/lit/ - Literature

In a few days NaNoWriMo will be upon us once more. How have you constructed the worlds for your stories if you're participating this year? And what advice would you give someone who's trying the challenge for the first time?

If you’re not doing the challenge, what spooky stuff are you doing worldbuilding for lately? Happy Halloween!

You DO build your world around your characters, right anon?

>>22652858
Nope, I built the world first daydreaming during the monotony of an old retail job and used its history and institutions to inspire the characters and conflict that drive the narrative.

>>22653009
I'm gonna to put a baby inside Cielle's tummy

>>22653009
Do you use an AI program for the images?

>>22653021
Yeah, in Dall-E 3 via bing. It'll suffice until/if the project gets enough steam going that I might actually need "official" art to promote it.

What's the worst fate imaginable in your world?

>>22653790
Individually- being assimilated into an ayylmao hivemind hell bent on terraforming the planet into a world more suitable for themselves and you're forced to do their bidding to accomplish this task
Long term planet wise - the planet being terraformed by killing the sun with magic so the ayy lmaos can inhabit it and the humans all die off cause they can't live on a tomb world wasteland

>>22652858
I build my world around the themes of the story. In fact, I don't worldbuild at all, just wing it and get praised for the worldbuilding because I actually publish finished material designed for consumption.

>>22652634
OK so I'm working on a CYOA and I'm world building at the moment.
It is characterized by having a sex based magic system.
In which women that can use magic are known as witches they have a multitude of different powers mostly unique tho themselves around a theme they are more powerful than the men on the other hand their power slowly drives them insane turning them into beldams reality warping monsters slowly eroding reality around their core that is what's left of their bodies they believe that one of them is destined to consume and remake the world in her image.
Meanwhile men have a far safer source of magical power that gives them a degree of anti magic protection, abilities to reach super human feats on the level of say batman and relatively recently discovered that they can shield witches from the most negative aspects of their powers at the cost of them not being able reach the level of a beldam or to grow as a regular witch and becoming emotionally attached to their bond partners becoming maidens.

>>22654103
Most of humanity lives in city states protected by "champions" (Male magic users), maiden's and regular troops.
This city states have strong social hirearchies with a republic as ruling body being the most common.
>Citizen: Right to vote and be elected for office, technically anyone can reach this status bia military service but in practice only champions manage to do it maidens may or may not be explicitly banned from earning citizenship.
>Civilian full property rights, pays taxes and can own businesses but can't vote or be elected sons of civilians or citizens fall here also trust worthy maidens.
>Guest: Legal visitors given leg protection but under vigilance and limited on their ability to move around.
>Resident: are allowed to live in the city but have little more protection they are likely recently arrived refugees they are mistrusted as likely agents of witches or Beldam can earn civilian status with military service or patronage by a citizen.

Normally everyone lives in big households under the protection of the eldest or highest ranked male relative who advocates for them with his earned privileges.
In general women are mistrusted and discriminated against as female wagic users caused the end of a great golden age and are still trying to consume what's left.

>>22654137
A'd they have a polytheistic pantheon.
With one male god representing male magic users and 2 female goddesses each one representing the witches/beldams a'd the other the maidens.

So how does it sound?

Frieren has given me inspiration.

I'll include a "Trap" race within the Sultan's court. It looks like humans, can talk like humans, but isn't human. It's a sociopathic race of monstrous killers that emulates its prey to hunt it.

It can even pretend at diplomacy or weakness to manipulate human empathy.

>>22654281
>a "Trap" race within the Sultan's court
So femboy odalisques?

>>22654137
So basically an ancient Greek Polis?

>>22653790
Hell. I suppose being tortured or raped also counts.

>>22652858
Course I do. I just made up some characters and then built a world that can accommodate them.

>>22654871
Yep I'm even thinking about using the word Polis to describe them.
The setting at least where it takes place has heavy greek/roman influences including their views on nature and women.

>>22653790
The Abomination refers to it as "the heart of agony", but nobody knows what that name means, just the effect: The Abomination crawls into your mind, where it begins distorting and corrupting your happiest memories and forcing you to relive the bad ones over and over again, somehow finding ways to make them "worse" each cycle. Technically the Abomination can do this for as long as you have memories, but in its own words, it almost never can get a mind to last more than a few years before it simply shuts down from the trauma.

>>22653790
Maybe being warped by a beldam into a monster, to start it will hurt and you likely will be nothing but an animal or slave if she needs you to be able to think.

>>22653790
Depends on the culture. The cultures on the west side of the main supercontinent believe "damnation" (the loss of one's mental faculties) to be worse than a sober death. On the eastern subcontinent, their idea of damnation is more classically spiritual, but what qualifies as "damnation" is a frequent topic of theological debate between the varies sects or "rites" that religion. Does God favor the wicked zealot over the righteous heathen? Who earns the better afterlife. If the heathen does not follow the guiding light of the Sanctfire, how will their soul find its way to Heaven?
An insular ethno-religious minority found primarily in sovereign fortress cities dotting the eastern side and fringes of the central hinterlands believe the worst fate is death by decapitation and believe the soul resides within the torso and escapes into the ether through the mouth, but cannot do so through the esophageal opening alone. They have an entire spiritual philosophy around the human body, its humors, its pathways, and so on. The mouth is a gateway and if the soul cannot pass through that gateway, it is trapped in the torso and decays with the body.

>>22652634
There's a lot of gas around that ass

Do you think people would still be dismissive of superstition in a world where it's common knowledge that the supernatural is real?
Like demons and hauntings are real, but people still consider certain things to just be crazy horror stories to scare children.

>>22653790
Receiving a symbiotic fungal infection that turns you into a half-living half dead leper who can live forever, but will feel your own state of rot constantly.

>>22656717
I would envision it in a polytheistic way.
Let's say that there are tales that a monster lives in a wood and people are afraid.
But not the priest because he already commuted with the spirit ruling the forest and he knows the spirit will protect them from the monster and so it can be dismissed.

>>22654847
No, just predators dressing to deceive. I don't want gay stuff in my fantasy.

1860's American Wild West with werewolves.

Weapon by Sheriff Jim of Yuma Arizona - Colt Army 1860 .36 caliber double action
Bullets - Depends on how he wants to kill the werewolves.
+.96 Silver bullets kill
-.96-.90 Silver bullets maim
sub .90 - stun.

He kills these dirty mutts until a sexy Mestizo by the name of Senorita Isabella Fernandez Cortez, a descendent of the daughter of Montezuma and Hernan Cortez seduces Jim and is a werewolf herself.

Does Jim hunt her down or does he breed with her superior bloodline?

>>22656717
That would depend on the amount and reach of study there has been done about the world in general. The more confident people feel about the big strokes of the design of their world, the less space they give to the unkown that clashes with the known.

>>22657594
A bit more tangible example of this: There's a set of spirits that are commonly known in their nature and abilities. Conjurers have studied them with their abilities to the point that they rarely encounter anything new about them. Lets say that the spirits are always slightly transparent and never move inanimate objects around. The Conjurers might consider teleporting inanimate objects through the spirit realm as something supernatural, as there isn't anything known about moving them like that. The objects would have to be alive, like the expensive and high maintenance robes made of desert moss the State Messengers use.

>>22656717
>>22657020
>>22657594
I guess I could elaborate a bit more on what exactly I'm working with. My world has a place where time and space are all fucked. It constantly shifts around, though they can usually predict when the big shifts happen (I'm not a hundred percent sure on whether or not I want to write it that way, either way the predictions are still very inaccurate). Overall they have some understanding of that place, people constantly venture in there to explore/examine it but also to exploit its resources, the only magic in the world is based on enchanted shit they find in there.
And essentially there would be a bunch of Urban legends about the place, like there being some El Dorado equivalent in there or a certain mysterious figure that some people claim they saw. What I'm going back and forth on, is whether or certain people would dismiss those claims as fantasies or would be on board with them, because the place is fucking weirs, so why not.
But I guess it all comes down to
>That would depend on the amount and reach of study there has been done about the world in general
So I guess I'll have to give it some thought. At the end of the day it depends on whether or not there is room for those things in the general understanding of that place.
Thanks for reading me think out loud.

