Maps and Cartography Edition Welcome to /wbg/, the official thread for the discussion of in-progress settings for traditional games.Here is where you go to present and develop the details of your worlds such as lore, factions, magic and ecosystems. You can also post maps for your settings, as well as any relevant art (either created by you or used as inspiration for your work). Please remember that dialogue is what keeps the thread alive, so don't be afraid of giving someone feedback!Last Thread: >>93321477Resources for Newfags: https://sites.google.com/view/wbgeneral/Worldbuilding links: https://pastebin.com/JNnj79S5https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/Eo+fK41FKVR7xDpbNO0a0N4k0YYxrmyrhX3VxnM14Ew/Fantasy map generator: https://watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generatorThread questions:>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?>What programs and tools do you (or the people in your setting) use to create your setting’s maps, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Also, please share any such relevant maps.>Do you have any advice for using those programs and tools, based on your own experiences? How about mapmaking advice in general?>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy you? And if there’s nothing in particular, what unusual locations do you have in your worlds?Bonus: What’s the best way to create star maps and planetary maps for science fiction settings, and how does it contrast from fantasy map creation?
>>93396996How dangerous is it being a cartographer in your worlds? I want to figure out how dangerous it should be for the races in my own world.
>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?My setting's "present" is analogous to the start of the age of exploration, so there is no global map of the world and no single person in the world knows more than half of the world to the degree of making an accurate map of it.This would obviously change of you moved forward in time by 2-4 centuries.That said the way I drawn my continents lends itself and just magic lends itself to people exploring more early on than irl>What programs and tools do you (or the people in your setting) use to create your setting’s maps, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Also, please share any such relevant maps.Paint.net, Ive used it for years and it has layers support, so all you really need.I don't feel confident enough to share my map yet, a lot of stuff is still heavily wip>Do you have any advice for using those programs and tools, based on your own experiences? How about mapmaking advice in general?its just an image editor, so practical experience is all you need.For general mapmaking I can't teach much, I would just say mind the scale of your map when drawing coastlines and don't over do estimate the ruggenedness of coastlines, nothing screams generic map more than a shark teeth shaped coastline where there is no rhime and reason.I also suggest to draw with a topographical and a climate map of the real world as a opaque layer on top so that you can always crossreferebce what you are doing with the real world even if you are consciously trying to do things different.
>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy you? And if there’s nothing in particular, what unusual locations do you have in your worlds?Other than zigzag coastlines, I dislike maps that depic Europeanlike regions too vertically in a way that makes no climate sense, if you are not actually being creative with your climate and are copying our real climate works then put the effort and check whether the regions you want to be of X climate would plausibly be using the same guidelines you can use to describe our world's climates.
>>93396996>>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?I've only made one island fully, rest of the islands still need more cities and dungeons and stuff. Being a cartographer is important, as the vast majority of the landmasses haven't been discovered yet. Legend has it that deep in the unexplored jungle there lies a city made of solid gold.>>Do you have any advice for using those programs and tools, based on your own experiences? How about mapmaking advice in general?https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/I use this because it is free and gives you basically everything you need. I tried getting into inkarnate but I didn't want to pay to make maps.
Pic related is still the best map I've ever seen (although I might be biased because I grew up with this book).
>>93399728>paw islandlolalso this map is 2/10 at best, painfully generic segregation of biomes and the climate doesnt seem to make sense
is magic inherently evil in your world?
>>93396996>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?Almost none. There's a pervasive miasma that prevents people from fully exploring their own region, let alone travel to others. I haven't added the miasma to the map though, since the concentration shifts depending on the era.>What programs and tools do you (or the people in your setting) use to create your setting’s maps, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Also, please share any such relevant maps.picrel was made with azgaar. I used an elevation map as the main visible layer, and used the biome map with some transparency to add some extra greenery>Do you have any advice for using those programs and tools, based on your own experiences? How about mapmaking advice in general?If you just need some landmasses with relatively accurate biome generation, you'd be hard pressed to find something better. The political mapping is also pretty neat, but I had no use for it. If anyone else is a noob like me, [Tools] -> Edit -> Heightmap will let you terraform the current map, which is important for a map builder. [Style] -> Select Element -> Biomes/Heightmap will let you change the visuals of each. I like to set the Biome filter to Blur 7 and Heightmap filter to Paper, and then mess around with the opacity and other options of each until it starts looking moderately okay. You can add custom heightmap colors by clicking the [+] next to color scheme>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy you? And if there’s nothing in particular, what unusual locations do you have in your worlds?landmass shapes. I'm not really an expert, but there's just a feeling you get when you see something incorrect. As far as interesting places, I have a handful of flying cities that are detached pieces of a colony ship that crash landed on the plant centuries ago. However, no one alive remembers this history.
>>93401797and here's another one I made in about 20mins.
I just thought of an idea: teleportation creates a split second or so of vacuum at the original location. Though I guess that would only affect nearby objects of very, very light weight
>>93400352It follows fairytale logic which isn't necessarily a bad thing.>>93399728The Edge Chronicles and Chronicles of Ancient Darkness also feature killer maps which I'll always have a soft spot for.>>93401571Clarketech's produced by the inherently insane. "Evil" doesn't really come into it but you can be damn sure that whatever design philosophies the blursed artefacts and technologies are made according to will not be pro-human.
>>93396996I have a race of giants in my setting that are giant flesheaters like Titans from Attack on TitanLike the Titans I wanted them to mostly be mindless monsters that are asexual However I wanted them to be capable of reproduction, but I already have a plant based race so I don't wanna reuse seeds. What's a good way for them to reproduce? They were created as a weapon by chemically altering humans with alchemy if that helps.
>>93403177infecting someone of another race so that they become like them feels like an obvious answer.
