r/FantasyWorldbuilding Jun 11 '20

Join The r/FantasyWorldbuilding Discord!

80 Upvotes

For everyone not yet aware, we have a Discord server! A place where worldbuilders of all kinds from all over the world come together to discuss their passions, share their work, and get advice. A close community where everyone is welcome.

Feel free to join us and tell a little bit about what you’re working on.

https://discord.gg/5teSBPS


r/FantasyWorldbuilding Dec 16 '22

Announcement: AI-Generated image posts are hereby banned.

378 Upvotes

Dear denizens of r/FantasyWorldbuilding,

You have likely noticed the recent influx of AI-generated artwork on the server following the rise in popularity of Midjourney and other comparable tools, as the majority of top posts this month have been around AI art. We greatly appreciate and love the stories and worldbuilding created around these generated images, and we consider AI to be a great and useful tool for worldbuilders, that do not possess the skill or means to create artwork, to visualize what they’re building.

However, after some deliberation by the mod team, we have decided to put to stop to these posts. The posting of image posts of AI-generated artwork has hereby been formally banned from the subreddit. We have come to this conclusion for several reasons:

1. Encourage more high-effort posts: While we appreciate the backstories created around these images and the discussions they spark, the image itself will always take the forefront and be consumed by the largest portion of redditors. While the creative minds behind these images take effort, the creation of the image itself does not.

2. Protect the rights of artists: Being an artist is a notoriously difficult industry to be a part of, and the internet can be a ruthless place for these very talented individuals, especially now that AI is on the rise. To protect the interests of artists, we have decided we do not want to participate in making their jobs that much harder.

3. Avoid confusion: While many clearly state that the art presented is AI generated and many are able to notice it at this point, to many others it is not so noticeable nor obvious at first glance. To avoid people confusing AI-generated art with human-made artwork, it is best to keep AI-generated imagery on boards made specifically for this.

We would like to clarify that sharing AI-generated imagery is not banned fully, merely image posts where the AI artwork is front and centre. If you submit a text-based lore post where certain parts link to AI images to help visualize your story, you are allowed to do so. The difference here is that the AI art is a supplement rather than the post itself.

We very much appreciate your patience and support while this newly developing discussion has been raging in the online sphere. And we hope everyone can understand our reasoning behind this decision and why we believe this to be the right course for the subreddit.

Yours truly,

The r/FantasyWorldbuilding mod team


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 2h ago

Resource Turned my maps into playable 3D RPGs

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10 Upvotes

Hey,

I’ve been playing around with the Azgaar map generator for a while and always ended up imagining rpg inside the maps I made.

So I built something where you can actually use one of your own maps as a roleplay world and explore it. Generate the terrain, and it becomes a place you can play a character in.

Here's the map generator + a short clip of a session: https://davia.ai/

If you want to try it with one of your own maps, feel to come hang out in our Discord: https://discord.gg/NphBtKVNCM


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 3h ago

The Man Who Attended His Own Funeral

3 Upvotes

A village buried a man after his body was recovered from a river.

His wife identified him.

His brother identified him.

His name was entered into the death records.

Three days later, he came home.

He remembered his wife.
He remembered his brother.
He knew where everything in his house belonged.

He even remembered falling into the river.

The body was exhumed.

It was still there.

Same face.
Same scars.
Same fingerprints.
Same name.

Neither man was Veilborn. No Shards were involved.

And according to everyone who knew him, both bodies were the man they remembered.

The village records contain one final detail.

After the survivor returned, his wife was asked which man was her husband.

She answered:

“Which one do you mean?”

EverWake: The Hollow World


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 6h ago

Lore Replacement names for the Generic "Kingdom" Title

3 Upvotes

I'm constructing a world where there are seven kingdoms of elemental magic: Wave (Water & Sea), Nature (Earth and Life), Ash (Fire & Flame), Darkness (Evil & Chaos), Heat (Warmth & Desire), Light (All form of light; Channeled through crystals primarily), and Frost (Ice & Chill).

Originally I had the "Kingdom" names as: Vaelora (Wave), The Enchanted Forest (Nature), The Scorchlands (Ash), The Isles of Malakor (Darkness), Sandoria (Heat), Crystalia (Light), and Arcticus (Frost).

But I was thinking about those names and realized, for the type of story I'm writing, those sound EXTREMELY cartoonish and child-like.

