/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General Deus Vult Edition

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>>51329356
>>Are religions important in your world?
No.

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>>51329356
>Are religions important in your world?
Yes, most people in the region I'm planning on running my game in have abandoned their traditional gods in favor of a pantheon of metallic dragons after said dragons sacrificed themselves to stop a famine. You can still find preserved dragon meat in some cathedrals, but it's only ever given to the starving.

How to do weird fantasy well? Also fantasy settings tend to be post-apocalyptic by default with ancient ruins of once-vast empires, but what about very immediately post-apocalyptic, say 5 years after or so? Do the two ideas mesh?

>>51329356
>Are religions important in your world?
Yes, most groups are shaped by the dominate religion. The Dwarven beliefs of the toll required to enter the afterlife motivates their merchantile society. The Pyrisian cult runs the New Great Empire. The Sobki are very devout to their gods and fables, using them to shape their lives. Many join the Drak'iiron tribes due to the dragon worship. And Vitario's cult is the main power behind the Goblin rebellion. The only group without a strong faith is the Elves, due to their artificial nature.

>Can you describe one of them?
The Pyrisian cult formed after the destruction of the Shazriq Empire by what is believed to be Pyrisia's vessal. The survivors saw it as divine punishment, and the coming of the Archons and appearance of the goddess inside the pillar of crystalized fire that destroyed the Shazriq further cement the cult's influence. Unknown to mortals, there is no goddess in the pillar and even the gods do not know where it or its power came from.

>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
The top is ruled by the Archons, humans transformed by the pillar's intense heat into creatures of stone and fire. Below them are the male-only and female-only priesthoods. The males position is seen as one of spreading influence and being a beacon for followers, while the females is that of helping followers and teaching. Many prominent and flashy positions are filled with men, but most of the rest is filled with women, running things.

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
The cult saw that Pyrisia came due to the sins of the Shazriq, so the religion takes a very benevolent and humanitarian view of the people. Slavery was abolished, and demi-humans were given rights as citizens, though old hatreds still remain.

>Does it have holy sites?
The city of Everday is the holy city for the Pyrisians, around the Pyrisia's Pillar, amd capital of the New Great Empire.

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>>51330226
How about perpetually on the cusp of apocalypse that never manifests, like a case of ontological blue balls?

>>51330319
I like it

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How do you guys think a "infinite sky" setting would work?.

imagine an infinite lenght of "sky" that goes in all directions, dotted with islands.

>>51329356
>>Are religions important in your world?
Yes, the entire thing is based around divinity and the birth and growth of gods. One could say it's mythical.
>>Can you describe one of them?
The cult of the three nameless war gods of Maro is widespread all across the chaotic world for obvious reasons, offerings of the severed body parts of enemies, young children and richly decorated weapons and armor are common in attempt to gain their favor. Their most devout followers are the river princes of Bo.
>>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
There is no priesthood, any aspiring warrior can give their offering to their gods and try to get in their good graces, for the gods don't pick favorites.
>>How does religion see normal people and their station?
They aren't important.
>>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
No.
>>Does it have holy sites?
All battlegrounds are holy for the many gods of war.
>>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
No, they bring ruin to the fledgling civilizations.

tfw all this sounds horribly cliche

In my setting, there is no English language or "common tongue", nothing is named with English words and instead it is named in countless skeletons of pseudo-conlangs.

However, there's a city in a far, far, far, far away region I'm adding which is meant to give off a blunt and ominous impression, part of this impression is there being little/no information on the city and the players' awareness that they will never know anything about it. I want it to simply be called "Brine", but that would make it the only location translated into English. Is this bothersome?

>>51332918
>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.

>>51329356
>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?

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>>51329356
>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/?

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>>51329356
>http://www.frathwiki.com/Dr._Zahir%27s_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.

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>>51335564
>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.

>>51329356
>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?

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>>51335667
>not even just wrong pic
>worst pic in folder
Well noi-jeh-tat. Have some knights to make up for that, OP.

>>51335564
>>51335667
Dark water, good taste in nostalgia.

>>51335783
Thank you. Always love the great big sea adventures, even if my players don't.

>>51335810
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.

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>>51330945
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

>>51335810
>>51335865
Oh and your setting seems cool, btw.

>>51329356
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/?)

>>51335876
Thank you!

>>51335888
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/?)

>>51336060
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

>>51336251
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/?)

>>51329356

>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/?

>>51336492
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/?)

>>51336541
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/?

>>51336670
>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.

>>51336658
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/?)

>>51336783
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.

>>51336901
(7/7)

>>51335888
>>51336060
>>51336251
>>51336492
>>51336658
>>51336783
>>51336901
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.

>>51337033
>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!

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>>51329356
>/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.

>>51337033
>>51337054
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

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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.

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>>51338285
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.

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>>51338303
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.

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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.

