ZBB Collaborative Fantasy Conworld Thread

[keenir]

Why don't you both suggest ideas and i will tell you if they are compatible or not.

Yyyyyeah, not sure I'm up to playing 20 questions with all the possible places and things in this dual-world that I don't know if they're even in the category of things that can be questioned - or even the things that may or may not exist in the dual-world in the first place.

Also i have less attachment to this world then others i have created.

Not sure if that statement tells us anything.

[foxcatdog]

Example races of the world.

Humans: Ditto. Creations of a god to be his servants but many rebelled at some point. This is to explain them being a younger race.
Elves: Descendants of Fey Aesir and Nilfen Vanir and one of the oldest inhabitants of this world. +DEX and +some other stat depending on subspecies
Kitsunefolk (need a better name): Fey descendants capable of illusions and quick movement +DEX, +CHA and+INT or +WIS depending on subspecies and -CONS
Navari: Cat looking beings descended from dwarves who are just crafting spirits in this world as well as possibly gnomes who are just earth spirits in this world +INT, +WIS and +CHA but -DEX.
Kaeldjans: Related to Kitsunefolk but expunged of the fey ancesty. +STR, +CONS and +CHA but -DEX
Beastfolk: Elves who adopted beastlike forms and are common in the outlands of the Red Elven Empire also known as the Great Middle/Heartland. Pretty diverse and with no set stat portfolio. Can possibly transform into beasts.

[keenir]

Belsar, God of Heroism: The primary god associated with well heroism as well as light. His totem animal is the Bear and he is noted to appear occasionally amongst his disciples in drinks and feasts where he appears as a blonde man with golden eyes.

so...the god of the Good Guys...is an Aryan? Are the Good Guys also Aryans?

He defeated the ancient evil god in the War of the East of our so called enemy peoples in ancient times and he sent his priestess from among the Talarians when he felt like he needed a people in the Eastern Continent.
Domains: War, Trickery, Light Alignment: CG

Tyras, God of War: God of war and thunder symbolised by twin axes and a thunderbolt. Chosen because the pantheon needed another war deity befitting the people. Of all the gods here he is the only one who also has some degree of reverance from our evil people.
Domains: War, Tempest, Metal Alignment: CN

Andurie, God of Sorcery: God of wizards and sorcercers symbolised by a golden tree. It was his quarrel with our evil god which started the War of the East.

*sigh*
okay, my first question is this: are the evil people evil because The Good Guys think the evil people worship the evil god? Also, is the evil god evil because The Good Guys think the evil people worship the evil god?

EDIT:

Humans: Ditto. Creations of a god to be his servants but many rebelled at some point. This is to explain them being a younger race.

They're a younger race...because they rebelled?? So, if they hadn't rebelled...they'd be older?

Navari: Cat looking beings descended from dwarves

Feline dwarves? cool.

[foxcatdog]

Just ideas. Example peoples who could inhabit this world.

Some imperial people noted for amongst other things trade and also craftsmanship and carpentry. Vague roman vibes but possibly combine it with other peoples.
Some seafaring burecratic people in the east.
Snake people in the southwest or southeast.
Various wood elves or dryads.
Our evil people worshippers of an evil god.
Also contributory ideas to the other people.

Various gods and goddesses need to be described.

[bradrn]

Just ideas.

That’s not a response. Does that mean that you’re dropping those ideas? Or amending them? Or persisting with them and explaining away keenir’s queries by some other way? (Since I’m confused about much the same things keenir was.)

One general thing I’ll note: communication is really important when working on something collaboratively, especially online. If we have to resort to guessing at what you’re thinking all the time, it’s no longer fun for us to work on this project. In my experience, the best approach is to take a bit of time to properly write up what you’re doing, what we can work on and how any issues should be resolved. (This goes for us as well as you, mind.)

[foxcatdog]

Belsar, God of Heroism: The primary god associated with well heroism as well as light. His totem animal is the Bear and he is noted to appear occasionally amongst his disciples in drinks and feasts where he appears as a blonde man with golden eyes.

so...the god of the Good Guys...is an Aryan? Are the Good Guys also Aryans?

He defeated the ancient evil god in the War of the East of our so called enemy peoples in ancient times and he sent his priestess from among the Talarians when he felt like he needed a people in the Eastern Continent.
Domains: War, Trickery, Light Alignment: CG

Tyras, God of War: God of war and thunder symbolised by twin axes and a thunderbolt. Chosen because the pantheon needed another war deity befitting the people. Of all the gods here he is the only one who also has some degree of reverance from our evil people.
Domains: War, Tempest, Metal Alignment: CN

Andurie, God of Sorcery: God of wizards and sorcercers symbolised by a golden tree. It was his quarrel with our evil god which started the War of the East.

*sigh*
okay, my first question is this: are the evil people evil because The Good Guys think the evil people worship the evil god? Also, is the evil god evil because The Good Guys think the evil people worship the evil god?

Probably the good guys and evil guys belong to the same race and perhaps the same language family and certainly they are not all evil and good its just our evil people have tattoos which mean to a certain degree they have to serve their god. His main motivations for being evil involve lust for power which in eventual conflict with the other gods eventually got twisted into evil.

Humans: Ditto. Creations of a god to be his servants but many rebelled at some point. This is to explain them being a younger race.

They're a younger race...because they rebelled?? So, if they hadn't rebelled...they'd be older?

Navari: Cat looking beings descended from dwarves

Feline dwarves? cool.

Your picking at straws for the first part also humans are generally a younger race in fantasy settings the whole god bit is to give an explanation for why they weren't around at earlier times and i'm not sure if the second part is meant to be sarcastic.

[foxcatdog]

Just ideas.

That’s not a response. Does that mean that you’re dropping those ideas? Or amending them? Or persisting with them and explaining away keenir’s queries by some other way? (Since I’m confused about much the same things keenir was.)

One general thing I’ll note: communication is really important when working on something collaboratively, especially online. If we have to resort to guessing at what you’re thinking all the time, it’s no longer fun for us to work on this project. In my experience, the best approach is to take a bit of time to properly write up what you’re doing, what we can work on and how any issues should be resolved. (This goes for us as well as you, mind.)

No i'm giving people something to work with.

[bradrn]

Your picking at straws for the first part

FWIW, I was confused by that too.

also humans are generally a younger race in fantasy settings

For those of us why don’t read as much fantasy as you do, what does ‘younger’ mean here, exactly?

i'm not sure if the second part is meant to be sarcastic.

I interpreted it as enthusiasm, not sarcasm.

[foxcatdog]

Younger as in having less time in the world or at least less history. They are generally also depicted as shorter lived.

[keenir]

Yes, I was excited about the feline dwarves...I thought it was very original.

Younger as in having less time in the world or at least less history.

Like in Tolkien, okay. But when you phrased it as you did, I thought it was the result or outcome of their having rebelled.

No i'm giving people something to work with.

Okay...what are you giving us to work with? You posted a list of gods and races, but said what we can edit in regard to their porfolios, their relations, or anything else.

If you're going to throw spagetti at a wall to see what sticks (thats an idiom around my part of the RL world), it would be appreciated if you said what you were looking for, and since this is a collab, the rest of us might want to throw spagetti too.

Belsar, God of Heroism: The primary god associated with well heroism as well as light. His totem animal is the Bear and he is noted to appear occasionally amongst his disciples in drinks and feasts where he appears as a blonde man with golden eyes.

Probably the good guys and evil guys belong to the same race and perhaps the same language family and certainly they are not all evil and good its just our evil people have tattoos which mean to a certain degree they have to serve their god. His main motivations for being evil involve lust for power which in eventual conflict with the other gods eventually got twisted into evil.

ahh, okay, now that adds up. I'd wager that Belsar also had a lust for power - for attaining power, though if he started out with power, then I suspect his lust for power saw him fight to keep and preserve himself having that power. (if he didn't care about power, why fight to keep it?)

