Holiday and Festival EditionWelcome to /wbg/, the official thread for the discussion and development of fictional worlds and settings.Here is where you can share the details of your created worlds such as lore, factions, magic systems, ecosystems and more. You can also post maps for your settings, as well as any relevant art, either created by you or used as inspiration for your work. Please remember that dialogue is what keeps the thread alive, so don't be afraid of giving someone feedback!FAQ:>What is worldbuilding?Worldbuilding is the process of creating entire fictional worlds from scratch, all while considering the logistics of these worlds to make them as believable as possible. Worldbuilding asks questions about the setting of a world, and then answers them, often in great detail. Most people use it as a means of creating a setting or the scenery for a story.>"Isn't there a Worldbuilding general in >>>/tg/ already?"Yes, there is. However, that general is focused on the creation of fictional worlds for the intended purpose of playing TTRPG campaigns. Here you can discuss worldbuilding projects that are not meant to be used for a roleplaying setting, but for novels, videogames, or any other kind of creative project.>"Can I discuss the setting of my campaign here, though?"If you want to, but it would probably be better to discuss it on >>>/tg/ . We don't allow the discussion of TTRPG mechanics, however. If you want to discuss stats or which D&D edition is best, this is not the place.>"Can I talk about an existing fictional setting that is not mine?"Yes, of course you can!>"Does worldbuilding need to be about fantasy and elves?"Worldbuilding, as already stated above, and contrary to what many believe, does not inherently imply blatantly copying Tolkien. In fact, there are many science-fiction setting out there, and even entire alternative history settings which do not possess supernatural elements at all. Any kind of science fiction book has an implied setting at least, which involves a certain degree of worldbuilding put into it.Last Thread: >>23742511
>>23764243Thread Questions:>What major holidays and other occasions for celebration exist in your worlds, and what do people do when celebrating them?>How do you create these holidays so they aren’t just copies of real-life ones, and what real-life holidays do you look to for ideas?>Are there any special foods, outfits, or rituals that only show up during these holidays? And how did they, and the holidays as a whole, get their start?>Finally, what kinds of celebrations and rituals happen for other occasions in your settings, like births, birthdays, weddings, funerals, etc.?BTW, to those of you in the US, Happy Labor Day!
>>23764243My setting is the real world, so just the normal ones.
>>23764251Thanks! How was yours? How do you celebrate?
>>23764243Well, what are some real-life holidays that flopped horribly? Ones no one has ever heard of.
Why should I care about magic systems, tectonic plates, or flora and fauna? I just like making cities, civilizations and mythologies.
Each god in my setting has a mortal champion. The God of Death fused the souls of 100 dead warriors into a single reanimated body, the God of Smithing built a sentient robot, the God of Trickery tricked an idiot into becoming his servant. What are some ideas for the other gods? There are hundreds of gods for every conceivable domain, so anything goes.
What do you think about the map of my now completed(In revision) fantasy book?
I'm writing an adventure novel about a guy trying to cartograph the clouds only to end up in the middle of a war between three civilizations living up there. Any obscure cloud things you guys would like to see in such a novel?
I think I need to take some ideas from Sanderson and Erikson. Starting each chapter with a little blurb of text from in-universe books and is genius. Interludes with characters from far away just to get a better grasp on the magic of the world is also great.
>>23767297First off, I would suggest doing what I did and spending some money getting an actual artist to draw the map. It’s totally worth it if you want to put the map in the bookIs the imperial circle made by magic? Or is it some sort of massive valley?Some of the names I don’t like. Rolandish Empire of Roland, High Kingdom of the Highlands, the channel, black ocean, great dune
>>23767478I think it would be fair to have a background knowledge of rare high atmosphere phenomena like red lighting, as well as a deep understanding of meteorology
>>23767520I'm doing exactly that kind of research atm which is why I'm asking for more obscure cloud things.
>>23767514> worthyAbsolutely, but I need at least the second book to fully state the lore. Until then, I want some creative freedom.>Imperial circle.Administrative Areas for fiefdoms of the same cultures, such as the ones of the Holy Roman Empire IRL.The Magic Areas are the white ones. Aka open.air dungeons as large as nations.>namesThe Holy Rolandish Empire is the full name, named after its first emperor, by using the same logic---the Roman Empire of Romolus..>High Kingdoms of the Highlands.People live in valleys inside craters of unactive Vulcans, which are a thousand meters tall. Their main transport system is flying with griffins, and their culture is based on the Scottish Highlander.This explains the name.>The ChannelReal-world one reference.>Black OceanThe Black Sea is called Black because in Turkish, black also means Northen, so it is actually the Northen Ocean.>Great Dune.There is a dune so high that it is visible from the entire desert. I'll let you guess what's inside.
Just the usual celebrations; births, birthdays, weddings, funerals, gender reveals, etc. Only the center of focus isn't the individual, but the soul. In Unsoul souls are real on a genetic level, and it's not people, but souls that can possess property. They are born, become slaves, then serfs, then freemen, finnally citizens, and eventually die - over the course of 10 thousand years of course.
>>23764243stilted speech schizoid here, I need a dialogue check for my genre fiction immediately. All you need to know is that this is dialogue between two apprentices of magical artsRonic nudged Teren and pulled him back so the others couldn’t hear. “I might have let some things slip about you to my master.”Teren stopped walking. “Huh?” Ronic shuffled his feet nervously. “Nothing bad, really. I just… told him about some of the stuff we used to get up to.” The gravesealer apprentice closed his eyes, holding back a curse. “What stuff, exactly?”“Well… do you remember that time we had to get back at that Forestsworn who was beating on Birene? And you didn’t want to fight him head on? And then you coaxed the soul of his dead mother in that rotting dog and-““Aw, no.” Teren rubbed his eyes. “You told Quickstrider about that? Why?”Ronic shrugged. “I don’t know, he asked about you. It was a pretty impressive thing for a kid to do.”“You-“ Teren bit his lip. “Gah! I thought life was sacred to your order! You can’t tell him that I do stuff like that.” He glared at his friend. “Bet you didn’t tell him about the time you gave that little kid from Drifton the shakes.”“That, uh, didn’t come up. Besides, I have no idea how I did that. Wouldn’t be right to take credit for it.”Teren narrowly avoided stepping in a pile of cow dung. “Bet he gives you credit, though. I heard he foamed at the mouth for a month.” “True. But…” Ronic raised a finger. “I’m sorry about that. You aren’t sorry for anything, ever.”Teren was taken back. “I feel sorry for lots of things.”Ronic shook his head. “I am positive that I’ve never seen you remorseful, Teren.”“I apologize for things all the time!”“There’s no meaning behind the words though. It’s just something you say to get people off your back.”There was a truth in that statement Teren didn’t want to acknowledge. “The… fact that I don’t want Quickstrider to know about things I’ve done… implies guilt and remorse for those actions.”Ronic cackled. “No, it’s more of you just trying to keep people off your back! I know you, you can’t deal with being disliked. Which I’m sure Quickstrider doesn’t, by the way.Teren grunted. He could deal with people disliking him. The only issue was that his ideas on dealing with those people tended to be very permanent.
>Race of dark fey that live underground>Spawned from the abyss>All women>Use seduction, mind control, and sex to magically incline others to their will>Live foreverFuck, I just wrote drow and didn't mean to. wtf do I do my story REVOLVES around this.
>>23769438>Goblins instead of fey
>>23769438Drow is not copyrighted.
>>23764243In my world, the cultures revolve around the four elements, so the celebrations and other occasions do as well. For instance, many Fire celebrations involve bonfires, particularly one hosted on the summer solstice after the sun sets, celebrating the longest day of the year. What do you think, any ideas or suggestions? I must admit that weddings and birth celebrations in particular are giving me a bit of trouble, to the point that I could use some help, though; while funeral traditions are relatively easy to come up with for this idea, like Fire funerals involving cremation, Water funerals typically involving burials at sea, etc., weddings and births are harder. Like, for Fire my best idea is the new couple simply ceremonially lighting a fire or something. What kind of elementally-themed celebrations exist in your own settings?
>>23769438easy solve with added unique worldbuilding bonus? make your world upside down: inside is out, outside is in.
>>23769981One thing I always thought of regarding element based cultures in fantasy that I never saw done is that the best use for manipulating an element would be for dealing with its opposite environment. Like what use does a fire-manipulating people have for living in a hot ass place? The best place for them to live would be in the cold where they can easily overcome what would be difficult for non-Fire people
>>23770154Just check Avatar the last air bender
>>23764243In my story’s world, one every hundred years there’s a great tournament for a user of every group of magic/type of spell, with the winner of each round gaining all the magical knowledge and skill of the loser (types with more combat utility from the get-go might have to enter in the second or third rounds for balance reasons though), the mages growing stronger as the tournament continues, until the final winner becomes the most powerful mage in the world, and the head of the mage's council for the next 100 years, kind of like Highlander but less lethal and with magic, and once the tournament is over there’s a great feast to celebrate. I just need some more types/specialties of magic in order to pad out the brackets a bit, no matter how if they don't seem useful in direct combat or not like healing spells or the various kinds of divination, since I want to have every branch of magic possible to be included in this besides the go-to ones like illusions, summoning, elemental spells, or necromancy. Remember, no type of spell is too specific or broad to suggest.
>>23770154Huh, that's an interesting idea, I tend to see the opposite, with fire cultures living in hot places because they can handle the heat when others can't as easily, to continue your example. Got any ideas on how that might apply to holidays and other celebrations?>>23770308I've take a little from there, but I wanted to avoid just copying it too closely.
>>23769438There are male Drow. Also, Drow have dark skin for some reason, make your guys pale, that should help differentiate them.
>>23769438Make them humanoid whip scorpions
>>23769438>my story REVOLVES around this.How exactly does it revolve around this?
>>23772529>whip scorpionsNTA, but why whip scorpions?
>>23773336My MC is one of them
>>23774075God imagine your dick being hugged by one of those
>>23765850Sweetest Day in October, basically a knockoff Valentine's Day.
>>23764243I’m trying to spice up elemental magic in the world my story is set in, are there any cool effects that mages can use the elements in your setting to achieve beyond throwing their element at a target, or at least ideas on how I can do that if your own stuff doesn’t have it since I need all the ideas I can get, like Fire mages sending themselves and others into berserker rages that increase their strength by “enflaming” their emotions, Water mages controlling blood or healing people, Earth mages being great at defensive wards, etc.? The only thing I can think of for Wind magic is flight, and that’s a bit overpowered.
>>23766303Wouldn't it be better if the God of Trickery tricked like a supreme wizard or great sage into service, tricking an idiot isn't exactly a godly feat. Or, tricking another gods champion into being his servant covertly.
