/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General Bread Edition

previous thread: >>51329356

I am new to conlanging and I had the fucking idiotic idea of making a proto-lenguage like PIE. But I cant understend/find information about phonological constraints of PIE. How cant I get this information from proto-indo-european or examples from other languages?

I dont really want a "full lenguage", I want something like a list of words that I can use In specific moments of the history. I really want to show how the language changes through the ages in a reallistic way. This is why I cant just put some letters together that sound cool or look cool.

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>>51397351
Going to throw my old post to here as conversation starter.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Duck meat. Mallard Folk herds domesticated ducks as food for special occasions and trade goods. Of course foodstuffs imported from abroad is always wanted by nobility.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Oats and Rye are the main crops and food derived from them. Easy to grow and both Mallard Folk and farm ducks can eat oats. They also grow some marsh grasses and reeds for leaner times.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Because Mallard Folk are pretty small, it is rare for them to have cattle. So pigs, chickens and of course ducks are kept. Mallard Folk really doesn't care that they are herding their "retarded" cousins and eating them. Their neighbours do find that slightly disturbing.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Cats are liked for their mouse and rat hunting skills. Cats also are somewhat frightened from different creatures that move in the woods that they serve as alarms. When cat behaves erratically something is awry.

Cont

>>51398134

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
After previous High Chief Rikhard died, and his second son was elected to be the next High Chief the other five sons didn't really like it. In long civil war that engulfed whole Red Marsh and Mallard population beyond. Second son won after killing his big brother in single combat during the clash of their armies. High Chief Roland now has long task to weld Red Marsh together again. Elective Gavelkind is a bitch.


>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
Mallard Folk is against common belief quite well traveled. Especially young sons of nobility travel abroad in search of glory and treasure to boost their probability to inherit. Of course if travelers come from faraway they are met with strange looks and disdain. Basic farmer of course hasn't seen much, it is too big effort to wander around as you could be farming at home.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Typical household includes drake, hen and 4-15 ducklings. Hen can lay 1-6 eggs, but more eggs means bigger chance for hen to die during the process. In one year ducklings have entered the fledgling age and in age of three they are juvenile. Juvenile Mallards participate in running the household and are considered adults in age of 10. Adult Mallards then can choose what they want from their lifes. Usually adult Mallards stay at the household until they find a wife and start their own farm.

Cont

>>51398161


>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Throatsinging

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Due to High Chief Rolands noticiable red stripe on his head, colour red has been the thing for past few years. All self respecting nobles and ladies want to wear it.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"Look before you jump" saying coming from the fact that Red Marsh has some lakes and ponds that are habitated by large pikes and other swamp creatures. So you have to look and see if it is safe. Fits also to many other situations. Plan before doing anything basically.

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
If you springle the eggs with pike resin, it makes the ducklings strong and fertile. Doesn't really do anything else than makes everything to stick to eggs.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
That High Chief Roland is bastard. Other brothers don't have the red stripe on head. Elders do remember that one ancestor had the stripe.

>How might people spend their leisure time?
Nobility has their own feasts and religious meetings and parties to attend. Cityfolk appreciates the gladiators fighting and training, shows replaying great victories are the best thing. Common folk has their own fairs and times to celebrate. Usually thought after work day is over, people gather around in their homes to listen to old tales of glory or just making some shingles to be burned for light.

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Going to write about Kvennes. They are underground race, bit like mixture of falmer, HoMM 3 troglodytes and DnD troglodytes. But they are not as savage or crude as they are.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Due to food sources being limited underground, more or less everybody eat the same stuff. Difference is just in the quality of the dishes and for nobility the fact that they usually have more diverse dishes. Cave fish, mushrooms, meat from cave frogs. Cave chickens are one of the only domesticated animals there.

>What are some crops grown in your setting?
Due to normal crops being more or less impossible to grow, their farming has concentrated on cultivating different mushrooms and reeds or grasses that can survive in the waters.

>What are some animals kept as livestock? What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Cave chickens are blind creatures that can eat dried mushroom bits and reeds for their survival. They are very common and are found everywhere.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
Geon the Overseer after several years of built up declared wars of annexation to other Kvennes underground. One by one they were conquered and now he was preparing to launch an attack against dwarven of Red Mountain. Before he managed to so that, he was assassinated.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
Most items and foods coming from overworld. Rarely they have anything to trade with those not in caverns.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Only few. Kvennes are very independent. When kvenne is 6 years old, he/she heads out to do whatever he/she wants to do. Usually this is to make name for himself/herself. With natural lifespan of 30ish years for those without magic, they are in bit hurry.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Claves, they make claves out of tge fungus trees. Their very good hearing can notice small differences in different claves.

Picture bit related

>>51399934

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Ponchos have been the wear for long period. Due to bad eyesight, different trinkets and bones are used to denote rank and wealthy. They can be heard and felt easily.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"stay awhile and listen" Kvennes have superb hearing and it is common for them to stop to listen before they do anything.

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
A story of a invincible Dwarven who single handedly broke all kvenne buildings as they were too weak. Tge teaching is to make as good thing as possible always. No shoddy work.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
It is suspected that Geon the Overseer was assassinated by the priests who support another Overseer that is now competing for leadership.

>How might people spend their leisure time?
There is no day/night cycle in the caverns so mostly they just work. They know that they do not live long, so they they try to get most out of it.


I want Kvennes to be counter for Dwarven expansion underground. A race that has evolved to survive in the caverns. They are not savages and can built and mine whatever they want. They have whole civilization down there.

There is going to be Deep Dwarven as the another underground race.

>>51397989
Just take the top 3-5 Indoeuropean languages and swap around letters and pronunciation until something vaguely Romantic appears. Add in some old Sanskrit for flavor.

>>51399988
That is not very helpful... Thanks anyway.

>>51401150
How is it not helpful? Indo-European languages have a lot in common.

>>51397351
Pumped as I am to see so many of my own questions posted by someone else, that is way too many questions for the OP.

Do your setting's factions have flags? Post them.

>>51401668
Yeah, I know that. Everyone who heard something about PIE knows that. What I need is more technical information. What I need are the "rules" that formed words in PIE.

>>51401982
Hm. Can't help you with 'words'. My degree was in composition. If you needed any help on sentence structure I could help a little bit.

But my original point still stands. I'd take the same word from multiple languages and see what sounds connect them. And remember to keep the High German consonant shift in mind. It's the big divider between European and Asian branches of the IE lang group.

>>51401982
You mean you need PIE grammar? Or how we reconstructed it? Or how languages evolved from it?

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Question to my fellow worldbuilders:
Would creating a setting based on a enormous renaissance tech level city, with around 1 million citizens, bring too many problems?
I'm thinking about a very D&Dish style game, but with a little bit more investigation and politics.

>>51402159
It's no issue, honestly. I've done similar. In a very D&Dizzle world the magic level is usually sufficient to prevent the sort of disasters that kept the human population in check prior to the 19th century. Clean water, sanitation, and a good supply of food are very easily created with even cantrips, so as long as there are a handful of mages around you can really easily justify any mega-cities regardless of tech level.

>>51402159
The main problem is that pre-Industrial Revolution cities were hotbeds of disease. Typically, they only grew because of people moving to the city, not because the birth rate there ever exceeded the death rate. If there are fewer animals and better sanitation, then it could work.

Also, D&D isn't super-well suited to games heavy on investigation and politics. Admittedly when I tried I was using Pathfinder, which is garbage, but I don't think it would work super well even with a good edition.

>>51402075
>>51402077
I dont need right now to know the grammar nor the sentence structure, but if you have information about that, I would love to learn that because I will need know that stuff in the future. So please share it with me!

My question was about how was the syllabic strucure of the words. I think that in linguistics its known as "phonotactis". Thats the information that I cant find.

>>51402315
Start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_phonology

Bump while figuring shit out.

Is there a place where we can find the questions used in these OPs? They're often not found in the ethnographical questionnaire, yet they're a great ressource to find stuff to expand upon in your settings.

>>51397351
Deep Dwarven are group of dwarven who very long time ago ended up living underground. From there they have spread out and continue their business in underworld. They have albino skin and more sharp bodies. Not as stout as normal dwarven are. DnD Duergar are inspiration for these, but in terms of alignment they are not lawful evil, but more like lawful neutral.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Anything traded from overworld. The rare overworld trade with civilized humans brings spices and other valuable things. More common trade with Greymen or Dragonmen doesn't bring high quality products. Mutton is priced amongst the nobility.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Cave wheat is the crop they crow. Using their limited magic to grow the crops. When they noticed that their runelights can be used to grow crops their old problem at feeding themselves was solved. This is very slow progress thought. Cave trouts and salmon are important source of food and are used to replace other meat products.

>What are some animals kept as livestock? What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Livestock is rare, but just like Kvennes, cave chickens are most common livestock. And because dwarven of all kinds hate vermin, cats are common pets. They can see in the low illumination of the caverns and hunt for the vermin.

cont.

>>51408709

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
Deep Dwarven of Iron Chasm broke their truce with Dwarven city of Copperhall. It is thought that they have made a deal with Dragonmen to provide them with metals and weapons.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
More or less everything coming from overworld. Anything that is not common in overworld is very foreign for Deep Dwarven. They might know about it, but haven't seen it for long time.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Just like normal dwarven, they are very clan centric. They live in same households carved into the bedrock with all households being small fortresses inside fortresses.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Building large amphitheatres, Deep Dwarven are friends of music. It is very common for them to learn some instrument during their lives. Ranging from hurdy-gurdies to cymbals.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Deep Dwarven are very utilitarian and more or less it is just rich nobles and merchants who use jewels and other fancy things on their clothes.
>>51408398
These are just old questions that some anon made and I decided to copy directly from my old notes that I made back then.

>>51397989
>>51402315
Bumping

>>51397351
Principality of Sergii is a small militarized nations bordering Dragon Kingdoms and the northern wilderness. Originally founded as a frontier state for the long dead Nehrovian Empire. With Nehrovian Empire dead, the Sergii family that ruled Graus river valley decided to stay put. With other principalities and petty kingdoms fighting over the scraps of Nehrovian Empire, Principality of Sergii rearranged themselves and prepared to weather the storm. Now 2000 years later they are still there, ruled by the same family.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Bear meat is very important, It is mainly eaten in different important events. Bear meat is also eaten before battles to try to acquire blessing of Barithas, the god of slaughter and death.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Rye and barley are the most common crops. Rye bread lasts quite long time in dry places. One important food source is hunting. With the northern wilderness practically feeding elks and other wild game south towards the Principality of Sergii.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
The basic livestock of everywhere. One thing is that Graus river valley is home for camels with thick fur. Their wide feet are perfect for walking in snow.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Graussian Spitz is very popular dog breed. It can hunt more or less every game there is from rabbits to bears.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
Severus Sergii, brother to Prince Gnaus Sergii, was found out to be homosexual. With homosexuality being a taboo, it threw popularity of Severus down. He was stripped of his offices and sent to command a lone, but safe fortification near the border of Dragon Kingdoms.

>>51411616

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
With Graus river valley being bordered by mountains, the most mountain roads are cutoff during the winters. This restricts trade. While nobility usually get to enjoy foreign delicatessen and fruits of the trade. The common folk rarely see anything foreign. Sergiinum, the capital of Principality does have great university with extensive libraries full of old scrolls and books. This university does attract foreigners and even magis to learn from the archives.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Families form small villages where their houses are built into a circle. This naturally forms a wall that defends them and their livestock from beasts and other nasties. These villages are lead by the assigned village chief who makes sure that fields are farmed and taxes are paid to the crown.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Common folk rarely uses instruments, but they enjoy acapellas. It is common for the whole village to gather around to listen what priest and village chief has to say and then sing and eat together.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Purple. For some reason purple has been the colour that everybody tries to wear. Yellow has started to appear.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"Forgive your enemies - but don’t forget their names" The way they live in villages mean that they have to do things together. Unnecessary feuding is bad for whole community.

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
"It's bad luck to take sword out of hilt indoors."

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
With Severus Sergii being homosexual got out there was a lot of rumours that even Prince Gnaus is homosexual. Prince Gnaus does have seven children so it seems unlikely.

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>>51397351
>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?

Foie gras.


>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?

Depend on exactly where we are but porridge is a staple food for the lower classes in most sedentary societies.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?

Pretty much anything that's kept IRL with the addition of a few more pack animals.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?

Dogs and cats are the most popular pets.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
Silk has become increasingly common amongst the upper classes to the extent that it's now one of the most important imports of the empire.

>How many people typically live in a single household?

A household usually consists of a parent couple and 1-4 children, the odd grandparent, and one or two slaves.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Folk songs are popular in the country side where as ballads telling tales of times gone by and heroes are popular in the cities.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?

Silk clothes. Oh my how the wealthy love their silk clothes!

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?

"May s/he feed the Gods." (Akin to but not entirely identical to "Let s/he serve the Gods")
"Let the Gastramite worry about it." (Let someone else/the help/ the staff sort it out)

"Drunk as a Bitalosian." (drunk off your ass)

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>>51397351
>>51412721

CONT.
>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?

That there are trolls in the Taulbar Forest. Before they were driven into the woods they ruled over a large kingdom in the vicinity.

In actually this is just a cultural memory of a large nomadic empire who ruled the land before the Empire of the Tetrachy drove them away and conquered the lands.
This nomadic empire was ruled by a people of short stature, with broad chests and large heads, which were further elongated through head binding. Their eyes were small and they were flat nosed with tanned skin, and often kept large and bushy black beards.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?

That the emperor Florentius III Valdhur Scipiacus and his successor, Hasdrubal I, were lovers.


