Democratic World-building

[Sizzlefoot]

Guten tag.

Democracy is nice, right? World-building, too? Well, let's do both at the same time. You, the people, get to decide shizz about a setting, we'll flesh it out, and boom- we all get less bored.

SHIZZ YOU GET TO VOTE ON
Sentient Species/Races
Non-Sentient Species
Major Players (up to, say, seven)
How Magic Works
Deities
Geography
Cosmology
Technology
Anything else I missed

Here's how it works. You can offer up a choice. Once it gets at least, uh, say, three votes, it's added in. Once we get to decent (but not bloated) levels of knowledge on the world, we'll flesh out the little things. Now go on, do some Democratic World-Building.

[Tvtyrant]

Sentient Species/Races

Spoiler: Tothen

Show

Tothen are a long lived species who are spread among many nations, and are happy to lack a mythical homeland. The Tothen appear similar to a shell-less bipedal tortoise some five feet in height, their long wizened limbs and gnarled joints moving slowly but smoothly as they perform their daily tasks.

Tothen are omnivores who eat their food raw. They have a slow metabolism and move relatively slowly except for bursts of speed when they are in danger. Tothen have an incredible ability to perform intricate and repetitive tasks without getting bored, and happily specialize in artisan work and leaving more exciting activities to more excitable races.

[Sizzlefoot]

I'll do one for How Magic Works. Feel free to build on this, everyone.

One way or path of magic focuses on immersing oneself with some sort of divine essence or collective, made up of the souls of the enlightened. The enlightened might whisper advice or appear to followers of this path in dreams.

The other path focuses on personal enlightenment and power. Rather than seeking to become one with the collective, followers of this way seek to learn the secrets of the world. Many see this path as evil or immoral as it seeks personal power, which some might consider selfish, but really there isn't anything particularly "evil" about it.

[Knaight]

Sure. Option 1:

Sentient Species: Humans, and only humans.

[Xuc Xac]

Sure. Option 1:

Sentient Species: Humans, and only humans.

Option 2: No humans whatsoever. At all. No "the modern races are descendants of humans". No "humans made a bunch of artificial races then left". No "when a dwarf and an elf make a baby, it turns out to be human". No "humans appear mysteriously through a dimensional portal as a surprise twist!" No humans at any point in time.

[Sizzlefoot]

The two extremes...so hard to decide.

[Tvtyrant]

I gotta vote for all humans. A lot better fantasy comes out of context.

[2D8HP]

When one steals from one source it plagiarism, but when you steal from many it's research, and I stole ideas from a few places, and what I thought I made up is probably from somewhere that I forget the source of, but here goes some ideas for you to vote on (if you like)::

Sentient Species/Races: Three; Faerie, Humanity, and The Dead.

Faerie are magical, shapeshifting (sometimes), often human appearing though sometimes a tail, clover hoof, or other non-human sign may be detected, beings who have little regard for human lives and happiness.

Humanity are normal real world humans except sometimes when the Faerie are near a few humans become werewolves.

The Dead are former humans who have passed through the lands of Faerie into the realm of the Dead, and they are silent, paying little attention to the living unless they are given blood (animal or human) whereupon they speak.

Non-Sentient Species All natural animals, giant sized animals in the lands of Faerie, and Dragons.

How Magic Works Magic comes from bargains one makes, or ones ancestors made, with the Faerie, and there's always a price, if the human is lucky it may only cost them their shadow or their voice, but more often the price is a child, memories of loved ones, one's beauty, sight, years of one's life, et cetera, and the more often, and the greater the power of magic a human uses, the more cruel and insane they become like the Faerie themselves (a Call of Cthullu-like "Sanity" of Vampire-like "Humanity" mechanic may be used).

Sometimes the magic is locked inside an object, or even a bit of writing that details a ritual that were made by a magician or given by a Faerie, but they only work when near enough to the lands of Faerie.

Deities Many Celtic, Greek, Norse, and just plain made up Deities are worshipped, as are ancestors, especially clan founders, unless they're actually Faerie or magicians in disguise they won't manifest.

Geography: Many island, fjords, and peninsulas, as well as a vast mainland forest (like Siberia) with many isolated hamlets, a few small towns/"kingdoms", lots of ruins and one giant city near the shores of a bay: Miklagarðr, a*populous, crowded, busy city 'linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. is known by many names. City of Seven-Score Thousand Smokes, City of the Black Toga, or if you wish to be blasphemous, City of the stinking black bones!

Climate of Miklagarðr: Due to Miklagarðr's proximity to the Northern Sea, the River Hlal, and the Salt Marsh to the east, Miklagarðr is plagued with all sorts of fogs and night-smogs from all the night-time smoke. It is not known as the City of Seven-Score Thousand Smokes for nothing. It also sees plenty of storms. The land to the south is hot during the summer.

Miklagarðr experiences a humid subtropical climate, with annual average temperature being at 17.03 °C (62.7*°F), with a mean of 4.6*°C (40.3 °F) in January and 29.0 °C (84.2 °F) in July. Average annual precipitation is 1,331 millimetres (52.4 in), with a 275-day frost-free period. With a monthly possible-sunshine percentage ranging from 19% in March to 57% in August, the city receives 1,545 hours of bright sunshine annually. The four seasons are distinct. The summers are long and very hot, with heavy rainfall, and autumn is comfortable and is the driest season. Winter is chilly and overcast with lighter rainfall more likely than downpours; cold snaps occur with temperatures occasionally dropping below freezing. Spring is especially rainy and humid with the sun shining less than 30% of the time.

Notable Streets of Miklagarðr:

Bones Alley: A narrow alley that runs behind the Silver Eel. It is known for it’s stench.

Carter Street: Runs north and south curves along with the wall. It is one street to the west of Wall street which runs along the wall. It is known to intersect Dim Lane. To the west is Cheap Street.

Cash Street: runs east to west from Wall Street to at least Nun Street. It is somewhat in the middle of the city. It is intersected from west to east by at least Nun, Silver, Gold, Pimp, Whore, Cheap, and Wall Street. Parallel to the north is Crafts Street.

Causey Road: leads out of Miklagarðr from the Street of the Gods and the Marsh Gate and runs through the Salt Marsh and over the Sinking Lands eastward.

Cheap Street: runs south from the Street of the Gods to at least it’s intersection with Cash Street. It is intersected from south to north by at least Cash, Dim Lane, Bones Alley, Crafts, Street of the Thinkers, and the Street of the Gods. Parallel to the east is Carter and to the west is Whore Street.

Craft Street: runs east and west and is at least intersected by Cheap Street and Plague Court. To the south is Cash Street and to the north is the Street of the Thinkers.

Curio Court: the usual market for curiosities.

Death Alley: forks off west from Plague Court north of the Street of the Thinkers, and terminates at Cheap Street just across the entrance to Thieves’ House.

Dim Lane: runs from Cheap Street east to Carter Street.

Fools Gold Court: branches off of Pinchbeck Alley.

Gold Street: runs north and south and at least intersects with Cash Street. Parallel to the west is Silver Road and to the east is Pimp Street.

Murder Alley: backs Thieves’ House on it’s west side.

Nun Street: runs along the Grain Towers near the Docks north from at least Cash Street to at least the Street of the Gods. To the east running parallel is Silver Road.

Pimp Street: runs parallel to Gold Street to the west and Whore Street to the east. It intersects with at least Cash Street.

Pinchbeck Alley: intersects with Fools Gold Court and Sequin Court.

Plague Court: runs north from Bones Alley, crossing Crafts Street and the Street of the Thinkers, and then forks with Death Alley leading to the west and itself continuing eastward..

Sequin Court: branches off of Pinchbeck Alley.

Silver Road: runs north from at least Cash Street to at least the Street of the Gods. This last intersection is often frequented by junior executives and star operatives of the Thieves Guild, as well as freelancers brave enough or with immunity from the Guild.

Specter Alley: is near the Marsh Gate off of Wall Street.

The Street of the Gods runs from the Marsh Gate to the Grain Towers and Docks just past Nun Street. It is known to be at least intersected by Silver Road, Whore, and Cheap Streets as well. It is famous for it’s nightly religious activities, and as a testing grounds for gods.

The Street of the Silk Merchants runs along the buildings backing Thieves’ House.

Street of the Thinkers: Also known as Atheist Avenue by moralists, the Street of the Thinkers runs parallel to the Street of the Gods to the north and Crafts Street to the south. It is at least intersected by Cheap Street and Plague Court.

Wall Street curves alongside the east wall of Miklagarðr. It runs at least as far as the Marsh Gate and the Street of the Gods to the north and as far south as Cash Street.

Whore street runs north from at least Cash Street to at least the Street of the Gods. It runs parallel to Pimp Street to the west and Cheap Street to the east.


Notable Places of Miklagarðr:

The Citadel of Miklagarðr stands atop of a rocky hill above the Northern Sea and Miklagarð Bay, along with the Rainbow Palace on the north end of Miklagarðr.

The Docks run along the west side of Miklagarðr on the Hlal River.

The End Gate is the smallest of Miklagarðr's three southern gates, and has the least traffic.

