Simlasa Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Does anyone here have any recommendations for a set of guidelines to better fantasy/sci-fi geography/cartography? I've been looking at my old fantasy campaign maps (some going back to middle school) and thinking that I really didn't have a clue what I was doing... just plopping down mountains and jungles and deserts wherever they'd come in handy... and I'm not sure I've got that much more of a clue nowadays. It would be great to have some sort of general idea of how to design this stuff and get a reasonably plausible result. Maybe there is some nice set of Scholastic books with big colorful pictures and diagrams regarding air/ocean currents and plate tectonics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I can think of a few things that could help a GM create a game world: 1) Any book of climatology. This can help to explain things like why certain places are deserts and what happens to an area of you put a mountain range at location X. The childrens section of a library often has books that are well suited towards the needs of GMs. 2) Questworld. This was a abortive idea by Chaosium to create an open game setting for RQ2 as an alternative to Glorantha. In it they give a pamphlet that explains the world a bit, and some of the reasons why they made it they way they did. USeful stuff for a GM. It kinda hit on the climatology thing a bit. It is a good place to start, since it looks at things from the gaming aspect. 3) 2300 AD. This RPG had some useful tables for bulding planets based on real data and formulas. Stuff like what planet X will be like if it is 1.0 AU from a Type G2 star. While GMs can get more accruate results by learning some astonomy, the tables are good enough for most GM needs and can help to eliminate the major goof ups, ike putting a habitable planet outside a star's biozone. When applied to a gaming setting, these guides can not only tell you that Y happens when you do X, but can often get some ideas as to the effects on the cultures that inhabit the setting. Also, one neat thing about fantasy and Sci Fi is that you can break the rules and the results can be some interesting story ideas. For example, putting a fertile plain right in the middle of a desert could indicate a very advanced culture, with the technical or magical ability to irrigate the land. That could cascade into a lot of other effects on the campaign setting. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thalaba Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I don't know is one specifically exists for world-building in literature/rpgs, but I've often thought about doing one. If nobody else can recommend one, I'd suggest you pick of a comprehensive college or univeristy book on Introduction to Physical Geography. You can probably buy used easily enough. What you mainly need to understand are 1. the basis of plate tectonics and how maintain chains are formed by subduction, hotspots, etc. and 2. how global air circulation works, because this will tell you where the dry and wet spots on the planet are and what kind of biozone exists where. With these two things you can create realistic landmasses, mountain ranges, inland seas and deep lakes, volcanic island chains. You can then polulate the world with the appropriate vegetation based on climate. You will know where the deserts and the jungles are, etc. You will also know where sailors are likely to be becalmed and where the richest oceanis fishing grounds are to be found. All of the above assumes an earth-like world with naturally occuring features. Thalaba Quote "Tell me what you found, not what you lost" Mesopotamian proverb __________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I don't know is one specifically exists for world-building in literature/rpgs, but I've often thought about doing one. That's a great idea! :thumb: The book could be independent of any game system, too-so you could sell it to lots of different gamers. A World Builder's Handbook or some such. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harshax Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 N Robin Crossby, creator of Harn and arguably one of the best fantasy cartographers ever, has posted a few good tips for developing realistic geography here: How to Construct Valid Geographical Entities | kelestia.com Quote And don't forget Realism Rule # 1 "If you can do it in real life you should be able to do it in BRP". - Simon Phipp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agentorange Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 There's several available for D20, I would imagine the general principles around world building are pretty much the same regardless of the RPG system. Might be worth nipping over to RPG Now or similiar tapping in world building/design for a search and see what comes up. I've bought several bits ostensibly for D20 because they have general applicibility elsewhere. Simon ( Soltakiss ) used the term meta gaming for these kind of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaira Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 If it's fantasy you're looking for, you could do worse than grab the pdf of The World Builder's Guidebook, an old AD&D supplement. At $5 you can't really complain, and it's actually very good - practically nothing to do with D&D, and chock full of all kinds of geographical and sociological info. It's a good read. If it's hard Scifi, then try to get a copy of The World Builder's Handbook (notice the completely different names of these two supplements, heh? This has a *lot* of tekkie stuff, but it's less stats & numbers than the Star Hero & 2300 stuff that's currently out there, and also has decent explanations of what you're doing when building a world, including building a culture. Very different animals for very different jobs, but I can recommend both! Hope that helps, Sarah Quote "The Worm Within" - the first novel for The Chronicles of Future Earth, coming 2013 from Chaosium, Inc. Website: http://sarahnewtonwriter.com | Twitter: @SarahJNewton | Facebook: TheChroniclesOfFutureEarth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechashef Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 That's a great idea! :thumb: The book could be independent of any game system, too-so you could sell it to lots of different gamers. A World Builder's Handbook or some such. I would be surprised if there isn't already one for D&D. Of course it would probably be overly verbose, expensive and perhaps dumbed down, but still might be the place to start looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harshax Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) I would be surprised if there isn't already one for D&D. Of course it would probably be overly verbose, expensive and perhaps dumbed down, but still might be the place to start looking. All of 5 bucks: RPGNow.com - Wizards of the Coast - World Builder's Guidebook [EDIT: Sorry Shaira, didn't notice your reply in there.] Edited February 12, 2009 by Harshax Quote And don't forget Realism Rule # 1 "If you can do it in real life you should be able to do it in BRP". - Simon Phipp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simlasa Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Actually it was a comment by Shaira about geomorphology in another thread that got me started on feeling inadequate... Thanks for the links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Quite useful and completely free: DriveThruRPG.com - Expeditious Retreat Press - A Magical Society: Guide to Mapping Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunwolfe Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Expeditious Retreat Press's A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture is all that and a jelly-donut! :thumb: The condensed "Mapping Guide" version linked by Rust above includes the full table of contents for the book, and you can see the good-stuff to be had with the full version. Cheers, Sunwolfe Quote Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12, MW '15, and OQ '17 BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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