I like it. It makes an ice nation and a fire nation cool enough to make me not mind at all the cliche- ice nation/fire nation thing.

Well one is ice instead of water with some death and demon stuff thrown in, while the other is just the cliche fire but with the addition of some warloks using black magic. The key, in my eyes, is to take a unique twist on something common or to just do a sort of mix.

Unless requested I won't create all the nations, because i certainly can't RP as all of them. But just incase BBeast or someone is inneed of inspiration, I'll throw a few ideas out there.

Astrology with constellations and star worship, maybe priest with power to transform into their Zodiacs

Oneiromancy (dream magic) perhaps with ancestor worship or something. This is strange and might sound weak, but think of powerful a caste of sorcerers could be if they could speak to ther ancestors for advice, and manipulate the dreams of those around them to subconsciously manipulate them, pose as gods, etc.

Golemancy, with a nation that creates magic creatures to fight or perform menial labor.

Dust/sand, with a desert-dwelling tribe able to summon sandstorms to wear down and split up invaders. They could also utilize ambush tactics, appearig out of the dunes themselves to attack an amy's flanks, only to dissipate into clouds of dust the instant the battle begins to turn its favor.

Bestialism. The ability to control/speak with animals, an possibly transform into them.

Plague/Disease. Like the magic of Balon or Lugubrious' Blighted Men.

Anybody can feel free to expand on any or none of these ideas, and take or reject any of the three previous and more refined nations.

Perhaps a nation buried deep in the desert, a small population of hardened survivors. These survivors, having had to survive so long in such small numbers, have mastered the craft of life, creating soldiers and workers from the very sands that once constrained them.
A bit of a mix between your sand nation and golemancy.

Also, an idea that comes to mind is a tribe of immortals in the mountains- Legendary monks and sages who have been reborn thousands of times over the years.

A tribe of men who worship, and have a direct relation with dragons.

As far as water goes, rather than a cliche Atlantis setting, we could have a group of albino cave dwellers, worshiping a dark monster who lurks in their aquifer.

A city high above the clouds, a sanctuary for all those who require help
I dunno, just a few ideas. I love the ice witch and fire nation ideas.

I forget exactly how deep I had gone in developing the Titans, but in the end, I had a bit of an idea.
Perhaps, for there purposes, the Titans could be put into the lore. Essentially, all massively powerful brothers, the Titans were the first born upon the land. Upon the command of (Whoever the hell created this world), They built palaces and cities in their image, metropolises that sprawled across the land. In the midst of each of these great tributes, was a totem. A single structure standing out in the middle of their masterpieces. Within the Totems, was imbued a fraction of their power, something to keep the cities alive and thriving.
But eventually, bickering broke out among the brothers. A great war was waged, leaving behind rubble where great cities once laid. (Previously mentioned powerful guy) saw the havoc, and put an end to it, saving his world from their wrath. He populated the world with weaker beings- Those who could appreciate the planet, but not quite powerful enough to do what the titans had done. Now locked deep beneath the world in near impenetrable vaults, (Jesus-Man) believed that they had lost their grip on the world (which needs a name, because I am tired of writing 'the world'), but that wasn't entirely true. The Totems left behind were soon taken a hold of by man. Channeling the power within, they were able to give themselves great magical power and might. Ever since, humanity has been working tirelessly, building up nations almost comparable to the great works of the Titans, growing to be a more powerful race every day.

Do you hate it? Do you love it? Just wanna throw out more ideas.
God it feels good to write again.

Skyrim makes me extremely reluctant to have a bunch of dragon worshippers. That's probably now more cliche than the stereotypical fire, water, earth, and air nations.

I also thought of a nation of cave dwellers (in my case, one that might use shadow magic) but I didn't add it to the list. The issue with it and the sky-city nation is just the difficulty a Keeper would have in counquering them. Also, how would we fill their portion of the map? Would we just have half the map a featureless plain with all the interesting stuff above or below?

I do like your idea of the desert nation, and we could possibly work with the Titans as the main plot.

While we're on the topic of plots that we had planned out, I guess I'll share where Shaige and the Paterdomus plot was headed. The Keeper was going to do the impossible and assemble a horde of unrivaled size, consisting of demon, monster, undead, and man alike. With hundreds of thousands of followers he would cleave a bloody wound through the realm of Paterdomus as he marched to their capital, easily winnig every battle on the way and sacking everything he encoutered.

