/wbg/ - World Building General

>What is the largest theatre of war in your setting?
In terms of intensity, the Fuldan Theathre of World War IV (actually WWI in terms of tech development), involving an extremely bitter fight in the chokepoint of Fulda (hence the name) in the Menian Republic (which occupies the easternmost part of Hesse and a good chunck of Thurigina, plus bits of Saxony), between the aforemention with its allies Prussia, Poland, France, Austria and Rhine Union, versus Wallonia (which in this case is basically Belgium, Zeeland, Nederlanden Brabant, Piccardy, most of Normandy, Luxemburg and Alsace), Bavaria, Swizerland, Milan, Savoy and the Batavian Republic (which is what remains of the Nederlands).

In terms of sheer numbers, though, the cake goes to the Chinese Theatre, as it involves a surviving Khmer Kingdom allied with the Kingdom of Vietnam, the Republic of Quingai, and Zhouland trying to beat an alliance between the remmanants of the Lixi Empire and the Federation of Korea.

>Has a culture formed surrounding the war?
Yes, the culture surroding the war resembles the one that surronded the previous wars, treating it like a glorious and swift affair that changed borders and entire nations' fates overnight. With the war prolonging, some people have started to change their mind and protest this mindset.

>Is there propoganda and rationing schemes in the involved countries?
There definitely is. Some countries suffer harder from rationing (for example, the Menian Republic has a lot of trouble in giving adquate rations to civilians and relies on what the Prussians can bring them to survive, while Milanese citizens have seen their iron balconies smelted to make cannons and rifles out of them). Propaganda is a must, but due to the complacency brought by a culture glorifying war already, efforts have been weak up until dissenters appeared, causing most governments involved to scramble for solutions.

Posting your world with the hope that someone actually likes it. People like hearing that their work is good.

Why are there humans on both sides? I would expect different human countries, but there's gotta be more to it than that.

>What is the largest theatre of war in your setting?
Mars is the most recent. The Jovian Gas Colonies may follow suit.

>Who is involved in the conflict?
See pic. They and also bandits and scavengers.

>Has a culture formed surrounding the war?
Don't know what this means, but I assume you mean wether or not it has an impact on the culture/society of the area it takes place in, then yes. Mars has become synonymous with the terms "shithole" and "warzone". It's basically twice worse than how europe was in WWII.

>Who are the legendary / infamous warriors?
Ezekiel Hobbes, king of the Martian Monarchy. And that's all so far. I haven't worked on this in ages. And even then, I was only planning it out bare bones(dont know what Im doing with it. Maybe a strategy game? A book? fuck if I know lol).

>Is there propaganda and rationing schemes in the involved countries?
Yup. And it changes on a constant basis. Alliances of convenience are made and broken constantly, and supplies are secured and lost regularly.

>In what ways has this impacted the international community?
Earth is experiencing a slight economic slouch because all of the investment and industry on Mars have gone to shit. The Jovian Gas Colonies are losing business because Mars used to be the "pit stop" before they reached earth.

>Have wars affected the rate of technological development in your setting?
New weapons are being developed or improved. Notably, an off shoot of the Working Jack Construction Bot has been pursued, called colloquially a WarJack(names pending).

Gimme ideas lol.

