The Diaemus Project

[Kobold King he/him]

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)

Edited December 11, 2015 by Kobold King

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

• 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.

• I vote Rare, just enough to make some of the more impossible creatures possible. (Things like how Dragons can defy physics by flying. assuming there are dragons that can fly.)

Eh. I'll go with the flow on this one.

I'd prefer at least one mountain range to work from. Otherwise I don't care.

[Kobold King he/him]

 

• I vote Rare, just enough to make some of the more impossible creatures possible. (Things like how Dragons can defy physics by flying. assuming there are dragons that can fly.)
• Eh. I'll go with the flow on this one.
• I'd prefer at least one mountain range to work from. Otherwise I don't care.

 

I think it'd be neat to have magic that's mainly concentrated in the bodies of a few magical beings, intelligent or otherwise. Maybe magic could be closely connected to life in some way.

 

I also would like a mountain range--I have a loose concept for a race that would operate from a mountain city. Maybe we could be neighbors?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I think it'd be neat to have magic that's mainly concentrated in the bodies of a few magical beings, intelligent or otherwise. Maybe magic could be closely connected to life in some way.

 

I also would like a mountain range--I have a loose concept for a race that would operate from a mountain city. Maybe we could be neighbors?

 

That's sort of what I was going to say—magic users are rare, but magic itself is very much a part of the world. A bit like Roshar, I suppose. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I'm fine with magic however you guys want it. I'd like a jungle setting somewhere on the continent. Or maybe a desert. Both? 

[Edgedancer he/him]

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!

 

• Depends, you talked about one region keeping out of another, which I agree with but should there still be some kind of system governing the world as a whole for example like Sel, where we have various different systems, yet all of them are based on symbols and their location or should the magic be more wild and differnet by region. I ask, because my answer to the first question is going to be different depending on the answer.
• Eh, depends at least partially on the magic we design I'd say, the more internal to the world it is the more different it will be from earth. Personally, I'd tend towards at least not being the same as earth.
• I can work with just about anything, however I would like to keep this away from the settings I worked on that are still strongly in my mind, so I'd like something that's

1. Not a rock desert and
2. Not a gathering of islands.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Edgedancer

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

I think it'd be neat to have magic that's mainly concentrated in the bodies of a few magical beings, intelligent or otherwise. Maybe magic could be closely connected to life in some way.

 

I also would like a mountain range--I have a loose concept for a race that would operate from a mountain city. Maybe we could be neighbors?

We could probably be Neighbors yes.

[Esaias he/him]

This sounds cool and I'd like to join if that's all right.

 

 

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.

 

1) I like abundant magic but if more people prefer rare, that is okay as well. 

2) Somewhat different, at least.

3) I'd like a nice, hot desert to play with.

[Young Bard he/him]

Please note: Anything stated here is open to negotiation, depending on how it fits in with the world.

 

Magic: I think everyone's gone with rare here, so I'll go with the flow. Though, at risk of asking a premature question, what kind of magic should it be?

 

Climate: If we're dividing the world into small chunks, why don't we have a universe where the world has localized weather? So, you could be in a jungle, but walk 50km to the east, and you're in a desert. Potential theory to how this might work... Maybe the abundance of magic in a particular area changes the weather? So, Type A magic in abundance increases temperature/ humidity, while Type B magic decreases temperature/ humidity?

 

My choice of climate for my chunk: Underground caverns. At risk of being cliched, I think they have a lot of potential. The reason in my head for this at the moment is that the surface was somehow unsafe, maybe from extreme temperatures or something. I read somewhere that deserts get extremely cold by night, while remaining hot by day, so maybe if we magnify that effect?

 

Also, what era is the tech in this? Or does it depend on the species/ area you're in?

[mail-mi he/him]

 

• 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.

 

• I like what people are saying about magic being integral to life, but not having very many magic users.
• I like different. Especially what TheYoungBard said above, I like that.
• I'm cool with whatever's left over

[Zathoth]

• 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.

 

I like magic, so I'd prefer if there was magic in abundance, but no matter which one we go with I think we need at least some decently hard magic.

A little different, but not completely.

I want a deep, dark, lovely creepy forest.

[Lindel he/him]

• 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!

• I'm good with the idea magic is abundant, but more as something to interact with, more a part of the world, rather than a bunch of magic users. The fundamental mechanics of the magic should be agreed upon before we start creating our own veins and such.
• Different. What that entails, I don't care, I just don't want an Earth-clone.
• I'd be interested in a rocky desert region. Ooh, maybe a coastal desert?

If we allow too many different races, I'm worried this thing will explode into chaos... Do we restrict the number of sentient races, implement a multiverse system, or just go for it and see what happens? Edited September 16, 2015 by Lindel

[The Honey Badger he/him]

Hey I would like to join this project as well. 

 

I think magic should be rare, yet as Twi said an important part of the world itself.

 

I think deserts are always a good setting. I think making a map would help in the organization and then we should have sub threads maybe for the development of specific regions. 

 

I think we should all consider racial balancing, like super strong magic using, dragon riding giants aren't "fair" unless they are extremely rare or few in number. I'm just saying that they should be balanced enough that their isn't one race that is certainly "better" than the others

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

-I think that a magic system based on ancient polytheistic practices would be interesting. Basically, certain elements of nature and society come together as spiritual consciences, and certain bloodlines (including animal bloodlines) are descended from (or created by) these consciences and have a sort of influence over them. There's room for a lot of cultural variation there, I think. It's just a suggestion, though.

-Ooh! Designing new species is fun! I'd go with flora and fauna that are earth-like, but pulled out of context, like giant flatworms, or jellyfish-like creatures that float across the sky catching leaves and insects.

-Archipelagos. Islands give a lot of room for diversity, and I'd love to create different island societies.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

There's always the option of going with flora and fauna similar to what Earth had at various points in its prehistory. Depending on which period specifically, this world could have anything from vast swaths of jungle with millions of extinct flowers to mushrooms the size of trees. It wouldn't have to look exactly like Earth did, but prehistoric plants could be an interesting source of inspiration.

[+Slowswift]

Oh, look, I'm late.

 

Anyways...

 

1. Will magic be abundant or rare in this new world? I'd say I'd want it to be more on the "rare" side, but still fairly common, maybe?
2. Will the climate and background ecology resemble that of Earth, or will it be entirely different? Whatever. I'd prefer it be somewhat alien, though.
3. What kind of biomes do people want access to? Mountains. And forests. And caves.

 

I'd love to see what y'all come up with. 

[Kobold King he/him]

Nothing definitive yet, but here are some personal opinions on my part.

 

• I like the idea of magic being an intrinsic property of the world that's hard to tap into. I think it would be neat to have various creatures and races with flamboyantly magical properties, but are limited by their biology in how they can use them. (i.e., a dragon could breath fire but could never figure out how to cast an illusion.)

 

• Ecologically speaking, I'd love to borrow from the prehistoric Earth. Could we have dinosaurs and other extinct megafauna with fantasy-sounding names? Platebacks instead of stegosaurs, crestdrakes instead of dilophosaurs, plunderclaws instead of raptors, etc? Contrary to media this wouldn't limit our large fauna to topical swamps, as there were dinosaurs in every biome imaginable that we could draw from.

We could even give some extinct critters paranormal attributes, like super-potent poisons or firebreath if we're feeling particularly dramatic.

 

I also love the idea of animals pulled out of context, like Mckeedee's floating jellyfish idea. That one in particular would work really well with the concept I was considering...

 

• As I expected, people are claiming practically every biome found on Earth, save a polar region. Personally I'd rather have natural transitions between climates as opposed to something magically screwy, simply as neat cookie-cutter biomes strikes me as a tad contrived. I'm open to anything though.

(And to be clear, I'm not claiming any position of authority or moderation in this world. I see this as a democratic project.)

 

• Where sapient races are concerned, I'm personally in love with the idea of a world popping its seams with unique intelligent races. Would it be chaotic? Abso-sparking-lutely. Would it be entertaining? Speaking from experience, yes.

I will also say that I'm not opposed to a race that's stronger than all the others, as long as it has the majority approval of other creators and doesn't exert too stifling an influence on the rest of the world. For instance, if there were nigh-invincible frost giants living at the North Pole, that could produce interesting results in the southern races as they build great walls and armies to defend themselves from the north. I don't want to set any hard-and-fast rules just yet.

 

• Technologically speaking, I don't want to set a cap on it, but I think that anything much above Renaissance-era tech would run the risk of putting the world too firmly under the thumb of a single culture, unless all races had modern-day weapons and arsenals. That would run the risk of stifling other players' creativity and vision for the world, however.

[+Slowswift]

Oh yeah, the arctic. Sure, why not? Arctic mountains with pine trees everywhere!

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I know I'm no biome expert, but I personally think polar regions are underutilized when it comes to magical creatures. Our own poles have some rather bizarre creatures (I'm thinking specifically of leopard seals, though they're certainly not the only ones), and prehistoric Earth had even more. I think the world could be really interesting if the north and south poles were home to strange creatures with truly unique magic.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

 

 

• Ecologically speaking, I'd love to borrow from the prehistoric Earth. Could we have dinosaurs and other extinct megafauna with fantasy-sounding names? Platebacks instead of stegosaurs, crestdrakes instead of dilophosaurs, plunderclaws instead of raptors, etc? Contrary to media this wouldn't limit our large fauna to topical swamps, as there were dinosaurs in every biome imaginable that we could draw from.

We could even give some extinct critters paranormal attributes, like super-potent poisons or firebreath if we're feeling particularly dramatic.

 

Wow. Somehow, Twy's dinosaur idea just got even cooler. Love this.

 

 

 

• Where sapient races are concerned, I'm personally in love with the idea of a world popping its seams with unique intelligent races. Would it be chaotic? Abso-sparking-lutely. Would it be entertaining? Speaking from experience, yes.

 

I've got some pretty decent ideas for that, if we want to make it a thing.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Esaias he/him]

 

• Ecologically speaking, I'd love to borrow from the prehistoric Earth. Could we have dinosaurs and other extinct megafauna with fantasy-sounding names? Platebacks instead of stegosaurs, crestdrakes instead of dilophosaurs, plunderclaws instead of raptors, etc? Contrary to media this wouldn't limit our large fauna to topical swamps, as there were dinosaurs in every biome imaginable that we could draw from.

We could even give some extinct critters paranormal attributes, like super-potent poisons or firebreath if we're feeling particularly dramatic.

This would be awesome.

[Lindel he/him]

I like the idea of taking a more scientific approach to "firebreathing". For example, "dragons" are basically dinosaurs, and rather than literally breathing fire, some species might spit caustic acid.

I'm not opposed to fauna, and/or flora, accessing magic either, but I'd like the magic involved to be less arbitrary.

Edit: Having the magic based around biology might be cool.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Lindel

[Sir Jerric he/him]

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!

 

He presented the exact question I was planning to ask. What fun.

 

Also, what era is the tech in this? Or does it depend on the species/ area you're in?

My answer would be: All of them?  We are setting out to build a world here, so history is part of the design process.

 

If we allow too many different races, I'm worried this thing will explode into chaos... Do we restrict the number of sentient races, implement a multiverse system, or just go for it and see what happens?

This is a forum thread with an open invitation to participate. "Just go for it and see" is the only viable operating procedure.

 

 

I am gathering that people want something that does not feel like an earth-clone. The question is, what makes a world too much of an earth-clone?

 

Earth has an axial wobble that will reverse our seasons in about 10,000 years. How would people like a world that has an axial wobble that makes each season last for 7/12ths of a solar year? Or seasons lasting three solar years?

 

The plausibility of this idea is open to debate, should anyone care.  

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Wait... prehistoric animals? Ground Sloths! We can make Ground Sloths part of this world!

 

Seriously though, of all of the prehistoric "ages," quaternary is definitely the coolest.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Seonid he/him]

I'm in.

Magic - Abundant in the ecology, but rare in terms of professional magic workers in the traditional fantasy sense. In other words - plenty of magical creatures but only few wizards.

In order to provide maximum creative freedom while maintaining consistency, I'm thinking we should have a common source of magic that the ecology can draw on (although difficult to tap into without the biological adaptations that the creatures have), which should let us go wild with regard to magical creatures. As a proposal for the source, maybe an atmospheric microorganism similar to krill, but much lighter (or even a whole class or order, or even a full phylum of them, inhabiting air and sea and even underground) that, when ingested our harvested or inhaled or whatever, can have effects based on the biological adaptation of the creature consuming thehaving a universal source will help maintain consistency without limiting freedom to create.

Whatever we end up choosing, we should have a magic system that scores high on the Mohs scale of hardness. Plausible physics and biology, with fully thought-through implications of the effects. (It's good we have Edgedancer here, for that very purpose.)

Ecology - let's start with something vaguely earth-like, with a mix of exotic and recognizable fauna. I like mek's idea of pulling ordinary creatures and putting them into non-standard habitats, like floating jellyfish. I love that I've, actually.

Twi beat me to suggesting dinosaurs, actually. The Jurassic or Cretaceous periods would provide quite an exotic setting to adapt, while leaving room for the familiar. If in one region, large mammals evolved alongside dinosaurs (or out-competed them), but in another, dinosaurs were dominant, that doesn't strain credulity too far.

I'm not sure how I feel about gobs and gobs of sapient races. It feels that at some point you cross a threshold of plausibility, where you start asking the questions "how did ask of these races end up so evenly divided and balanced long enough to develop sapience?" And "why and how did the balance last so long?"

That said, I think a world with 2 or 3 major sapient races (land-based, that is) with tons of other sapient creatures filling in the cracks could be done well.

To clarify - 2-3 continent spanning races with civilizations and cities and so on, with dozens of species that are significantly restricted in area alongside them.

EDIT: To avoid double-posting, I've been thinking further on the number of sapient races thing.

I all think that it would be best to have only 2-3, possibly up to 5 races with a multi-continent reach. These would have many different civilizations, and could really have large variations from place to place.

Alongside them, if we had 4-6 medium range races per continent, with enough range to have multiple civilizations and so on, but are only found on one, maybe two continents.

Alongside those, there might be a dozen or more sapient races per continent that inhabit a relatively small range, like just the forests of Nin, or only the desert of sand, or what have you. These would likely be either tribal or a single, united civilization (exceptions could easily exist).

I'll leave the seas Adobe for now, but on such a world, there will almost certainly be sapient sea folk.

My point is, that I think that if this model meets with approval, we should decide on the major races jointly, because they will span over most of the regions we are developing. Medium ranges ought to be a joint project to, between the folks whose regions will include them.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Seonid