>>93403679I wanted them to be something self sustaining Maybe they eat and vomit up the eaten mass as another one of their own. They eat animals and thus can grow if left unchecked.
>>93404061Cordyceps fungi like the last of us but not as virulent. Those aren't really plants, right? My greenskin orcs have something similar.
>>93404061I dig that. As bio-horrors with a focus on eating I might make them regurgitation-prone as a theme. Lacking anus and genitalia (nobody wants to know what's under the flabby stomach folds) they digest just about everything they ingest before retching owl-like pellets. Having pica there's often plenty of their own hair, gravel and swallowed teeth from punch-ups among the mass. Of course humans have an "in out and through" system for a reason and as ecstatic as the act of eating itself is digestion is an ornery affair of burping, chewing vile cud and dozing uneasily.It's also a vaguely supernatural process. Just as they can smell emotions so too do they digest one humour after another, you can usually tell what their stomach's working on because the beast as a whole takes on its aspect (entrepreneurial giantslayers often keep an eye out for giants resting easy, they've eaten children and are enjoying the rare valuable delicacy of innocence). They don't much like being bitter evil bastards and so get rid of that slime as frequently as they can, however that being their nature it's "sticky" within their soul/biology. Eventually enough'll build up to accrete within a large waste pellet to be vomited up as a larva-like ogre.
>>93396996There's a bunch of worlds out there which I haven't defined much beyond biomes and broad natural features. Being sf colonies orbital mapping's a given and even in societies that've regressed into barbarism there's a vague understanding of their own planet's wider geography if not its place in the wider universe.Exploration's pretty focused on the sorts of things which can't be pieced together from orbit. Hort for instance is defined by trying to strangle the Garden that they'd worked so hard to plant once it turned toxic. "Applied Surveyors" work far longer shifts than your usual hazmatted outdoor worker, travelling deep into the flora and xenobe chocked wilds to assess soil conditions and plant lineage proliferation. Most are "skyled" relying on satellite-derived CO2 maps and precipitation patterns to gather the most relevant data mission duration allows. "Dirtgrubbers" or "grubs" take a more freeform approach going wherever their findings on the ground lead them, though slower than the skyled there's some merit to their claims that the latter only ever see what they expect to see. The biosphere is nothing if not dismally surprising these days after all...>>93397254Unfortunately while a surveyor's badge was once a guarantee of safe passage between various despotate territories (to the extent that travellers wore facsimiles much like a pilgrim's shell) as equatorial refugees increase and stockpiles dwindle the polities are starting to get cagey. They're starting to be hounded as potential spies and scouts, should any conflict erupt at least some will be caught in the hinterlands between belligerents. At least the very xenobes which make Hort toxic mean no dangerous fauna to speak of, just horizon after horizon of poisonous green.
>>93401571Haven't decided. On one hand having it be related to the evil dead god of the sun would be cool, but the setting veers dangerously into I can't believe it's not the elder scrolls enough as is so I'm hesitant
>>93396996>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?Very little. The world consist of a vast number of different Realms, some of them the size of a continents, while the smaller ones might by an island of moderate size. Realm work like planes, or better yet, fragments of the same plane. In order to get from one realm to another a person needs trough undergo a journey trough one of four "travel methods". While Realms with a bigger human presence are fairly well mapped, other realms have little to no information available. This way, Cartography is a very hard but lucrative profession. Scouts and Explorers take journeys to uncharted realms, in order to gather information and drafts, which are then sold to Scribes, who will compile this information into well made maps. Travelers gossip, rough drafts, old maps from long lost empires are valuable and Scribes use those in order to create new more accurate maps>>93397254For scouts and explores is pretty a rough deal. Some will even hire guards and mercenaries to accompany them for protection, or make cartography as a side job from being a soldier, adventurer or traveler. Scribes on the other hands just sit on comfy rooms making maps, but have to pass the mental task of compiling multi sources information.
>>93403177I make them as a sexless self perpetuating pest. While sometimes they can appear to have male,female or sometimes both traces, ll creatures that can be labeled as giants are part of the same "species". They are creatures of extreme hunger, that consume stuff from rocks, wood, mud and meat. After eating enough, a new giant emerge from their bellies (they have a mouth on their head and a bigger one on their stomach). The new giant is based on the material that his progenitor has eaten. Magical components might birth a cyclops, or maybe even a giant with some sort of elemental power. Since giants are kinda dumb, most of them just eat whatever they can get their hands on, even other giants. But from time to time stronger and even more intelligent giants can appear, with human-like intelligence or even better.
>>93404061another idea is that they could be born from the corpses of one of their own. Ie all of them carry some sort of "eggs" that, while alive, are mostly kept at bay by the corpse. But, once the body dies, these shits eat it and grow.
Made a one page pdf for you guys that sort of covers the biology of Psionics in my new worldbuilding project. Any thoughts would be appreciated.>>93396996>Q1None at all since I've only just begun really. I have very simple ideas in my head for land features (the great mud lake, thermal hubs where wildlife gather, distant mega-cities), but haven't begun to figure out how they mesh together.>Q2Mostly pencil and paper because of how free form it is. I'm not good at drawing, but I don't need to be. I would use paint or a similar software but I don't have a digital drawing pad. Hexographer is useful as well, but I think it's ugly, so I don't use it much. It's good for DnD and simple maps.>Q3Not really. Practice and use tutorials at all times, I'm a pleb.>Q4The underworld is a literal, physical place you can walk/dig to, the graves of ancient gods as well. If it exists in the world, players can get their by mundane means. >>93397254A little more dangerous than it was irl 1000 years ago. Wild animals, potential human threats, and maybe a roaming spirit if you're unlucky.>>93402189I looked this up, and some random guy on Quora says the air filling the resulting vacuum would cause a sound louder than a gun shot. Pretty cool detail for an RPG, which I'm gonna use.>>93403177the infectious self sustaining bio-weapon is a good angle to take. A healthy splash of body horror never hurt anyone. The Riddle of Steel has similar idea with the Hef (who sustain through raping literally anything female), resulting in some Hef with human intelligence, others with terrifying gorilla strength, and wolf-hef that are quadrupedal. Could definately steal that for your guys (without the rape obviously lol).
