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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Notes on a world I'm brewing

    Planet is shaped like a spherical bead. Upon death the soul is pulled to what we would consider the polar South of the planet where it just ends through the bead hole out to the other side, the north side. I haven't figured out what happens exactly on the way through the beat hole, but the soul material comes out clean and fresh for new births.

    Either the large concentration of soul stuff or a molten core at the center of the bead hole purifies the soul material.

    Cardinal directions would Flow, Counter-Flow, Sunrise, and Sunset.

    I could see an undead Kingdom rising up around the counterflow entrance. Lawful neutral, contracts for the people. The kingdom is more spiritual than religious.

    In fact I could see the counterflow hemisphere fading as it gets farther and farther counterflow. More difficult to raise crops due to barren land, perhaps.
    One thing that could be said for counterflow people the farther they get the more they know the value of a life.

    Flow side would be much more chaotic. It would be vibrant and bloody. Huge populations, large birth rates, short lifespans

    What if, just passed the center point of the Eye, there's a ring of abominable matter slowly growing toward the freshly purified stream of soul matter?
    That makes room for an organization set up specifically for fighting of abominations and eldritch entities. Every couple years, volunteers from that organization charge into the Eye hole to carve away at the encroaching matter to keep it from touching the Soul Steam.

    This organization is also responsible for cleaning up eldritch locations around the world. These locations grow from Sparks of the flakes of matter carved from the Eye.

    The Stewards of the Panzer Doctrine are the organization responsible for handling Abominable and Eldritch threats.

    There are several different ranks within the Stewards.
    Serfs are the lowest rank, populated by the common person. They most often serve by reporting likely instances of incursions. Food and lodging for higher ranks is commonly expected from serfs. They continue to pay fealty to the masters of their lands in all respects. Serfs can count on receiving a finder's fee for tangible cases reported.

    Knights form the backbone of the Stewards. They actively respond to reports from serfs in a timely fashion. Traveling in bands of 2 to 6 knights, they use whatever means they deem appropriate to the task of destroying the menace. Treaties with the various rulers limit their methods based on collateral damage and civilian casualties, among other possibilities. The knights may even be required to reimburse the locals should their tactics cause undue harm. A tithe of 10% of any loot is expected too be paid to the Stewards of the Panzer Doctrine as a whole.

    Counselors are the researchers and diplomats of the Stewards. Tasked with divining the progress of the Primary Incursion as it grows toward the Eye, they offer advice and knowledge at their discretion. It is their lot to maintain the ages of treaties and calm down any disputes that may arise from the duties of the Stewards.

    Prelates are the highest rank within the Stewards. A prelate is responsible for a region they are familiar with based on their experience within that region. They are in command of every knight assigned to that region and can call upon them to take up arms against any threat. The prelates are expected to accept and act upon the advice of the counselors and are the final say on which knights join a raid on the Primary Incursion. Overall rule of the Stewards is governed by the Conclave of Prelates.

    I have a 2(3) tiered pantheon, though the tier 1 and 3 gods are not known/worshipped.
    There was a conflict eons ago. A diety of Good clashed with it's polar opposite and their tumult ended with the planet being cored as well as their mutual destruction. Only the most minor evidence of them exist in the forms of the two parts of the Eye.
    All that's left of Good god is the soular confluence that purifies the Soul Stream.
    The Evil god is the Encroaching Ring, always reaching to corrupt the Stream.
    These are the "inactive" tier 1 gods.

    Work still needs to be done on the active gods. They are the tier 2 gods.

    Tier 2 gods were all mortals at some point. They were exalted to deific status through deeds and the faith of the peoples of the world.
    They've been in the celestial realms so long that they often don't properly recall what it is to be mortal any longer. It's through this forgetfulness that the tier 3 god holds sway over both tiers 1 and 2.

    Only one god makes up the 3rd tier. The soft spoken god of the forgotten. They house the memories of those lost to time and memory.
    Heroes become legends.
    Legends fade to obscurity, eventually to vanish from societal cognizance.
    That's when they move on to the god of the forgotten's realm.
    They have no worshippers. Few shrines, all in extremely poor repair.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    ElfWarriorGuy

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    I like a lot of what I read here; very good stuff. Can I ask what it is you'd like from us? Critique, suggestions, help developing it further in a specific area? It'd also be good to know what this is for. My insights will be very different if this is for an RPG campaign than if it's for a book or something non-interactive.
    The desire to appear clever often impedes actually being so.

