PROJECT WORLDBUILDING Need help with setting

ImaginationGoneWild

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Hello Iwaku! And welcome to my worldbuilding project that has yet to be named.

While I'm currently having writer's block for roleplaying I decided to just keep working on my project to shake the muses. I want to use this thread to brainstorm with you guys about the various topics of my setting. Alright. I should introduce the setting before I start asking questions, right. I'll try to keep this brief, and not ramble too much. Also, English is not my native language.

The setting is a science-fantasy where Elementals control the climate, seasons, and more. Technology has created things such as hover-tech, crystal sheets as crude computers, and solar powered weapons. Space can be explored with the right amount of courage and the Spirit Realm that was once fervently revered by many is now considered a supernatural plague that seeks to invade the Mortal Realms and bring it to ruin. The magic class once ruled the mortal realms with an iron fist known as the Scourge of the Witch-Kings until they were driven to near-extinction which brought the now Industrial Age. To this day people still have a great disdain for anything magic and will pretty much blame witches for everything gone wrong in the world.

Cosmology I have figured out for the most part.
The void is filled with a primordial magic ocean made from chaotic energy that churns like aesperita clouds. Everything is born from it and anything will someday be destroyed by it. One of the things born from Aora, besides the gods, are the many land masses that burst through its surface, some are as large as flat worlds while others can barely hold a house. Planets are replaced by flat worlds (there are 7 in total with 1 small). The poles are at the center of the world while the rim is the equator. You can and will fall off the edge of the world or just gaze upon Aora and grow insane. At the center of the 'known universe' is the spirit world shaped like a cosmic tree and the source of magic.

All the rest I have somewhat figured out so for now I'm just gonna stick with the question of the day. Fantasy Races.

I have OCD and my brain insists that there has to be an equal amount of races per world so I need people to tell me it's okay to have different numbers of races per world to shut my brain up!!! ;__;
Also, what kind of races would be cool? I'd like both humanoid and maybe anthro type races. I already have a few in mind but would like to hear what you guys think and if you have more ideas?

There's 7 worlds total with 1 wandering isle type (I have yet to name them). The wandering isle we can ignore because that one is supposed to be the safe haven for magic users and all races can have magic users. Also I am not concerned with realism, the universal rule is 'The Gods Designed it like that."

So in no particular order I'll showcase the worlds, their concepts. And then add whatever race I've come up with. But these races are not set in stone so feel free to share your ideas!!!
Just think of all the hot temp. biomes on earth and slap them together. Oceans are replaced by vast deserts, there's so much sand it falls off the edge of the world. There's also a lot of volcanic activity dotting the world. So water is very scarce and is limited to a handful of large lakes and oasis dotting the lands, people have fought wars over water. But the races are also working on artificially making their water sources grow and in turn making the land more fertile by connecting water canals from city to city by breeding water Elementals. So you can choose to travel via the canals or by sand surfing. Giant wurms hide in the sands including land sharks.

Race ideas: I want to have races that could thrive in this heat. For now I had Snake-people and Cat-people. Maybe lizard types?

A...A world with lots of water. Oceans galore! Oceans as far as the eye can see and beyond! They are pouring over the edges of the world all around. But there is still land in the shape of islands and archipelagos. So imagine a world with lots of wet biomes on the islands like jungles, swamps, marshes, fungi forests. Lots of sailing so that includes pirates and sea monsters. There will be a nation that has build its city on the back of a sea monster. So the city goes back and forth between underwater and above water and as such is known as a trade city who brings goodies from beneath the depths to the people of the land and vice versa. There's also going to be land at the poles that will feel very arctic. But there's also civilization underneath the oceans so the stories aren't limited to just the surface.

Race Ideas: I want races that can thrive in a world with lots of water so I was thinking semi-aquatic types like Water elves. But there could also be a race that just lives on the islands and not just the beaches. I just have Water Elves and axolotl people.

A world with a name! \o/
Now this was a world inspired by the game Grounded. But it's sort of like an inside out world. Crystals and rock, molten metals, etc. are above ground while vegetation and forests and lakes are found underground. Geography wise It's not that fleshed out yet. But race-wise I like the ideas of a Moth-people and Spider-people have rivalling silk-industries as their whole reason to live and war over.

