What kind of a Fantasy world would you prefer to live in?

[Nomaken]

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.? What time period would it be?
2.? What would the level of technology be at?
3.? What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)
4.? What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)
5.? What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)
6.? What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)
7.? What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)
8.? How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)
9.? Anything important I forgot?


10 - I just thought of something else.  Any prominant or secret but important legends or prophesies?  Thx to pyraxis for reminding me. (Like the light warriors, or the legend of zelda, the philosophers stone, or the aligning of the planets fortelling the arival of the anti-l337, ect)

[RobertN]

I'll have to think about that one. I like fantasy stories - I've got a LOTR obsession at the moment.

Probably medievel/pre-industrial era, with magic playing a very important role. However, I might have some "modern" themes like corporate conspiracies and the good guys will be socialists.

[Leto729]

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.? What time period would it be?
2.? What would the level of technology be at?
3.? What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)
4.? What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)
5.? What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)
6.? What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)
7.? What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)
8.? How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)
9.? Anything important I forgot?

1. The future
2. Starships technology like on Star Trek or like Babylon5
3. Empires
4. Any types
5. All types
6. All types from war and peace to even espionage
7. Any and all types of forces
8. serious not doubt
9. that is all I can think of too.

[Pyraxis]

Wow, so many levels I could answer this on. I'm going to assume you're thinking in terms of building a game world, but if not, say so, and I'll get more philosophical.

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.  What time period would it be?
2.  What would the level of technology be at?

Steampunk-ish. Enough science that one can expect the universe to react in a seemingly-logical way, and with technology developing along a similar path to earth, but with magic integrated into it instead of being tacked on top. Because it doesn't make sense that a society would exist for eons upon eons without advancing technology, just because there happened to be magic in the universe. Instead people would find ways of putting magic to everyday use, like in Diana Wynne Jones' books.

3.  What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)

Scattered factions, like city-states or fiefdoms, with thriving movement and trade between them.

4.  What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)

Exotic and alien, but not necessarily magical. Creatures that fit their environment, creatures that have a food chain (preferably a bizarre one) of their own. Creatures that are not just derivatives of things that exist on earth.

5.  What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)

The stranger the better, and preferably with different neurology than earth humans. Like a totally alien intelligence, instead of a human mind transplanted into a slightly-nonhuman body.

6.  What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)

Epic philosophical wars (think Sigil and the planes) with much espionage, plots upon plots, and backstabbing. Preferably with the gods keeping their distance, so that mere mortals can stand a chance at changing the course of history instead of just being pawns.

7.  What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)

Lots of mind-powers is good. Some degree of unpredictable magic. Please by all that's good and holy though, no Neo-clone.

8.  How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)

I like my otherworlds dark, but that's just me. It's gotta be worth fighting for, and it's gotta look near-hopeless.

[Nomaken]

While I am using this to build a game world ^_^... get as philosophical as you want.? It could only be beneficial.

About the animals that aren't just derivatives of things on earth:  I've thought about creatures a lot and i've seen many fantasy creatures that were bizzare but I haven't seen any fantasy creatures that weren't similiar in some respect to something we've got here, even if it is a bizzare juxtaposition of an rare animal that exists in a very specific place, and under very specific conditions and an environment toally unsuited to it.  Like an ameoba like thing that is giant, and flying. Or "Phone fish", energy fish creatures that live in telephone lines.

How do you create creatures that aren't derived from something we already know about?

[duncvis]

Wow, so many levels I could answer this on. I'm going to assume you're thinking in terms of building a game world, but if not, say so, and I'll get more philosophical.

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.  What time period would it be?
2.  What would the level of technology be at?

Steampunk-ish. Enough science that one can expect the universe to react in a seemingly-logical way, and with technology developing along a similar path to earth, but with magic integrated into it instead of being tacked on top. Because it doesn't make sense that a society would exist for eons upon eons without advancing technology, just because there happened to be magic in the universe. Instead people would find ways of putting magic to everyday use, like in Diana Wynne Jones' books.

3.  What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)

Scattered factions, like city-states or fiefdoms, with thriving movement and trade between them.

4.  What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)

Exotic and alien, but not necessarily magical. Creatures that fit their environment, creatures that have a food chain (preferably a bizarre one) of their own. Creatures that are not just derivatives of things that exist on earth.

5.  What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)

The stranger the better, and preferably with different neurology than earth humans. Like a totally alien intelligence, instead of a human mind transplanted into a slightly-nonhuman body.

6.  What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)

Epic philosophical wars (think Sigil and the planes) with much espionage, plots upon plots, and backstabbing. Preferably with the gods keeping their distance, so that mere mortals can stand a chance at changing the course of history instead of just being pawns.

7.  What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)

Lots of mind-powers is good. Some degree of unpredictable magic. Please by all that's good and holy though, no Neo-clone.

8.  How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)

I like my otherworlds dark, but that's just me. It's gotta be worth fighting for, and it's gotta look near-hopeless.

yours sounds pretty cool actually... ever read any of Michael Moorcock's books? If not you probably should.

[Pyraxis]

yours sounds pretty cool actually... ever read any of Michael Moorcock's books? If not you probably should.

Now I know what I'm doing with my next trip to the library. Because that's just what I need, one more thing to distract me from all the things that need doing. 

[Pyraxis]

How do you create creatures that aren't derived from something we already know about?

Good fucking question. I'm actually not sure.

