SFFworldia: world building project - The absolute basics.

I like the idea of schools or sects focusing on different aspects of the magic system. i dont like magic systems that use books/scrolls/regeants in order to "cast" magic. id much prefer a mental arts type of system.

I think there's room for both types. Some cultures may have developed the mental crutch of needing scrolls or spell books to cast anything.

Another question: are we simply going to say this world is an "other-Earth," with the same flora and fauna, or are we going to come up with fantasy versions of horses and birds and such?

i think we can see how it goes. if some people want to develop areas down to the subatomic level thats fine, buti think we should leave a little building freedom for the people (read: suckers) that will be writing the stories.

and im good with having more manual based magic along with mental based magic, but we should probably define it down a little further. there should be some kind of limitation.

One think I think we should avoid is the D&D like concept where there are literally hundreds of intelligent species from Orcs to Kobolds to Kuo-Toa and Centaurs. This always struck me as a difficult thing to explain. How did they all evolve (or get created and escape into the wild and prolifirate). I can see a few other races, but not overkill.

We could even be strict about there only being one intelligent race, but that would also limit creativity so I am not a fan of that idea.

i agree. id go along with a few specific races if someone could think up some interesting ones, but id prefer human only.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mylinar

One think I think we should avoid is the D&D like concept where there are literally hundreds of intelligent species from Orcs to Kobolds to Kuo-Toa and Centaurs. This always struck me as a difficult thing to explain. How did they all evolve (or get created and escape into the wild and prolifirate). I can see a few other races, but not overkill.

We could even be strict about there only being one intelligent race, but that would also limit creativity so I am not a fan of that idea.

---

This assumes that that evolution is a factor when it comes to intelligent creatures, which isn't the case in DnD worlds. There are various gods and they make various races to worship them and spread their beliefs. Thus humans are highly sociable, ordered, and prone to commerce, banking, agriculture, and urban build up because Erathis, goddess of civilization, decided she wanted a race that upheld her ideals. Orcs live in the harsh wilderness and frequently raid and enslave everyone around them because the savage god Gruumsh wanted a race that embodied his belief that strength comes from surviving and thriving through constant, bare knuckles conflict.

There are lots of different gods, many of whom want their own race, not to mention magical mishaps, corruption from the Far Realms, interbreeding, celestial and demonic meddling, and the influence of various other planes of existence.

Now, that might be too high fantasy for some, but it’d fairly well explained.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andols

If we kept it fairly simple, it could work. What sort of ideas did you have in mind?

---

A constructed language. It’s okay, I know hardly anyone will use it, but I’ll start work on one anyway. If nothing else, it might make it into a few words or phrases.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mylinar

One think I think we should avoid is the D&D like concept where there are literally hundreds of intelligent species from Orcs to Kobolds to Kuo-Toa and Centaurs. This always struck me as a difficult thing to explain.

---

Simple, the planet is one settled by Earth about 1 million years ago when modifying your own genes was common. Since then the technique has become lost but the descendants of those genemods (or genies, if you prefer) live on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hippokrene

There are various gods and they make various races to worship them and spread their beliefs.

---

Speaking of gods, do we want them as an actual manifest presence in the world? Or as diving beings who act through intermediaries (clerics, priests, etc)? Or aloof and uninvolved? Or all three? :)

If gods exists, I don't think they'd be uniform in their habits unless there’s specific godly law about how they can interact with mortals.

I vote no actual god presence (malazan style) but if they communicate to their worshippers i wont complain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andols

I vote no actual god presence (malazan style) but if they communicate to their worshippers i wont complain.

---

I like this idea also. By the gods communicating we express a common fantasy element but we do not bring in anything out of proportion to the inhabitants and their own inherent powers. It is difficult to do 'Gods' well. Plus we are just starting out and have a lot of things to work out yet.

I wouldn't have a problem with gods appearing as less-powerful avatars, sort of like how Paladine appeared as Fizban in the Dragonlance books.

Magic:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DailyRich

I'd like to see magic be something anyone can do with the proper training and effort. I've never been a fan of having a special chosen few with "the gift" or whatever you call it.
But, just because it's something anyone can learn doesn't mean every society will have the same attitudes towards it. In some places, it may be reserved for the wealthy elite, with practice of magic by the lower classes a punishable offense. Other places may look down on magic users, and its use has degraded into cheap cantrips like starting fires and helping crops grow. Some places may outlaw it altogether, while others may fully embrace it and be cities brimming with wonder.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Expendable

You could have a magic guild or school that accepts apprentices to learn high magics. There could be several schools, each with their own specialty of spells. There could be either a university or a master teaches a couple of apprentices, who then go someplace else to set up and study their copied spellbooks while teaching a couple of apprentices who also make copies from their teacher's copied spellbooks, etc.
You could have classes - expensive wizards using exotic ingredients looking down on humble hedge witches who make do with what they have.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DailyRich

I think there's room for both types. Some cultures may have developed the mental crutch of needing scrolls or spell books to cast anything.

---

My only expectation is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Magic without cost does not appeal to me.

Ethnology:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mylinar

One think I think we should avoid is the D&D like concept where there are literally hundreds of intelligent species from Orcs to Kobolds to Kuo-Toa and Centaurs. This always struck me as a difficult thing to explain. How did they all evolve (or get created and escape into the wild and prolifirate). I can see a few other races, but not overkill.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andols

id go along with a few specific races if someone could think up some interesting ones, but id prefer human only.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hippokrene

This assumes that that evolution is a factor when it comes to intelligent creatures,

---

I am assuming we get to have the standard mixtures from black to brown to white and everything in between. Other additions are a don't care to me.

