i'd like to read interesting projects, if they have art or original ideas that would be cool too:) i need some inspiration!

The Indiana Department of Mystical Entities, created in 1992, was the only government department of its kind in the whole world. Almost every population center dealt with entities and yet none had attempted to research the many beasts and anomaly’s that found themselves on Earth. The IDME started its vast array of information with an unusually smart, humanoid entity called Entity 1, who was interred at the departments Facility 30. Entity one could read, write, speak, and understand existential topics and would communicate fervently with scientists about the Big Bang and other topics. The question of what to do with Entity 1, and what to do with all the species as a whole, was hotly contested by scientists of differing opinions and backgrounds. Doctor Starlict, a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, believed that integration would help everyone in the long run. However, Doctor Hanson, a resident of Bloomington, Indiana, saw the effect of entities in the state and was fervently against integration of any kind.

For a little while I’ve been attempting to write a very specific kind of fantasy setting more akin to Blasphemous and dark-souls than lord of the rings and I’ve been struggling. Recently I’ve seen the video “A world not desperate to explain itself” by Quest marker and this encapsulates exactly what I feel like I want to create unfortunately he doesn’t exactly explain how to do so, so I thought I’d turn to Reddit! How do I create an enigmatic and mysterious world! Whilst not feeling too vague or too explanatory!

some other examples : The East of Westeros, Trench Crusade, The New Dune Movies!

And is your strongest character powerful enough to destroy mountains, planets, galaxies, multiverses or even infinitely layered structures and beyond?

Hello all,

I am working on a novel based on my world I created. The novel will be written as someone in universe discovering this world and writing down his experiences, the clans he meets, and places he visits. In particular, I am wondering how much time I should go into describing detailing the various clans. Should I be make them extremely detailed? Or limot it to his interactions with said clans and what people tell him about them? What are your thoughts?

I would appreciate some advice on how to approach this.

Welcome to Hardrada Worldbuilding.

A newly formed Minecraft worldbuilding server looking to allow players almost total freedom in determining and creating the history and politics of the world. Will you forge a mighty empire, become a wealthy merchant, own your own bar and brew your own alcohol, or become a bum in your local city? This and more in Hardrada Worldbuilding!

We promise minimal admin intervention and an unbiased staff team. As well as balanced and fair rules and we are open to suggestions from the community. This is pure, vanilla worldbuilding without any dumb rules or plugins. This is meant to let the players almost entirely run the server.

Notable plugins:

Towny

Dynmap

Brewery

Discord: https://discord.gg/YD7TbkM569

Hey, /worldbuilding.
I'm posting today because of a world building problem that's plagued me for years, in my attempt to create a graphic novel, or some visual story telling medium, that I've been cooking up for a long time.

I would like to merge my interests in contemporary and "cyberpunk" fiction, and fantasy, sword and sorcery, etc.

Most people have an immediate answer for this. They call it "Science-Fantasy", however this isn't necessarily what I'm looking for. Most Science-Fantasy is very grandiose. Think Star Wars, or Dune.

I don't want my tech level to be anywhere near that. I'm thinking more like Akira with swords and wizards.

I'm having trouble reconciling these things logistically. Why wouldn't this society be inundated with firearms instead of swords? Hackers instead of magicians? I don't even really want there to be internet or smart devices, at least not widely used by the public.

It's even hard to figure out character design. How does someone look like a DnD fantasy adventurer and a contemporary dystopic street urchin at the same time?

The closest trope I've seen to what I'm talking about is, the apocalypse happened so long ago, that the world is in a sword and sorcery phase again, but I'm thinking the apocalypse is yet to happen or maybe currently happening.

Thanks.

EDIT:

To clarify, I'm thinking low-tech, low-magic, low-life

ancient powerful magic exists, but it is mysterious, or even disbelieved by most people. Tech is stagnated in a weird mixture of late 20th century and that weird totally anachronistic "fantasy" era, it's also frequently in disrepair, or that maintenance has fallen into the hands of individuals. There may or may not be advanced technology, secretly in the hands of the elite, and the lines between advanced technology and ancient magic may be confusing.

If so, how do you do it?