>How might people spend their leisure time?

In one of the myriad public or private bath houses or at the gladiatorial games or chariot races.

>>51411630

Principality of Sergii idea is to be a nation lead by leaders that are foreign to the main population. Nehrovian Empire had spread to these lands and then current emperor installed Sergii family to watch over this backwater valley full of peasants.

This foreign leadership brought influence and wealth tonthe valley which lead it be prosperous under Nehrovian Empire. With being border state in the Empire they also constructed numerous fortifications and castles to defend it.

So when Empire fell, the Sergii decided to stay put and managed to defend the Graus river valley against former states of the Empire and migrating hordes from east and north. Turtling up and not overextendeding themselves, they have stayed out of majority of conflicts around them.

In terms of real world equivalent, Switzerland comes close. Think that if Romans conquered Switzerland and when West Rome fell they managed to keep the old Roman culture till modern day.

>>51412732
Tell us more about your Empire.

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>>51416060
Sure, anything in particular you'd like to know?

Let's start with the basics:

It's official name is the Empire of the Tetrarchy, a theocratic autocracy ruled by an emperor, appointed by the senate (i.e the wealthiest of the wealthy) whenever a dynasty collapses for whatever reason. The emperor is the God's steward on earth. However he is but a man and as such can be mistaken or even bad. For this reason he is aided by the senate, which is viewed as the most competent men in the empire, and the clergy which is naturally seen as the most in tuned with the Gods' wishes.

The pantheon they worship is called the Tetrarchy as it's composed of four deities. These divine beings have been given many names and been worshipped in a myriad different ways by a myriad of cultures. The worshippers of the Tetrachy see most, if not all other religions and cults as misguided worship of the True Gods. However, as long as their teachings aren't too blasphemous or heretical, local religions and cults are usually considered an adequate if not ultimate provider of nourishment to the Gods through prayers and good deeds and as such are rolled into the overarching Church of the Tetrarchy. It's from these local cults that the official priesthood of the Tetrarchy is chosen.

Cont.

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>>51416060
Cont.

The Empire's military is based on the usage of heavily equipped legionaries backed up by auxillary troops from the regions of the Empire who haven't yet been granted citizenship. To serve in the military is the easiest way to gain citizenship for people not born into it. These auxillaries are often selected from regions who excel in a particular mode of warfare - such as rugged hilltribes who have mastered the art of skirmishing or expert horsemen from the great plain Cities of Eastern Unam.

The class-system of the Empire is primarily based upon wealth allthough noble families exists. As a result the Empire is full of "New Men" who through amassed wealth have gotten far beyond the class they were born into and raised themselves up into occupying a central part in the imperial bureaucracy or military. The ethnical barrier to the imperial throne which at first only allowed people of Nualtan descent to become emperor was abandoned when Hasdrubal I was granted the crown to stop a deadlock in the senate which could potentially have lead to a devastating civil war.

The generals defeated, the monarchy dethroned, the ministers surrendered, a new land is subjugated to another. So what happens to those who escape death on the battlefield, or the headsman's axe? Do they continue the fight, give up and settle elsewhere, historically what happens to these generals, men-at-arms and knights?

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Is it wrong for me to approach science-fantasy from the view of sci-fi? Essentially, I'm trying to worldbuild a science-fantasy universe, but insofar everything fantasy is only justification for why this sci-fi tech works the way it does because I want to avoid the mathematical and scientific autism required for sci-fi which I realize sounds really autistic. There ain't even any space knights or space wizards or space dragons or space swords, just magitech explanations for why spaceships and the like work the way they do. Everybody even uses only guns.

Am I taking the wrong approach here?

>>51419279
>Am I taking the wrong approach here?
Nope. Sorta reminds me of Mass Effect. (Granted, that's because I'm replaying it, so everything reminds me a little of Mass Effect right now.) Seems fine to me.

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>>51397351
I was dicking with inkarnate and made this map. I'm trying to decide where good spots for towns to settle in and which ones would most likely wind up being cities.

I figure the northern half of the coastline where those rivers spill out into the ocean will probably be the main focus of civilization, but if anyone has input on good placement I'd love to hear it.

>>51421801
Nope, you pretty much got it. Cities do tend to spring up around rivers, or more rarely, ports.

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>>51397351
>Calling that thing bread

This is bread. Anyone who says otherwise or calls other things bread is retarded and should be shot on sight

>>51422325
This thread is no place for a bread nazi.

>>51422496
It's not being nazi, it's just truth. The fucking thing that passes as bread in half over the world is a joke.

Alternatively - people never tasted this delicious fucker and consider toast bread the best human invention.

>>51419279
No, it's totally fine, just be consistent where the magitech explanation is applied.

>>51421801
This anon >>51422220 put it well.

Cities tend to form next to rivers and waterways. Only thing that bothers me is the lake that has two rivers coming out of it.

>>51425146
What's wrong with the rivers? Looks okay to me.

>>51425375
A lake will usually drain through only one river and be fed with multiple rivers. Having two rivers draining a lake is very rare and usually unstable. Eventually one of the rivers will either block up, or the level of the lake will lower enough for only one river to remain. I think Finland and maybe Norway (not sure) have a bunch of lakes that naturally drain in two directions, but they're all tiny.

Additionally, when a lake drains in two directions, it's usually into two different drainage basins (essentially two different directions), and your picture looks like it drains in the same basin.

All these things combined make it look unnatural.

An exception would be a man-made canal that's given regular maintenance, for example.

>>51425486
>A lake will usually drain through only one river and be fed with multiple rivers
Yeah, but here this happens near the estuary, like the river just goes into the lake that is connected with the ocean by several small rivers.

>Additionally, when a lake drains in two directions, it's usually into two different drainage basins (essentially two different directions), and your picture looks like it drains in the same basin
But here the the lake drains in one direction, but with two rivers. Also, I'm not the anon who posted the picture.

>>51425486
But then, I don't really know much about rivers, so maybe you're right.

>>51425789
He is right. Water tries to find the shortest and easiest route downstream. Water wants to be with other water so they connect, but don't split into two different directions. Stuff like islands in middle of river are ok. Really only place where rivers split in large scale are deltas.

One thing people forget is the fact that many rivers zigzag all around the place. Check Danube for example. It just doesn't go straight to sea.

>>51425486
Popping back in from last night.

I could always just have one of the two (I'm thinking the more northern one) be manmade. Maybe the city that dominates that space between the two saw some kind of advantage in having the second waterway and there's some huge feat of engineering they're famous for keeping the river where they want it to be?

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Bump

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>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
The staple of mid and high end food in my world is the use of so called "Golden Seeds", grain very similar to wheat, but with higher nutritional value. People of my world do not know how to grow it, and are forced to trade it in en-large with a strange, presumably divine creatures from across the ocean.
Golden Seeds are mostly used much like wheat: grinded into flower and used to bake white bread and various pastry, both of which are signs of wealthy households. Less conventional preparation is something called "courd", a paste-like substance produced from grains purposefully infected by a type of "noble rot" like fungy.
>What's a food for commoners?
My world has a very lousy agriculture that lacks large scale common crops, such as wheat, rice or maizene, and this dictates the local economy and cuisine. The few crops are more commonly available are mostly lentils: peas and bean-like stuff, that is usually either slowly boiled and used in soups and porridges, grinded into a flower-like powder and used to make griddlecakes, or fermented. Basic oat-like plants exist too used usually to make simple bread, porridge or cakes. Outside of that, cabbage, bell-pepper and turnip-like plants are used for simple meals. Some regions have olives too.
One of the more location-specific crop is the "highland peach", a tree that produces peach-like fruit. Unlike our peaches though, highland peach is not sweet, but rather very sour and bitter: it's often used as a basis for salty meals rather than sweet ones, often in conjunction with nuts, poppy seeds mushroom.
All of this is supplemented with whatever diary and a meat products people can get their hands on, but unsurprisingly, meat is generally not part of a daily diet of settled commoners. Fish, kelp, sea-weeds and similar stuff is used to supplement diets as well. Nomadic tribes, on the other hand, mostly live off diary and meat of their animal herds.

>>51397351
Terran food has suddenly been taking the Plorax by supirse. Ever since the alliance, there has been an introduction of famous foods like Burgers and Frogs Legs into the plorax.

A popular rumor about Emperor Kinrotos XVI is that he has no sex drive, due to them having no hatchlings.

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>>51428245
>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Goats and sheep are most common, as they generally require least effort to keep. Poultry is common as well. Less common are steppe cows, yaks and aurochs. There is a creature called "karaf" in my world that looks a bit like a cross between a cow and a dog (pic related), but serves essentially the role of a horse in my world: while they are most frequently used as mounts, they are also kept for their fur and at times meat: the steppe nomads also use their milk.
A lot of local, somewhat strange species of birds are also used as lifestock, including some larger flightless birds that are herded much like bovines.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Snakes, ferrets, various (usually singing) birds. Ferrets serve similar role as cats: they are mostly kept as a pest control. Dogs and cat's do not exist in this particular region of my world.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Percussions and instruments similar to flutes are most common musical instruments that many people have at home and know how to play. Various instruments similar to bagpipes, lyres and lutes exist, but usually only "professional" bards and traveling musicians have access and knowledge how to play them. Other than that, collective singing (often during work or drinking) are most common musical instances in my world.

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>>51428426
Damn, wrong pic. This is what I wanted to post: artwork that inspired the Karaf creature.

>>51428426
>Dogs do not exist in this particular region of my world
Why is it so? Unlike cats or any other animal this is something that needs explaining.

What are some notable real world cultures where men take their father's identity? I'm fully aware of it being an incidence but I don't know of any cultures where it is standard.

I wanted one of the minor cultures in my setting to take patrilineage to an extreme, where men have only one son who they "reincarnate" into and the son inherits everything from his father, including their name, property, good deeds, and the mother becomes his wife (non sexual) for that "incarnation" and that man's friends treat the son as if he is the man himself. They trace these identities back generations and in historical recordings they consider that male line as one man, so their records have plenty of people listed as having lived for centuries. Then there are of course the consequences of this, such as reputation having incredible importance that outweighs the value of individual life, etc.

>>51428598
>Why is it so?
Basic biology. Not all evolutionary paths went the same way in my world as they went in real world. Cats and dogs evolved in my world, but were isolated to other continents (and continential isolation is a BIG thing in my world, as cross-oceanic travel is much more difficult due to number of issues: hostile oceanic mega-fauna, more volatile weather, and electromagnetic anomalies making compasses worthless in deep ocean make crossing oceans a major difficulty). They simply did not spread to the particular region I'm focusing on. Their roles were partially taken by other creatures: most frequently birds, which are trained and used in hunting, and sometimes even house protection.

>>51428968
I don't think such culture really ever existed in real world. It's extremely dangerous to limit number of your male offspring to one, because shit happens and when your son suddenly dies when he is 14, you have a major issue on your hands.

Assuming partial identity of your father is otherwise something that is (obviously) quite common in most existing cultures (it's why most patrilinear societies pass their name from son to father - in our context it's usually second name, but in Russia, for an example, children inhereted their fathers surname as well as their own middle name (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov is literally Vladimir - son of Illya Ulyanov). It's a form of adopting parents identity.

But while there is no real example of a society where identity inherentance would be quite as strong as you describe it, that does not mean you can't invent such society for your own purposes. It's actually quite an interesting idea, for reasons you mostly identified yourself.

>>51429347
So humans were able to cross the oceans before domestication of dogs and then the continents got separated so much that further contacts became impossible?

>>51430252
Humans originally evolved on a continent that had very little canides to begin with. Unlike earth, canides did not become ubiquous to the whole world, as other kinds of competing predatory animals existed and drove them off quite wide regions.

Since wolves and wild dogs were not a common-place along the regions where humans first spread, and since there were other alternatives to dogs serving similar function, domesticating dogs happened fairly late in human evolution cycle, and has became a matter of regional preferences, rather than near-universal in the world.
Things have been made even more complicated by a serious of major rather cataclysmatic events that took place over the very long history of human existence of my world: entire continents were nearly cleaned of life, one sunk under water: multiple major industrial civilizations emerged and then fell appart.
But dogs... dogs simply weren't necessary. Keeping them as pets is very much like keeping ferrets or capybara's in real world: some cultures do it, but it does not necessarily spread among other cultures, simply because there are other alternatives.

>>51430466
Okay, I see. Bird dogs is a cool idea btw.

>>51430619
Yeah, I wanted to shake things up a little. Semi carnivorous and carnivorous ungulates and greater selection of various strange birds serving less common domesticated roles seemed like a way to introduce a bit of novelty into the settings without going too crazy and odd-wordly. In some parts of my world, giant flightless birds completely took over the role of apex predators and basically serve the same role as lions and tigers in real world, in others species of carnivours boars prey in woods instead of wolves. Though I'm not really focusing on those regions in my fiction - reflections of those regions exist mostly in some very old iconography and semi-mythical sentiments. The giant terror birds roaming southern steppes instead of lions (called Roah) for an example have been part of royal iconography in many cultures, despite the fact that nobody from those cultures have seen a Roah for several thousand years (much like medieval european cultures associated royalty with lions, despite lions being little more than a mythological creature for them...).
It's the small stuff I enjoy.

Where do you get your frame of reference for how big a specific region or biome can realistically get, and what the transitional area between them looks like?

How can I manage to describe the environment both succinctly and vividly? Are there creative writing ecercises or tips that go into this subject?

>>51431028
>Where do you get your frame of reference for how big a specific region or biome can realistically get, and what the transitional area between them looks like?
Yeah it's a huge problem, I wish we had like, I don't know, a planet with different regions and biomes on it, how cool would that be, eh?