He would use a tactic invented by the Mongols; having a massive vanguard driving forward thousands of terrified peasants from the countryside and razed cities, killing those that fell too far behind. In this way any army that tried to stop him would eiter be trampled beneath a horde of peasants, or at best would kill thousands of their innocent countrymen before the real battle even began. He would continue in this fashion until his army an the peasants were a few days' march from Paterdomus, then he would order all the peasants marched to the banks of the Suricrove and massacred.

The giant river would literally be stained red from all the blood, and this would serve two purposes. Firstly, the water priests' failing enchantment would be undone, allowing the ice witches and their northern armies to join Shaige's ranks. Secondly, it would spell utter doom for the entire city of Paterdomus.

Shaige's army would march within sight of Paterdomus' walls. The grim defenders would prepare to fight to the death, only to be confused as the vast army stopped just out of range of any mages or trebuchets on the wall. One cloaked and hunched over man would advance, the defenders understandably mistaking him for some sort of emissary rather than the scourge that was their ruination. So he would have approached the walls unchallenged, and in the blink of an eye performed a god-like feat of black magic.

Empowered by the tens of thousands of souls that he reaped as the peasants were massacred, the Keeper used blood magic to lift the entire bloodied Suri river into the air, leaving only a parched riverbed. The water would hang suspended over the city for a split second before crashing down in a mighty deluge, the equivalent of several feet of rain in seconds. With half the defenders swept off the walls and the people cowering inside the city literally drowning in blood, there would be no resistance for the massive horde that stormed the cit and began pillaging it.

The Keeper would take some time to bask in his triumph. Then, in his arrogance, Shaige would walk unchallenged through the city, reveling in the utter mayhem. Intending to personally sieze the citadel for himself and depose of the pathetic Prophet of Caldor that had seemingly abandoned his people to cower beneath the temple, Shaige's plan would utterly fall apart. Out of nowhere the ground would tremble and plumes of fire would tear the citadel asunder. Its impregnable walls would buckle, collapse, and melt as Caldor himself clambered up from below, summoned by the Prophet. Caldor's heat and radiance alone would incinerate half the city. The combination of thousands of the marauders suddenly dying with the sudden arrival of a colossal, magmatic humanoid that is considered a god would be more than enough to send Shaige's army into a frenzied retreat.

Feeling victory slip from between his fingers, Shaige would become emboldened and reckless. Greater fires only cast greater shadows, so Shaige would take the form of an equally colossal wraith and have a dramatic battle with the fire god, before eventually being impaled upon Caldor's infernal sword. The writhing, living flames that constituted the blade would tear at and devour the layer of shadows that cloaked the wraith, revealing an unholy skeleton with hellish smoke, blood, and wailing souls magically trapped with the ribcage. And then Shaige would be engulfed by fire and be promptly burned to death, not even his supposedly immortal soul being spared by the divine fire. With his dying breath, the great spirit would utter a curse so vile and filled with hate that to hear it would be death, though fortunately the sound of the raging inferno would overpower his curse, no doubt sparing thousands of fleeing demons and monsters. Caldor would be wracked in pain as he fell to the ground, consumed from the inside out by horrible magic. The blazing leviathan would smolder on the ground for only a few moments as every shadow in the city moved to choke out the flames' dying gasps for air. In the end, Caldor would be reduced to one miniscule ember, cursed to never go cold so as to suffer for eternity knowing that it had once been the god of fire.

From there, the massive army that Shaige had miraculously brought together would of course splinter into a hundred factions. Dozens of the most powerful minions would claim their fallen master's throne and amass followings in an attempt to kill the other contenders and rule the ruins of Paterdomus and the lands beyond. However a large fraction of the horde would simply flee, left confused and terrified by the death of their overlord, the only entity that would ever be able to maintain order with such a diverse and large group of followers. In the end, many of the remnants of Shaige's army would find their way to join forces with either the Carver or the Ripper, whichever side I thought to be less likely to win.

And then he gets shot in the head by one of the Mages who is just in it to see things lit on fire.

I am interested to see the rest of you plan. Gets me thinking about whether or not I should tell my plan in up to where he actually starts building up his forces and doing the keeper thing.

My guy's plan was really simple. "Spread religion by killing all the other keepers one by one. Do this by shooting people in the face."

