File: Dragon hatchling and girl(...).jpg (91 KB, 600x774)

91 KB JPG

>>25130237
Thread questions:

>What kinds of fantastical creatures and outright monsters exist in your worlds, and how did you design/choose them? What process did you use when designing them and/or would recommend to others? And what is your favorite monster of all (hard mode: no dragons)?
>If you used any existing monsters or creatures from myths and legends, like dragons, how did you put your own spin on them? And where do you prefer to look for your inspiration and ideas?
>Speaking of, did your monsters and/or magical beasts evolve more or less naturally, or were they deliberately created by gods, wizards, and/or some other beings? And if the latter, why did the creators make them and how?
>How does the presence of the monsters affect the ecosystem of the setting? Are any of your monsters herbivores or do they solely feed on the blood of the innocent?
>Are any monsters in your setting sapient, or are they all just beasts? And if any are sapient, what do you have to consider when including them?
>Do the people of your setting tame/domesticate any monsters somehow, and if so, how does that affect their society, and how do they manage that feat? Speaking of, how do people defend against wild monsters?

And for bonus points:

>In your setting, what is the major religion(s) present? What advice do you have for creating religions, including books and other resources on the topic or existing fictional religions done well?
>Where did you look for ideas on the religion's name, religious garb, ceremonies/rituals, tenants, etc.? Are there any religions outside of the Judeo-Christianity umbrella that have good aspects for fictional religions, especially if they aren’t used as often as they should be?
>How accurate is the religion to the actual reality of the setting? And if the god(s) of the setting actually exist in the world, how does this affect their faiths, and what needs to be remembered when making said gods and pantheons?
>Where do you look for ideas/resources on creating the divinities of your settings? Are there any settings in particular that you feel do gods right?
>Do your religions have Saints, Angels, Demons, and/or other important figures besides the actual gods? If so, what are they like, and how do they impact the religion?
>Lastly, how much power does your religion have over the setting? And how do the people of your setting view the gods and religions?

Fingers crossed that this one makes it to the bump limit.

Writing Sci-Fi sloppa, this is my worldbuilding.

335 years ago, corporation Threshold created an AI singularity capable of ruling without human error. Humanity was subsequently divided into 10,000 "Winners" of the AI revolution, over 8 billion dismissed "Losers," and 68 "Anomalies"—individuals the AI could not grasp or categorise, as they're, as is gradually revealed, actually not humans but something else. The distinction between Winners and Losers was based on a consolidated "specialness score," calculated by the Threshold AI using millions of hidden parameters. Anyone scoring below a 7.2 (the 99.9999875th percentile) was left behind with the doomed remainder of humanity.

The core plot driving element is a mental disease called shock of daylight. affects any Winner forcefully exiled into the Loser world. The grey imperfection of a non-enhanced reality slowly kills them. It's like turning off your favourite RPG and stepping into drab reality, into a life you absolutely abhor, only that there's no way to turn the RPG back on and all that remains is the memory of it. There is no cure; while drawn-out survival is possible, the condition becomes unbearable within a few weeks, making exile a de facto execution method.

>>25130237
>Worldbuilding, as already stated above, and contrary to what many believe, does not inherently imply blatantly copying Tolkien.
if you absolutely want dwarves and other such creatures in your fiction, better do that than trying to dEcOnsTrucT tHE trOpE and have orcs that are actually good fighting the evil elves

Dead thread

>>25131414
There needs to be something to spark an ongoing conversation. Those thread questions weren't successful enough in the past, so I'm not feeling too optimistic about them now.

I'm currently trying to figure out the space-time thingy that introduced itself into my world, and it's hard.

>>25131690
Fuck it, I'm forcing people to post:

HOW IS SEX SEEN, PRACTICED AND ENJOYED IN YOUR SETTING?!
What are the taboos?
What is seen as acceptable, good or "safe horny"?
What are the courting dynamics like?
How is religion and spirituality related to sex?
Aside from procreation, do people regularly fuck in your setting?

>>25131856
Sex doesn't exist in my setting
t. prude

>>25131856
> HOW IS SEX SEEN, PRACTICED AND ENJOYED IN YOUR SETTING?

YOU THINK I WOULD BE HERE
IF IT WAS PRACTICED IN „MY SETTING“
NIGGER

>>25130248
>Humanity was subsequently divided into 10,000 "Winners" of the AI revolution, over 8 billion dismissed "Losers," and 68 "Anomalies"
Why?

>>25131690
I don't respond to the thread questions because there are too many of them and it would be a pain to write up answers for them, also I'm working on a sci fi setting and the questions tend to assume fantasy.

>>25131856
Pollen from the mother trees is carried by the seedless worker nymphs to pollinate other mother trees, the trees then developing seeds which "quicken" to develop motile seed husks, once separated from their mother trees, these are called nymphs. Some nymphs have their seeds wither away during quickening, these are the seedless worker caste. For their first year after quickening, the nymphs care for their mother tree, fighting off scavangers, maintaining the soil, and managing pollination. After a year, when the subsequent cohort quickens and takes their place, the seed-bearing nymphs, form groups, each group following one of their seed-bearing brethren as he embarks to find and conquer land to plant himself. One or more stages of this process could be considered sex.

>>25132008
there was no violence evolved. the AI simply picked the most economically "viable" humans, until a smaller and smaller group was required to maintain the AI itself and the world of its inhabitants. from the PoV of the Losers left behind, the Winners simply vanished into an alternative universe, it has little effect on their lives at first except the mental implication of being rendered obsolete.

I think you're better off with a single writing prompt instead of 20 questions. Something that not only provides information about the world but a sample of the poster's writing. I realize we're on 4chan but it's an opportunity to critique, ask more, edit, etc. "Thread writing prompt: single post on a character from your world [doing/learning/etc. XYZ]."

No offense, but these threads don't generate a ton of value to the process. Where's that middle ground between building and producing? I'd rather know your world through a story than compare notes on banal shit. That or "what are you reading? What area of your world are you developing this week?" Could get book recommendations with rich worlds, interesting shit going on, etc.

>>25132016
You don't need to answer point by point. You can write just something loosely inspired by the subject. That's what I did in the previous thread.

>>25131856
I'm not going to have a single sex scene, and the people in the world are generally traditionalist and conservative about sexual matters. There is some variation depending on the location on whether things like polygamy and prostitution are allowed and whether homosexuality carries the death penalty or is simply not considered the same as a relationship between a man and a woman.

Now these matters turn actually to matter somewhat, as in the story a very conservative country finds itself ruled by a sorcerer king who does things like having multiple mistresses (among other offenses) when the traditional laws of the country decree strict monogamy, death penalty for adultery, and no legal divorce. But what can you do when the sorcerer king can just bend other wills to his, even when he's being foolish or immoral?

In another place entirely the god-king, thinking himself a defender of morality, had decreed absolute monogamy for his subjects but then made an exception for himself and acquired a harem so large that it had a noticeable impact on the local demographics. But when the god-king really is in possession of overwhelming power, including over people's wills from a distance, it becomes almost impossible to rebel. After there actually was a rebellion, the god-king, thinking himself benevolent, made recreational homosexuality legal to provide some relief for his wifeless subjects. After that there was widespread demoralization and drug addiction rates rose.

File: Kratos-standing-before-Po(...).jpg (154 KB, 720x933)

154 KB JPG

>>25130237
Trying this one again:

I’m looking to create a fantasy setting where the four classical elements of fire, earth, air, and water are the dominant mystical force, a bit like in Avatar. As a result, instead of one pantheon of gods, I’m planning on having four separate pantheons for each element, each god having at least one divine domain outside of their element, like the fire pantheon having the forge/blacksmith god, etc. I’m just looking for ideas on which domains to associate with which elemental pantheon. Some are easy to assign like the fire pantheon getting the aforementioned forge god, same for the sun god, and the water pantheon getting the moon god makes sense both to counter that and because of the moon and the tides, but what other ideas can you suggest please, especially the more subtle/thematic associations (like how in Greek mythology Poseidon was the god of horses due to having created them out of the crest of a wave in a contest with Athena to become the patron of Athens)? In a previous thread it was suggested that water have healing, fire have smiths/the forge, wind movement, and earth harvest, love, healing, nature, constitution, resilience, fortification, and defense, do you have any other suggestions? My traitorous brain is refusing to cooperate with me on this (not helped by the fact that I lost my notes on some of the ideas I already had) and I need as many ideas as you can suggest to me please so I can get past this, I really appreciate any help you can give me so that I can get this done!

>>25131856
I have multiple worlds, but the one I've been working on lately is designed to be a strange, yet grim future.
Mankind is more divided than ever, so much so that there's entire "countries" or "sovereign states" with populations of millions that are essentially unknown to some of the self-proclaimed world powers. Some states are industrialized corpocracies, others are tribal confederacies of nomad neo-savages. For this reason, every single group will have different views on sex and sexuality.
The organization the protagonists belong to, which is part academy, part secret occult order and part PMC is no different.
There are however some core tenets.
>The road of excess leads to the temple of wisdom
>Exploration of ecstasy is encouraged, but one must be vigilant of the ego-trap known as hedonism
>Love is a creative force, therefore it must be obeyed so long as it does not go against one's True Will
>A taboo can and should be broken for the sake of divine inspiration, but breaking taboos for mundane personal satisfaction leads to spiritual death
>The Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine exist in every single human being, yet most are incapable of finding the meaning of balance
>Sexual rituals are encouraged. Our Temples sexual deities are always open. But warned is all who enters for the sake of hedonistic satisfaction - you will find only suffering if you dare sully them with your intentions

>>25132453
You can let wind have communication, trade, music, education, literacy. The stars would be a good fit for wind too, distribution-wise, as celestial objects not already reserved for fire or water. (Earth could have the meteors.)