    What makes the vanity of others offensive is the fact that it wounds our own.

    Quarrels don't last long if the fault is only on one side.

    Nothing is given so generously as advice.

    We hardly ever find anyone of good sense, except those who agree with us.

    -Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    Thanks for the feedback on what is thus far a jumble of raw ideas. I really do appreciate it.

    So I'm building this world aimed at d&d3.5, but I figure it'll work for similar systems pretty well.

    At this point I'm struggling to populate it with cultures, deities, the shape of land masses... any ideas, critiques, and/or suggestions would be fantastic. This is my first attempt at world building and I would love to see how well it might turn out.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    Quote Originally Posted by LairdMaon View Post
    At this point I'm struggling to populate it with cultures, deities, the shape of land masses... any ideas, critiques, and/or suggestions would be fantastic. This is my first attempt at world building and I would love to see how well it might turn out.
    first idea

    Near the death side (because honestly I'm not sure which way you are organizing "flow" as in if you are facing "flow" are you looking at the source of the flow or are you aligned with the flow...not sure) have a culture where life is slow but rich...probably focused on elves (but possibly gnomes or some other long lived race) births are rare and the plants (trees mostly I'd expect) are likely to be old but they die so rarely that they just slowly build up. So you have HUGE ancient things everywhere. Think about how the rain-forest soils are quite poor because so many of the nutrients are in the living forest. Lots of the culture is about living with things and avoiding death (as NEW life is hard). So plants that live for one season are avoided for plants that produce food every year (pushing away from cereals and pulses toward things like breadfruit and nuts). Plants like nopal and fig that can grow from cuttings would also be be prioritized. Livestock that can have food harvested without killing takes priority...unfertilized eggs, cheeses, and perhaps something similar to the blood and milk of the Masai would be prioritized over meat. Coppicing wood rather than felling trees would also be popular. Life is slow and deliberate. Things don't change very much, to a degree that is extreme to most people. If a farm here deosn't change because the individual plants in the field don't change is one sign of how against change the place is the society is nearly as fixed. Also as life is EXPENSIVE here soul wise it is cultured and preserved lots of education, lots of "ancient wisdom", lots of tradition, but also lots of things to mitigate risk...war fare is short but overwhelming and aggressive with huge amounts of stockpiled wands and other things that allow death from a distance whilst fortified by lots of magic and/or armor.

    Whole cultures who have a deep connection to idea of ley lines of how "the Flow" moves through their lands....the two most obvious places to draw would be from Celtic/Protoceltic ideas like Stonehenge and the related (but highly thematic) work related to this tradition as well and feng shui like traditions, especially from Hong Kong in how building are shaped/modified by how they effect the local energy. Lots of geomancy, ritual spell spaces, hospitals/birth temples/graveyards all positioned based on these ley lines....and even perhaps things like vinyards (places where food preservation or brewing is done may have special relationships with death flow as rot is being manipulated)

    EDIT: Just other thoughts for you to take or ignore or work off of as sparks.

    question that comes up: if the soul purification point is NOT a massive glowing ball...how is it naturally lit on the inside of the planetary torus? If it is very dark because the body of the world blocks the sun and only some polar starlight gets in that will effect what can live there vs if there is an ecosystem that is based on photosynthesis from a soul sun...I mean that is one that could just call out for lots of wierdness. but may not have the "underworld" feeling you want.

    The more I think on this the more i doubt it is a good idea to have your directions labeled like this. Because it could be such a rich vein to quickly differentiate cultures and the paradigms behind them in how they name directions.....Is "flow-ward" with the flow or facing it? This brings up real philosophical questions that would show up in say local religious ceremonies.....and could have many more .... Sourceward vs Destinations...Soulfall vs Soulclimb....Hopeward vs Wiseward....Goldholme vs blackholme.

