Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jharviss 12-21-04, 01:30 PM	Introducing… The Worldbuilders’ Foundation Rebooted When you visit a world, you may ask anybody how the world was created, and they will most likely answer you that the gods and goddesses created the world. These omnipotent deities gave birth to everything, created the world you are now standing on, they would say. To them, this is truth, for they could never understand the real truth. The truth: these gods did not create the world; in fact these greater beings were created with the world by another force so powerful that none could ever comprehend the might with which it acts. This force is known as the Worldbuilder. Of course, this you already know, for you yourself are one of these great and powerful creatures; you are a Worldbuilder. There is no escaping this fate, but rather you must embrace it, become one with this being that you are, and work toward making a world so grand, so incredible, that none could ever deny your genius. That is where the Worldbuilders’ Foundation comes into play. We are an organization geared entirely toward the building of new and fantastical places. We thrive on constructing original landscapes, enchanting cultures, and mysterious people. The world is our playground, but unlike others, we build the playground. Perhaps you are a novice in the construction of new galaxies, and need some assistance. Or, maybe you are an experienced veteran working upon your fourth world but are running short on ideas. Maybe you’re simply a person who wants to enjoy watching others build worlds and give your own input. All are very viable reasons for joining this guild. Whatever your case, you are more than welcome to join our endeavor. Everyone brings something new to the table, and the larger the table the better the results we are to have. If you don’t wish to join, just come on in and share some elven wine with us, or dwarven spirits if you so prefer. Roster - Jharviss - WorldConquerer - Magius - Thasis - His Majesty - Eltheynn - Dyne - Zombomaniac - Jaggar Let us look now upon the various creations of our members, and see what they have taken their clay and melded it into. Jharviss - Aldreia (http://www.geocities.com/Jharviss/) WorldConquerer - Old Lands, The World of Dragonblade (Finished) Come, join us and give us input. Help us create our worlds and we shall help you create yours. The only constriction we have are our own minds. Forever a Worldbuilder! King of Colabore ~ Jharviss Saevien Ga'lant
Jharviss 12-21-04, 01:32 PM	The Worldbuilders’ Foundation Rebooted Announcements January 1, 2006 ~ Happy New Year! More things will happen this year. January 3, 2005 ~ The Wouldbuilders' Foundation will be participating in the IFGW. Correction: The Worldbuilder's Foundation will not be participating in the IFGW unless interest is shown. January 1, 2005 ~ Happy New Year! December 21, 2004 ~ The Worldbuilders' Foundation is rebooted.
WorldConquerer 12-22-04, 01:59 AM	I'll join. I was a memger of the old foundation. Heres my world but it's pretty much done with. The World of Dragonblade
Magius 12-22-04, 06:35 AM	Nice introduction there, Jharviss. I'm in the middle- or more like at the beginning- of building a campaign world, but I don't like its current name so I won't name it. I'll see if I can gather what I've done so far and put it here. I'm also in the middle of an almost spell-less magic system, in which spells are created by joining certain factors and elements of magic. I'll repost what I posted on the last thread here.
Jharviss 12-22-04, 11:01 AM	Fun beans.... got y'all all nice and good, and welcome to the foundation, again.