Ideas: Races that could live in a world where vegetation is mostly underground which also means that there isn't a lot of light for the ones that live there. So I though of a mix of rock people and insect people?

Ye old classic floating island fantasy with a sea of clouds. Pretty standard ideas but I like the idea that it's a windy world with storms. And people debate a lot about what's underneath the clouds. Is there more land? Or is it Aora? Or are people better left off never knowing? This also means that airships and flying mounts are a thing for this world.

Ideas: Winged races, duh. But then what else could live here if they don't have wings? Cause I want an excuse to use ships and mounts.

Another named world! Huzzah!
A lush mega forest type world. Just think fairytale land, giant trees, giant mushrooms, very pro-nature vibes. Also, this world will have red, orange, yellow and white as the dominant nature colors (as opposed to our greens and browns), So imagine red tree canopies and white barks, yellow and orange bushes/grass/plants, etc. One should be careful when reaching the edge of the world because you might mistake a hill or cliff as more land when it's not. This would doesn't have oceans but does have seas and lakes and rivers.

Ideas: because this world was very foresty themed my brain immideately jumped to satyrs, faun, unicorns, and minotaurs. So a bunch of horned and hooved races or maybe others?

Fantasy scandinavia/russia/canada. Snow everywhere! Imagine large ice and snow elementals migrating down the mountains to bring the long winter season and then return to the mountains when spring arrives. Snowy forests, glaciers, fjords, tundras, bogs, etc... You get the idea but that's all I have for now.
Ideas: People that can thrive in cold temps and long winters. I was thinking Kitsune? Cause they have fluffy tails? Jotun cause hell yea! What else?

The last named world. Blight is named after a great disaster that caused the world to become toxic and almost barren. The mega-city is also named Blight and was a beacon of hope for the races that lived there when the disaster struck. Now people are working hard to bring new live to the world with the aid of the other mortal realms. The others bring their seeds and animals and most importantly their Elementals in exchange for trade, technology and military might. The city Blight is a massive thing where old and new architecture is stacked on top of each other. And with bringing in races from the other worlds the city has grown so large it has developed sectors with its own laws and cultures. Some good, others not so good to be in.

Ideas: My brains went Goblin. Maybe orcs, Rugged people for a rugged lifestyle.
So what do you guys think?
Also, here's some races I do not want to add.
- Dwarves (i've seen them too often and my brain automatically keeps jumping to beer-loving miners no matter what setting).
- Genasi (my magic system provides something similar so no redundancy).
- Tiefling (demons have a different meaning in my world and with the satyrs/minotaurs/kirinfolk/Oni there's enough horns.)
 
Hello! It's always fun to have people throw ideas in the pot when making a world, so I'll do what I can. There's some similarity here to my own personal project of a world, so I may be able to throw out some suggestions.

However, before I do, a series of questions!

What defines a 'race' in this world? Are they of a certain intelligence level? Do they have community? What distinguishes a 'race' from a monster in your eyes? Is there humanity in addition to the races? If not, do humans have a place in this world?

And then a question just to satisfy my own personal curiosity, which probably won't have any impact on race generation. Are elementals not a part of the sprit world? Or part of magic? You say they see magic as bad and the spirit world as invading, but you also mention that the desert world wants to rely on water elementals, so I'm a bit confused.


Finally, my personal suggestion! Image searches can provide powerful inspiration. A quick search for "Desert fantasy races" got me lots of cool concept art. The one that really stuck out to me are these rad insect warrior types, which felt like they could fit in your first world.

Finally, unless there's an in-world reason that the gods would have created a specific number of races, I actually think it's more believable for there not to be an equivalent number of races per world. Different biomes have different potential, and allow for different types of complexity within them. It also means you can easily add a race when you find cool new inspiration without having to worry about what that means for the wider world. I've run afoul of that myself because I did create a particular in-world reason, and it makes it hard to add various species when I start discovering holes I didn't previously realize existed.
 
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I'll gladly answer questions, they help with the worldbuilding. : 3

What defines a 'race' in this world? Are they of a certain intelligence level? Do they have community? What distinguishes a 'race' from a monster in your eyes? Is there humanity in addition to the races? If not, do humans have a place in this world?