>>23766303Dragon god hs dragon slayer champion to keep the ambitious dragons in line.Justice has a blind Criminal champion who can "see" the truth, and wears weighted chains which become lighter the more justice he enacts. Lust god has a perverse hedonistic man, Love god has a beautiful kind woman, (They are the same god, and the same champion)God of time's champion constantly shifts between an infant, an adult, and an elder at a whim.God of fire whos champion is any and all fire.God of festivals whos champion is SantaGod of Heroes whos champion is Theodore Roosevelt God of the Seas who's champion is a leviathan whale
>>23775950>Firemages using internal pinpoint heat to fracture bones.>Firemages condensing huge fires into concentated solid plasma>Firemages seeing in infrared>Firemages friction fusing people and objects together>Windmages causing oxygen embolisms in bloodstream>Windmages concentrating a bubble of carbon dioxide around them that they can have as an instant suffucation move that others can't see>Windmages carrying vials of various chemical gasses they can use as weapons with various effects that they can retrap in the vials with thier magic>Windmages concentrating elemental gases, turning oxygen into ozone and shit like that.>Water mages making mist and manipulationg density and shape of mist to produce illusions>Watermages using blood control to increase the oxygen flow to thier tissues temporarily inceasing physical attributes.>Watermages shooing concentrated water beams like pressure washers to penetrate through the toughes armors>Watermages trapping someone in a water bubble, increasing then rapidly decreasing water pressure to give them the "Bends">Earth mages eating bits of gravel, stone, and ore to gradually innfuse thier bones to make thier bodys stronger>Earthmages solidiying the iron in blood if they can manipulate metal>Earthmages using sand to sandblast people into fine mist>Earthmages rapidly fossilizing someone by infusing thier bone tissues with mineral debris.
>>23769438make them quasi-elemental beings (such as an affinity and control over darkness)
>>23776287These are all great ideas, thanks! What about spells with more subtle connections to the elements in question, like the emotions example I listed for Fire or the defensive wards example I gave for Earth, do you have any ideas like that please?
>>23776413It all depends on sort of symbolic relations I guess>Flame can enflame courage, rage, influence emotions, passions, artistry, motion, action. A active catalyst of somethign similar to psionics, it can also represent growth for magical accumulation, it can be light, but not just physical light, a protecting light, a ward of dark things, inspiration, enlightenment. >Earth can be wards, or it can impower the stillness of soul, aiding calmness, concentration, focus. It can be a connection to nature and be something that can be seen through the eyes of the plants and animals which live on and within the earth. Maybe a stages of stone thing, Sedimentary is the accumulation of small bits of power into a greater whole, Metamorphic is transformation and alteration of the self and others, Ignious could be destruction, perhaps to others magic>Water, is associated with healing and blood magic, but it's also often used in rituals, scrying through mirror still pools of water, could also be something of a portal to a mirror world, it can have moon magic association, the ebb and flow of waves, Water can help people stay ever chaning, could be for breaking barriers like rivers erode stones. Also holy water, perhaps something like water can be infused with will, so holy water is the will of the faithful, but anyone can project into water to have an effect like that. >Air is assiociated with freedom, lightness, speed, you can do hasting spells, slowing spells, flight, maybe freeing the mind of worries, or lightening the burden.Air, is various gases that refract light to produce colors, why the sky is blue so maybe color illusions, refracting magic energy streams to aid others spells or to hinder enemy spells.
>>23764243How do you guys go about building ancient, long lost cultures and civilizations?
Should I go to university to learn geology or would self studying be good enough?
>>23776569These are all great ideas, thanks again! If you have any more please let me know!
>>23776842What exactly do you want to learn and why? How complex it is depends.
>>23774653Thanks for 'that' mental image. Not the guy who suggested them, but do you have any alternative suggestions please?
>>23764243What do the people of your cultures view as lucky and why?
Writing an in-universe history book, it is so fun :)
>>23776287Different anon, do you have any suggestions for Light or Shadow mages beyond things like the latter using shadows as portals or attacking someone through their shadows, or the former casting illusions or moving at the speed of light, please? Especially if the justification is more symbolic/less obvious, and neither kind of magic is inherently good or evil.
bump
I need terminology. Futa is too tacky, and I need to separate hermaphrodites from dickgirls. I can't just call them dickgirls either, as you aren't a dickboy into cuntgirls.
>>23781413>hermaphroditeIt makes no sense to use this word either. Hermes-Aphrodite. But creating new words in English is so.. painful. It's like they don't fit at all. Guess the easiest way is actually to remove select words altogether. Daughters and sons of different gods... and go from there.
>>23776287nice
>>23764243Are there any celebrations involving dragons and/or in your world? Speaking of, what’s your opinion of dragons and/or dragon riders, in your worlds or otherwise, and what advice do you have for making your dragons stand out? Because I’m sure that there’s a few anons here that could use that help.
>>23781938>Are there any celebrations involving dragons and/or in your world?Absolutely. Most of the high monarchies are related to dragons.
>>23764243I'm in the very early stages of just an idea forming in my head, of a world with an city-state/island empire that mines a magic mineral which they use as an equivalent to coal to industrialize while everyone else doesn't have anything like that. (Because the world is around 20 000 years old, so no coal or oil could have formed). My idea is to write a short story where the main character is a member of the police of that empire, just to set up the basics, basically and to develop a couple of character ideas I have. I haven't really written anything but some poetry before though, so idk. Just decided to share the most basic outline because I probably won't tell anyone anyways.If they had a holiday in their great capital city it would probably be some sort of collective outdoors parade and giant fair, as the island of this empire is surrounded by "the psychosphere", which influences the entire population to be more harmonious and in lockstep. So it would be some grand expression of that unity they feel and the gay ideology of cosmopolitanism that arises out of it.
>>23781413Just make up some fantasy word and say it means "ones that flow" or "shifters" or some shit
>>23781413Call them Women 2.0™
If one removes all dark skinned and homosexual people from thier world building where can the stories conflict actually come from, or is it just utopia?
>>23783180Slavs become the black people.
>>23782163Details please.
>>23768303>In Unsoul souls are real on a genetic level, and it's not people, but souls that can possess property. They are born, become slaves, then serfs, then freemen, finnally citizens, and eventually die - over the course of 10 thousand years of course.Okay, I have to know more about this please.
>>23764243What are your manticores like?
I'm thinking on wrtting my next history on the form of notes and entries from of the characters journal as he go around the world It's the first time I try writing on this style, so I'm looking at any tips on it
>>23764243When designing funerary traditions, what are the key aspects to include/things to remember, and what are the funerary traditions in your own worlds like?
>>23766303>What are some ideas for the other gods? There are hundreds of gods for every conceivable domain, so anything goes.study daedric prince; their philosophy, self and domain
I love worldbuilding
>>23787928NTA, but I only know the basics of the Elder Scrolls universe, can you go into more detail on the Daedric Princes and what you mean here please?
>>23764243I’m thinking that instead of having “elements” in the normal sense, my setting will have the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter as the fundamental pillars of reality, having their own mystical beings, spells, and associated concepts. And if someone is dead-set on using the traditional elements, they can be one of the things that each season has dominion over. It’s the pretty bare-bones so far, but what do you think, how can I improve it, or at least expand on it a bit? That would be including in terms of seasonal celebrations that aren’t just carbon copies of real-life ones, like Thanksgiving and Halloween for Autumn holidays, Easter for Spring holidays, etc.?
>>23789579Not the same anon, but basically there are two types of spirits, Aedra and Daedra. The former gave a lot of their power to create the mortal world, so the 8/9 Aedra that commonly get worshipped tend to interact with their followers in more subtle ways, while the Daedra didn’t really participate much, if at all, so they’re powerful enough to interact with the mortal world more obviously, though there are wards preventing the more malevolent ones from just rampaging and shit.
>>23790731Okay, so what else can you tell us about them?
>>23783180There’s plenty of places conflict can come from. Heck, it might even be internal conflict on the part of the MC.
>>23766303God of Wisdom has a Socrates-like champion who can't be killed and can usually out think other people.
>>23764243I’m trying to set things up so that different kinds of magic in my setting resonate with and are channeled by certain materials more effectively than others, and I need some help on that. I want each type of magic, including Blood magic, the different kinds of elemental magic, from the more common elements like Fire to ones like Lightning, Light, Void, etc., Order and Chaos magic, Healing magic, and more, to have at least one metal, gemstone, and wood, if not more (with overlap acceptable), but some are proving easier to assign than others. For instance, Blood magic having Iron as a metal is obvious, but what about the wood? And while Light was easy, with Gold for the metal and Diamond for the gemstone (even of the wood os less uncertain besides maybe White Ash), I have less ideas for Void, particularly for the metal. What would you recommend please?
>>23789492So do I, what's your process?
>>23786812There is only one kind of manticore. You can't just make up something random and call it by the name of an existing creature if it doesn't resemble said creature.
>>23781413It would help if you gave us more context as to what you're trying to give a name to. Are we talking about people with feminine bodies and male genitals? People with feminine bodies and a combination of female and male genitals? Or maybe people with intersex genitals and androgynous bodies? Any of these possibilities would result in different answers.
>>23794727You can because said creature isn't real and can be whatever people say it is in their settings
>>23795106You set up a lot of arbitrary conditions for shaky reasons.
>>23794727There can still be some variation. Like, do they have wings or not? Are they sapient or just animals? That kind of thing.
>>23793322>can usually out think other peopleJust “usually” outthink other people? What are the exceptions?
bumping
>>23764243What wedding traditions exist in your settings, and what advice do you have for creating original ones, what do you need to remember?
How exactly do you destroy a big bank like JP Morgan?
>>23798614>How exactly do you destroy a big bank like JP Morgan?Well, why precisely do you want to do that? And how much do you care if it gets traced back to you or not?
>>23779651I have idea that from a my own world. My version of Light and Dark Magic is called "Shine and Shade" and they are stated to essentially be one magic. If one is proficient in Light Spells then they can also easily cast Darkness magic, as is vice versa. They are know to come from separate sources but they also somehow feed into their opposite and synchronize perfectly with one another, to the point where mages gave them the name "Shine and Shade" the categorize them as one magic.
>>23787724Efficiency and capabilities. In Wetlands they can't exactly burn them in a pyre and the easiest thing would probably feed it to the swamp. Conversely in area that can easily get frozen dead bodies would probably stick around for a while, so they'd epithet takes the bodies are fair distance away for it to be eaten or they break them down themselves. I wou,d also say resources play a role. Kings and rich men would want their corpse taken care of nicely and can because they'd have the money.
>>23794166On one hand you can make so that certain magics have less material/need more rare material to use. Maybe Void magic only has one material that can work with it so those mages are kinda rare, while Chaos magic needs Uranium or some other radioactive element to work and since nobody know what radiation is they don't know.One the other you could probably just make up woods and metal, vampire tree that feed off of crwtures blood like predatory plants or some orichalcum for healing magic. Said material doesn't need to be non-fictional
>>23799097It's a Communist militia that wants to destroy it. They intend to outright advertise their guilt, but also intend to escape the police.
