/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

>>54549719
Some of my elves don't even have writing, but record their entire history in songs. Even their personal history, it is the purpose of every male elf to go out there and do badass stuff for the honor of his tribe and to get a song of himself that the tribe will eagerly sing as long as it exists and to not make the memory of him fade away. They come together to have competetions and singing songs about beating up other tribes and fucking their women is their way of insulting each other in a cultured manner.

Humans actually picked that up, but since they write they aren't so obsessed with this.

With slight lyrical modifications (pretty much just changing Northmen to Carskan, English to Lornish, and the proper names), this is a pretty common song in-setting. The story itself is completely real, retelling the story from the War of Carskan Aggression. The author was a relatively renowned Lornish hymnist, composed to give words to the resentment and hunger for retribution that many Lornishmen feel both aboard in the West as well as back home. It's a song which calls the righteous to fight against their oppressors, which projects the inevitability of their revenge upon the Authority and its agents.

Essentially, it's the song of conquered paladins, eagerly striking back at their oppressors when given a chance.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1K3adhhuAM

>>54549719

>>What songs, tales, epic poems, or sagas exist in your world?

The Holy Song, an epic detailing the rise and fall of Elven civilization. The Elves were the first and the best of the races. They were also the best at their pride and wanted to get rid of the Gods so they could rule themselves. So they built a mighty god-killing Golem to defeat them. The plan backfires almost immediately when the Gods choose a mortal and a golden dragon to fight the golem. The golem is sent into the spaces-between spaces and is never heard from again. Thus the Elven empires fell and new nations erupted from the carnage. The stories are historical, however, details have become lost to the telling of time. The basic story is still there, but one must research further to know the entire truth of it all. But the author of the story is said to be from the stylus and tablet of the hero who defeated the Golem himself. It has since been published by the Holy Cult of the Dragon, the religious order that has been spread all over the nations. He wrote it to those who want to learn of humility and the prices of vice in society. It is when a civilization loses its sense of spirituality, or any person really, they ultimately lose themselves.

Skalds, though Bards and Oracles have a special place in my heart.

The film does somewhat alright with a mixed reception, earning about $170mil at the box office. A sequel was teased, but thanks to Uwe Boll's direction, there may be no sequel.
If the studio wants to make another one,
they'll probably do a reboot in a decade or so.

>>54549719
>>What songs, tales, epic poems, or sagas exist in your world?
There are implicitly many, but the only one relevant to anything is Reign of the Wolf King.
>>Are these stories in and of themselves fictional in-universe? Or are they real, historical fact? Something in between?
It really happened, but motivation of characters involved is not entirely clear. Which means it gets re-interpreted between singers depending on political agenda.
>>Who is the author?
Nobody knows who composed the base of it. Also, everyone rewrite it because of ambiguity.
>>Who is the intended audience/message of the piece?
Do not trust the witches/Hell hath no fury like woman scorned/Something about destructiveness of revenge/Anti-monarchist propaganda
>Your above story is adapted for film. How successful is it in USD?
Might make a good medieval horror.

I'm trying to make a fictional country up and i have a few questions on what ive come up with already.
Its an islan nation about thr size of the falklands. Is that big enough that if you stood in the centre of the island you wouldnt see the sea?

-Is Adama a good name?
-im thinking of putting it somewhere in the indian ocean, is that a spot where the isles can get away with being largely undiscovered?

>>54555898
The Indian Ocean has been at the center of a massive trade triangle for thousands of years. Any island larger than a couple acres was almost certainly discovered before the creation of Christianity, and mapped shortly thereafter.

I'd suggest some part of the Pacific if you're trying to hide islands, somewhere between Guam and Japan.

>>54557130
The Pacific works.

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>>54557161
Rate my isles. and tell me how wrong the geography is

>>54557428
Coast-to-coast rivers. Cartographers worst sin.

>>54557589
how should the rivers look then?

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>>54557706
Flowing from top to bottom, like real rivers. River has a spring, usually somewhere fairly high, and then flows down towards the coast and the sea. Think about it: if your river connects one coast to another - that is two places with elevation exactly ZERO above sea level, how does it flow? Why does it cut through the land?

Identify highlands, let the rivers flow form there towards the coast. Don't forget: rivers rarely ever fork, but rather, multiple small rivers join to form a larger and larger torrent as they get closer to the shore.

The absolute best way to get them right is - as always - to find some place relatively analogical to what you are creating on a real-world map (google planet can serve well) and study it in detail. Your islands are relatively small, so the rivers will be short, fast and relatively narrow.

Look up fakllands or any island that is climatically and scale-wise similar to your islands, google up their river network, and learn from that.

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I've been wanting to make a post-apocalyptic Maine setting. I already have one I use for post-apoc set in Russia but seeing as I've never been there it's hard to portray well. Mostly just a cold dark isolated world with weird cthulu-esque monsters running around. But with the Maine setting I want it to be comfy, with quaint seaside villages and forests full of strange and terrifying monsters. As with the rest of the setting, the cause of the apocalypse is unknown, and campaigns in the setting take place 15 to 20 years after the apocalypse.

I don't really have much besides lots of D&D-esque towns centered around lighthouses, lots of taverns and inns for travellers, trade and scavenging are very important, population is very low, like 1/1000th as many people. As for monsters to put there... I'm not sure. I like the idea of fast-running ghouls that hunt in packs, animal intelligence type creatures. I don't want to just do zombies though.

I have demon wolves and weird spider creatures from the other setting but I am not sure I should use them here. Technically they exist in the same world but I do want to differentiate it a bit.

>>54558115
t. Stephen King

How do I make an interesting Stone Age mythology without just relying on the typical staples of Sun God, Moon God, Fire God, Water God, etc.

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>>54557783
its late where i am so im not gonna work much more on this, But is this a decent size?

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Human-on-human conflict is meant to be a fairly big part of things, too, so I was thinking a couple of factions that might be at odds. Of course, being thousands of miles from Russia I can't use my old Fleshcrafter factions, or any of the religious cults. I do want religion to be a fairly large part of the game. I like to use it as a two-edged sword: vital for keeping communities together in a hopeless world, but also vulnerable to perversion in the form of cults and evil cabals, perhaps looking for human sacrifice victims. Also, psionics and psychic powers are a real thing in this world, but nothing extravagant like turning invisible or flying or shooting fire, it's not like D&D psionics, more like the psychic abilities in Dune where it is much more subtle, although gifted psions can read minds or even control people with eye contact. If you've read Apocalypse World, think the Brainer. I want the psionics to be very weird and foreign, thus I haven't let any players take it for their characters. I didn't even let them know that psionics existed when we started the campaign. They only discovered it when they ran into a woman leading a group of bandits and learned of her psionic powers.

So I guess the basic ideas here are:
>small tightly clustered towns bound together by religion
>some psionics
>a few different human factions, some even with organized uniforms
>mysterious origin for the apocalypse
>cults and "dark side of religion" without too much fedora-tipping
>lighthouses, taverns, comfy feels
>dark forests with monsters in them, a strong horror aspect, an urge to stay within the walls
>"evolved" post-apocalypse: civilization has been re-established to a degree, but life is still hard and survival is not a given

Thoughts? Ideas? Anyone done anything similar?

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How do you decide why a dungeon exists?

>>54558225
Fallen empire's abandoned fortresses, built for mysterious reasons, with tribes of humanoids or insectoid beasts moving in for shelter. The fallen empire trope is a stale one but it makes so many things easier, and it gives a nice feel to things in my opinion.

>>54558186
Seems like it.

>>54558225
Lost dwarven holds that they filled with traps because of their paranoia.

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>>54558225
>How do you decide why a dungeon exists?
Despite the fact that my world is pretty much LITTERED with old-ass ruins of older civilizations, I rarely ever use "dungeons". I find the trope pretty worn out and when we play-test the thing, we usually end up focusing on social or political play instead of dungeoning.

But on the few cases I might need something of that sort, there are generally few basic simple excuses:
A) tombs. People used to build quite amazing and elaborate and massive burrial grounds, and often equipped dead with a lot of riches. The whole idea of entering an old tomb or crypt to loot for valuables is rooted in pretty logical, historical grounds.
B) ruins of places that were abandoned in a hurry. Any natural or supernatural catastrophe could result in a place - temple, city, but something like that - to be abandoned in a hurry, leaving the valuable shit back.
C) nests of creatures. Birds collect shiny things and build nests, some animals build elaborate networks of caves or complex structures like ant-hives.

Those are the most readily available excuses for having dungeons.

But as said, I generally drew more inspiration from what Roman ruins were in 14th century: as just places that were stripped of mostly anything valuable centuries ago, and now are just a scenic, creepy part of the scenery.

>>54557706
From a mountain to a sea or lake. It's not rocket science.

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>>54549719
>/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

Good, I'm catching this while it's still fresh. I've got a research request:

I need names, names of as many "Mother of Monster" type monster-goddesses (and gods if they're fathers, I'm sorely lacking monster father gods) you guys know about or can otherwise find me. Bonus points if they, themselves, are monstery gods, but it isn't necessary; I will also accept Goddesses who just birthed a whole lot of Gods/Creatures, etc..

The ones I already have are:
Echidna, Nyx, Lilith, Typhon(father), Cetus, Angrboda, Tiamat, Hariti, & Nüwa.

*Bonus: Additional just in general "Monster Gods" would also be appreciated if you can't name any "Mother of Monster" Gods.

>>54558225
You don't need too, dungeons exist in real life, you should read what goes on in the catacombs in France.

>>54549719
What conditions would be required for the north to be warm and the south to be cold? This might be kind of a silly question but I know next to nothing about this kind of stuff

>>54558178
Depending on how locked down the setting is, consider something like the Naya from Shards of Alara, who worship more or less kaiju as their living gods who are seen as the children of the giant hydra-god that created all things and slumbers beneath the world.

>>54559975
The setting taking place on the southern hemisphere. Both Dragonlance's Krynn and Shadow of the Demon Lord's Urth do this.

>>54549719
Only one I put much thought into tales and songs is that the Sobki like parables and epics, and they form a strong part of their spirituality, leading other cultures to mistake these characters as gods in their pantheon.

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>>54559975
You require the conditions of my country.

We have the driest desert (or was it hottest?) in the world in northern Chile.
We have literal islands made out of ice in the south.

So really just study my country up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Chile#The_Far_North

>>54559975

Southern Hemisphere.

My homebrew setting is literally this.

>>54564142
Dryest, I think

I've heard that parts of it are sterile because all the microbes died from exposure

>>54564142
Atacama has a pretty good claim at driest, but Iran's Dasht-e Lut is the hottest spot on Earth according to some shiny NASA data with temperatures just over 70c.

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DIRT MOUNTAINS

What's a better name for the greatest fallen hero in my setting?

The Prince of Gold
or
The Prince in Gold

>>54564142
Oh, wow, I didn't know Chile had such a varied climate!

>>54565782
I think IN is more interesting

>>54565782
>What's a better name for the greatest fallen hero in my setting?

