So, I had this idea for a sort of round-robin world creation. To some degree, it is less roleplaying than collaborative worldbuilding, but I plan to host a few other things in the world once it is finished.
So this is a blank map. The world will be named at the end of the entire thing that will hereafter be referred to as a game, and until then shall only be referred to as the world.
The idea of the game is that everybody contributes to the world from its origin to the renaissance that the Gods depart from. I didn't want to make the game too tabletop-y, so there is really only one mechanic with numbers instituted so that everybody contributes fairly. It should be noted that when I mention the players are Gods, I do not mean that we are roleplaying in a Pantheon. Really, there isn't much character interaction per se as much as worldbuilding through legends.
Before I get into the bones of it all I will talk briefly about the setting. As far as magic and Gods and divine intervention goes, it is very low fantasy. The central point of the world is that everything remains very much internally consistent. The best way to not screw this up is cut down on magic things. Channelers, be they arcane, druid, or divine in nature, should be very rare and poorly understood. That said, spooky stuff exists. The most critical point when dealing with magic is considering the long-term practical implications of this type of magic existing. For example, consider the implications of phoenixes existing in a world. Whenever they crash into tall buildings, as many birds in our world do, giant fires would erupt. The people inhabiting places where they are common would have a few options. Hunt them, make stone buildings, or both. The inhabitants of a certain place known as Firewood, where nests of phoenixes were once common in ancient times, the entirety of Oldtown is made of stone, whereas newer buildings are made of more inexpensive wood and stone combinations. Forest fires naturally created large glades towards the edge of the forest where the Fireland hunters couldn't reach. As a result, the rich, volcanic-like soil across the forest gave way to a successful agriculture industry. Rather than just making them a cool flavor wizard pet, think about how they would act in every society. Think of the types of magic you create in an evildoer's hands, as well as a government's. Don't assume any given magic would just belong to the good or righteous. I suppose the main another piece for the setting is that we will eventually reach something akin to steampunk (I hesitate to use that word, but rather think of the Industrial Revolution + Fantasy races) influenced by low fantasy elements. For fantasy races, keep things interesting, avoid tropes, but also think of the realistic implications of the traits that you bestow upon races. The one hard and fast rule with races as a whole is no immortality. Maximum lifespan should be around two hundred years at a maximum. Minimum lifespan, although encountered much less often, should be twenty-ish years, although softer, and do consider that this is a minimum average lifespan. Note that races at both of these extremes or cool to play with, and the limits are set just so it is possible to write them realistically.
Points:
Every turn, each player has 24 points. All players must use all points, no more and no less, every turn. Each point represents approximately one sentence of writing, so posts should all be of generally uniform length. The only rule for posting schedules is that you may not double post. Various actions can be taken at various times for different amounts of points, more points implying that more explanation and backstory is necessary for a certain topic. As an example, the creation of a new race will warrant significantly more description than the evolution of a new family of the butterfly. Phases of creation allow certain actions at certain times. Phases begin and end basically whenever I feel that they are complete. That said, here are the phases and their various actions and point costs:
Origin:
Sculpt World [12]: Alter the world's coastlines, or create a new continent or island. Describe in detail what circumstances or cataclysm caused the island/continent/coastline to be created.
Designate Terrain Type [3]: Designate certain areas as swamps, forests, wastelands, etc.
Add Flora to Index [1]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [1]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [1]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Fabricate Sentience [16]: Create an entirely new archetype of sentient creature from the fabric of sentience. Note that the race is not actually created as a group until a culture is created for them in the age of Myth. Note that immortals are strictly prohibited. The maximum average age for a sentient creature is 250 years and the minimum average age is 15.
Myth:
Fabricate Culture [8]: Create an entirely new cultural archetype for a group of sentient creatures.
Fabricate Nation [8]: Create an entirely new nation for a group of sentient creatures with either the same cultural archetype or of one cultural archetype with other creatures of assimilated cultures.
Evolve Race [8]: Alter a creature archetype to create a new creature type. This new creature should bear some resemblance to their original archetype, but still can be considerably altered. An example would be evolving a Yeti from a Giant archetype. Fur and frost resistance are appended, but the creatures and generally recognizable. It should be noted that this is the biological point at which the Yeti and Pureblood Giants can no longer mate.
Add Flora to Index [2]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [2]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [2]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Designate Terrain Type [12]: Designate certain areas as swamps, forests, wastelands, etc.
Rise:
Fabricate Culture [8]: Create an entirely new cultural archetype for a group of sentient creatures.
Fabricate Civilization [16]: Create an entirely new nation for a group of sentient creatures with either the same cultural archetype or of one cultural archetype with other creatures of assimilated cultures.
Evolve Race [16]: Alter a creature archetype to create a new creature type. This new creature should bear some resemblance to their original archetype, but still can be considerably altered. An example would be evolving a Yeti from a Giant archetype. Fur and frost resistance are appended, but the creatures and generally recognizable. It should be noted that this is the biological point at which the Yeti and Pureblood Giants can no longer mate.
