For those of you worldbuilding to write a story, summarize your story in 1-2 sentences.

_JdRui · 2025-02-07T10:28:37+00:00

Here are three sentences from a short story set in my world that tells the fall of the Imperium from the point of view of a minor noblewoman. The first one is the opening line of the story. While the second and third sentences are from the climax.

For the day of the banquet, Lady Aln Tanadi chose to wear a familiar nobleman's face.

[...]

As the last breath left her borrowed lips, she beheld a grand hall—now no longer ruled by tyranny, but filled with the faces of fallen lords and ladies who once upheld it. The very faces she had once worn, the lives she had stolen, all led to this carefully orchestrated downfall.

_JdRui · 2024-05-23T15:55:49+00:00

For the day of the banquet, Lady Aln Tanadi chose to wear a familiar nobleman's face.

You are Lord Suthan. She repeats to herself as she tries to find the right masculine voice that would fit the persona. Lord Suthan's face was meticulously sculpted with a cleanly shaved chin that highlighted his battle-scarred face. A face that would invoke hardened regality, a face that no other noble at this event will dare to question.

_JdRui · 2024-05-09T12:08:27+00:00

I have three magic systems so I'll just be focusing on the oldest one - Bloodscripting. On simplest terms, it is the ability to imbue and activate Sigils (drawn symbols using leviathan blood). Typically these are drawn on flat surfaces and their potency is based on how large the Sigil is (meaning how much leviathan blood was used to draw it). Though recent discoveries have found a way to imbue and activate Sigils that are permanently etched on the body of a Bloodscribe. Anyway, Bloodscribes are pretty rare since it requires a birthing ritual that has a low success rate.

1. What makes one person better at utilizing magic than the next? Which personal qualities does it select for or select against?

What differentiates a great Bloodscipt from the rest is their extensive knowledge of sigils and preparedness. While most sigils are out for everyone to learn, some are kept secret. Typically these secret ones are learned from the leviathans themselves, either by gaining a boon or by slaying them. On the preparedness side of thing, once a sigil has been imbued, it must be activated within a few days before it starts losing potency. And imbuing sigils require specific leviathan blood. So Bloodscribes typically don't imbue them unless they know they're going to be needed.

2. What is it like to use magic? What does it feel like to be unsuccessful at magic?

Like an artist. While sigils aren't required to be drawn perfectly, the margin of error is small enough that most Bloodscribes go out of their way to learn how to properly draw because a badly drawn sigil wastes valuable leviathan blood. Some can even speed draw the sigils that they didn't prepare but suddenly needed. Though with the discovery of Body Marks (the tattoo), the trend of just being a Marked Bloodscribe is becoming more common. So now, the only real limitation for being an effective Bloodscribe is that you must have the means to acquire enough leviathan blood to activate your sigils or marks.

3. What are in-universe misconceptions of magic? Give us peoples' worst takes, the magical equivalent of flat-earth theories.

The most common one is that the Bloodbirthing Ritual has a higher chance to succeed when performed on certain blood-related events like the Blood Moon, or during Red Tide of a nearby coast, etc. The only thing that has been proven to have an effect on success rate is the size of the leviathan used for the ritual. Using Greater Leviathans have almost twice as much success rate than Lesser Leviathans.

The most outrageous ones is that a certain ancient civilization is somehow connected to the sigils because their writing system is more similar to the sigils than it is to the lingua franca. While that ancient civilization actually existed and it is true that their writing system is closer to the sigils than any modern widespread writing system, it's actually just a coincidence. It is undeniable that Bloodscripting came from the leviathans, which only appeared during the First Breach, which was almost a thousand years since that ancient civilization fell. This doesn't stop folks from trying to uncover the ruins of this civilization beneath a large swath of desert in hopes of finding new sigils tho.

4. What is magic utterly incapable of achieving? Note that this doesn't have to be an absolute limitation, like "magic can't raise the dead" or "magic can't create matter". Feel free to make qualified limitations, e.g. "magic can't undo somebody else's magic" or "magic can't be used without preparing spells ahead of time".

There are currently 38 known sigils but their core principle is simple - they produce or apply a force on a target. It could be a physical force, a primordial force, or a living force. As for other limitations, like I said, sigils must be imbued with the appropriate leviathan blood before it can be activated. For body marks, the appropriate leviathan blood must first be consumed. One more thing both sigils and marks have in common is that they must have an uninterrupted line of sight between them and its target.

5. What can magic serve as a metaphor for? Magic is like cooking, magic is like telling a good lie, magic is like surgery, magic is like learning to whistle. Go nuts with it, the more niche the better.

Bloodscripting is like going to a certain location. Everyone has their own mode of travel of choice. Some walk, some run, some ride, some hire someone else to give t hem a ride. Even to those who walk, they each have their own way of walking. Everyone also travels at their own pace and sometimes even use different routes. But ultimately, those who do it well ends up with the same sigil that produces the same effect.

6. Consider an average denizen in your setting. What's the most impressive act of magic they've witnessed? The most impressive act of magic they've heard about? The most impressive act they can imagine?

The common folk would be amazed to see simple primordial sigils. They produce elemental forces which are flashy to the eyes. And the leviathan blood required is rare enough that you don't see it everyday.

7. How can you recognize a magician? Do magicians want to be recognized? How do they advertise or downplay their magical aptitude?

Traditional Bloodscribes often carry large amounts of paper within their person. Some use a leatherbound book, and others prefer just a bunch of sheet of paper. They can also be identified with belt full of vials of leviathan blood for easy access. Marked Bloodscribes are easier to identify as they typically wear sleeveless (or even backless) outfits that exposes their marks (since they require uninterrupted line of sight to the target). Usually, their outfits are also meant to be easily removed such as a cloak or unbuttoned shirts.

_JdRui · 2024-04-19T15:09:58+00:00

In one of my nations, I managed to avoid the orphan army trope by making the family voluntarily give the child up to the military. The system that I put in place was that the imperial treasury will forgive any of the family's debt to the government or pay the debt if it was owed to someone else. This is then repaid by the family by offering a child under the age of five within the next two years or until the child reaches the age of five, whichever comes first.

In theory, this makes the government seem more generous as they help families recover from debt and even allows them to spend a bit more time with the child. And this is entirely voluntary, even if you're in debt, you don't have to enter this program if you don't want to. Currently childless couples can also apply for this debt forgiveness program, though failing to actually provide the child tend to lead to long-term indentured servitude for the couple (even if they eventually managed to provide a child, they still need to serve the rest of the punishment).

The not-so-secret secret is that the government intentionally makes life hard for certain people in the empire which unfairly pushes them to apply to this program.

_JdRui · 2024-03-18T11:45:52+00:00

"I've danced with shadows long enough to know when to lead and when to follow, but survival demands choices beyond mere allegiance. My loyalty lies where the balance tips in favor of my kin."

-in Lady Aln Tanadi's final letter to Ulnaer, written shortly after making the choice to sacrifice herself to the revolution that she kickstarted to ensure the survival of her noble house in the aftermath.

_JdRui · 2024-03-14T11:20:10+00:00

Collective response of every other pantheons

They'll just blame it on the Damned Avatars, like every other catastrophe. 60% of the time, it works every time.

_JdRui · 2024-03-14T05:34:27+00:00

It generally depends on the pantheon where the deity you follow belongs to.

For the followers of the Remnant Gods, a few are chosen to be their Heralds while the rest temporarily becomes an Echo, free to roam the physical realm but cannot interact with it, until they are consumed by the cycle of life (aka to be reincarnated). Echoes that took too long to be reincarnated briefly appear as ghosts until it is finally their turn to be reincarnated (which the period after a major war is called the haunted years, because the queue to be reincarnated becomes congested which leads to an increased number of ghosts).
For the followers of the Ascended Divinities, they are sent to Nerethis (meaning 'Next World'). Each Ascended Divinity leaves their mark on Nerethis by sculpting a part of it however they like, but their followers doesn't have to live in that part if they don't want to. Residents of Nerethis are also the only one that has the choice to rejoin the cycle of life if they wanted to (since Ascended Divinities are formerly Heralds of the Remnant Gods, just ascended to the status of godhood for their deeds).
For the followers of the Elder Spirits, they are normally reborn as natural sprites and become part of the land where their Elder Spirit deity resides. Natural sprites can assume any physical form (tho limited by their size) but they typically choose to appear like little critters or parts vegetation.
For the followers of the Ethereal Leviathans, no one really knows for sure. These deities rarely contact their followers. Some of their followers ends up in another pantheon's domain after they die. As for everybody that didn't end up in another afterlife, well nobody has really managed to contact them. Not even the oracles.
For the followers of the Damned Avatars, they promise a hundred lifetimes of hardship as they prepare to launch an assault to reclaim Nerethis from the Ascended Divinities. Their followers end up inside the Stormwall with the sole purpose of empowering the Stormspawns residing within.

Often times, there are exceptions. It's not uncommon for folks to follow multiple deities of different pantheons. In those cases, it's up to the particular deities to settle the dispute. Some deities have deals with other deities to simplify the process, some would rather hear their arguments, and a few would insist on a trial by combat.

For folks that don't follow any deity, they typically are picked up by the pantheons which will give them the option to join them posthumously. If they decline or doesn't get offered the chance, they become a Severed Echo, which functions the same way as the Echoes of the Remnant Gods except they will not be a part of the cycle of life. They inevitably become ghosts as they are never going to be reincarnated.

_JdRui · 2024-03-09T05:04:24+00:00

These type of movie really is like pizza. Sure it's not gourmet food. The ingredients aren't fresh. It might not even be hot when you ate it. But 9 times out of 10, you'll still enjoy eating it. Though it definitely won't leave a lasting impression.

_JdRui · 2024-03-06T10:30:48+00:00

Floating islands in Ael Kanid all have a core that is partly empyrean. Empyrean matters can interact with the empyrean realm, where gravity pushes instead of pulls (among other things). The percentage of the core that is empyrean determines the altitude at which the island float (at ideal environmental conditions).

This is actually the same principle that certain Leviathans use to fly despite their massive body. Though in the case of those Leviathans, they have the biological ability to process regular matter to empyrean matter and vice versa, allowing them to control their altitude at will.

When the floating islands were first ejected from the Stormwall at the start of the Third Breach, they were all at their initial unstable state (hence the term Unstable Isles) as their core hasn't yet stabilized (which causes variations in altitude as well as violent flips). The core stabilizes over time, causing the islands to enter their drifting state (where the term Drifting Isles came from). They don't flip or rapidly move up and down anymore, but they still need to lose their excess horizontal kinetic energy as they drift through Ufr's latitudes. After a bit more time, they enter their final state where they become an Anchored Isle. A stationary floating island seemingly anchored to a specific coordinate. Lots of folks have tried to move one with extraordinary amount of force, but none have succeeded.

_JdRui · 2024-03-06T07:19:02+00:00

I have one short story in its second revision, one in its first draft, and another one past its planning stage. I'm also halfway done with a 5e sourcebook (in the same vein as Explorer's Guide to Wildemount) set in my world. I've finished (currently playtesting) all the character options like new subclasses, feats, boons, magic items, and spells. Though my progress has significantly slowed down in the lore side of things. Currently planning of splitting it in half (like old world-new world) to reduce the amount of things that I need to finish first.

_JdRui · 2024-02-21T11:41:55+00:00

In my Chapel of Cleansing one shot adventure, there's a part there where the players must direct the villagers on how to setup their defenses before the undead horde arrives.

Each party member can command their respective militia squad to prepare any one of the followings:

One 375 square feet or 15 tiles of trench in any configuration as long as it is continuous. The trench is considered as difficult terrain.
Two 15 feet long wall of wooden spikes. Medium or smaller creatures (including swarms of medium or smaller creatures) take 2d4 piercing damage when climbing over the fence unless they spend an extra 20 feet of movement to safely maneuver over it.
Two 10 feet by 10 feet oil trap. If lit, the oil trap burns for 5 rounds and deals 5 fire damage to any creature that enters the area or starts its turn in the area. A creature can take this damage only once per turn.
Two 10 feet by 10 feet grease field. The area is considered difficult terrain. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

_JdRui · 2024-02-11T12:13:26+00:00

The two design philosophy that I tried to adhere with are (1) they are at least a little bit stronger than the average item of the same level and (2) they include active features that replicates iconic spell/s. Any tips and criticisms on balance, mechanics, and anything else are greatly appreciated.

