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>>93889469
What's your favourite type of dystopian future? What dystopian tropes do you think have become overused? Is dystopian fiction itself too common these days, or do you think there are still subgenres that don't get enough attention?

Zemaia was born to human parents in the city of Myrefall, capital of the County of Cavelle. When she was born, Zemaia had red skin, horns, a tail and other fiendish traits. It was apparent to Zemaia parents that their daughter was in fact a tiefling. Zemaia’s blood had been tainted with fiendish ancestry, lingering for generations in her bloodline and now on full display in Zemaia. Feeling shame and disgust, Zemaia’s parents abandoned their baby. Zemaia soon found herself in the care of The Little Friend’s Orphanage in Myrefall.

As a tiefling, Zemaia was treated poorly and abused by the orphanage staff. She grew to be a devious child and was distrusted by the other children. By the time she had turned thirteen, Zemaia had had enough and ran away.

Living on the streets of Myrefall, Zemaia turned to stealing to survive. She soon became adept at the art of pickpocketing and burglary, fully embracing her fiendish nature. The young tiefling faced great discrimination from the townsfolk of the city. On a daily basis, Zemaia was condemned as “hellspawn”, “devil” and “freak”. Sometimes the members of the city guard would arrest Zemaia just to give her a severe beating and to hurl abuse at her because of her fiendish heritage.

As she grew older, Zemaia came to greatly resent the discrimination she received because of her demon-tainted blood. She began to despise others, seeing the world as full of cruel people who unfairly judged her simply for existing. Zemaia soon adopted a mentality of, “If this is how people see me, then I guess I’ll prove them right!
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>>93891294
With this chip on her shoulder, Zemaia’s petty crimes escalated to become more violent and heinous in nature, turning from petty thievery to armed robbery and murder. Soon Zemaia was a dangerous and proficient criminal. She gained a sinister reputation which was magnified by her fiendish heritage.

Eventually, Zemaia refined her criminal methods and started work as a ruthless freelance blade-for-hire in the criminal underworld of Myrefall. Her expertise included many different forms of criminal activity, even targeted assassinations.

Zemaia has gained infamy as an effective and efficient contract criminal. Her natural devious tiefling nature and her cold-hearted worldview compliment the skills she learned growing up on the streets. Zemaia is now a force to be reckoned with. A deadly foe. One who is truly worthy of the moniker “Tainted One”.
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>>93889491
I feel like cyberpunk needs to ask themselves what the next step of cyberpunk is. Largely because the wacky hypotheticals they were asking in the 1980's are no longer so wacky.

We aren't quite in an era where corporations are overthrowing the government, but we do live in an era in which CEO's are pretty openly skeptical to the concept of democracy.

And I think it's rather juvenile to portray a setting where corporations have all the power and not ask what step two of that world looks like. It assumes too much and too little- it assumes that governments wouldn't put up a fight (after all- these are major institutions that aren't going to want to lose power), and it assumes that the people in major sectors of said institutions aren't going to have some opinions on said loss of power. Like if the military is going to privatize, we should see why the people in charge are making that decision. At the same time it assumes too much- that corporations wouldn't then turn into something else removed from the law and order provided by government.

After all- if you are now in control of institutions such as the lawmakers and police, what stops McDonalds from assassinating the CEO of Wendy's? Well Wendy's retaliatory strike led by their PMC. And if you are in a position of power in a corporation- what's the point in bothering with a board of directors? Why not give up the ghost and just institute a monarchy where your son inherits total control of the company? Are there laws that say that you shouldn't do that?

Absolute libertarianism would just inevitably devolve into techno-feudalism, and I think that deserves some attention as opposed to none.


All this to say I prefer Deus Ex which has a much bigger international spy thriller storyline where major governments, while they have eroding power, are still very big very important things with a lot of resources behind them, than to Cyberpunk.

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>walking outside daydreaming about writing a fantasy series
>imagines fantasy world going through industrial revolution
>google it
>learn of Arcanum that basically does everything I was thinking of but better.
>MFW
It hurts bros. I wasn't expecting my little universe to get BTFO'd before it even became notes.

>>93889491
i really like dystopias where factions have well meaning motivations and natural reasons for society to exist in the state that it's in. in my setting the world is just compeltely fucked and most people are just doing an admittedly good job kicking the can down the road even though its almost impossible. i liek the noble heroes at the end of the world making a last stand trope sort of.