>>51431028
1) Read fuckton of books to learn about it.
Or
2)Shamelessly steal the areas from real world.

I go with 2). I try to match the regions so that they have some real world equivalents available. And from there to see how biomes change. Of course in smaller areas it is more or less unchangeable with only minor differences if there is not mountains or other major landmarks splitting the land area.

>>51411616
>>51411630
>>51414209

I quite liked reading this, very interesting!

>>51432636
Well thank you. At the moment more or less everything I post to /wbg/ is in note form or made to answer the thread questions. I will write more about them later, maybe in another thread.

There is a lot of editing to be done. Of course if you have questions please ask.

>>51431028
>Where do you get your frame of reference for how big a specific region or biome can realistically get, and what the transitional area between them looks like?
Research. There is no other way around it: learn enough about real world, and then you'll start to get good ideas about what might or might not work in it's fictional counter-part. After all, even in a fictional world: your audience's only frame of reference is going to be their (real world based) experience.
So: open google maps, open wikipedia, look up travelers books: find real-world regions similar to what you want to describe, and research, research, research.

>How can I manage to describe the environment both succinctly and vividly?
The same way you learn to write (or storytell in general): READ. And. WRITE. There is no other way around it. Good storytelling (which includes good world-building) is a CRAFT. It's learned by experience: both by learning from others, ad by you yourself doing the damn thing over and over and over again. There is no short-cut, no specific excercise to it:
You read. And you write. And you do that at every opportunity. And you listen to feedback, and you consider that feedback, and next time you do better: that is really all there is to it.

>>51431028
>Where do you get your frame of reference for how big a specific region or biome can realistically get, and what the transitional area between them looks like?
Typically, by comparing it to real-world examples of those things. The world is a big place, and odds are there's something at least vaguely similar to what you're imagining. You can also look at the natural forces that cause the place to be the way it is, and use that to figure out stuff like size and shape.

>How can I manage to describe the environment both succinctly and vividly? Are there creative writing exercises or tips that go into this subject?
Editing and practice, basically. Write up a description, then take out everything you don't need. If you think it doesn't pop, add in some details or revise what you've written to make it more interesting. Try to make whatever material you have flow well.

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In "my" setting ("my" as in, a modified version of the published Fragged Empire setting so not really mine), humanity underwent the technological singularity in the 2040s with the creation of an AI that jump-started human technology and science by huge leaps and bounds before shutting down a few months into its existence.

After that, humanity manages to expand into the galaxy at large, terraforming hundreds of planets and partially terraforming many more. Around the 2500's though is when humans begin dying out due to various factors.

The existing races are basically genetically engineered offshoots of humanity. So in short, humans fit the setting's "ancient precursor alien" trope.

Does 500+ years sounds like a reasonable amount of time for humans to rise, build a technologically advanced interstellar civilization and then fall? On one hand I know there's nowhere near a realistic time frame IRL. On the other hand I think people underestimate how much a thousand years is, let alone half of one, and so I used the excuse of "singularity AI" as a way to make humanity's current scientific levels skyrocket.

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you no have to create a movement based off of this meme

>>51436557
now*

>>51397989
I'm stealing words and phrases from Manx and making them slightly less stupid-looking when spelled out. Like, I love the sound of the language, but when you romanize it into English it looks really ugly with a lot of -ee and -oo sounds, and some key words are really long-winded.

>>51431028
>Where do you get your frame of reference
I don't care. Since adventures and stories tend ot have self-contained chapters that occur in specific areas and don't usually spill over, it doesn't matter to me what the actual sizes of biomes are, especially when they're supposed to look fairly similar.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
In the country of Capre there is not much land available for ranching. Beef is considered a delicacy for royalty as one of the few places to get it was from the Archduke's private herd before the Bright and Glorious cultural revolution. When the House of Commons and House of Masters took over they opened the herd's meats for commercial selling. They are housed on an area of land meticulously tended and drained of water for the herd to graze in.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
In Desmon, the capital, the most common is duckwheat, the stable crop of the region. The second most common is slinkir fish, the most common fish in the great Capre marshes. A large canning industry flourishes in Desmon.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Fish in large fish farms. As well as shellfish has become common for consumption. River crab is considered easy to keep in a relative area and care for as they are willing to eat essentially garbage. Next would be ducks and other water fowl, who often are kept by farmers who clip their wings and allow them to swim and eat in the marshes.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Vek are a variety of river snakes that are surprisingly clever for being reptilian. They respond to training and verbal commands. The rich will often keep them as pets. Many vek breeds exist from herding animals, to guardians, to lap pets.

>>51437241
>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
In the House of Enlightened Masters, the governing body after the Bright and Glorious Cultural Revolution the first High Master Milok Tor was assassinated while walking in the city's public gardens. This was surprising as the man was already extremely old, but for the next three months a bitter struggle embroiled the House of Enlightened Masters as to who would inherit the title.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
A recent cultural movement has come through Deneheinian fashion. The fashion of the Denehenian empire consists of strange bulbous suits. Silken cape humps are a fashion among men, with gaudy patterns decorating the clothing bulges.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Households are large due to the urbanization of the main population centers. Tenements with many families are common in Desmon in particular.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Music is generally considered the pass time of the poor as opposed to Silent Theatre. Music is played with a variety of string and percussion instruments among the poor.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Talked about it above.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
Chicken's Feet is a term for someone not yet accustomed to walking on the semi solid marsh mud. A Block Writer is a term used for the strange political activists that tend to write political murals and statements on buildings. Bruckers are poor addicted to scour.

>>51437254
>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
Kikimora supposedly are able to crawl through holes as small as a key hole and will sit upon a man's chest while he sleeps to judge him. If found unworthy he will strangle them. This is an explanation for sleep paralysis.


>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
The son of the Archduke, kept around by the House of Enlightened Masters as a symbol of avarice is known to have made several escape attempts from the royal prison. Rumor has it he succeeded some time ago and official statement he is still there is false.

>How might people spend their leisure time?
Penny dreadfuls have become popular among many. Particularly the mystery novels of a famous urbanite turned political activist that are seeing print despite having been outlawed. No one is sure where the copies come from.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Anything that isn't spike-filled mutton.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Mutton, hopefully not the spike-filled kind. As for crops, leeks and beans.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Basically sheep, except a mystic mutation has caused them to grow chitin spikes from their bodies, and sometimes within their flesh.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
The least spiky of the sheep.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
A mayor claimed to have found sheep with no spikes, but he was just sawing them off and was run out of town for his lies.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
People are happy to pick up anything foreign, as long as it doesn't involve spiky sheep.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
A man, his wife, and however many of their kids who haven't been gored yet (usually around 7 or 8).

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
"Enjoy" is a strong term but the spikes are hollow sometimes and those can be instruments.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Some people have been leaving the spike-holes in their sheepskins unpatched.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"You can cut off a sheep's spikes, but they'll just grow more."

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
The one about the man who had sheep with no spikes.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
They say the king has a stash of spikeless sheep in his courtyard.

>How might people spend their leisure time?
Running from sheep.

I want to make the genealogical relationships between goblinoids much closer, like they can all breed together, and some goblins become hobgoblins and some become bugbears. How could I do this that makes sense?

I know there is probably some sort of scientific term for this sort of relationship, but I can't seem to find it.

Any help or resources I should read?

>>51438228
Maybe something like the common side-blotched lizard, where they're all variations on the same species?

>>51438283
That's the idea that I want to do, but all variations can also be either sex.

>>51438370
So instead of competing for mates, exactly, they're competing for resources.

Bugbears are the brutes that beat up hobgoblins and take their stuff.

Hobgoblins are the warriors that work together in groups and protect their stuff from goblins.

Goblins are the scavengers that steal from bugbears when they aren't looking.

And whichever subspecies happens to be dominant at a given time attracts more mates from the other two subspecies, which causes an even bigger boom in their population, which eventually causes the subspecies that trumps them to flourish. If that makes sense.

>>51438493
Not even that. Goblin tribes consist of all three at a time, and a gobbo babby can grow up to be a regular goblin, hobgoblin, or bugbear, depending on the something i'm trying to find out.

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Something I notice when I was re-designing my map is how a lot of custom fantasy maps go with long and narrow continents separated by a lot of sea. Paradoxically our own world is dominated by a gigantic thicc blobby 3 continent nexus, with the other 2 continent nexus being really only slim and long narrow in central america.

It's making me struggle with the paradox of realizing my map doesn't feel right when I look at fantasy references but remembering those references don't look right when compared to our world.

It's not impossible because where a terraformed mars is a single massive continent, a terraformed venus looks 100% like your typical fantasy world.

To paraphrase Don't-shitpost-I'm-scared, do you like thicc or slim g̶i̶r̶l̶s̶ continents?

>>51436286
I don't think it's too far-fetched, considering we've come close to wiping ourselves out several times in less than /one/ century. When you think about the amount of energy needed for any currently hypothesized model of interstellar travel, and how easily any high-energy system can be turned into a weapon, it's not hard to imagine a couple of lunatics ending our brief, glorious existence. Throw in whatever unforeseen circumstances we might encounter in space, 500 years seems like plenty of time for the vast majority of us to succumb to /something/.

>>51437527
I chuckled.
>>51438545
Argonians in the Elder Scrolls 'verse are separated into tribes (the toad-like Paatru, the thin, reedy Agacephs, etc.) and a large part of their physical development can be attributed to how much Hist sap they ingest as juveniles. Maybe your goblinoid culture has some kind of rite of passage with a similar effect?
>>51439609
My problem with really big landlocked landmasses in reality is their tendency to become deserts, and deserts kinda suck. That said, arid environments could set up cool cultures and ecosystems. There's no right answer.

>>51439881
>Maybe your goblinoid culture has some kind of rite of passage with a similar effect?

Not that I can think of. I'm worldbuilding from the bottom up so the only relevant Goblins in the campaign are a tribe of chaos toad worshippers with a fat gluttonous king and a penchant to get high from licking magic toads. That's just their tribe though, other tribes have their own cults and ways to get high.

>>51439881

I figure the desert interior depends on other factors since the interior of upper asia is steppe and siberia, the interior of Europe is verdant woods, interior of Africa around the ivory coast downwards is jungly and verdant, interior of USA is steppe/savannah style.

It needn't be bloatedly large, but think say Middle Earth or the like rather than looking like Indonesia.

>>51397351
Made up crops edition

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
The big staples are corn and jabberseed, or Abendi wood-peas. Corn tends to be reddish-brown and grows on finger-sized cobs. Jabberseed grows in tough, woody pods on short, twisting trees. The trees grow ~8-12 feet tall and begin producing after 3-5 years. The seeds are 1-1.5 cm wide, with a sweet, smoky flavor. Consumed raw, they have a bitter aftertaste--they're almost always blanched before consumption. Jabberseed is a key ingredient in regional specialties, including a kind of unleavened bread made from jabberseed flour, hard candies (jabberdrops), and a heady liquor known internationally. When the trees are being pruned, the fresh leaves can be used as greens, and the buds are dried and used as spice. Bean pods and jabber wood are used to smoke food.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
There isn't a remarkable disparity in what the wealthy and poor eat, generally. The notable exception is jabberworms--a crop pest that infests the roots of jabber trees. Infestations can be hard to detect, as jabberworms hibernate for years within the roots before hatching and eating their way out, killing the tree. Jabberworm pupae are a highly regarded delicacy among the elite, but harvesting them means digging up entire jabber trees the moment a farmer notices signs of infestation, and the infested taproot must be roasted within days, or the pupae will die. This ensures both that jabberworm pupae are a rare treat for the wealthy, and that farmers can recoup some of the losses incurred from infestation.

>>51440180
>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Goats are the big one. The /big/ one--they get buffalo-sized. Pigs are another favorite. Cattle haven't been domesticated to the same extent--the wild bovines in the region are unruly and aggressive, their meat is gamy, and they reproduce more slowly than goats and pigs. As a result, they're hunted more than farmed. Kanti--heavy, flightless fowl--are raised for eggs and meat.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Cats and kanti cockerels are favored among the poor (though never both in one household). The rich tend to keep enormous goat dogs, although lesser goblins are becoming popular.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
Mollebran, a relatively wealthy city situated along the River Buwe, underwent a pogrom, purging its meager goblin population. During the riot, the mayor was killed, and his hastily chosen replacement declared independence from Aldgood. King Jerome was having none of this, and laid siege to Mollebran for all of one month before the new mayor was killed and the gates opened. Mollebran is now ruled by a royally appointed governor, until everyone is satisfied they have their shit together.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
Goblin magic is a bit of a fad among the lower class, as it's more approachable to people with small mana reserves and the information is less restricted. Still, goblins don't hand out their secrets for free--most peasants will only ever learn parlor tricks. Lesser goblins (or tree imps, green devils, scale monkeys...), which many goblins keep as pets, are showing up in wealthy households.

So, in the next session or the one after that, my players will go to to a music concert, and that got me thinking about applause.

So, /wbg/, does your setting have applause? Or more generally, how does an audience show their appreciation for someone, particularly in a more formal setting in higher society? Do they clap normally, or maybe synchronized clapping? Snapping their fingers? Stomping? Waving cloth? Nothing at all? Maybe something else altogether for weirder creatures?

There's also a question of occasion, when is it appropriate to applaud and when is it appropriate to be more exuberant?

I'm still thinking about my setting, but I wanted to know if anybody else though about stuff like that? Also what do you do when a cultural situation that you didn't think about comes up in the game? Fall back to familiar human defaults or make it up as you go along?

