/WBG/ - Worldbuilding General

>>51891704
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
I did. My setting is near-future earth after demons invade. Very Hellgate: London inspired.

While I was writting up a reply in the previous thread, it seems to have ended. If someone wants to read it for some reason, here it is:
>>51884564
The original post.

>>51891733
>>51891762
>>51891774
>>51891795
>>51891808
My reply to it.

>>51891844
I Can't Believe It's Not Lordran!

>>51892079
If you mean Lordaeron and committed a typo, then I must say a bit of patricide doesn't a lich king make. I actually only ever played dark souls once, so I wouldn't know the first thing about it's lore.

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>>51891704
>>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?

Absolutely! There's nothing better in my opinion then Knights in power armor or tanks or spaceships

>>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?

Modern looking things like buildings and clothing, cars, and electronics and otherwise most things. There's nothing that say your compact computer has to look like a smart phone of today or that someone couldn't put a bit of artistry into crafting a modernish gun

>>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?

Everything, nothing is off limits

>>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?

Personally no, still trying to dig into the scene and get a group together.

>Hard Mode:
>>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?

Yes. It's nothing you can just pick up from the corner store though but they are available.

>Dante Must Die:
>>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?

Now you know who the badguys are.

>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Sometimes.
>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
I sometimes like to put airships in.
>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
Plot hooks.
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
No, I usually end up with a tacky mix of fantasy and scifi or 40K, which is tackier,.

>>51892609
>Plot hooks.
Por qua?

>>51892892
Science fiction tends to share the same plots as fantasy.

>>51891704
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?

I totally would if I could find a system that does fantasy Fallout well.

>>51892991
Okay, it sounded like you said that only Fantasy has plot hooks.

>>51887097
I plan to since there will be plot progression outside of the PC group
>There are multiple death cult who want want the final Age to come and kill everything
>Certainly non human factions use the split as a Casus Belli on everyone else
>Humans doing human things aka butching each other and other people
>one villain might cause an Eclipse event
>God's angels do interact with mortals every now and again
>Elemental denizens want to invade
etc

What's the most important thing for you to pin down in a new world?

>>51893316
your mom

>>51893316
For me?
Internal consistance of the fundamentals

>>51893316
A flag so the natives know it's your land now.

>>51893402
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RImVPqpIqvo

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>>51893402

>>51893316
>>51893402
>>51893421
>>51893431
No, but seriously? The shape of the world.

>>51893455
My current process
>Universe creation
>Creation myth
>Map (currently from a puddle i saw)
>factions
>politics
>plot hooks
in that order

>>51893492
Define Universe creation.

>>51893622
How the universe works ie in my world for DnD
>Godrealm
>5 elemental realms that "rotate" around the mortal realm, and whos influence can wane or flow
>Death realm where all things end up - aka matter bin
>Void/Chaos/Abyss/Dark Matter which is the glue that sticks everything together

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The Valdir are a strange folk. They claim descent from two other races, the Elves and the Dwarves (whatever those are). They claim that when the previous world was dying, their predecessors combined their sorceries and sciences to create a machine that would carry their legacy into the future world. Books, culture, weapons, songs, everything that made them who they were. But the form that magic took in that long-dead world did not work as it does today, and so when the device reached our present-day world, it instead created an entire race wholecloth.

It sounds like mad-talk.

Despite this eccentricity, the Valdir are an otherwise noble and sober people. Their crafting of armor, weapons, and high halls is unparalleled, as is their splendid wines and ales. They stand tall, very tall, and are strongly built besides. If it were not for the fey-appearance of their faces, and the eerie grace with which they seem to move at all times, one might confuse them for one of the greater races of Men, or Giants. The fact that so much of their craft is infused with magical power makes it no wonder their simplest devices and arts shame all who would compare to them. If indeed the Valdir are of two races, then it appears they received the better traits of both.

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Live, damnit!

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A techno-disease is spreading across the galaxy. People in the millions are being converted into souless machines. The plague's only upside is that you become incredibly strong while infected, as well as having increased mental processing speed. The disease takes exactly 1,001 hours before your soul is completely consumed and you cease sapient thought, becoming little more than a human-shaped calculator.

The only cure is to drink the blood of a Star-God. Are you bad enough to go kill one and take its blood?

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>>51891704
>>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?

Indeed. Ever since the Technomancer was release in the UA for 5th edition I've been trying to imagine a setting with magitek computers.

Basic ideas include the settings quivalent of the internet being a plane of existence that can be entered the same way one can go to Baator or Celestia (and both having similiar influences on this space as well). AI being tech elemental sprites born from the technomancer's magic all while interweaving the old timy village on the frontier except your woodsman is armed with a rifle or a high tech Bow that fires arrows filled with alchemical concoctions.

>>51891844
If I want a wall of text to read, I will open Wikipedia.

>>51892504
Lordran is from Dark Souls.

As the deus ex/ macguffin weapon, hows this sound?
>An ancient sword, found buried within a rock at the peak of Olympus mons
>The hilt is all earth materials, leather, iron, steel, But each piece is dated to different eras ,cultures and nations
>For example the iron pommel is dated back to the vikings, and small norse runes can be found at the base
>But the blade is crafted from an element which does not exist in the solar system.

>>51895299
Rad.

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>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Aesthetically, yes. I like anachronistic worlds, where mythological mindsets, superstition and traditional feudal/ancient/tribal societies exist along side certain high-tech (usually soft-sci-fi) technologies. That said, the fantasy elements in this case come from perception of the inhabitants, rather than being actual magical objects in the world.
What I don't really like is "magi-tech" or setting where actual MAGIC and mythological objects share space with sci-fi rules and speculative elements. In general, mythological logic and speculative logic of sci-fi don't go very well hand in hand in my opinion.

>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
See above. Fiction should always make up it's mind whenever it's fundamentally speculative or not. While their aesthetics can mix, their internal logic should not.

>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?
No. As much as I like Star Wars, light-sabers are a stupid fucking idea and don't improve any kind of settings except Star Wars obviously.

>>51893316
>What's the most important thing for you to pin down in a new world?
Tone, atmosphere, aesthetics and sources of inspiration, fundamental overarching theme.

I generally think that for good world-building, you should always wrap your head around the theory a bit. Figure out what you are doing, what kind of rules do you wish to establish, what type of story do you want to ultimately tell through your world-building.
It should not be just a plain exercise in re-arranging established genre tropes. World-building should still have some kind of meaning or greater intention to it.

>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Scifantasy is where it is fucking at yo.
>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
The speculative nature of scifi as applied to magic and the mystical. I love me some magitech and exploring societal implications of a given thing's existence. Also fuck it throw some space travel in there while we're at it.
>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
If we're taking a strait scifi setting and adding fantasy, I'd say some subtle magic. Just that hint that the unknown boundaries of physics and reality actually have ancient mystic roots. And a little strait up magic, even if we have to call it radiation for it to fly past the censors.
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
I am in the process of it yes. Do all of the starwars games count for part 2 of that question? I know those.
Hard Mode:
>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?
They're a thing, haven't gotten to the rules for them yet though. They chug the gasoline/electrical fluid magical analog like fucking no tomorrow.

Dante Must Die:
>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?
I'm that guy who always lists ghibli as my main source of inspiration for this setting. Who else but the bad guys would have a fuel guzzling hyper powerful weapon? Matches well with their giant suits of full plate with industrial sized canisters of magic strapped on the back (for the enhanced strength and force fields).

>>51896438
Wow way to have a completely different view on magitech than me. Wanna fight about it?

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>>51896621
>Wanna fight about it?
If you are interested in being beaten around the head with smug literary and narrative theory from the perspective of a person who does not understand the idea of "just having fun", sure. Bring it on.

>>51896720
Nah bitch, I'll meet you in the parking lot after the thread.

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I've been cribbing a lot of ideas from Xenogears and have grown fond of the idea of a massive colony ship breaking apart and becoming the various dungeons of the setting people people they were built into the places they were at weird angles and what not rather than realizing that's just how they fell to the planet.

Another theme I'm working with is that each part of the ship had something going on with it that contributes to it's theme such as the engine section that allowed for the colony ship to travel across space and is generally maintained by an AI. Cue several thousand years and the damaged AI and still working magitek warp engine has created a space time anomoly that becomes a special dungeon filled with lovecraftian mechanical horrors.

This also explains how a lot of the monsters and races besides humans exist because a part of the ship that regulated the evironment within basically went unchecked and started created mega fauna/flora and became a God of Nature in the form of a giant tree with glowy electrical bits.

>>51896720
>wanna listen to my autism speak?

no

I'm at an impasse. I designed my races so all of them would be very different both mechanically and mentally - but now I keep thinking, what's the point? No one knows shit about my setting, and since I've given everyone ample cause to take different races for mechanical reasons, I've set myself up for "human with pointy ears" characters all over the place.

I could make only humans playable... but the other races are supposed to be everywhere.

>>51898716
Races let you get off with gimmicks which are admittedly racist but a lot of fun that you can't pull off with just the human races.
See Star Wars and the Hutt race and various other races. Aside from humans, most races are pretty gimmicky and one tone but it helps a lot in making the setting fantastical, interesting and most importantly fun.

>>51898846
>>51898716
Let me put it this way,
Do you want to play an eagleman from not!America who works as bounty hunter?
Or you will settle for playing a human from not!America who works as bounty hunter?

>>51898846
>>51898886
I'm sorry, but I really don't see how any of this addresses what I said.

>>51898716
>>51898846
>>51898886
>>51899338
can you guys get to the point already

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>>51898716
I go with assumption that players will probably play humans only, at least at first go. I mean, they are basically adventurer-bait to begin with. Other species are quite bit different, so I would encourage it, to sorta explore the setting rather than being dumped information about how they behave and so forth. ( been thinking of doing comics with the setting )
Use them as NPCs.
Nothing wrong with that, personally.

It's 2001. It's been two years since the all out nuclear engagement that occurred due to the soviets responding to the Able Archer 83 exercise in 1983. The old titans that ruled the world are gone. China, The United States, The Soviet Union and its satellites, and finally the NATO member states lay in irradiated ruination. New nations rise out of the fallout to find their purchase in this new world. Tyrants and despots rule most of these new nations making the monsters that led the "Old World" look like children.

This is the back drop for your adventures. Survive and make your mark on this glowing new world.

