File: lady death in white.jpg (73 KB, 628x891)

73 KB JPG

>>24102115
Thread Questions:
>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting, and if so, what are the rules and limitations, are there any side effects? How does this affect the culture of the setting?
>What are the most common causes of death in your world? And if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?
>Are there any supernatural beings that are tied to or have powers over death, from the Grim Reaper to ghosts? And how integral are they to the mechanisms of life and death? Are there any interesting rites for funerals or those about to die?
>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not? How do you make your necromancy stand out?
>What is the afterlife or afterlives of the setting like, and how did you design it? Do you have any advice for that, or any of these topics? And how does the reality of it match up with what people actually believe about it with in-setting religions?

Is it cool to ask about character design? I'm involved with a TTRPG but I always find myself describing characters in terms of their class, race, job, and history, and less in terms of their personality, but it seems the latter is where most of the richness comes from.
Sure you can say that so-and-so is dark, gloomy, and lethargic, but it often feels like such characters are stereotypical and kind of one-dimensional.
One way of adding depth seems to be playing against type, like the barbarian is actually a refined and courteous gentleman. However I think that recreates the same problems in the first instance, where the character becomes a stereotypical anti-stereotype.

How do you mentally approach character design? Are there certain key questions you answer in order to produce rich characters?

>>24102116
>Are there any supernatural beings that are tied to or have powers over death, from the Grim Reaper to ghosts? And how integral are they to the mechanisms of life and death?
The God of Death/The Dead is responsible for the very concept of death. While he doesn't personally end the lives of ever living in existence he still is in charge of it, in charge of the very mechanism of dying. He has also created a form of spirit called a "Psychopump", spirits responsible for gathering the souls of those who have died and bringing them to the afterlife. These spirits can be summoned and used bu Death Mages to help them in a few endeavors.

>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not? How do you make your necromancy stand out?
Creating undead is not inherently evil, as it's is just infusing a corpse with magic of Death Essence. But if one is given the title of a necromancer, that is declaring them evil the same way calling someone a murderer is. One interning thing I try to do with necromancy is have the undead be able to ve empowered. Certain spells can temporarily strengthen undead, and certain rituals can make them more power, one way is by tying an actual soul to the corpse wich is like adding an ai in a sense. There are also Given-Undead, people who allow themselves to be used in an necromantic rite, there souls being placed into their corpse to rise again(think like a mummy). This not only gives them intelligence but more empower in their undead forms.

>>24102116
>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting, and if so, what are the rules and limitations, are there any side effects? How does this affect the culture of the setting?
Yes, you need divine power and the person only comes back as a mentally-addled sick husk leaking pus out of cracks in the skin. The dead remain more "alive" if they become ghosts instead.

>What are the most common causes of death in your world? And if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?
War, disease, starvation, old age, usual shit. Immortality is from divine blood or genetic engineering, but the genes for that last source became diluted out so long ago that now they basically just live 2-4 times as long and then die.

>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not? How do you make your necromancy stand out?
Usually used (see #1) to raise shitty slaves.But it's not evil, in principle.

>afterlife
idk, they all reincarnate until God and Jesus get around to making a Christian style afterlife or something. IDC.

File: GKyr6iKWEAAS-WA.jpg (576 KB, 2500x1228)

576 KB JPG

>>24102116
>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting, and if so, what are the rules and limitations, are there any side effects? How does this affect the culture of the setting?
People who died violently and weren't properly buried are likely reanimated as ghouls. People who died with heavy regrets may linger as wraiths, a sort of spiritual echo without intelligence.

>What are the most common causes of death in your world? And if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?
Being killed by monsters and conditions caused by overworking probably top the charts, alongside starvation. Thanks to magic and medicine, diseases at least can mostly be treated, but very few get to die of old age.

>Are there any supernatural beings that are tied to or have powers over death, from the Grim Reaper to ghosts? And how integral are they to the mechanisms of life and death? Are there any interesting rites for funerals or those about to die?
There are several gods connected to the underworld, handling various parts of the death process and the soul's journey from life to death and on to reincarnation. It's the curse of one of these gods that causes the ghoul reanimation too. Everyone who dies goes through a trip kind of like Dante's Divine Comedy, before being reborn. Priests have an important job in ensuring this journey goes smoothly and the dead don't overrun the living world.

