Just to play with this idea. I am right now running my players (D&D5e) through a scenario based on Ursula K LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" I still don't know where they will land on the questions posed ... but they have realized that there is something very very wrong and a question that needs answering.

This model surprised me in a way beyond the elegant cause and effect, but how similar this is to layers of abstraction in computing. And it makes sense in retrospect, a program works a lot like worldbuilding, where things happen that you'd expect in the background due to pre-existing patterns built out of an idea or ideology. I can't understate how useful this is!

I have a fantasy setting where a faction monopolizes the means of communication and inexorably drains away everyone's joy by penalizing the use of direct, well-understood, one-syllable terms for everyday experiences and rewards the use of polysyllabic near-nonsense instead. It leads to the death of the culture.

For another good example of gray morality, see the Disgaea video game series. The main characters are literally demons. In the majority of situations, their concept of right and wrong is the reverse of Western culture. One of the earliest examples we see is that demon lord Etna actually gains her master's respect by repeatedly trying to murder or overthrow him. Later titles introduce "delinquents" among the demons, who engage in things like charity and protecting others. These characters are still capable of love and empathy, but as a culture, their moral compass is pointing the wrong direction. It makes for some fascinating moral decisions from both protagonists and antagonists.

Know your audience. Stop hiring woke 35 yr old single moms to write a story with the intended audience being 18-35 yr old men. Just as it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for a 40 yr old Chinese dude to write the sequel to Twilight.

Is morality really black and white? Yes. And those who say otherwise are looking to justify evil. There, I saved you a whole lot of trouble.

At last a channel that gives George Martin the credit he deserves. By no means I'm trying to discredit Tolkien, he was indeed the pioneer. But it's confusing and mildly frustrating to see how many still teach based on Middle Earth instead of the vastly more complex, more diverse and more believable ASOIAF.

Personally, I do not use the words good and evil when designing characters regardless of the setting. *I start by asking:* "What are you fighting for and why?" "What (or who) are you willing to sacrifice?" "What (or who) are you not willing to sacrifice?" "What would lead you astray?" Answering those questions always gives me a great start to fleshing out a character.

dave duncan "man of his word" series. all magic is based on the true names of a race of pixes who only speak it on death. any one who hear 1 name becomes talented like becomes the fastest runner. 2 names you can use small spells. 3 names you can start using complex spells. 4 names you become a archmage. but here the kicker if you learn a 5th name you become a walking god but only for a short peroid of time before the power consume you

Thank you for this, this is a genre I have been wanting to explore for a while!

Back in the day of AD&D 2nd edition, in the great city of Menzoberanzan, city of the Drow, there was one large stalagtite in the center of the city. Every "morning", when the last hint of warmth has faded from the stalagtite, the high wizards of the academy would cast their heat spells onto it. As Drow had infravision (seeing in the infrared spectrum), back in the age of AD&D 2e, as opposed to in 5e merely having night vision like some surface dweller, they could see by the brightness and reach of the infrared light radiated by the stone what time of day it was, as the stone would cool at a consistent rate.

"The largest trafic jam is on the moon"

I didn't recall Martin ever using the title "Duke" in his epic series (as you suggest at 2:52), so I asked Chap GPT whether Martin uses the title "Duke" in A Song of Ice and Fire: Answer: "No, in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, there are no specific titles like "Duke" mentioned; the noble houses are primarily referred to as "Houses" with their lords being simply called "lords," meaning there's no distinction between a duke and a baron within the narrative."

