Stars, Planets, and the Cosmos Edition

FAQ:
>What is worldbuilding?
Worldbuilding is the process of creating entire fictional worlds from scratch, all while considering the logistics of these worlds to make them as believable as possible. Worldbuilding asks questions about the setting of a world, and then answers them, often in great detail. Most people use it as a means of creating a setting or the scenery for a story.
>"Isn't there a Worldbuilding general in >>>/tg/ already?"
Yes, there is. However, that general is focused on the creation of fictional worlds for the intended purpose of playing TTRPG campaigns. Here you can discuss worldbuilding projects that are not meant to be used for a roleplaying setting, but for novels, videogames, or any other kind of creative project.
>"Can I discuss the setting of my campaign here, though?"
If you want to, but it would probably be better to discuss it on >>>/tg/ . We don't allow the discussion of TTRPG mechanics, however. If you want to discuss stats or which D&D edition is best, this is not the place.
>"Can I talk about an existing fictional setting that is not mine?"
Yes, of course you can!
>"Does worldbuilding need to be about fantasy and elves?"
Worldbuilding, as already stated above, and contrary to what many believe, does not inherently imply blatantly copying Tolkien. In fact, there are many science-fiction setting out there, and even entire alternative history settings which do not possess supernatural elements at all. Any kind of science fiction book has an implied setting at least, which involves a certain degree of worldbuilding put into it.

Old thread: >>24435084

>>24509493 (OP)
Thread Questions:
>What is the cosmology of your setting like? Is it a universe like ours, or something more fantastical?
>How does the solar system of your setting compare? And how much do people in-setting know about it and the heavens beyond?
>Do the stars and planets have any special significance to the people in your setting, mystical or otherwise, and if so, what is said significance?
>When creating planets and star systems for your settings, what's your process? What guides and resources do you use?
>If travelling between planets is possible for the people in your setting, how does it work? What about between stars and solar systems, and what are your thoughts on FTL in general?

Let’s try this again! As a bonus question for Pride, how are LGBTQ individuals treated in your setting, and what are some ways to promote them being treated well besides having famous figures in-setting be LGBTQ?

>>24509499
>What is the cosmology of your setting like? Is it a universe like ours, or something more fantastical?
On the broad spectrum that will never come into play, my world shares a world with our universe. But it is not earth, rather a completely different planet with earth’s biosphere grafted onto it. This is why all earth life exists in a place with a different geological and tectonic makeup.
>How does the solar system of your setting compare? And how much do people in-setting know about it and the heavens beyond?
We got a moon (multiple, but only one that can be seen with the naked eye), an asteroid belt, and a gas giant
>Do the stars and planets have any special significance to the people in your setting, mystical or otherwise, and if so, what is said significance?
Constellations tell stories of the history of the world, same as anywhere else. Some heroes get “put” among the stars.
>When creating planets and star systems for your settings, what's your process?
Numbers. I love numbers and geometry!
>What guides and resources do you use?
My own knowledge of celestial navigation and astronomy.
>If travelling between planets is possible for the people in your setting, how does it work? What about between stars and solar systems, and what are your thoughts on FTL in general?
It isn’t and never will be
>Let’s try this again! As a bonus question for Pride, how are LGBTQ individuals treated in your setting, and what are some ways to promote them being treated well besides having famous figures in-setting be LGBTQ?
Sometimes adult men do the Roman thing where they assault underage boys. Have no fear, their boys are assaulted by women just as often. No, but seriously. Gay people are not treated very well

Read my shit, thanks!
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/93931/born-under-a-black-sun/chapter/1805076/chapter-1

>>24509499
>If travelling between planets is possible for the people in your setting, how does it work? What about between stars and solar systems, and what are your thoughts on FTL in general
I have a few ideas amongst different ideas but hers one.
I call it [THE VOID].
[THE VOID] is in a sense another realm of paracausality, where the laws of causality are different from out own. A ship can enter it travel for a bit and exit farther than they traveled. there's even layers to it where the deeper you go in [THE VOID] the farther you can go in the same amount of time. The only problem is accuracy.
Traveling through the lines does not guarantee a perfect straight line from A to B, it's more a cone of possible points of exit. The shallow ened isn't actually too bad and you can even add some corrections while still in [THE VOID] (another point to talk about later) but the deeper you go the more the cone grows, with even the most skilled of pilots unable to correct will inside. So there's a tendency and practice of (in especially deep treks) of popping back in standard to get you bearings before going back in.

>>24509493 (OP)
What's a general aesthetic that you think is under used? It's always cyber punk or medieval fantasy.
I'll like to so a Roman-Fantasy story, some Biopunk some more science-Fantasy that leans more into the fantasy than sci-fi

>>24509499
LGBTQ people are exterminated in my story desu, since in my sci-fi future Europe becomes Muslim and implements Sharia

>>24510573
Makes sense.

What are your favorite ideas for horde monsters other than zombies and bugs?

>>24509811
As a necromancy enthusiasts can I ask you your opinion on my take of necromancy/adjacent magic.

>>24511480
Go for it

>>24511783
The mage who engage in the practice of necromancy are called either Spirit Tuners or plainly Necromancers - the titles being mostly superfluous, only really differentiating the legality of the mage. The former being the legal/usually-non-evil variant.
It is the use of Arance Esssence "Deathly Essence" which allows for spells to control Death, Undeath, and Soul. Drain away life, raise corpses, or materialize the soul.
Typically an undead is made by just animating a corpse with the magic, the lingering of the previous soul acting as a sort of basis of how to be. But one can improve the undead by binding a soul to it, allowing for less magic being needed for it and granting more power/intelligence to it. A soul-bound undead is one of either two things: a soul was captured by the Necromancer and made a Soul-Bound or a person who willing gave up their body and soul, making them a Given Undead.
The only other point of note is that the process of magic is not one of gaining power but of making it easier to weild.

Probably jot the most original but I still have my ideas for a Necromancer story,

>>24509493 (OP)
In my setting, I was thinking that the goddess of Life and Death wanted to retire, so she made deals with the god of the Day and the god of the Night to have kids with each of them. She had planned to split the two spheres between each respective child, but they instead they both inherited power over Life and Death, filtered through the Light and Darkness spheres they inherited from their respective fathers. As a result, both healing magic and necromancy have a Light and Darkness variant these days. For Light healing, I was thinking that it would be better at healing people in area-of-effect spells, both to tie into the typical depiction of a fantasy cleric and healing spells and to represent a lantern’s light. Darkness healing, at the other hand, is better at healing single individuals, including the caster. For necromancy, I was thinking that the necromancy would use either Light or Darkness as a replacement for the life force of the body, or as a medium to hit their foes with the essence of death. I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have, especially on the necromancy and undeath angle please. For instance, I was thinking that taking a cue from the White cards from Amonkhet in MtG, mummies could be one of the kinds of undead affiliated with Light necromancy, does that make sense to you? I tried asking in the last thread but it died right after.

>>24512854
can you please call them Untuners

>>24513218
Why

>>24512854
Seems like a completely normal series of necromancer rules to me

>>24513547
Like I said not that original. The only idea that might be wholly unique is my idea of undead empowerment spells; Overcharging and corpses magic to make them stronger; and mockery spells, forms of necromanctic spells thatnseemingly look like other elements but are death magic in practice. Soul fire, death winds, haunt shadows, etc.