The races are of human intelligence. They are all humanoid looking (or anthro) but they are not created through evolution instead the gods just plopped them down like adam and eve and it is just their cultures that 'evolved' for lack of better words. And humans are a part of the races but I want to avoid the whole 'most wildly spread race with great potential'.

People define animals or beasts as creatures whose origins are from the mortal realms, and are beings who are easily hunted, tamed, or bred. Whereas monsters are creatures whose origin is from the spirit world and they can appear as either beast or humanoid with varying intelligence levels, and even access to magic. Monsters are a dangerous problem in the eyes of the people.

Are elementals not a part of the sprit world? Or part of magic? You say they see magic as bad and the spirit world as invading, but you also mention that the desert world wants to rely on water elementals, so I'm a bit confused.

*cracks knuckles*

The Elementals of my setting are the first lifeforms to exist within the universe. They crawled out of Aora when she gave birth to the many land masses. The largest masses (the mortal realms) have the largest variety of them. They come in all shapes and sizes and are of various intelligences as well. So yes, in a way they do belong to the spirit world but don't really care for choosing factions.

However their presence does have purpose that the people cannot denial. Despite them belonging to the Spirit world they are also needed to maintain life on any world. So people consider them more as a very unique ecosystem, or divine by religious folk.
The presence of Elementals creates things like 'the concept of fire', the weather, the seasons, plant life, minerals, metals, mountains, rivers, lakes, clouds, oxygen, etc... If they didn't exist or their numbers grow too small then those concepts disappear.

All those concepts influence things like making a campfire. Without them you can't make one because fire does not exist. The flame clinging to your matchstick will look up at you and 'sqeee' asking not to be put out. The vague water blobs with glowing eyes in the lake will come ashore if it rains to steal things of interest, even children. But at the same time those same blobs secrete water, the more there are the more water there will be, and the bigger they are the more water they secrete. The clouds in the sky are lumbering giants with the temperament of a cow and whose true shape is always hidden under its foggy mass. Metals are not mined, they are hunted by 'miners' who seek deep caves or simply make a quarry to hunt for aging metal giants to harvest their bodies.

Besides influencing things like fire and oxygen, they also influence the finer things like the taste of fruit, the existence of birds or fish, the vegetation itself is grown by plant elementals who carry seeds with them, etc.

So in the case of the desert world they want to breed water elementals so they can create things like rivers and lakes in the hopes that one day it will help turn their world more green. Scientifically the Elementals are the strangest and most difficult to study because of how different they are. They don't have natural enemies and don't see other elementals as the enemy either. They understand their roles within the cycle of life.

From a magic point of view, Witches do make use of them in their magic spells. Sometimes they manage to convince an elemental to work for them or fight for them, sometimes they catch elementals to turn them into potent ingredients for potions. And then there are ambitious witches who manage to swallow a piece of elemental in the hopes to gain new powers, if they survive.

Finally, my personal suggestion! Image searches can provide powerful inspiration. A quick search for "Desert fantasy races" got me lots of cool concept art. The one that really stuck out to me are these rad insect warrior types, which felt like they could fit in your first world.

Insect races in the desert! Reminds me of world of warcraft, cool!

And you're right, there's no in-world reason for worlds to have equivalent races. I'll follow your advice of just adding races as I go and see what happens. : 3
 
Thanks for the answers! They raise just as many questions as they answer, like most good worldbuilding answers do, but only one that I feel requires an immediate answer for me to continue helping with brainstorming. You say the thing that distinguishes races is their intelligence and humanoid appearance, and the fact that (unlike beasts) they were formed by gods. And yet you follow that up by saying monsters can be humanoid with high intelligence and they are also not a natural part of the world. Does that mean a monster could pass off as one of the races?

Continuing to think for the desert now, I could see fox people. Not like a red fox, but closer to a fennec fox. Snake people are fun, but you may want to consider targeting it more towards dry-climate snakes (like rattle snakes) than pythons, which are tropical and therefore might be better suited for Carvoria or the islands of your water world. :) Rat people could also be an interesting addition, especially ones that feel more like desert rats than mice. Hyenas could also be an interesting pick. Despite technically being savannah in the real world, we tend to associate them with very dry climates. However, that's where we run into the question about monsters vs races again, because humanoid hyenas is how most people picture gnolls, which are usually considered monsters.
 