>>93408387People that can use Psionic powers have a special gland (or maybe everyone has, but only only after it becoming active the person in question can use psionic abilities).In order to create Psionic Points (or psionic fluid for a more in lore name) the body has to convert available nutrients, that are kept in said gland. While the Psionic Gland creates and store this fluid, a little bit of it is kept in smaller doses trough the brain, allowing this Gland to slowly gather it naturally when it's empty.
>>93396996I'm looking to create elemental regions/nations for my setting, like Avatar but not solely based on Eastern cultures, and besides advice on the cultures themselves, I could use some thoughts on what to do for unusual geographic features I could include in each region and/or how to map them after the obvious like the Fire region having lots of volcanoes and shit like picture related. If you don't have any ideas yourself, are there any good settings that I can look at for ideas on this that are NOT Avatar?
>>93396996How goods the map generator? I got a 3 level city that I'd like to map out instead of just having a sheet with neighborhoods and general info scribbles. Any other sites to consider for city generation?
>>93396996Kys d*scord cancer.
I'm thinking of making my own scifi setting. I'm thinking of aiming for something with the vibe of "post apocalyptic run down but not quite grim dark mass effect". I'm more of a fantasy guy but I want to try branching out and was wondering if anyone had pointers for making a good scifi setting. Also I'm taking submissions for alien ideas.
>>93399728based
>>93400352filtered
>>93396996>>What programs and tools do you (or the people in your setting) use to create your setting’s maps, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Also, please share any such relevant maps.I use mix of Inkscape and GIMP.>>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy yoUse of Inkarnate makes my blood boil
>>93396996Hey, is the Affinities and Schools guy from >>93370907 in the last thread still here? I'd love to talk to you about your stuff!
>>93409842They based the Fire Nation on Iceland geographically since that's very volcanic, rather than Japan which I think makes more sense. Volcanoes create rough and sharp rocks (as they are new and haven't been weathered down by time yet) and the ash makes the dirt black. You could also do a desert connection (sun=hot). Earth could maybe look at Central Asia which is in as middle of nowhere as possible, the Tibetan mountains. Maybe Australia since it's the lone continent surrounded by ocean. Water could look at Polynesia, the Carribean. Maybe a continent like Europe that is nothing but archipeligo's which allowed european nations to project their power out to sea. Could look at swamps like Louisianan or Florida (Florida being tropical beaches and ungodly interior swamps). Maybe British Geography as they were a massive seapower there's a lot I could tell you about there. Air, maybe look at tropical rainforests like the Amazon which produce most of the worlds oxygen. Or a temperate rainforest like Oregon/Washington. Or maybe windswept plains like Kansas, or again Central Asia.
>>93414246No. The fire nation is Japan. It's Japan with Chinese swords and stuff they found cool from other places, but it's still Japan. It's volca ice because fire. It does not look like iceland, you can tell because there's stuff other than moss on the fire islands.Iceland is an awful representation of fire outside of the active volcanoes.
>>93397254Cartography is done by animal scryers, specifically, those with bird familiars. Their maps are highly sought after and expensive though.
>>93412080HeyI'm also the anon from this one>>93407192Don't quite remember from the last threads, but here are some things.Each Affinity and their "aspects"Fire: passion, anger, transformation, forge, destruction, innovationWater: Serenity, turbulence, melancholy, flow, intuition, changeEarth: Stability, firmness, stubbornness, loneliness, wealth, greed, materialism, Wind: Freedom, joy, speed, lightness, breath, detachmentLight: Clarity, illumination, truth, fanaticism, collectivism, order, reason, dayShadows: Concealment, dreams, night, dreams, emotion, secrets, liesLife: Voracity, violence, hunger, growth, multiplication, nature.Death: Rest, spirits, afterlife, degeneration, stagnation>How does someone learn magic or becomes a mage/wizard etcThe difference between a wizard, a sorcerer and a druid is just how their approach and practice magic, which tools their use or how they learn it.In order to "know" magic one must first Understand it. The process of understanding it is very wild. A shaman might learn Life Affinity by understanding the cycles of nature, or communing with Spirits, while a sorcerer might learn the same thing by cultivating the energies inside themselves trough meditation and a wizard might learn Life magic trough the study of living beings or medicine. Some people might understand it faster or slower, just like someone learn to play an instrument or a subject at uni.>Tools for magic.While simply manipulating magic trough a vague sense is easy, in order to cast the actual Spells the caster needs to be wielding a Casting Focus trough which it channels their concentration.Each tool is able to cast spells from 6 of the 8 schools, since they are not suitable to cast Spells from those 2 schools. The Casting Focus are the Staff, Scepter, Wand, Talisman, Orb and Grimoires.
>>93396996There is a forbidden forest that is dangerous for uninvited travelers. Beasts become more aggressive, plants might wrap around happy campers when they sleep, trees might shift around to hide the path, and so on. I was thinking that people in the know would be wearing a sort of flower, to indicate they are a friend of the forest, have its scent accompany theirs, and change the mind of the "automated" guardians. This sounds a little too silly though, I don't know. Any thoughts to supplement the idea?
