Recruiting for Community Worldbuilding: Fantasy Sandbox

[GM.Casper]

I’m recruiting co-writers for creating a detailed fantasy sandbox world. Kingdoms, cities, major organizations, important NPC’s, even tactical maps of key locations . . . as detailed as we can get. Writers could to contribute as much or as little as they want.

We could maybe even make it a Living world, where multiple GM’s run their parties in the same world, that gets updated as player parties create changes. They could hear rumors about the other parties’ doings.

Proposed Concepts:
Rules Agnostic:
Descriptions will be generic so GM’s can use whatever ruleset they want. Nothing stopping you from adding optional stat blocks in whatever rules you like, of course.
Human dominated:
Humans are the most widespread race- at least in the region we will be focusing on. Question is, do we want to go with a)humans only, b)standard fantasy races or c)humans + more exotic and nonhuman races?
Renaissance - Mediterranean Region inspired:
Kingdoms, flourishing trade and culture, free trade cities with complex politics, pirates, mercenaries galore, large exotic empires, religious and class strife, exotic wilderness is just a ship voyage away….
No meddling gods or revolving-door-of-death:
I’d like it to be a more grounded medieval-renaissance-ish world. So for world at large, gods don’t show up in person, nor is there a prevalence of Resurrections or Speek-with-Dead like spells. Individual GM’s are free to throw the rare spell in, if they want the players to have access to resurrection or things, but it would not be something NPCs usually have access to.
Medium magic:
Magic isn’t too uncommon- but neither is so potent to alter the setting beyond recognition.

So, who would be interested in contributing?

[Elricaltovilla]

Im interested in contributing potentially.

One idea I had about it being a human dominated setting was using humans+demi-human (aasimar, tiefling, elemental genasi etc.) Races as the focus. Although that might imply a higher level of magic prevalence/potency than you originally wanted.

[Silverbit]

I would be very interested in this. I'll be in need of a world soon, so I could run in it. And of course, worldbuilding is fun :smallsmile:!

[GM.Casper]

Im interested in contributing potentially.

One idea I had about it being a human dominated setting was using humans+demi-human (aasimar, tiefling, elemental genasi etc.) Races as the focus.
Problem is, they are not really full races as they don't have their own cultures and lands. No reason we cant throw them in as people who have been born with affinity for particular magical element. That still doesn't answer the question of whether or not to have dwarves thought.



Although that might imply a higher level of magic prevalence/potency than you originally wanted.

Not necessarily. Magicwise I'm aiming more for common, but reasonably low powered. There might not be a spellcaster for every village, but every duke and king would be expected to have a court magician or two. I'd prefer there not be any plane travel or the like however.


Maybe we could do a reconstruction (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Reconstruction)of the common fantasy races.

[Kaveman26]

I would gladly throw some ideas in terms of organizations and places of interest.

[GM.Casper]

I made a map sketch, using an overlay of prevalent winds and oceanic currents.
Region covered is roughly Europe sized. Black lines denote areas with major archipelagos.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/21/hke2.png
An interesting outcome was that the central sea has a cold stream entering from the northwest, and a warm one from southeast. In regions of such collisions fogs are common and the waters are rich with plankton and fish.
The area with the red star, I think would have rough weather and high waves.

So any thoughts or suggestions?

[Elricaltovilla]

Problem is, they are not really full races as they don't have their own cultures and lands. No reason we cant throw them in as people who have been born with affinity for particular magical element. That still doesn't answer the question of whether or not to have dwarves thought.

Without wanting to sound aggressive or off-putting, you've triggered my rant button. Feel free to skip to the TL;DR at the end if you don't want to go through the wall of text.


Just because Genasi, Aasimar, etc don't have cultures of their own in other settings doesn't mean they can't have them in your own. Orcs in Eberron are nature worshiping anti-apocalypse engines and elves are crazy (almost)always evil mongol raiders. But in Greyhawk, they're almost complete opposites in that regard.