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You say the thing that distinguishes races is their intelligence and humanoid appearance, and the fact that (unlike beasts) they were formed by gods. And yet you follow that up by saying monsters can be humanoid with high intelligence and they are also not a natural part of the world. Does that mean a monster could pass off as one of the races?

Yes, the mortal races are created by the gods and were immediately placed on the mortal realms like adam and eve. So their origins is that they are native to the mortal realms. But monsters are native to the Spirit world because that's where they were created, not always by gods. Aora created other things besides the elementals and gods as 'living creatures'. That's a detail I still need to work on.

But yes, monsters could indeed pass as a normal person and live among the mortal races. I don't have examples yet of what kind of monsters could pass as the mortal races, something I'm still working on. But some monsters were initially created as a servant race for a god, or a soldier or some other role. Until they either rebel against their creator or when their creator dies there's nothing left to control them. Not all monsters are bad though, there are some that just mind their business like faeries. And sometimes these monsters decide to just stay in the spirit world while others want to explore the mortal realms.

But in the eyes of the mortal realms, all monsters are a problem. There's still some folklore superstition that might revere things like faeries here and there but those groups are often small.

However, that's where we run into the question about monsters vs races again, because humanoid hyenas is how most people picture gnolls, which are usually considered monsters.

Indeed, but I think it's also because tabletop games tend to label almost anything as a monster because it's so combat heavy. In my setting monsters are more of a species category based on their dimensional origins. Mortal vs Spiritual. But I like your idea of spreading same-species creatures like the snake people across multiple worlds. I forgot I could actually do that so that saves on worldbuilding, lol.
 
Sorry for the delay! Holidays and all that. XD

Let's proceed!

Water World
This one has tons of variation in it! Especially considering the range of landmasses on it. Wetland style snake people like anacondas, lizard people based on alligators or iguanas, frog people! That's a big one. Salamander people. Carnivorous plant people? That one might be more targeted towards carvonia, but you could still have a small subset. Monkey people. You could also have a subset of bird people based on parrots.

Underwater there's lots of room for different kinds of fish people. Here's a crazy image of a turtle person. The variations in mermaids are also exceptional, especially when you start considering more exotic options like shark, octopus, jellyfish, or deep sea fish.


Hollow
Spider and moth people are excellent! On the more diverse end, something like bat people? This is a great place for any of the undead you would like to include as a real people, such as skeletons, ghouls, vampires, etc. Mushroom people a la guild wars could be really cool! Mole people. If you'd like to get a bit creepy, worm people might be fascinating. Crystal people could also work here, if you'd like to add to the non-flesh beings. I think Hollow would be lower in diversity than the Water World, because the conditions to thrive here are much harsher. Godly magic or no, it's not easy to thrive without the sun.


I'll call that good for today! If you'd like to explain more, can you continue to expound on the differences between the Spirit World and the Mortal Worlds? How do they differ and why? Outside of the elementals, which are quite unique, the difference between those two spaces is one of the most intriguing parts about your world. :)
 
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No worries, happy holidays! :D

For the Water World I was definitely going to add mermaids because I love the idea of creating underwater cities and brainstorming about what their daily lives would look like. Like the use of fire, I imagine them making use of the lava chutes as a communal cooking area or food market.

I also had an idea for a semi-aquatic race that's similar to Water Elves. Humanoids with gils and fins and they can live on both the surface and underwater. Their culture would have a symbiotic relationship with giant sea creatures like leviathans or large whales, etc. As the creature grows so will their town grow on its back. Whenever the creature rises to the surface is when the water elves trade with the surface world before the creature dives back into the depths. That's when they trade with the mermaids. And when the creature dies its remains will sink to the bottom as it decomposes which forces the water elves to seek out a new animal, abandoning their town. So picture the ocean floor having abandoned towns between large skeletons.

Then I also had an idea for an axalotl race. Small gnome sized or dwarf sized people that live in tribes along coast lines or wet caves. They're not a strong people or numerous but they are smart and resourceful.