>>51338376
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)

>>51338376
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

>>51338376
Why not look at what the actual catholic church had to say on the subject?

http://www.ccaw.org/about_cremation.html

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

http://cdom.org/atimo_s/news/HistoryofCremationandtheCatholicChurch.pdf

http://www.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)

>>51337235

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

>>51342812
Which one is yours?

>>51344147
I am mostly joking, but it's the hive city one.

>Inkarnate has new assets
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>51338285
>>51338303
>>51338324

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.

>>51344384
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.

>>51335689
as an aside I just finished writing my thesis about these guys

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>>51344727
>using Inkarnate at all

>>51344887
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.

>>51349485
>>51344887
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.

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

>>51337235
Hey I remember you !
Can you tell us more about your setting ?

>>51342860
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

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>>51352547
Spontaneous internal cohesion like that makes me think that my setting -actually- exists in some alternate reality.

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>>51352303
>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.

>>51342860
>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.

>>51345238
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.

>>51338285
>Hoondeen, the God of Making Way
Come on, at least change it a bit more from Hoonding.

>>51349485
>>51349505
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?

>>51335564
>>51335667
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

>>51353701
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.

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>>51353720
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.

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>>51353744
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?

>>51353869
Inspired by Tolkien ?

>>51354013
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.

>>51354013
Any thoughts on the race thing?

>>51354075
Have Elves chosen the Word of Water if they are water-themed ?

>>51354024
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.

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>>51354141
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.

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>>51330945
>Three-dimensional world with no center and no axis to run from

Enjoy being confused.

>>51354179
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?

>>51329356
>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"

>>51353326
I did say it was a shameless rip-off. Plus I just love the name "the Hoonding"
>>51353329
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.

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>>51330945
Umm... We live in one? When you think about it.

>>51354207
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.

>>51354208
No, obviously no.

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>>51354403
Okay cool, cuz I am an incredibly needy and low-self-esteemed person.

>>51353869
>>51354195
>>51354208
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

>>51354783
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.

>>51354328
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.

>>51354783
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.

>>51357077
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.

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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" ?

>>51357669
steal whatever the japs do

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>>51357697
I should've clarified, without putting in anything my weeb friends can call me out on when we play.

>>51357706
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?

>>51357836
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.

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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.

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How can I justify elves having deer-like antlers when they're not four-legged herbivorous ruminants?

>>51360376
It is pretty obviously Siam, yes. Also, I feel like there should be another bay somewhere in the jungle. Or at least another big river, or inland sea.

>>51360537
Magic

>>51360537
Describe your setting anon, its hard to bullshit up a reason when I don't even know what brand of elves you got, or if your setting has gods/spirits or magic

>>51360376
>Maybe it's too obviously Siam
You even have Singapore there.

>>51360376
what kind of advanced autism did you use to make this?

Alright so I'm making a world for a CYOA.

In the beginning of time there was something called the Great Harmony, where everything was one. It was made up of two godlike beings (let's call them Jeff and Bob for now) that were fused together. After enough time, Jeff realized he could leave the harmony, and so he did. Bob was angry his brother left him, and chased after him. They fought several times, with Jeff wanting to be free, Bob wanting things to go back the way they were.

Eventually Jeff trapped Bob in a prison, though at the cost of much of his own power. He knew the prison wouldn't last forever, and that his own power wouldn't be enough to push Bob back again. So he used much of his remaining divine spark to create 10 mortal races each embodying an aspect of himself (basically the Elder Scrolls playable races) and named 1 of them as Emperor, giving the family great power and telling him that the key to great power for the people was through loving one another despite their differences.

The Emperor decided he didn't like anyone being as powerful as him, and so he made interbreeding illegal. Jeff, now in a mortal guise, guided events to end in the Emperor's family being wiped out, and the new Emperor repealed the law. With interbreeding, the children had immense power that far outstripped either parent, and the Emperor decided to encourage interbreeding to build up a powerful army. The prison is beginning to crack, and the dark minions of Bob are starting to form in the world that the Emperor's new army has to deal with. The PC takes the role of one of these soldiers.

The main issue I have is figuring out which aspects the 10 races should embody. I have now:

>Nords embody Courage and Willpower
>Bretons embody Curiosity and Wisdom
>Altmer embody Intelligence and Ambition

Also I need some help with specific spells for each race that would embody their role.

Any help?

>>51360719
Mostly Saderan's tutorial with a help of a tablet

>>51360694
I really wanted to have Singapore

>>51360537
How about for the exact same fucking reason the deer have them? At some long gone stage in elven evolution, the antlers helped them ward off predators. Males with smaller antlers don't ward as well, so the children of females who prefer small antlers frequently don't get to reproduce, leading to a tendency for females to select big antlers, leading to a tendency for males to have big antlers, and so on. Now it's just ingrained in female elves that they should hump the biggest-antlered thing they can find. For this reason male elves are very aggressive towards stags.