Main character as a diplomat writer serving as politician for its city-commune who is ousted from the government by the opposition and its recruited into a crusade to the "lands of all of things" to retrieve its daughter.

>>22653036

Just in case you aren't aware, you can use the chatgpt plus version to create for-profit images. Not sure about all the licensing details, but that's one major difference from bing. Plus you can change the aspect ratio.

bump

>>22659518
you can read a biography of machiavelli if you want an IRL example of the first half of your idea.
>TFW when The Prince was written to ingratiate himself with the returning Medici

Do you make setting/story primers for your narratives and lore?

>>22662526
>>22653009
>>22659834
>>22652230
>>22657069
autism or down syndrome?

>>22662662
Autism; please be patient with me.

>>22662526
I generally only have a pdf glossary and maybe some TLDR on locations and history

You do make the drawfags suffer with your commission requests, don't you, Anon? You do make their hands hurt and swell, right?

>Normal kids got books like Harry Potter and GoT and LotR for Christmas
>My dad got me weird shit like Phantom Tollbooth and Lewis Carol and a literal mountain of Piers Anthony books

>Fast forward to today, my taste in fantasy can be described as "manic" and everything I try to write comes out slightly less absurd than Alice in Wonderland
Is there a way to "deprogram" my brain into liking generic fantasy schlock?

>>22663975
>My dad got me weird shit like Phantom Tollbooth and Lewis Carol and a literal mountain of Piers Anthony books
curious, what's your education and current job?

>>22664077
Associates in criminal justice, currently a manager at a popular retail chain.

>>22652634
nanowrimo is fucking stupid, just write your story and stop waiting for a fucking excuse

>>22664086
>Associates
Read Harry Potter & LotR as a kid and now doing my Master's. Makes you think.

>>22664322
Good luck anon, hope you get a job that fulfills you.

>>22652634
I'm working on a fantasy world for my next story where necromancy is the most common kind of magic, and even has some elemental variants. The issue I'm having though is that besides firing blasts of necrotic energy, communicating with the dead, raising bodies as undead, and/or taking control of undead, I am drawing a blank on what I can do, does anyone have any ideas please? BTW, Happy Halloween!

>>22665208
School of magic centered around fungi and mold.

You're welcome.

>>22653009
I love Emperor Cyriard's design. Those damn AIs are getting way too good at this.

>>22665216
Thanks, that might work well for Earth necromancy. Any other ideas, or suggestions for spells of other elemental necromancy varieties please?

>>22653790
undead factory worker

>>22652634
What kind of traits, animal features, and/or powers would you associate with demons aligned with each of the Seven Deadly Sins, and why? Pride and peacocks are an obvious possibility, as is Wrath with animals like bulls and the element of Flame, but what about the others, especially with things that aren’t so obvious? I’m trying to add some variety to the demons of each Sin in my world, and I’ve kind of hit a wall. Thanks in advance.

>>22656736
Is there a cure? Surely it’s not invincible.

>>22652858
>You DO build your world around your characters, right anon?
And what's the best way to do that?

>>22652634
How do designs outfits for the clergy in your stories without just copying what Christianity does?

>>22670027
I just steal weird runway outfits.

Bump

>Destiny cannot be altered nor (flawlessly) foretold.
>Time travel is impossible, because a certain set of events has already been predicted. So you can't go back in time and change history.

However....
>There is one way. You can destroy the entire universe and repeat creation exactly as it happened in your timeline until you reach the specific point you want to change.
>Then just enter, change the sequence, and congrats. You've created a whole new timeline.
>However, be aware. This is NOT the Original Timeline you knew. Your interference has changed the universe forever.
>Nobody except God can now predict what the consequences of your actions will be.

Therefore, the only way to bring about this "Reboot" is through a single Cosmic artifact.

>>22672735
i dont think a race with 4 arms would use a bow like this

>>22653790
life

>>22672745
I agree, they should use two

>>22665865
Not him, but how bout water based spells that move bodies by filling them with water and controling them like that? They'd look like super bloated fatboys and be more difficult to move around, easier to fight, but they explode with poisons wator if killed

>>22663975
You dont need to deprogram
Just write something that's skitzo and esoteric and you'll find an audience. Might be niche, but your book will become cult classic kino

>>22668372
Because world building is simply not as important as the characters. If you have poor or uninteresting characters, why would I continue reading your book and learning your lore? People are also more improtant than the world because people build the world themselves. Personally, I didnt create every single character first, but started with the main ones as a baseline, decided who they were, what they wanted, what their struggles are, then built a setting around them where they would fit. A setting that looks like their ancestors(people) made

>>22652634
Can you please recommend some books/movies/short stories where a "wild" human has an encounter with a selectively bred "domestic" human? I need some inspiration.

>>22674242
Simmons' Hyperion, kinda. But it takes a while to get to the part I'm thinking of.

>>22674242
This is all the reference material you need.

>>22673862
I was asking more on the 'how' of doing so effectively, not the 'why' you would do so. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear enough.

>>22674242
Elaborate?
Selectively bred humans in what way?

>>22676258
In the same way that dogs are wolves selectively bred by a dominant species, kinda like the comic.

>>22676199
So first you create a character. A name, a personality, goals, wants desires. This generally requires that you have some level of pre-established setting first. Then construct the world around him. Where does he live? Whats the place called? Whats special about it, geographical, culturally, or otherwise? Is the place he lived what made him into who he is? What about his people? Are they like him or is he an outsider? Ask questions like these to build off of him. This inevitably leads to characters and world building off of eachother.
I also want to add that the reason this is good to do is because the worldbuilding is best revealed through the eyes of a character. We connect more with a world and character if we can understand it from their point of view, so when you discover the worldbuilding through them, it feels more real.

>>22676474
Very interesting concept and seconded. But I can't help you with that. I'd write a story about myself but I doubt my concepts are original enough.

>>22676700
about it*

>>22673848
What are some examples of "skitzo and esoteric" stuff done welll? NTA, BTW.

>>22677922
Alice in Wonderland Is still probably the king of schizo to this day, especially when you start breaking it down and realizing what a mad genius Carroll was.

>>22652858
No. First I construct a setting with hundreds of pages of lore and only then I create characters that can fit in it accordingly and thematically.
Cope and seethe more, please.
>>22673862
Are you he retard who said that dune is an example of grand worldbuilding nobody gives a crap about?
Why don't you admit that this is only a childish whim and that you don't represent in the slightest the average consumer?
Like, do you actually and seriously argue that people care about the star wars characters more than the setting? are you this delusional?
Let me debunk all your point so you may understand why you are wrong:
>Because world building is simply not as important as the characters
Literally star wars proves you wrong. Also, you keep saying nobody gives a damn about the setting and only the characters and yet most books with great characters and no setting are not popular and hard franchises today. Go ahead, try to prove me wring but you can't. Nowadays i modern fiction the setting is more important than the characters because if you wanted good characters alone you would be reading, idk, moby dick.
>People are also more improtant than the world because people build the world themselves
No they don't. Either you are stupid, autistic of have mental problems. Nobody thinks that and it doesn't even make any sense.
>then built a setting around them where they would fit
Well then, congratulations, you created a shallow and empty setting with no charm in itself, which will just bore your readers. The moment they get bored about your story and characters, they will ditch the book completely.
I think that what you fail to grasp is that a good setting evokes a feeling of wonder in the reader like no other, discovering a whole world can generates as much intrigue as the plot itself.
You are a brainlet and a low-level writer.

Yeah my fantasy setting doesn't use golden coins as currency.
People use crystalized blood shards because the noble class is composed of vampires (kinda), so they don't charge taxes in gold but rather in blood. This practice has extended so that everyone uses their own blood for trading goods too now.
And no, I don't care that it doesn't make any sense. It's fucking cool.

>>22667484
Curing the fungus will kill the host too.
So no.

Heyyy bros do you want to create another setting?
Maybe a different method will work better this time around.

>Awaken from a drug induced coma to find I had written several pages of notes on the language of one of my species, with a history of class-based dialects that fused together over ~300ish years
I have no idea how to fit this autistic rambling into my story but it feels like a waste now not to use it. Should I just dive head-first down the conlang rabbit hole?