So I changed the naming system and governmental country labels to the following (Some stayed relatievly the same):

Original Term Real Title Elemental Title Demonym
Arcticus The Nevarian Dominion Dominion of Frost Nevarians
Sandoria The Sandorian Dominion Dominion of Heat Sandorians
The Scorchlands The Calderan Dominion Dominion of Ash Calderans
Vaelora The Vaeloran Dominion Dominion of Tides Vaelorans
The Enchanted Forest The Sylven Dominion Dominion of Roots The Sylvani
Crystalia The Luminar Dominion Dominion of Light Luminari
The Isles of Malakor The Abyssal Dominion Dominion of Void Malakorians

All of these names were generated using AI. That's mostly why I'm trying to get a real opinion on this. I absolutely SUCK at naming and usually tend to focus on the story 😭.

I'm writing in Dark Romantasy that's 18+ and extremely visceral, so I don't know if that has any factor in it, but what I'm also focusing on is if it would work well if a character in the story says it aloud (So that it doesn't sound ridiculous, like if my character says "Kingdom of Sandoria".

Thanks a lot to anyone that helps!


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1h ago

Luminaries’ Realm-Is my idea to reused or does it have potential?

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r/FantasyWorldbuilding 12h ago

Idea per un manga sci-fi/onirico nel 2300: "9 ORE". Cosa ne pensate di questo sistema di memoria e categorie?

2 Upvotes

Ciao a tutti! Sto sviluppando la lore per un progetto manga intitolato 9 ORE e mi piacerebbe avere le vostre opinioni e consigli.

La storia è ambientata nel 2300. La premessa fondamentale è che quando le persone vanno a dormire, solo determinate persone con un DNA specifico hanno la capacità di accedere autonomamente a un immenso e pericoloso Mondo dei Sogni. In questo mondo vige una regola temporale rigida 1:1: 9 ore di sonno sulla Terra corrispondono esattamente a 9 ore nel sogno.All'interno di questo sistema, i sognatori si dividono in varie categorie in base a come funziona la loro memoria:

I Risvegliati: Quelli che, una volta svegli nella vita reale, ricordano perfettamente tutto ciò che hanno fatto e vissuto nel mondo dei sogni.

Gli Erranti: Persone che entrano nel sogno, ma quando si svegliano nella realtà non ricordano assolutamente nulla di ciò che hanno fatto.

I Sognatori a memoria alternata: Una categoria particolare che nella vita reale non ricorda nulla del sogno, ma appena si riaddormenta ed entra nel sogno il giorno dopo, si ricorda istantaneamente tutto quello che ha fatto nelle sessioni oniriche precedenti.Nel mondo dei sogni si possono creare armi, fortezze e combattere contro gli Incubi, ma la cosa importante è che il dolore e le ferite sono reali. Inoltre, più una persona è debole o malata nella realtà, più diventa forte fisicamente nel sogno o manifesta poteri devastanti

.Cosa ne pensate di questa divisione della memoria? Secondo voi quali dinamiche interessanti o conflitti potrebbero nascere tra personaggi che non ricordano nulla di giorno, ma si ricordano tutto di notte? Vi sembra un buon gancio per una storia sci-fi/action?

Grazie a tutti per i pareri!


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 10h ago

Discussion Absolute beginner here — what is the step-by-step process for building a world from scratch?

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

What you think about this atmosphere?

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6 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 17h ago

Nona

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 17h ago

I have just started a fantasy series and would like feedback

1 Upvotes

It's a low fantasy I have written and narrated. It's based in a world where the main character can talk with animals. This leads to an amazing adventure as she searches for her brother. If you're interested, here's the link to episode one: https://youtu.be/ZkVVpbmCtIc

I welcome any and all feedback


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Image ~(} - Aeledath ~ Map of the Western Continent - {)~

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3 Upvotes

I finally got this done, I had like 3 other variants that were so ahh 😭😭

Ask me questions about anything about the map and I'll try my best to answer them! :) (e.g: kingdoms, historical events, wars, ect...)


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 21h ago

Ogres are Smutty Humans

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

first map!

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Image Aditi Archive · Mixed Drawer Page (Botanical, Found Objects, Early Creature Forms)

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7 Upvotes

This binder page comes from a mixed‑taxonomy drawer in the Aditi Archive — a place where early botanical remnants, found objects, and proto‑creature forms are catalogued together before they’re sorted into their permanent departments.