The monkey people are a cool idea, I think they'll also fit with the floating isle world. Also an island in the Water World that's known for flesh-eating plants sounds awesome!

For Hollow I figured I would not have a large variety for the same reason you mentioned. I have toyed with the idea of crystal people born from the large crystals that grow on the surface world. I imagine what it would be like to walk around in a crystal forest and then suddenly spotting a crystal that has a shape hidden within and a face. Slowly over time that shape becomes more defined and pushed further out of the crystal until it is 'born' as a full-grown crystal person.

I also imagine a Pangolin people cause they look cool. Their scales makes for great camouflage in the underground forests and their claws make great tools and weapons. I envision them as large half scaled people that don't wear clothes apart for maybe a shawl and some jewelry or trinkets.


The difference between the Mortal Worlds and the Spirit World. It's kind of like Order vs Chaos. Both sides sort of have their own rhythm.

The mortal worlds are, besides being born from Aora the sea of chaos, the creations of the gods. They are made from flesh and blood (for the most part), people are born, they die just to be born again. They need to eat, sleep, breed in order to thrive. They are sensitive to their environments ergo why aquatic people will struggle in a desert world, etc. People can take from nature and nature usually recovers (thanks to the elementals) until they take too much from nature to which she'll fight back until balance is restored again (natural disasters). These worlds are self-regulating and they have their own repetitive cycle, their own rhythm. And most importantly they do not have access to magic. (Well, that was until gods started to pull a Zeus on the mortals and having Demi-god babies with them. Now in modern times known as Witches)

The Spirit World was created as a home for the Spirits. Spirits are born from Aora, they came crawling out and swam ashore to the many worlds (way in the beginning of history, eventually when the Tree was created they all go there upon being born instinctively). Other Spirits are born from other Spirits either by being willed into existence or maybe upon its dying breath a Spirit decided to give birth to a monster race, etc... it doesn't matter how they are born but they all share one thing. Spiritual Energy (magic). That energy is also called a Soul, it's who and what you are. For mortals it's also what animates the body but for Spirits it is their essence. They feed on it and release it upon death.

This means that the Spirit World is a very dog-eat-dog world. It is a chaotic and ever-changing world because Spirits (the powerful ones) have the ability to alter reality which means that wherever they settle in the Spirit World that area will look drastically different compared to other areas. And biomes won't make sense as everything is created upon the whimsy of the Spirits and not through an ecological system like the Elementals. For example a desert could be located next to a winter wonderland. Or if a Spirit of Winter decides to pass through your area, it may create the season of winter. But how long it lasts depends on how long the winter Spirit stays. And its intensity is based on its personality or mood. If they're angry expect blizzards!

Spirits are also shapeshifters so the world shifts with them, and the monster races or lesser spirits that don't have the ability to alter reality like their big brothers are forced to adapt or be absorbed. The Spirit World was never created as an after life. Neither do the gods care about their followers or care to give them a place to turn to after death. (some do but not all).
 
Happy new year! I hope your holiday was enjoyable and you got to spend time with the people you care about. :) Shall we continue?

Pangolin people would look rad. I personally would put them in Carvonia, simply because they are native to the forests of southeast Asia and the savannahs of Africa, but the lovely thing about a fantasy world is they can be in multiple places, and have unique traits for each. Imagine a race of albino pangolin that live underground. That sounds very cool!

Floating Island World
I'm honestly a bit stuck on this one, because floating islands can have such a wide range of ecosystems. However, I'm going to make a few assumptions based off common fantasy imagery and some vacancies in your current biomes and assume they are a mixture of some deciduous forests and mountains and a majority grasslands, temperate with mild but visible seasons. If that's off the mark, more than happy to revisit this one!

Bird people are a good fit. I see it leaning more towards eagle and songbird types, which creates a fun mixture. But regarding land animals, I see this as the perfect home for the rodent types. Mice, rats, weasels, rabbits, squirrels, shrews, the list goes on. If you want dragonoids, as distinct from lizard people, this also seems like a great place for them to be more of a majority (with the other portion being in the winter world). This might also be an interesting place for the variations of centaurs. Islands can be quite varied in size, and their archetypal emphasis on archery seems like a fascinating combination with a world that emphasizes flying creatures.