Magius 12-22-04, 11:19 PM	Here's my original posts...see what you think. "The system involves instead of a list of spells, two factors of each spell, the shapers and the shaped. The shapers are the variables of the spell, the different ways an energy could be manipulated (duration, range, targets, shape...). The shaped is a kind of magical energy, raw energy (Fire, Transportation, Conjuration, shadow...). Each mage's class is the shaped he specializes in (There will be pyrowizards, cosmomagi, and necromancers). He has a certain amount of shapers and a certain amount of 'points' to allocate to them. So a fire mage could either cast a fireball or a flame strike or a jet of flame, without resorting to a list; he'd just choose the appropriate shape. Or someone could have a finger of death spell, only modified so it acts also as a chain lightning, jumping from target to target and dealing less damage, or it could be a burst with an area...instead of having a spell for each effect, you'd just have different shapers applied. The player would always have a few notes of commonly cast spells, so that he doesn;t have to define Magic missile each time; he can just look at the note. There's another more complicated factor, but how does it look so far? It could be made into a world simply. Everyone has magic, just different kinds. Instead of just the twelve schools, you know have many many more, and the shapers mean that no two magi will be the same. Also, multiclassing expands the options further. There's just one last factor, a more complex factor to create and understand; even I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but it looks neat. It's about multiclassing between the schools. The place I got it from is the semi CRPG Heroes of Might and Magic 4, and it's easiest to explain in that context. In Heroes, the character played can pick different fields of expertise, 5 of which are magical (death, nature, life, chaos, order). There is a special feature in which if you take two schools of magic, you get at certain levels a spell which is a combination of the two schools. For instance, a character with death spells (a lot of undead and demons/devils) and nature spells (a lot of summoning spells) gets a spell called "summon imp", which is of a seperate school. There will be- if I can engineer it- a feature in the magic system in which if you take two schools- say, blood magic and transportation magic- you get a small spell list of spells which are a combination of the two- in the case above, at the higher levels you might have a spell similar to the blood magus's ability (Tome and Blood) to teleport through people's blood, and you can semi-solidify inside the body of the...errm...teleportee and deal a lot of damage. This minimizes the amount of spells in the PHB that cannot be implemented into my system. It also gives an edge to those who choose variety, though 'purists' who stick to a single school will also be greatly rewarded." To sum up, the system breaks every spell up into a kind of energy, or shaped (fire, psionic, transportation, etc.) and shapers, like duration, damage, and area. Each spellcaster gets one shaped for each class and a certain amount of shapers per level. He can then cast spells which are a combination of shaper and shaped; the shaped decides what kind of energy the spell takes, the shaper does all the other details. The thing is, you can modify the shapers; so instead of a cone 15ft. in lenght and 5 in width, you could have a 10 by 10. Or you could trade duration for damage and make the area nonexistent against one potent foe. As an additional factor, multiclassers- which will be extremely popular- get special, small spell lists which are combinations of their schools. Hope you like it!
Jharviss 12-23-04, 07:33 PM	Its interesting building various classes on this. Very interesting. The idea behind shaping a spell as you cast it has been tried many times, by myself included. When you look at the common spells such as fireball, lightning bolt, or any of those elemental-based area-damage spells, it probably would not be very hard to make a system. Hard, sure, but not VERY. But then the transmutations, divinations, illusions, and enchantments, among others, come into play. How are you going to make a fly spell? Is 'fly' the shaped, and the length and such the shaper? Invisibility would work the same. Divination wise its actually not that hard... the way you see would be the shaped (i.e. Future Sight, Far Sight, Far Hearing, Questioning) while everything else would be the shapers. Enchantments would also not be too bad, shaped including Compulsion and/or Charming, effectively, as its all basically the same effect with enchantments (mind effecting, that is). Illusions you would have to pick how real the illusion is (such as how many senses it effects) and how big it is. Now, spread out its easy, like I've said, but pulling it altogether is not. If you have casters specializing in one or two schools, there will be such a low variety of spellcasters that having one spellcaster in a party would be almost useless. If you had a 'pyrowizard' then what do you do with him/her in a volcano dungeon, where all the monsters have fire immunity? Other wizards would, when focused on fire, would have certain other abilities (especially transmutations, as all wizards love those) to assist the other players along the way. Likewise, when I had a wizard in my party who LOVED cold-based spells (every damage-dealing spell he had was either magic missle or cold-based), the second he heard that the group was going into the arctic, he plopped right down where he stood, pulled out his tome, and flipped to the never before read page that had his fireball spell scribed on it. Based on this, I would heavily recommend doing what you're thinking (though it will require a good deal of work) and then having a large amount of universal 'shaped's, such as 'fly', 'charm', 'divine', 'dispel', and 'invisibility'. Just a couple basic things that includes only the simplist version of a spell (as in, very little 'shaper's), but allow the caster to do more than just send fireball after fire sword after fire stream at the