>>93401571Only to those that aren't inherently magical enough to do more than a simple party trick or were consistently getting dabbed on by more magically powerful groups
>>93401571Following Dark Sun, it uses the most convenient life force nearby (plant, then animal, then humanoid) and was used to wage genocidal wars against humanity and fae, not to mention the 1000 year time loop the world is trapped in. The malevolent "creator" god uses magic to evolve and harvest humanoid souls to learn esoteric secrets. Depending on the era, magic use is punishing by death and universally ostracized. the players are magic usersYou can figure out the rest from there.
>>93415990Neat, thanks for sharing! Okay, how someone learns spells varies based on the type of caster. How much can a magic user Understand about an Affinity before they actually get a spell and are locked into that Affinity and out of the opposing one? And how many Affinities does the average magic user focus on, do most specialize in one or two, or do more tend to generalize and do three or even the max of four?How do the Casting Focuses work? Do they have to be specially made/treated, or can any hunk of wood work as a staff? And do any particular Gemstones work better for any particular Affinities, like Rubies for a Fire Affinity user?
>>93403177Mitosis. Two-headed giants are transitional.
>My setting has gods, angels, demons, and the literal Devil>These four have almost no connection with each otherShould I start using different terms?
>>93403177>They were created as a weapon by chemically altering humans with alchemy if that helps.Are there any other creatures like that in the setting? Also, what's this plant race like?
>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?The Serpent Kingdom doesn't really seek to map the world outside its immediate borders except in a vague geographic sense. Maps primarily serve as a means of understanding economic or military situaitons and so are often distorted to reflect this. Accurate geographical rendition is not at this point in history the primary objective of cartography, which is carried out by various administrative surveyors rather than specialist map-makers.>What programs and tools do you (or the people in your setting) use to create your setting’s maps, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Also, please share any such relevant maps.I use a combination of pencil/paper and paint.net, sometimes digitizing then printing, redrawing over it, and redigitizing. Having multiple layers really helps to organize information, but in terms of putting down ideas, nothing beats hand drawing for me. Pic related is an example of a layer on a digitized hand-drawn map.>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy you? And if there’s nothing in particular, what unusual locations do you have in your worlds?I always hate coasts that look either too irregularly or regularly shaped, like the maps of Strangereal, for example. Also I despise it when every country has a different title, like you can't have more than one "Kingdom of" or "Republic of" on a map...
>>93418949>How much can a magic user ....Not so much. The First Casting is the sign of being locked into an Afinity, usually happening in apprentice casters. Martials like warriors or monks might as well become attuned to an Affinity by understanding it's concepts and using it in an Art. Arts are like spells but they don't need a Focus to be used, but rather they rely on martial prowess with a certain weapon.But bear in mind, this First Casting is no mistake or act of luck. Reaching Affinity is a conscious action, even if the means to it may vary. >And how many Affinities ...It depends on each caster, how they where taught and their culture. Some magic users might be fascinated with Conjuration magic, so they get Affinity with 4 different elements in order to conjure more complex beings, or really like Death magic and try to master all different Schools associated with Death.Certain cultures value specialization, so it's more common for you to find strong caster with 1 Affinity and a lot of knowledge on each schools, while other value versatility, aiming at Affinity with 3 elements or even 4 even if the caster is not that powerful on those elements. While learning a school doesn't lock you out of another one, it is also a time and effort to be invested. From this combinations all sorts of caster are present on the setting, those that focus on mastering a single element, and those that value mastering a more diverse range of spellsWhile casters are more learned in Schools, even non-casters like warriors, thieves or monks might as well reach Affinity with and elements, but they are way more limited in what Schools they know.
>>93418949>How do the Casting Focuses work?They are basically a tool trough which the caster focus their efforts in order to perform spells. Different tools have different purposes. >Do they have to be specially made/treated, or can any hunk of wood work as a staff?Yes, either from some monster parts, plants infused with magical properties, some metals that are good conductors of magical energies, materials that are considered to be divine or are consecrated might also be used to create Focuses . While the most basic Casting Focuses are fairly easy to obtain, better ones are uncommon or even rare. Some of the materials might even improve the spells cast with said Focus, like the blood of a magic beast, if used to written a Grimoire of spells might improve Conjuration magic cast with it. >And do any particular Gemstones work better for any particular Affinities, like Rubies for a Fire Affinity user?Gems are fairly important since they are "natural" conductors of each respective element. Ruby/Fire, Sapphire/Water, Jasper/Earth, Topaz/Wind, Diamond/Light, Onyx/Shadow, Peridot/Life and Quartz/Death. Infusing a focus with a Gem makes casting spells of the related Affinity better, and infusing a weapon with a gem will make it deal damage of the respective affinity.There are also runes that serve a similar purpose, like engraving a rune of distance into a bow improves it's reach. Gems, runes and other sort of improvements to items all share the same category of implements. The number of implement a Focus, weapon or armor can have depends of the quality of it's materials. While a cheap wand made from a fairly common magic tree might not support any implement, the magic at work here destroying the item from inside, while a wand made form the horn of a unicorn can have more implements to it since the materials are better suited to deal with the magic.
>>93419374>Are there any other creatures like that in the setting? Also, what's this plant race like?The flesheating giants are the only ones, or at least the only ones numerous enough to be a threat. I intended other miscellaneous creatures but they're more like wildlife running about.They're inspired by Kua Fu and have snakes coming out of their earlobes like how Kua Fu wore snakes as earrings and are called "Snake Eared Giants">plant raceBasically they're born of a Celestial's crystal city hitting the earth and irradiating the wildlife, mutating it into humanoid forms. They are squat but strong, and utilize magical artifacts a lot.