The Fountain of Dark Abundance resides at one end of the Plaza of Dark Delights. It is described is a squat black pillar from the rough rounded top of which a single black drop welled and dripped every twenty elephant’s heartbeats. It is a common meeting place for the indiscreetly discreet.*

The Golden Lamprey: is a tavern that stands on the northeast corner of Whore and Cash streets.

Grain Gate: At the south end of Miklagarðr, the Grain Gate sees all the grain-loaded wagons that enter the city that are the chief source of Miklagarðr's wealth. The Grain Gate is twenty feet thick and thirty feet wide.

The Grain towers stand tall along the docks on Miklagarðr's west side and store Miklagarðr's grain.

The Grand Gate is Miklagarðr's biggest and most glorious gate, and stands at the south end of Miklagarðr. .

The Great Library: Nothing much is said about the Great Library other than various land deeds are kept within.

House of Muulsh is a square, flat-roofed building three stories tall. It it located along with houses of wealthy grain-merchants, but spaced a little further apart from them. An abandoned and forbidden tower looms over it on the side nearest the river Hlal and warehouses lie along the other side.

The Marsh Gate is on Hunan's east at the end of the Street of the Gods and leads out to the Salt Marsh and it’s only means of travel, Causey Road.

The North Barracks are on the northwest corner of Miklagarðr.

The Park of Pleasure is on the south end of Miklagarðr, and contains the Plaza of Dark Delights

The Rainbow Palace stands high upon a stone outcropping above Miklagarðr*on the north end of Miklagarðr, at the base of the Keystone Mountains. It is constructed of stones of many colors and is lit by lanterns of different colors and is topped off with square minarets. It is the home of the Overlord of Miklagarðr.

The Rat’s Nest: One of an endless number of taverns in Miklagarðr the Rat’s Nest is doubtless frequented by many of Miklagarðr's more unsavory characters. It is below street level with brick stairs leading down to the main room.

The Sea Wall protects the city on it’s north side. It runs eastward from the Citadel and Rainbow Palace, and the aristocratic district lies along it’s southern side.

Shop of Jengao the Gem Merchant:Jengao the Gem Merchant keeps his shop on Cash Street between Silver and Gold. It has no alleys or roof access.

Shops of Rokkermas and Slaarg: Rokkermas and Slaarg are famous stone masons and sculptors whose shops stand across from each other on Cash Street near the intersection of Gold Street. Their shops are connected by a second-story passageway. Various statues, pillars, and porticoes decorate the bridge and the two buildings and are used as advertisements.

The Shrine of the Black Virgin lies at one end of the Plaza of Dark Delights.

The South Barracks: can be locked from the outside during times of mutiny to kill the soldiery within.

Temple of Aarth: Aarth’s Temple is the richest and grandest temple and stands the furthest towards the Citadel end of the Street of the Gods excluding the Temple of the Gods of Miklagarðr.

The Temple of the Gods of Miklagarðr is a squat, black building with a tall bell tower standing at the end of the Street of the Gods closest to the docks and the grain towers. Ringing the bell will wake the dead gods.

Temple of Tyaa: One of the accursed and forbidden structures in Miklagarðr, the temple-tower of Tyaa stands over the river Hlal with the house of Muulsh and warehouses along it’s other sides. Home to one of the old gods in Miklagarðr that were bannished from the city centuries ago, it is now forbidden under pain of death to enter.

Theves' House: Near the intersection of Cheap Street and Death Alley, Thieves' House is the headquarters of the Thieves Guild

Notable Guilds of Miklagarðr:

The Assassins’ Guild: is a subset of the Slayers’ Brotherhood, which are "guards" for hire.

The Guild of the Grain Merchants is indubitably one of Miklagarðr's wealthiest and most powerful guilds as the grain trade is Miklagarðr's chiefest source of wealth. They were known to trick local farmers out of their plots of land and form vast areas of slave-worked farmland.

Pimps' Guild

Slayers’ Brotherhood: Mercenaries for hire belong to the Slayers’ Brotherhood in Miklagarðr. The Brotherhood also contains the Assassins’ Guild among it’s members.

The Thieves' Guild

The Whores’ Guild.

Economy

At the root of Miklagarðr's wealth is grain. Vast grain fields occupy the fertile lands to the south of the city. All harvested grain is brought to Miklagarðr and stored in grain towers where it is to be sold by grain merchants.

Government:

The overlord is ruler of Miklagarðr. Succession is by hereditary line, though coups are not unheard of. There is in addition an Inner Council and a War Council. Presumably, these bodies assist the overlord in the running of the government and the military. The overlord rules not over just the city, but over the surrounding grain fields.

Military

Miklagarðrhas an army, navy, and marines. There are regiments kept throughout the Land.. Tovilyis, Kartishla, and Land’s End have been known to house them. The city’s soldiery is housed in the South and North Barracks.

