/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General Mine Edition

Do you guys make world maps set over longer periods of time? Like, one map made for every 100 years of history of your world?

>>51660839
>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
The Underground has a pretty large series of natural tunnels. Mining groups tend to ride around the upper levels, looking for visible veins of any given material. The most valuable of which is unrefined Mercurium.

>Who does the mining?
Generally, either a government department or a company that is overseen by them in some way.
My setting's WWI was fought over mining rights, so nations are anal about who mines where, and where it goes after.

>What do they mine?
Unrefined Mercurium is the main item of value. Its refined version acts as the world's main fuel, powering all modern innovations. It's also used to make Mercurial Amber, which is the main material of what are essentially magic CPUs.

>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
The upper levels are generally safe. The deeper you go, the more resource-rich the tunnels are as well as the more danger. As the upper levels are still generally profitable, few people explore below.

>Anything else?
Unrefined Mercurium is unique in that, while having properties like metal, it's actually a resin formed by tiny burrowing plant swarms. So veins naturally grow, and suddenly "appear" once a vein hits a tunnel.

>>51660882
I don't. It's not something I view as all that necessary. The point of a map in my games is just so players have an idea of where things are, so a map from 200 years ago is just a lot more work than saying "City X was owned by Country Y 200 years ago." That said, I do have a timeline of how borders have changed and such. But that's just text, since it's easier to make and change compared to an actually nice map.

>>51660882
It wouldn't be hard to have different layers that can be toggled on/off with photoshop. Then just draw approximate borders.

Biggest problem is that I would have to finish my map first.

>>51660882
>not making two maps per year
>not flipping through them to animate the changes in borders over time
git gud

These threads always have the most cringe-inducing forced discussion.

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>>51660882
>Like, one map made for every 100 years of history of your world?
Yep, that is what I planned to do anyway. Pic related is a more of a mock-up thing or an experiment of how various historical maps could work.
I obviously do not redraw the whole map every time: just adjust it a bit in inkscape or gimp to display relevant information.
That said, I really have not been working on it lately.

>>51661455

You've contributed so much, thank you!

>>51661976
I like your map. Can you tell me about the history of Marks tribe, how did it form up?

:bump!~

>>51660839
>we got sump and a pump
>Chute and stope
>Raise and a cage
>Drifts and a skip

>>51661976
>it's the cow map again

fuck off

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I'm working on a map for a campaign I am running. Any feedback for the first draft of the main continents shape?

Have any of you built a world from the bottom up? How did it go for you?

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>>51665598
Cannot say much about the continent without mountains, but what is with that peninsula in middle?


Someone might find this interesting.
"A 1576 illustration of Paris by Melchior Rossingol, who called it a "natural portrait of the city" rather than a map."

>>51665617
You mean from caverns to mountain tops? If that then no.

>>51665648
>You mean from caverns to mountain tops? If that then no.

I mean beginning with a small immediate area, and growing out from there.

Not a top down design where you figure out cosmology, geography, the big overarching concepts, and fit all the pieces together..

Instead you begin with like a major town, surrounding wilderness, and a dungeon or two, and grow out from there. You don't begin with a massive world idea, things develop organically from a small starting point.

>>51664083

>>51665486
Oh hey, it's thoroughly-lacking-in-self-awareness guy. I remember you slinging shit that betrayed a big ol' whiff of smug self-importance and obliviousness.

>>51666236
I remember you getting really defensive when I pointed out it made no sense for the people of this world to know their continent looked like a cow and name regions after the corresponding body parts, like I just insulted your favorite deviantart OC

>>51666327
This was me. I just pointed out that what "made no sense" has in fact been used for a great many naming conventions in real life and that your argument was full of holes.
>>51579305

I am trying to come up with ideas for the northern regions of my setting, but I'm having a hard time with it.

For locales, I seem to be stuck with frozen tundra, cold stone deserts, snowy evergreen forests, tall mountains clad in permafrost, frozen plains that cover the sea and the like.

As for the inhabitants, I wish to avoid not!vikings and not!russians like the plague, so I'm dipping my feet with some sort of snow-tuaregs. The few permanent settlements mostly serve as trade outposts between tribes and for trade with foreigners.

I however have no idea of how to build up this region of the setting and I could use some input. The setting is low-magic, humans only.

Does anyone have a checklist for quick-and-dirty/preliminary worldbuilding when expanding a setting?

>>51666371
and yet you repost the map with changed place names and hide the cow horns so it doesn't look as much like a cow

sounds like someone couldn't handle the bantz and backpedalled

>>51666375
>Does anyone have a checklist for quick-and-dirty/preliminary worldbuilding when expanding a setting?
No, but I bet we can whip one up in a sec.

>where do people get their food from
>what do they build things out of
>can they trade for things they can't make
>if so, with who
>how does their religion look at any of the above
>is the law/honor a personal or societal matter
>assuming a food shortage, who dies first and how

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>>51666375
Try an inspiration taken from a society that didn't live in a frozen region and tweak them to adapt to the cold.

In some Middle Eastern regions, the towns were built around a communal bakery of sorts; maybe they build entire towns under the snow build around a single communal heat source.

>Does anyone have a checklist for quick-and-dirty/preliminary worldbuilding when expanding a setting?
I got this from Pinterest.

>>51666397
It's not my map, dude. So if your argument hinges on that incorrect assumption, maybe it's not such a strong argument.

Plus, if it "doesn't look as much like a cow", why was your response "fuck off", rather than "I see that you have made changes based on my feedback"? Seems like you're less interested in worldbuilding than you are in making yourself feel smart.

Protip: actually being helpful makes you feel much smarter. It's harder than just being smug, and you don't always succeed, but the payoff is worth it.

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>>51666375
>Does anyone have a checklist for quick-and-dirty/preliminary worldbuilding when expanding a setting?

I usually just take a culture I'm interested in, do some research and then mesh it together with another one I think would fit, then I give it a kind of central focal point that isn't that prominent in their real-life inspos, i.e. Aztecs + Etruscans + caste system governed by a arithmetic-themed religion = the Sharac. And that's the foundation I use for further worldbuilding.

>>51666489
>implying I'm gonna waste my time on the internet teaching some random idiot how to fix his stupid amateur mistakes

>>51666375
North is quite simple when thinking about it. In our world the tree and vegetation coverage gets smaller and smaller norther you go. Check Sami-people and the indigenous populations in Russia for inspiration.

I have used the culture building from Grain to Gold a lot when thinking the society.

>Bread, what kind of bread do they eat?

>Food, what kind of food they eat other than previous bread?

>Land, how much is there land and who owns it? How does the quality of land or terrain/environment effect the people there?

>Overhead, how are the common folk taxed and how do they live their lifes? What does basic farm have?

>Cutting corners, how do the common folk save money in lean times?

>Middlemen, how does the trade move in the nation? Directly from farmers to merchants or is the someone in the middle doing the transportation?

>Craftsmen, how are they organized and how do they charge their crafts?

>Textiles, what kind of clothes and clothing do the citizens wear

>Preservation, how do they preserve their foodstuffs

>Containers, what kind of buckets or bins are used?

>Mining, is there mines in the area and what do they mine there?

>Magic, does it affect the things above?

>>51666568
That only covers a very specific set of cultures though.

>>51666527
I can't decide which response to go with, since this is stupid in two different ways both equal in magnitude. I'll just do both.

>You seemed to spend plenty of time unconstructively lambasting it a couple threads ago.
>Why are you even in this thread if you're not going to help people? Do you just want people to fawn over your setting and suck your syphilitic pecker?

>>51661016
I agree with this. My maps generally aren't even to scale except broadly, and I mostly measure distance in the time it'd take to travel between two places.

>>51666605
you genuinely sound really fucking mad

>>51666618
If it makes your little willy hard to think that you made someone on the internet mad, imagine what you want.

>>51666678
Just stop responding to him when he's so obviously baiting you

It's not every day that /wbg/ answers so swiftly!

>>51666465
Those are some good starting points and I must admit forgetting some.
To my worldbuilding reference stuff goes >>51666489's pic.

>>51666489
That's why I picked the tuareg, to be perfectly honest.
The idea of underground settlements is really good in my book. A snowy city of Petra sounds like a great place for a capital.

>>51666517
I'm tempted to research mongols for extra flavor, but i've got my hands full of tuaregs for the moment. Any culture you might suggest?

>>51666568
I agree with >>51666602 in that your questions assume various things such as a civilization being sendentary, agrarian and having taxes, but they are still usefull.

I might post the answers to the questions tomorrow morning (0:40), in good /wbg/ tradition of people talking at each other.

>>51666874
For a civilization up north in the cold, I'd use Inuit as inspo (and I have used them) because their cultures are so intrinsically linked to a cold environment but aren't the typical fantasy viking stuff. Also there's a lot of material on them. /tg/ even made an inuit based setting pitch at one point and put it on pastebin here: http://pastebin.com/j65nP6pL

I've already vented about this in the past, but it's frustrating when you've worldbuilt more than will ever appear in the thing you're writing, but not enough to justify a separate encyclopedia.

>>51667274
Only problem is Avatar did such a good job with the water tribes that now you run the risk that it'll come off as "doing that thing Avatar did".

>>51666726
You're right, I'm sorry.

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Reposting from last thread, anything I should add to this?

>>51667368
Economy, possibly? How do they sustain themselves?