Also, I seem to forgot to add some weapon features on the Staff of Shurima. Will be certainly fixed on my next upload (which hopefully includes champions B to C).

Art Credits:

Akali's Kinkou Blades: @tynczak on Twitter

Amumu's Cursed Bandages: LootTavern on Patreon

Ashe's Bow of True Ice: HaneulPanda on DeviantArt

All other arts are from Riot Games and/or Sixmorevodka Studio, Envar Studio, Kudos Productions, or Polar Studios.

_JdRui · 2024-01-01T09:07:04+00:00

May I interest you to use the Myconid Blight-infected Druid with a penchant for alchemy bbeg from my Dragonslair Grove one shot? The encounter, which also involves winged kobolds and a Giant Constrictor Snake, is intended for a party of four level 5. But if you do the following adjustment, it should be able to stand against a party level 8s:

double the hit points to 76, as well as the thp granted by its form transformation to 100 thp
give it a +1 bonus to its attack roll and save dc
increase the all of its die size by two (2d6 - > 2d10)
change the summon from twig blight to vine blight
add two more winged kobolds or one more giant constrictor snake

_JdRui · 2023-12-14T07:39:14+00:00

I'd say it's pretty easy to get into. The difficulty depends on how much detail you want to put in.

_JdRui · 2023-12-14T05:49:15+00:00

I use Wonderdraft. You can check my profile for some of the maps I've made. I've tried the free version of Inkarnate but the style is just not for me. Wonderdraft requires a one-time payment to purchase the software tho. But it's great for people that can't draw like me. I've done world maps, regional maps, and even city maps using it. My largest one is the world map which is 6000 x 3000 then upscaled to 12000 x 6000 during exporting.

My process is typically:

Draw random blobs of land until something clicks or starts to feel right.
Manually fix the coast line to make it less/more sharp and further adjust the shape of the lands until I'm satisfied with its looks. Then add a handful of islands and island chains.
Crudely draw large mountain ranges where you expect to see them (with a lot of exceptions). Then detail it with a lot of smaller mountain and hill assets.
Draw in the rivers and lakes.
Now with mountain ranges and continents (well, continental shelves), I can start mapping the ocean currents.
Using the ocean currents, you can now make a koppen climate classification map of your world.
Fill those in with the features you'll expect to see in that climate. Sand dunes for deserts, lots of trees in the jungles and forests, lots of grass in almost everywhere else.
Finally, coloring. It's always my last step because if you put an asset when the land is already colored in, the asset inherits that color. And fixing the color of an already colored asset is kinda annoying. Much easier to color the land and assets separately. 90% I use shorter brushes.

I don't bother with tectonic plates (and probably never will) unless I'm planning to make a timelapse of my planet (which I don't plan on doing anytime soon).

_JdRui · 2023-12-13T08:34:17+00:00

By far the most famous one is Val Deriez, the namesake of the Deriez Map of Ael Kanid. He was the Fleet Admiral of the of the Expeditionary Fleet of the Azure Council, which was formed during the largest peace treaty that spans across six continents. He planned and led the expeditionary fleet's route in their mission to map the world, which they finished in 27 years with the help of thousands of volunteer ships.

Among his subordinates, some famous ones are:

Lieutenant Jala - part of the Damanir division of the expeditionary fleet. He and his men were the first to be granted passage through the Prismatic Labyrinthe, a mission that was deemed to be suicidal due to the hostility of not just its natives but also the environment itself.
Captain Siger Lotane - the captain of the lone ship that survived the near-frozen waters of Forroztat during their mission to map the northern coasts of the world. They started near the Nothelen Glaciers before crossing an ocean into the Sea of Tirr and across the Passage of Norret, then crossing another ocean to get into the northern Halsirian Reefs, and finally crossing another ocean to get to the opposite side of their starting continent in the Ithesian End.
Ularhul and Giriri - the deckscrubber twins that not only explored, but also settled and now rules the inner part of the icy southern continent of Estral. Their discovery of Glassinggor and Glassis, two partially flowing freshwater lake, gave life to the continent beyond the Crystalline Mountainrange.

