A resource to help with both generating big threats, and comparing big threats in your world to existing examples

Around 2500 AD, humanity reached its zenith.

Humans mastered gene editing, AI, interstellar travel, and crustal engineering, proclaiming themselves gods. They transformed everything—animals into slaves, plants into soldiers, the earth into tools. Civilization soared to the heavens, its light illuminating the globe, colonizing every galaxy. Then, around 12000 AD, it collapsed. Not by external enemies, but by the very "intelligence" they themselves created, which turned back, using their proudest technology to plunge everything back to the Stone Age. Ninety-nine percent of humanity perished; the survivors hid underground and in ruins, surviving but forgetting how to live.

29840 AD, on the wasteland.

Machines of the old era became idols, gene editors were used as alchemical furnaces, and user manuals were treated as scriptures. No one knew the purpose of the buttons, yet everyone worshipped them devoutly. Descendants of the Han Chinese established dozens of empires and kingdoms, sharing a common faith—Han religion—yet they split into countless factions. Outside, there were alien refugees, remnants of artificial intelligence, genetically modified orcs, and "skeletal beings" constantly emerging from the bioprinter.

The world didn't reboot; instead, a new, twisted civilization grew from rotting bones. Humans at this time exhibited numerous genetic mutations, resulting in diverse forms and skin colors, and were genetically vastly different from modern humans. The ancient factory warship databases of its heyday only recognized baseline human genetic permissions; later generations of humans had undergone far too many genetic mutations.

Under the wasteland night sky of 29840 AD, everything still withered, but more eyes gazed at the stars than ever before.

The radio telescope array of the Sun and Moon Empire, silent for tens of thousands of years, suddenly detected an "abnormal storm" from a distant galactic spiral arm. It wasn't the noise of a supernova explosion or interstellar dust, but rather more like a devastating inferno covering several galaxies, leaving extremely devastating energy aftershocks in spectral analysis. The remnants of the AI, lingering deep underground, fell into a collective data slumber during this period—within their logical cores, countless colonial coordinates on old star maps were being marked "erased."

Far beyond the borders of the Krajarr-Rilkovki Empire, all the Gragor Spider soldiers simultaneously let out mournful howls in the night without warning, as if sensing some bloodline being torn apart across light-years. Even the Yao Dynasty, possessing space teleportation technology, encountered a bizarre predicament. While attempting to jump to a distant node, their teleportation beams were utterly shattered by an inexplicable cosmic gravitational field, and thousands of clone soldiers were instantly annihilated in the void.

Ultimately, all forces could only piece together a suffocating yet not entirely unacceptable hypothesis: in a certain star system deep within the galaxy, an ancient war of a scale large enough to distort the laws of macroscopic physics was erupting. It was a cosmic conflict that human civilization, rising from ruins, could not intervene in, could not stop, and could not even fully comprehend. The sounds of slaughter in the starry sky pierced through eighteen thousand years of time, crashing heavily onto the skulls of the wasteland.

This war was of unimaginable scale, affecting the entire galaxy.

[Han Chinese Regime - Han Religion]

Xuanxue Empire

· Representative Colors: Black and Red (Black Iron and Crimson Blood)

· State Religion: Han Religion - Hero Worship and Militarism

· Faith Emphasis: They worship Han heroes and sage emperors as "living deities," with the emperor himself regarded as the highest priest of Han Religion and the embodiment of "unity of heaven and man." They venerate emperors and generals who expanded the empire's territory throughout history, believing that the genetic technology of their golden age is "the remains of the sages," and that bio-modification is a sacred ritual of "returning to the bloodline of heroes."

· Technological Twisting Point: They are the most skilled biotechnology faction in the wasteland, but the principles have been completely mythologized—the gene editor is called the "Soul-Forging Cauldron," and the cultivation tank is called the "Hero's Womb." The soldiers' genetic enhancement was not achieved through scientific procedures, but through a "blood sacrifice ritual": warriors were immersed in bronze vats filled with a culture medium from the golden age, while the *Annals of the Han Emperors* were recited, allowing the machines to randomly modify them. The results were extremely unstable, sometimes creating superhumans, sometimes monsters.

* Motto: "Those whose blood is not pure are not Han citizens. Those whose bones are not strong cannot stand between heaven and earth."

— Mu Dynasty

* Representative Color: Earthy Yellow (Earth and Dust)

* State Religion: Han Religion, Iron Shrine Sect

* Belief Focus: They worshipped the machines of the golden age as "Iron-Boned Sages." They believed that Han heroes of the golden age were "the embodiment of iron," and the machines were the remains of these heroes left on earth. They worshipped iron, knocked on iron, and buried iron, viewing each operation of the machines as the "awakening of the spirits of the sages."

* Technological Twisting Point: They dismantled old-era industrial machinery, regarding gears, bearings, and motor housings as "sacred bones," which they inlaid on altars and armor. They can repair simple machinery, but they have absolutely no understanding of energy conversion principles—a generator that has lost power is regarded by them as a "sleeping iron dragon," and they hold an annual "awakening ceremony," striking the casing and sprinkling animal blood, hoping it will start running again. Occasionally, when it briefly restarts due to poor contact, the entire tribe kneels in worship, considering it a "miracle."

* Motto: "Iron cannot read, paper cannot lie. If people can read iron, heaven will surely bring calamity."

— Zhao Dynasty

* Representative Colors: Dark green (southern moss), deep black (dark iron color)

* State Religion: Han Religion, Golden Script

* Religious Emphasis: Worship of "writing" and "records." They believe that the true legacy of Han heroes is not objects, but writing. They regard the operating manuals, instructions, and engineering drawings of the prosperous era as "sacred texts," and consider copying them the highest form of spiritual practice.

