StarCitadel’s Worldbuilding Thread

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It’s been… a while. I’ve been working on a lot of things, such as further optimizing the power system (we’re back to the techniques thing again because it’s just more interesting and fun to write), coming up with characters and character dynamics, and perhaps the most enjoyable part, making languages.

I found this font family called DejaVu that supports basically every letter that has ever been invented or used in modern times and then some

In other words, it’s perfect for creating letter charts, which means that writing system is FINALLY coming together

Furthermore, my sister drew one of my characters using a fireball technique. I’ll probably post it later here, but I want to have some less serious art of him made beforehand so that I’m not giving off the impression that he’s just john edgy oc #(math.huge²)

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forgot to mention that magical creatures do still exist

among them, groundhogs

magical creatures cannot share the same genus with their mundane counterparts and groundhogs are no exception

instead of being in genus Marmota they’re in the genus Marmonita which is my favorite pun in the entire series so far

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their only magical property is that their shadow disappears when a seasonal weather change is imminent

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bro forgot the most important development

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gatekeeping
he shall be revealed later

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its canon (irl, not in our worldbuild)

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can you show me in dms I’m intrigued

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Please join up we are very lonely

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No I cant expose myself to the risk of getting infected with the bioweapon we left loose inside

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Hello, sorry to disappoint with yet another rant after posting almost nothing of substance in this entire topic in its history

As you guys may be aware of, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my worldbuilds. Originally I made this topic to try and resolve those troubles, but it never really happened. I’ll try to explain my thought process a little here

There is a reason my username is StarCitadel; I’ve loved the sci-fi genre since I was a tween and I love fantasizing about a band of voyagers wandering space just because they can do it

That said, as I’ve grown older, I’ve also noticed myself enjoying writing slice-of-life scenes[1], especially at night when I’m alone in my bedroom. And, at least for me, it’s a lot easier to do that when the characters can interact with things that I’m familiar with, i.e., closer to real life. I frankly find a scene with two or more characters spending time together more appealing if it’s set in a little town in the country (the sort of place where I spend a sizable portion of my life) rather than the black void of space. A rainy city with contemporary technology will always just be more appealing to me than a high-tech metropolis; it’s just how my personality has changed even after only two or three years

Ultimately, I already know that this dilemma and my subsequent baby rages over it are just the result of bad writing. It really doesn’t matter what type of world I make; a good writer can make either work. The reason this thread (and even more so my Discord server) has been more neglected than the nine button on a microwave is because I recognize that a lot of the things I make are just not interesting as I proofread the notes and docs. I’ve been doing this for six years, but it’s been six years of mostly shit. The amount of time I’ve spent making projects that weren’t elaborate horny posts containing borderline pornographic text is not as long as I’d like to say it is[2]

I do know roughly what I want to make[3], I have an entire magic system planned out that I will be posting today[4]. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how the plot’s supposed to work and what the world looks like. I’m also not opposed to questions or suggestions[5], hit me up wherever is most convenient if you’ve got something, I’d love to hear it

Sorry if this whole post isn’t very coherent. I’m operating on maybe 35% of my brain’s processing power at the moment. I’m sure I’ll make like 50 edits in the morning but whatever[6]

  1. I guess the official writing term for this is downtime, but it’s, more or less, just scenes where the characters are chilling compared to their usual action-packed adventures ↩︎

  2. I still do want to include some relatively spicy scenes in there, but nothing as explicit as the shit I was writing back in the day lmao ↩︎

  3. something closer in technological progression to real life for now ↩︎

  4. it’s 3 AM and I’m tired but I wanna finish this post so I don’t have a draft to deal with when I wake at noon most likely ↩︎

  5. even as far as the fundamental lore elements ↩︎

  6. also really sick of using the discourse post editor on a tiny iPhone SE ↩︎

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where update question

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Update here, statement. :-1:

I’m not going to pretend that I have much to work with for the amount of time I’ve been absent. Everyone reading this can feel free to immediately disregard almost every post I made here prior to this one.

Just because some people might be notified and thoroughly disappointed if I post some more bullshit about my struggles, here’s how the magic system will work (I promise[1] that this is it)

MAGES[2]

A mage is a person with the ability to use magic. Shocking, I know. As a species, they are supernatural shapeshifters[3] who can manipulate the natural world with their power.

Power

Magic, as I will be calling it, is derived from a force[4] that keeps the universe from disintegrating into a black void of cold gas and nothingness. This force is the dark matter that holds galaxies together, and is present in all matter at differing concentrations.[5] The mage’s body is capable of essentially stealing magical charge from the matter that enters his body and expelling it in a constructive (or destructive) manner. Mages generally source their power from the air by inhaling it.[6]

Magical power when expelled by mages can take on many appearances depending on what it’s doing, what conduit was used to cast it, and its concentration. Generally, at low concentrations, it will appear as a sort of glowy vapor. At moderate concentrations it will appear similar to flames, while at high concentrations it can take on the form of colorful flashes or bolts of light(ning). Sometimes you’ll get a nice mix. The color of a person’s magic is unique to the individual. It is not based on personality but is genetic. It is generally either a mix of the two parents’ colors or a slight variation of the parent whose biological sex matches the mage.