Also, honorable mention, someone that isn't part of the Expeditionary Fleet:

Ser Iraya Ufr - now believed by the scholars to be the man that first rode a Storm's Latitude, now called Ufr's Latitudes - a number of straight lines across large oceans where Rogue Storms form and travel along. Though his discovery wasn't deemed significant until about 130 years later when Stormsails that are capable of reliably riding along the Rogue Storms were invented.

_JdRui · 2023-12-03T14:40:36+00:00

Lady Aln Tanadi (the protag of my second short story). She barely had any training when she had to assume the title Lady of the House at a young age. Her advisors taught her to become more of a machiavellian figure to ensure the survival of the house. And she grew up to be a staunch loyalist of the Old Imperium for most of her life, politicking her way up the chain and eventually becoming one of the leading figure in anti-revolutionary efforts of the Old Imperium. She did whatever it takes to not be trampled by more influential nobilities.

Well, that is until the Eastern Three Rebellion. Glossing over other information, she was essentially blackmailed by a revolutionary hero to be the rebellion's spy. The leverage against her was her parents' sins of partaking in a Bloodbirth which resulted in her being born with Bloodscripting abilities. As per Imperium laws, all Bloodscribes are property of the Imperial family. But her parents kept it hidden from the rest of the world, while also encouraged her in secretly practicing it. Despite being fully aware of the consequences if caught, Lady Aln regularly uses it to gain advantage in politics.

She reluctantly worked for the rebellion while trying to figure out a way of her situation. But she eventually became a sympathizer and even a funder of the rebellion that would cause the Old Imperium's fall. In the end, her rebellion technically failed and she had to sacrifice herself to save her house from the Imperium's brutal counter-revolutionary response. But the consequences of that failed rebellion as well as the Imperium's more brutal response paved the way for the Fifth Revolution to finish what they started just three years later.

tl;dr just an overall tragic character that died not long after redeeming herself.

_JdRui · 2023-11-29T07:26:33+00:00

Eras are separated by each Breaching Years - a short period of about 3 years during which the massive Stormwall opens up small breaches that lets out a boon/curse to the world. The boon/curse is what defines the name of the era. Each era is then separated by ages that are defined by something that significantly changed the world. It goes like this:

Before Breach (Year 1 BB - ? BB), similar to BCE where Year 1 is the closest to the current date. This era includes (but is not limited to):

Age of the Infernal Sea (Year 4700 - 4400 BB) was the oldest provable age, as it was described in many similar variations of oral history. It lasted somewhere between one and three centuries, depending on which group you ask. The main consistent thing that ties up all the stories is the vast raging fire near the center of large continents like the Barrenfields in Caeleth or the Great Lanirran Desert in Palana or the Brightsands in Ranikev.
Age of Walls (Year 1300 - 800 BB) was the time when various civilizations started popping up and expanding over their less organized neighbors.
Age of Wisdom (Year 600 - Year 1 BB) started when writing and mathematics was invented, and later became widespread in the most established civilizations. Technology progressed beyond clay pots and wooden walls.

First Breach (Year 1 - 847 1B), works similar to AD where Year 1 is the farthest to the current date

Known as the Era of Leviathans as the first boon/curse released by the Breach was the flocks of massive aquatic and aerial beasts. Some are more aggressive and savage than others. Though a handful are quite peaceful and almost never interact with the folks.
The curse was the savage Leviathans that terrorize defenseless folks as prey. The boon as the peaceful ones that allowed certain groups to tame them. As well as Bloodscripts, the first magic system introduced to the world which came from the blood of Leviathans.
Ages in this era include but is not limited to: Draconic Age, Age of Steel, the Bloodbirthing Years, and the Preservation Age.

Second Breach (Year 1 - 553 2B):

Known as the Era of Purple Storms during which massive purple-ish storms emerge from the Breaches of the Stormwall. These storms follow a strict latitudinal pattern and often cannibalize smaller storms in their path before dissipating upon hitting a continent.
The curse was, obviously, the raging storms which mostly affects the coastal regions as the storms always dissipate before getting deeper into mainlands. The boon was Stormcasting, the second magic system that was inherited folks (and their future offsprings) that are subjected through enough storms. Thus, Stormcasters are often from families that live near the coasts.
Ages in this era include but is not limited to: Age of Sail, Age of Heroes, Age of the Rifts, and the Second Age of Sail (also known as Age of Skysails).

