r/worldbuildersCorner

I've been trying something different with the major species in my fantasy setting. Instead of starting with an archetype ("these are the dwarves"), I started with biology and asked what kinds of civilizations would naturally emerge from it over thousands of years.

They're also not separate races in the traditional fantasy sense. They are closely related human species sharing a common evolutionary origin.

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The Continentals are the most widespread of the three. Almost every major empire, republic, religion, tradition, philosophy and political movement on the continent ultimately traces its origins to them.

While physically undistinguishable from baseline humans, their specialization is neurological. Compared to the other species, they possess a greater capacity for abstraction, self-reflection and building increasingly complex models of the world. The result is an almost inexhaustible diversity of cultures, religions, sects, schools of thought and governments (far too many to describe in this post). Rather than mastering one way of living, they became the species that constantly reinvents itself. They explore new lands, they explore new ways of thinking, they even experiment with their biology the most.

That same neurological flexibility comes with a cost. They're also the species most vulnerable to mental disorders affecting memory, perception and thought, including dementia and schizophrenia.

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The Arakhim are my world's obvious take on dwarves, and I'm perfectly happy with that. They're short, broad highlanders with slower metabolisms, slightly slower cognition, remarkable endurance and lifespans of roughly 250y.

Those traits produced a civilization built around preservation. An Arakhim might spend a hundred years perfecting a single hammer, bridge design or stone-cutting technique, not because they're resistant to change, but because they have the time to pursue mastery to an absurd degree. To them, preserving knowledge is preserving centuries of human effort. Buildings are expected to outlive generations. Promises are made for lifetimes. Councils routinely spend months on a single decision if it means avoiding a mistake.

That worldview wasn't shaped by biology alone. It was forged by history. During the final centuries of the Lost Empire, the Arakhim were nearly driven to extinction as increasingly horrific magical weapons forced them higher and higher into their mountain strongholds. The Empire's final attempt to summon an abyssal horror destroyed the invaders as well, ending the war before the Arakhim themselves disappeared.

The lesson the kingdom drew was simple: civilization survives only if some knowledge remains forbidden.

Magic was outlawed. Those unwilling to abandon their ancestral tradition of inscription magic were sent into exile instead, becoming the Errin Arakhim, "the Arakhim who left." Even today, every Errin is first a master craftsman and only then an inscriber. You cannot permanently alter the nature of something until you've first mastered the ordinary one.

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The Uak'ma inhabit a volcanic island in the southern seas. They're taller and leaner than Continentals, with dark skin marked by distinctive Blaschko-line pigmentation. Their biology is defined by vitality. They heal quickly, adapt to new environments within very few generations and live with an intensity the other species often find unsettling. That same relentless cellular growth eventually turns against them. Around their 40s, aggressive cancers begin appearing throughout the body.

They call it blooming.

Their defining value is immediacy. Life should be encountered directly, not through intermediaries. Their highest priestess delivers important messages in person. Worship isn't quiet contemplation but communal chanting and dance around ritual fires until hundreds of bodies move together in ecstatic celebration. Their volcano is considered the sacred pulsing womb of Am'ma, their fire and earth deity.

Their short lives shape their civilization just as profoundly as Arakhim longevity shapes theirs. No individual lives long enough to become the memory of a people, so memory lives in ritual instead. Songs, ceremonies, hereditary castes and oral traditions preserve what no elder ever could. Their rigid matriarchal theocracy emerged because of their high individual turnover. Women preserve religious authority and alchemical knowledge. Men hunt, wage war and perform the ritual mercy deaths of those who are blooming. They're indispensable to society, but they're also deeply feared.

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Does the chain from biology → values → culture feel convincing, or are there places where it feels like I skipped a step?

If these civilizations really existed, what secondary consequences would you expect that I haven't mentioned?

I'm working on a series of short stories involving a variety of unique characters I've created in the fantasy world I'm building, below are details of my first stories, I appreciate any criticism and suggestions.

(WORK IN PROGRESS)

Forged in Blood: Two Smiths, One Hidden Truth.

I'll start by introducing my main characters, we have Eisenhart Panbruch, a human man. A former forge warden in the smithing town Brannok in the ironspine mountains, at the start of the story he's in his late 20s but there's a time skip, for the majority he's in his late 40s and he lived with his wife and daughter.