You guys think that be a good "hook" for my players tomorrow? Trying to get them into something other than DnD.

>>51900591
Sounds like Twilight 2000

>>51900545
Did you draw that anon? its bloody alright

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>>51900757
Yes, I draw things.

>>51900839
blog?

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>>51900868
floatrand.tumblr.com
Don't really do much other than post whatever I happen to make.

>>51900545
>I go with assumption that players will probably play humans only, at least at first go.
>players will probably play humans only
>humans only

Not gonna lie, I wanna kill you, wear your skin, and play with your party. Because mine all gravitate towards pointy-ears and "optimized" races like goddamn magnets.

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>>51901023
wtf m8

>>51901023
Not him, but I've seen you a lot in these threads. You got some good shit anon. Keep that sweet, sweet content flowing.

>>51901062
$5.

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>>51901132
I weep for the plight of the starving artist, who is subject to the whims of deviants and plebeians so he may make a living.

>>51901178
yeah, poor Michelangelo who stooped so low as to take commissions for a living...

>>51901216
>yeah, poor Michelangelo who stooped so low as to take commissions for a living...
From the CHURCH

>Adjusts fedora

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>It should be the size of india.
>It looks like a small island.

What am I doing wrong?

>>51902048
using inkarnate

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>>51902048

It's the scale of your features.

You mountains and trees are too big. Not the ranges and forests, but the clipart itself.

The rivers aren't nearly numerous enough for the scale you're talking about (and they're too straight at that scale) see the pic.

Your coastline is also far too smooth for the scale.

>>51902048
>>51902064
Yeah, Inkarnate is only okay if you don't care.

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>>51902048
>>51902111

For comparison, here's what India looks like from orbit. You can *see* the mountains and forests, but not any details. Also not that you can't even see the largest rivers (though you can see the deltas).

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>>51902111
R8 the map I'm working on.

>>51902361

Is that the whole world? If so, how do you get what look like hot deserts in the south and ice in the north? Is the planet tipped away from the sun year round? That might be a cool setting, actually, but it would yield very high north-bound winds (as the air circulated from warm to cold) and you wouldn't have traditional, earth-like seasons anymore.

I can't really figure out how the plate tectonics work either. I don't see any mountain ranges that would be formed by plate bumping against each other and the unbroken chain of land in the middle-south looks odd, I'd be tempted to delete it.

Overall, a really good start, but I would do some-post editing after using fractal noise generation.

>>51902538
No, it's just a single continent in the northern hemisphere. So, let's say that the map is about 4000 by 4000 kilometers. 4000 km is sort of the distance between Scandinavia and North Africa. Would it be unreasonable if there was tundra in the north of this continent and a more desert area in the south?

So I have a problem.

Last night I was talking to one of my players, and he mentioned that he really likes maps. They give him a concrete sense of immersion and place in the world, and he specifically complemented other games we've played in for maps, as well as saying that the first thing he did for our upcoming campaign was to add a map so we can be "more immersed."

This player is one of two in my group who I feel aren't as engaged in the others, and I now think that part of the reason is likely the fact I don't have a concrete, visible map. I have an extensive one in my head and described, but I think this particular guy is having trouble getting a sense of place in the world without a visual.

Now, the normal solution to this is to google "D&D Map Builder" and build a map, but I have a problem: My homebrew setting takes place on fractals of land which twist and turn their way into infinity. Most of the major landmasses are tubes, rectangular prisms, large extruded Us, and other such ridiculous shapes. I've posted the guidebook here before, actually—you guys might remember it.

So no pre-built mapmaking software is really going to work, since the map needs to be in 3D. I already figured out how you'd draw a 2D map of a Tendril, but I don't have nearly the artistic ability to do so.

Am I just fucked here? Do you think having shitty hand-drawn maps would be enough?

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>>51902111
Thank you. I'm trying to improve it.

Is it bad when too many rivers flow into a river? Would happen with this river.

>>51903418
>>51902111
>>51902170
The thank you was addressed to both.

>>51902765
Make a huge, real map. Then cut it into fractals.

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>>51903418
>Is it bad when too many rivers flow into a river?
No. Actually, most of water from a single region or basin tends to eventually end up in one of very few rivers. Ever seen this map?
Take a look at Danube for an example. It collects like 12% of all running water in eastern Europe, absorbs five or six other major rivers - it's massive.
The way your map is set, it makes sense that the river in the central map region would absorb majority of other rivers in that region.

>>51891704
What I really love is fantasy tropes and vibes achieved through through sci-fi technology. Fallout: New Vegas had some pretty good examples of this, though they weren't given as much gravitas as I would have liked.

>An ancient genius from a long gone era that's artificially extended his life through strange and esoteric knowledge and controls an army of mindless servants from atop a giant forbidden tower

>An ancient ruin forever haunted by ghosts in the form of an automated hologram security system and a siren's voice that lures adventurers to their deaths on the radio

>Pretty much everything about the Legion

I was once in a group where we created the rough ideas behind our game's setting in a sort of minigame
The DM gave a blank setting like "this world has the technological level of our middleages, magic exists and in the past there were civilization that died out and only left ruins/dungeons"
Then every player got a set amount of points, players took turns to come up with details in the setting
The DM would make an offer of how many points something like this would cost, points could also be spend to negate another player's purchase in case one guy tries to shit things up
All details not mentioned in this process were up for the DM to make up


That is roughly how I remember this world creation as a group worked but I cannot recall the name or more exact rules anymore
Does anyone here know what system we might have used? I'd like to use it for a new group I got coming up

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>>51903418
>Is it bad when too many rivers flow into a river?

No.

bump, because these threads die too quickly I'd like to be able to contribute when I get off work

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#notdead
#MaraniansAreCucks

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Which is better for a high magic fantasy setting akin to Eberron mixed with historical cultures and the Cold War era?

>>51905208
Was Ist Das?

12 main gods, each one with 3 lesser gods serving under them, so you get 12 months with 3 ten-day weeks.
Looks good?

>>51905425
The holy scripture of the largest religion in my world.

>>51905368
I always preferred sepia tones

>Humanity discovers 7 planets in a "nearby" star system
>Earth is fucked by 2200, so ships are sent to colonize via generation ships
>Only 3 planets habitable
>1 has a Native Sapient species nearing something like an early Industrial Revolution
>300 years after landfall humans are finally going back to space

Sounds good for the basic idea of a setting?

I just cant wrap my head around polytheism

>>51905368
seconding sepia. Really gives the cold war vibe to me

>>51905813
Sounds fine to me.

>>51907661
why not?

>>51906469
>>51907706
OK

one off idea that I don't have the time to work on right now, but thoughts son humans being unable to do magic and instead having to tame animals to do it for them?

>>51908763
Pokemon?

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Usually when I make maps for my players, I try to make them as they would be made by an in-game map maker, so usually that ends up being brown-ish texture with black lines, distressed look and wonky continents.

However now I'm planning a setting that's roughly Bronze Age on the technological level, so any maps they have would be really, really basic to the point of uselessness.

What would be the better option in this case? Full-on satellite imagery-looking accurate maps or near-useless ancient looking maps like the Babylonian Map of the World (Pic related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Map_of_the_World)?

>>51909088
oh right damn.

>>51907579
I need to sleep but I want to flesh this out more with you.

How many ships are sent to each planet? Are they in communication with each other? How alien is this native species?

>>51891704

>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?

Yes, in that something that follows from the logic of a setting should not be excluded just because "fantasy (or scifi) settings don't have those".

>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?

Use of magic to improve the basic things - food, sanitation, transportation. Also body modification/improvement.

>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?

Dangerous ancient ruins and artifacts.

>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?

No. But thinking how a bunch of mages would go about exploring real orbital/interplanetary space is fun.

>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?

Had not thought about it, but now there will be exactly one lightsaber.
>Elf prince offers huge reward for making a Perfect Sword that could cut anything at any angle.
>Many crafters and enchanters try, a lot of time and resources wasted.
>Eventually some archmage creates a hilt that can focus continuous lightning in the general shape of a blade.
>Collects reward and quickly leaves.
>Prince goes to defeat a number of duels with a sword that cannot be parried.
>Decides to go hunt the eastern barbarians.
>Barbarians don't give a shit about duel rules, rush in a pack.
>Several die but one grabs the Princes hand and uses his greater strength to cut the elf to pieces.
>Barbarians tied it to the end of a long staff and used it to fuck up elven Eagle Knights.
>Since then anyone with the resources to hire an archmage has heard of that Prince and asks for more practical things.


>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?

Nothing. Closest thing to universal Bad Guys are wilderness monsters which are animalistic or elemental, and places with very magical environment.

>>51909445
If you enjoy making maps, do the satellite for yourself. Hand out rough doodly approximations on a significantly smaller scale for the players.

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is this a good start for a micro-setting map? Supposed to be a town thats sort of nestled into a mountain which overlooks a canyon, if that at all makes any sense.

>>51910047

As long as they are industrialized, there should be comms.
The problems that happen IRL are because the probes/rovers have very limited onboard power.
If someone was living at the other end, interplanetary communication would be trivial.

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r8 my blobs

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>>51910047
yes, wonderful potential.
300 year old Colony ships permanently circling the planets populated by descendants of the skeleton crew left behind. They act as communication satellites and control interplanetary communication. They also are the loremasters. They have some awesome DJs that blanket the planet with music. Many people on the orbital ships form bands and broadcast to the world below.
The landing craft were designed to be used once and then become a 'town hall' - the hub for a new community. 300 years later new ships are built that can reach the orbital colony ship.

pic unrelated

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District map for a hive in Dark Heresy. Thoughts anyone? I did it in excel, makes it pretty ugly but quite effective/quick to adjust.

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>>51911341
Love the water, very nice
The land is nicely colored also.
Love the islands. SE island with mountains is very nice. Coastlines are generally good,
Boxed in areas bother me. Western bay is weird and looks like a face. Yes Italy looks like a boot, but probably better not to.
Large boxed section has a really straight coast
and the big round bit feels tacked on awkwardly.
I'm guessing this is about the size of California.
Plate tectonics will help you place mountains.
I drew a line that <kind of> works OKish for me, but I would shift stuff around to be more deliberate.

>>51911940
I'd never have thought of it, but it worked well for a grid-planned city map.