Carvonia
I can definitely see satyrs, fauns, and minitaurs working here. I'd also put in more plant and/or insect people. Treants are an excellent potential addition, in the same vein as the crystalline people. If you have sea elves, this is also a great place to add another race of elves. Speaking of, retractively, dark elves in Hollow are kind of a must if you want a scattered population of traditional elves. :)

I'm not entirely sure if this counts as an elemental or a spirit, but Carvonia also seems like an excellent place for nature spirits like dryads and naiads. Could also lean into some of the more 'miniature' races here like halflings, gnomes, and fairies.



Continuing questions! If magic aka spiritual energy aka the soul is who and what you are, does that mean spirits are burning their existence to use magic? Is that why they need to feed on other souls? Also, if souls animate mortal bodies, why can't mortals use magic without divine blood in them? They have a soul, after all. Same question applies to animals. Are there any mortal animals that can use magic?

And then another broad question. You've mentioned gods a few times, but what are they? Obviously special, powerful beings, but what is the nature of their existence, and why do they care about mortals?
 
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I did thank you! :D
Yes! Let's continue!

Albino pangolin people sounds awesome!

I don't know yet what kind of biomes I want in the floating islands world. I like the idea of some islands being connected through natural vine bridges. Also I'm not sure whether these islands will be parallel to each other or if they should be floating at various heights? A river falling from one island to the next does sound cool though. :P
I think the type of people I want thriving here would be the ones that either are winged or are good climbers, maybe a few that have learned to tame dragons?

Yes, gnomes! I was thinking on adding the gnomes in mushroom forests and have them be more nature focused instead of tinkering geniuses.

You know I haven't thought about that detail, whether spirits burn themselves out to exist...
As for why mortals can't do magic; it's because their soul energy is just strong enough to animate their bodies. But I'm toying with the idea of people being able to cultivate soul energy to gain powers or improve their health/body. A la wuxia/xanxia ish.
So if people can cultivate then I don't see why animals can't do that either. I think it'll be cool to meet a talking animal who managed to increase its energy so it gained more intelligence/ability to communicate with people.

Also, I discovered that my spirit world concept is somehwat inspired by asian mythologies/fantasy and the tabletop game Symbaroum.
I liked the idea of spirits and gods living in their world with their own rules and politics and such. But at the same time I want them to feel eldritch and strange, mysterious.

What are gods?
Well, when I asked myself that same question I knew I didn't want gods to be like what we in RL would think of them. As these omnipotent, all-knowing invisible and faceless beings that live way up in the sky/space on some other level of existence.
I wanted them to be more approachable, more tangible, more mortal I guess. I like the idea that gods are not all powerful or all-knowing, and that even they can and will die someday.
So for know I've decided that they are pure energy beings that crawled out of the primordial soup who thanks to being energy beings can do magic. But who knows, I might change my mind later on as I develop the setting more.
 
Last two!

Winter World
This seems like the place for the anthropomorphization of all the north american carnivores. Wolves, foxes, bears, lynx, bobcat, cougars. They're all mountain-goers used to harsh winters, so even if they don't get a summer in this world they'd probably be able to survive. Since this is the place where you have large mountains, it's also probably a good place for any mining or ore-focused races you want to include. I know you said you aren't interested in dwarves, but there's some like kobolds, goblins, and gnomes that still fit the style without being quite so cliché. This may also be a good place for mountain trolls and the like, although I can also definitely see them in Blight. And then there's always room to bring in targeted subsets of other races. Owls seems like a good pick from a bird group. The rodent folk didn't really seem to resonate with you for the floating islands, so this might be another potential home for them.

Blight
This is another one I find tricky. You say a catastrophe struck, which means Blight wasn't originally the way it is now, right? You say blight is a haven for the people who were there before, but what was there before? That's going to tell you a lot about what exists there now. You also say they specifically brought in other races from other places, so it seems to me Blight is inherently a melting pot, rather than having a common targeted collection of races. I personally would backtrack a bit and think about what used to be there, what caused the catastrophe, and what would have made certain people capable of surviving in that place long enough for the foundations of the city to have been built.