What shall the theme of our major central nation be? I'm liking the ideas being thrown around here. We'll eventually need to choose 4 or 5 ideas (or groupings of ideas) to form the 4 or 5 surrounding nations. At first glance, especially considering the dystopian nature of some of these nations (unheard of in humans in prior DKs, but I'm liking it), our political set-up at the moment would be one relatively powerful nation in the middle, surrounded by these tribes which do pose a threat to it. There is battling, there is pushing and shoving of the borders, there is the demanding of tribute from the weaker tribes. While this central nation's defence is clearly pretty solid (otherwise it would have crumbled by now), either by some magical means or simply superiority of their civilisation, there is opportunity for a Keeper to conquer if they can organise the inhabitants of one of these tribes to organise and arm themselves (either by slavery/force or by persuasion/alliances) and drive a wedge into the central nation. Unless, for some reason, you all feel like ditching the one central nation idea, although I think that is preferable to only a collection of fragmented tribes.

Regarding the Titans/Totems, perhaps the plot would have something to do with tapping the full power of those Totems and unleashing the Titans. Maybe the tribes doing so (perhaps with the help of a Keeper) to tear apart the bigger nation, or the Keepers, or other tribes. Maybe the bigger nation doing so to wipe out the Keepers and the tribes.

I'm happy to GM this, by the way. Just so long as you understand that I can not dedicate large amounts of my time for another month (because of those exams which decide your fate for the next few years). After that, I'm completely free.

I imagine it going something like this:

Four tribes: Hey, you, central nation, we've got crazy awesome powers from our unique environments and cultures, and are individually hardened fighters.

Central Nation: We've got arable land, and thus 10 times all of your populations combined.

The 42nd Gecko said
I imagine it going something like this:Four tribes: Hey, you, central nation, we've got crazy awesome powers from our unique environments and cultures, and are individually hardened fighters.Central Nation: We've got arable land, and thus 10 times all of your populations combined.

Rand killed nearly 100,000 Trollocs with barely two dozen Channelers.

I was going to suggest, what with the tribes and all, some inspiration could be taken from Fo:NV, but it appears BBeast had a similar idea, without having to throwback to some 2010 game.

Perhaps the Major City has access to some form of greater magic, either via some deity, powerful totem, or some major plot-twisty thing. *coughcouigh*Magical overlord pixies hellbent on enslaving the world*cough*

As far as GMs go, I would have to vote for any combination of BBeast, Lugu, and Cyclone. You all seem to know what you're doing.

Kangutso said
I am interested to see the rest of you plan. Gets me thinking about whether or not I should tell my plan in up to where he actually starts building up his forces and doing the keeper thing.

Went back and edited that post; the rest is now up.

Trapezoid said As far as GMs go, I would have to vote for any combination of BBeast, Lugu, and Cyclone. You all seem to know what you're doing.

I volunteer to control 1 or 2 NPC nations, possibly even 3 if necessary. I actually get equal or greater enjoyment writing form their perspective rather than that of my Keeper. BBeast and Lugubrious, if either of you two want to talk about the plot with me I can do that too.

While I might know what I'm doing, I'm far more content to be a player rather than a leader. Bbeast and Cyclone have done an excellent job so far, so I say leave it with them. I would still be glad to get involved where necessary, though.

Good plan, Cyclone. Even reading a paraphrase of it was rousing.

I'd be willing to control one tribe like I did the Klug, though, hopefully I'd already have my civ a ways along so I wouldn't need to post for my civ every 3rd or 5th post in between.

Very impressive, Cyclone.

So what is our central nation going to be?

Personally I feel that the oneiromancy idea is the most suitable of all the ones I've tossed about so far for such a giant and poweful realm. Imagine a great sorceror king that has held power for literally centuries, using illusion magic to mask himself as various different people over this span. Under his wise and long-sighted rule, he transformed the tiny hamlet in which he was born into a sprawling city that is the envy pf the world.

Through the use of his dream magic, he has been able to prevent any sort of rebellion. He can peer into the minds of those who sleep, allowing him to easily spot his enemies and ensure that they never wake again. However, the vast majority of the city supports him, their dreams bliss as their king secretly controls their every thought while they sleep, ensuring they never awake unhappy.