We also have Tusk, Tusk is a Half-orc who has defected/escaped from the horde.

In my world orcs are brutal, savage and monstrous, they raid small towns and settlements, kill, loot and often take the women as prizes to breed. The half breed offspring are used as work slaves, seen as lesser beings and not worthy of joining the warbands and raid parties.

There's a tragic connection between Eisenhart and Tusk, one day Brannok was sieged by a orcish warband and Eisenhart was unable to defend his family, his wife and daughter were either slain or taken, he doesn't know, and he's left to pick up the pieces and avenge them.

Tusk on the other hand was born into the horde from a captive human breeder as slave stock, forced to work the forges, making crude weapons and armour for the warbands, belittled, beaten, he didn't even have a name, until one day and orcish officer struck him across his face for not working fast enough, or because he was bored, breaking one of his tusks leaving him with only one, this granting him the name Tusk, (singular) as a way to mock him.

If you haven't made the connection yet. Tusks mother is actually Eisenharts wife, she was eventually slain by the orcs, a mercy compared to the suffering she had already endured.

Tusk and Eisenhart find themselves as companions eventually, not knowing their tragic connection. (I'm not sure if I even want them to know or not)

Another connection is their mirrored profession, Eisenhart ran his own forge, was a master smith, whereas Tusk was forced to work the forge.

Eisenhart and Tusk grow incredibly close at the end, their families avenged, they have their own blacksmith up and running, Eisenhart even goes as far to consider Tusk as family. Little does he know... He really is.

So this is what I have so far, there's a bunch more I have in notes but haven't written out properly, let me know what you think and areas I can improve.

Look forward to your guys thoughts!

Okay so the world is not based on one single time period or region but there are mainly cold weapons along with some primeval guns and machinery. Also the magic system is really varied. There's qi and mana as basis. Also divinity. There are also some other planes connected to this one. SO there's basically something for everyone. So how many classes are good and are these one good?

To pick a class you need to fulfill its requirments and pick it in your system panel. There are grades to classes. F for begineers. The world has an overseeing system which gives people to the system as soon as it judges that they have enough intelligence. Currently only working on human classes.

(Please do not get sidetracked on how the system acts)

Also there's an evolution system which is fixed but has good enough no. of evolutions, might add in here in the future

Warrior

req: kill something using a melee weapon and attack something with the intent to kill at least 5 times

Defender

req: defend some thing at least 50 times from harmful attack and one time from a killing blow.

Marksman

req: hit an object 10m away with a projectile and kill something with a projectile

rogue

req: touch people's body without letting them notice 5 times and kill something without letting it notice you

martial artist

req: use qi to clease to your body and sense 3 different kinds of qi

mage

req: absorb mana and manifest and convert mana into some other thing

mystic

req: sense your own soul and sense some paranormal(non qi,mana and divine energy) energy.

devotee

req: receive the blessings by a deity

summoner

req: feel the presence of some other plane and comminucate with someone from there.

tamer

req: make an mutual and equal contract with some other being and successfully order your contracted being to kill something else

scholar

req: read 500 different books and they should have at least 2 religious books, 10 books about magic and 5 books about qi

craftsman

req: create something with no prior knowledge about it.

engineer

req: observe at least one law(this is exactly defined in my fantasy world but can't exactly explain rn) in action consiously. and use it for something.

herbalist

req: know about 100 different plant species and pluck at least 10 different species of plants without killing them

commoner

req: nothing just pick in your system panel

bard

req: perform something you created in front of a crowd of more than 100 and earn approval by more than half.

merchant

req: make a trade with someone else and both of you should end up beleiving you got the better end of the deal.

I just wanted to say that

HAVE A GREAT DAY! (Mainly the Argentinian and Spanish users)

Just wanted to talk to someone about this since I'm thinking of doing it myself for one of my worldbuilding things. Most of the points for rewriting in question have been around for quite a long time and as such has had a lot of other threads and ideas connected to them that will need some extra work, so I'm still a little on the fence

I think I've made a magic system that can remake nearly any item in fiction.