CONDUIT

Most mages, to perform even the most basic expressions of their power, require what’s known as a conduit. Conduits are generally crystals encased in pure metals enchanted to maximize their conductive properties. Through their use, mages are able to express their power more articulately, but, as a consequence, have much more difficulty using their power without it.

Once touched by a mage, the conduit binds to him forever. If taken by an adversary, the conduit will, in the best case for the thief, simply reject their power. Some conduits are known to act on their own when stolen and use the thief’s power against them, either forcefully removing itself from the thief’s possession or by simply killing them outright. A mage with a strong mutual trust in another will be able to use their conduits and vice versa. Mages can actively sense the location of their conduit if they are separated from it.

Shells

The metal casing of a conduit is known as a shell. Any relatively pure element should work, but metals are preferred. The metal chosen has no effect on its efficacy, but metals such as gold, silver or chromium are seen as more prestigious. Non-metallic substances such as wood, bone or even plastic can be used to decorate a shell and will be accepted as part of the conduit. All that a conduit needs in a shell to function is that the shell touches both the core and the mage’s body.[7]

The shape of the shell determines what broad category of magic the conduit excels in. Crowns and diadems excel in combative magic, wands and staffs are ideal for finely articulated and powerful magic, bracelets perform well in motion-related magic (moving things around), and so on. Some weirder shapes exist, such lanterns, which keep an eternal flame of the owner’s color inside and are ideal for forming magic structures as well as producing light using magic.

A list of all shell shapes and functions will be provided at a later date.

Cores

This is where the magic happens. The mineral heart of a conduit is known as a core. Any mineral can be used as a core; I could take a random rock from a creek and it would function as a core if enchanted properly, but the result wouldn’t be a very good conduit. Conduit-grade cores all have unique properties that not only produce more powerful expressions but also boost the efficacy of a specific realm of magic. While a pendant-shaped conduit will excel in magic that involves manipulating ye olde anime elements of any kind, loading that pendant with opal makes it particularly good at controlling water. Some notable cores are ruby and sapphire, your good ol’ fire-and-ice duo; emerald, which increases the user’s ability to mitigate harmful magical effects[8]; diamond, which increases the user’s physical strength; orpiment, which makes the user’s magic more volatile and “overzealous,” as described as one user; amber, which makes the user’s magic slower to use but more potent; and petrified wood, which gives the conduit a powerful green thumb.

If you want to know the specialties of a specific shape or core, I can probably tell you.

  1. don’t trust me ↩︎

  2. This is a placeholder term. I will pick a new name because an mage’s power isn’t called magic in-universe. The word “magic” is used to refer to sleight-of-hand performed by a non-mage (or a real mage who just isn’t using his power) to make it seem like they’re using supernatural abilities. In reality, this is really hard to fake, because real power emits vibrant light upon being used for even the simplest of tasks. Only the uneducated would be fooled by a so-called “mage” ↩︎

  3. While shapeshifting (as well as spitting acid) is a power that every mage innately possesses, it is largely vestigial today with little functionality. Ancient mages used to be able to turn into beasts and horrifying monstrosities, but today, most mages can, in the absence of their conduit, only reshape the dead parts of their body such as their hair, their nails and, to a lesser extent, their skin. Some have greater control over their shapeshifting powers than others, and a few can still take on between one and three animal shapes, but these are figurative unicorns. Releasing acid is different. It is hampered by a mage’s reliance on their conduit, but in its absence, most can manage a fine amount of the noxious fluid, although the process of releasing it is rather uncomfortable. ↩︎

  4. In universe, they have no idea where magic comes from. If they did, they would know the origin of the universe itself ↩︎

  5. The concentration is referred to as a magical charge. As with other things termed magic, this will have a new name. Almost everything aside from stuff exhaled… or excreted from mages has a magical charge to some degree. Relatively uniform media such as the atmosphere or water can even this charge out, kinda like how heat transfer works ↩︎

  6. Mages cannot breathe underwater, but mature mages do not need oxygen to survive. They can live off of the magic dissolved in the water, taking it in not through inhalation but through diffusion through the skin. ↩︎

  7. The metal doesn’t have to be in contact with the body, but it does have to get very close. This is how some mages can wear a tie clasp as a conduit ↩︎

  8. other varieties of beryl can also do this well, but emerald is just the best at it ↩︎

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Can a mage have multiple conduits?

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They can and some do, but each conduit occupies a portion of the user’s energy in order to function.

Having too many on one’s person can be a strain on their stamina due to their power being so spread out, especially if one of them is cored with orpiment or some other high-demand core.

Conduits are also super expensive due to the material and especially labor required to make them. Most can only ever hope to afford one of middling quality.

Having a beautiful conduit made of a precious metal and set with a visible, faceted, high quality core is a sign of prestige among mages, but most have a small iron band or ring with a little gem inside.

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Is this starscape larp?

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How the hell did I never see this? This made me remember the fact that I need to update my worldbuilding thread- (also where is the map)

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Used to be

Starscape was what got me into science fiction as a genre

Naturally my first worldbuilds imitated that and the stuff you see here was my attempt at reviving it

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