Honestly my most unique magic would be Mind Weaving and its use of Dream magic

>>24509493 (OP)
How do sci-fi books justify manually driven spaceships?
I'm beginning to realistic way, space battles would be fought with smart long-range missiles?

>>24514184
Intent and a desire for manual control.
You can tell a computer what you want but I'd have to be pretty advanced to get minutiae and solve problems on their own.

>>24514191
Even modern smart missiles are able to calculate things.
If were are talking technological advances after centuries, they should absolutelybe able to.

Paracuasual Freeze Rays
>Utilizing paracausual science, technology of this kind of tech allows for a field to exist that's capable of taking thermal energy from a given area. This thremal energy is usually then taken to the source of the para-science where the heat is stored and if needed released. By applying directed energy control to it through mastery of electromagnetism this field may be turned into a ray that rapidly takes heat and point oi contact on the tip.

I started writing lore for a tribe I made up. I wanted them to live in fear and pain and base their entire culture around it, their gods and spirits being petty, cruel and absolute. It's been a very different experience than writing a story. The story unfolds like a nature documentary, like a researcher looking in from the outside.

>>24509499
>What is the cosmology of your setting like? Is it a universe like ours, or something more fantastical?
It is like ours, but outside of the solar system i have mostly made up the stars and planets, with some real star thrown randomly if i think it is cool enough.
>How does the solar system of your setting compare? And how much do people in-setting know about it and the heavens beyond?
The Earth was destroyed, and the Moon looms over Saturn's hexagon. Hundreds of thousands of abandoned human-made objects orbit the remaining planets, and planets like Mars are covered in the ruins of ancient settlements rendered uninhabitable by the power of weapons of mass destruction. Some groups go as far as having a vague understanding of the origins of the universe, while others are ignorant or misguided.
>Do the stars and planets have any special significance to the people in your setting, mystical or otherwise, and if so, what is said significance?
Every planet and star has a different disposition toward life: some like it, others don't mind it, some distort it, and others hate it. At least that's what people believe, it's just a rumor, I don't know.
>When creating planets and star systems for your settings, what's your process? What guides and resources do you use?
I just make it up, i only end up thinking about specific details or concepts when i need them for the sake of building specific themes i want to tackle in my setting.
>If travelling between planets is possible for the people in your setting, how does it work? What about between stars and solar systems, and what are your thoughts on FTL in general?
There are many methods: some simply use teleportation, others use "highways" that increase the speed of spacecraft; this is only possible in certain locations. Others employ the costly method of bending space-time, and slow nuclear thrusters also exist. Some can travel through space by their own will, and others invoke the aid of gods, artificial or organic.
>>24510573
Don't Muslim countries have lots of trans people? In Islam being transgender is not as bad as being gay.
>>24510931
Robots! of course. I have lots of these in my setting. You can also try belligerent organized animals like in reverend insanity

>>24509493 (OP)
Feel like I am somewhat decent at making a fictional structure of an organization, like a fictional govt or army, but little else in a story. I've used this in space engineers scenario world building.
Would any of this material be useful if I wanted to make a decent story?

>>24515830
Only really in a military stories. Good way of keeping structure and explaining action.

>>24515030
>Don't Muslim countries have lots of trans people? In Islam being transgender is not as bad as being gay
Only in some parts, where some Muslims see a technical loophole where while being gay is a sin there's nothing bad saying about being made into a woman. If they see a gay man he can either leave, die, or undergo surgery. Kinda a fukced way of "curing homosexuallity". But not all share this belief, both good and bad.

>>24515830
love this

>>24513101
Have you thought of any spells?

>>24509493 (OP)
Does anyone have any suggestions on elemental creatures and monsters? That is, flesh and blood creatures with elemental associations/traits and not forms that masses of the element in question can take the form of. I’m working on a setting where all monsters and magical creatures are aligned with one or two of the classic mystical elements, like Avatar but with more expressions of elemental powers in non-humans and beings not being limited to solely one element. I’ve got some of the more obvious ideas, like sea serpents being Water aligned, down already, and Chimeras make sense for Fire and maybe Earth, with Dragons either being Fire or having a variant for each element, but positive feedback is always welcome.

>>24509493 (OP)
Making my own space fleet organization:

>fleet of 1,000 ships is made up
>20% of fleet is of heavy ships:
>2 capital ships (commanded by rear/vice admiral)
>4 carriers (cm. commodore)
>20 battleships (cm. commodore)
>180 cruisers (cm. captain)
>medium ships make up 30%:
>100 destroyers (cm. commander)
>200 frigates (cm. lieutenant commander)
>light ships make up 50%:
>500 corvettes (cm. lieutenant)

>>24509493 (OP)
Hey, what kind of animals make sense as being associated with each of the Seven Deadly Sins, since it might add some variety to demonic appearances? Rabbit, Bonobos, Roosters and Dolphins might work for Lust, Bulls, Lions, potentially Dragons, and Honey Badgers for Wrath, and Dragons again and Griffins for Greed, literal Sloths, Sheep, and Koalas for Sloth, Bees and Flies for Gluttony, etc., Peacocks for Pride, and creatures that mimic others like Chameleons for Envy are easy options but what else could work for each Sin? Someone else suggested some avian options for each Sin, but I’d like some that are less fowl, lol.

>>24518956
lions should be pride, for greed you can also have monkeys, ants and squirrels

>>24519378
Thanks. If you have any other suggestions for the other Sins, please let me know.

>>24518956
Bears and pandas for sloth.
Some cuttlefish for lust
Spiders for greed or gluttony
Deer for Pride; the real big horned deer.
Cuckoo for envy
And orcas for wrath

>>24509493 (OP)
For the races in my setting, they all were created as collaborative efforts, since the gods are each tied to a specific element, and without combining with the god another element, or even two elements, the best the gods could do is an elemental or a divine servant, with traces of the elements of the gods who didn’t directly contribute worked in because they use a base template (which lets the races interbreed, though the children almost always inherit the race of the mother), with some races having the two elements in rough balance, while in others one element is dominant over the other(s), representing which gods were most active in the process, the elements showing clear influence in the race's physiology and/or typical personalities. The elements are Light, Darkness, Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind. What are some ideas for what I can do for races here? I have the two-element races more or less figured out, like Elves being Light and Earth due to their long lives connection to nature, and ethereal looks that seem to glow, or Nagas being Water and Fire due to having some ties to both in the myths along with their snake parts giving them a liking for warm environments like volcanic tropical islands, so it's the three-element races I need help with, though I can't remember what I was doing for the Water and Earth race now that I think of it. For instance, a race for Light, Wind, and Darkness, someone else I asked suggested something wolf-based? I was thinking that the Wind, Water, and Darkness race might be something like Sirens, what do you think? Someone else suggested that a humanoid version of Carbuncles would work for the Fire/Light/Earth race, what do you say? My best idea for the Wind, Water, and Darkness was some race that inhabits underwater caves. Humans are Light and Darkness. While there are many single-race settlements/nations, and humans often find themselves anywhere, many races tend to get along better and create mixed settlements with races they share element(s) with due to a sort of subconscious affinity, with races tending to revere the gods that created them personally.

As for the magic, I was thinking that while most races can technically learn magic of any element, each race has a much easier time learning magic if the elements that primarily compose them, with humans being outliers in how they have an easier time learning elements besides Light and Darkness. I was also thinking that skilled mages could combine their elements.

If anyone has any feedback for me, especially on the race combinations I haven't filled yet, I'd be happy to hear it.

>>24521753
Every thread you come in and post the same thing and people have stopped caring about it because it's the same damn thing. "Here's my premise guys, here's what you can do. Can you all tell me how to make it."

At this point it seems like you just want random anons on the internet to make your setting for you. To do the creative work.

So here's some advice/feedback: either advance your setting or stop posting this. It's getting boring, you're boring people

>>24521753
Why not just make something up?

>>24521909
don't be mean to anon

>>24510521
Coming up with your own kind of aesthetic. Most stories don't even give that a shoot. Of course it is very hard to not be derivative, but i believe it can be done.

Here’s my basic magic system:
Flowering Magic: Ability to manipulate organic matter
Salt Magic: Ability to manipulate inorganic
Water Magic: Any sort of destructive beam
Fire Magic: Ability to restore and heal matter
Thoughts? I’m trying to keep these 4 kinds of magic very broad. They can be combined to produce magic with more specific effects

>>24522005
Why is water destructive beams?
Naming convention are as important as what they do.

>>24521974
You might have to be an artist first to get it right. Silkpunk was made a couple of years ago but it isn't even know all to well.

>>24522050

Basic water magic spells look like you’re shooting a stream of water. This is just a superficial resemblance. In-universe the name stuck due to a lot of confusion from ignorant observers. I was inspired partially by alchemy, where water is sometimes depicted as a more aggressive element

>>24522079
Fair enough.
The only thihg I would truly change is water and fires effects, mainly fire because if you can truly fully manipulate matter you'd be able to restore them by just sticking them together.
My idea:
Water is the unleashing of energy, outward display of power
Fire is the infusing of energy, a subtle inward use of power.

Fire can help restore but it isn't a instant fix

>>24509493 (OP)
I'm looking for some advice on my dragons concept, which makes my dragons all elemental in nature, the remainders of a primordial time when the forces of the elements where more wild and untamed, creatures that are just as much the essence of their element as they are flesh and blood, unlike most other modern creatures that lean much more towards one or the other. When a flame dragon is using its breath weapon on a target, it’s not merely doing something as mundane as igniting a flammable gas, they’re harnessing the elemental fury in their heart and directing it out of their mouth, like a flame spell that they know from birth, and they don’t typically live in volcanic or desert regions merely because they can withstand the conditions while most other creatures can’t, but because they can actually feed on the heat to help sustain themselves, even allowing themselves to hibernate for years or even centuries at a time. Each element has its own breed(s) of dragon, with a few rare hybrids, water dragons being more serpent-like, with wings that are more like flying fish fins, or more whale-like ones that love deep in the sea, flame dragons being mainly divided into volcano-dwellers like this one and desert-dwellers whose bodies are duller to blend in better with the sand and whose fire breath is more focused and mainly used to heat sand into glass and cut off prey, ice dragons that live on mountains that cause avalanches to bury prey and ones that live in tundra and prefer to disguise themselves and freeze prey solid in ambushes, and so on. Is there anything I need to improve on or ways I can make the dragons of different elements more distinct, or cool things I can do with their breath weapons? And what settings do elemental dragons well, assuming that you don’t have any in your worlds?

>>24522110
Ok, thank you for your feedback

>>24522132
You could make dragons based on more esoteric concepts like “Time”. Like a Time Dragon, whose breaths ages everything into dust

>>24509499
>As a bonus question for Pride, how are LGBTQ individuals treated in your setting
The only tragedy in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is that Lot lost his house.

What would the medieval fantasy equivalent of a Fixer be called? Basically a sketchy guy you go to when you need under-the-table work?

>>24520579
I can see the logic in most of these, but why cuttlefish for Lust?

>>24522748
Broker

>>24522748
Assassin

>>24522748
mercenary

>>24523177
I like this, thanks.

>>24509493 (OP)
A list of the elven major gods of one of my settings. They are the main, fundamental, pantheon of my world. The ones legitimately in charge of what domain they rule over.

My idea for them is that their domains are pretty wide and sometimes can be vague, leaving some uncertainty as to what specifics they are in charge of. In order to help with that problem the gods elect "Saints" of their domains to both guide their worshipers and solidify the relation to a topic.

For example the God of Art, the domain of Art is of paintings, music, and theater and so has a three saints in that area. As well as gambler and prankster saints. And when Bard and jesters start appearing he would elect saints for them as well.

Thoughts and Questions?

>>24524956
Just the word games, it doesn't feel godly

>>24525037
Yeah because these are just their titles.
The basic ideas of what they are .

They'll have names, behaviors, relationships and duties, I just didn't put them here..

>>24525037
Games as in any fun pass time. Sports, cards games, puzzles, gambling.
His major Domain anpphienslty can be described as "entertainment and fun"

>>24522005
Why Flowering and Salt magic?

>>24526582
The man who discovered Flowering Magic mainly used it on himself, it would turn him into a powerful but grotesque flesh beast. He initially felt weary, as he felt inhuman when he used it. One day, he received a “Vision from God” where he was assured that his flesh was not being corrupted, but rather, it was blooming like a flower. He then became convinced that through Flowering Magic, he could transcend his own flesh and become closer to God. As for Salt Magic, in my world common objects are often “tainted” by a supernatural force. These tainted objects cannot be magically manipulated, unless their “Salt” (True Essence) is extracted. By consuming the object’s Salt, the magician becomes capable of manipulating them. Some objects are too corrupted for this process to occur. Water Magic can destroy matter, but traces of it linger in the environment, which can taint objects as well. Fire Magic can purify the tainted matter

>>24524956
How are Saints elected? Are they regular humans, or are they more akin to angels?Do they have any special powers?

So I'm thinking sorcery in my setting inherently causes madness and mutation over time, accelerating if used improperly as the body tries to acclimate to the energies flowing through it. The most learned end up with something minor after long periods of time such as a third eye, sixth finger, or subcutaneous horn. The inexperienced end up having more drastic mutations until they burn out. Also means the more screwed up looking people either never had any guidance and ravaged themselves or have been around a LONG time for it to progress that far.
Artificially awakening these abilities in someone not prepared for it can be very dangerous for this reason.
Thoughts? Critique?

>>24515868
>Only really in a military stories. Good way of keeping structure and explaining action.
Explains how most of my writing feels more like a vague timeline of events than actual stories. Doesn't help being a scenario maker/dungeon master when using stuff like this means I can't really work with characters and personalities.

>>24527010
How are powerful mad sorcerers dealt with? You mentioned that “artificially awakening” can be very dangerous. What is the safest way to learn sorcery?

>>24527091
>How are powerful mad sorcerers dealt with?
I don't know how powerful they can get yet. I'll get back to you.
>You mentioned that “artificially awakening” can be very dangerous.
Yeah. You can brute force spiritual awakening, these abilities are things like ESP, astral projection, so on so forth. Brute forcing it usually involves external intervention, things like government experimentation or if an angel/demon decides to uplift you with their own power. Difference being an angel is at least considerate enough to not give you more than you can handle and protect you from harm.
>What is the safest way to learn sorcery?
Learn occultism the right way basically, study and learn how to channel it through spells, rituals and the like. Priests also carry a degree of spiritual power but their faith and connection to higher powers can offer protection (as I said, entities like angels can shield you from the effects).

>>24526757
The election of Saints are up to the whims of the gods technically, they may turn anyone into one of their Saints if they wish. But they also do have a criteria to them that they do follow.

They must first have an exemplar skill in or releated to their domain. A singer, a soldier, a blacksmith, all masters and prodigies get placed along with a respective god.

Next they must be of decent character. Done via checking the soul and giveing them a moral test.

Finally the must perform a great feat in what they will be a Saint of. This can be varied now; sometimes it's a direct test by the god, other times is merely a display by chance/fate.
A singer is asked to perform an aria thought to be impossible
A blacksmith arms an entire village in two days so they may defend themselves

Once officially elected they are like walking miracles for the rest of their lives and once they die they become like angels - like our version of actual saints - and may be called on in specifics in scripture or tasks.

The main purpose for electing living people to be Saints is so that they may help expand a given god's scripture for the clergy to use for their powers. Kinda like a wizard creating new spells but churchy.

They may be sent to the world more easily as so they may be of help to the people.

>>24528146
It would be pretty funny if the Saints of the God of Trickery pretend to be Saints of another god, to infiltrate their churches and feed their followers complete bullshit

>>24528596
The major gods are all allies, some even family. The 11 I posted are the Good Guys pantheon.

He wouldn't would a citizen goods church but the Saint of Mischief would play large Pranks on them. Dying the clergy cloth in odd colors, whoopee cushions, make a temple smell wrong for a week, etc..

>>24528972
Are there other pantheons?

>>24529687
I don't think you actually care beyond bumping the thread, because these questions never seem to spark any real conversation. You're trying to get people to talk but you don't care what's actually being said.

>>24529687
Both Yes and Technically yes.

There are other, cultural patheons that exist in the world that some other countries and races worship, as well as different religions in a sense. Some pantheons simply have the gods under different names, some have some racial gods to them, and other worship specific, usually of nature, spirits(think shintoism).

There's also Demons that are powerful enough to be worshiped as gods that can have decent effect. This is where the Evil Guys pantheon comes from.

The most interesting idea of a pantheon I have is an Arabic culture that worships weapon Saints; Saint that are tied to a specif type of weapon/fighting style.

>>24522193
That's an interesting idea. Maybe they could be unique specimens in contrast to how most dragons are members of a species? What would the Dragon of Space be like then, both in terms of appearance and breath weapon? What about a Dragon of Order versus a Dragon of Chaos? I can't tell if the former should have lots of angles and right angles while the latter has a lot of curved features or vice versa, to say nothing of breath weapons, especially for the latter.

What did you think of my existing (sub)types of dragons, BTW? I was thinking of including Light and Shadow dragon breeds as well, what could I do for traits and breath weapons for them? Shadow dragons having black hole breath seems OP, and just a smokescreen seems underwhelming, what do you say? A laser for Light dragons is also obvious, how can I spice it up?

>>24509493 (OP)
For worldbuilding stories that revolve around superheroes and villains, what are some archetypes that keep showing up? I mean, there’s plenty of heroes that use their tech to fight crime like Iron Man, detective types like Batman, chessmaster villains, ones who grow or shrink like picture related, psychics, speedsters, elemental manipulators, plant controllers, ones with animal-themed aesthetics/powers like Wolverine, magic users and others who get their abilities from the supernatural side of things, etc. Obviously there’s some overlap, like Batman also having an animal theme, but what other archetypes can you think of?

>>24531613
Mutants and Mastermind - a ttrpg - has the answers for you

>>24531613
Honestly I don't personally like super heroes, i don't think it is realistic. If random people had super powers life would be very different from what we have now.

What do your worldbuilding notes look like? So far, I've basically been writing a Wiki, down to tone and structure, but lately I've been wondering if I should be writing them as instructions for myself, the same way one who's working on a group project like a cartoon or movie would. Or at least doing that in addition, I don't know. Any guidance would be appreciated.

>>24530914
Yeah, it would make sense that more powerful dragons are unique, instead of belonging to a species. Maybe other dragons see them as deities? I think that a Dragon of Space should be one of those creatures where the observer can’t really make out what they’re seeing. At most they kind of see a vaguely draconian silhouette. I would imagine that it doesn’t have wings, or doesn’t really use them, since it can just manipulate space to fly. As for it’s breath weapon, I think it could be kind of like an imperceptible wave that it emits, that can violently rearrange everything around it, like fusing a person to a nearby wall.

Dragons of Order and Chaos could be interesting. I would imagine that a Dragon of Order would be kind of expressionless and statue-like. A Dragon of Chaos doesn’t need a fixed form, it’s body could change constantly. As for breath weapons, the former could make objects hit by its breath incapable of being changed or manipulated. This could be pretty deadly, if a group of people is already injured, getting hit by the Dragon of Order’s breath would make it basically impossible to heal them. For the latter, its breath weapon could make things mutate, just like what happens to its own body.

I think your subtypes are conceptually fine. However powerful Light and Shadow Dragons are depends on their place in your world. If they’re incredibly rare, it would make sense for them to be powerful. Maybe their black hole breath isn’t as powerful as a real black hole. A Light Dragon could have some sort of Charm ability, that kind of gives observers brain damage, they don’t think of anything but contemplating the Light Dragon. Of course, this would mean that they wouldn’t be capable of fleeing or defending from an attack.

>>24532396
a bunch of disconnected dots on an obsidian vault with a bunch of extensions i don't use

>>24531691
>If random people had super powers life would be very different from what we have now.
What do you think it would be like then?

>>24533977
>WhAt Do YoU tHiNk It wOuLd Be LiKe tHeN?
kys

>>24509499
>What is the cosmology of your setting like? Is it a universe like ours, or something more fantastical?
>How does the solar system of your setting compare? And how much do people in-setting know about it and the heavens beyond?
>Do the stars and planets have any special significance to the people in your setting, mystical or otherwise, and if so, what is said significance?

In my setting space isn't real. The planets are living organisms that generate life. After the natives of Mars did some unspeakable act and killed the planet itself, the Gaia created a mental construct which created a barrier between herself and her other siblings in the solar system, and between the solar system and that which lies beyond. Some people know, some don't. There are aliens from outside that came in due to a weakening of the veil, a small trickle from the bombs dropped throughout the 20th century, and then a sudden flood of aliens after the world was destroyed by nuclear war.

I will post one of the creation myths as a reply.

>If travelling between planets is possible for the people in your setting, how does it work? What about between stars and solar systems, and what are your thoughts on FTL in general?

Outside of the sol system you can walk from planet to planet by travelling in 4th dimensional space. The veil that shields the sol system

>>24534152
In the beginning, all was one and whole. There was no individuation, there was only a single point. The cosmos was but a foetus, gestating in the void and without consciousness. It was an instant and an eternity, it was a void composed of pure light, but it came to an end.

The first beings were pure thought, the universe's own self-referential consciousness, an infinitude of light in an empty plane. The Primordials, beings of pure thought, first came to recognize themselves. They were one but also many, they were together but also alone, and so Ego was born. And The Primordials ceased to have one thought, but many thoughts, they ceased to have one form but many forms.

And as the many recognized their Ego, they came to recognize the distance between each other. They called this distance The Darkness, and The Darkness was timeless and spaceless, just as the Primordials were. And they reached across The Darkness to touch each other, but they were without shape, and so in order so that they may feel each other to alleviate their anxieties over The Darkness they created the body, and the body was of the spirit but less than the spirit. And so they gave themselves hands to feel, eyes to see, ears to hear, but also appendages to touch with, a physical form to be seen, and a mouth to speak with.

And the body was a poor substitute for the spirit, and The Darkness only grew and grew, and as they came to know The Darkness, they despaired. They made themselves to reach out and touch, but The Darkness between them only grew wider. They screamed out in terror but they departed faster than the sound could travel between them. At last their views went from a divine body, to a distant light, until they were finally drenched in total darkness. And The Primordials came to know something other than love.

And when they could no longer see each other, they created the stars to keep them company, but the stars only displaced them further. They created the planets to try to touch each other again, putting a part of themselves in the planets, but this too only caused them to accelerate in their departure from each other. At last they tried to abandon the material, but were trapped, their body and spirit divided by a veil, and only their emotions entered the realm of spirit, and so the daemons were created, good and evil.

And in grief they sobbed, and their tears came to fill the many planets with oceans, and the oceans were filled with life. And the planets saw life and nurtured it, shaped it, and made it alike to themselves and to The Primordials. And the life was made of consciousness but was not conscious, and so it was for eons.

And as they filled the space between themselves, they only drifted further.

I'm going to create a world where everything is exactly like this one but I have a gf

>>24533977
People would live under the rule of people with super powers, obviously, the democratic rule of law would be a benefit granted on the whims of them.
Authoritarian world governments would become much more common.
>>24534013
You are not me, retard.
>>24534169
That is called an hypersigil

The more I read about the history of feudalism the more I regret caring enough to try and do it right. Victorian nonsense is much more straightforward, I now have a lot of angst over the thought of failing to communicate this functionally alien social structure to an audience.

>>24535160
How can it be convoluted? It is pretty straightforward, unless you are aiming for historical accuracy, but then that is not world building.

>>24532475
I was thinking that sapient dragons would be only the most powerful and oldest members of their species, but that's an idea.

After the last post I was thinking that an Order Dragon might have a vaguely crystalline and/or mechanical aesthetic. So the breath weapon could basically freeze the target in place and negate healing? That's an idea. Not 100% sold on the constant mutations for Chaos, but it's a start.

I was thinking that they might be rarer than other types but still a species rather than unique. Okay, the charm ability for Light dragons is a cool idea. Do you have any more ideas for Shadow dragons please?

>>24516632
Nothing in particular beyond what I've already mentioned, why do you ask?

>>24535988
If the Light Dragon is a sort of counterpart to the Shadow Dragon, it would fit thematically for the latter to have a Breath Weapon that has a mental effect as well. Maybe it can make people remember their most painful memories, like a PTSD blast?

>>24536394
It also occurred to me that these dragons’ breath weapons would probably influence their behavior. Since they both use mental attacks, maybe they aren’t very physically strong (compared to other dragons) They prefer ambushing people with their breath weapons. The Light Dragon eats people when they’re charmed, while the Shadow Dragon’s more of a scavenger. It mostly eats the corpses of people it drives to suicide after experiencing their memories. You could go even further and say that they don’t only get sustenance from physical food, but also from emotions they produce. Light Dragons are massive narcissists, so they “eat” the words of praise from charmed people, they may even keep some charmed people alive so they receive praise constantly. The Shadow Dragon might eat the “fear” from its victims, so it intentionally drags out its feeding to torment the prey

>>24535825
It's a massive complex web of blood relations. So and so is related to so and so and he married his aunt but they divorced, that lady is a princess from a foreign land and is the regent for the cousin who is too young to rule but we don't like her, such and such vassals are upset about not getting enough and so are a potential source of problems... Etc. It's more complex than hierarchical pyramid where someone reports to one guy all the way up to the king that people usually imagine. And also preparing that complexity is a lot of work for potentially no satisfaction but my own.

>>24536394
I don't want to delve too far into stereotyping Light as "good" and Shadow as "Evil", though maybe a fear blast, to tie into the fear of the dark, can work, thanks.

>>24536459
Oh, I didn't even see this before writing the above one, lol. This is a cool idea, thanks. Do you have any other thoughts on my dragons, including what I might do for the aesthetics of the different breeds?

>>24537081
On paper it sounds like a fun read, i personally dig that kind of thing

>>24537492
What other ideas do you have? I could give you some feedback

>>24509493 (OP)
I’m working on a setting where if one overuses a kind of magic it can start to physically affect them. And mentally, but that’s more of a chicken and egg thing. Depending on the specific spells used and the personality the exact traits that the user will gain/be altered will vary. For example, one illusion-focused mage might get eyes that slowly shift colors, while another might get ones that look like mirrors, etc. This is particularly pronounced for elemental magics. Speaking of, I’m looking for some more ideas on how users of the different elements might have their appearances change due to their magics besides hair made out of their element, eyes colored/glowing the color of said element, skin colored to match their element, or glowing marks in the shape of their element. There’s giving them traits of animals associated with their element, but what else works?

>>24509493 (OP)
The theme of the people of the Ruun
We suffer. We see. We survive.

The Ruun believe they were once a sky people, living upon the high plateaus that touched the clouds. But the gods grew jealous of their arrogance and struck down their spires with flame and thunder. The survivors tumbled into the earth, and from the ashes, they learned humility.
“The sky is a lie,” the shamans say. “The truth lives in blood and soil.”
From that day, all wisdom was to be earned through agony. Knowledge could not be read, it had to be bled. The Ruun became a people of ritual, of trial, of becoming.

The Ruun believe reality is thin, a brittle membrane separating the waking world from the Overworld, where the true spirits dwell. Most humans live blind, unable to pierce this veil, but through pain, sacrifice, and suffering, they can weaken it. Their oracles are not mystics by choice. They are the sacrificed, made divine. The body must be broken for the soul to slip through. Thus, all rituals are designed not for comfort, but for clarity through ordeal.

That's the basic tenet, I built on it layer by grimy layer, exposing the rot.

I got this from an other thread, what is your fist association with this?

>>24509499
>? Is it a universe like ours, or something more fantastical?
I'm working on alternative elements, but it's pure speculation or rathe pure fantasy. I put it on hold, as I want the elements fit with the rest of the setting.
>cosmology
Multiverse exists, but no idea how people should know. I want to implement time loops, but they don't make much sense, do they? Also looking for a trigger for a time loop? Best I have is some ancient gizmo. Not very imaginative, I admit.
>solar system
Three suns, each a different size.
>stars and planets
It's the only planet in the solar system.
>process
I do have an algo by now. First I think of a colour, this colour get banned from the setting. Then 8 choose 4 colours that don't match with this colour, and they are my base colours. From these colours I choose fitting moods, emotions aso and from there I set the theme. The theme is used for wording and the first like 50 words set time period, technology and all the other things, basically what matches with the words I choose. And then I'm usually in the flow and hyperproductive. As I'm poor af, I can't possibly do anything else with my finished stories, systems aso.

>>24510931
Robotses - Low quality and mass produced but good anough at holding a gun, see B-1 droid from Star wars

Demons - Reson to have a mindless horse AND human-like characters representing it, as different kinds of higher tiered demons leading hordes of low tier demons is,i think, easier to stomach than zombies being led by specialer zombies.

>>24537860
Is the system complete custom made? Side effects are a good idea. Are there counterspells?

>>24537492
>fear of the dark
This reminds me of a time I went on a cave tour and the guide told everyone to stay still. She turned off the lights and I was pretty much stiff and couldn't move. Apparently when eyes don't have anything visible to focus on you're body works overtime to try and get a grip. So maybe this could be a variation on the breath from the darkness dragon. It's not deadly on it's own so I'd imagine this would be a wide range attack. It would be useful for groups, to suddenly rob them of sight, and the ability to move, leaving the victim helpless.
I think I'd like to call this "Null Breath". Seems to fit an attack that seems to takes away so much that you feel like you're experiencing nothingness to the point that you're body struggles to actually experience anything.

>>24515030
>Don't Muslim countries have lots of trans people? In Islam being transgender is not as bad as being gay.
I think that's mostly an Iranian and Pakistani thing. It's not necessarily Islamic but something older or even pre-Islamic in the culture of those countries. South Asian as opposed to Arabian.

The Line of Magic

Magic is real and can basically do whatever want, but it can also be unstable and corruptible, transforming those who use it terribly. How you use magic is pit on a lone, one that helps determine the safety and power of it
From Left to right(dangerous to safest);
Grand-Practiced-Tied-Bound

Grand magic is using magic in its most base form. Tying it to yourself and using it as you wish,an extension of your form. One of the only limitation is usually having it stick to a theme e.g. Fire magic, Mirror magic, etc. This makes the magic extremely flexible and powerful but is the most unstable wherein even if you don't have fuck up you'll still be affect - Like exposing yourself to radiation

Practiced magic is following set actions and instructions to cast magic. The most classical of spellbooks and tomes. Safe in that constant use won't affect you but a they can still be fucked up. It can be described akin to coding; Premade blocks can be used and you can also modify the blocks for more specifics if skilled

Tied Magic is magic imbued into objects, both simple and complex. Tools that use the power of magic or magical power in items. They have very little room for flexibility in what they can do but due to their set nature they have no backfire for magical use

Bound magic any power that comes from an entity. Akin to Tied but more powerful, nearly as powerful as Grand. The magic that comes from other entries comes from a trade or agreement of soem form - a one time action that gives a one time power, a subservience/contract for constant power, or a on-call trade for. It costs soemthing but the power can honestly be worth it.

>>24534155
>In the beginning, all was one and whole. There was no individuation, there was only a single point. The cosmos was but a foetus, gestating in the void and without consciousness. It was an instant and an eternity, it was a void composed of pure light, but it came to an end.
Yawn
>first beings
What made them beings when they are thought, pure at that?
>AND AND AND
and
>despaired
?
>darkness grew wider
How can darkness grow and why did it grow?
>they drifted furthet
Aha, why?

>>24538416
I was thinking less effects of a spell being miscast and more of a cumulative buildup of magic in the mage’s system kind of thing. And yeah, there’s a few treatments, but the most efficient method is simply limiting spell use.

>>24538606
Thinking of the metaphysics of this system:
Grand: magic supported by the practitioner’s own soul / spirit. High investment, high reward, high risk.
Practiced: magic supported by the shared reality / noosphere / dreamworld etc of the magic society which created the formulae. Investment built up incrementally over time and many practitioners, risks assumed by society, and perhaps unforeseen consequences when relying on magic from non-human, ancient or evil / cult sources.
Tied: magic supported by the world-concept or spirit etc of an object. Low investment and localized consequences, but power may scale with the size / value / power etc of the object depending on how it’s weighted metaphysically in the world. Eg, a stone is much less powerful media than the shell of a dragon egg or a branch taken from the World Tree, etc.
Bound: magic the practitioner recieves as a result of beseeching something or someone else. Maybe there are Practiced magics which people believe are spells but which are actually contract fulfillment requests, ie, a fire spell is actually requesting a loan from an alien fire deity based on a pact made with an evil cult a millenials ago to trade incremental access to the world in exchange for on-demand fire; the fact that the fire produced seems to get stronger over time is believed to be an amplification effect of the the spell becoming popular all over the world (making the basis of Practiced magic stronger) but it’s really because the fire deity is getting closer to their reality. Maybe there’s all sorts of entities who want a stake in reality and practitioners can game the system to get the most benefit.

>>24537563
Then you might enjoy reading history books. I'm not saying this to insult you btw, so much of every history book boils down to describing how all these fucking idiots are related to each other some way.

>>24538387
>first association
My mind lept immediately to the Black Spiral Dancers from the Werewolf RPG. The spiral dance is a ritual dance by which werewolves undergo progressively harrowing physical and mental ordeal and attain an evil awakening at the end of it and become Black Spiral Dancers regardless of the clan they originated from.

>>24532396
>but lately I've been wondering if I should be writing them as instructions for myself, the same way one who's working on a group project like a cartoon or movie would. Or at least doing that in addition, I don't know
what do you mean instructions for yourself, do you mean like lists of techniques to use in different paragraph types, as in different sentences, subject choices, comparison-options, etc? or do you mean something else

>>24539395
Rules on how to depict the element in question, things to do and not to do, that sort of thing.

>>24539174
Where does it build up and what exactly? What's the treatment? When discovered and by whom? Is he trans? Are you? Permanent damage possible? (like trans)

>>24539374
Like the morag tong, just derwish edition?

>>24539304
Your kidna right. I all ready panned or it in a metaphysical sense and I will mention right now that in the setting it's fairly modern day. What helped was that magic seemingly and suddenly returned in the early-1990's.

Correction in my story are
>Grand
You're actually right on that, the soul is essentiallythe main wielder. But due to the soul being ethereal, magic does much affect it. Magic mutates the body in strange and ironic way. Earth mages find stones growing out of their body ironic.

>Practiced
It's less based on shared reality and more familiar practices. When building a tall temple pyramids are the best shape to use. Commonality is more likely to call it. There isn't really a build up instead it's a growth of variety. Choices over power.

In fact you can technically call Grand-Practice section flexibility over stability

>Tied
Kinda right on that but this the end goal you have to add weight to. Caliburn, the sword of kings, can be remade as a bat if you intend to do it as such. It'll be hard work but ti can be done. But I will say that using already magical materials can add more omf to it.

>Bound
The entities don't exist in another metaphysical realm, they are sadly, very physically present. Monsters and and powerful beings walk the earth but the most powerful do their own thing. Both cna be negotiated with to get some power in ways similar to what you said..

When magic first came back grand magic was thought to be the only kind. Then magical items came into existence and Tied was added. Grand magic was starting to be seen as unstable so Practiced was made. And finally when Monsters flooded the world and the people essentially lost it to them, the desperate made deals and Bound was solidified.

Magic ended the world, and now the only way to survive is to use it.

>>24510573
How did Islam conquer the world?

>>24542086
Through jihad of course!

>>24539374
What happens if they mess it up?

https://rentry.co/7k5th3pn
I actually started writing these vignettes to get names and to find the kind of sweet spot of technology I need for a dystopian sci-fi setting. I'm still not sure what I'm going for with the names and the kind of cultural/political setting they land me in but each story brings me a bit closer to the right amount of tech saturation I think would drive the type of plot I'm ultimately looking for

Correct me if I'm wrong here.....but any true science fantasy work has implicitly handed victory to fantasy. Science can't permit the supernatural or unscientific to exist, so they need to rationalize it....but you obviously can't rationalize magic! Any attempt to do so just makes you look like a pretentious idiot.

>>24542889
Do you mean like Star Wars or more like Phantasy Star?

>>24542958
Star Wars. Or Dune, really.

Magic always ends up taking precedence.

I think my creativity just dies when it comes to animal people, at least when it comes to naming them.

The Ape Men I am thinking of calling Simians, and leaving at that.

The cat people, ( who are literally just cats who can stand up right, use tools dexterously, and usually wear cloths, but otherwise look like house cats) I call Kots.

And I haven't even thought of a name for the bird people.

>>24542979
I mean it can be balanced. In Dune as you said the only major magic is the Sight, which while it is the focus it isn't the only power. Everything needs to be still grounded around it. Even star wars has it so that while the force can do next to anything, that doesn't mean technology isn't equal to it.

You don't have to radicalized magic but the best way to make it equal is to have it be reasonable with science.

You know what I realized?
Even very well connected settings have the upperclass exclusively prefer things *from their own region*.
Which seems flavorful (heh) on first blush but doesn't actually reflect how people have historically eaten outside of the poor to low middle class, turbo isolationists and xenophobes and even then many anti western dictators often had stashes of American movies or English whiskey.

>>24542889
You don't understand science enough to make that kind of call.
Metallurgy is a science. That doesn't mean we understand why certain alloys behave a certain way and in fact the practice predates writing itself.

>>24543776
Metallurgy is not a science. Metallurgists might implement science, but metallurgical practice is a technology.

>>24544321
if you are this picky then what is the point of comparing fantasy to science, one is obviously referring to the potential usages of both when discussing this

>>24544393
Perhaps the point is to try and convince people that fantasy sucks and he hates it so people should stop writing it.

In my environment, animal people are descendants of furries who decided to genetically modify themselves to resemble anthropomorphic animals. Thousands of years later, they face discrimination for their criminal tendencies and unstable personalities.
They are known to suffer from terrible physical ailments that are difficult to treat, as their bodies are often replete with peculiar and unique physiological characteristics.
Because of this, and since most lack the means to hire a team of specialists dedicated to treating their unique bodies, they incorporate a wide variety of improvised bionic devices within their bodies that replace multiple organs or add unnecessary ones, giving them complications or additional physical abilities.
The lower classes resemble chimeras, their lineages often combining multiple animals, some of which are already extinct, while the comparatively healthier upper castes use fewer bionic augmentations and are less mixed.
Within their culture, a common theme is the belief that their miserable state is a punishment for the hedonism of their ancestors. Faced with this, some of them seek revenge on the rest of humanity, forming gangs of space pirates and working with the criminal underworld, while others practice autarky on distant planets, following the commandments of a white-furred messiah who promises absolution in exchange for virtue.
What do you think?

>>24509493 (OP)
Besides Succubi and Incubi, Imps, Hellhounds, plague demons, demons that cause hatred with their presence, possessors, shadow demons, crossroads demons, fallen angels, warriors, and demon lords, what other infernal archetypes exist?

>>24545238
i don't know if these fit in any of the archetypes but a concept i often encounter when reading supposedly "real" scary stories

>>24545267
is these demon that guard special places, like forests or bridges, and either demand that people leave or bring sacrifice as for allowing them passage

>>24545238
Cambions, Gozu and Mezu, contract demons, embodiments of disorder, alien-demon, low-frequency spirits, demons created by magical corruption, demons manifested from hyperstition, negative embodiments of the dual nature of a pantheistic deity.

>>24543278
I mean, the greatest technological terror the Galaxy ever saw got wrecked by a single rookie Force user.

>>24546144
It still took an army, a leaking of private information, an exploitative weak point, an mechanical skill to get there.

>>24545306
>negative embodiments of the dual nature of a pantheistic deity.
Can you explain more on this topic please?

>>24546906
Some pantheist religious traditions maintain moral dualism, in that good and evil are embodiments of the multifaceted, all-encompassing wholeness of the divine. The demonic, and evil spirits generally, are manifestations of that evil facet.

Think of Brahma in some pantheistic sects of Hinduism, and how the other deities are just different manifestations of Brahma. Everything is Brahma, and yet good and evil gods exist and are in a state of conflict.

>>24509493 (OP)
Any album recommendations for fantasy worldbuilding? I will be out of town without internet for a few weeks and I want to download some albums. Preferably folk music.

>>24547975
I am more of a power metal and hard electronic kind of guy when doing imaginings.

How do you feel about rhapsody of fire?

This would-building thing is long and hard and I'm doing it on easy mode where everything is just modeled after the mid 1900s America. Like I just remembered that I have to think about the accents people have and the sight different word choices of each section uses. Thee. There's the clothing and food. Yeah this is insane.

>>24509493 (OP)
>Niggerworld
>Everyone exclusively drives caddilacs
>Rap is blasted in public spaces
>everyone has an EBT card
>never ending series of gang wars
>follows the thrills of war, sex and love
>turns out the niggers were expelled from the earth long ago onto a welfare planet made just for them
>bix nood

>>24509493 (OP)
bump

>>24547975
Seconding this please.

>>24548464
>twist ending: the final chapter takes place in a mountainous landfill and they discover it was once the grand canyon. It was Earth all along!

I am trying to nail down how certain aspects of the MC works compared to others in the world.
Both him and his pardner/sidekick can do both particular/preset powers but also have a pool of energy to do more flexible powers/magic with.
They also both have separate ways of gaining energy to use their powers, and have negative effects of going too low on energy, where their body literally starts being consumed and converted to energy if they use too much.

I hope I explained it well enough.
Anyway, while I got the sidekick's powers and resource figured out. (They can dramatically enhance their physical abilities as their active power, and have a sort of spidy sense style reflexive precognition as their passive power, and are basically a vampire who gains energy by drinking the "essence" of others using blood as a medium during a bite. Simple)
I mostly worked out the MC's power set (passive ability is ESP that can be enhanced or expanded by using dowsing tools. automatic ability of direct eye contact creating a telepathic link, which when focused triggers a telepathic trance, and the active ablity of very limited matter manipulation that is both slow and requires total focus as well as drains energy quickly.)
I was thinking of maybe some sort of passive energy conversion from the environment as their main source. Like converting heat or environmental psionic resonance into the magical energy at a slow but regular rate, but I can't think of a good active way of gaining energy that has as much thematic impact as vampire bites.
I just am looking for second opinions since I am going a bit far into my own head with this.

tl;dr
What is a interesting way for a MC to quickly recharge their magic/psionic energy stores?

>>24550893
Just riffing but I'll put together a list of ideas

Emotional energy. By making people around him experience an emotion, he can harness that energy to recharge. I guess this is more of an empath thing but still.

Memories. Something like the more important the memory siphoned off, the more energy.

IQ. Make them more retarded to power up.

Parasitism. MC can't eat food himself due to his powers, he physically interfaces with another person and uses their digestion process in order to absorb their calories instead of them.

Hormone theft. Kind of a cheap copy of the vampire, but stealing from the adrenal gland, the thyroid, etc.

Infection. Infecting people with a parasitic disease that shares some sort of psychic connection with the MC. The MC has to stay in range of the person in order to continue to absorb their energy, and after a while the disease dies.

I think I finally sorted out Caster Guns for my world.

Hand Casters = usually single shot hand guns that fire spell shells.
Skilled arcane artist make heavy use of on the fly spell modifiers somewhat similar to sorcerer meta magic. Also makes a great side arm in general.

Mult-casters = shotgun sized that holds several spell shells with a manual cycling mechanism
Users are less likely to use on the fly spell modifiers and tend to be far richer due to the cost of shells. Sometimes comes enchanted/engraved with a single spell modifier, but really it's main advantages is blasting usually the same spell over and over as quickly as mechanically operating the weapon. Such as working the pump, leaver, bolt, etc.

"Tumpers" (haven't thought of a more official name for them) = personal grenade launcher type weapons.
They use extra large spell shells that almost always have spells with area of effect or explosive effects, with the disadvantage of range, cost, and difficulty in making spell shells

And lastly
Longcasters = long range rifles
Uses very specialized spell shells and often has many built in adjustable enchantments/engravings and spell modifiers as well as arcane artist being able to use their own spell modifiers on top of the enchants. Also capable of pinpoint accuracy at extreme ranges.
Main downside is it takes a extremely skilled user to make full use of it, the longcasters are themselves extremely expensive/hard to build, and the spell shell casings are harder to get compared to other spell shells which are mostly standardized.

Might add in some sort of equivalent to grenade that isn't just called a spell grenade or spell bomb. Maybe witch bottle, hex capsule. It don't know. Hasn't come up in story yet.

>>24517137
>Does anyone have any suggestions on elemental creatures and monsters?
Some ideas from the top of my head; make these creatures seem like forces of nature unto themselves, a sea serpent for example would cause great waves or create whirlpools by simply just moving through the water, which forces merchants to account for the movements of sea serpents (if sailing is even a thing in a setting like this). Maybe you have a town where everyone's homes are carved into the rocky walls of a mountainside or a ravine, to avoid the tremendous windstorms kicked up by the local Thunderbird. For earth you could go with a fantasy classic like Ents, or maybe some other kind of creature that is intrinsically tied to the land, I don't really have any good ideas here. Fire seems like the easiest and the hardest to me, depending on how you do it, you could go with a classic fire breathing dragon that slumbers within a dormant volcano, who occasionally flies out and wreaks havoc on the nearby towns and cities, maybe the cities and towns would have emergency shelters where they could wait out dragon attacks, or maybe the existence of such creatures would force the people of this world into more underground living conditions while occasionally foraging on the surface while monster activity was low.

Good luck with your setting anon, I love interesting interpretations of monsters and how their existence would impact humanity and challenge how preconceived notions of how we're meant to live.

>>24518243
>points harnessed neutron star cannon at you
>vaporizes your entire fleet
Heh, nothin' personnel kiddo.

>>24527146
>Yeah. You can brute force spiritual awakening, these abilities are things like ESP, astral projection, so on so forth. Brute forcing it usually involves external intervention, things like government experimentation or if an angel/demon decides to uplift you with their own power. Difference being an angel is at least considerate enough to not give you more than you can handle and protect you from harm.
Reminds me of how in Hunter x Hunter some people would forcefully awaken Nen in others by attacking them with it, most people who learned it this way end up as cripples with a grudge who circlejerk in their fighting arena tower. Not really all that similar when you get into the details but I've always like the idea that someone being "forced" to learn magic could be very harmful to them. It can be used in a lot of ways too, like maybe someones magic teacher tells them to read some cursed tome and the student has no idea, so now the student has evil magic runes carved on their brain driving them crazy, just to satisfy the masters curiosity with the books magic...or something.

>>24544799
Anything can probably work if it's well executed.

Would love to see such a story played totally straight.

>>24537860
They have effects on the area around them like warming a area or raising the humidity of enclosed spaces they are in.
Start having certain smells associated with the element they use a lot.
Skin conditions related to the spells and elements, like blisters or frost burns that never quite go away.
Odd cravings both physical and mental, such as wanting to eat chalk or a constant craving for hot spicy drinks.
Odd growths like scales that are resistaint to negative external effets of the magic they use the most, hard parts of their skin that have partially petrified from overexertion of their localized mystical energies, horns or antennae that are attuned to certain kinds of magical energies, new organs or glands growing internally and other hints that if they keep down the path they are on the results will be inhuman.

Things can go full body horror if you like, but I will stop there.

>>24510931
Mobs of entranced/brainwashed but otherwise normal people.

Makes dealing with them less straightforward then outright slaughtering them for even mildly good characters and shows who the characters are and their whole worldview seeing how they deal with such a situation and the fallout of their choices.

On the total opposite end a golem hoard can show off how powerful or cleaver someone is to deal with unfeeling difficult to damage relentless automatons.

In the middle is my personal favorite, the improbably large group of persistent bad dudes. You know the group of bad guys in martial arts movies, some action movies, and video games that seem to just keep coming in large numbers to try and overwhelm the MC. The rooftop full of ninjas. The alleyway full of endless thugs, the bad guy's drug warehouse where all the workers also happen to know kung fu for some reason.
While great in visual media it can also be interesting in stories to show the MC's tactics, thought process, and grit to get past or survive such a overwhelming challenge. Or be a reasonable way competent characters can still hit their limit get beat up a bit and captured for plot reasons.

>>24509499
>how are LGBTQ individuals treated in your setting
Currently working on a mult-world plot with three fleshed out so far and probably one more on the way.

So one is basically normal world+. Main difference is psionics and "anomalies" are a rare and usually hidden thing, and shadow organizations specialize in dealing with such things.
So such things are basically treated the same as they are in the real world technically, though in the story it's self it's arguable if it ever comes up at all since my autistic ass refuses to write anything even close to about relationships or romance. Write what you know and all that jazz.

One of the other worlds is flat out post-apocalyptic, post being broken by eldritch abominations/absurdly powerful beings.
So most locations are in a state of anarchy and survival with only small pockets of order. As such people generally do what they want in that regard and literally no one cares because there are way bigger issues to deal with, like dealing with their food supply spontaneously mutating from a storm of cosmic radiation which has in turn caused the local rats to develop a hive mind. Or other wacky shit like that. Nobody is "treated well" because the world it's self is hostile to everyone most of the time.

And the other other world is a Magocracy, where T doesn't really exist,at least for the well off, due to there being spells for that, and Q is more of a sign of decadence due to it being expressed in that world through use of expensive fashion and magics. In that world it quite literally is a luxury belief.
LGB in that world ironically is treated quite well in lower classes but because of a focus on legacy and bloodlines by the upper class can cause issues.
Can you tell that this one is way more about class issues than anything else?

>>24550893
Either brain eating like mindflayers or eye contact that drains mental energy.
Looking into someone's eyes hypnotized them and he can drain mental energy through there.

>>24553982
> eye contact that drains mental energy.
That is a decent idea and could work while fitting the powers and theme.
Better then the idea I was leaning towards, which was basically "tapping the land" by actively meditatiing on the feeling of a location through their extra sense to draw and gather energy to themselves from the spirit of that place.
While interesting the tapping the land for magical energy doesn't thematically fit.

Meanwhile this telepathic energy drain fits more with being the one with a enhanced mind at the cost of draining other minds compared to their pardner who is of enhanced body at the cost of draining the blood of others.

>>24554038
You mean like ley line tapping?

>>24554045
Was more inspired from Magic the Gathering, but more of a general genius loci of the direct surroundings rather than memories of distant locations.

>>24551182
What about a mine equivalent?