Dm Stuff - Tumblr Posts
why is necromancy always about gross zombies and skeletons? tired, boring, cliché. give me life-size dolls enchanted with the souls of witches who wanted to immortalize their own beauty. no more rotting flesh. less decay, more decor: that's the motto of my new branch of fantasy magic, ornamental necromancy.
An Amateur DM’s Worldbuilding Thoughts...
I should write my own sea shanties for my nautical campaigns.
There should be a stage in the tavern in case the Bard wants to perform.
I wish I knew more about food so I could write better tavern menus.
A lot of NPCs are probably farmers; potato farmers, fruit farmers, cattle farmers etc.
I should include more diverse NPCs.
Natural disasters can be the basis for an adventure, what’s causing the tsunamis on the coast, what’s making volcanoes erupt and earthquakes happen.
I should use weather and environments to evoke emotions and imagery way more.
Asian hair tends to be thick and straight, whereas European hair tends to be thinner and can be wavy, and African hair tends to be coarse and have very tight curls.
Historical accounts suggest that some women tried to bleach their hair with lemon juice or darken it with indigo or even mud to fit the current trends, so maybe the players meet a lighter haired woman who smells faintly of lemons!
A wizard’s spellbook probably has stains on its parchment from various foods and drinks.
A mute NPC would be a fun way to test myself and see if I can express concepts and ideas to the Party without just saying them.
“Common” often refers to English, but what about different dialects?
I should come up with more fantasy slang and insults.
Some regional fantasy greetings would be a cool way to immerse the Players in the world, such as “Be Pleasured.” meaning “Hello!”.
I should expand on the cosmology of the material plane, what constellations are in the sky, can the Players see other planets if they look up, how many moons does the world have?
The Party, when they’re famous enough, probably have random people wanting to speak with them or get their autograph, which would be a great way to break up any monotony caused by shopping montages or downtime activities.
In a busy urban city, there’s probably a lot of street food and street performers.
In a big city, there’s probably a lot of horses and carriages passing through, so the Party probably aren’t walking in the middle of the road unless the road is too small for that sort of thing.
A country is probably broken up into provinces, counties or territories, and cities are probably broken up into districts.
What’s the longest road or trading route in the world? And why is it so popular?
What’s the longest river or mountain range in the world? Where’s the highest mountain located?
Where are the fault lines in the world? Would there be lot’s of mountains or lots of earthquakes there?
Which countries have the best archers or soldiers or cavalry? Which country has the best naval fleet?
If giant animals and dire beasts (like dire wolfs and giant owls) exist, would people try to use them like cavalry, with people flying giant owls carrying power-kegs so they could drop bombs on the bad guys, or people riding armoured dire beasts into battle…
Certain regions probably have certain cuisines, which would be reflected in their tavern menus.
Different cultures have different views on music, as well as different superstitions and different folk tales.
Different cultures have different architecture, from wood or stone buildings to tents to maybe no “Buildings” at all!
Before a person becomes an adventurer, they were most likely a farmer or labourer of some kind.
Wizards and bards would be great translators.
What does the flag or banner of each country look like, or do certain parts of the country have their own heraldry or coat of arms?
People from the Underdark probably eat a lot of fungus, plants and bugs, so most probably don’t even know what “Meat” is!
There’s lot of downtime entertainment that could engage the Party, from underground fight clubs to libraries to arenas and theatres.
Each district or province of an area probably has their own landmarks, from rivers and castles to statues and other more fantastical landmarks like famous magic shops.
Festivals, Fairs and Concerts are always a fun way to introduce players to a new culture or city. Perhaps it’s a noble ball that’s invite only, or perhaps the festival doesn’t even take place on this plane of existence!
Most birds don’t react to super spicy food (like chilli peppers) like humans do, so most bird-like D&D Races (like Kenku and Aarakocra) might absolutely love (or hate) spicy food!
Sunlight entering water can travel about 3,000 feet under the right conditions, but there is rarely any significant light beyond about 600 feet, meaning you could potentially have underwater combat take place in complete and utter darkness!
Does my world have fishing laws? Like do they care about fish population enough to have laws to help prevent over-fishing?
A party member hears footsteps and whispers from outside their room, only to open their door and find another patron of the inn trying to sneak to their room without waking anyone up.
Fantasy street food can be pretty much anything! From chocolate to meat on skewers to noodles or even sausages stuffed and grilled quickly right in front of the Players as they walk through the streets!
It’s definitely a strength check to try and break out of bonds, but it’s a dexterity check to wiggle yourself out of handcuffs or bindings, remember that!
Hobo Symbols (an actual thing created by wandering adventurers and nomads) could make for a great way to communicate places of interest to a Party of New Adventurers.
I should use Electrum Pieces more often.
Characters with more siblings means more fun and relevant NPCs you could put in interesting positions. For example, imagine the brother or sister of a Party Member working for the opposing side during a war….
The BBEG could have multiple enemies or allies in high and low places, meaning potential new allies and enemies for the Party to make.
If you want your Players to think you’re a galaxy brain DM, drip feed info little by little into parts of the campaign from the very start, both in and out of combat, that way when the big reveal comes along, the Players think you’re a big-brained master of plot and storytelling!
Some taverns could have darkened or tinted windows, since that’ll make every drunkard inside think it’s still early in the night.
If a band of bards is playing in a tavern, the Party can probably hear the noises from outside.
More taverns should have a dance-floor!
There should be more families in taverns and inns, since most taverns and inns are similar to hotels or restaurants.
The walls and ceilings of a tavern could be filled with all sorts of things: Light fixtures, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, wooden beams supporting the walls. Or maybe something more artistic: Paintings, mounted animal heads, tapestries, curtains hanging above windows and doors, just to give a few examples…
Worldbuilding: Religions
Religions have many different aspects that should at least be given thought if not careful consideration. Use these to guide your creative process when developing new religions and deities.
Key Aspects
Deity/Pantheon: Your religion does not need to necessarily have a deity, and it can even have an entire pantheon. I would venture that while a trained priest might perhaps specialize in one deity, a religion can have many.
Dogma: What are the principles and teachings of your religion? What does the deity implore of their worshippers? What is and isn’t allowed? What are the ethics of the religion? Why must we follow these principles?
Symbols: As important as the religion’s dogma are its symbols. How is your religion recognized on flags, tabards, armor, weapons, artwork, and holy symbols? Does your religion have a holy color or color scheme that they could use for their priestly robes?
Temples: Where are the religion’s places of worship? They could be secluded and secret or in/near cities. What do they look like? Are they merely household shrines or grand cathedrals? Do they have any distinguishing features?
Religious Practices
Rites and Rituals: What sorts of special ceremonies do the clerics of your religion practice? Are there any special material components that have meaning for the religion, deity, and ceremony? How long do ceremonies take and what is supposed to come from them? Rituals always serve a purpose, even if that purpose is merely affirming your faith. Rituals are useful as story elements as well as for players to perform.
Affirming Faith: telling your god you’re there and in prayer. It can be as simple as a daily prayer or weekly ceremony or more in-depth like a monthly or yearly ritual.
Proving Devotion: proving your faith to your god, usually meant for those who might be in doubt or who have wavered.
Initiation: rituals for new members to the religion.
Induction: rituals for new clergy members or clergy moving up in hierarchy.
Satiation: your deity demands sacrifice of something valuable to you or to it.
Boon/Blessing: the ritual seeks something of your deity, perhaps a bountiful harvest or victory in battle.
Magic: a ritual might be held to cast certain spells or perhaps to increase the power or scope of a spell. These can also be used in creation of magic items.
Healing: rituals for performing healing magic.
Funerals: ceremonies for the dead.
Marriage: ceremonies for binding individuals together spiritually
Holy Days: Often rituals can coincide with special days or times of the year. Holy days can be predicted and often signify important seasonal or historic events. Harvest, springtime, solstice, and equinox holy days are common, as are those commemorating the deaths of martyrs or important dates in the religion’s history.