>>22678532
You can hint at the existence of it where it's appropriate but nobody forces you to explain it in detail a any point.
It's called hidden lore, like in dark souls.

>>22652634
In my story’s world the main threat dwells in the realm known as the Abyss. You see, it can’t create anything without great effort, so it gets its minions through corruption. Whenever a being, usually an elemental, gets too close to a weak spot in the barrier between the Abyss and the mortal realm, it sucks them in, it’s corruptive tendrils forcibly reshaping them both mentally and physically. It can’t completely erase the influences of their original state though, so one that was originally a flame elemental might basically look a Balrog fighting Gandalf to a more succubus-like being that merely feels warm to the touch. I’m looking to make a few types that can be any element, like Imps, and give each other original element a few types of demon that can be made from them, like maybe Gargoyles for stone elemental, but I need some more suggestions for each one, especially my elements other than the most common four. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

>>22678499
Well, I presume that most of them would welcome death at that point. What about inoculating oneself against it?

>>22678448
I've never read dune
Also wont read your book

>>22678448
>starwars
>doesnt understand that people create the world around them
>thinks you cannot have a good setting if you dont autistically write a 200 page document on the trade deals between peepeeland and fartman kingdom
You are genuinely retarded and I wish I got back the minute I wasted reading your post

Also, just to further proove how retarded you are
>people care about muh starwors because of le world, not let characters
>everyone hates nustarwors because the characters suck and all of the good old ones like luke were completely destroyed
Again I say, absolute retardation

>>22677922
My diary desu

How does Gardner manage such remarkable world building?

>>22681372
That seems like a (you) problem.
Ask GRRM if he makes his setting around his charaters, retard.
>>22681385
Quoting and calling the other person retarded is not an argument.
>doesnt understand that people create the world around them
You never explained how, exactly (and it's obviously because that doesn't make sense and you are just schizo rambling about something you subjectively don't like).
>thinks you cannot have a good setting if you dont autistically write a 200 page document on the trade deals between peepeeland and fartman kingdom
Never said that and the fact that you think that's my point shows your lack of understanding of my overall position. Never said that your setting must be defined to that level of autistic detail. I'm saying that if you make a setting just as a secondary element of the narrative that fits your particular story and don't spend the time and effort it deserves, the end result will be an empty setting which is not going to be interesting by itself. Maybe that process could be good for /wg/, maybe that's enough for a literally who novel which won't sell a single copy despite having "amazing" characters. But for the worldbuilding general that is certainly the most lazy and lame way of doing it, and I guarantee you it won't make any worth reading result.
Tell me, what's so interesting about your setting?
Could you sell a book about the setting and nothing else? If not, you failed as a worldbuilder.
>everyone hates nustarwors because the characters suck and all of the good old ones like luke were completely destroyed
They hate it because the movies are shit, and yet it still has fans who hate the new movies.
If you are against the idea of wrldbuilding, anyway, why are you here? You have mental problems man and that is evident, every thread you come with your autistic ramblings about people shouldn' spend time with this when it's a hobby in itself. You clearly just don't share it, and still it lives rent free on your head all the time.
Your method of worldbuilding sucks. This is simply not the thread for (you).

>water is driven by emotion
>air is driven by logic
>fire is driven by instinct
>earth is driven by...
Any help with this?
Tradition? Law? What's socially acceptable?

>>22682027
Hardiness, stoicism, resilience, etc etc.

>>22682027
Social darwinism.

>>22681975
>grrm
Didnt read the rest of your post
Lol
Way to prove my point

>>22682664
Anon, he has sold millions of copies.
Weren't you saying that making a detailed world is a waste of time nobody gives a shit about? Well, he single-handedly shows you are full of shit, his last book was a success and is literally just worldbuilding. It's even got it's own TV series adaptation.
Cope. Worldbuilding is not a waste of time, in fact, is pretty popular nowadays in fiction circles considering the success of Brandon sanderson and GRRM.
Why don't you admit you are just mentally ill?

I just wanna daydream about my chosen uber races led by immortal spirit lords conquering other races from bronze age to conquering whole universe

>worldbuilding while listening to dungeon synth
Is there something more comfy?
>>22682716
That sounds interesting, write a doc about it and post it aaaaaa

In a world where the use of magic by humans is strictly forbidden, what would a good punishment for a mage be?
Optimally one that makes the mage an interesting combat encounter.
I was thinking about the pubishment would be putting the mage inside of golem. The golem would be powered by the magic energy of the mage, draining him in the process. Those golems would then be used as construction workers or some shit.
Any other suggestion for punishments for mages?

In my setting, humans are subjugated by a magical race of divine being and the use of any kind of magic by a human is strictly forbidden, what would a good magical punishment for a mage be?
I was thinking that a good punishment could be locking the mage inside of a golem. The golem would be powered by the magic energy of the mage, draining him in the process so he can't escape by magic means. Those golems would then be used as construction workers or some shit. I think this a good idea because it makes for interesting combat encounters (I was inspired by the magic bracelets in morrowind, which drain your magic, a very interesting little detail which surprised me).
But anyways, do you have any other suggestion for magical punishments?

NaNoWriMo word count check. How many of you have FAILED?

>>22683158
This is not the writing thread.
This is the worldbuilding thread.
Many people here don't even write novels.

If none of your races have 4 tits, reconsider.

>>22682027
What about Light and Darkness?

>>22684315
Mmm... Personally, I asked this question because i'm fleshing out the druids of my setting and I wanted to define how having certain personality attributes influenced your elemental affinity. For example, in my setting emotionally driven people have a higher affinity with the water element and thus can use water magic more easily.
It's actually something people IRL believe, my dad believes in that sort of spirituality stuff and I got inspired by his ramblings, he was saying something something about pisces being too emotionally driven or something, and I said "that could be interesting for my setting".
As for light and darkness, well, I think there's only one realistic answer and it's cliché. Light is good and order and dark is evil and death.
Therefore I would advice against using these elements because if you use theme with these connotations it then sounds childish and dull, and if you give them a different meaning then it's just plain dishonest and contrarian.
Like, let's be honest anon, you need to really really be edgy to say "the element which represents me the most is darkness", sounds like something that shadow the hedgehog would say, and pretty much nobody else.

>>22682716
Sounds based. Tell us more about these chosen races.

>>22683220
>Using mammalian races

https://www.youtube.com/@Tree.lancer/videos
Interesting worldbuilding project channel, seems like after the sucess of MosterGarden the idea of artists making worldbuilding projects and showcasing its art is becoming popular.
Though in this particular case the author is clearly a southamerican leftists too biased to create anything serious, the whole setting seems like an metaphor of why capitalism is bad and we should go back to monke. The art seems good though.

>>22686041
>not putting boobs to your reptilian races

>>22682691
Wow I wonder why people like game of thrones? Is it because of the heckin ice zombies or is it because of the families everyone jerks off over like Stark, Lanister, Targeryan, etc. With every post you make you redouble on your own retardation
I LITERALLY have never said that world building is not important. That's your headcanon strawman to deflect away from your own stupidity

>>22686724
Then stop pestering the thread saying that worldbuilding is secondary to writing because clearly they are parallel things, some people just like the former more (both reader and writers).
If people want to make a setting and never write something, leave them be. And if they want to follow the hard route of big writers such as Tolkien, Sanderson or Herbert, and write the story only after years of worldbuilding, stop seething about it. It's not only worth it, it can be fun too, which already justifies it.

>>22686724
>people like game or thrones because of the houses not because of the dragons
If that was true then people would be reading fucking war of the roses history books, don't you think?

>>22686066
Why justification do you use for yours having them then?

I want to create a fantasy like version of space, kinda like galaxy 999 or treasure planet. Would that work now, or would space realism autists seethe? Or should I just do it anyway since they are gonna seethe no matter what?

>>22688182
Do it. Make them seethe like never before. Be the based anon I know you can be. Make magic portals that take you to other galaxies.
Also, didn't D&D just recently released a module exactly like that? Spelljammer I think it's named. It was an old module for running D&D campaigns and I think they just re-released it. Dont know how successful that was but if they do it, why couldn't you?

>>22688198
Thank you anon, I'm gonna do it.

What's a good name for magic trees that absorb magic plankton made up of soul stuff that comes from the stars?

The trees in question can have fruits of any tree, will never naturally die, and have nymphs and other spirits living inside them

>>22688182
>would space realism autists seethe? Or should I just do it anyway since they are gonna seethe no matter what?
Why do you even care who seethes? Why are you concerned with criticism from unreasonable people and letting that affect your artistic expression?

>>22690924
Looks like a sandwich.

>>22690924
I WANT A GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH RIGHT FUCKING NOW

NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW

>>22691062
Well, besides healing, what supernatural properties would fit grilled cheese sandwiches well?

>>22692156
Resistance to burning. Improved courage that increases resistance to mental interference.

>>22688674
Soul Trees.

Never overcomplicate stuff.

>>22672745
>>22673833
Wouldn't they prefer crossbows instead? Two hands can aim and fire one crossbow while the other two are reloading another

>>22688674
Evertree.

>>22693220
NTA, but that makes sense.

How do you create interesting biomes for your worlds?
Currently my only method is to grab an actual existing biome and add some stuff, like a particular kind of plant or geographic feature. Then I add some creatures and that's it.
Is there anything better than this brainlet take?

>>22695256
I'll come up with an interesting idea, then basically force it into my setting, using "rule of cool" as lubricant.

>>22695568
That process applies to literally anything in worldbuilding. Rule of cool is generally good but be careful with consistency, if your setting is only a bunch of cool ideas is not much of a world anymore, just a bunch of ideas thrown together.
My opinion aside, i'm looking for biome specific advice.

>>22695588
Hopefully my setting being an endless dimensional garbage dump gives me more creative freedom than normal.

As for your problem, I think you're overthinking things. Unless you go full retard nobody but the most autistic of neckbeards will "well ackshually" your biome, and believe me that group is impossible to please. Also most biomes are super lame and boring, basically any creative input will be "exceeding expectations".

Recently, k decided tibrethink how I treat magic and so I figured I would just wrote down what I need/want to be true about magic in my writings. I though I'd post it here for you to pick it apart.
I used the world "such function" or "such tool" in order to distance myself from conventiins of modern fantasy media, especially those riddled with visual media and video game logic.
https://pastebin.com/TzcWrhg0
Please tell me what you think (the bullet points are different levels of tabulator from Word).

>>22692602
>Improved courage that increases resistance to mental interference.
I get the former, but why this one?

>>22695965
Don't you feel braver when you eat warm, fatty food?

Basic lore for my urban fantasy world:
>The world used to be standard High Fantasy, but the industrial revolution happened shortly after the Dark Lord was killed and his empire scattered and subsumed.
>Demons named Asura still abound, but they don't have a cohesive society and all their generals are dead, so they're not a real threat.
>The Priesthood and their "Universities of Magecraft" are an international brotherhood dedicated to fighting demons and providing social and religious services to all humanity.
>The Magi (this priesthood) are the premier scholars of the world - both religious and secular. They're just as tough in science as in theology.
>Their military arm are the Paladins. Despite the name, they're not all religious warriors.
>Paladins can go anywhere, don't need passports or visas, and have some legal immunity.
>Humans that summon or work with demons are called Witches. They're the main enemies of the Paladins. Despite the name, they're usually male.

That's enough for now.

>>22696611
>military arm of priesthood
>not religious
What do you think "religious" means? A feature of a D&D class?

I recommend a hefty dose of reading a book.

>>22696829
To put it this way, they're not all religious people. They're an army that fights demons first and priests second (if at all).

In a conflict of interest, they'll prioritise fighting demons over the interests of the Magi.

>>22696611
>Demons named Asura
>Demons
>Asura

Decide on a single theme.

>>22695728
>Unless you go full retard nobody but the most autistic of neckbeards will "well ackshually" your biome
I just asked how to make them interesting and not just green hills and haunted forests.

>Sugar desert that turns into a molten ocean during the day
Is this too outside the realm of possibility?

>>22697697
Where would the sugar even come from?

>>22698707
It's in the name anon. Desert? Dessert? What else needs to be said???

I'm designing an outlawed cult that is literally judaism and you can't stop me.
Like, these people, usually merchants and bankers, worship an exotic god of fortune and everyone hates them because of that. Like, they lie about following the state religion while in reality they worship this pagan god only because of the gibs he grants to his followers.

>>22699099
I don't think any normal person would associate that with Judaism as Jews were the first recorded people to not worship a pagan god.

>>22699342
Idk sweety that sound pretty much like jews to me.
Did you know that the spanish inquisition began mainly because of jews? At the time, many jewish converts kept their religious practices in secret, which caused more harsh measures to verify if someone was actually christian.
I don't think you know how analogies work, it's not about being actually pagan or not, it's about their shitty philosophy and overall greed.

>>22699368
Damn I didn't know the Jews had settlements in your mind as well as the west bank lmao.

How to optimize teleportation as a transportation channel?

>>22699377
Seethe harder rabbi.
My setting will have jews and you can't stop me. Maybe I will even create an equivalent for the word "goyim", too.

>>22699391
>My setting will have jews and you can't stop me.
Your complete inability to get anything published will stop you lmao. Bend the knee goy.

>>22699422
That didn't stop Bethesda, lmao.

>>22698888
Oh, ha. But still, wouldn't it just congeal into a solid mass during the day instead of turning back into granules of sugar?

>>22699556
Yeah but now I'm attached to the idea and determined to figure out an explanation.

I want to create a professional class of Mages that get hired out like Mercenaries to do stuff that may or may not involve combat.

>>22652634
I will be creating the coolest, most cool VRMMORPG progression fantasy novel. You're welcome.

When is it appropriate to use a conlang in a story?
I don't want to just throw words at the reader, but at the same time I'm having fun making a conlang

>>22700774
Never. Let it be its own thing outside of the book. Fans will be interested in it and seek it out if they want to. Don't force your conlang autism on your whole audience.

>>22700774
I like when places are named in other languages to give more context about their origin. I think the best example of this is Morrowind actually, you could actually recognize a dunmeri settlement from an imperial one just by the name alone.
That could work as an introduction to the language. In any case, I don't know what you mean by "When is it appropriate to use a conlang...?", use it whenever you want, impress readers, just don't waste entire pages explaining it. Show, don't tell.

>>22700793
So basically your advice is to not be like Tolkien?
Is everything you do low and lame? Why are you proud of your own mediocrity?
Don't yo feel ashamed of advising people against aiming at the stars?
If everyone was like you the world would be a much more boring place.

>>22700847
No. My advice is:
>Never. Let it be its own thing outside of the book. Fans will be interested in it and seek it out if they want to. Don't force your conlang autism on your whole audience.

>>22700797
Funny actually, Morrowind was what inspired my world to begin with.
Yeah that makes sense though, I was trying to use my conlang to construct place names, names for artifacts, and personal names.
>>22700793
I have an impromptu dictionary that I want to one day release online for people to dig through.
>>22700847
Ahh, but I'm not a linguist. That said, Tolkien was a big inspiration for me making a conlang. It can make a setting feel so different. My implementation will probably be something similar to what >>22700797 said.
Thanks anons! Happy worldbuilding :)

>>22700919
If you release a physical book you could put the dictionary at the end of it. Just as Dune has a dictionary too.

>>22700924
Oh, fair point! I hadn't considered that

Oh cool anon already got the pool warm for me.

For conlangs, how important is it to have an education on languages? I'm having fun just build-a-bearing the difference sentence structures and whatnot but I'm not sure if I'm wasting my time without doing formal research into language building.

>>22701164
If you're having fun, you're not wasting your time. Your conlang's gonna be shit, though.