    A land near the beginning of the source...perhaps inside or just on the lip of the world. Where lots of the monsters that are compound monsters (owlbears, chimera, etc) or that are animated material that is normally not alive....So all the living crystal monsters....oozes that are basically bacterial goo with a LOT more animating force and the like.

    With so many souls "passing though" near the death end of the sourceflow and knowing the souls have energy (as would presumably their motion). Does anything feed on/harvest this. I get images of great spreading trees like a windswept Japanese/Monterrey Cyprus whose branches are getting more energy from harvesting bits of soulstuff than from their leaves....or necromancer towers using similar harvesting powers to summon flows of souls down their spiky tops and skull embossed walls and into their ritual chamber to empower their spells. . .

    How does this energy flow effect resource distribution? perhaps some more spices based on flower and nubs near the source vs things like amber or salt near the death side.

    the area on the inside of the torus wouldn't see the sun or moon...so how do vampires and werewolves like it? would it be a stronghold if they can find food?

    so you have the concept that soul (or at least the soul energy) being recycled while the identity get wiped out....you could use this concept to seed some ideas for cultures as well.

    a culture that focuses on trying to "reawaken" the previous identities of their soul in order to try to find their true selves. perhaps with trying to re-attract their passed soul back to their own culture.

    a culture that thinks you are only taking care of your soul for a time and your identity is not important. And so they suppress the self and ego. may end up monk like or the mass identity norms of the other place from a wrinkle in time.

    a culture where preserving one's identity is very important. Memorial Statues. Art and poetry dedicated to making sure one is never forgotten. Some of course push it and may end up in the very ego driven undead sort but most focus on portraiture and grand mausoleum. Your name and its memory are important. perhaps this leads to name magic being popular if names matter so much.

    a culture where keeping a cycle of identity is as important as the cycle of the soul. So a child is charged with the keeping the identity passed on to them by their ancestors. So family names are recycled ad infinitum. You are yourself, your grandfather, as well as being your great great grand uncle (since your grandfather was also him in his time). etc.

    a culture of trying to be remembered by grand deeds, epics, etc. where your identity only matters if it shaped history. So lots of daring-do and boastful epics. But the small stuff that keeps the nation turning can tend to be pushed aside or pushed onto people who the culture doesn't think have identities worth acknowledging.

    also ... if people have a fear that their soul may be waylaid on its journey to its destination....some may want to die as close as possible....so you end up with retirement communities nearby. but whose people would be at least relatively wealthy people from the more dynamic other end of the planet. So perhaps a weird cross between Tibet and Florida? Something to start with at least.

    if you walked/sailed to the centre as you approach the whole place where the souls are turned to new souls....well gravity is gonna get weird (and may be kinda odd in a fair amount of the inner side of the torus)...and that will also effect the weather, convection won't work normally, plus the sun isn't heating things like normal....if there seasons whichever end is winter will have air going in at a high rate of knots.....also does anything happen if you walk past the soul transition point whilst still alive?

    anyway the whole concept seems promising and hope I sparked some ideas for you to get your creative juices going.
    Last edited by sktarq; 2022-06-08 at 06:11 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MindFlayer

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    Goodie! Feedback!

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    first idea

    Near the death side (because honestly I'm not sure which way you are organizing "flow" as in if you are facing "flow" are you looking at the source of the flow or are you aligned with the flow...not sure) have a culture where life is slow but rich...probably focused on elves (but possibly gnomes or some other long lived race) births are rare and the plants (trees mostly I'd expect) are likely to be old but they die so rarely that they just slowly build up. So you have HUGE ancient things everywhere. Think about how the rain-forest soils are quite poor because so many of the nutrients are in the living forest. Lots of the culture is about living with things and avoiding death (as NEW life is hard). So plants that live for one season are avoided for plants that produce food every year (pushing away from cereals and pulses toward things like breadfruit and nuts). Plants like nopal and fig that can grow from cuttings would also be be prioritized. Livestock that can have food harvested without killing takes priority...unfertilized eggs, cheeses, and perhaps something similar to the blood and milk of the Masai would be prioritized over meat. Coppicing wood rather than felling trees would also be popular. Life is slow and deliberate. Things don't change very much, to a degree that is extreme to most people. If a farm here deosn't change because the individual plants in the field don't change is one sign of how against change the place is the society is nearly as fixed. Also as life is EXPENSIVE here soul wise it is cultured and preserved lots of education, lots of "ancient wisdom", lots of tradition, but also lots of things to mitigate risk...war fare is short but overwhelming and aggressive with huge amounts of stockpiled wands and other things that allow death from a distance whilst fortified by lots of magic and/or armor.