>What is the largest theatre of war in your setting?
The Origeon Human-Orc War
>Who is involved in the conflict?
The Human Kingdom of Origeon on one side against an assortment of Orcish tribes on the other side.
>Has a culture formed surrounding the war?
So many human women have been raped by Orcs that an entire culture of half-Orcs has been created. Big thick smelly meaty Orc cocks have become ingrained into the cultural atmosphere of human culture, a subject of fear for human men, and of secret arousal for human women. There have been so many Orc rapes, that other human kingdoms see the genetic purity of the Origeon Kingdom in doubt, and believe that all the humans there are just the rapespawn of Orcs. Sadly, as the war rages on and more half-Orcs are spawned, this is becoming closer to reality.
>Who are the legendary / infamous warriors?
Many legendary warriors have been created in the course of this battle, but perhaps the most famous is the Orc Chieftain Grazaguna, who has raped over 7000 human females and spawned enough half-Orcs to fill out a small city.
>Is there propoganda and rationing schemes in the involved countries?
Yes, as a result of so many rapes by Orcs, human propaganda centers around the concept of a bestial Orc raping human women, this scares human men and encourages them to sign up.
>In what ways has this impacted the international community?
Due to recent advancements in technology, early photography has become possible. Graphic sepia pictures of human women post-Orc rape are circulated in sleazy pornographic vendors across the world.
>Have wars affected the rate of technological development in your setting?
Yes, it has propelled technological development in the human kingdom, in the hopes of trying to beat back the Orcs and stop the mass-rape of human women.

Huh. So you’re not just stinking up the amazon threads. Are you a meme lord, or is this actually your fetish?

So are these threads only for lore or is there discussion for mechanics?

I have a mechanical issue I need help working out.

He's not even a single person. I'm shitting up amazon threads with him.

This is legitimately my fetish. Pretty much the only thing I whack it off to these days.

There's also more than one of us, I saw one or maybe even two-three other guys posting about Orc dicks in another Amazon thread that I wasn't posting in

Do tell. I havent tried making mechanics, but I'll lend my brainpower.

Also, these threads are more about lore, yes.

By mechanics, you mean RPG system mechanics? You can find those in other threads about specific systems, but otherwise you can try here I guess.

I admire your honesty.

I admire its purity...

Well the intent is ongoing worldbuilding through a special GM Faction Game I play between sessions.

Each region of my world largely controlled by a Faction. Each Faction has a set of stats and assets that they use to attack other factions, defend themselves, or grow their assets. They also have tags that describe their special behaviours and motivations mechanically.

The events that happen in this Faction Game informs what my players encounter and how the world changes around them. The presence of different factions in the many regions can effect things like encounter tables and dungeons. The players can also directly effect assets without being themselves part of the Faction Game. If they kill a warlord and his warband of a Faction, that asset is destroyed for that Faction. Depending on the players, they may develop into a Faction of their own and play on a grander scale.

Rules I've looked at are the Faction Turn of Stars Without Number, the Domain Turn of An Echo, Resounding, and Zak Smith's Slow War.

Any help would be appreciated, pic is a blocked out map of the different regions of my world and their positions in relation to others.

What is the benefit of even having rules for that shit?

Worldbuilding where even I as GM don't know what will entirely happen. By making it into a game, there is an element of uncertainly.

To dump your lore, rinse and repeat. In a way it's sort of an autistic containment zone

To make you suffer.

But mostly it's to force lazy DMs to consider aspects of their worldbuilding they hadn't adequately developed so they can answer the thread questions.

Best way to organise your shit?

I have 100+ notes of my races, nations, etc. and some images to go with them.

why is that map shaped like a sheep

5e is so much better. I don't know how you can stand 3.5.pf after playing. And there isn't really anything you cannot adapt from 3.5, you know if you want a Displacer Beast.

Apart from that it is way easier to find players when you're doing the current thing and not hanging on what is essentially 2e still. I cringe when I hear about normies invited to a 3.5/pathfinder game.

I'm biased honestly, 5e is everything AD&D always seemed like it should be and 3.5.pf was never that.

Also if you start in 5e you'll never have to convert the whole setting to it later.

>Who built them? Why?
The past generations of humans who lived back when conquering the stars was a simpler task
>What's so valuable in them that mercenaries and treasure hunters will risk death and worse plumbing their depths?
Old tech that has so far been impossible to reverse engineer. Powerful energy sources, guns and armor with onboard AI, shit like that which would give us an edge against the aliens who would see us exterminated.
>Is there an industry built up around supporting such treasure quests?
Sure is. Human settlements are always trading supplies but some things like generators and fuel just can't be fabricated due to the outstanding lack of industry.