>>51440180
>>51440406
>How many people typically live in a single household?
5-8: Two parents, three to six children. Give or take a set of grandparents.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?
The lower class tends to hear more drums, horns (literal goat horns), and an instrument resembling a banjo. Upper class has more of a focus on woodwinds and a pitched drum resembling a steel drum/pan.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Since trade with goblins to the north really got going, people in Aldgood have started adopting some of their stylistic choices. Notably, this means furs and bone or horn circlets studded with rock squirrel quills. Wearing the circlets annoys goblins, because stealing quills from rock squirrels is proof of daring in their culture. Wearing furs just confuses them--they only wear them because the mountain pass their trade caravans have to cross is cold all seasons.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"Pesky as a--/worse than a tree imp", "Don't pluck a kanti's tailfeathers", "Stronger than jabber brew". People with a low view of Mollebraners (recently, everyone except Mollebraners) call them rackwhistles--a carnivorous aquatic reptile one part dangerous and three parts annoying.

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
It's common knowledge that men with freckles are more trustworthy than men without, burning meat is a sure sign you're due ill fortune, and drinking before a meal will bring nightmares.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
Before the pogrom in Mollebran, there were rumors the mayor had a goblin mistress. King Jerome doesn't hide it--he definitely has a goblin mistress--but there are whispers he also has goblin bastards. They aren't true, of course, as goblins can't have children with humans.

Deacon Pelloris, the mayor of Aben, may or may not be undead, and his wife may or may not be a novice necromancer.

>>51440180
>>51440406
>>51440670
>How might people spend their leisure time?
Fishing, if they're near a river, playing cards, slinging rocks at lesser goblins, practicing goblin magic, startling lesser goblins with goblin magic, telling tall tales, and handicrafts.

>Other stuff
Lesser goblins (tree imps) are warm-blooded, scaly, arboreal animals. They largely resemble monkeys, in both anatomy and behavior, though they're more intelligent and better behaved when trained. True goblins have raised them as pets for ages.

True goblins range from ~3'6"-5' and nearly match humans in terms of technological advancement. They breed and reach maturity faster than humans, but their numbers are kept in check by frequent, if small, wars between their tribes. Interestingly enough, goblins rarely engage in large conflicts with other races. Their mana reserves are smaller than humans, but their spellwork is efficient, and nearly all goblins are trained to some degree of magical proficiency.

Hobgoblins are the result of a true goblin breeding a tree imp. Goblins naturally find this disturbing, partially because it's sex with a pet, and partially because tree imps bear a fair resemblance to goblin infants. When a hobgoblin is born, the goblin community exiles the goblin parent, or stones them to death if they refuse to leave. Hobgoblins are average height for a goblin, about 4', but tend to be stockier, with a tough hide, a short tail, and, oddly enough, a natural affinity for magic. They're only about as intelligent as tree imps, but more aggressive and territorial. Left to their own devices, a hobgoblin will join a tree imp family group. They quickly become a nuisance near settlements, as they're bolder and meaner than normal tree imps. Hobgoblins will kill livestock, harass villagers, steal tools and valuables, and attack people who enter its territory--often in unpredictable bursts of magic.

When creating a hexmap, what do you use as the in-game diameter? I've noticed that 6-mile hexes are often used, but this sounds kind of 'low-res'. If I were to take a 6-mile walk from where I'm sitting now, I would pass two castles and a number of other 'points of interest', in game terms.

>>51441358
Why do you even need a hexmap? I'm curious, I'm not familiar with /tg/ stuff actually, so what's the point of it? Why can't you just say how much or how long you walk?

>>51441638
>Why can't you just say how much or how long you walk?
You can. This just gives me a fairly neat way to cut the exploration into manageable chunks.

In every hex, they check for encounters (environmental hazards or enemies), check for fatigue, are updated on their current situation and, should they decide to press on, check for orienteering or navigation.

There are other variables, of course, but this is the basic run-down.

It's not suitable for every kind of adventure, but this adventure is supposed to be about exploring uncharted (but not necessarily uninhabited) terrain at the edge of the characters' civilisation.

>>51439609
>terraformed venus
Thats fucking cool.

Eurasia Its the only big horizontal continent. Africa, North and South America, and Antartica, (and almost all subcontinents, Australia being the only exception that comes to my mind) have greater height than length.

Anyway, broader continents have implications that narrow ones dont have. For example, an lnad mass have very similar climate at the same latitude (at least that they have mountains). This mean that In early stages of farming, the crops were distribuited easly in the west-east axis than north-south. That is why almost all Europe, all the cost of the Mediterranean, Egypt, Middle East, etc, shared the same crops and farm animals, while in America, the Mesoamericas and the Andes never could trade, merge or share crops. Natural barriers didnt help very much either, but Eurasia also have natural barriers between the west and orient, and arround V century there already was established a trade route.

>>51441865
Oh god, sorry for my english...

>>51438228
Have it that same species couples have bigger probability to have same species children, but there is possibility for different goblinoid to pop out.

>>51440460
Clapping is pretty universal way to make noise in human history.

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>>51441884
is this how foreigners apologize for their language?

>>51442297
No, this is how I apologize kek

>>51428034
that was a good manga

>>51428443
that was a good manga

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>>51442715
It was. So damn good that I based almost entirety of my world building on it. Shuna and a little bit of Nausicaa (without the insects, fungy forests, god-warriors or airships - really I mostly only borrowed the Doruk and Tolmekia aesthetics for my own factions).

>>51440460
If your setting is dealing with humans, clapping and/or cheering in excitement are pretty universal.

Of course, you may have certain social settings where displaying excitement or being loud is frowned upon. It might be rude to cheer during a performance. But go out on the street and you'll still probably see kids cheering while playing games, etc.

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How have you done enemies that are not from your world. Basically Burning Legion shitting things up. I really want to have one event like this that brings foreign stuff into the world.

I still haven't decided the name or what kind of creatures "Burning Legion" has, but I have the basic idea how they appeared. In low magic world I want them to be the "oh shit fuck!" level of event.

>Nehrovian Empire does its things. Capital one of the greatest cities ever
>appearance of "Burning Legion" is heralded by volcanoes erupting and skies darkening
>magnitude of the magic is similar to times the world was created
>Capital city became the point where BBEG and his boys appeared
>Royalty dies and whole Empire is in chaos
>Few years of nonstop warfare and neighbouring kingdoms decide to end this shit
>add few years of warfare and final showdown is ready
>bigass battle in Bloody Foothills in which dragons intervene
>BBEGs army is beaten and victorious good guys march to capital
>they torch the remaining parts of it, but there is no traces of BBEG
>life continues as usual

So when the "Burning Legion" was beaten and the BBEG disappeared, the remnants of the army disappeared into wilderness. This event could be easily tied with the destruction of Nehrovian Empire.

So how have you done this kind of stuff.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but here goes.
I'm working on a setting that's almost 100% medieval in terms of technology and society, only there is a great amount of mecha. Giant robot animals have taken the place of traditional mounts. My question is this. With these animal mechs in such widespread use is there any need for regular footmen? Or would war just consist of two or more sides charging into eachother with their mechanized weapons firing?

>>51444579
That depends on a lot of things. First of all, where and when are you setting "medieval" technology and society? That's a time span of a thousand years.

And it also depends on the type of mechs and of what they're capable. Cannons made castles obsolete, so anything with the force to easily take down a wall would do the same.

>>51444070

I have not dealt with that myself (yet, but it's a concept I will work on in the future), but tell me more about your Burning Legion. Are they like the classical demons in appearance? Do they just fuck your shit up because they like it or do they have a goal? Spiritual or physical?

My thoughts on your question: Having the remnants disappear into the wilderness is a pretty fun idea that I have used myself. For example, having a bull-like demon take up residence in the forested mountains could be an excellent spawning point for various folklore to spawn from it. Even if the bull demon dies from whatever, just try to imagine what kind of stories the people in the surrounding environments would come up with if they ever saw it and how it would evolve over the decades, centuries and millennia.

It's like how we on Earth explained strange and mysterious things. Fat sea-based mammals became hot girls with fishtails that drowned sailors, cows dying of disease became goblins with red hats that sleep in the barn and get pissed and kills your cattle if you do not bring him a bowl of porridge every week.

I hope I make sense.

>>51444779

Their goal is not just wrecking everything. Think them as bit like Lotr orcs. They want to conquer the world and bring their own culture, a crude culture with them. The world is there for them and everyone is for their Lord, who is in lore terms a god.

We have had same idea bit. I didn't think that way. How people talk about what happened hundreds or thousands of years ago and how the still lingering remnants are still there.

Long term plan is that they are still there waging their long war against everybody, sometimes banding up and conquering parts of the world for their Lord. They are the wildcard. Everyone else already have their spot in the world and they just come to break that up.

Biggest thing that is their advantage is much better grasp at magic than everyone else. Their God in terms of power is much more powerful than anybody else.

You made sense.

Has anyone ever used a world that's basically an infinite flat plain, with a climate and terrain features that have been determined 100% by divine shenanigans?

>>51442046
>>51442917
>Clapping is pretty universal
Sure, clapping may be, but upon closer inspection, applause is not as universal. As in, not in all cultures the audience will applaud. Romans, for example, flapped their togas or napkins to express approval, or yelled in theaters.

>>51444634
I guess the best comparison would be to Europe around the time of Charlemagne.

And the idea for the mechs is that they would be of a scale that there would be a cockpit in the head, behind the eyes, they would be armed with various armaments from solid projectiles to energy weapons to various melee enhancements. They aren't entirely a technological achievement as they're somewhat alive and are produced outside of mankind's involvement. They also have much their own personalities like actual animals and take as much of a role in choosing a rider as the rider takes in choosing their mount.

>>51444579
Thats pretty easy: having and mantainging a "giant robot animal super mecha thing" sounds expensive as fuck. Not only sounds, it MUST BE.
-How many tons of food eat in a week?
-How many people do his owner need to keep then alive, clean and trained?
-How much money will cost breed one?
-How much phisical space do you need to keep it happy? I mean, like a big ass stable.
-The shit that you need to ride the thing, do you think that will be inexpensive?
-How much land do you need yo own, to solely have one?

What I trying to say is that only the nobleones, the feudal class, would have the resources to have one, pretty much like horses and top tier weapons and armor in medieval times but in a bigger way. Think about a coulple of hundred of that "giant robot animal" in every army. The rest should be commoners in foot. You may want to create some kind of specialated unit just to fuck up those giant things. But I could see how even one of this mecha would change the balance of power in a battle.

A couple of ideas for you:
-Only the noble class can own this things or a lower class, that may be or not be noble, like the knights or the samurai, but they are prohibited to commoners.
-This is your justification to feudalism/medievalism. Only the richest will have this, and to have this they need the land.
-This means a lot of social discontent. The commoners rise (the richer ones, aka the merchants) to claim equalty of rights.
-They secretly already have mechas: bigger, stroger and more tecnollogicaly advanced ones.
-Eventually the mother of all wars starts. The commoners get hits form both parties.
-The player will fight for one side (they will not know wich one or maybe yes, but...). Their faction make them kill commoners.
-Eventually the players will realize that they are fighting for the bad guys.
-Eventually the players will realize that they are not good guys.
-The players create a third faction that fights for the poor.

Your idea have a lot of potencial.

>>51445702
Great ideas man thanks!

>>51446006
Your welcome. Also:
>>51445356
>energy weapons
Dont make them THAT overpowered. If they chan "shoot lassers" or something like that, make it like 1 shoot per week or something like that, because "it drains his vital energy" o something like that. To make it even more interesting, the mecha can not fight after a shot, It became extremely exausted and extremely vulnerable (hey, it sound that the mecha need some foot soldiers to protec him right?). Your mecha can died of exaution if it shot to much.

Recently began writing the world-bible for the fantasyverse I've had in my mind since I was around nine years old. Looking back, it's definitely derivative, but unique enough that I don't feel too ashamed in writing it.

>>51447335
Do you fancy to share parts of it with us?

>>51448532
I will when I have an entire section complete. The most unique thing about it (and the biggest hindrance when role-playing) is that only a handful of people on the human continent can use magic. Magic is a lineal thing, handed down from monarch to monarch, and the king bestows magical powers to the Knight's Council - a monk, a mage, and a warrior. There are also some military uses for magic but it's pretty limited.

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>What is the capitol of your setting's greatest empire?
>Does it have a founding myth?
>How did the empire form?
>Who ultimately destroys the empire first? Its enemies or itself?

>>51450484
I mean, this is for a setting whose sole raison d'etre is to be cozy as fuck, but.

>What is the capitol of your setting's greatest empire?
The Crown city. Technically the city itself is unnamed, it's just "the city where the Crown resides."
>Does it have a founding myth?
Not a myth. It was founded only a few hundred years ago.
>How did the empire form?
It started out as a kingdom but after years of flailing leadership under ineffectual monarchs, there was eventually a power struggle between noble houses that resulted in the formation of the Crown--a semi-democractic bureaucracy--as a compromise.

After that, it incorporated a huge breadth of land largely through what you might consider bonds: it goes in, renovates the infrastructure of the town or region, and enacts government services, then collects taxes for years afterwards to pay back the expense plus interest, and of course ongoing expenses.

One of the central tenets of the dominant religion of the Crown city is that one is enriched by exposure to other cultures. While the Crown does have concerns for itself, its intentions are mostly altruistic.
>Who ultimately destroys the empire first? Its enemies or itself?
No plans yet as to its eventual destruction.

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Anybody have trouble with slang and language in general? It always seems so fucking forced to me, especially when it's insults or terms or whatever.