>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not?
There is magic to manipulate souls, including ways to prevent them from leaving the living world and rebinding them to new or old bodies. But this is considered an extreme taboo, all related documents are destroyed where discovered, and anyone practicing necromancy is put to death.

>What is the afterlife or afterlives of the setting like, and how did you design it? Do you have any advice for that, or any of these topics? And how does the reality of it match up with what people actually believe about it with in-setting religions?
It's better left a mystery not undermined by too much detail. It's a state of being free of rigid forms. Everyone has their own ideas what is their ideal afterlife and it's better to encourage their imagination.

>>24102115
I have an concept that I want to see if some other story has done before.

I call it "The Scientific Gamble". The premise of it is that Material science can only advance so far, that there is a limit in what a species can study nd improve on. They reach the ceiling of whatever technology they have. In order to go past it one of two things have to happen: They get uplifted by some other race, or they have to literally gamble on their progress.

A race has to do some form of research into something that is extremely dangerous, something that pushes their boundaries of knowledge that it's by pure chance if the experiment is successful. If they win their civilization evolves and grows, but if they lose their species is essentially wiped out, an apocalypse occurs that either resets them or kills everyone. That's why there isn't massive alien civilizations in space, its version of the great filter paradox and not everyone succeeds

>>24103851
What determines the limit though?

File: ed1ebebdadaf71ceccd0a98e9(...).jpg (13 KB, 236x295)

13 KB JPG

Any good source of inspiration for a race of swamp elves?

File: britons.jpg (167 KB, 960x960)

167 KB JPG

>>24104975

>>24104692
It's not a numerical thing, its conceptual. There's a limit a cilizations scientific advancement can go, if they want to go further they need to take the greatest risk.

>>24105050
>Roman Emperor Julius Caesar
ESL 3rd worlder hands created this.

>>24105679
But what causes the limit? Gods, a race that advanced itself so far that they might as well be gods and are trying to limit the other species, something else?

File: ornitodrakon_by_sergey_av(...).jpg (224 KB, 748x1069)

224 KB JPG

My world has a giant desert where there's tons of "barbarians" and "savages"
Different tribes of people that run around and fight eachother and kill anyone who enters or tries to pass through the desert
Most people in the world know them as this, as savages and wild people and stuff. The TRUE and esoteric knowledge is that each sect or cult is a hivemind of people puppeteer'd by actual ayy lmaos. Their blood is replaced with ayy lmao ichor, that's black and very similar to oil. In a way, they are zombies and the ayys can be considered necromancers, but it's more apt to call them puppets, which is what the factions who are most knowledgeable of them often refer to them as. They also have some weak psyonic abilities, but mostly the "higher ranking" puppets, like being able to float or something. Spirituality is a very important aspect of my world, and those who fight these savages, if they are particularly spiritually inclined, can- in the heat of combat- see the literal strings ayys are using to control their puppets. They can cut them, severing the connection without having to physically destory the body, which otherwise behaves as a normal human body would. They can be killed like normal people, damaging vital organs, cutting arteries, etc. But string severing is the most efficient way. This makes one faction, who are particularly religious, exceedingly effective when fighting them, to the point where others think what they do is impossible. As an example, a cult of 300 puppets might require several dozen people to safely destroy, but that religious faction can do it with a group of seven, or so. There are other things at play, too. Like the stregnth of the ayy itself. It's a difficult balance because the more puppets they have doesn't necessarily mean an easy victory. Controlling 300 puppets is much harder than controlling 30 or 3. For this reason, it's can actually be easier to destoryed a cult of 300 than one of 30, since the 30 will be more "connected" to the will of the ayy and it'll have greater control over their bodies, so it can play smarter rather than just ungabunga I has more meat you die now AAAAIIIEEEEEE NO NO NO IS THAT A GUARDIAN OF THE MOUNTAIN? NOOOOOO YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO COMMUNE WITH BEINGS FROM THE HIGHER REALMS NO NO NO AAAACCKKKKKK
there are a separate set of ayys, which are more akin to angels who serve God and ally with humanity to destroy the works of the evil ayys. The ayys are basically demons btw.
Pic rel
An example of what an ayydemon that specializes in using animals as puppets would look like
Rate my idea

File: download.jpg (3 KB, 168x168)

3 KB JPG

>>24106058
>Roman Caesar Julius Caesar

>>24106382
Is it a fantasy setting or a sci-fi one?