    ...

    the area on the inside of the torus wouldn't see the sun or moon...so how do vampires and werewolves like it? would it be a stronghold if they can find food?
    I like this a lot.
    I was thinking of placing a necromantic kingdom circling the edge of the southernmost pole, right up to the edge of the hole. Having long-lived races bordering that kingdom makes for some interesting politics, no?

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    Whole cultures who have a deep connection to idea of ley lines of how "the Flow" moves through their lands....the two most obvious places to draw would be from Celtic/Protoceltic ideas like Stonehenge and the related (but highly thematic) work related to this tradition as well and feng shui like traditions, especially from Hong Kong in how building are shaped/modified by how they effect the local energy. Lots of geomancy, ritual spell spaces, hospitals/birth temples/graveyards all positioned based on these ley lines....and even perhaps things like vinyards (places where food preservation or brewing is done may have special relationships with death flow as rot is being manipulated)
    Ley lines are an interesting idea.
    I was thinking that the poles would have a higher concentration of magical energy while the equatorial region would have it much more dispersed. The equatorial region would have fewer traditional spellcasters while classes like artificers and possible tinker-like classes would be much more common.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    EDIT: Just other thoughts for you to take or ignore or work off of as sparks.

    question that comes up: if the soul purification point is NOT a massive glowing ball...how is it naturally lit on the inside of the planetary torus? If it is very dark because the body of the world blocks the sun and only some polar starlight gets in that will effect what can live there vs if there is an ecosystem that is based on photosynthesis from a soul sun...I mean that is one that could just call out for lots of wierdness. but may not have the "underworld" feeling you want.
    I hadn't thought much about whether or not the point of convergence would give off light on it's own. There's a lot to take into consideration there.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    The more I think on this the more i doubt it is a good idea to have your directions labeled like this. Because it could be such a rich vein to quickly differentiate cultures and the paradigms behind them in how they name directions.....Is "flow-ward" with the flow or facing it? This brings up real philosophical questions that would show up in say local religious ceremonies.....and could have many more .... Sourceward vs Destinations...Soulfall vs Soulclimb....Hopeward vs Wiseward....Goldholme vs blackholme.
    Yeah, I am not settled on any one term to describe the flow in common vernacular. Perhaps the terms you've suggested are interchangeable and used commonly in different regions.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    A land near the beginning of the source...perhaps inside or just on the lip of the world. Where lots of the monsters that are compound monsters (owlbears, chimera, etc) or that are animated material that is normally not alive....So all the living crystal monsters....oozes that are basically bacterial goo with a LOT more animating force and the like.
    The "shards" that escape are designed to allow for random encounters and "town in crisis" quests with a certain "eldritch danger" flavor.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    With so many souls "passing though" near the death end of the sourceflow and knowing the souls have energy (as would presumably their motion). Does anything feed on/harvest this. I get images of great spreading trees like a windswept Japanese/Monterrey Cyprus whose branches are getting more energy from harvesting bits of soulstuff than from their leaves....or necromancer towers using similar harvesting powers to summon flows of souls down their spiky tops and skull embossed walls and into their ritual chamber to empower their spells. . .
    This is why I felt a necromantic kingdom would fit here.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    How does this energy flow effect resource distribution? perhaps some more spices based on flower and nubs near the source vs things like amber or salt near the death side.
    This is something I hadn't thought of at all.