Myths/Legends: Are there any stories or parables that your religion teaches? What stories of the gods do they tell? Do they have any specific myths relating to things like the creation of the world, the creation of elements, the invention of everyday things, or perhaps the invention of morality?
Prayers/Sayings: To help you roleplay priests of this religion, you can come up with some common greetings, farewells, and blessings that might be associated with the religion. “Pelor shines upon you” and whatnot.
People
Titles/Hierarchy: What are the ranks of the clergy and do they have any special titles? Are there any notable NPCs in the religion’s hierarchy? For instance, those that worship Mammon, the archdevil of greed are often called Covetors.
Clergy: Do the clergy perform any services for the rest of the population? Usually this involves healing or holding ceremonies, but they could have a broader scope in a theocracy or a narrower scope if secluded or unpopular. What do the clergy look like and wear? Do they favor certain classes other than clerics?
Worshippers: What sort of people are drawn to the religion? Are there certain races, classes, or kingdoms that worship them? What convinces them to follow the religion’s dogma? Is it out of fear, necessity, protection, comfort, or prosperity?
Relations: Does this religion have allies or enemies? These could either be allied or rival churches, deities, or religions. Furthermore, certain kingdoms or people could ally with or oppose the religion. Think of how each faction and religion in your world sees this religion.
Culture
Art: How does your religion express itself? Define your religion’s art, architecture, fashion, and songs and how they compare to other religions and cultures.
Relics: What sorts of holy relics belong to your religion? These can be body parts or objects belonging to important martyrs or high priests or heroes that champion the religion. These might be kept in temples or may have been lost to time. Perhaps some are magic items being used by chosen (or unscrupulous) adventurers.
Fantastic Flora/Fauna for D&D
D&D games don’t have nearly enough mundane fantasy creatures. Everything needs to either be useful or dangerous for people to care about it! To remedy this, I’ve created a bunch of fantasy creatures and plants that sprinkle into your campaign to create amazing and slightly alien environments.
These are inspired by settings like Pandora in Avatar, or the world of the Dark Crystal, where everything seems to teem with movement and sound and luminescence. Most of these creatures and plants are almost entirely harmless but can make a setting unique by inserting just one or two into your world.
Feel free to steal these or let them inspire you to create your own wacky or weird minor plants and animals.
Fantasy Fauna
Balloonfrogs: These frogs inflate pouches in their bodies with air, making themselves rather buoyant. They then leap from trees and spread their large webbed legs and toes to glide through the air. They usually come in bright colors to look like other poisonous frogs, but are actually harmless. Their ability to quickly escape danger is their primary means of avoiding predation.
Cave Barnacle: Cave barnacles can be found in neglected dungeons filled with moisture. They resemble regular barnacles in most ways; clinging to walls and ceilings protected with a hard shell 1-2 inches in diameter. This shell is wider than it is tall and spirals inward towards a central node covered in a hard membrane. The barnacles feed on many things that are considered poisonous or toxic to other creatures. When such a substance floats nearby, they open up their central node and unfurl a frilled fan that twitches in the air to gather the nutrients. Wary adventurers know when cave barnacles are waving their fan it means something dangerous could be in the air. The barnacle’s fan is rather beautiful and comes in bright colors often not visible in the darkness of its home. Some varieties of cave barnacle have a glowing fan.
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D&D Worldbuilding: Planar Cosmology
When designing a cosmology, the primary goal is to explain the rules of physics that will affect the players, or at least affect their understanding of the game setting on a larger scale. You can always go with a traditional D&D model like the Great Wheel, World Tree, or World Axis if you don’t want to bother with creating one, or the players might simply not have knowledge of planes other than the Material Plane. Heck, maybe they don’t exist! But if you DO want to create a cosmology, make sure you think about the things that will matter to your campaign.
Your cosmology might depend on the story you want to tell. If you plan to have the players travel to other planets, you’ll need to map them out. If you plan to have players hopping from plane to plane, you will need to explain how they affect one another and how they connect and how they are different. If your campaign takes place in an unusual world very different from our own, you might need to explain what those differences are and what causes them.
To start with, I would first determine what sorts of planes exist in your world. There can be many, even infinite, or just a few or a couple of planes. Once you have those, you can arrange them and determine how they interact. A lot of this stuff is picked up from the 3e Manual of the Planes, with some new ideas added.
Planar Traits
For each plane, you should determine its traits as they would affect the players and the other inhabitants of the plane. When you make these decisions, you should always consider how they will affect the inhabitants; how they evolve, how they act, and how they advance technology to make their lives easier.
Planar Shape: This is honestly my favorite part of creating a plane. It can lead to truly memorable and unique planes. Remember Sigil? Of course you do. It’s a city lining the inside of a donut. Imagine a whole plane shaped like that and how interesting it would be as a campaign setting. To help brainstorm this, look around you and imagine how ordinary objects would look like as a plane and how it would affect creatures within.
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Fae masks
the masks of fae are highly prized as burial masks for monster hunters killed in battle. ex., if your old master dies protecting the city from a dragon, you will go out and hunt a fae (the higher ranking the better) to pay respect to your master and the skills they taught you. Unfortunately this tradition has instilled a deep mistrust amongst fae against all non-fae, and especially known monster hunters, because who knows if the next asshole will want to steal your face. (stealing a fae’s mask won’t fatally wound them, but it does take a while to grow back, and sometimes it doesn’t grow back at all, leaving them permanently scarred and ugly).
The fae masks do serve a practical purpose as burial masks though, as any corpse reanimated while wearing one will completely retain the personality and memories it possessed while alive.
Knockdown Effects
In 5e both as a player and a DM, I’ve noticed there is a big sweetspot in difficulty between ‘this encounter can knock someone out’ and ‘killing PCs outright’.
This is where encounters feel like a knife fight where you *could* die, but it’s not certain one way or the other. It’s very difficult to get this though because you end up in situations where you will get knocked down but then heal (and the encounter turns into a game of whack-a-mole) OR you get knocked down by a creature with a multi attack and suddenly it’s a coinflip if that character is going to die.
My solution to this is implementing a house rule I call Knock Down Effects. This is a small table that you roll on when you get knocked down to determine what negative effect you get from being knocked unconscious.
Currently that looks like this:
1. Leg - your speed is reduced to 15 2. Arm - your arm is wounded and you cannot use your offhand 3. Stomach - you are winded and cannot take any actions other than movement for 1 turn 4. Head - there is a ringing in your ears and you are deafened for 1 minute 5. Chest - you are bleeding and take 1d4 damage while conscious whenever you start your turn 6. No harmful effect when getting back up
All of these effects are cleared if you heal to full health or receive magical healing that normally removes debuffs.
While I am still experimenting with this and other effects, so far I have found that getting an extra debuff makes getting knocked down feel more punishing, even if there isn’t a huge immediate risk of death.
Mel’s Big Fantasy Place-Name Reference
So I’ve been doing lots of D&D world-building lately and I’ve kind of been putting together lists of words to help inspire new fantasy place names. I figured I’d share. These are helpful for naming towns, regions, landforms, roads, shops, and they’re also probably useful for coming up with surnames. This is LONG. There’s plenty more under the cut including a huge list of “fantasy sounding” word-parts. Enjoy!
Towns & Kingdoms
town, borough, city, hamlet, parish, township, village, villa, domain
kingdom, empire, nation, country, county, city-state, state, province, dominion
Town Name End Words (English flavored)
-ton, -ston, -caster, -dale, -den, -field, -gate, -glen, -ham, -holm, -hurst, -bar, -boro, -by, -cross, -kirk, -meade, -moore, -ville, -wich, -bee, -burg, -cester, -don, -lea, -mer, -rose, -wall, -worth, -berg, -burgh, -chase, -ly, -lin, -mor, -mere, -pool. -port, -stead, -stow, -strath, -side, -way, -berry, -bury, -chester, -haven, -mar, -mont, -ton, -wick, -meet, -heim, -hold, -hall, -point
Buildings & Places
castle, fort, palace, fortress, garrison, lodge, estate, hold, stronghold, tower, watchtower, palace, spire, citadel, bastion, court, manor, house
altar, chapel, abbey, shrine, temple, monastery, cathedral, sanctum, crypt, catacomb, tomb
orchard, arbor, vineyard, farm, farmstead, shire, garden, ranch
plaza, district, quarter, market, courtyard, inn, stables, tavern, blacksmith, forge, mine, mill, quarry, gallows, apothecary, college, bakery, clothier, library, guild house, bath house, pleasure house, brothel, jail, prison, dungeon, cellar, basement, attic, sewer, cistern
lookout, post, tradepost, camp, outpost, hovel, hideaway, lair, nook, watch, roost, respite, retreat, hostel, holdout, redoubt, perch, refuge, haven, alcove, haunt, knell, enclave, station, caravan, exchange, conclave
port, bridge, ferry, harbor, landing, jetty, wharf, berth, footbridge, dam, beacon, lighthouse, marina, dockyard, shipyard
road, street, way, row, lane, trail, corner, crossing, gate, junction, waygate, end, wall, crossroads, barrier, bulwark, blockade, pavilion, avenue, promenade, alley, fork, route
Time & Direction
North, South, East, West, up, down, side, rise, fall, over, under
Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, solstice, equanox, vernal, ever, never
dusk, dawn, dawnrise, morning, night, nightfall, evening, sundown, sunbreak, sunset
lunar, solar, sun, moon, star, eclipse
Geographical Terms
Cave, cavern, cenote, precipice, crevasse, crater, maar, chasm, ravine, trench, rift, pit
Cliff, bluff, crag, scarp, outcrop, stack, tor, falls, run, eyrie, aerie
Hill, mountain, volcano, knoll, hillock, downs, barrow, plateau, mesa, butte, pike, peak, mount, summit, horn, knob, pass, ridge, terrace, gap, point, rise, rim, range, view, vista, canyon, hogback, ledge, stair, descent
Valley, gulch, gully, vale, dale, dell, glen, hollow, grotto, gorge, bottoms, basin, knoll, combe
Meadow, grassland, field, pasture, steppe, veld, sward, lea, mead, fell, moor, moorland, heath, croft, paddock, boondock, prairie, acre, strath, heights, mount, belt
Woodlands, woods, forest, bush, bower, arbor, grove, weald, timberland, thicket, bosk, copse, coppice, underbrush, hinterland, park, jungle, rainforest, wilds, frontier, outskirts
Desert, dunes, playa, arroyo, chaparral, karst, salt flats, salt pan, oasis, spring, seep, tar pit, hot springs, fissure, steam vent, geyser, waste, wasteland, badland, brushland, dustbowl, scrubland
Ocean, sea, lake, pond, spring, tarn, mere, sluice, pool, coast, gulf, bay
Lagoon, cay, key, reef, atoll, shoal, tideland, tide flat, swale, cove, sandspit, strand, beach
Snowdrift, snowbank, permafrost, floe, hoar, rime, tundra, fjord, glacier, iceberg
River, stream, creek, brook, tributary, watersmeet, headwater, ford, levee, delta, estuary, firth, strait, narrows, channel, eddy, inlet, rapids, mouth, falls
Wetland, marsh, bog, fen, moor, bayou, glade, swamp, banks, span, wash, march, shallows, mire, morass, quag, quagmire, everglade, slough, lowland, sump, reach
Island, isle, peninsula, isthmus, bight, headland, promontory, cape, pointe, cape
More under the cut including: Color words, Animal/Monster related words, Rocks/Metals/Gems list, Foliage, People groups/types, Weather/Environment/ Elemental words, Man-made Items, Body Parts, Mechanical sounding words, a huge list of both pleasant and unpleasant Atmospheric Descriptors, and a huge list of Fantasy Word-parts.
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if you could talk about your world building that would be great thank u!
i'm like, writing this mostly in terms of dnd but this can also apply to just, general worldbuilding imo. i'd recommend having a separate document for each one of these points or honestly like, even more, especially if you're using word or google docs. tbh onenote is probably the best way to do this, but i also don't like the layout of onenote so i don't use it lmao
warning: this is long but i don’t want to put it under a readmore bc i actually think these is valuable tips for any dm or worldbuilder.r
1) you need a dump document. mine is called 'ZAEKATA BIG LEVEL LORE' and it's just basically wheree you can put everything that pops into your head that you save for later and just, the big concepts of how the universe works. the sections i have on this doc range from 'big vague lore and ideas for continents and countries', 'here's how the gods work', 'dragon time', to 'times of worship in abeza', 'architectural styles of the world', 'campaign ideas,' and 'random cool fantasy name drop'
tldr, it's a great place to just have ideas on the page and not have to worry about them making sense but just, have a big document where all of your ideas live. it is probably the document you will hunt through the 20 pages of to find that one sentence idea you want to revisit.
2) organizing how the fuck the world and your landmasses and continents work. i think there are a few things on the giant macro continental and country level that are essential to have a vague idea of how they function that you can refer to. i recently created a chart of it to work out for all of my continents but before i put the screenshot of that in i'll explain the segments.
terrain and climate features. you gotta figure out like, how the land works, is it a desert are there forests, where are the mountains, is there a cool fantasy crystal wasteland? knowing what type of biomes and ecosystems are on each continent is important, it's going to be a major touchstone on what monsters live there, what races, and what cultures develop.
pantheon. what the fuck the gods like. are there gods? how are they organized. in my world specifically, i have a lot of different types of gods and then different pantheons for different cultures and on some continents there are even multiple major pantheons. write down what you know about the gods and how they work. it doesn't need to be super detailed just baseline info about it.
civilizations / people. what kinds of people live there. what are the countries or regions and who lives there. again, doesn't really have to be detailed it just has to be names.
conflict. this is the most important thing especially when worldbuilding for dnd in my opinion. you want there to be points of contention and issues going on in every region of the world whether it's a dragon terrorizing townsfolk, or a clandestine organization plotting to kill the king. you always want there to be a problem for a party of heroes to solve should you decide to run a game or a oneshot in that area.
3) regions in depth. this is when you're narrowing in on what a Country or Region is like and can even be applied to cities to a degree. I'll pop my template for it after I explain the sections.
geography. pretty self explanatory and sort of like in the macro-organization phase but go into more depth. name specific landmarks and think about what the weather is like as well.
politics. how is the region run? what's the governmental structure and what are the issues at play. how does society function.
economy & trade. how these bitches livin? are they poor or is it a rich area, what do they trade with other regions, what resources do they have?
history. how did this place come to be. this can be relatively sparknote-y and focus on key events so it doesn't go on forever but that's also your choice.
culture and customs. what is the culture like? architecture? food? entertainment? how do people interact with each other and what makes them unique.
intellectual, arts, military. this also goes into magic a bit too like. how technologically or magically advanced is this place, what styles of art do they like, what do they do for fun? i’d also stick like, universities in this category. and then of course what sort of military force they have and are they willing to use it.
4) god time. i have a few rules for developing gods that i try to stick to but the concepts are sort of based on my interpretation of how dnd gods should work (including my very complicated 5 types of god system) but the part before my little lore template i make that's important to me is that i believe gods shouldn't be explicitly evil. i think it's lazy. i think gods should be just as interesting and multifaceted as other npcs or even pcs and have goals and motivations. they don't just sit around with nothing to do deciding to bless clerics they like. here's what my template for god building looks like
mechanical information. aka what's necessary for this to be a god that functions in dnd. alignment, name, epithets, symbols, the concepts they are the god of, the cleric domains they match with, and how they are worshipped/holy days.
relevance, knowledge, and motivations. how important are they going to be in your game or in the grand scale of the universe. how much do they know about the world and things going on (particularly relevant to a campaign). what do they want and what are their goals.
characteristics. what do they look like and how do they act. important for fleshing out in case you ever actually play them and to help your players decide whether it's a good fit for a god for their cleric.
powers and abilities. this is like. a weird vague one but like. if you actually had to SAY how much they can control about the world and influence what they can do if they really want to. examples include: creating tidal waves, earthquakes, taking people's memories away, etc.
affiliates. who do they know mortal or not. how do they relate with other gods, what mortals do they favor and the nature of their relationship with them.
history. again, more sparknotey but like, the lore and mythos behind the deity.