>>23796738It's hard to outshine simplicity. You can be as smart as you want but a a fuck huge sword coming at you is still going to hurt
>>23799375That’s cool, what are some actual spells mages specializing in "Shine and Shade" can cast?
>>23799375Are there any other kinds of magic in your setting that have a similar dynamic, and what are they if so?
>>23799936Light and Dark spells have there own capabilities and styling, and there are spells that are just " [X] of (Light/Darkness)". Light typical is a purify and blasting magic, with holy-like warding and laser blasts, you can even you it as projection/illusion power, bending Light to make something look. But it has the caveat of never being able to be solid, it's just energy.While Darkness is a more absorbing, malleable substance. Shape it as you wish and it's capable of absorbing next anything , even to the point where it can be used as a sort of pocket space. It's also capable of having mass or more accurately imaginary mass. It can be physical, have a solid touchable surface and weight to it, but it's caveat is that it will always look loke a black mass as it can't alter its color.Combine them into one spell you can get highly detailed illusions and construcs. Bridges that can be walked on, copies of yourself that can be touched etc. Darkness constructs can stay for longer when imbued with Light and light forms can be given physicality( like green lantern) with a bit of darkness. A few other combination spells exist with their own specialties even, like intense light-dark blasts.>>23800502There are at least two more technically. A quick note on my magic - Mages gather the essence of the world around them to cast spells. Just about everything has it's own unique essence, or at least has a given category of essence, and when drawn mages need the transform what they've gathered into one type. Light and Darkness essence can be transformed into one another as easily as one breathes, similarly so can the essence of the four elements. Elemental magic of earth, water, fire, and air is consider one category as well as the essence of each element can more easily be transformed into the other.but they sadly don't have the precise synchronicity of shine and Shade.There is also Celestial/Star magic. They gather the essence of stars and celestial bodes in the night - and sometime day - sky. It also is a magic that strangely handles space and time magic but mages don't exactly know why that it.Shine and Shade though is still the most unique though with its connection and flow. No other rmagic is exactly like it.
>>23764243So I have an Asian setting and the names are literally translated, even the locationsSo for example the Beijing equivalent would be called "Northern Capital"What's a good way to have it be clearly an Asian inspired setting to readers? I was thinking>Mention the use of teacups and chopsticks>Asian dishes (tea, dumplings, buns instead of things like wine, bread, and cheese)>Mention topknots for menShould I include anything else? I was wondering if there's anything more explicit I could mention in writing.
>>23801239Names for character should set you up well. In the Last Airbender you could tell what nation a character was from by their name Zuko, Iron, Li, etc. Having Asian names should be able to do alot of the leg work
>>23801246Yeah but their names are literally translated.As in, like you know how Native American names are sometimes things like "Standing Bear" or "Sitting Bull"?Those are going to be the Asian people's names. So like someone's name is Xuanfeng, their name will be translated as Mysterious Wind and I intend their names to be written that way.
>>23801281When then beside some cultural/social practices that don't have much else
>>23801286I'm not sure exactly what that means
>>23799401I 'was' thinking that there would be some fictional materials that were naturally infused with the essence of different elements/kinds of magic in my setting, which can channel their respective magic type in ways that normal materials cannot, but those cannot be effectively made synthetically save for some of the woods if I have any (and the difference in effectiveness is less pronounced for woods in any case), so they'd be limited to epic level artifacts, rare and expensive items that you'd need to be an archmage to use effectively (and/or afford, lol), and/or be limited to a small portion of the item, like a magic staff specialized in Light magic only having a single rare Light-aligned gemstone, the rest being regular diamonds (though I'm worried that I might need a less expensive alternative there as well). The materials I'm asking for ideas about, the ones that exist in real life, would be the ones that would be used when the more fantastic ones are unavailable or unaffordable, does that make sense? Though I wouldn't mind ideas for more fantastic materials if you can't think of any more mundane ones like Gold for Light magic, etc., the mundane ones are what I'm focusing on right now please.Also, speaking of this, I forgot to list Necromancy among the magics I was including in my setting, got any ideas besides bones for what Necromancy items might be made with, like gems and whatnot? My only real idea is wood from a battlefield or graveyard would work rather than any specific type of wood, since they'd be touched by death as they grew, what do you think?
>>23801350*Well then besides some cultural/social practices, then I don't have much else to give.Sorry
>>23801432Well as I said radioactive material for chaos magic, cause radiation. For necromancy is would either say onyx or obsidian. I know obsidian isn't a gem but it was used in Aztec sacrifice rituals. So either death or blood magic work. On that topic you can try looking cultural for the materials. Hermetisism and alchemy could be good leads and people do associate iron as tools against fey, maybe iron has anti-magic properties, silver too perhaps cause werewolves.
>>23801437Yeah I guess having people eating dumplings with chopsticks is enough. Maybe I'll mention rice paddies as well.
>>23801482There's also bowing, how a person sits, etiquette, behavioral expression and expectations.
>>23791576I'll tell you after I finished my corposlaving 8-5, if I remember leaveing a mark on this thread
>>23801658The thing is I intended them to be a horned fantasy race, and they lie "bow" is them tipping their chin up to point the horns away. I took the idea from Eragon's Urgals. But yeah good point on the others things.
>>23799388Not that anon, but thanks. I’m thinking of making my cultures elemental in nature, with the fire cultures burning their dead like picture related and the earth cultures preferring to bury them. The water cultures are trickier though, since while burial at sea is an obvious choice for those who live with access to the sea, rivers and lakes aren’t always ideal for that task, to say nothing of it potentially being the source of their drinking water. And don’t get me started on the wind cultures. What say you?
>>23799496Okay, I think that hackers would be involved then, even if they physically attack the facilities they would need to send the bank's digital to various different accounts outside the bank and cover their tracks on where it was moved so that the banks can't just cover everything.
>>23801847Tibetan people feed their dead to the vulture on mountains. That could work.
>>23801452Not sure that something that kills people through passive exposure would be a good idea for making a magic item, even for Chaos-aligned ones, but it's a start, thanks. Oh, but are there any radioactive gems, because what else would work for Chaos gems (or woods then)? And what about Order magic for that matter, got any suggestions there? Got any ideas for a wood for Fire magic items, BTW, that's really been stumping me. Rubies would probably work for the gemstone, and I'm tentatively thinking Copper for the metal, what do you think?Thanks for the necromancy ideas. Got any besides Onyx or Obsidian as well for a gemstone for Void magic, or what might work as a metal for it? As for the Silver idea, the concept of it hurting things like vampires and werewolves comes less from it countering magic and more because, due to its anti-microbial properties, it has an association with purity, but I'll try to find something for that and see if I get any ideas.
>>23803914Using common firewood would work for fire magic; oak, birch, ash or such Amethyst could work for either necro or voidI would also seriously suggest radioactive items for chaos because It'd be kinda funny that chaos mages are dying or mutating not because of chaos magic but because in order to use it they have to irradiate themselves.Order is tricky due to noting really in nature being typically order, at least not in ways we tend to associate. Titanium or Adamantitne could work for metal and common crystals or diamond for stoens
>>23791576Each of prince have their own philosophy that are shaping their character that later will also shape their influence towards their followers.Take an example of Boethiah, the Prince of Plots. I'm going to take Boethia from dunmer perspective since it was the most complete compared to the other. Boethiah lived by this Nietzschean-Social Darwinist philosophy, she wants her followers to fight their hardships in order to survive and become a 'better being than yesterday' . Of course its not entirerly Nietzschean or Darwinist philosophy taking form in this prince considering the approach that was taken in here was fantastical and purely fictional, therefore the aspect of boethiah was simplified and limited by whatever the game needs in order to shape her lore.For example. Boethiah asked a chimer (before dunmer/dark elf become a dunmer, they are formerly a chimer, a yellowish-gold skin elf) prophet named veloth to bring his follower to a land called resdayn, far from their home, from the word 'proper civilization', a literal wild land filled with wild animal, harsh climate, and active mountains where iit ashes are spreading everywhere. What's boethiah reasoning for this? She simply said that it will suited their followers 'culture' better. So the chimer went to that land and tried to survive in there. That's how boethiah philosophy works. In order for someone to be strong, they have to endure hardships. In chimer case, they have to survive in harsh land of resdayn as a small group of people, where their community were always in conflict with the local dwemer community, their road were always getting attacked by road racer, to the point where everything are basically hardships for them. So hardships and struggle in here does not always mean in fight, but to live itself is a hardship. There's other lore of boethiah post dunmer settlement and how it shape their culture, politics, ideology, and philosophy (like religion in general), of course I'm not going to tell all of them in here, I'm havinga trouble simplifying this lore lel, but hopefully you got the point. If anyone have a better explanation of boethiah feel free to add something or correct my post.Boethiah case was something where a worldbuild done right. The approach for this character was philosophical that it becomes a lore framework of its own.
>>23804365Interesting, what are some of the other more interesting Daedric Princes and their philosophies in your opinion?
>>23804737The pic that you posted, mephala the prince of dualism. Her philosophy is quite self explanatory, she teaches her follower about life and reproduction, but also teach them about death and how to kill, both through the same device that is sex. Sex for reproduction and sex for killing someone. In lore application, she teach dunmer how to survive through assassination and killing. Dunmer was a small number of community, arrived in resdayn, their neighbors are well established underground dweller - dwemer, in order for them to defeat the dwemer, a war is obviously not an option, therefore assassination comes as the most logical choice. Post-dunmer settlement where resdayn is now called morrowind, mephala practice of assassination was legalized with organization called morag tong, with the target limited only for the officials, political war, and people worked on certain organziation, not a normal civilian
>"The vegetable Lamb of Tartary, also named Barometz and Lycopodium barometz and Chinese lycopodium, is a plant whose shape is that of a lamb bearing a golden fleece. It stands on four or five root stalks. Sir Thomas Browne gives this description of it in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646): 'Much wonder is made of the Boramez, that strange plant- animal or vegetable Lamb of Tartary, which Wolves de-light to feed on, which hath the shape of a Lamb, affordeth a bloody juyce upon breaking, and liveth while the plants be consumed about it. Other monsters are made up by combining various kinds of animals; the Barometz is a union of animal and vegetable kingdoms.' This brings to mind the mandrake, which cries out like a man when it is ripped from the earth; and in one of the circles of the Inferno, the sad forest of the suicides, from whose torn limbs blood and words drip at the same time; and that tree dreamed by Chesterton, which devoured the birds nesting in its branches, and when spring came put out feathers instead of leaves."
>>23804777Different anon, but what do you think of Azura, Hermaeus Mora, and Meridia?