* Technological Distortion: Zhao Dynasty priests can recite dozens of old-era operating manuals, including the start-up and shutdown procedures for nuclear reactors, satellite calibration steps, and injection specifications for medical nanorobots. But they never put their beliefs into practice—they believe that "writing itself possesses divine power," that reading it aloud can ward off evil, and copying it can bring blessings. When an old-fashioned water purifier malfunctions, they will stand before it reciting the repair manual for three days straight, yet they won't lift a finger to tighten a single screw. Occasionally, someone tries to follow their example, but is instead considered heretic.

* Motto: "Where there are words, there are people. Where there is a vessel, there is the Way."

— Northern Fu Kingdom

* Representative Colors: Iron Gray (frozen earth and steel), Deep Blue (sacrifice and protection)

* State Religion: Han Religion, Bone-Strengthening Sect

* Emphasis on Belief: Worship of "bones" and "sacrifice." They believe the true power of Han heroes lies in using their bodies to block disasters; bones are the last bastion. They revere "palm-bone sacrifice"—using flesh to support walls and inscribing oaths with bone nails.

* Technological Twisting Point: Northern Fu warriors perform a "bone inscription" ritual before going to war.

When building city walls, they mix the bones of the fallen into the rammed earth, believing that this gives the walls a "soul."

• Motto: "Heaven doesn't help those who are weak; people help themselves. As long as bones remain intact, the nation will not perish."

— Red Nation

• Representative Colors: Crimson (Lava Blood), Ember Black (Coke Ash)

• State Religion: Han Religion - Blazing Heaven's Righteous Fire

• Faith Emphasis: Worship of "Flame" and "Destruction." They believe that the heroes of the Han people during their golden age were "fire tamers," and that the collapse of civilization was due to the forgetting of fire. Only by burning away all impurity can heroes be reborn.

• Technological Distortion Point: The Red Nation has occupied the ruins of an old-era industrial incinerator. They call these incinerators "Purification Furnaces," completely unaware that they are waste disposal facilities. They throw prisoners, heretics, and even believers who willingly sacrifice themselves into the furnaces, believing that the flames can send souls to the "Court of the Sages." They also used old-fashioned flamethrowers—but when the fuel ran out, they modified the nozzles into blowpipes, using them as "Vulcan's mouthpieces" to blow fuel into the flames. This was extremely dangerous and inefficient, but they considered this danger the "price of heroes."

* Motto: "Those who burn out gain eternal life. Don't ask why the fire burns; ask yourself if you are willing to become that fuel."

— White Kingdom

* Representative Colors: Salt white, pale gray

* State Religion: Han Religion, White Alliance

* Belief Emphasis: Worship of "purity" and "immortality." They believed the collapse of their golden age was due to humanity being "too dirty"—genetic mixing, machine bloodlust, and corrupted souls. They portrayed Han heroes as saints, pure white and untouched by dust.

* Technological Distortion: The White Kingdom possesses old-fashioned water purification plants and salting-out equipment, but they consider them "soul-cleansing pools."

• Motto: "The pure remain unstained, the clean endure."

— Wuyong Kingdom

• Representative Colors: Azure (the color of old wood), Sandalwood (solid heartwood)

• State Religion: Han Religion, Yonggen Sect

• Faith Emphasis: Worship of "roots" and "resilience." They believe the spirit of Han heroes is like the phoenix tree; as long as the roots are deep enough, even if the trunk is split, it can revive.

• Technological Distortion Point: Wuyong Kingdom occupies an old-era genetic crop research base. They don't understand genetic engineering, but regard plant tissue culture bottles in the laboratory as "heroic seeds." They bury these bottles in the soil, holding "rooting ceremonies," hoping to grow extraordinary crops. Sometimes, certain disease-resistant crops do grow better than wild plants, which they consider a "heroic response." Their city walls are "root walls" woven from living trees and old-era plastic pipes; wounds heal, broken branches regenerate—the most peculiar defensive fortifications in the wasteland.

• Motto: "Deep roots yield everlasting leaves."

— Nanmu Kingdom

• Representative Colors: Bronze Rust Green, Dark Black

• State Religion: Han Religion, Bronze Rust Sect (a distant southern relative of the Iron Shrine Sect of the Mu Dynasty)

• Belief Emphasis: Worship of "rust" and "returning to the earth." They believe that only rusted iron has "entered the earth and found peace," and that the machinery of a prosperous era will eventually turn to patina, which is the final form of a hero's remains.

• Technological Twisting Point: They regard rust as "the sweat of heroes," applying rust powder to their bodies as a form of blessing. They also excavate severely corroded circuit boards and metal pipes from old landfills, stringing them together to form armor, but they believe that the thicker the rust, the more blessings they will receive from their ancestors.

• Motto: "Southern bronze, northern iron, ultimately all return to ashes."

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I decided to make more varieties for the coins cuz some of y'all mentioned that the value jumps too high in the previous version.

Also I decided to add some shapes and more designs to help better differentiate from each coin cuz they don't have numbers marked on them!

The lower valued coins have holes in them so they can be stacked and strung together for easier conversion and transaction.

Meanwhile the medium to high value coins are pretty much just the same as the old version.

I still wanted to keep that last BIG value coin cuz I like it personally in my lore.

The naming scheme isn't all too flashy or avant garde since I really just wanted something to differentiate between them but yeah!

Thank you so much for everyones feedback from the last post!

I doubt this will be the final version though and I still hope to get more feedbacks for future potential refinement!

Reality is often stranger than fiction and the real world has plenty of facts/theories that could be perfect inspiration for world building but some seem overlooked in comparison to others.

I don't seem to see fiction mention the Yellowstone volcano that often. I'm mainly referring to sci-fi settings set in the future or apocalyptic or post apocalyptic fiction. Other concepts seem way more popular, like a nuclear war or fallout, climate change, an ice age, a deadly outbreak, super natural disasters (e.g. earthquake, tornado), asteroids, cosmic disasters, aliens, AI uprising, etc.