Maybe just by making the derivation obscure... I've seen enough saurians and bug-things and feline-things and robot-things to make myself thoroughly sick, but your phone fish actually sounds quite cool.

Maybe by going through a lot of thought-iterations before ending up at the final creature, like clicking 10 times in one of those image--mutation programs instead of just clicking once, or applying a genetic algorithm to your original data a whole string of times.

Maybe by starting with an environment and going through a logical progression, like what energy sources exist in this environment, what kind of creature could exploit them, how would this creature's mind work in order to maximize its energy gathering, how would it interact with other creatures, what would its natural enemies be?

Maybe by going to the original sources for mythology, instead of the well-known pop culture versions, and seeing if you can grok the thought patterns that would revere such stories as a guide to life. (I find Aztec/Mayan myths a great starting point for that, since there is so little understanding in academia of their artwork and symbol structures...) Just as an exercise in thinking in alien ways.

[El]

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.? The same time period but an alternate dimention.  I'm assuming I got transported there somehow.
2.? The technology would be slightly but not unrecognizably far ahead of ours.
3.? Think "Brave New World."  Not as controlled, but pretty similar.  Magic might or might not exist but ti woudln't be used to solve everything.  Its existance would open up the possibility for more diveristy and more religions (people woudln't worship Henry Ford).
4.? I think meat and animal products would be scarce just because they cna be so inefficent to raise for food and because of disease.  Animals would still exist, and although none could talk, selective breeding/application of behaviorism might have made some extarordarily intelligent or useful (for example, the ability to train cats like dogs can be trained).
5.  Derived from normal, but, assuming that humans can be engineered seletively, some people might have near-superhuman powers.  Others might have been engineered differently than ordinary humans; I guess human expirementation is done.
6.? I wouldn't be involved in anything with big implications- at first.  I might spend my first time there just trying like hell to get back, then find out once back on earth that, by helping me, my guide/helper(s) fucked themsleves over badly and try to get a group together to go back and fix things.
7.? Magic would possibly be access through "ordinary" means (ex. sensory deprivation being used for astral projection- I think Dean Koontz was the one that did that bit), and there would be no more definitive "answers" there than here.
8.? Not very.  Or at least, only as serious as the people in it took it.
9.  null
10 - POssibly some legends which could or could not fortell doom the same way that our legends now do- very vaguely, and not nessessarily accepted by many people.  For example there could be a prophecy about (referencing above) "When a assassins turned to masters, turned to slaves, tread the earth, X,y, and z happens"" could refer to anything but some nut job might think "OMG!  This is cats!  They used to be kept to kill mice, then people waited on them, now they can be trained to do x,y, and z!"  Stuff like that (and I'm not assuming any of it is true but some cults might be dangerous as they try to prevent ridiculous prophecies.)

[Tom/Mutate]

I'd like to live in a seedy dystopian urban future as in Judge Dredd or Blade Runner.  I would also like to have some kind of violent power of authority in this world, like a brutal facist cop or something.

1.  What time period would it be? 

 about 50 years from now, I guess?

2.  What would the level of technology be at?

I imagine some kind of flying cars or something.  I think lots more things would be done on computers.  I also imagine space travel would be a norm for vacations.

3.  What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)

The country would be ruled by a facist police state, of which I would be doing some work "on the beat".  Wandering round the streets, roughing up the perps.  There would be many diverse and crazy religions, which I would have to keep in line.  The state are desperate for me to take some government position of power, because they need me in charge, but I turn the job down because I enjoy busting heads too much.


4.  What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)

I think that crimianals would have violent dogs, like they do now.  Although genetic modification would allow them to breed them more dangerous, like super-rotweillers and cats that can be trained to infect people with diseases.

5.  What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)

Just humans, I guess, although aliens could be possible.

6.  What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)

Most countires in the world would be colonised by mine, which I imagine as being Europe and the USA linked together by loads of bridges over the atlantic or something.  Some namby pampys would think my facist rule was wrong and comprimised their human rights, in which case I would be there to bust heads should they attempt any kind of public protest.  Eventually these people would form an underground terrorist group, which it would be my job to smash.

7 What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)

I think that the occult could exist, and I would have to keep people in line from bringing up powers that they can't control.

8.  How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)

The grittiness of Spawn's world with the dark humour of Scooby's

9.  Anything important I forgot?

just that it's very seedy and I would probably spend most of my time around strip clubs, red light area etc, keeping them uder control, scraping people's faces against the wall, hitting them with my nightstick etc.

[hiro]

If you were going to live an adventure in a fantasy realm.

1.? What time period would it be?
2.? What would the level of technology be at?
3.? What kinds of societies would exist?(or empires or cults, ect)
4.? What kinds of beasts would live in the world?(normal or magical or combination or other)
5.? What kinds of races would exist?(Humans, illithids, mudmen, ect)
6.? What kinds of events would be going on at large?(national wars, peace but espionage, gods battling using mortals as pawns, ect)
7.? What kinds of otherwordly forces would exist if any?(Fate, "The Force", magic, psychics, ect)
8.? How serious would the world be?(Are we talking Scooby Doo bad guys or Mcfarlane's Spawn here?)
9.? Anything important I forgot?


10 - I just thought of something else.? Any prominant or secret but important legends or prophesies?? Thx to pyraxis for reminding me. (Like the light warriors, or the legend of zelda, the philosophers stone, or the aligning of the planets fortelling the arival of the anti-l337, ect)

TODAY