>How do the authorities deal with the adventurers, random looters, and townsfolk interacting with the ruins?
The adventurers (aptly considered Heroes) are the authorities.

The gods gave the realm to the elves and blessed them with immortality so they may flourish and honor their gods. They discovered magic and quickly tried to overpower the gods with their magic and immortality. The gods took the elves immortality and created new life (races like humans, and orcs, etc.) to ruin what the elves have built before all gods turned their backs on the realm. Godless and without devine protection, the world has become a welcome home to demons, monsters, and powerful magic. Kingdoms are forming and are competing over who's order should be law. The elves hate the other races and are in hiding, but they do send expedition teams to draw maps and gather information. There's more, but this is the short of it. Thoughts and recommendations?

Why are your hexes so big? Either get smaller hexes or get rid of them. Right now they’re totally out of scale with your base map

what tips would you guys have to start making a space opera setting for a first time world builder?

There's no hope. Even the best worldbuilder will struggle to make a single decent planet, let alone a whole galaxy.

you think so?

Well, perhaps look over the typical set pieces, and consider what you want to keep and change?

Do you want to keep Humans?
How alien do you want you aliens?
How many aliens?
Ai and sentient robots?
Is the center of the galaxy explored?
How long have different species been exploring space?
What kind of governments do you want to examine?
What type of sci-do are you going for? Cyberpunk? Ray gun gothic?
How big are the borders? Do species own several systems, or just a few?
What resources are valued?
Is there some major element, like war or precursors tying it all together?
Precursors?

Decide what you're going for. Traveller space freighter guys, Star Trek 'explore the frontier', feudal warring houses, all these can be contained in a space opera setting, but you should decide what the focus is and build around that.

thanks you two

also what is a good name for a race of genocidal space elves?

Genociders

Sevle ecaps.

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thanks

top kek

Do you want their name to be from a made up language, or an English descriptor? I’m better at the latter than former.

i guess english descriptor

Not my map just a generic thing I uploaded.

I call mine the Dominus but some other races call them Star Corsairs.

Empire is a bit too generic. Dominion, Conquers, or perhaps Dirge (as in funeral) could be good. Or you could go for the ‘Inclusive Republic’ or somesuch if you want a more propaganda feel.

Who knows? Does it matter?
The world is huge and nature is a powerful and fickle beast. Most empires and wonders of the world are considered legends, if they're remembered at all. A lot of the bigger ones were built by rich kings as testaments to their permanence and power. The structures probably ended up better than the people commissioning them, because they're at least used as landmarks. There's a good amount of adventurers and loosely-affiliated groups of archaeologists who explore them. They aren't protected unless you're an especially powerful mage and take it upon yourself to guard it.

I like ZimWiki. It's a free program that allows a little wiki on your computer, with folders, cross-referencing links, and the ability to change the title of one page and anything else that contains that title immediately.

>is legitimately my fetish
dreaming of a nice pointy eared strong but gentle orc pounding your butthole are you?

well go make a map then jeezus

Bump

y-you t-t-too

What if Fantasy World and Real World are two dimensions in the same setting?

What I want is this- There are monsters/demons that can travel to 'the real world' (earth) and kidnap/eat people. They pull them through their portal into Fantasy World and gobble them up. But one of them fucks up and pulls a woman through who is then rescued by a guy.

She then tells him all about the real world- trains, telephones, indoor plumbing, whatever. He uses magic to recreate a lot of this technology leading to some magitech shit existing. The story takes place 50-100 years later and these inventions are fairly common but only in this one country. The rest of the world uses regular magic and basic 'medieval' tech. It's just the one that's zipped ahead to a fake Edwardian England.

My reasons for this are a) more diversity in the setting due to different culture/tech and b) humans are supposed to be less magical, only special people have it. So portals or whatever would be difficult, necessitating trains. It shows how humans 'overcame' the technological hurdle the world has, while other races use magic so they never hit it. No technology because the god of innovation died or something.