>>23803980I can't believe I didn't think of that! What about the metal for Fire items, do you think my idea of Copper could work? As for Water items, Sapphire probably works for the gem, unless you have a better idea, and I think that Mangroves and similar trees might work for the wood(s) (BTW, these ideas would be the 'best' mundane materials for each type of magic's power, not the 'only' ones, so if you have multiple suggestions for a type, that's fine), so that just leaves the metal, which I'm rather stumped on.Thanks for that Amethyst suggestion, if you have any ones for the metals Void or Necromancy magic can be best aligned with besides maybe Iron overlapping with Blood magic for the latter (my best idea, if not one I'm 100% happy with), I'd be glad to hear them please.I would like to hear you expand more on this "noting really in nature being typically order, at least not in ways we tend to associate" point if you don't mind please. And do you have any Order or Chaos magic in your own setting?
>>23791576Another anon here. They are indeed very interesting, or at least they were in the first games, later lore streamlined and dumbed them down in my opinion, sadly.Let's take for example Mehrunes Dagon. If you look him up, he's an archetypical and quite generic demon lord, however, this was not necessarily the case in the older games. He wasn't (only) the god of destruction. He was actually the god of revolution. He's the embodiment of anarchy, or even more accurately, he is actually the embodiment of the force against the status quo. This is a bit difficult to grasp, but basically, he seeks to give power to those who have none, and seeks to destabilize the current order, whatever that may be. He is the destroyer of empires, not because he has anything personal against the people in power, but because that is what he represents. If his followers achieved total dominance, then Mehrunes Dagon would seek to destroy them too. This nuance is overlooked in newer games.>>23804365To add some to this:First, daedric princes, as gods outside of the mortal realm, have no physical form, and as such, they are neither male or female, but may be seen or decide to appear as either.Second, boethia is the lord of plots and trickery, of secret murder and treason. He/she was the one who thaught the dunmer (dark elves) to organize in their complex system of political houses, which incentiveses corruption and treachery in order to advance in the ranks. That is the dark elf way. Boethia was seen as the patron god of the dunmer (even before they were dunmer) and thaught them to be evil, basically. Very satanist indeed.
>>23804894Azura is daedric prince of love, she's forgiving, kind, and actually cared for her followers. But like woman irl, her love comes with downside of narcissism, possessiveness, and obsession. Her domain of moonshadow reflect her obsession with the concept of beauty, something that was so beautiful that it half-blinding her followers once they entered her realm after they died, her possessiveness makes absolute love between her followers almost impossible because they should love her more than their own wife or children, her narcissism makes her sensitive towards any form of betrayal but forgiving if they crawl back to her. Azura, like any daedric prince, was formed from the concept of god in real life.Havent read much on mora or meridia, but mora is the prince of knowledge, hoarding books and put them in his library domain, while meridia is anti free will prince and believed that free will have something with passion (correct me on this one, I havent read her lore much for a long time), that's her core philosophy. She didn't look at her follower as a worthy being or valuing them as much as azura did to her followers, but instead she viewed them as a worker, purely there to wageslaving for her, to fight those that she oppose forever. I think she's not aedric being but rather a magna ge that become daedric prince.
>>23804960Eh, I wouldnt call boethia downright satanist, if anything that would be mehrunes dagon or molag bal. Boethiah actually teach her follower how to live, her philosophy was tied with nietzsche ubermensch thinking. But yeah, its situational indeed, in morrowind, her presence is useful to teach dunmer how to survive the harsh climate of resdayn, while in a more peaceful place like in cyrodiil or skyrim where there's no human vs nature thing exist, she will create her own struggle through artificial situation as in battle royale or assassination, as reflected in her quest.I think house system was pretty much overlapping with azura familial love teaching no?
>>23804894Hermaeus Mora is just an archetypical eldritych god of knowledge. People worship him to learn from him the darkest secrets. not much to say about him.Azura is a bit more interesting in that her theme is not as clear. She's the god of twilight, of beginnings and ends, of liminality, mysticism and prophecy. That really doesn't say much IMO, besides the fact that she is a mysterious female god (demon?) of magic, and I believe that this is because she was mainly thought to be the patron goddess of the dunmer more than anything else back in the early games. She represents, in my view, the magical and mystical side of the dunmer.There's an amazing short story about her presented as an in game book in morrowind, called "azura and the box", it's an amazing book and I enjoy reading it as much as any serious fantasy story. But the moral of that short story is that, while azura is a loving mother, she accepts no skepticism, and is harsh wuth those who question her. Very dunmerish indeed.
>>23805015>>23804960We've been talking a lot about the Daedra here, but what do you fine anons think about the Aedra in comparison?
>>23798122In my setting, my empire of vampire necromancers have the custom of marrying with foreign princesses and making them their thralls to live with them for all eternity. The wedding is essentially just a blood ritual. They can use them later for political purposes. Is that a bit cliché?>>23805038Very boring compared to daedra lmao.That being said, I always liked the way that the religion of high elves is portrayed:Elves, in TES, are direct descendants of aedra, not a creation of them such as humans for example. As such, elves take this as a great source of pride, in fact, all their religion revolves about this. Elven religion is essentially ancestor worship, while they worship the gods, claiming descent from them, they also worship their whole family lines, tracing their lineages down to their patron god Auri-El. I've seen some obscure sources citing that they keep loooong lists with all the names of their ancestors back to the aedra as a holy symbol. The only interesting aedra is Lorkhan, which is also the one we know less about. And probably doesn't even count as aedra, since he died(?) before the distinction was even a thing.TES lore is, as you can see, a very enjoyable and deep rabbithole.
So in my world there are the fey, those who draw their power from the sun, and the abyss-spawn, those who draw power from the abyss. (Name pending on that second one obviously.)My idea is that with the sun, energy is infinite, as it cultivates plants, fey can cultivate mana within them. But with the abyss mages their power is finite, and in order to gain more it must be stolen from other abyss mages.This introduces a bit of a logical fallacy. If I only gain power from stealing it from another mage, then what happens to that finite power if someone dies without their mana being stolen? Should it birth new abyss creatures? How do I solve the problem of finite power?
>>23804943Our order is ridged and angular. Building and cities and the like. Order in nature is curved and flows a more natural, primal flow. To a tree its growth makes sense and is order, to us not so much
>>23805151Sacrifice fae for more power. Throw them into the abyss
>>23805038Imo aedra divines are too one dimensional compared to daedra prince. You can extend each daedric prince and somehow found their influence on their followers culture, political design, etc, like turns out daedric prince of beauty was also represent day-night cycle of moon and star, turns out the very first daedric prince is not only represent nothingness but also extend its influence on shadow realms and devouring light that shed 'light and clearness' into thing, then on the other side you have aedra like zenithar that only purpose was to... work.>>23805108Well what political purpose that we're talking in here? Starting thing off with cliche is fine as long as you're adding some depth in there
>>23805151>Name pending on that second one obviouslydarklings? abysians? imps? Entropites?>How do I solve the problem of finite power?You don't, embrace entropy. That looks like an interesting gimmick. Either that, or make them so that they can steal energy from the fey, making them extra loathsome beings because all their energy sources must be stolen from the noble fey.
So I posted here before about a tribe in my setting who are Asian inspired in name but translate their names literally into English like Native Americans do.Do you think the names>Ironstrike>Scorchflesh>BonebreakerSound intimidating enough? This was a tribe who names their children fierce and intimidating names as a means of good luck and hope to scare off the numerous monsters that they shared a home with.
>>23805160>>23805183Stealing power from Fae wouldn't fit my story. I'm thinking that when an abyss-spawn dies their power is sucked back into the abyss, through gravity. Imagine a yawning hole of infinite darkness is the actual cause of gravity beneath the earth, and the only thing stopping all living things from falling into it is the dirt beneath your feet.Maybe I could call the humanoid inhabitants drow or dark elf or something.
>>23805187Shit sorry wrong thread. Meant this for /wg/.
Reposting my creature making guide:https://pastebin.com/daZAxReQFeedback is appreciated.
>>23805320ups wrong picanyways, i'm trying to make some unique cave creatures rn, should I watch Made in Abyss?
>>23805156Okay, so what about how we view Chaos versus how Chaos is in nature then, got any thoughts there? If just for the aesthetics of Order magic items versus Chaos ones without going full edgelord for the latter like Warhammer does.Also, do you have any thoughts on what kind of metal would work well for Water magic items, or if there's a better choice for the Void or Necormancy than Iron, which is the best I can come up with? Or what would work best for an Air metal besides maybe Aluminum, which wouldn't be readily available in a typical fantasy setting?
>>23764243why is worldbuilding the goatest of hobbies worldbros
>>23805166>>23805108Nice analysis. What do you think of Sheogorath/Jyggalag, Hircine, and Molag Bal then?
>>23805460Because imagination, fantastical idealism, constructing thing from scratch, and all of that are exclusive only for those who had access to rich imaginative mind and not for normies whose life are boring and incapable of imagining things. The gatekeeper of worldbuild is one's own brain and being able to worldbuild is a blessing >>23805476Sheogorath/jygallag - chaos/order, one cannot exist without the other. Principal of jygallag is order, anti thesis towards anarchistic nature of daedric prince. Through excessive order, jygallag forces absolutism, caused the other prince to curse him into madness (chaos) because they reject such unnatural idea of their kind that have possibilities of something powerful beyond their understanding (as proven in jyggalag power). When jyggalag turned into sheogorath, sitting in the throne of madness, he's still carrying the memories and consciousness of his other, original self, but unable to return to his previous self because the idea of order was not exist beyond a mere words for him. Being sheogorath is a curse for jyggalag.Hircine is literally nietzschean just like boethia. Something about hunting for sport, concept of predator and prey, and hunting asyour own will. Cant say much, I havent read much about hircine aside from finding similarities on him and nietzsche will philosophy Molag bal is daedric prince of domination, everything was solely on him and about him. Probably the most evil daedric prince right now. Honestly I cant find any trace of him being tied in philosophical framework just like several other prince. What makes him not one dimensional is the asoect of domination itself. His domination impose itself not only to authority-slave situation, but the entirerity of that 'slave' that is their body and their soul. He's literally titled prince of rape - domination of one body authority, and one of his lore was about how he used to walk in mortal realm and kill people for no reason - domination of one's life. Interesring character. They construct an evil god but somehow finds a way to justify his evil by extending the concept through the action.
>>23786812Manticores, as well as all other chimera's are symbols of the Infinite Imperium.
>>23804810saw this in dunmeshi
>>23806038>the Infinite Imperium.What more can you tell us about this “Infinite Imperium” please?
>>23805406I'd seriously suggest looking up gem meaning/astrology and association as well as looking into other cultures. Some people already put together an item and a given element
>>23805460It’s a great act of creation. Why wouldn’t it be great?
>>23808266>Now you understand why big G up there worldbuild this world that we're living in right now evendoe the design is stupid and highly flawed
>>23806888Alright, I'll take a look at that, do you have any resources for this topic that you'd personally recommend, or should I just start with Google?Also, I would love to hear more about how magic, particularly magic items, works in your setting if it's not too much trouble. You are the "Shine and Shade" magic anon, right?
