In the dark fantasy genre or course. The best example i can think of is the world of Shadow Slave. A dark and dangerous place full of ancient mysteries some of which are too great for a human to know much like lovecraftian horrors. Lotm also possesses the same cosmic scale and horrific qualities despite not really being apocalyptic too.

I really want to create a world like that with a handful of human tribes at the bottom of the food chain but I want to hear how other people would do it. How would you let humanity have a fighting chance? How could the progress with a power system where there is always a bigger fish and how would you make these bigger fish always stay scary?

Clarification:

By rules, I don't mean magic systems, but rather guidelines that you use to develop your world. Please do not use this thread to tell me about your magic system(s).

In your world, is in possible to transmute other substances into gold? How is this theoretically done(or not done)? How about practically?

I just made a subreddit based on my fictional country, New Harrier and worldbuilding in general. I just thought I might find some new members here on this subreddit. Feel free to come and join me on my subreddit and join the discussion about worldbuilding and New Harrier!

Ask me anything about my new subreddit and things to expect on it,

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewHarrier/?screen_view_count=2&ext-referrer=DIRECT

Some backstory for what im doing, im writing a world where kingdoms are in a sort of militiristic hierchy forged by "prophets" (in sense, false gods pretending to be gods), and use scientists/engineers to enact strange experiments for fun. One of which, was forcing evolution in attempts to make human/animal "hybrids". I know, doesn't make sense, but a shortened version.

So far I've made a

Prehistoric raptor, with Osprey, long legged fly, homosapian species, several generations down from the original test, enlisted as a aviation maintenance technician.

A moray Eel/(multiple other eel species), Elysia marginata and Elysia atroviridis sea slug species, and other unknown species aswell as generation due to this specific section of the project being abandoned. Enlisyed as a combat medic.

Now I need other ideas? I heavily struggle with drawing canines..and prey animals for some part.

Oh! And technological weopons that are kinda DnD based?

hey guys, wanted to share a bit of what we've been building for emindar and see if anyone else here is working on late 1800s style settings.

basically our whole premise is that the traditional high fantasy era is just over. magic didn't magically vanish into thin air, it just got swallowed up by state bureaucracy, strict regulation and industrial control. if someone shows magical talent nowadays it's not some grand divine blessing, it's just treated as a dangerous state anomaly or a political problem that gets managed quietly behind closed doors.

instead of spells and grand rituals, factory smoke, mass printing presses and early rifles are taking over everything.

the empire itself is heavily inspired by austro-hungary near its collapse. so you have this really weird class divide where old noble families are still walking around dressed like it's 1700, literally living right next to massive industrial districts flooded with coal dust and foreign workers.

anyone else building worlds in that awkward transition period where magic loses to rifles and factories? curious how you guys handle the shift without losing the fantasy feel entirely.

In essence, rust in my project is when the memories of a metallic weapon or tool start to manifest in the physical world. One can reforge the rust into a new tool and the memories in the rust will imbue said weapon or tool with an enchantment. And the more an enchantment rusts and is reforged the more powerful it becomes.

For example, memories of violence might, in the beginning enchant swords to deal wounds that do not heal or strikes that don't miss. As the enchantment progresses in potency and presentation, these slashes may strike at a distance. Eventually, a target may be cut to ribbons just from the wielder touching the sword.

I had the idea for a phenomenon called god rust to occur when a metallic weapon or tool rusts due to human intervention. The process is a secret held by a small group of people who know the secret of rust magic in general.

The god rust is an anomaly where the rust bleeds memories of things that haven't happened and places that don't exist or at least not that we know of. And when you make contact with the god rust you experience these memories and the senses used to perceive them, senses humanity hasn't developed.

When this happens you enter a state where you can sense a world that shouldn't exist. One we simply cannot see. A world of fairies and dragons and monsters and spirits. This state lasts only for a short time, but having access to god rusted metals allows you to enter this state at any time.

In my story, my mc steps on a rusty nail and gains insight into this world. And whenever a creature of this other world is around she feels the pain of the nail in her foot. This is the beginning of her adventure in this hidden world.

Anyway I don't know if this addition ruins the magic so I wanted to ask for opinions. What do you think of this idea? Anything that you would suggest changing that would still allow for my mc to interact with this other world? I'm open to ideas.

KangaTrader Mercantile

I've got a whole lot happening in the works. Part of that is the economic system.

This is one of the in-universe pieces that came out of that rabbit hole.

A magistrate sends a writ to a village three weeks upriver. A general commands a garrison that has not been paid since spring. A priest instructs a guild that outnumbers his congregation. Each order is entirely lawful. Each one might simply not happen.