So.... how stupid is this?

So no help here?

It's an anime

Sure, why not.

Only anime can have the 'two worlds one is real one is fantasyorwhatever'?

I thought about that and I don't know of too many western examples. Except Narnia, I guess? How often does it happen in Anime? Inu Yasha kind of had a thing like that, but idk any others off the top of my head.

Happens a shit ton in anime especially nowadays. Escapism at it's worst.

Any Isekai.

Ok, well regardless of animeness, is it inherently bad to do this?

Unless you tie the fantasy world more to the real world, you can just swap it out for "one nation stumbled upon [thing] and got magitech". No point in having this feature when the connection between the two worlds isn't elaborated upon.

At least from a setting perspective. If you're writing a story, then isekai is a pretty damn old genre.

Few things are inherently bad. You just need to put effort into it.

>Not much to do at work so start daydreaming
>Daydreaming turns into world building
>This ends up the result
Anyone care to share opinions if it ain't too long of a read?

I want to explain two technically separated but interrelated concepts I've been trying to develop in my main setting.

The first is the existence and usefulness of both "alchemy" and traditional, real world chemistry/physics as ways of studying and manipulating the natural world. Alchemy looks at the entire world as being made up of "elements" and various quasi-elemental forces which exist as the intersection of matter and energy, all phenomena are explained this way (the actual systems are more complex and nuanced, but this generic-sounding explanation will work for these purposes). Chemistry and physics is basically what you'd expect. The thing is, the two systems have a lot of explanatory overlap in that they can explain most events "in nature", but applied by sentient beings the two disciplines can create things the other can not explain. An easy example would be that Alchemy cannot explain many pharmaceutical drugs, but Chemistry cannot explain things like a health potion. I'm thinking this would play out like any clash of scientific worldviews irl, except that Alchemy is deeply involved in many "pure magical" practices like sorcery and is itself steeped in millennia of pseudo-religion and mysticism, and obviously there are big political and economic interests involved in both worldviews. I'm trying to avoid generic things like "magic vs science" or modern disciplines trying to "stamp out" magical things, but I still want there to be conflict.

The other concept has more to do with Alchemy, and it's about drugs. I mentioned pharmaceuticals above, but basically all "traditional" drugs operate on alchemical rules, and many of them are actually created by people using these methods. I'm essentially trying to reframe "potions" and other such things in classic fantasy as drugs. Take a "fire potion": the way it actually works is that it fills your body with the element Fire and you get a "high" equivalent to that. I'll write more if any interest.

Ok so basically it's alright but I need a reason for the worlds to be linked? Or more linkage?

Yes, if you want a really good example of mixing a fantasy world with a more standard world look at the Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix.

I think you can BS that. Just don’t make it slapdash. Meaning do more with the fact that the worlds are linked than having a POV character.

May not be your thing, but I like the idea of our world tunneling into another, and exploring the various things that ensue.

To get help with worldbuilding.
Also, to post elements of your setting as answers to the thread questions and possibly get asked more stuff you didn't consider. Worked a couple of times for me.

>What is the largest theatre of war in your setting?
Of the wars that are still remembered, that would be the Destruction of Sheol, which happened roughly 700 years ago. At the moment, it's mostly fighting for colonies and raiding each other

>Who is involved in the conflict?
Two galactic regions: Erja and Sheol. According to the propaganda of Erja, ou wouldn't be wrong to think about them as space-Allies and space-Axis respectvely. Not that it's correct to think about this conflict as WWII in space.

>Has a culture formed surrounding the war?
It helped to cement these two regions as entities in the minds of the involved, at the time they were thought more as two large alliances of noble houses.
Also, not sure if it counts as 'culture' but it rendered Sheol largely uninhabitable without specialized technology. Which didn't exactly help Sheolites' opinion on their neighbors.

>Who are the legendary / infamous warriors?
One of the few still living from that time would be Mondus Shem, currently Erja's nominal leader. Mostly known as a good general instead of a warrior or pilot, which is why he still lives, unlike his father and three brothers.

>Is there propoganda and rationing schemes in the involved countries?
Propaganda largely came after the war. Today both sides see each other as ravening monsters.

>In what ways has this impacted the international community?
See above. Also, other regions eased on their raids on Erja, even though they probably wouldn't be able to start another war of such scale.

>Have wars affected the rate of technological development in your setting?
Yes, the planet-killers fielded against Sheol were developed during this war. Also, it changed Sheol's technical path significantly, as they were forced to either settle on piles of rubble in the void or on planets considered uninhabitable before.

Well that's kind of what I was thinking with the girl traveling there in the past. So you have current Main Character who goes to fantasy land to fight bad guys in a fairly anime plot, but about 100 years ago this woman got pulled in and had some influence on the world, which he notices when he goes to that country.

I think I need to nail down the rules of who can pass between the worlds and how/when/why. And I suppose there needs to be some reason why the 'masquerade' is maintained by these individuals, since the real world doesn't know about magic etc.

Rate.

Since the subject is related to war

>Static defenses do not have a good historical track record. At best they deter enemies from attacking at all because it’s too much of a hassle when they could just raid the defenseless village next door. There were periods in history where castles and other fortifications proved effective, but any military commander with a sliver of cunning can turn an army into a well oiled besieging machine. The Romans did this in Judea where they took a whole bunch of untakeable forts. Static defenses usually only slow a determined enemy. In a fantasy setting with high magic, I would expect forts or castles would not be that useful unless a nation is fighting low magic foes.

Is this true or is this guy talking out of his ass?

There's certainly a core of truth to it but it doesn't seem entirely correct. Look at how the same Romans used forts and networks of roads to dominate large territories.
You might want to make a separate thread about it. More likely to be seen that way

If anything I'd argue that in a high fantasy setting castles would be even more effective if they had their own mages defending it. It'd essentially be like mounting modern M2's on the walls of a castle during the medieval era, and the enemy only has a handful of carriages that also have M2's mounted on them.

>Fortresses can be bypassed by teleportation
>Clever imperial mages find a workaround
>All teleportation spells within X miles are now auto-hijacked to transport target into nearest fortress anti-magic dungeon
>tax the chumps to use portal network

>Look at how the same Romans used forts and networks of roads to dominate large territories
The Romans did not rely primarily on static fortifications until their territorial gains were already basically established. In the earlier days the legions were often if not basically always on the move.

If you're going to get this technical about strategies for dealing with magic, then your magic system has to be really well defined. What's to stop criminals or foreign spies from "finding a workaround" in the same way, and what does that even actually mean in literal terms?

>"finding a workaround"
Competing teleportation hijacks? Constant brinksmanship and one-up-manship? Eternal tension as layers and layers of plans upon plans try to compensate for one another until the whole setting burns to the ground in nuclear/magical fire?

I'd fucking play that.

It's a cool concept, one that's used in low and hi tech scifi a lot. But doing it with magic, you have to deal with the increased ambiguity.

When dealing with technology, it's fairly obvious what a "workaround" or "breakthrough" means in general, because it'll be a field based on physical laws we all basically understand. But say I as a player wanted to study magic and make a "breakthrough", what would I be doing?

I guess you don't have to go into detail, but it'd be nice if you could answer that question in some way beyond "you find a magical new way to magic the magic thingy". That's all I meant by "well defined", magic has no pre-existing rules so if you're going to create an arcane arms race it would help a lot if you made at least some basic ones.

What do people think about flags? What makes a good flag?

Posting some that I made today.

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Both of these violate one of the international vexilology rules or whatever they're called by having heraldry on a flag. Which is just another example of why those rules are autistic because these are pretty cool.

On this one I personally don't care for the border. I'm not sure if it's the color, the contrast with the rest of the flag, or the thickness, it just rubs me the wrong way. Still an okay flag, 6/10

This one is nice.