The Prince OUT of Gold

>>54565826
Murderhoboicus, slayer of men

>>54565782
The Gilt Prince
>Commonly misunderstood as The Guilt Prince, leading to apocryphal tales telling stories of his guilt.

Anybody want to help me come up with a good name/high concept for a character? He's pretty skilled and just shy of being a wizard (in the setting, Dresden Files if anybody is familiar with it, wizards have a certain level of skill at minimum) as well as the ex-apprentice of a wizard (she was suspected of doing illegal research and fled instead of being executed, the wizard group isn't much for trials). While she was training him there was a war going on between the wizards and a type of vampires referred to as the Red Court, long story short they're now extinct and he's running a cult comprised of vanilla humans and minor talents while trying to make himself into one of those vampires. He's had some success and his skill in biomancy has helped the group to fund itself through drug sales (their best being his own saliva, having replicated the Red Court's). Thus far I was thinking of something like The Crimson King or The King in Red but I'm not sure.

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Oh boy, I’m going to dump my magic system as it is now. My thinking process has been “take something I like, tweak it in a new way, and keep in mind a lot of surprising, awesome setpieces that could be supported by this and THEN build the world around it. I’m having fun trying to chisel something interesting out of it so let me know what looks good and what seems like it should be cut.

The overall idea is to have something that feels simple but is a well ordered system that makes sense even if the characters or societies that inhabit the world don’t fully understand the reasoning behind it. Part of the reason I’m doing this is just to lay things out for myself so I can identify things that I added but don’t fit in a cohesive manner. I’ve posted this before but I just came up with some new things and I’ve shifted my thinking on it somewhat.

Basic idea: Certain people are able to affect weapons or machines set with special crystals or the body of willing subjects through singing complicated songs.

1. Speakers
Speakers are people who can use magic. A Speaker is readily identifiable through a thin pair of horns that circle and sweep up the forehead never actually meeting. All Speakers are women (I’m still thinking of a reasoning for this. I want it in due to my distaste for male singers) and it’s impossible to know who will have abilities before puberty and their horns come in.

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>>54566631

Speakers use magic through a connection to a higher order being who is basically the soul or “Ardor” of the planet. Because magic is the method whereby these beings created heavenly bodies in the universe, its application is too far above human understanding to use under normal circumstances. A Speaker’s horns are actually an organ that allows them to connect to the deity and queue an effect. The deity understands what the Speaker wants to do and provides the divine language and melody needed to achieve the effect. I called them Speakers because they’re considered to speak for god, but in reality god speaks through them much like they are actual “speakers” in the electronics sense.

It takes a great deal of concentration and training to be able to properly utilize this connection. A Speaker needs to feel the melody provided to their body through their Quality of Motion (More on that later) through syncing their heartbeat/movements to the song. Using these abilities on a human’s Ardor instead of an artificial one born of the Speaker’s own soul requires the human themselves to also keep this rhythm to avoid the interference their ineptitude can cause.

2. Matter
Matter in this world is a shell for “Waves”. Waves are basically energy patterns that give matter its characteristics. Fundamental forces such as thermodynamic energy, mass, and electromagnetic charge are dictated by the wavelength and amplitude of these waves. People who use magic are able to affect these waves through the Ardor that is linked to them. In this way someone can heat or cool an object by singing a wave pattern that harmonizes or interferes with the natural waves dictating the thermodynamic energy of the object.

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>>54566643
3. Ardor
Ardor is what we would think of as the soul. All humans are born with it, the planet itself has it, and Speakers are able to create, through training, time, and effort, artificial Ardor called Simulacra, or “Sims”. Ardor itself has characteristics but unlike matter these are more conceptual than fundamental.
Ardor has:
>Form – The Quality of Shape
Dictates the form of matter that an Ardor is maintaining
>Life – The Quality of Motion
Dictates the movement of that matter within the bounds of its form
>Mind – The Quality of Sapience
Gives humanity its sapience. Sims are imperfect Ardor and do not have the Quality of Sapience so no talking swords allowed. The planet’s sapience is used to facilitate magic
>Trust – The Quality of Permission
Allows another Ardor to connect with itself. Even non-Speakers understand this and can instinctively repel or let someone in. Needed so hostile Speakers couldn’t just kill people by hijacking their souls at a whim
>Connection – The Quality of Relationships
Allows the Ardor to make contact with another. The pair to Trust.
>Memory – The Quality of the Past
A record of what the Ardor both is and was. I’m thinking of using this to justify magical healing and maybe life extension as the body remembers what it was and it can be paired with form to alter the body accordingly

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>>54566653
4. Sims and the use of magic
Sims are placed into objects or used to create objects (I’m still wondering which to do) where they dictate the characteristics of the matter they’re linked to. A Speaker uses their Ardor to interface with the Sim and affect its characteristics or the waves that pass into the linked matter. A Speaker can only interface with an Ardor that is either their own Simulacra or one they have been given permission to use by the original creator, or the person themselves if the Speaker is accessing a human’s Ardor. There are also sims made during antiquity by the planet itself whose Quality of Permission is keyed to every living person. These were used in many ancient machines that amplify the abilities of a speaker to affect change and could even allow them to interface with the planet’s Ardor and basically grant godhood (something I plan on addressing)

When used on people, a Speaker can use their powers to bolster a human’s abilities to superhuman levels by accessing the Qualities of Motion and Form within their charge’s Ardor. Combined with a weapon set with a Sim, you could have a magically augmented warrior carrying an unreasonably large weapon that dynamically shifts in mass and can even burst into flames or explode with electrical power to fit with the needs of combat.

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>>54566661
5. Issues
I’m unsure of how Simulacra are linked to the matter around them. I was thinking they could just be set into key points but that feels a little lazy and the matter that objects are made of are actually part of the planet and linked to that rather than the Sim. Also after I overhauled Ardor and gave it characteristics of its own, I think that altering matter at this point is redundant and I could just use something like the Quality of Motion to make airships and stuff rather than dealing with mass of the actual objects. So I don’t have “well THIS is altering matter, but THIS is altering the soul” If that is the case I feel as though I need to add more qualities to Ardor. Or somehow merge the two. I feel like I still have threads to tie and feel like maybe I should hammer down what I’m really trying to do in the setting before continuing?

>>54566671

You should hammer it down, leaving loose threads will lead to problems. Keep going Song Anon.

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Gonna bump with an idea. Much in the same way that Howard's Conan takes place in a forgotten past of the earth, THIS is a setting that takes place in our distant, forgotten FUTURE. Think of it as the Post-Hyborian Age.

In a few centuries, the earth is wracked by massive, cataclysmic forces. Earthquakes and volcanoes throw mountains down, open up vast rifts in the continental plates, creating and destroying much of the old world, leaving a very different one behind. The high technology of the old world is far and few in between, and treated like magic by the world's populous. Humanity loses its grip on the world, and ancient magicks are returned with the rise of dark cults and their blasphemous, gibbering gods. The great cities lie in ruin.

Millenia later, few remember the world of before. Tyrants rule through force of arms and the power of their Techno-Sorcery. Forgotten evolutions return to plague mankind. Mutants, Apemen, Lizardmen, and stranger still haunt the land. Yet this is a land undreamt, a world of wonder, horror, and adventure.

>"Hither came Conan...to trample the jeweled thrones of the world beneath his sandaled feet..."

I want this setting to basically be Howard's Conan, plus Moorcock's Elric Saga, and Burroughs' Barsoom series. What are the most important things/themes/ideas from each needed to really echo these worlds?

>>54567648
In case no one can tell, the map is the Americas, transformed into the New Hyborian world.

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>>54567657

>>54567690
>>54567657
>>54567648

Frankly, it look liked a 2hu from the thumbnail

>>54567766
>2hu
I'm not familiar with that.

>>54567822
Its a game with a massive fanbase, just go to /jp/

>>54567873
Ah. Okay. How does the map resemble a 2hu though? I'm just curious.

>>54567881

There is a character that dresses in similar colors.

bimp

>>54549719
>What songs, tales, epic poems, or sagas exist in your world?
Several. Though, I haven't actually detailed most of them as I don't think they'll be relevant as more than small references being namedropped by NPCs or the like. The three I have worked rather extensively on are 1) the mythological tales about the gods, 2) a tragedy about a prince of a conquered kingdom who seeks revenge on the lord who stole his birthright, and 3) an epic about a hero who becomes a king and later dies while defending his realm from a monster.


>>Are these stories in and of themselves fictional in-universe? Or are they real, historical fact? Something in between?
Usually somewhere inbetween. The most common stories are recountings of historical events; family feuds, wars, conquests. Those sorts of things. Though, obviosuly, these stories are still primarily transmitted orally and are thus not necessarily entirely accurate. Heroic characters generally never make an appearance in these stories, though sometimes the storyteller will sneak in a quick cameo or note that an event within the story takes place at the same time or place as something otherwise unrelated in a more embellished tale.

Then you have the heroic tales that usually concern real people but also include a mythological main character who may or may not have been originally based on an actual person. This is common with national heroes who often start out as slightly embellished stories about a good king or particularly brave warrior, and then take on a persona of their own and start to pop up in all kinds of different stories that they originally had nothing at all to do with.

And finally you have the purely mythical stories which concern the gods, the creation of the world, why things are as they are, etc, etc. These are about what you'd expect.

>Who is the author?
Unclear. Even though the ability to speak and sing clearly is looked up on, the people who made the stories are rarely remembered.

Cont.

>>54570293
>>Who is the intended audience/message of the piece?
The general population. The stories are, primarily, a way to keep people informed about historical events. Though, the "liar tales" about legendary heroes and tricksters with godly blood in their veins are often far more popular, and not just among the common folks.

>Bards, Skalds, or Oracles?
Skalds.

>Your above story is adapted for film. How successful is it in USD?
It does poorly.

>Uwe Boll is the director. How fucked are you?
At least he'll get a nice tax return on the deal.

>>54565782
Does he rule over gold, is made of it, wearing it or painted with it?

Fucking forests man how do they work?
Could I have coniferous and deciduous forest on the same lattitude, but separated by mountains?

>>54571751
Neither type of forest is particularly exclusive. It is common in many forests to have both, though I would assume that they would be slightly clustered together by type.

>>54558268

Something that vast and ancient, try to run it through multiple owners over multiple eras, each with their own style and purposes. Think about who would tunnel that deep and why. Dragons and dwarves are cliches for a reason.

>>54567648
No one's into old pulp fantasy these days?

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How do I coastline? This is a very, very rough sketch of where some things are in one of the continents of my world (purple line is equator, red lines are national borders). I'm plotting out the geography right now. I can't figure out how to make a coastline any more detailed than this outline.
Also struggling with climate. I downloaded a climate simulator program, but it's hard as hell to draw things on because the scale is fucked, so no matter what I do it ends up thinking the southern coast of my nation is Antarctica tier (the mountains don't help).

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How to make a human-only, low-magic setting weird?

I want to have the feel of the tales of Solomon and his occult wisdom, or 1001 arabian nights. Give me some inspiration for esoteric practices, cults, whatever.
>inb4 do your own research
I've been reading, a lot. I just want more.

