Genesis EditionWelcome to /wbclg/, the official thread for the discussion and development of fictional worlds and languages.Here is where you can share the details of your created worlds (such as lore, factions, magic systems and ecosystems) or Constructed Languages. 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) which ilutrate your ideas. Please remember that dialogue is what keeps the thread alive, so don't be afraid of giving someone feedback!FAQ: >What is worldbuilding?Worldbuilding is the process of creating entire fictional worlds from scratch, all while considering the logistics of these worlds to make them as believable as possible. Worldbuilding asks questions about the setting of a world, and then answers them, often in great detail. Most people use it as a means of creating a setting or the scenery for a story.>What is a conlanging?Conlanging is the creation of constructed languages or "conlangs" for various purposes, from creating new means of communication between people, to use as part of a fictional setting. Some people may also make constructed languages as a hobby. >"Isn't there a Worldbuilding general in >>>/tg/ already?"Yes, there is. However, that general is focused on the creation of fictional worlds for the intended purpose of playing TTRPG campaigns. Here you can discuss worldbuilding projects that are not meant to be used for a roleplaying setting, but for novels, videogames, or any other kind of creative project. >"Can I discuss the setting of my campaign here, though?"If you want to, but it would probably be better to discuss it on >>>/tg/. We don't allow the discussion of TTRPG mechanics, however. If you want to discuss stats or which D&D edition is best, this is not the place. >"Can I talk about an existing fictional setting that is not mine?"Yes, of course you can!>"Does worldbuilding need to be about fantasy and elves?"Worldbuilding, as already stated above, and contrary to what many believe, does not inherently imply blatantly copying Tolkien. In fact, there are many science-fiction setting out there, and even entire alternative history settings which do not possess supernatural elements at all. Any kind of science fiction book has an implied setting at least, which involves a certain degree of worldbuilding put into it. >"How autistic do you have to be to like doing this?"Fuck off. Both worldbuilding and conlanging are interesting hobbies in their own right. Let people enjoy things.
First for George RR Martin.
>>22502086why did Baldurs Gate make the orcs be from space? and how come they have half orc people? what's that all about?
How could one avoid falling into the trap of just creating Earth, but with some weird unnatural thing in it (like this fag >>22502097)
>>22502238You don't. Jump into the trap. Your wholly original world that doesn't relate to anything real is incredibly boring.
>>22502238making a world unique purely for the sake of being unique is an even worse trap, and if you don't understand that you're ngmi
>>22502238On George RR Martin's defense, he just wanted to create a setting in which to write nobles fighting for power with a lot of political intrigue on the side, mostly because, as I understand, that's the kind of stories he likes reading.Basically he just grabbed the story of the war of the roses and put some soft magic over it.I don't think his world is a good model for serious worldbuilding, though it shows that just making "earth but a bit different", as you say, totally works if what you want is to only tell a story and sell shit.What's interesting about aSoIaF is not the setting, it's the characters and the stories they tell (until th third book, that is).
This is literature board.
>>22502086>"How autistic do you have to be to like doing this?">Fuck off. Both worldbuilding and conlanging are interesting hobbies in their own right. Let people enjoy things.Why is this even in the OP? It reeks of insecurity.
>>22502204Are you confusing Gith and orcs?
>>22502292>Game of thrones, the lord of the rings, dune, and all books with great worldbuilding are not literature because...>BEACUSE THEY ARE JUST NOT... OK??Ok chud.
>>22502301Because /lit/ is known for disliking worldbuilding as a whole.
>>22502086>Fuck off. Both worldbuilding and conlanging are interesting hobbies in their own right. Let people enjoy things.Incredible mental weakness in the failure to recognize and embrace your own autism
>>22502311Okay? And? Do you walk into art galleries announcing at the top of your lungs that you aren't autistic for enjoying art and point fingers at imaginary little men in the corner and tell them to fuck off and let you enjoy it? The whole OP is written super defensively, it's weird as fuck man. You can just make the thread and let people discuss in it.
Give me some examples of fantasy worlds that are not set in a European middle ages world.
>>22502238Most fantasy settings are based on at least some IRL culture. It's inevitable. Nobody can do a 100% original setting, Tlön style.Best you can do is to mix a lot of cultures to the point they are completely unrecognizable, like Morrowind for instance, which combines element of traditional fantasy, arabic and asian cultures, puts a bit of science fiction and on top of that a sparkle of psychedelic imagery.
>>22502330Morrowind.
>>22502330Morrowind.Oh, and mine, of course ;)
>>22502323I wrote that paragraph for the sole purpose of dissuading retards from shitting up the discussion like they always does when worldbuilding gets mentioned. Seems like it didn't work.But it's just the first thread, eventually they will just learn to accept that people like this hobby that they think it's so stupid, and then the copypasta may change. I accept suggestions though, for instance, i'm thinking on adding a pastebin with resources for worldbuilders, like map generators, some literary inspiration, guides and stuff.
What do we think about this guy's world?Is he better or worse than the big fatty?
>>22502330Perdido Street Station
>>22502086If you want to know how to worldbuild like Tolkien, read The Keys of Middle-Earth. You MUST read the sources of your inspiration and in their original language, AND create a conlang with a language family and maps before anything else. Otherwise, you'll never create something perennial like Middle-Earth.
>>22502330Feng Shen JiJourney to the West Jackie Chan Adventures
>>22502086This could be such a good general if it weren't on this board.
>>22502453Didn't tolkien create the hobbit and the Lords of the Rings just as an excuse to use the Conlangs he had created?
>>22502330Unironically the bible.
>>22502777Yes I believe he created language families and wanted a history that makes sense for the evolution of his languages like how Old English became Modern English
>>22502794Unironically, imagine being so fucking based.Imagine unironically creating a work of fiction with the sole purpose of it being an auxiliary piece of context for other creative projects, and still making a fortune out of it alone. Truly the best story of an intellectual/artist being rewarded for its talent and innovative creative vision.
>>22502330I personally like the lore of Hollow Knight a lot.Weird to say, I know, but it has some very interesting bits here and there.
>>22502292>>22502304...how about The Worm Ouroboros?
I have this small project Im working on and I hit a snag. Basics are it's a Mesoamerican inspired story set on a gargantuan space colony called the somethingth world (in uni its because the other space colonies were destroyed, not sure how many yet) Anyway an idea I had was they'd make macuahuitls out of the station window glass rather than obsidian because no geological activity. But I'm not sure how they could get it. An idea I had was chipping the glass off of the windows but obviously that's not sustainable, finding old storehouses is kinda boring. I thought maybe they have a warrior or priest class that uses ancient space suits to venture into a debris field surrounding the colony to gather the material but I'm not sure if I want them to be able to do that, makes it a smidge too fantastical. Any thoughts?
>>22502954I think maybe this is one of those cases where you just don't tell nothing about how they get the glass. It doesn't matter for the story, they just have just enough enough space glass for it to be a valuable resource. They found it. Don't worry about it.
>>22502954>it's a Mesoamerican inspired story set on a gargantuan space colony???
>>22502330Literally any urban fantasy story ever.
>>22503035Could've explained it better.Not!Aztec civilization in a world that they think is normal but it is not mexico where they are, instead a massive habitat out in spaceIt is rather inspired by a certain bookNow with the image I intended
This thread's got potential. Perhaps. I can't see how it's worse than /wwoym/.
>>22502238I think that if you incorporate some mundane features from the real earth then it provides some grounding for the more fantastical elements of your world to stand out. What's the point od fantasy if everything is turned up to 10.
Daily reminder that if you call your sci-fi currency "credits", you have failed at world building so hard you should probably just quit writing.
How do you guys generate realistic terrain?
>>22503315I just call them rupees. India rules the world in my scifi dystopia.
>>22503315I disagree.That trope exist because it makes sense to be like that in the future. I bet you use a credit card.
>Have a race of highly intelligent "suicide encouragement" sharks whose main form of hunting involves waiting at the surface for intelligent beings to pass by so they can try and convince them of the meaninglessness of life and how they should just give up and kill themselves (by jumping into the shark's open mouth)Is this too dark?
>>22503491I think it's kind of silly, honestly. It's kind of stupid unless they were some dickwads extremely expensive vanity project. How the fuck would such a species even arise?If they inhabit highly populated areas, why don't people hunt them to extinction? If they inhabit lonelier coasts and prey on lonely travelers, why don't they starve to death? The concept itself is good I think. But you should work on it more.
>>22503491Make it a faery or something.
>>22502303yes, they look similar
>>22503126I actually got what you mean I think, it just sounded so weird. But honestly, now that I think about it again, I personally really enjoy the trope of civilizations seeing technology as magic. So it seems very cool.
>>22502204Baldurs Gate and D&D in general has awful loreIt started out as a bootleg copy of The lord of the rings setting because they couldn't get the actual rights to it lmao, that should say it all.
I need your best bestiary books.Fictional or actual medieval bestiary books, doesn't matter. I need some inspirations for creatures of my setting.