5) npcs. this is again i just have like, a little chart for how i build out npcs and i'll share the why of it and a screenshot of a template. i don't think you need to be super in depth on npcs but i also think this method does help flesh them out. i'd also recommend making your own document for storing npcs you’ve created, they come in handy later.
role. what's their important and what the fuck are they doing. examples include: shopkeep or the king of a wholeass country. this section just basically explains when you're going to have to use them and what for.
skills / powers / abilities. look. if this npc is a shopkeep maybe u want to give them a higher dc against thievery or even a lower one based on their personality. if they'e a powerful knight you might wanna shove a mini statblock in here (it's possible i've done it)
characteristics. appearance and personality. can be as in depth or brief as you want. also if you think it's necessary a bit of personal history.
knowledge and relevance. this is what they know about the world and why you want to interact with them. what information can they tell your players and are they the essential quest npc or just, fun bonus content in the city.
anyway this is super long but this is probably like. a lot of how i think about worldbuilding and try to organize it for myself! i hope it's reasonably helpful :)
Fantasy Guide to Architecture
This post has been waiting on the back burner for weeks and during this time of quarantine, I have decided to tackle it. This is probably the longest post I have ever done. I is very tired and hope that I have covered everything from Ancient times to the 19th Century, that will help you guys with your worldbuilding.
Materials
What you build with can be determined by the project you intend, the terrain you build on and the availability of the material. It is one characteristic that we writers can take some some liberties with.
Granite: Granite is an stone formed of Igneous activity near a fissure of the earth or a volcano. Granites come in a wide range of colour, most commonly white, pink, or grey depending on the minerals present. Granite is hard and a durable material to build with. It can be built with without being smoothed but it looks bitchin' and shiny all polished up.
Marble: Probably everyone's go to materials for building grand palaces and temples. Marble is formed when great pressure is placed on limestone. Marble can be easily damaged over time by rain as the calcium in the rock dissolves with the chemicals found in rain. Marble comes in blue, white, green, black, white, red, gray and yellow. Marble is an expensive material to build with, highly sought after for the most important buildings. Marble is easy to carve and shape and polishes to a high gleam. Marble is found at converging plate boundaries.
Obsidian: Obsidian is probably one of the most popular stones mentioned in fantasy works. Obsidian is an igneous rock formed of lava cooling quickly on the earth's surfaces. Obsidian is a very brittle and shiny stone, easy to polish but not quite a good building material but a decorative one.
Limestone: Limestone is made of fragments of marine fossils. Limestone is one of the oldest building materials. Limestone is an easy material to shape but it is easily eroded by rain which leads most limestone monuments looking weathered.
Concrete: Concrete has been around since the Romans. Concrete is formed when aggregate (crushed limstone, gravel or granite mixed with fine dust and sand) is mixed with water. Concrete can be poured into the desired shape making it a cheap and easy building material.
Brick: Brick was one of history's most expensive materials because they took so long to make. Bricks were formed of clay, soil, sand, and lime or concrete and joined together with mortar. The facade of Hampton Court Palace is all of red brick, a statement of wealth in the times.
Glass: Glass is formed of sand heated until it hardens. Glass is an expensive material and for many years, glass could not be found in most buildings as having glass made was very expensive.
Plaster: Plaster is made from gypsum and lime mixed with water. It was used for decoration purposes and to seal walls. A little known fact, children. Castle walls were likely painted with plaster or white render on the interior.
Wattle and Daub: Wattle and daub is a building material formed of woven sticks cemented with a mixture of mud, one of the most common and popular materials throughout time.
Building terms
Arcade: An arcade is a row of arches, supported by columns.
Arch: An arch is a curved feature built to support weight often used for a window or doorway.
Mosaic: Mosaics are a design element that involves using pieces of coloured glass and fitted them together upon the floor or wall to form images.
Frescos: A design element of painting images upon wet plaster.
Buttress: A structure built to reinforce and support a wall.
Column: A column is a pillar of stone or wood built to support a ceiling. We will see more of columns later on.
Eave: Eaves are the edges of overhanging roofs built to allow eater to run off.
Vaulted Ceiling: The vaulted ceilings is a self-supporting arched ceiling, than spans over a chamber or a corridor.
Colonnade: A colonnade is a row of columns joined the entablature.
Entablature: a succession of bands laying atop the tops of columns.
Bay Window: The Bay Window is a window projecting outward from a building.
Courtyard/ Atrium/ Court: The courtyard is an open area surrounded by buildings on all sides
Dome: The dome resembles a hollow half of a sphere set atop walls as a ceiling.
Façade: the exterior side of a building
Gable: The gable is a triangular part of a roof when two intersecting roof slabs meet in the middle.
Hyphen: The hyphen is a smaller building connecting between two larger structures.
Now, let's look at some historical building styles and their characteristics of each Architectural movement.
Classical Style
The classical style of Architecture cannot be grouped into just one period. We have five: Doric (Greek), Ionic (Greek), Corinthian (Greek), Tuscan (Roman) and Composite (Mixed).
Doric: Doric is the oldest of the orders and some argue it is the simplest. The columns of this style are set close together, without bases and carved with concave curves called flutes. The capitals (the top of the column) are plain often built with a curve at the base called an echinus and are topped by a square at the apex called an abacus. The entablature is marked by frieze of vertical channels/triglyphs. In between the channels would be detail of carved marble. The Parthenon in Athens is your best example of Doric architecture.
Ionic: The Ionic style was used for smaller buildings and the interiors. The columns had twin volutes, scroll-like designs on its capital. Between these scrolls, there was a carved curve known as an egg and in this style the entablature is much narrower and the frieze is thick with carvings. The example of Ionic Architecture is the Temple to Athena Nike at the Athens Acropolis.
Corinthian: The Corinthian style has some similarities with the Ionic order, the bases, entablature and columns almost the same but the capital is more ornate its base, column, and entablature, but its capital is far more ornate, commonly carved with depictions of acanthus leaves. The style was more slender than the others on this list, used less for bearing weight but more for decoration. Corinthian style can be found along the top levels of the Colosseum in Rome.
Tuscan: The Tuscan order shares much with the Doric order, but the columns are un-fluted and smooth. The entablature is far simpler, formed without triglyphs or guttae. The columns are capped with round capitals.
Composite: This style is mixed. It features the volutes of the Ionic order and the capitals of the Corinthian order. The volutes are larger in these columns and often more ornate. The column's capital is rather plain. for the capital, with no consistent differences to that above or below the capital.
Islamic Architecture
Islamic architecture is the blanket term for the architectural styles of the buildings most associated with the eponymous faith. The style covers early Islamic times to the present day. Islamic Architecture has some influences from Mesopotamian, Roman, Byzantine, China and the Mongols.
Paradise garden: As gardens are an important symbol in Islam, they are very popular in most Islamic-style buildings. The paradise gardens are commonly symmetrical and often enclosed within walls. The most common style of garden is split into four rectangular with a pond or water feature at the very heart. Paradise gardens commonly have canals, fountains, ponds, pools and fruit trees as the presence of water and scent is essential to a paradise garden.
Sehan: The Sehan is a traditional courtyard. When built at a residence or any place not considered to be a religious site, the sehan is a private courtyard. The sehan will be full of flowering plants, water features snd likely surrounded by walls. The space offers shade, water and protection from summer heat. It was also an area where women might cast off their hijabs as the sehan was considered a private area and the hijab was not required. A sehan is also the term for a courtyard of a mosque. These courtyards would be surrounded by buildings on all sides, yet have no ceiling, leaving it open to the air. Sehans will feature a cleansing pool at the centre, set under a howz, a pavilion to protect the water. The courtyard is used for rituals but also a place of rest and gathering.