>>54549719
Fyrtallskla: History of the Kings of Alarikka

it's a collection of various sagas about various kings, written over several centuries. they're generaly considered to be historically accurate to a certain degree, but over time, the stories and achievements of the various kings have been exagerrated. it has been compiled by a scholar from the sheep isles, askilder great-skald, who travelled all around the northern kingdoms, gathering poems and stories of the old kings

>>54573093
Coastline is too smooth. Go in by hand and draw more squiggly coasts. Add some little islands and square bits to break up the shapes. Wheather goes East to West along the equator, dies along 30 lat, goes West to East at 60 lat, and reverses twice in between each.

>>54573093
I use AutoREALM for drawing the outlines and copy paste it into another editor.
It has a fractal tool that lets you make coastlines that looks more natural and less smooth.

Assuming a global catastrophy like >>54567648 occurs, but humanity somehow survives, what human structures could potentially also survive the initial cataclysm? The next thousand years? 100 thousand?

I want to give Hell a new look/theme. Should I make them Norman/Crusader Knights, or Sengoku Era Samurai?

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>>54549719
This may be a stupid newbie question but how do you incorporate unique worlds into game rule sets? I was thinking about getting into tabletop and I always see systems come with explicit races, enemies and stats, but I have always wanted to develop different types of worlds like you see here. Do we use existing rules and just alter names and backgrounds? What if I want to use DnD rules but hate "Tolkein" universes? Is there a basic rule set from which you develop new rules from? Are there general genre rule sets that you pick for a game and expand to fit your own vision?

I honestly know just about nothing about tabletop so bear with me. I don't know what I don't know.

>>54549719
Could a nomadic society have a lunar calendar? I don't see any reason as to why they couldn't but I just wanted to make sure

>>54575323
Either use a universal system, like GURPS or Fate, or homebrew your own setting-appropiate rules for a system you otherwise like. There's also always the option of just making your own system.

>>54575329
It's easier to keep track, the moon is pretty consistant.

Gonna be DMing for the first time doing a stars without numbers

For a starting adventure I was thinking that the party stumbles across a tiny rebellion happening in the police state planet they're on, however the leader of the rebels is a doppelganger of a party member and they caught up in the shit storm. Then they either help the rebels and escape the planet by stealing one of their ships or they sell out the rebels and the government pays them for their services by giving them the Rebel ship.

Thoughts? Any help fleshing this out?

>>54575399
Thanks man, I will probably learn how to use Fate or GURPS and tweak things a bit to fit in setting unique aspects.

>There's also always the option of just making your own system.
Is that as tedious as it sounds? I feel like if I tried that it would wind up with a lot of holes and things I didn't account for.

>>54575603
>Is that as tedious as it sounds?
It depends on how crunchy you want the end product to be, but yeah, it's definitely more work than most people like to put in or everyone would do it.

>>54575323
Just homebrew, my man. Homebrew and repaint.

>>54575323
What exactly do you mean unique world? Like alternate physics or something?

>>54575603
>Is that as tedious as it sounds?
You're already on the right track by starting with the setting. One of the biggest things people do wrong when creating their own setting is that they open up Word (or whatever text processing software they happen to use) and start by writing "Chapter 1: What is a role-playing game", write that for a while until they get bored, and instead start working on "Chapter 2: Combat" and start to churn out rules about which dice rolls you have to make in order to crush someone's skull with a hammer, or how fatigued you get from swinging your sword four times in a single turn and what that means in practical terms. Sometimes they even manage to start on "Chapter 3: Magic" before they get bored out of their mind and abandon the entire project forever.

If you're gonna do it, then start with the setting and make sure that it is unique and interesting. Rules can be made up whenever to fit whatever tone you're going for and there's no point in writing rules at all for things that won't even show up in your setting (if you're making a sci-fi setting, for example, it's good to know that there actually are psychic powers in your setting before you start writing rules for them).

And now, when I say "unique and interesting" it's easy to assume that the latter is more important than the former, and it is. However, a setting that isn't unique isn't gonna be interesting either, and it certainly won't be worth it build an entire game from the ground up just to end up with Runequest without ducks. If that's your end goal, you're better off just playing Runequest and houseruling out the ducks.

And when it does come time to write the rules, it's more important that they're easy to understand and thematically appropriate than that they are realistic. It's also much easier to end up with an extremely unrealistic and hard to fix feature or bug in a complex, realistic system because of a slight miscalculation than it is in a simple one.

>>54573093
What climate simulator?

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Old map, still want to use for something, can't figure out what.

What kind of setting should go here anons?

>>54579370
Post apoc because it looks like a giant crater

>>54579427
Could ANYTHING survive an impact that would make an impact crater that big?

>>54579370
Pirates. Post-Apocalyptic Pirates.

>>54579478
Magic

>>54579512
What if magic doesn't work like that?

>>54579638
Then it's a barren world repopulated post collapse by aliens

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>>54579478
maybe whatever did it thinned the crust of the earth, which started to bubble

>all the oceans are like, almost bathwater level warm, because of the volcanic fissures that exist FUCKING EVERYWHERE underwater
>the ocean floor is almost boiling in places, causing the coldest point of the ocean to be slightly below the middle of whatever total depth you're dealing with

after the impact, a rapidly growing shoreline forced a lot of slow moving species to the surface, the ones that survived were the ones that could survive in the air the longest, thus becoming amphibians
>they adapt to life on land as time goes on and land becomes more bountiful
>que aquatic ape evolution theory

boom, you have a land populated with humans in some fucking weirdo alt reality

also I drew more mountains and shiet, but puush made them blurrier than all fuck

>>54580477
This is good shit.

>>54573122
There's mechanics for how magic works. But now for how magic is done.
Make different cultures or even wizards have VASTLY different ideas of how to do magic.
This one tribe has a bunch of throat-singers that can combine their casting, one tribe does specific dances. One guy can summon demons.
It's all in the fluff, make the magic sound completely different every time the characters hear about a powerful wizard.

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Bah. Messing with my magic system and I feel it getting away from me constantly like a bar of soap in the bath.

How do people with well-ordered magic systems keep things straight? I often feel as though I have to completely restate what the magic is so the things I forget, and are thus unimportant, are dropped in favor of creating a slightly tweaked core system.

The holy grail would be something simple yet leads to amazing compounding results yet is still grounded enough to avoid the "Why don't they just use magic" question in regards to conflict.

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>>54581867
I'M SO CLOSE TO SOMETHING GREAT, I KNOW IT

It is fun to look at old notes and see how things have evolved, looking a the seeds of what you have now buried in wild brainstorms and getting inspiration from what you left behind.

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>>54559381

Bumping my own request with a little context.
The reason I'm looking for so many "Monster God(esses)" names is because my settings pantheon is entirely composed of Monster Gods: the original "traditional" pantheon of good vs evil Gods were all killed very early during the worlds Titanomachy- with the Titans having actually won, though, suffering heavy loses with few of them remaining.
The settings celestial literate inhabitants acknowledges this as "unusual" as most worlds are often or almost always conquered by such Gods and without them... The Monster Gods have free reign to apply and expand themselves into numerous circles of worship that were or are typically denied to their demographic and it has become a buyers market.

So, basically, you've just got a bunch of primeval/ancient Monster Gods who're trying to reeducate themselves on things like agriculture, prostitution, medicine, economics, and other topics of interest to humanoids so they can diversify their divine portfolios and get larger shares of worship...Some of which they directly invest into more monsters, while others into themselves and their new identities.

So I need NAMES, please.

>>54582905

Well, what are the gods or titans and their roles?

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>>54582905
Ralsagnagoth
Vinskair
Uadinis
Velsikaim
Orandellia
Kasran
Yeisva
Wuovu
Ihrei
Qverenias
Kearken

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>>54582982
>Well, what are the gods or titans and their roles?

They didn't 'have' roles, so much as they were by products of certain processes or embodiments of what they would be worshiped for. Gods were basically just a very big soul/ghost left over from the big bang that wanted to be worshipped because they liked JUSTICE or FARMING or some other specific (or vague) concept like SECRETS or MONETARY VALUE.
Titans on the other hand were just natural occurring creatures or monsters that kept eating, killing, and eventually grew so powerful and intelligent from their own merits or deeds they became like or equal to the gods- they popped up all the time on primitive worlds all the time, but Gods usually slay them due to being.. "crafty".
Monster Gods are just a sort of Titan; many were bottom of the barrel, and even more are just Demi-Gods than actual equals to Gods.

>>54582994
>>54582905

*Real names, I need real names, sorry! Sorry! From mythology n' wot naught; like what I've got listed here: >>54559381
I CAN just make up names, that isn't the point- I take inspiration on character/monster design and what they might like to do or aspect they'd like to take up from what or how they were like in irl mythology.

>>54583095

Well, don't take it as a insult, but you can look for a list in some site or perhaps in the shin megami wikia, which is a series about a shitload of gods togheter.

>>54583095
Well I guess I'll take my names back with the drunken stupor that created them

Fuck, no wonder writers are all alcoholics.

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>>54583149
>or perhaps in the shin megami wikia

Up until this very point I've been ignorant to the existence of Shin Megami Tensei.
Thank you, Anon- this is VERY useful.

>>54583349

Fun fact:I never played a SMT game before

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Alright, last time I posted my setting idea I got some good advice. So here we go again.

This setting is inspired by the Norse concept of the World Tree, specifically that there are Nine Worlds in Creation, and that each one is a homeworld for some sort of race.

>Asgard is the realm of the Gods. When the Gods disappeared, the Elves split into factions, and one took over.
>Roshiko is a Spirit World. It is a high-powered Wuxia-Shonen place.
>Vanira is a Nature-run-Rampant world. It is the home of the Elves, and resembles the Feywild.
>Doran is a Desert World. Humans live here, and are quite spiritual.
>Medena is an Earth-like world. Humans live here, and this is their homeworld.
>Orialis is an Oceanic world. Humans live here, and are industrial.
>Eskar is a troubled world. It is a land of monsters in eternal conflict, and is very poor in resources.
>Underworld is the land of the Dead, though mostly the non-heroic dead. It is a barely habitable world for mortals, and is highly radioactive with dark energies.
>Hell is the realm of Demons and Devils. It is a bleak nightrealm haunted by the damned.

Names are placeholders. Now. Doran, Medena, and Orialis are all Human worlds, and that is because humans are like birds in this universe. Curious, prone to travel and nest, and will get shit everywhere. Should I add a native race to Doran and Orialis, just to fill them up a bit? Or imply some sort of genocide took place?

Also, are these a varied enough group of races so far? While I'd like to use this setting for RP games, I've been really contemplating Wargaming, and how to use these worlds as faction bases, so any advice is helpful.

>>54583519

This looks like Mortal Kombat's many worlds. Also, it reminds me of Mario in a way.

>>54583761
Oh yeah? How so?

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>>54567648
You should check out Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique and Jack Vance's Dying Earth.