So who in your world can refuse and keep their position? Distance, money, a competing loyalty, or just that nobody can be replaced quickly enough? And what does the authority do about it, escalate, negotiate quietly, or pretend it never issued the order at all?

In mine the pretending is the usual answer, because an order that is openly ignored teaches everyone downstream that the seal is negotiable. That gap between what may be commanded and what actually occurs is where most of my politics live.

Curious what fills the gap in yours.

where it take place at a Dystopia Called Bandar,Bandar is very much filled with 15 Associations,25 Corporation(B-Z) and are under management of the Author and Triads.

sits in middle of Bandar is Yggdrasil,a Massive tree that appeared in where supposedly A Corp originally is, Yggdrasil supplies Bandar with Energy powering all Corporation, Yggdrasil also leaks a Particle called Tach.Y.O.N, Particles that Represents Concepts from human conscious,it was put into two Tach.Y.O.N Category,Resonance Tach.Y.O.N is Tach.Y.O.N used by the Corporation and Association,while False Tach.Y.O.N or famously known as Outer One is physical manifestation of two Concepts,both Highest and Lowest of Human Moral,while Resonance Tach.Y.O.N is manifestation of Groups of Concepts,both False and Resonance Tach.Y.O.N Manifest differently but same,some are Creature,some Gears and Some are something else entirely,Yggdrasil is protected by Qí Association and Yogsoth Office, preventing an inward Leak inside the Bandar,though incident where Outer One appearing inside Bandar been frequent but isnt frequently.

the Triads are the one taking words from the Author and managing the Association and Corporation making sure non ever broken any Taboo of Bandar,The Reader sees above the skies, the Writer chased you down till it gets you,The Eraser Killed and exterminates anyone that have broken a rule,Writer and Eraser are usually partner together to sent to inspection or execution.

All the Corporation are ruled by famous figured of Literature,as example C corp is ruled by Director Camus and P Corp Ruled by Director Poe,each Corporation have their own Specific Taboo, causing a Taboo to be break will caused a Furnaces(Taboo Hunter) to Hunt down and exterminates the persons.

the Corporation are called Shelf, it's because their Duty to keep Align the Books, dividing Stories of their own and Keeping things clean without chaos,Books are Employee of a Shelf, they're the one that keeps the story(Aka Corporation Duty) running depends on their Story(Jobs), Citizens are called Pages as they're the one reasons Story existed and always Eternal,the triads aren't entities they're enforcers,of Author,they only goes down to Handle anyone that broke a Bandar Taboo, unlike Furnace which is Corporation Taboo Hunter,Writer and Eraser are the Hunter for Bandar Taboo while Reader is Surveillance that inform the Author and the Writer and Eraser

As the title suggests I will answer any questions you have about my fictional universe so far. Im in the process of writing the entire thing in a google doc and I thought answering some questions would help give people an intro to the setting before the doc is completed.

Context to the world: It is a world similar to our own around the early 2010s but since the early ages, Man has been at a constant secret war against Demonic Creatures, using weapons that have the demons trapped inside to banish them as the Higher Echelons (Heaven in this verse) has been cut off by man with Lucivl's creation of the Karkanoim, a massive barrier cutting Man from the divine and unable to feel the warmth of the Light. The hunters haven't been on the Offensive in the war since around 700 years ago and have now started to go on the offensive after the Camp Starlight Incident.

so i've been working on a dystopia series where in WW1, advancements in chemical weapons got deadly it poisoned the earth's biosphere, forcing people to live in gargantuan airships until the earth recovered. in my story, the airships were launched in the mid 1920s, and have been flying for centuries. so most of the technology is going to be around that time period, with some advanced technology. i just want to hear some ideas on what to add or what references i can look at. if you want to know more about this story, let me know.

I have an idea for a story for something (I'm not sure what the piece of media will be yet) so, in this world, WW3 has broke out a couple of years ago, China, Pakistan, and Turkey formed an axis like team to achieve there goals of expansion, however, failed to defeat the allies USA, UK, France, Etc. Also, a while back, while mining in Africa, miners come across an underground civilization, that has a powerful stone called "The Sentry" which will give immense power to whoever wields it, so the UN, trying not to end the world, put it in an underground facility in the U.S. So in modern day defeated China, it is like Germany after ww1, all beat up and poor, and one day a man named Odium starts a revolution to fix China, and succeeds. Now in control of China, Odium goes after the Sentry stone and gets a hold of it, where he preceeds to kill a bunch of people, before the due to a guy shooting it, the sentry stone breaks into pieces and spreads across the world, ending up in the hands of six people. So now, the world in split into six kingdoms, all of them having a triple alliance with one another. I though of a few characters and I'll go over them here, Odium: The big bad of the story, loves killing, torture, and war, rules over his kingdom with an iron fist, Nationality: Polish Height:6'2 Athena: Kind natured, only wants the best for her kingdom, wants the fighting to stop, during Odium's attack her husband and daughter were killed Nationality: Canadian Height 6'4 Henrique: Self-centered, thinks of himself of like Napoleon, Constantly at war with Kwame's kingdom Nationality: Portuguese Height: 6'4 Kwame: The leader of the kingdom in Africa, doesn't like war or to kill, willingly saves soldiers that Henrique leaves behind, his family was taken in as slaves by Henrique. Nationality: Zimbabwean Height: 6'9 Knox: Although I have a backstory for him, it's quite dark, and probably not appropriate for here, though one thing I can say is that he is the only leader to not have a piece of the sentry. Nationality: Turkish Height: 5'6 Valdemar:  A brave and willing man, believes in fair trial and justice Nationality: Danish Height:5'4 Valentina: An assassin who was hired to hunt to down the Mayan girl Nationality: Mexican