Hypostyle Hall: The Hypostyle is a hall, open to the sky and supported by columns leading to a reception hall off the main hall to the right.
Muqarnas : Muqarnas is a type of ornamentation within a dome or a half domed, sometimes called a "honeycomb", or "stalactite" vaulted ceiling. This would be cast from stone, wood, brick or stucco, used to ornament the inside of a dome or cupola. Muqarnas are used to create transitions between spaces, offering a buffer between the spaces.
African Architecture
African Architecture is a very mixed bag and more structurally different and impressive than Hollywood would have you believe. Far beyond the common depictions of primitive buildings, the African nations were among the giants of their time in architecture, no style quite the same as the last but just as breathtaking.
Somali architecture: The Somali were probably had one of Africa's most diverse and impressive architectural styles. Somali Architecture relies heavy on masonry, carving stone to shape the numerous forts, temples, mosques, royal residences, aqueducts and towers. Islamic architecture was the main inspiration for some of the details of the buildings. The Somali used sun-dried bricks, limestone and many other materials to form their impressive buildings, for example the burial monuments called taalo
Ashanti Architecture: The Ashanti style can be found in present day Ghana. The style incorporates walls of plaster formed of mud and designed with bright paint and buildings with a courtyard at the heart, not unlike another examples on this post. The Ashanti also formed their buildings of the favourite method of wattle and daub.
Afrikaner Architecture: This is probably one of the oddest architectural styles to see. Inspired by Dutch settlers (squatters), the buildings of the colony (planters/squatters) of South Africa took on a distinctive Dutch look but with an Afrikaner twist to it making it seem both familiar and strange at the same time.
Rwandan Architecture: The Rwandans commonly built of hardened clay with thatched roofs of dried grass or reeds. Mats of woven reeds carpeted the floors of royal abodes. These residences folded about a large public area known as a karubanda and were often so large that they became almost like a maze, connecting different chambers/huts of all kinds of uses be they residential or for other purposes.
Aksumite Architecture: The Aksumite was an Empire in modern day Ethiopia. The Aksumites created buildings from stone, hewn into place. One only has to look at the example of Bete Medhane Alem to see how imposing it was.
Yoruba Architecture: Yoruba Architecture was made by earth cured until it hardened enough to form into walls, or they used wattle and daub, roofed by timbers slats coated in woven grass or leaves. Each unit divided up parts of the buildings from facilities to residences, all with multiple entrances, connected together.
Igbo Architecture: The Igbo style follows some patterns of the Yoruba architecture, excepting that there are no connected walls and the spacing is not so equal. The closer a unit was to the centre, the more important inhabitants were.
Hausa architecture: Hausa Architecture was formed of monolithic walls coated in plaster. The ceilings and roof of the buildings were in the shape of small domes and early vaulted ceilings of stripped timber and laterite. Hausa Architecture features a single entrance into the building and circular walls.
Nubian Architecture: Nubia, in modern day Ethiopia, was home to the Nubians who were one of the world's most impressive architects at the beginning of the architecture world and probably would be more talked about if it weren't for the Egyptians building monuments only up the road. The Nubians were famous for building the speos, tall tower-like spires carved of stone. The Nubians used a variety of materials and skills to build, for example wattle and daub and mudbrick. The Kingdom of Kush, the people who took over the Nubian Empire was a fan of Egyptian works even if they didn't like them very much. The Kushites began building pyramid-like structures such at the sight of Gebel Barkal
Egyptian Architecture: The Egyptians were the winners of most impressive buildings for s good while. Due to the fact that Egypt was short on wood, Ancient Egyptians returned to building with limestone, granite, mudbrick, sandstone which were commonly painted with bright murals of the gods along with some helpful directions to Anubis's crib. The Egyptians are of course famous for their pyramids but lets not just sit on that bandwagon. Egyptian Architecture sported all kinds of features such as columns, piers, obelisks and carving buildings out of cliff faces as we see at Karnak. The Egyptians are cool because they mapped out their buildings in such a way to adhere to astrological movements meaning on special days if the calendar the temple or monuments were in the right place always. The Egyptians also only build residences on the east bank of the Nile River, for the opposite bank was meant for the dead. The columns of Egyptian where thicker, more bulbous and often had capitals shaped like bundles of papyrus reeds.
Chinese Architecture
Chinese Architecture is probably one of the most recognisable styles in the world. The grandness of Chinese Architecture is imposing and beautiful, as classical today as it was hundreds of years ago.
The Presence of Wood: As China is in an area where earthquakes are common, most of the buildings are were build of wood as it was easy to come across and important as the Ancient Chinese wanted a connection to nature in their homes.
Overhanging Roofs: The most famous feature of the Chinese Architectural style are the tiled roofs, set with wide eaves and upturned corners. The roofs were always tiled with ceramic to protect wood from rotting. The eaves often overhung from the building providing shade.
Symmetrical Layouts: Chinese Architecture is symmetrical. Almost every feature is in perfect balance with its other half.
Fengshui: Fengshui are philosophical principles of how to layout buildings and towns according to harmony lain out in Taoism. This ensured that the occupants in the home where kept in health, happiness, wealth and luck.
One-story: As China is troubled by earthquakes and wood is not a great material for building multi-storied buildings, most Chinese buildings only rise a single floor. Richer families might afford a second floor but the single stories compounds were the norm.
Orientation: The Ancient Chinese believed that the North Star marked out Heaven. So when building their homes and palaces, the northern section was the most important part of the house and housed the heads of the household.
Courtyards: The courtyard was the most important area for the family within the home. The courtyard or siheyuan are often built open to the sky, surrounded by verandas on each side.
Japanese Architecture
Japanese Architecture is famous for its delicacy, smooth beauty and simplistic opulence. Japanese Architecture has been one of the world's most recognisable styles, spanning thousands of years.
Wood as a Common Material: As with the Chinese, the most popular material used by the Japanese is wood. Stone and other materials were not often used because of the presence of earthquakes. Unlike Chinese Architecture, the Japanese did not paint the wood, instead leaving it bare so show the grain.
Screens and sliding doors: The shoji and fusuma are the screens and sliding doors are used in Japanese buildings to divide chambers within the house. The screens were made of light wood and thin parchment, allowing light through the house. The screens and sliding doors were heavier when they where used to shutter off outside features.
Tatami: Tatami mats are used within Japanese households to blanket the floors. They were made of rice straw and rush straw, laid down to cushion the floor.
Verandas: It is a common feature in older Japanese buildings to see a veranda along the outside of the house. Sometimes called an engawa, it acted as an outdoor corridor, often used for resting in.
Genkan: The Genkan was a sunken space between the front door and the rest of the house. This area is meant to separate the home from the outside and is where shoes are discarded before entering.
Nature: As both the Shinto and Buddhist beliefs are great influences upon architecture, there is a strong presence of nature with the architecture. Wood is used for this reason and natural light is prevalent with in the home. The orientation is meant to reflect the best view of the world.
Indian Architecture
India is an architectural goldmine. There are dozens of styles of architecture in the country, some spanning back thousands of years, influenced by other cultures making a heady stew of different styles all as beautiful and striking as the last.
Mughal Architecture: The Mughal architecture blends influences from Islamic, Persian along with native Indian. It was popular between the 16th century -18th century when India was ruled by Mughal Emperors. The Taj Mahal is the best example of this.
Indo-Saracenic Revival Architecture: Indo Saracenic Revival mixes classical Indian architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, neo-classical and Gothic revival of the 1800s.
Cave Architecture: The cave architecture is probably one of the oldest and most impressive styles of Indian architecture. In third century BC, monks carved temples and buildings into the rock of caves.
Rock-Cut Architecture: The Rock-cut is similar to the cave style, only that the rock cut is carved from a single hunk of natural rock, shaped into buildings and sprawling temples, all carved and set with statues.
Vesara Architecture: Vesara style prevalent in medieval period in India. It is a mixture of the Dravida and the Nagara styles. The tiers of the Vesara style are shorter than the other styles.