>>54583864

You know how in the mario games there is the overworld, desert world, castle and ocean worlds?

Also, MK has the netherrealm, outworld, earth, zetania?(that place where Kitana hails from, basically elf world) and some sort of orderworld.

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Would Luna work well as space Vietnam?

>>54558225
why do skyscrapers exist? why do palaces exist? why do temples exist? why do statues exist?
because they are cool, duh
there need not be any more reason for a cool thing to exist

>>54558115

That sounds very comfy.

>>54558115
you might want to look at Grim Dawn
its sorta post-apocalyptic fantasy hack-n-slash, with apocalypsis in question being demonic/magic in nature
might give ya some ideas


also, The Secret World. its secret societies themed MMO, set in modern times. one of its main locations is literally Maine town overrun by cthulhus into rather posta-apoc state


>>54558178
each tribe worships the landmark from where they came. one tribe worships the Great Mountain, and at every campsite they designate a tree or a hilltop which they climb to "see" the holy pinnacle (obviously, they might have travelled far enough to not see it anymore). their greatest warriors/hunters even commit piligrimage to it, going back following those sacred signs.

another may worship a Waterfall god, and their first and main camp was in huge cave behind save waterfall, so they worship waterfalls and rain - they don't change camps or start a travel until a rain falls, signifying that they have "passed beneath the holy waterfall"

etcetera


If its a fantasy setting with active gods, those landmarks may have gotten power when a bunch of people created a tribe devoted to them, so, say, the Mountain God can help its followers through those sacred trees/hills

>>54559381
have you tried Fantasy Names Generator?

>>54584641
In what sense? Most vietnameese antics wouldn't make much sense on barren rock.

>>54583946
Okay, that makes sense. Did you have an opinion one way or the other on my questions?

>>54586870

I don't think its varied enough, but at the same time I don't think you should add more stuff at the moment. There isn't much variety since its all humanoids, but at the same time I don't really know how to fix said issue, so I rather abstain from it.

>>54586848
In the sense that its a war by a bigger power against a little power for stupid reasons and rock music.

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>>54586935
All right. Well, once I'm off my phone I can try elaborating what I have for each world and see about fleshing the setting out further.

Guys, I'd like to know if there exist settings in which Magic/Psionics etctera had a meaningful impact/improvements on society (and handles it excellent), like magic users as soverign, a Magic Revolution that draws parallel with Industrial Revolution (or helps it), magic usage at low level for all population and the like.

How do I make competing PMCs with different philosophies just that, competitive? I've been mulling it over, and I have one group (FSSI) be the more professional, personal security group. While their competitors (WDSL) are more like wild, hollywood depiction of a PMC. The roadblock I keep hitting is FSSI is definitely going to be better because nobody wants to hire a bunch of loose cannons, but if I mad WDSL more professional then instead of picking a soldier, or a warrior its just picking between two soldiers.

>>54586935
>The World Tree
Ygar is the World Tree, a cosmological representation of the universe. This universe grew from a "seed" left over from the last one, and will leave such a seed behind to make the next universe at the end of time. The First, sometimes called the Omniurge, was the being who planted the first seed, and is himself one with the tree (Brahma). The First also exists within the tree, so who the fuck knows about him anyway. The Tree itself was tended to by the Gods, creators and creations of the First.

So these Gods vaguely resemble a combination of Marvel Celestials, Kill-Six-Billion-Demons Angels, and Overwatch's Zenyatta. They are Tech and "Magic", for lack of a better term, combined into one whole. These guys were created by the First and then send out to work on the different Worlds within the Tree. When they were done, the First placed living things on the worlds, and then the Gods decided to just ascend out of there and be Enlightened and Shit.

>Asgard/Ysgard
So the Celestials, as we'll call the Gods from now on, settled on their favorite world, Ysgard, set in the boughs of the Tree. Ysgard is a world of snow-capped mountains rising up from the primordial ocean, each mountain topped with palaces, temples, and temple-palaces resembling Potala Palace in Tibet. There, the Celestials tried to ascend, only to find out that the First wanted some of them to stay behind to help enlighten the mortal races, Bodhisattva style. They drew straws, and the losers remained corporeal.

There was a bit of a disagreement over how to go about their job, which led to a War in Heaven. It ended with a truce, leading to: Ysgardian Celestials who enlighten mortals by embuing some with power to inspire others to walk the path, but are otherwise indifferent to actual human needs and desires and more than happy to kill someone in order to let them "try again" in their next reincarnation.

1/?

>>54588486
>it's all an act at the end of the day, the WDSL can be as professional as any other PMC, they just go out of their way to do some dumb shit whenever possible
>they deliberately target people that want them to act that way
>they are cheaper

>>54588575
Those could work, I was also thinking of more intangible things like combat experience, or something along the lines of they providence different services for the most part but overlap in one crucial area.

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>>54588551
>Ysgard continued
There are also Wandering Celestials, who actually give a shit about our wellbeing, but are exclusively drawn from the lowest ranks of the Celestials, and thus can't empower people the same way, except through inspiring us. And Infernals, which are the Celestials who've taken up residence in Hell. They believe in Self-Perfection, and encourage striving for completion in others, but won't exactly help anyone get there except by telling them to git gud.

There's also a few Celestials who became so bitter about the whole "trapped in decaying bodies when we could be feeling solar wind on our faces" thing that they've decided to just burn the whole Tree to the ground, so to speak, and are actively fought by the others, who naturally don't want to die themselves.

I've run out of time, but I will return to add more in a while. Will bump with pic before I go.

>>54587072
Depends on how realistic you want to be. Realistically, space wars would be swift and destructive.

With space opera level of artistic licence, sure. But vast plains of fucking nothing doesn't provide the right aesthetic.

>>54588486
>FSSI
A personal security company, who are known for operating professionally and by the books. Their personnel come from a variety of sources, mostly Western militaries, but are known in the business as being a little too by-the-book for their own good sometimes. In addition, it's strongly suspected that FSSI is controlled either partly or wholly by a Western intelligence agency.

>WDSL
While FSSI might be professional, WDSL are simply grizzled old combat dogs looking for a fight. Composed of both highly decorated veterans and men whose enthusiasm for war might have seen them dishonorably discharged, WDSL fights for the thrill of battle, at the end of the day. They're known for being a little more gung hu and brazen in their operations, with a reckless idea of collateral. At the same time, they tend to be cheap to hire as these war dogs are just itching for a fight, with a contract's pay just being icing on the cake. Plan for explosions, lots of them.

>ABCD
Something of a medium between the two, ABCD operate with the starched collar "professionalism" of FSSI with the frenzy of WDSL. With ties to [Russian/Chinese/Other Boogieman Nation]'s intelligence agencies, the company is feared by some and despised by others for their utter disregard for civilian causalities. Considered a terror group by several Western powers, they approach problems directly, efficiently, and remorselessly. Just don't hire these guys for hostage rescues. The hostage-takers will certainly be dead, but there's a good chance the hostage will be, too.

How do you come up with ideas for clothing? Also, what resources do people use for art? I'd like to find Osprey drawing type stuff, but it's hard to find stuff that isn't European. If anyone has any resources on medieval Malaysia, I'd greatly appreciate it.

>>54565782
The Golden Booiii

>>54565782
Clearly, the Golden God. He needs his tools.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGUolHnclug

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>>54588640
I'm back.

>Ysgard continued 2 electric boogaloo
After the Celestials split up, one of the first races to notice everything changing were the Elves, who lived in Vanira. Some of these Elves chose to leave their homeworld and venture up to Ysgard, where they became disciples of the Celestials. From there, the High Elves learned much in the Celestial's ways, but sort of missed the point of it all. They decided that THEY would personally civilize the other worlds, by force if need be. While the High Elves managed to take over most of the Tree, due to being dicks they've been steadily losing ground. Now they are in full collapse, with only their superior Magi-Celestial-tech keeping them from being totally unseated.

High Elves look something like a combination of First British Empire (Seven Year's War up to Napoleonic) mixed with Meji-Restoration Japan, with some Baroque decorations on everything.

>Rokushin (name change!)
Rokushin is a deeply spiritual world, like a cross between Wuxia and the Feywild. This place is like a pleasant version of Limbo from Planescape. Its exact features and styles are dictated by the mind, and so it is a naturally chaotic place. But it is also a spiritual place, featuring well-order cities, high mountains, and deep bamboo jungles.

I've just realized that, while I love the weeb-world thing, I'm also very unsure of this world's place. It seems like the Shinto/Spiritual elements in here are too much a combination of Asgard/Ysgard and Vanira, being a Holy Place, but also a Nature Place. Any better ideas on this world?

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>>54591060
>Vanira
The original homeworld of the Elves, Vanira is a natural wonderland. That's not to say it's a paradise, it certainly isn't, merely that it invokes wonder. This world is dominated by huge savannas and steppes dotted with deep woods and the occasional mountain range. But everywhere you go, life exists in abundance.

The native Elves are partly shapeshifters. Due to their place as alpha-adapters, Elves adapt to their environments within a generation of entering a new place. That means that Elves, past the initial immigration, always turn native to whatever world they find themselves on. Elves on Ysgard, for instance, look very much like Aasimar, what with their golden and silver hair and pale skin. Actually, proximity to the Celestials also gives these elves a good chance to develop metallic skin which. When scarred, these elves develop glowing "circuit-like" scarification that runs with their internal mana.

Vanira is often the site of massive wildlife hunts, as their monstrous beasts are some of the deadliest predators of all. The Native Elves build cunningly hidden stone cities into the environment.

>Doran
Doran is one of the two worlds Humanity has spread to outside their homeworld. Doran is a dry desert world, supposedly dried out by close proximity to Ysgard and Rokushin, whose burning auras blanched the world of its water. Whether or not this is true, it is a world that is rich in spiritual energy. Humans living here are often skilled with magic, in particular with ways to counter and absorb it. Many magi-tech devices exist here, as the Humans here were able to quickly grasp the basics of the Ysgardian Elves' own technology and use it to remain independent.

Doranic Humans are typically bronze-skinned or otherwise red or very dark due to their sun and the unforgiving environment. Culturally, these humans prefer to cover up head-to-toe, and take a dim view towards anyone who does not show respect to the lethality of the desert.

>>54589352
Didn't even occur to me to a 3rd middle ground, that's a great way to highlight the differences between the extremes of FSSI and WDSL. Also those are very spot on for their general approach to the business.

>FSSI
>Hiring them involves a lengthy vetting process, 10 500 page binders of material, regulations, history, personnel files, equipment acquisition, fee rates and 20 pieces paper that require a signature before authorization.

>WDSL
>Hiring them involves shaking their bandaged hand thats covered in a mix of gun oil, gasoline and alcohol. You sign a piece of paper with a hastily scribbled contract, speckles of blood, and the number of a woman from Budapest on it.

>ABCD
>Hiring them involves a call at 3AM to bring money to this location, upon arriving your head is covered by a bag, shoved in a trunk for a 30 minute drive to a nondescript, barely lit shipping container to meet with a person with an interest in "farm equipment". You sign nothing, verbal contract only, and if you don't hold up your end of the deal they make no promises about sweeping for carbombs outside your house and your son's school.

>>54559381
Angrboda is the name of the mother of Fenrir, Jormundgandr and Hel in norse myths

>>54591379
Basically, yeah. Glad I could be of assistance.

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>>54591232
>Medena (Middle Earth)
The original human homeworld. Medena is a pseudo-Pangea world (two supercontinents and some islands in close proximity) that was largely united by a Hellenic-style culture long ago, though with lots of minor cultural groups within that otherwise homogeneous whole. The largest single faction was based on the Roman Republic, but was subdued by the High Elves when they took over. This world is mostly Mediterranean in climate, with outlying regions stretching into the arctic and antarctic.

Centuries later, as the Elves are overthrown and new world emerges. Humans of Medena are largely united by a Military Republic based somewhat on the Holy Roman Empire, but with some mechanized and magic technology taken from the Elves. The Second Republic is militant, effective, and ruthless. It is also on the rise.The Republic is a combination of the deadly intrigues of Revolutionary France and the Late Roman Republic, managing an empire that covers their own vast culture as well as a myriad of smaller kingdoms and nations. Their mechanical technology could fit into the later years of the First World War, even some of their Powered Mech Armor and Iron Golems. Firearms are of good, though not Elven, quality, and would be familiar to anyone in the Wild West.

Pic is old-humanity from Medena.

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>>54591656
Hm. EDIT: Medenian Human tech looks more like if Da Vinci tried to replicate WW1 tanks and also Mechsuits.

>Orialis
Orialis is a water world made up of island chains instead of major continents, though they have a few smaller ones. This world is another human-controlled one.

Orialis is a bit colder than other worlds. The polar ice caps extend down to the 60th parallel latitudes, if not closer to the 50th, and the equator is closer to a Mediterranean climate. Despite this, humans here have made a good life for themselves. They have established large mining and fishing platforms on top of otherwise lifeless rocks out at sea, and largely live off farming fish and sea-plants. Mana/Magic on this world is sluggish, but also much more physically present than anywhere else. To that end, large mining operations are carried out to draw limitless energy from the earth, and the great LEVIATHANS, huge and godlike monsters of the depths, are harvested in order to meet demands.

Outside of a Diesel-powered Magical Industrial World living on top of ice and water, I have no idea how to depict these humans. Any ideas?

>>54549999
>Some of my elves don't even have writing
Same here, my elves are really dumb in an abstract kind of way, meaning they have a very limited capacity for abstraction so not only writing isn't needed (they don't even know how to make paper, hell they have trouble getting out of the stone age... not that they need to in order to survive) but it's also very difficult for them. Since they have very long lives, they don't need to write stuff down. They're very down-to-earth and insane instincts, to the point they evolved to invest most of their brain parts that could be used for intelligence and abstraction for physical and metabolic stuff. They know what will poison them, they have extremely developped senses and agility, their control over their hormones and pheromones can be so strong they can even fuck with other beings' metabolism by making them feel fear, activating pain receptors, paralyzing them; the most proficient in this art have achieve full blown biokinetic powers. They can influence how a small forest develops, because these powers depend on their ability to cover a lot of terrain or use the wind to send hormones and shit like that.
See how a professionnal athlete preps for a fight or a competition for a few weeks/months by changing his diet, habits, training, mental state, etc ? Elves can do that in a few days/hours to change their metabolism to get ready to hibernate through a famine, cross a desert or a small sea, enter a highly toxic forst/marsh, etc. A 100yo elf can track any animal by scent/step marks/traces on the bark of trees, but if he finds a healing potion that heals injuries and he tests it once and witnesses its power; if you propose to exchange it against an apple he'll accept. They're basically broken human-shaped mammals, kinda like dolphins and orcas
Only elves older than 250yo develop the ability to read, write, count, do calculations. It is exceptional for an elf bellow 650yo to be able to learn magic.
Drows on the other hand...

>>54593545
>they don't even know how to make paper
Paper was considered incredibly impractical for a long time in our history. For one thing, you could only use it once, so if you ever wanted to write something else down you had to get an entirely new piece of paper. Talk about a hassle!

Instead, most information was written down on wax tables where you could easily erase old information and fill in new important stuff.

>>54593608
This is true. Even when papyrus was available following the Bronze Age Collapse, wax tablets and clay continued to be the primary tools of most writers and scholars.

>>54557783
Nice explanation.

>>54558178
Steal some ideas from pre-islamic Arabs (djins, gods), African tribes (I have no idea what they used to believe, voodoo stuff I guess ?) and Asian folklore (animism, spirits, souls)

>>54558186
Is this a city ? If there's a city there, there should be a reason it's there. It should be next to a river (see Venise, Paris, London...), and farmlands around to get food from. I don't think cities could exist in the mountains or in a desert back then.

>>54558225
Prince of Persia + Tomb Raider. So >>54558354
In my setting there's huge forest with huge ass trees and creatures like the ones back when dinosaurs existed. Parts of it are toxic marshes, and since vegetation is so tightly packed, thunderstorms create huge moving fires (wich are like scratches in the gigantic forest), etc. There are also lakes within, inhabited by frightening creatures. So in the end, the little "normal" animals, and humanoids with them, need to avoid these dangerous places and end up sharing the same tracks and "paths". This competition varies in intensity from one part to another, so in some parts it could kinda count like a dungeon because one would need to hide from predators, climb trees, follow edible plants and game (the forest is so big you can't pack enough food to cross it, you'll need to find it there) boil water without attracting attention, and they can't go around because of reasons mentioned above.

>>54558225
Also I've had a game where we played a party of young drows (the remaining children of a clan that was genocided) banished to the surface, so before we could adapt to the civilisations there we needed to scavenge and steal. Every city, every village was a "dungeon" because we simply couldn't get suplies naturally because of the sun. We could only act and move during the night so hunting was impossible because no equipment, the forests were too dangerous... so dungeonning the towns and villages was the only way for a while.

>>54558364
Good ideas. Sadly social play is highly underrated.

>>54559381
You have the names of all the biblical demons like Hecadoth, Baal, Belphegor, Baphomet, Behemoth, Mammon and others. Could they count as monster gods if they're worshipped ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_theological_demons
There's also Fenrir, Jormungandr, Hræsvelgr, Apep/Apophis, Scylla, Medusa, Dajjal, etc.
Lovecraft left you an unending source of monster gods, just take your pick. Greek primal gods and titans could also do I think.

>>54558178
Without any further information, the simplest answer is that their mythology can be pretty much whatever you want. While mythology changes and evolves over time, there's nothing to indicate that it would also become more sophisticated over time rather than just different.

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Thinken about the birbs. I figured they could be aquatic birds, perhaps bit like skuas - with being bit of assholes.

>>54558178
Perhaps Lovecraftian inspired one?
As mentioned, animisms and actual religions might serve as good inspiration.

>>54558225
Abandoned wartime bunkers/facilities
Ruins of whatever passed civilization
Buried ruins under the earth aeons ago.
Tombs
Secret Cities
And of course, actual dungeons, prisons etc.

>>54565826
This one I'd go for.
I have actually had ideas about a notoriously unlucky but proficient hero in folklore/history, adapted sometimes into comedic plays/movies.

>>54579490
Pirate Apocalypse.

>>54588336
Glorantha has folk magic used by common folk to aid in day to day tasks like cleaning the house or planting crops. Widespread use of healing magic (and the nature of disease involving evil spirits and shit) mean people live much longer than the bronze age setting would suggest. Half the dominant cultures are magocracies and those that aren't still make heavy use of magic to improve or oppress the lives of it's people.

Ars Magica has an elaborate history for magic use in europe with a couple of revolutionary events, like the creation of hermetic magic, which established a standardized way to learn and teach magic, allowed mages to get along despite the antipathy inherently generated by their abilities, and gave them a way to defend themselves from other magic users.

>>54591445
fuck didnt see you already had her on the list

>>54593608
>>54593710
Animal hides and skin were also used at some point I think.

>>54559975
No more moon. There are documentaries about it, there's a scenario where the planet's orbit is fucked to the point there's a ring or ice around the around in the equator, and the poles are equatorial jungles or something like this. Or, just go down to the other hemisphere like suggestions said.

>>54594906
That's if the planet's axial tilt becomes greater than 60 degrees. basically if it's rolling around on it's side like Uranus the poles will get more direct sunlight than the equator.

Though interestingly, Uranus itself is still hotter at the equator than at the poles, and we have no idea why. So maybe that's all fucking wrong.

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>>54591445
>>54594791

It's fine, Anon! I appreciate the effort regardless!

>>54594222
>Could they count as monster gods if they're worshipped ?
Yep! That's perfectly fine; I'm already pretty familiar with them and have been using Demon names to name my, well, Demons who've taken up the position of "Gods". They've got a similar situation going on: without the forces of good reigning down on them, many Demons feel more comfortable just flat out DESERTING Hell and fucking off to the mortal realm to try and do their own thing as opposed to humoring or continuing all this Demonic bullshit power-struggle bureaucracy in the "old country" when there's no obligation to do so.
So you've got an ancient Demon like Lilith, who's crossed over and is clumsily trying to advertise herself as a Goddess of love, child birth, protection, cool evenings, and that sort of thing since she knew a thing or two about eating babies.. long ago..

>Scylla
>Beautiful Nymph who was cursed and had her lower-half turned into a hydra of snakes with wolves for heads.
That's pretty fucking neato- I could see her being a Goddess of lakes & rivers or something, I wouldn't even need to change her appearance that much.

>Greek primal gods and titans could also do I think.
The Greek primal Gods and Titans are great, I'm not as familiar with them as I should be, but I already intend on using Hemera as a giant, blonde, golden-furred, centaur goddess of agriculture, sun/light, and corn.

>>54595087
Yup, that's what I wanted to say. Thanks for the details.
>Uranus itself is still hotter at the equator than at the poles, and we have no idea why.
I know oceanic currents play a HUGE role in regulating Earth's temperature. Maybe that explains it ?

>>54595273
Welcome m8
http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Demon_List http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Demons_by_mythology these games use a lot of demons, monsters and pagan gods.

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>>54595592
>I know oceanic currents play a HUGE role in regulating Earth's temperature. Maybe that explains it ?
Maybe. It's magnetosphere is all kinds of fucked up so that may be the culprit too. Though one theory is the magnetosphere is screwy because of the properties of the planet's sea, which may be ammonia based or liquid fucking diamonds, so perhaps it's all interconnected. Ice giants are weird as hell man.

>>54566631
>All Speakers are women (I’m still thinking of a reasoning for this. I want it in due to my distaste for male singers
While that's a pretty shitty reason, it could be males are simply unable to hit high enough notes. Though that might lead to making eunuchs in the hopes they'll get horns one day. Could be the gods in question are female too, or that feminimity represents some intrinsic property of magic, like creation or some shit.

I do like the overall concept though. And the horn aesthetic makes them seem like divine tuning forks.