I'm currently reading eartsea and yesterday was quite shocked at how easily Serret casted lead into three guards bones

So, a selective detail for me that I thought of is kind of a cascading one: my fantasy world is going to be set over the endless seas, with islands flowing through the sky held up by powerful crystals filled with magic. So here's where the cascade starts: how do people and animals get around? Obviously, seeds, birds and some insects fly on the winds, but what about flocks of deer, for example? Well, for deer, they gather magic from the plants they eat and use that. Horses, meanwhile, use a mix of magic and wings they've grown. But then what about people? For them, I'm thinking ships and sleighs, pulled by the winged horses but lifted by smaller magic crystals, to help reduce the weight. For larger vessels you'd want sails, instead of horses. Now, imagine: you've just entered a whole new world, one you didn't know existed, and you find your way to the edge of the island you're on. The first thing you see is more islands surrounding you, but they're not sitting in the ocean, water lapping at the sand. No, they're hundreds, maybe thousands of feet in the sky, and here and there you see a waterfall tumbling down to the sea below (the magic crystals naturally hold on to water, to a point, so the islands don't become dried out husks). Great vines dangle down from the rock, and you can see what looks like something sparkling gently in the rock itself, though you don't know what it is yet. You're not expecting the birds to come shooting past, and you yelp, moving backwards quickly, but then you realise. They're not birds. They're deer! Or what passes for deer here! You watch in amazement as the herd makes for a nearby meadow, where they soon begin to graze in peace. Seriously, though, I've been trying to come up with an introduction for this world a while now. 😹 So thank you for the inspiration!

Regarding your first point, I'd like to add that the familiarity of George Martin's world, excellently built as it is, also stems from the near-ubiquity of the medieval setting in fantasy. If I were to write a fantasy novel in a setting inspired from the early Roman Republic, for example, or the Greek Dark Ages, there will be some vaguely recognizable elements, but most of it would appear very unfamiliar. The medieval setting's monopoly is so accentuated, that readers have come to expect it, and major changes will require more ample world building.

I think a decent way to approach worldbuilding culture is figuring out the culture image, that is, the central image that demonstrates the key way that the culture acts. Real life examples of this include the expansion into limitless space of western culture, the winding path of chinese culture, and the long walk of egyptian culture.

Amazing in depth video!

I need help not jumping down rabbit holes working out coins weight in grams and diameter when I don’t plan on describing them beyond copper, silver ,gold, tiny , small , large and the names of the coins themselves, I need to avoid most of the logistics

The book A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne is absolutely adrift with cultural idioms. There are 5 major cultures, and all have a lot of sayings, often overlapping with ones from other cultures, yet completely different

That intro cracked me up

I like to embed lore into character's sayings and swear words.

Anyone who knows history can form a very solid base for spectacular fantasy wars. Take the Punic Wars, for example: you have a general who made two almost impossible crosses and won some unbelievable victories, then you have Rome's willpower and ultimately total victory. Last but not least, you have almost two million total death toll, which is 1.3% of the world's population in 200 BC, which is only surpassed by The Second World War (3% of the world population). WW1 had only 0.6% by comparison. The reason for such a destructive series of conflicts was the sheer military and economic power of both Rome and Carthage, the quick improvement of war machines (e.g. the Corvus), the bad blood between the two powers and the large reserves of manpower. So, don't be afraid of a monumental war in fiction. Just create some logic around it.

Thank you! One of my favorite aspects of world building is the well lived-in and deep rooted cultures and traditions of a world or setting.

In my world building for my fantasy story, I was feeling a bit of mental blockage because things and events didn’t flow well. Now that I’ve restructured my keypoints and events, I managed to create a deeper world because of gaps in the lore!! I was thinking of 3 novel arch, following the natural order 1,2,3 but opted for a 1,1,2; the first one being self contained and with a smaller focus. Thus, sparkling the lore and key events, making my story flow better and having a deeper world. I feel like my story and world is ready!! Thank you so much for your tips and sharing your thoughts and experience!! :D

I am creating my own world for my rpg game. It is entirely effected by the will of the gods, like the Greek stories of the gods interference in every day life. I have used the real world effects on the world but the gods have effected much of how those real life effects work. I enjoyed your videos and they have added to my knowledge of the creation of my world.

The Harry Potter one’s a weird take, that’s only one specific wand, there’s a lot of other problems with that magic system, it might be a joke but even then it’s a weird joke idk

I feel like there's a saying opportunity for your candle timer culture along the lines of "the light shines the same until the final gutters." You may already have one, but it seems useful in reminding someone that something's not over until it's over.

Hm. Runes that trigger a spell when reading them sounds fun

As a 17 year old student with adhd trying to make a world for dnd, this vid is very useful in aiding me building it, since it's my first time at world building. Im definitely gonna implement these strategies, especially since my world has 4 nations, each based of real world parts of the world and there cultures The nation im currently working on is based off typical European fantasy. Definitely subscribing!❤ Srry for the rant lol

I think it's super cool that you don't cut out minor errors, your speech feels much more natural and less choppy than many other channels I have watched. I don't know why this isn't more common, it seems like it would be easier on your end too! Thanks for all of the great advice!

With fungivorous flying elves that have magnetic detectors mixt into their hair, but their children are wingless.They are unable to digest starch, but are immune to a lot of fungal toxins, but have the caffeine tolerence if a kitten. Their bronze age would be quite different. Flight and magic heavily influences their weaponry, but also keeps it more primitive. Humans inventing chariots would not pose a huge military threat to them, since they have gravity on their side. All their tech points, it's all into aerodynamics, fermentation, textiles and edible molds, enabling them to have sedentary villages in tundra climates since lichens can photosynthesize in negative temperatures, and mushrooms csn grow in negative temperatures. Their flight would enable them to colonize extremely hostile habitats. Drow cultures would be particularly rapidly expending and diversifying. Elves would prefer knitting and macrome over plain cloth, but it would come in eventually, quite rough. Cloth would enable them to build lighter and more aerodynamic nacelles and sail-powered sledges in snowy tundras. Bridges, however would be seldom used. Irrigation would be used to raise crayfish for meat, but anything grain related would be pretty useless to them.

So, about the word "tribe", if we go by it's formal definition, than technically Rome was a tribal society.

this is rlly good

"Riddley Walker" By Russell Hoban is a post-apoc with a nascent command economy being spread and justified by wandering punch-and-judy-like men: their Punch, "Eusa" is the everyman, sometimes given to hubris, and "Mr. Clevver," the devil, is the playing-out of that hubris. Between the two. they give both a rather twisted origin story for the world, as well as topical interpretations of current events. The puppeteers take their show to hunter-gatherer communities throughout a region that's in the throes of a painful transition from hunting/gathering to farming. All the people in this world are living in muck, surrounded by remnants of the world that used to be, and looking for meaning. Each community of hunter-gatherers has its own "connection man," who, at the conclusion of the "Eusa Show" makes a response, a "connection," that becomes that particular community's reaction to the show. It might support the agenda of the show (fables with agendas.) He might produce a counter-narrative. His "connection" It might point out some hidden agenda that needs to be emphasized so that everybody notices it. Since the connection man is a member of his community, he knows their concerns, needs, history and inclinations. Thus his connection of the Eusa Show might be more important to the group than the show itself. It will probably be remembered longer. Through the connection man, the group makes the puppet show's story their own. (Naturally, the puppeteers seek to influence the connection man before they give their show.) The people are wretched, but hardly simple-minded. Riddley is a 12-year-old boy who has just attained his majority. He has just inherited the 'connection man' role from his father, who was killed in a disastrous archaeology project organized by the government. The hunter-gatherers are illiterate, so Riddley develops his own phonetic spelling and narrates the entire damned book using it. (There are online concordances, in case you get stuck.) I know that you have little patience for writing that gets in the way of the story, but permit me to strongly suggest that this time it's eminently worth the effort to read. Riddley's language itself slowly becomes a musical, often mystical counterpoint as the reader discovers his world. Damn book made me become a puppeteer.

Love your narritive take on magic, catching up as I work on my ttrpg magic system

Thank you for the deep dive into a complex topic!

Thanks for all of the advice!

It must suck to be a left handed woman in the world with the "safe hand"

While I'm thinking about it, I just want to say, "Thank you." Thank you for all you do with this channel. I enjoy your points, acceptance of getting tongue-tied at times, and even the cat visitors on occasion. I'll admit that I haven't caught up on all your videos that I'm interested in lately because I feel like you deserve 100% of my attention. Maybe even notes. Rather than background listening while I work my "day job". I'll get there eventually. But I wanted you to know that I look forward to your videos, all the same.

