Katsura's Worldbuilding Corner.

[Kat]

Basically, I had this idea going on for more than a year, and decided to start working on it. Developing my own fantasy setting from scratch, and then possibly adapting some system to run it. So I will put my ideas here for feedback, hints and questions.

Rules:

1) Behave reasonably
2) If one doesn't behave reasonably, I might decide to advise the offending party to stay await from my corner.

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The basic concept is that this fantasy verse is set on terrestrial planet bit larger than Earth, enough to maintain a moon with its own atmosphere and magnetic field. There is a source of magical in this world which correlates with the magnetic field of the planet, drawn from the planet itself. Nature spirits can access it directly, but intelligent species of the planet had to harness it indirectly, for example through technology. The second source of magic comes from spiritual beings (separate from nature spirits), some of them powerful enough to be called gods, gained through supplication and sacrifice devoted to given spiritual entity. Basically a deity may lend a bit of its power to followers in return for sacrifice, usually blood sacrifice.

It's getting late, so that's all for today, folks.

[Puck-Chan]

So is this going to be more of a medieval time period kind of setting?

[Kat]

Neither medieval nor modern. It's pre-Industrial Revolution, yes, but its real life inspiration is 17th and early 18th century. Muskets, cannons, with a dash of Da Vinci esque inventions and magitek. Golems and other alchemical constructs.

[Umbra of Chaos]

So the spiritual beings can only become powerful through belief and devotion?

[Kat]

So the spiritual beings can only become powerful through belief and devotion?

Majority of deities are either powerful nature spirits which ascended into another plane of existence through worship or ancestor spirits who became deities in similar way. An exceptional individual can become a deity through some unique method or ritual (in fact, the man who first practised blood magic became a deity on his own), but his/her/its power will wane without a source of belief or sacrifices, so deities are keen on maintaining fame or they will be degrade back into anonymous spirits.

[Umbra of Chaos]

So if a person can convince enough people that he is a god would he become one?

Are there limits to the nature spirits? I don't see a point in why they would try to gain more power if they can directly access the planet's mana.

[Kat]

So if a person can convince enough people that he is a god would he become one?

After death, that is. A deified ruler would go on becoming a deity after death if people honestly believed in his godhood.

Are there limits to the nature spirits? I don't see a point in why they would try to gain more power if they can directly access the planet's mana.

They are tied to the planet and in tangible form, thus they are vulnerable to being killed for good by mortals and other nature spirits. Becomind a proper deity is a way to escape physical death from hands of people who would want to see the particular spirit deader than dead.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Can the gods use a person as an avatar so they could partially manifest in the real world?

[Kat]

Yes, some gods are even particularly fond of that method, mostly gods who used to be humans as their are familiar with the mortal flesh and how it works. The other god I have already invented is a warrior god who often 'hijacks' worthy to make battle when his cult is in dire need.

[Gray]

Always nice to create a world. Are the higher level spirits capable of generating their own energy or do they just have a stockpile of energy from the sacrifices? How do the sacrifices contribute magic to the "gods" are there souls that are magically converted? Does the act of sacrifice generate it conceptually? or do they have to sacrifice nature spirits as they already contain and harness mana?
Do humans normally have mana and are unable to use it or do they just completely lack it?
Do to the ability of beings to ascend with enough power I assume that beings don't exactly have maximum capacities in how much energy they can store so is their general ranking based upon how much they can gather at a time?
Is the planet's total power amount limited? Does it naturally generate it?
What affects are expresed by a creature that can naturally channel the energy? Is it integral to their biology? Can they learn various spells or are they limited to a small set of abilities native to their species?

How would this magitech operate would it operate like normal technology except using magic as an alternative fuel source? Are devices typically of one functionality? Have they been able to harness magic for manufacturing?

What are the limits of this magical energy and how would it be manipulated? Would it actuallize thoughts, would it work off of formulas, are there different types of magical energy?

[Puck-Chan]

I must ask the most important question of all: Does fucking give magical power?

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Neither medieval nor modern. It's pre-Industrial Revolution, yes, but its real life inspiration is 17th and early 18th century. Muskets, cannons, with a dash of Da Vinci esque inventions and magitek. Golems and other alchemical constructs.

So wait, it's our world?

Are there going to be Frisian/German/Swedish Air Pirates?

[lantzblades]

Hmm, this strikes me as star gate meets princess Monoke. Not a bad thing imo.

[Kat]

So wait, it's our world?

Are there going to be Frisian/German/Swedish Air Pirates?

Loosely inspired by real world cultures (I won't create new ones from scratch, I might be linguist, but I'm not Tolkien tier)

There will be.

Hmm, this strikes me as star gate meets princess Monoke. Not a bad thing imo.

Those two have nothing to do with my verse.

Are the higher level spirits capable of generating their own energy or do they just have a stockpile of energy from the sacrifices?

Belief of followers combined with sacrifices generate mana for the use of deities. Those nature spirits which are not deities generate their own mana by draining it from the residual mana of the planet. Ancestor spirits that are not deities have no powers whatsoever.

How do the sacrifices contribute magic to the "gods" are there souls that are magically converted?

It uses up souls of sacrifices to power up the gods. It can be any living being sacrificed, but the more complex being the more energy the sacrifice generates

Does the act of sacrifice generate it conceptually?

Not really, all that counts are souls sacrificed in the process, the rituals only transfer them to a deity of choice.

or do they have to sacrifice nature spirits as they already contain and harness mana?

Not obligatory, but some nature spirits generate more energy when sacrificed than let's say, a human. Sacrificing a dragon for example is equivalent to sacrificing a city full of humans.

Do humans normally have mana and are unable to use it or do they just completely lack it?

Human bodies are devoid of mana, thus they have to resort to indirect sources such as harnessing planetary magic through technology or the art of blood magic.

Do to the ability of beings to ascend with enough power I assume that beings don't exactly have maximum capacities in how much energy they can store so is their general ranking based upon how much they can gather at a time?

There is no upper limit on how much they can store. The more energy they gather, the more powerful they become.

Is the planet's total power amount limited? Does it naturally generate it?

The planet constantly generates mana, and its output wanes and waxes moderately throughout time.

What affects are expresed by a creature that can naturally channel the energy? Is it integral to their biology? Can they learn various spells or are they limited to a small set of abilities native to their species?

It is more a matter of their souls than bodies, as they are nature spirits. They generally have a set of abilities peculiar to the type of nature spirit, though those which are closer to humans in mindset and nature can be more flexible than others.

How would this magitech operate would it operate like normal technology except using magic as an alternative fuel source? Are devices typically of one functionality? Have they been able to harness magic for manufacturing?

Alternative fuel source. Devices which need magic as fuel are plugged to local 'plants' that drain local mana, think of it as something similar to electricity. And there are proto-factories, though nothing on Industrial Revolution scale yet.

What are the limits of this magical energy and how would it be manipulated? Would it actuallize thoughts, would it work off of formulas, are there different types of magical energy?

What are the limits of this magical energy and how would it be manipulated? Would it actuallize thoughts, would it work off of formulas, are there different types of magical energy?

For technological type of magic, it's merely fuel source. The blood magic produces effects that are connected to the domain of given deity, and work through specialized rituals.

[Gray]

Since magic is just a fuel source and you are limiting yourself to a preindustrial revolution technology level what would teh difference to humanities ability in the place if they were to not have magic fuel and used some other fuel?

Would they have similar tech levels yet operate on a slightly larger scale due to greater ease of fuel access?

How do deities get domains? Do they ever overlap?