impervious fire-immune monsters. Now that I'm through with that, are you planning on making this mana based, or a certain amount of 'shaped' uses per day? I would say that each 'shaped' cost a certain amount of base mana-points, with basic 'shapers' already applied, and gaining higher 'shapers' cost more mana-points. Atleast, that's what I'm thinking. Also, are there no book-based casters (wizards) in your world? Really, with this you could drop the sorcerer class altogether, creater these Shaper classes, and keep the wizard so that players have the option of playing a caster that has all the spells already set out, and the option of a caster that creates spells on the fly, when necessary. Okay, so you wanna base an entire world on this idea? Actually, that's not a bad idea. I'm guessing stereotypical D&D world with a high magic content? That does sound kinda fun. I'm picturing, and if I read it right, so are you, adventuring parties made up entirely of casters each with a different useful specialization. Now, if you were to do that, you could pretty much ingore my Fourth and, likely, Fifth paragraph. *shrug*
Magius 12-24-04, 07:20 AM	How are you going to make a fly spell? Two options. First, there will probably be one school which covers the transportation (I'll have to think of a better name, transportation sounds bland) spells, such as fly, haste (maybe) and, especially, teleport. Sometimes- in this case, not likely- a spell from the PHB could fit in the multiclass spell categories, the unique spells. Invisibility would work the same. Invisibility is quite simple; a simple illusion mana based spell. Think of it as an illusion of air around the caster. If you had a 'pyrowizard' then what do you do with him/her in a volcano dungeon, where all the monsters have fire immunity? A good point, I must say. The wizard would have to make use of external means, such as wands, scrolls, and other magic items. This is unfortunate, but he could also try and overcome the immunity somehow, or maybe overcome it. I say 'somehow' because I'm really not sure how to do it, but when making a world maybe I could ease up on the idea of immunity and just make it a really tough resistance. a large amount of universal 'shaped's, such as 'fly', 'charm', 'divine', 'dispel', and 'invisibility'. Just a couple basic things that includes only the simplist version of a spell (as in, very little 'shaper's), but allow the caster to do more than just send fireball after fire sword after fire stream at the impervious fire-immune monsters. An interesting possibility would be a universal school- pure magic, presumably- that everyone can tap to a limited degree. Such spells as Dispel magic, for instance. It still wouldn't help too much, as the list of such spells would be quite limited, but it would help a bit, and would start an idea I had considered for the world. There could be a class which focused on the universal spells, but it would be very hard, draining, and excruciatingly long training. And yet, the masters of this art would be more or less the most powerful of them all, having tapped true magic. Just a BTW idea. Now that I'm through with that, are you planning on making this mana based, or a certain amount of 'shaped' uses per day? I was planning on a certain amount of mana per day, independant of the shapers. Tying one to the other might work, though it might make things a little more complex. Also, are there no book-based casters (wizards) in your world? Since this would be a very high magic world, I was thinking of many different kind of spellcasters, some who learn from a book, some from heritage, some from runes maybe...for a sense of even more variety, since the vast majority of players will be spellcasters. Of course, that too adds complexity, and for now I'm not thinking of how to do that; one system at a time. I'm picturing, and if I read it right, so are you, adventuring parties made up entirely of casters each with a different useful specialization. Something like that.
thasis 12-25-04, 11:49 AM	I'm in the old guild so I'm back here. Best introduction for a guild I've ever seen by the way. My old world is Fallen Sun but now I'm creating a new one. In Fallen Sun me and my DM might be restarting if I can find my old characters.
WorldConquerer 12-27-04, 02:38 AM	I'm going to start a new world called the Old Lands. I started a thread a while ago, but I never posted anything. It's supposed to be a world with an FR feel, but more exotic. And it's going to be HUGE. I'll need many different books to create it, like the FR Campaign Setting (for crunchy bits), Underdark(so I can have an underdark), MM 3(for extra monsters and flavor), Frostburn(for a huge arctic region called Glacia), Libris Mortis(undead play a huge part in the world's history), and others. Until then, I'm going to try and finalize the history of the world. Expect a thread to be up in the next week or so.
Jharviss 12-27-04, 02:54 AM	Welcome Thasis, you seem like you'll be a good member. By the way, I had this world idea... Gyranos, the Golden Planet (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=131286)... a while back. It wasn't great, but *shrug* If y'all hadn't noticed, I am part of (errr, leader of) an organization that is creating a new D&D world that is very complex and very unique. Unique in that it offers a ton of new and interesting ideas, but old fashioned in much of its basis. We've got the old, and we've got a lot of the new. It also includes underwater campaigning, and such. I know some of you have to be interested... check it out Colabore (http://www.geocities.com/jharviss/) is my website that has the information we have, and we're situated at a yahoo! group at Colabore at Yahoo! Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colabore). Come help, I need it *smirk* lol, thanks for the compliments on the guild introduction... truth be told, I wrote out another one that took me thirty minutes or so, then my computer bugged and that got erased. I went back and spent five minutes in a surge of blind passion (synonymous with fury) recreating it. Well, glad you like it anyways *smirk* And I look forward to seeing what you got, WC.