>>22697697
Has been done before, by Walter Moers in The 13 1/2 Lives Of Captain Bluebear. (highly recommended btw). Well, sort of. it's not that the entire thing melts by day, that is instead a dangerous local phenomenon thaz can occur under the right circumstances. To quote right from the book, specifically the encyclopedia that the protagonist got telepathically imprinted into his brain by a professor with seven brains:
"From the
‘Encyclopedia of Marvels, Life Forms and Other Phenomena of Zamonia and its Environs’
by Professor Abdullah Nightingale
DEMERARA DESERT, THE. Most deserts are wide, flat tracts of land rendered largely deficient in vegetation by lack of water except in places where underground springs favour the development of oases.
Deserts are divided according to their nature into rocky, sandy, salty, or sweet deserts. The Demerara Desert, a mixed desert of the latter category, consists of Precambrian shell limestone, Early Zamonian lava flour, and prehistoric sugar with a thermal value of 55,000 calories per cubic yard. The sugar derives from an expanse of wild sugar cane which thousands of years of exposure to sunlight has concentrated into pure, crystalline cane sugar. The basic constituent of the Demerara Desert is a sweetish-tasting carbohydrate, soluble in water and alcohol but not in ether, which forms osazones when mixed with phenylhydrazine. These, depending on the number of carbon atoms in the molecule, may be trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, heptoses, octoses, or nonoses.
Because of the baking properties of their staple material, the Demerara Desert’s surface formations are far more diverse and bizarre than those of other deserts. The wind, which both accumulates sugar dust and disperses it, makes a major contribution to the Demerara Desert’s sculptural appearance. It can pick up sugar, transport it through the air for many miles, and add it to an existing sugar sculpture, only to erode parts of the formation a few hours later. Thus the outward appearance of the Demerara Desert changes continuously and far more dramatically than that of other deserts. If the air is moist enough and the wind strong enough, they can produce works of art that would turn any sculptor green with envy."

>>22702263
Well this is awkward. Here I thought I was the last surviving Bluebear Enjoyer outside of Germany.

The Demerera Desert is definitely where this idea started, but I'm hoping to add enough to it to make it legally distinct.

Is "energy you collect into your body" an overplayed trope? I just think of things like qi, prana, and mana, or the author's roulette of functionally identical terminology, and it feels like it's all been done before.

I'm developing a story where people live underground and have no concept of time beyond hours, days or nights, and have no access or knowledge of natural materials like wood. However this does lead me into some trouble with language, since describing something having happened "yesterday" or "tomorrow", or describing something like the organization or construction of their dwellings becomes more complicated.

For example right now I'm working on a scene where a character explores a deserted house, and I can't shake the image in my minds-eye of it being made of wood and furnished like some victorian mansion. Any advice for asjusting my word selection?

>>22702694
Well, change up how you "collect" the energy then.

>>22702816
Assuming they're humans they might use candles with specific times they burn for or use sleep as their day marker meaning that they could do everything in shifts, really, assuming they came from the surface they could just use our 24 hour clock and just use words like "day" "tomorrow" and whatnot as linguistic holdouts from a bygone age

Can wheat be grown in a cold and dry but sunny plains region with lots of big lakes and rivers?

What factors can lead to higher gang activity in a polity? Decentralized or weak government? Ethnic tensions? Poverty? Or any specific cultural reasons?

>>22703359
They don't come from the surface, they in fact have no concept of the surface, that's why I felt using those words is unwarranted.

Do you guys are looking for inspiration?

There is a thread over /tv/ you should see
>>>/tv/191938038

>>22703479
If that is what you wish for your world, then yes.

>>22655300
Brutal

>>22704176
>If that is what you wish for your world, then yes.
Of course I could make it happen anyway, you dunce. What I want to know whether it's possible WITHOUT Author Fiat.

>>22702480
well you might be, after all I'm inside of Germany. Zamonia is sadly so underrepresented here on /lit/, they only seem to want their Bakkers and George R. Martins in the sffg thread
go ahead with your idea, I'm interested to find out how for example it turns back into grains at night and how people live in that desert

>>22701164
Your first idea is probably gonna be shit. Do it anyway and learn from it.
>how important is it to have an education on languages
It helps if you want your conlang to feel authentic and have its own identity. Most of your readers will only care about phonology and orthography, if at all, so those are the things I would focus on doing well. Grammar is less important but still useful for forming complex words/names, and I suppose you could use it to evoke the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis to make a point about your setting, if that's your thing.

>>22704963
Unfortunately figuring out how the sugar gets back to a granular state will have to wait. I awoke this morning with "ancient Egypt (as portrayed in Stargate) combined with Candyland" on my lips and its my current obsession.

Antagonist from the story I'm probably never gonna finish.

>>22705204
Okay, that sounds cool. Details please. How do you keep the candy from melting in the heat.

>>22705204
to be honest you remind me of the candy land in World of Illusion videogame

>>22706408
is that a parasyte?

>>22706825
The idea is that her brain mutated into a crystal like form and protrudes spikes through her head. She can take one out and jam it into someone's head, taking them over and eventually creating a hivemind.

Should I feel bad that my conlang is basically just Sanskrit? I mean, I wanted it to sound and look similar to Sanskrit, the culture that uses it is heavily based on Indic mythology. But... it feels so lazy of me...

>>22702816
I had a similar idea once with a porous planet having uncountable caves underneath all the way to the core and I decided it would have some sort of luminous mist that was affected by the tides, since tidal forces still work underground. This list would also give light to plants and bring with it humid air that would condense on the cold stone walls. This would also create climate zones since the caves closest to the surface would get only the tip of the tidal crests for a short time while the lower areas would receive far more. Of course the cave architecture could delay the rising and sinking of the mist from the depths below, but they could make devices like long tubes measuring the effect of tidal forces.
I don't k ow if it would work for you, since you need a large body of liquid/gas to be affected by the tides.

>>22652634
Posting here because I do not know where else to post it. What is the minimum number of specialists needed for a self-sufficient society around industrial revolution level of technology? Would reading census data and counting the number of professions be enough to calculate the number?

>>22702816
>However this does lead me into some trouble with language, since describing something having happened "yesterday" or "tomorrow", or describing something like the organization or construction of their dwellings becomes more complicated.

They could use a really impractical system that is more of a 'general timeframe' of when it happened than a certain foxed time. "Just recently." Last few of what might be considered days. "A little while back" A week. "A good while back ." over a week up to a month. ect ect with something like "An age a go" Could be over ten years and so on. You could word it better obviously. Since they don't have an accurate concept of the passing of days, they have to generalize it.

I really like how the awful Imperial dating system in 40k works with the number at the start indicating how close it was related to Terra and indicating a rough variance you need give to the timeframe of the information. I just like the idea of a stupid and impractical dating system.

The narrator, on a journey through the seedy realm behind the skin of reality, encounters god. The entity is a titanic bug, nestled in the center of an equally large cylindrical machine. Its tiny appendages, covering its body like dexterous hairs, click and clack at keyboards jutting into its metal nest. It is assigning the sins, misfortunes, and follies of living men, deciding the eternal fates of the dead. It does this without thought or understanding. Like a machine itself, set to the task by some unknown master. The narrator ponders whether god is even conscious, or if it's little more than a beast. His faith is shaken, but he continues on.

>>22708628
I wouldn't count census data if it's about a tiny "society".
If you want minimum, looking at the era of massive expansion of labour roles isn't going to be an easy answer. If you talk about "how big does a village need to be to uphold industrial revolution level tech?" the answer might be surprisingly small, if the specialists know enough about machining to make screws, lathes, hand tools, pressure cylinders and steel cables while also having enough miners smelters, smiths, lumberjacks, woodmillers, weavers to provide the raw materials. Looking at the earliest history of boomtowns and tiny factories would be much more enlightening.
If you're talking about entire nations, maybe census data is a good enough source.
I think, in the end, if you automate agriculture and have enough fertilizer, a low number is enough. That is what you need to give people enough time away from the fields to persue specialist jobs.

>>22708654
Yada yada that's prose.
Here you are supposed to discuss SETTING

>>22708718
I was laying out a concept for a setting through prose.

>>22708814
What a pathetic and ineffective technique.
And the results speak for themselves: what are the general ideas of your setting? That god is dead? Lmao.

>>22708820
Why are you so mean?

>>22708823
Grow up, faggot.
Anyways, i'm anoyed that most people here don't seem to understand what a fucking setting is.
The thread at /tg/ is so much better, but why?

An idea where the gods are not human-like or natural phenomenon but chemistry, physics, engineering, neuroscience, music, mathematics with a bit of magical elements.

>>22708856
You mean that they are more like forces of nature?
In my setting, the gods are literally that, just magical forces from other planes, but that doesn't stop people from giving them names and embody them. After all, what was Zeus but the personification of lighting, an actual natural force?

>>22708889
In fact something interesting about my setting is that two different cultures may worship the same divine force, but each gave it a different name and story. The gods are real basically, what differs is the human interpretation of them. So most of the time, religious conflict is actually between people that in reality worship the same thing, just a different aspect of part of it.
idk i just think it's interesting

In don't care, both of you shut up. Talk about world building or fuck off

>>22708903
Ok, if you insist:
In my setting there's an alliance of city-states opposed to the dominant politcal force, an empire (very original, I know). These cities are called the "wild cities" because they oppose imperial regulation of magic and religious practices. Originally the name "wild city" was a derogatory term used by the emperor in one of his speeches, but soon the cities themselves adopted the name in pride.
Currently, the wild cities are also known as "the cities of the hounded gods", because of the widespread freedom of cult there's in the cities. That doesn't mean there's peace between the cults, on the contrary, they are very chaotic places, which reaffirms the name "wild cities". As I stated here, >>22708889 and here >>22708898, religions in my setting are basically the cults around divine forces. These forces do not have an inherent name or entity associated with them, but religions often do attribute a persona to them. That's the main reason there are many religions in my setting. The divine actually exists but since there are infinite plausible interpretations for them, in practice there can be infinite valid religions.

How difficult would it be to create soft body armor in a post apocalystic society?

>>22709062
You mean something like leather?

>>22709146
No, like bullet proof vests. Something like leather can make a fine enough subsistute however.

>>22709062
https://youtu.be/DAOBhZ3PEhw?si=Uz97JNFNtBV3S1Ly

>>22708903
Literally the 3 posts above you were talking about worldbuilding, faggot.
The next post after yours continued talking about worldbuilding and referenced those 3 posts.
Did you take your crazy pills today, anon?

>>22709572
NTA, but neat. Thanks.

>>22707769
To be honest is only bad if you publish unless you dot give a fuck
We can all dream of places we idealize

Does your setting have an assassins guild (or similar office)?

>>22711836
There were several attempts but they were always stamped out by the Imperial Throne. They were put down viciously to maintain order.

>>22711836
With magic being taught by universities, I figured they'd hold massive influence on nations so I gave them their own jurisdiction like universities had in medieval/renaissance europe, but upped it to max, including their own armed forces of battle mages. Then I gave them enforcers, from police to inquisitors that do their business publicly known and to strike fear into the hearts of magic criminals and then there's "Hidden Hands" that do the job when someone just needs to be gone ASAP (think evil dark wizards but more like warlords/despots/rebel leaders) without needing to adhere to the laws they're enforcing. They are mostly individuals and are their own counterweight. Don't want them to feel any loyalties to each other like slme brktherbkkd when one of them needs be offed for going rogue.

>>22652634
what software do you lads use for your worldbuilding?

>>22712638
Iphone notes.

>>22712638
Wiki software is great for worldbuilding, and there are many FOSS apps for it. Obsidian for instance, or ZimWiki.

>>22712638
Notes app for both writing and drawing with my finger.

>>22712638
Zotero.

>>22712638
Microsoft word and the notes app for the writing part.
Paint tool sai for drawing sketches.

>>22713686
>Zotero
Why Zotero?

>>22712934
Which do you personally prefer?

>>22714417
I use ZimWiki because it's simpler, faster, and it just works. I prefer my programs not having pretty features because they distract me and I end up not writing anything, though that's just me.
Obsidian, on the other hand, is not only more modern and better functionality-wise, it's pretty popular so you'll have a good community to back you up if you get stuck. Obsidian is pretty good software overall, it makes nice graphs, but just remember that you should use what you are most comfortable with, after all, the tools are not as important as what you do with them.
If you download any, I recommend you to abuse the linked page feature (the hypertext feature, I mean), that's what separates this kind of software with just a regular note editor. Basically, it lets you link pages just as any website would, just as links in text. It's super useful for worldbuilding:
Imagine you are writing the page of a city, all its info and historical figures. Well, if the city is in X region, you could link the page of that region, and if you have lots of detailed info about the founder of the city, you could make its own page and link it, and then you could make other pages link to the page of its founder, and before you know it, you have a fucking wiki for your own project.

>>22657566
Is Sheriff Jim a Confederate? Arizona territory was mostly reb, right? How does he feel about breeding with a mestizo, especially if she's Catholic?

>>22711836
How can you reasonably have an organization facilitating murders without the rest of the world wanting them all in prison or dead?

>>22714642
It's a barely formed idea that will probably need weeks to fully develop, but the assassins guild in my setting does its business entirely through the hallucinations of a rare plant (and you'll just have regular hallucinations unless you truly want someone dead).

>>22714417
I like how Zotero organizes notes, books, and tags. I usually keep notes about how the world works as standalone and research as a note under what book I got the information from.

>lose inspiration in writing for nanowrimo
>two weeks later and I finally got it back
I fucking hate writer's block

>>22715626
stop shilling your shit it's not related to this thread fuck off

>>22716206
>nanowrimo edition
Don't be a dumbass, anon

>>22716260
It's still not related to the thread.
I bet you made the OP.

>>22668372
Make your first characters and turn them into cosmic forces / root race embodiments / deities.

How can an autocracy defeat a democracy?

>>22714493
That does sound useful. Any other tips for either please?

I'm struggling with creating an overarching narrative for my setting. I just used to sketch my world out for fun, but now I want to make it cohesive.

>>22718742
Why would you want them to? Also, it would depend on a lot of other factors.

>>22666782
Rabbits = lust, source being one of my rabbits hopping over a fence and impregnating his daughter, as well as later trying to hump his grandkids.

Sloth=sloth of course

>>22718777
Start with one area and its struggles, whatever that may be.

>>22721250
I was looking for animals that were less obvious than those, but thanks anyway. What about elements, or abilities besides enflaming lust for, well, Lust, or causing people to become sleepy for Sloth?

>>22712638
Dropbox and word online/for android

>>22720216
To create some conflict. Not much to tell if the reigning power is basically invincible.

How's my phonemic inventory?

>>22721351
For rabbits/lust it could be uncontrollable urge to breed and expand one self, maybe even just their influence and worship, good or bad

>>22718761
Yeah. Don't just put all your pages together, both zimwiki and obsidian let you make folders to contain your pages. My advise is to organize all the pages of your setting in folders like:
>locations
>characters/historical figures
>creatures
>countries and factions
etc.
Also, in addition to this I use tags to classify all my pages, but honestly I've never actually used this feature at all, so I think the organization in folders is enough.

>>22718777
If your setting has not enough conflict between parties then just create conflict for the story.
Like, what if someone wanted to be the maximum authority on your setting, what should they do? That character could be either the protagonist or the villain of your story.

>>22714642
i dunno, seems to work for Isreal

>>22724179
Israel is smart enough to only murder people nobody cares about.

>>22714642
Either they are secret or they are backed up by the government.
Or maybe they all want them in prison or dead but they are too powerful/rich so nobody can do anything about them.
Morrowind literally has the Morag Tong, which is an ancient religious order of assassins lied to the culture of morrowind and key to the function of their political system. Basically, by law, morrowind nobles don't usually wage wars for power and political positions, they use these legal assassins and everyone see this as the normal way.

What's more interesting?
The leader of a rebellion against nobles being born from a humble origin or him being of noble lineage himself?
I think him being born from a humble family is just too cliche and unrealistic.

What's a book with interesting monster designs and/or concepts?
I'm having a hard time creating creatures to fill my world with.

>>22724572
Gormenghast, some SCPs, and of course good old mythology

>>22724394
Both could be interesting of course, but I like the sound of the leader being of nobility

>>22722770
That's less an ability and more a trait, but thanks anyway, it could work.

>>22724845
Tunnels. Digging lots of labyrinthine tunnels. Maybe a rabbit built the underworld

>>22724805
Never read Gormenghast but that doesn't seem the kind of book that features monsters at all.
>>22724845
What about the ability to cum at impossible distances? Like, jesus christ, are you writing a novel or a fucking anime?
Like I can't fucking believe you realy are creating one different superpower based on each cardinal sin. This is on the same level as making one character for each zodiac sign.
How old are you, 12?

>>22724867
NTA but maybe he's writing for actual 12 year olds?

>>22724867
Dude there's freaking hobgoblins

>>22724905
>>22724867
I'm trying to create multiple breeds of demon for each Sin.

>>22724849
>Maybe a rabbit built the underworld
Okay, that's actually a cool idea.

>>22721860
That doesn’t mean that people won’t resist it anyway. Revolutionaries aren’t really quitters.

>>22724179
>>22724387
If an organization kills for a country, they're an army. If they're open for all, then they're a travesty.

>>22725164
Yeah. Your pic clearly shows that you are underage.

>>22726542
Not a lot of rabbit demon images out there, I use what I can find online. Unless you're saying that I should use AI?

>>22726807
Ai image generator is fun and can be good inspiration. Something like a rabbit god burrowed himself into the world to avoid another god (maybe of the skies)

Bump

bad edition but i'll bump anyways

>>22727932
Okay, that looks cool, neat. I was just being cautious avoiding, since some people get very mad if you use AI art.

>>22729263
There is nothing wrong with using nanowrimo as an excuse to work on an alternate throwaway project

>>22729402
Why do you even care what other people think?
Anyways, are you gonna sell it? Because otherwise what's the point in avoiding using this tool?
Your setting is still anime-tier shit though.

>>22729732
Sorry but i'm judt not interested in whatever you are selling
Also, it's not related to worldbuilding, so if you could stop bringing it up you would doing us all a favour.

>>22730610
Well, I worry because if they're pissed off about you using AI art, which I am also a beginner at using, then they won't even consider your points and just blow up at you. I've been on other boards where AI art has caused big debates.

Okay, if it's so bad, how can I improve it?

>>22731817
>how can I improve it?
Read history instead of watching anime.

>>22731985
Real history can be like anime at times.

>>22732806

>>22731985
And how would that help me specifically with demons?

>>22732806
Do tell please.

>>22732806
I'd watch an anime on Ceaser in Gaul

Bump

>>22733517
You could literally read about witch hunter and the witch trials if you are interested in demons. In fact, why don't you read actual demonology books and the story of them? Or unironically read the bible.
Your conception of demon is childish at best.

Bumperino

World building question: how is necromancy viewed in your setting if it exists?

>>22732806
>Real history can be like anime at times.
And how is that now?

>>22736562
Reanimating corpses is simply desecration of the dead, there's no way to bring back souls. But there's no reason any wizard would waste time and energy moving slow, feeble corpses, when they could create proper familiars that can have intelligence too.

>>22721819
>Dropbox and word online/for android
And how do you use those for worldbuilding, and why those in particular?

What's the bounciest thing in your world and what makes it so bouncy?

bump

>>22736562
Gross, but otherwise unremarkable. One of the undead races might get offended and ask you to stop.

>>22739790
>One of the undead races
There's multiple undead races in your setting? What are they like?

>>22736562
The only time reanimating a corpse makes sense, from an efficiency standpoint, is some kind of "haunting" themed curse. The thin strands of karma remaining in a corpse aren't useful for anything else. The fine control structures are ripped out by samsara, and the raw materials of the corpse can be used better for literally anything else than creating a shitty puppet.

>>22740944
Zombies (fungus that replicates dead brain matter as it eats it) and skeletons (result of a surprisingly painless flesh-eating disease) are the two major ones, and they generally have delegations in every major hospital "recruiting". There's also haunted dolls, but their legal-status is a bit of a touchy subject.

I don't like resurrection or necromancy. Feel like they violate the sanctity of life and death.

So I've made it such that Necromancy is pretty much impossible. Once you're dead, your soul is either purged altogether or sent to heaven.

HOWEVER, there are still rituals that can allegedly bring the dead back to life. *Do not believe in them*. All they do is summon demons that pretend to be the souls of the dead. They just want to scam you out of your soul, so don't fall for it.

>>22740993
>There's also haunted dolls, but their legal-status is a bit of a touchy subject.
What exactly is the situation there?

Bump

>>22741846
There are two types of intelligent dolls in my setting: Sentient dolls (who became sentient due to a combination of time, magic and negative feelings) and possessed dolls (which is just a regular doll with a spirit inside it). However, the sentient dolls are... Kinda dumb, and don't really understand this distinction, they think haunted dolls are their "long lost sisters" and they scour the land for haunted dolls to bring back to their "home".

The main issue with this is that the doll's home city is the military powerhouse of the region and has fended off at least 3 separate invasions from outside kingdoms, so everyone in the general area has a vested interest in keeping the dolls happy. And since trying to convince one that a haunted doll technically falls under the "undead" category would just make the doll confused and angry (and will probably challenge you to a duel to avenge her sister's honor, it is recommended you refuse), everyone kinda just begrudgingly acts like they're the same "species".

>>22741236
For me, resurrection requires reversing the wheel of samsara. When somebody dies, their spirit is immediately split and integrated into the most suitable hosts. Resurrecting somebody tears the spirits out of their new hosts, leaving behind damaged husks which are now empowered by Fate to spread chaos in the world.

Resurrecting somebody who died a long time ago is practically an Apocalyptic action, so bigshots have placed seals to try and stop people from doing that.

>>22741236
In my dogshit quirky setting Necromancy works in two forms:

A.You rip a decent sized chunk of the dead person's and put it into the body. This will make a slow moving typical undead thrall.(For large constructs made of multiple bodies, several souls might be added) For skeletons and such, you might need to pull a bit more of the soul and use it's energies like invisible tethers to keep the body loosely together Easier to do.

B. You manage to pull the entire soul or almost all of it back into the body. Hey this person is back now but they are undead. Better hope their body was kept in a reasonable condition or you cast some magics to keep them preserved or they'll start rotting very quickly.

Both are considered abominations by most of the world and getting caught doing it will not end well for you.

I really like the idea of necromancy. But I won't deny I haven't come up with anything really unique for it in my setting other than it was a gift from the God of death himself. With the idea that mortals who he grew fond for and pitied their short life spans, gave them the ability to be with their families for just that little bit longer. (with the easier method devised so they could defend themselves from those who would attack them. Once they're safe, they're meant to release the soul again) Bit generic I know, I'm not the best at world building.

>>22744049
>You rip a decent sized chunk of the dead person's and put it into the body.
Does it have to be the dead person's soul specifically? What about animal souls? Also, why didn't the God of Death take back his gift if people abused it?

Does this power concept work for the paranormal ghost theme of it. The general idea is that theres this organization created/ran by ghosts that fight off demons. But the pure ghosts can’t directly fight them and only select humans can as well. Basically they find humans who have the potential to fight off demons and give them these supernatural powers. This organization isn’t even men in black or SHIELD styled as its super messy and in dire straits. I.e agents ranging from wrestlers, hookers, housewives, dogs etc. I wanted to do a rock paper scissors styled thing with it. Every supernatural power user has a spirit and their spirit manifest its power in a weird way through possession in some form.

>Object possession
Basically a person can use their spirit to possess an object and amplify it. I.e one character can posses a slingshot and be able to create slingshots as big as a tree etc. but the drawback is that the object they can posses is random and they can’t posses other objects.
>Symbol possession
This one is a bit weird but the idea is that a person can “posses” a symbol and gain some power based on the symbol. Transforming into a humanoid hybrid form of it. This said form can only last for a set amount of seconds. I.e a character posses an electric company symbol they have electric powers etc. Drawback is that the transformation can last from 5-20 mins and the user is drained after.
>Corpses
They work like familiars almost and are more defensive basically being based on animals. Dead ones and typically will do anything to ward off danger offensively or defensively.

Rock paper scissors wise it would go Objects>Symbols>Corpses.

>>22740993
>they generally have delegations in every major hospital "recruiting".
How many people take them up on that offer?

>>22745539
Not as many as you'd think. Both offer semi-immortality, but with skeletons you're looking at a complete loss of sensation, and with zombies the whole "fungus that eats your brain and mimics it" is a little too uncomfortable for most people. And in a setting where the actual afterlife is visible and you can literally just walk there, it's harder to sell people on semi-immortality than you'd otherwise think.