Add Flora to Index [4]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [4]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [4]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Evolve Culture [3]: Denote a cultural shift in some nations of groups of creatures. This shift creates a new type of culture, recognizable as a descendant of the original archetype culture, but altered dramatically enough to warrant a new strain. This is the point at which physical separation and/or biological differences have created to homogeneous cultural groups.
Alter Race [8]: Create a subtype of a creature type. The alteration that causes this rift between the subtypes should generally be the effect of cultural separation evolving into a physical and finally a biological separation. Specific physical alterations should be minimal, but still, denote the unique and newfound identity of the subtype. It should be noted that subtypes are significantly more disposed to possess the ability to be unified into one nation, whereas types will struggle to identify as a single culture.
Create Nation [6]: Create a new nation of sentient creatures within one civilization.
Chronicle Event [2]: Although the cost of this action is two points, it is expected that events be at least a paragraph. For the Rise, legends are best suited for how ancient heroes triumphed over real or perceived evil. Although myths from this early in history are by no means reliable historical records, they should all contain at least a few grains of truth. When creating a myth, reference as many landmarks as possible. This action may be performed twice with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed twice in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Designate Landmark [4]: Although the cost of this action is four points, it is expected that landmark is at least a paragraph. Landmarks at this stage are best thought of as cradles of civilizations or places of strategic importance. Think of landmarks during the Rise as seeds that will be watered in later ages. This action may be performed once with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed once in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Antiquity:
Add Flora to Index [6]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [6]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [6]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Alter Race [16]: Create a subtype of a creature type. The alteration that causes this rift between the subtypes should generally be the effect of cultural separation evolving into a physical and finally a biological separation. Specific physical alterations should be minimal, but still, denote the unique and newfound identity of the subtype. It should be noted that subtypes are significantly more disposed to possess the ability to be unified into one nation, whereas types will struggle to identify as a single culture.
Chronicle Event [2]: Although the cost of this action is two points, it is expected that events be at least a paragraph. For the Rise, legends are best suited for how ancient heroes triumphed over real or perceived evil. Although myths from this early in history are by no means reliable historical records, they should all contain at least a few grains of truth. When creating a myth, reference as many landmarks as possible. This action may be performed twice with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed twice in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Designate Landmark [4]: Although the cost of this action is four points, it is expected that landmark is at least a paragraph. Landmarks at this stage are best thought of as cradles of civilizations or places of strategic importance. Think of landmarks during the Rise as seeds that will be watered in later ages. This action may be performed once with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed once in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Alter Culture [3]: Create a cultural sub type.
[More Coming Soon]
If this gets steam, I will post the general phases of creation and the "points" system.
So this is a blank map. The world will be named at the end of the entire thing that will hereafter be referred to as a game, and until then shall only be referred to as the world.
The idea of the game is that everybody contributes to the world from its origin to the renaissance that the Gods depart from. I didn't want to make the game too tabletop-y, so there is really only one mechanic with numbers instituted so that everybody contributes fairly. It should be noted that when I mention the players are Gods, I do not mean that we are roleplaying in a Pantheon. Really, there isn't much character interaction per se as much as worldbuilding through legends.
Before I get into the bones of it all I will talk briefly about the setting. As far as magic and Gods and divine intervention goes, it is very low fantasy. The central point of the world is that everything remains very much internally consistent. The best way to not screw this up is cut down on magic things. Channelers, be they arcane, druid, or divine in nature, should be very rare and poorly understood. That said, spooky stuff exists. The most critical point when dealing with magic is considering the long-term practical implications of this type of magic existing. For example, consider the implications of phoenixes existing in a world. Whenever they crash into tall buildings, as many birds in our world do, giant fires would erupt. The people inhabiting places where they are common would have a few options. Hunt them, make stone buildings, or both. The inhabitants of a certain place known as Firewood, where nests of phoenixes were once common in ancient times, the entirety of Oldtown is made of stone, whereas newer buildings are made of more inexpensive wood and stone combinations. Forest fires naturally created large glades towards the edge of the forest where the Fireland hunters couldn't reach. As a result, the rich, volcanic-like soil across the forest gave way to a successful agriculture industry. Rather than just making them a cool flavor wizard pet, think about how they would act in every society. Think of the types of magic you create in an evildoer's hands, as well as a government's. Don't assume any given magic would just belong to the good or righteous. I suppose the main another piece for the setting is that we will eventually reach something akin to steampunk (I hesitate to use that word, but rather think of the Industrial Revolution + Fantasy races) influenced by low fantasy elements. For fantasy races, keep things interesting, avoid tropes, but also think of the realistic implications of the traits that you bestow upon races. The one hard and fast rule with races as a whole is no immortality. Maximum lifespan should be around two hundred years at a maximum. Minimum lifespan, although encountered much less often, should be twenty-ish years, although softer, and do consider that this is a minimum average lifespan. Note that races at both of these extremes or cool to play with, and the limits are set just so it is possible to write them realistically.