>>93891486
While you make some good points, I think in most cyberpunk settings the government still has some power. As you say, it's more like neo-feudalism: in traditional feudalism the crown can't do much to its vassals ordinarily, but if one of them steps out of line badly enough the other lords let it do something about it and maybe contribute their forces. Likewise, although corps in cyberpunk settings can skirt a lot of laws, if they start flagrantly defying the system then the government will bring them to heel, possibly backed by other corps.

>>93891910
One of the most painful parts of writing is having a really good idea only to find that someone else has thought of it first.

>>93894806
Yeah but the difference is that feudalism IS a hierarchy. If a lord stops doing his job, the King gets to rally all the other lords against them and hand out the spoils. If a lord stops paying his taxes it's because he's raising his flag in rebellion.

A corpo meanwhile, isn't under obligation to swear fealty to the head of government. There's no legal framework there, largely because corporations aren't meant to have a say in lawmaking. If the government says jump, the corpo either jumps, or it leaves the country. A good recent example is how Brazil is nationalizing twitter after Elon Musk refused to talk to their government. In cyberpunk stuff, Corpo's hire PMC's to assassinate people who boss them around, which in our world is illegal.

Now- I think this push and pull of corporate and government power is interesting to explore in a Deus Ex context- where governments have diminished power but they Corpo's must still abide by laws and not randomly assassinate their rivals. Because there's much more to explore there.

But once you get to the point where Corpo's are hiring their own PMC's for protection and governments no longer get to go to their house and arrest them for shooting at their competitors, then you lose both that, but also (in my mind) replace it with something which is a lot more boring which is the corporate feudalism, wherein the Corpo has no obligation to defend the state (as opposed to real feudalism which has borders and land productivity to worry about).

>>93891910
Arcanum as a setting is ruined by a few things:
>Too grimdark
>THAT quest

Looking for recommendations for naming conventions for military vehicles. Like how the two big factions in heavy gear name their stuff after mammals and reptiles respectively, or how US tanks tend to be named after generals. The setting I am, working on, in line with the thread, is mostly about 2 dystopic civilizations fighting eachother over space colonies and asteroid mines. One is an ultra-corporate cyberpunk style faction and I have theirs figured out but the other is a soviet-esque state which I can't really think of a good one for.

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>>93894806
>>93897233
I know. Maybe industrial revolution for a tolkein-esque fantasy universe is okay as a concept that I can work with. I'm sure it has been done many times after Arcanum. I even thought of the magic vs technology angle on how a medieval universe than previously ran on magic suddenly goes thrown into an environment where industrialism and new technology goes into conflict.
But Arcanum did it first. I'm actually amazed honestly.

But then again there is a manga by Mado that is basically Men in Black but anime girls so maybe if he can make a Men in Black inspired universe and be copyright safe then perhaps I can do the same, but I'm unsure as I'm not copyright lawyer. I see a lot of third party miniatures doing 40k like bits and they for the most part skirt the copyright line just fine. Perhaps I can be in the safe.

Let's just say that during the walk it was quite a creative epiphany and I still want to run with it.

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On the nineteenth day of the month of waning winter, Teren’s master was summoned before Halfbones.
True to his name, the legendary gravecaller’s face was split down the middle between a clean-shaven elderly man and a rotting corpse. An impressive display of deathcrafting to be sure, but Teren couldn’t for the life of him figure out the purpose of the spell.
“I’m not complaining, but don’t understand why they asked us,” said Rotwood. “There are five realms between Fendal and the Southrange, why isn’t Barym or Sun’s Shadow taking this one?”
Halfbones smiled. It was fake, exaggerated. He probably had to put in the work to make others not focus on his eyeless socket and rotting skull. The head was mostly bone while the neck down was more exposed muscle and hanging flesh. “That may be so, but we have two things those westerners don’t. A leygate in our city, and a working relationship with Guiding Breath.”
Teren followed closely behind his master and Halfbones, attentive but not overbearing. The three of them were walking along Decidual’s riverfront, watching sailors from all across the Sainted Lands unload their wares. Traffic had spiked since the appearance of the leygate, and the Guild of Currents was at work bringing boats upstream. Not an easy task when the river was running hot, as it tended to during these rainy months. Often as a child Teren had wished that the great tropical forest that surrounded his city and encompassed so much of the realm of Fendal was a bit less hot, a bit less humid, and a lot less rainy. He used to dream of seeing snow instead of rain. Nowadays it seemed he only dreamed about death.
On the topic of death, Teren picked up that they weren’t alone. There was a sharp scent in the air. Hard to explain what the smell was like, but it hurt his nose. This smell had come and gone seemingly at random ever since he could remember.

