For the writers and world builders out there, how is your world similar to the Cosmere, and how is it different?

[Aurimus_]

• What elements of the Cosmere have you taken into your own worlds?
• How did you twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar?
• What elements did you add or remove at different stages?
• What elements of the Cosmere did you actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did you come up with?

[Quickbronze he/him]

Pretty much the two most distinctive things in the Cosmere also manifest themselves in my verse, worldhopping and multiple dimensions, where higher ones fuel magic. 

What's interesting is that I added both before I knew about Realmatics and worldhoppers 

The more I develop it the more it becomes different from the Cosmere so I hope that by the time I'm finished it'll be completely mine.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Ookla the Noble

[Bladestorm]

My world has a second dimension, where inanimate objects are animate and vice versa. Each world powers the magic in the other through a bridge between them that is know in both worlds as the source.

I had to actively try not to copy the idea of Spren and the idea of shards of a great being.

[CarolaDavar she/her]

In my stories, I had one World hopper character, that would tell stories and help out the main characters in weird ways, but I actually thought of her before I knew about Hoid, so I plan to still use her. I have been changing her up a bit recently, though, so she isn't so close to being a gender bent Hoid.

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

My fantasy universe (I've been thinking of calling it Æonja) had been developping for about five years, and was originally going to include earth, but Brandon gave me better ideas.

Now it is quite similar in that there are multiple worlds, multiple magic systems, and three primary Realms, more or less equivalent to the Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual Realms in the Cosmere. Unlike Sanderson's realmatics, however, mine are rightfully called Planes, as they are basically different levels, and there are actually some minor realms only available in certain places that are located in between the main three.

Also, I take more the intent of the Shards than their actual makeup, and use what I call Principles as patterns for my magic systems.

I definitely took the idea of a massive Shattering somewhere in the past, but it wasn't some Adonalsiumesque being that Shattered, it was instead a planet where the magic was too powerful. It is now an asteroid belt that revolves around two suns and has deferent kind of magic on each piece, which pieces shouldn't be able to support life but still think they are big enough for gravity and an atmosphere.

And then the are some little things.

Edited December 27, 2017 by Sazedezas
typo

[The Allomantic Metalhead he/him]

I have lots of worlds, but I'm currently working on Geddan, the setting for a book titled Judgement for the Dead, which is basically  medieval European fantasy with The Walking Dead-style zombies.

• What elements of the Cosmere have I taken into my own world? Well, I actually didn't put that much Cosmere influence into Geddan, except for essencewielding, Geddan's magic system (click here and scroll down for a bit to read more about Geddan in general, including essencewielding), which is very Sandersonian in my estimation. Another thing was that I decided that Geddan, as a planet, would be slightly farther away from its sun than Earth (although they're both about the same size), thus meaning that it is slightly colder and the years are slightly longer. Most fantasy authors wouldn't include stuff about the planet itself.
• How did I twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar? Pretty easy, actually. The elements of the Cosmere included on Geddan are just about the mechanics and some of the details included. The three essences are sort of like a mashup of Breath, Stormlight, and the One Power, but I mostly built them from the ground up, lettingthem  resemble each of those a bit but also be their own thing.
• What elements did I add or remove at different stages? Essencewielding originally was much more like a mashup of AonDor and the One Power than what it is right now. Holding was something I only recently decided to add to it. Also, I added in the possibility of discovering new regions (much like the Southern /Scadrians) after the initial-concept stage, when I actually decided to start working on adding new regions and their borders.
• What elements of the Cosmere did I actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did I come up with? Investiture. I did not want to copy investiture. Instead of a single magical energy that is diluted and messed with to make different powers, there are three different magical energies that are held and manipulated in their pure forms by those born with the ability to do so. Also, so far as the story is concerned, Geddan is the only inhabited world in the 'verse, even though there is a possibility of life beyond Geddan, it is one never explored by the books. Also, it is left ambiguous as to whether there are any actual gods. Spoiler Alert: We never meet a god or any entity more godlike than a pissed-off grey essencewielder with a huge amount of grey essence at his disposal.