>>93419508So they can only know a little about an Affinity beyond the basics that everyone knows before they reach the First Casting, but they know when it's coming and it's their choice to step over the threshold to greater knowledge?Speaking of Affinities outside of casters, what about Affinities in creatures/monsters, are they just born with them?Alright that makes sense, and I'm really getting interested in your setting and lore beyond the magic system. Have you created any gods or religions yet for instance? And is there a cleric equivalent, you've mentioned pretty much every other class 'but' clerics or paladins. Especially since you mention that there are materials considered divine below.>>93419609Okay, so are these purposes things like different Focuses being better at different Schools, like Orbs for Divination, or something else?Why does Death have Quartz specifically for a Gemstone? Do the Affinities have any Metals or other materials particularly associated with them, like Gold for Light? And how often do magical items have multiple Affinities, like a sword with both Fire and Wind enchantments, the latter used to boost the power of the former?Oh, and do you have any legendary artifacts or weapons made yet? Because I might have a few ideas there for you if you want them.
>>93415990What system does this all use? Because I’d like to actually play this, assuming that it’s done.
>>93419371Depends on how close they are to the original concept. What exactly is your take on each of them?
>>93421393> but they know when it's coming and it's their choice to step over the threshold to greater knowledge?More or less. While the threshold might be blurry, gaining Affinity with an element is still a conscious action. One does not attain Affinity by mistake.>Speaking of Affinities outside of casters, what about Affinities in creatures/monsters, are they just born with them?For some monster yes, they are born into that Affinity, while for others like wild animals or more bestial monsters they can become attuned by the influence of the magical elements of the world, in this case they understand an Affinity by means of instinct>Alright that makes sense, and I'm really getting interested in your setting and lore beyond the magic system. Have you created any gods or religions yet for instance? And is there a cleric equivalent, you've mentioned pretty much every other class 'but' clerics or paladins. Especially since you mention that there are materials considered divine below.Gods and Religions yes. More on that later. Clerics and Paladins work the same way as the other magic users. They attain Affinity trough faith or through communion with their gods or saints. Divine materials are materials either consecrated or with relation to those deities. For example, the Plumians, a group that prefers to live in high altitudes, be it mountains, hills or treetops, worship Volans, spectral bird-like entities that they believe to contain the spirits of deceased Plumi. For them, feathers of a bird similar in appearance to the Volan, so they are used to craft Talismans or to adorn Staffs, while the Fioranti, who prefer to inhabit dense jungles and forests, believe that certain types of tree to be Holy, and fallen branches are made into wands. In the ends, be it trough faith or reason, all Focus carry the same ability to channel magic (even if a caster would prefer a Focus of their own culture).
>>93421393>Okay, so are these purposes things like different Focuses being better at different Schools, like Orbs for Divination, or something elseEach Focus can be used to cast 6 of the 8 schools. The orb for an example cannot be used to cast Enchantation and Transformation spells. While a lore reason for it is that the orb while powerful doesn't channel magic in a way appropriate for the two schools mentioned, game wise it is to limit the use of the tools or even encourage player to use more than one Focus to cover the lacking each other have. Like a hammer being made to drive a nail, it is a very poor tool for cutting wood.>Why does Death have Quartz specifically for a Gemstone? I like Black Quartz>Do the Affinities have any Metals or other materials particularly associated with them, like Gold for Light?Yes, but it is usually due to the place this materials are collected to have a high concentration of the respective element of magic. Gold is not particularly associated with life, it is the go-to material to create some magic items since it cane be easily forged into most types of focus. This is one of the reasons why gold in valuable for almost everyone since you can easily use it to craft new Focus. As mentioned before, monster parts, seashells, the wood of some trees, certain minerals and ore can be used to create new focus or other items infused with magic.> And how often do magical items have multiple Affinities, like a sword with both Fire and Wind enchantments, the latter used to boost the power of the former?It's usually rare since they are not so easy to make. If we consider that a normal sword is something more or less common, a fire enchanted sword would be uncommon, a fire and wind enchanted sword would be rare and so on. One of the main ways players progress in the setting is trough getting their hands on better gear. A lv1 swordsman using an enchanted weapon is already ahead of another lv1 swordsman using a normal one
>>93421393>Oh, and do you have any legendary artifacts or weapons made yet? Because I might have a few ideas there for you if you want them.I have yet to create a list of items, so no. Right know I just have more abstract terms like Implements and Weapon Categories. But feel free to give any idea>>93422278It's a homebrew System + Setting I'm creating. It is very similar to PF2e in terms of dice for a comparison, but progression isn't based on class. I have begun this month to put stuff on paper, maybe it will be more 1 or 2 deepening on how many time I manage to invest to get something playable out
>>93425823Okay, thanks, hope that you share it here when you’ve got it all sorted out please.
