World Building Thread

Wanted to share with the group my starting idea for the world of this campaign. I would like the world building to be a collaborative process. A lot of your questions will help me clarify the setting by forcing me to think about things I hadn't before. Some questions you ask me about the world, I will pass right back to you.

Here's what I know so far:

The Far Isles are a small cluster of islands far from any other land. The people live their lives as they have for generations. Most are simple farmers and fisher-folk. Their communities are small and generally follow the law that has been handed down from their ancestors. They are not rich, but for the most part, they are comfortable, with enough security that there is time for leisure.
----a) A rural, localized setting. No big cities.
----b) Land, flora, fauna, weather, and the occasional volcano are all real hazards.
----c) Zoom in tight - we begin with the problems of villagers and householders.
----d) There are no "Monsters" for the sake of Monsters. Even the monsters have a reason, a motive, a personality.
----e) Animistic setting, the spirits are everywhere.

I'm thinking about the "monsters" I wonder what that might entail and if perhaps some of those might be the animal that my character ranches

Hmm, what do you think about introducing fey in the setting? Something very ancient that sort of coexist with the people of Far Isles? More like the people follow laws set by ancestors to not trouble them and abide by them? Also, I think we would need monsters (maybe wild and mysterious ones) who are possibly the original inhabitants of Far Isles and the humans are just early settlers?

I assumed my guy was indigenous that's why he would be so clued into the spirits

That definitely can be; I am just throwing ideas.

Hi!

So, I definitely think there are fey - I think that fits with an animistic worldview nicely. The goat, or stream, or stone that you're interacting with may have a spirit.

Re: "monsters" and herding - you can be a shepherd, or an ostritch-rancher, or a snakeherder. I leave that to you, but I will add that, say, herding sheep ties us closely to the familiar, and herding bats or dinosaurs or tentacle-monsters takes us into the weird. But whatever you decide, it will be normalish for these isles. Also, since you are a rancher, think about where your ranch is. Are you highly isolated, or a short ride from a village? Are you the owner, or the heir, or a worker? How long has it been there, etc.

Re: "monsters" and the ancients. I thought once about doing a fantasy setting without ruins of the ancients scattered about, but this isn't it (unless we decide it is) but I think there may be layers. There are the new people - Stalker's culture, recent arrivals who make big claims but haven't actually done much about it. There are TrustyJustin's who are indigenous - sort of the default, people who have lived here for centuries - long enough that any other home is legend. Sort of how the Saxons & Britons appear in Arthurian legend.

Or maybe they were created here. Then there are the ancients. These could be fey, they could be just an older human civilization that rose and fell and is lost to history, or something else. There can also be more than one.

One thought I had on these lines was to dig deep into the animistic view and have shapeshifters - people that have an alternate form - be it animal, tree or something else. Or, animals, trees, etc that can take on human form. Japanese Henge is the first example that springs to mind.

One other question that came up for me: Trusty, you are connected to the spirits and Stalker, you are connected to your saints. Are these different orders of being, or are they the same kind of entity, viewed through the lens of a different culture?

I like the ideas, keep them coming. And if we have differing ideas, let's look at ways to make the world to include as many of our ideas as we can!

I like the idea of a weirder rancher. Land mammals likes cows, goats, boars or chickens would most likely be introduced to the island, but maybe something like giant iguanas, Sea lions or crabs exist as livestock here. I've read about Dinosaur bones being found on islands and there's a thing called "island dwarfism" that happened to many species, where they would grow to be much smaller than their mainland counterparts. The Struthiosaur was a smaller island-version of the armored Anklyosaur. If you guys are open to bringing in dino-lizards or the like, he could ranch those, primarily for livestock, but maybe he could also use or sell the hide for armor. (Otherwise as a second option: I've also thought maybe moving him a little closer to the coast and making him a giant crab/sea lion rancher) In any case he definitely works with two herding dog like animals (boars?) to work the herd. maybe a small coop for a little pack of chicken-sized egg laying dinos?

I imagine the ranch being relatively remote with plenty of space for grazing, somewhat inland with access to water, and maybe 1 hour trip into market by horseback, longer if transporting animals. The ranch is generational, established by his grandparents. In those days it was a single home, a barn, and a chute for separating "calves" and they were considered quite adventurous making their home so far from town. When his father took over the ranch, he added onto the main house creating more of a master lodge with a grand fireplace and communal kitchen. The spirits of his ancestors still reside over the ranch, as do his children. Two of his kids live in the grand lodge with him, one of his kids lives in his own campsite/tipi on the premises but distant from the main house and the small family of his son, daughter-in-law and grandson live in their own two-room tiny home near the lodge.

As far as his religious views: one of his themes is "faithful" so his faith is very important to him. His home has altars and carvings honoring the animals and spirits of the ancestors. He prays often, but his prayer is more like communing with the ever-present spirits of this specific land, and the specific people of the region. Are these different names for the same deities that Stalker worships? He would never think so.

An aside touching on shape-shifters. The Scottish/Irish folklore had creatures called Selkies who were fey that would turn into sealions by putting on a seal-skin cloak and turn humanoid when they removed it. Some sort of similar creature/legends could exist here.