His Majesty 12-28-04, 01:07 PM	Hi everybody! Consider me in. If it's got somethin' to do with worldbuilding, I'm interested. Magius - You can find what I consider to be very good naming advice in How-To: Name stuff. WorldConquerer - [ranting mode]That list of books you need to buy is fundamentally wrong. You don't need Underdark to create an underdark. You don't need Frostburn to build an arctic region. You don't need Libris Mortis or the MM3, or anything else. You only need the core rulebooks, and that's only if you really want to be exactly according to the rules. I could understand you if you said that you need Unearthed Arcana or the Psionic Handbook, because they give you systems that are completely seperate from the core rules. but all of the books you listed are supplements, books with additional feats, races, monsters, and so on. You can create those things by yourself if you need them at any time, and the certainly not neccessary in any case. Worldbuilding is, almost always, almost purely fluff. Whew. [/ranting mode]
Jharviss 12-28-04, 10:03 PM	Welcome to the fold, his majesty. Or may I call you a majesty? Calling a person 'his majesty' just screws up my grammar. I certainly can't call you my majesty. Maybe just, Majesty? :uh-huh: What a great way to introduce yourself... with a rant! Now, for me... [parry rant]*clears throat*[/parry rant][riposte rant]Now, in some ways I can agree with you, none of these books are necessary. For example, I found little use in the underdark book in the creation of a world. In fact, very little contect can be derived from that book to help in the creation of something new. However, if a person is creating a world very much like FR, which W.C. said he is, he may use the Underdark book for a variety of things, such as the races presented in it, the cultures, some cities, and the prestige classes. Again, if you're creating something completely new, this book won't offer much, but for a world that is based upon FR and has an Underdark, then getting the book Underdark isn't too far off. Now, Monster Manual III I can't really defend... I just got it, and not much in it is too useful for me as I prefer to use completely handmade NPCs, and I only use monsters that I create or I found created somewhere that none of my players would look. That way, I can always keep them on their toes. Every once in a while I might throw something in, but that's rare. However, if you're looking for the newer and more unique creatures that are less likely to be found anywhere else, than the MMIII isn't too bad. It certainly has some unique critters. I don't have Libris Mortis or Frostburn, but if they are what I expect them to be, they could play a very vital role in the creation of a new world, if you wish there to be a large amount of arctic play and there is a lot of undead. People say the Libris Mortis is the Draconomicon of Undead, and if that's true, I would certainly find a use of the Libris Mortis. Its not necessary, but would definately help the finished product.[/riposte rant] [point Jharviss][/point Jharviss] I'm really not sure why I did that in code, or why I used fencing terms, but *shrug* Either way, you get my point. Though, if anybody could tell me, how is the Libris Mortis? I'd really like to get that... and though Frostburn isn't on my list, it might be interesting to know how that is too, from a worldbuilder's view point. Again, welcome to the fold, Majesty.
thasis 12-29-04, 01:28 PM	I just got Libris Mortis yesterday. I've looked through it. It is asome book. I would recomend it to anybody. It's good for any campaign no matter how much undead they include in it (unless they decide to make them not exsist in your world). Asome new Prc's, monsters, campaign info, everything. A large collection of new feats and spells are also included. Overall I give the bood a 9.3/10. Asome but lacking some of the aspects and size of the Draconomican. It's considerbly smaller. They sure cram alot of stuff into the small space they give though.
Jharviss 12-30-04, 12:19 AM	That's good to know, and is propably going to make me go buy it... I'm not big into the undead, but when I use them I like to put an oomph to 'em. Though, I do have an undead hunter in my campaign now, so I suppose I should try harder *shrug*. Thanks for the info, though, Thasis.
WorldConquerer 01-02-05, 01:33 AM	OK, I don't NEED the books, but I am possesive and materialistic, so I would prefer having them to not. I do love crunch and I tend to associate crunch with worldbuilding. For a big clan of dragonslayers, I'll need the dragonslayer PrC. For a jungle filled with frog people, I'll need gripli stats. I find that new races and PrCs add depth and style to a setting. The Old Lands Thread will be up tommorrow evening, late afternoon at the earliest. I have to go to church in the morning and then I'm gonna see A Series of Unfortunate Events, so I need time. Just expect an intro, maybe a history.
grimclaw 01-02-05, 06:05 AM	we're building a setting for the guild wars. Go to the thread ,common ground. You guys specialize in world building so your imput would be greatly valued. It's more than a world it's everywhere and nowhere.