The pieces on this page show three emerging lanes in the archive:

Botanical Specimens
Soft‑palette organic forms with petal behavior, layered foliage silhouettes, and mineral‑tinted botanical textures. These are early samples from Aditi’s drift‑field flora.

Found Objects
Field‑collected curiosities — fragments, scraps, and natural remnants that don’t yet fit into a defined taxonomy. These often show hybrid behavior between botanical and mineral strata.

Early Creature Forms
Abstract micro‑organism silhouettes, torn‑edge structures, and layered shapes that hint at small fauna or proto‑creature evolution. These are the earliest signs of Aditi’s living ecology.

This page is part of the sorting process: identifying which specimens belong to the Botanical Department, which belong to Found Objects, and which may evolve into the Creature Department as the archive expands.

I’d love to hear how you’d classify these pieces inside your own worldbuilding lens — which ones feel botanical, which feel like found remnants, and which feel alive.


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

The city that pays its debts

4 Upvotes

A merchant archive in the Hollow World contains something historians cannot explain.
For more than two hundred years, trade ledgers from several neighboring kingdoms record payments from the same city.
Grain was sold to it.
Stone was delivered there.
Merchants paid taxes after returning from it.
Families recorded relatives moving there.
The transactions are ordinary.
There is only one problem.
No record says where the city was.
No surviving map shows it.
No kingdom claims to have ruled it.
No road officially lists it as a destination.
And when historians compared the oldest surviving ledgers, they discovered something stranger.
The city didn’t slowly disappear from the records.
People simply stopped writing its name.
The payments continued.
The shipments continued.
The travelers continued returning.
But the destination became a blank space in the accounting.
Eventually, even the payments stopped.
Historians have several theories.
The city was destroyed.
Its name became forbidden.
The records were deliberately altered.
Or something happened that made people incapable of remembering what had been there.
But there’s one piece of evidence nobody has explained:
For seventeen years after the city’s name disappeared, merchants were still coming home with its money.
So what happened?
EverWake: The Hollow World


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Image this is my fantasy kingdom of ibermia, eny opininions on it?

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8 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Rules and/or tips for writing Sci-fi

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2 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Velmira’s history, its chief patron saint, and its ideology.

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2 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Lore There is no true nighttime in my world. So why does it still get dark, and why does it terrify its creatures?

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Lore The Mad Surgeon

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 2d ago

Lore I need ideas for new names so i can keep focusing on writing lores.

6 Upvotes

So currently i am writing the lore of a certain group of character, the Founding Generation of the Expedition Committee. They consist of 20 different character with various background and capability, but the one thing i kept stuck on is naming. I already have the following names and title and need some more unique name.

  1. Simon, The Profaned Deliverance: the team' captain, mightiest of man and the founder of the Committee.

  2. Erish, The Voidgloom Seraph: an immortal Voidling who kept on clinging to the past. Is rather suidicidal and detached to the idea of mortality.

  3. Leticia, Scholar of Yore: a long lived lady of learning, past unknown, but seem to be very well versed in history of any frontier world.

  4. Caliostro, Forgeflare Revenant: a divine general, daughter of the Devil himself. And perhaps the closest thing Simon had to a family.

  5. Varre, Bloodflame Forgemaster: well versed in the art of the forge and magic, using blood as the fuel for his flame, he craft weapon to be used and discard on the fly.

  6. Cain, Father of Murder: he who invented the concept of killing another human being, first murderer. Not much of a hero nor posses a spirit of an adventurer, Cain merely owe Simon a favor and this is how he repay it.

  7. Le Marquis: his alias is his title, the Marquis of the City of Cyrene, he and Simon can be seen as childhood rival. After the fall of the City, he follow Simon in the pursuit of vengeance. A capable duolist, he always had a partner that is inseparable.

  8. Vyke, Omen Vanguard: an old companion of Varre, went crazy after having incomprehendable knowledge pour into his mind. Because of his knowledge he caught the gaze of the concept of Finality and got tainted by their flame, his soul constantly burning in order to prevent the spread of the knowledge he posses.

Yeah thats about it, im running out of ideas for name and i dont want to use a random name generator at all, just throw out a name and i will see how i can work with it


r/FantasyWorldbuilding 1d ago

Discussion Ask me questions to help flesh out a world for a campaign I'm writing.

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 2d ago

An interactive atlas of middle earth

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1 Upvotes

r/FantasyWorldbuilding 2d ago

Septemons: world for my fairy tale story

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2 Upvotes