>>93902322
It's wild how that picture doesn't have any explicit violence or sex at all, yet at the same time is one of the most fucked up images ever created.

>>93904883
Boy and how. For those who know 40K lore and what Noise Marines are capable of, this is pure terror.

>>93904883
>>93905780
Elaborate further please

>>93905870
Dude. What does rhyme with Slaanesh?
The most sickening acts of depravity and body horror along with what happens to your mind. Good for their own cultists, not good for anyone sane. Even other Chaos worshipers don't like them for that.

>>93889469
Saw this thread: >>93891582
How would you all answer this question?

>>93897233
>>93899701
Arcanum isn't even remotely grimdark, and also you're a faggot if you're triggered by that quest.
>I'm actually amazed honestly.
Why? You're not that special, and the concept was never novel.

>>93889469
>Writing General
>>>/lit/
>>>/lit/
>>>/lit/

>>93878484
I really appreciate the feedback, embarrassingly I guess I posted a version that still had a bit of the rough draft inside of it. That whole nameless thing was an idea I thought I erased, guess I forgot a line by accident.
The ending of the story is what it is because I am a schizoid with a big problem of not caring about other people. I don’t care about my family at all really, even though they love me. And I know this is terrible but I guess I’m just not mature enough to understand the importance. I wrote this a bit out of guilt, hoping that one day when they’re dead and gone (or I am), I’ll be able to realize that I should have cared about them more.

>>93910517
Well that does explain the lack of foreshadowing.

I'd advise you to write stories about things that you feel strongly about. Ones that you've delved into your reasons for feeling that way as well. I don't think you feel too guilty about not caring about your family, or it would've come through in the story. Or maybe you just haven't looked at the guilt you feel too deeply.

Infuse your writing with something you ARE passionate about (either in a positive or negative way) instead. As a broad rule, you'll never inspire movement in someone else without taking a risk with something near and dear to your soul.

I think the name thing was in two different places. Somewhere around when he first turns spirit and shoots off Mars, then again somewhere near the end of the story.

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My group are murderhobos, but if they want to kill the big bad of this campaign, I'm gonna make them work for it.
I was trying to ape the style of Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook by Edward Luttwak, where sketchy activities are mapped out, step-by-step, in a neutral tone.

>>93907402
Honestly, I think the most successful settings are a mirror to our own history in some way. Like Tolkien was trying to create a modern iteration of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry, or GRR Martin created a version of Medieval England that spans an entire continent. It works because it resonates with stories we're already familiar with.

I'm not sure that 'most successful' = 'best', but it might be something to bear in mind when creating a setting. Don't just throw down mountains and rivers and shit at random, ask yourself what story you're telling and what stories you're building from, and create a setting that fits with that.

>>93905870
Noise Marine: servants of the Chaos god of depravity, have become so degenerate they've gone beyond ordinary fetish sex into sex involving fucked up surgery and chemicals and shit you don't even want to imagine.
Sister of Battle: raised in a nunnery to be a spiritually pure virgin

The best case scenario for her is that she dies quickly. The second best case scenario for her is that she suffers unimaginably, then dies. The worst case scenario is that she enjoys it, joins up, and becomes another cultist doing ever more depraved things to themselves and everyone around them trying to fill a hole that only gets larger the more she tries to fill it like the most fucked up version of Sisyphus imaginable. (there is a tiny chance that if she converts she'll be able to master the cravings and have power undreamed of by mortal beings. But that is a narrow, narrow road alongside a deep, deep chasm)

>>93907442
>Why?
I haven't played it, but it seems like it was good enough to garner a cult like fanbase. I knew my concept was not that novel, but I could spin it into something that was semi-original, but Arcanum basically did my ideas but better many years before I had the creative epiphany when I was out on my walk.
Hence why I was amazed because of the coincidence.