Magius 01-02-05, 07:35 AM	A holy mission! Let us sieze it, brethren! I'll look at it. Maybe I can chip in. Where is it exactly?
His Majesty 01-02-05, 08:13 AM	Welcome to the fold, his majesty. Or may I call you a majesty? Calling a person 'his majesty' just screws up my grammar. I certainly can't call you my majesty. Maybe just, Majesty? :uh-huh: Well, I didn't really think about that when I first registered, you know. Majesty works, and I've seen Your Majesty, and you can also use Smajie, since that's what I use in many other places. And sorry about introducing myself with a rant. Now I'll just go and take a look at that world Grimclaw mentioned. If anybody needs a link, it's here.
WorldConquerer 01-02-05, 11:53 PM	My world thread is up here. Enjoy. No history is up, just what will play a roll. I hope to get more responses than with Dragonblade. That was pretty much done with when I got any real response.
Jharviss 01-03-05, 12:45 AM	WorldConquerer... I hope you understand that I cannot find your thread. I've tried your link, even fixed the error in your link, and then searched both "old lands" and your name, but cannot find that thread. I'm currently working on a continent of my world (the Colabore - Aldreia one I'm dedicated to)... it's turning out to be very intriguing, but rather complex. Hope to get some good info up on that as soon as I can. Good day to yas. By the way, any of y'all have any good ideas for frost elves? I'm creating them, but the only trait I've given them that is pertaining to coldness is a cold resistance of 20. I don't want to overpower them, but right now they look exactly like elves with the cold resistance. I want something more to it. Thanks for any help!
grimclaw 01-03-05, 12:52 AM	WorldConquerer... I hope you understand that I cannot find your thread. I've tried your link, even fixed the error in your link, and then searched both "old lands" and your name, but cannot find that thread. I'm currently working on a continent of my world (the Colabore - Aldreia one I'm dedicated to)... it's turning out to be very intriguing, but rather complex. Hope to get some good info up on that as soon as I can. Good day to yas. By the way, any of y'all have any good ideas for frost elves? I'm creating them, but the only trait I've given them that is pertaining to coldness is a cold resistance of 20. I don't want to overpower them, but right now they look exactly like elves with the cold resistance. I want something more to it. Thanks for any help! There was an old issue of Dungeon magizine that had a spelljammer adventure in it that mentioned frost elves. They were descended from drow who crashed on a frozen world that was always dark on one hemisphere. They were engaged in a war against humans who dwelt on the light side. The world was just a side note but I thought it was interresting. So you might start with drow and alter them to suit the new enviroment.
Jharviss 01-03-05, 08:55 PM	I want everyone to know that I have decided to include this guild in the guild wars, unless I hear some really good reasons not to. I don't want anything here except worldbuilding, though... lol, of course, I'm sure since grimclaw is building a world for the wars, we would have an excuse to talk about it. Speaking of whom, your work in the Common Grounds is good, grimclaw. That should be a fun city when its all fleshed out and complete.
WorldConquerer 01-03-05, 11:56 PM	It's there all right, on the front page of Campaign Workshop, but the title isn't bold. Look harder. Oh yeah, preordering for Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools starts today! http://www.giantITP.com
Magius 01-04-05, 06:34 AM	You're an OOTS fan too? Neat! I'm not planning on buying it, but the amount of people who are is staggering.
Jharviss 01-04-05, 08:41 AM	Okay, I got it, and will have the link up.
Magius 01-04-05, 11:31 AM	Well, I was getting to work on the geography of my own campaign setting- not the magic system one, another one- and I came up with a dillemma, see if you can help. My world has a lot of legendary figures, heroes and villains of every kind. I'm making- and will make- so many of them I'm doing everything so I don't choke the world (that is, you turn one corner, you see drizzt being chased by Wulfgar, you turn around and elminster is fighting manshoon...with no normal peaseants and farmers). To do this, I'm making a few continents to the world. My problem is that I want places which are almost whole worlds- one continent is very short on water and is almost completely desert, creating a dune-esque world; one is a lot of tiny islands, kind of like indonesia of today; etc. Now, my problem is that while I want these great elements in the setting, I don't want to make completely foreign worlds than my actual, hardcore idea. I want it to have some kind of gravitational center. And yet, I want to spread it as sparsely as I can to avoid choking the world. Any suggestions?
Jharviss 01-04-05, 05:47 PM	I'm not quite sure what you're describing Magius... it sounds like you almost want something like the outlands with sigil in the middle, but *shrug*
Magius 01-05-05, 10:36 AM	Yeah, I understand. It's hard to put in words.
Eltheynn 01-23-05, 07:13 AM	*uncloaks*: YAY!!!! *high-fives Jharviss* Yeah, I understand. It's hard to put in words. Well... What you describe sounds a lot like Earth :P I mean, several different continents, yet it has a common ground of sorts (us petty mortals and our lives. Bar cultural differences and such, we're not THAT different from each other) ... I think the best way to handle this would be to tie each of the continents to a sub-plot of sorts that relates to the big scheme of things. Say, the main idea of the world is, for example, that the gods are gone, and adventurers quest to find them, or maybe to find new ones or proof that there's a deity out there. Each continent could have his group of "God-seekers", or even be against the searching of Gods (an atheistic State, obviously wanting to fight those that want the gods to be back, and we have a good conflict right here). The relationships between continents could be the sub-plots, and the search for deities would be the big plot. See? Something like that, small things that, on their own are not really noteworthy, but together make the story of the world more believable... P.D: I'd include the list of links in the first "Worldbuilder's Foundation" thread, BTW... But it doesn't matter that much, we can always use the Search function anyway. *recloaks and vanishes*
thasis 12-24-05, 03:25 AM	This could be an intressting thread. I liked the very original one. Didn't participate much in this one but I want to change this. To bad all the old members are gone (as far as I know). Anyone else want to continue this thread with me?
thasis 12-24-05, 07:54 PM	So what exactly could we do with this foundation. A project maybe?
Dyne 12-24-05, 08:01 PM	How about: -Statting out the cities of Tyranor -Coming up with Sites of Interest for Tyranor -Other stuff related to the world of Tyranor Hey, might as well contribute to the games while expressing creativity. :) Some of it really needs to be done sometime, and fleshing out the setting might make things more interesting.
thasis 12-24-05, 08:36 PM	Well I've been thinking of designing a race of human-looking beings who dwell in the desert and are generally nomadic. We could put them in the deserts in the world of Tyrannor.
Jharviss 12-24-05, 11:46 PM	Not all the members are gone... the creator/reviver's still here. I'm currently, and have been for a good while, creating a large world online with a group of people (note my signiture). There's actually a good amount of stuff there, but that keeps me happy. I'm glad to see people pop up, kinda took me off guard. Sure, if y'all wanna do something I'm all for it.
thasis 12-25-05, 01:02 PM	Hmm, I just didn't see you around here, and lately I havn't been to many other parts of the boards, so I just assumed you left. But since your not... Glad to see you around! Currently I guess our best bet is to work on the geography, villages, and other intressting little aspects of the Tyrannor world. I'm going to see what I can get done on my desert race idea.
Zombomaniac 12-25-05, 02:28 PM	I think I am gonna love this guild.
WorldConquerer 12-27-05, 11:59 PM	Don't worry, I'm still alive! Yeah, Jack Bauer still can't find me. I just left these boards for a while because everything I loved is dead. Halo d20, The Old Lands...Redwall d20 died within a week of it's birth. What a pity. I always had a soft spot in my iron heart for mice with swords. I am very active over at the EV-Nova.net boards. It's devoted to one of the coolest computer games EVAR. Here: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/.