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Why don't you have Mothfolk in your world anons?

>>54598369
I don't have many beast races, period. All I have is some crocodilemen, gnolls, and Skeksis-knockoffs.

>>54598369
[animal]folk are the worst idea prevalent in fantasy

>>54598369
Because fuck animal-man races, it's lazy and done to death. Instead, I've got animalistic savages that loosely adopt some traits from totem beasts. Nothing particularly over the top, just nictitating membranes and a mouth of sharp teeth for some, an in-built need for companionship and the ability to push themselves while part of a pack for others, etc.

>>54598634
>an in-built need for companionship and the ability to push themselves while part of a pack for others
So normal humans?

>>54598565
yes

>>54598689
Not quite, actually one of the other three abilities that sub-race gets is a lunge that runs somewhat contrary to humans being built for endurance running.

>>54586156
If you're in a campaign where nobody gets immersed in the world sure. But some people care about in universe reasons and dungeons are definitely needing a reason to exist.

>>54564242
>Dryest, I think
>driest desert
Nope. Close but the Antarctic desert is the driest. All snowstorms are stuff laid down, there is almost no precipitation.

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So how would I go about making a land as fantastical as pic related? Other than general shape where do I even start?

>>54599295
Put on some Led Zepplin and roll with it.

>>54599329
Not necessarily rock/metal based but somewhere between the Brütal Land and Warhammer Fantasy of fantastical with plenty of shit that makes it obviously not earth.

>>54599329
Dethklok is better.

>>54599591
>anything
>better than Zepplin
I mean, how shit did you want your opinion to be?

>>54558225
I usually don't put in dungeons just because. We don't play those types of games. So when one shows up it's because it's an organic part of the world. For example, an actual dungeon built to house prisoners. Or the lower parts of a fortress which have been sealed off for whatever reason. Or catacombs beneath a city. Etc, etc.

>>54599844
70s Queen

Working on naming my various vaguely Gaulic clans, not sure if I want to go with actually Celtic sounding shit, or with more generic names like "the Sharp Spears" or shit like that.

>>54600682
......

Fuck. Ya got me.

I'm looking for some fantasy maps that feature a crater. Mainly to get an idea of different ways to draw craters for my own map. Any help?

>>54601217
These two were mentioned up-thread.

>>54579370
>>54580477

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Tried something new with this map. I offset the shadow lines to try and make the map look a little more dynamic to the eye. Did I succeed?

>>54601848
Yeah! You could also try thickening the bottom lines of each island/continent to give them a 3D appearance.

>>54601917
I could try, but it wouldn't do much good. I've got one eye, and no depth perception. I literally can't see 3D.

>>54596431
>While that's a pretty shitty reason
Meh

I know it to be childish in a way, but that's just my reasoning. It could be fun trying to justify it in a proper way, and then deal with all the implications that stem from such a restriction

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I've created a d100 Dieselpunk rpg, this is the present fluff document. Any feedback would be madly appreciated.

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>>54601973
Shit. Well it also makes the landmass look "raised" as well. It's a subtle effect. Pic is of a map I did. While I'm not impressed by it, it does demonstrate what I'm talking about.

>>54602018
Not sure if I can see it lol.

>>54602086
I remember now. I only did it on the forests. Sorry m8.

>>54598369
There were some in stone age, but they discovered fire and that was the sad end of their proud race.

>>54602717
That's nothing. Mars was once inhabited by an enlightened race of methane gas clouds.

The invention of fire was...well, predictably bad.

>>54602903
but at least their civilization burned bright and left a lasting impact on their world

Because I'm a contrarian fucking faggot, I made the dwarves in my setting a seafaring race (someone a while ago here on /tg/ mentioned that dwarves are usually depicted as difficult to topple in D&D rules, which might give them better "sea legs"). Now I want to know what weapons would be good for them.

What I'm looking for are weapons that are at their best when used for naval, ship/on/ship combat but can be used on land as well. For ranged weapons crossbows seem the obvious choice (among others because their incredible drawforce compensates for the short drawlength dwarves would get with their stubby arms), but what would be useful melee weapons for this purpose? I imagine something short and versatile, like perhaps the stereotypical axe, but I'm looking for something different because I'm a contrarion faggot who chokes on dicks on a daily basis.

>>54603905
Spears, harpoons, tridents, polearms, etc. Short people want things that enhance their reach and use thrusting motions.

Dwarves are too dense to float.

>>54603905

Thats not really contrarian, the boats of old are place for sweaty and grimmy man

>>54603905
Joke's on you, my Dwarves are also seafaring.

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>>54603905
Cutlasses, obivously
Also demon hunter warglaives from warcraft
1) perfect to defend against attacks from above
2) can offer decent protection to short people
3) can cut enemy tendons
4) can cut enemy rigging

in addition, their version might have a coil of rope in the handle, so they can be used as thrown hooks to grab enemy ships

also, bagh nakh (tiger claw)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagh_nakh
Since dwarfs are less agile than humans and ain't got as nimble fingers, they might use those to climb the rigging better, and also to rip people to shreds with their strong arms

>>54603905
If they are seafaring, why call them dwarves?

>>54604268

Because dwarf is a polite way to say manlet

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Sketched out a rough layout for a world that's unfinished by it's god, so only one hemisphere exists.

Would the tan area here make sense as a fuckhuge desert? I know basically nothing about how these sort of formations should exist but what I've seen posted on "how 2 map 4 dummies" pictures here on /tg/.

Also, dark green is dense marshes.

>>54604464
Also- what kinds of ecological effects would a giant cut in the earth like pictured cause? I figure it makes something of a natural canal for nations to ship stuff, as well as a natural barrier between nations, but most importantly it allows whoever controls it access to the northern desert without passing through the murder mountains.

>>54604464
well, its shielded by mountains from moist sea winds, so yeah, it would make a natural desert

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>>54604715
I'm mainly wondering what kind of conditions need to be present to make a desert of sand dunes rather than salt flats or just good ol' dirt. I suppose I could bullshit something together but I'd prefer to stick more to semi-realistic reasons for the land being how it is.

I'm essentially looking to make a sand ocean as a barrier between continents rather than a normal one, at least for the majority of it as I assume the edges wouldn't be like that.

>>54604780
well, look at Great Plains of America. its basically an immense valley, in which winds blow north to south and south to north. When they clash, tornados appear. Apply that to sand and increase scale. Massive sand maelstroms, etc.
Also, since you desert opens to an arctic from one side and to literal chaos from another, it would be even more extreme

>>54604822
I wouldn't have expected making a setting to end up educating me on stuff I'd have otherwise never thought about, now it looks like I'll be going to the library to get out a book on the Rub’ al Khali Desert, evidently the largest sand desert in the world.

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>>54601217
heres the full pic of mine

Is it plausible for a capital being called just something like Capital City, The City or Crown City? as in not having a proper name?

>>54605384
Not unlikely if the city was founded to have this name and work as a capital city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_City,_Kentucky

>>54605384
Not really all that uncommon. Look up a map of translated names sometime; many places have names that are little more than basic-sounding descriptions. Calling your capital The Capital is fine.
It's a more original city name than Alexander ever came up with.

>>54605384
If the city has been FOUNDED with the intention to become a capital city, then it's possible. But keep in mind that it's quite unlikely that a certain city will actually remain a capital city of a country through out all of it's history, as capitals shift and change through history. Most capital cities have a proper name, but also are being referred to as simple "The Capital" or some variation of that.

An example of a city that has been established with the proper intention to become capital city would be Kyoto (in the past being called sometimes just "Kyo" (meaning "The Head") or "Miyako" (The Capital), or sometimes "Kyo No Miyako".
That said, as Kyoto lost it's status as capital city, the term "Miyako" has been transfered to what every other city gained the status (Kamakura or later Edo).

>>54605492
what if it remained a capital for a long time, because of its location? i.e. kingdom borders shifted, but it always was a capital of something, even if basically a city-state?

How likely is it for name to change over history in a bit punny way?
For instance, if a very imporatant mountain called Highspire turned out to be a volcano, and became a smouldering crater taking thousands of lives, it would be quite plausible for people to call it Highpyre, wouldn't it?

>>54605545

Well, in my setting there is a montain called the doomster.

>>54605545
It makes my wonder why the denizens of a fantasy world would speak Modern English.

>>54606067
Why not? People have to speak SOME language at any given time.

>>54606067
Just think of it as a pun in the original language that the translator managed to make work in English

>>54605545
All the time. New culture takes over and pretty much everything gets renamed. And foreign cultures will use their own names when referring to those areas. Hench we call a certain country Germany when they call themselves Deutschland and the French call it Allemagne.

Just look at Ireland. After the English took over they Anglicized half the names and just made up their own for everything else.

>>54606206
I always assume they don't speak modern English. Just like I assume people in movies about Ancient Greece are actually speaking Ancient Greek, despite us hearing English.

>>54606350
Yeah, except Ancient Greece actually existed. There's no practical difference between a made up setting speaking a fantasy language or speaking English, unless you're a linguistics professor who can do really clever things with fantasy languages.

>>54549719
>>What songs, tales, epic poems, or sagas exist in your world?
So far only the story of the World's creation. It's told in many different ways though depending on the peoples. Though it's more a number of stories about the world's creation and how everything got fucked.
>>Are these stories in and of themselves fictional in-universe? Or are they real, historical fact? Something in between?
Mostly true, some embellishments, some stuff lost to the mists of time. Usually the species that's telling the tale will focus on their part
>>Who is the author?
Countless Men, Dwarfs, Elves, Trolls, Goblins, Fairies and all other sorts of creatures.
>>Who is the intended audience/message of the piece?
People take many messages from the tales, Elves tell the tale in remembrance of their greatest hero, Dwarfs tell it so they will never forget the origins of their seven ancestor gods, Fairies tell it to remind themselves they are always connected in some way to the gods, and Humans of the <I haven't thought of a name yet> region tell it to remind themselves to REMOVE NECROMANCER!

>>54606067

Segregation of story and gameplay.

Arkhansk (my bad if I misspelled the name) means Archangel in russian, the name of a city, should the city be called Archangel or Arkhansk for the english speakers?

Its not a universal thing, but some places a translated name becuase it would complicated to make fictional names and have them translated. Some people just don't want to extensive things with linguistics

>>54606350
If the movie is any good, any puns the characters say will be in ancient Greek, not in English.

It's easy to invent a handful of easily punnable conlang words for fantasy literature, and even include a translation note if you so wish.

>>54606425
I've heard that Phil's "Two words: I am retired" from Disney's Hercules is a pun since that actually is said in two words in (Ancient?) Greek.
Can't verify since I only know English and Pig Latin.

>>54606505
>When Hercules and Phil first meet, Phil says "Two words: I am retired," much to the confusion of Hercules. However, in Greek, "I am retired" translates as "Eímai syntaxioúchos", which is actually only two words.
I guess that's true then

>>54606520
I wonder if it was intentional.

>>54571751
Yeah if it's different elevation

I have trouble with continent names.
Would First Land and East Shore be normal continent names? Would people actually call place they live in / come from First Land, and the foreign land in the east East Shore?