[Shallan's Ward he/him]

I actually actively try to make my worlds different from Brandon's. The one that I am currently working on is nameless --haven't cannonized a name yet-- and it's actually a demiplane (for those who speak dnd)

• 

• What elements of the Cosmere have you taken into your own worlds? I try not to knowingly take anything from the Cosmere. Although I do have some similarities. Such as my current world being completely isolated from the rest of the universe. And there is ambient magic that any person who dwells there in is capable of. It's actually similar to Investiture. In a way of speaking a certain thing is "Invested" per world or demiplane. For my current world the air is what's magic so anyone who breathes the air gains access to magic. But in world it's a huge taboo to do so. However to do anything more than mere tricks for amazement, one needs to gain the blessing of a Higher One. There's a lot more and if your interested I can tell you but in a pm, I would rather not leave spoilers for Eternity and I in the public.
• How did you twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar? My Higher Ones are very similar to shards, but none of them actually have names. They however have very little say on the way magic works. They're only control is giving the gift of higher magic, which differs from world to world. None of the magics work off world very well if at all.
• What elements did you add or remove at different stages? It's still in the baby stages not much has been removed yet. I did add the "rest of the universe" on whim actually today when listening to this. It inspired the part where I decided that the human fled to this demiplane from their home world because of one of the Higher Ones going bad. They had to flee from somewhere. So that's where the rest came from.
• What elements of the Cosmere did you actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did you come up with? INVESTITURE. Need I say more? Or Realmatic theory. I often think in those terms. So I have to actively make sure that I am not using Investiture or Realmatic theory.

Like is said there is more but they contain HUGE spoilers so I don't want to spoil my story for anyone who might be reading Eternity and I.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

On 11/24/2017 at 1:03 PM, Aurimus_ said:

• What elements of the Cosmere have you taken into your own worlds?
• How did you twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar?
• What elements did you add or remove at different stages?
• What elements of the Cosmere did you actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did you come up with?

My universe that I'm working on is similar in the way that it allows people to become gods. The process however is very different. While in the cosmere one would basically have to kill or shatter a shard to take up its power, in my universe, people are able to get their extraordinary powers through self improvement. This world is still in its infancy, so I haven't done too much pruning or adding. The world isn't even in it infancy yet, its basically just been conceived. Not much else has been created besides taking inspiration from brandon's idea of what happens when people are given the power of the gods.

[Showman he/him]

My story actually has no types of magic in it, so it could hardly be anything like the Cosmere.

[Kureshi Ironclaw]

I started worldbuilding my universe well before I started reading any Cosmere stuff, but it has definitely had an influence on how my different worlds interact and how I've made my magic function.

What elements of the Cosmere have you taken into your own worlds? Mostly the idea of having self contained stories set on different worlds but with an overarching story happening in the background for readers who are paying close attention. There are people/beings that appear on different worlds in different stories kind of like worldhoppers. I also have a single source of magic that permeates the whole universe, a bit like investiture - probably closer in function to saidar and saidin from Wheel of Time.

How did you twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar? These 'worldhopper' characters are much more immediately dangerous than any we've really seen in the Cosmere thus far. My most active 'worldhopper' character is Willow the Hunter, and he is one nasty fellow. His MO is to arrive on worlds, shoot 'gods', then trick people into joining his army. My magic is different in that it is an actively finite source (though it would be pretty difficult to drain it completely, it is fractured and unusable in some systems). The magical source is refilled by death, or a person's soul. The way I think about it is that people have potential energy and if they are killed that potential energy becomes the source of magic. This mechanic obviously results in some galactic level governments committing mass genocides to accrue more magical power. Nasty stuff. I like the idea of creating a much darker Cosmere than Sanderson; something closer to a Cosmere written by George RR Martin. I'm also incorporating a lot more sci-fi and space opera elements earlier on in the timeline. The Galactic Confederate basically sparked most of the stories because of a pretty big screw up. Thus, we have fun scenes with characters in fantasy worlds admiring moving star constellations in the sky that are actually just space battles.

What elements did you add or remove at different stages? I don't remember all the changes I've made over the years. I do remember having a character that I was thinking of as my equivalent of Hoid, but he is definitely not that anymore. You could call him a worldhopper, though he isn't in the same league as Willow the Hunter, and he has been stuck on one planet for several thousand years now. It's more his personality that makes him similar to Hoid.

What elements of the Cosmere did you actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did you come up with? No Shards. No gods of that calibre. The gods you see are magic users that are being revered as gods. They have no inherent divinity, and most of them were soldiers before they wound up on their respective worlds. The only beings that could be as powerful as Shards are the ones like Willow the Hunter, though he and his companions have been tricked into enslavement by the Confederacy. I won't reveal what Willow actually is, but rest assured that it is awesome and terrifying. (You should read my book if you want to find out more *wink wink nudge nudge* I'm running a beta read at the moment, PM me if you're interested)

[Tineye Navigator he/him]

My universe's magic contains a form of investiture(different name, and slightly different origin) , however, it will be infinite, and attempting to shatter it won't work, because infinity divided by any number can still be infinity. So Shattering, or breaking the origin of the magic will only cause 2 origins that are equally as powerful, and will cause supernova-like disruptions causing everything to essentially be eliminated. Imagine splitting an atom, causing that explosion, and coming out with 2 atoms, both equally as massive as the first. 