This is your setting, don't let yourself be constrained by what others have done before. If you want to make the various Demi-humans their own cultures, kingdoms, histories, etc. then there is no reason not to do that. Don't be afraid to rock the boat a little. You don't need elves and dwarves to have a fantasy setting, just like you don't need Tieflings to be lonely outsiders with no history or place to call their own.

All that aside, you're making the common mistake of mixing up races and species. That's OK, even Tolkien did it. Dwarves are a species, with different races among them, like the hill dwarves, mountain dwarves, duergar and gully dwarves. They are fundamentally different from humans, come from a different evolutionary branch/creation story, and don't require the existence of humans in order to have come into existence on their own.

Aasimar, Tieflings and their elemental brethren are races. They are offshoots of the base human stock, and are still fundamentally homo sapiens. You can't have Aasimar without there first being humans, so they are a race of humans.

Lastly, Cultures are regional in nature. Do they frequently develop along racial lines? Sure. But a French person and a Texan, while both might be white, are from completely different cultures. Those cultures both cross and are bordered by racial lines, and to assume that a Genasi doesn't have a culture just because he is a minority population in his country of origin is a fallacy.


TL;DR: Don't let what others have done before you dictate how you should write your own setting. Dwarves are a species, Aasimar are a race. Cultures are both Regional and Racial in nature, don't make the mistake that past fantasy writers have made and base everything about a person on their race.




Not necessarily. Magicwise I'm aiming more for common, but reasonably low powered. There might not be a spellcaster for every village, but every duke and king would be expected to have a court magician or two. I'd prefer there not be any plane travel or the like however.

So summons come in but we can't follow after them? And probably capping out at the D&D equivalent of 7th level spells?

Does ritual casting interest you at all for some of those really game breaking spells or would you rather things like wish, teleport, and major creation just not show up.


Maybe we could do a reconstruction (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Reconstruction)of the common fantasy races.

You're trying to TVTropes me? Oh, this is gonna be fun! :smallbiggrin:

[GM.Casper]

[RANT]

Oh, I agree 100%. Sole reason I used 'race' is because colloquially that's how 'elves and stuff' are often refereed to. Having many diverse cultures is exactly what I'm shooting for. Religions too would be region specific, with no species wide deities.

So do you have any ideas for interesting cultures there?




So summons come in but we can't follow after them?

Probably. And I'm aiming for the setting to be rules agnostic. Plane travel and common use of summons is a rather D&D specific thing.




Does ritual casting interest you at all for some of those really game breaking spells or would you rather things like wish, teleport, and major creation just not show up.

Magics that powerful should be rare and miraculous things. As far as NPC's would be concerned, things like that are entirely in the realm of ancient myths.




You're trying to TVTropes me? Oh, this is gonna be fun! :smallbiggrin:
You gonna retaliate with links of your own? :smalltongue: It will have to be something I haven't seen yet to suck me in. I'm largely immune to TVTropes now.

[Elricaltovilla]

Oh, I agree 100%. Sole reason I used 'race' is because colloquially that's how 'elves and stuff' are often refereed to. Having many diverse cultures is exactly what I'm shooting for. Religions too would be region specific, with no species wide deities.

So do you have any ideas for interesting cultures there?

Here's a quick one:

You have a large strait with numerous small islands and archipelagos. This strait also suffers from heavy fog and storms. Seems like the perfect place for a culture of skilled sailors and merchants, especially those with some ability to control the weather don't you think?

[prufock]

Go with "all humans but." What I mean is, they may all be "human" but they are of different cultural and physical description. They have the standard human stats, but a low-powered template depending on where they are from.

Another way is to have all humans, but once in a while a "unique" person is born (ie the PCs and probably villains), with strange abilities.

[HalfTangible]

Sounds fun =3 I'd be very interested in contributing.

[GM.Casper]

Excellent. Does anyone have any suggestions about the overall map? If not, next step would be naming the main geographic features. We have two oceans, two continents, two major mountain ranges, the central sea and the largest island. Ideas?