So overall this human king has managed to achieve a Keeper-like level of power of the centuries, empowered by his massive domain and the reverance of his subjects. The kingdom without his gentle and unseen manipulation might very well break apart or crumble before the envious barbarians tribes that surround it like carrioon birds, ever waiting for an opportunity to plunder the kingdom. However, the king still reigns strong and is an incredibly dangerous adversary to have what with his hundreda of years of experience ruling and his near omniscience. The equally dangerous part is that to the world, he is just yet another inadept and fat king in a long line of decadent rulers that have over clung to their holdings by shear luck. Ths Keepers would be completely oblivious to the danger that he poses, though some of the smaller tribes no doubt have their suspicions.

Gecko said I'd be willing to control one tribe like I did the Klug, though, hopefully I'd already have my civ a ways along so I wouldn't need to post for my civ every 3rd or 5th post in between.

Excellent. Did you want to take one of the one we already wrote out, or do you have your own idea?

That idea is disturbingly similar to Nineteen Eighty Four (of course, any similarity by anything to Nineteen Eighty Four is disturbing, regardless of the degree of similarity). It's brilliant.

For so long all our humans have been mostly nice people in Golden Ages of peace. Any unrest or evil was to do with minor groups and thus unimportant. For once the humans in Dungeon Keepers will rival the Keepers themselves in cunning and thirst for power, making them properly formidable opponents.

Ah, I presume you're speaking of the book 1984 by George Orwell? I've never read the book, but I've heard that it's similar to Brave New World, one of my favorite works. I read and liked George Orwell's Animal Farm enough for me to want to read his other novels and essays, but I haven't as that is part of my school system's curriculum and I would have to reread a lot of it in a year or two.

And yes, I like to think I'm good at creating fictional nations, but they often tend to be a bit...gritty. More compelling and far more interesting to write as.

So, I went with this idea.

Each of the environments are opposite, we have cold lands in the north, fiery lands in the south, deserty lands in the east, and jungly lands in the west.

Also, I went with, how can I make a cliche idea non-cliche?

Dragons. Not fire breathing winged things, these are giant, powerfully limbed komodo dragon style lizards, who, when fed a proper diet and properly trained can have an extraordinarily venomous bite as well as toxic breath.

The people here don't call themselves dragon riders, it is others who call them that, because these people have no language. Every single person in this culture has a symbiotic relationship with one of these dragons, and together they hunt and survive in the harsh jungle. Those that have the desire meet up at bi-yearly "festivals" or meets, around notable landmarks to have children, but otherwise, the only contact between members is generally territorial fights or passing each other by. The jungle, or perhaps their diet, has a strange effect on the growth of humans in the jungle, and they age to maturity swiftly in about three years, but likewise share the more limited lifespan of around 30 years of their companions.

When hunting, the human lays traps, prepares brews, readies camouflage, uses bows and spears, and chases prey towards the dragon. In return, the dragon protects the humans from the numerous powerful predators the jungle has. While the dragons are suspected to be more intelligent than other lizards, there is little reason to believe they are more intelligent than fiercely protective dogs.

The individual strengths of each human in the culture are significant, each one a master of the arts of herbalism, wilderness survival, archery, and other skills, to say nothing of their dragons. However, there are also no recorded instances of these people ever banding together against a threat in numbers more than the handful necessary to slay a river wurm, though there are few recorded instances of these people's history at all.

I'm not sure that putting opposing terrain on opposite sides of the map is necessarily ideal. I personally would prefer to make it look natural, slightly more organically placed while still being shaped by factors like elevation, rain shadow, proximity to coast, and so on. However, a clean map might be a better idea than a realistic one. What do the rest of you think?

I love the idea of your nation. Truly unique. The only things that strike me as an issue is their lack of language (which would make them worthless slaves for any would-be conqueror, since they couldn't take orders or easily be told how to perform tasks they are unfamiliar with). Since they lack any real organization but have the terrain and dragons on their side, they would pose an interesting challenge to fight. When I first read about them I thought that a few scattered dragons and human riders would be easy prey for a well-organized army of a Keeper led by constructs and powerful creatures. But when you think about it and realize that this invading army would be hacking through a dense jungle presumably full of dangerous predators and poisonous plants and all sorts of other things to ruin your day. And while they wander around this unfamiliar and hostile terrain, they would no doubt be constantly ambushed and harassed by the natives.

These dragon riders of yours tread a thin line between between laughably weak and impossibly strong, but I think that they would work. You know, the idea is so intriguing that I might plop my Keeper down by their jungle. Hmm, speaking of Keepers, I still have yet to conceive a good idea for a new one.