Jharviss 01-06-06, 01:16 AM	As I was working on my map (I'll probably show it to y'all later), I was thinking about worldbuilding in general. Let's talk about worldbuilding. What do y'all think is the better method to build a world, starting out small and expanding or vica verca? I've always been rather prone to draw a full-world map and then begin plotting out countries, cities within the countries, and scale down. The concept of building a city or some local and working outwards sounds painfully tedious and somewhat dull. I don't know, I just think that it would lose it's realism that way, or become really simple. Yes, simple is the right word. By the way, I'll probably throw around the word verisimilitude a lot if we start chatting. It means how real your world appears to be, even though it is imaginary. I think about it a lot. Also, does everybody do their own maps for their worlds, do some of you not even do maps, and do you hand-draw them or use a program? If so, what program do you use? I've normally hand-drawn them (though I'm starting to computer-draw them via photoshop because they're easier to work with later). I just downloaded AutoRealm, the mapper, and it looks good. I may try it later.
jagggar 01-07-06, 04:43 PM	I get discouraged whenever it comes time to make a map. I can't draw very well and don't know enough about geography and its effects on weather to make a proper landmass and climate to go with it. Whenever I start building a world (I've never finished one) it ususally stems from an idea or character I'm playing around with inside my head. It ususally turns into a story or some sort of narriative sketch. When you ask about how 'real' the world is, do you mean in the way that some people complain about high level characters taking crossbow bolts (or bullets for a modern setting) in the chest without being phased? Or do you mean that the laws of magic (something not "real") actually follow a pattern rather than being at the whim of the author/DM/etc?
Jharviss 01-07-06, 05:25 PM	I took a geography course last year and whenever the teacher mentioned something about actual geography, my ears perked up and I maid a mental note for my map-making. Now on my world map, I have every forest marked as being either coniferous, deciduous, or the other I'm forgetting at the moment. I've even started marking possible hurricain areas in the world (based on downdrafts and rising air currents from the tides) and fault lines, which of course, include the areas where I place the majority of volcanoes and earthquakes. It was amusing, and just a little *too* in depth. But I dunno. I know a lot of people who can't make maps worth squat and others who make beautiful perfecting maps. I fall somewhere inbetween, except with the amount of time I spend on any given map is so huge that it begins to at least resemble a well-drawn map. But I will say that whenever I make a world, I like to make the map first. Given, all of my worlds are fairly earth-based, so I can get away with thinking, "Okay, there's forests and mountains and deserts and oceans," pretty well. I did make a world once that had no oceans, and that was kind of a stretch for me since I love to make all the continents and oceans and such, but thankfully I never got the urge to map it out. Yay. But when it comes to realism, I leave some of those to the DM, such as the bolt to chest phenomenon. Though with magic, I've started writing out a report for how magic really works, and therefore making it realistic, at least as far as magic can go, in my world. It's rather fun, talking about how magic is a form of energy (like heat or kinetic), and is created and manipulated with words and movement and other catalysts just like heat is made through converting potential energy to heat energy via catalysts (like expending kinetic energy). Again though, I'm a little too thorough.
thasis 01-09-06, 04:53 PM	Whenever I start on a new campaign/world I tend to start with a small inn/pub. I give it some flavor, maybe some concept ideas for customers. I then move on to other buildings neer by and expand. I slowly work my way outwords, usualy as needed or when I have spare time. I do the Inward to Outward approach. It emphisises on detail, and I find detail important. I get overwhelmed if I don't have enough information to support something when my players go somewhere. I usualy have the whole area where my players tend to dwell all ready so I have a good general idea what they're going to be doing. I've been working on one campaign for some time called The Fallen Sun Campaign Setting. It's my first campaign that I ever did, and I've been reviving it over the last few years. It's an evil and neutrul dominated society. It's not chaotic evil though. There is still laws, gaurd, and good guys. It's just everybody I know plays evil characters so I have decieded to design a more evil centered world.
jagggar 01-11-06, 03:19 PM	When do you get to the crunchy stuff? I've recently read two 'articles' that take a player-centric approach and start right off with the races and classes (in combination with an overall feel of the setting). How do you decide what and how much to include? The same two articles said how really memorable campaigns take away instead of just adding and adding. Quite the opposite approach of Ebberon.
thasis 01-13-06, 04:54 PM	In my world I allow anything sensible in. Sensible in my campaign seems to be quite a relative term to so pretty much anything is allowed in. Since my world is flat and infinite then if something is specifically tied to an organization then I can incorporate the organization in what I've created already or just say it's from another continent. Flat infinite worlds have absoloutly no limit to possobilities.
Ishmayl 03-31-06, 07:16 AM	Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that there is an excellent new community dedicated to the sole cause of campaign and world building: the Campaign Builders' Guild (http://www.thecbg.org) The people there are lovely, there are resources available for you to peruse, and recently, we just updated the capabilities of the site to include space for private hosting of a campaign setting. Come on by and say hello! Cheers! -Ishy
Kobold_Ur_Priest 03-31-06, 04:07 PM	Count me in ^_^
thasis 03-31-06, 04:36 PM	I signed up. Just waiting for the confirmation email.