Noice work m8

>>51912459
I never noticed the face shape to the west. The eastern section was made very straight on purpose, but I agree I could erode it a bit near the coastlines

The big round thing only started looking awkward after I zoomed in from the world map, so I'm uncertain regarding what to do with it. I want to keep its current position, but now that I started laying out nations on that peninsula, I can probably shave it off a bit to make it look less blobby

In terms of drafting, that large continent piece is a zoomed out version from what I first drew about 2 years ago. Everything else I made it much more recently. I'd also like to clarify that the region to the Southeast is the beginning of another, larger continent.

>>51911341
The only real problem is the coast-to-coast river near the middle.

>>51912527
I'd also like to clarify that the majority of the eastern region suffered from a pre-historic flooding, similar to the one that happened in Northern Europe.

The mountainous regions to the east are the result of even more ancient mountain building that has ceased hundreds of millions of years ago, and not directly related to more "modern" collision boundaries. The mountains are ancient and heavily eroded, but I couldn't find a good way to represent them on a map of that scale

>>51912690
It's not accurate, but it was just a result of me wanting to have a bit of fun and letting go of my major for a second.

Can I tell you about my lovecraftian spider people.

>>51909627
If anything, that's just proof positive of the concept.

>>51912946
No.

Wait, can I change my answer? Because that sounds interesting.

Yes.

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Do you bother about creating another time system in fantasy or just use 12 months based years and 7 dayed weeks and shit ?

>>51915002
The calendar in my setting is a bit different because the world in my system as a different size, orbital period, and parent sun compared to Earth. For that I made two calendars:

The human solar calendar has 12 months of 23/24 days, with the year lasting 283 days.

The Elven lunisolar calendar follows the rather large satellite, with 9 months of 30 days each, plus "Solar Days" each month to coincide with solar motion, which normally are holidays for the elves.

>>51915002
I've tried before, but it quickly turns into a "down the rabbit hole" situation. Not only am I bad at math, but making an entirely original calendar means (to me, at least) that I have to come up with all sorts of celestial cycles, up to and including solstices, moon phases (exponentially more difficult the more moons you add), holidays, and other stuff.
It gets crazy.

Are there map tutorials for Photoshop that does not require cloud? I do not have cloud.

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>>51915213
>>51915237
My biggest gripe is about the name of the months and days themselves. I'm trying to build a medieval not Europe with totally not Catholicism as its main religion, and using friday kinda triggers me, but I can't be assed to find names that don't sound stupid. The fact that in my language (french) they are based on roman divinities doesn't help, since they wouldn't exist in the setting.
It's just a little detail, but it bugs me to no end

So, what resources does a world have? I want to place them around my map for trade stuff, but I'm not sure what I should and shouldn't throw in there.

>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Yes, the setting I've been working on writing up is has a lot of sci-fi elements based on a Victorian era understanding of science and technology.
>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
Anything historically created within the time frame unless you can justify its existance and being out of place. Also magi-tech, but only if it's VERY rudimentary and has a good explanation as to how it works.
>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
Anything, go nuts.
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
Yes, quite a few times.
>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?

No, that's fairly unoriginal/boring imo and wouldn't make sense in the setting Im trying to create.

>>51916078

Depends on setting.
Assuming pre-industrial fantasy:
Temperate areas have staple grains and linen, lumber, furs in the more forested/wild places.
Subtropical have grains as well, also get grapes (wine), olives, cotton.
Tropical have more exotic things like spices, coffee, tobacco, sugarcane - plantation stuff.

Livestock in all three, but usually less in the tropical as wild animals are more of a problem.

Gold and silver are always nice.
Iron ore is good but requires significant population and wood to have an industry. Raw ore wasn't shipped around AFAIK, but pig iron might be.

Then there is stuff that only one culture knows how to make properly, like silk, good steel.

And of course magical materials like mythril, special crystals, dragon droppings and so on

>>51916031
Many cultures, like the Portuguese, have the names of the weeks as numbers instead of attributing them to deities. You could try messing with that

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>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Oh yes.

>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
A lot of them actually, but not all in one setting. And I really like to have space travel in my fantasy settings. Usually I'm not okay with style dissonance or just throwing everything in without thinking.

>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
Pretty much anything. I'm okay with planetary romance-like stories if done well, hard sci-fi with a little bit of magical stuff that everyone takes for granted, dieselpunk with fantasy creatures and magic, sub-lightspeed space colonists arriving to a distant world where everything works like it's a ancient epic with gods and heroes, anything.

>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
Yes, I like this stuff.

>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?
No, just because they are so strongly associated with Star Wars.

>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?
Well, good for them, I guess? I don't think that changes much, especially since they don't have jedi reflexes.

I should add that I don't like WH40k (but for unrelated reasons) and I really don't like " 'technology' vs magic" bullshit, like in Arcanum. I could be okay with it if it was justified, but it only makes it worse if it's supposed to be justified, but the justification is just another pile of bullshit, like, again, in Arcanum.

Any tips on how to name my setting?

>>51912946
Do they wear water as hats sometimes? Im intrigued anon.

>>51915002
I tried doing that once, but realized quickly that even I couldn't be assed to care about it.

>>51916574
Hey that's actually simple yet elegant. I'm also checking out the republican calendar created during the revolution, where they decided to rename everything based on seasons and use more rigourous divisions for the months.

My world
>Orcs are being led by this one super powerful Orc Warboss
>Warboss has conquered all before [sp]her[/sp]
>humans have superior defense and have fortified a gigantic section of River to stop them

basically with no way to continue pillaging the humans the Orcs have calmed down and have started to build cities inside the old conquered human city walls

How does this kind of government function
They currently control 4 large cities and hundreds of outlying villages.
They have almost an entire continent to themselves upwards of a million Orcs
Each one needs food, water, and clothes etc.

Could something like this even survive?
They are Orcs after all, and they don't seem the farming, building, mining type.

>>51917490
Sure they can. Just let them start small.

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>>51917772
Forgot picture.

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>>51918012
wc2

>>51910974
yeah seems like it, but compositionally if you're not putting anything more in the top I'd suggest cropping out the bif white space and adding some more at the bottom so it's more readable.

How would a medieval fantasy world change if somewhere around their iron age, magicians and alchemists discovered a way to extract aluminum easily and cost effectively enough to make it cheaper than iron for society?

I'm thinking a more malleable, more workable and easier to cast metal would make more household items like containers, utensils, cookware and small mechanisms like locks, windows, maybe clocks, etc, available to more people, but aside from that I'm stumped because I don't know that much about metals.

>>51920082
Probably won't change until they invent aircraft.

What if there was a setting that only had dragons?

Better question: Is there a setting that only has dragons? It's not humans killing dragons, it's dragons killing dragons.

>>51922667
Skyrim, from a certain point of view.

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>>51922702
Technically, I guess.

>>51922725
How'd a wyvern manage to stab a dragon with no hands to hold the spear?

>>51922725
Never said that point of view was correct...

>>51922749
Maybe it was a different dragon.

>>51922752
It kind of is though.

>>51922776
>It kind of is though.
Don't let the "2-legs means Wyvern!" fags hear you!

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>>51922863
Eh, it's not like him shouting loudly will change anything. The hypothetical setting would have all shapes and sizes of dragon.

So, question: Should I go with lots of land for a dry, arid world or lots of water for a wet world.

Wet world pictured.

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>>51922980
Dry world

Could I get you guys to critique /provide suggestions for my religion/pantheon?

I have posted it before but I had come up with a diverse religion where the gods were represented by the various planets of the setting with a solar system superficially similar to ours.

In setting all stars are actually giant engines of magic essentially and the religion devoted to the one in particular is the Worship of Sola the Mother who is the mother of all the planets that orbit around her. Because of a dispute the children are divided between those who stay within their mother's light and those who are outside of it creating this contrast of light and darkness (darkness in this case is not nescessarily evil.

>>51925092

The Gods inside of the Luminous Zone:

1. Venai the Pristess: Venai is the oldest child and is the priestess to her mother as she stand closes to her light. She is the patron of scholars and wizards and the planet Venai is a massive desert where, as the planet rotates, a massive wave of fire sweeps across as the light touches the surface. While she is the goddess of knowledge she is also too caught up with the light as it were and can be careless or not see what is going on around her as was the case with the break up of her siblings.

2. Eryia The Mother: Eryia is the name of the Earth like world the setting is primarily on. The middle child who exists at the right spot for her children and grandchildren to exist. The moon,Luna, is her daughter and humans and all other races are considered to be her children in turn making Eryia the Grandmother. While strong she abstained from the fighting fearing for the safety of her grandchildren and watched the conflict between her brother and the other siblings.

3. Aroth, The Wounded, Guardian of the Broken Gate: Living at the edge of the Luminous zone he is cold but stern and is the patron of warriors and guardians alike. He watches the broken gate (the asteroid belt) with an unflinching gaze. He is called wounded because it was observed when a meteor fell onto the planet which became part of the story of conflict between the celestial siblings. While he is a proud and noble warrior is stubborn and unyielding unwilling to forgive his siblings. He has two children Phoros and Iuba who aid him in his task and protect their father from celestial storms.

The Gods of the Umbral expanse live outside the luminous zone. The central tenant of the conflict is the fact that they wished to learn what existed beyond their mother's light and the argument for and against the venture turned into a fight when the youngest son accidently drew a comet that struck his brother Aroth

4. Yalal, She who mourns at the Gate: Living at the border of the Umbral expanse and the Luminous zone she is the patron of theives and goddes of shadows because of her strange orbit that has her visible only at certain times of the year. She is called the mournful one because her orbit has her peeking just past Aroth as if she tries to look over the gate and his shield to try and talk to him though he ignores her and keeps her at bay.

5.Sata and Juti, the Giant Twins: The two gas planets who's emense size dwarfs all except their own mother. Their motivation to leave was because they had no room to grow and would crowd out their siblings hoping to become like their mother. While great storms rage across their bodies and the dark is alight with lightning they could never match the brilliance of their mother.

6. Xathis, The Dark Desire - The youngest son and one who yearned to learn what was beyond the light. He is not considered evil but the Dark Desire is the feeling of wanting to know the unknown in spite of the consequences. While he had no desire to hurt his brother he has accepted that his ambitions have brought these actions and he exist at the edges of the Umbral expanse learning it's secrets. and is considered the god of secrets and the unknown.