Hex map will use 5km hexes (from edge to edge). That’s 3.1 miles if you still haven’t converted to SI. The average healthy person can walk about 30km a day- or about 6 hexes. That’s in ideal conditions of course- weather and difficult terrain can slow you down considerably.
The map itself is 5000x5000 km- or 1000 hexes in height, for a total of one million hexes. Mind you, a fair bit will be ocean or deep desert, but ‘Map of a Million Hexes’ has a nice ring to it, no?
Hexographer can do 100x100 maps, thus the square grid I overlaid on the sketch. We will start with mapping the most interesting regions, and in time branch out.

[HalfTangible]

Opinions stated as fact incoming! If the large island is at the central part of the map, then its composition and/or government should be made extremely significant in some way (see the Blessed Isle in Exalted, for instance). Perhaps as a no-man's land, blasted hellscape or dwelling of the gods?

In addition, the two mountain ranges could mark major cultural divides throughout the continent and affect geography in different ways.

...Kinda sleepy, this could be incoherent.

[GM.Casper]

It is indeed fact that whoever controls the central island, controls the Middle Sea. So, to make things more interesting, the island should be politically fragmented, and with many outside factions making sure it stays that way.

[GM.Casper]

An interesting bit from Australian aborigine mythology (with is severely underused in fiction):

The word Waddagadaan is the name given by the original inhabitants of South Eastern Australia, to the mythical little people who inhabit the massive Eucalyptus forests. They are traditionally described as tricksters, finding amusement at the expense of the feelings of others. They are also believed to control the mighty Dhulagaar, a giant, hairy, primate type of creature who is said to roam the bush by night, causing terror to the unsuspecting. The Dhulagaar is said to take on the form of a tree by day when it rests to avoid detection.

Could make for interesting minor species living in symbiosis .

[Percy]

I'd like to express interest if Dwarven-ess is allowed ;o

[GM.Casper]

This is intended to be a collective project. The more creative effort you put in, the more creative control you get.

I actually have some ideas on dwarves. Ill write them up in the evening and we can discuss what kind of societies they could have.

[Percy]

This is intended to be a collective project. The more creative effort you put in, the more creative control you get.

I actually have some ideas on dwarves. Ill write them up in the evening and we can discuss what kind of societies they could have.

Hmm... when you have the map ready I can write you up a few clans, each with their own specifics. I can diversify them quite a bit. Just tell me the number of clans or kingdoms you want to have set up and I can give you something good to work with.

And there is a difference when I say clan or kingdom. Since Kingdoms can be formed of multiple clans :).

[LarwisTheElf]

I would also be interested in contributing to this world. One idea I had was on one of the smaller islands (or perhaps one of the archipelagos) there was a group of flight empowered humans. They don't have wings, but use gliders and early hot air balloons/zeppelins to guard their island and dominate the surrounding area. Using their air superiority they control trade and protect their lands from pirates and raiders. They also guard the secrets of their flying machines jealously, so no one else has access to them.

[HalfTangible]

This is an idea that's been bouncing around in my head for a while, and I think it would be fairly interesting.

Spectres
-A form of spirit or ghost, a Spectre is the lingering remnant of a dead being that was famous enough, powerful enough or willful enough to leave behind an imprint of themselves on the world. Unlike a normal ghost/spirit, they are largely corporeal when interacting with the world, and cannot posses others. (some can change shape, but most have a single form and stick with it). They are often locked into a single location (though not always) and are bound by rules pertaining to how they died and whatever made them decide to linger (revenge, contempt, sorrow, etc).

Ex: Headless Horsemen
That dead king from LotR
Death Prophet

[GM.Casper]

Any suggestions for naming the major landmasses? Or do I have to get the random name generator?