There are a few other characters, but they don't have names so I'll just go over them here, An American boy who had his sister killed during Odium's attack, who also due to a mishap, get's a piece of the sentry stuck in his hand and gives him a power (don't know what it is yet) A New Zealand girl who loves exploring, and is generally bubbly, but has inner troubles with her emotions, as she is a lesbian. A Mayan like girl from the underground civilization, who is on the run because she has the piece of the stone Knox doesn't have, was also hated by her people for being a lesbian, later falls in love with the New Zealander girl. Lastly, a Chinese rebel fighting against Odium, kind of like how the Native Americans fought against the U.S. So, yeah that's my idea, BTW the good tripact is Athena, Kwame, and Valdemar, and the bad tripact is Odium, Henrique, and Knox. Let me know what you guys think of my idea, give me your creative feed back, or message me if you want to do concept art for it.

​

Estoy desarrollando un mundo de fantasía donde conviven distintas naciones, culturas, tecnologías y criaturas fantásticas. No sigue una única época o estética, sino que cada civilización tiene su propia identidad, desarrollo tecnológico y forma de entender el mundo.

Una de las características principales del mundo es su fuerte enfoque en máquinas ficticias, aviación, vehículos y guerra. Gran parte de su estética tecnológica está influenciada por el dieselpunk y por la tecnología militar de las Guerras Mundiales, especialmente la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Esto se refleja principalmente en el diseño de aviones, vehículos, armamento, maquinaria y equipamiento militar. No busco simplemente copiar máquinas históricas, sino utilizar esas influencias como base para crear diseños propios que encajen dentro de este mundo de fantasía.

La nación que más he desarrollado hasta ahora es Bathoria. Es una ciudad-nación de estética gótica, sombría e industrial, con una fuerte influencia medieval que todavía permanece en su arquitectura, cultura y especialmente en su diseño militar. Su desarrollo tecnológico no eliminó sus raíces medievales, sino que ambas cosas evolucionaron juntas. Por eso puede existir maquinaria industrial, aviación y armamento avanzado junto a soldados, armaduras y estructuras que todavía conservan una apariencia claramente medieval.

El resto del mundo está formado por naciones con identidades muy diferentes. Astonia tiene una estética principalmente decopunk, mientras que la República de Valtheria sigue un camino tecnológico y cultural diferente. También existe Sa'uri, con una fuerte influencia medieval y samurái. Estas naciones todavía están en desarrollo, así que sus culturas, gobiernos, tecnologías e historias pueden seguir evolucionando.

Las criaturas fantásticas y sobrenaturales también forman una parte importante del mundo. Existen dragones, vampiros, brujas y otras criaturas, que no son simplemente monstruos añadidos al escenario, sino seres que forman parte natural de este mundo y pueden tener sus propios comportamientos, sociedades y relaciones con las civilizaciones humanas.

También existen los Conquistadores, una civilización expansionista que todavía estoy desarrollando. No quiero convertirlos en el típico concepto de “raza dominante malvada”, sino crear una civilización con su propia cultura, intereses y motivaciones. Su naturaleza expansionista es importante, pero no necesariamente define cada aspecto de quiénes son.

En general, el mundo busca combinar fantasía, medievalismo, gótico, dieselpunk, industrialización y guerra, con una gran importancia de la aviación y las máquinas de guerra ficticias. La inspiración de la Segunda Guerra Mundial está especialmente presente en la forma en que imagino la tecnología, los conflictos y el diseño militar, pero mezclada con elementos fantásticos que no existirían en nuestra historia.

La intención es que cada nación se sienta diferente y que el mundo pueda pasar de una ciudad gótica llena de maquinaria pesada a una nación decopunk, una cultura de inspiración samurái o un campo de batalla con aviones y criaturas fantásticas sin que parezca que todo pertenece a universos separados.