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>>51667322
Not if you make them visually distinct from Avatar's "vaguely brown people wearing blue fur coats", by taking into account what actual Inuit wore before the age of softshell jackets and rubber boots and what they look like, since they have very distinct faces. If your concern is that it'll look like you copied Avatar, just don't emphasize the parts that Avatar played up when they made the water tribes and instead highlight other aspects (the problem of cannibalism in a society constantly threatened by lack of resources, the particular brand of Stoicism that society produces, the intense focus on the hunt even in a religious sense, the myths etc.) that Avatar left out to make the water tribes feel like part of the Not!Asian rest of the world.

You can also throw in other elements like I said before. Like Tlingit armor because it looks badass.

>>51667476
That'd do it.

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>>51667511
Remember that these armor sets are mostly made out of wood, so you'd have to replace that with another kind of material (whale bones?) if your culture is THAT far up north. This is in no way an excuse to post more of these bad boys whomst'd I love very much.

>>51667562
Or you could incorporate treks down to the tree line as part of the culture. Something akin to the hunt.

A rite of passage, even. You travel hundreds of kilometers down to the tree line and bring back as much wood as you can. But you don't have any food, so you have to either hurry back before you starve or find a way to get more (and you have no experience getting food other than ice fishing or hunting seals and such, which isn't much help in the forest). The amount of wood you can bring back determines your standing within society.

>>51667660
Fantastic! And that's a perfect excuse to show these people in a story that takes place further South (I'm assuming most of your setting's plot-relevant places are not that far up North): The party enters an inn in a snowed in lumber town at the edge of the great fir forest and observe a some townspeople restraining a naked, unusually short man whose hair is pitch black and drenched in sweat. "Someone fetch the Doctor, quick!", one of the men restraining him calls out to nobody in particular, and you notice grievous wounds in the naked man's thigh and shoulder. A wolf attack most likely.

A few days afterwards, your party is preparing to leave again, having finished whatever business they had in the town. As they pack their things, they run into the foreign man, who is still reeling from his wounds - and from the shame of lost honor, since in his weakened state he won't make it back to his family with any wood. He tells you of his misfortune in broken Common. Roll a Persuasion check to convince Quylluaq Knows-His-Path-Well to join your party as a temporary ally.

>>51667803
I mean, it's not my setting. I just thought it could be a neat idea.

There's the problem that if this is their only source of wood, they probably wouldn't have very much. The actual Inuit didn't live that far from trees.

I could certainly see them using the wood gathered to make the armor of the person who completed the rite of passage, but that still leaves open the question of "what do they burn?"

>>51667931
whale fat

>>51667931
Oh, never mind. They burn dung, grasses, and sometimes leftover blubber.

>>51667964
>not using southerns as both the meal and the fuel to cook it

Your boys are soft. Why else would the gods fatten them so?

>>51668187
Didn't Inuit eat most of their food raw?

Has anyone ever designed fictional instruments for the purpose of worldbuilding?

>>51668430
Now that you mention it, I don't believe I have. That seems like a neat detail to include.

>>51668430
I prefer digging up obscure historical instruments and use those instead, most of them look fantastical enough.

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>>51668430
>>51668487
I once tried to invent a kind of a cross between a slide guitar, a cello, and an accordion. I think I gave our group musician an aneurysm with my complete lack of musical knowledge

>>51668430
Like fictional musical instruments? Or literal "fictional instruments for the purpose of worldbuilding," like complex numbers where you just pretend shit makes sense after you hang imaginary space on the side of reality and call it complex?

>>51668699
I was referring to musical instruments, but I'm sure fictional instruments of any kind, made for the purpose of worldbuilding, have gotta be interesting.

>>51668609
I know a little about music. I mean, I'm no expert, but I still remember the basics.

The idea with a string instrument is that it's all about having a way to alter the rate at which the strings vibrate, and the most versatile way of doing that is altering the length of the string that's vibrating (though changing the thickness, tightness, and stiffness of the string would also do it). Most instruments have some variation on this--for brass instruments, you're changing the length of the tube through which air travels by altering its path, and for woodwind instruments you're changing the sorcery by which you get a goddamn flute to work because why is it so hard.

So if you're designing an instrument, the key factor is for there to be a way of changing the rate at which the vibrating thing vibrates. Ideally a pretty easy way (putting your finger on a string, pressing a button, moving your hand relative to the pitch antenna), though for something like the piano or the timpani the idea is just "switch to the thing that's already at the right note".

The problem I see with your instrument is that it shortening the length of the strings like that would let them go slack, so they wouldn't vibrate when you plucked them.

>>51668861
the sliding part is a rubber gasket like airtight sack, which the strings are put through, and are bound tought at either side of the solid long piece.

>>51668891
Well now that's just confusing.

Also it's "taut".

>>51668960
well, like you said, you change rate of vibration. This is done on a guitar by holding the strings against the neck. In the instrument pictured in >>51668609, the strings are held with a fairly tight hole in a gasket which is air tight against the resonating chamber of the instrument. Lower the gasket, or pump or whatever, through the chamber, and the length at which the string is able to vibrate is decreased.

How does a caste based system based around different races sound?

With the top being seen as say royalty with the other races going down the totem pole?

>>51669139
like say the lighter, whiter ones are at the top, while the darker races are at the bottom?

How acceptable is it to give different human ethnicity mechanical differences

>>51669405
>>51669139
if you're gonna bump, use images not baitposts. we have standards here.

>>51669383

Nah, trying to figure out to have china/india but involve kobolds, pig orcs, gorilla oni ogres, and maybe some other race as the head honchos.

Anyone else just not make maps at all?

They just feel so fucking constraining, like once I make the map I have to redo the entire thing if I want to expand on shit or make changes. They always limit the size of the place in my head instead of having places be exactly as big as they need to be.

Assigning everything a definite physical location makes me lose interest for some reason.

>>51669139
I was thinking of one where the races differentiated from one species that has been using a caste system for so long that they've evolved to suit it.

>>51669383
Actually the Indian caste system had this happen naturally because the upper castes didn't work outside, a high class poo in loo is lighter colored than a lower class poo in ditch.

>>51670421
I make maps, but I keep them loose. It helps to keep track of where things are but I don't typically sweat the more minor details.

It's not a necessarily required for worldbuilding, but if your goals include realism, it's probably best to make a map so you can figure out where stuff should go.

How many mages do you have in your setting? Are there a couple in any random small town or would you have to go to major population centers to find any real numbers of them? Is everyone capable of at least a little magic or is that restricted to adventurers and important NPCs?

What I've got--and I didn't plan it this way exactly, it's just what I'm now realizing is a good rough analogy--is that magic is about as widespread as computers were in the mid-1980s.

There'll be maybe two or three proficient mages in a small town, but more in the city. Most people are sort of tangentially aware of "what, so you enter text and then it does... stuff?" but not much beyond that. You can even use it to transport stuff between towns, but it's usually quicker and safer to just carry it by foot since you can only move a little at a time and it's dangerous transporting living things (you're probably not gonna turn a baboon inside out but it's not gonna be pretty).

And adventurers are like the Bill Gateses and other tech innovators, I guess? The analogy sorta falls apart there.

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>>51667274
>http://pastebin.com/j65nP6pL
A goldmine. This is a goldmine. Really good stuff in there.

>>51667476
The aspects you highlight sound good, but to be honest I've never seen Avatar.
Those armors are so fucking awesome. Now I need to come up with a way to describe them...

"Before you stand a group of crudely armed men wearing head-shaped heads, giving them the appearence of fierce warmongering totems."

Not sure it's good. Just trying.

>>51667562
Well, I did have an insular civilisation that made it's first armors out of cast bone-based cement, so whale bones sound good. And Whalebone armor sounds as good as Dragonbone armor, as southeners think whales are wyrms.

>>51667660
>>51667803
I like that pitch.

The Roman empire analog (long gone, the game is set in a XVth century equivalent period) got fed up with northern barbarians raiding the northernmost towns of the empire, so they built a Hadrian wall/Great Wall of China (The wall, while it has a "normal" size, is almost as long as the Pyrenees). The raids were forgotten by both the northeners and the citizens of the empire, who began using the big dumb wall as a stockpile of stone for building new towns, some of them north of the wall.

At first I was going to have a tribe of northeners discover one of the towns beyond the walls and being mistaken for raiders, as southeners believed no one lived beyond the Wall (the Wall had become etched in local legends). The "strange" armors worn by northeners did not help.

But I think the rite of passage idea, and the tale of Quylluaq Knows-His-Path-Well will be far more interesting. (Don't mind if I take that name)

Back to worldbuilding.

>>51672670
After a magical mass destruction weapon misfired due to being too mana-hungry to work, the world was left extremely mana-poor, so mages are rare. However, it depends on where you look. Magic can be learnt by anyone given enough time and practice, but the rarified "magic in the air" means you need to buy "mana batteries" of sorts to power your spells, and they can be extremely expensive.

In the eastern part of the continent, the few who could wield magic formed a magocracy that was eventually overthrown, so mages mostly live in seclusion.

In the western part, mages seek employers that would pay them for their skills, so they can be found in the lands owned by their employers or in cities, seeking employment. The only part where magic study is institutionalized is the northwestern city-states, a few of which have created Circles in charge of educating new mages. As a result, most merchants (the ruling caste) have some notions of magic, even if they don't practice it.

In the south, mages are drafted into a religious order which obeys the current ruler, except if they are slaves, and mage slaves are prized in spite of the dangers they pose to their masters.

Northeners have a mage (or shaman) per wandering tribe, who teaches the arts to a few disciples. Only one of them inherits the position and the others are expected to leave magic behind or find a tribe who was left without mages. As such, there are more mages in the permanent settlements than in tribes, as they seek tribes in need of their service.

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Who here likes Science-Fantasy? Like, full-stop. Wizards are on ship-boarding parties. The internet is based largely on sending information via the Astral Plane. Robots are literally golems with ghosts inside them.

>>51673277
Space wizards give me the biggest boner.

>>51673277
I've made a setting in which only two floating islands exist, supported by two massive Towers that hold the souls of the inhabitants of the world. Heavily Ar Tonelico inspired, actually.

Some persons can use magic by singing, much like Reyvateils, but with both genders; but in one of the islands they are contained due to a "madness epidemic" they can suffer and they are made tranquil in the Dragon Age sense. In the other island, magic users form the majority of the population and run the island, with normies being second class citizens, but not slaves or anything like that.

Actually the entire world is a three-dimensional projection on the real world (using reality as the backdrop) of a simulation run by the Towers, space elevators refitted into supercomputers. All inhabitants are AIs, mages having a higher access priviledge that allows them to "edit" the world using an allegoric programming language, the song.

The madness epidemic is a bug in the higher priviledge code that was never fixed because the administrator of one of the Towers suffered from the bug and destroyed the real world by using the reality-altering functions of the Towers.

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Hhoooooweeee, I just fucking finished this second draw over dungeon side view, oh boy did this one take longer than I thought it would, but I'm glad I did it.
This is the first time I've really had any practice drawing Orcs.

Behold! The Stone Skull Mountain Fortress! I hope it is sufficiently Orcish.

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>>51674122

And here's the first one/other one I did just a day or so ago!

>>51660839
Before you ever make another goddamn gneeral thread, I want you fucks to do the following:
Take all of those extraneous links, put them into a non-expiring pastebin.
Post the pastebin link instead of having the first post stretched by the mass of fucking links.
Get rid of the discord link because its for faggots
Come up with a more interesting prompt

>>51665617
Yes, just doing that for present campaign.

It's set in a frontier land, sandwiched between an old empire and the blighted land of one of the empires foes, destroyed in a previous war.

The campaign lands have one town and two villages, and are relatively tamed. These have slowly been built up over a couple of decades by those escaping the oppressive Empire, and carving a life out of the remnants of the crushed nation. The blight is slowly receding, with farming just possible in these frontier lands.

>>51674174
The campaign frontier lands are separated by geographical barriers from the Empire, mountain range, and blighted lands, large river.

The town is located next to the river, on the site of old trade road into the blighted lands. It is being rebuilt on an older city site and is protected by a guard. However the surrounding frontier lands are relatively lawless.

The PCs adventuring has so far been at the behest of the Towns leaders, to counter threats from the blighted land and solve more political trade problems. They will eventually venture into the blight to recover lost knowledge and counter emerging threats.

So the setting only requires a small area in mapping in detail, withe the larger areas all verbally orally defined to the PCs.

>>51660839
One of the main trades supporting this frontier land is the opening up of mining operations bringing a new supply of rarer and more lucrative metal ores.

What are some fantasy stapples in worldbuilding?

I'm planning a campaign in which the players can alter reality, so in order to give them incentive to change the world I'm trying to come up with an extremely generic setting.

So about cities, what is the name for multi store cities?

Like the hives from 40k, shangai from deus ex or even that one from FF7, I tried searching for many terms for researching purposes but i didn't managed to get it.

So, how would a multi layered city work like? i meant with multiple platforms on top of each other that would allow for construction, but residential area were houses are built on top of each other like appartment blocks but more messy.

I was wondering how something like it would work or how to even fathom something like that.

Kowloon was a nice example, but not large enough, I am working on a more technologically inclined setting where maybe billions live in non-earthquakeable japanesque city

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>>51675387

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r8

A longer question:

How is the religion of you country followed by the fighter, mage, and rogue of your setting? That is, the one who gets things done through muscle and physicality, through intelligence, and through guile and moxie?
How is the religion followed by nobles or the upper class, by craftsmen or the middle class, and by farmers or the lower class?

This is based on religion rather than divinity, but if you're doing D&D-style paganism, each major god should probably have an answer for at least two of each of those sets of three to be believable/realistic.

>>51675262
The word you're looking for is arcology.

>>51672670
1 in 1000 knows a bit magic. These inviduals usually work as healers or witches, but it is common for person to live full life without knowing about magical aptitude person has.

1 in 10000 is trained magi. Trained either in school or by wandering magi, the person is quite average magi. These magis usually have a position in nobles court or has a job where magic is useful.

1 in 100000+ is a rare case. They are very good if properly trained, but most of the time they don't receive proper training and their potential is not used well.

>>51674122
That is beautiful.

>>51660882
Not for every one hundred years, and not always at all. My worlds don't tend to move at a level where the landcape itself shifts, and most of the time I can't keep it in my head where borders have shifted.

But also, the bulk of my work is fantasy set in either out world in a long lost age, or a world similar enough to ours that it might as well be, and in both cases they tend to be set so far back that things like national borders haven't even been concieved yet. Kingdoms are simply tribes that have united under one leader, and the borders are merely the lands the tribes happen to occupy.

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Whaddya guys think of this map? Gonna label in GIMP, planning on printing it out for my players.

>>51678063
I don't see any glaring issues with it, but I'm wondering what the scale is for that map. How wide are those lakes/cities/mountains/etc? Obviously the eastern half is in a valley (hence the river delta/swamp), but how tall is the surrounding countryside and mountains?

Looks good anon.

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>>51678222

>>51678222
Each hex is 5km so like 3 miles?

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>>51678272

>>51675603
Can you give a short summary for different places of the city. It does look chaotic enough to have grown naturally over the years.

>>51678512
Thanks man, was a bit of conundrum figuring ot what scale works best, but am glad the feedback is positive

>>51674122
>>51674134

I love these. This is awesome.

>>51660839
>>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
It happens in space instead of underground. The Tau Ceti system is iron poor, so the concentration of useful metals is lower. Very little is available on the planetary surface.

>>Who does the mining?
Robots mostly, supervised by a small group of posthumans.

>>What do they mine?
They extract metal from iron rich asteroids, foam it into giant balls lighter than water, and drop them through the atmosphere to land safely in the oceans. The resulting "Starburgs" float on the surface of the water and can be towed into port.

>>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
Various pirate factions tend to fight over the "Starburg" when it splashes down.

>>If there is no mining happening, where does the country acquire necessary metals?
People would probably stop building so many battleships.

>>Anything else?
The mineral wealth from these Starburgs is ultimately squandered by feudal warlords who use it to build battleships rather than improve the lives of the colonists like they were supposed to.

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>>51660839
>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
Usually through fire-setting (starting a fire on the rock untill it's hot and then creating a thermic shock by heaving water on it). Rinse and repeat untill you've carved out all the ore you can find. Ofc, the tunnels need to be stabilised and some air ventilation need to be created.

>Who does the mining?
Thousands upon thousands of slaves controlled by vicious overseers. The more delicate procedures are carried out by experienced artisans.
>What do they mine?
Everything of value that's worth the effort. It's a big empire so it got access to alot of different minerals and metals.
>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
Nope, besides the odd rabid vermin or delerius slave.
>If there is no mining happening, where does the country acquire necessary metals?
The parts of the empire which doesn't have any local things to mine trade for it.

>>51674885

Look up the Clichea map.

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>>51678599
Upon the ruins of a stone-carving civilization, cradled in a former volcanic crater lies Ven Val, home of the Valis civilization

>The Palace at the Valve & The Fortress of Idols

The oldest parts of the city, a former fortress and temple respectively. The buildings are carved directly from the stone that makes up the cliffside and are of angular shape, like big stone boxes that seem way too big for regular people. When the Valis Council was formed, they took the Palace at the Valve as their seat of government; nowadays it houses the Council, the Admirals' offices and the Treasurers' guild. Below the Palace, the Val River exits through the eponymous Valve and flows into the bay. The Fortess of Idols, named for the hundreds of stone idols adorning its buildings, is a gated community for the rich and privileged with a fixed number of residences available. Both of them sit atop steep cliffs.

>The Old Depths

The Depths and Thunderbird Ascent were the first Valis settlements in the crater. The Old Depths are a quiet neighborhood that has proven resistant to change.

>The Red Heights & Copper Hill

As Ven Val grew in size, the Red Heights (named for their red-tiled roofs) formed around Copper Hill, which had been a sanctuary for those who wanted to escape the city's bustle. Buildings in the Heights are usually 3-4 stories tall and stick together like children around a campfire at night, lest they fall over. A neighborhood populated by the city's proletariat.

>The Golden Cauldron & The Horns

Foreigners in Ven Val usually take residence in the Golden Cauldron, nestled between the Val River and the Relief Canal, a gaudy place where no two houses look alike and the Valse tongue is rarely heard. The market halls and inns of The Horns are where they go to conduct their business, under the watchful eyes of the Taxmakers' guild

>>51678599
cont.

>"New Home" & Sky Gate Hill

With the dawn of the Age of the Grand Admirals (102-23 years ago), Totiche and Sharac migration into Ven Val increased. The Grand Admirals hired Totiche mercenaries and they brought their families with them. Sharac plantmenders were invited to the city to set up their trademark farmhouses, which produce crops needed to sustain the city's population, as the farms down South were no longer producing enough. The Sharac also brought along their families and their servants. Both groups of immigrants settled on the far side of the Kel-Anor road. Sharac priests that were sent from Vei Tashvnr built the temple of Sky Gate for their subjects, overlooking the old Glyph Painters' guild tower.

>New Thunderbird Village

When Thunderbird Ascent, the old home of Ven Val's guild workers burnt down in a great fire, Grand Admiral Teno Goodgraces had it rebuilt with broad boulevards, squat but spacious houses and lots of open spaces, to prevent another fire destroying it again. A very clean, friendly looking neighborhood which houses almost all of the minor guilds and their indentured workers.

>The Galleries

Working the windmills that grind the city's maize and the Valves that supply the city's wells with fresh water and ensure the sewers function correctly is a family matter, a trade passed down from generation to generation. These people live close to their jobs, in the Galleries, a quaint but uninviting little suburb watching over New Thunderbird Village.

>Ashen Perimeter

Living near a burial ground where the ashes of the dead are scattered onto the welcoming earth to ensure passage into the Ashen Lands of Yore is unthinkable for a faithful Valis. Jentani immigrants from down South, mostly farmers, have no such qualms, and build their traditionial longhouses on the Ashen Perimeter.

>>51678599
cont 2.

>"Plague Town"

Never meant to be part of the city. A ramshackle collection of huts built by the poorest of the poor below the New Home cliff. Disease runs rampant in Plague Town and Navy officials don't dare enter it, making any map of it unreliable by default. Home to immigrants from Ys and Ida who have no place to stay.

>The Navy Quarters

Both a military academy, a wharf and a series of appartment buildings for the Navy's sailors and soldiers to live in. One of the oldest disctricts.

>>51660839
The only mining related things I've put thought into for my setting is the relationship between the Sobki and the nomadic Gnoll tribes; and the collection of Pyrisian Glass. The Dwarves live in underground holds, but mining isn't their main focus in life.

The Sobki heavily rely on trade with the local Gnoll tribes for their stone, metals, and minerals needs. The Gnolls hunt the earth elementals that roam the desert, and break them down for materials. They original would only hunt the larger ones, since the largest elementals would have an entite oasis collecting and growing on their backs. The Gnolls would incapacitate the elementals, gather what they needed, and then release them. But as Sobki expanded and their demands grew, many tribes turned to slaying the smaller elementals to harvest stone, metals, and gems from their corpse. Most still respect the largest ones, and slaying them is seen as offensive.

Pyrisian Glass is a form of crystallized fire that came when the Pillar of Pyrisia crashed and destroyed the old Shazriq empire. The impact scattered chunks of the Glass. Most collection is gathering smaller fragments found in the Ashen Desert, though it is possible to mine from larger croppings, but special tools and training is required. Most mining operations use leather suits and tools inscribed with heat protection runes empowered by a mage.

>>51676761
What is a witch in your setting? Like, a freelance spellcaster or what?

I'm curious about what is considered "rude behavior" in your cultures, which isn't something we in our own cultures consider rude.

For example in my setting there is a culture group where yawning in front of someone who is currently working is very rude. They believe that the sleepiness is infectious and would hinder the worker's pace. In our world it's kinda okay if you cover your mouth, but there you need to absolutely hold it back, people only yawn at home or in company of friends.

>>51684584
When seated at a table, you always keep at least one hand on or above the table. Resting both of your hands on your lap, for example, comes off as rude or childish. Even if you, say, drop your napkin, the proper behavior is to rest one hand on the table as you reach for it.

Failing to adhere to this standard won't get you any gasping socialites, but people might snicker at your faux pas. "Did you see our guest? He's so crude he could barely keep a hand on the table!"

>>51660839
>>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
Both traditionally and through the use of controlled explosives. May or may not result in lots of deaths.
>>Who does the mining?
The laborers, ye average proletariat.
>>What do they mine?
Pretty much everything you'd expect to find in a traditional mine, as well as a couple of special ores that are required for Runecrafting, which is big business.
>>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
Oh tons of them, Hell-bulls, giant snakes, man eating lizards, worms the size of dogs. And if you're really unlucky, faceless giants who'll shoot at you with bone bows that feel like you got hit with a ballista.
>>If there is no mining happening, where does the country acquire necessary metals?
Trade, otherwise it's likely that the country is a colonial shithole that's being exploited by one of the great powers.
>>Anything else?
If you're really REALLY unlucky, you'll open up a pathway of a Dwarven tomb that most likely contains a lot of Undead, including the King who may or may not be a vampire who was buried in a sealed off chamber.

>>51660839

>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
The only nations that conduct actual massive organized mining operations is the Khurrin Union and they do it via massive strip mines
>Who does the mining?
Usually the Jokdu and Grel. The "working" races of the Union.
>What do they mine?
Any form of metals
>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
Not really no.
>If there is no mining happening, where does the country acquire necessary metals?
Through trade? Or just specialized laborers
.
>>51684584

It's rude not to take off ones head scarf when entering another persons home or conducting dealings with them of some kind.
It's rude not to kneel when conducting business with or meeting a Grel for the first time.
It's rude not to put ones right hand on ones midriff and bow before a passing Rutwan
It's rude not to hide your hands around Jokdu as their culture see's it as being shifty.

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Back from work. One of my best buddies got fired today. Stealing from your manager is never worth it, anons.

>>51679297
~78 miles across and 57 miles vertically is a pretty decent size for a small kingdom.
>>51679297
If you'll pardon my MS Paint-fu, the blue box I'm pointing at is roughly the same size as your map, with a backdrop of the US used as a comparison.
In ideal conditions, a healthy traveler could cross from one end of the kingdom to the other end in a week's time or less (though your forests, hills, and the river delta would significantly hamper travel times).

You can judge for yourself if the kingdom is too small or too big, but I think it's a cozy little place I wouldn't mind calling home.

>>51685960
Not that guy, but about how long would it take a reasonably healthy person to walk from Madrid to Moscow?

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>>51686129
Hot damn, that's a hell of a pilgrimage.
Eyeballing a map of Europe, a straight line from Madrid to Moscow looks to be about 3500km, or about 2175 miles.
Without taking geography into account, it should take about a month on foot at a fair pace.
However, actually trekking that distance through Europe means passing through a lot of rough terrain and changing climates.
I'd estimate it to be about 1-3 months of dedicated hiking, though closest to two.

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>>51686129
>>51686320
Turns out Google Maps does walking distance now. And I'm still an old fart squinting my eyes and using my fingernail as a ruler to measure distance.
As you can see, Google Maps takes a more roundabout approach because it's following actual roads, and it estimates its travel time to be about 33 days to my one month.
However, Google's estimates rely on modern infrastructure, whereas I... just kinda went with what sounded about right based on certain factors.
Hope my guesswork and Google's map helps put things in context for you.

>>51686320
>>51686424
Sweeet. Thanks bro. My setting map was supposed to roughly translate to about that length, so now I know how much bullshitting to put the PCs through while they travel.

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>>51686582
Being nice to people is how I get off, anon-kun.

>>51686664
You wonderful pervert, you.

I'm sort of in a glass house. I've developed two settings from what were--initially--masturbatory fantasies.

>>51686664
That's hot.

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>>51686681
Share your stories with us.

>>51686741
pic related

>>51686821
Well, the settings themselves aren't masturbatey.

For a while a few years ago I was sort of addicted to ERP. One of my characters was built to live in a sort of fantasy environment, so I created a city in which she could live which, along with it, filled in many of the minor details of the world. Then later I had the thought to use that as a jumping-off point for the setting for a game I'm developing.

The other is still purely in fantasy territory. It's the sci-fi setting centered on the adventures of Dr. Chris Manley. He's a dinosaur breeder by trade but only to finance his true passion of deep-space exploration.

As for me, I'm the yeoman, so officially I'm just in charge of filing and record-keeping, but that's a big job on a research vessel. Plus in practice I usually wind up helping out a little bit everywhere. Well, everywhere except engineering. I'm not allowed back in engineering.

But of course my favorite assignment is working with the captain. Sometimes when we've made a new discovery, sometimes he just wants to review old information for those little details--I think it was Douglas Adams who said the greatest scientific discoveries aren't announced with "eureka", but with "that's odd". We're looking for those "that's odd" moments.

So as you can imagine we tend to get swept up in the excitement of it all. More than once I've found myself waking up in his quarters, barely remembering falling asleep. Usually when that happens I'm in the bed and he's scrunched up on his couch. Only once did we have one of our meetings in my quarters, and I'll admit I held on to the jacket he left behind.

In fact one particular night he'd discovered an alien slime mold. We're both pretty interested in slime molds, so he grabbed me immediately when he got back from the away mission. He practically dragged me to his quarters so we could monitor it. But we finished documenting sooner than I'd thought, so [2000 character limit reached]

>>51687013
Go on....

>>51687054
This is a good read, anon. Did you make it?

>>51665598
what is the scale

>>51687120
Nah, shamelessly stole it.

>>51687245
If it was stealing, you'd have taken credit for it. You're just "borrowing" it. I'm sure you fully intend to pay the author once you win the lottery.
Regardless, you posted it, so good work, anon.

>>51670468
>naturally because the upper castes didn't work outside, a high class poo in loo is lighter colored than a lower class poo in ditch.
Also the caste system was kinda invented by lighter skinned conquerors from the northern reaches of ancient Iran, peopletc who were far lighter than the ancient natives of the subcontinent.

>>51687120
Grain to Gold has been around for years.

>>51687077
Well from there the story can take some pretty wildly different paths depending on my mood. And I keep changing it up to keep it fresh. But broadly speaking:

>IF YOU ARE SAD-HORNY, TURN TO PAGE 88
The captain caresses my face with his big manly hand and strokes my cheek and gives this little speech about how he loved me from the moment I first yelled at him about his terrible filing system and I tell him I knew from the moment he found a caterpillar in his salad in the mess hall and set it up in a little terrarium in his office. Though the specific "from the moments" are one of the details that I change up. Then he kisses me passionately and we make out for a while either until we fall asleep together or he puts a baby in me, it can really go either way.

>IF YOU ARE FEELING ENERGETIC-HORNY, TURN TO PAGE 102
He informs me that he caught a glimpse of my skivvies last time I fell asleep there and informs me they're not regulation (And he's right, I snuck some nice lacey stuff aboard during our last drydock, partially as a matter of comfort. Partially.). As my commanding officer, he has an obligation to enforce the rules so he pins me against the wall as he confiscates them. Yadda yadda yadda foreplay foreplay foreplay (important to the fantasy but not to the summary) doggystyle.

>IF YOU ARE FEELING KINKY-HORNY, TURN TO PAGE 39
Now this one is incredibly variable. I'm pretty into DD/lg but in this particular fantasy scenario it's usually a broader form of affectionate maledom.

I mean this is just a general rundown; in practice it's typically more vividly detailed. I don't half-ass my masturbatory fantasies.

>>51673277
Science-Fantasy covers most of the popular science fiction settings.

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>>51687013
>>51687309
I can just see how much this means to you--it shows in the way you write.
It's fucking adorable and I love your passion.
Thank you for sharing a little piece of your work with me.

>>51687363
I thought they were space opera? Though I dunno how well these terms are defined.

I think I'd call Chronicles of Riddick science-fantasy and Mass Effect space opera. But I could be wrong.

>>51687374
You're too kind.

>>51687468
IMO as soon as you get literal magic/psionics you're in science fantasy.

>>51687511
So where would you categorize Mass Effect, with its quasi-scientific explanations for everything?

>>51687523
I think the important dividing line would be that the "magic" is the result of technology rather than inherently biological. It's a lot easier to call that space opera than say Star Wars where some people just get to do magic because they have junk in their blood.

>>51684542
Witch is very broad term, but usually means a person who knows some magic, but doesn't work as healer, herbalist or priest. It is a lot in the point of view. Roger the Healer is respected pillar of community, but Bob the witch is not liked as some people say thay he turns into a newt at night and drinks blood.Terrifying. Depends on a region if witches are more acceptable or shunned and burned.

>>51684642
Also very good point on keeping hands on the table is to make sure your quest doesn't draw concealed weapons. By keeping your hands where they can be seen is a way to show you are not dangerous to the host and master of the house.

I am going to steal this from you.

>>51687576
>Also very good point on keeping hands on the table is to make sure your quest doesn't draw concealed weapons.
I was sorta thinking along those lines. That it started out that way but over time it's become just another little rule of etiquette.

Something I've done in the past--and which I might do in one of my settings--is have "witch" be a sort of disparaging term for someone who uses magic, especially if they do so professionally. Sort of along the lines of "grease monkey", though maybe with the connotation of someone being untrustworthy rather than unintelligent.

>>51687675
The thing in my setting is that magic users can feel if someone else has aptitude for magic. This means that wandering magis are usually looking for potential students. These low level "witches" are usually not worth to train properly as they just cannot learn everything necessary. It is like trying to teach man without legs to play football.

So there is this aspect, they are not worth the respect and healthy fear real trained magi deserves. A lot depends on the job and status of the low level magic user.

>>51686582
Another detail is the amount of time needed for survival tasks while traveling.

If you have to make a camp every afternoon/evening and pack up every morning it will cut into prime walking time. This would be somewhat less in lovely temperate environments that are safe (no worries about orcs or weather, everyone sleeping on blankets around a fire) and potentially much more when you have to deviate from the fastest walking route (or stop early) to find a better camping location or have to erect more substantial shelter/protective structures.

Assuming your group are not moving through entirely uninhabited wildlands you can expect people to also want to stop for a little extra time when they have access to a city or fortified town.

>>51660839
What's the elevator pitch for your setting? You have 200 words or less. Why should I want to play an RPG in it?

Go!

>>51687937
If you are in anyway in shape, you can easily make 20km per day even with slow pace of 3-4km/h.

>>51689681
A richly-detailed high fantasy world about gradually uncovering the mysteries of the universe (or several of them), finding your rightful place in the world, and studying the unbiased themes of liberty, prejudice, and the role of governments; all while staying true to the high-flying spirit that makes fantasy so enjoyable.

>>51689681
The world lives among the ruins of a great ancient empire. Near-modern technology level achieved through magitek. Aesthetics nspired by various under-recognized real-world cultures and locales rather than medieval Europe.

I've started a worldbuilding a setting recently and I've hit something of a snag.

I'm wondering whether or not to give up trying to insert any of the more high-fantasy elements I had planned (despite already having the usual high-fantasy races) and just have it be a low-fantasy instead.

Thoughts?

>>51693755
Technically, "low fantasy" means the setting is somehow connected directly to the real world. So Narnia and the Dungeons and Dragons movie and TV series are low fantasy. I point that out due to my love of sentences that start with "technically".

And it's sort of a case-by-case basis. Some high-fantasy elements might make your setting more interesting while others might seem extraneous. It depends on what you're trying to achieve.

What's your goal for this setting, exactly? That should help me give you a better answer.

>>51692760
Be careful there, buddy, you're playing with fire. You run the risk of your setting just coming off as preachy.

>>51692760
>the unbiased themes of liberty, prejudice, and the role of governments
All of those things are loaded with stacks, no, Truckloads of biases and inherent assumptions. good luck.

>>51693833
>What's your goal for this setting, exactly? That should help me give you a better answer.
Well, the original idea was to create a high-fantasy setting so that I could destroy it in a story I'm writing.

Then it kind of got a bit out of control and I started enjoying the worldbuilding part quite a lot.

>>51693860
>>51693933
I appreciate the concern, anons. I try to do my best to present all of these concepts as fairly as I can based on both the pros and cons put forth by proponents and detractors while doing my best to blend these different elements together into the same setting as seamlessly as I can. After all, people wouldn't believe what they believe unless the beliefs had merit, right? My aim is to present these cases in an interesting way, ask myself how these different ideals would realistically meld and clash with as little preaching as possible, and then leave it up to the audience to decide which characters were in the right and who was misguided.

I'm as much a realist as I am an optimist, and intentionally or otherwise, I always create a recurring theme of people being inherently innocent. No sane individual wakes up in the morning, twirls their mustache, and thinks of all the evil they're going to commit today. Most people are just doing what they think is best for themselves, their families, their people, so on. Oftentimes, a person's intentions are pure, but their actions are what damn them. I think that message more than anything is what matters most in my writing.

Also, cosmic horror undertones.

Does it make sense for a previously-unified civilisation to split into three separate civilisations mainly defined by age groups?

>>51694743
It wouldn't happen organically, if that's what you mean, but it could happen if you give it a reason to happen.

>>51694782
Yeah, obviously.

And, even then, it's mainly just the youngest third of the population who go off to do their own thing, the other two thirds are more of an ideological split.

That sound alright?

>>51694842
I guess. Where does the age split occur?

>>51695003
Uh, unsure. They're supposed to be elves, so I guess it's just "the youth" as opposed to any meaningful number.

Does it matter?

>>51695048
Not really. It would matter more if it was humans and you were getting a Logan's Run-esque dystopia going.

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WIP

>>51695929
What program did you use?

>>51696049
GIMP trickery

>>51695929
I could never get those mountain brushes to work on Photoshop. Shame, because you made a great map with them.

>>51695929
this is pretty

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So i've been toying with making a pretty in-depth melee combat system, for the last few weeks.
It's probably going to fit best for duel scenarios.

My predicament is, what setting would fit a duel-heavy enviourment ? I've been ragging my brain with everything from pre-gunpowder historical settings to a Witcher-esque premise.

Any anons smarter than me that could provide any input ?
Or should i just drop making a full pnp game out of it and just make it a weird duel boardgame thing ?

>>51699427
You can't find a way to make it work with multiple combatants?

>>51700388
It sorta could work with multiple combatants, but wasnt created with that in mind, so some details go really wonky when more than two parties in play.

I'm also just intrigued by the thought of coming up with a setting fitting for the mechanic.

>>51700742
I dunno. Flatland? Where people are often forced into narrow corridors?

>>51700860
Flatland ? narrow corridors ? i didnt mean as much the specific terrain one fights in, more like ''What setting for my pnp homebrew could i put a player in, where deadly 1v1 combat would naturally feature often ?''
Besides organized fighting tournaments.

>>51700948
Yeah, I know. Flatland is the setting I'm proposing.

>>51700968
Oh i didnt know that was the name of an actual setting.
Anywhere i can look the setting up ?

>>51700983
https://youtu.be/eyuNrm4VK2w

How much effort do you put into avoiding cultural monolith race syndrome?

>>51702428
Not a whole lot.

>>51702428
I once tried to avoid it, by having various elven kingdoms in various locations on the planet, but then the campaign itself took place in a fairly small area where only one of the kingdoms was present, so my effort went down the drain.

I guess not entirely, though, because if I ever run another campaign in that world in a different location, I'll be able to use the other kingdoms.

I'm trying to think of an unpleasant/cool name for a drug used in my fantasy horror campaign.

It's most commonly found in the desert societies and is a subterranean worm that releases toxins/chemicals when under high amounts of stress. If consumed while still living, the worm's toxins react with the stomach acid to induce an analgesic and mildly hallucinogenic effect on the user.

It will be revealed later on that these worms have been introduced as an experiment by agents of some Eldritch entity to corrupt and influence the population.

Any ideas?

>>51702853
Sandsnake.

>>51702853
Drugs usually have simple names relating to their origin, their looks or their effects.

Something like "worm juice" or similar.

Don't use made up words, use a combination of existing words.

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So I know there are a lot of things (including some nice stuff in the OP post) that help you build a map or generate one for a standard planet, including plate tectonics and other factors, but do you guys know about any map maker programs with features or generators that would let me use alternative planet shapes and physical laws?

My setting isn't so much a planet, but the inside of a torus shape. On the "bottom" is the majority of landmass, and the "top" the majority of air, plus water and a few isolated islands, but mostly abyssal sea, separated by an ice wall on the outer and inner rim (which looks more like a giant spire) with the physical laws functioning more around Platonian elemental interactions, with the torus itself holding its shape through a function of Aether creating a kind of firmament layer that acts sorta like a giant magnetic field.

I can't really use any of the more standard map generators, since there are no plate tectonics as they exist in reality, and geographic features are made through different physical laws, but I also can't draw for shit and suck ass with photoshop so I'm sorta looking for a decent thing that will meet me in the middle if that's possible.

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>>51702853
White snake.

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>Talking to friend about the setting
>"...and beyond that is the far east."
>"Wait, let me guess: it's an Asian allegory?"
>"...You know what? Just for that, just because you're gonna be a dick, no. They're nomadic Russian vikings that worship thunderstorms. The storms themselves, not a personification of them or anything."

I haven't yet decided if the storms there are actually sentient beings or if the people just perceive them as such. I'm leaning towards the former though.

It's also been a while since I've worked on this map. Still though, suggestions and critiques are appreciated.

>Mesania
Main setting. Medieval technology heavily supplemented by magic, which is divided up into three schools, collectively referred to as magicians, each with its own culture: Mages, alchemists, and witches.

>Andraste
An aggressive, expansionist empire ruled by an authoritarian bureaucracy. The country is magic-poor and the government actively encourages a fear of magic among the citizens to keep up support for the on-again-off-again war with Mesania. Due to no magic, they've relied heavily on technology and a steam/clockwork aesthetic.

>Sian
A former Andraste state, successfully rebelled and secured its independence, though still has to continually fend off attacks from Andraste. Maintains a close friendship with Mesania. Has similar technology to Andraste but is more open to magic, though due to the secretive and exclusionary natures of witches and mages their magic community is mostly alchemists.

>Galatia
Sparsely populated woodlands, the region is less a centralized country than a close-knit alliance of independent city-states. Magic is mostly of subtle and passive witch variety, and they maintain a close relationship with the witch covens of Mesania. They also maintain a diplomatic friendship with Mesania and Sian, since they're all that stands between them and Andraste.

>>51704204
>The Dead Kingdom
The king of this region sacrificed every living thing within a radius of his castle to the original gods for eternal life. Now he sits on his throne, never aging, and ruling a wasteland where nothing grows.

>Badlands
A region of tectonic and volcanic upheaval, the region is riddled with jagged rock formations, deep crevasses, and poisonous lakes. It's never been successfully navigated or mapped, though its possible that a joint effort by Andraste and Mesania, combining their magic and technology could do it. Political relations between the two make that a virtual impossibility though. I'm toying with the idea of having the badlands be the result of a long-forgotten magical war between long-forgotten nations combined with the ground being located above a major fault line and volcanic hotspot.

>Far East
An archipelago of islands dotted with semi-permanent settlements. Most of the people are nomadic sailors with a religion based around thunderstorms, which they worship as gods.

>Nolaad
Not really anything definite yet, just that it's south.

>>51704204
What divides your nations? What had caused the people living within these areas to form more of a shared identity with each other than they have with the people outside of these areas?

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>>51704266
It's kind of cluttered, I know. Hold names are also a work in progress, Most of them are just named for their dominant geographical features until I come up with something better.

Each of the holds is ruled by a noble family with the blessing of the royal Archer family (no relation to Sterling and Mallory).

>Mesa
Named for the capitol of both the hold and the country, Mesa is the central hold of the country. Its capitol city is a trade hub, a nigh-impregnable fortress located atop a high mesa, and a center for culture and education. Various trade guilds are headquartered here, along with the Mage's and Alchemist's guilds.

>Great River
Ruled from the hanging city of Aquer by the Duchess Evelyn Hold, Great River is mainly notable for having most of the Regent River within its borders. The Regent is wide and deep, making it an efficient way to get goods deep into the interior of the country. Smaller ocean-going ships can even take it all the way to Mesa. Great River used to consist of all of the land north of Mesa and west of Fort Steadfast, but when the war with Andraste flared up again, the northern portion was annexed into Caul.

>Caul
Ruled from Sentinel Fortress by the Baron Damien of Caul, it's the largest hold by a good margin and stretches along the entire Andrastean border. The Baron is entrusted with maintaining the Andrastean wall and commanding Mesania's defending forces. The Baron still maintains fortifications along the border with Sian, though at the behest of the Archers they have been greatly reduced to improve diplomatic relations with the former Andrastean state.

>Southern Highlands
This mountainous region was ruled from the city of Dragon's Keep by the Viceregal family the Drakes until they were caught using the assassination of a relative as an excuse to execute political rivals. The Viceroy Elliot Drake was executed and his family exiled, now living in Galatia. The hold is ruled defacto by the Archers.

>>51704465
I haven't put much thought into that, to be honest. At this stage, I would say it's largely geographical. Mesania has the greatest variety of magicians for sure. I'm thinking about adding that it's sitting on some sort of magical nexus.

As for current divisions, Andraste as I mentioned is an authoritarian dystopia which all of the other countries want to distance themselves from. Galatia, Sian, and Mesania are not very aggressive, not at this stage anyway, and are content to leave their borders as they are.

>>51704662
>Lake Country
I haven't fleshed out too many details of this region yet, but its mostly swamps, lakes, and small rivers. Some portions are popular tourism and vacation destinations, and the hold is home to two major ports. The ruling family was tried for treason after being caught conspiring with Andrastean agents to assassinate the King, so it too is ruled de facto by the Archer family.

>Interior Plains
Another one I haven't worked out a lot of details to yet. Mostly flat plains, the bulk of the country's farming happens here and the hold supplies the bulk of the country's food. Not ruled by the Archers though I haven't worked out any details of the ruling family yet.

>>51704746
Try to flex your creative muscle by taking a look at what your nations are, and thinking about why your nations are what they are.

Is there a reason why people in a border region feel more closely connected to the people living dozens of miles away, in the interior, than they do to the people who live a proverbial stone's throw away, on the other side of the border?

>>51704814
Well, on the one hand, you have the fact that Andraste is constantly, actively trying to conquer its neighbors through a combination of violent conquest and subterfuge. Sian didn't simply become a vassal of Mesania because it broke away from Andraste to be free, not be ruled by someone else, and Mesania hasn't annexed it yet because they are just not particularly expansionistic as a culture. Galatia is pretty lacking in the natural resources department, aside from wood. Like I said, the region is heavily forested with a lot of distance between cities. Like I said, they're more like a group of closely allied city-states than a country in the traditional sense. Even if Mesania or Sian were inclined to conquer them, there's not much to take, and even if they wanted to expand, they don't have the means.

That said, Sian and Galatia do have significant economic/trade relationships with each other and Mesania. their relationship is a bit like the US and Canada, if a real world allegory helps. Andraste and Mesania are a bit like the US and Soviet Russia, if the two shared a border.

>>51704966
These are broad strokes.

There is a border between Andraste and Mesania that doesn't seem to coincide with any specific natural of geographical barrier.

What makes the people Andrastan on one side, and Mesanian on the other?

If Andraste is so aggressive, does that mean vast swathes of its southern population were Mesanian until a little while ago?

>>51705127
The border between Andraste and Mesania moved around a lot before the wall was built. That's why the border is so jagged while along the Galatia and Sian borders it's smoother. Those jags are the result of various successful and failed incursions. So yes, both countries have land that once belonged to the other. The border has stayed where it is for the most part since the wall was built, but the off and on warring as moved it away from any geographical features that may have once defined it. Now it's more determined by where one side managed to stop the other's advance.

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How diverse is the economy and exports of your countries? Are there "banana republics" around your world?

>>51707838
The kingdom of the Totiche has exactly one export: mercenaries.

>>51709452
Tell us more? Why mercenaries, what has caused the situation?

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Does anyone have any suggestions for tweaks to make this map make geological and structural sense?

>>51661976
>population movement and groups of people in sensible and thought-out locations with reasons behind them
This is my fetish

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>>51709949
>why mercenaries

The past ~300 years were a time of constant conflicts and even outright civil war between the 4 great clans of the Totiche which lead to a social class of professional warriors emerging among the minor clans who sold their allegiance to the highest bidder. The leaders of the great clans were more than willing to pay, since the kingdom of the Totiche had at that point been a loose alliance of clans held together by a mostly powerless figurehead king - in fact it was the death of that (heirless) king that sparked the civil war. Many minor clans also picked up the practice of sending anyone who committed a violent crime (murder or the like) away to become a merc at the lowest possible cost, with the intent of leaving them to die on the battlefield. There are many songs about these "Forsaken" who tended to be at the frontlines of battles to lead the first charge, since they were deemed expendable. As this war-based economy grew, it extended its reach outside of Totiche territory. Word spread that if you wanted to hire mercenaries who weren't just thugs with clubs and bad attitudes, you rented yourself a Totiche warband. The great clan chiefs acted on this by hiring out parts of their own regular guard to outside bidders in exchange for money, which they used to either hire more mercenaries to fight their wars or provide better equipment to their soldiers and better fortify their clans' towns. At the same time, almost all other exports the great clans previously had (alpaca wool, honey, ául pigment, furs) were slowly reduced, because of how lucrative the mercenaries were and because of there not being enough resources to support their production enough to keep exporting them, since all those resources went into the constant wars or keeping the clans internal ecomonies running.

TLDR they fucked themselves by being infighting little shits.

>>51710274
>the past ~300 years were

Meant to say "have been" since they're still going at it.

>>51710102
Yeah, the obvious thing is: the rivers don't make any sense. It's a single most common mistake mapmakers tend to do: rivers do not fork as they flow lowland: in fact the opposite is true: multiple rivers join their torrents as they get closer towards the coast. It kinda looks like a tree, with it's roots (delta) in the sea, and thick lower flow, that then fans out into multiple tributaries the deeper inland it goes. There are very few rare exceptions, where a river would for in the direction of the flow or cases where it would result in flowing into multiple different seas or bays.
Also, lakes usually have multiple tributaries (rivers that flow into the lake), but rarely multiple rivers flowing out of them.
Rest of the map is kinda difficult to read, so it's fairly difficult to give more advice on the subject of geography or climatology.

>>51710143
Thanks. Though honestly, the thing is still very rushed and things have changed significatly since I drew that (the map is actually a little over a year old): it was made more of a proof of concept than anything else. That said, I am trying to maintain some semblance of belivability and studying quite a lot of old ethnical maps and histories to make it make more sense, at least as far as my rather far-fetched and fantastic economy and ecology allow me.
There is also something oddly satisfying in making maps like this. Though I wish I would not have to battle the shitty vector software (Inkscape) at every step.

>>51661976
Who is this Mark character. Can he be trusted.

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>>51710347
>That said, I am trying to maintain some semblance of belivability and studying quite a lot of old ethnical maps and histories to make it make more sense
If you need any real-life inspiration, the Völkerwanderung is the ultimate example of population movement in recorded history. Shaped the modern world, it's really fascinating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period

>>51710494
>Gauls
>a Celtic people
>among the Germanics

FTFY

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>>51710425
>Who is this Mark character.
A semi-mythical founder of what will become the first and for quite some time the largest empire in the modern history of my world. There is a lot of problems with discerning the real history and character of the person from mythology and national propaganda (as most of this happened quite some time before common scripts have became a thing).
The most important action that has been attributed to him is establishing contact with creatures called "Celestials": weird, seemingly divine giants that come from sea and sometimes "conjure" up their own islands along the coast of the region. The Celestials were historically known for kidnapping tribals along the coast, but Mark was the first one who actively approached them and offered them human sacrifices, for which he was rewarded with copious amounts of food supplies, which the Celestials apparently grew on their floating gardens in the sea. This gave his tribe, (in a region where agriculture was nearly non-existent or extremely ineffective), huge advantage and eventually an option to unite fellow tribes and expand, seeking for slaves to "sell" for even more food to the celestials: eventually giving birth to a large state, as well as establishing long-lasting symbiotic relationship with the Celestials, on which much of the economy of my world will continue to rely.

As for how he did that, and how much of the further expansion and eventually, formation of first state was his own doing, or actions of his descendants, is largely unclear. According to legends, he is usually thought to live for around two hundred years, which cast a lot of doubt on reliability of the sources.
He is also attributed with many other great acts, including various miracles, invention of an alphabet, or establishing first universal laws: it's extremely unlikely that he did any of that. But his legacy is very strong, and he is often worshiped as a near-god-like figure.

The kinds of history a world might have:
> Precursor: the relics of the ancients are beyond our understanding, some too dangerous to even use.

> Primitive: while there have been conquerors and rulers in the past, their weapons and tools were simple and far below today.

> Antiquity: while some achievements of the old empires and philosophers have stood the test of time, in other areas they have been surpassed. And significantly more of the world is settled and developed these days.

> Stasis: countless empires have risen and fallen. They used the same weapons and tools we have today. Their relics are mostly relevant as for reusing/recycling buildings, and the occasional treasure hoard.

Others?

>>51711010
One continuous empire (or at least one continuous civilization) which has been making gradual progress for millennia.

>>51710549
>FTFY
What do you think that means?

>>51711010
Regressive: great and advanced civilisations have risen in the past, but they have taken many of their accomplishments and inventions with them when some something tore their civilisation apart from the inside.

>>51711279
Fuck
That
Fuck
You

I know what I said.

>>51711387
It's 'fixed that for you', you incredible pleb.

>>51711407
>fixed that for you

fuck that, fuck you.

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just made the main continent for a setting i'm working on with a friend. I used the pasta method.
thoughts?

>>51712677
It's too sparse for much input. There's no mountains, no rivers, no indication of the various biomes that might or might not occur, no indications of civilization...

So to answer your question, I have no thoughts on your map at the moment.

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>>51660839
I need ideas for Weird Fantasy.

So far I got:
>early modern firearms
>Myconid/mushroom-folk that eat anything and can regenerate from injuries, may be psionic/have a low level hivemind
>Wood elves are the only surviving Elf race, not that you'd know it considering how they've devolved since the BIG CATASTROPHE into non-animal-specific-beastmen
>said Big Catastophe was a meteor/small moon smashing into the planet during a high-magic medieval age like FR
>left over artifacts are closer to being technology than traditional magic, but is still powered by magic or otherwise is magic on an industrial scale (recall that Fantasy AI thread a while back)
>magic is somewhat broken, less studious mages and more innate casters
>also more "open planar wounds" allowing trans-planar travel (I want to avoid the traditional Great Wheel btw)
>I kinda like the idea of Scandinavian-influenced Trolls, more asshole magic off-humans rather than regenerating jerks

And that's all I got in one big summary heave. I'd like to see if anyone has some neat ideas to add or suggestions on modifying the ones I already got.

>>51714594
>regenerating jerks

That's just WoW trolls though.

>>51715101
DnD Trolls too. Also, Iron Kingdoms Trollkin.

>>51714594
play up the myconid thing more
I like mushrooms

>>51715191
I like em too.

I see a lot of Myconid types made into Samurai for some reason. I suspect because their caps/heads look like those Asian strawhats. I'd like to avoid that, but nothing explicitly comes to mind, except maybe making them Arabian (Hashishan were claimed to be high on shrooms) or Vikings (ditto Berzerkers).

Also:
>there is a North, and it looks remarkably like Celtic Scotland and Sengoku Japan fucked and made a baby

Makes sense if you consider both are clannish, fractious, filled with warrior-spirit and Fate/Destiny, and they remain religiously united even during civil war (High Druid/The Emperor).

>>51715400
Mexican cowboys? Their hats could be sombreros and they could have ponchos made from dried mycellum, and shrink down to conserve energy during siesta.

>Celtic Scotland + Sengoku Japan

Noice.

>>51715563
Now I'm imagining Myconid Vaqueros. Wild Cowboys that tame a wild frontier. But what sort of mounts make sense for mushroom people?

>>51716476
regular old horses. they control their minds by planting myconid spores inside their brains that sprout into a kind of "access port" they can connect to for DIRECT CONTROL. in fact, this is the only way myconids seem to be able to tame animals - by forcefully enslaving them individually.

>>51716582
Sounds neat. Horrifically creepy, but neat.

>>51717772
>"Don't be touchin that there horse, son." "Why dad?" "Shroom horse" *both nod sagely and shoot the poor thing dead*

On a scale of "D&D kitchen sink" to "Morrowind" to "wut" How weird does a setting get before you start writing it off and stop caring about anything?
I know "muh elves are different" gets a bad reputation and "my elves are actually insectoid, have 8 arms, and live in colonies underground" gets an even worse one.

>>51717905
>Just before they pull the trigger, it speaks:
>"THE ROOT WILL REMEMBER THIS-"

>>51717905
...spreading more spores into the air.

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What do your guys got for arms and armor, lads?
These are from a more coastal area/arid-but-not-desert land.

>>51718068
>Dad was already infected
>THE CYCLE CONTINUES

>>51717920
Solution: don't have elves at all. Nothing makes a setting more dull and generic than having generic fantasy races.

Does anyone have any good resources/maps for a nautical campaign? My players have all expressed interest in a naval game based around exploration/piracy and I'm hopeless when it comes to designing coastlines and islands that feel 'right'.

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For awhile I've been throwing around ideas in my head for a low-to-mid power fantasy setting that combines 'standard' fantasy fare with a heavy rl historical influence.

I tried doing a 'good' map awhile back but my perfectionist tendencies keep tripping me up so I decided to make this extremely fucking crude map just to put down where some major elements are in relation to each other.

Anyways, I thought /wbg/ might find something of interest in this very early wip. Or maybe you guys will just get a good laugh.

>>51718659
Just make sure to put island chains where you guess plate boundaries might be, or in the center of plate boundaries if you want something like Hawaii. Think: Borders, and you'll be fine.

>>51718698
I hope the "no stars over this part of the planet" thing is supposed to be directly tied to the Lovecraft Horror bit. That makes no sense otherwise.

>>51719353

What else would it be?

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>>51718231
It really depends on the region. As the world is mixture of 11th to early 15th century in terms of armour and weapons, there is a lot of variables.

Most of the Western Kingdoms heavily rely on drafted levies during wartime, thought slowly more standing forces are becoming more common. Gambesons and mailles form the mainstay of armour, but there are few curiosities for example one hill tribe carries a wooden plate on their torso. Gailian Regiments are perhaps the most advanced fighting force in terms of organization, but even for them it is hard to acquire plated armour for their foot soldiers.

>The strength of Gailian regiments is not only their training or way they operate is their standardized equipment. This ensures that every soldier is equal in equipment and can trust that the guy next to him is similarly armed and trained. Normal Infantryman having both spear and shorter close combat weapon along with their always useful knives. They are armoured with long aketon, leather greaves, gloves and kettle helmet. More experienced and longer serving soldiers have mailles given to them. This has lead to that some more experienced and older regiments have higher percentage of mailles on their soldiers with regiments like 1st or 7th having mailles distributed to every single soldier in regiment.

In the Pic Related, numbers 1,3 and 4 could represent drafted or levied soldiers with no.3 having reasonably standard equipment. No.2 has a maille and is professional soldier, but his liege is not rich enough to provide full maille. No.5 is hired skirmisher, probably from countryside or from herding communities.

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>>51721718
And this drawing found from internet could very well represent two armies clashing in Western Kingdoms. All soldiers have gambesons and helmets, with majority having a maille. The weaponry shows that there is good number of axes and spears wielded instead of swords. This is most likely because of the price swords have. The soldier on left with nasal helm wears a coat of plates on top of his maille. This guy is a noble as he has enough money to acquire expensive piece of armour. Heavy kite shields are very common, they provide good protection.

Also the guys deviantart is pretty nice. Somebody might find some inspiration from his doodles and drawings.
http://ryanryzzo.deviantart.com/gallery/

Who is the leader of the Friendly Companions /tg/? They are a gang in the mining town of Harlen, which is a mostly small humanoid town (Dwarves/Kobolds/Goblins/Gnomes/Halflings). I know he's a Dwarf called Hjorr Thundersbane, but I don't know what he is...

Should he come from a different, bigger city? The party has already faced his smuggler in chief, and caught a shipment of stolen art and drugs.

>>51723529
Hjorr Thundersbane is a psychotic, greedy kingpin. He has a devious knack for manipulating anyone and anything around for his own personal gain, and has never hesitated at spilling blood in his pursuit of riches.

He hails from the mountain city of Boatmurdered, where he would surely be hanged for crimes against Dwarfdom if he were ever to return.

He 'doesn't trust' ponies, prefers hard liquor to ale, and gets unreasonably angry about the number 235. No one knows why.

>>51723579
>Hjorr Thundersbane is a psychotic, greedy kingpin. He has a devious knack for manipulating anyone and anything around for his own personal gain, and has never hesitated at spilling blood in his pursuit of riches.
>He hails from the mountain city of Boatmurdered, where he would surely be hanged for crimes against Dwarfdom if he were ever to return.
>He 'doesn't trust' ponies, prefers hard liquor to ale, and gets unreasonably angry about the number 235. No one knows why.
Perfect

>>51718231
>What do your guys got for arms and armor, lads?
oh, you know it depends on where you go, as technology across the setting can vary wildly, some have access to full plate, swords, crossbows, and even early firearms, while others have to make due with ceramic and Kevlar body armor, automatic weapons, laser carbines, Mazer projectors, Antimatter missiles, and the occasional gazer beam projector, though those are highly illegal.

>>51718231
I don't have anything drawn out.

One of the key points in the setting is that there's not very much usable metal left, so most weapons are made of wood, stone, and ceramic; and similarly, most armor is made of cloth, leather, ceramic, and treated wood. Often there'll be metal scaffolding supporting mostly-ceramic armor. Since most people know at least some degree of magic, they'll often use a spell to reinforce and protect it. Patterns which amplify magic are often etched into it.

At least, that's what most armies use, along with other groups that have to buy in bulk. Successful adventurers can spring for metal weapons and armor, though usually sparingly. Often it's used for advertising purposes to say "hire me for this job!", since it shows:
>1. that you're successful and dedicated enough to save up the money for metal equipment, and
>2. that you've been able to fight off the bandits and thieves who'd take it

In any circumstance, you'll rarely see full plate; usually they just cover the head, vital organs, and weapon arm. This is both due to expense and because the story takes place in the hot, humid tropics; if you're going to force-march an army, they're at a pretty high risk of overheating as it is.

Weapons are mostly relegated to the classic spears, swords, bows and arrows, axes, what have you. There aren't firearms, but there are magitek railguns, though these are used sparingly due to their massive energy requirements.

>>51674122
I'd like to read more about these variant residents.

Is that goblin on the 5th level some kind of six-breasted shortstack?

Anyone tried making their own cuisine? I'm drawing blanks and need some motivation.

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>>51729099
>I'd like to read more about these variant residents.

I did a full write up on Stone Skull Mountain and it's inhabitants/the context of the Orc Fortress on my Art Tumble, the post is right here: http://spaghettiart.tumblr.com/post/157098603522/wooff-this-one-took-a-lot-fucking-longer-than-it

>Is that goblin on the 5th level some kind of six-breasted shortstack?

The Goblin of 5th level is a Green Demon of Filth and Gluttony.
She lives in the Orcs dump underneath the big pens.
What you've mistake for six breasts are actually three bums- The confusion is an intentional adaptation for such a demonic creature; adapted to a biome of disgust and depravity.

>>51702853
Gutter. "That good-for-nothing son of mine has been in the gutter for a week now."

>>51732143
To an extent. I usually focus on the agriculture first. Like I came up with the idea that they produce a lot of their food through saline farming (using saltwater instead of freshwater). Then I started thinking of crops that would have a way of surviving saltwater. And that lead me to coming up with several foods.

Alternatively, go by purpose. What does someone eat when they can't afford anything else? What does someone eat at a fancy party? What does someone eat when they're on the road? Think about what people in the real world eat in such situations and why and it might give you some inspiration for fantasy foods.

>>51660839
>How does mining happen in your setting/country?
By force of labor. Miners go into the tunnels, dig their ore, and then carry it out in bags.

>Who does the mining?
Manual labor workers. Ore is always in large demand, so many lowborn commoners make a living working for different mining organisations.

>What do they mine?
All the usual stuff, steel, bronze, gold, anysort of useful metal really. After the mages took over, a lot of miners were enslaved and forced to mine for magical ore, that the mages wanted. Magical ore is extremely rare and difficult to find, so many miners died in the deep tunnels looking for it.

>Are there any creatures living in mines that are dangerous or require attention?
When it comes to regular mining, not really. The tunnels and mines are relatively safe. I couldn't say the same for the miners looking for magical ore though. The magic of the ore attracts basilisks, giant snakes essentially. Whenever miners would find any kind of magical ore, you knew that basilisks wouldn't be far away, and it would be about getting the ore and getting the fuck back to the surface.

>If there is no mining happening, where does the country acquire necessary metals?
Like I previously stated, ore is always in big demand, so mining operations never seize. Some areas that lack any sort of mining capability usually trade with neighbors or in some cases, mainly coastal cities, the Versel Trade Company.

>>51685960
Thanks a lot man appreciate the feedback, its for some friends who just started playing their first campaign, so small and comfy is good

>>51737872
>All the usual stuff, steel, bronze...

I know you meant they mine the ores used to produce steel and bronze, but made me think of another question: Refining.

If mining magical ores is dangerous for the miners thanks to the various creatures the ore attracts, how dangerous is refining those ores?

>>51735100
Alright, cheers anon.

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>>51721970

New trend in warfare in Western Kingdom's is much heavier usage of mercenaries. Usually mercenaries are used to enhance hirers army, but more front line soldiers are hired. The near constant warfare in and around Nehrovian Empire has taxed the population heavily and forced some rulers to spend large amounts of wealth to hire mercenaries.

One group of mercenaries has caused controversy as in battles they have been they have won every single one. The Ironclads as they are known are 400 men strong unit armed and armoured with high quality equipment. Lead by Sir Theoric Ironclad, landless noble, they have managed to bridge the cap between nobility and common folk in battlefield.
Ironclads are covered from head to toe in maille with plate or splint protection on their hands and legs. Coat of plates is very common as is great or enclosed helms. Each soldier carries a heavy two handed lance that is discarded after the initial charge. Choosing the fight carefully, nobody has managed to stop their charge.

Pic related could represent one of the soldiers in Ironclads.

>>51739985
Good question.

Magic in general is feared by the commonfolk, not just for attracting dangerous creatures, but just because of its nature. Magic in my world is extremely volatile and dangerous, so any regular smithy wouldn't touch any sort of magical ore or metal with a ten foot pole. Even if you got your hands on some magic ore/metal, finding someone who would even try to help you would be a challenge.

As for the actual refining process, my knowledge on this particular subject is limited, so let me know if I've got something mixed up. Most of the different ores with magical nature requires extremely high temperatures, much higher than regular metalworking, and would require a special forge, and an extremely skilled smith. The temperature you need is as I said extremely high, but it can't go too high. In fact, it can't go much over what you need to actually refine the ore. If it does, the magic inside the ores gets too much energy put into it, and will usually explode. Managing the temperature is important if you don't want to die.

During the refining process, the magic contained in the ore can be released into the air, and will need to be contained, so that when the process completes the magic is still bound in the metal, otherwise the metal will lose its magical properties. The special forges used for this can usually do this quite well, but not at 100% efficiency. Some of the magic is bound to slip through, and this can cause all sorts of nasty things to happen. One of the most sought after magical metals is Darksteel. Its properties are very akin to Valyrian steel from ASOIAF. It has another effect though, it is extremely toxic to humans. If you get as much as a tiny cut by this metal you're essentially doomed, as the toxin will infect your blood quickly and kill you relatively quickly. This danger is real for the smiths as well, because the released magic from the refining process. If they inhale too much, they too can become affected.