>>23808911Shine and Shade are indeed my bread and butter.Magic items in my world work by harnessing essence lo,e a Mage, but they work in two different ways; perpetual and expending Perpetual are typical akin to a given spell cast on an object but it able to keep going endlessly. Eternal sharpness, extra toughness, sudden flame, and the like.Expending are like dnd magic items, you use it then it needs to charge. Mages can recharge them if they know how to but otherwise the items just slowly gathers ambient essence. Even the most simplest magic item can be difficult to make and requires decent essence to maintain/use. The actual cool and good ones can only be finished/made near the end of a mgaes life, their magnum opus
On the nineteenth day of the month of waning winter, Teren’s master was summoned before Halfbones.True to his name, the legendary gravecaller’s face was split down the middle between a clean-shaven elderly man and a rotting corpse. An impressive display of deathcrafting to be sure, but Teren couldn’t for the life of him figure out the purpose of the spell.“I’m not complaining, but don’t understand why they asked us,” said Rotwood. “There are five realms between Fendal and the Southrange, why isn’t Barym or Sun’s Shadow taking this one?”Halfbones smiled. It was fake, exaggerated. He probably had to put in the work to make others not focus on his eyeless socket and rotting skull. The head was mostly bone while the neck down was more exposed muscle and hanging flesh. “That may be so, but we have two things those westerners don’t. A leygate in our city, and a working relationship with Guiding Breath.”Teren followed closely behind his master and Halfbones, attentive but not overbearing. The three of them were walking along Decidual’s riverfront, watching sailors from all across the Sainted Lands unload their wares. Traffic had spiked since the appearance of the leygate, and the Guild of Currents was at work bringing boats upstream. Not an easy task when the river was running hot, as it tended to during these rainy months. Often as a child Teren had wished that the great tropical forest that surrounded his city and encompassed so much of the realm of Fendal was a bit less hot, a bit less humid, and a lot less rainy. He used to dream of seeing snow instead of rain. Nowadays it seemed he only dreamed about death.On the topic of death, Teren picked up that they weren’t alone. There was a sharp scent in the air. Hard to explain what the smell was like, but it hurt his nose. This smell had come and gone seemingly at random ever since he could remember. When he was a kid Teren believed that he was smelling nothingness, the smell of the absence of smell. Now he knew the truth. It was the stench of a powerful spirit, strong enough to leave an imprint in the lands of the living. This smell here was probably the entourage of dead advisers who trailed Halfbones at all times. Still, not knowing for sure made him anxious.“A working relationship…?” Rotwood murmured. His face brightened as it dawned on him. “Farstrider? She’s coming with us?”Teren couldn’t help grinning himself. Farstrider was a lifeguider of Guiding Breath, and a woman Rotwood was obsessed with. Better yet, her apprentice was a good friend of his.Rotwood howled, wrapping a grumbling Halfbones in a big hug. “Bones, you old dog! You got Strider and me a mission to the Southrange?”Halfbones grunted, squirming out of Rotwood’s grasp. “Don’t get so worked up, this is a serious job. The Feathered Prince of Merdz has personally requested a lifeguider and a gravecaller to participate in some festival.”
>>23808656the demiurge is a shit worldbuilderbet he seethes and rages at all the "inferior" humans among us who are better than he at it, too
>>23809342Big G is a shit worldbuilder because he doesn't have anyone to discuss his worldbuild idea like in this general. We are better at worldbuilding than Him because we have each other to discuss our idea, its simple
>>23809398should've made prayers into proper conversations then, maybe he'd find some friends
>>23764243bump
I'm making a writing system for a conlang. How do you guys feel about an Inuit analogue that makes runestones out of ice? I was thinking they could uses heated material to melt ice into the correct form then fill the void with dyed water so it freezes and is readable at a distance. Since its melted in it wouldn't have to be as angular as actual runic writing.
>>23764251>Major Holidays I haven't contemplated this much but now that you've prompted me I've given it some thought. The Norn Sisters' entire existence revolves around blood rituals that are performed periodically and constantly, each time serving as a form of a holiday, though not as much. They sacrifice old Norns so that younger ones can get pregnant and be vessels for their reincarnation that sometimes is botched, birthing sterile, ravenous males that are left in the woods for the male-only Men of Iron to collect.Other than that, the Moravian Empire has a ton of holidays and celebrations, most of which are annual and involve grand celebrations in the capital. The birth of the founding Emperor Voytek is celebrated empire-wide in all of its capitals, with a mass celebration staged in the biggest city, Vishygrad>Real life holidays I look to There aren't any, I pull stuff out of my ass, probably the only thing I can see as being the same would be something like America's 4th of July etc. >What kinds of celebrations happen For funerals the southern tribes hold feasts, sacrifice wild beasts, and perform ritualistic rites to initiate the next in line for that tribe/family. The Moravians bury their dead in the dirt similarly to Christians in our world and plant peculiar flowers on the covered ground. In Lothaira, births and birthdays are lodged in the many ledgers kept by the Royal Chroniclers, and so are weddings, deaths, and so on. They have a ton of different ways of celebrating and mourning.
I want to hear about the underworld in your worldbuilding, chuds. Not underworld as in katabasis but rather underworld like crime, thieves den, prostitution, etc.I found underworld to be the hardest thing to make in worldbuilding because it requires a flawed concept in order for them to exist, while our aiming on worldbuilding is to create the ideal world for our fantasy and imagination, contrasting with each other isn't it?Of course it would be tied with politics heavily. A flaw in your political system that allows local thieves to be a robin hood, or assassin guild getting hired here and there to eliminate a wealthy merchant and maintain the economy on low income area. Maybe the king itself is corrupted and make a treaty with local highwayman to not attacking his convoy but rather a normal civilian with their caravan. So yeah, how do you build underworld in your own worldbuilding?
>>23809091Are there any particular magical items you care to share the details of? And do you have any thoughts/advice on someone looking to design their own magic items?
>>23802426But what exactly do they need to do?
>>23764243What are some common elements or key aspects of rituals meant to be done at birth or soon after, like Christian baptisms, and what rituals like this do you have in your own setting, or advice to someone who wants to design their own rituals of this type?
I'm working on a fantasy race for a project of mine that is essentially God's unfinished beta version of humanity. The general jist of their design is that they're much like humans, only their design is even more flawed and unstable than ours. What are some ways I could make the human body's anatomy and biology significantly more retarded?
>>23814194Make them more blobby, featureless and "uncarved". Like mud men but actually made of flesh and bone.
How do I ensure that any readers will associate power with evil without making it an actual setting mechanic?
>>23814194A few ideas:They're biologically immortal (can't age, can repair their own DNA, can regenerate). This sounds like a good deal until you consider that they have to regulate their reproduction very carefully or risk overpopulating.They're all nearly genetically identical and reproduce asexually (sex hadn't been invented yet). As a result congenital issues are a BIG problem among them when they do have to reproduce. They all have albinism because methods to mitigate the damage of UV light were still being studied. This is offset by their regeneration and DNA repair, but only partially as that doesn't prevent damage, it only heals it.They have limited creativity and free will (maybe they're similar to angels in that regard?)
Trying to define "the perfect gun".>can aim on its own (and better than a human could)>can shoot on its own>must still be operated or at least directed by a human for practical (AI is retarded and will never be like the movies) and ethical concerns>should be useful in all conditions where a human operator would be useful (can't be just a gun in the sky)>is relatively simple to repair or replace components>is highly durable>is highly configurable>is as lightweight as possibleSo clearly, some kind of drone. But it's a gun, so it can't do anything other than threaten to kill someone, or actually kill them. So humans need to be involved as operators reasonably close. Because it's a gun. Not a soldier.What does this end up looking like? Some flying drone gun (or two) travelling nearby to a paired human operator who is armored up and carries a secondary weapon? Some rifle of his own with advanced integrated targeting systems maybe? Or something like PDW, or a shotgun with flechette rounds? Would the designated marksman role exist for humans still, or would the drone become the designated marksman and the human operator becomes the spotter? Is this more like the case for all roles? Would a larger, legged or tracked drone make sense for grenadier or automatic rifleman roles too, and the human operator merely provides support?It's hard to say.
>>23785450In the world of Unsoul your identity is your soul,In your soul is your identity. Individualism here is supremacy of the Soul Ego and not of any individual incarnation, supercede only by the Kindred.In some eras the clan dominates, in others the state, here the authority of the Kindred reigns supreme, in tandem with a stringent nuclear family. The Kindred, a family of souls if you will, is formed when a warrior citizen and a priest citizen, come together in a sacred union.The world of Unsoul asks the question, "What if souls were real? And I mean REAL? What would society look like, how would it evolve?"When the average lifespan of a Soul Ego is 10'000, the world operates on a far greater timescale, royal kindred may rule for several tens of millennia, rivalries may edge on for several thousand years, the fatherland becomes a transitory existence, and the single life is predicted by a pantheon of previous incarnations.
>>23815053One way you could do this is to have a smart scope linked to an electronically operated trigger. The gun fires automatically when the enemy walks into its firing solution, accounting for things like wind speed, range, and how fast the target and the shooter are moving. This is based on how a lot of marksmen actually shoot - they don't chase the target with their aim, they point their gun to where their target will probably walk into and wait for the right moment to fire.
>>23814194If you want to lean on a more realist approach then study down syndrome people. Maybe make them shorter or skinnier to add for more physical degradation. For human race, the low version of our kind are the idiotic one, so maybe you want to make them dumb, less intelligent, or anything, but you can keep their instinct of survival and will to live there, meaning they could still feel hungry and eat, craving sexual needs and mating, etc. I dont know where you want to go with this though
>>23802426So would they also rally rebellious anti-government types to their cause as a decentralized second "branch" to cause chaos against the big banks?
>>23814520You could also make them sort of generic on purpose. An even better take on that would be to make them quite elegant and beautiful, but without any real identity. They're flawless, but without any flaws they have no real personality. They're just mass-produced flesh automata.
>>23815587I have long been impressed by the potential of funnels/bits. It's simply the strongest gun. But a solution like that as the secondary weapon for a human operator on site does make sense. After thinking more on it more, the weapon is best as a way to "extend" a soldier, so tricks like that and funnels integrated into a squad or fire team makes sense to me. Being able to shoot around corners, or point a gun along multiple angles at the same time, all seem useful.
>>23764243What celebrations occur on or around the Solstices in your setting?
>>23764243How dangerous would a force of airborne mongol-esque cavalry be against a rough equivalent to the British army during the Zulu wars.The range of their warbows is roughly 300 metres, and the dragons are about half again as large as a warhorse, though fly roughly as fast as one could gallop.
>>23816825Gravity will make up for the range disadvantage, and the British have no way to attack them. So they might do quite well until they start training gunmen to shoot them out of the air.
>>23815618They ARE the rebellious anti-government types.
Here is my plot>A future in which technology has stagnated to the current level for centuries>Most of the world is dominated by nigs due demographic pressure and due their very low IQs large technological infrastructure is impossible to mantain>The few inteligent races left (whites and asians) have become demigods and nigs treat them like gods as they are the only people making things work in society>A group of mulattoes with a mid level IQ try dethrone the pure high IQ races from their position but fail miserably due their lack of brain power
>>23764251Summoning Day:In the stillness of night, beneath a starless sky, the Summoning Ritual begins. Decades have passed since the Soular was called from the True Source, carefully cultivated by its Patron Omega and Patron Alpha. Now, the time has come for the Soular to transition from the ethereal into its mortal vessel—the unborn child carried by a chosen mother.The Weavers encircle the Birthing Altar where the pregnant mother lies. Cloaked in deep blue robes, their faces are solemn as they begin the ancient chant, calling upon the gods to guide the Soular into its human form. The Patron Omega, who has nurtured the Soular for half a century, holds it gently in his hands, a radiant sphere of divine light, shimmering like a distant star.The chant rises, filling the night air as the Weavers extend their hands toward the Soular. With precise, delicate motions, they weave invisible threads of energy, binding the Soular to the unborn child. The mother, silent but tense, bears the weight of this divine act. The Soular trembles, its light flickering as it hovers above her womb, hesitating at the brink of incarnation.At the final moment, the Patron Alpha, the silent guardian of the Soular, steps forward. His presence is calm, steady. He places his hand on the mother’s belly, signaling the Soular's final descent. Slowly, the glowing orb sinks into her womb, and for a moment, the world holds its breath.The mother gasps softly, her body glowing briefly as the Soular fuses with the unborn child. The Weavers fall silent, their task complete. The child stirs within her, now bound to its divine essence, ready to be born into the mortal world.The Summoning Ritual is over. Another soul has been successfully woven into the cycle of life and death, its journey in the mortal realm just beginning, watched over by the gods and the stars above.
>>23764243What are they key elements to making an original holiday in your book?
Made a new syllabary for my clong. Anyone see any glaring issues? I know some glyphs are too similar to each other right now but this is a first draft and will be changed as time goes on.
>>23817778What was you process for creating these? Whenever I've tried coming up with my own scripts they always just look kind of wrong.Also I don't think similar glyphs is a big issue. It happens quite a lot in natural in scripts.
>>23818005I come up with 5 or 6 basic shapes and then combine them into glyphs. Keeps them looking similar in aesthetic. After that just write them a bunch and see how they naturally change. You also want to keep in mind what the people would be writing on. People who carve leaves will have much rounder glyphs than stone carvers
>>23764243what are you people doing with your worlds?
>>23818057I make collections of myths, prayers, and scriptures in my conlangs. The world really only exists to facilitate this. I only have one made for the current lang.>jalokaO, God! >jatlaka titinatetlapamana kajaI hear you. >jatlaka tsemana kajaI see you >kesutsatlaka jasha tajakana kajaI hunt your game >kukwutlaka jasha sutlikikana kaja I drink your water>kokojuki'iki jasha tekukana kajaI live in your forestsThese guys are still neolithic so I'm still working out exactly what their culture would be and how they would worship.
>>23818088I fucked up my own lang>kukwutlakashould be>kukwuki'iki
>>23817236Please change and grow as a person.
Anyways, I was figuring a few mechanics out:1. Male wizards are much stronger than female ones. Like, average male wizards can curbstomp elite female wizards.2. Since Magic only passes on through the mother, female wizards are a valuable resource that they openly fight over. 3. Magic originates from a few colonists that settled down and had families, and can only be passed on via blood. The OG wizards got their powers directly from Capital G God. 4. Wizards are constantly hunted by monsters and demons that want to eat, rape, enslave, or just tempt them. Once you add these facts, Wizard society inevitably starts taking the form of a patriarchal, militaristic, clan based culture that prizes power and possession of magical women as the highest signifiers of social status. Any questions?
>>23818152Did you learn absolutely nothing from the last time you posted this crap?
>>23816825Depends if there’s any magic besides the dragons.
>>23818152yeah really good, now get writing!
>>23794581General madness mixed with personal interest/fetishes. Also knowledge, a decent amount of knowledge on things.
>>23819466>General madness mixed with personal interest/fetishesPlease go on, how do you balance the two? Also, what resources do you use for the knowledge part of the equation?
>>23819110Not just yet. I still need to do a lot of work on developing all the factions, their assets and liabilities, how they interact with each other, and the various personalities involved.I'd say my work is only 1% done. And that's being generous.
>>23819596I just copy what I find cool and change it enough - or incorporate into something else - so that it fits. That's interest. Fetishes is me just finind a what for what I want to naturally happen. It was bug gals, I add a race of bug people, body alteration, I add flesh shaping powers, Etc.For knowledge you should be look into strange works and cultural studies. Myths, old religions, even other stories can have at least second hand info. That's what you should be doing, what I do is just watch strange YouTube videos and bounce around weird wiki pages.Max Derrant on YouTube does what I'm talking about, cool guy
>>23820489Ambiguity in a story can make it more interesting. The Blue wizards from LOR are interest cause we know nothing about them
Enough about fantasy settings, give me some scifi one anons. Lay cool science idea upon me!
>>23820898Cat food generator, multiple versions and each with a flaw. Abuse of the flaw is rampant in each attempt. The generation causes the grub to become extremely addictive, soon the entire cat population is consuming the seemingly infinitely generating cat food. The food is running out, the cats band together using their new cat food induced intelligence to round up and mass grind up humans into more glorious cat food. Many moons later the NCG (New Cat Government) realises that they've made a grave error by not breeding enough humans and soon they'll run out. They begin rapid expansion into space in search for new life to feed into the machine. Do with this what you wish.
>>23820898The world is 100 virtual realities, but the borders keeping them separate are starting to weaken. Before long all the worlds will fuse together in an anachronistic amalgamation.
How do I make a setting that is bleak and hopeless, but also comfy?Basically a world where everything is awful, but not so awful that people can't have a good time.
>>23821022Look at real life. There are plenty of bleak and hopeless places where a bar is still open and the karaoke is playing. Where a lone individual seeks seeks solace in the beauty of nature. Where two lovers wake up next to eachother for the first time.
I used to shit on (anti-personnel) laser guns for being unrealistic and piss poor weapons because of power requirements to achieve the effects in movies and games. However, if you change your expectations you get some interesting outcomes.To make them stronger than a gun firing most cartridges would be wasteful and require bullshit like power packs. And would have a really bad heat issue, plus need big aperatures. Very niche, you might give a sniper such a weapon with power greater than 50 BMG since the heat and weight issues are outweighed by superior power and accuracy and the drawbacks matter less for him. However, I failed consider that "what if they were a little worse than modern guns?" which changes the question. A cartridge (the whole bullet) of 7.62 weighs about 25g. 20 cartridges to a magazine is 500g of ammo (roughly). A 3cm aperture, 1.5 KJ, near-IR pulsed laser (small enough to be hand-held) can deliver similar damage, but is less useful in smokey, dusty, or rainy conditions due to distortion. Not useless, but worse. However, using only modern battery tech, lithium ion batteries have 1,000 kJ/kg capacity. So for the cost of 40 cartridges of 7.62 (not including the magazine weight), you could have over 650 shots of a laser that is almost as good, at similar ranges. And producing the power to recharge such a battery could be done with a hand crank over a couple minutes in the evening. The weapon itself could be much lighter too, but lenses and the electronics inside are much more delicate than steel and plastics in a conventional gun.Given these factors, laser guns maybe AREN'T as stupid as I thought. They are less rugged, and perform a bit worse in common situations a soldier might be in. But they are much easier on logistics, overall much lighter, and can be fired for MUCH longer than a conventional modern gun, and a conventional PDW or pistol could be carried as a secondary weapon to compensate for some weaknesses. Big dumb pew pews they are not, you aren't leaving craters or scorch marks or blowing limbs off, but you can perforate the enemy with decent sized holes even if they have thick steel or ceramic armor. Maybe there is a reasonable case for developing and adopting anti-personnel laser weapons.Thoughts?
>>23820898It has the world as it *should* have been if we didn't decide to declare war on atomic energy. It has robots, flying cars, flying *CITIES*, all food is factory made, nanomachines everywhere, all diseases have cures, batteries that will never run out, cities on land, sea and the heavens, and cybernetics.All of this happened because certain OC countries decided to take deliberate action to turn into a scifi utopia. They half succeeded.
>>23821084In my mind the appeal of a laser would be their range. A beam of light can potentially travel extremely long distances. Perhaps a sufficiently powerful laser could be used to snipe someone from hundreds of miles away?
>>23821009That sounds like a Fantasy. It also sounds like the manga "Versus"
>>23820898An inverse-biopunk Pacific Rim story where humanity pilots kaiju in order to fight off giant robots trying to destroy them. Have two chapters written just need the third finished.
>>23822748I was thinking of Otherland, by Tad Williams, which is an excellent science fiction novel.
I will write a book about chariot formula 1 in a pseudo-Roman setting. The main plot will be a barbarian boy getting scouted to race chariots by a small, irrelevant team and they all slowly work their way up to a championship. His team mate is an old and bitter Roman who barely missed a championship like 10 years ago due to am accident. The whole thing is gigapolitical because it would be a massive event for the empires minorities if a barbarian wins it, whilst the old nobles hate the idea. Intrigues, sabotage, women and highly dangerous racing all around the empire. >world building Im still drafting the general idea pls respond
>>23822803One of the most interesting things about Rome is its gradual decline. Make it so the Empire isn't as strong as it was 50 years prior, and everyone knows it. The barbarians are getting stronger and more organized and the citizens of the Empire see the chariot races as a way to reassert their dominance.
>>23822813>actually good inputThanks buddy that does Sound highly KINO. I will get that aspect in there
>>23822821Thanks. Good luck with your book, anon.
>>23820898A century into the future, mankind has managed to miraculously solve all of our flaws.World peace is achieved, post-scarcity, there is no more dictatorships, discrimination, poverty or violence, real kumbaya type shit.They then receive a transmission from a fleet of warships big enough to blot out the sun.The wild hunt is a intergalactic horde comprised of the most depraved, bloodthirsty, war-like, not-Khorne worshipping aliens in the galaxy, united in spite of their differences towards one goal; destroying everything not as mean or evil as themselves in glorious warfare.They've received satellite footage of humanities checkered past and they find us to be incredibly interesting.Mankind has to thus become involved in a FTL-capable blood orgy while maintaining the image that they are still actually cruel and evil to avoid the extinction of our race, while scheming on how to escape this rather large pickle.
>>23822803You also have to give an explanation on how info on the races is told. Is just one guy an announcer or are there multiple. Is there a messager system to tell the empire about the brackets and racers.Also go a bit PETA on it and thunk about the horse. Those things are kinda fragile health wise.