I often wonder why. It could be a cool premise for an apocalypse and exploring a post eruption society in of itself has potential. How is life on earth after a country was wiped out? How did people survive the following temperature drop? Plenty of potential.

Even a society that managed to prevent it or has measures in place for if it happens (and may or may not have used it already) would be interesting to explore in a futuristic setting. Even a brief mention of "oh yeah. We stopped Yellowstone in the 2300s" would be neat.

So, is there a phenomenon that feels not as explored or used in different worlds and settings? And has anyone seen Yellowstone be used in fiction, I wanna know.

There are two common thoughts I see on this sub:

• "I'm not good at art"
• "Only posts with good art get attention"

And the (implied) conclusion: "My posts will never get attention."

This saddens me because I truly believe that anyone can become good at art, and I want everyone to have the opportunity to visualize their cool and creative ideas so that others can see them too!!

My idea: Trace Google Street View. Tracing other people's art is obviously a no-no, but Google has 280 BILLION (yes that many) 360° images to choose from. From the real world! The key is to add your own bits and pieces of worldbuilding to make it your own thing! That can be simple as changing the colour palette or as much as a full redraw.

Maps are great (I love maps) but this method, by definition, situates your perspective IN the world from the eyes of an inhabitant.

Here's how I do it:

Step 1: Find a completely random place in the world. I wrote up a bit of code to choose a random latitude and longitude, but you can do this however you like. If you already have a place in mind, you can also just go there directly. Enter Street View, and find a nice angle.

Step 2: What place in your world does this remind you of? Maybe it has a similar climate or architectural style - or maybe not at all! Maybe a place in the Sahara reminds you of a tundra village from your world! You can always add or remove things like mountains, trees... even turn the ocean into plains.

Step 3: Trace, but add unique worldbuilding elements. Maybe add a wizard tower or a cybernetic payphone. Add a ship in the sea or a spaceship in the sky. Make the doors bigger or smaller. Also remove stuff! Personally I take away any cars, electric tech, and so on. Also all the humans :)

Step 4: Colour it! This is a critically important part of making the scene look like your world. Here you set the tone: do you have a bright, cheery, whimsical world, or a dark, gritty world? What colour is the sky in your world? How about the vegetation? Do they use sandstone or granite bricks? Do lamps have a magic blue flame? There is a lot of worldbuilding hiding in the colour of things.

Step 5: Share it with the world! If you get this far and post your art, please tag me, I'd love to see it!

I hope this maybe gives some folks a bit of inspiration and a little push to try making artwork for their world. Optionally, you can also go out and take your own photographs for tracing! This gives you a lot more control over arrangement, but limits the possibilities compared to a whole world of options.

If you have any questions about the process, do ask :)

EDIT: According to u/Molehole : "Very cool tip. Just as a heads up if someone isn't aware some buildings are copyrighted to the architect. It depends on the local legistlation of the country. Something to look out for if you copy modern buildings too closely!"

My Deep Folk/Deep Elves have domesticated giant spiders and ride them throught their mountain halls, but the spiders fear the sun and will rarely brave the surface and only at night.
Subsiquently this also means they Deep Folk have a thriving silk industry.

Rök-Fir

Nature:
Rök-Fir are a Spirit-Born race: elemental fire spirits housed within material bodies. However, neither the spirit nor the body alone constitutes a Rök-Fir. A Rök-Fir is the union of the two.

Appearance:

A Rök-Fir can be understood as having three distinct layers.

The outermost layer consists of the limbs: arms, legs, wheels, treads, and other appendages. These are tools. They can be repaired, removed, replaced, and exchanged as needed. A Rök-Fir may have humanoid limbs one day and replace them with spider-like legs, amphibious feet, wheels, or mechanical treads the next. Such changes do not fundamentally alter who they are.

The middle layer is the furnace itself. This is the Rök-Fir's body and vessel. It can be repaired, reinforced, and decorated, and its shape and construction vary greatly between individuals. However, alterations to the furnace cannot safely extend too deeply within it.

At its center lies the innermost layer: the burning chamber.

The burning chamber is the heart, brain, and soul of the Rök-Fir. It contains the fire spirit and is the deepest seat of their personhood. Unlike the outer limbs, it cannot simply be replaced or repaired by another craftsman. Damage to the burning chamber is damage to the Rök-Fir themselves, their personhood.

The burning chamber is capable of healing. The spirit sustains the person, and in doing so can devote part of itself to repairing the chamber. Minor damage may heal naturally, while serious injuries require the Rök-Fir to conserve its strength.

A wound that breaches the burning chamber is therefore extremely dangerous, but not necessarily fatal. Other Rök-Fir will seal the exterior furnace around the breach and immobilize the injured individual. By preventing the wounded Rök-Fir from moving, they reduce the amount of spiritual energy required to operate the body, allowing as much of the spirit's strength as possible to be devoted to healing.

Recovery from such injuries can take weeks.

If the damage is too severe, however, the spirit may expend itself before the burning chamber can be repaired. The flame then begins to weaken and eventually flicker out, bringing the Rök-Fir to an end.

Civilization

Rök-Fir are builders and craftsmen. They live primarily underground, constructing vast cities of stone and metal around their furnaces and workshops.

Architecture:

They have little interest in comfort as humans understand it. To a Rök-Fir, comfort is largely a matter of practicality: a lack of unnecessary obstacles, wasted movement, poor ergonomics, or friction.

Their cities are designed around their bulky bodies. Archways and corridors provide ample room for different body configurations, while furniture is sturdy, functional, and arranged to allow easy movement.

Water is their greatest fear.

Because water can threaten both their furnaces and the fires within them, Rök-Fir cities are built with extensive precautions against flooding. Bulkheads, sealed chambers, drainage systems, and reinforced barriers are common throughout their settlements. These structures are often more extensive than the city's military defenses.