I would also be interested in contributing to this world. One idea I had was on one of the smaller islands (or perhaps one of the archipelagos) there was a group of flight empowered humans. They don't have wings, but use gliders and early hot air balloons/zeppelins to guard their island and dominate the surrounding area. Using their air superiority they control trade and protect their lands from pirates and raiders. They also guard the secrets of their flying machines jealously, so no one else has access to them.
Very interesting. The Airmen Guild would probably be the ones guarding the knowledge. The gliders might imply that they are actually located in a mountainous region not on a island, where regular ships would do. In difficult terrain on the other hand, air travel would be the best option.


Some notes on dwarves:
Dwarven Kingdoms of the Northern Mountains
Dwarves usually carve their dwellings on the sides of mountains. Small settlements could be just a handful of tunnels, but the largest Mountainhomes will reach deep into the mountains with huge ornate halls lit with magic or reflected sunlight and with fresh air being pumped in thought an elaborate ventilation system. Their mining tunnels can often reach many kilometers under the surface as the miners seek out veins of valuable miners. And while they certainly don’t scoff at gems and precious metals, the true source of prosperity for the Northern dwarf kingdoms is iron and coal, and the high quality steel coming from the dwarven blast furnaces.
Not every dwarf is a miner or crafter of course. Farming, while not as respected as mining or smithing, is nevertheless a vital part of dwarven society. Most common staples are root vegetables, sheep and goats.
Dwarven settlements are heavily fortified and hold enough food to last for many years under siege, and the enemy can never block all the numerous underground passages leading out from the settlement.
Dwarves are conservative, tradition bound people. Professions are often handed down the generations, and noteworthy ancestors are venerated.

[HalfTangible]

Any suggestions for naming the major landmasses? Or do I have to get the random name generator?Use the name as a partial descriptor/hint as to how the island was discovered and who it was discovered by.

...Yeah, that's pretty much all I got. :smalltongue:


Some notes on dwarves:
Dwarven Kingdoms of the Northern Mountains
Dwarves usually carve their dwellings on the sides of mountains. Small settlements could be just a handful of tunnels, but the largest Mountainhomes will reach deep into the mountains with huge ornate halls lit with magic or reflected sunlight and with fresh air being pumped in thought an elaborate ventilation system. Their mining tunnels can often reach many kilometers under the surface as the miners seek out veins of valuable miners. And while they certainly don’t scoff at gems and precious metals, the true source of prosperity for the Northern dwarf kingdoms is iron and coal, and the high quality steel coming from the dwarven blast furnaces.
Not every dwarf is a miner or crafter of course. Farming, while not as respected as mining or smithing, is nevertheless a vital part of dwarven society. Most common staples are root vegetables, sheep and goats.
Dwarven settlements are heavily fortified and hold enough food to last for many years under siege, and the enemy can never block all the numerous underground passages leading out from the settlement.
Dwarves are conservative, tradition bound people. Professions are often handed down the generations, and noteworthy ancestors are venerated.

Would this mean dwarves would operate primarily via the master-apprentice system and/or clan system? What happens to those without professions 'handed down' through the generations, or those who don't complete their training?

[Silverbit]

My apologies, I posted interest then managed to lose sight of the thread for days. I will attempt to rectify that now.

Hmm, first thoughts are that that the south-eastern part of the north-eastern continent is going to have quite a bit of rainfall, what with the relief rainfall due to those mountains. It could be lush forest, marshes etc.

I really like the idea of spectres. With the lack of resurrection magic, all people are going to see of the dead will be twisted shades. Necromancy is going to get looked on as pretty damn scary.

If you want assistance naming stuff, I'd be happy to help.

[Kitten Champion]

Any suggestions for naming the major landmasses? Or do I have to get the random name generator?


I'd wait until you've gotten a good feel for your setting first. For instance, was/is there a hegemonic culture that dominates the current etymology, or is/was there a society or organization of preeminent cartographers whose maps became the standard among merchants and militaries thus garnering disproportionate authority over nomenclature but little else.

Perhaps they're named after a long-dead emperor, in devotion to one particularly prominent god, or each being associated with one notable geographic feature -- like being east/west/north/south of the centre of power.

