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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Mar 25, 2015 22:54:36 GMT
Okay so definetly a work in progress because I'm working a lot on small details at the moment but here is my world as it is now. Tell me what you think. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions.
World- The name of my world is Audilos. Currently I only have one Continent(unnamed) planned out. Within this continent there are 4 nations each ruled by a different king.
The first nation (currently called Aaoli, but revision is highly welcome) is one of humans which is situated entirely in the deserts below the primary mountain range of my continent. From this mountain range a great river flows down through the desert to the sea. The capitol of Aaoli sits on this river and is called Osis. This is the primary location of the start of my campaign. Also, the national symbol is a raven. The monarchy in Aaoli is altered so that any son or daughter of the king must complete a series of tests set up by Pelor in order to be crowned king. In the meantime the kings primary advisor takes over until an heir is crowned.
The second nation is called Dravin and is also a human nation. Their symbol is a curled up dragon. This nation has a history of conflict with Aaoli and used to use dragons to burn cities ect. The ruler of Dravin is seen by the masses as a god of sorts and worshiped in temples around the kingdom. This nation appears to follow a classic monarchy. However, the nation has a dark secret, the royal family are actually a group of cultists who have been worshiping dragons for centuries. Therefore, the real king is a Dragon who is puppeting the fake king.
The third nation is that of the Dwarves(Having trouble with dwarf nation/city names). It sits within the mountains. Only the capitol is above ground and most of the other cities locations are closely gaurded secrets. The capitol exports goods onto the lake in the valley it sits in. These goods then go out of the lake into the mountains rivers and flows down to Aaoli. They have good trade relations with each other and are close allies. The king of the dwarves is selected by the election from the heads of the dwarf clans. The process is often slow and also held in secret. Their symbol is a large hammer.
The forth nation is that of the elves and is called Meeris. Meeris is ruled by a king who is selected by a council composed of high elves and wood elves. The king lives on an island in the middle of a great bay that separates the two capitols of Meeris. To the north lies Noltus and to the south Soltus. Each of the cities is managed by one of the kings advisors and are always a high elf and a wood elf never two of one.
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Post by dm_mainprize on Mar 28, 2015 14:15:04 GMT
This is a great start! One thing I have neglected up to this point is kingdoms and politics. But after reading this and having worked on my maps and how they change from the 1st age to the 4th, its time for me to make some nations and politics as well. I like that your dwarfs export goods via mountain rivers as that is what my dwarfs to as well!! If you have trouble with dwarven names for cities or locations try using this site Stone and Steel Dwarven Dictionary It is a large dictionary of dwarven words from Tolkien to Warhammer, you can easily pick some words from here to form your place names. There is a dwarven kingdom in a volcano in my world, its name is Haraz-Khaz which translates to Flaming Halls. I also love the kingdom that sends its royalty out to complete kingly tasks before they can take the thrown. In the actually play podcast CritJuice, 2 of their players are on similar types of quests. Arience Everstorm, is the crown prince of thunderblood and Dar'Jeeki is the prince/ soon to be king of the whole of the Fey Wild. So if you want to draw some inspiration or idea check out that podcast! cant wait to read more about your world as it unfolds. |
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Mar 29, 2015 23:30:43 GMT
Thanks for the link. I've come with some major names thanks to this.
My kingdom is now named Glorfaern which means stone home.
The city names I came up with are:
Gorm-Duraz-means wise or old stone(a city that has stood the test of time perhaps)
Varnurbar(Capitol)- means Lake Trade
I'm now in a creative mood thanks.
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Post by joatmoniac on Mar 30, 2015 4:24:37 GMT
Awesome that it sparked the creative juices for you and helped with the names. That freaking link is going to motivate be to try and learn some Dwarven phrases, haha.
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Mar 30, 2015 4:53:30 GMT
It's funny that something like this didn't occur to me due to my naming process so far. Osis is a desert oasis essentially. Also Meeris is a nation of elves who have a strong connection with water and the sea. (Note I can speak English and German) Meer is the german word for sea. This reminds me of the time and space episode where they are talking about month names not needing to be real words etc.
Edit: Funnily enough after writing this I noticed a post in DM Resources about using other languages for naming.