>>93914472
Don't feed the troll, anon

>>93914704
Shit my bad. Thank you, anon.

My Apologies if this is to off topic
I have written some lore, made some Maps, coat of Arms, etc. for my Sandbox campaign, and I want to make this information available to my players in a way that is not just posting PDFs in our WhatsApp group chat. And I want them to be able to look up what´s in there, since it´s a sandbox. If there is nowhere to go to what would be the point?
I thought about a OneDrive folder, but I do not like MS and some of my players use Linux. Is there something similar? Have you experience with this? Or is there a better method I am missing?
How do you share your Setting and Lore with your players?

>>93919218
google docs?

>>93913201
>Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook by Edward Luttwak
I can't say I've heard of this, but that looks like a really good campaign with some great worldbuilding behind it.

I have a character who's a bit of a huckster, guy who knows a guy that has what you need type. I have a couple ideas for a "bargaining chip" he uses but I'm not sure which to go with. One is a plain and simple bomb vest and the other is sort of a reverse, something akin to a kevlar vest with several claymore mines strapped to it. The setting is cyberpunk but even the character would know the vest is basically a decoration and wouldn't do much if the mines go off. But, thoughts?

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>>93889469
Taking a major bit of inspiration from Silent Hill 3, I love the idea of places that are/have to be abandoned as a matter of course with the flimsy barricades that mark you should not go there.

Baring that, the obvious overgrowth of nature overtaking and destroying the man-made structures. Along side all this is the very real feeling of danger that is both supernatural and one that comes from yourself as you know that just being near the barricade can be dangerous and that no one will come and save you if you cross over or get dragged over into it so that only the dangerous and the desperate live near the barriers between what is left of the normal and safe and the dangerous neglected world.

>>93932862
If the setting is Cyberpunk, and the guy is an information broker, then logically the bargaining chip should be some kind of sensitive information.

>>93899579
if it's a soviet-esque state I think i would go with slavic female names

animals and plants are always a good option
orthodox saints
roman emperors
greek gods

one of the main ideas for my campaign is centered around mortal sacrifice. Basically, this cult found a dying thing that could erase whatever it ate. I want to make it so that if they want to erase concepts, they have to feed it something that relates to that concept. They also have to feed it huge amounts of it, billions of it. So this fucking cults said: "Hey! Let's erase death and become immortal. Only us though." So they started kidnapping and multiplying via rape, children from that are then sacrificed to the pit. They also clone themselves and sacrifice it to the pit. They change the cult victim's blood to be a perfect copy of their own via vile blood magic and throw them to the pit. Cult Orgies to produce offsprings that have their blood. What other methods should I add? Also, their first method seems to heavily favor male cult members, I wanted to ask how would a female cult member contribute to the cost?

>>93934926
Maybe bargaining chip was the wrong word, more a defense measure or insurance in case a deal goes sour

>>93940041
Leaving blackmail material with a third party before you go to a meeting is a pretty standard way of ensuring safety when making a deal with people you don't trust.

If I do that thing where the planet is called Earth, but the geography at the very least is different, but the culture, laws and governing body are at least mostly the same as my home country, what's the point?

So I'm kind of at an impasse for how I wanted the MC's family to be structured.

In both he is the son of a living deity, the third son.

>First structure
All children born from a single mother, raised like a regular family. The MC is despised by his birth father because his birth weakened his mother a great deal.
>Second structure
Each child is born from a different mother of each tribe, with the living god marrying them to unite the tribes. The children are born and appear throughout the land to be found and raised by an adoptive family. The MC is abused by sages because his older brothers were discovered very late, and the sages discovered the MC at a young age and try to control him into their puppet.

The second one I feel is more interesting, and it also creates a way for the tribes to unite. I also intended for each son to represent the tribe of their mother, and this makes more sense if they are from different mothers.

However the first one I feel suits the story more in some ways as the MC is sent to foster with another race. I feel this wouldn't work with an adoptive family as well since I intended one of the laws for the founding of the god's children was that the family who found him could not be interfered with while raising him, i.e. he could not be given over to foster unless his adoptive family agreed.

I also considered the MC saying at one point that the foster home was his real home at one point. This makes more sense if his father was abusive than if he had a loving adopted family.

Thoughts?