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I like the idea of a cyberpunk world having constant wars popping up, so I kind of tried to think of conflicts that could be going on in the time my setting takes place.

Read literally any Sanderson novel. Detailed, intuitive, logical magic systems are a thing. If you just want magic to be a mysterious unknown, fine. That’s how you like it. But if it makes sense HOW it works, it’s easy to start figuring out HOW characters in the game/story can take advantage of that.

How do you visualize that? How do cuberfuture wars get waged?

Considering most states that are at war are relatively primitive, my idea of African brush war esque stuff, with some cooler gadgets flying around. Most wars end up as stalemates, or "border wars" similar to what South Africa and Angola were involved in in the 1980s.

Can you explain to me what the hell is going on in China? Specifically which country somehow owns Beijing as well as Manchuria and parts of Inner Mongolia but not the northern ethnic Chinese populated coast, and whatever is up with that Outer Manchuria border snake.

Also what's going on in Indonesia and the South Pacific? And is this Alt History and if so what's the PoD?

Alt History, POD 1985, Gorby doesn't get in to power, but rather the Sovs get a Not!Stalin who cracks down on dissent and keeps the bloc running up until WW3 hits.

I haven't done anything with the South Pacific yet, aside from Indonesia losing the other half of Guinea, and a few micro island nations appearing. As well as Sarawak gaining independence from the rest of Malaysia.

China broke up in to warlord states (of course) after a pro-democratic revolution was botched. Shenyang warlord goes to war with Beijing warlord after a while, wins the conflict, annexes the land under Manchu rule. Slowly works their way in to Lanzhou warlord territory, because that shit's got resources, etc.

The nation above Manchuria is the Far Eastern Republic, a nation which held out in the Soviet civil war (think Kolchak government, but in the 21st century).

I should also mention, it's by no means supposed to be a super realistic look at what the world would be like if X happened. I'm writing it as a work of 1980s-inspired cyberpunk fiction, with all the assumptions that come with that.

I like it, thanks for explaining.

Make the pacific islands ruled by Veeky Forums posters who made it with crypto

I kind of want to keep the red/black/gold colors for that one, for setting reasons, though I did make an alternate version that featured vertical bars instead of the horizontal border. But for that one the central placement doesn't look as good to my eye as being offset to the left.

Yeah, personally I like this one better. But it's your setting, my tastes can suck it!

Keep up the good work user

Pacific Islands are always great for corporate states. I'm more stuck at this point on what exactly I am going to do with Canada. I have all the continents except North America done, really.

Pic related is where I am currently stuck at.

because some humans are Dwarfs' trade partners and some are unscrupulous marauders that thought that getting on a dragons' good side is a better idea than fighting it

and mercenaries just don't give a shit from where the money flows

You could have parts of British Columbia go to Pacifica and maybe the region around Ontario go with the Great Lakes. And some kind of native country for at least parts of the central and northern regions takes a lot off your plate at least.

You could have much of the central region be only nominally under any national authority and basically serve as a lawless frontier wilderness, in a cyberpunk setting that could be cool.

>Native countries
Hahahahaha Shadowrun please leave.
Anyways, I was considering Canada having a peaceful breakup, as opposed to the US going full civil war. Most Canadian areas remain sovereign, if not all. I almost considered pairing Ontario and Manitoba with the Great Lakes, but I don't want one nation in North America to have so much land and resources that they become a regional power.

Unrelated, but something from the setting, I've been toying around with what exactly I should have for the token cyberpunk superplague.

partially

but even in our age - WWII, for instance - there were plenty of very effective static defenses
Maginot line was pretty much impregnable at the time, and was only penetrated because it had a gap, AFAIK.
Leningrad was pretty much a static siege and germans never broke through. A small coastal fort near it was so impregnable (dem anti-naval cannons, man) that Germans didn't even bother attacking it after first few times (incidentally, that's where the push to liberate Leningrad began)
so as with anything in warfare best answer is "it depends on circumstances".