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    so you have the concept that soul (or at least the soul energy) being recycled while the identity get wiped out....you could use this concept to seed some ideas for cultures as well.

    a culture that focuses on trying to "reawaken" the previous identities of their soul in order to try to find their true selves. perhaps with trying to re-attract their passed soul back to their own culture.

    a culture that thinks you are only taking care of your soul for a time and your identity is not important. And so they suppress the self and ego. may end up monk like or the mass identity norms of the other place from a wrinkle in time.

    a culture where preserving one's identity is very important. Memorial Statues. Art and poetry dedicated to making sure one is never forgotten. Some of course push it and may end up in the very ego driven undead sort but most focus on portraiture and grand mausoleum. Your name and its memory are important. perhaps this leads to name magic being popular if names matter so much.

    a culture where keeping a cycle of identity is as important as the cycle of the soul. So a child is charged with the keeping the identity passed on to them by their ancestors. So family names are recycled ad infinitum. You are yourself, your grandfather, as well as being your great great grand uncle (since your grandfather was also him in his time). etc.

    a culture of trying to be remembered by grand deeds, epics, etc. where your identity only matters if it shaped history. So lots of daring-do and boastful epics. But the small stuff that keeps the nation turning can tend to be pushed aside or pushed onto people who the culture doesn't think have identities worth acknowledging.
    Oh, this is done great stuff! That's five cultures right there! And a single culture can house several settlements/kingdoms

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    also ... if people have a fear that their soul may be waylaid on its journey to its destination....some may want to die as close as possible....so you end up with retirement communities nearby. but whose people would be at least relatively wealthy people from the more dynamic other end of the planet. So perhaps a weird cross between Tibet and Florida? Something to start with at least.
    This. This is absolutely hilarious and I want

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    if you walked/sailed to the centre as you approach the whole place where the souls are turned to new souls....well gravity is gonna get weird (and may be kinda odd in a fair amount of the inner side of the torus)...and that will also effect the weather, convection won't work normally, plus the sun isn't heating things like normal....if there seasons whichever end is winter will have air going in at a high rate of knots.....also does anything happen if you walk past the soul transition point whilst still alive?
    That's an interesting line of thought.
    My gut reaction is to say that the core has an environment unique to itself. Unchanged by anything on the surface while altered measurably by the influences of the Eye and the Core.

    As for passing through the core, I imagine that would come down to the person running the game? I kinda want to avoid even creating legends about such a thing.
    Personally, I'd go with "No one has passed through in recorded history. No one has any idea what could happen."

    Quote Originally Posted by sktarq View Post
    anyway the whole concept seems promising and hope I sparked some ideas for you to get your creative juices going.
    You've supplied me with some wonderful thoughts to process, and for that I thank you!

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Yakk's Avatar

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    I'd use North and South. With everyone knowing that South is where souls go, and North is where they come from.

    The world doesn't have to be a sphere. It could be a cylinder. Makes mapping easier.

    The sun could be the fragment of the good god, and it could orbit through the planet, counter-soulward. It spirals around the planet to the other end, then goes through the core and repeats; this gives you a winter that is a period of darkness, with no sun, during which the souls of the last year are purified.

  7. - Top - End - #7
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    DrK's Avatar

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    Default Re: Notes on a world I'm brewing

    If the south and north are death and life aspected and ley lines flow up and down the i can make a few suggestions…

    1/ At the South Pole have a vast negative energy barren landscape. The flow of death creating something like obsidian flats from Dark Sun where the lightless lands are awash with negative energy and various undead cults scheme to trap the negative the energy and use it for their own malign will and diminish the whole

    2/ North pole has too much power and is a mana waste/chaos waste where uncontrolled power results in all manner of freakish mutations and merged creatures. The daelkyr flesh weavers dwell here using their power to corrupt the lesser races and sending the graft using spies south

    3/ The temperate lands… around the central belt you have lush jungles merging with the northern magic wastes then temperate zone around the equator and then either tundra or desert merging with the negative energy lands
    If you want an east west split have the one side hot and one side cold so you have
    Cold side
    Magical waste —> lichens/bogs —> pine forest —> frozen waste —> dead lands

    Hot side
    Magical waste —> Jungle —> Europe temperate —> desert —> dead lands

    The stewards can then be knights who stop undead from the south and the aberrations from the north. Dragons you could use and something akin to maggots or worms of pure elemental energy that crawl out from tye central torus and drag themselves through the crust to the surface to wreak havoc, all being creatures of destruction and pure magical power
    Thanks to Emperor Ing for the nice Avatar

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