When you mentioned the Hidden Hand that made me think of a fantasy race they can produce spikes from the left hand and their nomadic men sayings like keep your left hand ready but when they go to a different culture their settlements they may want them to bind their left hand this could be a point of conflict or a Story about adapting it could go a lot of ways you could go with it

So where would you place intentionally giving verifiably incorrect lore? For instance if you get a story early on saying oh such and such a monster can only be hurt by cold iron, and then later that doesn't work because you need silver to hurt it? In this case it would work to ratchet up tension as the carefully laid plans fail to work but do you think that old story teller or drunk in the tavern being flat out wrong adds depth?

One idea I have a mafia of shapeshifters have sayings always be polite with your true face

In the world based on water clocks someone could say I have no more drops to waste on you another expression i have of all the drops in the world

Just what i needed. I subscribed yesterday for a reason.

Who are you? And I mean that in a very good way. The gems you give are absolutely priceless. On behalf of Who are all thinking it, thank you!

In my dark fantasy verse, the Elven Hunts were one of the most important historical events, reducing all elven kind to two ethnicities, and them a bunch of tribes living in the desolate tundra or two settlements hidden in caverns. The pyroxene drows were historically matriarcal, however, severe persecution had inverted the gender roles, since submissive women were easier to defend. It's a behavior you see in great apes, that the more predators they are around, the more phallocratic their social groups would be, as keeping the females uneaten becomes a full time job that requires made easier if the female is controlled. This forced hiding also cut their access to berries, meaning, their only source of bioavailable sugars is...Rané, an autotrophe that produces intense and long lasting burning sensation, while blocking endorphines. They are forced to eat that, creating a population were a person suffering from 7/10 chronic pain is considered healthy and able-bodied, because it's so common. Imagine an entire city with cold turkey syndrome since birth, and it's going to stay that way for the forseable future. When they meet another person from another culture, this has become so engrained into their society, that when they are allowed treatment for their pain so they are physilogically able to have intercourse, it's only for a duration of one week, and there's a risk that the bride would be severely wounded, since they discover being "pain free" as end of puberty adolescents or young adults as opposed to...babies, and they tend to...React to it dramatically. This also made them very mistrusting, and have a social cohesion that is...If their organized religion wasn't reinforcing it through force, they would have self-genocided a long time ago. Another way they keep their society from unravelling is through regular flagellations of a certain body part, exploiting a quirk of elven reproductive instinct that increases the quantities of oxytocin in individuals who suffer severe pain to their equipment, promiting both mother-child bonding as well as inclusive fitness. Prior to the inflexion point, they were a culture that valued a certain amount of modesty, however in a cave environment, that's just not possible. So physical modesty was replaced with emotional modesty, a culture that deeply values stoicism, and also, not caring what others thought of you is considered something extremely intimate, reserved for family members, and even then. They also don't really distinguish friendship from romantic love, and believe it to be a weakness, to the point of having completely lost a previously elaborate courting culture, and arranged marriages become the norm. However, they aren't necessarily prudish either. For example, in their culture, it's considered socially unacceptable to do the diddly do before the fifth year of mariage, not because they view it as sinful, but rather as incredibly stupid. Elves live longer than humans, and it's a philosophy of "first, learn to work as a team, and only then bring something that can result in pregnancy". On the other hand, sibbling homosexual relations are seen as completely normal, and even part and partial of a healthy education. They also marry quite young, with the bride moving in with the groom the same age as her, so they live "like brother and sister", with the one truly in power being the step-parents.

Star Trek’s Federation Credit is not used on Earth or in most of its colonized planets. However, a currency is needed outside of Federation space. That means the government must have a currency to use when trading with alien civilizations. Thus, they have a Federation backed currency to be used for those interactions. This makes sense in its implementation to me. The show originally traded crystals that powered the engines, if I’m remembering correctly. This is bad because everyone doesn’t need them. A currency is easier to authenticate and will hold its value. As you just said.

I love how much fun you have with props!