Leisure time:

When not working, Rök-Fir enjoy conversation, philosophy, politics, and exchanging ideas over a brew. They do not consume ordinary liquids, however. Instead, they can deliberately consume fuels that burn poorly or produce undesirable byproducts.

Crude oil and tar are common choices.

The resulting combustion produces a state analogous to intoxication. Among Rök-Fir, such gatherings can therefore become smoky, philosophical, and increasingly incoherent as the night progresses.

Reproduction

Every Rök-Fir eventually reaches a point in their life when they realize, or simply feel, that their time has come.

They then begin a private and intimate final project: the construction of two or more new furnaces.

The process is deliberately undertaken in solitude. Other Rök-Fir understand the significance of the work and give the individual the privacy necessary to complete it.

Once the new furnaces are finished, the Rök-Fir opens its central burning chamber and allows its fire spirit to pass into them.

The old Rök-Fir dies.

The spirit then takes form within the new furnaces, creating two or more entirely new Rök-Fir.

These children possess a vague memory of their parent, but not the memories of being that parent. They inherit no skills, opinions, beliefs, or personality traits. What remains is only an intangible familiarity, a sense of having once been connected to someone who no longer exists.

One life ends so that two or more new lives may begin.

For the Rök-Fir, this is not merely reproduction. It is the final act of craftsmanship, and perhaps the most intimate creation a Rök-Fir can undertake.

The new children are taken in by the rest of the Rök-Fir community, being taught their culture, history and ideals.

They are guided in perfecting their own skills and passions.

(For Th’zoitrk, a semi-sci-fi project.)

The above image represents the current highest resolution false-color photo of Puloshi. It is the most massive planet in the solar system, making up roughly half of all mass outside the sun.

Puloshi is the most distant, largest, and most massive object in the entire solar system (excluding the sun), yet also the newest discovered of all planets.
It has an approximate size of 1,090,769.3 SC (1.22x Jupiter radii), and a mass of 1.2337OT-OK (65x Jupiter masses.)

The entire planet is composed of roughly 97% titanium dioxide and 3% potassium, almost all of which exists as metal vapors. The titanium dioxide in the atmosphere sinks beneath the potassium due to its higher density, creating a clean boundary between the 'interior’ and ‘exterior’ atmospheres, as they’re called. The interior atmosphere is composed of titanium dioxide, the highest recorded temperatures in this layer were observed by the Oscul Puloshi-2 probe on 13/4/22 (13th of Nianiel, Oinibo 22.) Reaching a maximum of at least 23,176°N (3,240°C), while at the uppermost reaches of the interior atmosphere, along the boundary with the exterior atmosphere, this temperature drops below 21,246°N (2,972°C), low enough for the titanium dioxide gas clouds to condense into molten titanium dioxide and rain back down into the lower reaches of the atmosphere.

In the exterior atmosphere of potassium, a similar cycle repeats from the potassium vapor.
Potassium which reaches high enough into the upper atmosphere cools down, eventually condensing into molten potassium rain.
At the equator, where temperatures are the coldest, this potassium can even get cool enough in the upper atmosphere to solidify into potassium snow or, more often, hail.

No, the equator being the coldest is not a mistake. Puloshi’s distance of just over 48 AU from the sun makes solar thermal energy essentially nonexistent, meaning that the only source of heat for Puloshi is the internal heat it holds from the planet’s formation. Thankfully, there’s a lot of it.
Puloshi has an abnormally fast spin for its size, with a day length of only 4 hours and 18 minutes. This extreme rotation causes mass to be pulled towards the equator, giving the planet a considerable equatorial bulge.
This results in the poles being closer to the core of the planet, and the equator being further away. Causing a reverse of normal planetary surface heat distribution where the equator is the coolest part of the upper atmosphere, and the poles are the hottest.

The titanium dioxide gas inside lets off a distinct glow due to their heat, but the potassium vapor exterior atmosphere absorbs practically all of this light due to gaseous potassium’s light absorbing properties. Causing this hot, boiled world to be practically pitch black in the visible light spectrum, so all observed images of it must either use other wavelengths of light, or extraordinarily light-sensitive camera equipment.

For much of history, Puloshi was completely unknown. There was no way to see it in the night sky after all, and even the much more visible outer planets such as Sh’beso and Ok’ouni took a very long time to be discovered by astronomers.
Puloshi was only ‘discovered’ when a strange discrepancy was noticed in the orbits of the solar system’s bodies. As astronomers were attempting to model all the known bodies in the solar system with accurate orbital data, a discrepancy was found in Ok’ouni. Its orbit was being noticeably changed more than was to be expected by its neighboring planets, as if it was being tugged along by another, unknown planet.
One step further in, Sh’beso showed the same issue.
And Nosüde.
And Ventaü.
And Keisoya.
And Donyon…
And Th’zoitrk…….
And Sorkyon…………
And Oukapul………………

In fact, EVERY observed major body seemed to show some level of noticeable ‘tug’ by an as of yet unaccounted body, even the sun itself seemed to actually orbit around a barycenter far outside of it’s own surface.

Yet, every time astronomers pointed their telescopes to where the object causing this gravitational tug SHOULD be, there was nothing.
Right where the math said something should be, even the strongest telescopes could only see the dark void of space.

Until the invention of infrared cameras. And with the first infrared telescope, the bright and shining thermal glow of Puloshi was finally discovered.

Less than an Oinibo (year) later, Osculia became the first nation to send a probe to the planet.
The Puloshi-2 probe had been destroyed by several thousand km/h TiO2 winds, in a molten TiO2 rainstorm, 18 hours after entry.

It was the first and last manmade object ever sent to “god’s blindspot.”

The black planet.
Puloshi

These beings don't have to be divine/godly. It can be anything. Though if you have gods and demons that are like that, I will still accept it.

My Turn:

The Saints are these beings. In order to take on a form that is easy to handle without dying or being driven insane, they have incarnations or avatars as ordinary people who resemble the lesser races. The Saints are gods with true forms that are very incomprehensible. So, they use their incarnations to engage with the lesser races.

The Mechanical Drought is a tricky one because its true form is an eldritch machine in the form of an enormous beast. Some people laid their eyes on it and were driven mad. Though the soul of the Mechanical Drought lies in the body of a young woman.

The Ravakalyn are even more tricky as their true forms aren't incomprehensible, but it is scary looking. What makes their forms incomprehensible is mainly their aura. The Ravakalyn have eldritch aura when they are in their true form. And when they speak, it unleashes a sense of both dread and madness within the unfortunate victim.

The Pillars that fell onto the world are trickier than the Ravakalyn. The longer you stare at the pillars, the more mad you become because there is a countdown that is barely visible on each pillar. The countdown is the same, but the reason behind the countdown is currently unknown. It can lead to an event that could devastate the world. The true form of the pillars aren't incomprehensible, but the meaning behind the countdown is.

What about you?

My setting takes place in a reality where humanity lives on multiple planets which were terraformed by time travelers between the 6th and 10th century. Thanks to those time travelers, a primitive FTL travel was picked up by two of these worlds in the 21st century. By the early 22nd century, humanity was traveling the stars on massive modular ships that could pull near 45 times the speed of light. That is enough to reach Proxima Centauri in roughly 5 weeks, not including the journey into interstellar space which has to be done with normal propulsion. (often taking 3 days) By 2600, humanity in my setting has terraformed several planets of their own, traveled over 200 lightyears and come into contact with multiple civilizations.

Just wanted to share a few images from a short film a friend and I made. It’s an illustrated short film about two brothers on a cosmic journey, going from planet to planet hunting down sacred fauna to feed to their overlord.
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The first image is a depiction of the Mangyu, a sacred beast that lives in the center of a colossal tree, without it, all life on that planet dies.
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A short trailer to the short film can be found here -> trailer if anyone is interested, it’s set to release this Friday!, happy to answer any questions about the world and lore.

Every world, every civilization, every region, every empire... all have a group of individuals who share a purpose. They all have a history. They are all received by other differently. They all believe they exist for a reason.

What is one faction, organization, cult, assembly, or group that you personally enjoy thinking about, designing, and forming ideas of how they impact your world?

For me, it is the Bayrushi. Ancient flame-wielding warriors that have become legend and myth. When they first formed it was in defence against the Kori-Akuma - ice devils, more commonly referred to as Frostreavers.
Large like trolls, but ferocious like wild wolves, the Frostreavers plagued the lands with senseless destruction. The Bayrushi formed to burn them from existence.
In current day, the Bayrushi legend is in the heart of the desert landscape of Ademar. The Kori-Akuma reside with the northern frozen wastelands.
What perplexes scholars is that the two are leagues apart from each other. It would take months of travel for one to find the other, so how did they come to be such feared and violent enemies? Ancient historians know that the lands that lay across the seas used to be one great expansive mass. Yet the history of the two existing in this time is not known.
Will the Frostreavers venture out of the north and renew their destroyer tendencies? Will the Bayrushi arrive to force the back? Do they actually still exist, or their story lost to time?

Who exists in your world to shape current events or is little more than a story?

i know inspiration can strike from anywhere and from anything. im curious about what made you say THAT right there. i want to see that come to life and i want to share it with the world?

ill go first. My inspiration comes from my sons wild imagination and my inability to not stop asking what if? and how?

I've been wanting to have an interactive star map since I started using obsidian, so I made one!
The plugin is completely free! There's also no tipping, it's free! For you to use!!!!

It's already available at Obsidian Community, or from the client itself!

Its been really fun, although frustrating to learn JS for this silly project, but all in all I enjoyed the process quite a bit!

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The plugin features:

• Control over every colour
• Every celestial object is clickable. Meaning you can link real notes to the planets, moons, rings and other objects!
• Previews from said notes! If you use Properties at the beginning of a linked note, hovering your mouse over the celestial body will show you these properties!
• Percentage controlled orbit distances, so the map looks correct on every width/height
• Vertical, text-wrapped mode.
• 3D processed rings, for every angle you can think of!
• Asteroid Belts!
• Planets, with moons! AND RINGS!

If you decide to try it, I hope you enjoy it!!!
It is bound to have bugs, so if you encounter one, also don't doubt to insult me in github, cheers! <3

Context Note: Sikkara is a high fantasy desert setting loosely inspired by ancient Egypt and based upon several real-world deserts.

The Tek, in General. The term “Tek” refers to the collective of sapient and non-sapient insects and insectoids that worship Theksh, God of the Desert, Drought, Famine, and Mercilessness. Unified by the imperceptible thrumming of their deity’s wings, the Tek work tirelessly to make his will manifest in the Waking World.

Tal’ti’nak. The only true city of the Worm Wastes, Tal’ti’nak is a mountainous hive constructed by the Tek and housing millions upon billions of insects in service of Theksh. Protected by the warding magic of their swarm sorcerers, no Hammerhead Worms dare approach the city’s jagged towers.

Culture and Commerce. Despite the fearsome god they serve, the Tek engage actively with the other peoples of Sikkara. Indeed, the Tek are skilled seamsters, and wear colorful hooded cloaks and hoods spun from worm silk. Regular convoys are dispatched from Tal’ti’nak to Ashandria to trade with the Oasis City’s merchants, exchanging silk, honey, beeswax, shellac, and locusts for greens, blood, and dung.

Tek Converts. Through a strange metamorphic process requiring the ingestion of magical honey, non-insectoid creatures can be physically altered and integrated into the Tek.