Some names have changed because I couldn't remember what I called them the first time I came up with this but the general idea remained the same. The main idea is that this is a sort of polythesitic religion where different cults venerate a specific god or aspect of it so it's sort of like hinduism where the few connecting points are the names and stories because the origin of the religion as a whole started from various sailors, fishermen, and star watchers who applied moralistic stories to their obersavations.

>>51925155
>>51925238
>>51925269
I'm not going to comment on the gods themselves because that's a matter of taste, but from a worldbuilding perspective that's a flavorful but ultimately pointless description.

I think you need to work more what the gods do and how they do it and how they affect societies, instead of what they are and what their aspects are. Descriptions of gods are rarely what makes a pantheon interesting.

Some questions to consider:
>Are they personal gods or do they take little interest in mortal affairs? Do they have intelligence? Free will? Do they have to act a certain way due to their nature? Are there rules for them?
>How strong are these gods? Can they be killed by mortals? Can they be killed by other gods? How much do they know and how much can they see?
>Are they active in the realm? Do they actively provide blessings? Is there evidence of their existence?
>What does each god want? Why do they do the things they do? Who do they bless? Who do they want worshipping them? Do they have a single objective? Maybe different gods have different objectivs at odds with each other?
>How are the gods worshipped? Why are the rituals for worshipping them a certain way? How do they communicate with their believers, if at all? Why do they want or need worshippers at all?
>How do their actions affect the world at large? Do they incite wars between their followers? To what end? Do they increase crop yields? Power magic? Curse their opponents?

>>51925340
I see what you are getting at but for my purposes I've gone with the Gods are distant theme as I've never liked having gods having an overly direct hand in the affairs of mortals. There are god kings and powerful spirits for that sort of thing.

The primary purpose of the religion is to be: A. multi-aspect to allow different religions with the same gods and B. To set the general tone for those religions as well as some cultural aspects.

For instance. academics who worship Venai try to attend a wizard's college that is located on the planet and is underground because of the conditions on the surface. Aroth plays host to a warrior cult that despises people who try to mine the planet for a special resource important in the setting and is openly hostile to other groups who live on the planet

>>51925635
If gods are distant and exist only to serve as a backdrop for religions, then you'd do better if you focused on the religions and cults themselves. There's a lot of room to work there. Particularly if goods are unknowable or subject to interpretation (or downright fabricated) then you'd be able to work in religious differences between different cults worshiping the same god and the like, where even minor differences can lead to large conflicts. Also if gods are distant, it's entirely possible that some people would worship gods that don't exist at all, either because of some mistake or because they were intentionally misled.

Anyway, when writing for worldbuilding, people (I am incredibly guilty of this, as well) tend to write down facts and fluff about their universe, including histories, biographies, personality traits of ancient kings, etc. and it tends to spiral out of control, so what I like to do to keep myself ground is ask myself once in a while "If it were to come up in a game, how could this fact I'm writing down affect the players."

My point is, your pantheon matters a lot less than its effects on the world. This is especially true in your case where the gods are distant or possible not even there at all, but this is true even for extremely active gods.

Magitech and cyberpunk worst mix of sci fi and fantasy

Fight me

>>51915883
yeah you could just look up 'drawing fantasy maps' on yt, draw it for use paint.net

>>51925238
you stole "umbral expanse" from another anon

>start designing a setting
>try to make the setting that may have developed organically, with all the ties, etc.
>expies of our world and other settings are included only if they actually would make sense in the setting and just so happen to be similar to what we have in our world or other settings. no references, easter eggs, traditional races just for the sake of tradition
>realize humans-elves-dwarfs make no sense in said setting, not even include them
>world is shaping up rather original (I hope) but pretty much alien, with hardly anything for a reader/player to connect with
>I can't make a game setting out of it, I'm no writer, so no book either (and I doubt it would be that interesting for a reader)

So what shall I do with a world?

>>51926813
Share it with us and if it gets enough interest and is in depth enough you might be able to make a thread about it where people create a system around the premise.

Keep in mind this very rarely happens but i guess its your only chance to make something out of it

>>51928024
they have to make taller doorways

a whole clan was wiped out when they thought they could just duck, but when enemies attacked many forgot to duck when rushing to combat and knocked themselves down

>>51928051
Truly a fate worse than death

>>51928024
instead of asking /tg/, you could spend 5 minutes googling the quirks of the Fair Folk in myth and fairytales, and use them.

>>51928093
I just wanted to have a group discussion about interesting ideas, but I guess I should just do this on my own

>>51926813
Make humans anyway. Or make it an alien planet.

I've come to an impasse in my worldbuilding and would like some advice:

The setting is a weird west setting, but very fantastical and a little sci-fi. I don't want it to be set on Earth a la Deadlands.

What I'm conflicted on is this: do I hand-wave technology not advancing (keep it continuously in a 19th century level of advancement)? Or have it set in one time period in the world? My first thought is this massive frontier land/continent undergoes massive changes, so settlements become lost or just move positions from other settlements almost supernaturally - that way it continues this idea of exploration, conquest, caravaning, etc. It would also make it so the world has no map - certain regions may be mapped, but those maps may be onsoleted in a matter of centuries (or even less).

What I'm worried is that this sounds like too much of an ass-pull, but I like the idea of things being largely unexplained. It leaves a supernatural and superstitious nature to the setting which I like a lot and reflects the "weird west", but if it would put off players too much I'd probably go with a different idea.

>>51928635
I say just set it in a given time period. Why bother keeping it in stasis? You can just set any and all campaigns during the same years.

I need an opinion. I'm trying to stat out the various races of my setting, and I want humans to be set apart from the others in a useful fashion. To this end, I have given humans a boost to their social skills - wait, don't leave!

My justification for this is thus: humans have expressive faces, compared to perma-smug elves, eternally scowling orcs and dwarves whose only expression is "beard". We are highly social animals to begin with (even if most of /tg/ is an exception), and don't have retard strength, hippie magic or genetically encoded blacksmithing to compensate for our squishiness. Humans more or less automatically develop strong social skills, learn to communicate and form communities with strong in-group loyalty and out-group suspicion.

Accordingly, all other races are worse than we are at forming tight-knit communities and communicating effectively - elves fuck around because they have no pressing needs and no innate suspicion toward outsiders, orcs fight each other instead of talking, because they can take it, and dwarves have strict rules and traditions for everything, because they're too autistic to read a room.

This is a very shallow description using examples everyone will understand. My actual setting has different races, but the principle is the same.

Shit, not shit, or too general to tell? I've occasionally heard it called cliché to give humans the "social race" spot, but I honestly can't think of any settings where that is the case. Normally, there's just some throwaway line about the human spirit, adaptability or somesuch.

>>51928754

I guess because not explicitly stating things about the setting, like geography or a timeline, to me makes it more mysterious, however misguided that notion may be. Of course I'm still on the fence, and could easily make a timeline, map, etc. but wouldn't want the setting to suffer for it (even though it probably won't).

>>51928946
Why make a timeline? Just say the campaign happens in the time of pioneers and new frontiers or something. It doesn't matter what came before or what comes after.

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>>51916031
Japan names days after their classical elements.
They have (literally translated):
Monday - Moon-day
Tuesday - Fire-day
Wednesday - Water-day
Thursday - Wood-day
Friday - Gold-day (intended to represent metal, I'd assume)
Saturday - Earth-day
Sunday - Sun-day

Pic related.

>>51928957

True, I may have mispoke too. I don't intend to do a timeline of what happens during the time period, but rather past events that lead to current situations. I figure I'd keep it more ambiguous if I kept the time in stasis otherwise.

One thing I remembered (sorry, this is more of a revitalization of a setting) is the primary religion is based on a deck of cards, with each suit representing an element of magic and the faces representing the pantheon. Now due to this being so commonplace I figured the stasis thing would make more sense as it's primarily a frontier-identified religion and I would have had this deck of cards created there, but I can easily adapt this religion and history into a codified time period. If that all makes sense. After all, the common French deck used during our old west period has tons of history as well.

>>51916031
Just some input:
You could name the days after saints, since you have a clergy with I assume elaborate religious tradition.
You could also be a little simple about it, and have days be named after an activity that takes place during that day (maybe as mandated by the clergy) so you would "Church-day" for going to Church, and maybe you would have something like River-day be the day people bathe.

>>51891704
fuck you i wanted more pics of laser swords and other sci-fantasy shit

>>51915002
I've been working on a calendar system for a flatworld that exists in a sort of subspacial anomaly, though I can't say I'm satisfied with anything I've come up with yet. Now that I'm thinking of it, I'm not sure how night and day time would even work with my flatworld short of "magic my dude".

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QUEST: Countless Skies

COMPANION: Gargoyle Knight Goliath

DESCRIPTION: Stone's Reach is incredibly ancient. Standing on a rocky headland, not even its inhabitants could ever remember how it came to be. It is said that once, humans even dwelt there, not just grotesque statues, their faces and bodies distorted by an endless, immovable agony. Who built the statues, is another thing lost to oblivion, and so is the natures of the silent stone gargoyles that roam the city, awakening from their slumber on the rooftops and ramparts of the ornate buildings of the city, then returning to their sleep after some time spent wandering aimlessly around its alleys and halls. Something ineffable yet ever present, void yet horribly heavy, weighs upon the city, an old spell, of which nobody remembers anything. You must wander around the maddening silence of Stone's Reach, in its crypts and cathedrals, to uncover its secrets. They say that gargoyles, towering and stone-carved, are only the least dangerous creatures one may find in the city, if he only digs a bit under the surface: after all, it is not so easy to turn a living being into stone, and viceversa.

>more? y/n

>>51926268

Final Fantasy 6

Fought you

>>51929304
I like those ideas, and I've kept moon day and sun day but changed all the other ones to alterations of either religious and task related words

>>51928870
eh, all the races form some kind of community so arguing that humans have higher social skills is a bit of a stretch, I'd sooner give humans crafting bonuses as well as bonuses to use magic items, arguing that humans more instinctively make and use tools to solve problems than other races. you can argue that races like elves and gnomes will more instinctively cast spells to solve problems and races like orcs will naturally rely on their physical abilities. Maybe expand on this such that humans will more often forget (or even fail to grasp) that magic is even an option just as elves may just "burn a spell slot" to do something completely forgetting (possibly not even comprehending) that humans might well have invented a tool that does the same thing and doesn't require a spell slot. (ex: party is in a dark dungeon and the elf wizard immediately casts the 'light' spell, only for the Human to ask why he did that when they have a perfectly good lantern? to which the Elf has no idea how to answer)(or vice-versa, human goes to all this trouble building a rope-bridge across a chasm when the Elf points out that he could've just casted 'levitate' on everyone to achieve the same thing, and the Human likewise has no idea how to answer that).

>>51891704
>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Not really. I had an idea once that was about sci-fi and fantasy worlds colliding, but I haven't developed it at all beyond the premise, and even that's sparse.

>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
Psychic powers, since they're essentially magic, but have close sci-fi ties they could work in either setting.

>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
The latter strikes me as a weird question, everyone knows about Shadowrun and 40K. As for me, no, though I would like to. It would either end up like Mass Effect, because I would like a huge fantasy space opera, or Shadowrun, because I used to read the Artemis Fowl books and would actually like to try developing a world like that.

>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?
The sci-fi worlds only.

>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?
Nothing much. The elves have been fighting with enchanted weapons that cut through steel like butter for quite some time, and firearms exist too.

>>51930932
>eh, all the races form some kind of community so arguing that humans have higher social skills is a bit of a stretch
That's kind of a non-answer. You might as well say that all races use tools, so it doesn't make sense that humans use them more.

>>51930932

Difference could be size of stable society: tribe versus kingdom/nation

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>>51891704
I don't really come into this thread often but I figured that since it's a sci-fantasy themed thread I'd share what little i have about the sci-fantasy thing I've been working on for a while

I'm not big on writing so I may have a lot of mistakes, but I'd really appreciate some feedback on the general thing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A8ehv34auUc8XyDd7GfMgIpw-qnsr3tGJR-5npu_dMs/edit?usp=sharing

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So I want to make a jungle shaman/necromancer culture, but I'm afraid that kind of thing is a little stale at this point. What are some cool things to make the trope fresh again?

>>51933412
>The world is swarming with technological advancements that have been adapted to their medieval designs
>But this territorial expansion has also brought upon Skyresh a concept that had been completely alien its inhabitants: War

>medieval
>war
>alien
what

>>51933412
>>51933927
Sorry, I jumped the gun a bit, I should've gone through the entire thing first. But just the idea that these people actually got to a medieval level of development and never went to war with each other strikes me as incredibly utopian.

>>51891704
I run a superhero game. I've got Sci-fi, fantasy, primal forces, cosmic beings and the one actual Pathfinder mage.

>>51928870
>>51933225

To expand on this. The difference would be about the different primary loyalties that people of the races usually form.


For some examples:
Dwarves would be all "my mountain" or "my hold" - attracted to the place and the stone more than other dwarves inside it.

Orcs would be "my tribe", "my blood relatives".

Elves would group around more abstract or aesthetic concepts. But with their long and pleasant lives they would be very particular autist about it. "League of forests" vs "Forest league" and so on


And humans are the ones that go: "that guy with the crown I will never meet? He's my king."

>>51934077
Superhero is such a weird genre when you think about it.

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>>51934120
>And humans are the ones that go: "that guy with the crown I will never meet? He's my king."
Yeah, until they go "You think you can push us around just because of that stupid crown?"

>>51934159
Well it's basically "everything goes : the genre" ; it simply needs to be appropriately over-the-top. Not too much and yet enough.

>>51933412
The way you introduce the Codex is strange. The first paragraph doesn't give it a name and lists its effects on the world, then the second paragraph explains what it is. You should explain the Codex, then talk about what it did to the world.

I don't understand the purpose of mercenaries. They don't even really seem like mercenaries, just explorers. What, you think explorers were just noodly-armed cartographers or something? Also, your setting doesn't seem consistent, as you go from exploration to war then back to exploration, I don't get it.

The races feel random just for the sake of being random. Out of the main three, the Tonkari I like the most simply for being the least random. I don't seen Gendrel being beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, they seem to me like a horrible mishmash of different parts that don't go together. But out of all of them, I find the Olmert most interesting.

Also, the distinction of Beasts seems very odd and unnecessary. They're just animals, wildlife, why give them a title that implies anything more?

On the whole, I think it needs to be fleshed out a LOT more to judge it properly. But to be fair to you, it is only two weeks old.

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what do you guy think of my map guys i've written some stuff about it but i haven't thought of a name yet

>>51935023
kasadonia is only a name of one of the states

>>51935023
I'm pretty bad at maps myself, but my gut feeling is that this landmass shouldn't really exist like this. Like, I think it would be better if it were just a bunch of smaller islands. But again, could be completely wrong.

>>51917490
Just make them Mongols, that's what I did. All shall bow before Nogoon (Green) Khan. Also, watch Marco Polo.

>>51935023
It's a nice wor

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>it's another anons wank to their own settings and literally nobody gives a shit thread

this general shouldnt be for dumping walls of text expecting people to care. it should be asking specific questions and having CONVERSATIONS about how to answer those questions.

>>51941533
True. I was thinking of just asking a questions about settings to see what people say, but I can't think of anything I think would actually be interesting to discuss. Any ideas?

>>51941578
don't ask questions asking to elaborate on a setting. ask questions on how anons approach worldbuilding

>>51941533
>>51941614
Anything preventing you from doing these things? Or are you just interested in complaining about other people not doing these things?

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>>51941533
It's easier to complain than to create, anon. I for one, enjoy reading about other settings, even if my own probably doesn't receive the attention I wish it would. Consider joining us one of these days, I think you'll have a lot of fun. Though, typically these generals started with a handful of questions that would really help jumpstart conversation. The next general should ask these. Five or so questions all tangentially related to each other.

>>51942252
Thats garbage, it's a text wall prompt not a conversation prompt. A conversation prompt is "lets talk about how to create an interesting menu of available foods and recipes to a culture".
Instead of anons leaving their text wall of self wank like a steaming cat shit in the thread, people would start to explain their though process with examples that prompt response and discussion

>>51942364
Then do it, or leave. Lead by example.

>>51942393
So much this. I'm so sick of anons complaining in a thread about other anons not doing something, but they themselves don't do anything, as if their pointing that out makes them exempt from their own criticism. Nut up or shut up.

So let's talk about shit. I dunno, let's talk about... making a setting that uses original races that aren't just the typical races with different names. Deliberately avoiding cliches can be just as painful as playing them straight.

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>>51942438
>throw match into pile of shit hoping to start fire
>goes out
>do it again
>goes out
>do it again
>goes out
>bitch that this is a fucking pile of wet dogshit how am I supposed to set this on fire
>"Man stop bitching and get a match you faggot"

>>51942511
Fuck you for being a complete faggot who doesn't even try to contribute anything. That only works if the entire concept of a worldbuilding thread is complete garbage.
>inb4 "But it is!"

>>51942252
>Though, typically these generals started with a handful of questions that would really help jumpstart conversation.
Did you already answer the questions in the OP?

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>>51942562
I had a whole explanation for why I think the current format is a problem and stifles discussion through its promotion of unfocused and schizoid conversation about such a painfully broad topic but the more I think about it and look at this thread the more I realize the actual purpose of generals and realize my thoughts are both pointless and unwelcome.
In fact thinking about this has thought me a lot.

>>51942803
>I had a whole explanation
>had
Explain to me why I should give a shit.

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>>51942853
Your reading comprehension is masterful anon.
The post is explicitly saying "I was going to argue with you, but thinking about it I realize it is futile, because we simply do not have the same goals in mind"

>>51942891
Stop being a spineless coward and give me your explanation.

>>51942954
Worldbuilding is both a highly personal endeavor and a very broad topic, AND a fairly small niche making is probably the absolute worst breed of topic for general discussion threads. People always want to talk about their own world, which is totally natural, so when the roll up to the general almost no one is going to read the whole thing, just the first few posts and last few posts at best, and when they do respond it's a paltry "I like that, I don't like that" or some other barely contributory nonsense because no one wants to do anything but leave their own shit on the floor and the shit on the floor is barely ABLE to be talked about because as a general the topic is focused enough to encourage organic discussion development like in a normal thread.

So what happens is you get a horrifically slow thread populated by unread walls of text and pointless answers with only the sparse question (not text wall) that gets a useful answer.

>>51943044
How dare these people discuss things in a way you don't deem fit! Why, we'll have to derail the thread to stop such a heinous endeavor!

>>51943044
Yes, I agree with that completely. The next step is solving these problems. Which will be difficult, but we should at least try coming up with solutions.

>>51943109
He has a point. Nobody actually talks about things. They just post their own stuff and never interact with anyone. Which is why I haven't spoken about my stuff in this thread, beyond answering the questions in the OP.

Looking for a bit of help fleshing out a few things.

So, to set the world I'm currently working on, here's a TL;DR:

> Magical empire rules over the land with relative peace amongst all the other city states
> Magic radiation from the Far Realm starts to leak into the world, causing lots of magical corruption to the land and general spooky/Bloodborne-esque stuff
> Gods build a new island continent to house refugees on while they work to strengthen the barriers between realms and cleanse the land of magical corruption
> Things go horribly wrong, maybe 20% of the actual population gets over to the new island in time before the gods seal it away
> Millennia pass, history gets warped into a creation myth of why tech level is this way and why there's few magical items and shit (a side effect of the barrier being strengthened)
> The gods (mostly) finish their job of reinforcing the barrier between planes, cracks open the seal on the island continent barrier
> People on the island think it's some not!Americas going on, but are confused at the veritable treasure trove over there

Eventually the PCs are going to find a way over there, but outside of having an idea of the 50 miles or so around the not!Jamestown (coastal lands dotted with ruins of old towns/castles with a mountain chain in the distance), I have no clue how to show that this continent is much older than them, and that the few natives on it are very lethal and much different than back home.

>>51943247
>history gets warped into a creation myth
Why don't the gods just tell them what happened?

Anyway, I think you should focus more on just the current setting events take place in rather than past events. As long as the setting is interesting, nobody's really going to care how it became that way.

>>51943299
Because another god caused the breach to begin with, and while they already dealt with that god (your typical deicide), they don't want to admit to being weak to their worshipers.