I need help, I'm in the middle of nowhere in your world being chased by bandits, what do I do? Is there something or someone I can call to save me?

I find that they can be an excellent way to immediately ramp up the sense of scale and mystery in a world, and be used to draw the reader in quickly, due to the simple human motivation of wanting to see cooler and more powerful stuff. I think some versions of this system can be used to quickly exposit general information about powers and stuff, which can increase efficiency in the narrative. Examples of this include the ubiquitous SCP Foundation with its Safe Euclid Keter tier system, Wildbow's "Parahuman Threat Rating" system, and of course the numerous "S-F Class" rating systems that infest anime and Xianxia. What tiering system(s) does your world use? What are some of your favorite tier systems in fiction, and what are some of your least favorite? Do you think that this trope is a crutch or a tool?

Although none of my worldbuilding projects use a tiering system per se, my sci fi worldbuilding project uses the Kardashev scale for expository purposes.

I need a world building device-website-whatchamacallit. I have many but world anvil locked flowcharts behind a paywall and I want more than just campfire as an option. I need flowcharts to detail the political structure of the evil military dictatorship. CAN ANYONE HELP ME!?

Ok- so in the setting for this project, *officially* there's no such thing as magic, abilities like telepathy and premonitions do exist but have scientific, *rational* explanations for how they work.

Which leads to one particular ability I called (to borrow a term used on an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) Psycho-Projection, where someone causing something they imagine to take on physical form outside of their mind, basically creating objects or possibly- if they're proficient enough- even living beings just by willing them to exist (earlier editions of the Dungeons and Dragons RPG had a similar power called Metacreativity, but that involved some malarkey about creations made from ectoplasm drawn from the astral plane- I don't think this is the approach I want).

Any suggestions for how to explain the ability as I've described it?

So I’ve stumbled into a problem within my story.

Essentially there are these Gods known simply as the Craftsmen. They are creation and have created everything. Now in the story, they have a daughter who clashes with the family and escapes to Doma (basically Earth). She then ends up splitting in half as she crashes into the planet and ends up hiding for the time being.

Now the problem I have is what would stop the Craftsmen from trying to immediately chase her and tracking her down or even just snapping her out of existence. What kind of constraints/limitations would be good to add?

So first off while I believe I am complying with the rules and this is something that belongs here I apologize if it is not, I tried to reach out to a mod to ask and got no response so I'm just winging it with how I am understanding the rules and assuming that asking for general input from the community is close enough to asking for help so I flaired this as question rather than Lore but I can change that if needbe, I think. This is gonna be a bit long so please bare with me.

Before I start some explanation as to how I am defining things and clarification on certain definitions that seem to change between person to person. I define the following as such.

A Universe: The location in which planets, stars, meteors, ships, life, and all potential stories exists within.

A Multiverse: The location containing all possible universes that branch from the original universe and despite differences in outcome and events follow the same base rules.

The Omniverse: The furthest out I am gonna bother going, The location in which multiple entry points to entirely different multiversus exist.

Example

Imagine a stack of marvel comic books all from the same run, from beginning to end, all nicely set together. This is a universe, all stories that happen within this run are real to that universe.

Next imagine several more stacks, all still marvel comic books but different runs that are disconnected and not canon to one another despite all being canon to themselves, this is a multiverse where you can access any particular universe simply from moving from stack to stack.

Lastly imagine you are in a room in which you have a box of Marvel Comics of different runs, Dc comics of different runs, Animated Marvel series, and Animated Dc Series, you are in an omniverse in which you can access any particular multiverse simply by moving to a different box, and then access any specific universe within said box by pullinh out your prefered comic run or series.

Now that that is done I can move onto the general brunt of the post. For a quick TlDr I am looking for input on the race I am about to detail and opinions on whether or not they are fleshed out enough along with any potential things I missed when writing about them. Below I'll have their backstory and hopefully it's clear enough to paint at least a crude picture as it is a first draft that will likely be redone multiple times.

_-_The Narrators first started out as a race only known now as The Writers, a race that was born of the rampant unchecked thoughts of minor gods, a race that started out much like others huddled in caves clinging to fur and each other for warmth, telling storys to the children and to one another to give hope in dire times. Storys started simple, tales of the warriors in the tribe hunting great beasts and returning safely with their hide and flesh, the gatherers being overlooked by these same beasts and allowed to take eggs and berries to balance the nights meal. The stories were told through simplistic means, over voice to one another or using mud to paint crude images upon walls, at first at least. As stories became more complex so did their methods, once fire was discovered the storytellers would dance within the flames weaving colors into the air as they enthralled their familys and friends, with fire came soot that they could use for more permanent art or for facial markings, with that idea in their mind they experimented with crushing flowers or fruits to make dyes or paints...Always becoming more complex with each discovery leading to more and more complex stories.

At this early stage they knew not of their ability. Born of gods dreams, minor or not, the writers held with them the chance to change fate that mortals were usually bound to. Their magic born of their divine origin mixed with the mortal feelings of curiosity and creativity, something most gods lacked, allowed the stories they told to manifest in reality through sheer force of will. In doing so stories became part of their culture, maybe they didn't understand why but it was apparent to see that when they weaved stories of victory they were more successful than when they didn't. From a gods favor perhaps, or maybe simply an increase in morals, they did not care as long as it worked.

At first this went unnoticed, a group of mortals shifting the odds so slightly in their favor in the grand scheme of things was unnoticed for generations, however with each generation developing new methods of storytelling and each having more ambitious dreams it was inevitable they'd catch the eye of the gods eventually. What eventually brought them to view was a story told in an era of bronze and steel that was an affront to the natural order. A story of the mortals becoming gods, using their forged weaponry to overthrow those who currently sat above and judge so that they could gain their knowledge and sight. Though not malicious in nature The Writers wanted to expand their ability, they wanted to be able to see all so that they could have all the information they needed to concoct stories no mortal could conceive, not all of them agreed, but enough that the story was set in motion regardless.

The war began and ended with the gods hubris, thinking little of the stories until it was to late. Called down from the heavens by warriors adorned with odd tattoos the gods were challenged one at a time, each by a warrior whos skin was marked with images of their nearing victory, each given a unique story of how they'd succeed, and succeed they did. The blood of the gods was spilled, and with it the last thing that held the writers back was removed, their limited mortal perception as many of them wrote and painted, using the ichor as ink.

In doing so they got what they wanted, Their limited mortal perception being torn away from the race, and in doing so they cursed themselves quite severely. Their stories had wrote themselves as truly perfect beings who would know all, see all, knowledge of anything and everything that they could ever imagine and the ability to use that knowledge to create any story they could fathom, with that they realized their mistake far to late. Their mortal bodies weren't made for such power or knowledge, as such they began to change, within what felt like an instant to them they became beings exactly as they had demanded, entities that no longer existed within a limited mortal perspective but rather in a single moment that incapsulated all of time and space, experiencing everything that could be, would be, or has been in this reality...the experience was loud and empty. In the grand scheme of things the time that existence takes place in is little more than a fleeting spark when compared to the infinite amount of time before and after it, yet even so an infinite nothingness cannot drown the noise of every word spoken within itself between the beginning and end.

Trapped within the equivalent of an empty void and plauged with the knowledge of everything that ever could possibly happen The Writers quickly tried to undo their mistake yet found their old power lost to them. Curiosity and Creativity, two things gods lacked, for how could one who knows every possible ending to every possible story ever truly be curious, and when every being around you has that same ability nothing you alone create could ever truly be creative. Trapped like this, in an infinite moment, many went mad in an attempt to escape it, those who maintained a semblance of sanity became Narrators, they learned the limits, or lack there of, and while they could not return themselves to how they once were due to their minds incompatibilitys with the mortal form they could at least make the best of what they had become.

With time a concept that no longer applied it was impossible to tell how long it took, but with an unending amount of time to experiment eventually one was destined to fall upon the answer even if through luck. Like how stumbling in the dark can make escape seem hopeless yet once one found the door it was a simple task to open it. The Narrators soon found themselves stepping out of their former universe, onto a net that stretched on forever, innumerable universes stretching on into infinity, all connected to one single point at the beginning.

However they had no time to appreciate what they had found, the noise from a single universe was a low annoying buzz that permeated through there thoughts, the noise from an infinite amount was almost painful to them. They could understand and process each word, not that they had a choice not to as they scrambled to silence it, soon enough simply repeating what they had done to arrive here. Reaching out into the aether The Narrators grasped for the door they knew was there and with a pull...they were greeted with silence for what felt like the first time in eternity as they pulled themselves through, stepping out of a large disk akin to a lense. They tooks time to enjoy the silence but eventually they moved to see where they were, sitting outside of it all they looked on upon an empty space dotted with these lenses as far as they could see, wherever they were it had no beginning or end, no story to tell, rather it was where storys were kept.

They'd examine the lenses and with a bit of experimentation they'd realize their mere touch would adjust them, running fingers or palms along the outside the lenses would focus on different universes, shifting through them as easily as tuning a radio with a dial. For the first time since they had become what they were now The Narrators felt curiosity, they knew what these were, they knew where each and every one resided within this void and yet somehow their Omnisciene told them no more than that, the disks were the entrances and exits to individual multiverses, each holding limitless stories, stories that The Narrators could not predict as even while tuned to view specific events they were mere observers viewing a visual representation of what was going on from the outside, some got too excited and tried entering only to be again barraged by an endless stream of information once they entered, quickly exiting afterwards.

Despite all this they were happy, they had enough stories to last them eternity and as long as they didn't enter the lenses they'd know not what would happen within them. Many Narrators became complacent, happy to simply watch what already existed and pick up wherever the story was. Other not so much, just as easily as they could open doors they could open windows into empty Multiverses not yet inhabited, it was a simple task to set the parameters of these newly formed Multiverses, different potentials for technological advancement, how magic worked, was there magic at all, what kinds of life weer possible, and so much more. Once the parameters were set The Narrators who decided to create these Lenses would grant them life, a single drop of inky black ichor would be sent through the lense, that single drop becoming the prime universe that kicked everything into motion, rapid exponential expansion would take place as one choice became two, became four, and so on. Infinitely expanding to form an entire multiverse of possibilities within the lense.

Though some would tune their lenses between multiple universes to view alternate endings or different side stories within them most Narrators would lock their Lenses to a single universe at a time, watching with baited breath as they enjoyed the limited perception they had taken for granted what felt like so long ago.-

So yeah that's the overall lore of the race to the point, and another quick TlDr for anyone not wanting to read my ramblings: Mortal storytellers that took their limits for granted end up becoming a race of Multiverse creators who do so merely so they can experience surprise once again after becoming near Omniscient and losing the one thing their people based its culture around.

Anyway I'm basically here for whatever anyone has got. Most of my friends irl are to busy or don't care enough about lore stuff to give any real feedback and those that aren't usually only tell me what they like rather than stress test it. Of course compliments are always nice but the brutal honesty of strangers is usually more useful for poking holes in things from my experience so yeah poke away! Assuming this doesn't get deleted.

I'm working on a gun, this image being the "HAK- M1" pronounced hawk'em rifle by its users, for a war that's a ww2/modern hybrid. Its around 3.10kg at full weight and hold a 30 round magazine. It fires a 7mm-08 round with smaller round prototypes in testing. It has dust coverings and simple internal designs for cleaning and repair. It is built for the harsh conditions of dirt and fast movements of the front. The larger round is used for stopping power for more more armored compartments and intimidating others.

I ask how would you change this to improve its design and functionality? I can answer questions if any are had. What are some difficulties youd expect? I'd assume a new caliber should be step 1.

I have always wanted to tell stories and recently that has come in the form of novel writing. The problem is that everywhere I look to for advice there seems to be the theme of "worldbuilding disease" where it's declared a bad thing to build a world without a story idea first.

The thing is, lore and history and worldbuilding are my favorite parts of sci-fi and fantasy and so starting there could be what's most engaging for me to write.

What do you think?

Tell me about your Voughts and Umbrellas. I wanna hear about the Vault-Tecs and CHOAMs in your universe.

Now every Society has an inherent philosophy within it, some even have multiple. But building a society from the groundwork of one or more philosophies can be a hard challenge, but that's what I'm doing and I thought y'all could provide some level of aid. the societies' Philosophies are as follows;

Society 1:

Practice (as in, not theory). Experience and results. Things might work in theory, but that doesn't matter, what matters is how they work in reality, Authenticity of Self Through Savage Expression, Chaos of Thought and Confidence of Action, Harmony Through Dominion, Balance, Freedom Through Coexistence, Nature’s Retribution, Impulse & Instinct, Simplicity, Free & Wild, Energetic & Primal, Selfless & Accepting, Unity & Harmony, Law & Tradition, Piety & Spirituality and Freedom Through Action.

Society 2:

Potential. Community and innovation. Competition is net harmful and makes the world worse because people often compete by lowering others, so it's better to improve the world for everyone, Mother Nature’s Right Hand, Purpose Curiosity, Freedom and Experience, True Self Through Discipline, Prosperity in a Creative Society, Wisdom Through Contest, Idealist, Discipline & Dedication, Structure & Efficiency, Order & Perfection, Instinct vs Knowledge or Nature vs Nurture, Tradition vs Progress, Acceptance vs Perfection, Finite vs Infinite and Growth Through Acceptance.

Society 3:

Bottom-up development. Freedom and emergence. The world is too complex for a fixed set of rules, and attempts to set them are generally harmful, Unbridled Ambition Through Control, Self-indulgent Creativity, Revelry in Cruel Magic, Power Through Manipulation, Perspective Through Acceptance, Rooted Ambition, Potential & Ambition, Logical & Practical, Visionary & Elitist, The Absolute, Experience & Self-Satisfaction, Honesty & Realism, Self-Assurance & Confidence, Freedom & Autonomy and Power Through Ruthlessness.

Society 4:

Realism, Reason and pragmatism. The world is what it is, and not wanting it to be so doesn't change anything, so deal with it, Progression and Order Through Tradition, Evolution Through Acceptance and Peace, Acceptance Through Piety), (Unity in Tribalism, Oneness with the Cycle, Inner Peace Through Structured Self, Morality, Society, Law, Humility, Discipline, Life & Death, Autonomy & Destiny, Ambition & Harmony, Practical & Listless Thinker and Perfection Through Knowledge.

Society 5:

Progress, Technology and zeal. Everything can and should be improved, both technologically and socially, as the current state is always imperfect and incomplete, Pragmatic Perfection, Structures of Self-Determination, Rule of Ambition, Truth in Martial Expression, Confidence in Zealous Action, Peace in Fulfilled Desires, Impulsive vs Methodical, Emotion vs Logic, Chaos vs Perfection, Present vs Future, Stability vs Restlessness, Discipline vs Passion, Governance vs Freedom, Order vs Chaos and Peace Through Structure.

So feel free to present your own thoughts on what kinds of societies can be built from these philosophies. Thanks for taking the time to read this all.

I sometimes have concepts that are meant to be unknown within the story.

For example: “The creator of this object is unknown, but this ancient magical object constructed from an unknown substance is the most powerful artifact in mystical history”.

If the origin and creator and composition of the object is meant to be unknown, and none of those things factor into the story in any way, should I as the writer still plot those things out?

I know that writers should always know more about the story that’s the reader and I agree. But sometimes when it’s a situation like this, i wonder if I’m wrong for not developing answers.

I think Rowling has done this. We know she spent years developing the world but I think there are some things she genuinely didn’t care to have answers for until she was asked about them.

But that’s a different story.

So I’m about to start writing a future sci-fi military and exploration focused book starting in year 2112. And eventually at the end of the book (or few books later) I want a great unstoppable galactic threat to emerge from the unknown part of our galaxy and force the human race (and few other alien races) out of our galaxy and set up a new home in another galaxy, or face extinction.

But I’m not sure what the threat should be.

I’m also on the fence if the threat should fallow humanity halfway to the new galaxy then stop fallowing, and if in the last book or epilogue section if the united human and alien races should beat back the threat and regain the Milky Way, or if it should be gone forever.

Can I get some opinions?

I keep coming up with worlds and i find them extremely cool in the beginning then I get paranoid because I find some loopholes in stuff like the power system. Or I just dont like the world itself. But I cant seem to actually make one that I stick to. Could someone give me some tips

Tell me a creature or character in your world who thinks they're the main character, when you go into combat with him, he shows off, gives speeches talking about how badass he is, then when you go into real combat, all you have to do is lay a finger on him that he dies in the most pathetic way possible.

What's a Diety in your world that is excluded and shunned by his Pantheon similar to Hades.

The "face" is a mask with three eyes under each eye hole. The "hair" is supposed to be like a layered headdress (inspired by samurai armor). The hat is just a hat, and the circle above is supposed to be a sigil.

Basically, is everything set in stone where you could pick up a measure stick and find the exact street corner with a certain name in a particular city at specific coordinates mentioned 100 years ago? Or, do distances and environments change to suit the purposes of the story and scenario?

For the first, imagine something like Scooby Doo Mystery Inc where everything mentioned in a story has importance and effects on the later part of the story.

For the second, imagine something like SpongeBob Squarepants where things can be reset for the very next episode. Something about Bikini Bottom changes in basically every episode. Usually, SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward have all their houses in a certain place. Sometimes they have marked backyards. Sometimes SpongeBob has a garage, sometimes, he doesn't. Any of the doors in his room could lead to the kitchen one episode, then a bathroom the next, and then the stairs to his bedroom so it's hard to map what his house layout looks like inside. His windows change position every other episode. His house looks larger on the inside than it does on the outside. Despite SpongeBob having a garage sometimes, there was an episode where he gets a fancy talking car and he parks it in a space outside where Squidward's house used to be. The road to the Krusty Krab constantly switches between running between the Krusty Krab and Chum Bucket, and running directly to the front of the Krusty Krab through where the Chum Bucket usually sits, making it absent in those episodes.

As for my world, I want to be able too look at a map and be able to trace which streets and turns were taken by characters while walking or driving a car. I would like to be able to track how an army fights its way to a palace. I want to have the consistency where a city has a nearby landmark in a specific direction. I want to be able to see a scale map of an internal layout and be able to point at a certain room from the outside based on its window position and angle. However, I also don't want to be trapped in cement where I can't alter things and when I want to change things around without ruining past events or designs. Not to mention I'm still struggling with scale and how to fit polities in the map. If I were to put purely inconsistent worlds at 1 and cemented, trackable, minutely detailed and consistent worlds at 10, I would like my world at between 5-7.

How do you handle consistency and malleability in your worlds? What are some tips you can provide about handling consistency without getting petrified in a corner due to not being able to change things too much?

Lapis_Wolf

Does anyone know of a program that lets me put images on to a blank globe and resize them? Like I have an Inkarnate map that I want to put onto a globe along with an Azgaar map. Similar to how the tunnelsnakesfool girl on TikTok plasters maps onto another map and can presumably resize them with her fallout mapping project, I want to do the same but maps on a globe. Is their a program or am I going to have to find another way?

I feel I should emphasise “non-humanoid” because I’m not asking about elves or dwarfs and the like, as one would expect that they would be sapient. I more specifically mean things like other animals that happen to be sapient.

For example; my world contains a modified species of squid which were uplifted to a human level of sapience. By the virtue of which, they are capable of complex thought and communication.

I want to know what their societies are like, how their psychology differs, how they interact with humans (if they do), and what their origins are.

assuming that your world has reached at the very least a socio-technological stage roughly equivalent to the early industrial age (roughly equivalent to the 1760s-18020s) or later, allowing for the development of an urban working class and thus for class conflict between the Bourgeoise that own the industrial factories, railroads, mines etc. and the workers who toil in them. does your world have a figure similar to Karl Marx? a figure who is generally considered to be the founder or one of the key founders of the leftwing of political thought in your world and who's writings on capitalism and the history of class relations have been influential.

if so then:

what is this person's name?

were they male or female?

is there an ideology named after their them? (eg, like irl Marxism)

what was the name of their most famous book/books or pamphlets etc.

did their writings get them in trouble with the authorities?

did they have an important friend/co-author who everyone forgets about? (an Engels)

how successful were their theories in causing real world changes?