>>22744720
>Does it have to be the dead person's soul specifically? What about animal souls?
The soul is tied to the body, you can't put one person's soul *fully* into another's body. But you can make say 2 abominations using body parts from 2 people and mix and match. You could then put bits of both persons soul into each abomination and mash them together, so there's 2 monsters with a pair of half formed souls in each.

>What about animal souls?
Yes, you can pull back animal souls too. In this one nation that is dominated by Necromancers, it's kind of considered a youths first real test to reanimate and raise a dead pet they grew up with. (I had this one idea playing out in my head of one youth sneaking into a banquet and raising a spitted big in front of everyone to freak them out.)

>Also, why didn't the God of Death take back his gift if people abused it?
Genies kind of out of the bottle, too late to take it back now. You can't take back the gift of knowledge once it has been spread. Sure he could just stop souls from going back to the mortal world, but he's content to leave things be. He has a nation who worships him and do treat it as the way he intended, a way to keep loved ones a bit longer. (Save for the noble and richer families who can afford the enchantments to keep bodies preserved so they kind of abuse the system) And outliners are usually hunted down where ever they are. You can't exactly raise a few undead in the country side of another nation without expecting an angry mob of farmers led by a priest to come after you. The god has a very hands off approach. He taught mortal how to do these things, now he's content to sit back and let them do what they will. To do otherwise and impose his will would make him no better than a lot of the other gods.

All in all, yeah, not the best explanation, I'm not a great worldbuilder.

>>22736562
Well, i'm glad you asked because I have lots of info on the subject.
Basically, in my setting magic was historically something proper of the high classes, the first mages were all part of the nobility, and in fact in most regions nobility is still composed primary of mage-lords. But the common people hate magic, and thus nobles must still be careful about their use of it. Necromancy, specially, is seen with great prejudice among other magic studies, so nobles must avoid it at all costs, or in case of engaging in these dark arts, at least hide them very well. Those who don't, usually end up killed by angry mobs of farmers.
Thoughever, there was a group of noble houses from the same region which historically have always practiced necromancy, blood rituals and vampirism under the same dark and forbidden religion. This alliance of dark lords, grouped together by the same unholy beliefs, were later informally referred as the "empire of the necromancers". All aspects of their daily lives involved necromancy in some way, for example, all their servants were undead and they even used them for transportation instead of simple horses. They didn't have farmers to take care of their lands, they didn't need them, they all used undead. The only living humans who lived in their lands were breed underground, being used as just cattle. While alive, they were used as blood stock for blood rituals, and after dead ,their bodies were used for necromantic experiments. This created a new race of underdeveloped goblin-like humans who were also used in war as necessary.
This coalition of noble houses eventually started taking the form of an expansionist empire, thus the name. Everyone hated their dark lords, even the other mage-lords, which thought they made their reputation with the peasants even worse. Fortunately for them, their empire eventually fell in a war, but they didn't all disappear, most dark lords, who are immortal vampires, are still unliving to this day, hidden from the sun in abandoned castles. Some even dare to speculate that they are secretly controlling the empire from the shadows.

>>22733517
>>22737447
Alexander's whole life is anime, from his mother grooming him into Godhood, to his somber death.

Or the Persian Nobleman Zopyrus, who mutilated his own face to trick the revolting Babylonians to let him in, only to open the gates for Darius and the Persians. Hell the Persian assassination plot which Darius was a part of is total anime.

>>22747069
>if something is interesting then it's anime
Anon, do you realize that when people talk about anime they often associate it with incest and small girls with overly exaggerated features, right?
My point was that he should read history instead of watch anime, thanks for proving my point.

>>22747091
Hah good point. There is a good anime with history, Monster.

>>22741236
In my setting and most fantasy in general necromancy is not reviving dead people but just reanimating corpses. They are usually not sentient, just mindless zombies. Thats just classic RPG necromancy and it works well, idk.

>>22748174
But then you're left with the question of why corpses are better to animate than some specially designed construct.

>>22748283
Such as what?
Golems? Golems are generally very refined and sophisticated crafts, work of art in themselves. They are very hard to make. On the other hand, you can amass undead armies quite easily, just go to a cementery to find lots of corpses, both fresh and old. I think that's generally the key strenght of necromancy, once you master it you can raise entire armies of undead just like that. Corpses are easy to find in mass.

My setting has undead, golems, and flesh golems, but i'm not sure exactly what the latter is, any ideas?
What comes to mind to you when I say "flesh golem"?

>>22748304
I meant there has to be something special about corpses that makes them functional to animate in the first place.

>>22748309
abominations created through alchemy

Just saw this and had to think of this phrase: "Form follows function"
That's how I think of magic and magic objects.
Why do magicians use staves as tools for their spells? Because staves are universal tools. Why do rings give you power over elements or people? Because rings are often used as symbols of power. Why incantations to work magic? Because words create meaning and magic has a logic of its own.
I think magic should take the form of something that already relates to the purpose of the magic. Not some stupid empty glow with no inherent meaning or laserbeams.

>>22748338
>there has to be something special about corpses that makes them functional to animate
You mean aside from the fact that corpses were perfectly functional animated bodies before they were corpses?

>>22748338
>all the thinking is done inside the brain/skull when a person is alive
>the brain/skull remembers how to move and do shit
>without a brain/skull, a reanimated corpse is useless
There's literally a logic here that you're not seeing, dipshit.

>>22748833
My magic system involves meditation and hand configurations. Wizards often debate whether or not the hand movements work as an inherent part of magic or if the configurations are just means to help give the mind a point of reference and focus to channel its intent. The channeling method varying by culture and school suggests the latter

>>22750500
My "fate value" system is a convenient way to handwave why arbitrary actions produce magic.

"Fate" acts upon the world through chaotic/random phenomena, causing fate value to go up. Observing chaos and creating symbols based on it creates causal chains, which increase fate value every time they are used/extended.
Having a higher fate value than your surroundings causes your direction of causality to be reversed. You yell "Fire!" and this becomes the "effect", which is then followed by the "cause" of the wood in front of you bursting into flames. Different symbols/signs/phrases are used because the sensations of different "effects" produce different reactions.

Does your fantasy setting has homunculus?

>>22751365
Do nascent souls count as homunculi?

How do you write down your notes? I've been using notepad and just gone over characters with bullet points and then wrote a separate plot / history segment for overall story but shit's getting long and I'm not sure if there's a better way to do this

>>22751389
What is that?
Plz exmplain.

>>22751412
There is. Is called personal wiki.
Read these posts, they will explain a bit what a personal wiki is.
>>22714493
>>22722857
Basically, I recommend you obsidian, zimwiki, or WorldAnvil (if you have the money) for writing worldbuilding documents.

>>22751413
Nascent soul is a stage of Taoist internal alchemy wherein the golden core(the previous stage) has been broken open to create a new, better soul within the body.

>>22751420
>>22751420
>>22751420

>>22751418
If you are not creating artificial life through magic (specifically alchemy), then I think it doesn't really count.
>>22751421
We did it reddit!

>>22751417
based anon

>>22751421
Is it really customary on this board to migrate at bump limit? The other boards I've been on don't do it that way.

>>22751418
Anyways, how does that work?
Can you please explain more?
>>22751499
Mmmhhh... maybe you are right, this board is slower than you'd think.
In any case, I wanted to make it before the other anon made it. He always pick terrible OP pics and even worse editions, just like in this case. That damages the reputation of the thread and is not really alive yet.

>>22751508
The nascent soul has many different interpretation, but the common thread is "turning the soul into its own independent body".
Arguably it's a new lifeform, if you consider the soul to be an ingredient used in its creation, but it's more likely to be considered a transformation, albeit an extreme one. Some people write the nascent soul in a way that allows it to be split into multiple entities.

Any Priest can easily destroy any Mage in my setting. This is despite how Priests are generally unarmed men and women with no real martial skills, while Mages can destroy or create galaxies while raping the laws of physics like an ugly bastard with a hentai schoolgirl.
Holy power is basically kryptonite to Mages, and can easily dispel the strongest spells.
Knights are the middle link. They can easily kill any number of priests, but are helpless against Mages.


Is that good balance?

>>22752506
Why do you care about balance in a fucking book? It's not a game.
Also, you should justify why priestly powers are so powerful against magic.