r/worldbuilding

Hello! I'm Salomon! I've been lurking on this sub for a couple years now, chipping away at my own late-medieval fantasy worldbuilding project
(heavily inspired by The Witcher franchise, the human-centered lore and civilizations of the LOTR universe, and Forsaken Gods by Didrik Magnus-Andresen).
Now that I've recently gotten more time on my hands, I've actually been able to develop it more, and I've given it the name WORMBATTLE.

Azgaar's Map Maker has been a big help in visualizing the world, as it is the culmination of my interests in history, fantasy, and anthropology, with a heavy emphasis on the bizarre, somewhat alien peoples of the world, and their similarly bizarre faiths and belief systems.

Ranging from the Occidentals of Ertroum, whose faith and society is guided by one of the two moons; Ag-Aiinar (The Golden Moon), and mysterious magics that emanate from its light, to the great and holy Caliphate of Saint Salomon (whose idea was initially a joke), and their very blatantly Hungarian-inspired culture and Chinese-inspired history, to the esoteric Dregha and their eldritch beast-gods, its a hodgepodge of a lot of inspirations.

I also threw in a few sketches of things from this world, they're not great as I'm pretty new to digital art but I'm still honing my skills. (From left to right on slide 2; a Man-Hound, a Dwarve of Uhl-Zadar, and a Goetial Bone-Fiend from the Ouldh Dwellings, on slide 3; Kolir, a 'god' and the last member of an extinct race of bestial witches)

My ultimate goal for this project is to turn it into a Total Conversion mod for the game Crusader Kings 3, because I love medieval Sims.

Suggestions, questions, and critcism is more than welcome, and there will likely be more posts about this world of mine, WORMBATTLE, in the near future!

Pictured above is a Rotten, which was placed to rest afterwards.

The Rotten are caused by gross misuse of Necromancy, which is a form of organic life overtaken by Magerot, where the Magerot continues to maintain the spells originally used to animate the organic tissue through some unknown means, and instead of a soul maintaining the state of life, it is the magic itself doing so, as such, it can be extremely hard to put to rest, and have to be completely obliterated to prevent it from reanimating.

Noting that, humans are not the only species to turn into The Rotten, but any organic life can be reanimated in this form. This can, in most cases, result in fauna and plant life becoming Rotten.

It serves as a horrible reminder of our past and to leave the Great Mage War behind, which left a region infested with Magerot and The Rotten,with a still active Magerot Storm, they are most active here, with progress to bring balance to this land slow and steady.

For this reason, this use of necromancy for full reanimation is entirely forbidden. Limited to only the most of experienced of Mages in cases of restoring life to necrotic tissue.

- Source images from Pexels, with some editing to blend them together.

I'm planning to write more for the Mages after this, along with the greater world later on.

Ask anything. There's an explanation for every feature. (also it's not finished yet, obviously)

Hello,

I am a casual worldbuilder (mainly for my artwork), and I am working on designing and worldbuilding an alien species currently called the Ranaxians. However, I am struggling with designing their clothing, and I would love advice on what I should consider when making up their clothes.

I've attached some sketches I have made regarding their body shape and possible head coverings, though I am definitely leaning towards the first one since it seems easier to sew in my novice experince with sewing. Any thoughts and ideas on how to go forward will be appreciated.

Current details about their homeworld: Their homeworld is earthlike, but the temperature is slightly higher and the climate is way more humid, and the colors of the flora are primarily blue and purple, excluding fruits, seeds and flowers. I also have a few ideas for what ranaxian cities might look like, but I'll only elaborate if people want me to, or i get some visuals ready for my ideas.

Wanted to share a bit about my Monster Hunter-inspired spec-evo fantasy world, starting with a little bit about a region called the Mosaic Steppe, specifically what I definitively have in mind and not including stuff I'm currently workshopping.

The Mosaic Steppe is a region defined by its blend of deciduous forests, open grasslands and towering mesas; this blend of environments is what earns the region its name. The grass in the plains of the Steppe grows and spreads rapidly due to competition with another species of shrub-like grass (that idea came after I drew the Steppe). This abundant food source combined with the diversity of habitats makes the Mosaic Steppe an incredibly productive ecosystem home to a large plethora of animals a la Pleistocene North America.