[bradrn]

Younger as in having less time in the world or at least less history. They are generally also depicted as shorter lived.

OK, thanks for clarifying!

Just ideas.

That’s not a response. Does that mean that you’re dropping those ideas? Or amending them? Or persisting with them and explaining away keenir’s queries by some other way? (Since I’m confused about much the same things keenir was.)

One general thing I’ll note: communication is really important when working on something collaboratively, especially online. If we have to resort to guessing at what you’re thinking all the time, it’s no longer fun for us to work on this project. In my experience, the best approach is to take a bit of time to properly write up what you’re doing, what we can work on and how any issues should be resolved. (This goes for us as well as you, mind.)

No i'm giving people something to work with.

Except that my problem is precisely this: you’re not actually giving us much to work with at all! You’re powering on ahead, inventing stuff all over the place as fast as you can with minimal description of what it involves. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to understand from your brief descriptions what you’re doing and how it all fits together. And on the couple of occasions when people have managed to catch up enough to contribute, you’ve either altered their contributions dramatically or dismissed them altogether.

I think it would help immensely (and certainly make me much less frustrated) if you could clearly lay out the foundations of the world, state what you want us to do or not do, and take a bit more time to explain your ideas so we can understand them more easily.

[bradrn]

If you're going to throw spagetti at a wall to see what sticks (thats an idiom around my part of the RL world), it would be appreciated if you said what you were looking for, and since this is a collab, the rest of us might want to throw spagetti too.

OK, from this point of view, some of the stuff I was ranting about in my last post makes more sense. Still, I’d appreciate it being made more clear whether this is meant to be spaghetti-throwing or not.

[foxcatdog]

I moved one people's location.

[foxcatdog]

I have clear ideas about the Bindingverse since its supposed to be a world where spirits shape each individual part of the world into having different symbolic traditions and rituals. I have clear ideas about my Mythic world meant to be the tale of a struggle of gods and great heroes. This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

[keenir]

I have clear ideas about the Bindingverse since its supposed to be a world where spirits shape each individual part of the world into having different symbolic traditions and rituals. I have clear ideas about my Mythic world meant to be the tale of a struggle of gods and great heroes. This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

Okay, so this is your project, and you want our help and advice? Or is this a collaborative project?

I suppose the obvious answer is "don't nail down things outside of the campaign - leave some options, yes, but no hard-and-fast answers need be writ in stone." Or, as others say, "Let the campaign discover how it extends as the campaign progresses."

If you're going to throw spagetti at a wall to see what sticks (thats an idiom around my part of the RL world), it would be appreciated if you said what you were looking for, and since this is a collab, the rest of us might want to throw spagetti too.

OK, from this point of view, some of the stuff I was ranting about in my last post makes more sense. Still, I’d appreciate it being made more clear whether this is meant to be spaghetti-throwing or not.

I haven't done any throwing. I probably should have given more thought as to how to better turn the old phrase "i'm gonna throw spagetti at a wall, and see what sticks" into an analogy(?) suitable for a collaborative project. sorry.

No i'm giving people something to work with.

Except that my problem is precisely this: you’re not actually giving us much to work with at all! You’re powering on ahead, inventing stuff all over the place as fast as you can with minimal description of what it involves. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to understand from your brief descriptions what you’re doing and how it all fits together. And on the couple of occasions when people have managed to catch up enough to contribute, you’ve either altered their contributions dramatically or dismissed them altogether.

I think it would help immensely (and certainly make me much less frustrated) if you could clearly lay out the foundations of the world, state what you want us to do or not do, and take a bit more time to explain your ideas so we can understand them more easily.

*nods* even if nothing more gets added (which is unlikely, i grant, but if), there are enough circles that can be squared(?) for plenty of interesting discussions and world-building.

Such as Torco's race of people who arrived and are projecting the claim or appearance of being evil -- how do they get along with the people who do evil because they have tattoos that make them do evil? Does the "evil god" like these folk who are treating evil as a theatrical role?

Things like that.

[foxcatdog]

Probably when are evil people are freed from their gods influence they become good. I'm not sure about the relationship between are not evil dragonborn and are evil humans. It depends on how well are god can see through masks and how much they ally with him.

[bradrn]

This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

To me it sounds like you already have some very clear ideas about this, for instance:

• The world is based around magic, not physics.
• It has an epic fantasy setting with heroes and villains.
• There are various different sentient species and races of people, some of which are good and some of which are evil.
• Both good and evil gods exist, and people can be forced to do their will.
• The world was created and shaped by non-natural forces (gods?)

(Not sure if I missed anything, or conversely, assumed too much. Please tell me if I did!)

[bradrn]

I have clear ideas about the Bindingverse since its supposed to be a world where spirits shape each individual part of the world into having different symbolic traditions and rituals. I have clear ideas about my Mythic world meant to be the tale of a struggle of gods and great heroes. This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

Okay, so this is your project, and you want our help and advice? Or is this a collaborative project?

I suppose the obvious answer is "don't nail down things outside of the campaign - leave some options, yes, but no hard-and-fast answers need be writ in stone." Or, as others say, "Let the campaign discover how it extends as the campaign progresses."

Indeed, all of this is really important, and needs to be agreed on before anything else. (Note that I’m very unfamiliar with DND, so for me this is an especially big issue.)

Such as Torco's race of people who arrived and are projecting the claim or appearance of being evil -- how do they get along with the people who do evil because they have tattoos that make them do evil? Does the "evil god" like these folk who are treating evil as a theatrical role?

Ooh, now these are interesting angles to think about… based on what foxcatdog said, I’d suggest the ‘evil god’ wants himself to be worshipped above all else, but I’d really like to hear Torco and foxcatdog’s thoughts on this.

[foxcatdog]

This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

To me it sounds like you already have some very clear ideas about this, for instance:

• The world is based around magic, not physics.
• I has an epic fantasy setting with heroes and villains.
• There are various different sentient species and races of people, some of which are good and some of which are evil.
• Both good and evil gods exist, and people can be forced to do their will.
• The world was created and shaped by non-natural forces (gods?)

(Not sure if I missed anything, or conversely, assumed too much. Please tell me if I did!)

I have no interest in continent shaping
Certainly are Bindinverse is more morally ambiguous since people are shaped by their local spirits, this one is more in line with Mythic World
The listed playable races are generally good i do not consider generally evil races as good ideas for players
To a degree clerics are influenced by their gods as are people through some people have many gods they worship. Also gods possibly only concern themselves with one part of the world such as this Eastern Continent. Gods can also force others to do their will but mainly through a cleric
As in the first point

[bradrn]

This world is meant for a DND campaign and i have no idea how it extends outside of that. I have a vague idea about the struggles of gods and heroes but i'm not sure about the creation of the world.

To me it sounds like you already have some very clear ideas about this, for instance:

• The world is based around magic, not physics.
• I has an epic fantasy setting with heroes and villains.
• There are various different sentient species and races of people, some of which are good and some of which are evil.
• Both good and evil gods exist, and people can be forced to do their will.
• The world was created and shaped by non-natural forces (gods?)

(Not sure if I missed anything, or conversely, assumed too much. Please tell me if I did!)

I have no interest in continent shaping

Well, it sounds like you do, since earlier you rejected Moose-tache’s geological speculations on the basis that ‘The world is formed by magic’.

The listed playable races are generally good i do not consider generally evil races as good ideas for players
To a degree clerics are influenced by their gods as are people through some people have many gods they worship. Also gods possibly only concern themselves with one part of the world such as this Eastern Continent. Gods can also force others to do their will but mainly through a cleric

I have no idea what any of this means. (I suspect because, like I said, I know almost nothing of DND.)