I mean, in-depth consideration of whether all sorts of gods/goddesses are actually the same or not is beyond Vormier's knowledge. That sort of interpretation would be something of a cleric's purview. Out of character, we can assume that there is only one mystical force, and it is interpreted differently based upon different cultures. But, in-character Vormier has no idea and mostly thinks that there are multiple religions and so multiple gods/goddesses. He was brought up in the city and under Llana's teaching, so he thinks that she is the Goddess, but of course, in his culture, there can be historians and philosophers who believe that there are old gods and new gods, Llana being a new one and currently followed because her blessings work. So, I believe he would be really surprised to find out that there is magic here and different gods who bless people differently, a thing that will raise questions and doubt in his belief and hence the tag Conflicting Ideologies.

I like this, also when I say he would "never" think these were the same gods, what I mean to say is that he would require some sort of divine convincing. His faith in the spirits, may be such a part of his everyday life that the idea of other more traditionally Western Gods might even be a completely foreign concept to him. Of course the river has a spirit, it moves and breathe and brings us fish and water and the knowledge of the ocean...

Dinolizards sounds fun... Sheep sized anklyosaurs sounds great. I also like the idea of herding sea lions, or maybe using sea lions as herd dogs for something less mobile, like crabs?
But inland, so mini-dinosaurs. Which brings me to my next, do the far isles have a kind of lost world, prehistoric vibe?

And agreed, the characters wouldn't necessarily know that the saints and spirits are made of the same essence.

Yes to this, the fey would be the first most ancient life, and then my people were early settlers (although my rancher might believe in a creation myth related to the sea or the fey or the volcano), As far as flora and fauna I'm thinking about something like the Galapagos Islands but larger and with settlements. it's like a chain of islands with lush vegetation, wild fruit and huge biodiversity: a mix of ancient lizardy things but also a big mix of colorful birds and wild fey creatures. Like this place would be totally wild to Stalker's character, and frankly some places beyond my character's side of the island would be just as wild and mysterious to him.
This is the part that I may have misunderstood the first time I read it, but as I reread it, I actually like it a lot. Maybe there's like one big law that has to do with some agreement between people and the fey, but maybe there's also some hard lessons, and superstitious protections and flat out avoidance that also happens between people and fey.

A dinosaur-filled biome with other kinds of weird beast would be really fascinating. I think it would be really different from what Vormier has seen back in his homelands and it will also explain why the previous expedition failed because they didn't know how to survive in this weird, fascinating land. As for what kind of prehistoric vibe is present in the current setting, I think it would be early medieval times? But, since Far Isles is so different and magical, maybe magic prevails more than technology. What the people can't craft, they complement with magic? I am thinking that forging is present, but there is no carriage. People travel on beast's back for those who can tame it. Books are rare, mostly handcrafted and written but not printed. Crossbows are absent in Far Isles and longbows are common (although if anyone else wants it, they can veto it). Weapons are mainly forged by skilled smiths, but polished swords of different types are rare. I think it's more like the time of Beowulf/Banner Saga. What do you think?

I don't want to try to lock us in to any specific equivalent terrestrial time period for a parallel. What we know is there are swords and platemail, and ships capable of reaching the Far Isles, and dinosaurs. I think beyond that it's pretty undefined, and given that we have fey and dinosaurs, I think we can play it pretty loose.

Agreed, I guess we should consider that there are multiple islands, some may be more densely populated and some more kinda left to the fey and the wild. Maybe there's a port near the marketplace and this is where my rancher brings his livestock and interacts with the feed farmers and the crab rancher and whoever else is in the market that day.

So maybe there's a number of islands and this would be one of the largest and the one with the active volcano.

I was imagining an archipelago, numerous islands, some quite close to each other, some separated by miles.

Since we have these ancient fey, what if each island has its own fey ruler, and thus, its own rules. So Trusty, your family made an agreement with the lord of your particular island that they are allowed to herd their dinos there. Your character may or may not know the substance of this agreement, or even the existence. Another isle may be ruled by volcanic spirits, and would be a lot harder on living things. Another could be hostile to humankind, another could be an eden that lures people in, etc etc.

The indigenous humans would know about the islands near them, and would know generally to check with the locals to learn the rules of any new island they come to. The new people sort of blunder around and sometimes get into trouble with the locals fey.

Maybe too elaborate, I'm still on my first cup of coffee.

I love it

I think a lot of what you're describing here is right. In general, the Far Isles are primitive with simple economic structures. There may be a handful of smiths in the whole archipelago that can forge a decent sword. Bows are made by hunters, using traditional methods handed down from their fathers, and possibly ultimately with the fey. Books are copied by hand, and regarded as inherently magical - and given the potency of the spirits here, there may be truth to that.

In societies with a more animist bent, we see even simple acts of daily labor with a spiritual quality. The building of something significant - a boat, a house, even a sword or a book, would involve invoking the spirits favor. Since the spirits are real and present, that favor may be real. And that, combined with the thin distribution of population, would make any sort of mass production an alien concept in the far isles.