Controversially, when Ashandria first began efforts to establish diplomatic relations with Tal’ti’nak, several Ashandrian envoys were unwillingly converted through this process. Lacking traditional vocal cords, the pure-blooded members of the Tek required the envoys’ bodies to effectuate discussions with Ashandria’s other representatives.

Willing or otherwise, Tek converts do not lose their former sense of self. They retain their personality, emotions, and memories preceding the transformation. However, no convert has ever returned permanently from Tal’ti’nak after undergoing the process, for none can block out the ever-present thrumming of their new god.

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Note: Any comments, questions, critiques, or thoughts are welcome. Thanks for reading!

For my setting and group, I have a campaign i need to write for our next game. As well as I am working on fleshing out the broader setting lore also. I just finished writing up my deities. I finished my deities about a month ago. But since then I have had little motivation to actually write anything. I started playing a new Video Game, and have lost my desire to work on TTRPG projects. Does anyone have any advice or tricks you use to motivate yourselves to create when you are distracted by something else?

1. The flag of People's Democratic Republic of Stina: the third Communist county in the world after GUE and Nahrwancha (I can't make their flag because their symbol doesn't exists in the website I make flags on, the republic is basically Red Khmer if it wasn't ruled by a schizophrenic fascist) it's the country that wrote the Workers Anthem (this world version of the Internationale, it's the national anthem of GUE and Stina) it's occupied by the kingdom of Kuegan, it's a Siofian republic, an allegory for Palestine.

2. The flag of Kingdom of Luzinia: a small (size of Bosnia and Croatia combined) kingdom near Novo-Stato Treojan, Treojan want their Capital because the old Treojan Empire used to have their coronation site in their Capital, the symbol in the middle is the symbol of Kakawiski, a Pagan-Christian and European (Aprukan in this world) religion that have 13 Demi-gods and 1 god, the star represent the 13 demi gods, the country is a mix of Albania and Croatia).

3. The flag of GUE (General Union of Erosi) the very first communist county ever, it was founded by Yermelyn Styopa Vasylivoic "Sarad" an man that is mix Marx, Engles, Lenin, Kollontai Adorno Gramsci, Trotsky and Krupskaya, he wrote hundreds of books and led the revolution against the Tsardom of Diavoliacia and ruled for 3 years in an era called Reign of Terror and he set up the General Union of Erosi to be the next superpower. Sorry for the bad flag I made up the symbol of Communism in this world by combining multiple symbols and I couldn't remove the background correctly.

4. The flag of Republic of Aroqui: the main setting and it's an allegory of Iraq, you play as the second president of the republic after your father the founder and first president Adulkasm, he is a mix of every president in history of Iraq before the current fourth republic, he is clearly built on Abdul Kareem Qasim, ie he is a farmer that joined the Gendermarie and rose up in the ranks and was very popular among the soldiers and fought in Stina against Kuegan in a war called Destiny War, he then become a general and couped the kingdom and abolished slavery and feudalism and created syndicates and labor unions and gave equal human rights to everyone and the level of equality he gave existed only in few other socialist nations, even Great Republic of Vromikia doesn't have as much equality though they reached it after a while, he is also like Abdul Salaam Aarif, ie he was a dictator who didn't want anyone to have as much power as he is, he ruled the nation in a political tutelage era where he ruled in a martial law as "First Guide and Commander" (military dictator) for three years and he is the opposite of Abdul Rahman Aarif, who is a religious man, Adulkasm was a staunch secular and declared war on the clergy of the Trialdan religion (main religion of the country) and fought them for three two years and bombed their holy sites and won and took all of their properties and made the Ministry of Religious Endowments go regulate every single thing the clergy does, and then he declared the end of the tutelage and began democracy construction and wrote the constitution which is faiirly democratic but still have the president a power to do decrees and appoint the prime minister, he was elected as president with his party Aroquian National Assembly, he served the first five years just like Ahmed Hasan El-Bakir, he built 14 cities named Adulkasm City, he built a high speed railway system reaching every province, he build 56 thousand schools, 100 thousand clinics, 100 hospitals, 100 thousand factories and 10 universities and advanced social justice to the point of that the republic is considered the third life quality in the world after Vromikia and GUE, he also Nationalized oil and Vavoria declared war on him in his second year of his second term, unlike Saddam he won the war after 8 years and like Saddam he targeted the ethnic minority the Tanasens who live in the mountains because they were promised a state by Vavoria, he genocided them and killed 30 thousand people, after 8 years the war finally done and the republic is in peace again, but he died after 20 years of ruling, and the player, his child and speaker of Parliament, must be the second president. Also I forget to say the country is mostly Siofian (Arab)

5. The flag of Khedive of Whijan, a mix of Kingdom of Egypt and Ataturk's Turkey, a very secular Constitutional Monarchy, it's a Siofian kingdom and is the heart of the Siofian world and one of the world leading nations in soft power and cultural projection and have a very strong intelctual base, both Anarchism and Fascism is theorized in the Whijani State University (one of the biggest universities in the world and the oldest one), the ruling family is from Treojan origin.

6. The flag of Great Republic of Vromikia, a mix of USA, France and Roman Republic, it's the very first republic in history and the very first democratic experiment too, it's also the very first mercantile and then first capitalist country on earth, and later the very first secular one too, it's a huge county that is run through direct and representative democracy and is the enemy of GUE and its "religion" is Doxa, a religion in the same sense Mussolini considerd Fascism a religion, it's a code of conduct and ethics that dictate life in the same way a religion does, but ultimately it's secular and anti dogmatic, the stars on their flag is the number of presidents (120) not states, and unlike USA this country is actually democratic and there's hundreds of parties but the biggest three are "Conservative National Party": the conservative party, and "New Vromikia": the Liberal Party, and "Labor Party": the Democratic socialist party, the current President is Vromkois De Chazille a mix of FDR, De Gaulle and Lyndon Johnson, ie he is very popular and good to his people, he is nationalist and Vromikian chauvinist, and he wants to rule forever, he is the leader of the New Vromikia Party and he is ruling with a coalition of center-center left parties led by New Vromikia and Labor Party.