The reason for this diversity in flora is due to an endemic bird species called the Lapis Dart, so named because of the males’ blue coloration (the one pictured is holding a grass seedhead). Living in nomadic flocks numbering in the billions like the extinct Passenger Pigeon, they travel across the Steppe to feed on the fruits, nuts and grains of the region’s flora, spreading the seeds wherever they go. While seed dispersal is widespread in birds and thus shouldn’t be of note here, the sheer numbers that Lapis Darts live in makes them a keystone species on the Mosaic Steppe.

While permanent forests do exist on the Steppe, the Lapis Darts basically ensure that temporary groves pop up randomly in the plains, causing them to be an ever shifting environment. You might be wondering why the region hasn't turned into a gigantic forest. The reason is large, open-country megafauna such as the Aurocholo.

Aurocholo are massive, bison-like animals known for their bad temper and massive horns. Due to their gigantic size, Aurocholo are mixed feeders, consuming any low-to-the-ground plant material, tilling the soil for new growth with their horns. Occasionally, Aurocholo tend to knock down trees, usually either for food or from use as a scratching post. This prevents forest encroachment and keeps the plains of the Mosaic Steppe open.

That's pretty much it, but I believe there are a few things I should point out. The two most important things being that magic doesn't exist in my world and that people are gonna be a thing. I'm just focusing on the world's biosphere first because the humans and other sapient races of my world are another kettle of fish.

Secondly, my world is most likely gonna have some Warhammer 40k levels of detailed lore (mostly ecology), so because of that, I'm planning on treating every biome in my world like it's own worldbuilding project; the Mosaic Steppe being my main priority right now.

I imagined an entire planet so the player could really feel like they were discovering an unknown world

In Cosmic Holidays, I imagined a planet with its own landscapes, plants, creatures and interactions. The idea is that Cibo arrives in a world he knows nothing about, and the player slowly learns to understand it by observing, exploring and interacting with what is around him.

All the environments you see here were designed as different parts of the same ecosystem. I wanted some areas to feel welcoming, others strange or almost impossible to understand, but all of them to feel like they belong to the same world.

A large part of this universe is drawn by hand. I then build the environments so that it feels like Cibo (the main character of my world) is moving inside one huge illustration.

What interests me most is making the player want to look around, understand the world, and wonder what might be waiting beyond the next landscape.

When you look at these images, does it feel like one coherent planet to you? And which place would you most want to explore?

A small idea I had knocking around in my head after reading a bit about prairie dogs. They’re sort of halflings, sort of gnomes, sort of their own thing. I haven’t fully figured out what sort of world they factor into just yet, so everything’s kinda subject to change!

The smallest of the mortal races, the Burrowfolk originally hail from the wild western prairies. Their underground burrow-towns stretch for miles beneath the surface of the grassland, sustained by careful maintenance and powerful earth magic. Their native languages are a dense, chattering mixture of chirps, growls and barks, unpronounceable and largely unintelligible to human ears. Walking on four legs and standing on two, when stripped of clothing and fur-dye they can seem quite similar to many of the non-sapient rodents that call this world home.

They aren't natural fighters, and often prefer to flee rather than stand their ground. Even amongst themselves, their fights tend towards displays of dominance and authority rather than full-fledged combat. Still, despite their lack of physical prowess, they display an aptitude for magic that far surpasses those of humans - their mastery over elemental magic and illusions is noted throughout much of the world.

Their colonies are stratified and clan-based societies, with small aristocratic clans controlling much of the colony’s actions. The most powerful clans tend to be those that are most talented in magic and alchemy, often presenting themselves as great Priest-Kings, expecting the less fortunate labourers to carry out their whims. Within each clan, things tend to be more egalitarian.  Typically three to four generations will live together within the clan, with almost everything being shared. Older Burrowfolk are looked upon with more reverence and wield the ultimate authority when it comes to making decisions. Traditionally, they are polyamorous, with males and females alike having multiple mates, often of each gender.

In recent centuries, things have changed however. More and more, the other races of the world have intruded upon the Grasslands, bringing trade, cultural exchange and conflict. Initially, the Burrowfolk were seen as little more than rodents - smart, industrious ones, but animals nonetheless. Ancient colonies were dug up to make way for human cities, and the Burrowfolk who survived were taken as exotic pets, or hunted for their pelts. It was only when enterprising scholars among the Burrowfolk decoded and learned to speak human languages that they were able to prove themselves as sapient and open diplomatic negotiations.

Nowadays, colonies of Burrowfolk can be found all around the known world. They still face discrimination in plenty of places - terms like “rat” and “vermin” are often thrown at them, along with gossip that they bring disease and parasites in their fur. The Burrowfolk, for their part, maintain that their burrows are far cleaner than most of the pig-sties they see humans living in. With access to trade, a growing merchant class has achieved more influence. These merchant clans often live separate to the traditional Burrowfolk, enjoying their newfound prosperity.

A fear of being called ‘animals’ has led to an uptick in many new cultural traditions. From rich to poor, the Burrowfolk decorate their fur with dyes, powders or even charcoal. While they used to lack any taboo around nudity, many have now taken to wearing human-style clothing, self-consciously showcasing their intelligence and sophistication, to avoid being dismissed as rats and vermin again.

This started as a miniature traveling merchant cart, but every practical question I had about it created another piece of the world around it.

The cart travels through Mosshollow, pulled by a giant snail named Samuel and is operated by Marlow, a raccoon merchant. Marlow belongs to the Brotherhood, a trade organization made up of raccoons, rats, and ravens.

Figuring out where the cart went meant creating towns and trade routes. Figuring out how it was supplied created warehouses and depots. Then came rules, maps, regional economies, contraband, other merchants, giant-snail biology, and eventually an entire world full of little animal folk.

Three months later, I apparently no longer make miniatures. I document Mosshollow. 😂 This is the first one, of assumably many.

In my world Dinosaurs didn’t evolve naturally, they were part of a series of experiments between powerful biomancers & the godlike Avatars to create a new series of Dragons to protect humanity against Giants & similar threats after the Dragons mysteriously vanished. Instead of being wise & benevolent they were mainly little more than mindless animals who couldn’t even use magic though smaller species like Feathered Raptors were able to be tamed & domesticated by Harpies akin to dogs.

How do Dinosaurs differ in your world? Are they alive in the modern day or extinct? If so what killed them? Did they evolve into new forms? How do they interact with mythical creatures in your fantasy world?

These are from this project

Dwarves come from a domain, a place where magic has poured from the fae realm into reality, to create its own magically saturated pocket. The domain they come from was a vast subterranean system of caves and tunnels, once an ancient mine. Flooded with magic, all life trapped there was warped and molded. Those with beneficial changes survived and made a home out of the caves, and the rest perished.

Dwarven fairfolk originate from the humans who once mined precious minerals in the depths. Once trapped there, they did their best to make a home from their prison, until they forgot it was a prison at all. They live without sun, eating various forms of cultivated fungi and magically warped creatures like wyrms and rats.

In the modern era, the domain has "popped" breaking off their isolation and allowing some to venture out into the world. Dwarves have a hard time on the surface, prone to anxiety and a feeling of exposure, as well as an extreme sensitivity to the sun. Most who stay on the surface prefer to live nocturnally

As fairfolk, they're able to hybridize with humans. Half-dwarves are called Dwarvish people, and sometimes infertile, but not always.

(Please excuse the god-awful map)

In my fantasy world, I have a continent with a large “pit” in the middle (detailed in the drawing). It’s a gradual slope that creates a large basin, and the bottom evens out and becomes flat when you get far enough down.

Because it’s a fantasy world, I’m a big believer in not focusing too much on topographical realism and just doing whatever looks/feels cool. However, I was curious if a feature like this could feasibly form naturally?

My first thought was a huge aquifer collapsing in that spot? Or, because it’s right next to a mountain range, a lot of water flows into the basin, so would it end up becoming a lake?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!