I recommend making a spreadsheet if you really insist on going through with this idea. A lot of things don't really have much if any of an inherent connection to the four classical elements, so several of the assignments would likely need to be done based on which pantheon is feeling empty compared to the others.

>>25132518
Thanks for the suggestions! If you think of any others please let me know! And maybe I should do a spreadsheet, thanks!

Dead thread

>>25133687
I suppose everybody is bouncing ideas with AI now

>>25133729
Tried that, horrible idea. AI has absolutely no grounding in reality, and the grounding it does have is based on smartasses on the Internet. AI can passionately rationalize basically any position depending on the prompting. With the exception of anthropological/sociological worldbuilding. Anything outside acceptable parameters will be immediately flagged as alienating towards modern audiences. That's one way to manufacture uninspiring slop.

>>25133943
Yeah I tried too, it's absolute garbage. It looks cliches so much, it's retarded.

>>25133729
I'm not, that's fucking stupid.

>>25132453
How long have you been doing this? Like a year?

File: darktowerrolandx.jpg (206 KB, 752x1000)

206 KB JPG

Did you ever create a literary OC as a kid? I remember creating a gunslinger character who was 100% a ripoff of Roland but with more edge. He fought futuristic soldiers who were basically just The Covenant from Halo, but they came from the future to strip-mine Earth while it was defenseless.

File: 20251228_102551.jpg (177 KB, 1200x820)

177 KB JPG

I'm thinking of an extension of a worldbuilding idea for my setting. In my setting emotional and mental investment (quantified as "Mana") in a domain (concept, place, personal identity, group, event, phenomena) gives that domain power. Apparitions (basically the god-spirit spectrum, akin to Shinto kami) through narrative association (think myths) are able to gain a hold over particular domains. Powerful Apparitions dominate a wide range of domains, they can transmute one domain into another, manipulate the configuration of a set of domains, and conjure domains ex nihilo. By granting access to their domains to humans through direct patronage it forms the basis for magic.

Focusing on events. People often attribute events with significant emotional and mental investment, so it would be reasonable to assume that events too would become powerful domains. However, then the question is; what about future events. Historically people have place just as a great of an emotional and mental investment in future events as in past events. Ragnarok and Armageddon come to mind (also modern events like the Singularity, Zombie Apocalypse, Climate Change, etc.). I'm think the more Mana is invested in a future event the more likely the said future event becomes. Which would probably lead to competing eschatologies between cultures, where each prophesizes their own victory. And the Apparitions would shoehorn themselves into these eschatologies of course.

How do you guys see this playing out?

>>25135120
This all seems reasonable. If mana can alter the future then it seems logical that most societies would be looking for ways to generate mana or make it more potent. How might they do that?

File: an-elemental-angel-with-h(...).jpg (522 KB, 750x438)

522 KB JPG

>>25130237
In my setting Angels have no physical form, so when an Angel needs to manifest in the mortal realm they have to use the ambient matter and energies in the area to construct a functional vessel for themselves. They sometimes make forms more akin to OP's image for combat scenarios against more powerful demons and shit, but most of the time they stick to the typical winged human archetype, with their wings and halos retracting when they need to be incognito. Certain types of matter/energy often take prominence in their forms though, which is most noticeable with elemental-type energies, though preference can influence things as well. So an Angel that manifests during a forest fire might have wings of flame and/or a halo like a ring of fire like picture related, one that manifests in a forest might have wings with feathers like leaves and a halo made of vines, one that manifests in a storm might have a halo of multiple colors of lightning intertwined, one that manifests in a frozen tundra might have wings of ice and a halo transparent like a giant snowflake, one that manifests on a battlefield may have wings of blades and a halo of blood, one that manifests in a graveyard might have a halo of bone and wings made from tombstones, etc. I just can't think of what the wings or halo of an Angel manifested out of raw air might look like, among a couple others, or other common markers that could appear when the Angel in question starts using their powers to any real degree when in apparent mortal form; besides maybe glowing holy symbols of appropriate design for the substance of the form appearing on their skin and appropriately colored hair and eyes, what would you suggest?

>>25135120
I see a great "culture" and "language" war to stop people from thinking of concepts that will threaten the people in power.

>>25135422
In my setting Mana is spiritual-biological. There are mainly two dimensions to it: Mana Control and Mana Capacity. Mana Capacity is universally at the same level across humanity. Mana Control differs substantially within a population. Mana Control correlates strongly with sapience and agency, that is, control over your own internal mental and emotional processes. Mana Control is also the core distinction between the elites and the masses, the elites possess far greater Mana Control than the masses. Humans are senders of Mana and Domains are the receivers of Mana, Mana Control determines how much of a person's Mana reaches it's destination. So basically both Mana Control and Mana Capacity are important for a Domain.

One way cultures increase the effectivity of their eschatologies is by increasing the Mana Control of their populations, by basically increasing Self-Mastery in their elites and Mindfulness in their masses. That is, philosophy and religion respectively. Think Stoicism and Catholicism, respectively.

>>25135681
I mean, this a premodern setting, only the elite really have access to complex concepts.

And there's also the fact that a fragmented institutionalized religion (based around temples) regulates the worship and rituals which feed Mana to (cooperative) Apparitions.

There is of course an intense war between Apparitions via their agents (templars). Domains are divided into Stable Domains and Battleground Domains. Every culture possesses a narrative space, wherein all of their accepted Apparitions are organized. Stable Domains are those Domains which are dominated by a monopoly/oligopoly of Apparitions within a narrative space. Battleground Domains are those Domains wherein narrative control is not settled in the least. Templars are in a constant state of narrative warfare with regards to Battleground Domains.

So, put simply, Apparitions fight over powerful domains, and as domains come and go (over the course of centuries) new frontiers open new battlefronts.

>>25135858
If mana is so important, the elites of the world will take production of it to its extreme no matter the cost. Imagine a country where the majority of the population are slaves whose job is to generate as much mana as possible, at the expense of their health or sanity, similar to a sweatshop in North Korea. That could be an interesting premise for a villainous faction.

File: 384510748.jpg (234 KB, 1210x425)

234 KB JPG

>>25130237
What races exist in your setting? Are there any that you wish were used more/are rather obscure (I like Warforged-style constructs for instance)? Heck, what races can you list in general besides the typical Elf, Dwarf, Orc, and/or Goblin?

File: 1667472115431.png (687 KB, 1026x1282)

687 KB PNG

>>25130237
Is circumcision a thing in your world?

>>25136081
Apparitions are divided into Luminaries and Devourers. Luminaries make a mutually beneficial contract with communities and rely on a steady regulated inflow of Mana (i.e., organized religion) towards their Personal Domain (their identity) from their particular community and also rely on the Mana directed towards the Domains they dominate from all across the society. Luminaries patronize sects (templars defending against Devourers, called holyknights). Luminaries rely on normal Mana Strings.

Devourers induce Radiant Strings in their vicitms. Mana is transfered from humans to domains via Mana Strings (emotional and mental investment). All Mana Strings dissipate if not regularly reinforced. Radiant Strings are Mana Strings induced by extreme emotional and mental experiences, which can be either trauma or euphoria. Radiant Strings do not dissipate at all and are outside the control of any individual. Devourers survive on a baseline of Radiant Strings and also on the Mana directed towards the Domains they dominate from all across the society. Devourers patronize cults (templars in service to Devourers, called Darknights).

Radiant Strings are particularly consequential considering the fact that any soul afflicted with it does not reincarnate but instead becomes a wandering Spirit.

>>25136081
>>25136945
A community entire society based around a Devourer and a cult does seem like an interesting prospect, though I wonder how sustainable that would be. In the setting they're more like bandits + religious fanatics, occupying a unique position considering they aren't subject to Karma since they won't reincarnate (because of a Radiant Strings). They're primarily the main engines of covert warfare hired by lords against their rivals (it's a warring states era).

>>25134130
>I'm not, that's fucking stupid.
Why do people do it then? Honest curiosity, I haven't done it myself.

>>25138090
Some people have mistaken ideas about AI and what it can do. Really AI isn't intelligent or aware at all and will only produce regurgitated outputs based on mixing and matching various source materials. The more an AI is set to be "original", the more the result is sheer nonsense.

>>25138218
>The more an AI is set to be "original", the more the result is sheer nonsense.
So at best it could maybe be used like those rubber ducks coders use, just more high-tech? What are some specific examples of this so I can see how bad it is, do you know any?

>>25139289
I played around with AI image generation. Doing that for yourself gives you a sense of how generative AI really works. The AI images people post online are very much cherrypicked and may also be edited to hide the worst flaws. I didn't manage to generate one single flawless image, and many were so flawed that big problems were apparent on even a brief glance.

Now newer versions of generative AI have been worked on to improve issues such as the number of fingers and to reduce obvious malformations, but then the same-head syndrome started appearing all over in images generated by different people because the AI was being overfitted to a narrow model of what looks about correct.

>>25139435
I might want to add that it's pretty funny how frequently the generated images would turn out to contain mythological creatures without having been prompted that way. Cats would frequently become bakeneko and have two tails. Humans would often have six fingers (or more) like the nephilim. The number of legs would also vary, especially on four-legged animals. I think my biggest number of legs on a deer was only one short of a Sleipnir. I've also seen two-legged deer more than once. There was probably also a one-legged deer, but I'm not sure if I remember correctly. I've definitely seen one-legged humans though, even if they weren't very much like the monopodes of ancient folklore.

The connection between AI images and mythology feels like it has a story idea hidden in it somewhere...

File: dragon rising from volcano.jpg (1.21 MB, 1335x2000)

1.21 MB JPG

>>25130237
I like the idea of my dragons being more elemental in nature than you really see in DnD and similar settings, the remainders of a primordial time when the forces of the elements were more wild and untamed, creatures that are just as much the essence of their element as they are flesh and blood, unlike most other creatures that lean much more towards one or the other. When a flame dragon is using its breath weapon on a target, it’s not merely doing something as mundane as igniting a flammable gas or venom from a gland in its throat, they’re harnessing the elemental fury in their heart and directing it out of their mouth, like a flame spell that they know from birth, and they don’t typically live in volcanic or desert regions merely because they can withstand the conditions while most other creatures can’t, but because they can actually 'feed' on the heat to help sustain themselves, even allowing themselves to hibernate for years or even centuries at a time. Each element has its own breed(s) of dragon, with a few rare hybrids, water dragons being more serpent-like, with wings that are more like flying fish fins, or more whale-like ones that live deep in the sea, flame dragons being mainly divided into volcano-dwellers like this one and desert-dwellers whose bodies are duller to blend in better with the sand and whose fire breath is more focused and mainly used to heat sand into glass and cut off prey, ice dragons that live on mountains that cause avalanches to bury prey and ones that live in tundra and prefer to disguise themselves and freeze prey solid, and so on. Is there anything I need to improve on or ways I can make the dragons of different elements more distinct? Especially with wind dragons besides just copying Quetzelcoatl? Are there any settings I should look at or systems that would work well for this?

>>25140194
>The connection between AI images and mythology feels like it has a story idea hidden in it somewhere...
Never thought of it like that.

File: saint-petersburg-digital-(...).jpg (122 KB, 1024x575)

122 KB JPG

What magic system would you associate with Czarist Russia? I don't mean something like "Ice Magic," I mean something like Qi in China or Theurgy in Europe.

>>25141617
Some kind of motherland energy, or energy of the people, or energy from the hardship or people.

>>25141617
You're not ready for the Tartaria conversations.

U want to tell a story about a world that is undergoing a process called Reversal, wherein water and continent switch places and everyone’s suffering from flooding

>>25141980
Stations of the Tide, Swanwick

>>25141617
Something drawn from Russian folklore. Think Baba Yaga etc. but made into a real system in which casters can have huts that move on chicken legs or remove own heart to become immortal as long as the heart is safe.

>>25141617
I know it is obvious/cliché'd but ice magic would actually be really culturally relevant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Qm99tT9OY

What should I read to get a proper handle on ancient Chinese black magic? All I know about it is Gu rituals, and that's just because of manga.

>>25140301
>Especially with wind dragons besides just copying Quetzelcoatl?
If you don't want to copy Quetzalcoatl, make the dragons have translucent bodies with some bioluminescence (like jellyfishes or the man o' war) also look up atmospheric beast for references or make them similar to Rods (skyfish)

File: 471526827_101610801238132(...).jpg (66 KB, 526x701)

66 KB JPG

>>25143576
>If you don't want to copy Quetzalcoatl, make the dragons have translucent bodies with some bioluminescence (like jellyfishes or the man o' war) also look up atmospheric beast for references or make them similar to Rods (skyfish)
It's more that I wanted more options for wind dragon variants than dissing Quetzalcoatl-type dragons completely, but thanks for the ideas! BTW, any idea for wind dragon breath weapons besides lightning blasts for an upper atmosphere variety?

>>25143374
Seconding this please.

>>25145449
>any idea for wind dragon breath weapons besides lightning blasts for an upper atmosphere variety?
Meteorites
Electromagnetic fields
Increasing or reducing the atmospheric pressure of an area
Attacking with hyper concentrated ozone and oxygen
If you go for the atmospheric beast inspired route: look up star jelly, imagine it as the dragon chunking pieces of itself, they can be toxic or acid depending on your preference
Also using their bioluminescence to make hypnotic patterns

>>25132162
>"Thread writing prompt: single post on a character from your world [doing/learning/etc. XYZ]."
I like this idea

>>25140301
>Especially with wind dragons besides just copying Quetzelcoatl?
Quetzalcoatl isn't a dragon, he's a feathered serpent. Not even a winged one, he's more like a flying pipe-cleaner.

Bump

>>25141064
There's also how those very early AI videos that looked a lot like Puss in the Boots... Imagine if Atlantis had computing technology on the level of the modern times and a memory of those days was retained in the folklore...

File: quetzalcoatl_pokemon_by_b(...).jpg (192 KB, 1024x759)

192 KB JPG

>>25147353
>Quetzalcoatl isn't a dragon, he's a feathered serpent. Not even a winged one, he's more like a flying pipe-cleaner.
Okay, do you have any new suggestions for a wind element dragon then please?

>>25147127
Thanks! Do you have any thoughts on potential wind dragon traits/breeds then? Off the top of my head, I was thinking that there might be a coastal variant that glides and dives for fish on voyages across seas, or maybe one that mates in tornados and hurricanes and has greater armor for it.

>>25150338
probably some of the Chinese ones, specifically the types with strong association with lightning and the weather, like Yinglong

>>25141617
Mass cannibalism & random people murdering magic.

File: grazia-ferlito-sea-monster.jpg (3.49 MB, 3840x4843)

3.49 MB JPG

>>25130237
Besides things like sea serpents for water, salamanders for fire, and flying monsters for air, what monsters would you associate with the different elements and why?

File: Railgun.jpg (10 KB, 275x183)

10 KB JPG

Are railguns even practical? I'm considering whether or not I should make them the standard infantry tool for my setting's troops.

In case you're wondering, they do have the tech to make it possible. They're supposed to be Earth of the 26th century. They have self-healing nanomaterials, compulsators for energy storage and Room Temperature Superconductors.

And they don't even carry it themselves. They have exoskeletons for that.

>>25150813
Just to be clear, I'm not asking whether they're feasible as an engineering project. I'm asking whether they'd be useful even if we COULD mass produce them.

File: he awakens .jpg (208 KB, 1155x662)

208 KB JPG

>>25130237
Besides tentacles and random body parts, what features/traits work well for “eldritch”-type monsters?

File: Untitled.png (522 KB, 641x634)

522 KB PNG

>>25151245
Slime, more body parts than a human has, symmetries other than bilateral, wings, invisibility, an inability to die, strong smells, glowy bits, an inability to be visually processed (see pic), giant size, fur, teeth, eyes, amorphous shape, uncanny valley, conjoined forms, rotting, jelly, sexual characteristics, gills, membranes, extra joints, extreme symmetry/asymmetry, tails, branches, roots, oversized representations of human organs/cells, pincers, melodious/cacophonous sounds, unnatural colors, psychic damage, vampiric, cannibalistic, man-eating, a desire for worship, pallid

>>25150817
>I'm asking whether they'd be useful even if we COULD mass produce them
The point of railguns is they get you improved range, projectile speed, and accuracy over an equivalently sized traditional gun. Their main use is over the horizon, so infantry wouldn't have much of a point in having them since traditional guns can already shoot further than you can see.

Other potential applications are space combat (no horizon), as an excuse to not carry live ammo around, and if tech's at a level where every foot soldier is a walking artillery piece that doesn't do manual aiming (although at that point, just use drones)

>>25150614
Reptiles?
Tortoises for earth
>why
Big, sturdy, ancient, slow, gray/yellow/brownish colors

>>25150614
Flesh golems with lightning because Frankenstein.

>>25136515
Yes, but only for females.

File: 2cb3ee1a95332a5b76518722c(...).jpg (66 KB, 736x1040)

66 KB JPG

>>25151798
>Flesh golems with lightning because Frankenstein.
I was thinking less artificial, but thanks.

>>25151755
Alright, makes sense, thanks! What about fire besides dragons?

>>25150614
Phoenixes for fire, giant squids for water, stone giants for earth, tree monsters like the Ents for wood, dragons with their metallic scales and claws and metallic gold hoards for metal.

>>25150614
monster spiders, monster worms, monster moles, things that actually live in the earth. fun fact: moles are known as earth dragons in japanese

Tips for writing geography of your world?

>>25130241
>Religion
So, in real life, there are basically two types of religions: Folk religions and prophetic religions

Folk religions are tied to culture, have no scripture, and worship ancestors. Because there is no scripture, there are no heresies. Also, in folk religions, all kings tend to claim ancestry from demigods, e.g., Alexander claimed to be a very distant descendant of Herakles.
In contrast, prophetic religions are founded by an individual, a prophet that deliver scripture. But it also means that while prophetic religions tend to start with strong unity and fervor, schism will tear them apart.
The main difference between these is that prophetic religions tend to proselytize and encourage fanaticism, while folks religions are more tolerant.

Either way, what I do is make up a folk religion for every culture, and then develop some of those folk religions into propethical religions.

>>25150614
giant catfish and wooden cowgirls for earth, spider-women and man-eating horses for water

File: 24-2.jpg (72 KB, 800x570)

72 KB JPG

>>25154221
>geography of your world
People don't have a clear concept of the world having any distinct shape. There's an ecumene around the coast of an inland sea, and its southern outflow into inland waters. The expanses of land and sea beyond the ecumene are believed to be endless. To the north lies a principality separating the rest of the world from a celestial empire high in the mountains.
>>25130241
>>Speaking of, did your monsters and/or magical beasts evolve more or less naturally, or were they deliberately created by gods, wizards, and/or some other beings? And if the latter, why did the creators make them and how?
Humans, elves and ghouls descend from a common predatory ancestor, which degenerated due to the general decline of the world.
>>25130241
>>In your setting, what is the major religion(s) present? What advice do you have for creating religions, including books and other resources on the topic or existing fictional religions done well?
The Celestial Empire is a Tibetan empire, and their religion is considered an elite religion in most lands, similar to Carolingian Christianity. However, outside the empire itself and their threshold principality, it's more of a folk version of this imperial religion.
The entire history of the world revolves around a zombie apocalypse, stopped by an empire that nearly destroyed the rest of the world. Rivers of holy water, flowing from mountain glaciers into the valleys, allowed the surviving people to resettle.
There are several other approaches to solving this problem. In rural areas far from holy rivers, necromancers seem to have learned to coexist with the undead, even plowing their fields with their help.
There's a nearly extinct religion modeled on Zoroastrianism; they basically just tried to burn away all the filth and lock away the dead. Now, it's a few isolated communities.
The Egyptian imperial cult is the second major civilization to survive the apocalypse.
There are rumors of a nomadic empire far out in the vast steppe that also survived, but these are now more of a Prester John myth.

File: Sauron art.jpg (730 KB, 1920x2818)

730 KB JPG

>>25130237
I want the ultimate evil of my world, the force opposing the gods, to be a being of pure madness and corruption. Besides Tolkien’s work, what settings do this well, and what do I need to consider when creating such an evil?

>>25155845
Madness and evil don't really go well together. Insane things are inherently amoral, not immoral.

Also check out the Hiss from Control.

>>25132453
Earth
>pottery
>Masonry
>Gem cutting
>Gravity
>Earthquakes
>Art in general
Wind
>Flight
>fragrance and perfume
>gasses in general
>Breathing
>evaporation
>cooling
>Waves (wouldn't that be funny?)
>Storms
>Singing/speaking and music in general
>Sound in general

>>25154221
learn about how geography affects culture and politics

>>25150813
If it's better than a regular gun then why not? If you have exoskeletons then you have power armor then you might need stronger guns. I don't really agree with the other poster. A bullet with 10x more speed makes it easy to shoot something from 300 yards away. Pair that with some ai computer scope thing and not combat takes place from miles away. That's a big implication for how war is fought

There's an entire iron age civilization that only lives on a single island in a single lake. They believe their island is the entire world because they can't see the shore of the lake from their coasts, and all attempts to sail to land have been failures.

The only reason they exist is so that the Mentor can impress on the Triple Solaran Republic that even all their armies combined could never hold any appreciable land on Earth, even if Earth's armies are no match for them.

World building is fun but kind of not.

>>25156491
Reccs for that?

>>25154265
Based on this anon's post, what do you guys think of this setting:

The world is based on early 19th century Europe, and good part of it (at least where the story takes place) is ruled by a theocracy of living saints (there is no ruling god). There is a slight supernatural aspect to these saints and their most trusted servants. Think of superhuman people: fast and strong, powerful warriors. This "church" is in constant conflict with the folk religions of their land and the other parts of the world. They're not too be the only bad guys though, and many folk religion are to be shown to be dangerous. The world is supposed to appear as having low fantasy, and the parts where these supernatural people and occurrences would be rare.

What do you guys think? Does it have potential or would appear to cliche even with an interesting plot?

>>25158307
Honestly it's just something I've just absorbed passively from my casual interest in history and culture. I would just get interested in that stuff and pay attention to how the environment affects civilizations.
A few easy examples
>Big mountain range insulates a culture and make it hard for a military to invade
>People that live on sets of islands eat a lot of fish and have a large boating culture
>A place with scarce resources will have major cities located especially where those resources are.

>>25158732
That is good, thank you. I have some notion of those things. But I mean more on how to create the geography of our world. Where to put a hill, a marsh, a swamp, a river, a mountain?

>>25158732
>Big mountain range insulates a culture and make it hard for a military to invade
Italy has a big mountain range and it was invaded fucking constantly and was one of history's largest cultural monoliths. The Inca empire was mountainous and yet highly connected, much to their detriment when they too got invaded after less than a century. China was explicitly known for cultural exchange despite being ringed by mountains for much of its borders.

Outside of fucking Ethiopia, literally what the fuck are you talking about?

>>25158732
>A place with scarce resources will have major cities located especially where those resources are.
Or they'll have major cities located especially where those resources can be brought in from abroad.

>>25158741
well if it doesn't affect any societies then wherever you want. If you're an autist you can use a tectonic plate simulator or something
>>25158744
Should be obvious: India and the Himalayas
>>25158754
I was mostly thinking of Egypt but yeah trade ports are pretty important. Venice had tons since it's easy to control that long strip of water it's on

>>25158770
GRRM planned out every mile of his world. Can I do less?

>>25158773
You may do as you wish. Maybe you should let civilizations determine the shapes of their lands and after that fill in the inbetween in a way that makes sense. Everything should be narrative first

>>25158770
>Should be obvious: India and the Himalayas
Wasn't the highly mountainous southern half of India oppressed militarily by political entities in the northern half through most of its history?

Also
>India
>culturally isolated
Wat?

I didn't really want a Masquerade in my world, I think it makes the world feel unstable and awkward. But I also don't really want magic to lose its mystical nature.

My solution is a compromise. The existence of the supernatural is public knowledge, but Mages are very good at staying hidden. It doesn't help that most of them are criminals who use their powers to cheat at life, meaning they risk arrest if discovered.

The few honest ones work in the government for hefty prices, but stay hidden anyway as the secret weapons of the state.

>>25158822
>Himalayas
anon I'm talking about the giant wall between India and China
>Wasn't the highly mountainous southern half of India oppressed militarily by political entities in the northern half through most of its history?
It's funny you say that. So first of all south Indian mountains aren't that high and they're not a massive monolithic wall meaning it's not impossible to get through. It's not a coincidence that the Tamils had their own thing going for a lot of Indian history. The more cut off you are from mountains the more likely you are to have your own little empire and culture. It doesn't mean you're invincible.
>culturally isolated
Yeah it's not a coincidence that India is completely different from the rest of asia in terms of food, music, religion, aesthetic, cultural norms and ethnic groups/ race. I know there was trade and tourism but that doesn't change cultures unless you are doing modern mass migration. Tibet is right next to India yet crossing that border is probably one of the biggest culture shocks you could experience. The reason is because there is a mountain range in the way.

File: Oya-72-dpi.jpg (658 KB, 864x1152)

658 KB JPG

>>25156479
Much appreciated! The waves idea is funny, lol. If you have any other ideas, especially for Fire and Water, please let me know!

>>25158906
Water
>erosion
>mist
>ice
>steam
>hydration
>mist
>Illusions
Fire
>Anger
>photography (yeah right)
>Engines (yeah right)
>Destruction
>Creation
>Volcanos
>The sun
>Glass
>Gold
>Cooling
>light
>lighthouses
>time (sundials)
>Growth (plants growing, different than fertility)
That's all I got

>>25158516
The plot potential that comes to mind would revolve around the question of where do these "saints" come from. Are they designated by a mysterious higher power or just some organization? Do they come from all walks of the society or just from the ruling elite? You appear to have settled on the "saints" being the bad guys by default, perhaps due to ingrained ideas about theocracy being bad, but I don't see why that would have to be the case in the setting if the "saints" are in any way worthy of their name.

A workable plot in this setting would probably involve the main character or the main character's close acquaintance being declared a saint, leading to an examination of what the saints really are.

>>25159073
My initial idea is to have a story about the descendants of one of these saints, one that rebelled in the past and was defeated by the others. Since becoming a saint is a rare occurrence, the people who become them are naturally elevated in society's ranks. So the MC's family and city has been destroyed like a hundred years in the past and they've scattered. The MC in particular is a pirate (but it wouldn't be a pirate story). The inciting incident of the story is the MC coming in contact by chance with a body part of an inhuman being (perhaps one of the Folk religions gods, not sure yet). That sets the "church" in the hunt for him. The villain wouldn't be immediately a saint but one of their warriors.

>>25159073
>>25159310
The saints aren't designed by the organization, those who'd reach the status of "saint" must be welcomed into it as the doctrine demands. I think you're right, it would be interesting to ask "what makes a saint?" Can someone lose that status? Why haven't the "bad" ones lost theirs. My idea for the process is for someone who performs an incredible deed to "awaken" to that power, but that is to be a mystery of the setting. In the plot, I wonder when it'd be interesting to have the MC's friend become one, early or late into the book.

>>25158842
Doesn't seem like mages are very powerful if getting arrested is something they have to worry about.

>>25159553
They're not. They're certainly powerful enough to overthrow the government, but they aren't exactly gods or Shonen anime characters.

But if I had to be a little more fair to them...it's true that the average Mage isn't as strong as Goku, but he'd defeat Goku ten times out of ten. Any Goku.

>>25158516
Also, I'm reconsidering the 19th century setting. There's probably a reason why victorian fantasy was never really popular. What about late medieval with more sophisticated armor and weapons?

File: hawaii-s-kilauea-volcano-(...).jpg (131 KB, 1500x980)

131 KB JPG

>>25158996
Much appreciated! Again, love the more thematic/metaphorical ideas like Anger for Fire and Art for Earth! If you come up with any new ideas later I'll be happy to hear them!

>>25159380
It sounds like the "saints" would be better called heroes in the original Greek sense of the term that doesn't imply anything about morality.

>>25160048
That's true. But it also go against the central theme of prophetic religion versus folk religion I wanted to talk about.

>>25160048
>>25160079
If I push back the setting to 15th century, it erases the need to anchor the origin of the saints from among the various classes (as an allegory for the rise of bourgeoisie I suppose), and they can go back from being picked among the ruling class. But then what makes them different from lords and ladies of the common medieval settings? I don't want to dive into the whole great houses and whatnot of Westeros. My process would need to change too. How are saints chosen and what do they do would become the questions. How would the MC be in conflict against a government composed of supposedly morally sound people? Where does the folk religion and witches and swamp cultists fit into all this? Good questions.

>>25158301
Systembuilding - fun, useful
Lorebuilding - now you're just getting lost in the weeds

>>25160079
The division between the types of religion isn't so simple. Not all folk religions worship ancestors. Some were highly organized and had politically powerful priesthoods while any possible founder that might have existed is lost in the mists of the ancient past. And then there is the issue of individual shamans using hallucinogens and getting weird new ideas without founding a new religion... Some people think the extensive Aztec practice of human sacrifice is an example of that.

>>25160114
If the "saints" aren't actually even a passing approximation of moral people, there should be common gossip about that circulating in the populace unless the "saints" are meticulous about keeping their indiscretions behind closed doors, and even then there should be leaks. And if the "saints" actually are good and mean well, what is the MC's problem with them?

>>25130241
Mages in my world have their own religion. They call themselves the Most Sacred Fraternal Order of Magi, with the word Magi being the Persian term.

Their chief god is the Monad, or The One, the source of all existence. Think Gnosticism. They consider the first Wizard, Perseus, to be a messianic figure called The Oathbinder (Mitra) that is sent forward every time the universe is created to unify all existence around a single border.

And yes, they believe the universe is an eternally recurring system.

They have several holy books dedicated to everything from politics to economics, all based on the political philosophy that all humanity is destined to be unified in a single nation that will then be re-absorbed by the Monad.

Their clergy and religious organization is the basis for all political systems in my Earth, mostly because they destroyed everyone else with their supernatural abilities.

>>25130241
As for monsters, monsters in my setting are basically just cthonic gods of the Earth. The weakest are literally just swarms of insects....that are capable of pulling apart entire cities to create their nests, like a magical equivalent of Gray Goo.

The strongest are literal gods of creation and destruction. They can create entire inhabitable solar systems and shuffle around stars on a whim. Thankfully for humans, they don't care about us and so don't threaten us.

File: 114674689_101641397696252(...).jpg (56 KB, 509x720)

56 KB JPG

>>25154104
Thanks! What about Light and Darkness? Also, what about creatures aligned with two elements?

>>25154131
>fun fact: moles are known as earth dragons in japanese
Thanks! I didn't know that! If you have any other ideas, please let me know!

>>25154964
>giant catfish and wooden cowgirls for earth, spider-women and man-eating horses for water
I've heard of Huldr and Kelpies, but why catfish for Earth and spider-women for Water? If you have any other ideas, please let me know!

>>25161455
>I've heard of Huldr and Kelpies, but why catfish for Earth and spider-women for Water?

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namazu
>In Japanese mythology, the Namazu (鯰) or Ōnamazu (大鯰) is a giant underground catfish who causes earthquakes.

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jor%C5%8Dgumo
>In Toriyama Sekien's Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, it is depicted as a spider woman manipulating small fire-breathing spiders.
>At the Jōren Falls of Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, allegedly lives the jorōgumo mistress of the waterfall.
>The jorōgumo of Kashikobuchi was worshipped for warding off water disasters, and even now there are monuments and torii that are engraved with "Myōhō Kumo no Rei" (妙法蜘蛛之霊).

File: Untitled.png (743 KB, 688x618)

743 KB PNG

>>25161455
>If you have any other ideas, please let me know!
If you want something a bit more horrifying than a Kelpie for man-eating water horse, there's always the Nuckelavee. You'd get better suggestions if you went into more detail on what sorts of shit you're looking for/what purpose.

File: 5bEGgqZEHBMe6s3wiPgGFTi3n(...).jpg (167 KB, 792x1128)

167 KB JPG

>>25161500
>If you want something a bit more horrifying than a Kelpie for man-eating water horse,
I meant for monsters in general, not specifically for man-eating horse monsters, but thanks anyway!

>>25161491
Thanks! Do you have any other yokai suggestions please?

The cosmic principles of my setting don't really allow for human extinction. The entity named Homeostasis will automatically destroy any threats that could threaten the existence of humanity, whether natural or supernatural.

Do you think this kills tension? Whatever happens, everyone knows that the species will mostly survive by the end. There's no serious fear that whatever aliens, monsters, or natural disasters threaten earth could possibly wipe out ALL of humanity.

>>25161578
There are multiple ways of dealing with this:

1. The existence of Homeostasis is not in fact clear but more like rumor or speculation which the main character may not accept.

2. Homeostasis cares nothing about the quality of life of the humans and is entirely fine with aliens enslaving the entire Earth as long as humans get to live and reproduce.

3. Homeostasis thinks a few thousand scattered survivors are enough.

4. Homeostasis thinks some new social development (such as everyone spending all their lives in virtual reality) is a threat to human survival. Humans disagree.

5. Humans figure out how to game the system and provoke unwinnable wars with vastly more advanced alien empires to become the sole rulers of the galaxy, but can Homeostasis really deal with all that? And does he/it have a breaking point on bad human behavior?

6. Homeostasis goes haywire for some reason and starts attacking seemingly at random. Humans need to do something, right now. Or is Homeostasis maybe being correct about a strange new threat having appeared, one that even Homeostasis is finding difficult to defeat?

7. Homeostasis has been collapsing overly advanced human civilizations to prevent excessively destructive weapons from being developed. The main characters find ancient technology from the first such civilization and reverse engineer it. The potential seems endless, but is there any way now to avert Homeostasis from destroying the current civilization too?

I recommend coming up with a better name than Homeostasis, by the way.

>>25161298
I think the setting doesn't lend itself well to the action/adventure story I'm thinking of right now. Maybe it would work best with something on the lines of The Book of the New Sun. I'll write it down and try again in twenty years if I ever get good enough to write such a book.

>>25161630
2 and 3 are already true. Homeostasis made no attempt to avert the Toba Catastrophe because it wasn't deemed an extinction level threat.

To put it this way, it would consider the Matrix to be an acceptable outcome.


4 is a good point. I'll make it so that it's preventing transhumanism.

>>25161630
Homeostasis is the word for the biological process by which we maintain our biological systems. I thought it'd be both cool and descriptive.

And if I had to say what choice Homeostasis would make for 5.....maybe it'd let them lose, but save them from extinction?

>>25161633
You can do action/adventure as long as the stakes are below total human extinction or if Homeostasis can be argued to have acted through the main character.

>>25161705
I know that homeostasis is a biological process, and that's exactly why it doesn't fit here. Your Homeostasis is more like a supernatural guardian or an immortal AI wielding an array of science fiction weaponry.

>>25161734
I'll find another name, then. I just thought Classical Greek sounds mystical and elite.

>>25161630
An additional idea came to me:

8. There is a disaster too big for Homeostasis to avert (for example, the Milky Way has become a quasar and the radiation is about to reach Earth), so Homeostasis has to save a remnant of the humanity by whatever means it has on its disposal. But will it be able to follow along to a new location or will it be fried by the quasar's radiation, leaving humanity defenseless against new threats?

>>25130241
Gnolls are one of the only kind of monsters that exist in mine. Their existence is a curse that was placed on hyeans after one of them fell for a demons tricks and doomed his brothers

>>25161798
Homeostasis (name change pending) operates at exponentially bigger scales than mere galaxies.

>>25161823
You can have your entity have a godlike power level without moral opinions, but being too powerful leaves less room for potential stories in which the entity is not just a bit of background lore or a shallow deus ex machina plot twist.

>>25161849
My whole question was whether Homeostasis's negation of true Extinction level threats deflates tension.

I've been answered well tho, and consider that question closed. To quote Aladdin, you'd be surprised at what you can live through.

I am imagining a fantasy world loosely based on the Benelux countries’ history, especially Belgium.

All Low Countries are Republics, threatened by a fantastical threat in form of floods, but there’s also infighting (mirroring Belgiums independence wars against the Netherlands) and a much grander empire under whose distant yoke all of the countries live (mirroring the Spanish Habsburg Empire).

I have both a scifi and fantasy setting basically attached hip to hip on the same solar system. It's giving me trouble trying to find a unique aesthetic to define both.

The fantasy faction has a Germanic aesthetic, with overtones of China and the Ottomans in their magic and royalty respectively. The scifi faction is basically just multicultural Space Age America......except in a Gundam style space Cyberpunk setting where humanity has moved out into the stars, and took most of its ancient flaws with it.

I just can't find the right aesthetic to make them fit together. They may inhabit the same setting, but they feel like two different settings that somehow got transposed onto the same planet.

>>25162281
Rather than putting an aesthetic first, try figuring out how the two cultures would plausibly interact and build from there.

Say, the fantasy culture could have been stable, inward-turned, and secure in its assumed superiority like the imperial China or Japan. Then suddenly those ignorant barbarians from another continent put a man on the Moon and some of the more forward-thinking higher-ups in the fantasy culture finally woke up and started thinking of possible ways to reform the empire before the old combat spells became obsolete in the face of laser cannons. Meanwhile members of the science fiction culture had always found the magic culture mysterious and fascinating and would have liked to learn more of its secrets.

>>25162900
But aesthetic is the most important part of a fictional product.

>>25162281
why don't the magic people use some technology and some of the technology people use magic? There should be a reason for such a hard divide

>>25163550
Ideological reasons. The fantasy faction is against industrialization, science and modernisation because it goes against their doctrine of orthodoxy, autocracy, and religion.

As for the scifi faction, it's opposed to letting superhumans dictate the course of human affairs. Democracy uber alles, science damn it.

>>25163478
It is much easier to slap an aesthetic on something than make a world functional and logical.

>>25163780
That isn't realistic. It relies on universal plot-convenient stupidity for the world to function as intended.

A much better solution would be that there are two entirely separate cultures that developed in entirely different areas of the world along different lines of research without ever coming to direct conflict that would have tested the military worth of a wizard vs. a rifleman.

>>25164025
>That isn't realistic. It relies on universal plot-convenient stupidity for the world to function as intended.
Oh it's definitely plot convenient and stupid, but it's not unrealistic. Historical records show that states don't optimize for efficiency of the system, they optimize for the gains of the selectorate.

The Ottomans banned printing, the Chinese and Japanese banned foreign trade, the USSR banned private property etc etc. It's just how it works.

And even today, don't we ban any scientific research or state policy, no matter how productive, if it stands in the way of equality?

File: Okami_5147768.jpg (1.01 MB, 1920x2715)

1.01 MB JPG

>>25130237
My setting’s pantheon is headed by a couple, a goddess of Light and a god of Darkness. Each of them has several other aspects of reality in their divine portfolios as well, like Sun/Day and Fire and Moon/Night and Water respectively, as well as several children who all take after one parent or the other, save for a god of Twilight and Balance, their first child. What other aspects would you suggest for each side of the pantheon? I need to pad things out a bit more please.
I would love to hear from >>25158996 in particular please!

>>25164065
Religion being inherently opposed to science is old Enlightenment era atheist propaganda. And the politicians in the science fiction culture would surely want superpowers for themselves and their children - or the culture could just add basic qi cultivation to the standard elementary school curriculum because the Chinese-type magic that you said was in use is deep down a type of esoteric technology.

In older science fiction individual powers such as telepathy were common and considered scientific enough that they could be included without the work being counted as fantasy. Even Gundam, which you said was an influence to your science fiction side, has genetic superhumans with psychic powers.

>>25164155
Religion? No, not really. But a feudal aristocracy is still a feudal aristocracy, and they don't like merchants. Nor do priests like being replaced by secular printing presses.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether religion is opposed to science or not. A religious society is a premodern society, and a premodern society will resist modernization right up until their elites are massacred en masse.

>And the politicians in the science fiction culture would surely want superpowers for themselves and their children - or the culture could just add basic qi cultivation to the standard elementary school curriculum because the Chinese-type magic that you said was in use is deep down a type of esoteric technology.
Getting their hands on magic isn't the problem, it's that it's illegal and unpopular.

The government does keep a small corps of wizards out of military necessity, but they're feared for their power and hated for the narcissistic complex it inspires in them.

>>25164291
Your world with its Chinese-style magic doesn't have the issue of magic being associated with demonic contracts and witches sacrificing children. Magic would be viewed as a natural human ability that can be mastered with diligent effort typically requiring self-purification. The wizards wouldn't be frail old men but strong, healthy, and charismatic. Everyone would want to be one.

>A religious society is a premodern society, and a premodern society will resist modernization right up until their elites are massacred en masse.
Imperial Japan? Present-day Iran? The West until some decades ago? You haven't defined your terms sufficiently, but I have a feeling that your argument isn't sound unless your definitions of "a religious society" and "modernization" are so far apart that they don't fit your own setting.

And anyway, unlocking the latent psychic powers present in everyone would be a type of modernization that the science culture could only oppose if their de-facto science religion irrationally said that psychic powers are haram.

>>25164409
>Imperial Japan? Present-day Iran? The West until some decades ago? You haven't defined your terms sufficiently, but I have a feeling that your argument isn't sound unless your definitions of "a religious society" and "modernization" are so far apart that they don't fit your own setting.
.....Have you never heard of the wars of the Meiji Restoration, including the famous Satsuma Rebellion? The Islamist Revolution in Iran? Fascism in Europe?

>And anyway, unlocking the latent psychic powers present in everyone would be a type of modernization that the science culture could only oppose if their de-facto science religion irrationally said that psychic powers are haram.

But I don't have psychic powers, I try to keep my science as hard as is practical. Otherwise there's practically no difference between the scifi and fantasy factions.

>>25164583
None of your examples matches your argument. In particular, the current-day Iran should be premodern according to you, but clearly they have no trouble developing some very modern weaponry.

>I try to keep my science as hard as is practical.
When your setting has demonstrably functional magic, magic in your setting belongs in the realm of science.

File: WHC36451806.jpg (262 KB, 1496x1168)

262 KB JPG

>>25130237
What do you need to remember if you’re trying to make a Law vs Chaos setting? Especially in terms of the gods, I feel like for a couple of the Chaos gods in particular Warhammer did less choosing inherently “chaotic” concepts for them to hold dominion over and instead took something and made it twisted with lots of mutations and shit. Like, why is the main Trickster deity/Loki analogy an Eldar god instead of a Chaos one, unless you count a certain blue god’s tendency to screw over his followers in his plots?

I know about Moorcock’s work, besides that, what are some other places I can look for ideas for domains that each side can hold dominion over, or any suggestions for that you can think of/recommend here?

>>25165097
Law/Chaos systems end up combining multiple unrelated things under the same binary umbrella and end up incoherent as a result. In practice there isn't really Law and Chaos as much as Law and Alt-Law or Law and Counter-Law. It gets even worse if you add Balance as an additional faction that snatches up things that would normally have belonged to Law.

Dungeons & Dragons and especially its Planescape campaign setting make use of Law and Chaos.

>>25164656
...Iran is literally on the brink of collapse because they can't maintain the modern water systems their modern predecessors innovated.

And that's when they're reactionaries who stole from modern elites, not actual premodern elites.

>>25164656
>When your setting has demonstrably functional magic, magic in your setting belongs in the realm of scienc
I'll try to do something about that.

Is it still a Masquerade if everyone knows the supernatural exists, but almost nobody has actually seen any because magical beings and Mages prefer to hide?

The reasoning is simply that most of them are violent criminals, anti-social misfits, or literal monsters. The less evil ones don't want to be bothered by normals while the more evil ones don't want to be killed by priests, soldiers, or other magical entities.

Once again, magic being a thing is public knowledge and acknowledged by every government. They just can't prove it.

>>25165719
>Is it still a Masquerade if everyone knows the supernatural exists
No.

>>25163780
>he fantasy faction is against industrialization
ok but magic civilizations still use technology. Pen and quill are tech, bricks are tech ect. What is the limit? You don't need to industrialize to make a ton of stuff it can be handbuilt.
>it's opposed to letting superhumans dictate the course of human affairs
well ok but they didn't find some magic stone to put in a generator or something? It just seems unrealistic to have such a hard divide unless a portal just opened up or they come from different planets or something

>>25165972
I'd say the limit is basically anything that can be built by entirely state funded artisan guilds that don't have access to any Information tech more advanced than handwritten books and letters.

It has to be state funded though. The government claims , through religious doctrine, absolute authority over all economic sectors from agriculture to industry.

>well ok but they didn't find some magic stone to put in a generator or something?

No? Magic doesn't work by physics rules. You can't.....just use energy to do work. It's more like communicating with the universe.

I try to keep the mechanics as irrational and counter-intuitive as actual myths because I want magic to be as opposed to science as possible. So if science is logical, sensible, and internally consistent, magic must be impossible to understand and unconcerned with even basic principles like self-consistency.

>>25165972
>unless a portal just opened up or they come from different planets or something
But with that said, this is true. Mages are basically human aliens. They look like humans, but they're metaphysically closer to Djinn or the Fae.

>>25165702
The pre-revolution Iran didn't have Shaheed drones or missiles apparently capable of hitting Diego Garcia, let alone nuclear weapons. And water reservoirs are ancient technology dating back thousands of years but require occasional water input to stay filled, and Iran has been having a drought.

File: capsule_616x353 (1).jpg (112 KB, 616x353)

112 KB JPG

>>25165352
>Dungeons & Dragons and especially its Planescape campaign setting make use of Law and Chaos.
I'll take a look there, thanks, I was trying to avoid doing so just to look at other options, but I guess I'll have to just bite the bullet.

I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on Law vs Chaos/Anti-Law, and what some settings that mess things up are so I know what to avoid, BTW.

>>25166080
Pre Revolution Iran did, however, have the most sophisticated science education in the region with the sole exception of Israel, and was a leader in water preservation systems that most countries still can't match.

Modern Iran is just building knockoff Chinese drones and slowly but surely moving towards ecological collapse because the Ayatollahs don't have engineers capable of managing their water reserves.

>>25130241
>>What kinds of fantastical creatures and outright monsters exist in your worlds
It's mostly transhumans adapted to comfortably living in space, vampires (including werewolves and ghouls) that eat human flesh and blood to live longer, superhumans built to serve an absolute stratocracy on Mars, half Djinn that can change shape at will, and literal robots built to serve humans. Oh, and some fake species built to replace humans, including but not limited to giants, beastmen of many kinds, faeries that possess animals and plants, and several species of incorporeal beings that can only communicate through sound and light.

>how did you design/choose them?
Dunno, dude, I just picked whatever stuff I liked.

>And what is your favorite monster of all (hard mode: no dragons)?
No dragons? Then I'd choose the Ogres. They're a race of four armed, 2-2.5 meter tall superhumans that can do some pretty cool magic.

They're meant to be an attempt from Gaia to minmax a new human replacement that's minmax'd for war. It means that they're really good at fighting, and at anything that's directly related to fighting....and that's it. They're incapable of stuff like legislation, city building, domestication, or even agriculture.

It means that they're ironically not all that threatening for any polity that's bigger than a group of premodern villages.

Do you invest in the trope of Protagonist Races? I'd define them as a separate humanlike but superhuman race whose only purpose is to make the protagonist special.

Examples include, but aren't limited to, Kryptonians, Saiyans, Hobbits, Time Lords, and more than one vampire story.

>>25164148
I'm on the case
Light
>Focus and cognition
>Healing and medicine
>summer/spring
>Anything related to earth element (earth nourishes plants and things like glass and bricks are made with fire which counts as light)
>Stars
>Vision
>Change/energy
Dark
>Sleep and rest
>Death
>Erosion
>Wind
>Hearing and feeling
>Winter/autumn
>Cold/ice
>Preservation (because cold)

I tried to be a little weird because it's easy to just come up with a bunch of easy material things. I also didn't want light to be good and dark to be evil

>>25166815
It's kind of of boring by now. what else can you do with it? It's just an explanation for a character. Those races are usually conveniently extinct except for a few examples to prevent the need to flesh out the society.

>>25166815
Only as love interests.

File: 63087-8704389-64.jpg (289 KB, 1024x768)

289 KB JPG

>>25167058
>I also didn't want light to be good and dark to be evil
That was also my intention to keep morality out of it, glad you picked up on that because I forgot to say it, lol. If you can think of other ideas, or other things for the Balance god to have, like maybe negotiation, please let me know!

>>25167094
>Only as love interests.
NTA, but what's that now?

>>25167069
Literally all mentioned societies are fleshed out and only one of them is extinct.

>>25168302
saiyans and kryptonians are both extinct and irrelevant to the stories of the protagonists

>>25166094
The D&D and Moorcock versions of Law and Chaos are deep down fundamentally different. D&D treats Law/Chaos as an additional axis of morality orthogonal to Good/Evil while Moorcock has Law and Chaos replacing the normal place of Good and Evil.

The D&D version of Law/Chaos works decently well when it's reduced to stable hierarchy vs. individualism, but D&D had to add additional factors to confuse the issue, so that for example Chaos gets creativity, madness, and acting randomly. This then makes it hard to determine the alignment in cases such as a brilliant and creative traditionalist poet who writes in a strict, traditional meter or an insane person with OCD.

Moorcock on the other hand has his Law vs. Chaos roughly correspond to chuds vs. wokies as seen by a far-left author who doesn't believe in Good and Evil. Moorcock's Law wants to have everyone look and act identical and even the landscape a featureless flat plain of perfect order, while Moorcock's Chaos... are basically cruel demons and do things like invade dimensions to wreck stuff and capture and forcefully mutate the inhabitants into horrible shapes. In real world politics Moorcock classifies his enemies the Nazis and the Victorian moralists as followers of Law while Chaos is 1960s counterculture and gay acceptance, which Moorcock supports.

In Blood: A Southern Fantasy (an annoying book I don't recommend reading) Moorcock gives an origin story for his Law and Chaos factions. Both were originally angels and looked much the same but started to develop philosophical disagreements. Then a Moorcock main character whose name I forgot met them, got explained the divided political situation, and asked "Which are which?" The angels were totally shocked by the question, so that when the character saw the angels again a short while later, the angels had transformed their appearances. The angels who sided with Law all now looked identical while the angels who sided with Chaos had gone for extreme individualist looks.

>>25165702
>Iran is literally on the brink of collapse because they can't maintain the modern water systems their modern predecessors innovated.
Two more weeks!

>>25166815
No, I prefer heroes who earn their specialness rather than being born special.

>>25169215
Funny, I prefer both. That way it doesn't feel like the hero is the only one capable of earning success through hard work, nor does it make everyone else look lazy.

After all,

I just realized a very useful thing. My superhumans don't really need to be Superman tier to be critical political tools. They'd be just as useful if they were about Spiderman tier, but are used as assassins rather than blunt force weapons.

After all, the weak point of every big army is the leadership, all of which are fragile humans only protected by a bunch of mooks with handguns and rifles. All you need is someone that can sneak into a country, batter through 20-30 men with small arms, and kill a single old man.

>After the pagan gods were defeated, their demigod descendants that ruled the vast majority of the world were gradually overthrown across the planet.
>In the modern day, these descendants still maintain the great strength and supernatural luck of their ancestors, but are no longer given special treatment by other humans.
>However, their blood still carries within it the urge to command and dominate other humans.
>This usually leads to them joining criminal gangs and the military, and sometimes even radical revolutionary groups like fanatical cults, fascist political parties, and Secret Societies.

You could say they're pretty much street level Supervillains.

File: 7021f7df2de3c679d676eeeb5(...).jpg (54 KB, 600x800)

54 KB JPG

>>25167058
Hey, what would you suggest for Law/Order and Chaos deities, what things would each side also hold dominion over?

>>25168761
>Moorcock has Law and Chaos replacing the normal place of Good and Evil.
I looked up some of his stuff, there 'are' examples of both Good and Evil members and the Law and Chaos side of things according to the wiki, is it wrong? Thanks for the summary regardless!

>>25172443
If you're reading a wiki that has Good and Evil as alignments in capital letters, it sounds like a Dungeons & Dragons wiki.

I haven't read everything Moorcock ever wrote (much of it frankly isn't any good and I'm no longer a teenager who can relate to Elric's teen angst), but he keeps repeating the same themes and has merged together all his series so that all the main characters are reincarnations of one another and there are a lot of gratuitous references and crossovers in the name of cross-marketing, but I've read enough to get a representative idea. Moorcock himself too has long since given up on consistent timelines and coherent worldbuilding and claims that such pursuits are only for autistic fantasy nerds while he himself writes real Literature about Deep Human Themes.

For example, Arioch is a Lord of Chaos who features prominently in the Elric stories. In these stories Arioch behaves much like a typical evil demon lord. But then comes the crossover in which Elric ends up in the world of Dancers at the End of Time and identifies one of the main cast of that world as Arioch and is seemingly correct even though that character whose name I forgot isn't even a villain in his native series. But then, having all the Moorcock main characters be the same character leads to unresolved issues of characterization too.

File: 1767414905656385.jpg (124 KB, 736x981)

124 KB JPG

>>25172443
List anon here. If you're referring to order and chaos as good/evil I find it hard to be really different or creative with that pantheon. You could just reference the 7 deadly sins and 7 heavenly virtues alongside some creation/destruction stuff.
An idea I find interesting is that maximal order and maximal chaos are both bad. Max order means that every atom in the universe is in exactly the same state and they're all separated from each other by exactly the same distance. In other words it means nothing exists. Max chaos is the opposite but the same in that nothing that is meaningful to people would exist. So maybe people need to worship both order and chaos gods to stay virtuous and balanced.

File: 08ff555123054a289f9d3304d(...).jpg (7 KB, 235x324)

7 KB JPG

>>25172763
Sorry, I just used the Warhammer pictures because they're pretty familiar to more people, I was thinking that Law and Chaos would be separate from a good/evil thing, with each having positive and negative aspects, yeah. Does that help?

>>25172665
>https://stormbringer.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos
The capitalization was on me I admit. The wiki I mentioned is linked above.

File: 16406085745267.jpg (17 KB, 421x399)

17 KB JPG

Context. My dad got sick when I was seven and died when I was thirteen. I later experienced other consecutive tragedies, which made me become a gnostic.

I completed a 650k word fantasy novel series and incorporated my gnostic worldview into the setting. This was planned long before the cliche of demons secretly being the "good guys" took off and became a meme.

My reason for including this is from a source of genuine schizophrenic hatred for Y*ldaboth, unlike others who are just atheists or subversive, but I don't want to play this cliche straight. It's not a major plot element until the last book, but I don't want something so cliched to suddenly appear in my series. Seeing Invincible get shit on for doing this has been really disheartening. (Don't watch it but seeing the talk right now.)

Should I go through my story again and change it all?

>>25173121
how are demons the good guys in Gnosticism?

>>25173221
It's my personal interpretation. Lucifer saved humanity by freeing us from the prison of the Garden.

>>25173227
alright well I won't have an argument with you but I think if you really poured something of yourself into your work then you should have some conviction and just go for it. Especially if it's done

>What kinds of fantastical creatures and outright monsters exist in your worlds, and how did you design/choose them?

They're really just spins on existing creatures, from the various regions I am drawing inspiration from. Especially present are emu-like creatures instead of horses. But I adapted them to be more monstrous due to how harsh my world is. There are also all sorts of slug creatures and mycetes, and these are deeply incorporated into the world and cultures. Some mycetes take over humans and have their own quasi-civilization. My main creature is the Th'za, a barbarian unintelligent slave force similar to like Mudokons from Oddworld or Murlocks. Disgusting toad men.

>How does the presence of the monsters affect the ecosystem of the setting? Are any of your monsters herbivores or do they solely feed on the blood of the innocent?

They primarily feed on slugs. However, the slugs are being harvested for living ammunition. This turns many creatures to bloodlust.

>Are any monsters in your setting sapient, or are they all just beasts?

And if any are sapient, what do you have to consider when including them? The Th'za are capable of intelligence but most do not live up to it.

>Do the people of your setting tame/domesticate any monsters somehow, and if so, how does that affect their society, and how do they manage that feat? Speaking of, how do people defend against wild monsters?

It's a wild wasteland. Some are tamed, others aren't. People fend for themselves with their huskles, projectile weapons that store, preserve, and fire slugs. Different slugs have different utility.

>>25173532
>In your setting, what is the major religion(s) present?

This is the main focus of my worldbuilding so far. There are various conplex religions/folklore and they often collide, and collide violently. There is a quasi-religion of science, folkish steppe religion which is eroding the once prevalent acceptance of the spiritual world (which heavily draws from Dreamtime Aboriginal myth). There is an evil cult which worships their leader, who is actually a fallen celestial being. The main idea is that humans live in these vast celestial beings similar to Wandjina, but over time they lost their religious respect and have been completely eroded by scientific rationalization. Some humans left these celestial guardians and settle on the planet that is the primary location of the series, a desolate wasteland. Some cling to "myths" of these celestial beings, but it's very corrupted and eroded now. The original settlers, who enslaved the Th'zha, developed a completely new religion which again is primarily steppe/Mongolian mysticism and shamanism. There is also a new Age gnostic type religion that is deeply unpopular. They are monastic and similar to Orthodox priests, but obviously gnostic. They try spreading peace, which is not accepted by many. Think sort of like the mystic from the movie The Holy Mountain. >How accurate is the religion to the actual reality of the setting? And if the god(s) of the setting actually exist in the world, how does this affect their faiths, and what needs to be remembered when making said gods and pantheons? There are "gods" of sorts but they're more like tricksters imbued with power. Few really understand their religions, it's all become a mess over time and especially with all the different nomadic cultures.

>Where do you look for ideas/resources on creating the divinities of your settings? Are there any settings in particular that you feel do gods right?

History primarily. Histories of more ancient/primal cultures clashing with more "advanced" colonial powers.

File: how-strong-is-juggernaut-(...).png (316 KB, 640x978)

316 KB PNG

>>25130237
For a giant hulking race like picrel, would including breasts on the females be a bit tacked on?

File: 1691bed02935eaee334126806052.jpg (43 KB, 564x900)

43 KB JPG

>>25130237
I was loosely inspired by the Brothers from RWBY, and was thinking that the main deities of my setting would be a Lady of Creation and a Lord of Destruction (who I was thinking would be a couple, with potentially some children of theirs as lesser deities), the former making things all the time and the latter destroying the things that would harm the world at large and refining what he doesn't destroy, like a writer and their editor. What other aspects make sense for them and/or their subordinate deities to have besides Art and Life for the Lady and Death for the Lord (and maybe Disease, because things like diseases and monsters would be what occasionally slips by him and maybe because people pray for deliverance from said diseases)? Maybe Dreams for the Lady?

List anon, looking at you please! >>25172763

>>25173912
Well, if they're mammalian it could work as long as you don't go too crazy.

File: yd5cem5apk4 (1).jpg (2.7 MB, 1536x8176)

2.7 MB JPG

https://imgchest.com/p/xny85newpyb

Worldbuilding challenge: Try to design the ultimate force of evil using this cyoa.

Form: Shadow
Specialization: Spymaster
Races: Humans, Shapeshifters, Spectral Undead

Traits: Scrying, Corruptor, Joining, Bureaucracy
Drawbacks: Elitism

Medium Units: Amorph, Werecreature, Stalker, Sapper, Spy, Debilitator, Concubine

Elite Units: Praetorian, Infiltrator, Wraith, Animator, Mesmer, Pact Maker, Strategos

Starting Location: City of Gloriend

My strategy is to create a vast conspiracy hidden in plain sight, rather than an army. I will disguise myself as a normal merchant, and use a mansion as my headquarters. As a spymaster, I will obviously be using my spies and to infiltrate the various factions. Bureaucracy should help with this. In addition to my agents, Corruptor will give me a bonus if I bribe civilians into acting as my spies as well, and my Concubines can attach themselves to the rich and powerful.

I will accumulate knowledge of all that is happening so I always know when my enemies are most vulnerable. Ideally, I will either have my Mesmers brainwash my enemies and use Joining to turn them into my loyal servants, or simply assassinate my enemies with Wraiths and replace them with Shapeshifters. For personal protection I will have a cadre of Praetorians disguised as my mundane servants and bodyguards.

In summary, I am creating a secret society capable of defeating my enemies before they even realize it exists. Even if my enemies do eventually catch on to what I am doing, they will be unable to coordinate due to the constant fear of my agents within their ranks.

File: female_muscle_ideal_propo(...).jpg (186 KB, 751x1063)

186 KB JPG

>>25176023
Well they're alien but I did intend them to nurse their young, so I guess that'd work

I'll say their breasts look like this pic I suppose

>>25176110
That's an interesting challenge with many different ways of approaching it.

Form: Conqueror
Specialization: Emperor
Races: Humans, Dwarves, Fallen Angels
My Race: Fallen Angel (human-like with two wings like the goddesses)

Traits: Industrialize, Scrying, Monument Builder
Drawbacks: Honorable (though it's probably going to kill me at least once)

Basic Units: Peon, Fodder, Warrior, Mount (2)

Medium Units: Phalanx, Stalker, Sharpshooter, Spy, Artillerist, Sapper, Artisan, Alchemist, Standard-Bearer, Centurion, Concubine (13)

Elite Units: Vanguard, False Priest, Magus, Strategos (10)

Starting Location: Ever Forest

I start in Ever Forest where I can begin building a base and gathering essence without attracting much attention. I initially summon humans and try to keep my chosen race from getting out too early. When I can spare the essence, I summon a False Priest of Wisdom (the dead fourth goddess), who should be sufficiently authentic to be believable given the lack of real examples lately. My country is officially the country of Wisdom and I make sure that it is managed well and that the people are happy and that it all looks very boring and mundane to casual scryers. I fight with the local goblinoids and make no move against the goddesses.

When my super-genius political skill (from Emperor combined with the Fallen Angel's high inherent stats) determines that the time is ripe and the goddesses have successfully undermined their own credibility to the fullest, I interfere in the inter-goddess conflict near Sanctum Citadel as a peacemaker with the Concubine by my side and side with Wisdom. I claim that the conflict only happened because people kept following the foolish goddesses rather than Wisdom. If I play my cards well (I should), the people tired of the conflict decide to become my followers, and I get to annex a lot of good land and mines that will be useful for industrialization. If the goddesses try to attack me at this point I claim that they are enemies of Wisdom, who was their sister. I also try to use my political skill to widen the rifts between the goddesses and their followers rather than have them all unite against me.

I develop industrialization as a force multiplier against the goddesses' superior military might while wowing people with luxuries like electric lights, magnificent architecture, and glorious statues in honor of Wisdom. I summon strategoi to help me in administering my country and keeping it as close to utopian as reasonably practical.

If the goddesses don't rage quit, I'm planning on gathering enough essence before the end game to unlock and summon the behemoth, which should be able to fight against the divine avatars.

>>25177850
To add, I seriously considered picking Human as my race. The PR benefits could have been worth the lower stats, though it's hard to say. A Dark Elf could also perhaps have been a good compromise. There isn't really enough detailed information available to make a truly informed decision on these things. In the end I figured that Fallen Angels probably weren't meant to be that exceptional in this sort of high fantasy world and so I could pick one without becoming the talk of the continent or provoking an army against me before I had done anything.

>>25177893
After having considered this matter for some time, I probably shouldn't risk everything on an unclear issue early on and so should pick Human instead... I've given far too much thought for such a silly hypothetical really...

Due to sexual selection breeding out people who were more muscular than is strictly practical in space, humanity in the space colonies has evolved into a bunch of intelligent pansies that are no stronger than a teenage girl.

I wanted to call them Eloi in homage to HG Wells, but that book probably doesn't exist in my setting.

>>25178034
Besides, the Eloi were subhuman idiots. Spacers are hyper-intelligent posthumans. It wouldn't work.

>>25173121
>blogposting
>caring what the cattle that watches invincible says
>muh Gnosticism
Jesus

Would a torus ringworld that revolves around a giant O'Neil Cylinder be stable?

File: 1751870701538705.gif (2.34 MB, 275x200)

2.34 MB GIF

>try to write
>everything ends up blood meridian but in different environments or periods of time

File: a4820d7f82129c26159fc095a(...).jpg (212 KB, 736x1041)

212 KB JPG

Tell me if this is practical:

Imperial governors are legally forbidden from leaving their capital for non-military reasons. All communication with the Palace are to be transmitted by a special corps of messengers. If the Governor receives a summons to court, he's legally obligated to treat it as a trap and the Emperor himself can't criticize him for it.

This is supposed to be a part of the Imperial doctrine to strengthen the power of provincial governors after an era of instability due to weak governance in the provinces.

Mind you, said governors are still appointed and directed by the Centre. This doctrine is meant to increase the power of the Palace, not dilute it. The Palace just realized, unlike real life dictators, that the elites can either hang together or hang separately. And better to have half their power than none.

>>25177272
What more can you say on this race please?

Modern hypersexuality has rotten all our brains. Female mammalian mammaries aren't just a kink, they fulfill important biological roles.

If you want to make a fetish setting, do so. If you seriously want to dip your toes into speculative biology, leave that childish nonsense at the door.

The very concept of a magic system was created by a Scifi civilization to break through the boundaries of traditional magic.

Back in the day, magic derived its power from the Authority of its wielders. Only priests, aristocrats, and some dark sorcerers could hope to accomplish anything. About all magic could really accomplish was to massage the odds in the favour of the Mage and...that's it. Maybe some healing and prophecy too, but don't count on it.

Then a transitional stage arrived when Mages started deriving power from direct contracts. The terms of the contract ensured Mages were bound to strict codes of preserving and growing knowledge, which was where the word started to be associated with "Knowledge".

And then eventually, the tipping point was reached. Mages had accumulated so much knowledge of the workings of the Cosmos that the spells they wielded had gone from simple rituals of their predecessors to systematic models of reality manipulation.

That was the point where Mages finally stopped being priests and transitioned to being scholars of reality. And that was the point where Magic became something you could learn, add on to, and modify to execute your Will.

In other words, Magic became a System.

>>25177850
Because I apparently can't let mentally go off this thing, I started wondering if Industrialization might in fact be a trap similar to strategies based on mobile eternal conquest (that don't work because you only get the essence the first time you conquer something) because it's relying on my knowledge and I only have very superficial knowledge on things like cannon-making and trying to figure out it all from near-scratch would take a lot of time even with boosted mental stats.

So...
Traits: Joining, Recycling, Scrying
Drawbacks: None

Joining + Recycling lets me get back my experienced units even after a full defeat and also lets me offer physical immortality to those who wish to side with me. Scrying is really handy specifically to block others from scrying my location. I miss Monument Builder though. If I can have a version of Honorable that is more about sparing the civilians than getting killed in duels, then it'd be worth picking that one and Monument Builder so that my domain can look magnificent and advanced, even if I don't build the essence-farming monuments until later when I have openly turned against the goddesses.

The question of which race to pick for myself is really difficult...