Don't worry, I also have a physics system that will allow such possibilities. And I didn't really get the idea from Sanderson's works, more like Sanderson's investiture provided a catalyst through which to answer questions about how my magic system will be able to be used. 

It is still very much in development, and I have many other issues that I need to work out. 

Edit: Mine is different, in that in order to use or access magic, there are no realms. It will be very physical. In a way, it would be kind of like finding and partaking of a shard pool, but still different.

Edited March 1, 2018 by tineye0309

[EpicLink101 he/him]

The major, glaring similarity is that my worlds exist in a larger universe. I've twisted the cosmere, though, so instead of separate planets each world is a separate plane, that all derive from one ancient beginning plane but have now split off. Also, as opposed to completely separate magic systems, each world uses the same magic but with different methods of accessing and using it.

[Wandering Investor]

I had the idea for my universe long before I read Sanderson, but the cosmere inspired some of the rules and general shaping of my universe. Mostly in the dimensions aspect. Mine only has two, the realm of the body and of the mind. My mind realm is essentially the spiritual and cognitive realms smashed together. Magic is the manipulation of the mind realm. Beyond that the two universes diverge for the most part. Any time I feel something is too inspired by Sanderson I try to change it.

[Dr. LIFE he/him]

I've been working on my multiverse for quite a while. It has many elements of the Cosmere, such as worldhopping and actually making rules for my magical system. (Which is harder then I thought it would be.) I created a person similar to Hoid who is Dr. LIFE. which is my name. My magic system stems from life force, which I call Essense, but beyond that I don't have details for magic yet. Dr. LIFE was created after I read Brandon Sanderson but before I knew about Hoid and the Cosmere.

[Gasper he/him]

The ones I am working have similar concepts like connection. Most of the magic systems that I work with are either physics based or connection based. Some of my characters are similar to his, mainly because I have a hard time writing personalities that are not similar to people I know. 

[LarkinTyvell]

I have a realm that's similar to the Cognitive Realm in mine. The user doesn't have access to the Cognitive Perception of things in the physical realm "I am a stick" so much as they are able to use the CR as a means to boost their own cognitive functions, thereby heightening situational awareness around them in the real world. They can only affect things internal to them and their skillset. i.e. a swordsman who can access this realm that might struggle in a three on one fight would be able to better defend himself with his existing skills because his senses are hyper aware, it doesn't give them skillsets they don't already have, just helps enhance them for a short period of time.

 

[Tesh Any pronouns]

I have this one magic system that's a bit like the Knights Radiant, but there are only nine knights. And there are dragons at the center of the story. And I'm in the process of developing a galaxy kind of thing, and I got the foundation for it from Sanderson. Then I have another thing that is slightly like Adonalsiom, but it's getting farther from that every time I work on it.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

My universe was already started to coalesce before I'd started reading Sanderson, but it was his books that finally pushed me to make the connections between a couple of the stories I was planning. I'd already had the basic histories of a Shattering-esque event but only on one planet and for only a couple stories, but the Cosmere helped me connect tons of other stories together into a huge universe. I also have my own version of the Cognitive Realm, but it's more a mix of the CR and the SR. The Spirit World had existed for a long time before I started making my big universe. However, space is not compressed in the Spirit World and everything is represented as a shadow of it's physical form, not as beads, and everything, except for the souls of living things represented in the SW, is in gray-scale. Some other things that I have in my universe that is similar to the Cosmere are my versions of Investiture and Connection. My Investiture is a bit complicated, but it's basically the background energy that makes the laws of physics work collected into such a condensed form that you can use it to manipulate the universe on a minor scale. My Connections have two distinct forms: the Physical Connections (where you are, your hair color, how old you are, who you talked to at 12:34 the day before, etc.), and the Spiritual Connections (who you love, how you view the world, your memories, etc.).

Also, I came up with an idea of prophecy that was actually fake and controlled by an evil being, only to find that Brandon had already done so in Mistborn. My version is a little different now, but it still has some similar ideas to the Hero of Ages prophecy.

[Kaj he/him]

As I only learned of the cosmere last spring, I found it interesting how close my writing universe was. All of the worlds that intertwined, worshipping, not shards but beings at a similar power level, hard magic, etc. 

[Kaj he/him]

I also have decided to add in things similar to awakening (not using color) and spren (they are already kind of there, but I may make it a little more integrated).