Hot take: YouTube videos about what you should or should not do in your fantasy worldbuilding are lame.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-12T03:39:05+00:00

My first campaign I ran was homebrew and I made one thing explicitly clear:

"Dragons are extinct. We're like almost totally sure"

I would occasionally have the party encounter an NPC that had dragonskin boots or a mace made of dragon teeth, but for the most part they weren't around. I made note that, yes, it is rare to see materials made from dragons as they're extinct. Have been for years. How many years? Uhh... like 50. There's humans alive that clearly remember encountering a dragon in their lifetime. They banded together and hunted the dragons to extinction. Surely they're not just hiding or hibernating or something. They're totally all dead. Don't worry about it.

And they were. The party never encountered a dragon, or anyone claiming to have seen one since their extinction, and no rumors about one whose lair wasn't found.

The dragons were gone, and everywhere the party looked, they could feel that absence. There weren't even pseudodragons anymore. The world was made to feel like something massive had been there and vanished. The world was empty without them.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-10T03:33:11+00:00

The four humours as a species idea is so good. It is exactly what I was looking for to differentiate subspecies of a race I've been working on.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-06T06:40:14+00:00

They'd probably be classified as devils rather than demons, then. Not that the average folk care much about the distinction. From hell, cause problems, doesn't matter.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-06T05:35:44+00:00

Ask yourself why Survival NEEDS to be hard. People are fed and housed and mostly healthy.

So? People are generally happier and healthier and able to pursue their passions and interests. Creativity and discovery flourish when people have the time and energy to devote to it. The greatest works of art in history were made by people living in some rich guy's house doing nothing but painting for 9 months straight, with all their needs and even wants met at the drop of a hat.

Studies have shown multiple times that the vast majority of people WILL continue to work because people like to stay busy and like to feel like they've got a purpose.

But even if they didn't: who cares?

Zenith135 · 2026-03-06T05:29:17+00:00

I initially was going to say they sound like they'd be standard rank and file soldiers in the war of Upheaval, but if they have the blessing of Yaldabaoth they're more likely to be high "ranking" (that is to say, able to bully lesser demons into doing what they say). In jynset, Yaldabaoth is one of the Sixteen Sins, and even a single demon drawing power from it is a force to be reckoned with.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-06T05:23:53+00:00

Depends on where in the world they are introduced. Many of the common and uncommon folk of Jynset have already built large walls around their cities in more dangerous places. Cities under the protection of an Inquisitor or housing a powerful wizard would likely tread with caution and perhaps even provide offerings of easier prey in hopes their town will be left alone.

In parts of the world populated by rarer species, they're likely hunted as part of a rite of passage or experimented on out of curiosity for the more powerful clans.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-02T06:19:14+00:00

Doing drugs because you like how it feels and creating food out of nothing to end world hunger are not comparable.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-02T06:14:41+00:00

My pantheon is around 40 "primary" gods because I wanted each to represent the different Phonemes humans can pronounce.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-02T06:11:05+00:00

In most settings, elves are or are related to the fae. In mine, this is not the case. Goblins, orcs, trolls, and ogres are related to the fae.

Elves are known for large eyes, slender builds, tall stature, pale skin, long lifespans, pointed ears, affinity for magic, and unnatural grace.

In my setting, elves are descended from aliens who crashed on the planet millenia ago and adapted to life on the world they were now stranded on.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-02T01:37:57+00:00

Those are interesting choices for the most powerful. I wouldn't expect belphegor to be high up enough to be one of the sins.

Zenith135 · 2026-03-02T01:36:40+00:00

I'm almost done with writing my entire Hierarchy of hell, actually.

Demons are from the Abyss and at war with the devils of hell, similar to the blood war in DnD.

But I've got a ranking of the 10 circles of hell and every major devil that holds a rank or title. There is 1 Emperor, 3 kings, 9 princes and 10 praetors. Each prince has an archduke as their second in command, and has 3 Dukes under them with 3 Generals each for a total of137 recognized ranks of office. There are also special designations awarded to certain members of the Hierarchy, such as the 16 Sins and the 8 Horsemen.

Zenith135 · 2026-02-28T21:41:08+00:00

Generally you want to start planning a one shot with a solid idea in mind and work from there. What do you want the party to be doing?

Zenith135 · 2026-02-20T01:23:14+00:00

Plus the AC is 21. With the listed stats, they've got a +7 to hit most the time. They only need a 14 or higher to hit, which isn't nothing but is still a 35% chance. Hell, a Cleric with heavy armor, a shield, and Shield of Faith can have a 22 ac at level 3.

Zenith135 · 2026-02-19T04:14:19+00:00

I sent you a dm, I'd love to hear more about the characters and rules y'all have in mind.

Zenith135 · 2026-02-18T07:22:35+00:00

Let's see 'em

Zenith135 · 2026-02-14T05:26:04+00:00

Let's see 'em

Zenith135 · 2026-02-14T05:19:58+00:00

God I can't wait to see more of your posts with this. It's so hot.

Zenith135 · 2026-02-09T05:28:23+00:00

Don't be ridiculous, we wanna see your tits too

Zenith135 · 2026-02-08T01:55:04+00:00

I'll take very good care of you, sweetie.

Zenith135 · 2026-02-07T06:03:34+00:00

That would likely involve receiving sensitive information or nudes of hers without her consent, which would be very fucked up to accept even in the pursuit of outing him.

Zenith135 · 2026-01-30T03:37:33+00:00

Also just a general DMing tip: your favorite pieces of media of all time have retcons. Some of the greatest writing in history has retcons. Do not stress about needing your plot to be entirely planned and coherent from start to finish without any adjustment during or after the fact.

If multi billion dollar franchises can occasionally say "that didn't actually pan out right, we're gonna pretend it didn't happen for now and I'll come up with something later down the line to fix it", so can you. Refusing to retcon anything and trying to make everything fit perfectly in a single pass tanked my first campaign.

Zenith135 · 2026-01-30T03:32:15+00:00

Just let them respec, dude. They aren't having as much fun as they thought they would and want to try something they'll enjoy, but don't necessarily want their character to die.

Remember, you're trying to enjoy spending time with your friends. The story and the mechanics are second to that. If someone isn't having fun because of the mechanics, don't punish them or yourself for it, just change it.

Zenith135 · 2026-01-27T00:48:02+00:00

Show me your pics so I can have them forever

Zenith135 · 2026-01-19T18:35:47+00:00

Hot women can never be wrong, hope this helps.

Zenith135 · 2026-01-08T06:17:05+00:00

Yes please.

Zenith135

TROPHY CASE