I've already developed the current setting events, was just looking for inspiration to help flesh out the history a bit to give the players some more information once they reach this new continent.

>>51943496
I'd say amp up the mystery. Almost nothing gets explained outright, players have to hunt down info. Also, just say the gods are fucked too. Some sacrificed themselves for the barrier, others died from the radiation, and some more are still around but driven insane by the radiation. Players fight them later as high-level bosses. As for the rest, I'm too tired to continue now, but will try to do more in the morning.

I'm a bit confused about how rivers work. Let's say I have a mountain range in the middle of the continent. Could I use this as a spring for all the rivers to go into every cardinal direction?

>>51943926
You can, but you shouldn't.

>>51943984
I know, it would look stupid. They will probably go west or north-west into the ocean. Thanks.

>>51944025
Just try not to have them cross the mountains, but you probably knew that.

And add visible tributaries if it's going to be a massive river. Oh, and don't forget that most large lakes are going to have oxbow lakes.

>>51944166
Let's wait and see how much autism I will employ on my very first map. I'm just starting and it's only supposed to give a general overview.

>>51944230
Oh boy, I can tell you that this is a slippery slope, once you start there is no going back and things only get worse (better)

>>51944676
For sure, will probably happen should I make maps with smaller scopes. So far I just want to visualize the place. I will also from now one take permanent residency in these threads.

>>51944763
that's exciting, welcome to the crew man

>but looking at real life--
>geographically--
>according to physics--
>but evolutionarily--
Is there anything more autistic.

>>51946272
you?

>>51946335
Woah

>>51939143
Lol

>>51936795
Well its a fantasy world and a super continent about to tear it self apart

>>51939143
Yeah i was writing a text blob and didn't finish it

How would you guys handle a Metropolis in a fantasy setting as main place for an Adventure?

I have 4 different layers (moat with slums , ground floor for the adventurers, layer 2 for all things commerce, HQs for each guild and at the very top layer 3 for all things science and government)
It looks like a wedding cake with the layers.

The city started as a tiny border outpost, wich provided it with a steady income of criminals wich get thrown into the moat to dig.

The reason why the outpost could grow to its size is thanks to a grand dungeon wich was found deep beneath it, providing loot. They basicly struck oil and Adventurers started flocking into the outpost. To this day nobody could reach the core.

My problem now is, how to describe the different areas to the players? What are some interesting districts I could add? How should the players navigate through the city?

I focused too much on the Dungeon but totally forgot that there is a hugeass city to explore first.

>>51946641
1. Give the whole thing an outer wall that holds it together (the whipped cream in your cake analogy) and describe the levels as the adventurers come across them, is my suggestion.

2. Maybe a district for skinning, butchering and extracting magical shit from monsters? The place would smell like complete ass, leading to several city ordnances forcing the mage's guild to put deodorizing enchantments everywhere.

3.
>We want to go there
>You are now there
Anything else is too annoying.

>>51946641
Nah man you've gotta mix things up.

Huge market complexes overflowing with fruits and fabrics with cellars that give way to older cellars that give way to warrens of rotting grain and rats and the slumlords who live like rats. And ancient water-lifts which plunge deep into the moats.

Or not!railway stations in the heart of slum territory, each one a beacon of middle-class decency which slowly fades to slums as you get further away from them.

Stuff which makes it feel like a breathing, messy city. Unless you're going for artificialness, obviously.

I think the dungeon thing is stupid though. Even something like ancient ruins which a society of scholars were drawn to, and built a city out of, and slowly grew in power and obsession would be better. Bloodborne/Ankh-Morpork style.

I'd recommend shortcuts through the dungeon as the not!Railways, giving them a constant trade-off of "it's fast" vs. "it's dangerous". Plus you could fund exploration missions through the dungeon to find new shortcuts.

>>51946701
I like the butchering part, thank you.

>>51946729
I thought about the Dungeon being a sort of unlimited source of wealth for the city as some sort of madness makes it hard for Adventurers to push deeper into its core to solve the mistery about its inner workings.
The govering bodys would welcome this madness on the one hand , because it guarantees that their only ressource would last, on the other hand it poses as an unknown threat for the city.

The slums would be separated from the city itself.Its like they use it as a cheap prison wich digs utself deeper. The only way out would be the dungeon wich is way too dangerous for the regular moatprisoner

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I am a fairly new DM who has only run about 5 games campaigns, I have lots of things I understand but one of the harder things to master is proper pacing, especially because I don't really control it that much. So I have a question. Regardless of what system I use, how do I go about making a campaign, about 3 sessions, maybe 2, in its entirety, a dungeon crawl but make the rewards not feel wasted? Its a bit difficult to look at it from a players perspective, but, for the sake of argument, lets say a typical combat encounter takes 15 minutes, maybe 30. Each session is 3 hours, 4 if they wanna stay extra. How do I successfully cram a story, meaningful fights, traps, etc, and items all into a campaign that short? Whenever I run things I am used to spread it out over months so its foreign to me almost. Also a bit important to note, the overall setting is easy enough to set, its the story within and meaningful content inside thats hard.

Help please. I want to make my players have fun while also not talking to fuckloads of NPCs.

>>51946272
Don't ever talk to me or my realistic setting ever again!

>>51943109
>derail the thread
You can't derail Something that's entirely composed of tangents

A Practice closely akin to hibernation is said to be general among Russian peasants in the Pskov Government, where food is scanty to a degree almost equivalent to chronic famine. Not having provisions enough to carry them through the whole year, they adopt the economical expedient of spending one half of it in sleep. At the first fall of snow the whole family gathers round the stove, lies down, ceases to wrestle with the problems of human existence, and quietly goes to sleep. Once a day every one wakes up to eat a piece of hard bread, of which an amount sufficient to last six months has providently been baked in the previous autumn. When the bread has been washed down with water, everyone goes to sleep again. The members of the family take it in turn to watch and keep the fire alight. After six months of this reposeful existence the family wakes up, shakes itself, goes out to see if the grass is growing, and by-and-by sets to work at summer tasks. The country remains comparatively lively till the following winter, when again all signs of life disappear and all is silent, except we presume for the snores of the sleepers. This winter sleep is called lotska.
...
In addition to the economic advantages of hibernation, the mere thought of a sleep which knits up the ravelled sleeve of care for half a year on end is calculated to fill our harassed souls with envy. We, doomed to dwell here where men sit and hear each other groan, can scarce imagine what it must be for six whole months out of the twelve to be in the state of Nirvana longed for by Eastern sages, free from the stress of life, from the need to labour, from the multitudinous burdens, anxieties, and vexations of existence. (BMJ 1900:i;1554.)

How do I make this part of a setting without making it weird?

>>51948124
>How do I make this part of a setting without making it weird?
Post-apocalypse, climate's fucked up beyond normal, literally impossible to grow food during winter. And put them into pods or something, don't just say "They fall asleep"

>>51948159
I dunno, that would involve a lot of pods. Presumably a lot of cattle prods to poke people into those pods as well.

Though i do like the potential dystopic implications. What is the post apoc government doing while everyone sleeps? Weird science shit that's what.

I dunno, I suppose I like the idea of just going to bed and eating awful bread in its purest form better. A lot easier to just wake up and not be a part of that, meddle about the place.

>>51948219
Well, it's just the idea that they lie in bed and just go to sleep again. At least make them have to take a drug or something to put them out again. Though with the pods, I was thinking you could have something like The Matrix, where people spend their time while sleeping.

>>51948159

Or have the winter weather so bad that it is not survivable outdoors.
Since sitting around in (small) shelters with nothing to do would drive people crazy, they use drugs and special exercises to turn off brain until spring.

So I'm trying to simulate the effects of the industrial revolution, proletarianizatuon, and class struggle in the context of a fantasy setting. How exactly should I go about implementing an in-setting proxy for Communism/Socialism? My ideas:

>Mages and people with magical affinity who used to be part of a larger guild are now having their privileges and societal status taken away, leading to the ones who can't stand out as exceptional enough to be sponsored by the Nobility being forced into working society, with all the mistrust and misunderstanding that goes with having freaky powers. They're generally employed in highly dangerous tasks that a non-mage would find impossible to perform

>Members of different races and ethnicities start pouring into the cities for work, forming their own ethnic ghettos and leading to much hatred and animosity, but also interracial friendship among a minority of the population

I need more ideas as to what effect this would have. As well as a fantasy equvilient for Karl Marx.

>>51950491
Step one: why is this happening? What changed?

>>51950491
If you're going for an actual allegory for socialism you should look at some fantasy fuckery with the means of production.

Like if industry is driven by a secret art handed down among the smithy-aristocracy and kept out of the hands of the working class, who instead heap up the sacrificial chaff all day and all knight to keep the forge-shrines burning. The secret art would have to be essentially trivial in difficulty and effort, like whispering the right words and waving the right incense.

So anons, I'm a bit stumped so my world is Cyberpunk and the story so far goes like this:

>Crapsack cyberpunk dystopia which the faux protagonist wants to escape by hiding in an asteroid in outer space which is illegal.

>He gets killed and his sister decides to join space al-Qaeda (more like mars al-Qaeda) to exact revenge.

>the story centers about the PMC tasked with killing them all in name of the Megacorp they have been attacking.

>Now in this setting PMCs are used by giant Corps to provide security and work as their private army, with all the perks of not being their private army, although they do have this super secret spec ops teams for the real shady shit that nobody has to know about.

>unsurprisingly the PMC gets betrayed, and they have to fight the secret spec ops group, and eventually get driven underground as well, the end.

I want to really throw some weird freaky shit in here, like I want the dpec ops team to have a telekinetic individual and shit.

would this be too far fetched for a Cyberpunk/Mil Sci-fi story? I also kinda want to make the Telekinetic psychic a woobie and eventually redeem her, would that be ok?, or is that too cliche?

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>>51950491
I don't see anything that really stands out as being distinctly Communist or Socialist. I'd say the easiest way to do this is make the mages the privileged ruling class, essentially the Bourgeoisie, the oppressors of the non-mages, the Proletariat. The revolution goes underway, with mages being killed in the street and the government being overthrown. The new government takes an incredibly harsh anti-magic stance. Children are tested for magical ability, and if they have the potential to be mages, they are killed. Their parents are likely killed as well, since they believe that magical ability is inherited, and they could produce more mages (whether or not that is actually true is up to you).