The way it works is these 6 "aspects" are infused into an object with intent or instructions on what to do under what circumstances.

The Aspects and what they govern:

Heat - transfer and regulation of temperature.

Light - Illumination, visibility, and visual information.

Force - motion, pressure, impact, and mechanical work.

Charge - electricity and electrical phenomena such as magnetism.

Decay - breakdown and preservation of physical structures.

Life - living processes and the emergence of living systems

Give me any magic item from any source of fiction or even your own. I want to learn the hard limits to this system. Thanks in advance.

They come from a smaller continent known as Ther. It sank due to a world-wide cataclysm. The races spread to other civilizations with wildly varying results of survival and prosperity. Some are valued assets, others are slaves, and some even try to establish a nation of their own called New Ther.

For the time being, I only have 10. I may make more in the future.

Taurans: Largest therian breed. Stereotyped as stupid, but the truth is they’re practical. If they feel they don’t need to learn of something, they don’t pursue the knowledge. Males are commonly known as Bull therians. Head and legs of a bull. Human-like torso and arms. Dark skin, often blueish or gray. The females, or Cow therians are a bit more human passing with only the tail, legs, and ears of a bovine along with small, hardly noticeable horns. Often fair skin with darker spots unique to each individual.

Caprins: Male goat Therians have the eyes, ears, and legs like a goat. Known to be remarkably stubborn. They have large, stone-hard horns that curl around sides of their head. Very confrontational, they are known to act aggressively to the slightest insult. Most common with grey fur, they can also have black, white, or brown. Females, known as sheep Therians, have significantly smaller horns, almost hidden in their curly hair. Their wool is often white. They're usually very passive but known to fight fiercely to protect themselves or their community.

Vulpins, or Fox Therians have the ears and tails of a fox. Fur comes in red and dark gray. On rare occasions, a white vulpine is born. These Vulpins are considered sacred and are raised as priestesses or spiritual leaders.

Lupins, Wolf Therians, have a strong sense of community. Born with black, gray, white, or rarely red fur. They have the legs, ear, and tail of wolves. Most have brown eyes, but some have been known to develop blue or yellow eyes. Their teeth are similar to humans, but their sharper teeth are a bit larger than in humans.

Veyrins, or Tiger Therians, have ears and tails of a tiger. Retractable claws in their fingers and toes. With a carnivorous diet, Veyrins have exclusively sharpened teeth. They have stripes on their skin, unique to each individual, across their arms, legs, back, and chest. Oddly enough, there are more male Veyrins than female. Broad torsos, bulky limbs, and square features, Veyrins are large by nature. The shortest among them are never less than 5'6".

Liorans, or Lion Therians: Ears and tails of a lion. Like the Veyrins, their diet is almost exclusively carnivorous and their teeth. They have noticeably thicker hair than other Therians. It grows faster, too. Often reaching their waste in a month or so. An odd phenomenon, when male Liorans have greater confidence or authority, their hair darkens. Liorans are leaner, but still muscular.

Corvans, Raven or Crow Therians, have legs of a raven and wings on forearms. They have two claws instead of hands, making handling doorknobs and such difficult. Naturally nomadic and highly observant, they're often mistrusted. Primarily born entirely with black head hair and feathers.

Pavans, Peacock Therians, are androgynous in appearance, making discerning the difference between men and women difficult. Colorful wings instead of arms, two claws instead of hands like Corvans, enormous tail feathers, and human legs unlike most other Therians. Stereotyped as vain and arrogant, there are just honest about their achievements and abilities. Their feathers are remarkably long and beautiful, flowing much like gowns or robes. The easiest way to tell the difference between a man and woman Pavan is the males have more reddish colored feathers while the females have more bluish feathers.

Lagorins, or Rabbit Therians, are mostly female, they are unfortunately stereotyped as promiscuous. The truth is they are emotionally vibrant and have a surprisingly fast pregnancy period, allowing them 2-3 children in the span of a year should they desire.

Nagasins, Snake or Serpent Therians have snake bodies from the hips down. Males are venomous with retractable fangs while the females are constrictor types with bodies 50% to double the men's length. The men's snake bodies are usually black and red while the women are typically different shades of brown or tan.