Theology:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hippokrene

This assumes that that evolution is a factor when it comes to intelligent creatures, which isn't the case in DnD worlds. There are various gods and they make various races to worship them and spread their beliefs. Thus humans are highly sociable, ordered, and prone to commerce, banking, agriculture, and urban build up because Erathis, goddess of civilization, decided she wanted a race that upheld her ideals. Orcs live in the harsh wilderness and frequently raid and enslave everyone around them because the savage god Gruumsh wanted a race that embodied his belief that strength comes from surviving and thriving through constant, bare knuckles conflict.
There are lots of different gods, many of whom want their own race, not to mention magical mishaps, corruption from the Far Realms, interbreeding, celestial and demonic meddling, and the influence of various other planes of existence.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DailyRich

Speaking of gods, do we want them as an actual manifest presence in the world? Or as diving beings who act through intermediaries (clerics, priests, etc)? Or aloof and uninvolved? Or all three?

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andols

I vote no actual god presence (malazan style) but if they communicate to their worshippers i wont complain.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DailyRich

I wouldn't have a problem with gods appearing as less-powerful avatars, sort of like how Paladine appeared as Fizban in the Dragonlance books.

---

Haven't read the Paladine books so I have no opinion there. Eddings got away them for a long time as did Chalker. I'm ambivalent.


Flora and Fauna:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DailyRich

Another question: are we simply going to say this world is an "other-Earth," with the same flora and fauna, or are we going to come up with fantasy versions of horses and birds and such?

---

I'm on the side of the recognizable though an occasional foray into something magical ought to make sense.

GeologySociology

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by me

The city called Hope sits at 1500 ft above sea level at the confluence of two rivers, thin strips of life through a desert stretching 20 days ride to the south where the desert is damned by an ocean. One river descends from the northwest where a range of mountains forms another boundary to the desert though the land slowly rises two thousand feet above the city, the desert flora morphing into mountain shrubbery. The mountains rise another six thousand feet to the highest peak at 9,230 ft. The road paralleling the river takes 15 days to reach the mountains.
The mountain ranges slowly arcs around the desert eventually reaching the ocean some 15 days ride due west out of the city. The northeast to east range raise to its highest point at 8,000 ft. The second river drops from this range northeast of the city, 10 days ride.
The river formed by the confluence runs south east to the termination of the northeast range into the ocean. This stretch of river is navigable by barges in winter and spring but barely supports canoes in summer and fall.
The southern desert below the river is a hilly nothing, the land marked by a few scattered mesas reaching to about 4,000 ft. The desert floor is blessed with the occasional oasis, the locations of which are a closely guarded secret of the nomads that call it home.
The confluence makes the land on which Hope sets marshy with some bit and pieces of highland above the flood levels but most of the homes sit just above river level. The marsh makes it easy to establish canal networks that often run dry in the summer months but facilitate movement in the winter. Bridges cross the canals at unexpected points.
Hope is home to a multitude of peoples. There are a spattering of the southern nomads, a contingent from the farms fed by the river system, as well as segments from the mountain foothills, the land between the rivers, the remnants of a conquering horde that rolled into the valley two hundred years ago, the remnants of the horde that preceded the latest horde by a hundred years, as well as other minorities numerous enough to be a problem.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PeterWilliam

That being the case, I would recommend something similar. That is to say a government that has stood the test of time by enduring conquerors and assimilating them. For that to work, there would need to be long-standing traditions and culture, of a categorically insular, elitist and rigid nature.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sparrow

As my first contribution I prepose two large land masses (one in the northern hemisphere, and another in the southern hemisphere) separated by a vast ocean. There is sporadic trade between the two, but it is only seasonal when the seas are calm. Once every thousand years or so, when the planets align in just the proper way and our home world is tilted just right toward the sun, the ocean retreats a bit for one year, just enough to expose a land bridge joining the two continents...

---

My idea would fit into Sparrow's.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hereford Eye

My only expectation is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Magic without cost does not appeal to me.

---

I've long toyed around with the idea of magic being an element like air or water. A friend of mine and I once discussed a fantasy role-playing version of our world where the reason for colonizing the New World was that the level of magic in the Old World was waning, and the New World was this vast, untapped land brimming with magical hot spots. Sort of a magic rush to mirror the gold rush. Of course, the indigenous peoples of the New World, who had long ago learned how to use the magic of the land in balance, didn't take too kindly to all these pale-skinned strangers sucking down the magic like it was nothing, and this formed the basis for much of the planned conflict in the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andols

I like the idea of schools or sects focusing on different aspects of the magic system. i dont like magic systems that use books/scrolls/regeants in order to "cast" magic. id much prefer a mental arts type of system.

---

Think of spellbooks being more like a cookbook. You can do simple spells off the top of your head, just like you're making your favorite sandwich. Or anything you do often enough, like healing or confuse. But what if you want to do something different you haven't tried before or in a very long time? You can try to reinvent the wheel or you'd write it down someplace so when you need to know how to do something, you can look it up. Sure, you can keep a lot in your head, but even doctors and lawyers hit the books for the complicated stuff.

Or if we're doing the apprenticeship thing, then you may have copied the spell but maybe it was beyond you then. Now that you've studied, you may finally understand how to cast that spell - or not.

Simple magics should draw their energy from you. But unless you've got some incredible internal reservor, you'll need to tap into something else for the powerful spells - either a group of people willing to join themselves into a battery that you can draw from, elemental forces, sacrificial magic, ley lines or mana wells.