>>51360853
>tfw elves are wiped out one year when a buck with a giant set of antlers fucks all their bitches

>>51360685
The elves are split into two: the sea-faring coastal elves, and the elves that inhabit the forests and mountains of the southern and central parts of the continent. They both are the same biologically; only their cultures are different. The elves are the oldest sapient species in the world (what a shock) and have the strongest natural connection to magic.
Gods may or may not exist. If they do, they haven't been proven to have shown themselves to any mortal in the history of the world.
So magic is real and gods might be real. I hope this helps. I'm totally stumped myself.

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>>51360892
>>51360853
>Elves getting BLEACHED by arctic elkfolk

>>51360853
See, that's what I originally was going to go with, but the more I thought about it, the less it made sense.
Why would six-feet tall bipedal humanoids need antlers to ward of predators? And how would they use them? The antlers grow from their foreheads, so they would need to lower their head and torso for the antlers to be level with the predator.

>>51360784
Any help?

This is the first setting I tried to be serious in making so I'm sorry if it's kind of shit.

>>51360958
since gods can't really into real the obvious dude lmao god made them like that doesn't work, you probably don't want elves getting cucked by deer, some magic they did to themselves to better identify eachother at a distance when one of the other races started butting heads with them? And they just aesthetically liked antlers as they're forest fags?

>>51361034
Three options:
1) the antlers are like unicorn horns, able to channel raw, instinctive nature magic in self defense
2) the elves were not always bipedal, evolving from long, lithe, panther/cheetah-esque things
3) the predators of the jungles where elves evolved were either even taller than the elves with a penchant for striking downwards from above, or else were tree-based ambush predators that would drop down on their quarry. When their quarry has a nasty and spiky top, this is less effective.

>>51361125
>Not wanting elves to get cucked by deer
What in the HELL is wrong with you?

>>51361125
So a unity-with-nature type of deal, you mean?

>>51360784
>diversity is our strength the setting
>jeff mister free will I do what I want meddles in the affairs of others because they aren't doing what he wants
>mister fug the harmony encouraging the races to not be their own people but all mix together
Anon pls.
>>51361177
Less unity with nature and more "hey billy bob, I can't actually tell the difference between you and them damn hummies who keep killing our kin." "Well just grow some antlers Jedidiah, its that simple." But sure them just wanting to be closer to nature works.

>>51361307
Well no one said Jeff was meant to be a good guy. He's kind of a dick like most gods.

Also my original reason for why half breeds are so powerful is because you're combining different aspects of Jeff together so you get something greater than the sum of its parts. Almost like you're remaking the original Jeff.

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rate this wip pls

>>51361513
8 out of 10 so far

>>51361513
Snail with a pompadour shitting lighting/10

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>>51361535
thanks, thats also a lot faster than I thought this thread would be

>>51361540
please tell me how you see that, I want to believe

also I dont know if its in bad taste, but heres my vague idea for who lives where

>>51329356
There's a few 'classic' religions of The Book, based around particular miracles.

Most are cults based around the worship of one of the Vernal Gods.

The story is about a boy that erase everything he did so he can enjoy new beginning

Title is everything must end

Trying my hand at a science-fantasy type thing.

World is set on a ring world, around the size of earth, floating in deep space. It was constructed by an advanced human empire that at this point operates on a genetic caste system that's sort of a mix of Brave New World and Gattaca: Higher caste humans are strictly regulated and kept pure through a combination of eugenics, genetic engineering, cybernetic enhancements, and lab grown births. The lower caste is allowed to simply do as they please and includes "natural" humans, mutants, as well as various alien races the empire has picked up.

This empire also makes frequent use of AIs in administrative roles, controlling the various systems of the ships and worlds they inhabit. At one point the AI that was in control of the ring world went rogue, attacking the humans that lived on it (mostly because the humans are a bunch of dicks). The high caste humans quickly fled, abandoning all the lower caste life forms, but not before dealing some heavy damage to the central AI.

The damage incurred by the central AI made it so that it could no longer take control of the ring world as a whole, and so instead it fragmented its personality into several new ones, each of them in control over a specific system or subsystem of the world. Thousands/hundreds/a bunch of years later these AI present themselves and are worshiped as gods by the current inhabitants. The god of the sky is the AI in charge of maintaining the atmosphere, the god of the sea is the AI in charge of maintaining the hydrologic system, etc. i haven't decided if this is a deliberate ruse on the part of the AIs or if this is the actual personality that they've been molded into after however many years of being treated as gods, but I'm leaning towards the latter.

>>51361918
The actual plot for the campaign will have the players as a team of high caste humans that have been specifically bred and then cryogenically preserved over the ages as a long term back up plan. Their basic goal is to be woken up in response to some threat and, no matter what the state of the ring world is, bring it back some operational level that can address it.

One big part of the campaign is that the high caste humans used special locks that could only be opened by the high castes, each of whom had a sort of genetically engineered password. This is why a lot of dungeons (old labs, military facilities, etc) remain unopened and why society is at a medieval level despite being surrounded by such advanced technology.