elevator pitch:>warhammer fantasy, but the bad guys won (and the planet didn't blow up)I've been working on this setting for a while now. having a lot of fun with it.>Karl Franz is poisoned in 2512 and dies, an electoral conclave is called, several candidates are presented>the favorite is his nephew Wolfgang, but a few electors prefer his sickly son Luitpold (Prince of Altdorf) who is interned a Shallyan hospice with his sister, they think he will be a weak emperor who will be easy to take advantage of>both are actually being tutored by Tzeentchian cultists and slowly being inducted into Tzeentch worship, Wolfgang is plan A, Luitpold is plan B>the heroes of the story expose Wolfgang but completely ignore Luitpold and never consider the possibility that the cultists might have had a plan B in place...>Luitpold ascends to the throne as Luitpold II>for the first few years everything is fine>Luitpold turns out to be quite competent, he defeats a huge chaos incursion from the north (the other chaos gods are fucking pissed off because Tzeentch just won the game, End Times are cancelled)>by the mid 2520s he is considered one of the most successful Emperors in history>he uses his popularity to introduce radical reforms, including freedom of worship and tolerance for mutants>chaos cults run rampant over the empire but the Empire's institutions have been completely subverted and they are powerless to stop him>he makes Egrimm van Horstmann his new Grand Theogonist, Kairos Fateweaver is named Supreme Patriarch to the Colleges of Magic, Sarthorael the Ever-Watcher is put in charge of the Silver Hammer>Luitpold invites Chaos Dwarfs to expand the Empire's industry>2570s>....>the empire's manufactorums have covered most of the old world in soot and ash and turned the rivers into green sludge, food is scarce and imperial citizens are worked to death by Chaos Dwarfs in the assembly lines(1/2)
>>93426869(2/2)>technology has progressed to WW1 levels, Imperial soldiers wear pickelhaubes and carry Hochland bolt action rifles, their armies are supported by chaos dwarf contraptions, beastmen shocktrooper regiments, chaos spawns and chaos hounds, along with Darksouls, and wizards possessed by daemons, some dragons as well. Some corrupt Laurelorn elves also fight for the Empire (the Laurelorn was forcefully annexed into the Empire but given a lot of freedom in exchange for their military support)>the inquisition still exists, its new purpose is to find people with magic potential and take them to the colleges to be possessed by Daemons and serve in the frontlines, all of this in Sigmar's name (The legend of Sigmar has been rewritten, he is now considered an avatar of Tzeentch)>in 2574 the Empire tried to invade Marienburg and Bretonnia, their armies got bogged down in the marshes of Marienburg which gave the Second Bretonnian Republic time to mobilize, and the offensive was finally stopped just outside of Couronne, the Bretonnian capital. The Republic then invoked a defensive treaty with Kislev. Ulthuan and the remaining dwarf holds also showed up to help, the war has raged on for several years with no clear winner, hundreds of thousands have died>The Emperor is working on a secret plan to re-route all the leylines in the Old World to create an absolutely massive pool of stagnant Dhar below Altdorf which he plans to use to fuel his rituals>resistance organizations such as the Chain (Dwarven artisans) the Hunt (Old Faith worshipers + former Inquisitors who left the Silver Hammer) and the Hidden Banner (former Reiksguard) fight their own secret war against the Silver Hammer and the Empire, constantly sabotaging their factories and railways, smuggling people from one end of the Empire to the other, providing intelligence to the Allies, etc
How do I stop making random ingredients and dishes for my world? I'm at almost 120 in my "cookbook"
>>93425491On the religion bit. Instead of Races, the setting has 12 playable Lineages (or more should gm/players wish to create). The Lineages are the descendants of an ancient people simply remembered as Ancestors, that fled a great calamity that shattered the world in separate Realms. Each Lineage is just a different flavor of human, more like ethnicity than true races. Due to isolation and other factors, each Lineage developed social, political and religious traditions over the ages. Some Lineages are very devout, making it an integral part of their society and social structures. Other than those Lineage-related religions, minor forms of worship are common trough the Realms. An old and powerful spirit might claim to be a god and ending up being worshiped by some of the people of those realms, grating them boons or woes depending on their relation. It is very possible form a community to have various types and forms of worship depending on the cultures present and in which Realm they are. Some examples being: The Plumians and their believe in the Volan, understanding its sights and dreams as a form of guiding from their ancestors, who await them in the afterlife to guide the future generations and glide free on the skies. Traditionally they are more inclined to Wind, Water, Light and Death magic.The Aurumi: A proud folk that builds their empires in the side of rivers, lakes or waterfalls. They believe in a god/goddess called Thesar, a divinity of might and grade that choose the Aurumi (according to them) to be their people and lead them to greatness. Think a bit of Mesopotamian empires or old Egypt. In their religion Thesar and some other minor divinities, are born in human form to guide their people. The incarnation of Thesar is the Thesaurus, akin to a god emperor. Traditionally are more inclined to Earth, Water, Light and Life.Should both Lineages have communities in the same Realm, a certain degree of religious sincretism might happen.
>>93410196>I want to try branching out and was wondering if anyone had pointers for making a good scifi settingCheck out Atomic Rockets, Isaac Arthur, Eclipse Phase, The Expanse, Lovecraft, various relevant GURPS books, etc. Not to directly rip off ideas, but to have some general concepts to borrow from: science fiction is about something that is ~real.>Also I'm taking submissions for alien ideas.I spent way too long tabulating various races to design eleven of my own.What I'd suggest doing, is take settings with similar ways of handling race to how you're doing it - if it's Mass Effect-esque, there's also Traveller, Halo, Star Trek, Starcraft, and WH40k, off the top of my head - and look at what ideas they have that you like. This can also stretch into fantasy settings, e.g. FF14, Blue Rose, D&D. Use these ideas, tweak them for what you need, give them a new coat of paint. Mix and match ones that fit well together, to create interesting new concepts. Iterate on them a couple times to make them more interesting by adding more stuff.
>>93396996Reposting again from other threads.How do you do warfare when you have spellcasters and maybe even wizard kings?I guess it depends on the abilities of wizards, but would it make sense to have large, organized or semi organized armies? Standing armies as well?Or maybe have smaller armies but more adept at fighting with magic in mind (enchanted weapons and armor, training to fight in cohesion with spellcasters and so on). Wouldn't make sense to throw lines of spearmen if some wizard king will come, cast mass head explosion spell and fuck off.How do you do it?
>>93431324To paraphrase a saying, "Wizards can't hold ground". As powerful as a single wizard can be, they're still just that, a single wizard, and can't be everywhere at once (divination magic notwithstanding). I can't imagine infantry would be completely gone if occupation is the goal, but the flow of combat would probably change to something like using your own magical forces to cripple the enemy's first before gaining ground, or maybe some kind of proxy war where the infantry are magically made to be more expendable, like undead/golems/animated armors/etc
>>93429051What inspired all of this? And what caused this Calamity?
>I guess it depends on the abilities of wizards, but would it make sense to have large, organized or semi organized armies? Standing armies as well?It depends on the abilities of wizards. It varies so much you can't get an answer without detailing how common they are and how powerful they are compared to a muggle.
>>93411775you and your goddamn inlets, get out my sight! You haunt every place I go
>>93434461Inlets are kino.
How would you do a map of a hollow earth type setting?
>>93416040Perhaps a flower from which those in the know must make tea. The flower grows about an hour into the forest, so they have to be skilled enough to reach the flower (perhaps different strains of flower depending on where they enter the forest / some areas of forest still cannot be reached). They drink they tea which then sends out pheromones for 36 hours, at which point they lose the protection. This protects the integrity of the forest (someone can't stay there indefinitely), can be subject to season (fewer flowers = fewer visitors; flowers past their prime don't protect against more violent beasts or lose protection more quickly). Of course, some beasts may not heed the scent, and some might even be roused to bloodlust. The biggest problem would be the necessity of a fire to make the tea, so if there is no magic, the forest might get angry if someone visits too often since they are probably harming the trees.
What I’m working on atm1/2 Fallout: Gulf, for a homebrew GURPS game I’m running with my bf
2/2 organisation of my schizoid thought process
3/2 DLCsRise of Roborilla is about the Midwest Brotherhood trying to build a mech-godPlastic Peace is institute-controlled Boston as a cyberpunk dystopiaLunacy is about chinese-Americans in a moon base taken over by ZetansWhat Is Dead is a survival horror set on a Bermuda and full of cultistsDay of the Vaqueros is a Mexican cowboy adventureWar of the Wastes is a three-way war between the NCR, Caesar’s Legion remnants, and a Texan ghoul empire
>>93435304Nice, I once made a campaign map for a sunken florida.
>>93434291For inspiration, MtG, pf2e, dark souls and some other things. For the calamityIn lore no one really knows or remember what it was, with each Lineage having a different retelling of what might have happened. Out of lore, the Calamity is what caused the world to break into realms, but what it really is it doesn't matter really. The Calamity is the Calamity and over explaining is fruitless.
>>93434461I'm in your walls
>>93428802Step 1 is you don't.Step 2 is sharing some with us
>>93437820There's a lot to share, though I don't know how much I'll be able to share without needing to elaborate on the entire rest of the world setting. A couple are pulled from old threads about silly magical foods, such as crab apples: >A sour type of apple that grows from the ground in the shape of a crab. Mildly animate, but not sentient (probably). Watch out for the pincers.
I don't care how unrealistic the concept is, I spent a whole shift sketching space carrier designs and by god I'm going to use space fighters. My problem though is I don't know where to start with designing them. I know the fundamentals for "realistic" space vehicles but for the life of me I can't really make a design I'm happy with
>>93438608Just make small gunboats.
>>93438095How much of it is something one could do IRL?
>>93401835honestly that's boring
How do you distinguish monsters from regular animals in your world, if at all? Further, how are humanoid monsters distinguished from people? Are monsters and their origins the subject of academic study?
>>93396996I have this fading interest of expanding worldbuilding from cartography, conglanging and history to architecture and fashionUnfortunately I feel like I have to neck for clothing design as all my design are too offwordly.
What is the best staple food, rice, bread or potato for huge empires?And why is it rice?
>>93441049Wheat gang's superior gang
>>93441049A territorially huge empire would have to employ a mix of staples due to climate variation.
>>93439402In theory, none of it. This is less a comprehensive cookbook and more of a reference for the stuff unique to the setting, since it's assumed players don't need to be informed on food that's available in real life. In practice, a lot of the non-magical food have equivalents that could be substituted, and I take inspiration from real world recipes and techniques. For instance, I expanded the process of brewing Turkish coffee in heated sand into a method of half-burying a cleaned out giant isopod carapace filled with meat and vegetables to cook in the sun. The idea being that nomadic tribes would leave some out as they hunted or rested through the day, and return to have a cooked dinner ready for them
>Realized that one of the two gods of war in my setting functions like a big, angry, hermit crab.Does this make him more or less cool?>>93396996>>How much of your setting has been accurately mapped, and how important is cartography as a profession?A solid 90% of the world has been mapped thanks to the god of fate telling his disciples to write that down.>>What things (especially mistakes) do you see in maps that really annoy you? And if there’s nothing in particular, what unusual locations do you have in your worlds?The capital city of one of the nations is in a crater left by where their god's thumb supposedly fell thousands of years ago. It would have flooded if it wasn't for a series of dams called the 11 kings.
>>93419431disgusting inlets
>>93396996Here's a spicy one for you guys. How can I have LGB characters & relationships without making it looks like I am pandering or get accused of being woke? I think they can sometimes be used for worldbuilding or creating story conflict. Like, what happens if two princes or princesses of neighboring kingdoms fall in love with each other, or how does homosexuality work in nobility, etc.
>>93442552>How can I have LGB characters & relationships without making it looks like I am pandering or get accused of being woke?Simple, do it without being faggy and lame.You already know exactly what I mean when I say that so I won't underline it further.
>>93442552just have B women made for the male gaze
>>93442552Look into IRL historical sources and views. Forget individualism and keep in mind love and sexuality, particularly in hereditary societies is first and foremost a family and political, not emotional thing.So for example some gay romance on the side of procreating with your politically appointed spouse might not be a huge deal and might just need some covering-up from clergy, but lord have mercy a noble daughter gets her cherry popped by some commoner.If you sell this kind of story to your players from the perspective of the respective families, not individuals, dealing with material, not emotional, consequences the whole affair is much easier to fit into the surrounding context..
>>93442552I would imagine that they'd still be expected to have a politically-motivated marriage with someone of the opposite sex, but as long as they've produced a couple of legitimate heirs, their family might be willing to look the other way regarding any extramartial relationships they might have. Such marriages obviously aren't necessarily going to be the most passionate even before taking sexuality into account, so their partner might not be particularly into them either anyway.Portraying the subject within constraints of their familial obligations is at least more nuanced than having the king end his royal bloodline by marrying another man and adopting all his heirs.
>>93442552Sexuality isn't usually categorized in the way modern society think of it with gay bi and straight so avoiding such terms and definitions would be a good starter. Usually being the receiver is thought of as the submissive partner and so gets most of the baggage from the affair since it can easily be construed as an act of humiliation. That being so social hierarchy is likely to play a large part in the way people in-story consider the deed. A male noble sleeping around with his social inferior (such as a man from a lower class or a young man from his own social class) might not be too noteworthy and could potentially even be seen as just a romantic form of patronage whereas a master sucking the schlong of a slave would be a scandal.On a related note it never seizes to be hilarious much shit Julius Caesar got from the rumour that in his youth he slept with the King of Bithynia. IIRC one of the songs his soldiers sang during parade in one of his triumphs included lyrics of the sentiment that Caesar was every woman's man and everyone man's woman.
I have a scifi weapon that shoots a beam of particles that enter a target and cause them to igniteI needed some suggestions >What to call itI was thinking "the igniter" >Advanced forms I wanted the fire to be more advanced but idk if just making it blue and hotter would be cool enough. I was thinking something like Amaterasu where the flames don't die out
>>93446211Sorry forgot pic, how I imagined the bean would work essentially
>top 5 songs on playlist sorted however>use their combined/chronological titles to make a worldbuilding detail/event/etc
>>93436014What more can you say about the various Realms?
>>93442552>or get accused of being woke?Having gay characters exist is 'woke'. This happened to Mr. Birchum, a 'conservative' adult cartoon made by the Daily Wire. And the only reason they had a gay character in that show was to showcase that being conservative doesn't automatically make you homophobic (despite using the character to make stereotypical joke).ANYWAY:My pet peeve is when authors transplant modern social commentary on historical or fictional settings. Now- if it's a fictional setting where say Gay Marriage was legalized in the past decade, like in our world, I think it would be appropriate to have that sort of similarity. If it's say, Edwardian England, then fucking no you are defeating the whole point of setting in that era in the first place. Historians have a saying- the past is like a foreign country. Not just with the gays but in general we need to be careful not to project our understanding of society onto it. People viewed things in different ways. For example- the Romans thought that you were gay only if you were on the bottom during sex, because it meant you wanted to have sex in 'the position of the woman' which was only because you secretly wanted to be a woman. Notably- the Romans didn't have the concept of consent. This means that if you are fucking a man, so long as you are on top you are straight.As for the middle ages, the nobility mostly did whatever it wanted, but you didn't want to show off that you had a gay lover (unless you were the Emperor of China who did, but the Emperor gets to do whatever the fuck he wants). Gay trysts were accepted on the downlow, though still viewed as licentious activity (as was all sex that wasn't done purely for the sake of procreation, in the dark, with your wife, holding hands), but so long as you sired an heir to keep the bloodline going you were fine. (cont.)
>>93449064After all- the nobility married for politics, not love. So the idea that you'd be physically attracted to your wife was seen as a happy coincidence if it ever happened in the first place. Likewise there wasn't the idea of gender fluidity, men and women had strictly different gender roles that were strictly enforced. Not to say it didn't happen, just that you wouldn't be so open and flamboyant about it. Actors notably played the roles of women and were often seen as both effeminate and licentious, not unlike today but worse. And of course you had women crossdressing to join the army in every known war in history, now some of those would have been motivated by patriotism or adventure, but probably a few wanted to do something real MANLY. Also- the catholics diddled as many choir boys back then as now, so. Dante even finds one of his old schoolteachers on one of the levels of hell for that exact reason, but it's treated as a 'oh those incorrigible priests' type of thing. Anyway- general writing advice is that it's important that ones sexuality isn't their sole defining personality trait. This bothers the homo's and the hetero's equally and it's just bad writing. The better way to think about it is think about what their personality is and how that either informs or is informed by their sexuality. If someone is an angry character is that related to sexual frustrations? If they're mopey is it because they have a sense of impotency behind them? Or are they a hedonist and fuck freely as they please?
>>93396996I'm trying to do a thing where the maps are created by in universe cartographers. This one was made by an illiterate, unskilled goblin exploring the Elven valley. I'm planning to redo it on paper, but before I do that I'm hoping to hear some people's interpretations of the drawings on this map. Like what you think the little scenes and pictures each mean or if there are any that don't make sense.
>>93449163That's awesome.
>>93449182thanks anon
>>93442552Just don't make 1/5 of society faggots, they should be a tiny minority and in terms of known characters 1 or 2 at best in a non large cast
>>93449064>Historians have a saying- the past is like a foreign country. Not just with the gays but in general we need to be careful not to project our understanding of society onto it.Great point. One of my strongest memories from Xenophon's Anabasis is that one scene in which the army had to ditch their camp followers or something like that and one of the soldiers goes into what's very much akin to a stereotypical female hysterical fit regarding having to abandon his boy-lover that he picked up on the road, crying out in full tears that he'd rather take his own life than live without him.
>>93450218Forgot to add what my point was which is that it comes pretty much out of left field for a modern reader to who this otherwise manly man is behaving in an utterly despicable way yet, IIRC it's written as some kind of sweet romantic thing, important enough to sideline what's otherwise a pretty action-filled adventure.
>>93450237Fairly sure Xenophon hated faggots