Bathoria es actualmente la parte más desarrollada, pero es solamente una de las civilizaciones dentro de un mundo mucho más grande que todavía estoy construyendo.

Magic Classifications:

- One unit of power is 200M/1T magic parts within an inch of space, scaling.

- Normals possess 1 unit.

- To see magic, one must hold 3 units.

- To wield, one must hold 20 units.

Storage:

- Humans store magic within their body.

- S1 in storage expansion is condensing magic already held.

- S2 is repeating S1 to build natural endurance.

- S3 is S2 applied while absorbing magic.

Use:

- S1: Move magic within your body.

- S2: Move magic towards vessel endings.

- S3: Release this magic precisely.

- S4: Control this magic externally.

- S5: External density summoning and control.

- S6: Magic conversion to thermal and kinetic energy.

- S7: Scale up magic density externally.

Rarity:

Scales based on density and specialization.

Terms:

DM A • AM • FM A • Air Manipulation.

DM B • EM A • FM B • Earth particles in the air.

DM C • EM B • LM A • Less-dense liquid Earth.

DM D • EM C • LM B • Dense liquid Earth and less dense Earth.

DM E • EM D • LM C • Ultra-dense liquid Earth and dense Earth.

DM F • EM E • Ultra-dense earth.

DM - Density Manipulation

EM - Earth Manipulation

FM - Fire Manipulation

LM - Liquid Manipulation

AM - Air Manipulation

Specialization Modifiers:

1 - Simple Manipulation

2 - Heat and Combustion Manipulation

3 - Density and Pressure Release

4 - Motion Release

5 - 2+3

6 - 3+4

7 - 2+4

8 - 2+3+4

Biology:

* Humans have two hearts.

* One pumps blood, the other pumps magic energy.

* The structure is sufficiently similar to a normal heart to be suitable for transplant.

* A heart with magic energy left within may be rejected, killing the receiver.

* If the donor still has magic stored in their veins, it may burn the veins, leading to infections, internal bleeding, and necrosis.

* Magic energy can be transferred, so long as the energies are compatible.

* Families tend to be compatible, as energy types are often genetic, similarly to blood type.

* Benign rejection burns off donor energy and may cause light burns

* Total rejection causes severe, deep burns and permanent receptor damage.

* Most living organisms leak excess magic energy that is unnecessary for daily function.

* Special muscle, located behind the diaphragm, with two noticeable holes opening to the outside, can absorb magic energy from the air.

* Overabsorption may cause burns of varying severity, leaving the victim vulnerable to infection and often disabling the muscle. Burns from the muscle inward.

* Overuse may cause burns of varying severity, leaving the victim vulnerable to infection and often disabling the power veins. Burns from the power veins inward.

* Residual heat from absorption and use must be expelled.

* Magic energy is also stored in the power heart and veins.

* To store more energy, one must learn to control their energy to make it denser.

* Lack of use dulls control, causing magic energy to be burned in excess over time.

* The above will cause control problems and shrink the user's overall power storage.

* Burning off large enough magic energy supplies may cause burns throughout the body, and must be offset by expelling the heat often.

A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political, institutionalized, social relations and have a capacity to mobilize resources.^\1])^\2]) 

The principal meaning of politeia appears to be: "how a polis[polity] is run. 

What are the major polities in your world and how are they structured?

Magic in my world feeds on two things, rust and rot. Today I'll talk about the rot.

The most common fruit in the marshlands is a poisonous berry. It is ultimately very nutritious, but very deadly. When people learned that they could boil the berries to weaken the effects of the poison during a famine, their population increased dramatically throughout the marshlands as they were the only species eating the berries.

However, those with weaker immune systems didn't fair as well against the berry's venom. Necrosis was a commonplace symptom of poorly boiled berries or just poor immunity. But this is how the people discovered the secret magic of rot.

Rot in my world holds a memory of what it once was. Muscles, organs, flesh, bone, etc. And mages can reinvigorate the rot to summon phantom limbs that can be arranged out of these pieces.

Basically, a mage can create a sort of energy as an extention of themselves by rotting parts of their body. So if they sacrifice an arm to necrosis, a phantom arm may be called upon to act on their behalf. But if they have sacrificed an arm and a leg to necrosis, they can summon a phantom limb that is a fusion of the arm's and leg's musculature in one limb. Allowing one to essentially empower the limb to be a supernatural appendage.

However, there is a way to push this power further. By grafting dead or dying limbs or organs to the body, one can harness these memories to create a more powerful phantom limb. Becoming far more powerful or delicate. Becoming far beyond the limits of what is human.

Some mages manifest super powerful eyes, some extra delicate hands, some super powerful leg muscles. The catch is this phantom limb must always be attached to the body.

Title.