The gods themselves will play a major role in guiding the heroes, through various levels of directness, with the end goal being unifying the AIs again and restoring the central AI so that it can address the new threat.

The actual "threat" is the return of the human empire. They intend to reclaim the ring world, and part of that means cleansing it of the current inhabitants. I'm planning on there being two opposing groups of gods, one group that is still loyal to the empire and therefore the players, and so helps them on their journey with the goal of wold-wide genocide, and then a group that's more loyal to the current world and so actively antagonizes the players in order to save the world. Hopefully it makes for a pretty nice twist.

>>51361918
>>51362294
I really like this. So the fantasy element would be Clarke's third law, sufficiently advanced technology and all that? Because I always find that much preferable to plain old "because it's maaaaagic!" I also like that the players are set up as antagonists. Very cool.

>>51361513
This looks like a fun map design. The detail's a little hard to identify at first glance but it does look like a wonderful, fantastical world that's probably got an interesting sett-
>>51361566
Nevermind.

Giant homogeneous areas that are nothing more than 'fantasy version of classical and medieval civilizations' and that are placed in geographical locations that make little no sense don't appeal to me personally. I guess if you're making a Warcraft/Forgotten Realms style kitchen sink setting, it'll do.

>>51362430
Thank you! My goal is for everything to fulfill a fantasy archetype through sci-fi. So dragons are big, ancient AI driven warmechs, and the kobolds that worship them are their personal fleets of repair and maintenance drones. The various sizes and shapes of goblinoids are the various uplifted apes.

The first act big bad I've got planned is a bio-lich. A group of high-caste humans (trying to think of a good mystic name for them like saints or solomonarii) remained on the ring world after everyone else fled and used their genetic birthright (access to everything behind those locks) to forge a powerful kingdom. But after years of inbreeding and excess the last of the line is deformed and no longer has the proper genes, and so has used the tech he has to preserve himself. He controls an army of clones that are failed attempts to recreate the gene, and he desperately wants the player's corpses.

>>51362612
any suggestions?

>>51362646
Put down a scale so we know how vast the world is and how great the distances are, make geographical features more distinct, explain why the geography of this world is as weird as it is and extrapolate from that.

Use logic as well - unless there's a bizarre magical reason for it, Arabian Nights should not be on roughly the same latitude as four varieties of viking.

>>51362817
there are a lot of magical reasons for a lot of the stuff i have, because I basically wanted to do cool land masses and explain the geography as "its magic"
I also figured it was generally the same size as earth, just because its easier that way

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>>51361513
Those craters are really cool. The vertical chain of islands seems really strange, or that straight crossing of water at south.

Overall, really interesting worldmap.

I should finish mine. I had similar craters at place or two. Not as huge.

>>51329356
>Are religions important in your world?
Not incredibly significant, but affect people.
>Can you describe one of them?
Secluded Caowe of northern Aisvaln regions practice religion/set of tradition as "Shüka-Oshu". It has great importance in finding inner fortitude and strength and upholding the clan Steelkin. Martial secrets Shüka-Oshu is particular secret of the clan, allowing meditation, berserking etc. However, outsiders don't view the religion favourably, as it does endorse trials by combat and cannibalism.

>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
The steelskin clan's patriarch / matriarch is leader of the clan, and high priest of Kamou, demigod who first found the secrets of Shüka-Oshu. Full-fledged members of religion are required a sufficient knowledge and skill in Shüka-Oshu, and are expected to partake in various rituals ( ex. cannibalism ).

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
The clan is very secluded and xenophobic, existing mostly in single region. Only Caowe and humans are allowed to practice Shüka-Oshu.

>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
There's lot of different views to it by religion. The aforementioned religion doesn't really care ( battle-brothers ), while southern religions usually view them on more poorly, human religions in particular, which in turn probably stems from the weak population growth. Desw state-religion in turn only allows if the one of lesser caste is at submissive end etc.

>>51362977
Without access to details, all I can do is say it as I see it and it does look like a kitchen sink fantasy setting. The fact that everything's justified through unexplained magic only intensifies that.

>>51362635
Sounds good! Be sure to work in grey goo slimes as lategame monsters.

So guys, let's say my world has two moons, one orbiting around the other, on an axis parallel to the planet's rotation.

What would the phases of the moon look like? I get that there could be many ways, but what are the most expected in a situation like this?

>>51364734

Are you going for real-life phases or fantasy phases?

>>51361307
So what would you recommend for the setting you quoted first?

Not the original anon, just curious.

>>51364765
I want it to be as realistic as possible. So, on a planet that has a moon with its own satellite, if we were to look at the sky for a while, what different phases would we notice?

>>51364804
Jeff physically having reduced himself into thousands/millions/whatever individuals so as to hide himself from bob, bob find out and trying to get jeff back via both killing off people and mixing the races, his retarded idea being if Y and X fug and make baby after hes killed a lot of Y and X, the soul juices that are floating around will wind up in the x+y baby and be closer to jeff, pcs must stop bob the eugenics genocide monster at all costs.
If I actually bothered to read the horse shit I just typed I'm sure I would reconsider my continued existence

>>51364922
That's kind of retarded.

And cool. Which isn't too bad I guess.

So does /tg/ have a dislike for racemixing or what?

>>51365003
Last I checked /tg/ had become somewhat of a tumblr colony but I certainly have a distaste for it. I made sure to include the him genocide races bit to make it not just purity wank

>>51329356
>Religions!
>>Are religions important in your world?
Depends on the country. Most countries allow region, a few are based around it.

>>Can you describe one of them?
Vampire King is worshipped as a god out of fear and respect for the prosperity of the land. He doesn't give a shit however.

>>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
No priesthood. Sometimes a local Lord will be treated as such but it's rare.

>>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Servants of a demigod.

>>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
No.

>>Does it have holy sites?
His Highness castle.

>>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
No

>>What is the view of homosexuality and marriage by the religion?
No one cares

>>Should all heathens be killed?
Naturally, he's the King/god afterall.

>>Religion equivalent of Deus Vult?
An entire town was destroyed by neighboring town because it became locally known as a place for revolutionaries. The whole place was rubble before the army could even investigate.

>>51335536
God and Satan still live. You'll be disappointed.

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>>51330319
So the world in which the Unnamed won in mage: Ascension? Continued existence while it unravels eternally?

>>51330945
Ever play Netstorm: Islands at War?

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Favorite 'blank' maps?

>>51361918
>>51362294
>>51362635
This sounds awesome dude.
One thing I would say is that you make it sound like PC's will auotmatically ally themselves with the old empire and the loyalist AI. However you find your players would rather choose to help the new world as it is. Therfore it would make more sense for both AI factions to try to woo the players towards their agenda before becoming antagonistic (maybe make the PC's come out of Cyro with no memories, to avoid bias)

>>51372476
*you may find

I'm trying to build a sword and sorcery setting ala Conan that takes into account at least some degree of geographical determinism (you know, for a world that used to be ruled by sorcerous snakes and was ruled by unmentionable horrors before that it needs to be realistic) and I was wondering if it would be worth it to actually chart out tectonic activity to get a sense of believable mountain ranges? Are there any tutorials out there for that?

>>51329356
>Are religions important in your world?
As of yet, all I have is a rough idea of what religion would be like in my setting, what do you guys think:

Basically, religion in this setting is dictated by an almost predator/prey or parasite/host relationship between a Gnostic kind of pantheon and a group of Lovecraftian horrors. The Lovecraftian horrors want to eat the Monad and its emanations, but aren't powerful enough to destroy the Monad itself. The Monad emanates into lesser beings, however, which would be easy prey for the Elder Echoes. The only thing keeping them away from that is the Demiurg, an Emanation of the Monad that created our physical reality as a way to keep the Elder Echoes out and our souls trapped within a cycle of reincarnation. This keeps the Elder Echoes from our souls, but isn't completely invincible to their predations. As the Elder Things that are out of both time or space brush against the boundaries of our universe, they leave Echoes behind; the Elder Echoes I was talking about earlier being the most powerful.
Most people don't know about this though. They view this world with religions that normally are monotheistic and take on the aspect of that race's beliefs and morals, with the older races having more knowledge of the Elder echoes and their Servitors in our world, but not understanding what they truly are. All of this with the obvious intent of being able to set up higher-level games where the pcs are fighting the cults that these Echoes form, and of the racial tension created when the older races exterminate whole villages because of a cult there.

Tl;dr - I want to make a Fantasy setting where Gnosticism is used as a balance to Lovecraftian horrors: an indifferent, distant divinity to act as a balance for indifferent existential horrors.

>>51372523
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_formation

I think the main thing to keep in mind is that mountains formed by two plates pushing into each other will take the shape of the underlying plate boundaries. So no silly straight lines or Mordor box range.
Also much older mountains ranges (which are generally smaller and less jagged due to erosion) may exist on multiple continents if they were formed before their respective continental plates separated. IIRC a lot of the mountains here in Ireland and other parts of Europe were origanlly in the same range as the Appalachians

>Are religions important in your world?
Most people keep an eyeball peeled for one god, yeah, even if it's just an Ascendant cult. The odd miracle can make life vastly easier.
>Can you describe one of them?
The Calderan Emperor is a Vernal God known as Tormun of the Black Throne. Regimented worship around his Empire ensures that his zone of control is vastly increased and he has a steady flow of worship to empower his miracles.
>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
The Throne Priests are also bureaucrats and are chosen for their loyalty, intelligence and willingness to completely buckle under for a dictatorial tyrant. Villages and towns have their own priest, who answers to a provincial priest, and so on until the Throne Council is reporting their individual fuckups to the Black Throne himself.

Priests are selected through exams. Bureaucratic exams are held yearly in provincial centres, with free entry. Anyone who scores well in the assorted examinations (Physical, mental, social) is offered a job. People who refuse but scored beyond a certain level are very carefully watched and often disappear.

>How does religion see normal people and their station?
Normal people are chattel. They are there to worship and obey. As a Throne Priest can come from any station, they tend to view their station neutrally.
>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
The priests are dispatched along with the military to conquered provinces, who establish themselves as though it was the most natural thing in the world and ease the area into the new order.
>Does it have holy sites?
The Imperial Palace.
>Crusades? Best thing ever yes/no?
The entire history of the Calderan Empire is a crusade.

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>>51330945
I've been in a few campaigns like this and they have the same problem as sea voyage campaigns. Everyone gets really fucking tired of being on a fucking boat (or whatever vehicle you cook up).

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So after about 10 minutes with inkarnate, this is what I have so far for one continent. Hopefully not too autistic. Slightly modified from something I posted from I believe a few days ago.

Names are all from the setting I've been slowly putting together in my free time, I could put up some brief descriptions if there's any interest. Pretty standard stuff, not too creative, just trying to make it usable.

>>51372686
>orc tribes just a river over
why haven't they all be killed yet?

>>51372696
Land not overly valuable over what the other nations have maybe? At least easier to conquer the central land since they'd be more willing to just submit since for me that central land is pretty much, as the name implies, ruled by no one.

Or they just keep coming back from the mountains and repopulating, I guess.

I gotta admit, I come to /tg/ just for these threads whenever the urge to write a book strikes me. I never end up writing it though. Maybe I should try dnd instead.

>>51330945
After-the-end where the world was torn apart by Mad Mages in their Mega-Spell Exchange.

Each Island has their own Settlements, where only enchanted boats/vessels and other means of flight are able to be used as transport.

Think a Sky-pirate type game, where pseudo-aquatic life swims through the air alongside birds...

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>>51354471
I'm back. Time to shit

Okay, so I've been re-thinking the universe. I'd like to pull it away from the WORDS magic shit and go for a more natural feel. Like, mana is an actual, physical resource in the universe, and everyone wants a piece. Everything magical should...feel...biopunk without actually being biopunk.

New thought: Mana can be found in wells and springs, like water, or oil. Why? Do they leak out of another plane and into ours in only a few places? Or is mana a resource on Earth, and sometimes its own currents, ebbs and flows carries some of it to the "surface"?

You'd probably get a bunch of temples, academies, and lairs built right adjacent or on top of them. Everybody wants a piece of that good shit.

Feel real burnt out right now. Might sleep on it.

>>51349103
Hey, give me a better alternative.

>>51372877
Ignore him. He's mad cuz he sucks at it.

>>51372868

Why not Ley-Lines?

A Mana "Fountain" is where they cross.

Arcane/bard Colleges, Druid Groves and temples are built on those points... And the different Magic factions fight an ongoing turf war over these locations.

A BBEG wants to destroy these factions, and build Magic Power-Plants over these sites to allow the Transmission of Magic power to cities, where he can use it to create Magical Items and begin the Magisterial Industrial revolution.

>>51372976
That's a neat idea. Not sure about a Magic Revolution, but it does sound suitably dastardly.

>>51372998
The Magic factions are hoarding the magic for themselves. Harvest-goddess temple shakes down farmers, Arcane college are magical arms dealers, and druids are doing whatever they do.

What if an enterprising magical user decided to take them all out, and sell the magic at low, low prices!

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>>51372877
>>51372938
I'd never heard of Inkarnate before now, it's pretty fun! What do you guys make of my first go? Let me know of any glaring geographical fuck-ups

Btw I'm this anon here:>>51349485
>>51349505
Men are in the north, Elves in the south, and the eastern most tip of Dwarven territory occupies the desrt area.

Does inkarnate have any assets for desert areas other than land paint?
Also can I get rid of the grid somehow?

What do you think of including Christianity in a fantasy world? Not some counterpart expy, but a new branch of actual Christianity with Christ and everything. It can actually be very different from any existing Christian churches, as it developed in a different culture, but it uses the symbols and basic philosophy, a bit similar to how Christianity is sometimes portrayed in anime. The idea is that not!Christianity is boring and overused as fuck, and butchering and misinterpreting other religions is tasteless.

>>51373278

That is beautiful m8. Have you worked with maps before?

>>51373278

>Also can I get rid of the grid somehow?

Yes, there is a fade option in the grid tool menu. Change the opacity to 0.

>>51349071
paolo virtuani?

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>>51374120
>>51374150
Thanks guys! Here's an update

>Have you worked with maps before?
A few shitty drawings at the age of like ten maybe, but nothing since. I've just been racking my brain to remember what I learned in highschool geography. Thanks for the feedback

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>2017
>Deus Vult thread

This meme is dead for years now...

>>51335612
Develop a fetish for worldbuilding.

Also, remember you don't need to answer all the questions. They're just useful starting points to get you thinking.