If nothing comes to mind later, you can always use the name generator.

[LarwisTheElf]

Very interesting. The Airmen Guild would probably be the ones guarding the knowledge. The gliders might imply that they are actually located in a mountainous region not on a island, where regular ships would do. In difficult terrain on the other hand, air travel would be the best option.


That does seem to fit better. How about this: they live in mountaintop citadels and temples, worshiping the wind itself as their god. One of their highest forms of worship is to "become one with the wind" (gliding, flying, etc.). They believe that the Wind has chosen them as its "chosen race" since they can fly above most mere mortals. This would mean that the Airmen Guild, who are the creators and crafters of gliders ans such, is considered the second highest spiritual authority (behind the clergy of course).

I'm working on some specifics for their religion, so I'll get back to you all on that.

As a side note, in Races of the Wild it mentions that the raptorans have kites that they use for transporting cargo and such. That could easily be adapted for the gliders.

[Balyano]

Some notes on dwarves:
Dwarven Kingdoms of the Northern Mountains
Dwarves usually carve their dwellings on the sides of mountains. Small settlements could be just a handful of tunnels, but the largest Mountainhomes will reach deep into the mountains with huge ornate halls lit with magic or reflected sunlight and with fresh air being pumped in thought an elaborate ventilation system. Their mining tunnels can often reach many kilometers under the surface as the miners seek out veins of valuable miners. And while they certainly don’t scoff at gems and precious metals, the true source of prosperity for the Northern dwarf kingdoms is iron and coal, and the high quality steel coming from the dwarven blast furnaces.

Take a look at how prairie dogs ventilate their burrows. It would require far less active pumping.

http://biomimicron.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/biomimicry-template-prarie-dog-burrow-ventilation/

It could be treated as an ancient dwarven architectural secret. The deeper tunnels would need actual pumps but many others may be able to get away with only occasional pumping. It can also be used to provide air for those blast furnaces.

[Alexkubel]

admit an intrest, I'll post later when I've finished my current thing, I'm possibly going to do a religion.

on religions: it seems logical that the different religions actually worship the same gods (sort of) and simply call them different names this allows for more variety, some people may think that al gods are the same thing while others may have thousands of names.

[Slayerofundead]

I know I'm new but I love to world build.
May I suggest on one of the archipelagos or a smallish island there be a pirate town of sorts a place were pirates go to hide out gamble trade ect.

Name Paradise Lagoon or Hells Lagoon. If you would like.

[Sabeki]

I would gladly join in this! My own contribution:



The Shadow Raiders of Rax
The Shadow Raiders of Rax are raiders from the North, living in a system of stone and watery caverns, building their towns in grottoes. They are generally considered out of control by other countries, and have smashed and kidnapped any ships coming to discuss diplomacy with them.
This isn't to say the Raiders aren't civilized, they simply are at constant war with eachother and now, the world. Despite being seen as a problem, they have a habit of making or breaking wars with their random raiding patterns by different clans. These clans usually try to one-up eachother.
Each clan has a different god they are devoted to, whether it's an ancestor spirit or a mighty deity. As such, all are considered a part of the Raxite pantheon.
The Rax are a patch work society, taking bits and pieces from other cultures they raid and from their own stories and traditions.
The Rax originated when a group of Shadar Kai (http://www.worldofazolin.com/wiki/index.php?title=Race:_Shadar-Kai_4E), a group of people from far off lands, came into the grotto cities of the original Rax, humans who mostly lived off of fish and trade. The Shadar;Kai slavers conquered them, and the Rax/Shadar-Kai empire grew larger. As this happened, the Shadar-Kai started to intertwine with the Rax, and the large patchwork of tribes and raiders now known as the Shadow Raiders of Rax was formed.
They attack enemy ships in the dead of night on new moons, or foggy nights and days. The enemy ships they attack tend to keep as many survivors as possible, to spread the tale of the vicious Shadow Raiders of Rax throughout the world.

((The culture is a blend of Celtic and Nordic, with the Shadar-Kai being inspired by the Celtic Fomorians, giant pirates who conquered the land, along with the patchwork culture. From the Nords i borrowed the raiding and the splintered tribes.))

[LarwisTheElf]

Been working on this for a bit, so here goes nothing.


The Nation of Saarthisis
While called a nation by others of the world, Saarthisis is a collection of city-states bound together by their religion and a few cultural oddities. Even the name Saarthisis is religiously inspired, as it means "Chosen of Saarth." The first cities were founded over 1000 years ago when the monk/prophet Cozres led a mass exodus to the mountains to be closer to their god. Shortly after their departure, the civilization they left was destroyed, leaving them the only survivors. After the death of Cozres, the cities lost much of their unity, and became more and more independent. Presently they are all in competition with each other for fame and prestige, believing that it brings glory to Saarth.

Religion
The dominant god is Saarth, whom they believe is the wind and air itself. The vast majority of Saathins worship Saarth, but worship of other gods is allowed (if looked down upon). Saarth encourages self-sufficiency and hard work, believing that everyone should be able to look after themselves and their family. That being said, those who are unable to look after themselves (eg the maimed, the handicapped, etc.) are taken care of by the clergy, as they consider it a sacred duty. Freeloaders are not accepted at all.
One unique belief in the religion is the belief in the power of a persons last breath. They believe that the last breath carries the person's divine essence, as it leaves the body to join Saarth. As such, a persons last words carry great weight. It is considered a sacred duty to fulfill the last words of someone you are close to, especially family. Curses uttered with a persons last breath are considered incredibly potent, and the threat of a Last Curse is a fairly effective deterrent against murders, especially considering there is a history of Last Curses being fulfilled.
All Saarthins believe that they are the chosen people of Saarth, and as such look down the nose at other people. While outsiders are welcomed in the cities, they are generally treated as lesser beings. Most Saarthins are wise enough to keep their disdain to passing comments and veiled comments.
Clerics are recruited at a very young age, and usually leave their families to stay at the local temple. The training regimen is very rigorous, and more than half fail to complete their training. Those who pass are inducted into the church as innitiates, and are assigned a more experienced cleric to shadow and assist. After about a year they receive their own assignment, usually to a city they have not been to. Occasionally young clerics are sent out on proselyting missions, but this is uncommon, and only done with the approval of a high ranking officer in the church.

Culture
While the culture of each city state is slightly different, they all share several common features. First: religion. Saarthism permeates every facet of the culture. Everything is done to bring glory to Saarthis and family. Children are taught the doctrine of the church from day one, and are taught that worshiping other gods brings shame on the family. Second: the Airman Guild. Inventors and guardians of the secrets of gliders and Saarthisikids ("Chariots of Saarth's Chosen", primitive hot air balloons and zeppelins). They are described in more detail later. Third: magic. Not surprisingly, magic that manipulates the air is highly prized, as are magic items that allow for flight and other such items. The use of earth based magic is look down upon heavily, and barely tolerated. Divine magic is the prevalent type of magic, and arcane magic is much less common. Wizardry is much more common than sorcery, as most of the ancestors who embarked on the exodus did not posses the potential in their blood.