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Audilos
Mar 31, 2015 22:17:30 GMT
via mobile
Post by insightfulhedgehog on Mar 31, 2015 22:17:30 GMT
This is a great start! One thing I have neglected up to this point is kingdoms and politics. But after reading this and having worked on my maps and how they change from the 1st age to the 4th, its time for me to make some nations and politics as well. I like that your dwarfs export goods via mountain rivers as that is what my dwarfs to as well!! ...... I also love the kingdom that sends its royalty out to complete kingly tasks before they can take the thrown.. For me kingdoms and politics are extremly easy to come up with first whereas I am still struggeling with maps(I am to impatient to use photoshop and I can not draw to save my life[your map makes my drawing look like I failed kingergarten finger painting{I especially like your use of depth with the cliffs in the northern area/ any tips on how to draw an island of trees floating above a crater in the middle of a forest?}]) Ill try to remember to post my drawings when I get home. Any ways I guarantee you will have fun with kingdoms and politics, they are so much fun. Additionally, I'm glad you also have dwarves expoting via rivers it just makes sense. Using carts to move metals and tools would be slow and impractical. Also, I'm glad you liked Aaoli's monarchy style. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and ended up creating it after watching an anime called Magi. In the show they have people called king canidates who complete temples to get djinn artifacts and gold. They each are usually aided by a magi, a magician who has the ability to draw their magic from the large pool of, we will say mana, which is made of all the spirits of people who have passed on. You should check out my post called "Four Kings" in campaign ideas. There I go into some more detail about my world in the current age and this nations monarchy system. I'd love to have you input on it. |
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Audilos
Apr 1, 2015 3:01:37 GMT
via mobile
Post by dm_mainprize on Apr 1, 2015 3:01:37 GMT
My maps aren't that amazing! I just drew the shape then made it squiggly. The I used google to find map icons I liked a practiced drawing them. Post your maps. The only way to improve is to keep at it and gain feedback from us!
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 1, 2015 3:11:06 GMT
  The left is my crappy photoshopped version of Audilos and the right is my drawing so far of the capitol of Aaoli, Osis. I think it turned out better then my continent photoshop so I'll probably try drawing it(Previously I just did a rough mock up of it before using photoshop). Note I said photoshop... even though it could just as easily been made in paint. |
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 1, 2015 3:16:47 GMT
Oops, I forgot to give any description of the map. The Yellow dots are major Aaoli Cities, The green are major Meeris cities(the two right by each other are Soltus and Noltus), the Red are from Draven, and the Blue are from Glorfaern. The Brown patch below the mountains is the desert, the blue in the north is the artc area, and the trees are the misformed green blob. After looking at this picture I have realized it was not my final version so I'll look for that now...
Edit: Searched my computer and couldn't find it. Then I tried using "open recent" in photoshop but when I clicked that file it wouldn't open. So I either forgot to save it properly or I deleted the file...
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Post by joatmoniac on Apr 1, 2015 19:33:23 GMT
I would move over to graph paper for all hand drawn maps initially because they are a great way to help keep things cohesive, and give a consistent size to follow. The Photoshop map looks solid. I would look for online resources for building maps instead of Photoshop for the exact reason you brought up. There are WAY too many options in there, and without specific training on making maps it would be difficult and time intensive to learn. I found one that does everything in browser that could help out. pyromancers.com/ seems pretty nice, but there are definitely more. Hope that helps. |
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 1, 2015 20:56:34 GMT
I've actually used pyromancer's before for dungeon maps when I did a roll20 campaign for pathfinder. I didn't use graph paper because at the time when I drew this I was in a car on a road trip and only had notebook paper. I've recently aquired some pretty nice graph paper so I'll soon be giving it another go. I tried using some other mapping programs like campaign cartographer, but I found them all to either be to complicated, or not complicated enough. I'm in a beta for a mapping/character creation program atm that I have yet to try out. I'll report back when I get around to it.
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 1, 2015 22:32:49 GMT
So, apparently I am an idiot for not using my Beta access sooner. I mean really, it took me almost no time at all to make a map and even though I'm not done it looks more polished then anything I've spent a lot of time on previously.  |
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 1, 2015 22:34:38 GMT
Also, I made this using InKarnate's map maker. Here's the link if anyone is interested in signing up for the Beta, they are still adding features and it is free so why not sign-up.
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Post by joatmoniac on Apr 2, 2015 7:36:29 GMT
Haha, funny you used that one. I knew immediately which it was because I have been using it since it was in alpha as I know one of the developers of the project. It is really nice and I hope they continue working on the project, and hopefully get more substantial funding at some point.
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Post by insightfulhedgehog on Apr 2, 2015 8:30:34 GMT
I actually signed up thanks to it being in the "Virtual Tabletop/Digital Resources" section of The "Master List of DM Resources". I think it's mapping tool for worlds is really well done and easy to use for people who don't have the patience for complicated programs, the money to buy easier programs, or for people who are not good at drawing or art. It really breaks everything down into it's simplest format, I mean the fact that you just have to press plus to draw, and minus to erase is genius. I'm not a huge fan of the dungeon drawer, it doesn't seem like enough space and also lacks the ability to add walls in or to use different textures. I'm sure they will fix these things soon though. Also, I'm excited to see the character creator, and play around with it. Even though I primarily play 5e now, I definitely have an appreciation for the concept and hope it brings them success.
Actually, I just made a post in the Master List about how I think it deserves to be also placed in maps and miniatures. Or, at the very least moved. I mean, as it stands now the character creator doesn't seem to be in out of house beta yet. Which means it makes more sense to place it in the Map section, due to mapping currently being it's primary aspect. Perhaps this is unnecessary, however, I wanted them to get the recognition they deserved for their map maker. Again, I am blown away by the UI for the world map tool and am looking forward to seeing them do well.
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