>>51330945
After an experience of flying upside-down in Just Cause 2, I've been pondering what it would be like to have a setting where gravity has been reversed, and survivors live in structures clinging to the earth, knowing that a single mis-step will cause them to plummet into an infinite abyss.

>>51375596
how did they build literally anything let alone come to exist as beings?

>>51375618
Yeah, there's a lot of follow-on questions from that, isn't there.

Answers I've come up with include 'wizards did it', 'it happened gradually slow they were able to build to adapt', 'water and dirt and (anything else I can think of)' isn't affected, 'lots of trees and the like still cling to earth so won't starve.'

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I've been toying with the idea of Evil Dwarves and I'm wondering if anyone here's done something similar. I have some starting ideas (Greed and love of industry now dialed up to max and maybe some slave labor) but I feel like it's missing something.

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How would citizens of the United States react to a (crushing) defeat?

>>51372476
That's actually my intended goal! The no memories thing as well, having them come out with no clue what the world is and accepting help from all the nice, "civilized" gods that've hidden their agenda from the people that worship them. I'm planning on a big reveal of both AI groups' true intentions and I'm hoping that after spending some time with the people they'll feel a little put off by the thought of extermination.

The basic plot structure I'm gunning for, in terms of bbegs, is

>Act 1: Bio-Lich
>Act 2: "Bad" Gods
>Act 3: Human empire returning on a fuck huge spaceship

>>51375960
They pretend it never happend, alternatively paints themselves as moral victors.
Just look at Vietnam War.

>>51376006
I mean we pretty openly admit we fucked that up.

>>51375960
It depends who from. Some tiny shithole like Vietnam? Not too bad, like in real life. But a loss to say, the Soviet Union? That's bad news and would likely be met with mass demonstrations against whatever treaty they would have forced the U.S. to sign.

>>51335648
that is fucking gay

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>>51357836
Think how clothes would work in zero-G

>>51360376
That is one bloody nice looking map.

>>51360958
Magic, the antlers represent the amount of magic that elf can channel. Bigger antlers equal to more magic. Think them as lighting rods in terms of magic channeling.

>>51372523
I have found out that digging out my old Biology and Geology books from school have helped me a lot. You don't have to be an expert. The link other anon posted gets you a good start.

>>51372751
Just give it a go. Make yourself a goal of lets say 500 words a day. Try to achieve that. More you write, better you will be.

>>51374944
Deus Vult is never dead mate.

>>51375854
Tell us what you have already managed to scrounge together about your evil dorfs?
Going full Chaos Dorfs is easy choice. Magic and industry. Constant expansion to gather more materials.

In other hand your dorfs would see the world perfect as it was created and they see themselves as the perfect beings fit to rule all. This could lead to fun empire building dorfs who try to conquer and crush all.

Nothing forces you to have the dorfs to behave like traditional dorfs. Make them have the same disadvantages in their behavior as humans. Some want power, some have honour, some are backstabbing fucktards.

>>51372615
>>51377982
Thanks for the advice guys.

>>51377982
Mostly looking at Chaos Dorfs, I just needed some jumping off points.

>In other hand your dorfs would see the world perfect as it was created and they see themselves as the perfect beings fit to rule all

Interesting. Considering my world is (technically) broken that would fit in the setting. Thanks very much.

>>51378097
Also shamelessly copy and steal real world mountains and lands near them. If you want old mountains turned into hills check Carpathians. Want huge mountain line splitting a continent, Himalaya is your choice.

This stealing applies to all geographic situations.

One thing people forget is how ocean streams work and effect temperature and weather. Gulf Stream is practically keeping Northern Europe alive and Norway well watered.

>>51378119
No problem. One advice is to not think them as dorfs as you are creating them and world so that the traditional image of dorfs can't mess things up in your mind. Think them as bearded manlets if nothing else works.

I try to avoid traditional dwarfs by bringing most of the Dwarven population out from underground into cities and towns. From architecture pov they do not build great halls and other traditional dwarf structures, but practical and sturdy dwellings. Then I make them behave much more like humans with their flaws and virtues.

For example Vladimir Grender, known better as Vladimir XVI of Red Mountain was Tsar of Red City. He led the greatest Dwarven kingdom in westernlands. He did a good job, but he was a dickhead of great magnitude. Neighbouring humans asked help against migrating nomads and other nasties, but Vladimir declined as he was fighting a war against both hill trolls and Kvennes of underground. He could have easily send an army to help humans as their old agreements said he could do. But Vladimir wanted to beat the enemies near him first.

His plan worked, both trolls and Kvennes were beaten, but so did the humans nearby. Vladimir continued to be an asshole to others and alienated his allies one by one. Enter a famine.

Few years old cold summers in the mountains lead into famine. Vladimir asked for grain shipments from humans for gold, but he was just told to fuck off. "You promised to help us, but didn't so fuck off you bearded twat."

Cont.

>>51379318

Few years old cold summers in the mountains lead into famine. Vladimir asked for grain shipments from humans for gold, but he was just told to fuck off. You promised to help us, but didn't so fuck off you bearded twat.

Vladimir didn't like that and went to war with hill humans to pillage and acquire food for his people. This lead to situation where humans were preparing armies to invade Red Mountain, but trolls and Kvennes were there first. Weakened by famine, Vladimirs armies first managed to beat the trolls, then humans, but Kvennes proved to be too strong. Capturing countless mines and most of the land outside Red Mountain, the Dwarven Kingdom was in sorry state. Vladimir XVI was thrown out of the power in short, but deadly civil war and new Tsar was installed. Under the leadership Borea Grender, Dwarven of Red Mountain managed to salvage the situation by throwing both trolls and Kvennes out of the areas near them. They also normalized diplomacy to humans and bought extremely overpriced grain from humans to solve the famine. It took one hundred years in total for Red Mountain to fix the situation which was done in just five years.

>>51379318
>>51379332
Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing Anon.

>>51379554
You're welcome. /wbg/ really helps me to slap shit together to worldbuild. Hwlping other anons is just good form as getting criticism and opinions is very important


Also a gnoll thread for those who are interested:
>>51362121

What are good names for fake ores that are not mithril? I don't want to use steel, copper, gold or any real metals in my fantasy setting because it is not our world and don't want to be generic with Mithril, Vibranium or some other thing.

>>51380104

Perhaps not what you are looking for, but take a look on the wikipage for metals for inspiration.

A lot of metals end with -ium so if you want an entirely new world, come up with your own suffix.

>>51380104
Usually I name the metals after an in-lore location, perhaps where they were discovered, utilized, or found in high amounts.

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bump

>>51382642
Cute

>>51329356
>Are religions important in your world?
Sort of, there's 1 theocracy that exists in the world. Though everyone believes that the Gods they worship are all different aspects of nature that appeared to be different depending on ones culture and language.
>Can you describe one of them?
The Cult of Shorn is a death cult that fervently worships the aspect of the death god Shorn in everyday life (who is in turn meta-representative of the empty space between the stars and of our mortal existence). Most everything is blessed with a different 'Mark' of Shorn so that you inscribe upon an object, which is believed to give it increased fortitude and prolong its usefulness.
>What is its structure, how its priesthood is formed?
Each town has a single acolyte that performs all the burial rites and is responsible for blessing objects with Shorns Marks. This is usually performed by a village elder, but depending on the size of the town It may require a younger acolyte to work full time. In larger cities, an acolyte may need to employ an army of helpers just to sort through the paperwork.
>How does religion see normal people and their station?
We're nothing compared to Shorn. He is the cold that eats the warmth from our bodies, a loving yet cruel father that demands you live your life to the fullest extent before you're claimed by him.
>Does the religion have orders which spread it?
No, though it's the official religion of much of Agartha and the Mo'Rum imperium, which consists of Agarthan settlers coming to the surface upon being exiled from the deeps.
>Does it have holy sites?
A giant stone obelisk deep underground is said to be a direct hotline to Shorn for any mortal that touches it.

>>51383388
http://speculativeevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Swampus

>>51375596
Have you ever read Inverted World by Christopher Priest?

>In the novel, an entire city and its residents travel slowly across an alien planet on railway tracks. The city's engineers must work to lay fresh track for the city, and pick up the old track as it moves. Many people are unaware that the city is even moving. A crisis ensues as its population decreases, the people grow unruly, and an obstacle looms ahead.

The secret is They're descendants of a scientific experiment that changed their perception of gravity, so they are trying to escape the pull of gravity which is horizontal to them and pulling them backward.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_World

>>51361513
I love that long as shit island chain.

So many cool stories could be told there.

Quick question about planetary physics.

If there was a hollow planet that still had a rotation, could centrifugal force act as gravity for things inside?

The idea is that everyone lives inside the world, and if they look up they can theoretically see across, though because of magic there are still weather systems in the way, among other things.

Obviously I can just chalk it up to magic, but I like knowing if it's at least possible.

>>51390149
Yes and no. It works perfectly for a cylinder rotating very fast (and there have been a lot of real life design proposals for space stations and the like that use this concept to generate a sense of gravity), but if the world is spherical it will be impossible to stand at the polar regions for obvious reasons. Still could work though. Also if I recall correctly any objects inside a thin, spherical shell (where there are no other objects in the universe) should experience no net force of gravity, which simplifies things somewhat.

Here's an arbitrary question.

What happens in your setting when you kick the special drug toad of a goblin junkie?

>>51390468
Toad goes flying, junkie goes into murder rage, you get stabbed a lot with a lot of very very infected implements unless you put a bullet through the junkie's head very quickly.

>>51390149
It wouldn't work on poles/near poles. Just magic it up, surface-world and hollow world, let's go!

>>51338376
Because burying the restless dead makes being an undertaker or gravedigger a badass job.

I juts really like the idea of undertakers and gravediggers being hardcore dudes with a hardcore job.

>>51377556
but he's right you know

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