>>24106304
It a universal thing like the Hayflick limit, computer processing speed, or the speed of light. It just exists.

People can't walk to the moon, they need to make rockets, light can't hit atoms you need so you cant use a microscope to see them.

File: elaine-luo-being-04.jpg (234 KB, 1920x1080)

234 KB JPG

>>24107031
Kinda both
Mostly sci-fi since there are no traditional fantasy elements like a race of elves or things like that, but the overall setting is somewhat roughly medieval. The general setting is fantasy in that regard, with medieval architecture, social structures, kingdoms, etc. But it's set after an apocalypse so theres le heckin ancient technology occasionally like the rare laser guns or satelite phone or hoverboard, but most of that is lost to time outside of a few select groups of people who deliberately find and study it. So I guess it's soft scifi that became soft fantasy. I guess I'm ripping off botns to a certain extent lol.
The same AYYs who are doing a bit of trolling in the desert are the reason the first apocalypse happened btw
It all gets too complicated for a 4chan post

>>24107080
If it has no fantastical elements (ie: magic) then it's not fantasy, it's just sci-fi. Also, it reminds me to the book of the new sun, which sells itself as a fantasy book but in reality all magic is just ancient technology since the setting takes place after a big-scale technological shutdown.
It also has ayys. Maybe you should check it out.

>>24107111
I literally mentioned botns in my post you silly goose

Bump

File: 26860-4b37-b10f-b4b4-d32b(...).png (423 KB, 422x512)

423 KB PNG

What are the best resources for creating a setting based on 1800s France?

File: IMG_0098.png (1.09 MB, 2579x1667)

1.09 MB PNG

Too heavy? Dream fish is a real thing by the way

Part of me wants to write lore on what vampires are, another part of me thinks categorization is overdone and that it's better to treat each "vampire" as a unique entity with its own rules.

>>24109053
You could still write rules and explain what vampires are in general terms, not to mention that, in any case, you should limit the kind of powers they have, otherwise it would be veeery soft worldbuilding, which is kind of not the point of this thread.
Also, if they don't follow any vampire tropes, like for example them drinking blood or hiding from sunlight, then they wouldn't be vampires as much as just powerful beings.

>>24102116
>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting
Sorta
Undead are very much a thing and will feature prominently as a antagonistic force once the story gets going.
As far as stuff like full rpg style revives, no. Someone could be pulled from the brink of death through suitably powerful magic or tech, and there are several ways to "live on" beyond death.
But generally speaking once someone is dead they are dead. They can not be made living again as they were.
The living rightfully fear most everything to do with the undead if they have any sense.
>What are the most common causes of death in your world?
Don't know and don't really care. It's not important to the story.
> if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?
Limited immortality is possible, but even immortals can be killed. They just no longer have to worry about stuff like aging and usually disease anymore.
There are many paths to immortality and very few of them are the same. It is something a truly exceptional individual has to figure out and struggle for to eventually obtain in their own way through their own journey.
>how does that affect the world?
Immortals are sort of in a league of their own and usually focused on "The Great Game". Mortals equally fear and respect immortals and generally try to avoid direct interactions with them as much as possible.
>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function
It's unpredictable and dangerous when the user is living.
It becomes far more stable and predictable when the caster is themselves undead. So the only experts and masters of necromancy are undead mages in one form or another.
> is it inherently evil or not?
Most things to do with necromancy are widely forbidden, and even the few applications that aren't pure evil are still pretty taboo. Even being associated with something related to that dark art can get you imprisoned or killed in some parts.
While some of the practitioners will argue it isn't inherently evil, in story it pretty much is synonymous with evil magical stuff going on.
>How do you make your necromancy stand out?
Why do I need it to stand out?
>What is the afterlife or afterlives of the setting like
It hasn't really directly come up in the story. Most in story are polytheist and/or animist who believe in some vague variation of souls getting sorted, cleansed, then recycled to be reborn as something else. But again, hasn't come up in the story and isn't particularly important other then another underlying reason why bringing someone properly back from the dead doesn't work.
If people can be brought back willy nilly it destroys the stakes and impact of death.

File: 1736882868086.jpg (10 KB, 480x360)

10 KB JPG

>>24109094
Perhaps. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do subversive bullshit like having vampires not consume blood/life energy or anything like that. It's just I think to how it's said every culture has dragons, but it's more like the label 'dragon' was applied retroactively to a bunch of unique creatures that happened to share broadly similar characteristics.
Perhaps I'm not articulating myself well but sometimes there is a benefit in creatures being unique and not part of a strict taxonomy.

bump

File: old_drac.jpg (290 KB, 671x1000)

290 KB JPG

>Vampires must be dispatched properly. That is not to say they cannot be killed conventionally or with sheer brute force (although good luck summoning such force against a being that is much stronger and more clever than you) but there is a right way to do things and failure to heed my warnings will only bring you closer to ruin.
>Might I remind you of the village of Waltom? The villagers had inadvertently managed to capture a vampire but, lacking the proper knowledge on how to dispatch the creature, attempted to beat him to death in a blind rage. When that failed, they strung him up and hurled stones at him before finally burning him at the stake. He hurled insults and threats the whole way through until he was but a charred corpse.
>That's when the hauntings began. Milk began to curdle and spoil. Crops refused to grow, as if the soil had been salted. Good men driven to insanity, and through it all they reported seeing a wraith in the dead of night, black as sin and ephemeral like the morning mist.
>I tell you again, there is a right way to do things. For just as a werewolf may yet rise again as the vampire, so too does their evil take another form if it is allowed to persist beyond its body.
>- Professor Hiedler, Scholar of Demonology

(Sorry for bad english) My character is just a young girl that goes apeshit with bomb and explosives. Her alone smashing arab slavers and pirate ships might be too much for a teenage girl so I'm considering giving her innate magical power.

So is writing a protagonist with inherited powers or abilities, born from the relationship of a mysterious magical mother and a normal British dude, lazy? Or perhaps together with writing about the protagonist with her friends of various ethnicities dealing with "dark powers that threaten the world" lol? I can't think of a concrete goal that drive the protagonist's plot other than that.

>>24102116

>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting, and if so, what are the rules and limitations, are there any side effects? How does this affect the culture of the setting?

No. Raising people from the dead fucks up the stakes.

Regarding culture. Most graves are above soil. Bodies are sealed in stone coffins with such heavy lids that not even a group of horses could pull open the grave. Rich people stuff their graves with trinkets and usually demand their servant's corpse to be buried alongside them. In my culture people are mostly desensitized to death. Going as far as including skull motifs in mundane architecture.

Necromancy does not exist. When something is dead its dead permanently. However possession by nonmaterial entities and human sacrifice is common. Also 'soul jars' almost exist. Except that no one knows whether the spirit is just an echo or a real remnant.

some of you use obsidian. in my graph view i noticed at least one entry not merging an alias with its corresponding source. ie both the source and the alias display on the graph, the source in a dark file dot and the alias in a light link dot. what's the problem here? i may have only noticed this in local graph mode set to a depth of four links.

File: Zombie2-b.png (182 KB, 400x400)

182 KB PNG

>>24102116
Through forbidden necromantic rituals, one can capture the remnants of souls in crystals made specifically for this purpose, these being called 'soul crystals'. The souls in these shards can be used as fuel for powering dark rituals and undead constructs. The body is naturally made to be controlled by a soul, even artificial, so when a body is dead (lacks a soul), its corpse can be reanimated as long as inside it there's a soul crystal with enough charge. Of course it's not that simple, one must perform a ritual to link the body and the new soul. Also, the souls inside souls crystals are not actually souls but rather fragmentary remnants of souls, something called 'souls essence', therefore, these reanimated bodies won't be sane or conscious and will move naturalistically, following only the most basic instincts.
If the soul crystal is poorly made, it will leak soul essence with time, making the reanimated construct more lethargic and causing soul essence to be free in the world, a phenomena also normally referred as 'ghosts'.
>>24112094
Sorry anon but this is the worldbuilding thread and your story doesn't seem to have any worldbuilding at all, though I must admit that smashing arabs is based as fuck

>>24102398
I focus on worldbuilding precisely because I can't be bothered with this shit.
Yeah, idk, my best take is to treat characters as real people instead of just characters. Don't think of a character being a barbarian, think of it like a real person, in other words, what made that person act in a way that made him act like a barbarian? is it childhood trauma? was he just raised that way? etc. Maybe he doesn't like doing it, it's just the only thing he know how to do. That's how I think people work, but the hell do I know?

The Gods and their Saints in my setting

I have a setting that most obviously and commonly has a pantheon of 12(maybe 13) gods in charge of the world and reality. Each god has a number of domains/influences they are in charge of, that they maintain and watch over. But to not only take care of their influences but watch over and guide the world's people takes a lot of effort and power, that prevents them from personally handling various issues in the world(its like having a high maintenance job). So in order to ease the strain and give the people guides and help the gods elect and elevate "Saints". A Saint for each domain they have, usually. The saints, while being not as powerful and having their power being very singular, are beings that are the most connected to the gods, and act as a bridge between them and the world with grand power. In the holy scripture of the each god, each of the saints hold a chapter or two in them, with some holding their own books - books that are noticeably smaller than their main gods.

How the Saints works is something like this; There is Lor'kor: God of Crafts, Work, and Trade. It may seem, as those he has only three domains but it's actually greater than that as he has Saints of Blacksmiths woodworkers, cattle rearing, carpentrers, merchants, traveling traders, fishermen, stone carvers, miners, even bankers/currency. The gods influences is greater than their initial titles are perceived, as something like craft means all forms of practical craft, from jewelry makers to sword forgers, and work means builder to farmers to even cleaners. Another example is Rhenek: God of Art, Games, and Trickery. Art is ot just painting, it's also sculpting, and singing, even the Theater, plays and operas. You can even say his major domain is "Entertainment" in just nearly all it's forms, so much so that he's also has the influence of Stories. Thus he'd have saints of actors, playwrights, gamblers, writers, oral storytellers, tricksters, bards etc.. The gods influences can be so wide that another reason for the existence of saints is to codify what a given god is responsible for.

The only problem the saint system brings is that sometime the saints gets more worshiped than their own gods, with some areas not even knowing of said greater god. It's overlooked because it doesn't cause much real problems but it's regarded as annoying.

What do you all think?

>>24113047
>has a pantheon of 12(maybe 13) gods in charge of the world and reality.
Okay, so what are the other gods you’re thinking of besides Lor'kor and Rhenek so far, and what advice do you have for designing gods and pantheons? As for the Saints question, maybe a god can threaten to kick a Saint out and replace them if the Saints get too popular and don’t remind people that they’re servants of a greater power? Do they get power from worship, BTW?

>>24113713
The 12 gods don't REALLY care about a Saint getting more worship, there are a few areas and nation that have "minor gods" as their pantheon and a nation who main focus of worship are saints(an Arabia expy that has weapon saints as their pantheon). While worship does give power it's not vital power; The gods can exist without worship. The power gained just allows them greater ease of life.

As for designing gods and pantheons: Find a theme for the group, and give a reason for why each god exists. Why is the rain god in the major group, what culture does the pantheon come from, what does that culture value the most that they would worship for it. Are they astral in appearance, esoteric, or are they down to earth, are they one with the earth? Gods are the pope and the land. They are faith and the world combined into one.

>>24114142
>While worship does give power it's not vital power; The gods can exist without worship. The power gained just allows them greater ease of life.
What if the Saints give a portion of this power from worship to the god they serve, like a tax? Also, why weapon Saints specifically for that Arabia expy?

>>24102116

>Is it possible to raise someone from the dead in your setting, and if so, what are the rules and limitations, are there any side effects? How does this affect the culture of the setting?

For physical death, yes, but there is also reincarnation, so reviving someone from the dead must be done before the soul is captured and has its memories erased by the tunnel of light. The physical body also retains memories in a physical form, so if it manages to stay preserved theoretically you can free the soul by killing the new host(probably a baby) and leading it back to the body. Someone who has achieved a high enough level of spiritual enlightenment could potentially manifest it. If your soul dies you are erased from all time and space forever, as if you never existed. This is called ego death.

There aren't any set side effects for being revived, and it doesn't have much of an effect on culture because it can be interpreted scientifically in most cases.

>What are the most common causes of death in your world? And if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?

Violence, starvation, and general health decline are the three most common causes of death. None of them are meaningfully more common than the others overall. Immortality is possible, souls are immortal so the focus is on keeping the body alive. There are countless occult techniques to achieve bodily immortality, but many of them require a life of occult practice and are mostly unknown. Extremely rare advanced alien technology can also prevent bodily decay indefinitely, as well as the consumption of adrenochrome, which has to be extracted from the adrenal glands of children feeling extreme fear. All of these techniques are unknown to most people. Another method of immortality is to transfer your soul to a new body without having it wiped of its memories by the tunnel of light. Immortality is in high demand and the rich and powerful naturally have adrenochrome farms, which also extends their lives dramatically.

>Are there any supernatural beings that are tied to or have powers over death, from the Grim Reaper to ghosts? And how integral are they to the mechanisms of life and death? Are there any interesting rites for funerals or those about to die?

The Grim Reaper exists, he was created to destroy souls to return them to the monad, so reincarnation pisses him off. He is the Buddha and is responsible for gnosticism, trying to encourage people to achieve enlightenment and "escape" material reality through ego death. Ghosts exist, they are souls that for whatever reason didn't go into the tunnel of light.

>>24115103

>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not? How do you make your necromancy stand out?

Necromancy is using your will to control bodies that lack a soul. Only a few people can do it, as most people only have enough force of will to animate their own body, so the necromancer is someone who has an extremely strong ego. The necromancer can use their power to strip the physical memories from the brain of the freshly dead. It isn't evil within the context of the setting since evil doesn't exist, but it is pretty malicious.

>What is the afterlife or afterlives of the setting like, and how did you design it? Do you have any advice for that or any of these topics? And how does the reality of it match up with what people actually believe about it with in-setting religions?

Most people never experience the afterlife, and simply reincarnate, those who don't have their individuality annihilated and return to oneness with the monad. The people in the setting believe in real-world religions since this setting is supposed to take place in the real world soon after a nuclear war.

My advice to someone who finds this sort of worldbuilding interesting and perhaps would want to emulate it is to study occultism, and different religious traditions, and try to get into the mindset of a schizophrenic who is attempting to patch it together.

>>24115057
The RedGuard was the main inspiration for that idea. Also their real world history of war.

bump

File: FEc1OgAWYAYc-0n.jpg_large.jpg (594 KB, 1531x2048)

594 KB JPG

What time period are the Conan books supposed to be set in?

>>24117112
Hyborean.

File: 1737099488860.jpg (159 KB, 1200x1698)

159 KB JPG

I should stick a prehistoric vampire in my lore somewhere that froze in the arctic wasteland after being driven out of his hunting grounds and was forced to hibernate. That'd be cool.

>>24102116
>Is it possible to raise the dead? How does this affect the culture of the setting?
The dead aren’t raised directly, but perfumers can induce a false life. The minor races of Grym find this disturbing, but the hivers don’t mind it.

>What are the most common causes of death in your world? And if immortality is possible, how is it achieved, and how does that affect the world?
Being eaten as livestock, with rot as a close second. Immortality is acheived by consuming a neuron from The Mother, and these immortals then become gods of their own hives.

>If necromancy or something similar exists, how does it function, and is it inherently evil or not? How do you make your necromancy stand out?
There is no true “necromancy”, but a perfumer could create a false life in your body, a weaver could repurpose your parts, but most likely you will be eaten or absorbed into The Mother.

>What is the afterlife or afterlives of the setting like, and how did you design it? Do you have any advice for that, or any of these topics? And how does the reality of it match up with what people actually believe about it with in-setting religions?
The only race with an afterlife is hivers. Since they are essentially the consciousness of The Mother but dispersed into separate bodies, they return there after death before being reborn. This is why hiver “science” is partly spirituality. I haven’t thought much about religion yet, but I think the minor races will have tribalistic or animist religions while those outside will be mostly areligious. It would be neat to give the putachi a religion as well (my race of robots abandoned by humanity)

>>24115110
>monad
i love the occultism style, im >>24117834
and intentionally tried to make the “main race” have a moral system completely different to ours to give it this same feel. Even having a weird conjunction of science and magic making their religion “technically true.” can confirm reading esoterics helps with this mindset.