I'm interested in using worldbuilding as a tool to explore my own ideas regarding the social sciences.My current understanding of history is owed to R. G. Collingwood. Collingwood's The Idea of History is tremendous. While the Austrian school is a tad embarrassing, I have no shame that von Mises lead me to him. (Mises himself viewed history as a kind of psychology and renamed the field "thymology" to distinguish it from psychometric testing.)An insight from Collingwood is that scientific history is not merely a listing of events (a chronology), nor is it a description of predecessors' points of view (doxography) but it's an investigation which seeks to explain the present by using evidence to reconstruct the mental states and causes of events which lead to the present.One of the problems I see with worldbuilding is that it can devolve into boring lore-dumping. The plain descriptions of Borges are hugely more entertaining than the huge paragraphs Disco Elysium. Part of the soreness there is that it's a game and not a book but it doesn't help itself.
>>22504218>One of the problems I see with worldbuilding is that it can devolve into boring lore-dumpingThat's not true, you need to learn to differentiate story and setting. Settings cannot have lore-dumps, stories can. If the story is bad and handles the setting poorly, that's not a worldbuilding problem, that's a narrative one.I think a good exemplification of worldbuilding without lore-dumping are FromSoftware games, they have very detailed settings (most of the time), they are just never explained implicitly, the player is left to make guesses. I heard that the original Dark Souls had whole lore documens that never saw the light of the day, because the director wanted a deep and detailed setting but at the same time wanted the player to explore it in a natural way. Therefore there are many details of the story that only Miyasaki and his team know.That's probably one of the best ways of doing it; though, on the other hand, I really liked Borges Tlön, which is basically just a huge lore-dump of a fictional world (the story of course is actually much more than that, but nobody cares about the rest, it's just introduction, Borges simply cannot resist the idea of a book inside another book). People really liked Dysco Elysium, so maybe lore-dumps are not as bad as we think?
>>22504245>If the story is bad and handles the setting poorly, that's not a worldbuilding problem, that's a narrative one.true>People really liked Dysco Elysium, so maybe lore-dumps are not as bad as we think?I liked it enough to play it multiple times but I mainly skipped through the dialogue. Part of the problem, for me, is that it feels like it's interrupting gameplay. That means it's less of a story issue so much as how much of the story is told mechanically and how the mechanical parts of the story interact with the explicit narrative parts.That said, I've read history books (or passages from) which get bogged down in saying this happened then that happened then another thing happened without much explanation as to why I should care. As a reference work, it's excusable but a simple listing of facts without any feeling of causation or relevancy or mere progression gets boring.
>>22502330
>>22504298>Dysco Elysium>dialog interruping the gameplayWut? Nigga, the dialog of that game is the actual game, like, literally that's the selling point and the reason it's so acclaimed.
>>22504326If that's all the game was then it'd be a book, wouldn't it?
>>22504356It's the best game i've ever read, indeed.
>>22503126Reminds me a bit of Stephen Baxter's Ultima aswell.
How do I come up with interesting creatures for my setting?Neither I want to use real animals or stock fantasy creatures like goblins and unicorns and whatever.
>>22505034See >>22504322
>>22503408It's a generic name. No one's going to name it that in real life. It'd be like naming your currency "money/monies."
>>22505059Elaborate. I'm not reading that shit, faggot, at least tell me how is it even related to my question.
>>22505127It has interesting creatures not found in any other fantasy novels.
>>22505135Well, thank you. I appreciate all sorts of inspiration, but i'm more interested in a reliable method for coming up with ideas for interesting creatures.Yeah, I downloaded a lot of medieval bestiaries already, but aside from copying, how can I write some interesting shit?
>>22505158>I am interested in a reliable method for coming up with ideas
>>22505197Not just abstract ideas fuckface, don't alter my question to hide the fact that you don't know. I literally asked for tips in wrting this specifically, you know?It's not just coming with ideas, I bet there are plenty of reliable methods of coming up with monsters and shit.For instance, if you asked the author of that shit webnovel of yours how did he come up with all those ideas, I bet he would give a nice methodology or at least some advice.
>>22503315The primary currency of the span of mankind is the United States Dollar, and all the characters use current-day vernacular to refer to it
>setting is set 1000 years into the future>currency is not the yuanNGMI
>>22502238Try to at least have an outline of how societies would evolve in the context of your world from neolithic cultures to whatever state fits better the story you want to tell instead of just making a loose copy of some irl society
If I'm constructing a language is it best to make sure nouns are invariable for simplicity's sake?
>>22505158Read and watch stuff about evolution and physics.An old example is the Jovians of Jupiter who float in the atmosphere.I like the version of Jovians that live in a kind of virtual machine derived from the storm systems. They have no direct access to our world and we have no direct access to theirs.
>>22505158try looking up speculative evolution projects or do some of it yourself
Too generic? Fleshing this out was a lot of fun but I feel like this story has been kind of done in Gormenghast or Elantris
>>22505383First of all don't call it "Dis". Sounds like a retard is trying to say "this".Second, and now this is just my opinion, it's not that it's generic, the problem here is that there's nothing interesting about the city, at least from the reader's perspective. Saying that it's a beautiful big city is not all interesting to read. Why is it so beautiful? Are their architects wizards or something? Is it because of the material they used? How are politics there? Is it a monarchy? Is a democratic republic? Or is it ruled by merchant oligarchs? And most important of all, why did it fall? What's the reason of its decadence? Was it a curse? Corruption? Something else? Literally, there's not much worldbuilding here. I can't find a reason to feel bad about the fall of the city, at all.Nice prose, though.
anyone else getting into tectonics ?
>>22505420I might offer several explanations for why it became a demonic version of itself but I'll probably keep it ambiguous in the end think a good chunk of the main story will probably just be people exploring the city seeing what horros and nightmares it olds if what the locals are saying is just superstitious bullshit or if there is a kernal of truth to anything
>>22505696Mmm... ok buddy but the worldbuilding still looks kinda empty.
TETAS: Twin landmasses facing each other known collectively as Tetas. Conyo on the east, Kon-Cha on the west. Both civilizations have an army of a comparable size, therefore, one can’t conquer the other. Both cultures claim they were the origin of the other but no historian knows which one came first. Conyo people prefer to be hairless and cleaner while Kon-Cha people prefer to proudly sport their hairy nature and don’t shower too much. Both have negative stereotypes about each other for this and other reasons.Conyo people love Pollas, their capital, and treat it as a sacred city because it’s home to their priest caste known as the Pajas and the nun caste known as the Manwellas (both equally respected), while Kon-Cha people don’t think too much of their capital city, Ver-Gas, as it’s the same size as many other cities in the land (such as Shu-Pas on the south and Shu-Pas-Mas on the southwest) and it’s full of criminals and sorcerers. One could even say that the average Kon-Cha person dislikes Ver-Gas.When it comes to religion both follow the faith of the Great Palo (spelt “Pallo” in modern Conyo culture), a male creator god, but each focuses on different aspects of the deity. Conyo people have erected a giant obelisk right in the center of Pollas in honor of the Great Palo and the Manwellas are expected to worship the monument every night while the Pajas pray in solitude. Kon-Cha people dislike to represent the deity in physical form and prefer to worship the manifestation of the deity in nature such as the massive river Lefa whose waters hydrate all the Kon-Cha people, as well as the volcano Shin-Gas and the mountain Atuma-Tre.They also share a language known as Kakah (spelt Kah-Kah in Kon-Cha culture) which means “substance that comes from the mouth” or “the word”. All their literature and philosophy is written in a variant of the language known as literary Kakah (Kakah melala) which differs from oral Kakah and is considered more rigorous and hard. A common farewell in Kon-Cha culture is Ololoy pololoy mir Palo shamel which means “May the Great Palo bless your face, [sibling]” while people from Conyo prefer Ufafa ma Palo (“All Hail Palo”) or Fafa ma mir Palo (“Hail the Great Palo”).The monarch in Kon-Cha culture is known as the Mam-Ah Palo which can be translated as “major servant of Palo” or “first servant of Palo” while Conyo monarchs are simply called kings ("Yalos-walos") or queens ("Pan Oshas").These are just the first steps but I will be adding more details to the world. I hope you enjoyed reading about my world :)
>>22505777Better? Trying to add in some odd historical events here and there
>>22505696Keeping it ambiguous for the reaer !=Keeping it ambiguous for the writerThe fact that you don't want the reader to know doesn't mean you don't have to write it. That's a very bad practice in my opinion and trust me, it's always obvious when not even the author knows what happened. In any case you are in the worldbuilding thread, of course we are gonna inst you to flesh out more the setting.
>>22506177Ok I didn't read >>22506057Give me a sec to read :)
>>22505797I speak spanish you faggot
I want to write a fantasy race based off the Norn from Guild WarsBasically northern tall humanoids who can summon a spirit animal around them like armour, similar to Udyr from League of LegendsI'm wondering what to call them, since I feel like "Nord" would be too common sounding, and I don't want to use "Norn" since they're inspired by the Norn.I'm also wondering what spirit animals they should be able to have. So far I have:>Bear (obviously)>Wolf (also obvious)>Raven (Odin parallel)>Sabertooth tiger (Ice age predator)
>>22502086I've been working forever on a specific project of mine, but am not sure whether I want to continue anymore.It sucks though, because I've put a LOT of work into the worldbuilding in my story, and I find the world I've created really fascinating.It feels like it'd be a shame to just abandon it now, and move onto something else. So I'd be curious as to whether you guys have any advice on this front. "When to tell when to abandon a story, even if the world you've created is kickass." I'd be happy to give more details, but I don't wanna bore you guys too much.
>>22502301Agreed. Just call the anti-worldbuilding fags faggots and move on.Or at least come up with a defense that sounds less butthurt.
>>22505222> durr hurr how did you come up with all these ideas?That question is famous for being unanswerable, retard.>>22505158But to try and help you out with your dumb quesiton: just research shit until something inspires you. Or else take a look at other fatasy creatures you find interesting, and try to figure out WHY you find them so interesting. If you discover an interesting pattern or formula, you might be able to copy it.
>>22506352One of the advantages of worldbuilding is that you can always reuse the setting for something else, another story for example. So even if you discard this story, you should keep the setting still, since you can reuse it for another story?If you are sure you will never touch the setting again, please share it!I love reading interesting design documents for settings. Assuming you did write design documents, of course.
>>22506311Boars are badass animals that were actually revered by many celtic tribes (they had a boar god and they considered it a sacred food, being a symbol of strength), though maybe you shouldn't use them since celts are not nords, lol,Also horses, maybe they could ride their horse spirit, that would be cool.As for the name, I would suggest calling coming up with some original name based on Scandinavian names for people, tribes or regions.
>>22506430bait
>>22506395I'm not actually sure I'll abandon the setting, or even the story, desu.Also, my notes for it are spread across too many different Google Docs for me to share them all here.But I appreciate your interest. I'll try to write up a sparknotes version for this thread, if you guys are really interested.
>>22506492It's always nice to have all the worldbuilding docs in one place, like a same folder at least. But anyways, I like reading design documents for settings, though I understand why most people don't post them (stealing of ideas and stuff, that's the main reason I don't post any OC here). Therefore if you decide to drop your setting entirely, I beg you to at least release it here before. But since you aren't doing that, what was your question again?
>>22506492Huh. The "to be honest' abreviation gets autocorrected into "desu" here? Interesting.>>22506525Part of the reason I don't have all my documents in one place on this topic (though I've learned to try to do that more for later projects) is that there are so many different things to focus on. Sometimes I wanna figure out the political philosophies of different factions, other times I'm trying to come up with suitably Dickensian names for certain characters/organizations. But yeah, it's hard.Come to think of it, I DID finish writing a pilot script for this story's first episode, and a pitch bible. But neither of these two documents really get into what makes the story interesting (in my opinion): the philosophies of the story's two major factions: the Biofascists and the Technocommunists.Still... I'd be happy to upload them to Google Docs and post them here, if you're interested. And I'll also do a writeup of the world's history and what those two factions are, if you want.
>>22506541>Huh. The "to be honest' abreviation gets autocorrected into "desu" here? Interesting.For like a fucking decade, bud
>>22506557Is it like that on every boad? Did I simply never used that abbreviation until just now? Bizarre.
>>22506559I'm pretty sure it's been like that since before Hiroshimoot bought the place
>>22506567Interesting. Can't believe I never noticed until now. Guess you learn something new every day.
>>22506430Boar is actually a good idea, I think I'll use them.I was actually thinking they as a people lacked horses, and used other animals instead. Maybe tamed moose, which could be another spirit animal.I noticed a lot of Norse tribes end with -ing or -ung, so I think I'll name them after an important figure in their beliefs.
>>22506541Well, those two factions really sound interesting to me. Share what you want mate, I assure you you aren't bothering or boring anyone, if there's a place to share that kind of stuff, it's here. In fact, if others share their stuff, I might do the same.Regarding the organization of your design docs (as I call them), there are many specialized tools for organizing notes and documents, like zimwiki or obsidian. Personally I have it organized in the following way, which has worked fine so far:Each wordbuilding folder of mine is divided in these sub-folders:>cultures and factions>places, cities and regions>creatures and races>historical figures>historical events and misc lore>materials and substancesIn each sub-folder there are docxs serving as design documents for a specific topic related to that folder, for example, in the folder "factions" I put all the factions I design. You just have to be organized like that and it becomes easier.
>>22506434Why bait?
Tell me if you've heard this one before:The space age came and humans started settling in space colonies. While the center of government was the federal government on Earth, most of the human race now lives in colonies.Space colonies are placed at the five Earth-Moon Lagrange Points. A collection of colonies that occupy a Lagrangian point are treated as a single political entity.There's dissatisfaction with the central government in the colonies. The colonists feel that Earth is oppressing them with its control over their policies.A radical ideologue rises and claims that all humans should leave Earth and declare it a nature preserve. That all space colonies should get independence. He's chased away from Earth, but finds shelter in one of the major collectives. Very soon, his supporters take over the collective and turn it into a brutal dictatorship...and then rebel against Earth to bring about his vision.
>>22507382No, I haven't.
>>22502086So, what do you folk thing of genetically engineered space caste systems?
>>22507465think*and specifically for a sci-fi setting riffing off the bronze age.
>>22505420>First of all don't call it "Dis". Sounds like a retard is trying to say "this".It's the name of Dante's city of hell, brainlet. In fact it would be a quite interesting version of the Satan story to start out with Hell as a beautiful place fit for angels and then becoming corrupted, all with Dunsanian fantasy vibes.Your other points sound like the 'what about Aragorns tax policy?' meme honestly. If anything one can rather criticize his prose for its disruptive modernisms ('affectionate nickname'... 'snobby and pretentious'...) while trying to go for an archaic mood.
I decided to read WOT. Halfway through the first book and it's a blast. I'm still afraid of Tolkien. Fellowship filtered me ages ago.
>>22507460What if I tell you that the space living people are slowly developing psychic powers?That ring any bells?
>>22507509I haven't actually read any Lord Dunsay even though i'm q big gan of weird fiction and fantasy where would you suggest starting with I was trying to capture Lovecraft's atmosphere a little but I can see how you would connect with Dunsay heavily influenced Lovecraf
I've come to appreciate the "video game culling" method of worldbuilding, where anything that isn't somehow tied to the main plot and arcs doesn't exist, but can be impliedI just feel like it makes for a tighter narrative if the lore elements that are brought up are either directly relevant to the main plot, or somehow foreshadow or parallel it, even though it makes for a less reusable setting
>>22507509>Your other points sound like the 'what about Aragorns tax policy?' meme honestly.Except they aren't about that at all?I'm not asking him to add more detail to his worldbuilding for the sake of realism, I was just saying that, first, it was boring ans shallow, there was nothing interesting about a beautiful city that was big; and second, the fact that he wants to leave it ambiguous for the reader doesn't mean he too shouldn't know what happened in the lore.
>>22507509Dis nuts
>>22507557It's a Gundam reference, isn't it?
>>22504168>D&D started as a bootleg copy of the lord of the rings settingWhy would you just make these things up?
>>22507557No.
Do I need to get a PhD in linguistics in order to write fantasy? Over in the writing general they’re very insistent that you develop whole languages for a fantasy or sci fi setting.
>>22508288No, that's retarded af.
>>22508252It's Gundam, man.
>>22508227Halfling were originally hobbits in the first edition but they renamed them because they couldn't get the rights for them. Same with ents and trents. Look it up, retard.
>>22508316Never even heard of that.
>>22508288Nah, not even Tolkien created whole languages, he tinkered with conlangs because he enjoyed doing that.You just do as the fat man, create some words that sound like they could be from the same language and simulate it. That's what everyone does. Literally, what a retarded question. >Over in the writing general they’re very insistent that you develop whole languages for a fantasy or sci fi setting.Well, you are in the worldbuilding general and we say that they are morons. Go tell them.
>>22502238But I’ve always seen him referred to as a great work builder, with that aspect being one of the high points of his books.
Does anyone here use Obsidian for worldbuilding? Should I bother learning it for this? I don't take notes casually.
Thoughts on recreational worldbuilding (i.e. NOT for the purpose of integrating or monetizing it through any medium)?
>>22509885I find it fun and relaxing, personally; but not using the setting for anything is kinda pointless. The hobby is very much complimented by writing stories and shit.
anyone use worldanvil?
Repostin from /tg/
>>22509979It's missing languages and styles of architecture. I've noticed that could fall under "achievement" but it should be a point.these make the world feel much deeper when they're brought up, and shallower if you ignore them. I guess architecture could fall under "achievement" but it should be a point. If you go to a foreign place these are typically the things you first notice.
>>22510013Copy paste mishap ignore that part
>>22510013I would honestly change "Achievements" for "Culture" but it wouldn't sound as nice as GRAPES
>>22509979aren't politics and social structure kinda the same?
>>22509968IIRC they had some clause in their user agreement that could let them use your stuff without permission. It might have been some other site if it was even true. I did try it out a few years ago but I didn't like it all that much
>>22509979Better version:G.E.T.S:>Geography >Economy>Technology (achievements, tools, tech level, magic level, etc.)>Society (religion, politics, social structure, culture)
I'm going to do both of these, no guarantee I'm not just making the setting up right now.>>22509979>G: Big wet jungle that has short soil when it comes to conventional agriculture. Traversed by one or two big river systems, so essentially the Amazon. >R: I need to read the Golden Bough first.>A: The entire legacy of these people is just a few stone statues abandoned in the jungle, forts made out of rammed earth, orchards, and the occasional pyramid. Also a few stone colossi here and there. They can't write.>P: A series of chiefdoms ruled by a hereditary priest who derives authority from generosity/gift giving as well as knowledge of sacred arts. Or if you are the more savage brand of men, jut a village council or a local big man.>E: They like stones that look nice, the more civilized variant does silviculture as well as maintaining orchards and large-scale fishing. The other ones just hunt, gather, and fish on a small scale and sometimes keep small gardens but this is a dying practice.>S:Temple society,infiltrated by elves, human tribals aren't infiltrated by elves do to being very simple and conservative people akin to the piraha.
