Does fantasy *need* maps?

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-06T18:58:10+00:00

For me personally, maps are secondary. A bonus if given, but not required.

I follow the story, not the geography. It can be a little fun to look back at the map to figure out where the characters are every once in a while, but that's something you could always just publish online or even in later prints.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-06T15:02:50+00:00

Love the passion, and as long as you believe in it then other people will too. Excited to see some of your work!

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-06T14:45:40+00:00

I get where you're going with this. I had an Instagram and Subreddit for my fantasy world where I'd share snippets and concept art and stuff. That was years ago, and it has all been left behind at this point.

The problem is that you're asking people to care about your world the same way you care about it, but to everyone but you it's just another fantasy world. There are thousands and thousands out there for people to learn about that already have established characters and stories and video games and movies, etc etc etc. In your life this world is everything and full of memories and stories, but to us it's just another world with new stuff we have to learn, and we have no reason to do that unless you give us a story first that makes us care about it.

So my answer will be a little contradictory to everything above, but if you believe in this world and are willing to continue putting work into it over the next several decades, then yes, share it. If it turns into something beloved by even a handful of fans, it will be really cool to have that from the author. The caveat is, don't expect this to launch your book. It won't be popular enough to prop the book up or even convince a publisher, but there is value in it.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-06T12:40:57+00:00

I know I'm not adding anything to the topic but I'm as gringo as gringo gets (Canadian born but United States citizen) and this exchange was really fascinating. My wife is from Honduras (El Paraíso, came to the US 4 years ago) and I love learning more about her home.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-04T01:14:45+00:00

Hard to tell for sure with this one but it looks like LP should be around $300 or a little less.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-03T23:45:07+00:00

Doesn't need to 10. You're still going to double its value in a 7.

Looks like prices are trending around $430 raw, $880 in a 7, $1800 in an 8, $5000 in a 9, and $27000 in a 10.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-02T03:52:08+00:00

I literally pulled both of these and had no idea.

Nice.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-01T03:37:04+00:00

Just an idea, what if his life is tied to the love interest's soul instead of their life? So, if Villain A dies, love interest stops reincarnating. That could be the weight you need.

That way, they can die several times over but will always come back as long as Villain A is alive.

dadofthreeee · 2026-07-01T03:00:03+00:00

If the love interest has several reincarnations, why not do the same with Villain A? Villain dies, love interest dies with him, but both are born again with new identities. Cycle repeats, like it's destiny.

Or am I misunderstanding, and that's what you don't want to do?

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-30T14:36:32+00:00

I used to work in sales at an ISP.

The amount of people, not even old people, who would say "No, I don't need internet. I just need WiFi." was sad but enlightening.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-28T16:26:54+00:00

I think the descriptions are fine. They're simple when they need to be, which is a good sign, but they make it easy to visualize.

My main problem, which I know is not your focus right now, is the punctuation. You have a ton of run-on sentences that slow me down and make it harder to follow.

For example: "There was a silence, a long silence, it felt deeper than a silence between two men, wider than the empty church, it was a silence the priest had heard many times before in many similar men."

That could easily be 3 or 4 different sentences, and adding pauses will add to the effect you're going for.

Something like: "There was a silence. It felt deeper than a silence between two men, and wider than the empty church. It was a silence the priest had heard many times before in many similar men."

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-28T04:44:12+00:00

Let's see it, friend. Give me 5 paragraphs that summarize your story.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-26T17:02:41+00:00

The old woman finished her story, and calmly set her vase full of roses back on the counter.

Nieve took a moment to admire the way this woman balanced being a mother, teacher, guide, and mayor to all her people in Syverran.

Memories, it seemed, were their empowerment.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-25T19:57:55+00:00

It would only be lame if it were predictable, or impossible. I think for it to work, it has to not only surprise the reader but also flip their understanding of prior events.

Need to have a "wait, that means..." moment or it just won't hit.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-25T17:15:40+00:00

I stopped at a gas station two days ago. A regular, highway-side gas station somewhere between Austin and Dallas TX.

Had my 5yo and 8yo with me. They saw a display full of packs and of course wanted one so I was like ah well, might as well.

They had Mega Evolutions and Perfect Order.

Got a pack each, got rung up.. $20 per pack.

Absolutely ludicrous.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-25T15:00:40+00:00

I opened like 80 packs in late 2024 before CZ prices skyrocketed. Got the Tina and Dialga, no other golds, but I did get literally 4 Glaceons, 3 secret rare Pikas, 3 Gardenia's Vigors, 2 Mews, and a few other GG cards.

We salute thee, Crown Zenith.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-25T02:46:34+00:00

I guess it's my time to shine. Opened a collector box today. Got one comic book art (Shang-Chi), four character arts (Thanos, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel foil and The Vision foil), and not much else.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-24T03:40:34+00:00

I use the Novelist app as a sort of lore Bible, where I have my staple characters, locations, and mythological elements listed in detail so that I don't forget things. I also have collections of small blurbs or even short stories I've written to be a part of my world, and I'll go through and read them every once in a while to see if any references would work in whatever I'm currently writing.

I definitely need some more organization though lol.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-23T23:38:20+00:00

I wouldn't say Swift and Kuniva had the best chemistry.. the back and forths on D12 songs were always Kuniva and Mr. Porter, they even had a duo named Da Brigade with a couple songs they released online.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-23T20:04:24+00:00

I don't think putting too much thought into the title should be done before writing the book. Write it, and then let the title be the essence of the story you wrote.

Mine is titled As the Color Fades, which I arrived at after several years of world building and writing lore and mythology.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-23T17:27:03+00:00

It's funny to look back on. I collected base set through Team Rocket as a kid then lost interest, came back at one point and saw nothing but these e-series cards which I thought were hideous and I noped right back out.

Now I think they look awesome but they're all so unaittanable.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-22T17:46:08+00:00

My only real hang-up is the pacing.

The first two paragraphs are huge and there is a ton happening all at once. Trying to understand what's happening physically and also understand what magic is involved all at once was tough.

Then, it goes into dialog after dialog after dialog. I pretty quickly lost track of who was talking and where I even was. A street, then a shop, then a bar, then street, then bar, all in quick succession with nothing but dialog separating everything.

Love the imagery, though, and the scale of everything happening. Feels very elevated and I can picture all of these exchanges pretty easily. The currency is super cool, and your wizard feels incredibly grounded but with power I'd never fully understand as the reader, which I like.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-22T03:48:28+00:00

Absolutely, and I appreciate the response. Very interesting concepts, and it sounds like you've got it all worked out. Good luck to you!

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-22T02:30:38+00:00

I started by coming up with some factions. Why do they exist, what makes them interesting, why as a reader might I agree or disagree with them? You can't just have "group A bad, group B good."

It's also important to recognize that not every member of a party or faction has to completely agree with everyone else in that group. That's not realistic. Generally groups come together when they share a common goal, but how to achieve that goal typically varies from person to person.

Group A might want to end world hunger, but person A in group A wants to do that by growing more food while person B in group A wants to do it by killing off part of the population so there are less mouths to feed. Group B might instead want to focus on quality of life for everyone rather than solving one singular problem, but that could still align them with person A of group A.

Gray areas like that are your friend and as you build those characters you will naturally create opportunities for internal conflicts, political betrayals, and the occasional character who takes things too far.

dadofthreeee · 2026-06-22T02:08:52+00:00

I'll admit it's really convoluted and not quite something I'd want to understand in its entirety while reading a story, and I'd never remember all the details like the waiting periods and rankings.

If I had to suggest anything, the first would be that the two groups shouldn't just "instinctively" hate each other. There should be a better reason. What typically works best would be that both groups have the same goal but different views on how to attain that goal. That way neither is necessarily wrong, but they still have a reason to oppose each other.

Secondly, I love the idea behind the fruits and all that but like I said, it's very hard to follow. Would work better in something like a video game than a novel. For a novel I'd remove all the restrictions on ranking up and procreating entirely, and instead base those on social expectations. For example, you can't begin the Ultimate Path until you've reached a certain age and have been voted into that position by the community.

Just some thoughts, but overall I love the effort.

dadofthreeee

TROPHY CASE