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>>54606741
Yep. As said in: >>54606350
most place names are like that.
They just sound fancier to us since we don't typically know what the words mean in other languages.

The capital of Louisiana is called Red Stick.
The "burgh" and "berg" suffixes typically mean something like "town of the," so places like Harrisburg basically means Town of the Harrises.
Berkshire in southern England is something like "Land of the Bagses"

Constantinople is just named after an Emperor, similar to how we named Washington and Washington DC after some guy.
Nippon, the Japanese word for Japan, means something like Land of the Rising Sun or Origin of the Sun.
Virginia, rather humorously, is a reference to Queen Elizabeth I, specifically how she (officially) never got laid.

Shit be common, yo. Roll with it.
Humans kind of suck at naming things.

>>54606737
Or different humidity.
One of the main evolutionary advantage of coniferous plants is that they are much more efficient with water: that is why you find them in more arid regions, such as the mediterranean regions which once used to be covered in conifer forests (mostly cypress trees).
They can - in general - just deal with more extreme conditions: greater cold, greater temperature extremes, less water etc.

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Used the Civ 5 world builder to make a basic map of my world.
Too much going on in this one?

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>>54607612
Or this one For some reason this one feels better to me

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I like playing with getting fluff and crunch to mirror each other, like how DnD uses Vancian magic to explain the whole fire-and-forget gimmick.

I've been trying to come up with an in-setting reason for why player characters are so much better than the average person and I think I've got an answer I like.
All PCs act like mythological Greek heroes. That is, the PCs are powerful because they are descended from one or more supernatural beings.

The way I'm currently working it, instead of using a more traditional class system, players will develop their characters' skills and abilities by creating their lineage and family tree. Still working it out, but I'd probably use some sort of point system in character creation in which you buy blood relations to ancestors. Minor entities and gods would have low costs, but would also grant lesser abilities. As another bonus, though, you'd get a good number of those abilities and so be a jack of all trades. Being related to a major god would give you a lot of good shit to work with, but you'd have to spend pretty much all your points there and would have a smaller range of abilities.
Furthermore, being related to gods would make some deities favorable towards you and have others dislike you. This would be the equivalent of taking flaws. If the sea god hates you, you better make sure you make a big sacrifice before stepping on a boat, for example.

As another bonus, it would make writing your backstory be a major part of character creation.

As a rough core concept, how does that sound?

>>54607631
This one kind of looks like Earth, but with no British Isles, the Mediterranean being land-locked, Greenland being fuckhuge, and Australia vacationing with it's freakishly huge brother New Zealand in the Atlantic.

So, yeah, looks solid to me. The top one looks too much like a game map, and I'd suggest moving the continents in the second around a bit so they're further apart and less uniformly trying to fill up a rectangle.

I think you prefer the second since it's vaguely familiar and less busy. However, I do like the upper-left landmasses. Those could work as a map in their own right, but as part of the whole picture they just seem superfluous.

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>>54607730
Thanks anon

>>54607784
Any time. Using a video game to make a map is pretty clever.
Kind of makes me want to try it with Universe Sandbox, but you can't do much more than throw rocks and add water.

>>54607641
I'm going to do something similar in a campaign I'm working on, but divinity will be rolled and recorded by me( the DM). The PCs will only find who or what they're descended from when they come across certain NPCs who will recognize their power, or something along those lines

>>54607846
Give it a go anyway, you never know.
There has to be a "create you own planet" program somwhere on the internet. Don't the space 4x games like Endless Space/Stellaris have something liek that

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Some day, I'll get off my ass and work on this shite. I end up writing down maybe a paragraph a week on my stuff. Not for a lack of ideas, but because I compel myself to write with a structure I don't have the inspiration to adhere to.

>>54608040
What did you use to build that map, anon?

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>>54608083
Several maps made in GIMP, ran as a mod in Crusader Kings II

>>54607951
Interesting. In my experience, rolling for stuff like that depends largely on the players. Some like it, others think it's literally worse than Hitler.

It's certainly an option.

>>54608116
>Crusader Kings II
Ah, Incest Simulator. Good times.

>>54608116
>desert Miandan
How?

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>>54608169
I feel like you might need to elaborate on that question. But maybe this will help.

>>54608189
This is taking the idea of a rain shield WAY too far.

>>54608378
explain yourself

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>>54608378
It could never happen.

>>54608598
Look, the concept of a rain shield is that indeed, having a major mountain pass between the nearest major water source (like sea) in the prevailent wind direction is that on average, that region is going to have a lot less moisture. However, in reality it's a lot more complicated. Winds don't always blow in one direction, especially on islands near equator and near a major landmass, the wind will actually change directions completely depending on the season (look into Japan and their winter and summer monsoon winds). The air above water bodies tend to be unstable, creating small whirrwinds that can sand the wet wind in all directions.

Second of all, unless there is some REAL MAGIC at work there, the mountains are just not going to be tall enough to warrant effective enough rain shield to form complete Arabian peninsula-like desert.

>>54608649
Yeah... about that. It's a lie. That place isn't arid at all. Your teachers were just taking the piss out of you.
Seriously though: there are two factors at play there. First of all, while it's not obvious from the map, Atacama is trapped between TWO mountain ranges. It's basically a giant valley. It's also VERY high. It's actually much more similar to Gobi desert than the pic we were talking about. Second of all - major unique elements, including ocean currents,
also contribute. Finally: those are fucking ANDES we are talking about. Not something that seems to be more equivalent to Japanese Alps.

If my setting mostly consists exotic, alien races, should humans exist as the standard 'vanilla' race, or should they have their own quirks? My initial idea was that humans are more dexterous and clever than most other races, which mechanically, translates to the highest natural DEX of the races and some proficiency in tools and mechanical weapons.

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>>54608775
For what it's worth, I've long known the rain shadow is overstated, I just haven't redrawn the maps. I tend to imagine the 'desert' of Mianda to be more comparable to Spanish or Maghrebi drylands, with the deserts of Sul and Sapshan being more genuinely... Desert-y.

>>54608841
>should humans exist as the standard 'vanilla' race, or should they have their own quirks?
If you stop, and really ask yourself "what the fuck am I asking?", you'll get the answer.

Pro-tip: Humans are humans. Why don't you start with that for fuck sake.

>>54608841
I think both are dumb. Races should be more than scalpeled stat buffs.
>>54608988
He means, "should I make every other race less dexterous than humanity?".

>>54608841
Humans should be the humans of the setting. Do what feels natural to you, as a human. Humans are useful for being the "protagonist" point of view. Think of Kingdom Death Monster, with humans in a very strange position within that world and yet still the window through which it's looked.
>>54609084
huh

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>start a spin-off setting
>it's instantly way better than anything in the main setting
anyone else know this feel

>>54586748
Thanks anon, I will check out Grim Dawn and Secret WOrld as well.

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I think I've been staring at this too long now to be able to tell what's wrong with it anymore. Help.

>>54559381
try translating things into Finnish/Norwegian. Most of the time it sounds neat.

>>54611522
You need something to the lower left. a small archipelego or something towards the edge.

>>54603905
Weaponizes pole hooks, or you are a confirmed softdick.

>>54605492
>Kyoto
It actually does deeper than that. Kyoto was originally Miyako which doesn't actually mean capital. It was only in the 1200's that it was renamed to Kyoto to reference it being the capital city. And while the name remains, what was formerly Edo was renamed to Tokyo when the seat of Japanese power was transferred to that eastern city. And surprise, surprise, Tokyo literally just means "Eastern Capital."

>>54603905
Seconding pole hooks. Goedendag are short and give you clobbering and stabbing. Also tool/weapon amalgamations a la trench spades (but for sea). But I don't think they'd necessarily be all that short -- maybe bills, military forks, oars, and polearms in general.

May you drown in a sea of cock.

So can we confidently say that shepherds usually live on mountains & highlands while farmers prefer lowlands (especially river valleys)?

>>54611814
Shepherds prefer wherever they can get. They can graze their animals quite nicely in a flat field. It's less work and they can keep an eye on more sheep at once.
Whether or not they get to use such territory is another matter since they -can- go in less favorable areas, whereas farmers can't/

>>54609230
I mean, I wasn't trying to say "humans aren't human" or anything, but I guess simplicity is best either way.

>>54611686
>Kyoto was originally Miyako which doesn't actually mean capital.
OK, if we want to get really technical, that is not correct either.
First of all, the location of Kyoto has been provably settled for pretty long time - archeological evidence suggests up to 1000 B.C., though we have no evidence of how it was called. The city as we know it was settled in 794 under the name Hei-an-kyo, literally meaning peace-tranquility-capital city.
The last symbol of the lot, "kyo" (京) has an alternative reading, "miyako" when it's not part of a compound, and that is why the city is also been referred to as "Miyako". But it DOES mean capital.
The symbol has two actual forms: 京 and 都, both having the same meaning and reading.

In the 1200, the city has been renamed indeed, by combining both of the different forms of the symbol for "capital", forming 京都 - "Kyoto" as we know it. That said, it had lost the functional status of a capital after the Onin wars, and with losing that status, the "Miyako" title, specifically reffering to the IDEA of Capital City (rather than specific place) has been passed on to other cities (Kamakura, later Edo). Later on, to clear out any possible misunderstandings, the term "Higashi no Miyako, or more easily written in symbols "To-kyo" has been coined, first unofficially, after Edo Period officially for the city of Edo.

But if you said "Miyako" in the 1700's, everybody would know you are reffering to Edo.

How would having moving castles change a siege?

>>54612878
Well it's a lot harder to stall out someone and wait for their food supply to run out if the castle just gets up and walks away.
So I guess stuff that could keep it in place would be nice.

>>54612878
In fantasy land, castle sieges you!

Not necessarily written or sung word, but as soon as someone does something exceptional it spreads across the frontier like a brushfire alog the rails, and naturally as it travels from settlement to settlement the telephone game kicks in and it becomes more and more fantastic. One of the most famous stories currently is of a man who mysteriously rolls into towns and takes the souls of the men he kills in a fight and stores each one in a coffin, collecting their damned spirits. Its a bit of a twist on the actual occurence, though whats actually happening isnt that far off.

I want to have a discussion about the setting I'm building but don't want to clutter the thread. Do you know of a platform where I could do that?

>>54614198
I feel like there should be a discord for all /tg/ content, and every general could have it's own channel.

Maybe this isn't the place, but does anyone have any good resources for fantasy landscape art?
I have plenty of character art to use, but not enough cityscapes and wilderness art.

How can I handle a PC being an amnesiac ghost in a setting where ghosts subsist on memories from when they were alive, go mad or fade away without them, can't go on holy ground or pass a threshold uninvited, and are destroyed by sunlight?

I was thinking of handling part of it by having the PC not really be a ghost (perhaps the spirit of a living but comatose body or a ghost-like entity since they operate on similar rules) and dealing with the daylight issue by allowing them to possess hosts (animals and unwilling hosts would take a roll while willing hosts would share control) as well as having a plot that could potentially result in a construct body.

>>54616170
For the memory issue, you could make the ghost just be so determined to not die without remembering themselves that they can stick around for a while without fading, and make them have to constantly search out memories of their past life in a struggle to keep coherent

For the sunlight thing, I dunno. Depends on the class; if it's a heavy armor class I'd just have them possess suit of armor.

>>54605052
What do you use to make this? Photoshop?

>>54616413
paint tool sai

>>54616367
I'd run with that memory fragment anyway as it exists within the source material and it would work with most possibilities for what the PC could be if they weren't a real ghost. I also can't resist that the universe has ghosts that went mad and eat other's memories which makes them appear to have a glowing bit inside them to whatever they took the memory from and on "death" drop glowing gems that are the memories.

The system (fate) we're playing in doesn't have real classes or armor class. I do like having the character possessing an animal most of the time since it means that I can compel them more and the character needs those compels.

>>54616170
Sounds like the Dresden Files book Ghost Story

>>54616566
It is the Dresden Files but post Skin Game and pre-Peace Talks.

What are areas in the very south of the Southern hemisphere like? I mean temperature wise being closer to a polar area they would be cooler right? So are places like Punta Arenas, Chile and Cape Town, South Africa cooler year round like northern cities in the Northern hemisphere? Is there some basics of meteorology and topography I'm missing?

>>54606847
>Havana
>Nicaragua
>Sunday's Republic
Pretty lazy.

>>54616971
Warm ocean currents and wind patterns keep southern south america warmer than it's northern counterpart. Nothing else outside antarctica is that close to the south pole; south africa is about as close as florida is to the north.

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First time world builder here looking for criticism on my map. I tried my best to use logic when applying climates and settlement locations, but I'm new and still have much to learn. I tried my best to avoid cliches but I dont know too many so I might fall into some. Any tips would be much appreciated.

As far as the climates go, light green is temperate forestry, dark green is rainforest/jungles, beige (sand yellow?) is desert, burnt orange is marshlands/swamps, brown is tundra/taiga, and white is artic. Black dots represent cities with significant populations. Time period/tech level is a mix of Renaissance Fantasy and Fantasy Steampunk.

>>54619469
Forking rivers. Rivers almost never split except at deltas. That was the first thing that stood out.

>>54619469
Rivers should be converging, not splitting

>>54619526
>>54619469

Ah that was it. It looked wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks.

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>>54619469
It looks awfully small to be an entire planet. Seems like not enough mountain ranges or rivers and the scale of the islands seems off and randomly placed. Have you thought about the underlying plate tectonics?

>>54619469
And pretty much any settlement needs easy access to some sort of water. Also, mountains lead into headlands, and off into islands too.

>>54619884
Islands are randomly placed because I have little knowledge of the way tectonics work. I'm sure there are a ton of resources out there for me to learn from.

I wanted to try to make the world 3 distinct masses but I guess it just looked awkward in the end (This one seems particularly tough for me since the only real life example we got has 2). Also Inkarnate was recommended to me as an easy to use tool but I feel really limited using it. The others in the pastebin don't appeal to me but I did try using paint.net so I guess I'll see if there are paint.net lessons tailored towards worldbuilding and cartography. Frankly I'm a complete novice to art so if there are tools to help I'd be open to suggestions.

Not enough ranges and rivers is probably due to ineptitude towards detail. How would you remedy this issue? Is there a certain method to follow or is it just quantity over quality? I get that tectonics and thermodynamics affect ranges and rivers but what else?

I have a lot of googling to do but this has all been very helpful. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

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Does this look good lads?
Ignore the line of stone along the main continent.
It's a giant wall to keep something in.

>>54619982

I get the settlements part, and I tried to follow that with a couple exceptions (Mirage is an oasis; there are some cities based enough to mountains to collect there; City-states are ment to be placed on an elevated mesa). Is there a particular one that irks you or is it more a blanket statement?

Also, I don't understand what you mean by mountains leading into islands. I get the mouuntains into headlands part (sort of) but the second part is conpletely lost on me.

I'm struggling with mythology.
One one hand, there are sorta-christian God and Satan, that kinda made the world together.
But there's also a totally-not-Cthulhu that predates mortal races sleeping in the sea.
Plus a bunch of other gods, some of which are called (by denizens of the world at least) Old Gods, and are no less powerful than the world's creators...
Plus I have no idea where the gods came from.

Should I go TES route and leave it all in the air? Everyone says their own thing, but no one knows the truth besides the gods, and they are all lying. Probably.
Or should I go "all/none myths are true" route, and have a paradoxal history along the lines of "Yes, the world has always been there since it formed out of planetary disk of a birthing star. Yet it has been created a few millenia by Allfather and Fallen One. Though the Dreamer has been here before Allfather and Fallen One were even born. Yes, they were born, even though they've always existed."
I kinda like that but it feels a bit like cop-out, a cheat.

>>54620030
eastern continent looks like a dick in a pussy with that colouring. good luck unseeing that.

can't something swim?

>>54612878
go watch some old-ass westerns, where bandits/indeans on horses besiege a train with soldiers/cowboys inside

>>54620437
Yeah, but the dwarfs dont give a shit if people come in, they're guarding the body of the first demon which is a portal to the abyss (Which has a secret portal to the seven hells)
It was meant to be a phoenix but eh

How do you generate charm in a near future setting? Without going down the alternate history route like fallout

>>54620951
are you kidding?
charm is magic, it has no single formula
you just do something and try to make it cozy and comfy, and maybe maaaaaybe it will have some charm. or maybe not. or maybe its not cozy and comfy at all and still has charm. its unpredictable.

Could languages conceivably develop in backward direction?
My world's history ends up looking so not!Britain came before not!Norse and not!Germany, and completely independently from not!Romanic cultures...

>>54619982
>And pretty much any settlement needs easy access to some sort of water
It's worth pointing out that the water source does not have to be from a river, lake or other feature large enough to be marked on a continent scale map. Wells (especially if fed by aquifers), qanats, canals, small rivers and streams, springs (AKA an Oasis if you are in a desert), aqueducts, cisterns and resevoirs can all provide ample water for a thristy city.

>>54621545
Why are you using not!cultures?

>>54621979
I'm making myself a homebrew world to accommodate my orphaned WHFB armies while I cross to T9A, whose setting I dislike.

I want to still follow some logic and actually work.

>>54575323
i've always wanted to use mutants and masterminds for my setting, since it incorporates so many powers and things that work well in a fantasy setting, but ultimately i've never been able to get my friends to learn M&M. All they wanna do is Pathfinder and fuck working my setting into pathfinder's system.

>>54575323
I personally use a system which is specifically setting-generic. Then I homebrew my own races and magic out of the core system.

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Any ideas on how to turn this more into a proper map. other than redrawing it and then scanning it back into my PC?

>>54622275
Are you the only person who would run a game for them? If so tell them that they need to give it a shot and if they don't like it then you'll get something together for pathfinder.

>>54622725
Nah, out of the seven of us, three of us DM. It's become a pit of a joke at this point whenever I mention M&M. it hurts

>>54607631
>>54607612
>continents are evenly spaced, generally are of similar size, and the world fits evenly into a neat rectangular map
>coastlines are basically straight lines with some random peninsular protrusions to give the illusion of being "fractal"
Nah man it's shit

>>54622872
Have they given any reason why they won't learn it? M&M is painfully simple so they either need to be incredibly stubborn or incredibly stupid and the latter would create issues with understanding pathfinder.

>>54622900
Definitely very stubborn. Stubborn to the point that some of them get a little stupid when confronted with learning new things.

>>54622938
Sounds like hell desu. Why Pathfinder of all things?

>>54623079
It's just something that we all know a lot about, so it's easy for us all to throw something together when asked.

>>54622491
>open it in paintNET
>reduce the opacity of the layer (tag icon on the layer window in corner of screen)
>add new layer on top of it
>in the new layer, trace the lower with more detail
>remove the original/bottom layer when you no longer need it
would be my course of action

>>54624032
Thanks anon

What are some cool aesthetics for sci fi? I mean as in visual language, like fallout takes the 50s style of bright and bulky tech, star wars ahs the cluttered and worn look.

>>54622938
That sucks, fuck them.

>>54624994
bronze-age post-apocalyptic a la canticle for leibowitz or Urth

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I need a website, (free) program or whatever to build good city maps. I don't mean something like those random city genertors, but something with which I can build a detailed map for a city I have more or less planned out in my head already.

Any tips? I already use Inkarnate for world maps, but I don't find it so great for smaller scale maps.

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r8? Any of the names terrible?

>>54629711
Only thing that caught my eye is that you have an Island (or archipelago?) just called Isles.

>>54629865
Deleted the other text box, whoops

Anyone got any stories relating to settings played at different points in their historical timeline? Say medieval, renaissance, early modern?

Looking to do something similar, need ideas.

>>54629908
Isles isn't a bad name tbf

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All of this seems to be only fit for Fantasy settings.

Any help/resources for a nigga who wants to flesh out the homeworld of his SM Chapter?

What would be a good counterpart to a clockwork race which effectively embodies the concept of lawfulness (they have a set of rules which those higher up can change but all must follow to the letter)? I'm thinking that having something which refuses to follow any rules wouldn't work (paradoxical in that it would effectively follow a rule of following no other rules) but maybe something which is bound by nothing but I'm not sure how it would be physically although I have a few ideas that may not work.

>>54632527
Goblins, or Faerie in the Shadow of the Demon Lord sense where there's nothing particularly uniform or binding about them. Their appearance, their habits, their moods are all wildly chaotic. A pair of brothers might be a pot-bellied creature with large floppy ears and a binding obsession with counting loose objects while the other might be a willowy stag-headed creature that cannot step on grave earth. The very definition of capricious, the same one might great the same person with help in the most mundane of times and slit their throat to bathe in their blood during their darkest hour. Or vice versa.

>>54632631
In the universe goblins are Fae and the Fae are not only accounted for but bound by a number of rules. I was thinking potentially something like sentient ooze/oozes that break some of the assumed rules in that they can't even be bound by magical circles.

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Made a thread a while about this, but it would have been much more appropriate to ask it here.

>What is the afterlife (or afterlives) like in your setting?
>Have you ever had a campaign visit the afterlife?

some arid plateau to over look the d i c k f o r e s t

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>>54634463
im retarded

i also gotta draw the sand closer to the eastern side of the plateau, because the sand is so deep

>>54620095
Like if you ran the Trader King Islands more north south, in line with the mountains north of Bear, and scooted the Shattered continent west and angled the eastern end north a bit, the geography would fit better into an organic curve.

>>54621773
True. I was pointing it out that any settlement needs some way to get water for consumption of people, crops, and livestock. And oasis, spring, wells, all work just fine, as long as you have some in world reasonable explanation. If the world in question has enough magic and connections to and elemental plane of water, then a portal, or portals, there is sufficient. I was more reminding them that they need to think about where a place gets it's food and water, not that they need to be seen on a large scale map.