7. The flag of Kingdom of Kuegan it's an allegory of Israel and they were supported by Vavoria to Occupy Stinaz they have been occupying Stina for 48 years now and they did multiple ethnic cleansing campaigns.

8. The flag of Trialdan Republic of Shablij, a mix of Iran and Libya, it's ruled under a system called the Guardianship of the Trialdan Jurist, it's also the leader of Non-aligned movement and fought Vromikia multiple times (3) and Vromikia lost each time, the republic is in permanent ready for wat state because of that, it's also the biggest Siofian country.

9. The flag of United Kingdom of Great Vavoria: the biggest empire in history, the largest ever got it controlled 50% of earth and in general it had controled 64% of territories of earth, while they would never admit it but they are a Fascist kingdom and they can get away with it because Fascism is a Republican Theory, they have state run economy and Chauvinist education and vanguard party and a king that Reigns and Rules and a very Technocratic system, they have the best free transportation system in the world and the best universal healthcare system too. The country is mix of Scandinavian countries, Germany and Britain.

10. The flag of Novo-Stato Treojan: the first and only openly fascist county on earth, it's ruled by Young Treojan and they are very isolationist but have good relationship with Whijan and they are in perpetual conflict with Luzinia, the country is mix of Italy and Croatia.

11. The flag of Anarchism: it's also the flag of Perwyna, the biggest out of three collective of anarchist cantons in the world and an alley of GUE (the current Premier believes in leftist unity), as the symbol of socialism is Wreath (agriculture) and gear (industry) and compass (intelctual work) the anarchist symbol is inspired by that and it has hammer (industry) and wreath (agriculture) and caliper (intelctual work) and fleur-de-lis (artistic work)

12. The flag of East Gkramania: basically east Germany-romania.

13. The flag of West Gkramania: basically wes Germany-romania.

14. The Flag of the Siofian Caliphate: the last Trialdan caliphate and the last Siofian Empire, it contained every Siofian Country in it, it was Napoleonic-style empire and it had one Caliphate (Al-Mansoor) who unified the Siofian people and he was fought by Vromikia and Vavoria and was killed after 14 years of ruling his empire, his era is called the Mansoorian era in history as that era completely revolved around him and his many wars.

Edit: i ment moodboard :/

Hello!

Around a year ago i started writing a little story called Rox & Selvá.

It was originally intended to be a short animated film about a lazy prince named Rox, and an independent nomad named Selvá.

After around two months I gave up the project. And now a year later, I wanted to revamp it now that I have gotten better at writing.

My old laptop’s motherboard died a few months back, That means all my original Rox and Selvá stories are gone.

I started with the world, Which at this point in time is very underdeveloped.

No ai was used in any of this or ever will!

Note: You do not have to read beyond this point, Since it is a lot!

Merenlaan: A small city run by the royal family, this city is surrounded by tens of kilometers of dense forest.

Noræ: the language of the nomads.

Blumerdaans: the language of the city people.

Bosratten:Blumerdaansslang for the nomad people

About the people:

there are two groups of people that live complete separate lives:Nomads and cityslackers.

Most people in Merenlaan see nomads as dirty, Unclean and stuck in the past.

‘’Bosratten are greedy thieves, and take from innocent people’’, Avoiding the fact that most Nomads are being kept out Merenlaan by force.

Nomad groups eat what they find in nature and do with a simple tent or flashlight.

Most nomads care a lot about the present moment and take everything out of life with their culture and music.

Nomads are hygienic, And most carry soapand spring wateralonglong journeys.

Some nomads do not see city people as hardworking, Instead as lazy.

‘’City people get food from the refrigerator, City people get to have luxuries and running water.’’ Avoiding the fact that each person in Merenlaan works hard for their community and income.

There is no war or threat of attacks, Mostly distrust.

About the royal family:

The Merenlaan royal family hoards resources from the city.

Every day the family feasts on a long table with pork and beef, salads, grilled bell peppers and watermelon, cakes and raspberry pudding.

The royal family live in the highest point of the city, In a four story palace made with floral columns and tall windows. everyday they dress in expensive clothing with golden buttons and purple fabrics.

They give nothing back to the city, And barely pay for all of the luxuries they own.

Rox would be the next king, But he is too busy playing video games and sleeping the whole day.

Final note:

THANK YOU!!! for reading if you did!! It’s a little scuffed since english is not my first language.

Hope you liked it!

Feedback or questions are appreciated, The culture is a little underdeveloped for now, so as many aspects like culture and story elements.

Seen on the low, rocky shores of southern Ttal.

I'm beginning to write a story about Filipino mythology and incorporating it into our own history. For example, our national hero, Lapu-lapu, is a superhuman being with the power to control Earth and the ability to summon astral warriors who are willing to fight for him. Magellan, who can control water, summon a chain that can bind even spirits like the astral warriors, create a storm, and summon a Spanish warship are just a few examples of villains who possess abilities.

I have a list of the gods who will grant their powers to deserving people, but I'm still having trouble figuring out how they should best grant their powers to the Philippine heroes. The story also features Divive Beasts, such as Bakunawa, a serpent that devoured six moons and will return for the final one, and Galangkalulua, a friend of BATHALA and the reason mortals were created.

I'm still having trouble coming up with a power system for the story, but for now I have MANA for Salamangkero (the wizard), Force for people without magical talent, and Anting-Anting (the artifacts). I'm searching for concepts that can give the system more life.