>>51450680
>Not a myth. It was founded only a few hundred years ago.
Well then what's the founding story?

>No plans yet as to its eventual destruction.
Then who's more likely?

>>51450751
There's no good solution. It really is a pain.

>>51450751
Here's something I stumbled across earlier today, maybe it'll help.

http://mythcreants.com/blog/the-four-rules-of-using-fake-words/

>>51450778
>Well then what's the founding story?
Just look slightly lower down on the screen to the next question.

>>51450795
>Just look slightly lower down on the screen to the next question.
Well that's how the empire was founded. What about the city?

>>51450834
I dunno. The same way any city forms. It was at an advantageous position--at the confluence of two major rivers, surrounded by fertile farmland. Eventually lots of people settled there, for convenience or seeking their fortune. Those who'd claimed a lot of land became rich as they collected rent on it. They, along with the most successful traders, became the city's ruling class.

One family organized a military and declared themselves the rulers. Obviously this didn't sit well with the others, who then took to forming their own militaries. It became a cycle of the family in power spending so much money maintaining that power that they gradually went broke, then whoever seized power did the same. Though once they were broke, they were out of the political spotlight and could quietly collect rent and other profits until they were wealthy enough to attempt another coup.

A riot from the citizenry about the unhappy rule resulted in a constitutional monarchy, where a ruling family could only be deposed if they weren't doing their jobs very well, instead of just by someone else getting a bigger army. Power kept changing hands and people still weren't happy.

And after the death of one more in a line of ineffectual rulers, we catch up with the stuff I already described.

That's what I got off the cuff, anyway.

>>51450964
So...wolves didn't suckle the founder as a babe? No Druid came out of a tree and declared the banks where the city was founded as a holy place whose people would rule the world? No lightning struck the land and a golden spear brought forth a fruitful people?

Seems a little dry.

>>51451181
It's for a series of short stories and vignettes helpfully called "Very Cozy Scenes from a Very Cozy Fantasy Setting". It's meant to be the fantasy setting equivalent of sipping hot cocoa and snuggling your favorite stuffie. As if I could pick a favorite.

It's not meant to be bombastic. It's meant to get the reader wrapped up in the humble thrills of an ordinary life against a fantastical backdrop.

The more pressing question would be "how well does this backstory accomplish its intended goal?"

But you have made me realize that the supernatural elements of the world (monsters, magic, adventurers) don't figure into its creation. So I will change that.

>>51451313
>supernatural elements of the world (monsters, magic, adventurers) don't figure into its creation
It also doesn't have to be true, mind. Rome's founding story involves a she-wolf caring for two demigods until they grew up and murdered each other to get a city named after one of them.

The second founding story is much more grounded, featuring the overthrow of kings, the establishment of a Republic, etc. You can do both, but if our Real Not Magic World can have fantastical tales about the foundings of cities, then a fantasy world makes sense to have some as well.

Good luck with your setting! It sounds very cozy.

>>51451365
>It also doesn't have to be true, mind.
Well, one of the side effects of the incredibly small scope of the story is that it doesn't really get a lot of the world's grander details except as they relate to the protagonist's life. There are infodumps, but only on things that directly relate to the protagonist's life. And she never even GOES to the city. One of the reasons I'm posting about this is because I thought up all these details about what the Crown is and how it came to be, but the story itself doesn't get into it, and I really wanted to share.

But I appreciate you taking an interest.

>It sounds very cozy.
It is. Even the process of writing and editing is hella relaxing.

>>51451517
>small scope of the story is that it doesn't really get a lot of the world's grander details
But that's still important to have. Even if your protagonist will never see The City, it's impact on the setting, and the impact of past events, wars, magic, etc on it will be felt. If not by your reader, than by you. The background info of a setting informs the writer, who writes as though he is informed.

It helps, a lot.

>>51451365
Not that guy, but Rome's founding myth as we know is probably a much later retelling than the founding of Rome, Romulus and Remus was written down in some 400 years after Rome was founded and the Aeneid (the other foundation myth of Rome, which I happen to like better) is even later. A younger city would tell less fantastic stories of their founding.

The way I handle it in my setting (Bronze to Iron age) is this way, in general:

If the city is 50 years old or younger, people who were there for the founding are still alive. They mostly tell it like it was, with a few embellishments to make them look good.

If the city is between 50 and 200 years old, the original founders are dead, but their children and grandchildren heard all their story, they tell it mostly like it was, but significantly embellished and with some supernatural details, relating to the national identity of the city.

If the city is older than 200 years old, then it's likely that there have been significant propaganda efforts by the government to establish a strong identity in order to rise pride and morale in the city. At this point, the founding myth is heavily edited to make the city look as good as possible, fraught with destiny and supernatural elements and the founding kings are almost god-like figures (or outright gods).

Now, depending on the presence of nearby enemies, unrest or any other need for identity, I might decide to add 50 to 150 years to the age for the purposes of the above.

>>51451582
That's a neat way to go about it. I might just use that approach from now on.

But my point was more about how founding stories exist, and for important cities they will have elements of the fantastical. I didn't mean to be historically accurate, but thank you for the correction.

>>51451560
That's a good point. One I probably should have realized. The structure of the Crown hasn't been mentioned explicitly but it has shaped how they behave within the context of the story. And there are other details (like that women tend to be more magically capable than men; like that the common slate of spells healers are required to learn includes what we would call plastic surgery) which have done the same.

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A map of my campaign world translated into Inkarnate. Thoughts?

>>51451877
>that river split between desert and central
It's like a knife in my eye anymore. That is NOT how rivers work. Also, just going by what I know of climate, the East is too sparse. There should be more trees and/or signs of wetness since THAT's where all the rain is going to come from.

>>51451918
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the desert was actually split after a war between the dwarves and the djinn. I'll add more vegetation to the east.

>>51451877
To be honest, it looks like a small island and not a whole world.

>>51451944
Yeah, i always have that issue with my campaign worlds. I always end up making them into "just one continent in a larger world" Of course all the cities etc. are HUGELY out of scale, just meant to represent national capitals and the large populations surrounding them

>>51451934
Also, the central island can't be splitting like that. Pick either the desert gulf OR the forest coast. It can't split up to do both. Same with the Left-Most river.

What latitude is this region sitting at?

>>51451989
>island
FUCK. River. Central. River.

>>51451965
That's not the worst thing in the world. A tighter focus lets you put more TLC into any given location.

Most people don't travel the world. Most people are familiar with maybe six or seven towns near them, and maybe they've traveled to another country once or twice. A smaller scale can have the effect of making the setting feel more real.

>>51451989
I don't really know what latitude its at. I just know what kind of climates I want and go from there.

>>51452029
That's fine. I ask because that's usually how I determine stuff for my map.

The river stuff is still valid no matter what.

>>51451989
The leftmost river originally didn't split (this is in world lore) it was caused to split millennia ago when the djinn wanted their final revenge against the dwarves and basically went: "you may have beaten us, but fuck you, we're gonna make you super sensitive, then make your kingdom a desert, then split it from the rest of the world" That's what drove the dwarves underground.

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Ok, here's an updated version.

>>51451965
>Of course all the cities etc. are HUGELY out of scale
Yeah I got that, of course, but what I mean is that it's too sparse. There's like 5 major populations centers for the whole planet. Travel times would be insane in a low-tech society. Looks way too unrealistic to be a planet. There would be no contact at all between your cities on that map, unless you specifically introduce portals or something.

Just to provide an example: The distance between Babylon and Uruk is something like 100 miles. There were like 15 important cities in that stretch in 2000 BC.

Obviously you don't want to go around making hundreds of cities, so I suggest you focus on a smaller area, instead of trying to do a whole wide world. Something like 250 thousand miles (500 by 500 if it was a square) sounds very reasonable and gives you enough space to work with. Maybe double that if you want very long travel times.

>>51397351
I'm about to start planning a campaign for a few friends in dnd 3.5, and I've just got a kernel of an idea for a setting.
I know I want there to have been a huge cataclysm a hundred years or prior or so, which wiped out a good portion of every sentient race, leaving many abandoned and intricate cities and fortresses abandoned and full of death. As a result of this cataclysm, the orcs as a race are one of the big political forces, not like a Roman Empire but more like the mongols, brutal, and feared, but still somewhat contained geographically
Maybe the orcs are the result of what led to the cataclysm, an engineered race or caste which turned on the faction that created them (elves or gnomes) and decimated them before establishing themselves. Think like the quarians and geth from mass effect.
Maybe this was due to a Big war between factions like human/elf/orc vs dwarf/gnome/halfling?
Additionally thanks to this huge cataclysm magic has a small chance to cause strange effects on the caster: change their hair color, give them a different voice, ect, haven't really thought on that too hard.

>so essentially post magical/natural cataclysm
>player races largely decimated, scattered villages and rebuilding cities
>orcs are a faction akin to the mongols
>casters are rare, due to both stigma and strange magical side effects
>big abandoned and slightly advances cities

Any ideas guys? It's kind of all fluid at the moment.

>>51452065
>>51452094
This is a lot better, but the leftmost river thing is...still a problem

Rivers don't split as they go downhill. At least, not for long. They split for a specific reason, and then the split goes away. One split dries up or something. That split you put in is unnatural as hell.

>>51452121
For some reason the first thing that popped into my head was that a rogue planet flew by and skimmed this world's atmosphere, causing a cataclysm that killed 60-70% of Everything.

And just as the planet flew off, it dropped off its last inhabitants. A few million Orcs...

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>>514Ok, I fixed it. I might start posting some of my lore to run it past you guys.

>>51452170
Shit, I meant to respond to this
>>51452124

>>51452150
Ha, so dnd set in a wh40k planet.

Honestly my first impulse was a huge war where someone made a super weapon. Maybe the elves made magic nuke and it caused a rip in the planes. Maybe the dwarves caused a volcano apocalypse via engineering stuff. Maybe a rogue planet skimmed by. That is pretty badass honestly.

>>51452189
>Ha, so dnd set in a wh40k planet.
There have been far stupider and far less metal settings.

I'd say throw all the shit you can at the wall. You can always take away, it's harder to add stuff later.

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I have an agricultural themed request; can anyone link or provide me some information first hand on "Tropical Agriculture" both modern and medieval?
I need information on crops and livestock.

Even if it's just a list of plants and animals for me to google- anything would help, but don't feel discouraged; thorough, autistic, text dumps would be appreciated as well.

I'm working on a tropical world that doesn't really see temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, but when it came to agriculture I had to stop everything and rethink what I was doing because I was applying northern/temperate climate agricultural norms to a people who'd be living in 25-30 Celsius weather consistently.

>>51452211
I mean I actually really like it but my group wouldn't get the references, they're all pretty normie. I may keep the rogue planet but make it a moon or something that got influenced mystically.
I'm kinda set on a high fantasy setting, but I also want some metal as fuck stuff.

>>51452265
Easy to refluff, and if it's a neat idea it won't matter that it slightly references something else.

The High Elves tried, in one last, mad bid to win the war, to summon the Moon to the Earth (insert Majora's Mask joke here). They were thwarted at the last possible moment, causing the "Moon" to merely skim the atmosphere.

The Gods were notably upset by all this, and so retroactively put Orcs on the Moon so they'd leap off riding their Dragon-Mounts as the atmospheres interacted. And then the Orcs killed/ate/raped the Elves to near extinction, exacting the God's revenge.

>>51452300
This is my first venture into this board. I like you people already

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>>51452310
You're good people anon.

What do you guys think of Realmworks?

>>51452367
>$50 bucks

>>51452389
I already have it, I just wanna know opinions.

>>51452402
Looks...interesting. I guess if you use similar programs you'd find it useful.

I have a notebook of lined paper. I'm good.

>>51452423
I've got my notebook too for when I'm at work and such, this is just real nice for organizing stuff. The automatic linking is nice, and the fog of world is convenient for sharing info with players if you don't wanna have to do a full session 0 just for lore.

>>51452440
That'd be neat. I'd be most interested in their map program though. How is it?

>>51452121
>>51452300
>>51452350
Easier to type now that im not phone posting:

>In ancient days, there were only the humans, the progenitor race.
>They warred among themselves, creating many tools of conquest, and high walled cities filled with intricate defenses.
>Their mages and magisters were numerous and well attuned to the wonders of the old Gods.
>One faction which came to great prominence believed their godling was within the moon of [insert name of earthly planet].
>These humans would gradually become more attuned to the mystical arts, warping and changng them into [insert elven qualities]
>another worshiped the earth god, becoming dwarves
>insert more gods and elements for other races
>They warred among themselves, creating many tools of conquest, and high walled cities filled with intricate defenses.
>As the wars progressed, the worshipers of the moon began to craft a ritual to bring their fledgling moon god to earth
>they believed this would bring them acention and oneness with their diety
>The earthen people, who had previously crafted many implements of science and war, sought to create a new army to stop this ritual
>they experimented on baseline humans
>this produced many monsterous offshoots
>the most resilient of these was the proto-orcs
>these creatures would be mass produced and march on the elf capital
> as the army approached, creating destruction and chaos in their wake, the elves attempted to summon their moon god
> the ritual/and or stopped ritual caused the moon to skim the planet
>a large chunk was carved off the earth and cast into another plane
>the populations were decimated, every race save the dwarves in their hidden cities was nearly wiped out by the blast, both physical and divine/mystical
>the resilient orcs also managed to take less damage and turned on their masters, laying waste to the remaining dwarf cities and leaving to the now rulerless wilds.
>several hundred years pass, all the races begin to rebuild
cont in next post

>>51452489
>tensions are largely forgotten between the races. simple survival and subsistence in the treacherous wilds takes precidence
>hamlets and villages form in the world, some taking refuge in abandoned cities.
>however, the area where the moon carved out is filled with stranger monsters and strange magical plant life
>few live there, save the mongol-like horde of the orcs
>the peoples of the world have mostly forgotten this history
>many of the sages and magicians of old were killed by the magic blastwave of the moon god
> magic now has strange consequences, theres always a chance of a small magical backfire

In this world they can just explore, find old lore and history, or maybe deal with the orc kingdom, older and more brutal than the fledgling survivor races. Maybe they can go to the shattered plane that was carved off in the impact.

>>51452463
Sorry it took a bit. I'm back now. Which map tool are you referring to?

>>51452646
Realmworks.

>>51397351
I'll write about the Eastern Patri, since they're a favorite of mine. Gruff sorta-Balkan sorta-gypsy people who got absorbed into a pseudo-Roman culture.

>What's a high-end fancy food?
Truffles and marshmallow are both fairly expensive, along with mulled pear wine. Monkfish, octopus and sea urchin are higher-end seafood, whereas venison, beef and pheasant are the pricey meats.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops?
Snail soup and bread is the common staple inland, whereas salt fish, cockles, oysters and potatoes are the staples of coastal dock workers.
As far as crops are concerned, the region is best known for producing yellow potatoes, a few rice cultivars, oats and clover (for honey and animal feed), along with several varieties of pear originally brought over from Gi'Siva and bred for the environment. Red Roasters, Silk Whites and Green Rock pears are a few notable examples.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Goats are the most common, domesticated from the local mountain goats. There are some sheep far inland, but not many. Easterners also have their own breed of potbelly pigs. Geese have been adopted from Tieri Patri proper, to the south, and their eggs are enjoyed in modern times. Cattle are low in number, and primarily used as beasts of burden for the fields rather than for milk (more often goat milk is used) beef or leather (chamois and seal leather being more popular).

>>51452653
Ain't a map tool. It's a world planning tool. You put in your own maps and such.

>>51452659

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Black and tuxedo cats are popular in cities and on ships, since they kill off rats that might otherwise damage expensive cargo. Eastern Patri also have their own breeds of dog, including droops (basset hounds), hatchetheads (bull terriers) and cliff-dogs (puffin hounds). Also popular are pigs, enjoyed as family pets in wealthy homes, and sea otters, who can be trained by fishermen to retrieve valuable sea urchins.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
"The last five years" is a very difficult qualification, because I tend to set my roleplays and stories within periods rather than during one specific time, but most shake-ups in the East revolve around governors favoring the Empire over their own people. The Eastern Patri have always had a somewhat adversarial relationship with the true Patri, so when a region's governor favors, say, Imperial trade to Easterner business, it can get hairy.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture?
Because of Eastern Tieri Patri's location, they've been a trading center for centuries. As such, a lot of their culture, from architecture to cooking, has seen foreign influence. Most recently, though, sailors have brought the tradition of fencing over from the nearby Stony Isles.

>How many people typically live in a single household?
Depends on whether you're a city mouse or a country mouse, but eastern households are generally smaller than elsewhere and contain fewer generations. In the cities this is especially the case, due to the nature of housing. Young families-- generally men with their mistresses or couples with their children-- will take insulae near the docks, whereas middle-aged and older persons will save up to purchase their own homes.

>>51452905
Nevermind then. I thought the website said there were map tools.

>>51452936
>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Eastern musicians perform long songs with complex lyrics (usually fictional stories in verse) and an array of backup instruments. These include the Jeweler's Horn, a device similar to a French Horn that's made from a nautilus shell, and a melancholy driftwood instrument called a bow-harp.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Being a pragmatic people, most Easterners don't follow fashions. However, carrying a rapier has come into fashion as a result of the weapon's explosive popularity further south.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"Don't piss in your shoals" is a popular saying among fishermen, an urge to keep priorities straight. Equally popular is the adage "Shit is easier shoveled when dry," borrowed from an older Patri expression. It means "better to allow a situation to cool down before addressing it."

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
"Lying rots your teeth" for fibbing children, "the bread crusts make your hair shiny" for fussy eaters. There is of course the old "raw oyster is an aphrodisiac" superstition. One particularly fun belief is that there are stashes of old Patri coins under the ocean guarded by skeletons, where Imperial emissaries were force-fed them by rebel Easterners before being thrown into the ocean as rejection of the bribes of the early Empire.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
Pretty much all Eastern governors get stuff made up about them. Accusations of being pedophiles, coprophages or hermaphrodites abound.

>How might people spend their leisure time?
Whittling, playing dice, card games, telling stories, boat-racing, stuff like that. Fishing, hunting and archery are also popular.

When doing currency, do you come up with your own names for it, use historical currencies (shekels, mina, talents, taels, drachma, denarii, etc.) or just "coins"?

>>51453464
I prefer to come up with my own names. Unless it's sci-fi, in which case it is always credits across every sci-fi universe and shall forever be credits across every sci-fi universe.

Right now I've got sterlings in my main project and drops and bars in my side project.

>>51453464
While I like making up local terms for coinage, ultimately I and my players will just fall back on gold piece, silver piece, and copper.

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>promise yourself you're going to work on your world
>don't
Look guys, I added a whooole new chapter! Oh, and made the text actually readable as well.

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>>51453800
And here's my "side project" which is a history. Nothing new added to this though.

How do you approach deep time when building worlds?

> The world formed over millions of years with plate tectonics, sediments, etc

> The world was made less than a million years ago by $deities and they formed their territories into what they liked.

> The world was made less than a million years ago by $deities but they made it look much older for reasons, with sandstones and canyons and such

>>51450484

>What is the capitol of your setting's greatest empire?
It is known as Capital City. Originally known as Rogers Town after Roger the Miner found iron and founded a small mine there. It grew and was later renamed. At its height the population was around 2 million inhabitants. A gigantic metropolis and biggest city in Western Kingdom's.

>Does it have a founding myth?
Roger the Miner was searching for metals in the area. There is multiple old volcanoes in the area. These volcanoes have been inactive for millions of years. Roger found the mine and slowly, but steadily his operation grew. Small village was formed.

>How did the empire form?
As time went on. Roger died, but the mine didn't. It grew into small town, then into a city. Nehrovian Empire captured the mountain and the city in one of their early campaigns. Deciding to move their capital into better place, Rogers Town was chosen. The city grew as water was diverted from two rivers with canals. With mines underneath the city providing metals and riches and farms providing food, the city grew.

>Who ultimately destroys the empire first? Its enemies or itself?
Garban the Fiends arrival was heralded by blackening skies. The mines were struck by cave ins and earthquakes. The Capital City became to point where The Fiends arrived. A great horde of demons materialized inside the mines and spread out killing and enslaving everyone they saw. The city was theirs.

In the next decade Capital City went through a transformation as its overall quality deteriorated and finally after Garban and The Fiends were beaten, Dragons went to the city and burned it. There was no trace of Garban. The city was abandoned, but Nehrovian remnants haven't managed to recapture it. The ruins are invested with Fiends and other creatures.


Finally managed to think name for the "Burning Legion" and the BBEG. Not that original name, but I don't mind.

>>51455223

> The world formed over millions of years with plate tectonics, sediments, etc

This. Gods did have their fingers in the mix, but didn't do much.

Making my own setting for the first time

Gonna be a world that is now 95% water, most people live on ships or floating barge cities, filled with pirates and various sea monsters
Having fun so far

What's the /wbg/'s take on the old "mankind used to be super advanced but then forgot everything" trope?

Working on a setting that involves giant mecha but I want to keep the world otherwise stagnant. So my cop-out is that mankind used to be super-advanced but centuries ago an apocalyptic event ravaged the world, killing off 90% of mankind and destroying pretty much everything. Mankind is slowly recovering and technology wise they caught up with the present, with some future tech mixed in.

Is this too silly? The alternative is "random scientific discovery makes highly inefficient design super gud" and I am not sure if that's better than this setting.

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I added some more rivers. It's such a tedious work - especially that my photoshop is lagging at the size.

>>51456619
The Romans had indoor plumbing. Losing technology can happen. And my setting leans heavily on that basic idea.

Mechas might strain credulity there, especially is people can operate and repair them, but there's nothing inherently wrong with the concept.

>>51456757
It looks bloody good,but because your map is so realistic some of the rivers feel too smooth and straight. More zigzagging.

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>>51453548
Having pained over it myself, it's honestly not too unreasonable of a system to stick with. There's a reason why the archetype exists, after all; it's not unheard of for societies to use different metals in coins to denote different values. The only difference I have in my current project is that I use little bronze coins, large brass coins and silvers for internal trade, and gold for international trade.

>>51457428
I use grain into gold as basis for the economy and because it uses gold-silver-copper it is quite easy to understand.

No need to have conversion charts or what ever for different currencies.

>>51456757
The ones coming off the lake look really good.

>>51456982
https://youtu.be/8a3r-cG8Wic

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>>51453464
I come up with my own names for currency, though I do sometimes use generic names such as crowns and marks.

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>>51457428
>>51461796
I'm thinking about buy a kilo of assorted coins from all over the world to use as counters. It costs ~$10
Do your players use counters?

>>51462737
>kilo of assorted coins
Where would one buy such a thing?

>>51462774

Not him but I can think of several uses.

>>51462814
So can I, that's why I'm asking where to buy it.

>>51462834

Stupid me read that as your "where" as "why", I apologize.

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>>51462774
In Poland:
http://allegro.pl/monety-zagraniczne-mix-100-sztuk-hit-okazja-i6204273037.html
(okay, that's actually about half a kilo)

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>>51462737
Don't remind me that I don't have players...

>>51462870
That's pretty cheap. Looking around it looks like I could get a pound for ~$20.

About the same price as poker chips, also more compact, but probably harder to count on the fly.

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I have no idea how I'm going to convert this to the new Inkarnate art style.

>>51397351
For three thousand and a thousand more years, the Totiche knew only peace under the guidance of the Sacred Stone. Then, one day a fight broke out between two brothers, and in the course of their fight, the brothers tipped over the Stone - furious, the Spirit that had been living within it, spoke a curse unto the brothers. "From this day until the Next World dawns, whenever one of his sees one of yours, they shall fight and go to war.". This is how the Totiche and the Shunga-Kiyans became enemies and the first war began.

>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
sugar-baked pumpkin pie and oddly enough, popcorn

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
the Totiche cultivate maize, pumpkins and a variety of beets. a typical peasant diet consists almost entirely of bread made from maize, at least seven kinds of beets (that all look, smell and taste the same to outsiders) and acorns.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?
llamas. the Totiche love them some llamas, and have bred theirs to be much stronger and taller than other nations', with some of them even being able to carry a rider like a horse. they are mostly used to pull carts and produce a particularly awful smelling kind of wool, which is used to make clothing. smaller, woollier breeds of llama are kept as pets by high ranking families to show off at gatherings.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
the reign of Otré of the Four Mounds saw a great civil war among the four great clans of the Totiche, to which she responded with the Great Armistice, which made hiring a mercenary or becoming one illegal and punishable by mutilation (cutting off one or both thumbs), severely crippling her kingdom in the process because its greatest export was, before that, mercenaries.

Whats a good name for the material Dark Elves make out of darkness.

Umbranite?

>>51465550
>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
horses (since they came from beyond the sea), guns (which the Totiche mercenaries were eager to adopt and master) and alcohol (frowned upon, since everyone knows the *proper* way to get wasted is by smoking a shit ton of weed)

>How many people typically live in a single household?
a married couple and their children (oldest daughter stays and inherits the house, oldest son is expected to marry another couple's oldest daughter and move in with her, other children stay until marriage), which makes about 4-7 people per household.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
checker patterns. almost everyone's "good suit" has a black and white checker pattern on it since the royal family made it the official symbol of Totiche unity (two black squares for the North-Eastern and South-Western clans, two white squares for the North-Western and South-Eastern; all four touch at one point in the middle, which symbolizes the King/Queen - one small point that unites four great families)

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"To have a brother in every village", means to always be asking for undeserved favors from literally everyone with no intention of doing anything in return.

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
if you look at the full moon with only one eye, you will never be able to close both eyes at the same time for a whole lunar cycle. looking at the moon directly is also taboo, since moonlight can cause infertility

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
if you believe the rumors, Queen Otré has at least two bastard sons from each of the four clan chiefs, one of these sons is half-dog and can only leave the house on a leash and she also castrated her (legitimate) son when he was five years old.

>>51465710
I don't see why not.

>>51397351
>What's a high end fancy food in your setting?

On the water world of Hikai, there is a species of squid-like animal known as the Red Obankai. About two feet long and with tentacles scratching back as far as six feet, its body is protected by thousands of thin red spines which protect it from predators. These spines secrete a poison which is deadly to most creatures of Hikai, but is harmless to aliens. When properly cooked, the spines melt onto the body and release their poison, giving the Obankai a crunchy texture and a distinct and highly valued flavor.

Native primarily to regions around the Ban Ban islands and the Low Coast - they require shallow water to breed - Obankai are widely enjoyed on Hikai proper, but are difficult to transport and store and so are considered a delicacy offworld. In in Isvalter high society, a whole Obankai makes a popular centerpiece for banquets, where it is usually served with in an azer wine sauce with Azer. Their tentacles are also cut up and fried, making a dish similar to calamari.

Rate my fish food.

>>51468617
I'm not Zagat's.

Bumpin before it falls off, this board has become hella slow.

>>51397351
>that filename

Vitut on.

>>51472244
:^)

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Cross posting if there is anything I should change with the silhouette (coastlines, how thick/thin stuff is) for map:

>>51471956

wanted second pair of eyes.

