Talk about your favorite original settings on the site. Talk about your own setting or ask for help with an aspect of your setting. I like world building a lot-it's probably the most enjoyable aspect of roleplaying for me. Ok Go!

If you want to world build, read a lot of history. Fiction is great too, but taking too much from fiction can lead to cliches if you are not careful. History is an incredible tool for getting ideas because it is filled with all these little instances and practices that are hard to make up. Having a deep enough understanding of world cultures, past and present, is also good because it allows you to deconstruct them and take the bits you like in order to make your own culture. If you invent a culture and it is the exact copy of a single real world equivilant, it won't be nearly as interesting as one you construct from so many parts that it becomes its own thing.

Indeed. Reading is virtually mandatory for expanding on your worldbuilding. We'd actually say that some fandom setting require almost as much worldbuilding as full on original settings do. They certainly require more specialized research if you want to stick true to that universe's lore.

Mish-mash cultures are fun. Both ones mixed from existing ones (or extinct) and those mixed with fictional ones. Sometimes, historic cultures lack that single element you need to make the fictional culture "yours". That is when the fictional cultures built by other authors can come in handy. Unless your imagination fixes it for ya, of course.

For example... You have a classic culture of mounted warriors. Nothing special about that. What happens when you replace their horses with carnivores? How does that change your culture?
Stereotypes are also fun to play with. Like the russian bear cavalry. You don't want to mess with them.

We could probably go on for hours with examples.

A place that appears in almost every bio of mine is Asgeir, a northern realm home to a race of men known as the Varan, which all of my fantasy characters end up being. While not nearly as popular here, there is another site I go on where Asgeir and Varan are common terms there. Everyone knows what Asgeir is, and everyone knows what a Varan is; the Varan have contributed to so many happenings in those role plays, they became engrained into the community. Knowing people paid attention and acknowledge the consistency makes me feel great.

Asgeir is a cold region, with chilly Springs and Summers, snowy Falls, and terrible wintry weather during the Winter. The natives here are known as Varan, tall and stout warrior-folk who value honor and tradition.

The capital is Stormhold, a great walled city which has never been breached by enemy forces. At the center of Stormhold is the Storm Tower, an ancient construct now used as a fortress. The King is protected by a special security force known as the Stormguard, regarded as some of the most notable swordsmen in the north.

East of here, in the plains, is a town known as Joria, where the hero Joric was born, and where he founded the famous Jorian Riders. Joric was a great hero who rallied Varan refugees against the onslaught of foreign nations. Under his leadership, the Jorian Riders drove the invaders from the east and reclaimed that region of Asgeir.

There are old noble families who live throughout Asgeir, such as the Valgard, the Vinar, and the Jojorans. The Valgard, however, are my prime family. From Lyza and Tarro, to Toren and Volrun, and up to Toric, Lily, Gyda, and Valius - the Valgard clan, colloquially known as the 'House of the Wolf', are by far my most developed and beloved family in the entire setting. They are special, naturally-gifted swordsmen who are destined for greatness.

Asgeir once had a large army known as the Grand Varan Warband, composed of veteran warriors and the Jorian Riders. However, the Warband has since been disbanded, as the upkeep was to much. The land is now protected by a covert order known as the Keepers, led by the Warden, and are skilled spies, saboteurs, warriors, archers, assassins, informants, scholars, and more.

An off-shoot of the Varan is the Skogg, who live near Asgeir along a strip of land that extends northwest into the sea, almost like a peninsula. The Skogg are stronger, faster, and deadlier than the Varan, but are barbaric tribal-folk who keep to themselves. They are brutal savages the Varan tend to leave alone. The Skogg are a race, who live in Skoggsland, and are ruled by a Skogg ('King').

EDIT: Over the years, I've incorporated Norse, Germanic, Gallic, Celtic, Irish, and Saxon elements into the setting. They've change a lot over the years. They use to be near-Viking clones until I added more things in.

I also want to mention the Ki'gar, an extremely important part of Varan culture. Ki'gars are garments with the clan sigil, name, motto, and colors on them. Many Varan use them as scarves or cloaks against the Asgeir weather. They're sewn from a special material that makes them fireproof and more resilient than other garments. It is common for the Varan to stitch on runes, symbols, and badges to detail what they've done and accomplished. By looking at a Ki'gar one can determine where they're from, what family they hail from, and can see if they're seasoned veterans, what there occupation is, ranks held, and more. They're sacred, and a fallen Varan's Ki'gar is collected and returned to his or her family. They're so sacred, that a traveling Varan will go out of his or her way to personally take a Ki'gar from a non-Varan and return it to Asgeir, even to the point of killing the person if they refuse to give it up.

If you want to world build, read a lot of history.

Absolutely. You need something real for the player/reader to latch onto to ground it in reality-especially in a fantasy setting otherwise it becomes too abstract.

Mish-mash cultures are fun. Both ones mixed from existing ones (or extinct) and those mixed with fictional ones. Sometimes, historic cultures lack that single element you need to make the fictional culture "yours". That is when the fictional cultures built by other authors can come in handy. Unless your imagination fixes it for ya, of course.

They are the ones that really appeal to me. I don't know how many 'original' cookie cutter settings of fantasy medieval Europe I've skipped over on the web (all with tolkien-esque elvish names). There are so many more interesting cultures to source inspiration from.

For example... You have a classic culture of mounted warriors. Nothing special about that. What happens when you replace their horses with carnivores? How does that change your culture?
Stereotypes are also fun to play with. Like the russian bear cavalry. You don't want to mess with them.

Right. That's worldbuilding when you ask those questions. You have to think about food for the dino-calvary, trainers and boarding. All of a sudden you have a whole class of specialists devoted to that line of work. When you start asking those questions you can get a really interesting and detailed setting going. Some cultures I have always wanted to use in a setting : Mayan,Maori Sub-saharan African

Asgeir is a cold region, with chilly Springs and Summers, snowy Falls, and terrible wintry weather during the Winter. The natives here are known as Varan, tall and stout warrior-folk who value honor and tradition.

The capital is Stormhold, a great walled city which has never ...

Sounds like you put a lot of work into your setting TJbyrum. I got the heavy viking vibe right away.

Indeed, I've put a lot of effort and thought to into it. There's a series of stories running through my head that I've yet to write down, and the world just keeps expanding everyday.

I've always wanted to world-build with other players who similarly create regions, histories, races, and cultures and then role play in said world once we're finished.

I've always wanted to world-build with other players who similarly create regions, histories, races, and cultures and then role play in said world once we're finished.

I tried that on these forums but nobody really went for it.

sometimes concepts fail, other times they succeed. You have to time them right, which unfortunately requires either innate understanding of practical use of chaos theory, or luck.

sometimes concepts fail, other times they succeed. You have to time them right, which unfortunately requires either innate understanding of practical use of chaos theory, or luck.

So black magic? I've come to realize that. Works IRL like that too.

Talk about your favorite original settings on the site. Talk about your own setting or ask for help with an aspect of your setting.

So what are your favorite settings on the site? Is anyone building a world for RPing right now? Maps? Charts? Diagrams?

We recently finished building the necessary bits for our current RP, Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath.