What Worlds Are You Building?

[dragonprobably]

I know there is a lot of overlap between people who play Civ and people who like to do worldbuilding projects so I thought I'd make a thread for it. Here, you can share your projects, ask for criticism, or admire other's works.

I'll also keep a list of worldbuilding resources here. I'll update this as time goes by.

Resources:

Websites:​

• Undiscovered Worlds - An in-depth procedural world generator that allows you to generate not just Earth-like planets but more extra-terrestrial planets. Gives enough detail that you can make maps of not just the world, but regions and other areas of interest. Made by our own @Plotinus
• Donjon - While it might be a site meant for TTRPGs, it has several helpful tools for worldbuilding projects.
• Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator - In-depth fantasy map generator perfect.
• Flag Maker Jr. - Simple and easy-to-learn flag maker.
• Armoria - Generator for coats-of-arms with options for how they're generated AND you can edit the generated coats-of-arms, if needed.
• Vulgarlang - Random conlang generator. Gives phonemes, grammar, words, and more. Even has a translator.

Books:​

• The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding - A solid guide for worldbuilding, both for TTRPGs and for writers. Contains essays from several notable RPG worldbuilders.
• The Art of Language Invention - An essential for anyone who wants to get into conlanging.

 

[dragonprobably]

I'm currently working on a project that is a Fantasy Cold War of sorts. I haven't decided what I'll use the world for at the moment, but I am enjoying just using the world as a sort of sandbox to dump random ideas into.

I've, for the most part, figured out the world's magic system and the three main disciplines of it. I still have a few kinks to work out but for the most part I've got it to my liking. Here it is in short:

Spoiler :

The Components of Spellcasting:

1. Incantation: The coded instructions for a spell.
2. Conductor: The material magic moves through into our reality.
3. Anchor: A piece of organic material that anchors magic to our world.
4. Interfacer: What magic travels out of.
5. Trigger: What activates the spell.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I know there is a lot of overlap between people who play Civ and people who like to do worldbuilding projects so I thought I'd make a thread for it. Here, you can share your projects, ask for criticism, or admire other's works.

I'll also keep a list of worldbuilding resources here. I'll update this as time goes by.

Resources:

• The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding
• The Art of Language Invention

Hopefully the list will include resources that aren't book advertisements.

 

[dragonprobably]

Hopefully the list will include resources that aren't book advertisements.

Okay, I added more resources to my list. Do you have any to contribute?

 

[Plotinus]

I’m building a world-builder!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I’m building a world-builder!

One of those images reminds me of the one and only Civ II map I made in my Pond World scenario.

Imagine a world in which the only open body of water is a pond, and the only other water anywhere consists of rivers that start and stop unexpectedly. The rest of the world is grassy plains - no mountains, hills, deserts, or swamps.

Yes, I'm aware that when you consider geology and climate and the rest, this world makes no sense. But I was curious to see how easy it would be to play Civ on it.

Turns out it's harder than I'd thought. When you get your first Settler, you have no clue how close or far you are to the Pond. You may be right on a river, or the nearest river tile could be a long way off. You can't irrigate anything without water, so your civilization could starve fairly quickly.


One of your images looks like it's a moon with craters. Can this be used to create non-Earthlike planets?

 

[Plotinus]

Yes, it’s all documented fairly exhaustively in the blog.

 

[dragonprobably]

I’m building a world-builder!

Oh my goodness, that's amazing! I'll put this in the resources list when I'm home from work.