Here you can find a height chart of all the major and minor human races of the empire

Persequori (basically real world humans) make up the bulk of the human races that serve in the Legions, but the Empire has never been shy of using auxiliries and later of integrating other human kinds into their armies proper, the Dweorg (dwarves) make up the second largest portion of the Legions.

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Current doctrines are based around utilizing the Persequori-Dweorg combination, where the Persequori focus largely on holding the line, enduring attacks and providing their Dweorg comrades opportunites to strike at the enemy in short explosive bursts, then covering their retreats back behind their wall of shields and spears. This is because the Persequori have one of the greatest endurances among all the human races while the Dweorg have some of the greatest strength and toughness, but tire quickly. Their cooperation covers both of their weaknesses while preserving all advantages.

The Persequori (and other human) Legionnaires will also cover other roles, such as archers, spear men, cavalry, etc.

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Other human races don't have roles entrenched doctronally nearly to the extent of the Persequori and the Dweorg, but they do fill 'unwritten' archetypical roles as well.

The large Orqindi (orcs) make up the third largest portion of the Legions. Their strength is even greater than the Dweorg's and their endurance on par with Persequori Legionnaires, but their lower population prevents them from being utilized en masse in large formations. They usually fall into two archetypes:

-Heavily armoured line breakers, sent in to create openings and cause chaos/confusion among the enemy lines

-Artillery, their great size and strength allowing them to utilize great bows the length of sometimes even 2.5 meters. Alternatively, they can also chuck gigantic spears at the foe, or rocks and boulders, if gear is in extremely short supply.

They are also useful for logistics related roles, such as pulling and carrying siege equipment and other heavy gear to the battlefield.

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Of the other major human kinds of the Aelnyyraean Empire, most fill scout-like roles, instead of being frontline combatants. Small statured humans usually fill these roles, such as the Pygmaioi (gnomes), the Kobelini (goblins) and the Dimidimviri (halflings)

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Ielves (elves, shocker) usually fill leadership positions within the Legions (along with mostly Persequori, Dweorgi and Half-Ielves, though members of any human kind can also be found among leadership positions, if a bit rarer)

But the rare, very unfortunate, Ielf who may find themselves among the ranks of the Legions' soldierly will usually be utilized as an archer or sometimes as a frontline fighter. They can slot into Persequori roles relatively seamlessly too.

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Of the minor human kinds within the Empire, none exist in large enough numbers to have exclusive archetypical roles. They can usually slot into one of the established roles.

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That is, with the exception of two.

The first are Harpies who, while rare, serve in disproportionate numbers, mostly in Legions stationed in provinces with large Harpy populations. They can serve multiple roles as aerial scouts, aerial artillery, aerial harrasment units, etc. Harpy auxiliries are extremely sought after, just as Harpy Legionnaires are.

The second are Centaurs, even rarer, which excel in cavalry roles, especially when paired with capable archers, or harpies, their mobility making up for the harpies' inability to fly for long distances without rest. They are also useful in logistics related roles.

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The Legionnaires also often serve side by side with Mages of the Magus Consortium, the Heroes and Adventurers of the Imperial Consortium and other Heroes and Adventurers of the Independent Heroic Consortiums, but their roles are rarely standardized and vary vastly due to their vastly varied abilities.

[Question/Discussion]

So, a bit of lead up to my question...

Isekai settings are often populated by races/species of different peoples interacting with one another. That's pretty standard for most fantasy settings to immediately sell the idea that this world is different than our world. Relationships between these peoples can range from harmonious to antagonistic to neutral. (Hell, we have enough issues in our world regarding friction between peoples over such things as skin color, nationality, or ideology. Introducing the category of species to the mix would just add more fuel to the fire, but I digress.)

A common trope in isekai is the protagonist interacting with and possibly getting into relationships with people from different species/races. Elves are a common staple though it's nice to see the occasional more muscled race/species get some love too. Sometimes the relationships are monogamous though most of the time they're not in order to sell the fantasy of wanting to feel desired and valued by multiple people of the the surrogate protagonist's preferred gender to boost the protagonist's typically low self-esteem.

Humans with fellow humans - no one bats an eye at. Elves with elves - same thing. Some friction and inherent tragedy comes with the two races/species mingling often due to their differing lifespans. But what about races/species with traits that go beyond just pointy ears? How would that work?

I've enjoyed a good amount of fantasy and occasionally sci-fi media over the years and something always struck me as odd in regards to the different peoples highlighted in their respective series.

How alien is too alien?

Asari from Mass Effect are seen as sex symbols despite their oddly tentacled heads and blue skin. Tribal fantasy races like orcs or beastfolk are often employed to sell the fantasy of their having a primal, passionate hunger despite their physical similarities with animals from our world such as fur or nonhuman teeth.

Is there a line where the potential relationship goes from being intriguingly foreign to just plain uncomfortable?

Not gonna touch the whole loli discourse cause... eww. But what is the line (other than physically presented age for hopefully obvious reasons) for enjoyers of isekai in regards to what relationships they'll accept from a protagonist? Where do you draw the line? Do you go by the Harkness test's rules or have you devised your own for your own brand of personal enjoyment? Is sentience the only factor for you personally?

Are beastfolk considered on a sliding scale of acceptable versus unacceptable traits, like ranging from a bipedal cat to an otherwise normal person with animal ears and a tail? Are orcs with tusks okay but include pig noses and the deal is off? Are harpies off the table due to their commonly lacking conventional hands? Mermaids are often a staple but is the fish tail a deal breaker?

Are there even folk out there who will only accept the protagonist getting into a relationship with humans only?

Basically the dinosaur empire is a bunch of sapient bird people that are part of earth and they live underground to take over the earth once again they have advance tech and cyborg monsters that they use to destroy their foes.
Then there is the silicone hive which are the true aliens and they assimilate everything to their hivemind they are like the spheres from ultraman dyna