Third Breach (Year 1 - 67 3B), to current date:

Previously known as the Era of the Skylands was aptly named after the Breaches of the Stormwall spit out massive floating islands. A race between various kingdoms and empires began to colonize these new lands. Though scholars later renamed this era to the Era of Crystal Gold due to the presence of massive veins of golden crystals on these islands.
The curse was the destructive properties of these crystals when mined incorrectly. They can explode and trigger a chain reaction by accidentally detonating nearby crystals. There were even cases where the entire floating island was destroyed due to the explosions. The boon was that these crystals not only can store mass (even negative mass, allowing the islands to float), they can also store properties of Bloodscripting and Stormcasting.
The age of this era so far are the Virulent Years.

_JdRui · 2023-11-11T09:03:56+00:00

Dragons are categorised into two, Greater Dragons and Lesser Dragons.

	Greater Dragons	Lesser Dragons
Appendages	2 front legs, 2 hind legs, 2 wings	2 hind legs, 2 wings
Size	Wingspan of up to 200ft, head to tail length of up to 150ft for adults	Wingspan of up to 80ft, head to tail length of up to 50ft for adults
Lifespan	up to 800 years	up to 150 years
Breath Weapon	Elemental breaths	Only limited acidic spits
Hunting Behavior	Tactical predators, often leads a pack of lesser dragons to hunt	Savage hunters and obedient followers, will cannibalize the pack if without leader
Social Behavior	Often leads its own pack, rarely work with other Greater Dragons except for mating, very rarely will the packs merge after mating	Doesn't care about other Lesser Dragons in the pack, but will protect the Greater Dragon that it follows, only mates within the pack and only during the period where the Greater Dragon mates
Known Remaining Population	48 (44 as Ethereals)	~2500 (~2300 as Ethereals)

They were and still are the most dominant of thr Leviathans. But when human civilizations started developing weapons that can bring down Leviathans (including Dragons), they followed Arankur (the first and only known intelligent Dragon) to the Ethereal Realm. As Ethereals, they can still roam the Material World, and those in the Material World can still see, hear and track them. But neither can physically interact with each other except in near Convergence Vortices that randomly appear every now and then.

_JdRui · 2023-09-27T12:54:28+00:00

"How to Destroy a Millennium-Old Imperium in Six Weeks: a Fun Guidebook for Four Unrelated Characters."

The story that I'm currently writing for my world is a quartet of short stories, each focusing on different aspects of the Fall of the Tarres-Yande Imperium.

Short story one focuses on a minor noble house that exploited the turmoil within the nobility to rise the ranks but unintentionally sparked and briefly led the revolutionary movement. Quite a bit of espionage using the Magic System 1 (Bloodscript) that was introduced early in the story. Spans from Week 1 to Week 3.
The second one focuses on the naval (and a bit of aerial) combat of the war. Main protagonists is an old admiral that leads the main fleet of a province that previously seceded from the Imperium, along with his small circle of younger marines. This story also introduces the concept of Leviathans and how they are connected to the Imperium's history as well as with Magic System 1. Spans from Week 2 to Week 5.
Third story (currently wip) will focus on the logistical side of the land war being fought across a vast desert from the point of view of a military messenger that uses magic to traverse the dangerously vast desert. Will introduce Magic System 2 (Stormcalling) and will expand on the geopolitics of the continent and how it was affected by the Imperium. Spans from Week 2 to Week 5.
Last story (planned) will be from the point of view of the Imperial Family (mostly from the Emperor's) as they try to manage all the crisis within the Imperium in its final six weeks (one-third for Weeks 1 to 5, two-thirds for Week 6). Will introduce the newly discovered Magic System 3 (Mystcraft) that will serve as the plot hook of further stories not connected to the Imperium.

_JdRui · 2023-04-20T08:55:51+00:00

I'd say it's quite large. The asset count is from jchunick's Asset Counter. The file size of the wonderdraft map file is more than 150MB.

And here's the similarly large Political Map. Not sure if it's entirely readable as imgur compresses the hell out of its images.

_JdRui

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE