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I'll mostly just be posting one short story as I finish the chapters, so it's not like a real thread where I'll post a whole bunch of different stuff. Anyways, I like mixing genres, and I had this idea for a mystery story set in a fantasy world, so I went ahead and stuck it in an existing world I've been workshopping called Diranell. Here's the map of said world: Spoilers for size This world is definitely the one I've spent the most time on, and I'm very proud of it. But it's expansive, and as such, the story does have an Appendices, which I'll have to add somewhere, and footnotes, which I'm sure I'll have to figure out how to fit in there. Anyways, I'm rambling. Here's the prologue(along with a note to the reader): Prologue Relevant Appendices Pages: Let me know what you think and if yall want more, I guess

I’ve been considering putting my novel I’m writing (or some of it) on here. Who would be interested?

introduction: you are all park rangers guarding a protected forest near an important city. you all arrive on your first day of the job at different times. you all have different reasons for wanting this job and for how you got it. what you do know is that each of you got your job because of your gifts. a form of nature magic that manifests in each person differently. for some, it manifests as plant control, for others animal communication. no two people have the same gift. however, once they all get the job they realize that the turnover rate is pretty high for an unusual reason. This is not a normal forest and it houses lots of secrets. this forest and its inhabitants seem to bend the laws of nature all types of strange cryptids and weird magic reside within these woods then to top it all off your superiors are either no help at all or acting very strange why did the monarch of the land protect this torest who knows but it is the Monarch's Forest they can't just go burning it down.

Come!! I wanna rp with you! Setting: We are the nobles, peasants, and middle class of Entrea, a planet hidden so far from the sun that it is perpetually in shadow and cold. The capital is called Londar, where our story takes place. I'm gonna say stick to around the Mistborn age of time. We have armies, swords, balls, keeps, and fortresses. No guns or more advanced technology. Magic: READ THE SPOILER BOX IT'S IMPORTANT!!! Thanks to @RoyalBeeMage for coming up with the above magic system. Magic is fairly common, but small forms. Anything bigger, more important...well, it's bound to get noticed. And people talk. And when people talk, the government gets involved... Plot: Entrea is a peaceful planet, and Londar a busy city. We had good rulers, wise advisors, and just trials for a long period of time. Things started to go downhill very recently however... Our new ruler, Jaxon Hart, is a ruthless man. His advisors are cunning. His interests lie in growing his kingdom, not hearing the people. But last week, rumors started spreading. They say Jaxon has disappeared. That he was taken--perhaps murdered. Audiences with the king have closed, the people are getting restless, and more important lords and ladies in the city are taking stands. Will they side with the people or the government in the inevitable clash? They ignore the more potent question. If Jaxon has vanished, who's leading? Our first scene takes place in a meeting between a group of influential nobles. These are the ones who rose to the top because of their intelligence, skill, or ruthlessness. They want to know what's going on, and they want to know now. They try to work out a plan, but conflict among so many minds is inevitable.... There are seven nobles in this particular group, so it's first come first serve. PM me if you'd like to play Jaxon. Other characters can be street urchins, working class, lesser nobles, servants in the palace...whatever makes sense. Romance is allowed, if you find someone who will play your character's love interest. Meanwhile, a group of street smarts have their own agenda. This is the perfect time to steal. The city in chaos, the government crashing...you could get away with anything. If this idea doesn't fly, it's ok. There's plenty more where this came from spoiler for length have fun, y'all

I'm looking for inspiration for designing a magic system with philosophical underpinnings, a la Sanderson's cosmere, and I've come to the conclusion that the best way to find it is to read books (shocker, I know). I've read all of Brandon's cosmere books, which I collectively consider one magic system with many interpretations, as they all share the same philosophical foundation, namely Plato's Theory of Forms. I also stumbled upon the Prince of Nothing series and the subsequent Aspect-Emperor series by R. Scott Bakker, which has a magic system focused on leveraging logic and/or creativity to overwrite reality. Now I'm reading Dune while I wait for the third book of the Aspect-Emperor, which didn't arrive with the other three, to be delivered so I can read that. But beyond that, I'm starting to run dry on fantasy series with interesting magic systems. I've read all the cosmere books (of which I am now an avid fan), the Wheel of Time, R. Scott Bakker's series, and Harry Potter, though the last one is a bit of an interesting case in regards to magic systems. If anyone has any recommendations for fantasy series with interesting, unique systems of magic, I'd love to hear about it. P.S. I'm not sure if this is where a post like should go, this just seemed like the "miscellaneous" forum, so if any mods know of a better place for it, I would not object at all for it to be moved there.

The Figeri Collective is quite the place. It is perhaps the most odd and unnatural planetary system that the gods have ever created, permeated on hundreds of levels by other realms of spirits, fae, gods, and monsters. Beings older than time, eldritch creatures, and spirits beyond these worlds all inhabit the places you call home, spreading their influence throughout the ethereum. However, with so many gods and monsters vying for power, existence becomes difficult for the likes of mere mortals. Normal people become pawns to the greater beings, used and exploited to accomplish goals far beyond their sight. In many ways this is simply the norm: injustice is justice, in a sense. But there is one god in particular who does not stand for this: Death themself. While gods, monsters, creatures, and horrors fight among each other, they often imprison human souls for any numbers of purposes. Death cannot bring life back to those wrongfully slain, but strives constantly to see that these souls are rightfully delivered to the Pillars of Judgement to go on to the afterlife they deserve. But it is not within a god’s rights to impede on another's' domain even for the cause of justice, which is why they bring mortals into their influence: to act in a god’s stead and carry out their bidding throughout the Collective. Death’s champions are known as the Reapers: those who gather and guide lost souls to the Pillars. The way to the afterlife is filled with monsters and malevolent spirits hungry for the souls of the dead, and the Reapers must destroy the hordes to pave the way. Most act as guides for the constant flow of souls traveling to the afterlife; some search for the lost; a few even infiltrate other gods’ domains to retrieve those who have been wrongfully taken. Your story begins at the foot of the Inverted Mountain. The final examination to join the Reaper Corps begins at sundown, where it will be your task to climb to the top and reach the Veins of White Iron. The slopes and cliffs are littered with monsters and malevolence, however, and many have perished here before. It is a dangerous journey, but those who survive will select their ore and forge themselves the most deadly weapon in the Collective: a Reaper’s Scythe. From there you will become a proprietor of justice: a Reaper, guiding souls against all odds to the afterlife. @Ookla the Myopic (Wizard), @Ookla the Perpetual (Bookwyrm), , @Ookla the Implosion (Tani), @Enter a username (Not an ookla - finally), @Ookla the Omniscient (Pancake Boi), @Goob (Amazing Goob)

Alright! It is TIME! Let's DO THIS! Oh, wait, you have no idea what I'm talking about. Last year, I came up with a cool idea for a book. and I decided to write it. And never got started. But then I decided to really apply myself and actually write it. Aaaaaand I never got past the prologue. But now, on my third attempt, I finished the prologue, and the first two chapters, and I'm still going strong. So I decided to share it with the amazing and supportive Shard community. I'm very bad at writing, so I'd appreciate feedback. I hope that you enjoy my crummy novel skills! Chapters will hopefully be posted on Thursdays. My goal is to write two chapters a week, but I might only post one due to revision and stuff. We're starting out with the (very bad) prologue, so tune in this Thursday to see the (revised) chapters One and Two. So yes! Welcome to... Heroes of Home Peak By NerdyAarakocra That blurb on the back of the book that explains stuff Prologue Chapter One Canil Chapter Two El'nar Chapter Three Canil Chapter Four El'nar What will happen to El'nar? Will Canil's plotline actually start? What about the magic system? Find out next time in NERDY WRITES BAD FANTASY! *Outro music*

As an LDS teenager, I love fantasy and basically any book I can get my hands on, but so many modern fantasy books are full of sex, pornography, and dirty jokes. Are there any recommendations you guys have on CLEAN Fantasy?

Some spoilers for Perfect State follow. This morning I finished reading Perfect State, another good novella by our beloved Bandersnatch. There were things I liked about it and things I felt were kind of meh, but all in all I greatly enjoyed it. In particular I adored the central concept of the story: the concept of a world where brains are removed from fetuses and plugged into elaborate virtual realities specially formulated to match their personalities and desires. Which brings us to this simple thread. Assuming that Perfect States match the idealistic fantasies that we all daydream from time to time, what would your personal State be like? Personally, I think that my State would basically enable me to be the Doctor from Doctor Who. I would live in a vast and procedurally generated setting with joint fantasy and science fiction elements, which I would explore with some kind of magical ship that enables me to traverse through time and space. I'd arrive on planets just on the cusp of war or some natural disaster, and using only my wits and inexplicable charisma would save the day, earning the praise and admiration of the masses before running back to my ship and setting sail for another distant part of the cosmos. ... Ahem. What would your Perfect State be like? If there were a world programmed entirely to enable you to be the hero of your daydreams, what would it look like?

The gay male protagonist. Bane of mainstream literature. But things are better now™. *sigh* LGBT literature is still very much- actually hold that thought. The existence of that term alone shows the problem: that LGBT literature is a separate thing from straight literature. We rarely have fantasy, mystery or sci-fi whose main character happens to be gay, we have gay fiction which happens to have a fantasy, mystery or sci-fi setting, rarely. Mostly it's just romance. Written by women. *sigh* It's mostly erotica, basically not even aimed at the same gender. There are gay authors: Adam Silvera, TJ Klune, Will Walton, Benjamin Alire Sáenz,... well-known LGBT authors. Special thanks to Richard Morgan who finally wrote a non-romance with a gay male character as the main protagonist. Also Robin Hobb. Gay characters are almost never the main protagonist in the mainstream literature. Gay literature is still a niche genre and generally not taken to be a part of mainstream literature. When gay characters do appear in the mainstream and they're not badly written, they're usually secondary characters or at most, the deuteragonist. These authors are then treated like the bastion of LGBT literature and everyone else would remember their example for the next ten years as completion of the required dosage of gayness they can handle on their reading list. They will then cite these books everytime some poor sod mentions we need more representation, "wasn't that one book from 5 years ago with that one gay character (who probably dies later on) enough?" And these authors too, even after all this time, are in the minority compared to those who simply ignore that gay people exist. These are the books most likely to have a lot of romantic subplots. Love triangles, ahoy! "But we need romance in our books!" "Why do we need to have a gay character?" "what does it add to the character?" Female gay characters are, of course, fine. I mean there's also less gay female characters because it's not as daring and "female lead" is still something that can be used to sort books but at least people aren't directly opposed to them. Gay male characters on the other hand are an insult and a threat to masculinity everywhere *long exhale* So we have Ranette and Drehy filling the quota of gay characters in the Cosmere and they're tertiary characters. So far, we have maybe-promises from the author regarding gay characters in the future. On a completely unrelated note, how many love triangles have we had in the Cosmere so far again? This post is my anger and this post is my logic: Also check out this comment by @The Awakened Salad which addresses the question of why a character would "need" to be gay:

Hey I'm Noahdon. In real life my name is Noah so if nothing else, I am here on 17th Shard to claim one of the best screen names in the fandom (though I think the Rosharans may dismay at the asymmetry, I couldn't resist the poignant pun). I got into Brandon Sanderson in 2018 by listening to Michael Kramer and Kate Reading read The Way of Kings on a 10hr road trip to visit my significant other over break. I was happily surprised that after the 20hr round trip there was still so much story to be had and I was hooked. Wanting to see how the fantasy names were spelled I picked up a hard copy of book and started lurking on Coppermind and 17th Shard forums. I expertly avoided many spoilers and learning about the expansive Cosmere I was goaded to finish all of Brandon's published works within it so I could start making more solid connections in my brain. Brandon and all of the other epic fantasy authors I would pick up after sparked my love for reading again as an adult. After listening to the audiobook in bed my significant other was became interested in Shallan and I was able to convince her to start reading as well. We now have a thriving SFF book club that meets over Zoom and I have someone to discuss my theories with. However, she has not finished all of the Cosmere yet, so after listening to Shardcast I knew there was a larger community I could engage with. So hello everyone! Happy to be here! Other than being a Cosmere and all-around nerd, I am also into Brandon's Writing Excuses Podcast and have started my own novella. I am a musician so naturally, I'm chasing after Hoid and plan to write music with some investiture magic inspiration at some point. I also am a DM and tabletop RPGer. Can't wait to hear your theories and talk fantasy with y'all!

I'm back with another fantasy trope that I am attempting to make more realistic, this time a personal and just all around favorite... Dragons. I believe it's common knowledge at this point that in reality, Dragons would not be able to fly with their current wingspan as in most depictions (And possibly all), and so, I have tried to calculate what an appropriate wingspan would be for Dragons. Now first off, Dragons like Larkons which are the size of birds are probably fine. The ones I'm focusing on are medium dragons (Human size) and Large dragons (Think GoT) Now, for Medium dragons, I took the weight of a 6-foot crocodile, which weighs about 2000 pounds (In reality, it's 2400, but I'm removing 400 for physical differences as well as having a little wiggle room with us being gods of our stories and being able to play around a bit.) Using this equation to calculate wingspan, Wingspan = Weight^.03326; X 2.43, I have determined that a Dragon of this size would have a wingspan of 30 feet, while a Large Dragon weighing 12,000 pounds (Weight of a T-rex) would need a wingspan of 55 feet. So dragons would look a little more like butterflies, where most of them are just wings with their 'little' body in the middle. And these are without including the weight of the wings themselves, and how easy it would be for a dragon to take off with wings that big. I put this here so one, people can check my math and tell me if and why I'm wrong and give me something more accurate for me to use, and two, so we can all talk about how these dragons would work in fantasy because the science behind dragons is quite fascinating. Also, if anyone can, could some draw a dragon with the proportional wingsspan so people an have a visual reference?

Okay, to be begin with, I’ve thought of this world with two magic systems. They are Chronomagery and Deulchemy. If it isn’t obvious Chronomagery deals with time control, and other time related things, whereas Deulchemy is a bit more random. I got a lot of inspiration for some parts of the world from Era 2 of Mistborn and from Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence, because those are two of my favorite series. And if you have read either of them you’ll definitely see the inspirations from them. Anyways, so far I’ve thought of the world, and I’m already spinning ideas about world building in my head. This is my strong suit, I’m great at building up the world, but I’m not good at setting up an interesting conflict using the world. As of right now, all I have is just a rough draft of the prologue, and considering I’m only a sophmore in highschool who didn’t pay a lot of attention in English classes. Please, if you notice anything that is incorrect grammar wise, make a comment of the Doc and I’ll fix it! Also, writing tips would be much appreciated. Now without further ado, here is the link to the draft of “The Bringer of Death” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DffCteLp4mW40oMvdiLW4CRSVjhp6gJD_Nlnpa7rUyA/edit

Hell, everyone! MasterGhandalf here with my second-ever NaNo project (I sat out last year due to various real-life issues; in 2017, I posted the first volume of my ongoing space opera/Arthurian re imagining Realm of the Stars). This year, I'm doing a project I'd been toying with for a while in my long-time favorite genre, high fantasy. This one is deliberately supposed to be evocative of "classic" fantasy, but with a twist - where a lot of high fantasy takes it's inspiration from Lord of the Rings, this one is inspired by "The New Shadow", a sequel to LotR that Tolkien wrote about a chapter of late in life and then abandoned. Basically, the idea is that the "dark lord" figure rose again and was defeated for good about a century ago, but his legacy and a few of his minions are still out there, while the "good guy" kingdom has started to crack around the edges, with noble ideals giving way to ruthless ambition. Just because the dark lord is dead doesn't mean evil is gone for good. And of course, when human evil and supernatural evil meet, bad things are in store. And it's deliberately designed to have a lot of the fantasy tropes I personally love - intrigue! Adventure! Epic quests! Cool magic! Dark elves (long a guilty pleasure of mine)! If that sounds cool to you, strap in. Feed back, as ever, is appreciated.

Greetings fellow Sharders, just came in from watching a video from a youtuber I follow by the name of Shad. He released a video today of an interview he did with Brandon, covering various topics, such as the intersection of realism and fantasy, a few various questions, such as who Brandon's favorite super hero is, various pop culture items, publishing and self-publishing, and the announcement that Shad is going to be doing some consulting for Brandon in regards to various Medieval things, like swords, combat, armor, etc. I just wanted to make a thread to see what the thoughts are of anyone else who has watched the video and to discuss the contents therein. Video Link

Hey all! Some of you know me from the discord server the 'writers guild' and my frankly unsettling escapades there, others are unfamiliar with me and my talents. Here, I hope to take requests from people who need plants and animals and monsters and humanoids to populate their various worlds, and hopefully also have fun discussions with people who come here to talk about their creations. I'll give and ask for advice, and hopefully we all can enjoy or have with this thing. I hope it goes somewhere, but that's up to you all. I also hope that this keeps on going when I eventually have to shift my attention elsewhere, so... I hope you all enjoy it. Let's try to make this something interesting, alright? @Sherlock Holmes @AonEne @bees? @Blessing of Potency

I was wondering if anyone could provide some input on the magic system in my novel. It's not fully fleshed out yet and I need some help developing it. The wizards in my novel have certain types of magic that they are born good at, and others that can be developed over time. There are also aspects of it that they can never master (example: A character who is born exceptional at influencing the elements. They struggle with telepathy, but they can still perform it to some degree. However, they are never able to shapeshift). My question is: What could be a determining factor of the magic they can and can't do? My friend had the idea that it could depend on genetics and ancestry, say someone who's ancestors were from Antarctica had power over heat and fire. Or we had an idea that maybe wizards with different powers came together in clans a long time ago and they all migrated to different places, meaning that where you're from could determine your power set. I'm just trying to come up with a better plan for my magic system, since it's not very together at the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I am starting a rough draft for a book and would appreciate feedback. What I have now is about half a prologue. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s4PG5bqgPaJ7dq-haq-eGp8TF8_IzLbMqxzvQTZ5JM8/edit

Heyo, I don't talk much around here but I've got a lot of writing going on in the background... checking out my site (https://sites.google.com/view/noahairmet/home) would be great and I'd love someone to give me some feedback on the worldbuilding I've done for the book I'm finishing planning... The works that I would really like feedback for are Unkown Cultures and maybe Sanctuary. See my site for details; I hope it's not too confusing... Thanks for paying attention this long! Edit: Here's the links for the ones I need, I've realized it's a lot easier this way. The Forgotten Sanctuary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pvhAvVyJUqIpbz9KxISrQpWRpQ8dCRctkPV0M-_soO0/edit?usp=sharing Unknown Cultures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BkA3msV_r_jAvi3vqjFcVs-FaVEs2WHueQM8sf19kdA/edit?usp=sharing

Hi, I'm new. Writing a fantasy that among other things, involves a roguish wolf being handed the guardianship of the magical forests after he proves himself worthy despite his baser nature. I'm wondering when more wolves will be given the title of hero separate from the humans they hang around.

Welcome to the thread! If you're just here for the stories, just skip on down to the spoiler tags; they're compressing things so that I can fit updates into the first post as well as posting them below, without interrupting potential discussion. I'm trying NaNoWriMo this year; while I played with it previously I never made a serious attempt, and the one novel I have finished took me upwards of five years for a measly 60,000 words - not because I can't write quickly, but because (among other reasons) I was learning. So here begins my first real attempt at writing a novel in 30 days, begun at the stroke of midnight on November 1st. Myth Taken, aka The Story So Far (does not count towards NaNoWriMo): And the first writing for NaNoWriMo is an aside story in the same setting. The Primals are likely to get very little direct exposure and this struck me tonight during my shift, so I had to get on with it: Interlude: A Fable November 1st. Words: 1000 on the dot. Remaining for Day: 667. There will be another update after work tomorrow, but pretty good start for the first hour of NaNoWriMo. Chapter 1 - November 2nd Chapter 2: November 3rd. Possibly not the only update today - I hope not, as it's only 1048 words and I'm falling a bit behind, but my arms are bothering me. November 4th, morning: 725 more words. I have to head off to work now, but I'm feeling much better than I have over the last few days. I'm falling behind but I still think I can pull this off. Updates up to the afternoon of November 5th: November 5th, evening. November 6th and on, sadly, will have to go in future posts, as we've hit the size limit. If you see any mistakes, please let me know - I may not have time for much editing on the fly, but I'll do what I can. Also, I'm more than a little prone to depression, so if you like my work, let me know; it can make a world of difference to know that people actually care about what I'm doing.

Hey ya'll! Taking a break from Oathbringer to share with you my upcoming project. I promise this isn't a marketing campaign. I was directly inspired by Dalinar in his plight to convince the world (tried to be vague and not spoil anything). when making this project. I was in a rough place and going through some mental health problems mixed with a breakup. I ran away to a barn and ended up writing a full album. One year later, this has over 25 features and I'm so proud of it. "Rise of the Giant King" is about the return of an evil tyrant. Nobody believes the messenger that the Giant King is actually real. Let me know what ya'll think and if you want to be a part of the next leg of this journey I have a million things planned from kids' books to RPGs.

I work in the social media space but I'm actively pursuing fantasy writing in film (hard pursuit much?). One thing that I love as a writer is seeking visual inspirations that make me ponder. Only, most hubs like artstation, Pinterest, and DeviantArt are a mix of amateur and pro work. To remedy this, I've launched an Instagram here: http://instagram.com/worldbuildinginspiration There are other Instagrams like this but I'm stylizing mine much differently. // Each week will have a subtly different theme. Right now it's "Mysterious" but will have "Desert", "Magical", "Cold", "Dark", "Sci-Fi", etc. // I post 3 pics a day, every 2 days switching focus. Mon & Tues are characters, Wed & Thur are environments, Fri & Sat are scenes and concepts. I'd love to know your thoughts and what best would help YOU be inspired via my efforts. I'd love a follow. Let's have a conversation.

Greetings, Sharders and creators! The King of the Kobolds here, speaking from an undisclosed pocket universe. (Don't try to track me. I have more Cerberi standing watch than you could count.) In this post I brought up a potential project for the worldbuilders among us. The project aims to create a functional fantasy setting through collaborative effort, with various members working together to flesh out different regions of a magical world. There are no requirements save a zeal for creation and an active imagination. There are few rules, save for the following: Try to stick to the C.O.P. system whenever possible. For those unaware, "C.O.P." stands for cool, original, and plausible. Obviously plausibility has different meanings for different people where fantasy is concerned, but unless everyone wants to create a deliberately ludicrous Wonderland let's try to be reasonable. (Bear in mind that a deliberately ludicrous Wonderland is not off the table, should everyone want one.) Once regions are available and you have claimed one, please refrain from spreading your creations to adjacent lands without the consent of their claimers. This is just to prevent one person from creating a race of indestructible vampire dragons that take over the world and leave no room for anyone else. Have fun, or else. To join, just state your interest below. Here are a few questions for us to ponder before getting started: Will magic be abundant or rare in this new world? Will the climate and background ecology resemble that of Earth, or will it be entirely different? What kind of biomes do people want access to? I've contacted a cartographer who might be available to help with maps, and I'm sure it'd be helpful to this individual to have an idea of what regions are in the highest demand. The world of Diaemus rises! EDIT: SOME IMPORTANT LINKS: Diaemus Wiki Early Climate Map of Diaemus The Three Most Abundant Races of Diaemus A Color Guide to Lumuoles, Magical Microorganisms Rachnyx Document Discussing the Theory of Lumuoles Other Diaemus Project threads: Biology (List of species, guidelines for wildlife, etc.) Cartography (Geographic and political maps of Diaemus)