Of course, with the mages being the rulers of the previous government, they used their magic in many aspects for the nation. With the ban on magic, radical change follows, and many people end up suffering as a result. This would be analogous to things like the Holodomor.

Of course, this being a Communist/Socialist government, the rulers are pampered, privileged hypocrites. Some of them are mages themselves, or at least use some form of magic, others use their connections to protect relatives who are mages.

This would actually be pretty interesting if you played through the period in multiple eras. The first being the revolution, the second being life during the Communist/Socialist government, then the last being the revolution overthrowing that government, though you could probably just mix the second and third together. I honestly find the idea of being a mage living under this anti-mage government, hiding from the Stasi analog to be a very interesting idea. Reminds me a lot of The Lives of Others and Papers, Please. Perhaps a bit of Goodbye, Lenin as well.

>>51951179
That's not distinctly Communist or Socialist either, it's just generic revolutionary (if bloody). It could apply to the French revolution as well as -- well, the Italian one, or indeed the big October one.

>>51951307
The revolution itself, sure, but what about the things that come after it?

>>51951378
Exactly. What about it?

Yours is just "I don't like the rulers, let's replace them with someone else who won't be like them", which summarises every revolution in existence. The French had their terror against anything "unvirtuous" or aristocratic (sort of), the Italians against anything not Fascist enough, the Bolsheviks -- well, they didn't really do it, but that was because Russia dissolved into a full-on civil war. But other Bolshevik revolutions did the same with the bourgeois.

Anon needs to make it actually relevant to communism, i.e. to the means of production (or, if he's not going for so straight a representation, at least something relating to industrialisation).

>>51951473
>Exactly. What about it?
Please address the question.

>>51950677
Well in the case of my world, its roughy analogous to the real world. As in one country has become massively wealthy as a result of colonialism/discovering the steam engine. The nobility is having its power challenged by the merchants, who are calling for more representation in government. In this world, many Merchants are also historically warriors and mercenaries hired out by the nobility. As a result, the most powerful merchants have literal armies which they have used to conquer foreign lands British East India company style. Being traders by profession, they've used their heightened political power to implement economic reforms that seek to do away with the old guild system that was holding back innovation and thus leaving them open to exploitation by foreign powers. Much like Britain, there's a Kingdom in this world that has large reserves of coal and iron that give it a significant advantage, as well as being located along a major maritime trade route. This is where the change starts out as spreads to other realms on the continent.

>>51950693
I was thinking about that, and I had the idea of there basically existing a multinational conglomerate of guilds that exist for mystical thing like the Priesthood, Mages, Smithies, Engineers etc. As they lose their political power and their knowledge is disseminated among the merchants and slowely becomes non-secret, we see a new class of capitalists who arise who get rich primarily by finding the most efficient ways to utilize this knowledge for their own profit. Ultimately though, most working people will never have the opportunity or capital to use any of said knowledge for their own benefit, so its useless to them.
>>51951179
I have yet to work out the details yet but the idea is that there's definitely a lot of tension socially and that there will be a Paris Commune like event that wakes everyone up that this is a movement that could seriously destabilize the nature political and social order.

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>Do you like to mix your Science Fiction and Fantasy worlds?
Very much so. I mean, my biggest inspirations are Star Wars and Warmachine.
>What elements of Sci-Fi are you most okay with appearing in an otherwise Fantasy setting?
Anything. Cyborgs, slug throwers, robots, laser swords, giant death lasers. The more the merrier.
>What elements of Fantasy are you most okay with appearing in a Science Fiction setting?
Second verse same as the first.
>Have you ever gone full Science Fantasy or seen a tabletop game take place in a Sci-Fantasy world?
I'm trying my hardest, but I can't seem to take my setting off world. So I end up something like Rifts where it's just a mess. Wipe the slate clean, go back to the drawing board, load in too many ideas, repeat.

Hard Mode:
>Do you allow Lightsabers/Laser-Swords of any variety in your worlds?
They're more power swords than laser swords, but, yes.

Dante Must Die:
>Your designated "Bad Guys" in-setting now have laser-swords. What happens?
The good guys use their power swords and have a duel. Probably over a volcano on a magic powered airship.

>>51951179
>>51951473
>>51951610
>>51951839
Sorry, let me back up. I wrote >>51951179 because, as you might be able to tell, I'm far more interested in the fantasy Communist/Socialist government than the revolution and other events leading up to it. To me, the events leading up to the government are pretty unimportant, since that's how I view actual Communist and Socialist governments. Communism, Socialism, Anarchism, Marxism, Objectivism, I would honestly have a hard time distinguishing them because to me, they're all just metaphysical crap.

>>51952108
>The more the merrier.
Then at what point do your sci-fi settings cease to be sci-fi setting, and vice versa for fantasy settings?

Since we're talking about anti-magic governments, this might be somewhat interesting/relevant.

>>51949608

>>51952303
Sure, it's not supposed to be glorifiying Communism or anything, just give it an analogous reason to exist as a similar movement in a fantasy world. It's not going to be called "Communism", probably won't even have the same ideology apart from the very basics.

>>51952476
That's cool. Well, good luck on that part, can't really help you there, unfortunately. I wouldn't be able to decipher Communism beyond the surface level to save my life. But still, a campaign about a mage living in an anti-magic not!USSR/East Berlin would be super interesting I think.

>>51951473
>Anon needs to make it actually relevant to communism

Or at the very least radical socialism. It's not going to be called "Communism" in setting, but the basic ideas and theories that make it up need to be based in left wing socio-political thought.

>>51952327
I would argue that the difference between sci-fi and fantasy is that of perspective. Aliens could easily be made into fantasy races that exist alongside humans, a flux capacitor could just be a magical artifact, and so on. Even magic could be explained as psionics or nanites being controlled through implants in the brain.

>>51951610
I did you blind retard.
>>51952303
My point is that what you described does not distinguish between many wildly different forms of government. It's "post-revolutionary authoritarian state no. whatever". I'm talking about the stuff which would make it have a communist feel, even if that's just a Bolshevik kind of communism (which is of course one tiny part of the sprawling mutually-contradictory theories of socialism, although certainly it is the most famous).

Revolutions completely change the feel too. Like the February Revolution's chaotic mass strikes and eventual mutinies lends a totally different impression to the October Revolution's organised coup.

>>51952806
Sorry, it's all autistic screeching to me.

>>51952847
I don't think you're in the right thread.

>>51952870
Are we in a thread entirely dedicated to Communism?

>>51952897
Nice back pedalling motherfucker. How did we get here from "I don't see anything that really stands out as being distinctly Communist or Socialist" if you're not talking about making something communist or socialist?

Yeah, this thread is currently about communism and how to make an allegory for it. Specifically how to make it specifically communist-feeling. If you don't know enough about communism to do that, fine, but don't get butthurt when someone points it out.

>>51952847
>that's not communist enough
>no *that's* not communist enough
>lol who cares man what is this a communist thread?

>>51952980
>>51953051
Dude, what do you want from me? I already conceded these points earlier. But I will say this is still a worldbuilding thread, regardless of which world we're currently talking about. Now, you can either continue to yell at me, or you could actually help that anon out with his setting.

>>51953265
you guys could also help me here >>51951057 too

>>51953265
Nice match fizzling faggot. How about you do it yourself, instead of screeching about autistic screeching?

And I've already given help, and obviously that's no reason to stop but honestly it looks like anon's got a handle on it all on his own. What else are we going to talk about?

Plus don't pretend a conversation about how to parallel real-world historical events/concepts isn't worldbuilding related.
>>51951057
Don't limit yourself to a genre. Do whatever seems appropriate to the story (not the genre).

Cliches are only cliches if you're relying on them to fill out your plot, instead of actually using them in your story because any alternative wouldn't work. But in any case no, the whole redemption arc thing is too integral to stories to be a cliche.

Your actual story seems convoluted for what it's trying to do, although that might be because I don't know what you're trying to do. What's your main conflict? Betrayal between a PMC and its "owner"? Revenge? The dynamics of a PMC vs. an underground self-righteous terrorist group?

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I made a map for my setting. I think it's the most realistic one in this thread so far.

>>51953467
I'm trying to write Tom Clancy, which is I have a PMC fighting a group of terrorists, in a Sci-fi, I'm hoping that it feels and reads like a work of Cyberpunk which is why I have Megacorps and why I start with the Faux-Protagonist, because I'm hoping to world build first using him as a lense. My goal would be to have the reader feel like yeah this could easily be our world in X years and I can see why he would want to leave the world, and by killing besides giving a compelling reason to the antagonist to rebel the reader maybe will feel that nobody is safe.

>>51953491
I love it.

>>51951057
Nothing exactly groundbreaking. Though I think the reasoning behind hiring a PMC is so that they're a deniable asset with no solid links tracing back to the corp. And the soec ops instead being the corp's own private security force, eliminating the PMC because "they know too much."

Corp needs a bigger backstory to be the Big Bad.

TK and space travel do seem a bit far from typical cyberpunk, but I think it could work. As an aside, I think this could all work well in a universe like Doom's.

>>51953467
>How about you do it yourself, instead of screeching about autistic screeching?
Because the last time I tried, you screeched at me. I've admitted I can't help that anon much. Move on already.

>>51954017
I'm also debating if I should have the PMC as already working as a security detail for the corporation.

In my mind this is a humanity that's firmly entrenched in the Solar system but can hardly go beyond, there is a lot of people (like trillions) and the government and corporations keep an Iron grip on their civilians because they represent a market to whom they can sell goods and which helps them exploit materials, think space west indies here which what this corporation in specific is.

>>51954102
>PMC as already working as a security detail for the corporation.
I still think it would be better if the corp just hired the PMC for this one job, again, so there are no solid links between them and the corp.

As for the setting, I think the governments should be pretty much powerless. The corps found valuable resources in other planets and exploited them, leading to them increasing in power to the point where they are richer than most nations. I guess they would oppress people so they'd always have workers to get the resources for them. Maybe resources are toxic/radioactive and mutate people? And some of those mutations create psychics? Hmm, getting some Roadside Picnic and Total Recall vibes now.

>>51954279
>As for the setting, I think the governments should be pretty much powerless. The corps found valuable resources in other planets and exploited them, leading to them increasing in power to the point where they are richer than most nations. I guess they would oppress people so they'd always have workers to get the resources for them.

basically AI hasn't advanced much because moore law broke down a few centuries prior and corporations through goverments keep a tight lid on what's out there, so although things are more automated than what we have today it is not really by that much more

>Maybe resources are toxic/radioactive and mutate people? And some of those mutations create psychics?

I really don't want to make it that easy to obtain, in my mind it happened more as part of the corporation's research with the aim to develop their own super soldiers, dor the extremely shady shit, and since it was a third act reveal I was hoping not dwell on the specific mechanics much and just leave for a future story

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>>51903418
I prefer jagged as fuck coastlines. If something's smooth, then I haven't messed with it yet.

>>51953661
Thanks.

>>51954545
>AI
???

>I really don't want to make it that easy to obtain, in my mind it happened more as part of the corporation's research with the aim to develop their own super soldiers, dor the extremely shady shit
That's what I was thinking too. Radiation results in mutation, which kills most people, but in a very small number, they become psychics. Corp sees this then starts doing human experimentation. Which might tie to the terrorist group.

>>51955116
>???
Artificial Intelligence

>That's what I was thinking too. Radiation results in mutation, which kills most people, but in a very small number, they become psychics. Corp sees this then starts doing human experimentation. Which might tie to the terrorist group.

I really like this

>>51950491
Just an idea as to how to magic your fantasy communists distinct anon

>Have it be a religious movement lead by a rogue Paladin who preaches how the gods, kings, noble, priests etc. are all corrupt and that the strength of the masses comes from within, rather than from above (this obviously gets him excommunicated and his followers are shunned by the church).

>Have the "communist" feeling come from lower class Orc workers who were enslaved for centuries before being freed relatively recently. They want to go back to a time when they lived in tribes that collectively shared their resources, making this an interesting kind of reactionary movement.

>An ancient Dragon or powerful Demon is fueling this sentiment for their own amusement, or maybe they actually care about the people and simply have lived long enough to form a radical ideology based around materialism that stems from their inner nature.

>A god is born from the mass suffering and anger of the masses and reveals himself to a Prophet, who goes on a mission to get people to "Rise Up!" and "Break your Chains!" while also being hunted by the Clerics of the other gods who view him as a threat.

>>51955193
>Artificial Intelligence
I know that. I just wasn't sure why you brought it up. And I know what Moore's Law is. If it was to explain human labor, I just assumed the extraction was too sensitive for bots.

>I really like this
I'm glad you do.

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>>51954584
I'm glad that you mentioned jagged coastlines, now I can plug my question here

So I made this setting and I already have a map, but one thing is bugging me, does fucked up coast lines can stil have beaches? Here is a shitty draw I made on paint because my camera is not getting the pencil drawings
So, would beaches still work or would there be only rocks?

>>51956276
just flavor to explain why it is too sensitive.

>>51956361
Its usually a matter of scale. Look at any real life map of a country and its going to have a jagged fucked up coastline but there are still beaches.

OK, I guess I'll ask a question. How do you feel about using extinct species in your settings? What about settings based on eras of our world where those creatures are already extinct? Asking because I wanted to make a region, where our North America would be, populated by dinosaurs. The latest era of the setting would be the Old West. But if it's just dumb or something, I'll ditch the idea. Though there are plenty of other animals as well, it's not just all dinosaurs.

>>51958769
Depends on the themes/mood of the setting. If it feels like it fits, then sure, go for it. What genre you looking for? Fantasy, sifi?

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>>51959616
Oh, right, sorry. Full-on fantasy. This not!North America is an incredibly harsh place to live in. Life is like a perpetual game of Monster Hunter. There are giant beasts and monsters everywhere. The natives are elves, though they're a Native American analog, and they've been able to tame some of the animals living there, including some of the dinosaurs. I dunno, I just thought dinosaurs could be interesting to add, especially in an Everything Trying to Kill You setting.

>>51917490
>Could something like this even survive?
>They are Orcs after all, and they don't seem the farming, building, mining type.

How did they even reach a million men in the first place?

Like, a million is a LOT a LOT, A LOT, ALOT of fucking people.
Even in ye olde times an "unconquerable horde" style army was only maybe 30,000 to 60,000 men.
The Mongol Horde themselves only ever managed to field around/just barely 30,000 men at any given time.

Too many. That's my comment.

>>51958769
I don't see anything wrong with it as long as they fulfill a niche in the ecosystem they inhabit. You're not, for example, going to have a 12 ton T-Rex living off of rats in the middle of the desert.

>>51960117
Anything goes if it's full on fantasy, but be aware of the whiplash having real-world "monsters" can make. Look at what Glorantha does with its Earthshakers.

You might want to instead be inspired by dinosaurs.

And watch out for becoming too Le Ebin Dinosaur Elf Laser Fights IN SPACE!!!
>>51954059
>he hurt my feelings!
>on an anonymous image board!
Christ

>>51960480
The Chinese at one point had over a million men in their army.

>>51962782
How realistic are these figures exactly? Are these exaggerate numbers? Is this something really debatable like the million Persians? Could ancient China at these point be able to organize and feed such huge numbers? How huge was their population at this point and does archaeology support these numbers? I think the largest roman army ever was "just" 80 000.

>>51962867
You've got to understand that Rome is not even remotely comparable to China. During the Roman period the Chinese were busily killing thirty million of themselves. You think the Roman civil wars were bad?

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I'm just going to post this again until I get some feedback on it.

>>51962898
You kinda answered some of these questions, but at the same time didn't. I honestly don't know much about ancient China, but these huge numbers always sounded made up to me and I never saw much historic and archaeological support of them when they were brought up around here.

>>51962924
China had loads of really big cities and other shit.

desu a lot of Chinese history is in Chinese and therefore difficult for most westerners to deal with.

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>>51962910
I guess I'll post this as well even though it's literally only one page of actual content.

The front page looks pretty dope tho

>>51961847
>Look at what Glorantha does with its Earthshakers.
Can you go into detail on this? I know they're triceratopses, but that's it.

>>51962910
>>51962986
>Critique my wall of text.
Jesus, seriously? I can certainly see why you haven't gotten any feedback. Can you at least give us bullet points of the important things?

I have never made or thought of making a sci-fi or future setting.

>>51964526
Why not? Something about the genre you don't like?

>>51964526
Thats okay anon.

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How do i inject the feeling/atmosphere of fantasy into a sci-fi?

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>>51965391
NO IT'S NOT OKAY
ANON IS A MONSTER

>>51965369
I'm not a big fan of hard sci-fi, and aliens. AYY LMAO touched me in a bad place when I was a child.

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how would you guys go about making a geocentric universe/cosmology while still having somewhat realistic impacts on the world?

pic related is something i've been trying to do, but i don't know how to make seasons work, or if they'd even exist in a setting like this. or how having an ocean on a planet would be possible if everything dries up when the sun gets too close.

and yes i realize the utter retardation of making a geocentric universe """realistic""" but i'm trying anyway. i'm guessing planetary rotation would be important somehow but i'm no astrophysicist.

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What would you say is a good amount of info for a tabletop game setting? I've been working on my own homebrew rules and one of the core principles is discovering the world through active play. At session 0, the group creates the world they want to play in from whole cloth or adjusts the included template setting, but they always paint in broad strokes and answer questions about the details later.

Right now, I ask everyone in the group to work together creating five broad facts about the setting that establish the kind of world they want to play in right now. Then everyone contributes to a timeline of five major events that made this world.

Next each person at the table creates a faction - a culture, organization, group, etc - with five broad strokes and three stars - leaders, notable figures, the like.

Finally once the world is compiled, everyone asks questions about what was made and the GM uses these as fodder for the adventure, making up/asking for answers during play.

Yes/no?

>>51971905
sounds fine

>>51964526
/wbg/ in a nutshell

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What actually is inside an insect egg? Do they have yolks, etc?

I've got some giant (nothing larger than the average rabbit or hare and mostly just ants) insects and I'm wondering what their eggs would be like scaled up.. If that makes sense? I could be wording it wrong.

Would they be hard shelled? Soft-shelled? Yolks? Or just goop? Egg goop??

>>51973890
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd5_QM5Ntn8

I have no idea but apparently yt does

>>51969284
Have planetary rotation slow and with poles close to (but not exactly) the perigee and apogee
Thus seasons

>>51973819
yup

>>51973819
Harder to explain why there are catgirls in the future.

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>>51976915

this makes perfect sense. thanks dude.

>>51891704
Is this the correct general to ask about hex map making? I am trying to find a nice tile set to make my hex map out of. Anybody have a recommendation?

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I am trying to conceptualize a PMC filled with the meanest batch of motherfuckers set in an alt-history 1990's setting. They're not supposed to be the best of the best, just a long, scary list of people who are fucking angry, for one reason or another. Right now the major demographics of this PMC are Serbians, post-soviet Russians, exiled Rhodesians, and displaced Irish Republican Army members.

Though, if I could get help with coming up with thematic elements that suit them beyond "90's low-fi angry marines lite" it would be really appreciated.

Somewhat relevant video: an hour of my setting's aesthetic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AMfOTfYzw4

How does a powerful demigod go about becoming a full blown god?

I'm thinking of making a DnD campaign which involves a demigod usurping a pantheon due to the lack of their diligence. Crime in the mortal world will slowly be on the rise until one day, all neerdowell's which commit a crime die shortly after in an odd or violent manner. Eventually the mortal's will be terrified as the new gold (who now deems himself as "The God of Absolute Justice") rules grow stricter and narrow; To the point where speaking out against this extreme authority results in immediate death.

But, I have no idea how this demigod would transition into a god.

>>51984919
Read more.

>>51984919
>But, I have no idea how this demigod would transition into a god.
Read Powers of Faerun for an indepth explanation.

>>51984966
Thanks, I'm reading about the Dead Three right now, This is very interesting stuff.

>>51984656
If you own civ 5 you can make it in that. Its pretty decent for hex map making

>>51986157
I ended up downloading GIMP (image editor) where I can make the hexes myself. I was just surprised it wasn't easier to find tools for it. I would use CIV or another hexmap maker but I wanted to just have it in MapTool with my other maps for easy switching. (I plan to reveal tiles as the players move in the world, as opposed to having it all revealed at once, so it was easier to do it this way for me).

I'll probably upload the tiles I make when I am done for other to use.