Dravidian Architecture: The Dravidian is the southern temple architectural style. The Kovils are an example of prime Dravidian architecture. These monuments are of carved stone, set up in a step like towers like with statues of deities and other important figures adorning them.
Kalinga Architecture: The Kalinga style is the dominant style in the eastern Indian provinces. The Kalinga style is famous for architectural stipulations, iconography and connotations and heavy depictions of legends and myths.
Sikh Architecture: Sikh architecture is probably the most intricate and popular of the styles here. Sikh architecture is famous for its soft lines and details.
Romanesque (6th -11th century/12th)
Romanesque Architecture is a span between the end of Roman Empire to the Gothic style. Taking inspiration from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the Romanesque period incorporates many of the styles.
Rounded arches: It is here that we see the last of the rounded arches famous in the classical Roman style until the Renaissance. The rounded arches are very popular in this period especially in churches and cathedrals. The rounded arches were often set alongside each other in continuous rows with columns in between.
Details: The most common details are carved floral and foliage symbols with the stonework of the Romanesque buildings. Cable mouldings or twisted rope-like carvings would have framed doorways.
Pillars: The Romanesque columns is commonly plainer than the classical columns, with ornate captials and plain bases. Most columns from this time are rather thick and plain.
Barrel Vaults: A barrel vaulted ceiling is formed when a curved ceiling or a pair of curves (in a pointed ceiling). The ceiling looks rather like half a tunnel, completely smooth and free of ribs, stone channels to strengthen the weight of the ceiling.
Arcading: An arcade is a row of arches in a continual row, supported by columns in a colonnade. Exterior arcades acted as a sheltered passage whilst inside arcades or blind arcades, are set against the wall the arches bricked, the columns and arches protruding from the wall.
Gothic Architecture (12th Century - 16th Century)
The Gothic Architectural style is probably one of the beautiful of the styles on this list and one of most recognisable. The Gothic style is a dramatic, opposing sight and one of the easiest to describe.
Pointed arch: The Gothic style incorporates pointed arches, in the windows and doorways. The arches were likely inspired by pre-Islamic architecture in the east.
Ribbed vault: The ribbed vault of the Gothic age was constructed of pointed arches. The trick with the ribbed vaulted ceiling, is that the pointed arches and channels to bear the weight of the ceiling.
Buttresses: The flying buttress is designed to support the walls. They are similar to arches and are connected to counter-supports fixed outside the walls.
Stained-Glass Window: This is probably one of the most recognisable and beautiful of the Gothic features. They can be set in round rose windows or in the pointed arches.
Renaissance Architecture (15th Century- 17th Century)
Renaissance architecture was inspired by Ancient Roman and Greek Architecture. Renaissance Architecture is Classical on steroids but has its own flare. The Renaissance was a time for colour and grandeur.
Columns and pilasters: Roman and Greek columns were probably the greatest remix of the Renaissance period. The architecture of this period incorporated the five orders of columns are used: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The columns were used to hold up a structure, support ceilings and adorn facades. Pilasters were columns within a chamber, lining the walls for pure decoration purposes.
Arches: Arches are rounded in this period, having a more natural semi-circular shape at its apex. Arches were a favourite feature of the style, used in windows, arcades or atop columns.
Cupola: Is a small dome-like tower atop a bigger dome or a rooftop meant to allow light and air into the chamber beneath.
Vaulted Ceiling/Barrel Vault: Renaissance vaulted ceilings do not have ribs. Instead they are semi-circular in shape, resting upon a square plain rather than the Gothic preference of rectangular. The barrel vault held by its own weight and would likely be coated in plaster and painted.
Domes: The dome is the architectural feature of the Renaissance. The ceiling curves inwards as it rises, forming a bowl like shape over the chamber below. The dome's revival can be attributed to Brunelleschi and the Herculean feat of placing a dome on the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The idea was later copied by Bramante who built St. Peter's Basilica.
Frescos: To decorate the insides of Renaissance buildings, frescos (the art of applying wet paint to plaster as it dries) were used to coat the walls and ceilings of the buildings. The finest frescos belong to Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
Baroque (1625–1750)
Baroque incorporates some key features of Renaissance architecture, such as those nice columns and domes we saw earlier on. But Baroque takes that to the next level. Everything is higher, bigger, shinier, brighter and more opulent. Some key features of Baroque palaces and buildings would be:
Domes: These domes were a common feature, left over from the Renaissance period. Why throw out a perfectly good bubble roof, I ask you? But Baroque domes were of course, grander. Their interiors were were nearly always painted or gilded, so it drew the eye upwards which is basically the entire trick with Baroque buildings. Domes were not always round in this building style and Eastern European buildings in Poland and Ukraine for example sport pear-shaped domes.
Solomonic columns: Though the idea of columns have been about for years but the solomonic columns but their own twist on it. These columns spiral from beginning to end, often in a s-curved pattern.
Quadratura: Quadratura was the practice of painting the ceilings and walls of a Baroque building with trompe-l'oeil. Most real life versions of this depict angels and gods in the nude. Again this is to draw the eye up.
Mirrors: Mirrors came into popularity during this period as they were a cool way to create depth and light in a chamber. When windows faced the mirrors on the wall, it creates natural light and generally looks bitchin'. Your famous example is the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
Grand stairways: The grand sweeping staircases became popular in this era, often acting as the centre piece in a hall. The Baroque staircase would be large and opulent, meant for ceremonies and to smoother guests in grandeur.
Cartouche: The cartouche is a design that is created to add some 3D effect to the wall, usually oval in shape with a convex surface and edged with scrollwork. It is used commonly to outline mirrors on the wall or crest doorways just to give a little extra opulence.
Neoclassical (1750s-19th century)
The Neoclassical Period involved grand buildings inspired by the Greek orders, the most popular being the Doric. The main features of Neoclassical architecture involve the simple geometric lines, columns, smooth walls, detailing and flat planed surfaces. The bas-reliefs of the Neoclassical style are smoother and set within tablets, panels and friezes. St. Petersburg is famous for the Neoclassical styles brought in under the reign of Catherine the Great.
Greek Revival (late 18th and early 19th century)
As travel to other nations became easier in this time period, they became to get really into the Ancient Greek aesthetic. During this architectural movement they brought back the gabled roof, the columns and the entablature. The Greek Revival was more prevalent in the US after the Civil War and in Northern Europe.
Hope this helps somewhat @marril96
Worldbuilding: Economy
Money makes the world go around and economics of a region makes it flourish or flop. Money and trade are important aspects of any world and you must pay attention to what your kingdom produces or lacks in resources.
Resources and Goods
Though we may touch on this again with another post. Your land must produce something. Even if it is a barren wasteland, your land must produce something in order to survive. It can produce items in categories.
Food: Food is a great way to make money. A seafaring kingdom might produce fish. A landlocked kingdom with fertile soil will produce wheat, barley, rye and other things. All of this can be sold either in the kingdom or abroad, a portion of the trade of course going to the government’s treasury. Food is always a good trade scheme but be mindful that it is something that can falter or be easily destroyed.
Materials: Kingdoms will produce some semblance of a material. It could be stone for building, gold for decoration, sulphur to make gunpowder or flax for making clothes. Materials are always desired at home and abroad and if your kingdom produces the best or most of a certain material it will be famous for it. Like Sheffield steel or Italian leather.
Skill: Sometimes people can be traded or their skills at least. A kingdom that sells a skill will be prized. Think of Sparta and their warriors, Athens and its wise men, Florence and its sculptors and painter or Japan and its software developers. A skill will enhance prestige on the world stage and give them a reputation.
Markets, Plazas and Agoras
When we talk about buying or selling, we often forget where this occurs. Every great city has a marketplace and every major town will have them. When you pinpoint where a character lives or where the story takes place, you should think of it’s economical value and status. Questions to ask yourself.
Home: Which city has the most power in the economy? Which costal areas are the major ports? Which city is the richest? How far do people have to travel to sell goods or buy them?
Abroad: Is there a trading route like the Silk Road? Which kingdom is the richest or poorest? What kingdom is hardest to travel to? Or the closest trading partner? Are there any countries that have been banned as trading partners?
Money or barter
There are two common types of payment for a good. You can pay with money or swap it for something else. Money of course can be in coin of note form. Look at my Fantasy Guide to Currency for more of this. Barter is easier in some cases. You have a goat and you want a small row boat. Is the goat worth the boat? Will all the milk the goat produces match or make more money that the fish the boatman catches? Do nobility use one system and the poor use others? When the tenants of a land pay rent is it in coin or barter? If they can’t pay in coin is bartering a common alternative?
Banking
All the world runs on the backs of banks. Pushing all the bad shit aside, banks are there to loan money or to store it. Banks give out loans for businesses or for projects. Most banks would expect some kind of repayment. In Renaissance times, a bank that did this was slandered as usurers. Banks have often wielded power. The Medici bank brought the owners up to the status of first family in Florence, Grand Dukes of Tuscany and even Pope. What do people think of the banks? Are they hated for their biting rates? Are they respected for their fair dealings with the people? What does the bank own? What are their relationship with the people, nobles and royalty?
Transportation and cost
To sell anything will cost you. You must calculate how much it would cost to make a good, transport it and sell it to a buyer. If you were selling something across the sea, how much will shipping cost you? If you were to have items brought to your home from another city, how would you do it?
Here is a problem for you to practice with: If a poor farmer wants to sell a cow in the capital and he lives fifty miles away beside a major road and river, with no wagon or horses and no money for passage on the river, how does he get there?
Fantasy Guide to Noble Titles & What they Mean
So I get a lot of questions about what nobles actually do or how much they own or why a certain title is higher than another. Understanding the complexities of nobility and their hierarchy can be a bit of a head twister but hopefully this will help you out. Just for the moment we will be focusing on European Titles because I can't fit all the titles into one post. Forgive my shitty doodles. The diagrams mark out where the particular noble would rule.
Archduke/Archduchess
These titles have two meanings. In the latter half of the Austrian Empire, it was used to denote senior members of the Royal family such as children and siblings. It is also a non Royal title given to someone who rules an archduchy, a large portion of land with in the kingdom. They are in charge of the archduchy, ensuring it runs smoothly. They are referred to as Your Grace.
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess
The Grand Duke is probably the trickiest of all these titles as there is a dual meaning. A Grand Duke can rule a state as a sovereign like in Luxembourg or they can rule a Grand Duchy (a large portion of land within a kingdom) like the Grand Dukes of Russia. The Grand Duke was below the Archduke and their lands may be smaller. They are in charge of ruling their Grand Duchy, upholding the monarch's laws in their name. They are referred to as Your Grace.
Duke/Duchess
The Duke is the highest rank in most European nations. The Duke rules a large portion of the kingdom- called a Duchy- which you can think of as a county/state. The Duchies are often awarded by the monarch to their children who are not the heir. The Duke is charge with running that portion of land by order of the monarch, handling the over all business of that piece of the Kingdom. Dukes are referred to as Your Grace. There was only one Duke per Duchy.
Marquess/Marchioness
A Marquess is the next rung down from Dukes. The Marquess is in charge of a portion of land within a Duchy which is called a Marsh which lays near a border. The Marquess is solely responsible for the running of that portion of land. The Marquess is called The Most Honourable (Insert name), the Marquess of XYZ. There could be multiple marquesses in a Duchy if it was near a large border.
Earl/Count/Countess/Compte/Comptesse
An Earl/Count Rules over an Earldom, which is a section of a Duchy but it has less importance than a Marsh ruled by the Marquess. The Earl/Count is the third highest ranking within the Duchy. Often it was the subsidiary title of the heir of the Dukedom, so the eldest son/daughter of the Duke would be the Earl. The Earl/Count of X is addressed as Lord X for example, the Earl of Grantham, is called Lord Grantham. There could be multiple Earls/counts per Duchy.
Viscount/Viscountess/Viscompte/Viscomptess
Viscounts are the Earl/Count's second in command, ruling a portion of land with the Earldom. They handled the judiciary matters of their lands and their barons. Viscounts were addressed as the Right Honourable (insert name) Viscount of XY. Viscounts can also be used as a subsidiary title for the son of a Earl. When Thomas Boleyn was made Earl of Wiltshire, his son George was made Viscount Rochford. There might be multiple Viscounts in a Duchy.
Baron/Baroness
The Baron is the lowest of ranks in the nobility pyramid. Before the mid-medieval period, almost all nobles were labelled as Barons. They ruled over a portion of the land under the Duke, the Earl and Viscount. There were always a huge force of barons with in the Duchy. They handled the minor local disputes of their lands, collecting taxes and monies owed. If they faced a larger issue or crime, they would pass it up to the next ranking noble the Viscount and then it could travel all the way up to the Duke. The Baron of Townville were referred to as as Lord Townville.
Fantasy Guide to Addressing Nobility
It can be hard to remember how to properly address your noble or royal characters when writing a fantasy court. Here is a quick guide:
1. King/Queen:
Usually addressed as either “Your Grace” or “Your Majesty”. Consort (married to a ruler and not reigning in their own right) can be addressed the same. Sire or Madam can be used also.
2. Prince/Princess:
They are addressed as “Your Highness”. They are NEVER addressed the same as a King or Queen
3. Duke/Duchess:
These are addressed with “Your Grace”. This was a common term also used by royalty before Henry VIII got to big for his codpiece.
4. Earl (Count)/Countess:
Are almost never referred as the “Earl of Narnia” but “Lord Narnia”.
5. Lord/Lady:
An easy one. They are called “My Lord” or “My Lady”.
6. Emperor/Empress:
These may be equal to a King/Queen for status but the have a grander title. They are only addressed as “Your Imperial Highness/Majesty”
I hope this helps when writing your court or fantasy novel.
Fantasy Guide to Writing a Royal Family
Royal families usually rule the plot and world of your novel. They are complex, decadent and murderous. How can we write such a large complex entity?
Family Tree
You need to make a list of the royals in your story. Add dates of birth and death. Who is whose brother? Mother? Father? It is easy to work backwards from the royals today back to the past. How does your character inherit the crown? Or how close are they to the throne? Add in uncles, aunts, cousins. Keep going until it feels expansive.
A history
Now that you have a family tree, you have to create a history. How did the family come into power? Is there any mad monarchs, heroes and saints in the family of the past? A World of Ice and Fire, gives us chapters on every Targaryen King to rule Westeros. A history gives a family a grounded feel and a rich background. This can explain the motives of a character in a crown
Infighting
Royals can be volatile. If you are a step close to the throne, you want that shit. You will kill to get it. Royal families are guilty of infighting. Cousins will fight for supremacy. Sisters battle sisters over rights and honours. Brothers may turn to murder to dispatch each other. Royal families will almost always devour themselves. Like the Houses of York and Lancaster did, leaving the House of Tudor to swoop in and get the crown.
Danger
Royals are at the top so they fall hard. People will come to cast them down. Whether it’s the people or a rival family or a foreign invader, your royal family is in grave danger.
In most cases, the boys of a royal family are slaughtered as in the Plantaganets of England with the Princes in the Tower. The Plantaganet princesses were married to Tudor bannermen or sent to a nunnery. In some bad cases, everyone dies.
The Russian/Bolshevik Revolution murdered the entire royal family: the Tsar, the Tsarina, the four grand duchesses and the tsarevitch, leaving only a couple of cousins living abroad.
In some cases the family is exiled. This is the best case scenario as they can try come back at some point. An example of this is Bonny Prince Charlie and his father.
Vox Populi
How do the people receive your royals? Do they love them? Or do they despise them? Most royal families get mixed reviews. If they do good works like giving the people peace, they are loved. Over taxation can change the people’s opinions and turn them against your royals.
Titles
Not all royals have a title. The further away from the throne you are, the less likely you have a Royal title. Prince William’s kids get the title. Prince George’s children and grandchildren will get the titles prince and princess but only the children of Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will get it but not their grandchildren.
Fantasy Guide to Feasts, Food and Drink
Picture yourself at a banquet held at the local Lord's castle. The music is playing, the people are chatting and rustling about in their best clothes. You sit at a table and what sits before you? Not chicken nuggets, my friend.
Food is always one of the staples of any world you build. You can get a feel of class, society and morality just by looking at the spread before you on the table.
Food for lower classes (Peasants)
Most peasants lived off the land, rearing flocks, tilling fields and tending orchards. If they lived near the sea, lakes, rivers or streams, they would fish. But since they lived on land owned by churches or lords, they would only be allowed a portion of what they grew. In cities, the peasants would buy food from one another at the market.
Peasants would make bread out of rye grain, that would make the bread very dark. In some communities they would make sourdough, which involves using a piece of dough you made the day before to make that day's bread.
Eggs were a source of food that was easy to come by as farmers kept chickens on hand.
Cheese and butter would be sold and used in the farm.
Jam would also be made as it was easy to preserve and sell.
Peasants would not eat much meat. Chickens made money by laying eggs, pigs could be fattened and sold for profit and cows and goats would be used for milk. By killing any of these animals for food they would loose a portion of money. Poaching (hunting on private land owned by the lord) would come with severe penalties.
Pottage and stew were a favourite of peasants as they could throw any vegetables or bit of meat or fish in a pot to cook for a few hours. It wasn't a difficult dish to make and often inexpensive.
Pies, pasties and pastries would be a favourite at inns and taverns in towns and cities most containing gravy, meat and vegetables.
With most villages and farms set close to forests, many peasants could find berries at the edge of fields. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries would have all grown wild.
Food for Nobility & Royalty
Nobility and Royalty could always afford better food than the poor. However it might be a patch more unhealthy than the poor's fare. Nobility and Royalty weren't fans of vegetables.
The rich would eat a lot of meat, much of which they would hunt down themselves on their own land. Deer, wild boar, rabbits, turkey and other wild creatures would all be on the table.
Nobility and Royalty would be fond of fish as well. Lamprey eels was a delicacy only preserved for special occasions.
They could afford salt which was important for preserving meat and fish. This would allow the castle/manor/palace to be stocked in times of winter or famine.
They could also afford pepper and other spices, all of which could cost a fortune, to flavour their food.
During a feast, they would eat off of platters made of precious metals but only if you were seated at the high table. Other less important guests would eat off a trencher, a piece of hollowed out stale bread.
Sugar would be the height of dessert. The sugar would be shaped into fantastical formations to impress the noble guests. Tudor chefs would create edible sugar plates for Henry VIII to eat off of.
Swans and peacocks would be served in their plumage. Swans would be more royal diners as in England the monarch owns all the swans. In Ireland, it is illegal to kill a swan mainly because they could be children trapped in swan-bodies. Long story.
Feasts
At certain events, the noble/monarch might throw a party. Most parties would begin with a dinner.
The high table would seat the family throwing the party and the honoured guests. All the food would come to them first to be distributed to their favourites. They would drink the best wine and have the finest bread.
The rest of the hall would be seated together at trestle tables, eating off trenchers. They would be sent food by the thrower of the feast on account of their personal importance or social standing. The closer you were to the salt cellar, placed at the head of the table the more important you were. The further away you were, the lower your status.
Servants called cupbearers would serve wine and drink and move about the hall to carry jugs of wine to water the guests.
Dogs would often be found in the hall, to be fed scraps by the diners.
Drink
No world or party is complete without the booze. Since much of the water in Mediaeval times was putrid or dirty, the classes would avoid it.
Beer: was both a favourite of peasants and the nobility. It would be brewed in castles or in taverns and inns, each site having a different recipe and taste. It would be stored in barrels. Beer was widely available across the world and could be brewed at home. So therefore it was inexpensive.
The two main types of beer would be:
Ale: Ale in the middle ages referred to beer brewed without hops (a kind of flowering plant that gives beer its bitter taste). It is sweeter and would typically have a fruity aftertaste.
Stout: is a darker beer sometimes brewed from roasted malt, coming in a sweet version and dry version, the most famous stout being Guinness.
Wine: Wine would be made on site of vineyards and stored in cellars of large houses or castles. They would be expensive as they would have to be imported from regions capable of growing vines.
Port: Port wine or fortified wine would be made with distilled grape spirits. It is a sweet red wine, and also would be expensive to import from the counties able to grow the correct vines.
Whiskey: is a spirit made from distilled fermented grain mash in a device called a still (which would always be made of copper). The age of whiskey is determined by the length of time it has been sitting in a cask from the time it is made to the time its put in bottles. Whiskey was a favourite drink in colder climates and could be made any where in the world.
Rum: Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses/juice. It is aged in oak barrels and would have to be imported as it could only be made in lands able to grow sugarcane.
Poitín: (pronounced as pot-cheen) is made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It is a Dangerous Drink (honestly i still don't know how I ended up in that field with a traffic cone and a Shetland pony) and technically illegal. Country folk in Ireland used to brew it in secrets in stills hidden on their land.
some dnd backstory ideas that give your character a reason to leave home that isn’t “everyone in my family died.” (just to say: i have nothing against those backstories (i use them a lot), but its fun to mix it up!)
family/friends/personal
someone close to you is sick. you need to adventure to find a cure
someone stole something important from you and you need to find it
you’ve received a message from a long lost relative and are trying to find them
someone that you love has been kidnapped (maybe you have to earn money to pay a ransom or complete some deed…)
adventuring runs in the family! everyone is expected to complete one quest in their lives
your family/culture sends people out to complete certain tasks when they reach a certain age as a rite of passage
another player’s character saved you in the past so you feel indebted to them and travel with them, protecting/aiding them
there’s a magical drought in your hometown and you have to fix it
your hometown doesn’t have a lot of jobs so you have to travel and send money back home
some childhood friends and you made a “scavenger hunt” where you try and complete a checklist of certain tasks (ie. defeat a barbarian in hand to hand combat, steal x amount of gold, slay a dragon, etc) in an allotted amount of time
quests/jobs
a god/patron has sent you on a quest to do something for them
you’ve been hired by someone to complete a task (and you get sucked into the big adventure along the way)
you’re on a quest for knowledge. maybe it’s to learn the best ways of fighting, maybe it’s something more academic related
your priest received a vision from your god and they sent you on a quest
you’re writing a book about the world and different cultures and you need first hand experience
you’ve found every map you’ve come across is shitty, so you decide to become a cartographer and make your own
you’re a detective who helps solve crimes and need to travel to solve a particular case
you’re a collector of a certain object and travel across the land to find it
you’re apart of an adventuring academy and have to complete a quest to graduate
you’re an artisan and you travel with your wares, trying to sell them. alternatively, you’re trying to spread word of your business and gain new business partners
you worked at a tavern your whole life where an old bard would sing songs of their adventuring party and that inspired you to go and do some adventuring of your own
feel free to add some of your own!
I'm afraid that I have the worldbuilder's disease and it is terminal.
thinking abt how fucked up steam engine boiler explosions can look. theyre just pipes under there
gives me the idea of a ghost/monster engine that looks normal, albeit a bit battered, only to swing their smokebox door open and a myriad of pipes come bursting out like fucked up tentacles
so apparently in 815 CE there was a common belief that sky pirates sailed ships in the clouds and (working in collaberation with frankish weather wizards) stole all the crops that got damaged in storms and took them back to the cloud realm of magonia.
And this was apparently a common enough belief that an archbishop felt the need to write a treatise to debunk it and insist that only god controls the weather, which is the only reason we know about it.
there are three important points to take from this, i think
This is great inspiration for your next dnd game
Tropes that might seem relatively modern (like airship pirates) can often actually go WAY back
The stuff your average medieval christian actually believed in will often have very little resemblance to christianity. And thats before you even get to the proper heretics. EDIT: people keep asking for the source and its now been added multiple times in different reblog chains. I should have put it in the original post but i am a fool: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/Agobard-OnHailandThunder.asp