, the Divine Machine rose to battle a world-ending monster that descended from the sky.

This monster was shaped unto a man or dwarf, and could be called stocky were its incredible size not capable of crushing villages with a single misplaced flick of a toe. Its radiance burned woodlands to ashes and seared the very air; looking directly at it could be blinding. It was with great surprise that the people of the world witnessed the rising of the Divine Machine to battle this threat - the god of mechanics, itself a humanoid automaton blessed with life, intelligence, purpose and power.

Their battle was physical, and it raged for days. The lands that served as their ring of combat, that would take a fast and tireless horse weeks to pass, were beaten flat and seared dead. But in the end, the Divine Machine prevailed - the beast's body was shattered to the far corners of the world.

A few decades back, in the Ash Commons of the giants' battlefield, a village had been struck by a mysterious illness - the Shadow. It was discovered that the beast's mighty head was still nearby, and its influence caused lesions and wild growth in the tissues of the afflicted. With the power of the Seismic Maul retrieved from the council of Gnarmvel, and the Everlead Anvil found underneath Mount Corvus in its fiery temple, guarded by a phoenix, the Shadow was rid of forever.

I like to let my players influence the world, so long as they put the effort in. So the Warforged ascending to godhood to fight the neutronium golem was a fun time for Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Then my next group had the opportunity to shatter the head and rid the region of cancer, which was fun, too.

>>On the topic of machine moons, what purpose do they serve? Who builds them and what do they gain?
For Venus and Mercury? Ideal tides, orbital security, and a general sense of "that's a massive, high end, weaponized space station, we shouldn't try anything,". As for who they're built by, that's an interesting question. They're privately financed by the rich, contracted with a very sleek company who handles building cutting edge structures. Some other planets have their own machine moons, but they're government funded and not as advanced or fancy looking.

>>How much power does Venus and Mercury have over the rest of the Universe? Are they just resorts to the Mega-wealthy or a center of power from which the most powerful control the universe?
They have considerable influence. The image I have of them isn't a bunch of colluding trillionaires pulling the strings of the galaxy, but a bunch of rich people who have fucked off and are literally on their own world. For clarification, Mercury is the REAL rich people planet, the truly exclusive one. Venus I pictured as something of a scenic planet where normies can still pay to go vacation at, if they can afford it, and ship captains can dock there and pick up work, but it's undoubtedly upperscale. I'm wondering how far I should go with the idea of space nobles, because undoubtedly these people have paid out the ass for the best magic and technology available to be plain better than normal people. But that ties into the limits of technology and magic.

>>Who controls the earth? Is there a One World Government, or are there still nation-states?
The idea I had was for the United Nations (remember, alt history) to grow and become the Earth-based government, with Russia and the US leading the colonization and starship programs early on. Colonized planets are still under Earth-based leadership in name, but are actually run locally. Hence political strife for planets wanting independence. Maybe some already have it.

It's based on Points of Light, but using a classical antiquity/late antiquity theme.
Only dwarves, humans and elves exist.
Technology level is early iron age.
Most of the world is dangerous wilderness filled with monsters and petty, mischievous spirits.
Civilizations are small and concentrated in a few spots, mostly on river valleys.
There's no kingdoms or empires, just city-states, barbarian tribes and agricultural communities.
The gods used to walk among mortals but have left the world because humans caused many atrocities (such as the creation of necromancy, lycanthropy and vampirism) and very rarely aid humans.
Magic is the manipulation of the forces that created the world and mortals can only cast an imperfect version of it, and no one can use it for free. The hard way to do it is through decades of training and expenditure of materials and the easy way is to make bargains with spirits, which often backfires. Sorcerers and other mortals who are innate spellcasters are extremely rare and often considered anomalies, and even they have to use materials for their spells.
Spellcasters are also rare and the most powerful of them are considered semi-legendary people and are often the subject of poems, songs and tales.
All the dragons are dead, bar one. They were killed by one of their own, who ascended to godhood for his feat.
Good steel is considered mystical and has magic properties. Only dwarves and a tribe of humans can forge it. Dwarves forge it in the fires of the only dragon that is still alive and humans forge it through a religious ritual.

>>On Tombhope, does their economy exclusively rely in adventurers?

One of the world's largest banking institutions (The MacLeod Banks) began there when a particularly wealthy and powerful adventuring party deposited their prodigious wealth with a trusted friend before descending into the Catacombs. They never returned, and their coin was used as capital to begin a money-lending business. Centuries later, MacLeod establishments have cropped up across many human kingdoms, with a recent expansion into one of the dwarven trading fortresses.

Since there isn't a surfeit of adventures (though they do tend to be rather wealthy), Tombhope citizens also host illicit smuggling rings, auctions of minor magical items, numerous brothels, as well as standard farmers' markets. Its seedier reputation has led to the common expression "Nothing's free in Tombhope."

>How much is known about the Precursors?

Not much. The only certainty is that there's been more than one race throughout the world's history. Only a handful of their scripts have been deciphered, but beyond routine edicts, trade manifests, and heritage records, their culture and history remains shrouded in mystery. One ruin (the Yawning Labyrinth) has recently divulged a disturbing hint at their age, however - dungeon delvers that managed to reach the 401st subterranean floor returned with the ancient, decrepit, and mummified remnants of Precursor adventurers, a race presumably avian in origin.

Precursors are always a fun mystery. Just be careful that you don't ruin the mystery.

Also thanks to the greentext user(s) for engaging people with questions.

>Precursors are always a fun mystery. Just be careful that you don't ruin the mystery.

I agree. I hope you enjoyed my effusive ramblings.

My own thanks to the green-text user as well. This is a good thread, glad to see you're keeping it alive.

>How much global influence do the McLeods have? Is their power restricted to Tombhope, or is their name known from the Elfish Kingdoms to the Shrouded City?

>On the Dwarf Empire, how much influence do they have? Do Dwarven merchants mantain kontor in foreign ports? Do they have their own quartiers?

>How is the Moon Academy structured? Who finances it?

>You've mentioned that the interstellar space has been barely explored? What does humanity currently know about the Milky Way?

>>How is the Moon Academy structured? Who finances it?
The Moon Academy is independently run and financed, and was founded and built by The Guy (working title for the first mage). It codified magic into schools, which is where the stuff about Solar, Flux, Void, Ether, and Dust comes from. Each one is a broad category with lots of potential applications, and it teaches based on that. The academy is headed by a council, typically retired mages who have had their fill of space adventures. The picture I have of it is something like a flowing metal and glass structure on the surface of the moon, which only has a breathable atmosphere and tolerable temperature because The Guy hadn't pinned down how to really layer realities yet. Stuff like gardens and proper gravity is all inside, and students (and teachers) often take off to conduct not entirely appropriate (or legal) experiments in caves and craters. It's a pretty high magic place, not like Hogwarts but in a kind of ethereal sense. The atmosphere isn't grounded, and it feels like it's not the real world. Alternate realities sometimes bleed over from the terraforming.

>>You've mentioned that the interstellar space has been barely explored? What does humanity currently know about the Milky Way?
Barely explored, as in relatively. There's something like an estimated 100 billion planets in the Milky Way, and this is where I'm hesitating on a lot of important choices. Should humans be the only playable race? Should I have other races doing their own things out there, in some of kind Star Wars style? What should those other races be? How high concept should they be? How do I avoid ruining the kind of pseudo-realism/plausibility with the alternate history angle? Should I be autistic with the finer details of space travel? What happens to the space dragons? Do they fuck off and become myth? Do human mages seek them out to learn the cosmic mysteries first hand in an attempt to be like The Guy? Are they dying out? Etc.

>How much global influence do the McLeods have?

More than most human enterprises, but not as much as the oldest Dwarven Tribes. They often fund expeditions, finance small yet potent mercenary companies, and collect magical artifacts to sell to mages at exorbitant prices. They're mostly known between the central human realms and the Empire.

>On the Dwarf Empire, how much influence do they have?

Though they wield a considerable amount, most of it is wrapped up in trading influence, while tribal infighting and blood-feuds keeps the Emperor from wielding the full martial might of his subordinate Chieftains. Members of trader families integrate into distant ports and communities, though this is rarer the nearer you get to the Empire. Currently, the Empire does not seek dominion over foreign lands, but whispers of more rapid expansion circle in the court of Emperor Naqqaz the Grim's court as his health declines.