The Airmen Guild
Founded just under 100 years ago by Kothis "Soarwing" Astheriscan, the Airmen Guild is responsible for the creation of various gliders, Saarthisikids (isikids for short), and kites that allow for travel and transport of goods between the cities with much easier. They also jealously guard the secrets of their creations, allowing them to maintain their monopoly on their creations, and thus on inter-city trade. Anyone caught selling guild secrets is kidnapped and punished severely, and every new member is shown a "demonstration" of their potential punishment when they finally are accepted in to the guild, usually on such prisoners. The guild has a strict hierarchy, divided into several branches. The branches are research, crafting and maintenance, inquisition, and piloting. The research branch works to discover new inventions and improvements to old ones; the crafting branch works on the actual construction of their products, and the maintenance thereof; the piloting branch are the ones who pilot the isikids, and train others to use gliders; the inquisition branch is responsible for the protection of the guild and rooting out spies and infiltrators. Each branch is headed by a Headmaster, who report to the Grandmaster directly. The current grandmaster is Kothis Astheriscan IV, the great grandson of the founder. Unbeknownst to all the guild, Kothis reports directly to the ghost of Kothis I, who still directs the guild from the shadows. Kothis I first founded the guild after he washed out of clerical training, and vowed to get back at the church. He invented the first gliders a number of years later, seeing it as a way to let the common people soar the skies without magical aid. He quickly attracted a number of scientist and brilliant minds, which led to the invention of isikids, improved gliders, and cargo kites, which are large gliders used for cargo transportation. Their power and influence grew quickly, especially among the common people, which greatly concerned the church. While they are not enemies, both the church and the guild vie for political and social power, leading to much political intrigue. While they have not come to physical blows yet (due to the fear of Last Curses), tensions have been slowly rising as Kothis IV has been perusing aggressive new policies. If he continues, things might come to a head soon.

[Omeganaut]

Point of Rocks

That horn on the southern continent you have there would probably have a lot of shipwrecks. This land is known as the land of ghosts in foreign dialects. Perhaps the culture there puts the god(dess) of the ocean at the top of their pantheon, and revers salt water as holy, and not to be touched, for fear of ending up like those shipwrecks that provide such bounty. The land is not great for farming, so herds of llamas and turkeys provide the locals with the food and other products they need. The natives are nomads, using tents to live in with the group leader having a wagon. Music is highly regarded in their culture as opposed to any other form of art. Their society is clan based, and there are complex relationships resulting from trading, competing over scavenging, splits and mergers of clans, They are perhaps the most powerful spirit-shamans in the world as they have had to learn to deal with all the ghosts of the shipwrecks. The strangeness of the land combined with the necromantic power of the locals has made it impractical for another nation to conquer the lands.

There is a city-state on the east coast near the base of the horn that trades the luxury goods scavenged from shipwrecks to the larger world. This city is known as Wreckport, and is a gathering place for magicals who have more natural talents rather than learning from books or forced apprenticeship. This informal school is also a home for bards, who are regarded as having a vague sort of magical control over emotions.

[King G]

I’m recruiting co-writers for creating a detailed fantasy sandbox world. Kingdoms, cities, major organizations, important NPC’s, even tactical maps of key locations . . . as detailed as we can get.

So, who would be interested in contributing?

OOH! OOH! Pick me, pick me!!

I have a capital city for a confederation of canyon-dwellers, and I'd really like to see it in the same world with the airmen that Larwis has cooked up.

This city isn't a conventional capital city--Every map I've seen thus far is laid out horizontally (average building height of 30-60 feet or whatever, spread out through however many square miles).

The city I'm making is a skyscraper--900 feet from top to bottom, and there's a roof over the entire thing. It has airdocks 150 feet above the roof, but these airdocks are host to soarwhales and other flying creatures (rather than mechanical things). It's got an area of 585 feet by 735 feet, and 60 feet of the height is devoted to an aviary which contains:

4 giant rocs
48 gargoyles
30 cockatrices
18 stone giants (or perhaps golems--undecided on that)
10 storm giants


The aviary is some 750 feet below the airdock area, and there's a system in place that can be used to launch the rocs out the roof at any aggressive force in the airdocks.

I have a fairly complete infrastructure jotted down, and every foot of this place planned out (still filling the individual rooms with furniture, though)--Should I be putting the details of it here, or in a separate thread?

Also, on the map casper posted, this would be...Somewhere in the northwestish region (or maybe just a little ways off the map in that general direction? I don't know)--local geography has it placed in a mountain range close to a nearly-frozen sea.