Miklagarðr’s army has seen campaigns against Mirphians. They have been successful against the spear-squares of King Krimaxius and his fortressed elephants. They have also fought against non-human foes such as the black behemoth and leviathan. The Rat Plague, however, was not their finest hour.

History

Over a millennium ago, Miklagarðr's empire ruled from Quarmall to the Trollsteps, Earth’s End to the Sea of Monsters, and Kvarch Nar was known as Hwarsh Mar. The city itself has stood on it’s current ground for over three-score centuries.

At the Silver Eel Inn, adventures from from near and far gather together to loot a ruined tower that was built a 100 years ago on the low hills overlooking Miklagarðr on the orders of Sun Toughnail. The tower was close to the sea cliffs west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.

Rumor has it that extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower.

Miklagarðr is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Toughnail was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.

Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, Toughnail's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their rnaster had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower.
Needless to say the tower stood vacant fora while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower ot all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancina on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who hove descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.

Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, pre-human city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.

Far to the West of Miklagarðr the land descends gently into swirling mists, several rivers run to it, and the closer one gets to the mists the louder the sound of rushing water becomes.

The mists are known in many tongues both as "Worlds Edge" and "Will to Live" as for centuries there are records of the despondent, and the bold vowing to either walk down into the mists or explore what's in the distance down the hills, but all of them are recorded to have turned back.

It is also noted how relatively prosperous, healthy amd happy are those in the lands that border the mists are, and it is also noted that until recently few lived near the mists, with most families being only a few generations old despite fertile farmland being near the mists. Both those families that have newly arrived, and those that have been longer have had more births in the last 20 years than those families have had before, with each year there being more births.

Within a days journey of the mists the differences between those who live near Worlds Edge/Will to Live and those who don"t, is apparent, and then first gradually, then quite abruptly, those differences dissipate the further from the mists one goes.

Strangely, the population is less dense the more days journey from the mists one travels until about four days out, it becomes quite crowded and gradually less so the further east from the mists one travels. While being less crowded with people, it is clear that the further east from the mists one travels, the older buildings appear to be, and most families, and even nations have histories of travelling west, few of migrating east.

Quite alarmingly, more and more around the world have just this year have decided that they either "Have nothing more to live for", or "Want to be the first to solve the mystery of the mists" and are journeying west to either end their lives inside the mists, or explore what's is past the point one may see, but so far no one has yet done so, just as they have not for centuries.

Some Sages have proposed a reason for these anomalies:

When one goes into the mists, one ends not just your existence in the present, but that you ever existed at all.

There is no proof for this whatsoever.

Cosmology: No "planes", there is one world and the realms of men, gods, Faerie, and the Dead, may all be walked, sailed, or climbed to.

In areas where Faerie is ascendant the seasons are the reverse of the lands of men, summer is winter, winter is summer and it is always twilight, never day or night, if one looks towards Faerie from human lands one may see the light change, but sometimes (especially at twilight) just passing through two trees or standing stones will be the passage into Faerie, and the border isn't static.

Once Faerie and humanity were far more mixed in a great magic-using civilization that became first a wasteland, and then a wilderness. Except for a few remote forests, mountain tops, and in underground shelters (ala "Beneath The Planet of the Apes"), without the spark of Magic the inhabitants descended into savagery, and settlers from a non-Magic based human civilization planted towns on the coasts and rivers.

Then after centuries of slumber, first slowly, then like a shock, Magic and Faerie return.

Long ignored books of lore of interest only to antiquarians prove to have working spells and Wizardry returns. A generation comes of age that for the first time in living memory has Sorcerers. Magical constructs and undead come alive. Long slumbering Dragons awaken. Monsters of every sort are reborn. Artifacts long forgotten in the ruins pulse with Magic again. Expeditions of Adventurers are chartered to explore and exploit an unknown land made uncanny with reborn Magic.

Technology: Anywhere from the 9th century to the 19th, I can't decide.

[Tentreto]

That is a lot to vote on. I think I'll start with supporting:

Sentient Species: No humans (1)

Without humans, you get other races coming to the front, which can be a lot of fun. I remember those evolution games where you rooted for all sorts of weird things.

Magic: Bargains (1)

Bargains is cool, as it means that magic can be very stratified, but also works both ways.

While we're at it, I'll propose my own part of the world:

Technology: About 1000 BC, so weaponsmithing and irrigation techniques coming into prominance, as well as a widening world view.

[Mith]

(EDIT: I like a lot of the premises set with 2D8HP's setting, and this is in part ideas that could fit with his style of world. So it's up to him whether these ideas would be bundled in.)

I would put a vote to Only humans, but have magic provide mutations. I guess that results in creatures of Faerie, so to speak, but they are really humans that are so far gone that they end up being Other. I would add that such creatures may make a deal of "strong children" as a means to have children with the petitioner, which will result in the Half-Bloods: Strange creatures with a foot in both worlds. They are tied to the obligations of their Otherworld Parent, but they can operate more freely than them. Usually though, these children, and their descendents, become unfortunate pawns to their parent's games. The traditional Exemplar Races style are just various Faerie Courts that have risen to prominence and have enough sway to influence what Powers get expressed.

The idea that the creatures of Faerie cannot lie is not really true. It's more that they cannot make a false bargain, and entering a bargain can be so easy, that it is always safer to be at least technically truthful to everyone you talk to.

How Magic Operates: The system of bargains end up meaning that operating as a group results in greater collective power and influence at the price of personal power. The Faerie courts and the Halls of the Gods all operate on this principle within Faerie.


In the mortal world, this can be seen within Wizarding Schools, or Clerical churches. Wizards study and plan their bargains on the behalf of the School, adding the fruit of their toils to the collection of the School for future generations. This means that a child with Talent can study at an old school of wizardry and rise to power without the same risks as their predecessors, but the casting of magic still carries it's own problems. Church theological debates are a similar systems. It's why priests take metaphysics so seriously, as for them it's a matter of being able to express their Faith's power in the world without destroying themselves Ark of the Covenant style.


The Realms of the Dead can offer bargains akin to Vestiges, where they get to live in this world once again. I would say that there is always WIld magic effects when using the Powers of the Dead, as the World of the Living fights you at every turn, but instead you roll to determine the severity of the surge rather than if there is one at all.

(I like the idea of Wild Magic being an inherent thing without a patron. If using the traditional D&D level system, roll 1d10 to match or exceed your level. Cantrips carry no risk, and you always have a chance to succeed. I would like a way to incorporate casting stat to this chance. Perhaps to kick Clerics in the rear a bit, sort spells by Domain, and off Domain spells carry a smaller risk of Wild Magic, with Opposing Domains carrying a regular risk.)

As far as Magic Weaponry goes, I would use the idea of a runes etched into the blade that allow for magic abilities when bloodied (any blood will do), with Damascus blades being your generic +X blades. Since the arts of Damascus steel forging has been lost, most magic items have enchantments that deal rider effects, not improve lethal accuracy of the blade.

[Xania]

Option 2: No humans whatsoever. At all. No "the modern races are descendants of humans". No "humans made a bunch of artificial races then left". No "when a dwarf and an elf make a baby, it turns out to be human". No "humans appear mysteriously through a dimensional portal as a surprise twist!" No humans at any point in time.

For now my vote goes with this, humans have never existed.

[2D8HP]

....I would put a vote to Only humans, but have magic provide mutations. I guess that results in creatures of Faerie, so to speak, but they are really humans that are so far gone that they end up being Other....

This seems like a good idea to me, I like the magic-power corrupts theme.

[Mith]

To summarise my votes:

Races: Only Humans, everything else is arcane/eldritch mutations. If you have other planets (Tower of the Elephant), that is an acceptable exception.

Magic system: Primarily through bargains. Magic is about establishing, understang, and manipulating your connections to various entities. And everything is an entity. Runes/Truenaming is mastery of Identity of these entities. Magic itself is an inherently unstable force to manipulate.

Technology level: I like the idea of gunpowder being a new and dangerous force. However it is seen as reckless. I would go so far as to apply somithing in line with my casting rules to gunpowder explosives where it could be a dud, or ignite in an unexpected fashion.

I know that steel plate was tested at one point by being shot at as a "stamp of quality" sort of deal. That's the sort of feel I would like. Steel plate reigns supreme, but is highly expensive. Knock a knight down and keep him down though, and there is a chance.

[Xuc Xac]

When one steals from one source it plagiarism, but when you steal from many it's research, and I stole ideas from a few places...

Are you sure? All I see is Nehwon but with "Lankmar" changed to "Miklagarðr".

Technology level: I like the idea of gunpowder being a new and dangerous force. However it is seen as reckless. I would go so far as to apply somithing in line with my casting rules to gunpowder explosives where it could be a dud, or ignite in an unexpected fashion.

Isn't that how fantasy settings with gunpowder always handle it? I'm getting really tired of it. "Check it out! Our setting has gunpowder and it's really cool! All the cool NPCs in the illustrations have guns! Pew pew! But you'll never use them because the rules make them ridiculously expensive and dangerous to use. Anyone who ever used a firearm between the years 1010 and 1911 was killed when it blew up in their faces before they fired a dozen shots. You'd have a higher damage output at lower cost if you just used a slingshot to pelt your enemies with gold pieces!"