>>24115103
i like how detailed and scientific this is

>>24117246
If it's a vampire, then you don't really need the excuse that he was frozen or hibernating or anything for him to have survived this long. Maybe he's just an extremely old vampire that has survived in a cave all this time, maybe he was sealed in a cave and now that some miners accidentally opened the way, he's hungry.

>>24118121
Well I figure without a steady supply of blood he would have to hibernate. Being frozen isn't necessary, just cool and so is having to fend off a vampire in the desolate snow.

File: 13355736231264807.jpg (94 KB, 1400x839)

94 KB JPG

>>24102115
In my world there are two primary cosmic forces, Creation and Destruction, which draw souls in after death, save for those who remain as ghosts. I’m just trying to come up with multiple afterlife options for them. I’m thinking that Destruction explodes particularly sinful souls to oblivion, but I want that to be a rare thing, for completely irredeemable beings, so I’m not sure where to proceed besides Creation using souls like that as raw material for new untainted ones. Not sure how necromancy for each one would work besides Creation necromancy creating a simulacrum of a soul to command its body once more, while Destruction necromancy might be more about destroying the wills if remnants and ghosts. >>24113047, I love your idea and would be glad to hear more about the individual gods BTW.

What are some interesting was to have divine magic(ie cleric powers) in a setting.
Can any priest just pop a prayer and get some lighting. Do you have to prepare a faith-build to get the good incantations out. Do you have to under go a ritual that connects you with the divine for the power you seek.

>>24119456
My priests just pray until a miracle happens.
The more attuned a priest is with his god, the more probable something will happen.
I mean they are called "miracles" for a reason, aren't they? If they happened every time a priest wished they would just be recolored spells, wouldn't they?

>>24118829
The most other interesting thing I got is the gods of light nd darkness.

There's is the goddess of light and the God of darkness, married to each other and each representing other things.(note: light and darkness is very literal here. Either isn't inherently good nor evil, but these gods are the good gods)
The goddess of light is the more outgoing of the two, the more active. She is the the goddess of light, justice, order, civility, and protection - in terms of fighting the evil head on. She is the one to bless and command holy warriors for a righteous crusade.
Then there is the God of darkness, brother to the the God of Death(the dead, history, and peace) and the God of Trickery( art, games, and stories). The darkness God also hold the domains of security, secrets, sleep, and journeys. To best describe his domains is that he is the protection of walls and wards, a strong home to protect yourself; akin to how as a kid hiding under your blanket at night meant that you were safe but made real. His domaonpin of journeys is Ina sense of adventures, exploring new areas and seeing new days and dusks.

1 bit of drama I put in my setting is that a little around 200 years ago the God of dsrkness went missing. None know where he is, not even his wife. What's more is that he only had two saints made, one of shade and the other of secrets, the lowest number in the pantheon. They are holding his followers afloat best they can but he needs to be found, lest more disaster strikes.

>>24119466
True but screaming "BY GOD'S LIGHT I SMITE THEE" during a battle is really cool tho.
And one thing many magic systems tend to forgo is the spirituality of magic. I'd love to see a system that relies and prayer, faith, and soul to get something done.

>>24119492
>screaming "BY GOD'S LIGHT I SMITE THEE" during a battle is really cool tho
Yeah but IMO priests shouldn't be living tanks that can smite anyone in their way. Religious officials in real life tend to be more calm and generally they stay behind in battles praying for everyone, so this system is accurate with real life at the same time that it kinda is magical.
But anyways, you asked about different ways miracles could work, and that's one.
Another one i've seen is the exchange of favors. Every time a priest asks his god to do something, the god commands something in return afterwards, which could be a quest, a penitence or any kind of favor, which may change depending on the god. A benevolent god may ask his priest to pray for days in return; a jupiterian kind of god, to kill some heretic in a distant land; a malevolent god may ask to sacrifice your wife, idk.

>>24119503
>a malevolent god may ask to sacrifice your wife, idk.
>that one priest from the enemy nation surrounded with shady rumours who has 19 wives for some inexplicable reason