@Omeganaut: Nice description for the point of rocks--Gave me chills as it reminded me of the book "The Wreckers" in the High Seas Trilogy by Iain Lawrence.

[FlayerIV]

If there is still interest in allowing new blood to this, I'd be game to add my brain.

[King G]

If there is still interest in allowing new blood to this, I'd be game to add my brain.

There's always room for more, good friend!
If there isn't room, we'll just make it into a bigger world. I'm thinking something the size of Jupiter should serve nicely.

@Casper: Are you cool with making the maps for the whole thing, or do we need to bring in some of our own? My personal mapmaking abilities sort of suck (I'm really good with a paint document, screenshots, and copy/paste functions...but I have a feeling I'm gonna run into a brick wall like that, eventually).

[FlayerIV]

Currently reading through the backlog of posts before mine, and while I do I figure I'd drop a couple of things in here.

I'm currently developing a world for my ongoing game. At the present, I have developed a region about the size of Wales which could easily be remodelled for the ideas in that to suit this. Depending on how much detail we want to go into I've studied ancient and medieval militaries, fortifications, trade routes, histories, institutions, laws, strategies and a rather large swathe of other related fields, and while I'm at it I studied historical forms of agricultural practice, meteorology and a few other relevant articles like that. So... how deep do we want to go people?

In regards to the Wales sized country I've been working on, one thing I personally like to do is call on historical reference points, most recently I've been playing with language. Here are basically what I've got:

Humans: Inspired by the Etruscans and early monarchical Rome. Their gods, etc. Speak an early form of Latin.

Dwarves: Inspired by China and Japan, use their languages and writing. Chinese dwarves are more inclined to trade and deal with other cultures, the Japanese inspired more inclined to strict hierarchies, feudal type systems and, in some cases, outright piracy. The Japanese language is also fairly rigid, which I feel reflects dwarven mindset.

Elves: Finnish/Hungarian. Historically these languages share common ancestry and are not from the Indo-European family. Hungarian has however been corrupted by substantial influence during the medieval period. Ergo, elves that speak Hungarian spend more time with other races and are considered 'barbarians' by the more refined Finnish speaking elves.

Orcs: Dacian/Germanic tribes. Using aspects of Dacian fortification, militarization and dwelling practices as the basis for orc culture (such as building temples outside fortifications, placing fortification on particular terrains and never establishing villages within direct eyesight of a fort).

Lizardfolk: Sumerian/Babylonian style buildings, Egyptian style cosmology (perceive themselves as the supreme race and their lands as the centre of the universe and to die outside of lizardfolk lands means your soul will be lost forever, etc)

Basadae: An Egyptian inspired dog people who have colonized a small area in order to escape persecution elsewhere. In mythology their skin was strong enough to deflect arrows, can turn invisible at will and if they ate the heart of a dragon they could speak to animals. Also similar myths have versions that breathe fire. I figure the fire breathing variant would be a subspecies.


In addition I've been making maps, plotting trade routes, weather patterns, resource divisions, agricultural output and ingame documentation etc., for this Wales sized area. Are any, all or none of these ideas fitting to the imaginations of the others at this table?

[FlayerIV]

As a side note:

Malta, a tiny island not much bigger than the London area sits smack bang in the middle of the Mediterranean, just a few kilometres south of Italy. Historically, and right up into world war 2, owning this tiny island meant you dominated the sea trade. Just because there is a big island in the middle of that map doesn't mean it dominates. In fact, that tiny island in the north is more likely to dominate depending on factors such as fertile land, resource deposits, and whether or not that tiny island has natural harbours where the large one does not.

In short: Size doesn't necessarily matter. One of the biggest factors on determining which of those islands would dominate the sea there depends on the current. If it runs from south to north, that little island wins at a little bit of everything. If north to south, that little island will be the only safe port in really rough seas and trade will mostly avoid it.

PS: Do actually jump the gun and let me know if you want me analyzing the world like this or not.
PPS: The above analysis is of course assuming that sea trade is still a thing and airships haven't dominated everything.