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I used a in browser program a while a go to start on a map for a campaign I am planing. This is an image I saved, does anybody know what site/program this is? I can't find it again and would appreciate some help.

>>51397989
>>51401982
I assume you're not trying to impress actual linguists and you only want verisimilitude, right?

Then just look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm's_law
and roughly copy the evolution.
Also take a glance at Japanese to see what consonants are closely related (ex k and g; t, ch, d and dz; h, b and v) because this is applicable to most other languages.

As for the actual causes it's better not to worry about them in this context. Shit changed because it did.

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>>51397351

(Part 1/2)

>>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Dragon's tongue, cooked in it's own bonemarrow, served with cloudberry sauce.

>>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Basically the same as irl, from potatoes to rice.

>>What are some animals kept as livestock?
Cloud Mantas; the gas from their gas bladders is used to make balloons and small zeppelins.

>>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
Pygmy wyverns; the size of hunting eagles, but cabable of catching even bigger prey.

>>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
The more widespread realization that both the Empire and the Pharonate have troops on the Dragon Islands, even though both parties have specifically agreed to keep that region demilitarized and their forces away from there.

>>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
Chairs. Most people still can't get their mind around the idea of furniture designed solely for one to place their arse on.

>>How many people typically live in a single household?
It's not unusual to entire three generations of one family to live under the same roof, meaning about 5-15 persons.

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>>51472910

(Part 2/2)

>>What kind of music do people enjoy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZMHLwjLfy8

>>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Gloves going all the way to the elbow. Also white fur trims on coats.

>>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
'''Titles on a woman are as attractive as tits on man.'''

>>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
Men can increase the longevity of their lives by having lots of sex - but without relief (orgasm).

>>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
A Triarch in a heartland Warhost is said to suffer from chronic speech shyness, unable to make briefings in front of his entire warband without blushing red as rowan. To alleviate his slight all his men now paint their faces red, thus maintaining uniformity with their commanding officer during briefings.

>>How might people spend their leisure time?
Hunting, sex. Sometimes sex during hunts.

>>51452251
>Tropical Agriculture

That's a pretty broad subject anon.

>>51453464
I name currencies after units of weight unless I have a good reason not to (eg "crowns" because kingdom etc.)

>>51452251
Define continent, define specific climate.
"Tropical agriculture" is so fucking broad and abstract, it can encompase pretty much all form of known agriculture

In short - tell us what are you trying to build in the setting and help can be applied.

>>51473296
>>51452251
Also
>Single biome planet
Don't do that, pretty please. Unless it's an elaborate simulation on Alderson Disk, there is no way you can pull that, and that simulation is such massive stretch, it defeats the purpose.

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I'm making up a branch of an interstellar faction, and after reading about the French Foreign Legion I kind of want to base some of the crazy shit off of that. What are some really crazy military practices that you'd have to be nuts to suffer through?
So far the foreign legion has
>Hazing
>Disregard for physical and mental health
>Physical violence used to overcome the language barrier
>Strip you of your identity
>Give you a new name
>Basically fucking brainwash you and emphasize you to "forget your past life"
>I'm aware of how much this sounds like a cult
The faction also isn't human run, and humans aren't "major players" in this universe
Don't hold back, give me the craziest suggestions you have.

>the story begins in a new setting in one of the few new settlements on a recently discovered continent
>aside from the unexplored continent the adventure takes place on, the rest of the world is completely blank, left to players to fill out with their backstories

is that a dickish and lazy move?

>>51473306
most known planets are single-biome

>>51397989
>But I cant understend/find information about phonological constraints of PIE
What type of information are you looking for more specifically?

Creating a proto-lang is not really any different from creating any other conlang, so just create one - you don't have to worry about making it sound primitive or anything like that because languages don't work that way.

So choose your phonetic inventory. PIE had a rather extensive selection of plosives with an unvoiced series, a voiced series, and a breathy voiced series, as well as a three-way distinction among the velar plosives between palatalized, plain, and labialized variants. Having these types of distinctions between otherwise similar consonants leads to an easy way create distinct daughter languages as they seldom keep them in their entirety, but the way they are reduced varies greatly.

For example, let's say that you create a proto-lang with a plain series of both voiced and unvoiced plosives, as well as a prenasalized series of voiced plosives. From there there are several different paths your daughter langs can take. Language A might simply combine the prenasalized series with the voiced series, while Language B turns them into pure nasal consonants, and Language C turns the unvoiced series into fricatives, the voiced plosives into unvoiced plosives, and the prenasalized plosives into plain voiced plosives.

Maybe you have a three-way distinction among the coronal consonants between dental, alveolar, and retroflex. Language A might lose the distinction entirely turning all three series into simple alveolar consonants, while Language B might combine the dental and alveolar series but keep the retroflex series, and Language C turns the retroflex series into palatal consonants, and keeps the dental and alveolar series.

Gender, cases and number are also great little things you can play around with as those are also easy to change around in different ways throughout the daughter languages.

>>51473580
Most planets don't have the same variation of temperatures as the Earth or as much water as Earth has, two factors that lead to a variety of biomes on our planet instead of 'freezing cold lifeless desert' or 'boiling hot lifeless desert.'

>>51473313
>What are some really crazy military practices that you'd have to be nuts to suffer through?

Not a military practise per say, but having your entire body liquified and reconstructed again, you know, like caterpillars inside a cocoon before they turn into butterflies would horrendous as fuck.

what could be interesting alien/inhuman economy systems? mainly meaning buyer-seller relationships and wealth distribution, but also interesting currencies

>>51474148
>Gender, cases and number
Before that though, it' also a good time to decide how synthetic you want your proto-lang to be. That is, how long do words get. Can you say something simple like "I hunt" with a single word or do you have to use several? How about more complex concepts, such as "I hunt fox in the morning"? And also wether it is agglutinative, fusional, or isolating as daughter languages are likely to be similar in this regard, though not identical. For example, some daughters of an agglutinative language might start to become fusional by fusing the pre- and postfixes together in complex words and some might start to become more isolating by turning said pre- and postfixes into words of their own.

There's also many other small neat things you can toy around with such as ergativity, but if you want to keep it simple just go with the nomative-ackusative system as that's likely what you're used to seeing as it's the more common one in the real world's languages.

>>51473580
Most planets don't have a biome because they lack the "bio" part. Because they're too uniform. You won't have a life on a desert planet because it's, well, desert.

>>51474543

I think it's far easier and fun to come up with neat forms of currency than entire alien/inhuman economy systems...

Also every market system has room for black markets and contraband products.

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>>51397351
>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Due to low as fuck temperatures, the mot valuable foods are those made with "garugant fruit" (basically tropical fruits, plus strawberries and other more fantastic stuff). Only the Dwarven empire and some elven smugglers can get this.


>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?

As i said, low as fuck temperatures. So basically green and boring ones as cabbage, peas, barley and that kind of thing. In the napaxian republic the main dish for a commoner is a special bread who is let to grow mold with special oils in order to make it more nutritious and taste better (the bread tastes horribly)

>What are some animals kept as livestock?

Due to the absence of mammals, keeping livestock is very difficult. The turtle clans of the dwarves are called like that because they herd giant turtles (not actually that big) adapted to extreme temperatures. They use them for meat, for finding roots and mushrooms below the snow, for flamable oil and for their scales and shell, making them the more profitable livestock. Human tribes actually tamed ceratopsids as mounts and livestock for farming while many other tribes know how to use deinonychus as transports and war mounts.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?

Penguins are popular between dwarves. They help with the fishing and are cute.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?

The gnome league of Doimon recently started to create ice golems to replace slaves. That has created a myriad of conflicts between many city-states, one side favoring good ol' slavery (and the use of undead slaves) and the other prefering the dependency on doimon gnomes that the cruelty of slavery.

>>51475351
>cabbage
>boring

cyka blyat shto?

>>51472695
looks like inkarnate.com

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Oi, oi, is this guy using textures and objects that are no longer on Inkarnate? I can't seem to find them.

>>51474200
seconding this

>>51397351
>>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?
Exotic fruit and meat from the part nobody wants to visit without an army to back them up.
>>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?
Wheat, rye and oat based foods.
>>What are some animals kept as livestock?
The usual ones
>>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?
The usual ones+some exotic creatures from the aforementioned no-no-land
>>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?
When the lich emperor declared that he doesn't give a damn about the rebels of his country and lets them riot as they please because they are of no consequence to the grand scheme of things. This made a lot of the bureaucrat necromancers unhappy because it meant more paperwork due to complaints from the non-necromancer citizens (all 1000 of them)
>>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?
I don't understand what this is supposed to mean
>>How many people typically live in a single household?
1-20+ depending on how many close relatives share the same house
>>What kind of music do people enjoy?
Traditional
>>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?
Thick, purple dyed wintercoats during all seasons. It is currently a highly profitable year to clinics and hospitals due to a rising number of heat stroke victims.
>>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?
"No gods, only kings" referring to the demi-god kings of the world
"Self-centered-egotistical-pricks" common slang for necromancers
>>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?
What?
>>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?
The assassin king and the singing empress are on cahoots to over throw the king of trolls so they can have the majority vote on whether or not the kings can marry one another
>>How might people spend their leisure time?
Well, there is a McDonalds type chain of brothels.....

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>be an artfag
>degrees and shit in visual arts/graphic design
>want to build a sci-fi world set in 40th century milky way
>do a lot of research
>map out the galaxy
>think of different cultures/factions/alien races and what they could look like
>go for Moebius-meets-star-wars type aesthetic
>look up some random art as reference for my sessions
>nothing matches the look I'm going for
>shortly realize I might have to design and illustrate everything my self

Fuck

>>51479508
Theater of the mind. You can give them few illustrations that are what you are looking for to give people the IDEA of what other things would look like in there.

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Okay listen!

Byzantine Empire, but with dragon!

>>51479723
Immortal smart leader ruling a big empire could probably prevent Byzantium from falling.

>>51480211
Byzantine Empire with immortal ruler and dragons!

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>>51473306
>>51473296
>>51473061

Alright, let me rephrase myself:

I need to know how Agriculture gets done in these following hot, "tropical" environments:

-Semi-Arid and Semi-Humid Grasslands/Savannas (Think Long Grass vs Short Grass lands with those 'finger lakes' and dotting marshland)

-Dry & Wet Rainforests/Jungles (One sees a wet season, the other sees a drought season.)

-Volcanic Marshes & Badlands (Think of like an rpg-style lava biome: boiling gyser lakes n' rivers, volcanic activity, soot, black rock, constantly overcast, etc. If I had to give a RL example maybe imagine a freshly cooled volcanic island or an environment that would see daily forest fires.)

-Those southern states/alberta style badlands. I don't actually know what they're officially called, but they have that nice picturesque red-rock and the sediment lines due to being dried out ocean or whatever.

-Archipelagos/Tropical islands loosely connected by large stretches of shallow ocean (we're talking rarely going deeper than about 150ft)

Lowest Temperature is about 10 Celsius, Highest is 55 Celsius, Average I'd say about 29-30 Celsius.

>>51473306
>Single biome planet

It's a single biome planet in the sense that it sees universally consistent warm tropical temperatures, but that's where the similarities end- it has a wide variety of hot, humid, and arid environments spreading across it's globe. It isn't just a single "jungle".

I understand this is a LOT to cover and I'm certainly not expecting one Anon to just provide me with all of the answers, but this is basically everything I need to know/learn about.
Any information would help.

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What makes a setting/location with larger, fewer nations vs many smaller nations?

>>51482514
what makes a setting DO WHAT anon?

>>51397351
I've tried making bread and it always ends up being really dense and not fluffy and airy. Am I over-proofing it by proofing it for 90 minutes? Am I not kneading it enough? What can I do to make it like fluffy, stringy French Bread?

>>51477038
You can add your own custom textures and icons to Inkarnate.

>>51482589
MORE
YEAST

>>51482600
But I already followed the instructions on the use of the yeast. I'm not even sure if I'm jumpstarting the yeast right with the sugar and warm water though.

>>51482563
have* larger and fewer nations, versus having smaller and more nations.

In terms of historical events, geography, resources etc. etc.

>>51482998
a lot of varied factors that can't all be described in sufficient detail in one post

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>>51483052
let's just start with one.

>>51397351
>What's a high-end fancy food in your setting?

Mince Pies, but like Christmas ones, filled with a bunch of sweet fruit, spices and some meat, the amount of ingredients is the thing that makes it expensive.

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?

Bread with eggs, whats plentiful and chickens lay an egg everyday and are easy to care for. Smallport (A port city run by halflings) is renowned for its crab dishes though that many non farm based commoners eat.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?

Usual real world stuff, cows chicken and pigs. There are tribes in a far off land that the party is heading too that farms Lamas so that's kinda different.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?

Dogs and cats, Some rich nobles like to make a show of owning animals that may be on their crest such as lions, Oozes or other stuff.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?

A new continent thought only to exist in legends as a far off land has recently been discovered, its now a race for the different empires to settle on the land of notamerica whilst taming the wild mythical creatures that live there.

>What's something foreign that's seen within the culture (like sushi or yoga)?

Recently corn was gifted to settlers, that's new. Most probably monks and martial arts in general.

>How many people typically live in a single household?

Might be around 6-8, there some really large familys.

>What kind of music do people enjoy?

Folk songs and ballads that tell the tales of distant long lost heroes, you get a song and a story for that copper piece you paid, whats not to love.

>What's a fashion trend that's currently in vogue or which has been recently?

Settlers wearing uniforms of soldiers has caught in the colonies as the line between settler and soldier blur.