Why not just make them work as reliably as flintlocks in a pirate movie? Everybody has swords because reloading is slow, but everybody also has guns because there's no downside to having the equivalent of a pair of heavy crossbows in a small enough form to tuck into your belt.

"Oh, but they might explode if they get hit by a fireball!" Archers get hit with fireballs all the time and never snap a bow string. They'll be fine. Just don't be stricter with the gunpowder than you are with anything else.

"But guns do too much damage! We have to control the PCs' access to them or they'll plow through everything!" A sword in a movie only scratches heroes but runs mooks through in one blow: 1d8 damage. A gun in a movie only grazes the hero's shoulder but kills mooks instantly with a shot right through the head or heart: "It's super deadly and needs to be 3d12 damage with a x4 crit on a roll of 12+!" No. It hurts as much as a crossbow. It's just easier to load and carry.

[2D8HP]

Are you sure? All I see is Nehwon but with "Lankmar" changed to "Miklagarðr". ...

Then you didn't read all of it.

Try

Spoiler: this

Show

Without the Nehwon:

[EDITED]

Sentient Species/Races: Three; Faerie, Humanity, and The Dead.

Faerie are magical, shapeshifting (sometimes), often human appearing though sometimes a tail, clover hoof, or other non-human sign may be detected, beings who have little regard for human lives and happiness.

Humanity are normal real world humans except sometimes when the Faerie are near a few humans become werewolves.

The Dead are former humans who have passed through the lands of Faerie into the realm of the Dead, and they are silent, paying little attention to the living unless they are given blood (animal or human) whereupon they speak.

Non-Sentient Species All natural animals, giant sized animals in the lands of Faerie, and Dragons.

How Magic Works Magic comes from bargains one makes, or ones ancestors made, with the Faerie, and there's always a price, if the human is lucky it may only cost them their shadow or their voice, but more often the price is a child, memories of loved ones, one's beauty, sight, years of one's life, et cetera, and the more often, and the greater the power of magic a human uses, the more cruel and insane they become like the Faerie themselves (a Call of Cthullu-like "Sanity" of Vampire-like "Humanity" mechanic may be used).

Sometimes the magic is locked inside an object, or even a bit of writing that details a ritual that were made by a magician or given by a Faerie, but they only work when near enough to the lands of Faerie.

Deities Many Celtic, Greek, Norse, and just plain made up Deities are worshipped, as are ancestors, especially clan founders, unless they're actually Faerie or magicians in disguise they won't manifest.

Geography: Many island, fjords, and peninsulas, as well as a vast mainland forest (like Siberia) with many isolated hamlets, a few small towns/"kingdoms", lots of ruins and one giant city near the shores of a bay:
[EDITED]
....Inn, adventures from from near and far gather together to loot a ruined tower that was built a 100 years ago on the low hills overlooking Miklagarðr on the orders of Sun Toughnail. The tower was close to the sea cliffs west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.

Rumor has it that extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower.

Miklagarðr is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Toughnail was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.

Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, Toughnail's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their rnaster had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower.
Needless to say the tower stood vacant fora while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower ot all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancina on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who hove descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.

Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, pre-human city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.

Far to the West of Miklagarðr the land descends gently into swirling mists, several rivers run to it, and the closer one gets to the mists the louder the sound of rushing water becomes.

The mists are known in many tongues both as "Worlds Edge" and "Will to Live" as for centuries there are records of the despondent, and the bold vowing to either walk down into the mists or explore what's in the distance down the hills, but all of them are recorded to have turned back.

It is also noted how relatively prosperous, healthy amd happy are those in the lands that border the mists are, and it is also noted that until recently few lived near the mists, with most families being only a few generations old despite fertile farmland being near the mists. Both those families that have newly arrived, and those that have been longer have had more births in the last 20 years than those families have had before, with each year there being more births.

Within a days journey of the mists the differences between those who live near Worlds Edge/Will to Live and those who don"t, is apparent, and then first gradually, then quite abruptly, those differences dissipate the further from the mists one goes.

Strangely, the population is less dense the more days journey from the mists one travels until about four days out, it becomes quite crowded and gradually less so the further east from the mists one travels. While being less crowded with people, it is clear that the further east from the mists one travels, the older buildings appear to be, and most families, and even nations have histories of travelling west, few of migrating east.

Quite alarmingly, more and more around the world have just this year have decided that they either "Have nothing more to live for", or "Want to be the first to solve the mystery of the mists" and are journeying west to either end their lives inside the mists, or explore what's is past the point one may see, but so far no one has yet done so, just as they have not for centuries.