Ishmayl 03-31-06, 05:18 PM	Sounds good. PM me on these forums if you don't get the confirmation email soon; usually it's sent immediately, I'm surprised there's any waiting involved. Cheers!
WorldConquerer 03-31-06, 07:15 PM	Eh, I'm not much into D&D anymore. I've got all my campaign setting material saved on my computer, and all my books are sitting on a shelf. My pitiful collection of minis is in a box somewhere. I'll keep the site bookmarked, but I'm not making any promises to myself.
Kobold_Ur_Priest 03-31-06, 10:21 PM	I didnt get one either. just PM me or post on my guild.
thasis 04-01-06, 02:58 AM	Eh, I'm not much into D&D anymore. I've got all my campaign setting material saved on my computer, and all my books are sitting on a shelf. My pitiful collection of minis is in a box somewhere. I'll keep the site bookmarked, but I'm not making any promises to myself. That's to bad your not into D&D much. I've never quit since I got into it (with the one exception in grade 4 when I had no friends and that I became so obssessed with the game as an escape that I had to have all my D&D stuff taken away untill I returned to a more mentally stable state of mind).
Kobold_Ur_Priest 04-01-06, 09:47 AM	That's to bad your not into D&D much. I've never quit since I got into it (with the one exception in grade 4 when I had no friends and that I became so obssessed with the game as an escape that I had to have all my D&D stuff taken away untill I returned to a more mentally stable state of mind). same here, i almost had that experience once, parents whined that i played too much yet i only played friday-saturday usually
thasis 04-01-06, 03:20 PM	I spent hours a day creating new D&D material and making a character to upgrade him to a higher level just to see what awsome powers he could have. Once I created a lv1322 character. God I look back at myself and see myself as a sad child... :(
Kobold_Ur_Priest 04-01-06, 03:28 PM	I spent hours a day creating new D&D material and making a character to upgrade him to a higher level just to see what awsome powers he could have. Once I created a lv1322 character. God I look back at myself and see myself as a sad child... :( 1322...you should be slapped. then congradulated...a lot thats so sick & twisted you're my new fav person lol we need 2 design some cool minions...or better yet---golem servants/troops/etc
thasis 04-01-06, 06:58 PM	I know I am a sick bastard... and I congragulated myself many times after the creation of that character. :P As for creation, Well I'm working on a private project right now called The Complete Libris Mortis (aka Complete Undead). I'm of-course going to be creating LOTZ of new Undead Monsters which could be used as minions for our guilds. The New Prc's could also be potentionaly useful to as well as the mass-amounts of new spells that I'm going to be designing. I'm jus planning things out right now. I'll start on creating the monsters first cause they'll be more use to the guild as this point and time.
WorldConquerer 04-01-06, 08:03 PM	One day, I'm going to sit down at the computer with all my books and a lot of paper, and just make stats for monkey-inspired monsters. And gorillas. Gorillas are cool. If these forums get a gorilla smiley, I promise I will visit more often.
Kobold_Ur_Priest 04-01-06, 08:21 PM	I know I am a sick bastard... and I congragulated myself many times after the creation of that character. :P As for creation, Well I'm working on a private project right now called The Complete Libris Mortis (aka Complete Undead). I'm of-course going to be creating LOTZ of new Undead Monsters which could be used as minions for our guilds. The New Prc's could also be potentionaly useful to as well as the mass-amounts of new spells that I'm going to be designing. I'm jus planning things out right now. I'll start on creating the monsters first cause they'll be more use to the guild as this point and time. I'd like to help if you need it.
thasis 04-01-06, 08:29 PM	Do you draw cause I need non-scammed of the internet art. Help on new monster would be a definite help to. Spells also. The idea for this book is to be a free-online book so it's realy always good for more ideas. I posted the ideas I have so far on your guild.
Kobold_Ur_Priest 04-01-06, 08:32 PM	no but together, my bro and i may be able to compile some things, or i could find some others to help...
thasis 04-01-06, 08:54 PM	That'd be cool. Any help is appreiciated.
Kobold_Ur_Priest 04-01-06, 11:16 PM	alright, you got it.