>>51483268
geographically fractured regions like mountains with many vales will be more likely to have either many small units of government because every one of them is remote and hard to reach (Switzerland) OR a big one on top of them precisely because of how remote they are, making them dependant on outsiders for trade (Tyrol, Upper Austria).

regions that are mostly flat with few things like big rivers or mountain ranges blocking passage will have great kingdoms covering lots of ground simply because it is easy for an army to conquer and defend and offers lots of farmland (Brandenburg, Hungary) OR will be riddled with small sovereign states because of how easy it is to defend a small patch of land against your neighbour and still have enough farmland to provide for the population (most of the Holy Roman Empire)

TL;DR: there are a number of reasons and every single one is valid as long as you can justify it

>>51483345
cont.

>What are some common sayings, truisms, or slang terms?

'Church don't seem like church no more'
'Watch your pockets around halfings'
'Don't piss on a fire'

>What is an old wives' tale in your setting?

There used to be another school of Druidism, that with enough concentration, allowed them to traverse the wilds in mere moments, crossing oceans and mountain as it they were well trodden paths to a friends house, some say their skills of traveling were so great, that they all left on a journey to explore all the planes of existence, and that after crossing them all, shall return home to either lead the world into harmony or destroy all that man has created.

>What's a popular rumor about a monarch or other leader?

The king may have lost his most beloved son, as he hasn't been seen for months in the royal palaces, despite what the king says.

>How might people spend their leisure time?

Card and dice games are popular, as are dog fighting pits, races and traveling circuses that put on amazing shows.

I'm trying to come up with a way to stop there from being "Half-whatevers", and I was wondering if you guys could help me.

I really like the way The Elder Scrolls handled it with the child always being the mother's race, but having a few traits from the father but I don't want to just say "How TES does it". Would it be better if I were to say that something like it's ht race of the respective parent's gender (Not!Dwarf Mother and Not!Elf Father have Not!Dwarf Daughter and Not!Elf Son) or is there a better way for dealing with this in-setting?

>>51483498
Just gonna say I don't understand why autists are suddenly against Half-whatevers (to use the scientific term) on /tg/, but whatever.
Pick one:
>Half-Breeds are sterile.
>Half-breeds take after the same gendered parent.
>Half-breeds take after the opposite gendered parent.
>Half-breeds get to choose which race they take after when they mature
>Half-breeds are always one race, which makes the other half of the combo mad (ala Dragon Age)
>Half-breeds don't exist

>>51483572
>Half-Breeds are sterile.
I like this one, that's how I handle it in my setting. Humans can breed with Elves and Dwarves (because they're genetically close to both) but the result is something like a Mule or a Liger.

Sterile, but larger, stronger, hardier and uglier than any of the parent species.

>>51483572
Not really against it, I just wanted to make a setting detail, and it can be somewhat tedious to deal with a player's stats, interaction, and backstory if they want to play a Quarter-Elf, Quarter-Orc, Half-Dwarf; or want to at least know how in the hell that would work out if that situation were to arise.

Thank you.

>>51483393
Ty for elaborating anon

>>51483642
>Quarter-Elf, Quarter-Orc, Half-Dwarf
Those actually sound like fun. I might make a setting that uses those. Thank you!

>>51483498
1.) Don't have races, everyone's human aka put on your big boy pants

2.) Races are so far apart genetically that they can't reproduce with one another, and sexual attraction is rare.

I used the latter in a DnD homebrew setting that had orcs who were descended from boar-men, wild boars that had their genome altered by immor(t)al wizards who wanted to raise an army. Humans can't mate with orcs nor do they want to since 8ft tall women with four tiddies covered in bristle aren't exactly "sexy" - same goes for orcs, who can't get off to weird naked noodle people.

>>51483679
>put on your big boy pant
Haha, well meme'd.

Okay, real talk? I like human-only, but if I could just have a handful on non-human NPCs walking around, that'd be perfect.

>sexual attraction is rare
Where do you think we are?

>>51483679
All the different races are human, just genetic differences. Not!Elves are slightly longer lived humans with pointy ears and a talent for magic and Not!Dwarves are the most populous humans who are shorter and more militarily expansionist types, but these physical traits are mundane and not viewed any different than IRL Blacks having wiry hair and being prone to keloids

>>51483726
Of course there's gonna be perverts who want to do it with an orc, but it'd be like having sex with a chimpanzee: awkward, shameful and not resulting in offspring.

>>51483768
You're a real big boy now, son.

>>51483790
Th-thank you papa

>>51483572
I'm going with the sterile reasoning in my setting.

As for suddenly being against half-whatevers, I can't speak for anyone else but I feel you sort of dilute the independent identity of each race if they breed with each other enough that there's a bunch of half-breeds walking around (and unless the different races rarely encounter each other or only recently discovered each other, there's no reason for hybrids not to be at least somewhat common, if they can procreate with each other.) It sort of defeats the novelty of having different non-human races.

For example, in the Warcraft universe there is Medan, a protagonist who is of no particular race since he's a human/orc/draenei mix, and it comes off kind of silly in a setting that's mainly about the struggle between different archetypal fantasy races.

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>>51483663

>>51397351

>What's a food for commoners? What are some crops grown in your setting?

In the more temperate and warmer regions, probably the third most widely consumed grain crop is sorghum, which is also processed into a dark syrup that is the second most popular sweetener, after honey.

>What are some animals kept as livestock?

Pigs, goats, and sheep are the most commonly kept for food. Horses, mules, and oxen for labor and burden.

Deep in the cold forested regions far to the south, Snow Elves keep herd giant hares for their meat and fleece. Harewool is prized for its warming capabilities.

>What kinds of animals are kept as pets?

Commoners will often have pets that also have practical uses. Dogs, cats, ferrets and the like.

Some young nobles have recently taken to keeping fancy-bred Rats as pets. With many unique traits and breeds popping up with generations of specific breeding.

>What's the biggest political shake-up in the last five years?

Not five years, but ten. Ten years ago one of the Kings of one of the Elvish Kingdoms abdicated the throne to his eldest son, retiring to a life of study and time with his descendants.

What should I call the Not-Egypt in my Not-Europe setting?

>>51484471
Djelibeybi.

>>51484471
If it's not too important to the setting or your players aren't that well read, you can always go for Kemet, Hout-ka Ptah or Misr.

>>51484659
>>51484471
Or just fuck with them and call it Klatch.

>>51399980
>stay awhile and listen
Ye bastairt!

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>have almost no worldbuilding-focused thoughts for weeks
>suddenly realize I need to re-think the logic on how bacteria/viruses function in my setting's metaphysics, considering healing magic is a natural phenomenon
>likewise; how toxins work if chemistry doesn't function the same as reality. Are they all some mineral, grounded in primal earth/acid particles?
This is going to be a long week.

>>51485031
>Do diseases affect the various different humanoid races differently? Do some only affect certain groups, or groups with certain bloodlines?
>Why hasn't there been a Black Plague-tier calamity, with unaffected intelligent humanoids spreading disease to affected ones?
>Two words: Smallpox Blankets
Make it stop

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>>51484659
Thanks dude.

>>51485031
What if they are contagious curses brought upon by spirits, gods, and demons in a similar way that a primitive human culture would understand it.

You could even pose a god of pestilence and disease that is always finding new ways of tricking humans into catching it's diseases (Drinking out of a river or eating raw meat) and end the stories with how humans outwit him (By boiling water and cooking meat). Occasionally he creates Blights and causes infant mortality, but he can be placated with offerings or by magical/holy healing.

>>51485031
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory

>>51485186
Problem being that the cosmology is set in stone; there's a Demiurge and nothing else. "Angels/Demons" are constructs from the collective psyche, and only exist though magic.

Having them be minute nature spirits, possibly existing somewhere on the positive/negative energy spectrum. They'd be closer to bacteria than anything, but behave like viruses. I've already reasoned that negative energy behaves similarly to what >>51485240 linked.

>>51485253
Can already tell I'm back in the worldbuilding mindset, I dropped an idea mid-sentence.

Elaborating further; if diseases exist in the form of naturally-occurring spirits then it'd make sense if non-specific healing magic does nothing to treat them, and might make them -worse-. Could even have a not!Cancer, in theory.
I'm sure in-setting doctors would classify diseases based on how they're transmitted and what signature they have, considering we're not limited to "mundane" effects. Gives a reason for herbalists to gather specific plants, too, since natural remedies would be fitting to chase away a hazardous spirit.

>>51485336
It also makes Healers be respected, well educated, and renowned. It's not like you can just cast Cure Disease, you have to know the specific disease and how to rid it. So even this change would have a societal impact.

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>>51485389
Also means you can have a variety of healers, like the real world has a variety of doctors.
>Dwarven Alchemist who's at the top of his field in identifying and neutralizing toxic substances
>Nomadic Beastman Druid with an herbal cure for nearly all common ailments
>Generic Humie Cleric who brute forces the common cold with FAITH

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>>51401850
Ursani, named after the old tongue's name for the Ur Sons, a race of bear folk who came before the humans that now live there, whose culture greatly influenced said humans. The crowned bear defends a home in turmoil, the dark blue, against outside threats of red.

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>>51485502
Tamnis, ruled by seven dukes with the common interest of the land's prosperity, their joint rule represented by the golden laurel of the old empire, the sky blue backing suggesting prosperity.

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>>51485532
And Etrus, that land which most resembles the culture of the old empire, the white sun representing the purity and sacrifice of the paladins of the old faith, and the coloration of its sunbeams showing reverence for the country that once encompassed all humanity on the continent.

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To summarize:
>Toxin-based illness is the most common. Most are minerals, such as lead-poisoning affecting spellcasting ability or an apprentice Artificer suffering from acute Gold Lung from dust inhalation.
>Negative Energy-based diseases, often the result of eating rotting foods or improperly disposed-of filth. To quote the Emperor: "Healthy young Adventurer goes into a tomb, gets a massive dose of Negative Energy, doesn't feel so good and suffers from Necromancer's Blight. Many such cases!"
>Racial-specific illnesses. Generally not an "illness" at all, just symptoms resulting from exposure or something similar. Sea-based Naga pops into a freshwater hotspring, feels ill for a couple hours. Big Ol' Polar Ursinefolk eats from weird fruit from the South Shore, has a stomach ache for days. etc
I like it, this is some good brainstorming.

>>51402159
Magic isn't limited to spells described in the players handbook. Old rituals that took decades or centuries to enact could keep the city relatively safe from massive outbreaks of disease and other such things that prevented cities from becoming so fuckhueg back in the day.

>>51480774

Some historical patterns:

>Yucatan
Slash and burn a piece of jungle. Grow corn in the new fields for a few years. Move to next piece of jungle.

> Vietnam and neighbors
Clear trees. Flood fields. Grow rice.

> Africa
One second in google: http://www.afrol.com/archive/food_staples.htm

So basically corn or rice. Or tubers like cassava that like heat. Various palms or fruit/nut trees.
Sugar, coffee, tobacco for cash.

>>51485031
Hygiene works in my low-magic setting based on the belief that living organisms are animated by ether, and create and excrete death (an elemental toxin) when they metabolize the ether absorbed from their surroundings. The death element consumes the life element so it should not be allowed to accumulate inside the body, and it is best to avoid touching or ingesting excreted material (body fluids, feces, filth or of course the death-laden corpses.) Fire (heat or actual flames) will burn away the death element from such polluted material. Too much death being released in the surrounding creates the noxious miasmatic environment.
Using life (healing) magic allows the organisms to work more efficiently at excreting this toxin from their bodies and regenerating the lost living material. Raising body heat also helps burn away the death material stuck inside the body.
Maigcal healing is a pretty disgusting sight.

>>51485566
Don't forget genetic illnesses.

Different races would have different genetic illnesses.

>Automatons exist in-setting as a facsimile of a living creature, made through the wonders of modern Artifice
>Creators likely accounted for the "traditional" senses, IE: hearing/sight/smell/touch/taste
>might not account for some non-traditional senses
What would be some good weaknesses, /wbg/? Inability to feel pain? Inability to feel changes in temperature, IE: feeling a breeze but not feeling it as a "warm" or "cool" breeze? General clumsiness or difficulty keeping track of the movement of limbs?

>>51485878
Genetic illnesses could get weird in my setting, considering my Humans are Elf/Apefolk chimera. I feel like most of them would exist in Half-Human Half-"Other" cross-breeds, by virtue of imperfect genetics.

>>51485950
>Automaton always feel weightless, not feeling the pull of gravity
>Automaton can't swim. They are too dense to float and cannot easily coordinate the movements needed

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>>51485589
>http://www.afrol.com/archive/food_staples.htm

Oh this is VERY useful- thank you so much.
This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for and will help immensely.

I had no idea peanuts(groundnuts?) were so important to african horticulture.

>>51483498
Just say that it's a magical world so race is just a genetically construct but mystical as well, formed by shared identity.

On one hand. People with mixed parents are hybrids but their children will over 1-2 generations revert to one of the races. The one they are closer to culturally.

On the other hand. A human village in elven lands that is well integrated will over time become elves.

And on third hand. Isolated settlements with strange traditions may have an innsmouth look or third arm. And eventually get purged.

>>51402315
Basic syllables were constructed (C)(C)V(C)(C) with a couple of consonants, /m n l r/ being able to replace the vowel in the nucleus. The voiced labial plosives, /b/, seems to have been very rare and is only attested in a few roots that are only attested for in the western branches of daughter languages so it might not have existed at all in PIE.

There are several other little things, but reading up on the wikipage of the PIE language should be more than enough for a game setting.