Points:
Every turn, each player has 24 points. All players must use all points, no more and no less, every turn. Each point represents approximately one sentence of writing, so posts should all be of generally uniform length. The only rule for posting schedules is that you may not double post. Various actions can be taken at various times for different amounts of points, more points implying that more explanation and backstory is necessary for a certain topic. As an example, the creation of a new race will warrant significantly more description than the evolution of a new family of the butterfly. Phases of creation allow certain actions at certain times. Phases begin and end basically whenever I feel that they are complete. That said, here are the phases and their various actions and point costs:
Origin:
Sculpt World [12]: Alter the world's coastlines, or create a new continent or island. Describe in detail what circumstances or cataclysm caused the island/continent/coastline to be created.
Designate Terrain Type [3]: Designate certain areas as swamps, forests, wastelands, etc.
Add Flora to Index [1]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [1]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [1]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Fabricate Sentience [16]: Create an entirely new archetype of sentient creature from the fabric of sentience. Note that the race is not actually created as a group until a culture is created for them in the age of Myth. Note that immortals are strictly prohibited. The maximum average age for a sentient creature is 250 years and the minimum average age is 15.
Myth:
Fabricate Culture [8]: Create an entirely new cultural archetype for a group of sentient creatures.
Fabricate Nation [8]: Create an entirely new nation for a group of sentient creatures with either the same cultural archetype or of one cultural archetype with other creatures of assimilated cultures.
Evolve Race [8]: Alter a creature archetype to create a new creature type. This new creature should bear some resemblance to their original archetype, but still can be considerably altered. An example would be evolving a Yeti from a Giant archetype. Fur and frost resistance are appended, but the creatures and generally recognizable. It should be noted that this is the biological point at which the Yeti and Pureblood Giants can no longer mate.
Add Flora to Index [2]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [2]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [2]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Designate Terrain Type [12]: Designate certain areas as swamps, forests, wastelands, etc.
Rise:
Fabricate Culture [8]: Create an entirely new cultural archetype for a group of sentient creatures.
Fabricate Civilization [16]: Create an entirely new nation for a group of sentient creatures with either the same cultural archetype or of one cultural archetype with other creatures of assimilated cultures.
Evolve Race [16]: Alter a creature archetype to create a new creature type. This new creature should bear some resemblance to their original archetype, but still can be considerably altered. An example would be evolving a Yeti from a Giant archetype. Fur and frost resistance are appended, but the creatures and generally recognizable. It should be noted that this is the biological point at which the Yeti and Pureblood Giants can no longer mate.
Add Flora to Index [4]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [4]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [4]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Evolve Culture [3]: Denote a cultural shift in some nations of groups of creatures. This shift creates a new type of culture, recognizable as a descendant of the original archetype culture, but altered dramatically enough to warrant a new strain. This is the point at which physical separation and/or biological differences have created to homogeneous cultural groups.
Alter Race [8]: Create a subtype of a creature type. The alteration that causes this rift between the subtypes should generally be the effect of cultural separation evolving into a physical and finally a biological separation. Specific physical alterations should be minimal, but still, denote the unique and newfound identity of the subtype. It should be noted that subtypes are significantly more disposed to possess the ability to be unified into one nation, whereas types will struggle to identify as a single culture.
Create Nation [6]: Create a new nation of sentient creatures within one civilization.
Chronicle Event [2]: Although the cost of this action is two points, it is expected that events be at least a paragraph. For the Rise, legends are best suited for how ancient heroes triumphed over real or perceived evil. Although myths from this early in history are by no means reliable historical records, they should all contain at least a few grains of truth. When creating a myth, reference as many landmarks as possible. This action may be performed twice with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed twice in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Designate Landmark [4]: Although the cost of this action is four points, it is expected that landmark is at least a paragraph. Landmarks at this stage are best thought of as cradles of civilizations or places of strategic importance. Think of landmarks during the Rise as seeds that will be watered in later ages. This action may be performed once with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed once in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Antiquity:
Add Flora to Index [6]: Add three types of flora to the index of flora. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences per entry.
Add Minerals to Index [6]: Add three types of minerals to the index of minerals. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Add Fauna to Index [6]: Add three types of fauna to the index of fauna. Give a brief description of each, no more than two sentences.
Alter Race [16]: Create a subtype of a creature type. The alteration that causes this rift between the subtypes should generally be the effect of cultural separation evolving into a physical and finally a biological separation. Specific physical alterations should be minimal, but still, denote the unique and newfound identity of the subtype. It should be noted that subtypes are significantly more disposed to possess the ability to be unified into one nation, whereas types will struggle to identify as a single culture.
Chronicle Event [2]: Although the cost of this action is two points, it is expected that events be at least a paragraph. For the Rise, legends are best suited for how ancient heroes triumphed over real or perceived evil. Although myths from this early in history are by no means reliable historical records, they should all contain at least a few grains of truth. When creating a myth, reference as many landmarks as possible. This action may be performed twice with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed twice in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Designate Landmark [4]: Although the cost of this action is four points, it is expected that landmark is at least a paragraph. Landmarks at this stage are best thought of as cradles of civilizations or places of strategic importance. Think of landmarks during the Rise as seeds that will be watered in later ages. This action may be performed once with no point value per turn, meaning that this action could be performed once in addition to a series of actions costing 16 points.
Alter Culture [3]: Create a cultural sub type.
[More Coming Soon]
If this gets steam, I will post the general phases of creation and the "points" system.