Some Sages have proposed a reason for these anomalies:

When one goes into the mists, one ends not just your existence in the present, but that you ever existed at all.

There is no proof for this whatsoever.

Cosmology: No "planes", there is one world and the realms of men, gods, Faerie, and the Dead, may all be walked, sailed, or climbed to.

In areas where Faerie is ascendant the seasons are the reverse of the lands of men, summer is winter, winter is summer and it is always twilight, never day or night, if one looks towards Faerie from human lands one may see the light change, but sometimes (especially at twilight) just passing through two trees or standing stones will be the passage into Faerie, and the border isn't static.

Once Faerie and humanity were far more mixed in a great magic-using civilization that became first a wasteland, and then a wilderness. Except for a few remote forests, mountain tops, and in underground shelters (ala "Beneath The Planet of the Apes"), without the spark of Magic the inhabitants descended into savagery, and settlers from a non-Magic based human civilization planted towns on the coasts and rivers.

Then after centuries of slumber, first slowly, then like a shock, Magic and Faerie return.

Long ignored books of lore of interest only to antiquarians prove to have working spells and Wizardry returns. A generation comes of age that for the first time in living memory has Sorcerers. Magical constructs and undead come alive. Long slumbering Dragons awaken. Monsters of every sort are reborn. Artifacts long forgotten in the ruins pulse with Magic again. Expeditions of Adventurers are chartered to explore and exploit an unknown land made uncanny with reborn Magic.

Technology: Anywhere from the 9th century to the 19th, I can't decide.

None of that was Leiber

Please don't use "all" for "much"

[Xuc Xac]

Then you didn't read all of it.

No, I'll admit that I didn't. I saw a huge block of text that was cut and pasted from the "Scrolls of Lankhmar" website and I started scrolling down to see how long your post was. It was long and I didn't see much original content in the first half so I kept scrolling down.

"Stealing from many sources" is still plagiarism if you just stitch things together like a patchwork quilt. You have to blend them together.

"Star Wars" was made by combining samurai movies, WWII movies, "Flash Gordon" serials, and drag racing. It takes inspiration from them, mimics their camera angles and (dog)fight choreography, and blends them together into one new thing. It isn't just edited together from a bunch of clips from "Hidden Fortress", "Dambusters", "Flash Gordon", and "American Graffiti".

[Mith]

Isn't that how fantasy settings with gunpowder always handle it? I'm getting really tired of it.

Fair enough. I personally haven't played any games with guns and swords at the same time, so that influences some of my decision, as I am not burned out on it. I still want to have plate armour to be considered viable, since my understanding is that by the time of flintlocks, the use of plate mail had gone out of fashion. The swordsman of the day was the swashbuckler, and the focus is on light armour and fast movement. So if I want to still capture the terror of the plate armour knight, I would be using earlier firearms.

[2D8HP]

....so I kept scrolling down....

If you could please tell me where I got the idea for "World's Edge"/"Will To Live" I"d much appreciate it (I can't remember).

"Star Wars" was made by combining samurai movies, WWII movies, "Flash Gordon" serials, and drag racing. It takes inspiration from them, mimics their camera angles and (dog)fight choreography, and blends them together into one new thing. It isn't just edited together from a bunch of clips from "Hidden Fortress", "Dambusters", "Flash Gordon", and "American Graffiti".

That "collage" movie idea sounds awesome to me!

I'd like to watch that more than Star Wars!

Fair enough. I personally haven't played any games with guns and swords at the same time, so that influences some of my decision, as I am not burned out on it. I still want to have plate armour to be considered viable, since my understanding is that by the time of flintlocks, the use of plate mail had gone out of fashion. The swordsman of the day was the swashbuckler, and the focus is on light armour and fast movement. So if I want to still capture the terror of the plate armour knight, I would be using earlier firearms.

Guns and armor?

How about 1650?

Spoiler: See?

Show

The very fine Michael Moorcock 1981 fantasy novel The War Hound and the World's Pain takes place during the (slightly earlier)And the single fantasy novel that I've most re-read, begins grimly:

"It was in that yeat when the fashion in cruelty demanded not only the crucifiction of peasant children, but a similar fate for their pets, that I first met Lucifer.
Until May of 1631 I had commanded a troop of irregular infantry, mainly Poles, Swedes, and Scots. We had taken part in the destruction and looting of the city if Magdeburg, having somehow found ourselves in the army of the [........] forces under Count Johann Tzerclaes Tilly. Wind-borne gunpowder had turned the city into one huge keg and she had gone up all of a piece, driving us out with little booty to show for our hard work.
Disappointed and belligerent, Westfield by the business of rapine and slaughter, quarreling over what pathetic bits of goods they had managed to pull from the blazing houses, my men elected to split away from Tilly's forces. His had been a singularly ill-fed and badly equipped army, victim to the pride of bickering allied. It was a relief to leave it behind us.
We struck south into the foothills of the Hartz Mountains, intending to rest. However, it soon became evident to me that some of my men had contracted the Plague, and I deemed it wise, therefore, to saddle my horse quietly one night and, taking what food there was, continue my journey alone.
Having deserted my men, I was not yet green from the presence of death or desolation. The world was in agony and shrieked its pain..."