Quick question for anyone that can answer: If the speed of light was changed within a highly localized area, let's a 5-foot cube, what would happen inside it? Both for increasing and decreasing the speed.
>>23822691Both the power and aperture requirements increase tremendously if you want to push a laser in atmosphere to its limits. You could, but you need to ensure that it's not so cumbersome that the sniper and his spotter can't move if they need to. There are advantages, like not being affected by wind and having effectively zero flight time, but you are ending up with a pretty cumbersome weapon with a very narrow usecase. Pushing for those limits doesn't necessarily make the most sense.Or so I say. Maybe you have a rebuttal to that.
>>23823984What exactly is causing the speed of light to change in said cube?
>>23825468Let's say magic. Magic that can alter the laws of physics in a given area for a short period of time.
>>23824240Maybe the laser rifle only gets one shot? Most snipers only fire once anyway, as firing twice increases your chance of being located.
>>23766303God of money/wealth bought a mercenary champion
>>23769318>Ronic nudged Teren and pulled him back so the others couldn’t hear. “I might have let some things slip about you to my master.”Armchair moron hereImmediately this is already a bit stilted IMO. The usual advice is to think about how you actually talk to other people, not how you want to talk to them or how you think/plan to talk to them in your head, but how you actually do talk to them.Ronic is clearly nervous here in the subsequent lines, so he could be nervous at the start as well. His opening line reads as quite confident to me however: it's a moderately complex turn of phrase in the context of spoken (as opposed to written) dialogue and he delivers it in one go without difficulty. It suggests that possibly Ronic practiced that opening in his head quite a bit and then successfully executed it on the spot. It also seems like Ronic expected Teren to understand exactly what he was talking about at first. Obviously, Teren immediately clarifies that he doesn't, but it implies things about them both that you might not necessarily intend. The conversation could start more casual at least for a line or two of greetings and then progress to this more serious topic later.In general, if you are aiming for more naturalistic dialogue (and you might not be) then speech is a bit too ornamented. What I mean by that is it reads as prose: it's deliberate and considered, which spoken words typically aren't in idle conversations like this.>Ronic shuffled his feet nervously. “Nothing bad, really. I just… told him about some of the stuff we used to get up to.”Could instead become>Ronic shuffled his feet nervously. “Nothing bad! Just some of the stuff we used to get up to.”It's a minor change of only a few words, I'm not trying to rewrite you complete, but (IMO, you might disagree) reads a bit more naturally for this sort of apprentice character, who seems to be a bit rougher and unpolished.
>>23817236Or they could win and fuck everything up and lay the seeds for a counter-revolutionary high IQ Caesar. Think the French and German Revolutions and the Fall of the Soviet Union.
>>23825592Okay. Well, for one, redshift and blueshift is something to look out for.
>>23812058>while our aiming on worldbuilding is to create the ideal world for our fantasy and imaginationSpeak for yourself. My setting is everything I don't like of this world multiplied by 100. It's the most oppressive and bleak world ever imagined. I criticize the ideologies I don't support but even the ones I support, everything is imperfect and horrible and shows us how terrible the act of existing really is. And yes, crime is rampantIn fact, I find it easier to create evil factions that morally correct factions since it's actually easier to do evil than good.
>>23764243What are some ways that holidays in our world might continue to evolve and change as technology advances? Especially in regards to cyberspace.
>>23829846>Especially in regards to cyberspaceFor some reason, vaporwave athetics pop into mind. :/
>>23775950I can tell you more about my radioactive dust bending, if you'd like to hear more about itI have a pretty long and autistic speech prepared.
>>23830159Let's hear it. I love worldbuilding autism, it's why I am here
>>23830162Okay so the bending of radioactive dust is somewhat similar to a mixture of firebending and sandbending. That is, the user can create their own radioactive dust like firebending, but it is more fluid like sandbending.The dust itself causes flesh to turn pale white and crumble off like ash.There are four clans of the people who use it>Thousand Skills ClanA mostly defunct clan- the users of this clan did not develop any specialized abilities like the other clans, but instead founded many new ways of using their abilities like>star-steppingBy forming dust beneath their legs, they can jump off of it to move through the air and slow their descent. Masters can truly fly with this.>corkscrew techniqueAs it sounds, basically adding spin to their bending, letting it fly further and with more power>Hurricane TechniqueForming a large swirl of radioactive dust, they spin it around them like a hurricane, turning it into a deadly stormI can't think of many more techniques. for them.>Titansbane ClanLived near giant maneating titans. Developed two specialized abilities to deal with them:>Violet DustMost radioactive dust their tribe uses is blue, but this clan can make it deadlier and cause it to turn violet. Their violet dust causes flesh to actually melt instead of just crumbling, and an equal amount of violet dust to regular dust creates larger wounds. Used to help cleave through the thick and huge bodies of titans.>ImmolationBy shooting a beam of radiation from their foreheads, they can inject something with their radioactive particles, causing them to suddenly burst into flame. Used to paralyze titans temporarily with the agony it causes.I have more but I'm kind of sleepy now.
An offhand way to ensure birthrates don't collapse in my Cyberpunk dystopia:>Imagine if we could mass produce humans in factories, so that no woman would ever have to waste 1-2 years of her life in maternity.>Just put down your payment, and a baby will be delivered for you. Maybe all it will take is a drop of your and your wife's DNA.>Or hell, just rent DNA from willing donors.>Also, you don't even need to waste time on infants for the first 3-5 years. Automated creches can feed and care for them better than humans can. >And robotic nannies and teachers can do all the other stuff.From cradle to graduation, parenthood becomes easier and safer than you could ever imagine.
>>23830509What do you think of it?
>>23828671Anything else, maybe something interesting that isn't a phenomenon based on observance
>>23830509Horrid, and gets rid of most of the paternal bonding that exists in childcare. Get rid of the main evolutionary reason for having children if you can have a child that isn't yours. Hell that doesn't even sound like parent hood that seems like a government mandate where people give the state children. I rember a dystopia movie where people killed when they reach 27 in a hedonist utopia and children are just made by doing what you laid out. That isn't family that's just a state ensuring it has a populace
>>23830927>That isn't family that's just a state ensuring it has a populacePrecisely. Though it's voluntary on the peoples' side, because the government is pretty liberal.
>>23830904Of course not. It's meant to be hard scifi.
I just can't think of a title for a goddamn cosmic horror/body horror thing. I want to make the cover as a concept.Any of these any good?
>>23821022To be comfy you need a personal space that is rooted, that no matter what happens is not going to be taken from you for lack of payment, or failure to perform. That is the essence of comfy, surety of possession.
I say no. I say no! I say work harder, not smarter. For in that you find the rare jewel. The keystone. The corner-piece. The foundation. The pillar. For in that, the flow continues nonetheless... And in holding true, and pushing forward through the breach, with steady eye and immortal soul... And sorrow filled mind, and glimmering eye. He breathes out slowly, and for purpose. To divest himself from the reasons that do not serve him. And he stands, proudly, and with great purpose. He holds the idea of witnesses before the act. He is righteous in his doings. For if a break in the path insists upon him... He stands as any man would. And with peace in his heart, and strength and brawn of flesh, he parries any blow sent to him. And, against their wicked will, in forgiveness; he puts himself in their mind and becomes the sorrow that led them to it. And his rectification will be sharp. They will be changed by the cold harshness of it's reality; The Multitudes. He asks for the Lord to be with him, to be in his heart. Asks; "help me be kind to myself and others. Help me be peaceful"... He breathes out. The man quietly opens his door and passes the thresh-hold. With bright, peaceful eyes. He walks gingerly to the dark wood. He passed a stone arch over a brook... And he paused. And went back to the old moss covered stone bridge. Hewn by man alone. And alone, he did reach... And he withdrew an Epiphone hard shell-case. The cherry-red SG, with subtle woodgrain showing through... The long haired man, in a white and blue flannel long sleeve shirt, and tan corduroy pants... His long hair was held back by a grey bandana... His tricep bulged as he did a unison bend on the 2nd fret to make sure his Honey-Tone amp was operational. He asked for forgiveness. And in that dark forest... He quietly played his last imaginary guitar solo...
>>23831467Crimes Against Spines
>>23764243I’m thinking of making a setting where a Great War between the gods claimed the god of Death as a casualty, their power leaking out from their corpses and intermingling with the traces of blood shed by the other gods to create magic. As a result, literally all magic as mortals understand it is necromancy if you look closely enough. I’m looking both for ways to justify the death connection for some of the magic types in particular, like elemental magic or nature magic for instance, or come up with specific spells for said magic types, what do you think please?
>>23832506Don't think of types. Think of cause and reaction. A reaction means different things for different types. So let the type not be...
>>23831287I said it was magic, how is that hard scifi? If the speed of light in a given arena, lets say a kids soccer field, was decreased to half what would happen? Would heads explodes would people move slower what?
>>23832506different bodyparts or bodysubstances incept different schools of magic. ie bone, hard, gens geologic-elemental magic, blood over biologic/control over animals. or schools could originate from his organs, eyes into telepathy/mind control/moving objects, heart into compelling living things, brain into spawning familiars
>>23832523>So let the type not be...Okay, maybe I'm tired, but that doesn't really make sense to me, could you please expand on that statement?>>23832960What about non-body substances that could work well with different types of necromancy? Like necromancy for the various elements for instance, what substance(s) might work best for items/rituals for each one? Like, maybe petrified wood works best for plant/nature magic/necromancy, or coral or pearl works best for water necromancy, that kind of thing?
What holidays would be celebrated in the fictional world based on this image?
>>23833329forgot pic
made a caste system for a society with unusually high female birthrate and unusually nomadic males. Still mostly ruled by men but administered by womenDoes it look good?
>>23833332Should have stayed forgotten
>>23833329Slaaneshmashttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqFmt9XYeYo
>>23833878The idea kinda sounds like an, mostly female worker and males go out to crossbreed with queens.
>>23834053Dont et it wrong, men are present in all castes. Theyre just the nomadic/mobile part of society that connects cities and countrysides. Wandering workers, wandering mercenary bands, wandering historians, wandering tax collectors, etc.Theyd still keep a woman at hand though, kinda like their "way-wife" while they try to grow their harem and thereby their network. "Your network is your net worth but also your nut work" sorta deal.
>>23833878Some typos here and there but overall interesting. Is it a desert faction? I assume so because of the nomadic themes buy I know that's not necessarily true.>>23834087I don't understand, which is the nomadic caste then? Or are they all nomadic? You say women administer and tax land, so are they the ones who maintain the cities while men go out?
>>23764243Do any of you guys know a good simple symbol to represent Islamic militants that isn't the star and crescent? I don't want to be cliche but all the other widely used symbols I find are extremely complex and I am working with very limited space in map I'm making.
>>23834652As of now my only other idea is the seal of Muhammad. Which is simple and gemetric enough for it to fit in minuscule scales.
>>23818057I write a history book and a collection of myths, folktales and legends.
>>23834638There is no nomadic caste except the chosen, but the chosen are always rulers or their direct entourage. All men of any caste have a desire to be nomadic, but only the chosen are forced to. They can crash at one of their wives' places for the purpose of making sure she is administering lands according to his will, but that's it. (it's not that different from many kings that constantly toured their kingdoms)>Is it a desert faction? No, grassy plains, à la huns, mongols, yamnaya, etc. with connections to coast and mountains
>>23818057Fantasizing with doing a game set in it.Trying to write some short stories set in it meanwhile.So basically nothing.
>>23764243What do you need to remember when designing cultures based on Eastern cultures and/or their holidays?
>>23835158I would also like to know please.
When the lightspeed barrier was broken by Mages, it led to actual suicides among scientists...and science fanatics.
>>23837085You're saying this as if scientists wouldn't be super stoked if magic existed. Electricity was one thought of as magic, you know. Drugs and medicine, too, were once the domain of shaman and witch doctors. These things are science now because we studied them and now we understand how they work.If magic were real, scientists would see it as a goldmine of unexplored territory.
>>23837562You’re saying this as if magic wasn’t (isn’t) real and wasn’t (isn’t) suppressed by tptb. There have been many successful magicians in humanities history, and I’m not talking about David Copperfield.
>>23809342Gnosticism is a meme.
So fantasy dwarves are almost always Anglo-coded just due to Tolkien and Warhammer/Warcraft. I've been considering recently that a Chinese-inspired Dwarf Kingdom/Empire could be kind of based. I think it scans with the various tropes. They're great builders (The Great Wall, obvs.) and inventors (maybe some kind of Terra Cotta or Jade Automatons). They're short and surly. Feel like the cool armor and beard/stache combos you see on those Romance of the Three Kingdoms type generals would look good on a short, stout dwarf Warlord. Even the tradition of Chinese alchemy could be dwarf-y. They love boiling rocks and playing around with runes. Honestly writing this down has me thinking more about transposing Tolkienesque folklore onto Asian geography and culture.
>>23837870True, the real shit is with Hermetisism. That stuff the bomb
>>23835158>>23835012Their religions seem to be heavily based on ancestor worship, albeit indirectly. They hold reminders of their deceased loved one in their ophimes constantly and ask for their protection, and hold grest honor for family lines. Bloodlines is the most important thing to them.
>>23838932What precisely do you mean by that?
>>23837562>Electricity was one thought of as magic, you knowNo, it wasn't. It was just an application of already understood phenomena. The reason it led to suicides was because the Mages proved that the universe didn't abide by logical laws anymore, and it was basically a free for all from now on. Scientists understood what this meant. A new dark age of ignorance and superstition, except this one will never end because understanding and rationality is now an active disadvantage.
>Theocracy and liberal democracy are considered interchangeable terms in Tripura>Democracy is mandated by God because all humans are equal, and only God can be allowed to rule them. >So laws are made by lawyers who are elected to the post by commonfolk. All posts must be elected, and the officials are to be considered just more citizens. >As for capitalism, remember the Protestant Work Ethic? It caused a literal civil war in the past, and the merchants won. They banned landlords, serfdom, and anything that felt like price controls.>Even banking is only allowed because it's reframed as "paying the bank rent for storing your money".
>>23840245Unless your magic is straight out of a cosmic horror story where the most basic laws of reality - like math and shit - start to break down, then your magic must follow some form of consistent logic. Anything less than a totally incomprehensible and paradoxical magic system can still be understood logically if you simply try hard enough.
>>23841064yes, they do break down. All the rules of magic are just as artificial as any human made laws. About the only thing stopping a wizard from doing literally whatever he wants is whether the Magic God thinks he's strong enough to get away with it.
>>23764243Just a retarded concept I came up with>modern world>but (female) nudes are literal money>every bank note is unique nudeHow would it work? Wel...>instead of printing money, the mints evaluate nudes>every woman from age 20 to 30 can go a mint and do a photoshoot>every woman is limited to one pictures a day>every picture has certain requirements, such including woman's face>they will then print a picture of a nude including the name of the woman in the picture>after the photo has been are taken, a board of mint workers grades the nude from S to F>based on the score, the nude photo is stamped with special government seal>the stamp also confirms the monetary value of the nude based on the grade given to it>S = 500¤, A = 200¤, B = 100¤, C = 50¤, D = 20¤, E = 10¤, F = 5¤>also, the nude is then uploaded into public government state>banknote is then given to the woman, which they may use as currencyWhat's the point?>promote feminine beauty>give women extra income (if they go to take a photo every day for a month, they will earn between 150 and 15 000¤)
>>23841447Lisa the painful.
>>23841447that could be a setting for an interesting visual novel
>>23841111>All the rules of magic are just as artificial as any human made laws. See, now that implies that the laws of magic are limited only by what the human mind can imagine. But the human mind and by extension human imagination operates by logical laws, however inscrutable those may be. The entire field of psychology exists because of that. Magic that truly violates basic universal concepts like math and logic would be literally impossible for the human mind to imagine.
>>23841748It could.>you start as 20-yeard old woman with no nudes>you have pursue different careers to earn a living>if you fail, you run out of money>but you can always sell a nude to cover for your professional failure>but if you resort selling dozen nudes your social life begins collapsing, and your relatives distance themself from you>giving you a bad ending
>>23764243Any good scifi worlds with geopolitics that is realistic?I dont really want to write it myself but can.>far into the future after Earth has started colonising other planets.>some planets revolted and have differing political systems>there is space geopolitics like trying to increase populations/get access to resources/build alliances.>the series starts as a wormhole is discovered to a new system.>creating a sort of scramble for Africa/Carribean in our world.>only new inventions I have really are new form of energy catering to fast space travel. A sort of AI program to ensure easy movement through aesteroid fields. Chemical to alter planet atmospheres to make them habitable.Any ideas would be good. I only have the world and no characters.Was thinking of one drop kick doing drugs in a cyberpunk planet but no idea how that translates into interstellar geopolitics.
>>23841770But humans aren't the only instigators of magic. We're just the only beings that can consciously choose to use it. Magic is defined in my setting as "things outside the bounds of reality". It's fundamentally just a classification of phenomena that can't be explained by logic. Things like a perpetual motion machine, or tapirs that eat your dreams, or cats that love to eat the hearts of lustful men.
>>23842616And hell, even the magic humans use isn't entirely under their control. Strange side effects are known to happen. Like the one time overuse of fire spells (to power a fantasy industrial revolution) led to ice monsters attacking a country.
>>23767514I'm an artist, artists are insufferable, unreliable faggots. Make it yourself, make it often. At some point after you can make it in your sleep it'll be good enough. That's exactly what artists do.
>>23767297i really like it but it doesn't look like a map you'd find in a book
>>23841447Why are you obsessed with sex?
>>23842791nudes ≠ sex
I want to make a setting where scientists try to fix the world but actually make everything worse. Can you help me come up with some seemingly-benevolent inventions that could go horribly wrong?For example:>Some scientists try to stop desertification but now the Western US is a sentient forest full of carnivorous trees and mutated animals>Scientists try to build teleporters but accidentally atomize their test subjects, turning them into ghost-like monsters.
>>23767478conan doyle's air jellyfish
>>23767478A Chinese man who flew to the cloud world on a giant kite.
>>23823887Very good input as well. Maybe there is official messengers with a sigill or something and then there is a plot where the official guy gets killed and someone gives a wrong result to the capital which causes issues
>>23841447That's NFTs dumbass .but with porn
>>23843450My good friend, there is nothing sexual or pornographic about the female form.It's only pornographic when interjoined with sex.
Thinking about making an Ace Combat-like modern fantasy setting. Like, imagine if Balkan witchcraft was ACTUAL witchcraft. Although I'm kinda struggling on how to integrate classic fantasy magic into modern air combat. Anyone have any ideas they'd be willing to share?
>>23843720Dragons, literally this is the trope of Githyanki, Targaryens, Melnibonéans, Druchii. Much like piloting aircraft, dragon riders are an elite.
>>23842842Anything by Peter Watts. He even has a subplot reminiscent of your pic in Starfish.
>>23841913I was imagining more like and fatass femcel needing to put her life in order so she isn't stuck in F grade nudes, and with the grade of nude you fall on determining you rank and status in society, that is build around and aesthetic and fitness cult
I working on a world where upper-paleolithic/early-neolithic tribes get into environment with dinosaursWorking on their language it wasn't hard to get term for the small/medium size feathered ones, just deriving from bird terms and getting things like 'ground-hawk', 'running-vulture' and 'terror ostrich'For the ones with more prominent/visible scales I just derived from reptile words to get things like 'running serpent', 'spear lizard', 'great hammer-turtle' and so onAnd the pterosaurs I just went with 'beaked bat' My problem now is getting a way to derive general terms for the big ones with small/reduced scales, that would given them a leathery texture
>>23844879>I working on a world where upper-paleolithic/early-neolithic tribes get into environment with dinosaursHow do you justify both existing at the same time?
What superpowers would be useful with tax evasion?
>>23842652You're right. For a book, you have to create a black-white or monochrome version.Just see it as a prototype. The final version will be very different
>>23846320Telepathy for obvious reasons and ebi g a technopath. Hack into the irs and lower how much you owe.
>>23842954The wrong result could be the inciting identity that allows the barbarian boy to enter.
>>23842842Anti-depression/mental illness medication that works well but somehow unleashes some primal darkness that collectivly exists in the mind of humanity. Think Russian sleep experiment.
Anyone got some good sci-fi tech ideas? Maybe specific gadgets, or systems to implement into futuristic worlds using unique future tech?
>>23845817The setting consists of a set of worlds that periodically receive waves of fauna and flora from Earth, andthose then continue to evolve there.Those waves happen due to some eldritch beings that either have a fascination with Earth and/or consider our planet to have some special significance to them. They travel by creating space-time distortions and snapping to their destination, which can take bystanders for a ride if they are close enough, and when many travels are done in the same place, it leaves a distortion area where one can cross from one word to another without even noticing before it's too late, like unknowingly entering the fey world through a mushroom circle or trees natural forming an arcWhile going here to there is much easier, the other way is possible, resulting in cryptids and occasional 'ghost' lineages.As those beings have been visiting earth since it's formation, you get worlds that still have extinct clades here.Now I'm writing about a tribe that manage to discover where in those beings would gather, went there to try asking their gods for more big mega-fauna to hunt a those was getting rare and end up snapped to another world. In a sense they kind off got what what they prayed for.
Im trying to come up with nonstandard fantasy races and made this little frog thing.
>>23847424And here's a soldier one
>>23847424Nedd ideas or love for frog, cause I like frog
I like when worlds are actually progressing in stuff like technology and culture instead of being stagnant for 1000 years