The way my world deals with Mages, who are basically powerful reality warpers that *start* out as telekinetic telepaths, is to simply let them govern themselves.It's worked out pretty well. The Academies regulate and train the Mages, and the High Council negotiates in their name with the Muggle governments.In other words, no masquerade is necessary.
>>22511745That's nothing. In my setting half the population are mages, which creates a social conflict. There are whole mage cities, which are chaotic AF. There's even social conflict among mages but that's another issue.
>>22512292a whole conflict between the magic class and the normie mundane class* I should have explained it better lolThough, the non-magic class is probably gonna win the social conflict in the long term baka
>>22508288Even Tolkien stuck to a root dialect and only made so many branches of it, with words sharing similar etymologies. Though you can simulate the language, it's not complete. Tolkien did his linguistic work because it entertained him but only in some aspects of his worldbuilding. 'Westron' is just English, and works like a universal translator for the sake of expediting the narrative. Sindarin is there to enhance the lore of his dying fantasy world./wg/'s claim for sci-fi is even more dubious, when a majority of the market defaults to a universal translator of some sort. No matter where you go in fiction, you will have to embrace a common tongue through some available means.
>>22508288Armchair linguistics is plenty. I would say, understanding how phonology and grammar work in different languages lets you stay consistent in naming your characters, but I don't think that is a prerequisite for writing fantasy.
bump
>>22510036politics = governancesocial structure = which group is respected more
>>22508288No. If you want to build conlangs and language families then it might come in handy but no, you really don't.
What resources you use for your projects ?
>>22512292Generic. And derivative of Golden Age scifi.
Magic in my setting is an academic topic. Students basically spend their entire lives studying the mystical arts to gain a better understanding of the metaphysical world.But I want to write a story with action and romcom shenanigans, which is kinda hard when the protagonists should be spending their time studying. How do I adjust the setting to cut this knot?
>>22514091Bullshit. There's nothing like it at the moment.>derivative of Golden Age scifiElaborate or stfu faggot
>>22515014>Elaborate or stfu faggotGolden Age scifi had this really weird thing about superpowered psychic mutants being persecuted by the envious common hordes of humanity (ie us).The idea was that social conflict is inevitable between supers and normal humans because the latter fear the former. Which is absolutely correct of them, but also makes them wrong.Yes, I know how schizo that is. Don't blame me.
>>22514760>Magic in my setting is an academic topic.Just like in every fantasy setting you mean? That's very generic desu.You have two options, either you make him a naturally talented magician, or you change your magic system entirely to be something not as academic. Like maybe it could be a martial art like in Avatar or perhaps it could be based on emotions rather than knowleadge. Idk just throwing some ideas.
>>22515023Well that's very interesting indeed. Any particular examples of books with those ideas? I could take some inspiration from a setting such as that.
>>22513754Kinda outdated and archaic, I know, but I use ZimWiki. It's a very simple editor (uses markdown as a format so it's also fast and can export to .txt) in which you can create different pages organized in folders, but also has the option to make links to other pages as if it were hypertext. That's a very useful tool for worldbuilding, basically you have a personal wiki of information of your own. I honestly use it just because it's simple, powerful, linux compatible but mainly because I can't be bothered to learn anything else kek
>>22515023>>22515032Nevermind I just asked ChatGPT and it gave me three books already:>dying inside>the demolished man>more than humanThank you for the reccomendations, even though it sounded more like you were shitting in my setting more than anything. Even if it was derivative of this sci-fi concept, i'm yet to find a fantasy setting that explores this idea as well. So i'm not worried.
>>22515065I'm sorry, I can't really get the tone across in typing. Thanks for being understanding.
>>22515026Yeah, it's pretty generic. I saw no reason to change one of the pillars of magic, and one of the reasons I like the trope. All I care about is how to justify epic adventures.
>>22514760The issue you are facing is power imbalance, academians greater power than warriors. The solution to this is literally having all magicians have same or very similar low level MP at beginning and intermiadete stages, so regardless if they are academian or just some shitty conscript they have same MP, with same MP academian can have some deep supreme knowledge but can still cast only low tier spells, same with soldiers.To increase MP even a little it should basically take time and specialized practice so regardless if it is a soldier or academian they need to manage their time. A soldier has to find time to practice and also do his duties as soldier, academian needs to find time to practice and also study and lead life of academian, both things cannot be done at the same time, in other words people need to lead their lives and survive, work, fight, eat etc while at the same time they need to find time to improve their MP, those who are excellent will obviously done their best and spend every minute to improve themselves, but most people will still lead average lives and have average abilities at best.
Would it be too one dimensional for a local noble and regional statesman to turn against the empire he's a subject to due to two out of his three sons dying when serving in the auxillary forces and the latter returning home crippled and traumatized? The final straw that saw him actively start organizing an insurrection within the nationalist movement came when the notoriously corrupt tax farmers of that year and provincal governor were freed on all charges following their trial in the imperial capital.
>>22515270Sorry, I realised that this might not have been the correct board for my question.
>>22515263Power imbalance is intentional. Mages beat all warriors, but Priests/Clerics beat Mages. And Warriors beat the Clerics. My only problem is how to justify sending these overworked students to adventures without ruining their grades and career.
>>22515284Then it's problem you have created yourself. You will also have to come up with solution yourself.
>>22515310That I couldn't is the reason I'm here. Still, I suppose if students can't go to the epic adventures, then the epic adventures will have to come for the students.
>>22515320Whatever man, I gave you one solution, if it's not right for you then either wait for somebody else to think of something(unlikely) or come up with one yourself.
I'll just crib off the greatest modern fantasy author: JK Rowling, and bring the threats to the heroes rather than vice versa.
>>22515320Have you read The Name of the Wind?It has two magic systems, a hard system which is very academic in essence, and to which students dedicate all their lives, and a second one, more mysterious and arcane, which can't be studied.The protagonist is naturally gifted in the first magic system, as well as having received exceptional tutelage since a young age, so he can go on adventures early on. Uncovering the second magic system, which is far more powerful, is the whole point of the novel, and throughout his adventures he makes some progress.So basically, either you make early mages have some power, or you make your protagonist gifted in the arcane arts.
>>22515270>>22515277It totally is. I'm just too lazy to write a proper answer right now.
>>22515376>, more mysterious and arcane, which can't be studied.retarded concept
>>22515384On the contrary. The concept of magic being able to be studied is retarded. If it can be understood and put into words and be experimented with, then it shouldn't be called magic, don't you think?Also, even if you think it's retarded, the plot of that book is by far more interesting that anything you could write, with you "rock paper sissors" tier systems and the desperation for forced adventure and romance. Anyways, back to worldbuilding, yeah, your setting is terrible and boring.
>>22515423>the desperation for romance.ProjectingMagic that cannot be studied is retarded shit like miracles in bible. It's nonsense.
>>22515435>ProjectingNo i'm not. You literally said, and I quote: "I want to write a story with action and romcom shenanigans".>it's retarded shit like miracles in the bible. >It's nonsenseAre you fucking stupid? You are writing fantasy, for God's sake.Also, you said you had clerics in your setting (>>22515284), do they study their miracles too? (btw "rock paper sissors" systems are the most retarded thing there is).Like, I usually advocate for hard magic systems but there's nothing retarded in having magic that's actually magical in your fantasy setting. You are like the most retarded writer I have spoken to, how old are you, 13? Fucking Christ.
>>22515254>Yeah, it's pretty generic. I saw no reason to change one of the pillars of magic, and one of the reasons I like the trope. Except for the fact that in this case it's not doing you any favor? Even if you like the trope, changing it would be a good solution. Anyways, do you even have a setting?
>>22515459I never said any of those things, my first post in this thread was >>22515263>Are you fucking stupid? You are writing fantasy, for God's sake.fantasy still has to be believable, having magic system that is basically miracles and cannot be studied is not in any way logical or believable
>>22515486>fantasy still has to be believable>magic must be logical and believableYeah well say that to most fantasy authors.
This thread fucking sucks. If things continue like this, i'll have to create a setting only for the purpose of keeping this thread alive and active.
>>22515499Most (famous) fantasy authors are competent writers but they can't or never could into magic systems and fantasy. The old authors should have just written action and adventure stories based in medieval settings without any fantasy or magic. Gurm and sapkowski should never write fantasy again.
>>22515585see >>22502097
>>22515593No thanks, I have seen enough of that fat fuck here on /lit/
>>22515585>>22515608What about Tolkien?In the lord of the rings magic couldn't be studied. by mortal men.
>>22515645Good story, good characters, good writing but I never really liked magic in lotr. He should have just written medieval fiction.
>>22515683Anyways, since we are on the topic of discussion.What are your favorite magic systems in fantasy?Please share examples, as I said before, I also really like them and are probably the most interesting part about worldbuilding. If you like hard rules for magic then I assure you that you will like The name of the wind. It has probably the best hard-magic system I've ever had the pleasure of reading, if you excuse the other one, less rule-based, that is.
>>22515711I think Choice of Magic by Michael G Manning has really good magic system that is well though out and integrated in the story and worldbuilding (even if the story quickly deteriorates) and the top spot has to go to Reverend Insanity, not shilling chinkshit and disregarding everything else about RI, the magic system it has is definitely top tier.
>>22515585Unsystematic and unexplainable magic is fine as long as it's rare and dramatic
>>22515683The magic in his world is logical. If it were different, then the world would be completely different. I like the idea of magic inherently metaphysical instead of something that can be understood. Systems that let men just learn them make it not magic any more than people making smartphones, something beyond ordinary understanding. Magic is supposed to be beyond any sort of scientific understanding.
>>22515284>My only problem is how to justify sending these overworked students to adventuresSome option: >As part of research project or expedition, Indiana Jones style>The student isn't really interest in an academic career and want to go out and put what he learn to use >The faculty notice how he is overworked and send him on a mandatory vocation>Said student interlocks steps in the academic career with personal projects, often take on a whim from which he gather off books experience and inspiration that he help him with breakthrough in his more academic work
>>22515857Seems to be more of an you problemI personally find that kind of magic shit and and complete desagree with >Magic is supposed to be beyond any sort of scientific understandingand even more with you assertion that metaphysics can't be understood
>>22515968By understood I meant in a scientific sense. You can understand that Gandalf can use magic because of what he is, but there's no scientific explanation of how it works. Magic is defined as being supernatural and supernatural is defined as being beyond scientific understanding. If there's a scientific explanation, then it's not supernatural but natural, then it's not magic but science.
>>22502330Avatar The Last Airbender
>>22516757Touché!
>>22516792Anon there were like 10 proper answers before.But yes, Avatar has great worldbuilding, specially for a chidlren's show.
>>22516007again, that's a you problem >Magic is defined as being supernaturalno, magic is defined as whatever the author wants to define it in his worldnow fuck off back to /tg/ wonderfag
>>22515435>Magic that cannot be studied is retarded shit like miracles in bible. It's nonsense.It's not nonsense, that branch of magic is called "transfiguration".
>>22515270It is, but not everything has to have depth to it.But yeah, it's rather one-dimensional for a guy to join a rebellion for purely good reasons and because of corruption. A good way to give it two dimensions is to make him have a personal interest in the rebellion, or perhaps he is joining it because one of his sons was a nationalist and this was his dream.
>>22502086A friend of mine started playing Hearthstone recently and from that I learned about picture related and the other Elemental Lords, and decided to base my story's pantheon very loosely on them, each god ruling over an element and several other spheres of influence as well. For instance, I was thinking that given fire's nature as consuming other material endlessly as it spreads, and its use by blacksmiths to shape metal, two of the Fire god's additional spheres of control would be War and the Forge. What do you think, and what other spheres of influence would you recommend, both for the Fire god and the gods of Water, Earth, and Wind? I have a few ideas for each, but I would like their divine portfolios to be bigger, since there's only four gods. I greatly appreciate the help.
>>22515376Yes, and I hated the book and it's Gary Stu protagonist.>Also, you said you had clerics in your setting (>>22515284 #), do they study their miracles tooNo, they just pray and meditate. And if they do it properly, become instruments of God's will.
>>22517033There is still logic behind it.>>22515857It may not be understood completely and defined and measured by scientific instruments of physical world, but it still has to follow logic because logic no matter if it's physical universe or magical is universal, for example casting a spell, a fireball must have defined requirements and conditions, once those conditions are exceeded a spell cannot be cast for some time, the appearance of fire out of nowhere might be against our physics and that's fine, but there still has to be logic how it was cast and how it can be cast again, some magical requirement, cadt time, cool off etc
>>22517186>There is still logic behind it.Well, "retarded shit like miracles" is basically transfiguration, to put it another way. That's what I'm talking about.
Magic in my system looks and feels like magic but functions more like telekinesis. Simply put, the wizard perceives reality, forms a delusion about that reality, and then forces that delusion onto reality.
As far as I'm concerned, the magic is part of the supernatural. It's simply operating on a higher scale than the natural world, and thus on a higher scale than mere science.It's still subject to logic, though. That's why Mages can study it.
Sup, how's your worldbuilding progression doing today, anons?
>>22517132Thanks for the reply. You bring up a few things that I maybe should have included originally. >join a rebellionHe wouldn't so much join a rebellion as be the one to start it (or at least serve as the ideological mouthpiece for the greater tyrhenian seperatist movement which the Sikarnian Kingdom is fuelling in order to balkanize the empire in its favour). >have a personal interest in the rebellionThe loss of his sons would be the thing that opened his eyes to how the empire treats its non-citizen subjects as a resource to be exploited and the aquitting of the corrupt governor and taxmen is what finally made him embrace seperatism as a cause rather than just promoting the nationalistic agenda of increasing local tyrhenian autonomy within the province of Tarkassia. To cut a long story short the provinces are generally administrated by local nobilities but Tarkassia was a bit of a special case in that it was a majority tyrhenian province which due to its history tended to rely on the salakian minority for local rule. Before all that happened he was a leading man within the local tarkassian nobility and generally praised as a tyrhenian intellectual which made him a key native political power within Tarkassia. Most of his civil career was spent championing the cause of the tyrhenian majority within Tarkassia.
>>22517253That sound like schizophrenia.Very based. We need more schizo mages.
>>22518140I currently have designed more factions than creatures. That is a problem. But anyways, i've just deviced a way to ease the writing creatures, let's see if it works.
I don't have a long-standing autistic fantasy world that I've worked on for over a decade, and I'm very jealous of those who have.My only personality trait is being "creative" and I have nothing to show for it.
>>22518300Bruh is not that hard. Just start with a general idea of the setting and then go for the specifics. Like: in my world there's a raze of bird people who havd slaved humans. And once you have the feel and concept set then you start writing characters and history and whatnot.
>>22506311Wolverine.Northern Lynx.White-tailed eagle.Moose.Whale if water spirit.
>>22518300you can start nowjust outline the general concept and write it down and a list of ideas you thing could be implemented in itand don't worry about the first iterations being too derivative, too much of a patchwork or anything like that, you will have to revising and reworking that world many times anyway
I like the idea for this thread but holy shit is it cringe. It feels like everyone is doing color-by-numbers. Why do you need gods or a magic system or civilisations or politics or whatever? Why do you need to do X but Y? I think worldbuilding is a worthwhile pursuit, but only in the context of trying to discover truly novel ideas by painstakingly thinking out the consequences of some premise. Simply remixing old ideas will never get you there. Am I just an elitist retard?
>>22518505I would settle for 99% of fantasy being anything other than shitty Tolkien clones. I grew up with authors like Moers and Anthony and Pullman. If I open one more fantasy book and see the "human/elf/dwarf trinity" (orcs too if they're feeling ambitious) I'm gonna McFucking scream.
>>22518505>Why do you need gods or a magic system or civilisations or politics or whatever? Because that creates interesting narrative opportunities, and therefore can lay groud for amazing stories.Also, it makes the world in which a stery is set feel alive and credible, which is important for a thing called immersion.You fucking brainlet.
>>22518537Read the fucking OP, worldbuilding is not plagiarizing tolkien.There are also sci-fi settings, you know? And some of them are actually interesting, like Dune for example, an a very admirable example of creative worldbuilding.
>>22518505Don't mind me, I am just a minor contributor, bumping it with occasional remarks.
What are your opinions on making a collaborative worldbuilding project here in /wbclg/? Just to heat up the general a bit. Next thread i'm gonna probably come up with a setting and you guys can help with ideas and even write stories set in the setting if you want to, being the ownership of everyone.Don't worry, there will be no elves, until some other anon says there are.
>>22518579>Because that creates interesting narrative opportunities, and therefore can lay groud for amazing stories.Anything can lay the ground for an amazing story. But will it be an effective use of time, a worthwhile inspiration? What does inventing a noble lineage bring to the table that hasn't been read before? What does shaping the continents do except re-arrange where the same old historical forces have played out? What does your theology explore that hasn't already been contemplated? I read people discussing these things, and it reads like they do them out of some sense of obligation. Maybe I am more upset with the obsession for grand fantasy and space opera than I am with worldbuilding. I don't know. It just seems all very superfluous and unimaginative when fantasy can explore so much stranger things.>Also, it makes the world in which a stery is set feel alive and credibleSkill issue. The ability for a story to feel alive hinges solely on the author's ability to draw from life. You could write a detailed history of a fictional people, but unless it reads like a real historian's account, it will just appear as what it is: a creative exercise.>You fucking brainlet.No u.
>>22519014>Anything can lay the ground for an amazing storyNot really, no. A bad story idea will only create a bad story, a bad setting can still be used as inspiration to create a good story. Basically worldbuilding multiplies the possibilities to the infinite in terms of inspiration and ideas for stories.>will it be an effective use of time, a worthwhile inspiration?That depends on how you use the setting. It's not worth it to create a whole setting just for a short story, but for a series of books sagas? Indeed it's worth it. >What does inventing a noble lineage bring to the table that hasn't been read before? That depends on what makes that lineage special and interesting. Are you aware that George R.R Martin just recently sold the rights to make a show out a book that's just basically that, the story of a fictional noble lineage?The show is called House of the dragon and it's pretty good, you should watch it. You dickhead. Made millions of dollars of profit.>It just seems all very superfluous and unimaginative when fantasy can explore so much stranger things.Who is to say that worldbuilding can't be weird and imaginative, retard? You just know very bad examples.>Skill issueNo it's not. If you write fantasy without a setting, being only magical deus ex machina afer the other, it really shows, and the reader will notice that the author just couldn't give a toss for consistency in his books.
>>22519014Also, there's something that you haven't considered, and that is that fictinal setting create huge communities of fans.Harry potter, star wars, game of thrones, star trek, lord of the rings, etc.What do these properties have in common? They all have a very curated fantasy setting. Now compare it to literary masterpieces like blood meridian and moby dick. Even if they are acclaimed by critics because of its prose and ideas, t's not the same in terms of fanbase and cult following, now is it? Nobody discusses the lore of Don Quixote, but you can see people discussing the lore of dark souls to this day. And don't say that's cringe, i'm telling the truth, Setting generate discussion that maintains an intellectual property alive.Fuck off, we should make a term to make fun of retards like you who are against the concept of wolrdbuilding, and yet they wonder why nobody gives a fuck about their generic and unimaginative novels about some retarded concept only the literallywho author cares."Worldlets", maybe?
>>22519071>>22519110You didn't need that many words to say that you are a swine, dude.
>>22519147>no arguments leftI accept the concession of your crushing defeat.Now fuck off from this thread to obscurity.
Feed your world description into ChatGPT and generate various scenes happening in your world, how about that?
>>22509392You can use wiki software too
>>22519776nah, don't you need to set up a database for that?
>>22519901There are straightforward tools like TiddlyWiki, WikidPad and the like.
>>22504218That's the sort of idea that sounds really good when you think about it on an abstract level, but when you try to convey and actually put it into words you find yourself relying on repetitive devices that always feel super on-the-nose and convoluted. Formulas can be often bad but they're also the result of natural selection, if people default to them it's because experience has shown they offer enough range to make different stories work. The literal, vaguely mythological great-man historiography of fantasy worlds is simplistic, but it's also something that can be reflected intuitively on the environment, epistolary culture and different conversational patterns of your universe, it's an effective solution to a recurring challenge in worldbuilding.
Mecha in my fantasy setting? It's more likely than you think!/sMore seriously, I've been watching a few 90s and early 00s anime and never realized the real potential of mecha in fantasy. I remember reading a post on /web/ discussing the topic.Of course, it helps that I already have a Sci-Fantasy theme to the story. There's all kinds of magic and fantastic creatures and elements, but there's also flying ships, robots, AI, and the internet. And of course, there's actual space colonies that play an important role in the meta-narrative* of the setting.*about the clash of various civilizations and factions that all try to impose their own "Law" on everyone else, and the tragedies this causes. And how ultimately unimportant it all is, because God is the only one that sets the Law of the world.What I'm thinking is that the mecha should be the equivalent of armored vehicles and Aircraft in the early 20th century: a shift in the dimensions of warfare. They can't really win wars by themselves, but having a better one all but guarantees victory to anyone who knows how to use them. And they'll be powered by magic and spells to get past the "Practicality" factor.
>>22505797why are both your capitals landlocked? If you were on a major landmass it would make sense but if you're on islands there is exactly zero chance the capital would be located where you show it
>>22520935tetas brotits
What's a decent catch-all term for made-of-evil monsters that hasn't been trademarked yet?
>>22520842I just found the ideal anime to base the mecha from. They're not very powerful, but I can change that.
>>22502259coldfire trilogy did this best>its earth>but not yet cause the colonists got eaten by magic >so only humans and some horses remain but most of the animals got fucked up
>>22504009orcs have tusks and big nigger nosesgith hsve leopard print faces with tiny nosesalso kill yourself namefag
>>22520842>mechas in fantasyAnd what would those mechas be?Golems? Or more like robots powered by magic?Anyways, as long as you don't put niggers in my medieval fantasy setting, i'm fine...
>>22518983why not, something interesting might come from that
>>22502238There is nothing wrong with that approach. The more genuinely alien you make your world the more research and work you have to do to make everything make sense to the reader. Failing to do that, you create something that no one can relate to and that everyone will lose interest in. The most practical thing to do is to make something function broadly similar to Earth but have one unique twist to it that changes things up
>>22521082Demons.Or Yōkai in japanese, that's also good but it would need a japanese-based setting.
>>22521305The mecha are literally just armors operated by elite human pilots called Rathi (singular and plural is same).They're basically just Knights with another name, except their shining armor is a high-tech industrial product. And also their horse.Of course, it's not an exact 1:1 comparison. Rathi are soldiers, not warriors. And their armors aren't personal affects, they're government property that they operate as part of a contract. Not to mention that they're not even all that well paid- though the benefits are great.
>>22521402But are those armors giant or what? Because otherwise I don't see any mecha comparisons.
>>22521424Depending on the model, from around fifty feet to just Iron Man sized power armor. The latter won't appear until the meta-narrative moves ahead a bit. I'm currently at the Space American Revolution.
>>22521450Very interesting, and how are they powered if I may ask?In any case, you inpired me to also add mechas to my setting. My settings has deep elves (basically dwarves thought not tolkien like) whose speciallity is golemancy. They had big golems to mine and haul cargo but necer saw them as combat mechas. That would be interesting.
>>22521463>how are they poweredBatteries. Advanced, high energy density batteries. I'll make up some technobabble to justify it later.Point is, however, that they don't run on infinite energy. They need a proper logistics chain to function.
>>22521551Aww... how boring.I thought your fantasy mechs would be powered my magic. Like, there's this concept called "magitech" in which magic is refined to a point where is comparable to modern technology, like trains powered by magic dust or whatever the fuck. Trust me anon, if the mechs are powered by some sort of supernatural power like mana or condenced dragon breath it would be waaay cooler than just regular boring ass batteries.
>>22521613Why would I need magic to power it? Batteries do just as fine. Magic shouldn't be used needlessly. That would cheapen it. The mecha are magitek, but that doesn't mean every bolt needs to be enchanted or something.
>>22521639The magical parts are things like them being able to channel Ki (which allows them to hurt Undead beings), having a sort of "Anima" that gives them consciousness, and how they can channel spells.In fact, the Rathis are almost always experienced Mages. They're about the only people who can use the armors to their full potential.
What kind of monsters dwell in lakes? I need some for a short fight. Preferably want smaller, more vincible ones.
>>22522060Lake monsters?
>>22522060https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lake_monsters
>>22522060Giant vampire crab that uses a giant coffin as its shell.
>>22522091And now I feel really, really stupid.
>>22522060>Acuatic dragons/sea serpent>Water elementals/golems>Mermaids and tritons>GIANT ENEMY CRAB>Lovecraft's deep ones>Drowned undead ones>Lake fairies>Giant sponges (don't know how they even attack but for some reason in dwarf fortress they are deadly)Etc. Of course the best option is to create your own creature.
>>22522060>lakesIdk axolotls are coolIn any case this is a worldbuilding thread, you discuss the setting.You are not constucting your setting around the needs of a plot, are you anon?
>>22502463are you the same Jackie Chan adventures schizo in v/? LMAO
>>22522060https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zitiron
God, you have no idea how long I've been wanting a general like this. Finally my worldbuilding/conlanging autism has a place where I don't have to appease any tranny moderators.>>22505339>invariableWhat do you mean? Do you want nouns that don't take any marking (i.e. the word is the exact same every time, no affixes)? If so, I'd look into analytic languages like Mandarin, French or Persian.>>22505468I've been wanting to follow WP/Artifexian's guides on tectonics so bad, but my ADHD ass is terrified of how extremely intricate GPlates is. Even if I were to go about it very carefully and methodically, I feel like I'd fuck up somewhere along the way, or get distracted and come back not knowing what the fuck I'm doing.
>>22522060loch wolfs
>>22522678Op here.Technically, there has been a worldbuilding discussion forum on 4chan for a long time, the worldbuilding general out there in >>>/tg/ is very old and actually pretty decent, not to say actually awesome. I created another one here on >>>/lit/ just because I felt like a damn weirdo around there, with people talking about "their groups" and "their D&Ds" and "stats", when I just like making games and sometimes worldbuilding for fun. Also, there should be one here just because it makes sense.
>>22522678>God, you have no idea how long I've been wanting a general like this.Same here, though there's little I can contribute for now.
>>22522678>wanting to follow WP/Artifexian's guides on tectonics, but ADHD get's in the wayI'm in the same boat, I got paralyses overthinking every step not only with the tectonics but with my project as a whole What got me to finally do somethingjust some general points and concepts for now was to admit that the first drafts would suck no matter what and I would need to rework and do many iterations anywayWith luck I will be able to push myself to try my hand with Gplate in my next college break, if not the full guide at least something like WP quick and dirty method
>>22521639idk anonMagitek mechas are much more interesting than just mechas with magic. Like magitek is a very underdevolped concept in general.
>>22518284Quite a few wizards are full schizo, but luckily most level off somewhere around "extreme PTSD".
>>22522195>You are not constucting your setting around the needs of a plot, are you anon?Course I am, and what's wrong with that?
How accurate does an alt-history/fantasy story need to be in depicting real life cultures? If someone depicts Picts, for example, how much of the completely dead, lost language do you have to know to accurately name people and places, especially if they're fictional and NOT the names recorded in the annals of history?Another example is medieval Scotland circa the 1400s or so. Should I learn the Scottish language, Gaelic or whatever it is? How can I worldbuild proper and original clan names without a deep understanding of Scottish etymology (an example I know of is Cummins/Cummings deriving from Comyn, which likely came from the Byzantine Komene). Would an audience pick up on poorly thought out naming systems? I feel like they would because only autists bother reading alt-history/fantasy stuff.And how far back would I need to plot the "alt" part of this history? If, for example, a certain clan founder was a migrant from some tiny Gothic tribe that had come from Tocharia, picking up the customs and traits of various Finns and Saami and such, would I need to go into deep research for each individual culture, even when they will NEVER be mentioned in my story?The gist of what I have so far:Scotland will be populated by Bruce Campbell-esque chads who measure their value not by lifting stones or fighting but how tremendous their chins are, a sign of being blessed by the local fae. They practice extreme inbreeding and cannibalism due to retardation. Having forgotten the ways of farming and pastoralism, the hill people conduct raids into neighboring villages of mixed Iberian-Phoenicians (the Romans died out roughly 100 AD and a lost tribe of Gaulish-Iberians, descended from Phoenician merchants, moved northward into the British Isles). A petty baal, or lord, takes a Pictish wife as a concubine and the feral, retarded child slowly "falls upward" in the story, being used as cover for hidden kingmakers in a war against an underground cult of Cornish necromancers that are backed by Irish warlords.
What's the most convenient meat animal to raise on space colonies?
>>22502834It really really wasn't for that sole purpose. Coming up with the BACKGROUND info was done for that purpose, but every bit of actual writing done for LOTR was very much because his publisher asked for a sequel to The Hobbit. There was no Frodo when he was coming up with stuff to support his language, no Strider, no betrayal at Amon Hen. Letters make that all pretty clear. I don't recall the deal with The Hobbit, I'm reasonably confident he was essentially fleshing out the bedtime stories he told his kids. What actually happened is more like he built a world as part of his hobby of making languages, then later on happened to be in a situation where he could write a story set in that world.
>>22524671This post may have come out more combative than it was intended to, I can't really evaluate it effectively, I'm quite tired. I'm going to go to sleep.
>>22524547>How accurate does an alt-history/fantasy story need to be in depicting real life cultures?There's no Culture Police that will arrest you if do it wrong, and most people know zilch about ancient cultures. Asides from surface aesthetics, that is.
>>22518505No you're right, very little mentioned in this thread even enters the sphere of worldbuilding, they're more like synopses with no implications for the universe around them besides the concepts directly mentioned in it.Worldbuilding is an interesting creative and thought exercise when you force yourself to think about the circumstances that enable something, try to figure it out by thinking through parallels in the real world, and then continue to explore this relationship and its iterations. Those stories of oh there's a giant and a wizard class and a king no one likes are just you writing the plot beats of a novel.
>>22523873But where does the magic begin and the tech end? That's the question you should be asking yourself.My own answer is, "the magic begins where the possible ends".
>>22521463>My settings has deep elves (basically dwarves thought not tolkien like) whose speciallity is golemancy. They had big golems to mine and haul cargo but necer saw them as combat mechas. That would be interesting.May their right hands be drills.
>>22524668Fish or chickens. Efficient, need little space, and nutritious.
>>22524811Oh, and worms. Bugs are a pretty good source of protein.Algae too, if you can stomach it.
So I have a small question regarding more so audience expectations or the basic tenets of the genre.I like my fantasy settings more like Tolkien, with more subtle magic and cosmology stuff. however I also really like kitchen sink Western fantasy shit, like parties of diverse races and lots of weird monsters and such. This weird combination leads to the fact that I really don't like the traditional fantasy wizard, and I don't know if people would find it weird if there's a fantasy setting that seems very generic but everyone is still fighting with swords instead of casting fireballs and such. Do you think people will not be interested for this reason?
>>22524727That's the idea, in magitek magic and tech are one in the same.There's no magic vs technology dichotomy, technology is just refined magic.
>>22525662>fantasy setting that seems very generic but everyone is still fighting with swords instead of casting fireballs and suchLike a song of ice and fire?Magic there is very very rare, at the beggining of the first book it's almost thought to be dead and a thing of the past. There are no fireballs, mages are basically just mystics who at most can read the future.So no, I don't think a fantasy setting without mages and evident magic would tick people off.
>>22524547Well of course you should investigate about the culture, but learning an entire language for only this purpose is pure autism.The more research the better, that's it.
>>22525709(Of course that throughout the novels magic starts becomming more common, with dragons and mages now being able to revive people with some luck, but clearly they don't know what the fuck they are doing, so they are still very far from tolkien mages. No, I don't think people will have any problem with that. In fact, most people find tolkien derivatives very hackneyed indeed)
>>22524268That's the casual approach, the easy way. But it creates bad results. Your setting won't be realistic, just an excuse to advance the plot, which is against the very idea itself of worldbuilding. And don't get me wrong, settings are constructed organically most of the time, but that doesn't mean changing it at the slightest necessity.
>>22525749>Your setting won't be realisticGood. I'm writing a bloody fantasy story. If it's realistic, I failed.
>>2252579Lmao what a fucking retard.One can still think a fantasy setting is realistic in the sense that everything it's coherent with what has been presented so far.If suddently characters start flying for no reason and there's no real explaination for that in the setting whatsoever, yeah, that's still fantastic but also fucking retarded, not realistic at all. And before you say something even more stupid, no, readers don't like that and a great example of realistic and logical fantasy setting are aSoIaF. If suddently Jon Snow summoned a car to ride into battle, it would still be fantasy, but nobody would ever respect the books setting ever again. Clearly this is not your thread since you don't fucking care about setting consistency or worldbuilding whatsoever. GTFO
>>22525749every setting in every fantasy novel that's sold more than a hundred copies was built to facilitate the protagonist's journeyyes this includes asoiaf
>>22526133Oh yes, i'm sure GRRM wrote entire noble lineages so that the aSoIaF plot could move forward. Is everything you say stupid or stright up a lie?Are you telling me that nobody has ever built a setting and only then the story? Because that's literally false. There's this guy called Brandon Sanderson, ever heard of him? In case you didn't, here's a bit of info about him: he has sold more book copies that you ever will.Go back to the writing general where you are welcome writing your anime tier novellas with no cohesive setting.
>>22526199you're funnier than they are though
Any tips for sci-fi worldbuilding?
>>22526500You need to know a lot of science to do that well.Not only astronomy but also physics of all kinds. You really need to know how the world actually works in all its scales.That's what sci-fi was originally, fiction that parted from the idea of what was possible according to what science says. If your sci-fi setting is just yada yada aliens, it's not sci-fi, it would be space fantasy.
>have three pages of lore about an obscure race far away from the map that is not even relevant for the plot, many cities and even a complex hierarchy system that dictates how their societies work>have not a single bit of info about the main race of the setting aside from them being like the dominant raceI want to fucking kill myself.
>>22526915That's the thing about the worldbuilding autism bug: It never works when you want it to, and it always works when you don't want it to.
>>22526915I mean like, what am I supposed to do. I shouldn't make the main race of the setting too bizarre, should I?>>22527003I think my problem is that i'm too much of a perfectionist: if I write something that it's not worth writing I feel like shit.
>>22527027i have good news and bad news and both parts of it are that you'll probably not write anything worth writing either way. if you're wasting time detailing irrelevant shit to procrastinate, you're not spending time getting better at putting the settings you come up with to use. you can safely stop wasting your time.
>>22527229I disagree. I know when something is worth writing about: If I had fun writing it, then it was worth it and wasn't a waste of time.:)
>>22527239then stop blogposting and fuck off or post some interesting details so this thread isn't just you and the autistic OP pretending you're important people
>>22526045I think the correct term is "authentic"
>>22527229>>22527260The kettle ain't any blacker than you, pot nigger. You're gonna make this into a retarded argument thread yourself.
I want to make a country that's an (affectionate) parody of America. Thinking of basing it on San Francisco, which always struck me as the most extreme US city.
>>22529353Look at San Fierro from GTA: San Andreas, something along those lines
Any idea for how a stone age culture would derive world for things like pterosaurs ?Landing way to dirave words for dinosaurs and most other creatures was very straight forward, variation on birds for the feathered one and variations on reptilian groups for the scalie onesbut pterosaur are so different and wierd that I'm having a hard time comming up with somethingFor contextThat people are a tribe from earth that got transported by some eldricth aliens to another world that periodically receive waves of creatures from our world since the ediacaran, and as that world didn't got hit by the end cretaceous meteor dinos are still arround there
>>22531696Just curious, how far away is this world? Is it like the Gor series where it's a "hidden Earth" on the opposite side of the sun (so you can't see it in telescopes)? It also involves aliens transporting species. If you keep it really primitive, it sounds really cool.>Landing way to dirave words for dinosaursDo you mean derive? As for pterosaurs, I have a few unga-bunga words off the top of my head:>muk'da (contraction of mu'ak am surda, meaning 'winged baby-eater')>raroogetsi-o (meaning 'king of the fearful skies')>yuyam aghdai, yuaghdai (meaning 'mountain crag gatekeeper')
>>22532239>how far away is this world?Very far, another star system >GorIt's one of my inspirations for this>Do you mean deriveyes>>muk'da (contraction of mu'ak am surda, meaning 'winged baby-eater')>>raroogetsi-o (meaning 'king of the fearful skies')>>yuyam aghdai, yuaghdai (meaning 'mountain crag gatekeeper')those sound great for spicies names, but now I'm trying to get something for pterosuars as wholeThe general background idea is there this lovecraftian beings travel by creating spacial distortions conecting differnt regions, then snaping from one place to the otherBeing too close to it and you might be carried together for the ride, and when many travels are done in the same place it leave a distortion area where one can cross from one word to another without even noticing before it's to lateLike entering the fey world through a mushroom circle or trees natural forming an arcWhile going here to there is much easier the other way is possible, resulting in cryptids and occasional 'ghost' lineagesI planning to use the setting for more sword&sorcery/sword&planet stories, and now I outlining one of the fist tribes of true humans that end up thereFor how primitive the will be, most humans will be stone age to aztec/maya tier, one or other place might have some Bronze age tier city states or mini empires (not counting the occasional alien artifacts)
>>22505797This is peak comedy for the latinotard. And this is coming from a puertorrican. 2/10
>>22506492Interested.
>>22502086Hey anons. Nice thread so farI've been having trouble organizing a world that I've been thinking about on and off for a few years now. Here's a QRD of it:The world is supposed to be Earth waaaay into the future, with the Earth being flooded and unrecognizable. The oceans are treacherous and almost impossible to sail, filled with monsters, spirits, whirlpools and guardians, so there is no way for each island's inhabitants to interact with one another. Maps are essentially useless.The concept of the world is supposed to be that Earth became so different and fragmented that the spiritual world and the "real" world converged, and reality became something ambiguous called the Dream, with the inhabitants of this world mostly unaware of this.The other concept that I've made canon in the world is the fact that the Dream's mythology is implied to be Earth's past mythology. So for example, what I'm playing with is essentially that the Bible had it right: there WERE giants, angels, demons, half-humans half-animals, etc. in the past. It's just that everything got drowned away in the flood. However, since the Dream muddied the waters between the material world and the spirit world, a lot of these forgotten creatures have returned in very warped but real forms.There's a few other concepts of the world that are essential but don't wanna infodump too much on this post. One of them being the immortals, which are humans who are still alive from the time before the flood. If it sounds interesting I can talk about it more
>>22504174RPGs bestiaries and monster manuals will light you up
>>22507465>>22507476space ants? for a whole species fall for that you need big reasons socially speaking, otherwise give other nations>mu commienot communism, class abolition is contrary to that so dont even touch the subject if you think in that way
>>22509392I use orgmode (Emacs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnMntOQjs7QYou dont need to install anything, you dont need to learn anything, you dont need to be a programmer. Emacs comes with orgmode, just use it as it were a notepad until you need a specific feature, THEN look how to install that an specific addon for that feature.Otherwise look for "outliners" but beware, there are disadvantages in using stuff that uses a specific format for files. If you see a program using "a proprietary file format" dont use it, it will be painful to migrate. Emacs doesnt have this problem so is why among other reason I suggest it.
>>22524668Fish, perhaps
I want more guilds of people using/hoarding knowledge about different types of magic. Gib ideas. So far I have:>Thieves guild founded to steal divine artifacts so they don't blow up reality>Druids guild founded by people who made some animals smart and accidentally fucked up the ecosystem>Witches guild of ladies who blow shit up with bloodline magic>"Protectors guild" that's just a mafia of magical buff dudes>Alchemists guild that does wacky inventive stuffI think I can fit one or two more in my story. Feel free to make whatever assumptions you want about my setting, I just want ideas.
>>22535345>pirate guilds founded by ex navy to keep them busy in peace times
What I'm designing these days is a Liberator/Founder figure, like George Washington, William The Orange or Lucius J Brutus. A man who rebelled against the "unjust" or corrupt authorities and established the modern Republic.The twist is, the kingdom/polity is based on Pre-Achaeminid Mesopotamia. So far, I've decided to use some Enkidu (he was abandoned in the wilderness as a child), some Gilgamesh (divine blood), and a little Moses (lead them to the promised land). I was hoping someone could suggest other myths to borrow from?
>>22536187I'd definitely throw in some of Darius I overthrowing "Gaumata" seal team shenanigans.
Fuck it. Native American based worldbuilding, here I come
>>22502330ViriconiumThe DeepBridge of BirdsEarthsea
>>22502954They control a glass manufacturing machine. Maybe the silica stores are running low and soon there will be no more glass. The station would need to capture another silica heavy asteroid to restock.
>>22534630Not everything with a biological caste system has to be ants. I never said they were eusocial. And honestly the ant "caste system" isn't even that elaborate. > for a whole speciesThey're going to be humans, or well human descended at least. This is an alien light setting, although there are aliens. >otherwise give other nationsSpace-faring confederation taken over and hijacked by aliens. Aliens positioned themselves as gods, every single one of them. This led to a complex system of godly inheritances, aspects, and new gods. Ayy lmao population is relatively low.
>>22536187Some Narmer? He beats up all the petty princes and remakes the world righteous?
>>22534394>earth is floodedBecause of global warming or by a second universal flood?Since you want to use hebrew mythology you could say it was another deluge sent by God. I would reccomend scrapping this "dream" concept and just using that. Angels, demons and tech sound like a fun combination. >Dream's mythology is implied to be Earth's past mythology. So for example, what I'm playing with is essentially that the Bible had it rightEmmm... cultural relativism?You know that not everyonenon the planet is christian, right? Indians, chinese, etc. What about those ancient cultures?
>>22534709That doesn't look that great, any editor can do that. I know you can create functions in emacs, but why would you? I've never written something and said "you know? I could program something to make this faster".
>>22536346I want a heroic rebel, not a villainous tyrant.
What do you think is the inclination of a high fantasy world in dealing with an "industrial revolution" that doesn't need to be the same kind of "industrial revolution" that happened in the real world?A high fantasy world that does not stay in the medieval setting forever, but does not stop remaining high fantasy in shifting through time, and not necessarily with the same political ideas, or the same social upheavals, or the same scientific experiments as in our world, but for the high fantasy world.
>>22537684You could make the magical items more advanced. That's what happened in Tolkien's world but in reverse, magical items were advanced in the First Age, more powerful and intricate, including flying ships, but the technology level decreased after the tech was lost by the Third Age in LoTR. Or you could have magical spells start out simple, then become more advanced and elaborate over time, for flavor add in some dark age which makes some useful spells forgotten. I don't think there's a reason that a high fantasy world must develop in a certain way because there're many variables you can add to make it any which way.
>>22537171>Emmm... cultural relativism?>You know that not everyonenon the planet is christian, right? Indians, chinese, etc. What about those ancient cultures?That's why I used the phrasing "for example". Depending on which part of the world you are, you will see beasts from different myths and legends. I didn't expand on this too much to not make a bloated post. However, the overall encompassing mythos is the fact that there is one God and that these spiritual beings are all coming from the same source. In other words, every cultural myth is all simultaneously true with a definite purpose and source. >Because of global warming or by a second universal flood?Again, didn't expand on this. But it's essentially another universal flood. This event is expanded upon in the story I'm currently considering for this world.>I would reccomend scrapping this "dream" concept and just using that. Angels, demons and tech sound like a fun combination.Well, you might get it if I explain it a bit more. But the Dream isn't a dream world with dream physics and such. It is essentially what the state of the material world is called as a catch-all for how blurry the line between the spiritual and material has become. There's also an implication that this is just "God's dream" that we're experiencing. If you mean I should scrap that name, that's fair enough. For now, though, it's a placeholder name unless something more captivating comes up.
>>22537234The picture is how I prefer my screen to look, clean. You can tweak it too by just copypasting a line of configuration doing what you want, that's how I started with Emacs.
>>22537684Make magic more mundane as the society advance is how I picture the progress of time.
What’s the point of worldbuilding? None of it will show up in your writing since every sentence should be about progressing the story.
>>225385341. developing the world is as important as the plot for both fantasy and sci-fi2. you don't even need a story, a cool world and it's history is something fun and though provoking on itself3. it help to make stories write themselves, first building the world, them for what tales it tells
>22538534look at this guy and laugh
>>22538675New thread
>>22538677Lmao, I didn't expect this thread to reach bump limit, let alone someone else making the OP.Well done /lit/, i'm proud.Though I would have changed the OP a little after complaints.>>22538534The point is that it's fun. Aside from that, it also adds much depth to the stories you create, having a consistent framework in which the story takes place makes the story much more immersive. Like, it's not just an arbitrary event even after the other, it all has a consistency which many readers appreciate.Also, read this >>22519110
>>22538705well done OP, see you next time
>>22502086How do you keep from falling into the trap of just expositing world info to your reader or should you even worry about that?
>>22539035>last post>is to discourage from more threadsnice try