And it goes on for pages with a backdrop of the 30 years war (1618 to 1648), befofe getting to the supernatural elements, and it's not hard for a reader to think of 20th century parallels.

I had actually read the sequel, 1986's City in the Autumn Stars first, which has the French reign of terror as a backgrounf first, the protaganist of which, a descendent of the War Hound, is initially more of a hero that inspires sympathy than the War Hound.

Anyway, after pages of character building biography, the protaganist of The War Hound and the World's Pain, Graf Ulrich von Bek, enters "the oak groves of the northern fringes of the great Thuringian Forest", and finds that "the deeper into the forest I moved the less life I discovered", , and "Through the treetops I saw clear blue sky, and sunlight warned the glades. But insects danced in the beans; no bees crawled upon the leaves of the wild flowers; not even an earthworm twisted about the roots, though the soil was dark and smelled fertile", until "breaking out of the forest proper one afternoon, I saw before me a green, flowery hill which was crowned by the most beautiful castle I had ever beheld", he wonders "How could a building demand calm, to the degree that not even a mosquito would dare disturb it?"¡ but while "It was my first impulse to avoid the castle, but my pride overcame me", and "I refused to believe that there was anything genuinely mysterious...."

It's not much of a spoiler to say that what starts a historical tale of a man who's become evil in an evil time of war becomes a fantasy of redemption, and it's the fantasy novel that, perhaps to my shame, I've probably re-read the most, even more than Tolkien.

World-building ideas from it: The Mittelmarches. In between areas in our world (lands in France, Germany, et cetera) exist the "middle lands" (basically Faerie) that may be entered at certain times and places, or by the damned.

I really like the "trope" of regular historical humans entering magical lands (the most current example that I can think of is Tristram in Neil Gaiman's Stardust), so any proposals of being able to walk to "other lands" has my vote.

[Mith]

Guns and armor?

How about 1650?

Spoiler: See?

Show

Fair enough. In this case, you would still have your large Zwihanders if I recall my time periods correctly, along side your fire arms and pikes.

I guess for me, it comes down to a preference not to have gunpowder be common, as for me it opens up the path to styles of combat I particularly don't want to have be common place. So in the voting process put me down as "Before guns became common place". But I can see why others would be interested.

[2D8HP]

Fair enough. In this case, you would still have your large Zwihanders if I recall my time periods correctly, along side your fire arms and pikes.

I guess for me, it comes down to a preference not to have gunpowder be common, as for me it opens up the path to styles of combat I particularly don't want to have be common place. So in the voting process put me down as "Before guns became common place". But I can see why others would be interested.

How about 1545 when the Mary Rose sank?

It had both cannons and longbows.

[Xuc Xac]

If you could please tell me where I got the idea for "World's Edge"/"Will To Live" I"d much appreciate it (I can't remember).

I assumed that crazy people going to the far west of Lankhmar Miklagarðr to die on the desolate edge of the world was a reference to "The Bleak Shore".

Also the cosmology of "no other planes except the world of men, faeries, and the dead" is pretty much Nehwon's "regular world with North and South poles, but also mystical Life and Death poles where the gods live in Godsland and dead people are in Shadowland".

[Tentreto]

While we're at this, I might add in one more suggestion:

Other Species: No cows or sheep

While these are both staples of many societies, I'd like to see an attempt to build up from other livestock animals, or in other ways. It might also make cultural norms slightly different, herds provide a strong power base to build from. I was tempted to add horses as well, but horses occupy a different niche,so should probably be a diferent vote.

[Sizzlefoot]

I'll put my vote towards magic: bargains and only humans (with some eldritch mutant types, of course). And I do like the idea of having no cows or sheep.

[Mith]

I have a slight caveat to the "No cows": Spherical Icosahedral Cows! They of course have the powers of flight, as they ignore gravity.

EDIT: On a more serious note, how far are we going with "no cows or sheep?" The reasoning behind why we have cows and sheep over everything else is fairly significant.

Granted, if we are using island archipelago geography, perhaps we are looking at fish for protein and then more use of land efficient farming for the main sources of food.