Of course, if you want some addition to the races you've already suggested, any species based on poison or venom or plague seem like a good start. Varieties of venomous snakes, poison dart frogs, rats. This may also be another potential location for any undead races you want.


Re; magic. I wonder if it is possible for normal humans to do magic at the cost of their life? Something that arises out of desperation and love, where they release basically all their soul energy in one go to achieve an effect. It's an interesting possibility, although it has wider implications for what people might do with that possibility, even if it is only a small chance. I'm not sure how cruel you want your world to be for the purposes of storytelling.


Anyways! I think we've worked our way through your worlds, and I hope this gave you lots of inspiration and possibilities for continuing to explore your world. Is there anything else in particular you wanted to chat about?
 
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So many critters to choose from! xD
I think rabbitfolk would be cute in the winter world. Living in burrows in the hills.
The Winterworld will have warmer seasons it's just that the winter lasts a long time here. Oh well, stuff I still have to flesh out.

As for Blight, you're right. I need to figure out what it was like before and what this catastrophe was.

I discovered 2 RPG's that are helpful for worldbuilding. Dawn of Worlds and Microscope. It looks great for building a history and building your maps. So I'll be trying that out and maybe I'll discover what to do with Blight that way. ^^

Yes with magic I've only figured out the vibe. I haven't figured out yet which group can do what or what the consequences and costs are. Because one of the things I didn't want magic to be was it being common. I don't want magic in such a way where just about anyone can have access to it. And I don't want magic schools either. I want magic to feel like magic again, mysterious, feared and awe.

This was good brainstorming! :D
In the future, when everything is more fleshed out, I'll make a new thread with more focused topics to brainstorm over. This was fun! Thanks a lot! <3 ^^
 
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My pleasure! Good luck with your worldbuilding!
 
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Race Ideas: I want races that can thrive in a world with lots of water so I was thinking semi-aquatic types like Water elves. But there could also be a race that just lives on the islands and not just the beaches. I just have Water Elves and axolotl people.
Okay so here's the idea. I had a world building project a while ago that didn't go anywhere and one of the species we came up with fit a lot so here they are. Underwater cave dwelling humanoids that I call demihumans.
Have amphibian vibes for the demihumans since there are underground lakes and rivers, and it will be wetter there than the surface. So semi amphibians, who crouch and walk on four legs even though they can walk upright like humans, probably because crawling through small caves is easier.

amphibian_girl_by_dmitriybarbashin_d6sce7u-fullview.jpg

Kinda like these? just with more tribal clothing I was thinking that they can survive just fine on dry land, but they prefer the water since it can provide endless cooling from the heat outside. SO they go out to scavenge and come back to dip into seas to cool off since its so hot above ground. Maybe the luminescense is just caused by microbes in the water, and before they go out to scavenge, the demihumans need to wipe off and remove the glowing organisms to not be spotted outside since its dangerous.
  1. Demihumans produce sexually but their roles during intercourse are entirely by choice and not biological bias. They have no gender and have both male and female reproductive organs. They have a primitive language of whistles and squeaks that we'll translate to English for convenience. They start producing asexually if estranged from their pack and not in immediate danger. It is a response to the body's isolation once the demihuman is safe from harm and has enough resources to survive. This asexual reproduction creates children that'll attract mates to further grow the pack. 60%-70% of cases of isolation-induced asexual childbirth will end up killing the original demihuman, but if they survive, the pack becomes exceptionally strong due to the sibling-like pack binding that they receive.
  2. Demihumans are not blind since the night is kinda bright, but like highly photosensitive so they would GO blind if they come outside during the day
 
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That's a cool race!
I also know the feeling of worldbuilding projects that fizzle out. I like keeping them around though so I can pull them apart and recycle them for other projects. It's what I did with my current one. ^^
 
That's a cool race!
I also know the feeling of worldbuilding projects that fizzle out. I like keeping them around though so I can pull them apart and recycle them for other projects. It's what I did with my current one. ^^
Ikrrrr!! My school messed up my schedule, we'd have daily brainstorming sessions, they were so fun TTvTT
 
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